Some of the things I didn`t complete (but would still like to- one day)

- Pass Level 1 of JLPT

- Take a Japanese cooking Class

- Get paid to write something

- Go to the cinema 20 times ( I went 9 times in 2.75 years. Lame!)

- Perfect one piano piece. (For those who don`t know I took lessons for 14 years. I was quite good- but I pretty much had reached my peak when I quit at 17. I think it had been a few years since I had improved much. I can still read music though and I would love to play again for enjoyment. Someday)

My 101st (101th?) thing was to donate $10 to charity for every uncompleted task and I actually did this BEFORE the date was even over. I donated to World Vision while I was in Australia last year and then I also donated to Red Cross Japan recently after the earthquake.

I enjoyed doing the list- I think my “desires” changed a lot though after I got married and had Noah (and then Shion)- the things I wanted to achieve changed. That said, this list was a HUGE motivator for me and I doubt I would of done half the things on it if I had not been keeping a record of it and if I hadn`t written the list in the first place. I think I might do this, or something similar again in the future.

Maybe next year I will do 27 things for the year I turn 27 or something like that. I am undecided if I will remove 101 things from my tabs at the top of my page or not yet. I think I will keep the list there for awhile as a reminder of what I achieved and also a reminder of things I wanted to do when I wrote the list 3+ years ago.

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• Shion was weighed today at his doctor`s appointment at the university hospital where he spent his first 6 weeks. He came in at 4530grams and 52.4cm long. He had his final synagist vaccine (he might have more come Winter) and so now I have to start looking into his regular vaccines. He is 3.5 months old (6 weeks corrected) so he is doing well! He is smiling up a storm now and coos a lot- especially in the mornings.
• Noah has decided he hates showers. Most nights he just has a shower with me and then after our shower we sometimes hop in the bath depending on whether or not I have remembered to fill it( it takes about 20 minutes to fill halfway) and whether or not Shion has settled for the night. For the last three nights he has SCREAMED the entire time. Some of it has to do with washing his hair so I have stopped doing that every night and instead just wipe his hair with a wet face washer and do the shampoo battle every 2nd or 3rd night but still he screams. We have lots of toys, I am always with him and I always remind him we can brush his teeth after the shower (which he loves to do!). I wrote about this on facebook and have got some good advice which I will try out tomorrow. Playing music during bathtime (taking laptop into bathroom) and letting him brush his teeth in the shower- hopefully he stops screaming.
• Noah tried to “sing” incy wincy spider today. He failed. But it was still cute.
• Shion is starting to show an interest in toys (and Noah) and Noah is starting to show more of an interest in Shion and is even attempting to be gentle at least 50% of the time. Shion also likes it when I read to Noah if his bouncer is close to us- he likes the sound of my reading voice I think and the sounds that Noah makes while we read (by pointing at objects and saying “bah” “gooo” at different objects- he thinks he is saying the words I guess?)
• House plans- Shun, Shion & I went to a model house display area on Sunday while MIL watched Noah for the day. We saw three different house makers (and as my mother pointed out “house maker” is not an expression used in English- so we saw three building companies?)- Sweden House, Mitsui House and Kinoshita Home. I liked the first two- Sweden House might be above our budget though (since we need to build house for in-laws too) but it was beautiful- I liked the wooden floors and cabinets and the windows were amazing (keeping heat/cool in, sound proof etc) and the guy we spoke to was great. A bit too much “wood” for my taste though. I would like a bit more “modern” look though I think- that said though it was beautiful and the decks built on were fantastic- definitely something to think about. Mitsui Home is one of the big house makers here- I liked the options etc and they seem to be pretty accomodating. I liked them  and the layout, especially the kitchen in the house we went to and the guy we spoke to was great – got a lot of brochures to steal ideas from. I should mention that last year when we started looking we spoke with Misawa House, Hebel Haus and Daiwa House- I still have all of the information from them as well. So far nothing has been “OH I MUST USE THIS HOUSEMAKER” but we are meeting with some others in Golden Week and possibly meeting with Sweden House and Mitsui Home to get some more ideas and a possible mock up of what we COULD do.
• We have another decision to make and it will need to be made relatively soon. This coming July we will have been in our current apartment for 2 years and if we decide to stay we have to pay 1 month (or 2 months- I still have to find out contract) gift money to the landlord if we decide to stay. If we do renew and stay on (and there is no official contract with how long you stay but usually if you don`t see out the 2 years you don`t get back all of your bond) then we will be here for a further 10 months TOPS. Now, Shun`s grandmother, who lives behind his parents (and that is the land we will build on) lives in a town house with two other town houses next to hers (which she owns) and one of them is currently open to be rented out. It is 64m2 (I think- It is a 2SLDK- so two rooms and a small storage area upstairs and a living/dining kitchen downstairs with the bathroom) and it has been offered to Shun & I if we want to take it- this will mean we will be close by when the house is getting built, I will have Shun`s parents to help me with the boys when I need it, and we will save a ton of money leading up to moving into our house (we would still pay rent but it would be a fraction of what we are paying now- plus no bond or key money). The thing is it is smaller than we currently are (but I saw inside recently and it bigger than I thought it was) and it would involve me packing everything up soonish and unpacking and then doing the same 6-10 months later. The plus`s are closer to Shun`s work, we could save money (and therefore furnish our new house with the money we save during the time), have Shun`s parents to help, Noah could play in the in-laws garden everyday and I am sure I am missing some. The cons would be the packing/unpacking and the smaller space. The other thing is since we are going to be knocking down Shumpei`s parents house his parents will have no where to live while the house is been built- the idea of them moving into one of grandma`s town houses was tossed up as well as the option of dead uncles other house (I know that sounds weird- but basically grandma`s younger brother died 2 years ago and his wife lives in a house 50m away and on the same land she lives is another house that has not been lived in for 20 years) but they have not yet spoken with Auntie about this and we think that even if they could live there that it might not have a very good water system- probably enough to cook/clean with but not enough to shower/bathe.)- I am not sure of the entire story here but it seems they do not want to ask Auntie yet about the house but to me, it would make sense to ask now before Shun & I make a decision about Grandma`s open town house because if MIL & FIL (and the dog) can`t go to Auntie`s house then I think we should stay in Funabashi. Anyway- it is something else we are thinking about.
• Golden Week starts Friday week- can`t wait. A whole week of having Shun around to help with everything. Yay! I am sure by the end of it though I will be BEGGING him to go back to work- we will be having a lot of house related meeting/things during the week though.
• After the earthquake I lost a bit of weight- 4kg in a week actually. Happy to report that I gained 2kg back (it wasn`t exactly a great way to lose weight) and seem to be now at a steady weight. Let me just say though, the weight I am, well, I weigh less than Shun for the first time EVER- since we got married we have been about the same (except when I have been pregnant) but now I am a good 3-4kg lighter than him! I am also 4kg less than what I was when I got pregnant with Shion (and 6kg less than when I got pregnant with Noah)- I am pretty sure, from memory, that this is what I weighed when I finished high school actually. So that is pretty damn good!

