New Toy

For my birthday, my mother-in-law gave me a book of knit patterns for wild animals. I finished one animal, the hippo, about a week ago. It ended up being a little bit larger then I expected.

But Emma seems to like it. She especially enjoys sucking on its ears.

A Little Whine

This is going to be a "poor me" post, so if you don't want to hear it, stop reading right now.

On Thursday, Mark and I went to a clinic to get our flu shots. I don't normally get one because I hate needles; but because Mark works with a lot of kids and is exposed to a lot of germs, and then exposes me, I thought the benefist would outweigh the few seconds of fear and pain.

On Friday, my arm started itching. I didn't think much of it. I was wearing elbow-length sleeves, so I didn't have a clear view of my upper arm. I figured I was itchy because of the changing weather. But that night I saw this:

Yes, that is from a teeny-tiny flu shot!

Is it any wonder that I don't like needles, when the result is like that.

It's not just in the States

Shortly before Halloween I went to the local dollar store to look for some face paint. I didn't find the face paint, but I did find Santa hats and tinsel. There are Christmas lights up in the downtown shopping area, and they've been there for at least two weeks. I haven't heard any Christmas music yet though, but that could be because I don't know what I'm listening to. And for the majority of the Japanese, Christmas is not a big deal. UPDATE: The lights are on and Christmas music is playing.

They're Creeping me Out

They're everywhere.

I knew they were here, but their numbers seem to increased over the past few weeks.

They like to hang out in alleys and gutters and the spaces between the trees. If you're not careful, you could walk straight into one.