Cherry Blossom Adventures

I am so slack with the blogging lately!

I have 2 months of letters to finish writing and posting for Noah (7 months and 8 months) and I am late on doing my 101 things in 1001 days  updates also.

Maybe I should try to blog everyday in September in order to make up for my recent slackness?

I have less than 4 months to go on my 101 things in 1001 days list and I am kind of over it- in the beginning it was great! A fantastic motivator for getting things ready for the wedding, and experiencing Australia with Shun and other things too but now as I near the deadline knowing I won`t get everything crossed off I am a little disappointed in myself. I know I shouldn`t be because I have crossed the majority of things off already but I am one of those people that doesn`t like to do things half baked (well at least not usually!) but have lacked the motivation in recent months to get things done…

78. Do a monthly update for 101 things on blog (29/33)

Crossing off another 2 months here!

96. Go camping with Shun

Done! We went camping last month (although seems like so long ago) with friends in Gunma. It was in cabin type things but that is still camping in my book PLUS we got to take Noah along!

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Have finally uploaded photos from Australia trip here! Most are from Australia anyway since we were there for most of the month of August. There are even more on facebook for those who are friends with me there.

A couple of favourites though…. (will embed more when I write Noah`s letters!)

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Books read recently

Finally finished “The girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and started the second book. Have also read “The Better Woman” by Ber Carroll (Nay you will like this so I will keep it for you! While you are in Australia if you see any books by her check her out- this is the second or third book I have read by her in the last couple of years and I enjoy her writing style and the books are always at least half set in Australia) and a V.C Andrews book which was part of a series too.

Also read the relevant parts (for us) of “How to raise an amazing child- the montessori way” about using the montessori methods in your own home.

Let`s not forget I have probably read at least 30 different pictures books to Noah in the last couple of months too!

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Noah will turn one in December and we will be in Australia. He is getting christened on December 26th so friends and family will be joining us for that ( I wanted it to be while Shun was in Australia and he is only there from 24th to Jan 3rd) so I think I will just have some cake and stuff and a little party back at my mum`s house after that so that Shun will also be there for his “1st birthday celebrations”.

Noah`s friends are all in Japan though and so I am wondering if I should have a little something when we come back to Japan in January too. We have so far missed 2 different 1st birthday parties due to illness (Noah`s first fever) and then been in Australia (Sorry Sakura and Missha ) but I think we will be able to make Misora`s later in this year (assuming we get an invite- Melanie, we are invited right? haha) Earlier this year we also made it to Nanami`s 2nd birthday party and I am sure Noah would enjoy having friends over to play with and of course MORE cake.

I will be in my 3rd trimester by then with edamame-chan (about 33 weeks along I think?) and am not sure if I would be up for planning it especially since we will be in Australia for the time leading up to it! Something to think about anyway! Noah might be too little to remember the festivities but I want him to know we celebrated his birthday when he gets older (and sees the pictures!)

It would be pretty cold around then too but I think I would probably hold it at our place or at the local oyako cafe (about 500m away)!

I have to look into dairy free cake! (and then real cake for those that can eat dairy- because really who wants to eat cake made with soy butter and soy milk. yuk!)…..

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Noah officially is a baby that sleeps through the night. He has continued the good sleeping since we have been back in Japan and it is amazing how nice it is to wake up at  6 or 7am and think “Wow, I got 6-8 hours SOLID sleep” – that said, still pregnant and running after a child though so still pretty damn tired!

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I have my baby doctor`s appointment tomorrow for edamame-chan. I hope he/she is growing well!