If these last couple of (stressful!) weeks have shown me anything it is that I am definitely a comfort eater. I always knew this- I am pretty certain I have always been a comfort eater. I had thought I would be better now seeing as I have put so much effort trying to lose weight and watch what I eat but instead I reverted back to my unhealthy ways.

I am just not one of those people that gets stressed and doesn`t eat nor am I a person who stops eating when they are sick. Quite the opposite on both counts much to my dismay!

I have lost just under 12kgs since coming home to Australia and I am not ready to stop now. I am determined to lose those last couple of pesky kilos. I got on the scales today and it seems I have put on half a kilo in the last couple of weeks due to comfort eating, lack of exercise and  lack of motivation to attend weight watchers meetings.

I know stress affects people in different ways but I am determined to not let it run my life creating havoc on my eating habits/exercise habits.

So my goals for the upcoming weeks are:

Learn to stop letting my emotions and stressful situations control my eating and get back on track with planning ahead (or at least change my comfort foods from chocolate to fruit or veggie sticks

Get back into an exercise regime- this means returning to aqua aerobics, walking more often, hula hooping and doing either pilates on DVD or returning to yoga class.

Start tracking my food intake again- ie. writing down what I eat.

Return to meetings from next Thursday (this Thursday I have plans with two friends in town)

Last year, around this time in fact (March 2008) I met up with D and Leila for some hooping in Yoyogi park! I had read about her hooping adventures and wanted to join in and this was before she left teaching and became a hoop dance instructor. I have not hooped with D since then because I moved out to Chiba soon after and then back to Australia but tomorrow that will change because tomorrow we are meeting up for a major hooping session ( I took the day off work- was so excited to see D & go hooping that I knew I wouldn`t be able to concentrate on work if I went in even just for the morning.

