Day 3

Lunch: set out bits of pickled fish, rice and soup to be heated.
came home and found Okaasan had heated up the rice in a saucepan, not the microwave. Unless we leave written instructions about the microwave she doesn't really remember how to use it. Yesterday the half-heated rice was still IN the microwave and burned egg bits were in the soup pan.

Dinner: Served up the leftover Oden, with rice, refreshed soup and boiled vegetables. I ate all the rice she didn't eat yesterday...kind of fried up with other leftovers.

Chat: Flower arranging - got onto the topic because Okaasan has carefully supported the roses on the table with craftily bent chopsticks...so that led naturally into... Okaasan's 10 years at a high class flower arrangement class in Minami-Aoyama once upon a time. Repeats...about 5 or 8...not so bad.

Getting into a groove here!

Today was my day off, so I feel all relaxed anyway.
It poured with rain all day. Sheets of it.
I made my Curves gym return nervously and under the gentle direction of the staff we tested what my stomach muscles AND knee can do.
But first I got measured: WOW! The Ovarian Monster Tumor Diet. I don't recommend it...but..

July my waist was a wopping 81 cm.
November it is 71 cm.
And my bust, stomach, hips and even upperarms are all smaller too.
July weight was 61 kg.
November weight 57 kg. Just about what I want to be really.
But I need MUCH stronger muscles. many of the machines I could hardly move.
I really will try to go at least 3 times a week and get this body back into action.

After that I drifted around town in the rain doing errands - including buying Chinese medicine herbs for my nightsweats which have returned since the operation. I thought I'd finished menopause about 3 years ago and had stopped taking the Chinese herbs because the crazies had stopped.
But now with no ovaries, the sweats are back.

ANYWAY: Day 3 with Okaasan. Not so bad. She stayed home and quiet today, so her overall balance seemed better...she giggled and told funny stories about flower arrangement class. She seems ok. She only asked twice about Yujiro. Who we all know...is skiing in central Tokyo.

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Poignant news from England.
November 9th is/was my step-mother's birthday. She was born 11/9. She died 9/11.
And yesterday her sister went to the house for the final clearing and after a long day of it, with help from people in the village again...she locked up the house and handed the keys back to the owner. So that part of all our lives is finished. We won't go freely into that house again. Or round that garden.
I was thinking about my step-mum a lot last night. We used to go out for lunch on her birthday and she loved over-the-top, gooey chocolate puddings. The gooier the better. 
She would have been 83 yesterday.