Beaten but not down...

I often get asked when is the best time to visit Japan, and my answer is always the same. Anytime except the summer. June brings the rainy season, the rain isn't like the monsoons of India but it brings the humidity and it is that combined with the intense heat that makes summer in Japan unbearable.

And yes, it's definitely getting worse. When Ebi-kun was a kid, there was always a posse of kids hanging out on the street having water fights and other summer high jinks. There are still kids living on the street but it is too hot for them to be outside.

This week, most of the week it was 38℃ with a 'feels like' temp of 44℃. It's brutal out there!

We used to do a lot of ice cooking and ice digging but these days I think I'd move it to the bath rather than the yard. I miss those days or squeals and laughter as the kids played as I worked.

Anyway, all of this to say that I am very grumpy because it too darn hot! I lived in Jerusalem for a time and it was hot there but the heat was dry, whole different ball game!  And because my daily walks have been scuppered I've taken to the treadmill, but I have to say, it's really not that much fun.

When I bought it I had this bright idea of using it as a walking desk, convinced I could MacGyver a set up... which I did, it lasted all of 2 minutes before I almost fell off, narrowly avoiding a serious injury. Thankfully none of this was caught on camera so you can just use your imagination!

After retelling the tale to Ebi-kun he went into fits of laughter "What were you thinking, with your lack of co-ordination?" He managed to squeak between guffaws. 

Ok, he has a point!

So the treadmill moved upstairs and my walking is down to a minimum. <sigh>

It is one of the drawbacks of working from home I suppose, at least I don't have to do the train commute anymore, squashed in the Takasaki - Tokyo train with hundreds of sweaty salarymen, also not my idea of fun!

I usually escape back to the UK for a chunk of the summer, but not this year. I'm in the process of organising the Celebration of Life for my mom in September, so I'll be flying back then - assuming the war in the Middle East hasn't taken a turn for the worse. 

I haven't quite got back into the habit of updating daily but I do have to say, it's so refreshing to just sit down and write again without the pressure of SEO and all that tech nonsense. 

Having Ebi-kun at home for the summer is great too, not only for the company, he is a joy to chat with. But he also loves cooking, last night we had carbonara, made from scratch, including the pasta. Top notch, giving myself a pat on the back for getting the kid in the kitchen from a young age!

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The trouble with blogging these days...

The trouble with blogging these days...

I was talking to my biz coach the other day and she made a point of saying how much she loved my writing style and wanted to know why I don't write more.

I started with the same ole same ole excuses and lack of time yadda yadda yadda but then I though some more about it.

It isn't down to lack of time at all, if anything since Ebi-kun has been at school, I have more time! When to think back when I was most prolific with my blogging, that was when I was the most busy. So what really changed?

The business of blogging I think is a big factor.

You see when I started, I knew nothing about SEO (Seacrh Engline Optimization) or keywords, the important of alt text on images and the layout that coverts the best or any of that stuff. And to be brutely honest, I had zero interest in it either.

I was blogging initially for me and my family (this was pre-Facebook days, do you remember them?)

I wrote because I enjoyed it, it was a creative outlet. I didn't worry about the terrible grammar (confessin alert, I would type and hit publish, without even reading it through...!)

I didn't worry about how professional I sounded or if I was using the latest terminolgy and jargon. I just wrote whatever came to mind and that was that.

Totally random unicorn chocolate photos because... why not?

Being a multipotenialite meant that there was never a clear niche for this blog, it was always a general, this is my life and what I'm up to right now kind of thing. It was called A Bit Of This And A Bit Of That when I first started. No planning, not deciding on what will go out in Q1, Q2 or anything like that.

It was very much me, just writing.

Then when I started My Organized Chaos (now jojoebi) I discovered I hadn't been doing things properly and the following I had gained totally organically was a bit of a happy accident!

I started following the advice of the "gurus" on when and how to post, keyword research, optimised blog titles, SEO and all of that and you know what, it sucked the fun out of writing.

Combine that with how easy it is to write a quick update on what's going on over on Facebook and well, this blog took quite a beating.

