Still alive!

Wow... it's been so long since I've blogged. I have a lot of good excuses, but the best is probably that my blog turned back into Japanese and I can't understand any of the buttons anymore. So right now, I'm in America and my blog is in my mother tongue... so I figure now's as good a time as any to write out an update on what's been going on since June 2.

Last day of school! Hooray! I don't know what grade I'll be teaching next year- either 1st or 2nd- but I do know that I get to keep my current classroom! :)

David returned! Hooray! David surprised me one Sunday in June by walking through the door. But I had a hunch he'd be back that weekend.

My dad came to visit! Wow... David and I have never been so active as when he was there. We went out to some different and delicious restaurants, to the aquarium, Japanese Underground Naval HQ, a botanical garden, a Japanese movie theater in which male customers pay less to see the movie than female customers.

We came to the states! My mom had a 4th of July picnic for us, so I got to see most of my family in one fell swoop. We went to the Taste of Chicago with Maria & Raul and ate our brains out! But we were able to burn the calories when we came home and played with our new Wii! July 6- we watched my favorite baseball team, the White Sox, lose 12-0. But I still love 'em. On July 7th, I went to my good friend Rachel's wedding in Gurnee IL; she put us at a table with some really nice people, and it looked like she had her absolute dream wedding! I'll post some pictures later. The next day, since we were already so close, we went up to the outlet mall in Pleasant Prairie, WI and did some fun shopping! Then we figured, why not go a little further to my old stomping grounds and have lunch at my favorite Kenosha restaurant, Charcoal Grill, with one of my Carthage pals & her husband. It was a great visit!
Our second week here (yes, we had a busy 1st week!) David went to Kentucky for a few days for his grandmother's funeral. Of course it's sad that she passed away, but I see it as a small blessing that he was here and able to get there so quickly and easily. Plus, he was able to see his whole family together, which had to be nice, even under sad circumstances. I didn't go, because I already had plans to fly to Florida to celebrate my great-aunt's ONE HUNDREDTH (!!!) birthday! She looks great and is in good health. Her memory, brain and heart are all good, even though her vision and hearing are fading a bit. Pictures of that later, too.
In our last week (already???) so far we've gone to Camp Lawrence (and I think David loves it almost as much as I do!), looked into buying some property, visited Mrs. Hovan and her 12 golden retrievers, gone to the mall so I could go to New York & Company and take advantage of their military discount, and eaten at Bronko's, my favorite local pizza place.
Our plans for our last days here include: a Christmas in July card-making party at Aunt Margie's house, trying to make it back to Camp once or twice, having lunch with my high school track/xc coach, Coach Hey, his wife, and two friends from the team- Maria and Aimee. We'll also be going to the Ruthenberg (my grandma) family reunion, and I'm going to a bachelorette party. Then our trip will be just about over.
I had so much more time to relax last year when I came home and worked at Camp Lawrence!