the last day of november. in photos

almost december

2 more days left in this month. crazy how time flies. i love 4 day work weeks. i wish every week was only 4 days. it goes by so fast!

this morning i went to the dr. next week i will get an epidural steroid injection in my herniated spinal disk and i'm really hoping that it works. i guess it will hurt, and i will be in pain for a little bit, but things should get better. i am a little nervous, but i really want to get better, so ill do whatever it takes. also knowing that sitting on the airplane for 13+ hours wont be fun at all if i am in pain the whole time.

tonight i had a relaxing evening. i read a book and took a bath. then i turned on my heater, lit some candles and did some yoga stretching. i am so relaxed and ready for bed.

hopefully it wont rain tomorrow. i am hoping to go on a bike ride with willie and mimi.

i hope everyone had a great thanksgiving and didnt eat too much!

Nagoya city marathon

monday was the nagoya city half marathon. i signed up about 4 months ago... when i thought i would be better and all ready to run again. so with 3 weeks of training, still having some pain- i set out to try and run the fastest half marathon of my running history.

i didnt succeed. i made it 11 kms. i stopped. I am still not better. back to the dr i go.


however, it wasnt all bad. in fact it was a great time to see my friends. the team ken members. midori, tomoe, and of course i had the 2 best fans ever, rach and hiro. so all in all, it was more good than bad.

hiro and rach got to see m 3 times. they were running through the subways. at one point i looked over to see hiro running ahead to get a picture. when i did stop running, they were right there with me. thank you.

a japanese thanksgiving

Saturday i invited many of my friends to come over. mr and mrs nozao, the shinoda family, yayoi, tomoko, tomomi, hideki, luke, jenny, rachael, and me. thursday - saturday i cooked and baked. we had sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, brownies, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, quiche, and kentucky fried chicken.

it was so nice to have some great people over and to share thanksgiving with them. Can't wait till next year!

the evening was fun... especially when shogo decided to pull his pants down.... only to realize that that his underwear was on backwards!

friday night christmas decorating

friday night, hiro came over and him, rach and i put up the christmas tree. so fun. we also made some really good brownies! enjoy the pictures!

its cold

its cold now. brrr... i never want to leave the apt. eventually i'll hopefully get used to it. i think one problem is, i have to take my shoes off at school and the floor is really really cold. so all day i cant get warm. oh well. makes me tougher.

last night i spent many hours baking. i made 2 pumpkin pies it took like 2 or 3 hours to makes those 2 pies. then i made mashed potatoes.

tonight i will make sweet potatoes,

saturday i am having some friends over to thanksgiving.

tonight we are decorating the christmas tree! i only have 3 weeks before i leave for the US so i want to enjoy it!

this morning i am off to the gym to have a 2 mile jog, 1 hour yoga class and about 30 min swim. i've really started enjoying swimming. usually i have been swimming about 4-5 kilometers a week.

mattress

I got 2 mattresses yesterday! thanks to zelda and justin who brought the mattresses over and helped me get them up to my apt! last night, i was so cozy and slept so well! today i bought a sheet! (for those of you who didnt know, i was sleeping on a futon and it was really cold in my room on the floor, plus my back problems)

so now i am actually looking forward to going to bed!

a horrible blister

i have managed to get a horrible horrible blister.... the blister of all blisters. hoping it heals before the race on monday!

suzuka saturday

last saturday i went to suzuka to visit lauren. i got into suzuka around 3 and we proceeded to watch youtube videos, chat, go to a cafe and then out to a spanish bar with some of her friends. we had a lot of fun... especially with ishkabar and sarah palin interviews. and just being crazy. ohhhh and drunk tired old men who fall asleep on the train.... yay for fun times! I will be sure to visit again sometime soon!

running!

i've been running again! whohooo... i'd say im at about 80% back to normal. i may get some sort of injection after my medicine runs out to decrease some nerve pain, but i am back to running. slowly i've been working up to run the nagoya city half marathon. its net week. ive been running for 2 weeks.

let me preface this with; i was unable to run for 3 months. however i was cycling and swimming and my endurance hasnt changed much. my legs get tired and i have some pain when i run (not steady pain, it comes and goes) but overall i think i can run and finish the half marathon next weekend.

today i ran 10 miles. slowly, finishing in about 1 hour 35 minutes or so. i know i can easily add another 3 miles to that. now im just going to take it easy this next week. running a bit, swimming some, and cycling a little.

it feels good to run again. to have that time to think and clear my head. to listen to podcasts. to be outside. to get that good feeling after i finish.

lets just hope it stays this way...

uno dos tres

mi madre got a new dog. this makes 3 dogs. uno dos tres. this dog is a chihuahua. uno dos tres. this dog has only 3 legs. uno dos tres. shes calls it tripod. rach suggested tres. uno dos tres.

a productive day

I just added the picture for fun. it has nothing to do with my blog for the day.

today i have had a very productive day.

my leg is bothering me a little. so i didnt run.

the weather is beautiful

this weekend im going to suzuka to visit lauren!

now i am off to work.

What my students think of me

I taught a lesson on comparisons a few weeks ago and had the students make 2 sentences using the names the other students in the class.... here's what i got.


Jen is fatter than seia
Jen is nicer than itsuki

Jen is the cutest in the class
Jen is the best in the class

Jen is the fattest in the class
Jen is the prettiest in the class

Jen is the ugliest in the class
Jen is the not cutest in the class

Moto is lighter than car
Jen is the best in the class

Jen is more very beautiful than monkey
Jen is the smelliest in the class



my favorite is the one telling me im more very beautiful than a monkey.

weekend

whew. busy weekend, but fun.

saturday i saw Romeo and Juliet with hiro. But with a japanese twist. really good. however, lack of sleep, a warm dark room, and ununderstandable (to me) japanese parts, made for a battle to stay awake. but it was really well done. then i went to hang out with some good friends. we played games, ate pizza, and watched a movie.

sunday was an early morning and hiro and I headed to gifu to watch some basketball games, some of his students were playing in it. it was fun to see his students and talk to them.

today was monday. back to work.

oh yeah. i got accepted to run in tokyo marathon. 226,378 people applied, but only 35,000 were chosen. I was one of them!!!!!YAY!!! march 22!

i like 4 day work weeks.

monday was a holiday. i went on a long bike ride with friends. then i went to a birthday dinner for a friend. then i came home and seriously fell asleep at 9pm. yes. 9. i slept till 8 the next morning. i must have been tired.

now only 1 more day of work left this week. sometimes i feel bad for always wishing away the weekdays, but i really enjoy the weekends!

tonight rachael and i took a long walk after dinner. so fun. but we got rained on the last 10 minutes! now i'm just relaxing in the candlelight, and going to go to bed soon.

tomorrow is yoga and a short run (aiming for 40 minutes jog) its good to be back at the gym again. i even enjoy swimming. maybe it has something to do with the fact that i have absolutely no pain or any problems when i swim. but i still get a good workout.

i cant believe its already november. where has this year gone? wow.

video

fatblueman show on sunday

sunday evening, rachael, jenny and i headed off to shooters for some dinner. we went to see fatblueman play. it was so fun. we met new people, made new friends and had a good time!

halloween

more halloween pics at my school