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I Saw a Thing

Yesterday left me totally exhausted. Presiding over a barbecue party where you are the only adult and the other members are all super energetic little boys is, not surprisingly, hard on this 49-year-old barely coping mentally and physically dad. Also I love it.

I ended up napping on the sofa for a long time this afternoon. That sofa I bought in 2012. Man I've had some good naps on that thing. It's still a fine piece of furniture and I predict it will at some point end up in my second-floor office which I secretly envision one day becoming my man cave.

There was drama again this morning. I don't even know why I'm taken aback by it. We have two little dudes in our house who are confident, curious, and live every waking hour with all they've got. Drama is to be expected. The boys were arguing about something or other, Eri got irritated, and I remained aloof which always ends up making things worse. I ceremoniously canceled our trip to the donut shop because of it all but eventually we ended up going and I was silent the entire car ride there. Over the holidays when we watched "A Christmas Story" I realized that since the last time I saw that movie probably 35 years ago I have gone from identifying somewhat with Ralphie to identifying heavily with the father.

The main thing on the calendar today was the neighborhood association talent show presented by the old folks club. Due to the drama we didn't get back in time and I was also in no mood to go but Osamu convinced mama to take him.


They came back in 45 minutes. Osamu was bored. There was no one there under 70 years old except him and Eri. Plus the karaoke machine was apparently on the fritz so the whole show was old ladies hula dancing and old guys singing a capella traditional Japanese enka songs badly. She was like why did you even put that on the calendar and I had no good reply except that I saw a thing for it in the newsletter so you know.


Despite the frigid January we're having the sunsets have been spectacular. I have a spot I walk to not far from the house to watch the sky over Sendai fading into dark. Tonight I did a quick walk over there while Eri cooked dinner. I came back surprisingly refreshed.

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