The second half of December

So what have we been doing over here "on the edge of ordinary" in the last two weeks? A great big slow-down!

For the week before Christmas we went away to our usual holiday spot north-west of Tokyo. The difference this year was that we travelled to our holidays with some friends who stayed nearby for a few days. This family we've done a lot with over the last 2 ½ years, including three camping trips. 

We introduced them to two of our favourite things to do during this annual Christmas holiday: the Lego shop and the budget all-you-can-eat restaurant that has become a tradition for us. We also went together to see the new Star Wars movie (on cheap Tuesday, only AUD$12.50 or 1,100 yen, movie tickets here are usually at least AUD$20).

We also did a lot of sleeping-in, staying up late (at least some family members did), reading, and lazying around. In fact that probably characterises most of our days in the last two weeks, even after we returned to Tokyo.

A lot of what we did when we were away was the same as last year. I didn't feel like taking the same photos again (you can see some in my post from last year here). We did try to go to a beautiful small lake, but it was shut for construction work, so instead we went for a short walk around the area where we've stayed in a neighbouring town. There was unmelted snow on the top of this stream.

We've had a few social things since we came back: friends over for Christmas lunch and a Boxing Day morning tea, and some of us have spent time away from home with friends. But, there has been little regular on our schedule, aside from eating two or three meals a day. We've also watched a few movies (mostly superhero movies). One of our sons hired/rented movies for us as his Christmas present.

After Christmas Day I've spent some of each day "in the office". Mostly work to do with my social media job or answering questions from my editing team about the magazine proof we are checking in preparation for printing in January. But it really has been a go-slow mode. Especially getting up late in the morning (spending lots of time reading and doing relaxing games on my phone in my warm bed).

It seems that it was very much needed. I've had many nights that I've slept 10-12 hours! It's only these last couple of days that I'm naturally waking up after about eight or nine hours of sleep. Indeed it has been a rather busy year and we're very thankful for this time to decompress. Especially as we look towards 2018 and realise that it it also going to be a very busy year, but in some ways, perhaps, a more predictable fashion.

Another view of the above river, with my budding photographer sneaking into the photo.

I love Japan's moss! 

This part of town is characterised by these curious rock walls that
line properties. They are unusual in Japan.

This is the calendar that keeps me organised. It lives beside my desk. Without needing to know the details of what my scrawl represents, you can see that from the 16th onwards, there is little written. That's visual representation of how this month has gone. Neatly divided in half between the usual busyness and rest.