hello.

hi there. how was your month?
good? good.
and mine? it was also good.
i managed to swim and sew a few times. i worked a little, played a lot. stressed a bit. i was disappointed and elated and relieved. i wrote very little but read a lot which i truly enjoy better anyway. i realized many things and let go of even more.
all in all, it was a very lovely month.

tangible news: jason is now 30. nico is walking. i didn't get the job i wanted so badly but i am okay with it now. i did apply to another grad school and if accepted we'd be moving down south a bit very soon. which could be good.

i have relaxed more about my destination. i feel like i am floating, i must trust the river.

we're probably getting a car. soon. i still have reservations but a part of me is happy to be able to join the mobile masses. i just wish the masses weren't made of so many. i prefer walking and trains and buses still.

moving would be good in many ways. no more flaking paint, no more mold, no more giant cardboard patch covering a hole in the ceiling over our stove.

i said farewell to gluten and dairy recently. i'm doing my best to stay on the wagon this time.

we're happy with the decision to keep sebastian home. the preschool was montessori orientated but i just didn't feel right. this has led to a lot of discussion between jason and myself regarding our future and what we need to be doing versus what we want to be doing. we still want to return to japan and when we do, we are going to seek permanent citizenship. we want to open a small montessori school in the kansai foothills. this is our shared dream. it is wonderful to share dreams, isn't it?

i'm going to try and convince my dad to help me make some wooden montessori tools. i still need to enlist his help in making a key rail to attach screens to so that i can print textiles. after that, i am thinking of trying to make my own oilcloth. we want to make a high chair for nico. simple like the droog high chair. i would make the cushion.
okay, the silence is officially (and haltingly, randomly) broken. i have enjoyed the quiet but i am happy to return to this space. hope everyone is well. take care.

August

Ah, August is here.

August is my good month. It is always a time of change, a threshold to something new. Seven years ago, I found Jason in August. Since then each August brings unexpected gifts. This month means so much to us that we gave Nico the middle name Augustus, meaning magnificent. This particular August has begun well. A completed grad school application, the last day of classes, and a visit from our friends who just finished up their JET program tour of duty. The weeks ahead are full of promise. I want to sit back and let the last days of summer bloom instead of agonizing over strategems like I did during July. I hope to be able to sew, swim, and enjoy. I want to write stories instead of cover letters. Finish up Charlotte's Web and start the Little House books with Sebastian. You know, good things. I hope you have a fantastic month as well. See you in September.