WOW

I can't believe that it is almost the middle of the month!!!  Where has time gone?
So to back track a bit!
New Year's Eve the kids and I just stayed home.  I made party food and we watched a movie.  After that the kids went upstairs, I could hear them laughing and fooling around.  It's nice that they are happy to hang out together.  They were having a tournament,  cards, chess, darts and shogi. Whoever won the most games was the tournament winner!  At midnight we watched the New Year being rung in at the various temples across Japan.  I never feel like going to these places, too cold and too many people.  I like the comfort of my home!

Party food

New Years Day we just hung at home.  I went to the local mall to check out the price of fridges but the electric store was closed!

January 5th was Christopher's birthday and January 9th Mikey's birthday!  I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Mikey is now 22, how did that happen!

So 2014!  Not sure how I feel about that!   Last year was tough and I am glad that it is over.  But I am moving away from my memories of Hisao and that makes me sad!  This time last year I could think that the year before he was here with me.  Now I can't!

One thing I must do is loose weight!  i have already lost the 2kgs I put on over the holidays. Just another 30 to go!   But I would settle to 10!!!   So I will try and write bout that as well!!!

Oosouji big cleaning

In Japan there is a tradition of doing big clean before the new year.  I usually get my cleaning finished before Christmas.  But this is not a usual year and it has taken a lot more energy to get things done than normal.  Yesterday I rallied the troops and gave orders.  It's the only way to get anything done.  David managed to change the filters on hood above the stove.  That was always hubby's job and i had no idea how to do it.  Took a few hours but he got it done.  Managed to get the stove top cleaned down.  Also moved the furniture around in the living room.  Looks a lot better!
I was shocked at how much I had let things go this past year. I just stopped caring, most days couldn't be bothered.  I think grief is very exhausting.  So from tomorrow 2014 I have to try better, not only taking care of my home but taking care of the kids better and better care of myself.  I'm not making resolutions, I only break them but I want to improve my life.  I never wanted this life but it's what I have and I need to make it good.
So Happy New Year!

Looking Back on 2013

This has been one long hard year.  I hope never to repeat it again!  The first few months I was in a fog, in total shock.  I kept thinking that I would wake up and find that it was all some awful nightmare!  But of course it isn't!  I think that the brain protects itself by putting you a daze to get through the worst times. The problems start when the fog lifts and the realisation hits that things aren't going to get better and only time (lots of time) can help!  I remember one day in the summer thinking that I felt so much better, then breaking down crying and sobbing for over an hour.  That is grief, it is raw and unrelenting.  I miss my husband every second of everyday, I think about him all the time, the kids talk about him a lot.  Not a day goes by when at least one conversation starts with "Do you remember when Dad..........". 
But we keep on going, some days I had to take things one hour at a time.  I would tell myself you get through this hour, just get to lunch time.  Some days only the very basics would get done, laundry, food cooked, and lessons taught! And I was okay with that! 
In March Christopher finished junior high school and got into high school.  In Japan there are ceremonies to celebrate these times. I felt so strange not having Hisao there with me. I fixed a smile to my face and went through the motions.
May was Hannah's birthday, that was hard because of the circumstance of her birth (she was premature, just 900 grams at birth) her birthday was really celebrated as a miracle!  The fact that she not only survived when the doctors gave her only a 30% chance but she doesn't have any problems is a real miracle.  Hisao made a fuss of all the birthdays but Hannah's was special.  I missed Hisao a lot on that day as well.
Summer was it's usual hell, the heat and humidity here are really hard for me.  Mikey went to driving school for two weeks and got his licence.  We got a car in October and despite few near missed his driving is getting very good!

Bad day, me doing computer games and watching TV

Sports Day at Hannah's school

Halloween

Going to school camp for three days

I know at lot happened this year, but it really was a year of just getting through.  I hope that 2014 will be better!