I have had coaches in the past who told me to to move this blog over to the new site, my gut has always been against the idea, and my brain was screaming WHAT? 3000 POSTS, ARE YOU INSANE? Needless to say, we are still here and I'm happy with that.

So thanks to my current coach I was able to nail what it was that was holiding me back. This blog has never been about the money, it was always a creative outlet and connecting with like minded folk.

I want to get back to that just sitting down and rambling, spur of the moments kind of posts, those ones where you have a flash of inspiration in the bath and you just have to get out and share, even if you're dripping all over the keyboard.

I miss the days of the conversations and connections through the comments section, I feel like facebook spolied much of that. I feel like I'm on Facebook waaaay to much and the connections are not truely there, especially with the constant algorithm changes. I still love my groups but I do feel in the last 6 months or so I have drifted away.

So for the future...

Expect more of this, free form waffle, hopefully it will be a bit more amusing and exciting to read! I will be documenting our homeschool journey too, although now there will be less hands on stuff from me.

And of course the random comings and goings of life in Japan and our adventures.

I did contemplate remving everything and going for a total minamilist look but my inner entrepreneur called me bat-shit crazy for even thinking that, because at the end of the day, I still need to be making money!

The moms that I help over on jojoebi and The Kaizen Revolution, came from here initially so there still needs to be some kind of connection.

I'm looking forward to not doing keyword research, not going SEO crazy and not worrying about if I'm doing it it right or wrong. Just going with the flow!

I hope you enjoy it to!

I'll be seeing you again soon,

Jo

A walk on the chilly side...

It seem to have been really warm so far this winter, we are finally getting to see some frost and maybe a bit of snow!

I like going for a walk in the mornings to clear my head before I start work, but I have to admit, when it's really cold it takes a LOT to get out of the door. OK, you folks in Canada where it's -40c, you can stop laughing now!

I certainly served my 'time' on the cold morning front growing up, having to sort out the horses every morning, not matter what the weather, they still needed to be fed and watered and unless the weather was really bad, exercised too. It was good training really, no matter how reluctant I was, it taught me that when you have responsibilities you just have to suck it up and get on with it!

Just like being a mom really!

One thing that I didn't like was having to take the horses up to the field which was about a mile from where we lived, most of the time it was OK but on cold icy days it was nothing short of terrifying. The road was narrow, twisty and steep. Scary enough going when there was nothing else on the road but even worse when you met traffic, not knowing if they would slide on the ice. Certainly part of my life with horses that I don't miss.

I do miss the horses though, one day, I'll have myself a gentle quarter-horse and a big paddock to ride in...

The weekend that flew by!

Time seems to be whizzing by at the moment, autumn is always busy for some reason. Saturday the boys went to play football, I had some work to do, so I caught the train into town. Popped into Tokyo hands where I spotted these funny stickers....

I'm still trying to figure out who would buy them! We had the afternoon with friends, the boys all played together and we kicked back and relaxed.

Sunday morning was aikido, we still haven't had the results from the grading so we still don't know (officially) if he has got his orange belt. Hanging out with his aikido buddies...

We stopped at a cute little cafe for lunch and I spotted this rather strange clock that looked exactly like a piece of toast!...

And this is why i will never get bored living in Japan, all the crazy and quirky things that go on here, I love it!

I'm busy getting everything ready for the next round of My organized Chaos, the registration is open until Saturday, so I recommend getting in quick! If you want to learn more about it all, the free training videos are still up, you can watch them HERE. Hope to see you over there!

Inspiring tunes for kids….

Full disclosure here, I am a punk chick myself but that doesn't mean I don't like other stuff! And it does concern me some of the music and the whole culture that comes with, the twerking episode recently for example and I have lost count of the amount of times I have seen Japanese dance groups, performing in front of mom and granny to absolutely horrendous ghetto rap with the most demeaning lyrics.

What drew me to punk in the first place (apart from cute boys with mohicans) was most of the songs are about standing up for your rights, not getting sucked into a system that you don't believe in and giving 'the man' the middle finger - something I still very much believe in.

