A nauseous but good day

Insect count: I killed two more mosquitoes today. They're not eating me, thank goodness, but I don't know how they are surviving and repopulating my apartment. :/ I don't even know how they got in!

T5B: 1) I'm learning some really fun Japanese words that make my coworkers laugh and say "SUGOI!" (Katajikenai, Tanomo, Gatten da!) 2) My pain is lower today! I'd say I'm a 4-5 rather than my usual 6-7. (By the way those of you who know these things - they have me on 3 doses of Rokinprofen - that's from the katakana - a day.) 3) I was given some treats today by the CS teachers and this cool origami postcard. 4) My lessons went really well and the elem kids drew the best pictures! I got pictures of them. 5) The office has been really worried about me. It's a nice change. They called after third period and said if I needed to I could leave early (since I was done teaching all my classes for today), and that they were thinking of taking me to the hospital again today. I told them my pain was lower and that I was going to stick it out. (I have never taken a sick day in my life! It's a point of pride with me. And although I was done, I stuck it out. :D)

basal temp: 36.51

This morning was good though I woke up early again. This time it was only 30 minutes early. Last night was weird though. I have one of those eye masks (I bought it back in ... May? June?) and it has lavender inside so it's supposed to be relaxing. In any case, at some point last night while I was lying there not really thinking of anything specific, but not sleeping, I remember thinking, "Have I laid here forever in the dark, listening to my own breathing, not sleeping?" It was an eery moment because I felt like I had always been lying in bed like that and my life had never happened. In that moment I also remembered I did that maybe a dozen times over the summer. Creepy. Still... *shrug* I eventually fell asleep.

After I got up, I got ready and almost had to rush out the door, but I was ok. I realized that I didn't have my shoes though. My inside shoes were at Minami! I wasn't able to get them yesterday so ya.. Luckily I brought two pairs (though I've only been wearing the one because they're more comfortable). So today I wore what I consider now my "church shoes" (some flats - I'm not sure why I bought them. I really dislike flats and I'm not sure if I'll even bring them home). Anyway, the bus ride was nice. I got to msg my BFF until I was almost to the school. The walk to the school was a little arduous (it's rainy and super humid today plus my pain) but it was fine. The only thing was that I was RUSHING to get my lesson done as I got the pages last night! Sheesh. Still, I made a plan last night and I hurriedly threw everything together when I got to school. Actually I was about 2 minutes late to class on accident because I was finishing up. :/ -- It was ok, I still was the first teacher to show up! LOL The lesson went really well (IMO). We did definitions/some quiz and description games.

After that I had a free period and chatted with Kawai-sensei. I told her about my samurai word (katajikenai) and she laughed and laughed. Then when she would remember it, she would laugh again. :) Oh also, when I arrived at school, one of the Deaf elementary teachers invited me to go to Hanamaki tomorrow to go to the Hanamaki Matsuri. I tried to ask her the price of the train, but she didn't know. I accepted and then remembered that Jake and Limor (from Sendai and Ofunato respectively) are coming to town tomorrow to see me. DOH! So when I went to teach my elem lesson, I had to remember to apologize and back out. :/ My elem lesson went REALLY well. Those kids are so fun. And they LOVE me and I love them! We did feelings. :) We're going to do it again next time. I gave them their little flashcards and we played some games and it was really fun. They walked me out (this is now a tradition) and then I visited the jhs teachers. They taught me tanomo, and then I got to use katajikenai on them. :D (They gave me a chocolate Madeleine.) I then went to my desk, grabbed some stickers for my elem kids, then went back. I gave them their papers, and a lady helped me find Ka/Ha (not sure which)doka-sensei and I apologized profusely (moshi wake arimasen deshita) and told her I couldn't go to Hanamaki. I told her, "Next time!" Then the lady who had helped me find that teacher started to talk to me in Japanese - and I understood everything she said! TAKE THAT JAPAN! :D! I went back to my desk and used tanomo on Kawai-sensei. HEHEHE. I knocked on her desk, pretended to slide a door open then said it. (As far as I understand it's a "Hello! Anyone home?" greeting.) Then Eiko-s gave me chocolate and I got to use katajikenai. SO GREAT! You should have seen her. She nodded, nodded, then it hit her and said exclaimed, "Katajikenai!? Eeeeh!" And started laughing. The delayed reaction was great. When I was out giving those papers back and tracking down that teacher, I found out the office called. Calling them back was ... I can't use telephones, lol.

A guy in the office helped me, thank goodness, and I called and told them I would stay until my normal time to leave. I've been in pain, but it's gone down a notch or two. I still hurt, but going from a 6-10 (depending on the day) to a 4-5 feels like a huge relief. Here's hoping for the big rei! (zero) I worked on a lesson for Tuesday at Minami (for which I had TWO WORDS on the SLP "words, color" - very specific). I just started working on it and emailed the teacher and hoped for the best. I got some things ready and turns out I had forgotten my cord (from phone to computer) and the internet was just TOO slow to get anything done there. So I planned to finish at home. Soon it was time for me to go.

The bus ride home was fine - but I got SOOOO sick. I thought it was just the motion of the bus, however walking home... just the rocking motion of my body as I walked... I had to keep taking deep breaths and saying, "I will not puke on the street. I will not puke on the street." Luckily I only live a couple blocks from the bus stop, so when I got home, I laid down. When I eventually got back up, I made some soup. YUM! I then got working on my worksheet and my work report (that was due by 1700 today). In the meantime Saki-s (female Suzuki-s from MM) emailed me back and gave me more direction and luckily I was headed that way and only had to change my plans a little bit. I got the work report and the worksheet done and now all I need is visual aids for that lesson. I haven't really thought about TIME - blocked it out that way - but I think it will be ok. My brain isn't allowing for much thinking. Even sitting up to write this is making me quite nauseous. :/ Still, less pain, hooray!

At home I organized some of my papers (I've been meaning to do that FOREVER - and I only have a few piles left to go through), cleaned my kitchen, picked up my room, and ate some dinner. I used some of my food storage. I figured it was for times like this when you spent your grocery money on medical bills. I'm so grateful to have wise leaders who counsel us to do wise things. So even though I am single and living in Japan, I still have a food storage! I doubt there will be a big disaster, but look at me already profiting from it! :D Tomorrow Jake and Limor are coming here (as I mentioned above) and it's supposed to be 30. Yeesh. I think that's the last hot day of the summer. The next four days after that drop to below 25. Here's hoping for fall, my favorite season!! :D Love to you all! XOXO, A

I took this picture of my chart last night - this is what my basal temp looks like so far

My little elem boy's feeling chart - I asked them to pick 6 feelings (out of 9) and illustrate them - these pictures were SO great!

Here is my girl's chart - isn't it great!?