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Am late getting this posted. Whenever Noah goes down for a nap I think “I should blog” or once he is asleep at night but I just don`t. I guess my blogging mojo has gone down hill a little bit recently…

Update 101 things is 1001 days for June 2010

33. Maintain the weight loss for at least six months  (abandoned June 2009 due to pregnancy, to restart after birth. Managed 4 months before getting pregnant and started again Jan 2010) 6/6.
DONE! Since losing my pregnancy weight by the time Noah was a month old and actually losing a further couple of kilos I came out 3kg less than my pre-pregnancy weight AND means that since I started the 1001 days challenge I lost 10kg, put on 12kg, lost 15kg! That is a lot of yo-yo weight loss/gain in a short amount of time but hopefully I can maintain it now for awhile!

50. Learn how to use photoshop.

This has been a long time coming, and to be honest I can`t see myself using the program much but I know my way around (slightly!) and can do some touch ups if I want. I found it all very time consuming though and I would rather just take photos and upload as is unless I was making something special as a gift or something. But that is just me! It is an amazing program though and the things you can do with it (of which I only know a small amount) is incredible.

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Books read in June

I am still working on “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” – This is without a doubt the longest it has taken me to read a novel before. I guess I just haven`t really gotten into it. I like it enough but all the Swedish names make it confusing and I think after caring for Noah all day my brain is just mush and makes it a bit hard to follow sometimes. Once I am done, while I own the next two in the series, I will probably hold off on reading them until I go to Australia later in the year. I am looking forward to reading a different novel but definitely something that doesn`t require me to concentrate so much (How bad does that sound. Honestly though, I think other mums out there probably understand at least those with under 3s)

Reading Magic- Mem Fox (more on this later)

Top 100 Baby Purees- Annabel Karmel

Oh and in June I probably read over 30 different pictures books (some more than 2 or 3 times!).

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Mem Fox is an author of Australian children`s books and also works on children`s literacy. I recently picked up her book “Reading Magic” which focuses on reading aloud to your children from birth or a young age and the impact it will have on their ability to read later on. I have read to Noah almost everyday since he was born- I usually have a little book in my bag in case we get bored on a train or while out, I read before bath time and at other times of the day and on the weekends I encourage Shun to read Japanese picture books to Noah and I always take books to my in-laws house so that they can read to Noah too (in Japanese)

Noah is not even 7 months old and has approximately 100 picture books in English (and only about 10 in Japanese), We haven`t read all the books we own but have read most of them. Some of the golden books I have though are a bit long so I am leaving them for when he is older.

I love to read. I have always loved to read and apparently I taught myself to read before I even went to kindy. How? Well my parents read to me everyday and I guess that helped.

Reading through Mem`s book I began to realize why I was able to teach myself to read really young. All the things she encouraged parents/teachers etc to do are things my parents did with me and a lot of the case studies in her books were of children reading younger than usual or those that struggled with reading were ONLY trying to learn from a phonics base focus instead of concentrating on the whole words and stories (which you do when reading aloud to children)

Anyway I found the book fantastic. Noah only has 3 of Mem Fox`s children`s books but I will definitely try to pick up some others when we are back in Australia.

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Noah`s napping has turned to crap. He still naps but a couple of weeks ago when his schedule changes (yet again!) and he started waking up  for the day around 6am every morning I would feed him at 6am, do his breakfast about 8am, feed him again at 9am and he would get drowsy or fall asleep while feeding and I would put him down for a nap and he would sleep for about an hour and then at 12 or so when I would feed him again he would fall asleep again.

This meant that he was no longer putting HIMSELF to sleep in his cot because he was pretty much asleep when I put him in the cot. The problem with this is that I spent so much time ensuring he was able to put himself to sleep previously that I knew if I didn`t break him of the habit we would be in trouble and he would start needing me to fall asleep.

When we were out and about he would still just sleep when he was ready in his pram or ergo- not necessarily after feeds but over the weekend and today I have tried to switch it up so that he naps without feeding first (He is not hungry or anything- he would usually have had a feed within 1hr30 mins) and it has been a nightmare.