Inciting violence and glamorising the drug, rape, gun and gang culture is something I don't agree with. Anyway, what this ramble is leading me to say is that I am always happy when I come across positive role models for Ebi-kun in the music industry. These lads are not pretty-boy boy band types, they have gone out and done it by themselves and used the Internet and their entrepreneur skills to get where they are and their messages are great too, so today's  mix tape….

I love this track, it is a great pick me up and the message is perfect for those days when you are having a bad day "You're so hot, but I'm on fire" Helz yeah!

Sean Quigley hit the big time with his version of Little Drummer Boy a couple of Christmases ago, I think he was 15 at the time, he played, mixed, videoed and filmed the whole thing himself with help from a best mate and sister. He is a christian, shares what he believes in and cool, I hope he inspires other kids to get up and do something…

Mike Tompkins is an acapella artist and brilliant, this first track will blow you away, there are NO instruments and thanks to Mike, Ebi-kun has been checking out how to beat box! Mike has duetted with loads of artists, it is not the track especially that I find inspiring, more the way that he has gone the non traditional route and got his name out there. You can download the track for free HERE

And finally, a bit more Mike with Peter Hollens, just wanted to leave you with a ear worm of a song with a fantastic message, very uplifting and motivating…

I do think the intro of this song would be perfect for a TV ad, I see a happy teenager, skipping down a path through  the park after popping some multi-vitamins!

So, that is my little mix-tape for you, do you have anything on the same sort of lines to share, I am always on the look out for more.

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I had no idea...

Ebi-kun had a half day on Thursday, so after he had finished his homework we rode down to the local shopping centre to pick up a notebook and milk. I have been trying to work some extra exercise into my days so I have been taking a longer route recently, going through the rice fields and decided to show Ebi-kun the way.

For the first time I actually measure the route and was surprised it was over 11 km (round trip). I am also eager to know how far this path goes, I always come off it at the same point, I think next time I will do some more exploring...if no more posts appear, send out the search party.

Decisions, Decisions....

I have booked in to get my hair done tomorrow but I just can't decide what to do with it! I have been trawling pinterest looking for the perfect style and colour... the 4 main contenders are.....

Mine is not quite as long as picture 1 but I really like the deep fringe. I have had it like number 2 before and I love it that colour. Not fussed on the style of 3 but I do like the funky colours, although I might look ill if I go that dark - I am naturally quite fair and number 4 is fun but I'm not sure I want to go short again. My hair drives me nuts when it gets humid and tying it all up out the way is usually the best way to go.

Hmmm - so over to you, what do you think I should do?

A very clever idea for abused kids...

I saw this video the other day and think it is a great idea - especially as it is is targeting children who are being abused and will often be out with their abuser.

Although I think it is great for this situation, I could help but wonder what will happen when toy manufactures or any other company that targets children get hold of the technology, it would be nice to think that companies would do the responsible thing...

Who would you invite....

Going to camp is always fun but it usually means a long car journey. Ebi-kun has various games and things that he does but sometimes he just wants to chat so I asked his some questions, this one I have to share...

Jo: If you could invite 5 people to dinner (they can be from history too), who would you invite and why?

Ebi-kun: Hmmm, Leonardo da Vinci and Micheal Angelo so I can ask them lots of things about art and inventions but they wouldn't be able to sit together because they were rivals. Santa because he would be fun and could bring everyone a present. Jesus because ermmm I don't know and.... Hitler!

Seriously! I don't know where he pulled that from, his reason why was that he wants to ask him why he started the war and did all those horrible things.

The workings of a 7 year olds brain - baffles me!

Your turn - who would you invite to dinner?

What do you want to know?

To celebrate my 6 years I thought it would be fun to answer some of your questions... so here we go....

Q. You always ask on your inspiration posts what a typical day looks like, what does YOUR typical day look like?

To be honest I don't have a typical day - one of the joys of working for yourself! The basic run down...

6am - all get up, get dressed, have breakfast together, get ready for school/work

7.20am - Ebi-kun and hubby leave for work

~ 8.00am - I do household chores, laundry, cleaning, whatever needs doing that day.

8.00am ~ 12.pm I work, this can be anything from writing guest posts, magazine articles, coaching clients, putting together new programs, blogging, scheduling facebook posts, recording webinairs, research...

