Luke

Bret's 17 year old brother, Luke is staying here with us for another week and a half.

It's been good having him, he keeps Vikram company during the day when we're at work and is generally self-entertaining.

Yesterday I took him to the ballet to see Sleeping Beauty. I told him we were going to "a show" and that I didn't know how long it would last. After 2 and a half hours I called it off and we went home though. We stopped by a big temple on our way home. Luke likes temples, shrines, and things with Japanese writing on him. These are all things I can work with!

Other than that, Bret and I are busy busy busy. It's crazy. There's a special event going on at my job so I have to go in at 7 am to prepare for everything and probably won't get home until 9 or 10. The sad part is that's nothing compared to Bret's job, which has been crazy. I should say job(s). I feel really bad. But things should be leveling off soon. New things, change, it always settles down in the end.

An old department store getting torn down.
Vikram sat like this through 15 pictures. He's such a good kitty.
Some sunflowers I grew!

Bret looking super cute

Kyoto (Silver Temple and Cafe)

I've Found What Engrish Storefronts are Good For

Being an Adult

I've come to the conclusion that being an adult means tiredly accepting the hundreds of bills you have to pay every year. Sure, I've been paying bills for...maybe two years now. But things are getting real around here! In the last couple of months alone, we've had to pay for:

Residency tax--you only have to pay it if you've been in Japan more than a year, because it calculates your tax based on the previous years income. 3 grand for me and Bret combined. That was a rough one

Health insurance--again, this bill used to be insignificant, but after a year it magically quadruples. Not a fan, not a fan.

Car insurance--we didn't have a car our first year and I forgot what a pain all this stuff can be.

All in all, I feel like before I was just cruising along. I enjoyed an easy, minimal bill pay life. Sure there were minor annoyances at high electricity bills or gas or what have you, but now--I'm just tired.

Take my money, government. Because that's what being an adult is about...working and paying bills. Lots of them.

Edit: After re-reading this post it sounds like I am complaining about nothing (3 things, big deal) but I would like to add that for most of these items, they have to be paid up front, in cash, lump sum. When you make 4 grand/month cumulatively (Bret and me after taxes) and someone hands you a bill for 3 grand that has to be paid asap, it suuuuuuuuuuuckkkkkkks