life back in the land of the rising sun

So we have been back 2 weeks now. (Which is half the amount of time we spent in Aus)

I haven't really blogged since we got back basically because I attempted to spend the first few days back in Martha mode, going through the whole house and getting it in a suitable state, washing all the holiday clothes, putting away holiday stuff etc etc, which I did for the first 2 days.....then:

Wed Jan 7th
we had a get together with our playgroup mums for one mum who is heading back to her home country to live. It was really sad to think that she will be gone from playgroup, but I am really happy that she got to go home, as she never really enjoyed her 3 or so years here in Japan. She is such a free spirit, and living in Tokyo just wore her out, I think. I have to admit that her leaving made me think about how I would feel if I was going back to Australia to live. It is funny, I don't think I want to live in Japan for the rest of my life, but right now, I would be really sad to leave my life in Japan (as much as it pisses me off a lot of the time), my friends here in Tokyo, obviously J's family too. It was an interesting revalation in a way, to find that I do indeed think of my life here as home. I think I will try to make some more positive posts about Japan this year too, to remember that!

Thurs Jan 8th
Local playgroup at jidokan. This month I am in the leader's roster, which translates to I am going to organise one meeting this month (on the 22nd) to have a "Let's play in English" day. I am planning that at the moment...

Fri Jan 9th
Woke up with a shocking headache, runny nose, cough....yappari, a cold! Spent most of the day in the house.

Sat 10th & Sun 11th
Went to see PILs for the weekend. K must have caught my cold which knocked her around quite a bit on Sat night. She was chockablock with flem (yuck) and hardly slept. Which means I hardly slept either.

Mon Jan 12th
The public holiday, so we went shopping for a bit. K was still average.

Tues Jan 13th
Took K down to get some meds to help her cold that was not getting much better (still cough and runny nose persisited). Didn't leave the house again for the rest of the day.

Wed Jan 14th
I thought that we were pretty much over the cold. But we still had a quiet day. Today was the day that I understood the reason why people insist on putting all fruit and veges in those little plastic bags in the supermarket....it is so when you are packing your shopping bag after you have paid for it all, you do not end up throwing an onion at the old lady beside you (slipped right out of my hand....oops)

Thurs Jan 15th
Didn't go to our English playgroup as my cold came back with avengance. I had a huge headache, aching bones, puffy face....I was a mess. I can't remember the last time I felt so sick, actually. Went to sleep when K did, both for nap and early at night.

Fri Jan 16th
Still feeling shite, so took the opportunity to sit on the sofa all day, watching episodes of Grey's Anatomy and drinking cups of tea. It was *so* nice. Luckily, K was pretty obliging for most of the day too.

Sat Jan 17th
Visited PILs, stayed for sukiyaki dinner, which I didn't enjoy that much because I still had headache, and horrible tummy ache now too. *sigh*
K showed off her new skill of counting from 1-10, as well as entertaining us all by singing every song she knows......"Twinkle Twinkle", "Donguri koro koro" etc etc. It was so cute!
Got home late, but ended up spending hours on the NEW COMPUTER, just playing really, and enjoying the fast connections and internet page openings.

Sun Jan 18th
Still headachy and tummy achy. Ate nothing all day (didn't even have a drink of tea!) as had no appetite at all. Which turned out to be a godsend - did I mention that food back in Oz was all so yummy, I managed to come back to Japan with a spare tire around my waist. I am chalking up the tummy ache/lack of appetite as a diet trick.
K decided she didn't want to go down for her afternoon nap, so after about an hour of book reading on the bed with her, I gave up. She then fell asleep eating dry sultana bran (the breakfast cereal) in front of the TV at about 4:30pm. Typical. She didn't get to sleep at night until 10pmish. Totally out of whack.

Mon Jan 19th
K and I didn't wake up until 9:30am!! wow!!! While still have this bloody headache, the rest of me is ok (so much for my new "diet" haha) and it was relatively warm today, so I loaded up K into the stroller, and we took R for a nice long walk along the riverside. Met (as in, for the first time) another lady with a baby on her back and a dog (how I usually walk R) so we had a play and a chat with them. J came home from work feeling sick - looks like my cold finally got to him too. I feel sorry for him, as it was not a nice cold at all. Loaded him up with meds and genki drinks and sent him off to bed early.

So basically my life back in Japan has been not much more than staying in the house suffering from this cold. It is amazing how fast 2 weeks can go by and yet I have done nothing. I kinda like it though.... maybe that is a bit of the blues seeping in there though. Tomorrow we should 復活する - planning on going to playgroup, although I have to admit the thought of getting ready (and taking R for an early morning walk) and getting out of the house before 9am seems near impossible to me right now. It also doesn't sound like much fun! But I know once we get to playgroup, it will be good to see everyone again, and nice to have gotten out of the house after my mini-recluse of the last few days.