Seemingly hopeless...

Hi folks!
I know, you probably have all but given up on finding anything new here! Truly I do apologize. As in far too many categories, I have all the best intentions, yet my follow through just isn't as good or timely as I'd like it to be. We(..God and I..) are still working on it though, we haven't given up!
Along those same lines I'm diligently working at making better use of my time - managing it better, I mean, so that I can feel more a sense of accomplishment at those things on my (very long) "to do" list.
We've had so many events and so much going on since I last posted that 'catching up' may never fully happen. I will, however, try to fill in some of the lost-in-time spaces as I find/make the time.
Most recently, the flu - pig type and all those others, too - have been running rapant in the schools here. Here being all over Japan, not just in our area. Many of the schools, from nursery to university, have been closing classes, grades or the entire school for periods of time varying from a day to a week trying to cut the spread. Personally... I don't think it's working so great. John and I may be the only people here that go around with our faces 'unmasked'! Honestly! The folks who market those disposable face masks are making a FORTUNE!!! Even though only a certain type is supposed to really "trap" the germs, every kind is selling out as fast as they put them on the shelf.
Knock-on-wood and thanks to God, thus far Ian, John and I have managed to avoid the flu - YEA!! A few sniffles and a cough or two here and there, but NO flu! Zack fought it off for a good while, but spending a huge chunk of every day with the basketball team - more than half of whom have had the flu - it finally caught him last week :-( He called Sunday morning with 'the symptoms' so I went to pick him up and took him directly to the hospital here to be tested. They first didn't even want to test him since his fever was very low-grade, but they went ahead and it came back positive. Zack asked what kind of flu this was that he had only a low fever and still a full appetite!?! I told him the kind everyone wishes they had if they had to get it at all!! So, he was home for 5 days during which time Ian wore a mask in his presence (plus a knit neck warmer over the mask for that little extra layer of germ deterrent?), and John washed and sanitized his hands more than in any normal month!! Other than the taking of the specimen itself - OUCH!!! - Zack said the worst part was sitting/laying around for 5 days and then having to face basketball practice again the first day back....
I started writing this today at the elementary school where I'm teaching now since when I arrived this morning they informed me the first class for my day was cancelled - for the entire week! - since 11 of the 19 kids were out with the flu - YIKES!! I guess this will go on all winter season...
On a brighter note... you may remember a while back we told you about sifting through a bit if the never ending stuff in our downstairs to make space in the small room for John to hold some of his classes. That was - trust me - a huge deal! and we were so happy when we got it finished. W--e--l--l... we at long last dove into the B-I-G room and all it was hiding... We got some terrific help from some neighbors and this week John will hold his classes in the big room!!!!! YIPPEEEE!!!!!! One day I'll post some pics - really!
OK, still so much to say but after being gone all day there are other things I need to get to so that's it until.....