a dilemma nonetheless

hi, everyone. the last week has been a blur - i say that often, but it's really true in this case!

as usual, work has kept me busy but my volunteer position at a local school has kept me even busier. in between going to school meetings, evaluating, amending and approving the school budget alongside my council members, there's just always a lot to do and i find myself doing a lot of extra reading and research in order to help make the best recommendations as we steer the school along so we may best serve the needs of the students, parents, faculty and staff. but i'm committed to my position and of course, to the schoolchildren - so i'm very glad to spend the extra time needed to do this job, but i just wish i could get more sleep sometimes.

the other thing that has me going full-speed is that i recently met someone and i guess (yes, i have to say 'i guess' because we haven't quite had that talk) we're in that early phase of dating. so all that means is i've been out a lot but it's been nice to getting to know "A". the remarkable thing (to me) is that she doesn't really speak English that well and my Japanese conversation skills are pretty terrible. i have a much better time reading and writing Japanese since i spend so much damn time watching anime and reading manga, but put me in a situation where i have to start speaking Japanese and you're gonna hear a lot of "Uh...", "Um..." and dead silence while i rack my brain to come up with something. and poor "A" has been going to her electronic translator a lot since we met. i have to say my Japanese conversation skills have improved vastly and i've been having a good time getting to know "A" and i think she feels the same way about me. it's hard to find someone who likes manga (much less knows what i'm talking about) and baseball (she likes both!!!!!). we're both fans of the strip, Plica. in fact, "A" brought over a her dvd of the Plica animated short -- something i had wanted to see oh so long ago but just hadn't gotten the chance to - and we watched it one night at my place. (^o^)

it's definitely pre-mature but Thanksgiving is this week and "A" has never been to a typical Thanksgiving dinner (i.e. fat turkey with all the goodies like stuffing, mash potatoes, candied yams, pumpkin pie, etc.) and i had the feeling she wanted to go with me to my family dinner this thursday. i'm not sure if i'm ready to bring her to a dinner that involves my immediate family, extended family and friends - yet i don't want her to spend Thanksgiving alone and i do want her to experience a cool American tradition such as this one. "A" has only been in San Francisco for a few months and is trying to soak in as much as she can while she's here on a special work visa and has to return to Japan late next year.

so...i don't know. any thoughts, suggestions? do i bring her to my family dinner? or do i let her be on her own that day? it's a dilemma - not a bad one - it's kinda a nice dilemma as there's someone i'm interested in and i want to include her to various parts of my life. but we just met, it's still so new to me and this...is all happening...so...fast...