Thanks for all the well wishes.

I'm back home in Japan now. Mom's stable and all we can do is wait. I'm fine, so don't anybody worry. I got a nice, warm welcome from my friends Katie, Ed, and Marcy with a home-cooked meal and a relaxing night of YouTube videos, LOLCats, and Wii Mario Kart.

Oh and I have lots of pictures to catch up on.

My mom's in the hospital. I'm in the States until the 22nd of July...

My 23rd birthday is next Tuesday (July 1st)! Yay!

I'm pretty psyched this year because I've got a great group of friends now who I can't wait to go out with. I was worried last year because I didn't have a solid group yet and couldn't imagine a birthday alone (husband deployed, no less! ) I ended up getting to go back to the States and got to celebrate with my mom though (whose birthday is the same day).
I'll definitely miss her on 'our' day. (moment of silence)

Anyway, we're celebrating on Saturday night and we're going to a traditional Japanese restaurant called Tsubahashi's, which I've come to adore. They have the best freaking beer! And I'm a liquor girl! Lol... from there, we're going to a karaoke bar called Maneki Neko (aka 'beckoning cat' or the infamous 'lucky cat'... you know the one with one paw up ). I'm a karaoke addict, let me tell you. Hopefully it will be filled with and not so much Hehe...

In other news, I had a random creative burst, so I put it to good use and did some SG Fan Art! Check it out in my folder or in the group!

I just watched the movie, "Candy."

I haven't had that good a cry in awhile.

As a Cancer (and I don't wish to debate the zodiac at the moment), I am extremely emotional. I enjoy every outburst of emotion to its fullest.

It touched me in a way I knew it would and yet that I never expected. As a Heath Ledger fan, I was excited to see it. As an addictive personality, I was devastated. I mean that in the best way. I mean that I got the opportunity to examine my addictions. I've danced with many drugs and I've been loathe to abandon quite a few. I thank the gods that I never was interested in heroin. I can't claim to understand it because I don't. I do, however, have experience with just about everything else. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who struggled (or doesn't) with addiction in its many forms. I also recommend it to those who don't, but wish to get a glimpse at it.

In completely different news, I shot another impromptu PSW set last night. I still need to edit it with my pathetic Paint skills , but I hope to have it viewable soon.

So, teaching has turned into something I can't imagine I did without before. After the first couple classes, I got over my nervousness and am starting to believe the compliments I've been receiving on my teaching style. I didn't realize I could have a style without any previous experience.

The job has consumed me though, truly. I think I might love it. I find myself thinking in terms of what songs might be appropriate for my next class when I hear them on the radio or what articles I read online would be perfect to teach new vocab with.

My students are amazing. They surprise me and make me laugh, challenging me to think about things I take for granted in a new way. My husband has already mentioned how much more clearly I speak and that I seem to have patience where there was none before.

I realize as I read back over this that it sounds a bit too good to be true and possibly narcissistic too. I just feel giddy at the prospect of the realization of a dream I've never been sure was possible: loving one's job. I've always secretly never been willing to accept a career doing anything less than something I'm passionate about, something that I'm excited to prepare for rather than dreading it, and I certainly never expected it to be something so respectable as teaching. I am a happily purring kitten with my first taste of cat mint at the moment.



Also, the Buffy musical episode "Once More With Feeling" is fucking fantastic.

I'm going to be starting a part time job next month as an English teacher to adult Japanese students. I'm pretty much terrified. The owner of the small school seems to think I'm going to be great... as does everyone I mention it to. I'm unconvinced... but I promised myself I'd give it a shot. I feel very unqualified having no teaching experience whatsoever... and while I've entertained the idea of it since I was little, I've always been wary of having all those eyes on me. We'll see I suppose.

I've applied for a few other jobs too. One is at the bowling alley on base. Supposedly, it's an admin-type job. I'd be filing paperwork and working on the computer a lot, which I really think I would love. Low on the customer service spectrum. They're also opening a Starbucks on base! I'm psyched for it anyway, so working there could be a bonus... even if I am forced to deal with customers all day again.

I just started watching Dexter...

A little bit of friend drama is going on that I seem to successfully be staying neutral on...

I have a bengal foster kitten named Ashke with me and Koko until September-ish...

One of my very good friends is PCSing in a week and that makers me sad...

I'm half a level from 70 on my hunter main...

I my husband...

I posted a few new pics in my main album... nothing huge.

I've been altering my sleeping schedule this week, so I'm very zombie-like. My husband's been on 'swings', so I was sleeping from around 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.... which made it near impossible to get anything done since everything was closed by the time I could get on base. So, I stayed up as many consecutive hours as possible and 'reset' myself. It's been really hard, but I've made a lot of progress. I slept from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. last night, which was the most normal I've been in a very long time. It's nearly 8 p.m. now, so I think tonight may be the first night on my new preferred schedule. Yay!

I've been very emotional lately (okay, okay... I'm a Cancer... I'm always emotional ) and withdrawn from socializing, but also very content and at peace. I'm watching a LOT of Buffy. Hehe... Matt will be home from TDY soon, so that's exciting. He missed our anniversary and will probably just miss Valentine's Day, so I've got a nice night out coming. I've gotten two new babydolls from Victoria's Secret and I put together a new 'outfit' for him as well, so I think I've made quite good use of our time apart.

I get this feeling every now and again where I just want to scream and yell and cause a nice, big ruckus... just to make sure people know I'm here. It's strange because I don't consider myself to be particularly insecure or unloved. I have friends. I have a husband that I love more than I ever thought possible. Still, this innate desire to connect with people plagues me. I'm not unhappy. I'm not sick. I have all of my basic needs taken care of. What the fuck???

Yay SG. Hehe...

I haven't been on for awhile, so it seemed appropriate to make a new post... saying I'm uh... alive and all that jazz.

Things are really good in my corner of the world. The hubby and I are getting along splendidly. He's going TDY soon for a few weeks, then home and off on leave for a couple, then another TDY. He's not scheduled to deploy again for at last a year though, so here's hoping.
I finally have my own car again (got in an accident while Matt was deployed last time, would have cost more to fix than it was worth so they totaled it, yada, yada...) so it's been nice to be normal and say, leave the house most days. Lol.
Christmas was good; New Year's was better. I'll add some pics to my albums, another thing I haven't done in too long. There's a new girl in my social circle that I don't get along with, so that provides a little drama for me. Hehe...
I haven't been doing much hands on art, so that's something I'm thinking about. I have been belly dancing and singing karaoke like a fool though, so I guess it's an artistic trade off. Lol...
I've spent a lot of time with a group of pagan friends that has been really good for me spiritually. This is the first time I've ever been in a truly united group ritual setting and it's wonderful. Yule went very well. My momma sent me my first actual cloak... and it's the one I've wanted for as long as I can remember (green and purple reversible velvet). It makes me happy.

So yeah. Update complete. How's everybody else doing after 'the holidays'?