I loved it , hooping I mean, (although I was terrible) when I tried last March and I bought some hoops when I got back to Australia and have gradually gotten a little better with time. I can keep the hoop up at least but I am ready to take hoop dance to a new level and get out there and bust some moves (so to speak!). I haven`t hooped with friends in awhile but soon after I got back to Australia I did meet up with Jen, Jac & Jey for some hooping at Southbank but it has been a long time!!!

I thought I would post some photos of me hooping last March and then again in June/July because since then I have lost almost 10kg (just under! Weighed in tonight and lost 1.5kg this week!) and when I take photos tomorrow I will see if  you can tell (I see pics of myself from last May & June and I can`t tell the difference between now and then but who knows…)

March- Double Chin- Yuck!

Oh wow, I think this one is worse than the first yet I was lighter.

Just a couple of weeks earlier- I look thinner perhaps?! Could be the 80`s wedding dress though!

I am so excited!!! I can`t wait to see D, Catch up & hoop up a storm! More stories will follow I am sure!

Shun and I met four years ago today. We always take our anniversary from the day we met (which may have been on the 14th just before midnight but we take it from the 15th)….

It is hard to believe sometimes that we have been together that long and other times it seems like we have been together forever. I can not imagine not having Shun in my life, nor can I imagine never having lived in Japan. It just seems like it is part of me now, part of my history.

So when we get married we will have been together for four years and almost six months.                                                                                                                                                                                               
We did have a small tiff today though regarding the wedding invitations and the fact that the RSVP will probably not be til the beginning of April, six weeks before the wedding and about the fact I have booked four rooms at the reception (has hotels!) and that is it which won`t be enough if others decide to come. He said we should find out who from Japan is coming way before April. I totally agree and have been telling him for months to remind his friends to book tickets if they are coming so that we could arrange accom if neccessary, but so far nobody has. They were to let us know so we could book places. I assume they are not coming OR that if they do come they don`t mind where they stay. I told out other friends before we left Japan (and again when we sent save the dates) that I would book accom for them if they let me know if they were coming and the sooner they let me know the more likely I would be to get them good accom near the reception etc. Anyway we had a bit of a tiff but we kissed and made up and all is good again. If worst comes to worse and more friends from Japan are coming than I anticipated then I will  book more rooms at the hotel. If there are none available I will book a group somewhere else. It is no big deal & luckily we are all good now.

Oh and by the way, it was weight watchers weigh in today and I have lost 1.6kg this week. I hope to lose another kilo by next Thurday.  Only 8kg or so to go until I reach goal! Yay!

I weighed in at Weight Watchers on Thursday for the first time since beginning of November and I hate to say I had put on a little bit. I am back on track now and DETERMINED to lose weight this week. I have actually lost weight since Thursday anyway according to my scales at home but at least by doing it weekly on the same (electronic) scales it will keep me pretty honest I hope.

While my new year`s resolution is to lose another 5kg, ultimately I would be happy to lose another 10kg. Preferably another 7kg by the wedding.

The thing is I do not want my weight loss to be all about getting skinnier for the wedding, I want it to be about living a healthier more active life. I know the hardest thing for me is going to be to keep up the healthy eating back in Japan and the walking since I am pretty slack. I need to make it part of my life…

My goal weight at weight watchers is 68kg which is about what I weighed when I went back to Japan at the beggining of 2006. To get there I would need to lose about 9kg (yes yes, you can all do the maths)- but the more and more I think about it I would probably prefer to get to about 64kg or 65kg. For my height(170cm or so) I would have a fairly average BMI if I reached that weight. I would still be within range if I got to 68kg but a little more would be nice.

I have my work cut out for me. I had lost 8.5 kilos since coming home but put 2kg back on so have a way to go. I have a good feeling about it though….I know I will succeed in doing it because I really am determined.

Anyway I just wanted to get my goals out there, on paper (so to speak), written down so that If I do start to lose hope I can refer back to this and see how motivated and determined I was.

** I do not really know why I have blogged everyday so far this month, it seems to have become a bit of a habit. I have also journalled everyday which is rare.

I went back tonight and I had lost 1.6 kilos in the last week so I am back on track.

I am 1.1 kilo away from having lost 10% of my bodyweight since I started weight watchers & have lost about 8 kilos altogether since I have been back in Australia.

It feels good to be back on track- and it wasn`t as if I was super good or excersised a lot (I do think some of the weightloss may have come from stress over the last couple of weeks though) but it has motivated me to be even better this week and now that Abbey is able to go for walks again (She was desexed just over a week ago but had her stitches out on Tuesday) I plan to take her most afternoons!

The aim- to lose another 3 kilos before Christmas and if I managed that I would be about 6 kilos from my goal weight!

