Aches & Pains

Recently, I've been having some aches and pains all over.

First, I had trouble raising my right arm.
I was worried I had 四十肩, altho I'm not 40 yet.
But I realized it's probably due to carrying Popo on a sling recently. So I switched the shoulder I carry her on, hoping it would relieve some of the pain. It still hurts, but not like before.

I'm thinking of doing 準備体操 every morning, but haven't gotten around to it. I should bookmark the YouTube vid.

Then recently my right leg has a lot of pain.
I thought it was around my hip joint area, but now my knee hurts. It's the same knee I busted in a mini skiing tumble I had when I was 19. It's hard to walk up and down the stairs sometimes.

Well, I'm going in for my 35 year physical this Friday, so I guess I have more things to talk about.

I really want them to fix my middle finger. It's been cracked for 3 months now.

The Past 365 Days

At 10:49am this morning, we've been parents for exactly 1 year now.

Let's see how my life's been for the last 365 days.

I've been struggling with my identity as a semi-work-at-home, almost stay-at-home and non-income-generating parent. With my almost non-income, I've been quickly emptying out my savings account(s) for the condo. Thank goodness one of my savings account is a bit difficult to access, or that would have been long gone too.

I've been contemplating between looking for a minimum wage job (like cashiering at F*mima or M*tsuwa), looking at part-time accounting work on Craigslist, thinking about working full-time, wondering how much I'd be able to pay my mom to look after Popo, realizing she probably doesn't have the capacity to look after her full-time.

It's all hard to coordinate!
But I figure things will fall into place somehow, so I'm not too worried about it too much.

I started out thinking my kid will just grow up as a kid surrounded by adults. I don't know any kids, so we'll just hang w/ the adult friends. And she seems to enjoy them a lot.

But the cheapskate Asian woman in me had to look up free things to do... and boy, did I find them. And with my eagerness to share this newfound knowledge, I ended up joining a MOM'S GROUP. Yeah, mom's group. Crazy, eh!? (I still like to call them parent groups, tho)

I didn't just join one group too. I joined two online groups, made friends(?) in some classes... exchanged emails & cell numbers!? I NEVER answer my cellphone! And here I am, texting people I've only met once or twice.

We still go to sleep around 2am. Wake up at 8:30am. That's probably not enough sleep, but we got by before & it's not too bad right now. Some parents think we're crazy allowing Popo to be on a similar schedule (12am - 8am), but it works for us & I don't feel the need to change it yet. Maybe when she goes to daycare that'll change (or not, sinceじゅるる can take her in the morning).

I still have no interest in cooking. And Popo seems to like my mom's food over what I make. I'm glad she's okay nibbling on frozen veggie mix boiled w/ a bit of soy sauce & tiny amount of sugar.

My manga consumption is a lot less than before, but that's been the overall trend between me & Sat for the last 2 years. No access to cheaper manga, less series to follow after some ended, and the rising yen keeps us to 4-5 new manga per month. Sometimes we go through major withdrawals, then cry over the cost of a 400yen manga (and we don't even bother buying the 505yen ones anymore).

I still bite my nails when I'm bored/hungry.
I cut my hair twice.

And I didn't expect it, but I'm comfortable w/ this little creature attached to me all the time. Altho it's probably not that different than having Koge around. Just a little needier for now.

And we have at least another 17 years to go?
Oh boy. I didn't need to think that.

Ramen Celebration

Sat, じゅるる, Popo, me & Ards went to eat ramen at Mits*wa tonight.

It's a late celebration for Ards' advancement.

It would have been nice to go somewhere... nicer? But Ards wanted to eat ramen.

So we had ramen, bottled green tea & individually wrapped chocolate cake for the celebration.

Yay!

Japan Quake Fundraising

Steph wanted to do a fundraising event for the Japanese quake/tsunami victims, so she recruited a bunch of her friends.

Me?
Currently in hybernation from all this event planning... but joined their efforts.

So we spent three mad crazy days w/ very little sleep to throw an event together.

And I think it was pretty awesome.
There are rooms for improvement, but isn't that always the case?

Ards & Dee came to help too.
And we bumped into old friends too.

Time to think about a new event.

Missed Dr Appoint

じゅるる set up a dr appoint for me cuz I have a cut (crack) in my finger that hasn't healed in over 3 months.

But I got so caught up w/ screaming Popo & helping out w/ the We <3 Japan project that I completely forgot about it... and I missed it.

Oops.
Well, my finger will have to wait for the next appointment.