Family guilt trip.

Sports cat.

Another Family Trip out yesterday - this time to a hot spring/public bath.
He and I are hosting a BBQ party today - latest guest list was 45 plus! - so we felt guilty that Okaasan would have a Sunday feeling excluded from all those noisy youngsters in the garden.


He'd bought discounted public bath tickets for a place that was way out in the suburbs - BUT the free shuttle bus starts from our local subway station. And there was one glass of free beer per ticket too!
So just before 4 pm we managed to get Okaasan away from her laundry rearranging and TV and down to the bus stop.
Had ourselves a little trip out for bath and massage chairs and dinner.


All went well, although again I don't really know what to do IN the bathhouse with Okaasan. Usually women who go to these places sit companionably next to eachother and wash and then sit together in the different pools of water and chat.
It isn't something I particularly WANT to do...but feel I maybe should....but..


Maybe Okaasan felt the same about me?


After a quick wash next to me she took off on her own for the outside pool...and then...somehow....we managed to basically avoid eachother for the next 40 minutes! I blamed my blindness-without-glasses-in-a-steamy-room...which is a nice, almost-believable excuse. In fact I did spy on her across the steam a bit, to make sure she was ok - and she was. She's a Japanese woman - she's been going to these places for years and is physically ok at climbing up and down the various steps and in and out of water.
I checked in with her a few times at various points around the bathhouse - but actually managed to get some private soaking time.


After the bath we met up with Yujiro for massage chairs/beds and luckily found a very chatty chair/bed salesman who came from Tokyo, so he and Okaasan chatted on about subway lines and  Tokyo.
Dinner in the family restaurant with noisy kids running up and down squeaking in their pyjamas...and then the 7.30 pm shuttle bus home.
Successful.


Ahead of us today: vast BBQ party...we went to COSTCO yesterday morning and bought it all up. Yujiro needed a Boy Toy, so he bought a coffin-like cooler box, the kind fishermen put their big catches in - when not in use for BBQ drinks it could be a good cat playbox...or....Okaasan transporter....
And I have made another carrot cake - this time all cooked through. Gonna have me some serious carrot cake this time. Last weekend in front of students I had to be content with a lady-like slice - I actually just want a huge SLAB of cake. I may not share it with BBQ guests at all, just lock myself in the utility room and stuff the lot.