I Went, I Saw, I Gave Up

 I didn't give up 100% but I threw in the towel for the day.

The plan was to go to the other house early and stay until 3 or 4 o'clock. While there we would start a fire and burn a lot of the trash that is hanging around.

But Mikey forgot that he had an extra lesson at 4 o'clock and it's very windy today, starting a fire would have been rather dangerous.

There is so much stuff to be disposed of.  Years and years of living crammed into a small house.  Some things we can burn, old wooden furniture that has become moldy and all the clothes that she bought and never used.  I did try to take some clothes to the recycle shop but we were spending more in gas going there than we were making.  Old books can be taken to a place that recycles the paper and metal can be taken to the scrap place to be reused.  But there is a lot of plastic waste and we have thousands of CDs and DVDs that I don't know what to do with.  I watch programs from the USA and UK about hoarders, I love the idea of having a skip to throw everything into or having places to donate good stuff to.

 I wanted to find something good about the house.  The design, size, and location are bad but there must be something good in there.

I found a couple of things, the light fittings.

The light in the entrance

And one of the bedrooms

They need cleaning but are actually very nice.

Also some flowers were blooming which helped the outside to look a bit brighter.

A bit of color in the garden

Also, the view from the bedrooms is nice, at the moment.  I'm wondering if anything is planned for the land next door.

The view from the bedrooms

If the weather cooperates we can go again on Friday.

We have to get as much done as possible. 

Mikey said that there are companies to take away plastics, CDs, and DVDs but they are expensive.  I'm thinking of using one of the storage rooms to dump everything until I can save money to pay to take the stuff away.  I know it doesn't solve the problem but it's an idea!

Just Thinking

 I want to step away from teaching English. 

In every house I've had, I've always had one room for teaching.  Made my life very simple when the kids were little.  Just a 30-second commute, from one room to the next.  The house we are moving to just doesn't have the room to do that.  Also, it's in the middle of nowhere so I don't think getting new students in that area will be easy.  I'm hoping we can keep the students we have here by using the community centers to teach but I want to put the classes together.  At the moment I have one lesson on Monday and one on Wednesday, and a few on the other days.  Mikey has 4 or 5 a day.  I don't want to travel 40 minutes, one-way, teach for one hour and then sit and twiddle my thumbs for a few hours while Mikey teaches.  Here while Mikey teaches I can cook, clean, or get a few things done.  Also what about the future, 5 or 10 years from now?  We either have to make this school profitable enough to support any families the kids might have, and they all work together, or find another business.

What to do about David and Christopher?  They have part-time jobs here that they kind of like.  They could get more hours and stay here but they don't want to.  Also, wages are very low. The minimum wage for this area is just over four pounds and no real overtime!  David's supervisor, who is responsible for three or four different shops only gets 3 to 4 hours off every 24 hours.  It's dangerous as he is driving to different stores.  

The area we are moving to has almost no public transportation, a bus every hour and it doesn't go to the areas where there might be jobs.  David needs his own car and Christopher needs a driver's license. Another two worries.

I've been thinking about trying to start a different business but what?

I've thought about making a travel and food blog.  But I don't travel, I want to but no money! And most of the recipes I use are from other people or books and I have no idea about copyright laws.  

We have a load of land so I thought about using some to rent out storage lockers but that's not popular in the countryside.  We missed the solar panel chance.  

Starting a pet-sitting business and pet hotel.  But no start-up money.

We have persimmon trees, so fruit picking is an idea but very seasonal.  We could try to grow other fruits but I have a black thumb and again very seasonal.

I guess we need a family meeting and find out what everybody wants to do.

I look at these kids making money on YouTube etc and wonder if that is really possible.  Would anybody be interested in a 60-something fat foreigner living in Japan?

I have no classes tonight, so going to attack the kitchen, maybe bake, do my exercises, and get ready for tomorrow!!!!

Sleepy Sam!

Just A Cat Post

 I haven't written about the cats recently!

They are still driving me crazy, still cute, and at times very funny!

At the moment Alfie is purring away, lying in the sun with Hannah playing with him.  He tends to be a loner, and prefers the other cats to playing with us! But catch him at the right time and he will play but not sit on your lap.

Alfie in the sun

Fluffy still tries to get chicken when it's cooked.  Whenever I've cooked chicken I either have to fit a lid on it or put it in the oven or fridge.  The other day I had cooked some chicken but it was too early for lunch so I left it on the stove.  I went to the toilet, came back, and could see Fluffy's tail in the kitchen. She heard me come in and jumped off the counter (Yes, I do bleach the counters every day) and came strolling into the living room, looking all innocent!  

