Today I am very excited indeed: I am going out tonight! On my own! Well no, not on my own - that would be quite sad - with friends, you know. But without Maggie. Cameron is going to put her to bed all on his own. I am going to have a glass of wine and not fret about them (in theory).
Of course I haven't a thing to wear...I dutifully trooped all round both floors of Zara (clothing in sensible sizes) today, trying on random items, but I have clearly lost the knack through lack of practice. I am looking forward to regaining that skill when we get home, along with re-learning British English: I thought today, asking the shop assistant for em-size, that I'd have to remember to call it medium once again soon.
Had a lovely lunch today too, to say goodbye to a couple of friends. I hate goodbyes (but I like all the nice meals). With two weeks of goodbyes followed by Christmas I'll be the size of a house come January.
My to-do list is getting longer not shorter (perhaps because I am mainly ignoring it so little is getting crossed off). Must focus.
Lisa at 07:23
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Today I am very excited indeed: I am going out tonight! On my own! Well no, not on my own - that would be quite sad - with friends, you know. But without Maggie. Cameron is going to put her to bed all on his own. I am going to have a glass of wine and not fret about them (in theory).
Of course I haven't a thing to wear...I dutifully trooped all round both floors of Zara (clothing in sensible sizes) today, trying on random items, but I have clearly lost the knack through lack of practice. I am looking forward to regaining that skill when we get home, along with re-learning British English: I thought today, asking the shop assistant for em-size, that I'd have to remember to call it medium once again soon.
Had a lovely lunch today too, to say goodbye to a couple of friends. I hate goodbyes (but I like all the nice meals). With two weeks of goodbyes followed by Christmas I'll be the size of a house come January.
My to-do list is getting longer not shorter (perhaps because I am mainly ignoring it so little is getting crossed off). Must focus.
Lisa at 07:23
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Every time I think about leaving my stomach knots up and I can't breathe. (Probably best not to think about it in that case.)
Good news, however, from Cameron's parents who visited our house on a recce. Seems it is in perfect condition and ready for us to move back in - even the oven is clean (I get the impression that Joyce was a little disappointed not to get the chance to wield her cloths!) Garden is a state but that is only to be expected and, once I've figured out how one gardens while looking after a baby, I will soon knock that back into shape - in fact, I am looking forward to it. Though it has to be said that Januray is perhaps not the best time of year for it.
We worked out how to get food into Maggie last night: let her do it herself. It took over half an hour but she managed to eat the best part of a bowl of mashed potato and broccoli with sweetcorn (not your typical finger food but hey ho). What a mess! She has a rash today though, which my nurse-friend Heather says sounds like an allergy. Are people allergic to sweetcorn? I've never heard of that one.
Yawning while eating her breakfast, she would not go to sleep, until she eventually conked out in the sling at 12.15. Even two cycles of Baby Mozart didn't work (they worked rather well on Mummy: I had a nice 15-minute doze). Now I have to run about wildly to sort things out for the recycling man who is coming to collect a chest of drawers, some random electricals and bags of old clothes.
Lisa at 04:11
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Maggie said da-da last night. Of course we know it is just babbling sounds, and she spoilt it rather by going straight into ta-ta ga-ga, but Cameron was thrilled!
She has been whispering ta, da and puh for about a week, and saying huh! and agoo for ages but this was officially her first out-loud two-syllable vocalisation (apart from agoo, but agoo, what's that?!)
Whoever came up with the idea of measuring animals was clearly dealing with a dog not a cat.
Lisa at 00:53
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OK
Manuscript away - check
Maggie asleep (again!) - check
House tidied because we have a visitor tonight - um...
Million other things - pffft.
Never mind, the manuscript was the only one that will pay and Maggie is the one that matters so now I have returned to clarify my post below. Doug and Verity, though mildly barking in a very fun way, are not artists and do not make their own clothes. They did hold an exhibition of Shoi and Colleen's work at their house in May: S & C hosted us on Saturday.
I realise this doesn't matter to you but I like to get my facts straight.
Now I have to go and measure the cats. Yes, really. I'm sure we didn't have to do that when bringing them over but in order to get them home they must be measured. Nose to bottom, floor to top of leg, floor to nose and ear to ear. I have no idea.
Lisa at 08:31
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Today started badly when I split, toasted and covered my fig roll in cream cheese, only to discover on biting into it that the label should really have read fig and walnut roll. Walnuts are the devil's food.
