So what do you do when you realize that you were the bitch in the relationship, not him? Conundrum!

Merry Christmas everyone! It's nearly 1pm, no presents have been opened (mainly because there are no presents to open), and it kinda feels like a normal day. But none of that matters, because in two hours, we're heading over to my godmother's house. My godmother who has been up all night cooking. My godmother who believes that everything should be home-made.

I'm gonna die in food Heaven, and I ain't gonna feel bad about it. God said that gluttony is a sin, but I only get to enjoy a feast like this once a year, and He'd better believe that I'ma eat my friggin' face off!

Quick question for you frequent flyers: Is it better to buy now or wait? I'm going home for Christmas, but Dad thinks there might be better deals closer to the holidays, when airlines are trying to get rid of tickets. Add in the recent economic crisis, and he thinks that airlines will be begging people to fly. So should I wait? The lowest price I've found so far (Dec. 19 - Jan. 3 flying from Nagoya [NGO] to Atlanta [ATL] at any time, any class) is about $1500 on Northwest. Even though I hate Northwest with a burning passion, I can't argue with that price.

So, Frequent Flyers, buy now or wait?

Finally well-rested! Maybe that's because I fell asleep at 7pm yesterday and woke up at 7am this morning. There were a couple of wake-ups in between, but I just went back to sleep. ^^

Unfortunately, I decided to have a cup of nomu-yogurt (drinkable yogurt) this morning, and now my tummy doesn't love me. Damn lactose-intolerance! How is it possible to become MORE intolerant as you get older? I used to be able to handle a full glass of milk in the morning; these days, I'm lucky to get half a glass. And let's not talk about what a gamble ice cream is. ;__; SADNESS!

I really, really need to be asleep. I haven't felt this exhausted in a long time. I think my full class load today (WTF teachers, don't sign up for me the DAY OF CLASS!) plus all of my traveling has finally caught up with me. Sorry if I promised anyone anything; I'll get on it tomorrow. For now, I'm heading to bed at 7:30pm. I know, I'm such a lame, but tomorrow is the "bad" school, so I really need the rest.

Tired. Even though I went to bed at a good hour...

First teaching day today. Jesus save me.

In case you haven't read the latest on my Japan journal bri_j, the thunderstorm that happened here was MUCH bigger than I thought. There is massive flooding to the inner part of the city, disaster relief troops are here, one woman's dead, another missing. It's not too bad where I am, but there is an evacuation order for the inner city going on. This video will give you a bird's eye view.

Did a Tina L. from California send something to my house? I got another package from someone else too. If you're sending me something (or perhaps sending something to my college address), please let me know?

All right, off to a Board of Education meeting! Fun times????

It seems that I have to remind myself not to develop crushes on men whilst drunk, because when the morning inevitably comes, I can't figure out why I liked the guy in the first place. Oh alcohol, the evil things you do to me...

Tokyo Orientation was overall a very dry and boring event. I missed the only two presentations I was interested in (Team-Teaching and Creative Use of Classroom Materials) because my foot decided it didn't like life and wanted to detach itself by way of pain. Not too fun. Unfortunately, the big foreign boss-lady in my town caught me skipping out and didn't seem too happy about it. Hope that doesn't come back to bite me in the ass!

Tomorrow I head out to my prefecture via bullet train, and I'll probably meet my supervisor and do all of that "I'm a new foreigner, teehee!" stuff. UFJ apparently closed down the bank account I had previously, so I have to go through that process all over again. Damn.

On the good side of things, the new JETs from my prefecture had a karaoke night out, wherein we sang badly and got drunk. They seem like a really good group of people, and it looks like I'll have a good support system should I need it. Next weekend is supposed to be party weekend, and I surely do plan to live it up!

All right, off to bed with me. Gotta be up bright and early to head out, and I want to look like I'm partially awake when I meet my new boss. ^^;;

Inevitably, when you're about to make a big change in your life, things come down to "the lasts." I think, as humans, we need to be able to pick out a turning point in our lives, else our inspiration for doing anything slowly wanes. This morning, I realized that today is my last Sunday in America. My Sunday mornings are always the same: I wake up sometime after nine, turn on the radio and listen to the Quiet Music radio program, lounge around until it's over at 11am, listen to the Gospel show until it's over at 12pm, and then check my e-mail. I have a no yaoi before 12pm rule on Sundays so I can get my church in, and because of this, I've come up with a rhythm for Sunday mornings.

A part of me felt very sad that I will no longer be able to do this, at least not in the same way. In my house and in my dorm, my window is always on the right side of the room, and I sleep on my right side, so the sun pours in while I relax the morning away with soothing music. It's what calms me and gives me the strength to go on for another week. Somehow, I'll have to create another routine in Japan to do the same.

Thinking of that, and realizing this will be a week of "lasts," I sometimes have to fight back tears. This house I'm living in...I've lived here for my whole life, all 21 years, but there is a distinct possibility that it won't be here next time I come back to America. I certainly don't expect that I'll ever live here again. My dog is getting old, and I'm hoping she won't forget me while I'm gone. There's the life I have here, the friends I have here...I have to pack up and say goodbye to all of that. It's not the fact that I'm leaving that gets to me, it's the fact that I have to say goodbye. Once I'm on that plane and settled down, once I'm in my new apartment, in my new school, I'm fine, but saying goodbye is the most difficult part of leaving.

That said, today is my goodbye party! I have a number of things to take care of this week, and my flight leaves at 9:10am on Saturday, so this is the best day for a gathering. I'm expecting a lot of family and friends to come out, so it looks like I can get all my goodbyes and tears out of the way at one time. Good for me? ^^;;