This'll Just Take a Minute

This morning's car ride to the kindergarten bus stop was the last time the boys sat in child seats. When mama picked them up from the bus stop at 14:20 they got to ride home like big dudes for the first time ever. No more child seat. Just a seatbelt attachment for little guys. I was in an online meeting from 13:30 until after 15:00, during which Eri's mom stopped by to bring us vegetables, the boys came home from kindergarten, and Eri left for her class. My earbuds were in and I was in a state of meeting flow, so when I logged off and went downstairs to check on the boys I was a bit loopy from re-entry to the actual world I live in. The boys were sitting at the dining table eating ice cream snacks, happy as could be, swinging their feet back and forth on their chairs and laughing about something they were talking about before I entered the room. It's the last business day of the month so I am up to my neck with bureaucratic rituals. I headed back up to my desk after unsucce...

I was stepping out the door this morning when I suddenly had an urge. Eri had just said "off you go" and I announced I'd be back around dinner time and my feet were going. But I suddenly needed to take a picture of her. I'm glad I did. I should do it more. I used to. Random pictures of my wife.  Then I was off. I walked down to Izumi Chuo, hopped on the subway to Sendai, grabbed coffee and checked in with work things, met my friends (who happen to be my amazing co-workers), and caught a slow train to the deep countryside in the south of Miyagi Prefecture. We were meeting at the home of one member of our team who invited us all for a day of laughs, food, drink, and good times.  There's a member of our team who lives abroad and couldn't be with us, except for chat messages and a quick Facetime call, which was a bit sad. We'll see him next month, though, and more than make up for it I'm sure. The friends I work with, and technically manage (though I think...

I had some business that required me to be at the company all day today. I forgot how tiring being there can be. I forgot about a few things actually. Days like today force me to remember that I cannot take my work life for granted. Working from home has challenges of course, but the pros far outweigh the cons. Except for the aesthetic pleasures. The company is picturesque and serene. Everyone you meet is focused. At home the serenity comes and goes. For a few hours I might have total calm and can achieve a state of flow. Other times, like when the boys get home from kindergarten and invade my office with curiosity and hugs, it's slightly chaotic. I love it though. My house is full of life, disorganized as it is. I fear going back to the old ways. One downside of being at the company, though, is being sorta locked in. At home I can do a proper morning walk during the time I'd be commuting. I can take breaks to get out and walk here and there without folks looking at me and judg...

The boys get back from kindergarten at 14:35 and after they wash their hands and make mama irritated for some new and innovative reason they usually come marching into my office like John Philip Sousa. Thank goodness my afternoon manager meeting ended earlier than scheduled today. The stress of balancing work and home life while co-workers are watching you through your webcam and judging is anxiety-inducing. As usual these days, the boys announced they don't want to take a nap and all they want is a snack and juice. Eri jetted off for her class and the boys yelled from downstairs that they're starting their snack that mama set up, which allowed me to set about focusing on my work tasks for a bit. After about thirty minutes Kenzo comes knocking on my door. He says Osamu fell asleep downstairs on the sofa. This made me curious, as well as jealous. As described by his brother, the boy who declared "no nap" conked out watching PJ Masks.

"When I become a grandpa is mama gonna die?" I was so busy trying to scarf down dinner while peeling an apple for the boys' dessert and rinsing dishes and getting the bathtub ready that I neglected to put on some music. For better or for worse, Kenzo used that silent time, well except for Osamu's constant monologue of redundant observations and questions, to do his soul-searching. He's a bit worried about death these days, and I feel like I'm walking a tightrope. In my usual style, though, I am way more nonchalant than I should be about it.  Eri's at her web design class every evening this week. It's just me and the boys. Even though we miss mama, I kinda relish this time I have with Osamu and Kenzo. Sure, it's exhausting. Eri leaves at 14:45 and today I had a customer meeting on Zoom from 15:00 to 17:00, during which the boys came in with snack boxes asking if they could eat them and asking if they could go outside and Osamu even wanted to use my ...

