Up early this morning to go teach at ten, luckily the gale force winds we had last night died down, so it was a pleasant walk down, and on the way home, it was positively summery! I need to start laying in some summer clothes or I'm going to completely roast!

Today was about the same for teaching - this guy is a bit ridiculous, today he was convinced that a client in London was lying about a planned power outtage (why would they do that?) and he was also trying to question my English, because I was rewriting emails for him, and there was some sentence which was fairly complex, so I guess it varied a bit from the sentence structure he'd been taught, and he wrote out (S+V+O+C) and goes "Subject, + Verb + Object + I don't know what that is), and that's how you make a sentence, so I really don't think you need that 'is'." And I was like 'well, actually...'

He was also falling asleep as he read the emails I'd drafted for him. I'd be either embarrassed that I was boring, or offended, except that he was just falling asleep reading his own stuff, only grammatically correct, so really I'm not sure what I'm meant to do about it! He's always tired, but he continues to insist on our early Sunday morning meetings, so there ya go :)

Wandered home and hung out for a bit, reading 'I Don't Know How She Does It', which is a pretty hilarious British chick-lit look at a mum who tries to work in 'the city', as a trader as well as raising two kids. Honestly, if there were any lingering doubts that I might one day want a sprog of my own, I'm pretty sure this book has doused them like a bucket of cold water! I was stressed out just reading the damn thing! I really think that I'm more cut out to be the fun auntie! I'm too selfish for kids, and flat out know and admit that, so yea, for now, will certainly just borrow them! (And btw, when I'm like 32 and pregnant, no one can drag this out and throw it in my face :p)

Mid afternoonish Peter, Venus and Hitomi went for a walk, and then got so into the sakura that they called me and we met for a mini Hanami party. It was really nice! I brought a chair for Peter and a blanket for us, and we went to the really long narrow park quite near our house, where the blossoms were basically in full bloom, and several hanami parties were in progress. We had a great spot, nice and quiet, under a big tree, very lovely! Some of the other groups of hanami party-goers were very large and well organized! Several groups had furniture, ranging from bamboo dividers to provide a bit of privacy, to long tables, benches, etc. There was also a group with some large garden-party style tents up, with the bottom surrounded in bubble wrap (so they could carry out their debauchery in semi-privacy?). Many people also had little mini outdoor bbqs, and some pretty impressive spreads of food! It smelled pretty oishii! There's a Lawson combeni across the street, and they had a couple of people out selling beer which was pretty good planning on everyones part!
(Very cute Venus, just wants a fry from our Mc-Picnic, but also enjoyed the Sakura, and stuck a couple to herself while sniffing them!)(Full bloom - very pretty! The trees here are much larger and lighter than the ones from home, a different variety I guess!)

After that Hitomi headed home and Peter and I came back to our place, and watched a bit of Ugly Betty and spent some time randomly surfing through the itunes music store. Lots of good albums out right now I want to get! (Arcade Fire, Mika, Joss Stone, City and Colour, etc). What, by the way, classifies as Roots music? We tried to figure it out by listening to the itunes roots play lists, but didn't get too far with any sort of a definition.

I went out for dinner with Sarah and a friend of hers that's staying at her place for a couple of days. It was nice. Full Stop. Haha yea, it was tho - we went out to Shimo Kitazawa and got some pasta which really seems to be our default meal :) Good time had by all, I think...

Wandered home, and that's about it... Now for some random links, etc.

1) - Paper gmail is new/interesting/random! They say "Everyone loves Gmail. But not everyone loves email, or the digital era. What ever happened to stamps, filing cabinets, and the mailman? Well, you asked for it, and it’s here. We’re bringing it back."

Seemingly, you can 'paper archive' your mail (not sure if it is just in the states or not), and within 2-4 days, they'll print out all the emails you select, print ads on the back (to keep it free), and send you everything in the post. They even print photos on high quality paper and paperclip it to the bundle, and, for the environmentalists in the bunch, they assure everyone that "Gmail Paper is made out of 96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum, and thus, actually helps the environment. For every Gmail Paper we produce, the environment gets incrementally healthier."

If they ship over here, I'd be tempted to try it, mostly just to say I had... I guess this must be what the google interns do? Print, collate and stamp the world's email? Yikes!

And, for those who hit the snooze button too often comes this nifty product/service from SnuzNLuz, where you can hook up your alarm clock to the 'net, attach it to your bank, and for every time you hit the snooze button, make a donation of at least ten dollars to a charity of your choice (ThinkGeek takes some off the top for themselves, cheeky buggers). They suggest you give you money to organisations you don't like so as to further motivate you to get your ass out of bed. As the good folks at ThinkGeek say, "For years the masses have told you that if you snooze you lose. You never believed them. You held your head high and slept in whenever you wanted to, always without fear of loss. Well, dear friends, the times have changed"

And finally, just since there really isn't much more impressive than a huge horse - here's a picture Mom took of Jinnette (horse) and Jan (person) at Bodicea recently. Jinnette was possibly going to learn how to be a vaulting horse, so I worked with her a little bit in the summer, and also at Saanich fair. She's a total sweetie, as are all the clydes @ Bodicea, but you really don't want to get too close - her head could easily send you flying a good ways! (And actually, at said Saanich fair, she did pick me up and move me about four feet when I was holding on to her halter and someone was trying to braid her forelock!) Her feet, also, are literally like dinner plates - absolutely ginormous! And soooooo heavy to pick out!!! Anyway, just wanted to show off as she's so cool and huge :)

(She stands around 18hh at the withers, or shoulder. Which is 72 inches, or 6 feet!)

D.