A good 45 minutes each time of him screaming when I put him in the cot. I would pat him for a bit and he would settle but he would whimper for awhile and then start screaming again. It is not like me hoding him helps as he just gets frustrated. His first 2 naps today he has while we were out at the embassy. Both were very short though- only 25 minutes or so each so he was still pretty tired so I ave just managed to settle him again for another nap. I put him in the cot at 12:30pm and he FINALLY fell asleep at 1:20pm although he was exhausted. He would self settle for a bit but then scream again so I was in and out of his room non-stop.

Any advice? I don`t want him to be reliant on breastfeeding for sleep but I am happy to pat him until he settles or continue to go into his room to let him know I am close by.  Previously though I would just put him in his cot and he would play a bit and then fall asleep. At night he would often be asleep after his bath and feed before I put him down but if he was still awake I would put him in his cot anyway and he would chat” for a it then fall asleep by himself. I very rarely had to go back into his room once I had put him in the cot.

I think part of it might also be separation anxiety setting in because now if he is playing in the living room and I get up to go to the kitchen or soomething he will often turn on the water works.

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Well I am behind, as usual. I love my 101 things in 1001 days list- it has been great but I am kind of looking forward to it ending I think. I know I won`t get everything crossed off but it certainly has been a great motivator over the last 2 years. I am still working towards achieving as many things off it as possible…

In May though, sadly, I didn`t get much done.

I continued to maintain my weight loss and still weigh less now than I did when I got pregnant. So 5/6 months done for number 33. One more month and I will be able to cross this off! Yay!

95. Get a credit card.

This is done. I have had a debit card for years (ie, it is a visa but have to have the money IN THE ACCOUNT to use it) and have had credit cards connected to my parents account when I was travelling (emergency use) but have never had MY OWN CREDIT CARD. So I applied for two visa`s- one for me, one for Shun and they arrived. So I am happy I could cross another thing off the list.

I have 16 things left to cross off the list- six of them definitely will not be done, about four are unlikely and about six will be done or are very likely to get done. I guess I better start saving to pay $10 to charity for each uncompleted item. Since I will be in Australia for Christmas I am thinking however many things will remain undone will be money I spend on buying gifts to go under the tree for disadvantaged families/children at my mums local shopping center. Or I will send it to world vision OR the Ronald Macdonald House in South Brisbane.

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As I type this I can hear the fireworks going off at Disneyland. I hear/see them most nights.

Today I spent the day with Shun and Noah and we were home all day. It was nice. I did some cleaning, took some pictures, made some baby food, Shun made dinner and now I am relaxing on the sofa.

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Solids and feeding Noah is going well. He has tried rice cereal, banana, apple, pumpkin and spinach. He likes pumpkin best I think and although he hated banana the first time he likes it mixed with rice cereal. Today I made spinach, carrots, sweet potato mixed with spinach, and sweet potato by itself. I have about 2 weeks worth of frozen baby food since he eats only one ice cube a day…(and rice cereal with some fruit in the mornings usually although sometimes it is just rice cereal). We are on two meals a day- one about 8:00am or 8:30am depending on what time he wakes up and then again about 6pm. He gets excited when he goes into the high chair as he knows what is coming!!!

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This year I have been listing the books I have read each month and sadly, I have to say, I didn`t complete one book in May. I am still working on “Girl with the dragon tattoo” but I did read some of my baby sign booklets from class, some magazines and also some sections out of my baby books. It is very unlike me to NOT complete at least a couple of books/novels each month but honestly I find it a bit hard to concentrate on reading nowadays…

I am also reading “Mothering your nursing toddler” which Mel lent me. I am not sure how long I plan to breastfeed Noah- I guess I had thought I would start to wean him while in Australia around his first birthday. Does anyone have anything they wish to share on this? At the moment he doesn`t drink any formula and I breastfeed him 7-8 times a day including once, sometimes twice overnight (between 7:30pm-7:30 or 8am) and feed him twice a day. I want to continue breastfeeding him. I really feel like I would miss it if I stopped anytime soon but I think by his first birthday I will have wanted to cut him down a lot, if not weaned him completely.

