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I love when the boys play in their room upstairs.


Rainy days are hard on them because they constantly look forward to going outside. Even when it is raining Osamu wants to go out to the garden and hold his umbrella or go for a walk in his raincoat. Kenzo likes being cozy inside. We call him Cozy Ken sometimes. 

This morning we hung out in our pajamas in the living room and when the boys finally changed clothes and brushed their teeth and went upstairs to continue their play I headed over to the community center for a meeting. 


As the newly minted vice-chair of the neighborhood association as well as the head of the neighborhood care division I called the meeting to discuss hot topics like flower orders for the planter boxes in Higashi Park, fertilizer pickups in June, grass cutting assignments, and my findings about just how many metal and bamboo rakes are in the shed. 

I thanked the nice old ladies for coming out in the rain on a Sunday morning to meet with me. Takahashi-san happily announced, "Every day is Sunday for me."

Later on, after a walk in the drizzling rain with my raincoat on and hood pulled up, I was back at my desk reviewing notes from the morning meeting, preparing flower order paperwork, getting ready to go back to work tomorrow, and listening to some Louis Prima while the rain pitter-pattered outside. Obviously there was a little late Sunday afternoon wine involved. 

Kenzo came in and asked for a coloring sheet. The answer is always yes. I asked him what he wanted and he said a Tohoku Shinkansen, the Yamabiko in particular.

We're gonna be riding it soon and he couldn't be more excited, though it took him forever to choose a coloring sheet from the selection I Googled.

About five minutes later Osamu came up and asked for the same coloring sheet.

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