Yay for weightloss!

- hoop at least 10 minutes everyday – I hooped outside today for about 30 minutes while Abbey watched, most of the time sitting right at my feet as I hooped! In the end Shumpei had to call her over because I was so scared I would step on her….but she likes to sit in my shadow in the shade!

- track the food I eat in my little weight watchers book and do at least 4 walks! – I did this and I counted points plus I went for a half hour walk (But we were out for an hour because half of the hour was spent playing with Abbey in the park, running around, then Shumpei minded her while I went for a fast walk with mum and dad!)

- blog another 2 times- Well this is once and the next post will probably be all about our new little addition Abbey!

- Contact wedding celebrants (at least 2) and set up meetings for sometime in the next couple of weeks!- I am going to email two people I have found now and try and set up some meetings!

-Study Japanese for 3 hours! – I did this today!!! Kanji! I don`t think I remember any of it but I did at least do it! It has reminded me though how far I have to go because honestly my retention for kanji sucks and new words sucks (I am a lot better with grammar!)!!

- Plus one bonus that I was going to add today! I have decided it will be to start a new knitting project!

So I a putting it out there- I want a cool, easy pattern for a baby hat (or boots!)…preferrably with the name of wool I can get in Australia. I don`t even know where to buy wool in Brisbane though- Maybe Lincraft? Suzy if you are reading please pretty please send me the pattern for that umbilical cord hat we talked about! I am thinking that might be the one!!! But if anyone else has any ideas let me know (I will also search on ravelry!)

Hope everyone else had lovely lovely weekends- I know it is a long weekend in Japan too (for those lucky enough to be there) so I hope everyone is having fun!

My friend Mandy wrote “Have thought that perhaps instead of making so many to-do lists and planning, I should actually just take action and practice what I preach.” and continued on to write things she was working on for her 101 things in 1001 days list and she has already marked ONE OFF in just a day and I realized I need to be more like that! Jen had a rough couple of days and had to make a couple of hard decisions but she has bounced back and written about what she is going to do with her life and her plans sound so amazing (and yes I am jealous!) and again it made me realize that I too can achieve what I want to do! Deanne at Suzhizume (who has moved to a new location-update your links and reader all!)  is one of the people that inspired Jen and she is definitely worth a mention because she is such a fun loving, awesome, down to earth person (Who I have had the pleasure of meeting quite a few times- she is the one that inspired me to get some hula hoops!) who decided what she loved and is doing it and while I haven`t quite figured out what it is I love so much that I want to do I figure crossing some stuff off my to do list etc is going to help me head in the right direction!! She is such an inspiration! Another inspirational girl is Gala Darling, oh how I heart thee! This lady got up and went to New York and now has decided she wants to live there and is making her dream into a real possibility. If you have never read gala`s site then you simply must start now because it is fantastic stuff and I am so jealous (yet again!) of all the stuff she does- and she always does it so eloquently! She is a great writer, and I totally wish I could be more like her! And she used to do weekly resolutions which is what this post is actually all about!

I journal, and sometimes, after reading about them at Gala`s site ages ago, I write my own weekly resolutions in my journal and I realize that it is time to bring this back into my life- and sure it is another list but I do love lists and they do help keep me motivated! So here goes, here is my weekly resolutions for this week!

- hoop at least 10 minutes everyday

- track the food I eat in my little weight watchers book and do at least 4 walks!

- blog another 2 times

- Contact wedding celebrants (at least 2) and set up meetings for sometime in the next couple of weeks!

-Study Japanese for 3 hours!

-  and since it is nearly midnight I am going to think about this last one and make a decision on it by Monday! Or perhaps one of you might have an idea of something you think I should try and acheive this week in my weekly resolutions!

Thank you to all my bloggy friends out there- some of you I have met in real life and others I have yet to have the pleasure but the joy I get from following your adventures and reading your comments, advice and inspirational writing makes my day! I only mentioned a couple of you who have inspired me in the post but trust me, it is not only those I mentioned! My goals for the week might not seem like much but to me they are important and I promise I will try really hard to acheive them all!

Hugs to all, xoxoxo

Ps: All is going well with Shun- he is also inspiring me of late because he is trying so hard with his English already and it makes me realize how slack I have been with my Japanese study hence the mention in my weekly resolutions! Oh and in other news we picked up Abbey today and she is just adorable- Shun and I played with her all afternoon and it was delightful!!! And while writing this blog post- it was interupted by a howling little dog….but I went down to see her and she is doing ok now- I think she just woke up and forgot where she was for a minute!