Life in the Land of the Rising Sun

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

A Labor of Love on a Lacy Tablecloth

It was an extra-special Mother's Day (May 10th) for my wife this year. The kids told me they wanted to do something nice, so I took them out on a quick shopping run while their mother was away doing a little work at her school. While my daughter got a more typical, clothing-oriented present, my son insisted on getting a bouquet including a little plastic, "Arigatou, okaa-san!" ("Thanks, mom!") in the middle. Then my daughter made a simple but thoughtful dinner:

MD Meal 2009

I don't think Pandabonium would appreciate it (since he loathes curry), but it turned out pretty good...and my wife was blown away. The little hearts, cut out of toast, were a nice touch.

And my wife was sure the kids would forget...

posted by The Moody Minstrel at 9:59 PM

20 Comments:

  • Hey, I would have loved it too-very cute!

    I did get a really cool musical card and drawing from our daughter, and it made me laugh. Just the kind of thing to make your day!

    I went and pulled weeds for my mom (her request)..and talked a bit. She has a lovely garden, but it's weed central!

    By Blogger ladybug, at 10:28 PM  

  • Lemon curry?

    Seriously, though, Good Job Kids!

    By Blogger Don Snabulus, at 11:02 PM  

  • Not stawberry shortcake?

    Ah well, I am sure it was delicious.

    By Anonymous Dave, at 3:03 AM  

  • That's so sweet! I was thinking strawberry shortcake, too, but curry with toast is much more inventive!

    By Anonymous nikkipolani, at 8:48 AM  

  • Nice touch - the heart shapes. I just talked on the phone to our eldest son in Fiji where there is a lot of unnecessary derring-dos. That was enough.
    We've had so many parties and dinners lately that on Mothers' Day, I wasn't hungry! I stayed home while Peceli went to a Mothers' Day lunch in Melbourne with members of his congregation!
    w.

    By Blogger Peceli and Wendy's Blog, at 12:01 PM  

  • Awwww... this is so lovely of you and your children to celebrate Mother's Day for your wife.

    Btw, do your kids addressed your wife as Okaa-san or mom? How about to you? Oto-san or dad?

    By Blogger Selba, at 1:41 PM  

  • Ladybug-
    I'm sure weeding your mother's flowerbeds was a big help to her. I know trying to take care of the weeding chores my MIL used to assume during the week has been almost a full-time job in itself!

    Snabulus-
    This demonstrates the value of not being seen.

    I mean...

    Dave-
    Strawberry shortcake is for Christmas.

    It was pretty good, actually. My daughter did okay.

    Nikkipolani-
    That's definitely one thing I think my daughter has going for her: she's never satisfied with being conventional when she thinks she can do something better.

    Wendy-
    Sounds like you've been pretty busy!

    I've been reading about all the stuff that has been going on in Fiji, and I've always thought about you and your family. I hope things calm down and shape up over there!

    Selba-
    My kids still use "mama" and "papa" for the most part, though my daughter is starting to use "o-kaa-san" and "o-tou-san" more (because it's less childish).

    By Blogger The Moody Minstrel, at 3:11 PM  

  • Hi

    Just read your comment over on Um Naief, mentioning Sanity Points. Do I detect someone who has played Call of Cthulhu?

    By Blogger Rock Chef, at 9:46 PM  

  • Chief Rock Chef-

    You do indeed! We played it quite a bit in my college days, and I and my friends here in Japan had a campaign going for a while (till the gamemaster moved back to Missouri and took all his books with him...).

    Some of the other regular visitors to this blog have played it, too.

    So we have something else in common besides our interest in guitar and general musicalness? Excellent!

    By Blogger The Moody Minstrel, at 1:46 AM  

  • BTW Chief Rock Chef,

    I noticed on your profile that wargaming is one of your interests. What other games have you played? Are you more interested in traditional tabletop war games like (uh, oh...I'm about to date myself) Squad Leader or in fantasy/sci-fi wargames like Warhammer (/40K) or Space Marine?

