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More Like a Hyena

The day after Christmas used to be such a letdown, but these days it's kind of a relief. Maybe it was always like that and I'm just realizing it. Again.

Today was Monday and I was back at work. The boys are off from kindergarten. Eri took them to Izumi Chuo in the morning to find a new winter coat for Osamu. They found a good one. Pictures are forthcoming I'm sure.

Today was officially my last day of work for the year, though I still have some tasks to wrap up over the next few days. The goal today was to finish my monthly report, which involves multiple Excel spreadsheets and lots of translation/interpretation. I have to somehow take information from our sales, marketing, and customer service teams, which is all in Japanese language and context, and produce a report that can be understood by company executives abroad. 

Which is why I was so happy for the return of Zanma-san, who made her second appearance at our house today for babysitting while Eri is at school and I'm upstairs at work. Without her I'd still be working on that report instead of writing this.

The boys had a fantastic time. They showed her their Christmas presents and played hide-and-go-seek and ate donuts.

Eri prepped a mountain of yakisoba for dinner. After I sent Zanma-san off and wrapped up my work I set about heating up the yakisoba, but I also discovered some leftovers in the fridge. Spare ribs and cream stew.

I consider it a serious responsibility to eat up the forgotten food in the refrigerator. I don't like waste. I recently told Eri I'm like a vulture, but she said I'm more like a hyena. Apparently there's a nuanced difference. 

When I texted Eri that I ate up all the leftover stew she texted back that she thought it had gone bad and was actually gonna toss it out this morning but forgot. Today was garbage day.

The stew was fine to me. I nuked it and sprinkled some red pepper on it and it was delectable. 

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