Week 29: Wait, This is vacation?

Oy VEY, what a week.  Everything hurts.

Remember how I said I'd get exercise every day?  Boy did I.

So, Monday, I went and helped a friend of mine pack up to move. It's my festival friend, which I'm really sad about, because NOW who will I take to festivals?!

We did a lot of sorting and throwing out and then for break time, we went to the store, bought a pint of ice cream, poured hot fudge over it and had it for lunch. :)

Then I sat down and swore at her computer for 3 hours.  As previously mentioned, I tend to take after Yosemite Sam when I swear.

 Still, I hear it's doing a little better, so I'm glad I could help.

Tuesday, I went and had lunch with a friend.  She told me she found this GREAT Okinomiyaki shop.
Okinomiyaki is normally either referred to as Japanese pancake or Japanese Pizza.  It is neither.  It is a bunch of foods cooked on a skillet, held together by a little batter.  As demonstrated in this restaurant.

You make your own here, and you order what kind you like and they bring it to you in a bowl. I got pork.

Then you mix it.

It is, honestly, mostly cabbage.  Then you put it on the griddle in the middle of the table.

each side cooks for about 4-6 minutes

After it's cooked, you put on Okinomiyaki sauce.

and mayo. They love mayo.

Then the seaweed flakes

guaranteed to stick to your teeth on a date!

and the fish shavings

they are so light, they wiggle in the heat of the grill. and it looks alive.

And then you use the little spatulas to cut it up and eat it!  It's really good!

THE CARNAGE!

And then after a walk to work off some of the food, we went our separate ways.

Wednesday was a day off. It was nice.  I relaxed most of the day. I woke up and did some exercises. I talked to people. I cooked some food. I caught up on some TV. That was nice.

In the evening, some members of the ward got together to play volleyball.  Now I'm not normally one for volleyball (those suckers HURT) but they use playground balls!  So it's much easier to hit, it doesn't hurt as much, and there's less predictability as to where the suckers are going.  Though with our amazing skill, I'm not sure that's the balls that are making it unpredictable...  Either way, it's lots of fun! :)

Thursday, I went on a hike with, well, I'll be honest, I call her my hiking friend.  She's the one I had lunch with on Tuesday.  Anyhow!  We went on a hike! :)

it was a BEAUTIFUL day! ...for DEATH (that's a graveyard)

And we saw lots of little statues.  Someone had knitted most of them hats.

I canNOT get anyone to tell me what the bibs are for.

I like how they stuck a hat on the top of this one. that's not his head.

there's even a tiny hat for the kid! :D

The temperature was PERFECT, not to hot, not too cool.  Especially with all the hill climbing.

a view

And it was nice to get away from the city.

there it is!

There were pretty plants

look at that graceful curl!

the flowers are coming!! :D

And a rock that looked like it was sealing away some great evil.

but we couldn't ask.

Either way, it was lots of fun, and we were wiped out afterwards!

Friday, it was my last day with my Festival friend, so we went to Universal Studio's Japan!

wheeee!!!

So did the rest of Osaka, it seems.

Anyhow, we had fun. We went to Potter world again, but since it wasn't RAINING, I got to see the acrobatic performance! :)

Tri-wizard presentation

I love their uniforms!

And they did pictures

behold my completely ridiculous outfit! Go Hufflepuffs!

People kept commenting on my ears.

Selfie!

I agree, they're cute.

And as usual, one of the best things was all the other people dressed up.

you have the minions

the Elmo's

the adorable Snoopy

the...rabbits?

I love those poof hats from Sesame street!

Attack on Titan. Very big here.

So really, my ridiculous outfit barely got a second glance, and that's only because I wasn't dressed as SOMETHING.

It's an anniversary, so they had a big ol' parade

And amazingly bright and cheerful dancers.

The theme was "reborn!" so everyone was singing "Get! RE! BORN!" and it sounded almost like a religious song.  Still, it was fun to dance to. :) Yep. totally danced.

no one's REALLY surprised, right?

I do have ONE question about the food.

it's a churro, in a bun with ketchup and mustard on it.

REALLY?!

Looking back on this week, I spent a lot of money.  Ouch. So, I've decided to save money. Besides getting out to exercise, I'm gonna stay in my room and play computer games! 

Especially after a day at USJ.

Of course, we were both tired after THAT.  EVERYTHING HURTS

So Saturday I slept in, Kinda.

See, I had a job interview.  I was looking around, and a member of the ward suggested this one school, so I'm like "well, ok, I'll try!"  And so I dressed spiffy, arrived early, and they didn't even interview me, they were like "this is where you'll work, and these will be your classrooms, and" etc.  And I was like "WOAH, slow down!"

And so they gave me until Tuesday to make up my mind.

Well, I spent the rest of the day hunting down family members to chew it over with, get opinions, and stew on my own.  There was also a lot of prayer and agonizing.

It ended up being a split between full time vs part time job.  The part time paid better per hour, but in the end, gave me WAY less hours.  So I decided to stay with my full time job. Which pays less per hour, but at least it's full time with benefits and stuff.

Still, nice to be wanted. :)

Sunday was, of course, church, and after church was a Single's get together!  :)

after dinner entertainment!

They do this about once a month, and it's a nice time to get together. I still can't talk much to them, but we communicate ok.

And, of course, the most important thing!

I got to hold a CAT!