final week

here we are HOM and i, fast coming to the end of the month we spend with Ji J2 A and E. as well as S and A the cats.

with gratitude at seeing a teeny weeny babe guzzle her way to decent weight gain. with delight at being around a toddler, a blank canvas to teach to coach to protect and to show to.

with relief at coming to the end of keeping a household intact alive and functioning. (how will the young people keep themselves intact alive and functioning after we go?)

with regret that we cannot gift them more of our time. with gladness and joy at this season we are gifted with.

IGU list

as in, books i give up reading part way through:

• killer in a white coat - charlotte bismuth (2024): she has a truly irritating strategy of switching between the past the past the present the past the present the recent past and 2000 days ago. plus i really do not want to know about how her marriage disintegrates. just tell me about the killer!
• nora roberts et al: a series of novellas: i guess mark greenside's freshly crisp prose has spoilt me for the other more maudlin version
• james patterson: entirely too gritty for now

i'll never be french - mark greenside (2008)

laugh-out-loud wit coupled with sharp cross cultural observations written with obvious affection and a self-deprecation i am pleasantly surprised to encounter in un américain. very bill bryson.

i am also surprised to discover his progressive background because this book is a love letter to ordered conservative status quo.

charmant. i am now looking for his other books.

reasons to visit costco

J2's: she is running out of hand soap toilet paper chicken and broccoli

HOM's: he wants to get his beloved cashews and pistachios

me: i want the haagen dazs ice cream bars on sale at $8.99 a box of 20 (yasss)

A: she wants the grub samples

E: she is helpless and simply follows the milk

a visit to the doctor's

little A has a pediatrician's appointment so HOM and i tag along (to be accurate we tag along because J2 promises us a trip to costco after the doctor's).

i am agog at the friendly vibe. cutesy prints on the wall pretty prints on the chairs all manner of print for reading and the notices printed in blacktear script. my first time at a pediatrician's, i whisper to HOM.

did our children not go to the pediatrician? HOM asks me. nah, i confess. 

back in the day, only very ill kids see the pediatrician. the others see the maternal and child health services people. the name alone tells you there are no frills there.

operation deep clean

the food detritus is awe-inspiring, but not in a good awesome way. and it's not rocket science, HOM and i tell each other. hence ensue jittery moments of uncertainty about the reversibility of it all, preferably before J2 comes downstairs or Ji returns from work or A awakens from her nap.

avant

et voila! après!

dinner place review

as dated a california diner as you can imagine

as un-japanese as music can get

with varsity sports playing on the wall TV

and sashimi to gladden our souls. oishi