    By Blogger The Moody Minstrel, at 1:48 AM  

  • Mmm, Strawberry Shortcake!! I'd like to dip my finger in THAT!!

    By Anonymous Purple Pieman, at 6:53 AM  

  • Labor of love indeed, my friend... really, how sweet it must have been...

    By Anonymous Lrong, at 11:28 AM  

  • OK, to date myself, I had all of the original Squad Leader stuff...

    These days I am mainly historical table top wargames - Romans vs Gauls, Wars of the Roses, Normans vs Saxons, 1st Crusade. I do have fantasy armies in 15mm (Dwarf, Evil Overlord, Druidic, High Elf, Lizardman and Duckman) for use with my favourite rules, "Fantasy Rules!" by Chipco. Great fun, but haven't played for a while. I have been playing the Star Wars Miniatures spaceship game with my kids which is rather good fun too.

    In the old days I played Dungeons and Dragons (starting with the original boxed set with 3 booklets in it), moving on to Runequest and Call of Cthulhu. Last year I got together with a couple of friends for a CoC revival which was great fun. Also played a boardgame version (Arkham Horror, I think it was called) which was excellent. I am planning on a short Runequest revival this summer. Should be interesting to see how it plays after all these years!

    By Blogger Rock Chef, at 5:25 PM  

  • You said, "I don't think Pandabonium would appreciate it..."

    Au contraire mon frere. While it is true that I don't like curry, I would never show it if given such a heartfelt offering as your kids made for their mom.

    There are times when the heart must rule over the ego.

    By Blogger Pandabonium, at 5:31 PM  

  • Purple Pieman-
    Now don't let's be obscene now!

    Chief Rock Chef-
    I basically had my start with D&D, too. I joined a campaign in my high school days only to have the DM suddenly quit. The job wound up getting dumped in my lap. From that time on I mainly gamemastered for other people, including D&D, Gamma World, and a Sci-Fi RPG called "Impasse", which I created together with my friends. In college I also tried my hand GM-ing CoC and GURPS Autoduel. I've also tried playing all of these games plus Runequest, Warhammer, Traveller, Aftermath, and Bunnies and Burrows.

    As far as miniatures wargaming is concerned, I've really only tried Space Marine. I also once adapted the old Chainmail rules for fighting a large-scale war in the middle of a D&D campaign. My college friends and I also played a WW II air combat miniatures game called Mustangs & Messerschmitts.

    Historical battles sounds like fun. Some of my school-days friends collected mainly WW II and hypothetical WW III games, and I did try a fair number of those. Squad Leader was the only one I actually owned. I think it would be nice to try something from an earlier era using models.

    I've never even seen the Star Wars miniatures combat.

    I should probably also mention that Star Fleet Battles was a very popular wargame among my friends, but I think we spent more time arguing rules than actually playing (a common complaint about SFB). I've heard some of them talking about Arkham Horror recently, but I've never seen it.

    Pandabonium-
    I was just poking fun since you've often commented about your dislike of curry. I don't seriously think you're that cold hearted!

    By Blogger The Moody Minstrel, at 12:36 AM  

  • HargH! I just got you with my broad sword! 20 hit points!

    No you didn't, you just stuck a pencil in my arm. OUCH!

    By Anonymous Dave, at 1:50 AM  

  • No wonder your wife was blown away. A lot of thought and love went into her celebration. Just beautiful, Moody.

    By Blogger San, at 4:08 AM  

  • Blown away?

    By Anonymous OJ, at 5:27 AM  

  • Dave-
    In that case, you need to make a saving throw vs. graphite poisoning.

    San-
    Thanks, San! The kids were both pretty proud of their creation.

    OJ-
    That's right!

    By Blogger The Moody Minstrel, at 9:19 PM  

  • Oh how cuuuute! :)

    By Blogger Olivia, at 12:40 AM  

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