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Big shout out to my good friend Cassie whose birthday is tomorrow! Make sure you stop by her blog to say Happy Birthday!!!

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I am late with this update- probably because I can`t cross anything off. Just continued with a couple of things like updating each month, maintaining the weight loss and also we applied for credit cards but that was only a couple of days ago. I also have plans to go to the cinema with a friend maybe this weekend- not sure if I will be able to or not though.

Same as I have in the previous months for 2010 I will list the books I read as well.

Take A Change on Me- Jill Mansell
My Darling is a foreigner (ダーリンは外国人) In English (Saori Oguri)
Heavenstone Secrets　- V.C Andrews
7 steps to raising a bilingual child— Naomi Steiner & Susan L Hayes
Also read a couple of magazines!

Now I am reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and am so far really enjoying it! I think Nooh recommended it originally!

What a dull post! Perhaps I will try and write again later tonight once Noah is down for the night (he is napping now but due to wake up any minute) and post cute photos of his first rice cereal experience!

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Am so behind in doing my update for Mar 2010 in the 101 things in 1001 day challenge but here goes…

5. Go to at least two of the following places: Hokkaido, Nara, Hakone or Nagasaki.

Well I went to Nara 2 years ago(!) and went to Hakone last month and I wrote about the trip on here! So Have now been to two of the above places- although I went to the two CLOSEST places. I still hope to go to Hokkaido and Nagasaki sometime soon though!

3. Take a Japanese cooking class or classes

I enquired about these at the ABC cooking studio at Lalaport since I went to a trial lesson with that school once before with my friend Suzy (We made Japanese style Christmas cake, it was fun!) but you have to buy a 12 class pass and I would never be able to get someone to watch Noah that many times. They do do one off classes but it is for certain foods and they are not Japanese style cooking which is more what I am looking for. Does anyone know of Japanese cooking classes I could take that are more Japanese style? It doesn`t matter if it is in English or Japanese.

33. Maintain the weight loss for at least six months  (abandoned June 2009 due to pregnancy, to restart after birth. Managed 4 months before getting pregnant and started again Jan 2010) 3/6

Now done for 3 months! I still weight a little less than I did when I got pregnant with Noah which is great!

72. Get paid to write something

Working on this by taking a magazine writing class through Writer U at the moment. I wish I had more time to devote to the course which is going for most of April but it is obviously hard with Noah (and my brother and Gem still been in town) but maybe next week and the week later I can focus on it a little more and hopefully it will help me get paid to write something!!

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Also, as in recent months, I will share the books I read in March. Only two though Did read a couple of magazines though as well and LOTS of children`s books. Both books read were great though!

Love in Translation- Wendy Nelson Tokunaga

House Rules- Jodi Picolt

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Go check Nay`s blog- she had her baby! YAY! SO happy for both her and Naoki.

I have so many blog posts to catch up on still…also need to start baby proofing as Noah is rolling more and more and today rolled from his back to his stomach for the first time (has been rolling stomach to back for a couple of weeks) after he moved around in circles with his feet for five minutes (before he flipped over). I will have to be on my toes a bit more now!!!

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I actually have managed to cross a couple things during the last month from my list- although I know there will be things left over at the end of the time I am at peace with that but still determined to cross off as many things as I can before the deadline this December.

2. Read a Japanese newspaper or magazine and understand it.

Well I read “おはよう奥さん” a magazine with recipes and things for wives in Japan- still can`t quite believe a magazine like this exists. Now I skipped all the ads in it and I read through the rest. I have to admit after the first couple of pages of looking up every second kanji I gave up looking the rest up so technically I only understood about 50% of it. But, I did do a couple pages each day and read through reasonably slowly trying to get the meaning etc. I doubt I would buy the magazine again but I did like the recipes and have marked a couple to try. I also bought a cook book at the same time with Japanese recipes and have flicked through that a couple times and tried a couple of things from it- so I can read them well enough to do them without help!

