Older, wiser, fatter.

Why, hello there!
Yes, occasionally I write this blog.
Dropping off the duties here.

OMG!
Does that mean I've just got used to living with his demented mother in a bi-cultural nabe pot of confusion?
Got nothing to blog about now?

Yes. A little.
Inevitable really. It's been, like...what...FIVE whole years now!
Five years ago we were desperately house hunting for somewhere to move into with Okaasan, and we came here in March? April?

Updateing on the past week.
I had a birthday, we went away for the weekend and I injured my hand. Oh, and my dear friend with cutest baby has left Sapporo and gone back to mainland Japan to start work again. :-(

Okaasan? Doing fine.
Her son has been home shopping and cooking and chatting. He even took her to the subway station by car, so she could go downtown a few times for a walk. Day care visits all ok too.

It was my birthday - which means I could stretch it out over a whole week....dinners, chocolates, cards, pressies.....flowers....and a trip away to ski.
We went away for a night to the big ski areas.

He arranged care worker to come in and feed and chat to Okaasan. He also booked the cats into the animal clinic for 3 nights stay.
Freedom!
We escaped to couple time, snow and a gorgeous self-catering apartment where we cooked up a cheese fondue and drank a lot. Cheese fondue is the symbolic food of L.B.O. Life Before Okaasan. What we used to love eating at home. Don't now, cos she doesn't like cheese...

Okaasan seemed accepting of our absence: Dear Son going ski working, me going to "an English teaching lecture" - both away at the same time...
Her lunches were 7-11 lunch boxes as usual. Saturday's delivery was buggered up by forgetful staff and Okaasan called Yujiro at the ski area to ask what to do about her lunch - good that she knows she didn't eat lunch yet, and knows how to call her son.
Thank goodness for cell phones, so her life can be supervised  from a distance....

So - there I am. 53 years old and lapping it up in the lap of luxury in a HUGE apartment! He found it on Groupon. Y12,000 a night for a place that usually costs Y37,000!!!! It was a world away from the kitchen with tofu and nabe and washing OKaasan's underpants.

A world away. A very good birthday present.

But. On the Sunday morning I fell on a tricky slope and caught my thumb in my ski stocks. Instant pain. Pain all day. Couldn't hold the stock.....swelling....pain....doctor yesterday...it's a "skier's thumb", or stretched/torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament Tear....pain killers, cold compress...wait 3 weeks and be careful...

Dr. Wikipedia says the symptoms include pain when tearing paper or doing up shoelaces. Since I don't do those I can helpfully add: zipping up boots, taking tickets out of vending machines, picking up coffee cups, turning the key to start the car, opening screw caps on a bottle...chopsticks....

But typing is ok. :-)

Will find more dynamic, dementia/cultural things to write about soon.