World Traveler: Busier than I expected, but yay!

Insect count: one HUGE one, small flying bugs, some ants

T5B: 1) I got to go to lunch with Yasue, the sister missionaries, and other ward members. 2) The elders stopped by and I'm getting a better bike! :D 3) I got to msg my BFF! 4) I got my laundry done. 5) I was able to get the rest of the gifts for my family (just in time it turns out).

Basal temp: 36.99 0.o It JUMPED up there!

I got to "sleep in," which was awesome! I say "sleep in" because I was still up by 8h30. I consider real sleeping in to be until 10 am. LOL, I took my basal temp and was very surprised by how high it was. I took a picture of my book so you can see how high the scale jumps. :/ Hopefully this will help the doctor figure out what is wrong and make my cramps stop! I've had horrific cramps since the 27/28th of July less on day. But using the 28th, that's TWENTY-SEVEN days of cramping. WAY TOO MUCH. Especially when it feels like kidney stones. It took me a while to accomplish anything though. I didn't get in the shower and start the wash until around 10 am. Since Fumie-s and Yasue were supposed to show up around 11h15 I figured I had time. Nope. They arrived when I was hanging my laundry. Doh! Luckily they were very kind and let me finish. (I didn't want my clothes to smell like mildew which happened last time I washed my clothes.) After that I went out and off we drove to go to lunch.

Remember that castle place I found in Morioka while searching for the pet store? (I took a picture - it's a karaoke place.) We went to lunch at the place next door: Osaka Ohsho. (Osaka is a city in Japan and Ohsho means "king" ~the one in chess) We had to wait a while for two sisters to arrive but in the meantime we chatted and I showed some funny pictures on my phone. :) When the other sisters arrived, we ordered. I asked about a small and the girl made a cupped palm. Well a cupped palm wasn't going to be enough, so I ordered the regular size (which was about $6). The regular size was HUGE. I couldn't finish it. Since they don't do doggy bags here, I left it on the table. I felt only slightly guilty. I would rather be healthy than cram my stomach full of food. We took pictures, and as we were leaving I gave Yasue a hug. She said something I couldn't hear (sorry Yasue!) but since she had her arm around me at the time I assumed it was something about my reduced circumfrence. In fact, when she hugged me it hit me that I am much smaller. I saw my face in the picture Gas-shimai took as well. Trippy. People have been telling me I've lost weight and I didn't SEE it until today. (As far as who was at lunch - I will label the picture :D) Then Shinoki-shimai had to leave and the sister missionaries as well. So 5 of us went to Macdo and got ice cream. Japanese ice cream is so good! I got a Sundae. And actually the Sundaes here are bigger than in America. Muraki-shimai asked me how big the sundaes were at Macdo in America and I told her smaller. She was shocked. LOL It's not about the portion in America, it's about getting the money for that portion. Although they might be bigger now - the last time I ate at McDonalds in the US was the morning Jerod and I flew to TX for Roy's funeral. (That was last year March.) Before that... probably when I was dating Drew. So 2008? We chatted, and I'm slightly embarrassed about this, about me. Yasue played translator since she speaks Japanese fluently and English extremely well (she's awesome!). After that we said goodbye to two of the ladies and Fumie-shimai and Yasue and I went shopping. Fumie-s kindly asked if there was anything I needed to get and as it turns out, I wanted to get the rest of those gifts. I told her I could take my bike, but she drove me and I'm so grateful. They didn't have EXACTLY what I wanted, but I found something good. :)

When Fumie-s dropped me off I was able to give her back her futons with much thanks and I gave Fumie-s and Yasue each fruit snacks from the US. :) I hope they enjoy them. I settled in to watch some anime and relax. Shortly after I had started Darker Than Black, my doorbell rang. ... What the!? It was the elders! Elder Norawong and his son (trainee) Elder Akagi. :D E' Akagi is from Draper. His father is third generation Japanese living in the US. So I put my sunglasses on and we sat outside and chatted for quite a while. They then left with a spiritual thought. As they were walking away, Elder Norawong said, "Hey! You want a new bike?" Do I!? (My bike's chain is rusty and often slips, the brakes are so-so, lol, and the thing is just generally in need of help ~ but I'm grateful to have it. It saves me a lot of walking!) So a week from tomorrow the elders will bring it to the church and I will have a new bike. They told me I had to get rid of my old one. My response: "I know! I will park it in front of this apartment (the empty one next to me) and if someone steals it, YAY!" They laughed incredulously at me. "And if it doesn't get stolen, any visitor I have can use it! :D" Elder Preston told me before he left that mountain bikes are about the only thing that get stolen here. Oh! Before that happened, a GIGANTIC bug (maybe a spider) was crawling across the fence. I averted my eyes and Elder Norawong bravely brushed it off the fence with his appointment book. *shudders* Also as we were talking, I kept taking my flip flops off to brush ants away from me.

After they left I finished that episode and now I am msging my BFF and writing this. My plans for tonight are grocery shopping, and some more relaxing. I'm glad I have tomorrow to rest and recharge as well. I was busier today than I expected. (Fumie-shimai and Yasue picked me up at 11h15 and we got back at 15h00 - I don't regret a second spent with them though. I actually read an article about introverts and I think that I am introvert. One of the things I really need is recharge time after being around so many people and I see a LOT of students during the week. :D) Goodnight from Japan and have a great weekend! XOXO, A

Starting at the left: Johnson-s, me, Hyoudo-s (a missionary), Shinoki-s, Yasue-s, Fumie-s, Muraki-s (Madoka-chan's mom), Eiko-s :D Gas-s (the other missionary) took the picture