Reading minds

On Monday night when I got home from work, Ian was still at home.  Normally he is walking out the door, has just left, or we meet on the road by the time I get off of work.  I asked him what the deal was, and he said he was running a bit late.  I said, “Oh,” and immediately made a split second decision.  “Can I go with you tonight?” I didn’t have any plans for the night and would probably spend it like I spend every Monday night: dinner for one, watching TV, maybe planning a lesson or two.  Ian seemed excited by the idea, so I quickly changed clothes, and we were off!  I love random adventures! 

Kirishima (where Ian works) is in Kagoshima Prefecture, which is about an hour and a half drive from Yunomae.  Although it’s only 100 kilometers (about the distance from Paducah to Murray), it takes that long to get there due to the mountains.  Kirishima is a beautiful mountain city right on the Bay of Kagoshima, and you can even see Kagoshima’s famous constantly erupting volcano, Sakurajima, just across the bay.  Ian drove the whole way and showed me the huge Sony plant where he teaches class.  Seriously—it’s probably seven stories high and takes up the same amount of space as a dozen football fields.  IT’S HUGE.  He parked the car and told me where some good hangout spots near his plant were—if i continued down one road, I’d come to a mall, or if I went another way I’d reach the bay.  I literally had any number of things to do for the next two hours. 

At first I tried to drive to the bay, thinking that maybe there would be some nice parks to go walking in or that I could get pictures of Sakurajima.  However, the streets were very winding, and I didn’t want to get lost in unfamiliar territory.  Plus, it was getting dark, so pictures of Sakurajima just wouldn’t turn out.  Instead, I drove to the mall and walked around in there for a bit.  Although it was bigger and nicer than anything that we have in Kuma-gun, I wasn’t in the mood for shopping, so I went outside and walked along the sidewalk for a while, just drinking in the sights and sounds of Kirishima until it was time to pick up Ian.  Before we left, we stopped for dinner at McDonald’s, where Ian goes for dinner nearly every Monday night.  He said that he enjoys people-watching there and showed me exactly where he sits, with his back against the wall, so that he can watch everyone.  Unfortunately, though, there was no one to watch on Monday night as we were pretty much the only people in that McDonald’s. 

Change of subject and fun update: my Lenten penance of giving up sweets is going really, REALLY well this year.  HURRAY!  I’ve only broken it twice: once on accident (I bit into a delicious looking bread thinking that it was just normal bread whenever it was really a chocolate filled bread) and once on purpose (Milk tea was staring me in the face, and I just couldn’t resist.  Although, I instantly felt guilty about my decision…..but that didn’t stop me from finishing the glass.)  Overall, though, this year has been pretty easy to give up sweets.  Since it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve consumed large amounts of sugar on a regular basis, my body doesn’t crave it.  When I watch Ian drink a Coke or someone nibble on a cookie, I know that the sugary deliciousness would be good to eat/drink, but I don’t have to fight an urge or go into a fit of rage of OMG-GIVE-ME-THE-SUGAR-AND-NO-ONE-GETS-HURT mode.  Will I be happy to see Lent end?  Yes.  Will I be excited to open up my box of assorted candies and chocolates that I have stashed away in my closet on Easter morning?  Yes.  Will I proudly eat donuts and Coke for Easter morning breakfast?  Yes.  In the meantime, though, I am content.  As an added benefit of not eating all the sugar…..I’m losing the winter fluff!  So far I’ve lost about three kilos (about 6 pounds).  I haven’t even been trying to lose weight!  While I have started lifting weights, I haven’t been doing any extra cardio or anything.  This to me proves just how bad all of that sugar is for my body.  It’s amazing how easily eating sugar can pack on the pounds and giving up just that one food group can help me lose that winter fluff!

Next year (2014) will mark ten years that Ian and I have been together: dated for four years, engaged for two years, and will have been married for four years.  I guess after that long, we really, really know each other well……..to the point of even reading each others’ minds.  Wednesday at lunch, I took the leftover alfredo pasta that I made earlier in the week.  My 4th graders were excited to see what the crazy foreigner was having for lunch, so I showed them and said, “pasta.”  They kept calling it “spaghetti,” and I tried to tell them that no, it was pasta.  Eventually I gave up and just accepted the answer of spaghetti.  Anyway….them calling it spaghetti made me realize that it had been a while since Ian and I had spaghetti, and that would be pretty good for dinner.  I made a mental note to call him later that afternoon and ask if he wanted to make his delicious homemade marinara, but I forgot and never did.  However….when I walked in the door after work, I said, “Mmmm….something smells good.  What are you making?”  He said, “Mariana.  I thought we could have spaghetti tonight.”  I literally had to pick my jaw up off the ground. 

Some of you may consider that to be a fluke and occasionally things like that happen in life, but if him reading my mind really was a fluke, would it have happened twice in one day?!?!  Yes, twice.  I know that my birthday isn’t until July, but I had already been thinking about a great gift that Ian could make me.  He loves photography and is really good at taking pictures, so I thought that it would be cool if he could make me a cool photo collage book of our pictures from our time in Japan.  I feel like once we get back, people will ask to see pictures from Japan, and if we have the photo book, we can easily pull that out and show people.  It’s more than just a birthday present for me….it’s something that the both of us can keep and treasure to savor the memories of Japan long after we leave.  Last night I was thinking about that as I got my shower, so after I got out, I pitched the idea to Ian.  His reply was, “Well, it was a good thing that I wasn’t already thinking about doing that for you, huh?”  *gasp* I asked him if he was lying, and he said no….that he’d already looked into prices and formatting.  Wow.  He now has the ability to read my mind.  I guess I should send out more “wash the dishes” vibes, and maybe he will read my mind then, too……..

Anyway, that’s all for this blog.  I had a pretty interesting day at ES on Wednesday in which I played a new game with the kids at recess, had a very interesting conversation about movies, the Oscars, and America with a few teachers, and had one first grade class that was so excited to see me that they could hardly keep from screaming the whole class.  More about these stories in my next blog!