Life is Gourd!

Tommy Mahaffie
Sep 17, 2023
2 min read

Last few days of summer which means fall is right around the corner. Technically it isn't fall until September 23rd. I actually looked it up because I wasn't sure but the Autumn season runs from Sat, Sep 23, 2023 – Fri, Dec 22, 2023.

Here in Japan they are already have Halloween decorations up. You can start to hear halloween songs and see decorations at stores. Just like in the US Pumpkin Spice Latte's have made their way back. We don't really see a big difference in weather but it's weird that it's already September.

Around when school was starting Brittany and I got to go to Ta Taki Falls which is a really fun hike through a river to get to a waterfall.

This coming week will be our 5th week of school. Time goes by so quickly especially when you're expecting a baby in November.

Brittany's appointments have been going well. Thankfully I have been able to go to all of them too. The baby is doing well.

Some people have asked us if we have a name for the bump and at first we didn't but lately we've been calling our baby "kleintje" which means little one in dutch. Which helps when we don't know the gender.

School has started off well. Brittany and I are getting back into the routine of things.

Tis the season for running for me. Since I am the cross country coach I've been running a lot more with the students and with a fellow teacher in the mornings.

It's so amazing to see these students grow from the first meet to the end. They get so much stronger physically and mentally and their times improve by so much. Despite cross country being technically an individual sport that can score with a team. Practices are always special because there is such a great group of students and coaches that have so much fun through all of the silly shenanigans.

For my birthday I was given some money to go to a Fundamentals photography course with a professional photographer on island. I learned a lot of new things that will help take my photography to another level. For one I learned how to shoot in Aperture priority mode instead of shooting in manual mode. Makes things a lot quicker and it also makes sure that all of my pictures at at the right exposure.