Lost in Translation

To all my Japanese and Japanese-studying friends please translate this into English:

目
愛
歯
ぴゅー
？

Budding Artists

I love elementary school for many reasons - here's one:

An ever-changing art gallery!

The Official Countdown Commences

OK, as of tomorrow I will be exactly one month away from my first Christmas vacation at home in 5 years. I've added a countdown indicator to my blog so you can count down the days with me. Perhaps when December hits I'll deck it with boughs of holly or something, but for now it's just simply red and green.

And just in case you think that I get to avoid the 2 month long commercial Christmas season because I'm in a country that doesn't 'celebrate' it...think again. The trees and lights and music have been in the stores since November 1. Ugh.