Fluffy with Mikey

The other cats are doing okay.  Why do we think that cats like to be alone?  My cats won't settle at night if there is nobody with them.  Fred and Frodo are the worst, they will cry for ages if somebody isn't with them when it's bedtime.  When David isn't working it's okay as they can settle but the other nights either Hannah or I have to sit with them until they fall asleep.  I use the time to read, in the past two weeks I've finished about five books this way!  I've tried playing with them, getting them to chase up and down the corridor, and then feeding them before bed but even if they are tired they want somebody with them to sleep!  

afternoon nap!

This week I'm hoping to go to the other house on Wednesday.  It's a national holiday so no classes.  I hope we can spend the whole day there.  I'm planning on making some onigiri (rice balls) and getting fried chicken from a local store that specilizes in fried chicken.  I'm hoping to get a lot done, we will see. One thing I want to do is to take down what I call the dead photos!  In Japan, there is a tradition of having photos of those who have passed away displayed in the room with the Buddhist Altar.  There are photos of people that I don't know and for some unknown reason these photos creep me out, they always have done.  I feel the eyes following me and judging me on everything I do.  I plan to take them down, take the photos out of the frames, and put them in a photo album. 

I'll try to update after Wednesday!

It Is The Season Of

Taxes

And allergies.

And frustration. 

Even though I don't earn so much money I still need to do taxes or rather Mikey has to do it!   By declaring income I get assessed for my national health insurance. For 3 people I pay about 50 pounds a month for national health insurance, then for any trips to the doctors, dentist, or pharmacy we pay 30%.  Helps a lot!  Especially I still have another four years to check for the cancer.  With most cancers after five years of nothing you are cancer-free, the type I had the doctor has to check for ten years!  

March 17th is the deadline for the tax form to be handed in this year.  Mikey did it yesterday!!  The tax office has made it easier by having what they call "E-Tax", which just means that instead of writing everything by hand you can type on the computer! Not really that much easier!  Also instead of waiting in line at the tax office, you can send it over the Internet.  I guess that does help.  We drove past the tax office last week and the queue was out of the building and down the side.  I wouldn't want to wait in that queue.  One thing I do is keep last year's tax forms, in a big brown envelope with TAX and the year written in large letters.  Helps!

Of course, the lovely warm weather brings allergies.  Mikey was sick last week.  I think he caught a cold but because of his allergies, it was a lot worse.  He was sick for 4 days, didn't eat for two but made up for it when his appetite returned!  I got hit yesterday.  Runny nose and sneezing.  I took my tablets but didn't help all that much! A friend was telling me about a leaf that grows wild that she chews on to stop allergies, I found that you can buy a tea made from that leaf, so I got some yesterday!  I have no idea what it is in English, doesn't taste nice but if it helps I don't care about the taste!

The frustration is the feeling that time is passing by too quickly and I'm not getting enough done to move. I need to clean out, get rid of, and pack up stuff here and clean out the other house.  Every day I try to do something toward that goal but it all seems too much.  I feel overwhelmed with everything.  I want to run away and not deal with things but I have no choice.  We have found out that we can connect the toilet to the mains sewage but it will cost a lot, we can get a special loan from the city to help pay but we will have to pay it back.  I get the answer to one problem but then another comes up.  Even though I know paying rent is a waste of money as the house would never be mine I would rather do that and stay here!  

Hannah with the cats

Hannah went back to the school where she did her teacher training.  She asked the homeroom teacher if she could come and say goodbye to the kids when they graduate.  The teacher invited Hannah to come to the last English lesson.  When Hannah got there the teacher said that she could teach the lesson.  Poor Hannah had about 5 minutes to prepare but she did okay.  She went to the goodbye party and had a nice time.  One of the students wrote in her memory book that Hannah coming to the school was the best thing of her 6th-grade experience.  I'm glad Hannah had such a good experience and that the students liked her, I feel this has given her a much-needed confidence boost.

The House.....Again

Another morning at the other house!  Still so much to do. 

Today we managed to clear out the entrance.  Most of that was our stuff that had been dumped there.  About 3/4 I trashed, the rest went into storage to be sorted when I'm feeling better and not so pressured to get things done! 