12.00pm - lunch & I usually catch up on a podcast

12.30pm ~ 2.30pm work (as before)

2.30pm try and wrap things up for the day, jot down what needs doing tomorrow. Finish off any other house chores etc.

3.20pm Ebi-kun gets home, he has a snack and we chat then he does his homework, I make sure I have everything out ready for dinner. Sometimes he will go and play with his friends, other days we will do something together, play on the wii, crafts, painting...

5.00pm start dinner - Ebi-kun often helps

6.00pm finish dinner & clear up, Ebi-kun is a slow eater so I usually clear up as he is finishing his meal then some evening we chat to my mom on Skype otherwise Ebi-kun reads to me and we kick back and relax.

7.00pm - Bath & bed routine

7.45pm - I jump in the bath

8.00pm - Usually catch up on course work

9.30pm - brain dead so I will do a bit of hand sewing or doodling and watch TV. Hubby usually gets back around this time so I fix his dinner whilst he is in the bath.

11.00pm - bed

Q. I have tried blogging but I can't stick to it, how do you do it and did you keep a diary when you were a child?

No! Well, I tried but I probably only managed a week at most. It is quite surprising to me that I stuck with blogging! I think to begin with, I knew my friends and family were reading so it was an incentive to keep going and now I see it as a document of what we, as a family have been up to so I want to keep going. I also write posts in my head ALL the time - luckily for you, only a fraction of them make them to the blog :)

Q. When are you going to write a book?

Hahahaha, I have no idea, I would love to write one but I'm not sure what the subject would be - open to suggestions!

Q. I hope this isn't too personal, you obviously love children, is there a reason why you only have one or are you planning to have more?

I think anyone with an only child gets asked this a lot. When I was 39 weeks pregnant with Ebi-kun I was diagnosed with HELLP Syndrome and was rushed into the operating theatre so they could get Ebi-kun out. Obviously it all turned out OK in the end but the hospital warned that I would be high risk if I had a second child and I would have to go into the hospital to be checked every week of the pregnancy.

*The whole birth experience was scary but I didn't actually know at the time what HELLP Syndrome was, when I got home a did what any 'sensible' person does - yep, googled it! It was terrifying to find out that I could have gone into that operating theatre and not come out.

For me, the choice was to be the best mom I can be to one child rather than risk leaving one child and possibly a baby too, with no mother and my husband with no wife.

Q. Do you plan to stay in Japan forever?

Certainly for the short term, now we have a house we don't have a lot of choice, there isn't really the 2nd hand house market that they have back home so selling isn't really an option. I would love to eventually have this as our base but spend extended time out of the country, I love travelling and finding out about new cultures so being able to spend 3 months here and 3 months there would be great - that would all depend on the rest of the family and our finances though!

Q. What made you stop designing and instead start My Organized Chaos?

There were a number of factors, after the 3/11 disaster I decided we needed to have an income that was location independent, so that if something happened and we had to get up and leave, we could do so and still have some kind of income. Then the number crunching came in, selling patterns I can only ever charge, at the most $12 and to make a decent income from that I need to sell a LOT of patterns every month. So, I started to look at other options, the concept for My Organized Chaos had been rattling around in my head for a while but I was thinking of it more on the lines of a book. Then I discovered online courses and everything fell into place. I really enjoy the helping people aspect and the  course is a lot more sociable than selling sewing patterns. There is still an element of design since I do it all myself.

Now I can go back to enjoying sewing as a hobby and I will probably release more patterns as I come up with them and I would still love to have a line of fabric from my designs...

and a few liners...

Q. What is your favourite Japanese food?

Sukiyaki or okonomiyaki

Q. What did you study at university?

Electronic Imaging & Media Communications (also have a HND in Electronics & Software Engineering)

Q. The old classic, if you could invite 5 people to dinner, who would you invite?

Assuming I can pick dead people too... Leonardo Da Vinci, P!nk, David Attenborough, Kate Adie and Jamie Oliver (and get him to do the cooking).

