OBACHAN'S SCRIBBLES

Things are getting hectic around me since that big day. It's not so much of the workload in the office, but rather the difficulty in managing the combination of the daytime work and the chores I need to do at home.

Last week was another big challenge. In some traditional areas in rural Japan, people offer special meal to their ancestors during Higan period which is about a week around spring or autumnal equinox day. My parents have kept that custom, so last week I needed to prepare that special meal every morning in addition to the dishes for my dad. That ritual meal has to be strictly vegetarian; you are not even supposed to use animal broth to simmeri vegetables. But luckily the shiitake mushroom gives some good flavor, so taste is not the issue. The issue is having to prepare extra meal when I have to hang laundry before going to work. I managed it for a couple of days with no problem, but from the 4th day on, I felt so much burden on my shoulders.

Then I heard that mom is going to move to another hospital. This coming Friday, my aunt and I are going to help her move to a hospital in the neighbor city. Hope it doesn't make her unhappy.

WE DID IT!!!
As I wrote on my foodblog, we got an endorsement from a domestic geopark committee about a week ago. Oh, it was a BIG day. TV crews from all the local broadcasting companies (we only have four)... People from several newspapers... When our chief answered the phone from the committee, we couldn't tell for a while if it was a good news or a bad news from his facial expression. Then he put the phone down and told us the good news. We let off firecrackers and shook hands with each other. :D But we all knew that it was just the beginning ... beginning of another long agony. Or, to put in a more positive way, another "challenge." BIG CHALLENGE.

I'm just happy that I'm not facing this challenge alone.