The entrance

On the left are shoe cupboards, really big ones.  They were full of old shoes.  Most were never used but they have all gone in the trash, except the ones on the highest shelf, even Mikey had a hard time reaching them, we will need a step ladder next time.  The space in front, with the two ladies sitting, drives me crazy.  It's for displays but I don't want to use it like that.  For me, it's dead space that could have been used better.  I'm thinking of putting up a curtain and using it to store the vacuum cleaner etc.  There's no place to keep cleaning supplies, so everything was in the corridor!!

I found something interesting in the small cupboard underneath. 

My find

not sure what this says

This is really heavy.  For some unknown reason, I really like it.  One of the few things I want to keep!

with one of Hannah's old dolls

Mikey couldn't decide which one was creepier!!

After two hours of lugging boxes we were finished for the day.

We went for a drive to a town about 20 minutes away.  It has a nice old town area but we didn't stop. Hannah took a few photos as we drove through.

Some of the old buildings.  I hope to go again when we have a bit of time to explore this area!

Right now I'm tired but it's a good tired.  The feeling of getting something done.  Still a lot more to do!  We will get there. one day!

Exercise Update

 It's been about a month since I started to exercise.  I will admit that I missed a few days.  One was the day we went to the other house, I figured all the moving of boxes and walking counted as exercise.  Also the past week or so I've missed because of my allergies being bad. I can exercise when I'm sneezing, coughing and having a runny nose but not with the awful sinus headaches I get.  Some days I feel like I've been beaten around the face and even just walking sends shooting pains, so exercise is out of the question.  Other than that I have been consistent.  I'm doing a gentle 10-minute chair exercise and I'm starting to see some results.

I haven't lost weight, I keep bouncing up and down the same kilo.  Also losing weight has more to do with food, as the saying goes you can't out exercise a bad diet!  But my mobility is better!  The other day I was walking from the car to the supermarket, Mikey had to park far away as it was busy.  I usually walk with a limp because of bone-on-bone arthritis in my right knee, but that day I realized that I walked fast and no limp. I thought it was a fluke but over the past few days I've been walking okay.  Also when standing after about 20 minutes my back and hips hurt. Today I spent an hour cleaning the kitchen and cooking dinner, until it got to an hour on my feet I had no pain.  

This gives me hope.  I dream of traveling in Japan, there are so many wonderful places to see but so much walking. I have to keep up with the exercises, maybe try a longer one, really get fit.  Then all I have to do is make money!!

Also, I do need to cut sugar again.  I don't why but I'm finding it harder to say no to sugary foods.  Last time I stopped sugar I was using an artificial sweetener in my tea, but it had an awful aftertaste!  I take half a teaspoon of sugar in my tea, which isn't too much!  But it's the chocolate, cakes and cookies that keep coming in the house.  I think I'm going to have to tell the kids to stop buying them.  

Maybe I need another challenge!

Mama

Just a photo of Mama enjoying the sun!!!

Hospital

Today was my checkup for cancer and diabetes.

Nothing big, just had some blood taken and a quick word with the doctor.  I'm all right with that, I know the hospital, the procedure, where to go, which desk to put my file into so it's easy for me.  I don't have to try and understand the Japanese.  But it's so busy!  

Blood draw took two minutes, talk to the first doctor, two minutes, second doctor three minutes but I was there from 9am to 11am, then another 40 minutes wait at the pharmacy.  Still, it's over and done with and I don't have to go back until June.  That is the big yearly checkup with a CT scan, mammogram,  and blood work.  

We have 210 days until we move and I'm still not happy about it.  Every time I go to the other house I try to imagine living there but it still feels so wrong.  Part of this is not having a choice.  Usually moving house means choosing somewhere that you like or at least can feel comfortable in.  I don't get that choice and I know it's because I've chosen to have cats.  I know that I can, potentially save money because I don't have to pay rent but again it's not really that good.  I don't have to pay rent but I will lose students because we can only hire the community center on certain days.  Also, I'll need a loan to pay for things.  Getting the house connected to the sewage system will cost about 800 pounds, paying to the city and then more to the company that will do the work.  I'll have to get a loan for that.  A friend suggested doing a lot of the work ourselves, she said that there are a lot of videos on YouTube to follow but I know that a lot of time DIY doesn't work out!  Also, DIY costs money.  Feels like a lot of work to live in a house that I don't like!

Mikey with Fluffy

Mikey doesn't like the cats so much and Fluffy doesn't like people so much but they seem to like each other.