Birthday Girl

After Cyd's 5th Birthday party!

The Brain Cloud

I had a pretty stressful couple of days the week before last. It was one of those times that nothing works out, I was behind in my studying and feeling pretty much overwhelmed by it all. Then the wierdest thing happened, I started feeling this pressure in my head, like I was wearing a tight hat, except that I never wear hats.

I had no idea what it was, so I did an internet search and the only thing I could find was that sometimes it's a symptom of stress. Of course, that made me stress out even more, if I'm having physical manisfestations of stress now, in the 3rd week of my semester, I'm definitely going to have a full nervous break-down further down the line. So yeah, it kind of freaked me out 'cause nothing I did made it go away, and even though it wasn't painful it was so very annoying.

So Sol encouraged me to go to the GP and get it checked and I got the full work up, and everything checked out, no brain tumors or imminent strokes due to high blood pressure. As it turns out it was probably just a virus. Apparently you can get viruses where you only get one symptom, like one joint that swells up and everything else is completely fine. Now that I think of it, it felt like having a really bad head cold, except without the stuffy nose, sore throat, etc.... that usually accompanies one.

Anyway, it's almost completely gone now, I still get little twinges now and again, but I'm happy to say I'm on the road to recovery. It really did turn out to all be in my head.

Serenity

In the last few days I've rediscovered the joys of star-gazing, of just looking up in to the huge sky and feeling the peace of knowing that I'm so small, the universe is so big, that it's just gonna keep on turning and everything's going to be alright.

I used to love stargazing when I was in my teens, when I was going through all that hormonal rollercoaster stuff, it was strangely calming. I hadn't done it for years, but the other night I laid out in the grass and it was like finding a long lost friend, it still hasn't lost its magic.

Pet for a day

Ryan giving Shenzi a little too much love.

Cydney "reading" to Shenzi.

Cat Tales

Our previous neighbors' cat did a "homeward bound" on us last week. Two sisters from India used to rent the unit next to us and they had this cute little kitten who was very friendly with us and the kids. Anyway, the girls went home at the end of last year and said they would find the cat a temporary home as they were planning to come back later this year......and that was that. Last week, after a 3 month absence we saw the cat lurking around our house. I didn't feed it for the first couple days, but it wasn't going anywhere and it obviously thought that he belonged to us, so I caved.
I'm not a cat person, but this cat was so gorgeous with the kids, and patient with ryan's wild, over-attentive ways, plus it had "come home", it was hard not to feel for it. We were tempted to keep it, but we have a "no pets" clause in our rental contract and it seemed cruel to keep it outside in the winter when it used to be a house cat. So I called up the local pet shelter who came to pick it up and assured me that they would help find it a good, new home. What surprised me was that I actually missed the cat after it was gone and I think part of me wants it to find it's way back to us again.

Summer Fun

Cyd getting towed by Nikki the dolphin.

To leap or not to leap.....

Out of Bounds

There are two rooms that are strictly off-limits to Ryan, the toilet and Cyd's bedroom. This morning I came across Cyd herding Ryan out of her room and saying gently, but firmly, "Ryan, you need to leave. Even though you say 'please', it will never change." Poor guy, I could just see him frantically clapping his hands, pleading to be allowed the privilege of staying within the inner sanctum. There are just so many interesting, fragile, tiny, intricate things to destroy and saturate with saliva in there. Sometimes at night after she's asleep he'll disappear and I'll find him sitting quietly in her room playing with some treasure he's discovered.

Sun, Sand 'n Surf!

We went to the beach on Sunday and only managed to get off one shot before I ran out of batteries. So here it is---the head of Cyd.

Shake that booty!!

Cyd, well, Cyd's behind, at a school disco last Friday. She had such a good time! It's so cute seeing little ones dance, no inhibitions, no self-consciousness, just letting loose and having fun.

My little genius!

I don't know if it's pretty standard that all kids can do puzzles around this age (16 months), but I was all proud of him for doing this 10 piece puzzle all by himself for the first time. I didn't even show him where the pieces went. I know, I'm the typical proud parent, but look how proud he is of himself as well. Note the hammer he carries around with him 24/7--he even sleeps with the thing.

Update

Sorry I've been so unfaithful to update this--but I do have a good excuse, our old computer died, completely died. But now that we have our new one set up, (One of the latest IMACs, no less) I will make an effort to get back on the bandwagon.

I will be busy, I'm starting my uni studies this week and I'm a little overwhelmed by it all, but I am excited about it and looking forward to giving it my best shot. Love to you all and please resume dropping by every once in a while. Cheers!

In the whaling ring--Aussie vrs. Japan

Japan harpoons 13 minke whales

Greenpeace says 13 minke whales have been killed by Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean.

The Japanese whalers are hoping to catch more than 900 minke whales and 10 endangered fin whales during the season, which ends in March.

Japan says the hunt is scientific but Greenpeace says it is for commercial purposes.

Click here to view the rest of the article.

This type of article has been front page news quite a bit lately. Australians seem convinced that the Japanese are killing whales for food under the auspices of science. In all the years I lived in Japan I don't remember hearing anything about whaling, for food, science or anything else, so while I instinctively defend Japan in this, I don't have any of the facts to back it up.

On the one hand, you've gotta wonder exactly what kind of research involves killing whales and on the other, why do the Aussies care so much? A lot of people here think that the Japanese just want them to eat, like whale meat is a delicacy or something. A while back there was a big deal in the media about some small town who had a fast food place with whale-burgers on their menu, but the way it was reported on it sounded it was available in any McDonalds in Japan. I was slightly annoyed, 'cause it was so skewed and gave Japan a bad name.

If anyone can enlighten me about local whale research in Japan I'd be interested, just for the sake of setting the record straight. Cheers. ;)