33. Maintain the weight loss for at least six months (2/6)

Maintained my original weight loss for another month and bonus here, I lost another 2kg since Jan 19th! WOOT! Was a nice surprise when I hopped on the scales at the end of Feb! So 2 months down here!

50. Learn how to use photoshop.

I am still working on this but I don`t think I could comfortably cross it off but I do know most of the basics now! Will continue to work through it and hopefully be able to cross it off soon!

66. (Buy) a Polaroid camera

Well technically I didn`t *buy* it but when Shun`s parents asked him what I wanted for my birthday last month he said he knew I wanted a Polaroid camera and that is what they got me! Yay! Along with 5 things of the film stuff so I have snapped quite a few cute pictures of Noah which are now stuck to our pinboard! I look forward to playing with it more!

100. Make a budget and stick to it for six months (6/6)

It feels so good to cross this off my list as it has been a long time coming! Shun  & I successfully stuck to our budget for six whole months!!!! We are continuing with a similar system but I would and am working towards trying to save more each month- this will probably happen by me taking on a few more private lessons perhaps as well as getting better at cooking Japanese food since it is so much cheaper to cook that here!

I still have 17 things to cross off my list before December!

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Oh and continuing on from January these are the books I read in February- not much but hey, I still tried to read a little each day. Plus I am not putting down the kids books I read with Noah but I read one or two a day too him!

Grasshopper by Barbara Vine (I didn`t like it- I have passed it onto Nay though so will be interesting to see if she likes it as she read the back cover a couple of months ago and requested I pass it onto her when I was done)

Twenties Girl- Sophie Kinsella (Good book! Usually like her work and it is so easy to pick and put down which is great considering I dont have so much time to read anymore)

Baby Signing (Teach yourself)- Jane Jarvis (Enjoyed it and have referred back to it several times. Noah and I are going to our first baby sign class in April but I already do about 3 signs with him on a regular basis)

I also read cookbooks, many kids books and the “ohayou okusan” magazine mentioned earlier!

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I seem to have lost my blogging mojo of late too- so if you find it please let me know! I guess I feel like most of the things I want to blog are about Noah but that it could get a tad boring for those who read after awhile. I love looking at his cute pictures but I am not sure whether everyone else wants to see picture after picture! hehe

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Okay I didn`t manage to cross anything off the list completely but I have furthered the following:

2. Read a Japanese newspaper or magazine and understand it

Started working on this today! Obviously not finished yet but have started at least by buying the magazine “おはよう奥さん”　−It has some good recipes so far that I am definitely going to try!

33. Maintain the weight loss for at least six months (1/6)

I made it back down to my pre-baby weight and have started maintainence again. I made it 4 months previously before getting pregnant but have to start again!!! So one month down!

78. Do a monthly update for each month that I do 101 things in 1001 days on my blog (22/33)

Just 11 more updates to go!

100. Make a budget and stick to it for six months (5/6)

Now we have stuck to it for 5 months! We also managed to save a lot more over the last month due to baby money, Shun`s Dec bonus and more!

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In January (this has nothing to do with 101 things though) I started writing down the books I read- I have tried this many times over the years and I use to write a monthly list in my journal (yes, I am THAT kind of person) more so that if I read a good book then I had the authors name so that I could check out others by the same author. Anyway, I don`t get as much time to read anymore as I used to obviously and I figured it might be a good year to start it again seeing as I won`t have as much to record- I used to do most of my reading on the train to and from work (both in Australia & Japan) or while relaxing in coffee shops and now, with Noah, if we are on the train I am moving the pram back and forth so he doesn`t crack up and it is similar in coffee shops!

That said, this month I tried to read a little each day even if it was just half an hour before bed.

