(Bravo is the one looking at the camera/me...Charlie is the one looking away)

Well, on doctor's orders, I took TamiFlu for a few days and magic! I'm all better! Was really only sick for two days.

In the last two days, though, the weather's gotten a lot colder, and I've gotten a cold along with it. Not horrible, though. *crosses fingers* However, I am enjoying the weather. I love when the air gets crisp and cold. Mmmmmmm. Quite often in the winter, I find myself just stopping randomly when I'm walking somewhere, just to stand and take a deep breath and feel the cold air rush into my lungs. It feels so fresh and I feel so alive and... yeah. WINTER ♥

Hiroshima was good. Got to see friends, meet new people, do some sightseeing, go to cons (of course), and the bus wasn't even bad. The one going down wasn't amazing, if just because it was too hot, and while I can sleep just about wherever, whenever (thanks, Dad), being overheated is one of the few things that keeps me awake. The bus back was definitely nice though, and Monday wasn't as hard to get through as I'd expected. Wasn't super awake, but didn't fall asleep in class, either.

Tuesday was a day off, and I... did nothing. I was supposed to meet with a friend, but she got an extra day off from work and took a trip, and I gladly took the time to just recover from the weekend and do nothing. Really, nothing. FAIL. XD

Oh! But I took a long bath. And I mean loooong. Because my bathtub has a reheat-the-water function that makes the bath go from lukewarm to hot again in like a minute, without actually adding or subtracting water (it just cycles it through... some mechanism). Ahhhh, SO NICE. I can see why Japanese people enjoy it so much, and I also foresee my water bills possibly getting much higher. Ahhhh...

Felt super Japanese yesterday, as I spend hours and hours sitting in a family restaurant and studying. The kanji test today went pretty well, actually. I know I definitely got two things wrong, and there are probably some other mistakes or careless errors, but on the whole, I didn't look at the sheet and panic. I just looked at it and quickly filled in most of it with no difficulty at all. So that was a nice feeling. Also just lucky though, because we seriously had 150+ kanji and about 5 times that in vocab (all from the last month), and I really just don't know half of it. The grammar test next week is going to be fuuunnnn, I'm sure. /sarcasm

Oh, midterms.

Had a health check today, and was amused because the doctor who took my x-rays was humming along to the music they had playing, and I was like, "hey, this is X (Japan) right?" and he was surprised that I was right. Idk, I don't know their songs specifically, but they have a pretty distinctive sound.

Bought a ton of fruit on the way home today, yay. Including a... *checks* Sweetie from one of the local fruit stands (imported Sunkist, though). I think I've had them before, and I've certainly had Sweetie-flavored things, but either way, I like pomelos and this sounds good. God, I miss fruit.

Lunch was good, too. Nothing fancy, just oyakodon and udon at a little chain shop, but I was totally in the mood for it. Yum.

My apartment is still not progressing much because I am lazy (although actually it's more that I'm tired and legitimately so), but comfortable. But life has been fun and there are music and concerts and new DVDs coming out and things to look forward to and this winter is going to be awesome.

I have timeripple, mousapelli (and musikologie), diamondsjack, and probably shimizumiki all coming over to visit (not necessarily to stay with me, although some of them are). It will be fun and awesome and I am super excited and looking forward to seeing everyone and having a blast.

In conclusion, life is good.


ETA: I had to cut one of my thumbnails all the way down to my fingertip because it's broken about halfway up the nail bed and hurts. But I feel like I've cut off part of my thumb. I know some people wonder how you can function with long nails. I wonder how you can function WITHOUT them. Because I use my nails for so many things. For example, after I'd cut this one, I suddenly couldn't get out my bottom braces because I use my thumbnail to hook under them to pop them out. I can use my other hand now, but it's awkward. I like long nails, and admittedly yes, it's easier to do things when they're not SUPER long (although I often have them super long anyway). But I can't stand not having anything between my fingertips and surfaces. It makes my fingers feel all weird, and look sort of stunted. Idk. *shrugs*

Also, I had to take off my necklace for my x-ray today, and realized that I have no idea how to undo the clasp. Someone had to do it for me, because I haven't taken it off even once since my grandmother placed it around my neck...

Recently in my ward I noticed that a member of the bishopric, usually one of the counselors, sits in on RS. Is this normal? I've never seen this before. It kind of bothers me because I've always thought of RS as a haven for sisterhood.

I should be asleep, but I'm not. I keep thinking. thinking it's November and being sad I am not writing my guts out. It's National Novel writing Monnt and I decided this year not to even do irbecause of my health. What else must I give up on?

the best stress reliever for me is making stuff. Whether its crazy intricate beaded collars for my dog (Now that we only have boy dogs though, I've not done that...Ruby was my beaded little girl)...or knitting a scarf(very easy, obviously) or painting or sewing...its all good.

