PMS

Does anybody know of a solution to PMS-related emotional crises?

This is in relation to my dear friend Lily's recent blog entry. I too, suffer from PMS - which is futile, since I don't even have a uterus anymore!! - especially the emotional ups and downs.

During the first half of my menstrual cycle, I am a happy, easy-going mom. I love every silly little thing my beautiful three year old does, and the two of us have so much fum together. I love myself, I think I'm a pretty good mom.
But then I ovulate, and things start to look shady, then, gloomy, and finally, the last week or so becomes full of yellings and shoutings and tears, and I absolutely HATE myself. The smallest mischief and naughtiness aggrevates me, and I explode. A pleasant moment can turn into Armageddon in two seconds. I would even define myself in such moments as borderline-abusive. Sometimes I am affraid that one of these days I would raise my hand and physically hurt my little girl. Well, I've already hurt her and scared her many times with ugly words screamed to her face, and I can't forgive myself, but I just can't seem to control myself when I'm about to menstruate.

I even talked to my gynecologist about it and went on the pill for a couple of months - not having a uterus means I can't have anymore babies, so might as well control my ovulation; makes sense, huh? - but it seemed to have no effect. At least I didn't feel any possitive effects.

The only solution I can think of right now is going to see a psychiatrist and have something prescribed, but that's a BIG DEAL here in Japan, and really, is that the only way out?? I mean, PMS!! There must be millions of women going throught the same type of thing everyday, hating themselves for creating conflict and chaos in their relationships. Hasn't anyone found a cure for it??

Holloween Event at MSL

The last Monday of October, Maiko's English class had a holloween event. Maiko dressed up as Minnie Mouse - just like last year - and had a ball!

Us moms were called in to the classroom for the last 20 minutes, and the kids had a chance to come trick-or-treating to our "houses," which were just chairs with pictures of a door taped on.

Sports Day (Oct. 12, 2008)

If you've ever lived in Japan, you'll know that Undoukai - sports day - is a big deal in Japan. In the fall, all over Japan, from pre-schools to large companies to villages and towns, children, men and women all gather up at their school/company (or park/stadium rented for the day by the company) and participate in various form of sports.

The indivisual games are not very serious - tug-of-war, 10-100 m race, throwing soft balls into a basket etc, although those who participate take them pretty seriously.

Anyway, Maiko's Yochien - the one she will be entering next spring - had one on October 12th. Those planning to enter next spring were to participate in two games, one of which involved dads - or moms or grandpas etc.

The dads/moms give his/her child a piggy-back ride, grab soft balls, pass them to the child, and the child throws the ball(s) into one of three baskets on the backs of three running teachers. Fun Fun for the dads/moms, huh?

Another game Maiko enjoyed was Musunde-Hiraite, a simple hand game. Small children from the area were allowed to join in and those who participated were all given a gift - a cute set of sand toys.

Sennin Onsen

Okay, this is really annoying. I've been uploading pictures from our trip to Sennin Onsen, writing a whole paragraph about the beautiful hotel - more like a luxurious resort in Bali - and without warning, Internet Explorer shuts itself down.

So forget the words, here are the pics. If you want to see better pictures, try this website.

Bellow is one of several library/reading rooms. They have various novels, non-fics, children's books both with and without pictures, dictionaries, etc.

Maiko chats with her grandmother while her uncle enjoys his cigarette.

One of the many sitting areas with comfortable chairs and sofas.

SHICHIGOSAN

On the last Saturday of August, our we went to a photo studio in Aobadai to have Maiko's SHICHIGOSAN family picture taken. A few weeks earlier, I had taken Maiko to the studio to pick out a Kimono for her and for myself and make reservations to rent out Maiko's Kimono on November 15th, the date of the actual SHICHIGOSAN ceremony.

Maiko, who is usually dressed in various shades of brown and beige, enjoyed her pink floral Kimono and fluffy hair-do, as well as all the attention.

I was surprised to see that she had had her picture taken alone without any tantrums while I was being dressed up in my Kimono.

I was also surprised that the studio allowed Ko to take snapshots of Maiko in her Kimono inside the studio.

Unfortunately, the makeup lady and hair lady - both of whom were presumably in their 50s - did an aweful job with my face and hair, so no photos of me. According to my beloved husband, I looked like someone from Ishikawa-cho. I don't even know what that means, but really. It could've been a compliment if he'd said "Ginza", right? But noop, he says "Ishikawa-cho." No offense to those working in Ishikawa-cho, but I guess I wasn't really aiming for that type of look.

Ponyo

Hey to all. It's been a while since I wrote my first entry for this blog. You all must've been wonder what happened. I hope you'll forgive me for being lazy because this will probably be the pace at which I will update my blog.

There are so many things I need to do everyday - not just the things I have to do as a working mom and a wife - like playing with a three year old, preparing meals, doing the laundry, cleaning up the house, working etc.- but also the many hobbies I have - tending the garden, reading, doing embroidery, knitting, sewing etc. - that keeping my blog going is way down there in terms of priority.

Anyway, this is what I've been up to lately.

A couple of weeks ago, we took Maiko to see Ponyo. It was her first time in a movie theater, so I had to prep her for days - she's afraid of dark places and loud noises so I had to tell her a hundred times that the room was going to be dark that the sound was going to be loud, that the screen was going to be much much bigger that any TV she's ever seen etc.

Luckily, it all paid up and she really had a great time. She fell in love with Ponyo, that as soon as we got home, she yelled "Mama, make me Ponyo." I was hoping she's get over it in a few days but the next day she insisted we go buy fabric and yarn for Ponyo, so I gave in and spend the next two days planning and sewing and here's my creation. Cute huh? I think I did a pretty good job considering I had nothing but a couple of pages of printouts from the movie website to go with. The difficult part was her back side, as I couldn't find any pictures of Ponyo's back and had to rely on my memory for her hair style and overall shape.

hey to all

Okay. Here's the deal.
I have a blog that I've been keeping for over four years, but it's in Japanese. I've always wanted to translate the blog into English so that my friends abroad - with whom I hardly keep in touch with anymore - can take a peak once in while and know what's going on in my life. However, the theme of my other blog "my little rose garden" happens to be - guess what- gardening, and I seldom write about any other aspect of my life. Not that I mind much about writing about books on a gardening blog. The real problem is that so many of my relatives and not-so-close friends check that blog that I feel reluctant to share personal feelings and thoughts too openly - I mean, there are some things I'd rather not share with my in-laws.

So, I've been contemplating creating a separate blog for a while. And since I'm better at articulating my emotions and ideas in English -why is that?- I've decided to do it in English.

Thus, this blog has no particular theme.
The title. I wanted something original but couldn't come up with anything flashy so I took it from my two treasures in life. My daughter's name and my husband's name. I kind-a like it.

ANYWAY.

Let us begin.