We’ve been in Mode: Tonsillectomy Recovery for a full week now. It has been… okay? There was a lot of pain the first 3-4 days, but he’s really perked up in the last couple days here. We are still doing the Advil/Tylenol shuffle and staying close to home.

I thought staying close to home for so long would be terrible. Despite being a homebody myself, I do make an effort in the summers to get the kids out and about regularly–I have found we are all happier if we leave the house for a couple hours in the morning.

Early in the week we went to Home Depot to purchase cardboard and bamboo stakes, and the kids have spent two full days crafting cardboard weapons for themselves. This has been fun, but I sense they’ve just about cycled through this activity, so I’ve got to come up with something low key for us today. My youngest isn’t allowed to be rambunctious for two full weeks after tonsillectomy!

The week was also broken up by the new on Tuesday morning that our governor is now the vice-presidential nominee!

I am having a lot of feelings about this. I love Tim Walz. I think he’s a thoughtful, genuine leader and I’ve been really happy to have him as our governor all these years. We used to watch his regular addresses during the pandemic and also during the 2020 civil unrest and his leadership was a source of comfort. I always felt he was doing his best to keep us all safe without overreacting.

I am sulking a little bit about sharing him. I think he’s great, I think he was the right choice for this ticket, and I love how pumped the rest of the nation is about him right now, but he’s my governor! We found him and elected him first! But… he’s what America needs right now and we Minnesotans are generous so… I guess you can borrow him for eight years.

Anyway, Tuesday’s announcement propelled me into a flurry of political excitement and that was it for me. I’ve used up all my enthusiasm. I’m now done paying attention until Election Day.

Staying close to home has given me a chance to work on planning our trip to Japan next summer. I’ve gone through several guidebooks, consulted a close friend who went to Japan recently, have watched dozens of YouTube travel videos, and have spent hours on TripAdvisor. I feel like I am finally getting a handle on what we want to do and how much time we’re going to need to do it.

What had originally been conceived of as a Tokyo/Kyoto trip has now expanded into a Tokyo/Hiroshima/Kyoto/Osaka trip. My husband suggested that he really wanted to go to Hiroshima, and despite the extra travel hassle I do think it’s a great destination for us. I have always wanted to go to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, and the famous torii in the sea at the Itsukushima Shrine is nearby.

Osaka was added because my youngest insists that we must go to Super Nintendo World in Osaka, and despite our pleading that we could do the same thing in California (and soon in Orlando) he has been unpersuadable. And let’s be honest, am I going to be absolutely thrilled to board Yoshi’s Adventure Ride in Japan? Yes, I am.

I did stop working on my Japanese a few weeks ago and I really need to get back to that!