So last night I made this:


Hobo Bag with Pleats in gray graphic fabric and blue liner



I took a simple onesie...and added a little fish to the front...Ihor is determined to make Junior quite the fisherman and I'm happy to help with propaganda creation!

So...go make something! feel productive and have some kewl little trinket to call your own!

So yesterday, I filled up the bed of Ihor's truck with items to given to good will..these items included:
-lots of halloween decorations that don't go with the kewl ones we now use
-lots of yarn
-lots of fabric
-lots of aquarium stuff (substrate/filtration/heaters/nets/decorations/etc)
-small wooden shelving unit
-printer stand
-hanging file stand w/wheels
-rubbermaid 3 drawer wheeled 36" wide thinger
-lots of home decor stuff (some lovely olive chiffon-ish draperies)
-3 matching blue vases
-2 matching tall blue and purple blown glass vases
-3 rugs
-1 giant bird cage
-1 bag of bird supplies (a certain brand of gravel he won't use, toys, mirrors, nests, nest stuffing, food dishes, etc)stuff that I've acquired for Bob(our canary) that he doesnt like)
-1 set of 4 espresso cups and saucers
-a box of random ceramic mugs, travel mugs, cups
-a nice wok that I never use
-some bath fixtures that we bought but never installed .. then had the real ones we liked ordered so they are sitting collecting dust in the boxes they came in
-a nice velvet pea coat that I don't wear (b/c a velvet coat + a white dog= not a good mix)

... there's more but you get the idea.

So far the following stuff has been accomplished in PURGE'09!
My office closet is cleaned out, the bedroom closet is cleaned out, Junior's room to be is cleaned out (other than the 2 bookshelves), the storage room has been through another sort...and each time it is sorted, we are left with fewer and fewer things. (Howie Long loks too skinny! He needs to eat more or get a suit with a broader and longer stance!).

It seems the declutter is happening all over my Flist and so I figured I'd get in on the action and mention what we've been up to. I still have a few things that I need to find new homes for that I REFUSE to give away...namely the following items:




Rustic carved exotic wood table and 4 chairs ($250 OBO)



$80 OBO Exotic Carved Wood Chest w/Dragons, Brass Clasp and 4 legs that you can add if you'd like. Has a crack on the top that can be seen in pictures.
39" wide
20" deep
18" tall

Since I had so many helpful and supportive comments on my last post about nausea, I thought I'd do a proper update if that's ok.
It's not really yoga related, except that people gave me good ideas on breathing exercises and things to do to help combat nausea.

Well I went to see the doctor yesterday and we spent ages going through every single anti-emetic there is.
Turns out I can only take three of them, two of which I've tried and they've not been good enough.
The rest have increased risk of arrythmia with my other medications, which is just too much of a risk.
So I'm on the last one, which is one normally used for chemo patients, and is a pretty rare one as it's expensive.
The doctor said to give it about a day and a half and see how it went, and if it wasn't working, see my normal gp and I'd probably end up in hospital again.

Well, at first it seemed like it worked a treat. We had pizza of all things tonight (I'm still not well enough to cook), and although I felt a bit nauseas, I was able to eat my share, which is way more than I've eaten in the last couple of weeks!!
Then the nausea totally dissapeared! I thought I was in heaven!

Unfortunately it came back with avengeance about 20 mins later.
Then it went up and down and up and down, coming and going. When it was gone it was lovely, but when it was back it was even worse than before.
So I'm not really sure about this medicine, though this was only the first try with it and I need to try out all tomorrow and see how it works after that.
I really, really hope it pulls together and works fully. I just can't bear the thought of being back in hospital throughout November (he said I'd need to be in til my gynae appt, so they could control the nausea and look after me until the gynae does something).
He also said that he had no idea why I was being so sick; they opened me up and looked inside, if there had been anything wrong, they'd have seen it!
He was really nice, and seemed really upset that he couldn't help me further and give me a reason for it and therefore be able to treat it properly.

I hope no one minds me updating about this, the lovely comments and support I got really have helped me get through this without just giving up. I absolutely hate sickness, but it was so nice to get support and tips for coping with it.
Thank you everyone!

Ashtanga Yoga Center (Moscow, Russia) starts English yoga classes for beginners!
New comfortable yoga hall near Old Arbat street (5 min. walking from metro Smolenskaya)
Every Sunday, 12 am
Qualified yoga teachers.
http://www.yoga108.com/en/classes/



Welcome!
Masha (PR managaer of our yoga center) +7 926 0000 108

I had written about the last Sri Sri Yoga course held in Atlanta (http://community.livejournal.com/yoga/884426.html). The response was astounding. Everyone wanted to know when the next course would be held. Our wonderful teacher Shriram has been teaching every weekend but he had a weekend open in November and we snapped it instantly.



http://secure.artofliving.org/course_details.aspx?course_id=5794 is the link to register for the course. Please register before the early bird discount runs out!

x-posted to atlanta