The books I read in January are

Call me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural mothering – Suzanne Kamata (Ed)
Baby Love- Robin Barker
Are you my Mother?- Louise Voss
Split Ends- Zoe Barnes
It sucked and then I cried- Heather B. Armstrong

It was a pretty good mix. One was short stories/anthologies (Call me Okaasan), 1 reference/non fiction book (Baby Love), 2 fiction (Split Ends/Are you my Mother?) and I guess It Sucked and then I Cried could be considered a autobiography of sorts. All of them were good but I think I liked It Sucked and then I Cried best though as I had been waiting/wanting to read it for a long time. Suzanne Kamata`s (I read her blog!) book was great too- I am waiting for another fiction by her as I loved her first book (Losing Kei) as well. The short stories/anthologies were really great and I loved her introduction and the stories in the book. I am not sure how much I will read this month seeing as I am trying to read the magazine in Japanese (and my reading is so bad that it will take me A LONG TIME to get through it and actually understand it) but I am sure I will get a couple of English books in as well.

Anyone want to recommend any good books they have read lately? I have heaps of un-read ones on my shelves already but I am always on the look out for more!

Oh and if you missed yesterday`s post- see below! Lots of smiley pictures of Noah!

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Flicking through my journal (which has been sadly left to the wayside in recent months) I found my resolutions for 2009. I make resolutions most years and enjoy writing down my goals for different things. I am a huge list maker and resolutions are no different…

I sometimes even write resolutions for the week kind of like a to do list- some of which have to be done (like the shopping!) and others which are more for me (like finish a book or journal 2 times etc)

Even though we are now more than half way through the first month of 2010 I sat down today and wrote some resolutions for this year but first here are the resolutions I wrote in my journal on the 1st January 2009.

” 2009 will be the year I get married, become more responsible with money, make another international move and hopefully get pregnant. It is set to be a very big year and I am going to be happy, a good wife and pro-active in what I want and what I need to do. My resolutions

- Lose at least 5 more kilos thought healthier eating, more regular exercise etc. Preferably before the wedding.

- Be more responsible with money, combine our finances and work at saving a little bit each month.

- Get pregnant

- Learn to use photoshop, at least the basics

- Find an apartment in Tokyo/Chiba and make us a home we both love. ”

I succeeded in completing 4 out of 5. I did lose 5 more kilos before I got married. I weighed 78kg on new years day and reached 73kg before I got pregnant, we are definitely more responsible with money now and have combined our finances and are working to save a little each month. I got pregnant (and even had the baby!), I worked on photoshop but sadly this is the one I did not complete as I still know very little about it but will hopefully try to work more with it this year and we found a great apartment in Funabashi which we both love.

Some of my goals/resolutions for this year are similar to those i had last year, a little like an extension of what I already achieved.

1. Cross as many things off my 101 things in 1001 days list as possible- do not beat myself up if some remain unfinished on the deadline, donate $10 to charity for each uncompleted task and move on. Write another list to start on Jan 1 2011. (This will incorporate learning to use photoshop which I did not complete in 2009)

2. Make a scrapbook for Noah of his first year of life, write monthly letters to him to read when he is older (Blog these and print to put in the scrapbook), and be diligent about filling in his baby book with his milestones and accomplishments.

3. Have $10,000 (AUD) or more in our savings account by the end of the year (we almost have this now with the baby bonus set to come in soon but I mean that we STILL have to have this much in our savings account even with a trip back to Australia for the three of us)

4. Get back to pre-baby weight and maintain my weight- preferably lose a couple more kilos or more. Try to exercise three times a week (walking to the train station and back does not count)

5. Find some more part-time work or lessons or a way to earn some money.

Do you believe in resolutions? Did you make some for 2010? Share if you like!

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Time for a 101 things in 1001 days update but I am teaming it with a meme doing the rounds on a lot of Japan blogs at the moment where you reminise about the last decade.

First things first though- only one thing to cross off my list for the month of December.

92. Watch the rest of Heroes with Shun (season 1, 2, 3)

Done! Finished watching it in the hospital after Noah was born! We will start watching season 4 eventually but at the moment we are enjoying watching flash forward together when it comes back on in the states.

