Giving Thanks

The dinner is finished. It was a small affair consisting of just me and the kids. Our menu was good for us: a tofurky, Syracuse salt potatoes, blanched green beans with a shoyu butter sauce, matcha ice cream, and persimmons. Now the kids are before the television, finishing up the Star Wars trilogy that they borrowed from their grandmother.

Since we are international nomads, our traditions for holidays like today are not like our neighbours'. We only do two things the same every year on Thanksgiving, here and in Japan. We talk about what we are happy for (a little bit easier of a concept for the younger two) and we collect our centrepiece from around the neighbourhood before we eat. It is a very small tradition but it is one we enjoy very much.

Among the many things listed during our gratitude rundown (including being able to live here with support from our family) was a shared excitement for the move ahead of us. For those of you who have not yet heard, we are moving back to Japan at the end of March. To be exact, we are moving back to Goto. We are definitely grateful to have this opportunity as we really feel it will be the best for everyone in our family.
Another thing we are grateful for that follows the move to Goto is that we are ever so appreciative of all those who support this move both morally and financially. Due to the short amount of time we have to raise funds for the event, we have had to start a little crowdsourcing endeavour (seen up on the right there). The response has been really amazing and we are both humbled and encouraged by everyone's support.
And last but not least, I am grateful for you, my darling reader(s). I am so glad you stick by me and my words and random thoughts. It truly means a lot and I will do my best to make this place worthy of your attention. Like by writing a little more often than every four months...

I hope you American readers are having a warm and safe holiday with your loved ones. And for the rest of you, I hope you are also warm and safe with your loved ones at hand, wherever you may be.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Summer Lovin'

We have been having a blast this summer. Now that everyone is healthy we are making the most of getting outdoors. We only do excursions twice a week since Jason and I are both working on projects that require us to be home. Also, these excursions are a little exhausting and require a bit of recovery time. Like yesterday's trip to the beach. Without a car, getting four littles and their reluctant father to the beach was not an easy feat. We left early and came home late with countless station transfers in between. The sunburnt shoulders are proof that we not only made it to Utsumi Beach, but that we played in the Pacific Ocean for as long as possible.


One of the reasons we are enjoying summer more this year is due to the recent acquisition of the long sought after Family Bicycle. It makes getting around so much easier that for a few days it was hard to keep us indoors (and working on those projects I mentioned earlier).


We have a few more excursions before Nico has to return to kindergarten (for marching band practice of all things). Science museum, zoo, Pokemon movie, and the city fruit park. Sebastian is really excited about the last two things. The lull between the excursions are deemed boring but I think he also likes the lazy days too of reading comic books and building monsters in clay.

Summer is now ranking as the number one season on our charts. How's it going on yours?

(2)

Today was rather mellow compared with yesterday. Now that it is bedtime and we have finished another day, I do mourn its passage and make my daily vow to be more productive tomorrow. We did manage to fit in a donut run and the boys smashed many turtles into oblivion. I designed a new doll pattern and cut out the material so I have that to look forward to putting together after the boys are snug in their slumber.



As Jason and I were refereeing the troops while they ate their sugary treats, we were reflecting on our short trip to the southern Alps yesterday. Since we are nomads, any new place gets to be scrutinized as a potential home and is compared to past homes. Since Nagiso was decidedly inaka, we naturally compared it to another inaka place near to our hearts. The island came out ahead, having the ideal combination of sea and mountain. Our rose-tinted rearview mirror is quite compelling.



I only have three more days of holiday after today. Usually at the end of a long holiday I get antsy and irritated but not this time. I only have two more months of work before my maternity leave starts. These next two months will be spent getting everything in order so that I can spend my year(!) off effectively. It is definitely going to be a change for us but I think it will be a good one.