Q. What is your favourite film?

Hmm  don't really have one, I love films you can sing to like Wizard of Oz, Mama Mia, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Also a Star Wars fan and there are lot of films I have really enjoyed but I tend only to re-watch films if I can sing along LOL.

Thank you for all the questions, it was fun answering them! If you have any more, pop them in the comments box...

Unplugging for a wee while...

It is Golden Week this week - which implies that it is a week long holiday but alas not, it is 3 national holidays that are close together, but it does mean we get two long weekends.

So, we are going to be having some downtime and I am stepping back from the net for a few days - not sure if I am ready for this! We are off camping for the 2nd part of golden week so I am going to have to go cold turkey!

Of course, I don't expect you to go cold turkey too so I have a couple of post scheduled for you!

See you on the other side... if I survive :)

A very busy Sunday...

We started the day by banishing snakes from the house - like St Patrick did with the snakes from Ireland, the snakes were cut out of paper and Ebi-kun used a fan to waft them out of the door, that kept him busy as I made breakfast.

Which were lucky shamrock pancakes! That was about the extent of our St Patrick's day celebrations as we had aikido class to attend. After that we went to the store to order his gi and then had okonimiyaki for lunch.

After lunch we headed to the park to meet up with S-kun and his family. S-kun was Ebi-kun's best friend at yochien. Sadly, Ebi-kun has connected with anyone the same way at school and still says that S-kun is his best mate. We arrived a bit early so they boys had a kick around whilst we waited...

Once S-kun arrived, they were off laughing and giggling, even though they haven't seen each other for months, it was if yesterday was the last time they had been together. 

It was a lovely sunny spring day until the windy started, then it was horrid. It was blowing dust everywhere, by the time we left for home, we were all filthy! The boys really enjoyed themselves though, so that was good.

As we followed them around the park, I spotted this little fellow in a tree stump, not sure why he was there, but he looked quite at home. He is a tanuki, a Japanese raccoon dog and are common in Japanese folklore, they are supposedly mischievous and masters of disguise and shape-shifting! If you want to learn more then Pon Poko is a great animation, it is one of Hayao Miyazaki's - the guy who did Totoro.

I also came across this little God, I'm not sure which one he is, but he looks like a very happy fellow and stylishly dressed in his hat and bib, he looks like he is enjoying the spring weather!

We left the park late afternoon, all grubby and dirty and headed home for a bath and a quick dinner (thanks to Jamie Oliver).

So, that was our weekend, did you get u to anything exciting? 

Bring a smile to your face for Blue Monday

Apparently, research shows that January 21st is the gloomiest day of the year! This was posted on facebook a few days ago and really bought a smile to my face, in fact it went as far as make me giggle out loud! Reminds me of the old 70's TV show with Johnny Morris

And for a flashback to my childhood...

And finally, we can't have a post about Blue Monday without featuring the brilliant New Order, now can we? Here they are live at Reading festival and a little know fact for you, Bernard Sumner (singer) once gave me a a full bottle of vodka at Reading Festival (different year to the video) and thanks to that, I remember very little of the rest of the day!

Do you have any obscure claims to fame? Time to brag in the comments section!

A looooong journey

Hurrah! we made it. 

Usually when we fly to the UK we use one of the European airlines so we fly into somewhere like France or Germany then have to hang around for a couple of hours and then do another 2 - 3 hour flight. That final short flight is the killer, so this time I booked with Emirates and we flew into Dubai so the first flight was 12 hours and then seconds was 8. Luckily the first flight was at 10pm so Ebi-kun was already shattered when we got on the plane and fell asleep almost immediately. The layover in Dubai was just a couple of hours, long enough to have a wander around and stretch our legs ready for the next flight. 

Both flights were fine, the plane was an airbus so nice and roomy and plenty of games and films to keep us entertained, I think we both watched 3 films and Ebi-kun worked his way through the games selection. 

Santa came early and Ebi-kun got his Christmas present early, since we are going to be doing quite a lot  before Christmas day we though he should have it early to take lots of photos. 