Also we stuck to our budget for the month and have done my December update. Looking through my list I know I don`t have many things left to cross off but I wonder how many of them I will be able to do now that Noah is on the scene- passing level 1 of the JLPT does not look promising  (nor does being able to read a newspaper although perhaps I should buy a magazine and work on that since they are a little easier!) as I doubt I would find the time to study but I really really need to start working on my Japanese again since it is definitely going down hill. Camping might happen this year (I hope so!), I can definitely buy a polaroid camera sometime and probably finish learning to use photo shop. Getting to the cinema might be hard though? Oh well, whatever I don`t finish by the end date (December 2010) means that some money will be going to charity!

Hopefully at the end of this month I will be able to say that I have maintained my weight loss again and start maintaining it for another six months as I got on the scales this morning and have 1.8kg left of pregnancy weight to lose. I would like to lose another 5kg on top of that but am in no hurry. Would be stoked to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight before the end of the month though and it looks like that might happen!!!

Okay, on to my decade on a nutshell! First saw this on umebossy`s blog but have since seen it on heaps of others! I posted a condensed version of my answers in the comments at umebossy`s blog but have added in a bit more now.

2000- Was 15, in grade 10 and doing a lot of sailing and was still singing for first half of the year. Was the year my father was diagnosed with cancer for the first time. Gave up music as a subject at school as well as singing and the violin (continued with piano til I was 17) despite having thought I might like to go to the conservatorium to study. Turns out I wasn`t nearly as good at music as I thought I was. Had a giant crush on a guy from sailing who was NEVER interested me in the slightest. Think this might of been the year I started drinking…I struggled at school a little and hit a rebellious streak with many of my teachers- I still got decent enough grades but I walked out of several classes and out of school on a couple of occasions. I think most of my rebellion was to do with dealing with my father being sick.

2001- Father went into remission after a stem cell transplant. Met first ever boyfriend at the end of the year when I was away for a week at stradbroke island with my highschool girlfriends. We were together 2 years. Don`t really remember much about this year except I was in Maths B and hated it since Maths really wasn`t my strong suit and it took all my effort to pass it whereas I never studied for any of my other classes. I wrote a short story for English that year that I was really proud of too. This was the year I went on anti-depressants after having suffered from depression for almost 2 years previously.

2002- Met Kanako a Japanese exchange student and we became friends and I took her under my wing despite her being older than me and we became really close- I spoke no Japanese at this point. Graduated highschool with reasonable grades. Still with bf. Drank too much, went to a couple of formals, had fun and got my license at the beginning of the year and drove a mini. My dad started doing the mini up for me when he was sick a few years earlier so I learnt to drive in it and had it for several years before selling it when I moved back to Japan for the second time.

2003- Didn`t get into the uni degree I wanted to do and ended up in an arts degree. Decided to study Japanese- broke up with bf near the end of year after applying to go to Japan on exchange and getting accepted. The break-up had been a long time coming and in the end there was another girl- I broke up with him but regretted it but really it was for the best and I can not believe we stayed together that long. First loves and all that though I suppose. We don`t keep in touch but I know he is still with the girl so I guess it worked out well for him (and her!) too. Had a couple of flings..

2004- Went to Japan- had several short term relationships in Aust and Japan. My year on exchange was one of the BEST of my life and I made many life long friends- in particular Cat & James who were both part of our wedding! I went to Thailand in the Japanese summer and met up with my mum and she came back to Japan for a few days also. Found out father was an alcoholic. Had a blast in Japan and my Japanese actually got better. One of the best years of my life despite health issues in the family.

2005- Met Shun in January 2005, went back to Australia in Feb 2005 to finish uni. Shun visited Aust. twice that year. Finished uni with a bachelor of arts in Japanese & Public Relations and a minor in Journalism. Worked full-time for six months with a part-time job & uni to get enough money together to go back to Japan- tried to deal with my father`s issues but never really succeeded. I left home for a couple of weeks near the end of this year and stayed with a friend as I couldn`t handle what was going on at home.

