My husband took us to Uzumasa in Kyoto.
Then we found Gomi-san: he worked with me for the Mourning Forest.
My son showed great interest in a cat of Gomi-san's house, taking a picture with them together.
My son's clownish face: he wants to see the cat.
At the film studio, the Japanese period film called "Hissatsu" was being shot, and familiar movie villains with Japanese sabers and kimono costumes captured my son's eyes.
I told him he would be cut in half if he showed bad behavior, and then he just hid behind me waiting for them passing through.
It is more likely that those movie villains are very kind persons in their real life.
It reminds me of my last-grandfather used to saying, "Sakata Toshio, famous Japanese comedian, is really smart in reality."

I feel stuffed in my stomach from eating too much and lack of exercise.
Get it fresh by having Seven Spring Herbs.
I wish I could pick them up from my garden, in the morning.
Shops and restaurants are open even on new year's day these days, so it deprives us of the chance to cook traditional Japanese cuisine; that might be just excuse for not cooking them though.
I suppose such traditional food was invented for people not to do much house-keeping on new year's day.
Moreover, it has storing purpose so as to spend a lot of time with families, relatives and friends.
That's why we should cook big meals in a large pot.
I only cooked black beans and herring eggs this year but I will try cooking cod fish next year.
And I wish lots of people come visit our house.
I'll do what I can do this year to make our home such a gathering place.

Did a lot of clean-ups in the end of 2008!
Making rice-cake and playing baseball with neighboring brothers in the rice-field!
At a shrine for the new-year prayer, showing peace signs with his grandma and deer.
Sang the song "Pocho" along with the year-end song festival, and also ate the traditional Japanese new year cuisine.
We had a celebration with red/white rice-cake which was sent from the mountain village of Nishi Yoshino.
Rice-cake soup Daddy cooked.
Got an autograph by the Super Hero Go-Onger.

The happy new year holiday ends today.
All of us will go to work, school and day-care center.

We gonna have relaxing time next summer vacation.
The new year of 2009 has just started off. Let's do our best.

How do you call "?"? I call it "hatena." Probably many call it "question." My son's case is that... He was reading a comic book. The protagonist in the story says "huh?" My son uttered "huh, wonderingly." "Wonderingly" is my son's "?". What about you all? (wonderingly)