We made it to Manchester at lunch time by 5pm Ebi-kun was starting to lag, we managed to get him to eat some dinner but by 6pm he was gone and I went to bed lot long after. he slept through but I was wide awake at 1am, jet-lag I am not your friend. 

Today we had a lazy day, my brother and aunt and uncle came round, so we had a good chat and tomorrow we head into sunny Manchester to see my other brother and his new baby.

2 more sleeps!

I should be getting really excited that we leave in 2 more sleeps but to be honest, I feel like throwing up again. The meds the doctor gave me are really strong and have cleared the cough but have left me feeling like crap. They are also like horse tranquillisers and completely knock me out! Yesterday morning I was feeling a bit queasy about 9.30am, closed my eyes for a few minutes, woke up at 12! 

My to-do this has gone out the window, I managed to pack all the Christmas presents into the suitcase but as of yet no clothes. I also need to go into town but I am a bit worried I might zonk out on the train.

I do have some scheduled posts to go up over the next week or so and I am sure once we get settled in, I will be back into my blogging groove, especially since I now have this to work on!

Yes, a perfectly beautiful MacBook Air 13", how I love it already!  This is payment to me for all the hard work I have put in over the year, thank you very much me. It also means that even though we will be away for a month I will still be able to get some work done. Not too much of course :)

On that note, I am off to get some of my to-do's done before this next lot of meds kick in and I keel over again!

Let's talk comfort food...

We have has a sickly couple of weeks here in the Ebi household. Ebi-kun started with a temperature and a cough so ended up having the week off school. Friday night he was coughing so hard he made himself sick. I won't go into details but he produced 5 bin bags of laundry - it was not nice.

Of course Ebi-kun has very generously passed on his bugs to me and so now I am coughing like I smoke 60 woodbine a day!

Anyway, that brings me to the question, when you are sick, what is your comfort food?

Ebi-kun asked for boiled egg with soldiers almost every lunch that he was off, his other request was chicken soup. That one threw me, I do make chicken soup but I don't remember serving it up when he was sick before but it was a good choice, with homemade bread yum!

My husband on the other hand has a thing for sloppy rice (okayu) or soba.

Me, I lean towards tea and toast, I do like soup too but it has to be homemade, I can't stand tinned soup and the range of pre-made soup here tends to vary between sweetcorn, potato pottage or pumpkin. Blah.

So, now it is your turn, what is your go to food when you are under the weather?

Book Bargain...

In Japan there is a chain of stores called Book Off, sister company to Hard Off (don't ask me why they went for that name!) Years ago all the books were ¥105 except for big publications such as encyclopedias but in recent times the prices have gone up. Our local store usually has a few English books but they are quite often the most expensive on the shelf so imagine my delight when we went in and found all the books were on sale at ¥105 whoo-hoo.

This one is bilingual, 'Not Mines But Flowers' it is about the landmines in Cambodia, bit hard hitting in places and I haven't read it with Ebi-kun yet, I think I will wait a while, although the illustrations are not graphic in nature the English translation packs a punch. It is one I will keep out of sight until I think he is ready for it.

available on Amazon

Little Albert about a boy who lives in the Swiss Alps, perfect for our Europe continent box, I think this has been translated from German.

Available on  Amazon

Ebi-kun picked this, he read it in the shop and said it was really funny, something about a boy eating dango.

Another Ebi-kun pick this is about a dragon and a magic ball.

We made some great 'knight' finds and as you know anything to do with knights gets the big thumbs up in this house. The illustrations are great and the text is well written, I think some of the finer nuances go over Ebi-kuns head but as he gets older and re-reads it I think he will get even more out of the book.

available on Amazon

 This is a pop up book and was sealed so we couldn't see what kind of condition it was in, it was marked for sale at ¥950, I wouldn't have paid that for it without being able to look inside, just as well we only paid ¥105 since in needs a bit of love and attention, nothing a bit of glue won't fix.

available on Amazon and the Book Depository

This is one of the pages, Ebi-kun and I had fun making the knights do the okey-cokey.