I'm driving through the backroads of Miyagi Prefecture, somewhere on Route 108 between Osaki and Wakuya. The windows are all rolled down and Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson is comin' in through the speakers. Eri points out a bus stop she used to use when she was in high school and is probably in a state of nostalgia she wasn't revealing. The boys are in the back; talking, asking "Papa, what's that?" every 40 seconds, laughing, making flatulence noises both real and fake, and occasionally letting off a random yell of joy. Then Kenzo asks Eri, in Japanese, a question. "When I grow up will I be able to still see you every day?" He's getting more and more observant by the week. He's listening to everything we talk about and processing. I make it a point to speak with Eri in English within earshot of the boys and use language they will understand, or at least hear and construct meaning. Once in a while I'll either speak in Japanese or say thi...

I fell asleep at my desk again last night. I wasn't working. Just doing my reading after a good walk in a soggy late evening rain and even managed to actually get on Facetime and talk with a friend I haven't seen in a while. I need more Facetime with friends. I always feel better. So I was a little late to wake this morning, but luckily Eri is very understanding. The boys, however, love to point out that I slept too late. I think in their minds I go straight to sleep right after tucking them in, which is a perfectly rational assumption, in addition to being something I should strive for. Rain or shine, something I enjoy doing every morning is opening up all the windows in the house, even just for a few minutes if it's snowing or raining. My favorite window to open is, surprisingly, not the living room window, even though I do love the view out the front. Nope. My favorite is our bedroom window that opens as a door onto the second floor veranda. You can see clear across to D...

These days I've been staying up too late again - reading, listening to podcasts or music, trying to get the most out of my Apple TV Plus free trial. I'm re-watching Ted Lasso.  Today was day two of my plan to end nap time for the boys so they sleep more at night and thereby let Eri get more sleep. I don't have any hard data yet on the success of this endeavor, but when I finally rolled out of bed around 7:30 this morning the boys were already fed, dressed, and deep into their play. It was raining, so our original plan of going chestnut gathering and goat petting in Wakuya Town was out. I decided I was gonna make the most of the day anyway, in spite of the fact that the boys not taking a nap would be challenging and taking them out with me to run errands while carrying umbrellas was gonna be pretty exhausting. First order of business: get the boys set up with a good task while I got ready. They love drawing and making paper airplanes at their window desk. One of my favorite...

Eri officially started her four-month course in web design downtown tonight. She's taking a career step in a new, exciting direction. Even though it means she's gonna be away most evenings between now and February, there's no way I can't root for her. She's brave for taking on this challenge. Just getting accepted to the program took a lot. All the boys know is they miss mama. And that's okay. They'll roll with it. Today was the first day, and it was made more intense by an afternoon visit from a friend, which made nap time impossible. Eri prepped omurice and I re-heated it and put customized ketchup faces on. Kenzo asked for an angry face. Osamu has yet to explore the possibilities beyond happy faces. The boys' friend Max came to play this afternoon. Well, actually Max's dad, who's my friend and co-worker, came by for work related purposes, so it became an impromptu play date. The boys definitely made the most of it. It was like Godzilla hit t...

I reached into Kenzo's school bag first thing this morning and pulled out... ... an acorn and a cicada molt. There ya go. Way to be six years old. As the boys were changing into their school clothes I was staring at one of their "little boy stuff" storage spaces. This one is in the tatami room downstairs.  They've got some cool things for sure. The Minion deal on the left is a ukulele case. Last year I got pretty good at the ukulele, but these days only Osamu pulls it out and strums once in a while. We need to make a new habit. Playing that thing is fun. Over the last week Kenzo has been humoring me with testing out a project I've got going for work. He's a good partner. He's patient and curious and only gets irritated occasionally. Eri came up to my office around 11:00 and asked me when I'd be ready for lunch. I said I was ready now, only half joking. She said give me 30 minutes.  Usually I just nuke something from the freezer or do a cup noodle. Aro...

