☆s of late

☆ i left my house twice this three day weekend. once for laundry and once for dinner on saturday with Bee and Style. while the lazy beyond lazy days were wonderfully restful, i can't help but feel like i wasted a perfectly good opportunity to go somewhere. or that maybe i should have been a bit more proactive in the planning department of my social life. oh well, there are national holidays galore in the next couple months; i'll have other chances.

☆ i had a date with CB a couple weeks ago. we had a great time drinking umeshu and chatting over dinner. the day or so following the date has led me to be so confused about him. i'm working up the courage to call him and talk about it.

☆ and Parker? we went to a movie last weekend, completely spur of the moment. we went to dinner (pizza at Shakey's!) and then saw ２０世紀少年. it might have been the first japanese movie i've seen in a theater. the japanese is fairly easy to follow, with some confusing parts of course (but you eventually get it once events unfold). and then, he was texting someone practically the minute we got out of the movie, and while i didn't think i was that (romantically) interested, i was surprised to find that i was actually a bit jealous at the thought that he was texting some girl.

☆ i also went to costco last weekend with Bee, Style, Cheer and a newbie to japan. Newbie and i went to the same college in the states and he studied japanese for a couple years but never actually visited. he moved to japan about a month ago and by total chance lives a 10 minute bike ride away! anyway, funny guy. goofy and likes to drink, Bee loves him. (right, Bee loves anyone who loves to drink)

☆ work is...i don't know what. it just is. i am more and more NOT into it. as much i love my coworkers and the financial stability and the vacation schedule, i wonder how much is just draining my energy and soul. an acquaintance of my mom's asked for my contact info back in may and finally got in touch with me, just after i left for mt fuji. her husband works for an american company that just bought a company that does a lot of business in japan but the CFO of the american company (who, from what i gather is in japan) doesn't speak any japanese. that's where she suggested me. last weekend i sent her my resume and she is going to forward it on to her husband as well as another company she said was interested in having it. who knows. it's all way too early to say anything, it's just a resume. but, you never know what connections may come from it.

☆ my mom was in the hospital the other day with a kidney stone. i called and talked to her for 20 minutes. she sounded really groggy (from the painkillers) and was waiting to hear whether or not the doctor could get the machine needed to "zap" the stone and break it up so it can pass. she emailed me the next day to say that she was home. they put in a stent to ease the pressure and she has to go back later this week for the actual procedure. she doesn't do well being sick so good vibes are appreciated.

☆ my two measly cherry tomatoes finally turned red and i picked them today. i ate one immediately, just popped it in my mouth, and the other one is sitting on my counter waiting for me to make a salad.

☆ i cleaned my bedroom today. i have this problem where i can only seem to get half my apartment clean at once. so, the bedroom it is! i opened all the windows and thankfully it wasn't too hot today. i tidied up everything that was scattered on the floor, febreezed a blanket and hung it out on my balcony, put away the laundry i did on saturday and vacuumed. i also cleaned the toilet and washed half the dishes. i started sorting through a shoe box that has collected all kinds of papers and envelopes, which are currently still all over my living room floor. ha.

☆ in my cleaning, i made a wonderful discovery: the bonus i got for helping out with the school entrance tests (back in february mind you! can we say pack rat?!) i took about $1000 of it home in february but the rest was left untouched in the envelope!! add that to my mt fuji paycheck, and i've got some money burning a hole in my pocket. when i was on mt fuji, i decided that i was going to buy a nice camera (likely a digital SLR) but have yet to seriously shop for one. and now i've got more than i thought to work with. what should i do?? investing will always be a back up option, and i will take a chunk of money home at christmas when i go (i invest with a company in the US) but it seems like i should do something fun for myself with at least some of it!

☆ i also finally caught myself up in my budgeting DS game. it's がんばる私の家計ダイアリー. basically, i'm in it for the colorful graphs it makes showing my income against whatever categories of spending i choose to display. so along with the income line, i have a line that represents all my utilities and rent and fairly "stable" expenditures, and then one for total spending. i can see if i spent more or less than i made, and can compare the change month to month. i love graphs, it's true. i'm 100% a visual learner. while it's not a budget in the sense that i decide ahead of time how much i'm allotting for cell phone bill, or drinking, or entertainment, it at least gives me a general idea of how much money i spend each month. i'm not currently consciously trying to cut back and save, though i am slowly saving money, it gives me a good idea of where i could cut back spending if i needed to.

☆ i'm unashamedly excited that the new season of america's next top model has started. yeah, i'm a sucker for that show. and there are some serious characters this time around. the drama is gonna be nonstop! thankfully someone uploads the episodes to youtube relatively soon after the show airs so i can enjoy all the model melodrama! also in tv news, i read this post about ainori and will be tuning into channel 8 on monday nights. ...tonight! :)

☆ i'm in the process of getting a couple more things knocked off my 50 for 2008 list, particularly one that i've been procrastinating doing for...well, for 9 months. when they are officially done, i'll stick them in the end of the month update. it's already the 15th after all!


that's all the ☆s i've got for now...