May 26, 2003
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Usually on a Sunday, since it's my one day off each week, I like to do as little as possible, or at least as little as I'm allowed to get away with doing. More often than not, of course, I'm allowed to get away with very little when it comes to doing very little. I have had to become quite expert at gauging where mrs bln is likely to be at any one time and am usually now able to find myself in an entirely different location at the appropriate moment. Sometimes I slip up and mistime her movements and before I know it I'm standing there listening to long and complicated instructions about taking curtains down or some such thing, so I need to keep my wits about me at all times. Which can be quite tiring, really.
Anyway, this last Sunday I had already been presented with a fait accompli as one of the kindergartens where I teach had asked me to come in for a couple of hours to give some special classes in front of the parents, so any thoughts about having a nice lazy Sunday were already out of the window.
The idea was then mooted that, since I was going to be getting up early anyway, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for me to make up the bunk beds that the kids had been clamouring for since gawd knows when. Actually, even though it did sound a bit like physical exertion, I could see the positive side because getting the kids out of our bed and into their own would leave mrs bln and myself in the unusual position of actually sleeping together, a scenario for which all sorts of possibilities came to mind.
And so, early Sunday morning I found myself jumping around with 40 five year olds in front of a crowd of proud mums and dads. A couple of things I can say about that is that Japanese mums smile at me a lot and Japanese dads smile at me very little and that my version of the 'Hokey Cokey' (or Pokey if you're that way inclined) has, as its final verse, 'You put your bottom in...your bottom out..you put your bottom in and you shake it all about...' and I'd just like to say that knowing there were all those mothers in attendance, I put in some extra special shaking it all about at that point...
You'd have been proud of me.
Then, true to my word (oh all right, I hadn't been able to think of a cunning plan to get out of it) I made the girls their bunk bed. I could tell you a story about the carpenter's blood rushing through my veins and the hours of good honest toil it took to build them their bed but in truth it all slotted together with no problems at all and I had it up in about 40 minutes. Hannah was delighted, especially since she discovered that by jumping off the top of her new bed, onto ours below, she was able to get sufficient bounce to almost make it back all the way up again. Maya, at only two and a half, was delighted to find that she could get up to the top on her own but not so delighted to discover that she couldn't get back down. This didn't however prevent her from conveniently forgetting this fact during the course of the day and when I found myself trudging wearily back upstairs to rescue her for the 600th time, we had to have words about it...
You may recall that I've blogged in the past about the fact that conversations in my house tend not to be too wide ranging and diverse. I've learned not to suddenly try out new topics of conversation on mrs bln as they tend to throw her off balance somewhat and most of my life at home is predicated on the monumental effort of preventing that at all costs. So we were headed for familiar territory when I asked her late morning what we might be enjoying for lunch that day. This is familiar territory because such a question can, apparently, have only two possible answers, cha-han (fried rice) or yaki-soba (fried noodles). I have learned, to my cost, not to make ANY kind of comment regarding these Sunday dining arrangements and it was with no surprise (I actually mouthed the words along with her) that I learned that we were to be having cha-han for lunch.
"Oh, that sounds good," I said, "but what with all that jumping around at the kindergarten and making bunk beds, I'm pretty ravenous actually, so how about something a little more, substantial shall we say, and why not (since we're about it) something, oh I don't know, that might do exciting things to our tastebuds too..?"
This turned out to be a pretty cunning ploy all on its own since she is unused to me claiming hunger before mealtimes (lack of hunger being a well used ruse to avoid fried rice and noodles in the past) and she looked worryingly off balance for a moment before pulling herself together and uttering the joyful words
"Well, there's nothing else to eat in the house so if you don't want cha-han, let's go to Mos Burger then...
Later that afternoon, well sated by our substantial and tastebud exciting cheeseburgers and onion rings, we set off for a local discount electrical store to look for a new telly, since our old one had recently given up the ghost after 10 years of faithful disservice. She who must be obeyed had decided that we had a budget of 80000 yen, which proved to be ample unless we started hankering after one of those High Definition jobs, which we didn't. In the end, we were able to find a quite satisfactory 28 inch wide screen affair for only 40000 yen, reduced from 160000 yen because it was a two year old model...
Since we'd only spent half of our budget and were feeling very pleased with ourselves, I thought I'd chance my luck and see if I could persuade her to agree to getting a dvd player while we were there, on the spot as it were. I knew of course that this half hearted suggestion would meet with the standard 'money's not for spending, it's for holding on to' retort, so you can imagine the almost uncontrollable rush of excitement that swept through me when she thought for a moment and then said,
"OK"
I wasn't going to give her time to exercise the woman's prerogative and quickly raced round to have a look at their selection, managing to find a very reasonably priced (12000 yen) Sony model.
Still basking in the warm afterglow of getting my wishes granted twice on the same day, I drove back home. Noticing mrs bln smiling, I asked her what was amusing her so much. She explained that because the salesman in the shop had a shaved head too, seeing the two of us standing next to each other was almost more amusement than she could bear and she'd been so moved that she'd agreed to my request, even though clearly we had no need for a dvd player.
Well that's what she said, but personally I think that she'd been thinking about the possibilities of us being together in the same bed again and had come over all flustered or something...
Comments (39)
The missus...flustered?
Oh, you certainly did have a good weekend!
Sort of foils the plans I had for you, but I'm always very happy to imagine a smile on your face.
