「産休に入りました」Finally started my "mini-vacation."
This morning starts off with a warm cup of honey-ginger tea, grapefruit and a couple of pages of Rich People Problems. Once the rice cooker beeps, I'll make Ryu's lunch box, do the dishes and bring in the laundry. Then it's off to the dentist, the hospital, and then back home for a meeting with a client for a few months of translation and editing work.
I am officially on maternity leave. Co-workers and I had been joking that I'd be bored stiff a few days in, but there is actually so much that needs to get done that I'll be out of the house almost daily. When I think about how much I need to do before and after birth, I really wish I could have been given a year in maternity leave as opposed to just six months. If the COVID situation improves, there is a slight chance they might allow me to extend, but seeing how disasterous Japan's handling of the pandemic has been, I do not have high hopes.
Since I won't be receiving any money until April, we agreed that we would be a little more frugal with our spending, but also agreed that it was important for us to have at least a small amount of money to use for stress relief and personal joy. So yesterday took me to the flower shop, and hair salon. My hair isn't growing out as quickly as I thought it would, but it's growing back thicker.
Tomorrow we'll be buying the last listed baby-items we should prepare before birth. Starting Monday, I will start a "No Spending challenge" for the rest of the month, save for doctor appointments and grocery items (Which we've managed to drop to 8,000yen a week. About 70USD).
Perhaps that will push me to get all the deep-cleaning done. Ryu is not good at deep-cleans to my standard, but is good at maintenance cleaning. I know I can't count on him to do a decent cleaning if things get overly messy, but I can count on him to prevent areas I've cleaned from getting dirty. I want things to be as clean as possible before we move over to Ryu's parent's house. This way, we don't have to worry about anything once we come back and are finally running solo in raising this new baby.
While on the topic of no-spending. I've been using coconut oil as a make-up and sun block remover before my usual face wash for the past few months. On the same day I ran out of make-up remover, youtube recommended a video on natural make-up removers, and I had a jar of oil still sitting unused in the kitchen. I'll probably go back to regular make-up removers once the oil runs out, but I can't say I'm disappointed with the results. My face has far less redness than it did before and has been feeling a bit less saggy. Funny how it destroyed my skin when used as a moisturizer, but does wonders now as a make-up remover.
Things to get done:
- Maternity Bag
- Prep hospital documents
- City Hall Forms
- Immigration Forms
- Schedule American Embassy appointment for American Passport
- Schedule appointment for Japanese passport
- Learn bus route to maternity hospital
- Apply for Maternity pay
- Schedule nursery school visits
