Christmas Wishes

Santa has come. Chicken and cake have been eaten. Champagne has been imbibed. The kids have passed out after a frenzy of toy and sugar-induced ecstasy.

Tomorrow we will have a quieter night, of contemplation of the people and things we are thankful for.

May this Christmas holiday bring you joy and satisfaction.

Simple is Best

We had a great Sunday. We didn't do anything exciting at all, though. Little Fish and I made some fantastic Cheese and Rosemary halfmoons for breakfast which really hit the spot. No pictures though, because I didn't make enough (I need to find somewhere that sells butter! I'm afraid it's a redux of the 2006 all-Japan butter shortage) and they were gobbled up before I could take a pic.
There's something nice about being in the kitchen baking with a friend or loved one. I don't love cooking, it's something I do because I have to. Baking though- I do that for me. Doing it together with my son makes me happy because we both truly love it. It reminds me of baking or canning with my grandma (who always always got on my case for dawdling, and who made the best pie crust in the world). This time I got flashbacks to my mom teaching my fellow girl guides and I how to make croissants. To have Little Fish hold my hand while we roll up these halfmoons while Cupcake stared in through the gate waiting for her turn (wait little girl, I'm not ready for you to grow up that much yet!) was just a fabulous feeling. No rushing (except to eat), just enjoying the moment. Oh look at me getting all emotional. But a truly enjoyable morning. I couldn't have enjoyed it more even if I had a big English newspaper and room service.

The rest of the day we just spent tooling around the neighbourhood on bikes. Yes, all 4 of us finally! My parents passed their love of biking onto all of us.
Little Fish has finally figured out how to pedal. No more Flinstone-car for him! I don't know when it happened. Two weeks ago he was still struggling to keep his feet on the pedals all the way around and then all of a sudden he got it.

Now it's kind of scary, I don't have to hold on to the back of his tricycle anymore. That frees my hands up for more groceries (ha!) or riding my own bike. But he's still too young to really get traffic safety. I have made up a totally stupid song about what to do at crosswalks. The problem is that in Japan cars don't always drive on the road. And no one stops for pedestrians. We live in the centre of a small city so there are always cars around. He wants more independence and to go for rides by himself but I think he needs a tall flag or something. Maybe a cow fence around him so any car that gets too close gets electrocuted and their system shorts out. Or maybe I'll just stick close for a while longer.
Since Little Fish can now go on longer rides on his tricycle, I can put Cupcake in his seat on my bike. She is not a huge fan of the helmet (or hoods or hats) but at 8 months who really is? She tolerates it though and that means I can get some biking in.

Our neighbourhood is really cool. We stopped at all the mom-and-pop stores around that are actually open on Sundays. Big Fish is always greated like a don around here. Amazingly enough, there are still some people who are surprised to see he has a foreign wife. We buy batteries here and there, anything to give a little business to these people. One place washes my glasses 3 times. Honda gives us a bunch of fresh-popped popcorn (with soya sauce and butter taste, weird but yum!). This is after they fixed my headlights for free last week. The yakitori stall has a bunch of chicken sticks and liver for us. It's nice to see my husband in his element. He has made so many personal relatioships with the people in our community over the last few years, and it's nice for him to get respect. He deserves it.
Our evening rounded up with a nice onsen. Our usual place is a tiny family bath that is very old-school but comforting. We can walk or bike over and it's refreshing to get out of the cold air and into the hot bath.
I bet that this was the way post-war families spent their Sundays. Nothing exciting, no tv, no internet, no driving as far as you can on the ¥1000 highway discount.
I wish I had time for more days like this.

7th day at daycare

7th day at daycare, originally uploaded by Medeafication.

Cupcake finally stopped crying long enough to eat!

Kindergarten Interview

This afternoon Little Fish is going to our chosen kindergarten for his entrance interview. They say it's just a formality but I am still worried. I tried to dress him up in formal clothes but he has decided on his monkey shirt and he is not budging. At least they will be forewarned of what he really is!

I usually have a strict English Only policy at home but last night panicked and started quizzing him in Japanese on stuff. I figure they will ask about colours and his name and age, not sure what else. He did pretty good but keeps saying my name when I ask him for his name. :?

He fell asleep while putting on his clothes so I am focusing on the most important thing in Japan- my appearance. I just spent his naptime plucking out all my grey hairs so all the young mamas won't ignore me. I know 5 other mamas so I'm not [s]that[/s] worried about being ostracized but still I don't want Little Fish to be ashamed of his dorky mama. I sincerely hope the interviews take place without mamas because I have visions of trying to sit on a tiny kindergarten chair and there is no way I can do that all polite and graceful-like! Less gazelle, more hippopotamus.

Speaking of hippopotamuses, Little Fish is starting to wake up. I can tell because he is singing Hippopotamus To You, which is his favourite Christmas carol. Not one you or I know, however.

Anniversary #7

7 years ago today I walked into city hall a single woman, and came out shackled for life. Thank goodness my fellow shacklee is such a good guy.

We usually make it a point to go out for our anniversary, but our favourite French restaurant, Café le Parisien, is closed on Sundays (mostly so the owner can go off drowning my husband in a canoe). Also, since our Canada trip this summer I have been wanting to make my husband a dish he had tried for the first time and loved.

So I made Chicken Oscar! It was supposed to be Veal Oscar but I forgot to order veal at the butcher in time. I smothered the pan-fried chicken with shrimp and scallops and asparagus, then drizzled Hollandaise sauce. Quite the challenge with a 3-ring burner. My cousin the culinary genius provided support and I actually got it done. I don't think there are new grey hairs either.


It was quite the success. I wish I made more though, both boys gobbled down theirs so fast I was forced to share mine.

Here's hoping we have 7 more years just as good!