,
DiDi
Turns out she wasn't that flustered, so don't get rid of those plans just yet...
i htink the problem is that when you say she was thinking of "us" in the same bed, you meant you and her, whereas she was thinking of you and the other bald dude.
i know i am.
1 your long blog just got me smiling, mr. bob.
2 but cha-han is good.
3 and then i just had this nasty image in my head of you doing the hokey pokey.
4 i can't get it (the nasty image) out!!!!
the dude and mrs bln together? dude, you are sick!
^.^;; haha you had me laughing for 2 minutes... which was a very long time not to breathe....
and when you do get in that same bed again, I just hope it doesn't take you as long to get it up as the bunkbeds did.
do you have a life?
You ever eat a Natto burger?
you scored twice then Bob. good to have you back
Okay, I won't.
I think natto burgers are a physical impossibility, william...but I have eaten the stuff with mayo and mustard on white bread. Mmmmm.
Oh, and bln? By eating at MOS burger you contributed to today's salary...the first lesson scheduled is with with the Queen of Gifu MOS Franchises. So, ta for that.
so sweet. such a charming fella, mister nut.
dickcarter, feelin fine
Well yes, but did you get any sex?
OMG did I say that? Slap on own wrist for dirty mind and tap tap fingers
That was a long and interesting but ultimately unsatisfactory answer re 42.
Unsatisfactory because the rats were actually Norwegian (or at least had Norse sympathies) and not Japanese and I checked with my best friend who is Norwegian and asked her if 42 had a particular significance in Norway. I also asked her if Norwegian men counted their years as 40 41 43 43(2) 44 45 and she didn't reply to my email.
So I sent it again and this time she wrote back 'are you f**king nuts or something'? Well, obviously I'm something, stupid girl, or I wouldn't be here asking about the meaning of life, would I?
Another alias!
Of course you are right, but I didn't get it (well I did really but sort of pretended not to because I am perverse that way and was undecided about how much to reveal of myself) cos the pic wasn't like the one I saw on the net, and I haven't seen him in the flesh (hehe) for several decades!
The mother, Ruth, had a particularly nice caff I used to sit dreaming of her son in, but it did me no good. He never ever spoke to me again.
You are a clever clogs and I hope Mrs BLN appreciates that aspect of you
you got 6 eprops off me
your story is much more amusing than the ultimate kenny g cd
*LOL* That was a good lunch read. 10 million eprops if I can give you that
Shaking asses in front of Japanees Mamas makes me feel naughty.
I like it! And I learned something new and tasty! (Bob has a shaved head!?!?! WOW.
) hehe
Are things really what they seem? I mean, what's it all about? I would guess that these are your best living years. At some future point you will be strapped to a bed in some rest home... but where can you discern the turn? The slow but sure downward slope to no return? Was it last month? Will it be ten years in the future when your old lady kicks your ass out for the last time? Makes you think, mate. Don't laugh. It will happen.
Oh my GOD BOB, that last line of yours had me in fits of laughter this morning.
What a classic line.
Yeah, I am SO sure she can't wait to sleep alone with you!!!!!
Having now just sat and read all the ther props I have got to say that Myki's line had me laughing just as loud.
Another classic line.
Wow two bursts of laughter and all before 7am!!
What are you folks doing to me and my neighbors!!!!
your house would be hell for me (in your position)
peace
*me*
Your beautiful new background tricked me! I reread half of your blog thinking I've read this before, before I was certain I'd read it before.
Do I know you well enough to ask why you are with Mrs BLN as she is not quite the bundle of fun you would like to be? No, I don't know you well enough? OK, then I won't ask
You got some weird ass comments... I, for one, had a good chuckle. Thank you for that.
Working on finishing my lustful blog, but I'll share this with you - part of me did regret my decision.
Not that that tells you anything. Ha!
Cool skin, good work on the bunk bed, great work on the booty shakin'
Actually, it wasn't a difficult decision so much as a "damn it" decision. I'm not a good liar, and guilt eats me alive, so it was a pretty easy choice between one night of hot sex and lots of hot sex pretty much whenever I can get into the city. But, damn it, why can't this happen when I'm single?
Not interested in eprops except as a quick way of seeing who has left a comment. Eprops are ridiculous. Comments can be too
I don't mind which identity you leave comments under. But I hadn't realised you were British before, I thought you were American.
I meant to tell you, that when I wrote the reference to Dayan, I had wondered if anyone would get it. And I was flustered when you did!
nice head...no the other head
In light of my newly received information, I think perhaps she was flustered because she was worried about that roving thumb of yours....
On your new profile pic...I was seriously thinking what it was for a while... then I realised what it was! Bob, you so cute!!
Did you have a nice lazy Sunday today?
hey bln!
site looks great! you are 1 of a kind!
Man, you know that whenever one of my friends starts a blog, I tell them to read your site? You are one helluva funny guy. I hope you feel special
Time for a new post Mr BLN, I can't keep coming back here and looking and finding I have memorised this one by heart almost
yay! You changed the wallpaper to a soothing hawaiian motif that hurts my eyes much less. except i keep trying to focus on the damn flowers. and all they do is start shifting and moving. woah. i'm dizzy. my work here is done.
and i thought I was the last one in the world to get a dvd player
ahh... just wanted to read back on when you were really blogging.
really, I just wondered if this would even work...
Comments are closed.