COLD

It is very cold today!  I even put a coat on to run to the shop this morning, so it must of been cold!
It snowed for about an hour, quite a few flurry's but it didn't stick.  I am glad to have a kotasu table to sit under and stay warm! For those who don't know what a kotasu is here is an article from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotatsu
But one problem with a kotasu is that you are warm until moving!!!  And I don't want to move at all.

I managed to get a couple of jobs done.  Sorted out a load of books for recycle.  Called Book Off but they don't do pick up service at this time of year.  Mikey and David took some books and got 300yen and a 50 yen discount ticket!  I found another online service, they took a box today so I'll see how much they give and then decide what to do with the thousands of books we have!

I also took down the Christmas decorations!  I feel sad seeing the tree after Christmas.  I had the decorations up for a month, so taking them down refreshes the area.  The living room looks a lot bigger now!
And I get some family photos taken.  Only took the best part of an hour, not the usual 3 hours!

 One with the kids being daft, the other kind of okay!!

Christmas

Got through Christmas.  This is the 2nd one without hubby but last year he was around during the planning and organising, the pressie buying.  But this year I had to do it by myself.  Not easy! I spent hours checking out Amazon etc.  With Mikey having his car really helped but of course he doesn't enjoy shopping! One week before Christmas I had all the pressies and the food bought.  Helped a lot, no last minute buying.. 
Kids had a good day.  Hannah was very happy with her "Cats Musical"  DVD (she is watching it now!), she also got the T.S. Elliot book that the musical is taken from.  The big boys got gifts as well.  But I didn't over spend.  I want this time to be about making memories, of having time together.

Christmas Eve I made lasagna and some salads.

I bought cakes this year, just too tired to bake!

Christmas dinner I did beef in the slow cooker.  Good choice as it came out very tender.  I also bought a small chicken.  We ate a lot but didn't over eat so nobody got sick!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Opening pressies with Dad watching!!!

Of Course

Of course I over did it!  I spent almost all day Sunday and Monday baking cookies. I think I made over 200 cookies.  Tuesday was running around going to Hannah's school, shopping then David's school.  Wednesday did another load of cookies, and teaching.  Thursday no cookies but spent the day cleaning.  Today I was wiped out!  I managed to do a few more cookies and got the living room cleaned again.  But Hannah came home from school with a fever.  Typical, she manages to get sick every year at this time. Anyway she finished school for the year, so get some rest and hope that we feel better for Christmas.

Some of the cookies

Mikey doing parties

                                                                                                                             
     

One Year

Today is exactly one year since my husband passed away.
It's hard to believe that a year has gone past.  I didn't think I could get through one day let alone one year.  I miss him everyday.  I go to bed wishing that time could be reversed and that awful day had never happened.  I wake up wishing he was here, to tell me his silly jokes, just to give me one last hug.  To tell me that he loves me and that I am beautiful, even when I feel like crap.  He was part of my life for 25 years, for half of my life he walked with me.  Now I am alone but not too lonely.  The kids keep me going.
This past year has seen a lot of changes.  Christopher finished junior high and entered high school, Mikey took charge of our English school and got his drivers license, David has stepped up and helped a lot in the house, Hannah has grown up a lot as well.  We have had adventures. Got on the train to Fukuoka, to the big shopping mall and to the big city near here.  I learnt a lot about Japanese banks, post offices and the kindness of strangers at the city hall.  I also realised how much my husband protected me from the not so nice side of Japan.  I lived 21 years in a bubble, my husband took all responsibility for our money, for the kids school, for dealing with all the red tape that goes with living here.  I was shocked to find that even the smallest of task took so long and was often frustrated by the silly things I had to go through just to change bank accounts or get my name on the rent agreement!
One good thing that has come out of all this heart break is that my kids have really grown up this past year.  The older boys no longer have the luxury of messing around, they have become very serious to help out and have made decisions about the running of our English school.  Sometimes I have stepped back and let them make the decisions.  Part of that was me not being able to cope, part of it was me wanting them to take responsibility!

HUBBY