Saturday morning, i.e. Friday morning

Colette loves her Sesame street! Sometimes I sit in front of her while she watches it, just so I can look at her face when she's focused.
Today's Saturday, but sinceI'll be working all day it might as well be Friday. I'm sore because I lifted too much at the gym on Wednesday. The other couple showed us the local gym, you pay 300 yen (about $2.50) and can lift as long as you want.
Tomorrow will be busy, since we are newly called as branch missionaries that means more meetings, an hour early, plus since I'm the choir director (what?) I get to stay late for choir practice too. Plus I'm speaking so I'm trying to scramble a talk together, hence the blog: procrastination. Speaking with a translator is great, though; a 5 minute talk takes ten minutes. Plus everything takes longer to say in Japanese, so I can say a short sentence then get a good 30 second wait till I have to say anything else!
Monday is Nicolle's first doctor's appointment for the new baby. We're going with one of our students who will translate for us. Nicolle's been feeling stomachaches and a bit of nausea from all the smoke. Everyone's burning their stubble after harvesting the rice. There's got to be a better way, the whole valley fills with smoke every day and night. Burning isn't the right word, more like smouldering their stubble. It sits all day smoking, slowly spreading until its all burned. The smoke permeates everything, anmd our clothes smell like we've been camping. Hopefully soon they'll all be burned, but since there are still many fields which haven't even been harvested yet, I think we're in for a long fall burning season. Nicolle's thinking about wearing a surgical mask or something.
Well, since I've come to Japan I've been trying to get a paying gig playing my sax. We're off in the boonies so there aren't any paying places to play, that I've found anyway. I don't want to play for free anymore, since I have to be away from my family to do it. . . but finally I have a gig! It's playing at a bridal fair with this pianist I met through an English-speaking cafe owner. I'm excited because hopefully it'll drum up more work, she plays regularly at weddings.
Well I suppose I'd better get ready to teach my classes. Poor kids, with one class a week there's no way to learn a foreign language, I know after learning two that you have to have daily exposure and constant practice or it'll never happen. But they know a lot of flashcards anyway!