I give you some extreme weirdness, Thai style.

My basil is growing mushrooms. You know it's damp when random fungi start appearing.

I finally figured out what was wrong with my peppermint. I'm not a gardener, so it took me a while to go "D'oh, this is the same planter I've been using for the past two years. Probably the soil is all used up. I know, I'll change it!" At which point I discovered several large white grubs hanging out in the dirt. I know less about bugs than I do about gardening, but these seem like the sort of things that would eat a root system. So, new dirt, no grubs, the surviving peppermint is already looking better than ever.

In non-plant talk, the cake is really, really good.

Let's see. Got soaked from ankle to waist walking home from the bus today, found a cockroach in the sink, suspect my laundry isn't going to be dry for at least two or three days. Yup, rainy season is here.

It's not as pretty as the Smitten Kitchen one, but I was expecting that. Also, when something tastes this good, you don't care what it looks like.

Nom.

Mom says I wasn't possessed by a deceased housewife so much as by myself as a wee child. Apparently that's a broom I'm holding. If she'd known how rare a sight that was going to be, she would have made sure to have captured the whole thing on camera.

I have finally filled up all the planters and pots that have been hanging around my balcony ever since I moved in. Aside from the somewhat pathetic peppermint, they are all doing well, and hopefully today's new arrivals will also thrive. And the peppermint that took root seems to be doing well, so hopefully that box will be full of green soon. At the store today, I saw these neat little thingies that you can use with old plastic bottles. You just fill the bottle with water, screw one of these thingies on instead of the lid, plant it upside down in your pot, and voila. Water seeps out really slowly and you get to go away for a few days without worrying about your poor plants dying of dehydration. The only problem is, I tend not to buy drinks in plastic bottles, but I bet I could be persuaded to drink a bottle of cranberry juice every day for the next week to collect enough bottles for my plants.

After I finished potting today's purchases (lavender, rosemary, oregano, and pineapple mint), I was apparently possessed by either aliens or the spirit of some deceased housewife and decided that I needed to clean up the balcony. There was an astonishing amount of garbage and ick out there. I now have a garbage bag full of stuff that will just have to sit there for four weeks until I get a chance to take it down on what will hopefully be the correct garbage day for that kind of stuff.

Because it's never too early to start thinking about what to get me for my birthday:

I was chatting with mom this afternoon when she told me she was enjoying a nice root beer float. I immediately went "Oooh! Want! Dang.", because the only place I know of to find root beer is in the mall which is very far away and to which I have no plans or desire to go to for quite some time.

Then when I got to work and opened the fridge to put my snack in it, what did I see? Two cans of A&W root beer.

OOOOOOooooooOOOOOOooooo

Turns out Andrew's wife had found some and he brought a couple of cans up to show/share with his students tonight, as most Japanese people are unfamiliar with it. He generously gave me a can, so you know what I'm having for dinner on Saturday night!

Do you think it would be pushing my luck if I wished out loud for a million dollars?

Finding a large sum of money would be really great right about now. I just got my yearly city tax notice, which means that in a few weeks they are going to siphon 40 000 yen out of my account all at once, then repeat the process three more times before February. Ouch.

I also have a late electricity bill to pay. Actually, all my electricity bills for the past few months have come in the warning! warning! red envelopes of late payment shame. I understand the April one...I forgot to pay it before I went on holidays and returned home to find the red envelope PLUS what happens after the red envelope, which is a sternly worded letter telling you to pay up or else. Given that I was still in Canada on the "or else" date and nothing ever happened, it would appear that the "or else" meant that I would be getting another letter urging me to pay up instead of anything being disconnected. Yes, that'll put the fear of God into me.

Last month's bill also came in the red envelope, as did this month's. Now, I'm pretty sure I didn't get the regular bills, so either my mail is going awry or they've just figured out that the red envelopes are more likely to spur me to immediate action.

In other news, why won't my peppermint live? It's basically a weed. I had no problems with it flourishing last year. But this year? I've bought three plants, all of which have withered and died. Luckily they all managed to throw out a few shoots which are surviving, so I should have a nice full planter in a few weeks, but wtf? All my other plants are doing well, what is up with the peppermint?

I've got a nice little herb garden going on the balcony this year. In addition to the ailing peppermint, I also have spearmint, applemint, pennyroyal mint, basil, coriander, and two pots of lemon verbena. Annoyingly, I keep forgetting to use the basil when I make pizza, but the mint and lemon are being put to good use for tea. I have one more planter I can fill up, so I'm going to go back to the store this weekend and see what herbs they have left. Then I'm going to go away for a week and hope they don't all die of thirst.

And now I have to go make a cake. I've decided that the best way to make the peanut butter cake is to do it in stages. It's a layered cake and I can only bake one layer at a time, so I'm going to devote one night just to baking it. Then I'll pop it in the freezer and assemble it on the weekend. Root beer floats and peanut butter cakes. It's going to be a good, good weekend.

