Amazing.

This month has been amazing.

First it was the sprint of kindergarten preparation, the last of which occurred only in the midnight hours before the entrance ceremony as I finally got to watch the episode of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders in which James Kyson appears.

Then it was the first week of school, which meant getting used to the time schedule for the kindergarten's school bus, which is not a public bus-- essentially a long van specific to this kindergarten. Every school in the area has one.
Then Julia wasn't eating lunch so I started waking her up even earlier and setting a time limit for our breakfast so she would be done by 7:30AM, therefor hopefully hungry by noon. Seems to be working somewhat.
Also, when she gets home, I check her silverware for signs of usage (bits of food, etc) and if it comes back pristine, she gets a lecture instead of a snack. And then a snack, too. I'm not a monster.

So then it was Easter and the event I'd been planning for months finally got to occur-- slightly wonky in delivery but fun for all involved and that is the most important part. A friend from college even came up here from her home closer to Tokyo to be part of the festivities, which meant so very much to me.

She is, genuinely, the first person from my college life to see me in this part of Japan. I have had other friends visit, but none from my days at TCU. And truth be told, I wouldn't be here without her and her sister's influence in my college life. Previous to our friendship, I knew nothing of Japanese pop culture. I would never have known the attractiveness of certain male pop stars had they not intervened. Tomo should really send them a thank you letter.

Anyway, so that was pretty wonderful. We got to sit under the cherry blossoms and enjoy Shiogama Shrine with kids and giant plastic Easter eggs (thanks to Hana and Taiyo, who hid them for Julia), and I spent way too long trying to make steampunk outfits for tiny people, but we all for to play dress up for a minute and have a great time, so it was all worth it.

That was Sunday.
Monday was windy and cold by comparison, but I went to bid farewell to my friend and her daughter in Sendai. That visit really means more to me than I can properly explain. The profoundness of the event coupled with my current mental state (mucus) leaves me inadequate to describe the feeling. Grateful is too small a word.

My plan had been to go find some sakura to sit under and read poetry in Sendai that afternoon, but the chill in the wind and my growing head-cold sent me home, though I still read poetry on the train, so it was still a good day for reading.

Today is Tuesday and I had several plans earlier but they had mostly gone to pot under the coughing fits occasionally attacking me now-- the last bits of this head cold thing-- so I elected to stay home and chat with friends. As that finished in the morning, the weather was so nice outside, I couldn't help but go for a walk, and it turned out that Hana was free, too. I put on a mask and we started walking and wound up on an adventure! I hatched two Pokemon eggs, we walked so far!

Good times. Amazing times.

I find the political world terrifying right now, the threat of nuclear war and other disasters imminent as the man-child-monster in power keeps his psychotic tirade going, but every once in a while I have a few of these amazing days and really feel like life has value, that the world can survive whatever is going on out there.
Maybe it can. Maybe it can't. Either way, we've got to enjoy what we can while we can.
And fight fascism. Always.