Happy Birthday Amanda

Today is Mandy's 15th birthday. We are busy here with last minute cleaning and party preparations.

Our passport issues have been resolved! It looks like we are on our way to China. The trip isn't until April. We were getting nervous about getting our renewed passports in the mail in time for the trip. It ended up only taking a week. Thank you very much to the American Embassy here in Japan, you rock! Now we just have to buy the tickets and we will be on our way! We had considered going on a trip to Tokyo instead, no passport needed. We did some research and found out about Disney Sea in Tokyo we were all excited and Mandy and I drove to the ticket office only to discover it was closed for the day. We then stopped by the post office and discovered our passports. Wouldn't that have frustrating to buy the tickets to go to Tokyo and then discover the passports at the post office. It seems my guardian angel is on my shoulder as always.

I have a test coming up this week in my computer class. Maybe I should quit playing with my blog and actually read the chapters. One good thing about taking classes while being the mother of a teenager is that I see her point of view. We are very similar in our slacker ways. One of the hardest things about school is learning where you stand in regards to integrity. Do you do all the work? Do you do as much work as necessary to get the grade you want? What is the actual point of school? Is it the grade or the knowledge? I have always tried to do all the work, even when I already have an A, I will read every word and try my best, then I get too overwhelmed and frustrated. Hence, I am 36 years old and still working toward a degree. I have yet to find the balance of doing too much and not doing enough. As I watch Mandy struggle with these same issues I am trying to find the wisdom to be quiet and let her find her own personal work ethic.