Well, hello there, good looking. What are you doing this weekend?

I went swimming today, which makes six days this week I went to the gym. I'd demand high fives, but I'm not entirely certain I can lift my arms over my head. Also, please don't ask me to climb any stairs. Could someone fetch me a beer? Ta.

Tomorrow is the moment of truth, when I find out if my pita making attempts worked. Frankly, I have my doubts, as it involves yeast, and anything that involves yeast but not the bread machine always ends in disaster. If this is the case, I think I will google recipes for pita bread in the machine. There's got to be something out there.

I also managed to clean up the living room, plant some more mint, buy some new cushions and a bike light and bake some pulla, all while mainlining the first season of True Blood. I only have three more episodes to go, which I'm pretty sure I can finish just in time for season two to start up.

All in all, a not entirely unproductive weekend. Go me.

Have I mentioned that I work Friday nights now? I know I've brought it up in individual conversations, but I don't think I've mentioned it here.

Well, I do. Masami decided that it would be a grand idea to let two of our most unmotivated pre-teens have a semi-private lessons on Friday nights, because their new school schedule means they can't go any other day of the week. Granted, it is a great idea as far as she is concerned, since she doesn't actually have to teach the class. I'm rather less convinced.

And, of course, once you've got that one class up there, might as well toss some others in too.

To be fair, the two girls are behaving a lot better for me than they did for Andrew, Stuart, or Miguel. But still. Friday nights. Yuck.

Not that I have such a flourishing social life, but it's the principal of the thing.

I would be pretty happy if the weather would stay like this for the rest of the summer. Today was hot, but still under 30, and not too humid, plus nights are still dropping to the 21-24 range, which is pretty much my comfort zone.

But it won't last. And the roaches have invaded. The next time I manage to get a month off, remind me to try and talk some sucker into covering for me in August rather than April.

So it turns out that the mary janes, while awesome, will totally smoosh and ruin any artwork I may have on my toes. I suppose this is good information to have, I just wish I could have enjoyed my new pedicure for more than 24 hours before learning this.

Pretty Pirate Princess manicure, anyone?

I know how you guys all love pictures of my toes.

Zombie me! Mmmm, brains on bagels. Breakfast of undead champions.

The train from Ottawa to Toronto takes five hours. That's a lot of scenery. I'm used to the shinkansen...a train takes five hours, I expect to wind up in a whole new country. Also? No one comes by on the journey wheeling a cart full of booze and snacks.

And people wonder why I stay in Japan.

Other than a certain sense of "Y'know, we could really be moving a lot faster", the train ride was very nice. I was lucky enough to get an Earth Day discount, so it was also pretty cheap. Sadly, I did not get a window seat and so spent a lot of time peering around my neighbour. Although after the first few hours, the scenery sort of lost its appeal. I mean, things weren't even green yet. It was mostly bare trees and brownish bits where the grass would eventually show up.

Sheila met me at the train station with the bad news that she did not have much beer in her fridge. And since Canada is a backwards country where you can only buy booze in special shops that are not open 24/7, this was very bad news indeed. (Alternatively, you might say that Canada is a country that at least attempts to look out for its alcoholics. Potato pohtahtoe.) Luckily, though, through a series of swervy driving moves and some sort of beer-locating sixth sense, she managed to find us a liquor store that was still (barely) open, and we were set up with libations for the night.

The next day, Friday, she had very considerately taken off of work and elected to drive me out to see Niagara Falls. If you haven't been, they are pretty awesome. Touristy, yes, but awesome. After taking in the mist and the spray and being informed that the overpriced restaurant we wanted to go spend money on beer at was not open, we decided to try out the Maid of the Mist ride (stopping first to pick up some tacky souvenir keychains for Andy's birthday. Mine involved pink rhinestones.) Again: awesome. You may think it sounds like a tourist trap, and it is, but it's one that gives value for money. We were issued with some very stylin' blue raincoats (Sheila: "You really paid way too much for that Lululemon raincoat. These ones are only $14.95, and come with a free boat ride!") and set out for the falls. Once we got closer, my coat tried to make a break for it over my head and so I spent most of the ride getting soaked/trying not to suffocate on the giant plastic bag encircling my head/giggling like mad. I got soaked. It was sort of like being in a very cold typhoon.

To sum up: Niagara Falls = WHEEEE!

This is what happens when you give your phone to a three year old.

Ewan and friends.

RIP, granny suit. You served me well for three years, then you started thinning out and getting sort of loose and billowy in the pool.

Which meant I had to go swimsuit shopping yesterday, whee! It wasn't all that bad, though. I didn't really want to go up to the mall, but that's where the sports shop is, so that's where I went. I quickly narrowed it down to three suits, all of them similar in style to the granny suit, but sadly less floral. I ended up with another shorts/vest combo in gray with pink piping. In an LLL. Thanks, Japan.