Chain Letters

Do you remember the chain letters of the 80's? I do. I remember being about 10 years old and writing the exact same letter 9 times. I believed in keeping the chain going. I believed it would make it all over the world. I believed it would connect and save us all!! Okay, so maybe it wasn't that dramatic. But there was something exciting about sending a letter to a stranger and receiving ones from people I didn't know from different countries. These days, of course, I'm forever annoyed by email chain letters ~ so don't send them to me. But onto the real thought at hand.

So, I've just borrowed a 2001 Vietnam guidebook from one of the guys at work and I noticed....there's a random email address in the back. I wonder who this Chris Rivas is and what he (or she) thought of Vietnam. Should I venture out and ask? Could guidebooks be the chainletters of the day? Wouldn't that be cool??? Okay!! Everyone!! Write your email address in your guidebooks. After your trip, pass them along or sell them to a bookstore...Let's see what happens.

Rockin' like a Rockstar

Tess and I watched "Rockstar" last night. That has to be one of my favorite popcorn movies of all time. Marky Mark makes me fall in love with him everytime I see it!! It was a great way to just chill and relax after a good weekend out with the gang. Next Saturday will be just as fun. It's Jordan's sweet sixteen ~ okay probably more like 24th. And it's Jon's 3 year Nippon-iversary. Looking forward to a party at our favorite curry spot, The Taj Mahal. Can't go wrong. Megumi, our office manager, is coming for her first time to see what all the fuss is about. It's gonna be great!!

Erin is Tokyo Bound!!

It was a little like a bachelorette party, so I'll keep the pics to a minimum. We'll miss you Erin!!!! But you can bet we'll be down often enough to see you!

Brief Pete!

Pete was back in town for a couple of days to plan his wedding with Kanako. It was great to see him, as always. Some good laughs over...how many??? FOUR bottles of wine on a school night??! Okay, there were 5 of us, but still!! Anyway, here are a couple of shots from our night at Gods. Jordan got a little bit of heat for the pink shirt and the straw, but I love him anyway.

A Spicy Valentine's Day

So a few of us single folks got together for Valentine's Day. It was only going to be 5...but then turned into a whole table. I love Koriyama!!! There was, admittedly, one couple there, but they are new here so...okay. The izakaiya is now one of my favorites. It's decorated in caves with nice lighting and a warm atmosphere. We ordered a plate of Russian Takomiyaki, which are balls of battered fried octopus goodness. The catch is, one of them has an obscene amount of wasabi in them. Because there were so many of us, there were 3 unlucky souls out there. Can you guess who? I'll give you one, Bekka, she spit it out really quickly!

Floss!

You know you're taking care of yourself when you start flossing again. At least that's how it is for me. I've been in a funk, but recently found my old yoga dvd and have started that up again. My journal pages are almost sequential and my laundry basket is nearly empty. The people at the gym suprisingly remember who I am and yes, I'm flossing. I'd be lying if I said this past week wasn't rough. It was. I won't go into the details, they really don't matter. What matters is that I've been in-hiding as of late and I just don't want to be there anymore. I want to be out in the open again, exploring again, loving again, trusting again, being me. So I've started taking the easiest steps to do that. Mom always knew when I was in a funk and the first thing she told me to do was clean my space from top to bottom. She's right, it's a simple thing you can do just for you and it feels like you've just given yourself a gift. My droopy plants appreciate the efforts too, I'm sure. I haven't been singing, and that's always a sign that something's off. It seems like I've been sick with several variations of the flu for the last few months. It's so wierd and frustrating not to be able to speak properly, let alone sing. But hopefully, fingers crossed, the flu bugs have had their fill of me.