There hasn’t been too much play time this week. I had to work on Saturday, and then we are in the midst of FINALS WEEK at school, so I will just update you all on Instagram life lately.

1. I finally got my Japanese printer to work, so I have color photos from vacation. Holy smokes, this only happens about once every five years!

2. After working at an international festival all day on Saturday, some of us went out for a late lunch in this tiny town only to have some of the best pizza in Japan. WHUT.

3. I had my first Thai food in Japan. Of course, my phone died before I could take a picture of my meal, but I hope you can feel our anticipation.

4. I decided to be adventurous and try some new vegetables at the grocery store. This dirty, skinny root vegetable is gobō, Japanese burdock root. I am going to try to make something tasty and appealing with it. Wish me luck!

5. Lunch at school. Leftover beef soba noodles, my favorite ooling tea, and Gone Girl. I have less than one hundred pages left! I am going to finish this post, shower, then bury my nose in that book!

6. Smiley face English muffin for breakfast.

7. The 32 oz of water in the morning has been LIFE CHANGING. The first few days I felt nauseous drinking that much water first thing in the a.m., but now I put the jug of water by my bed. As soon as I wake up, I start sipping. By the time I can muster the bravery to get out of my REI sub-zero down sleeping bag, it is halfway gone. I start my electric kettle, measure out my coffee for the French press (so alert, I don’t need the instant stuff), and after four minutes, my water is finished and I am ready for my ONE CUP of coffee. I feel more alert and energetic. I need 1/5 of the caffeine as before. It has been remarkable.

8. Jump roping! I am not a good jump roper – I swear, I stop and start about 50 times – but it is by far the easiest exercise to fit into my busy teaching days. I can always find 10-minutes in the day. I don’t need a change of clothes. In fact, I just bring it with me to class and jump rope in between lessons. So far, so good.

9. Lastly, my sister’s beloved dog Penelope passed away today. She was 10-years old, part red Husky/part bear (we joked), smart as a whip, and loved by us all. It was a sad, sad, sad, sad morning to wake up, check my phone and see a picture from my sister captioned “Last picture I took of Penelope.” SOB. Nellie dog, you will be missed dear friend.