A daddy find, the Japanese version of Arrow To The Sun: A Pueblo Indian Tale by Gerald McDermott and it is beautiful. I have my eye on a couple of his other books too.

available on the book depository and amazon

 And finally, The Field Mouse and a Dinosaur Named Sue, this is a really cute story about a little mouse and the journey of how she ended up at the museum along with Sue (the biggest T-rex ever discovered), it is a gentle introduction to the world of dinosaurs and fossils.

available via amazon

One thing I miss in Japan are the charity shops, a great place to take unwanted goods and even better for a good rummage to find some treasure or a good bargain. Over here the 'recycle' shops have taken off in recent years but I hate taking stuff there and getting paid a pittance, I would prefer to take them to a charity shop and receive nothing but the knowledge that money made from my donation goes to a good cause.

Guest Posts...

Back in September I hosted a series of guests posts which was fun, they introduced me to to a whole load of new blogs and bought new readers to my blog. A lot of my foot traffic for my shop comes through my blog so it is important to me that I keep my readers happy and the content of my blog stays interesting (I hope). When I asked you in a survey a while back the feedback basically boiled down to you wanting the content to stay as it is, fair enough.

That said, the blog has grown considerably, especially since I started it primarily for the folks back home! and now I am getting approached by companies who want to sponsor ads, posts or pay for links embedded into posts that I have already written. Some of this I am not comfortable with and some I am happy to take the money and considering I am not in that top one percentile of the super rich, the money certainly comes in handy.

I'm not sure how many have noticed but I don't usually blog on a Sunday unless I have pre-written the post, I try to stay off the computer on Sundays and spend time with my family instead, so I have been thinking, a lot, about this and decided to try a regular (scheduled) Sunday post featuring guest posts. They may be in the form of an interview, a tutorial, a giveaway, a sponsored post... I haven't set any specific format, we will see what comes along. My plan is to keep it to one post a week, on a Sunday, so if you have a blog/store/cause you want to promote drop me a line and we will work something out but keep in mind whatever it is must fit in with my blog and nice photos please!

Surviving Christmas abroad....

I have done quite a few Christmases away from home now , some have been awful, some just OK and some have been weird (I am thinking of the one I had in Jerusalem for that one). For me, Christmas is about spending time with family, it is the only time, bar weddings and funerals that the whole family would get together, so no matter what I do here I can't replicate the Christmas we have back home.

Living abroad in a foreign culture takes a lot of compromise, everyday I come across something that I wouldn't compromise on back home or wouldn't think twice about but I decided that Christmas was going to be the exception to the rule. Before we even got married I made it clear that Christmas day is NOT a work day, I have worked on Christmas day a couple of times, it was awful, never again. Of course, some professions have no choice about this but you know that going into the job, for us the 25th doesn't have to be a work day. So, this is what our family does, it is my way of surviving the holiday season....

November - when I start seeing blog posts about Thanksgiving I know it is time to order my turkey. You may think this is odd but the local supermarkets don't sell turkey or whole chickens for that matter. Now, I don't drive so I can't go and pick a turkey up so I order from The Meat Guy and have it set up so that the order arrives on the 22nd of December, in the morning, this gives it time to defrost so that I can cook it on the 24th. My oven isn't big enough to do the turkey and veg at the same time! Another thing I like about the Meat Guy is that they give approx measurements of the turkey so you can check it will fit in your oven. You can also buy turkeys from Hanamasa and Costco and it is worth asking at a decent butcher because they might be able to get one for you.

Late November the stores start stocking Christmas goods so that is the time to start stocking up, I usually buy my Christmas pudding(s) from Seijo Ishii and in the past I have got my mincemeat from there too but this year they said they were not stocking it so I got daddy-ebi on the job and he ordered it online, I think from Kenko. It is rumoured that Kaldi have it in stock but I have yet to see any in my local Kaldi. I also look out for cranberry sauce, I prefer the jarred sauce to the canned but have had to use the canned on occasion in the past.

Other places I look in for Christmas foods are Sony Plaza and Yamaya, well more Christmas drinks in Yamaya! We don't bother with a Christmas cake, no one is that fussed about the rich fruit cake that we have back home and I'm sorry, but strawberry cream cake is just wrong! So, we stick to Christmas pud, mince pies and daddy-ebi gets a fancy cake given to him at work on the 24th, more than enough cake for the three of us.

