A bit of a breather before a doozy

The boys rushed around
finding food samples, that
Costco is famous for
providing. It cut our lunch
costs down—they were al-
ready half full before they
got there!

Today and tomorrow we're taking a breather. A non-weekend breather. It is the four-day long weekend called Winter Break at CAJ, which means everyone, even the teacher in the family, can be home.

We went to Costco this morning, and the much anticipated Lego Shop at the Outlet Mall next door (to get our free new year's catalogues—a family tradition).

Costco wasn't too crowded i.e. we found seats straight away for the five of us to sit together for lunch at their "restaurant" afterwards. And the boys were better behaved than we've previously seen at Costco (are they growing up?).

What made it a less stressful trip was that I could relax and leave most of the shopping and lifting to my husband, who does a fantastic job at these sorts of things.

Eating afterwards at the
Costco fast food "restaurant".

What isn't so good is that I'm fighting off a cold. It hasn't been too bad, but my energy is a bit low. Plus, I know that I'm leading up to a big week!

This week is the week of the Writer's Workshop that I've been planning for several months now. To avoid the dramas of the last Writer's Workshop I led and taught at (in which I arrived nearly 2 hours late), I'm driving up the day before. That way I can't be late, can I? Surely some other drama will happen (like snow, for example...).

So, everyone goes back to school on Wednesday and I gather myself to drive up to Sendai (about five hours). Thankfully I have two companions, one of whom will help with driving. Hopefully I'll be past the worst of my cold by then.

The other writers arrive on Thursday morning, and if everyone turns up we'll be a nice group of six. My responsibilities, not only includes hostess, but schedule keeper, teacher, driver, and chef! I'm providing breakfast and lunch on Friday (simple, mind you!). But I'm not planning to do any writing myself, surprised?

That is not my only challenge. My executive editor has challenged me to be more confident in my teaching. We'll see if I can muster more boldness. I wonder if my trouble last time, though, was related to the humbling experience of getting lost on the trains and being late!

We'll see how well it goes, but I predict I'll be worn out by the time we get back on Friday night. Thankfully what follows is a quiet weekend!

But as for the rest of our long-weekend. It's looking to be cold (5 degrees forecast tomorrow) and wet. Thankfully we've planned a quiet "in" day tomorrow. Two DVDs planned, including The Karate Kid (original)!