Where have you been?

 A friend/colleague who I usually have fairly regular contact with on email wrote the other day, "Wendy, you've been quiet, are you okay?"

The answer is "Yes, but I've been busy." Particularly busy during the day when I get the easiest access to the computer. Once the boys are home they all have school homework on the computer or piano practise that needs supervising and before I know it, it is dinner preparation time and then the push to bed. Next thing we're hitting 8.30 and wanting to relax a little before bed!

To tell you about every day recently would be boring, but let me tell you a little about yesterday.

In the morning my kindergartner had "Round-up" day. Meaning he got to go to Grade 1 for 1 1/2 hours. I joined him for a while, then the Elementary Principal spoke to us for a little while and then  he was dismissed for the day. We shot back home for some morning tea and then took off on our bikes to do some grocery shopping. When we returned I made a start on the cake for our eldest's birthday on Sunday (12, I cannot believe it!!).

Then, not long after noon the others joined us at home. Yesterday was a special presentation afternoon for the seniors at CAJ. They've each been doing a large project and yesterday they did presentations publicly. Because teachers from the whole school are used in grading this particular assessment, all other classes were cancelled for the afternoon. So, we had lunch (and they ate huge amounts, where do they put it?) and then some quiet reading time. 

Cake is in the top tin, tin in the middle is catching more drips.

All this time I was checking this cake in the oven. Because I tripled it, it took a long time to cook. And also because I tripled it, I ended up with this big mess - because there was too much batter for the tin I used!

One of the senior presentations was on Dyslexia, which is a topic of interest for this occasional Occupational Therapist. It was on at 1.45, so with all the kids at home, my plan was to put a movie on and dash down to school, see the presentation and dash back again before anyone had a chance to have an issue with anyone else! And the plan worked. Unfortunately a cake that refused to finish baking wasn't on my agenda. In the end I turned the oven off and left it in there. When I returned I simply turned the oven back on again. Who knows what it will taste like in the end!

Oh, and there was little waste for the cake. See that big glob on the bottom of the oven? My nearly 12 y.o. ate it for afternoon tea, minus the burnt bits!

After afternoon tea we did something very rare indeed. I shooed all the boys into the car and we went shopping. I used to drive boys around all the time in Australia, but it just doesn't happen here. If I hop in the car it is usually on my own during school hours or as a family on the weekend. Most often when we leave the house, though, it is on foot or on bikes. 

As it happens, our son's good friend has a birthday only four days before our son's. And he invited our son to a sleep-over tonight. Finding a present for this friend, within budget was pretty difficult. Our son didn't have any idea what his friend's hobbies were or what he like to do in his spare time. They basically spend their time at school chasing one another and tickling. Our son's never been to his friend's apartment (it is on the other side of Tokyo).

We eventually bought cheap water guns. One in the shape of a fire hydrant, the other in the shape of a banana!

By the time we arrived home it was 5pm and there my day had rushed past and was almost gone. I went to wash up lunch and baking dishes; and soon my husband arrived home.

We tag-teamed it and I dashed out the door after handing over the latest problems to him (like the youngest being banned from playing with the middle son's new $1 slinky due to frequent tangles) and headed to the gym for some exercise and clear head space. I felt much better when I returned in an hour. But my day was gone!

Last night was consumed with email, catching up with my husband and ordering some food on the internet that is hard to get or expensive in local stores.

Do I live an ordinary life? Yes, by all means I do. Lots of the ways I do things are slightly different, but so much is essentially the same as the lives of my sisters in my home country, Australia.