Actually it started badly before that: Maggie's cold (that kept us up Sunday night with a high temperature and unhappiness) turned into a cough last night, so not much sleep was had. Then we overslept so I am even more out of sorts. And I have to finish editing the manuscript today too.
I suppose what I am trying to say is: I'm typing fast and frantically; 'scuse typos.
She might sleep for 2 1/2 hours (like she did yesterday); it could be 40 minutes (like normal). Whichever it is, I have to do all today's jobs in that time! Including blogging (high on my to-do list).
It is proving surprisingly difficult to get rid of excess items. We have a double bed, chest of drawers and various other bits and bobs (including lightly used clothes) that we don't want - a British 3-bedroom semi can only hold so many double beds after all - and don't want money for, just want rid of. Apparently the Salvation Army won't come because we haven't given 6 weeks' notice, so we have to have it taken away as garbage. That is ludicrous! (but oh, so Japanese) I refuse to have perfectly good furniture taken away and chopped up/burnt/buried/whatever they do with them: I am considering shipping it all home to give to charity there. Is that insane and just the stress talking?
We had a wonderful day on Saturday. Doug & Verity are leaving around the same time as us but are far, far more organised so it was their leaving 'do'. You might remember back in May, we went to an exhibition at their house (um. I've just skimmed back through my archives and it seems I was so preoccupied with sleep and nappies at that point (what do you mean, no change there) I failed to mention it. OK. They are a lovely couple who make and wear their own clothes - from antique fabric I believe - and make gorgeous lamps from washi paper and antiques. I bet they don't have a website. I'm kind of selling them short, you'll just have to trust that they are very special.) Anyway, we travelled down to Zusshi, on the coast and very rural, to the house of the artists, Colleen and Shoi (sp?) Oh. My. God. They live in a converted temple with their lights and antiques everywhere and it is just amazing. In fact, the house will feature in an interiors book to be published next year so watch this space for a link to it. Shelley took some photos, which you can see here - I only had the 'real' cam not the digi so no snaps from us. We had a barbeque (yes it is November; yes, we were outside in shirtsleeves; yes, I am wearing a T-shirt again today. Britain is going to seem Very Very Chilly next month.) and champagne on the train going down, and games and chat and oohed and ahhed over their house (could it be recreated in Warrington? I wonder) and of course over Maggie who was an absolute angel. No sleep but still smiling at the end of the day when we went outside for miniature fireworks.
Right I have spent far too long here (I did in fact correct some typos, I just can't help myself) and I really must Get On. I keep forgetting to breathe.
Lisa at 02:21
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I am such a stereotype. There I was, trying out our new Maya Wrap (as sported by Courtney Cox, no less; I've got fabric 37 and it's gorgeous) in a bid to stop Maggie wailing, and simultaneously simmering tomato sauce for our tea, when the phone rang: a manuscript for me to edit. I was quite proud that I managed to sound vaguely professional. Is this having it all?
She's been wailing a lot these past 24 hours - either the black eye is troubling her or there's more teeth on the way (or something else, it is so hard to tell).
Today's list: random things that have to be sorted out. What does one do with old mobile phones, for example?
Lisa at 08:12
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Radio 4
Sunday papers
Indian takeaways
Lisa at 11:37
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Maggie has her first shiner! She fell head-first onto her toybox yesterday and her cheek got gradually more and more purple - she woke this morning with a bruise running from cheekbone to eye. It doesn't seem to be bothering her though (I just wish she'd managed to get it somewhere that could be covered up because everybody is commenting, including one irritating lady at playgroup who asked if it was dirt and then looked utterly horrified when I said it was a bruise. Does she think I've been battering her? She should just wait until her baby is crawling, standing, pulling over plants and trying to empty the hoover bag, see how on top of things she manages to be. Bah).
Today I am working on the list Things To Go Air Freight. What on earth does 225 kg look like? It sounds quite a lot to me but by the time we've got the cot, highchair, bedding, towels and saucepans in I suspect there won't be much left over. It would help enormously if I could remember what is in the house: I know we left it part furnished, whatever that might mean, and I know the loft is full of, well, stuff is really the only suitable word. Things we didn't want to bring but didn't want the tenants to have. Goodness only knows. I remember putting about a million of Cameron's magazines up there, and some photos, but they are not going to be much use to us.
