Day 2

And here is tonite's Dinner for Okaasan. It's called Oden. It's fish paste and tofu and eggs and vegetables all simmered in a broth. Easy peasy because you buy it in a bag at the supermarket and throw it in the table top cooker and cook for a while, then serve with mustard, rice, soup and a bit of salad. (AND no...I didn't add sweet potato, maybe ok...or maybe not?? Too risky).
A very good dinner. Although...she DID kindly share her wisdom that "there should be more water in the pot!"...and I smiled and simpered and apologized. Cos I am a good Oyomesan.

Oh. But the conversation!!! Oh no...oh no...oh no.
Is she tired after 2 days of going to hula dance in the rain (they have yet another event coming up and of course are practicing like mad) - so quite a busy time for Okaasan, probably a bit of stress learning the new dance...or is that with me she actually gets a chance to speak instead of just listening passively to Yujiro waffle on?? I don't know what.
But OH! Her conversation hamster wheel tonite was terrible.

I got her from hula dance onto - it's important to exercise isn't it - and then HER exercises that she does sometimes on the carpet. These are a variety of stretches etc, looks like a fish or a stranded frog - it's the system of the wartime Health Guru Dr. Nishi - who Yujiro and Okaasan admire so much.
So we were onto Nishi-sensei and exercise...and on and on ....and on...and on....Maybe 20 times she told me about how as a child 5 doctors came and looked at him in a dark room and nobody knew what was wrong with him, at how he grew up to work out this systetm of health, had meetings  all over Japan, had a training center near Shinjuku etc etc.

Oh - you can't imagine what it's like. Well, I know anyone who has spent time with a dementia sufferer WILL know - it really is an endless chain...often the same sentence loops into EXACTLY the same sentence...sometimes it comes back after 2 or 4  sentences later.
HORRENDOUS!

And Okaasan's voice got quite loud thru all this, quite insistent about it all. It was pretty hard to keep steering her attention to the food and make gentle responses, she got a bit didactic. Is that the word?

Aghh......20 times. I kid you not. Pretty bad. She wasn't this bad before surely?
I reckon Okaasan should stay home nice and quiet tomorrow and settle down.
Me too...

But...tomorrow morning I am planning my Curves return! The circuit training place I joined in July when I was finally worried about my bulging stomach - only to discover a month later that it wasn't fat...it was the Melon Monster Cyst.
I feel about ready to try a little more than regular life exercise for my stomach now. And knee. And maybe they can get rid of the Okaasan Conversation stress too.

OMG!!! This is only Day 2. The cooking I can do, thanks to supermarket cheat packs.
But oh.....the chat.....the chat.