Feeling It

They don't have pumpkin patches here, so the boys' very first Halloween pumpkin arrived in the mail. It was forty bucks, free shipping. The thing probably weighs five or six kilograms, but it'll do. Eri is rightfully concerned about this over-priced gourd. 

We're enjoying it in the living room for the next couple of weeks and then we're gonna carve it up, stick a candle in it, and set it out on the 31st and hopefully freak out all of our neighbors who think Halloween is just some gimmick that Daiso and the Aeon Mall use to offload weird overstocked autumn themed merchandise. Little do they know, Halloween is a much more complex gimmick than that.

The boys were so excited to discover the pumpkin when they got home. They know what a jack-o-lantern is and they've been asking me how we're gonna make it. I told them about cleaning the inside of the pumpkin and they are very curious and full of anticipation. I am too, since I haven't done it in a while. 

There are indoor and outdoor tables here and there around Izumi Chuo Station and the shopping mall, but even when they're full the benches that line the pathways are splendid for enjoying a Whopper and some yangnyeom chicken (purchased at separate shops).

I had an appointment to see my head shrinker this morning. My main one. For the last few months I've been going to the Friday night group sessions, but with Eri doing her career class I can't leave in the evenings so it was a great chance to see my one-on-one doc.

The walk to and from Izumi Chuo is therapy in itself, especially when the changing of the seasons is as visible as it was today. The walk home after lunch was crisp and inspirative. 

I was technically off the clock for the rest of the day, but I used the opportunity while the boys napped after Eri left to go downtown to get some work done, while also getting laundry folded and the kitchen straightened up for what I was hoping was gonna be an early dinner.

The boys are still getting over being sick. Kenzo has a pretty nasty cough and Osamu is... well, he's the same as always and maybe even just a little more hyperactive than usual. Kenzo woke from his nap and went downstairs to play in the living room but he was weary, as if he had not just napped for two hours.

I wrapped up my work and as the sun set Osamu woke up and came down to get Kenzo all riled up. I got dinner ready while sipping a cold glass of white wine (happy Friday!). Somewhere along the way Kenzo crossed the line into total exhaustion and became irritated and contrary in maybe the most dramatic way I've seen. He was trying to hit me and was saying nonsensical things and running amok like a garden hose when you turn the water all the way up and it gets out of control.

To make matters even more fun, the boys gave me their cold, and I'm feeling it. There was no way I wasn't going to get it. When I brush their teeth they cough straight into my mouth.