British Style Christmas cake

Japanese Style Christmas Cake!

Usually by the start of December I have most of my Christmas stuff bought, presents going back home are wrapped and sent as are Christmas postcards, packs of cards are rare and expensive here so I do it the Japanese way and send postcards, plus it saves a bundle on postage!

November 30th we get the decorations out so that we can hang the advent stockings. 

December 1st we put up the tree and the other decorations and put on some Christmas music, nice and loud. Of course, every year my mom complains that it is too early but here we are not bombarded with Christmas from every direction like we are back in the UK. 

First few days in December we write a letter to Santa and make the first batch of mince pies, I make my own pastry using my grandmothers recipe. 

I go through the book shelves and find all the Christmas/winter story books and put them in a basket so we can dip in any time. We also set up the nativity set. I bought it in the UK and it came with a story book, we are not a religious family but I do think it is important for Ebi-kun to understand what the real reason of Christmas is all about. I check the TV listing and mark any good films that are on (again it is usually slim pickings) and we see what there is to rent in the DVD store. I also make a list of Christmas crafts/games/activities that we can do and make sure that we have what we need to do them.

We usually have some kind of party or gathering early in the month with the playgroup because there are always families leaving for the holidays. The third Saturday of the month we go and see the ice candles and the 23rd is a national holiday so we plan something special that day with friends. Daddy-ebi always has to work on the 24th so I cook the turkey, drink sherry and sing along to Christmas songs and prepare all the veg for the next day. 

The veg - I usually do roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes and red carrots (kintoki ninjin), the carrots are usually only available around the new years period and they are the closest thing I have found to parsnip. In the past I have done brussels sprouts if I can find them and carrots, broccoli and corn.

First thing in the morning here is late night in the UK so Ebi-kun usually opens a couple of presents whilst we do a video chat with nana and papie and then we hook up again the next day and do it in reverse! The 26th is a work day for daddy-ebi and so we video chat with nana and my best mate Di. Nana usually has half the family round so we get to see everyone, say our thanks yous and have a catch up. It is like being at a party but stuck to your chair, you can't intermingle, just have to wait until someone comes over to chat, usually one person finishes and passes us over to someone else.

So, that is it, that is how I survive the holidays over here, it takes some extra planning but I don't have to worry about being trampled when I go shopping! My mad rush to get everything done is usually finished by the start of December, so I can sit back and relax, spend time making special gifts for my nearest and dearest. I no longer dread the holidays, I embrace them. If you are away from home, how do you do it? Please share any tips whether it be cooking, shopping or just surviving in general.

Normal work resuming....

Ebi-kun is finally back st yochien on a normal schedule, yesterday I went to help take down the artwork and the the mothers had arranged to go out for lunch, we had a private room at at restaurant, 19 moms, 6 under 3's and 2 babies and it felt like there was always at least one of the kids screaming! Everyone was talking really loud (talking over each other) so by the time we had finished my head was spinning, I can just about cope with one on one Japanese conversation but everyone at it plus screaming kids, I was in serious need of a stiff drink we we got home lol.

Instead of hitting the bottle, I hit the pantry and dug out the Christmas decorations out so I could at least put the advent stockings up. This year the Christmas elf is leaving a couple of Where's Wally playing cards, a Christmas joke (print yours here), a Christmas quiz question (sneaky maths question) and a candy or craft idea. Every evening I every evening  the elf puts the goodies in the stocking so I can plan ahead for the next day, works so much better than trying to do it at the start of the month.

Now, I am trying plough through my to-do list and to catch up on emails, if I owe you one, I will be with you soon... the weather is cold, wet and miserable so I feel like curling up on the sofa with some hand sewing and a big mug of coffee. Oh yes, my sewing machine is back, she had to go to be fixed, the engineer looked exactly like this but a bit less orange! 

He had left me a loaner but I was happy to get my own machine back, the loaner was a different model and a bit scary. All but one of my presents have been sent so now it is time for family (in Japan) sewing and enjoying the festivities - whilst watching everyone else run round like headless turkeys....