Natsuyasumi

.. or ‘summer break’ — our vacation time has started! It’s so strange for me to think that for ya’ll at home, summer is finishing. We have two-and-a-half blissful weeks without lessons. My brain is pooped..

Bryan just left (10pm) to drive out to the Minami Alps to meet some friends from Tokyo for a three day backpacking trip. Not to be outdone, Jones and I are boarding a shinkansen tomorrow before lunch.. A bullet train filled with tired company workers in flashy business suits, speaking a language other than my own, attempting to catch a few z’s before reaching their destination. Possible cultural faux-pas with a loud, busy toddler in tow are numerous. I’m worried I’ll sit in the wrong seat like I did last time, and since the train people are so stinking polite (without being nice .. tell me how that works?!), they kept telling me the same thing over and over in Japanese, trying to make me understand, when CLEARLY they should’ve just held my hand and led me to where I was supposed to go, because I had no idea. That was when I was by myself — this time, I’m with Jones. And he hasn’t been the happiest peach lately. But I told B I was determined to have fun this weekend, even if it meant doling out crackers every two minutes, or making lots of weird faces, or wee-morning breastfeeding sessions, I don’t care. Whatever it takes, I WILL have fun!

So where are we headed? {Three days in Tokyo} {Kyle and Jennifer’s house} {meeting up with Mandy} {eating lots of bread} {staying up late talking} {whatever else you do when you take a toddler on a trip by yourself..}

The picture is of the bags that are making the trip with us — I’m pretty proud, just those and the stroller. A bed and food are waiting for us on the other end, but pretty much everything else is packed into those four little bags. I keep thinking about all the one or two-day trips we took to my hometown when Jones was a few months old and how we packed out the car with all of his baby crap. NO MORE! We’re taking the train, baby, and we’ve got to crunch it! (I feel like such a city girl, taking a train to Tokyo, no less!) Needless to say, Bryan and I both derived a strange pleasure from our separate packing experiences — his in his pack, and mine in these. There’s toys and three-days worth of diapers and wipes in those things, people! And some snacks! Books! My coffee mug! Train tickets! Money! Clothes! Toiletries! Towels! Bandaids! Emergency meds! Vitamins! An umbrella! (Seriously! They make everything so tiny here..)

Obviously, I’m excited. And coming home in one of those bags will be pounds upon pounds of cheddar cheese. Mmmm.. The only place they sell the stuff here is at Costco in Tokyo.. so here I come.

{{On another note}} I’m revising my Eat-Right August plan — doing all of it wasn’t going so hot, so I’m going to focus on self-control in two areas in particular:

• No food after 8p.
• Exercising 4x per week.

(Who here thinks I’m just trying to get out of posting my sad menus?? … )

We’ll get home Sunday — here goes nothing!

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