Keeping the Mood Light

Last month, after years and years of hemming and hawing over it, I went to see a cardiologist about my sleep apnea and snoring. It's been getting so bad. I sleep tons and feel tired when I wake up. I doze off during the day and often take long naps that never really refresh me. I see photos of myself from even just 5 or 6 years ago and my eyes are different. My face is different.

The other day a package arrived. It was a sleep testing device. I made sure to read the instructions more than once and last night I did it. There was a thing I had to attach to my left index finger with a device that I wore like a big clunky watch and a wire that I taped to my arm all the way up under my pajama sleeve that had a diode on the end that I stuck to my chest.

At some point while I was sleeping one of the wires got detached. Oh well. I sent it back to the doctor this morning so we'll see what happens. I might have to do it again. I just feel good about taking steps to do something about this.

I cleaned and repaired the trash station this morning. It's been on my to-do list for a month. As the Vice-Chairman and General Affairs Manager of our neighborhood association (only for a little longer) it's my duty. Also no one else was volunteering.

I invited the boys to come help me but Osamu wasn't into it and Kenzo asked, "Will you pay me?"

Seriously.

So I was like well you guys I thought maybe you'd just like to be nice helpers for papa on this sunny (albeit chilly) Monday holiday morning.

Nope.

But I really did need an assistant so I said hey Kenzo meet me in the front hall and he comes over as I'm putting on my jacket and neck warmer and I told him there's 50 yen in it for you and more if you do a really good job,

At first he wasn't interested but after I went outside and started my work he ran out and joined me and he was... "helpful". He earned his 50 yen but I had to break it to him that he wasn't getting a bonus this time.

I get it. He's on the tail end of a busy long weekend, it's cold, the park is all gross with melting snow, and he seems to be experiencing a little bit of 8-year-old boy ennui. I did my best to not give him a hard time. Being a little kid is hard enough without papa making it harder.

I actually got kinda hot and sweaty out there even though it was 3 degrees. I took off my hat and neck warmer. Kenzo did pretty well with cleaning out detritus from the trash cage but he eventually pooped out and I spent the next 45 minutes replacing netting that keeps crows from getting their clever beaks on the trash. I am proud to say our trash area has never looked better or been so ready for crow season.

As I was wrapping up my valiant work Eri came outside and told me her mom was coming over. I gave her a knowing look. Eri isn't a fan of certain things, one of them being last minute visits and another being certain members of her immediate family. As always, though, I said "Great!" and it turned out her brother came too and we all went down the street for sushi and while Eri was stressing about family stuff I did what I do: double down on the self-deprecating humor to keep the mood light and distract from the weird vibes. Luckily weird vibes rarely affect me. In normal human interactions that's not usually a good quality but luckily I don't have that many normal human interactions so it has served me well.