I told the boys it was gonna be a boring day, and I meant it in a good way. We just came out of a pretty exciting three-day weekend. Saturday was kindergarten sports day. Sunday cousin Yuzuki came over to play and we took the bus to Izumi Chuo and saw a Sendai Vegalta match at Yurtec Stadium . Monday we went to the planetarium. For goodness sake. Today I had to go back to work and Eri had an appointment in the afternoon. I told the boys it was going to be boring, but that boring is good. They think boring is boring, which is perfectly natural. I'm not going to force my way of thinking on them. They're little boys. Boring is boring. Kenzo despises nap time because, as he says it, "Sleeping is boring." And he's right. It is. I know they won't get it for a long time, and that's okay. Boring days are good, though. Boredom is fertile soil where seeds get planted. It's where you just sit and twiddle your thumbs and gaze out the window or lay on the living ro...

The boys love Marumatsu because the kids meals come with a gotcha-gotcha coin, which I think in the old country we call a jackpot coin. The kids jackpot is a staple of family restaurants the world over, and we love the ones at Marumatsu because they come with the meal - motivation to eat with no extra cost. Some places have jackpot games that cost three or four bucks a pop, which the boys are learning I don't even acknowledge. Sometimes they get some crappy Tom & Jerry handkerchief, but recently they've been striking it rich with those little spring loaded race cars you slide back and release. Today Kenzo and Osamu cleaned their plates and got a soccer ball and cow racer, respectively. We set off first thing this morning for the Sendai Planetarium . The best is when Eri and I can set a cool destination, then tease the boys with it by not telling them where we're going until the last minute as a leveraging tool to get them to hurry up and clean up their toys and change ...

Osamu said he had to go pee, and I make it a habit to believe him most of the time. Another habit I have is taking him to go pee, much of the time.  When we came out of the restroom I decided it was time for a beer, so with Osamu holding my hand we waltzed over to the food concession and I was checking out the selection, and the prices. Seven hundred yen for a draft beer. I had a feeling. It was only 500 for a whiskey cocktail (whiskey with water on the rocks) but I wasn't about to be that much of a derelict this early with my four-year-old son in tow. The tickets were free, the seats aren't bad, might as well spend seven bucks on a beer. The problem was that the dude next to us with his little boy about the same age as Mumu-chan loudly and with braggadocio you don't often see in these parts ordered a Blue Hawaii snow cone for his kid. I heard this and panicked. Last weekend at Michinoku Park I got a Blue Hawaii snow cone for Osamu and he loved it.  I looked down at my l...

We've got two boys in kindergarten at the same time, and today was sports day, so we had double the fun. Eri's mom joined us and we set up our Thomas the Tank Engine picnic mat on the grass in the heat smooshed together with all the other families and cheered and took pictures and tried to stay alert. The boys were so excited in the car on the way there this morning, but when the festivities were about to start Osamu freaked out and started crying and had to be dragged away from us by his teacher. He was officially the crybaby of the day. In the end, however, he nailed the final dance. He was channeling the Backstreet Boys. All that drama throughout the day morphed into a level of focus I've never seen in him before. Between Eri and I we have dozens of pictures and videos, but I chose a few shots to share that represent the day for me. Eri followed Osamu up this thing after lunch and it made me laugh really hard. I took this while Osamu and I were involved in a parent-child...

One of Kenzo's favorite TV shows is GeGeGe no Kitaro , an animated Japanese program about magical creatures that I can't explain. I doubt anyone can. Suffice it to say, it's very Japanese. I think the original comic debuted in the 60's. It's got a nostalgic Japanese feeling to it, which is weird for me to say since I'm not Japanese. You can just kind of feel it though. Kenzo has moments of artistic motivation. Sometimes he just wants to sit and dismantle a toy and stare out the window, other times he decides he wants to draw something very specific. Today he drew Kitaro... And here's what he looks like on TV... I discovered Kenzo's artwork when I arrived home from a very long day, departing at 9 a.m. and returning around 10 p.m. All on foot, with two quick subway rides. My yearly health check was in the morning. The nurse who measured my height and weight (and waistline) asked me if I was aware of the change in my BMI. I said I had a feeling. She asked m...