2006- Went to Europe for 6 weeks then back to Japan. My parents officially seperated, sold the family house and bought 2 new places.  Met Shun`s family and lived with them for almost 2 months before I found my own place and then we moved in together (I moved first, Shun followed just before Golden Week). Worked for a horror of a company first as an intern then as staff. Quit the job but was so emotionally drained from the experience that I took a couple months off and went to language school (courtesy of money from my parents) and took the level 2 JLPT.  Lived in Kichijoji- wish I could still live in Kichijoji. Earlier in the year when I was still an intern I worked part-time at two different international schools in Roppongi. This was also the year I got hit by a taxi in Roppongi! I am pretty sure I drank way too much this year as well. I visited Australia sometime too… & Okinawa. Shun`s brother also got married.

2007- Still in Japan, started at a preschool teaching in Kichijoji. Really loved the job and stayed in it until I moved back to Australia again for a year in 2008. I loved the kids that I taught and I can honestly say they liked having me as a teacher. Had a crazy guy (who was a friend of a friend) get very drunk at karaoke and hit me on the head with a heavy beer glass knocking me out and splitting my head open. Police and ambulance were called and by the time I came around they were already there and the guy had fled the scene and I thought I was dying because there was like 10 ambulance staff surrounding me. Had 6 staples (I think?) in my head. Still lived with Shun and we moved to Nakano as living in a 1K was killing us (well me!) and we moved to a nice 2DK. Found out Dad`s cancer was back and he was struggling with his alcholism again (he went into rehab several times in 2007)- I went home for Christmas as Dad had booked to come see me but he wasn`t up for it so we cancelled his tickets and I went home instead. Had a lovely christmas back in Australia but knew that I was going to have to go home for a bit in 2008 to help my family out (I decided this before going home, maybe in November). Shun decided that he would also come to Australia…

2008- Got engaged to Shun in Feb 2008. Moved to Australia in April/May 2008 and friends in Japan through Shun & I a surprise engagement party the weekend before I left. Shun followed me to Australia in July. I helped my dad buy Abbey, his dog, and we bought her home to live with us.  Had lots of family issues to sort through in Oz and was busy planning a wedding. Worked for government for the majority of the year. Was great to have Shun in Australia for Christmas and show him what an Aussie Christmas was like.

2009- Had lots of family issues that drained me emotionally and physically. We started trying for a baby and I went off the pill and was pregnant six weeks later. Got married, honeymooned at Hamilton Island, moved back to Japan, lived with the in-laws, found a place to live in Funabashi and had a baby. (So a very eventful year!)

I am excited about what the new decade will bring. So far 2010 has just seen me getting to know my son and spending time with Shun & my mum (it is great having her here!)- I have made no resolutions this year except to try and lose the baby weight and maintain a healthy weight (for me) and to continue to try and stick with our budget and save a little each month. Also try to continue to cross things off my 101 things in 1001 days list. I am excited about spending this first year with Noah as well as I am sure he will grow up fast and I don`t want to miss anything.

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Sadly I have very little to cross off my list this month- I really seem to have hit a standstill with this lately but I am not giving up and I do hope to complete everything before December 2010 (the deadline!)

78. Do a monthly update for each month that I do 101 things in 1001 days on my blog. (19/33)

20 months down. 13 to go! Another update completed.

100. Make a budget and stick to it for six months (3/6)

Budget written and completed for another month. We are doing well with this, even if we are saving very little we are living with in our means and keeping much better track of our finances.

Number 72 on my list was get paid to write something- I was published again recently in the Being A Broad magazine but sadly it was not a paid piece. I seem to have given up again on writing recently but hope to get back into it eventually- I still enjoy it but I think I have hit a bit of a brick wall with my ambition to get paid writing experience.

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