National Oatmeal Day!

Mood:

I love oatmeal!Used to eat it for breakfast almost every morning. I usually put some raisins, sweetener, a tiny bit of creamer, and salt in it. Sometimes I add a little maple syrup. And, then occasionally I just like to eat it plain. Oatmeal cookies are pretty awesome, too. Sunday was National Potato Day. I also love potatoes! It's very versatile. I could eat them all day.

Had my first therapy session in about 8 months. Almost didn't feel like therapy. I kind of like her. She said her approach to therapy is more focused on spirituality. I think I need that. Not sure how she'll help me, but seems like it was a good start. In fact, we talked about things that I never got to with other therapists.

I took a bus over to the ferry terminal, caught a ferry, and walked from that ferry terminal to the counseling center. I was going to take a bus for part of the way to the counseling center, but there was a lot of construction going on that also backed up the buses. So, at least it doesn't cost me anything to walk, it was somewhat nice out, and I got to sightsee. Haven't really had the opportunity to explore the city by myself. There were some interesting people and places. I got a bit lost at one point, but quickly and easily found the right way. 2 other people were lost, and I kind of felt bad that I couldn't help them.I was about 10-15 minutes early to my appointment. So, right about on time.

Can't believe my birthday is in 9 days!Not exactly sure what I'll do during the weekend for it, but hopefully it'll be fun! Might go to an art museum, science center, Uwajimaya, and/or look around an international district. The international district has a Chinatown, Japantown or Nihonmachi, Little Saigon, and a Filipino community. Uwajimaya is located there, but haven't really looked around that area. (Uwajimaya is a huge Asian super market. Most of what they sell is Japanese, but they sell lots of Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian, etc. products. They even have some Russian stuff. I love this place!) Sounds like it'd be interesting. 

Halloween is really coming up quickly! I have most of my costume, but I might need one or two more things. They're not particularly 'Halloween' things, they can be useful for other times. These are just to make me look...better. The dress is semi-tight, and it's sleeveless. So, people would see my bra with the straps. Hangs pretty low too. I'll be showing a bit more cleavage than I'm used to as well...I'm going as my original character, Sin Petra, from Alliance. I've got a wig that looks close to the color and style that I want. Would have been cool if it moved a bit. She's a medusa, so each skinny strand of her hair is a thin snake. So, it moves slightly. Oh well, maybe her snakes will be sleeping or something. 

The dress is semi-short and black velvet with a patterned top (kind of ribbed, I guess). I haven't tried wearing it since I was at or close to my heaviest. It looked horrible back then, and it was for another Halloween costume. I was someone who froze to death in the water after the Titanic went down. Had 'ice crystals' that had to be glued on one by one. Friends helped out with that one. The idea was interesting, and it wasn't too bad aside from the dress not fitting right. Anyways, I tried it on a couple of days ago, and it looked pretty decent on me now. Kind of surprising, because I don't think I'm down to that size in dresses yet. But, then again I haven't tried on a dress in a long time. So, I wouldn't know currently. I have noticed that I lost even more weight lately. I think this dress was originally just for formal stuff, but somehow it turned into something I use for Halloween.Maybe because there aren't too many formal events to go to. I also have a fancy shawl that goes with it. I think it's velvet, rather big, and has a fringe. Not sure if I'll use that. Or worse comes to worse, I might hide my straps with it...

I also have really long Halloween gloves now. They're a bit longer than I wanted, but I can always roll it up nicely. I think it's made for someone who's slightly slimmer in the arms, but then again it's stretchy. So, maybe it just needs to conform to the shape of my arms. My fingers aren't quite big/long enough to fill the glove part all the way. But, it looks interesting. 

Also, got some eyeliner for her makeup. I have no experience with it, so it should be interesting. I plan to use some smoky looking eye shadow (it might be really old, though), mascara, a lot of foundation, dark lipstick (not sure what color yet, and might be old as well), eyebrow pencil, and I might use a dark nail polish for my nails. My character loves to wear makeup, so this shall be an adventure.I like to wear it occasionally, but usually not that much of it. Haven't really decided what shoes I'll wear for the costume, but I'm sure there will be something. It'd be interesting if I do get into character, as well. I love to dress up, eat candy, and watch horror movies. So, it's my type of holiday.

My grandma passed away last Tuesday.Feels weird to realize I now only have one grandparent, my grandpa on that side. I'm more worried about how my grandpa is doing. I loved my grandma, but I don't think its really 'hit me' yet. Wish we lived closer to them, and other members of both sides of my family. They live on the other side of the country. So, it makes it a little harder. Plus, she passed away close to her birthday. I have had a harder time concentrating on things since I found out. 

Finished watching Uchouten Kazoku or The Eccentric Family. It was a really good series. It'd be cool if they did a second season, but I kind of doubt they would. Had a really good ending. 

Started reading Pandora Hearts. I loved the anime, so why not read the manga? The manga's still ongoing, so it obviously has more to it than the anime. Not sure where the anime left off in the manga, or if and when it might have diverged from the manga's plot. Should be interesting to see how different it is in that way, too.

Been playing my clarinet. Today, I did some klezmer tunes and Mozart pieces. The Mozart ones are from an advanced book. Sounding better and better every time I play now. Wrote some more of the 2nd short story to my nightmare anthology. This one is a bit longer than I expected, but I think I might be nearing the end of it. Not sure, though. 

日本語

Studied more compounds for the kanji: 代. 五代 or ごだい (godai): Five Dynasties (of Chinese history). 歳代 or さいだい (saidai): (suf) decade (of age), the ...ties. 酒代 or さかだい (sakadai): alcohol expenses. 三代 or さんだい (sandai): three generations; third generation. 昭代 or しょうだい (shoudai): glorious reign, enlightened era. 初代 or しょだい (shodai): first generation, founder. 身代 or しんだい (shindai): fortune, property. 次代 or じだい (jidai): the next era. 時代 or じだい (jidai): period, epoch, era, age; the times, those days; oldness, ancientness, antiquity. 重代 or じゅうだい (juudai): successive generations. 

Well, tonight's support group should be interesting. It's a 5th Tuesday, so we're having a potluck and watching a movie. Someone said that they expect some people to be in costume. I don't have mine totally figured out yet, so I'm not going to.I might put some sort of Halloween thing on. Might be something like my pumpkin earrings.