Cameron is zipping about all week at companies outside Tokyo, all of which involve a nice meal out. He is not enthusiastic about meals and drinks out (because he has to go); I would LOVE to go (because I am always in). Ah well, at least I don't have to cook.
Lisa at 02:03
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Baked potatoes
Having a proper grill (and, come to think of it, a nice oven)
Using our 'new' bathroom (now 2 1/2 years old but we've never used it)
Supermarkets
A fire
Christmas
My frame of mind is much better right now - in fact, I couldn't sleep last night for getting excited about going home. I am still going to be distraught to leave; I think the culture shock is going to be much worse the other way, but it won't be all bad. I do hope we can have broadband though, I don't think I can bear to return to dial-up after the 10 Mbps connection I've enjoyed here.
I can't stop making lists. Things to get rid of, things to organise, things to do and things to buy. And I suppose I'll have to do something about Christmas presents in all that lot too. Tips on dealing with insomnia have you making a list, getting it out of your head and onto paper, then drifting off into a delicious sleep. Making the list once doesn't seem to be enough for me: writing it down doesn't make it leave my head. I find myself listing and re-listing the same items every time I have a pen in hand.
More Japanese weirdness: I found some baby yogurts ('baby danone'; they look like petit filous) in the supermarket. I rejected tomato flavour as being too, too peculiar but on close inspection the variety I bought appears to be, not peach melba or fruits of the forest as one might expect, but spinach mix. Yum yum. On the bright side, they shouldn't have too much sugar. I'll offer it and see what she thinks.
Lisa at 02:24
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OK now here's a silly question for all your clever IT types out there. All my photos and webpages apart from this one are stored on my Japanese ISP. I have space at the millpond I can use, so that they won't all disappear when we leave Japan. How do I move them from one to the other? Do I have to ftp them all back to my pc from the Japanese server then up to the millpond, or can I log in to the Japanese one then somehow ftp again? And then is there an easy way of updating all my links or do I actually have to do them all by hand, blog post by blog post? Thank you.
The packer, sarky so and so (at least, it would have been sarky at home. Maybe here it was an innocent comment), observed that we must have bought some things during our time here. Sigh. We have. Where on earth are we going to put it all when we get home? I have found a home for the baby monitor and one small plant but frankly that is a teeny tip of a monstrous iceberg. Anyone want a 6-foot ficus or a double bed? No? How about a large box of video'ed British telly? Christmas lights? A toaster?
I think I have a stalker...there's an American woman here who I initially met at yoga. She was very nice but a little Too nice, if you know what I mean. Overly friendly and one of those people who assumes you think the same as herself so keeps telling you what you think. Only, usually, you don't. I managed to 'lose' her until she turned up at the pregnancy group...then I 'lost' her again until she came to baby massage. This week I received an invitation to her little girl's birthday party, which is a bit strange given that I have't seen her since we stopped going to baby massage a couple of months ago and I have never met the little girl. Anyway. I was chatting to my friend Sarah today and she told me some woman stopped her on the street to look at her baby, and said, in passing oh, you know Lisa don't you! A process of elimination identified her. Am I over-reacting to be a bit freaked by that?
Lisa at 06:54
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Oh my goodness, less than a month to go. The packers came to quote today...strange man rang the doorbell and asked if I was Mrs Watson. I said I was (of course) then he giggled and said I didn't have my name on my door. No, I said, but I really am Mrs Watson, then he said he was going to wait outside. Fine. But when he rang the bell again, ten minutes later, he had a surveyor with him so I suppose it sort of made sense in an oddly Japanese way. I don't think I will encounter that sort of behaviour at home. It seems we have somewhere in the region of 25 cubic metres, well within our allowance, so I can continue to shop. (OK, he didn't say that but I reckon I can squeeze in a few more things.) 'To-do' list is growing daily longer: at the top, send the cats back and find a home for my plants.
Mum and dad left this morning and Maggie is either missing them enormously or teething again because she has been wailing and not wanting to eat. And I cooked her delicious lentils too.
I am determined not to spend the entire month mourning over 'last time's. In the spirit of which, a short list of things I am looking forward to at home (and no I am absolutely not compiling a similar (longer) list of things I'll miss about Japan, not even in my head. Honest.)
Not crying when people leave because they will be hundreds not thousands of miles away and in the same time zone
Chocolate hobnobs
Having a garden
Parsnips
Lisa at 07:12
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Busy busy busy.
First to Nara:

Then Matsumoto:

Lisa at 10:24
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