Sisters & snippets!

Dad is still a little grumpy after losing by a single stroke to Hitomi during their Sunday afternoon playing golf at the Yomiuri. Dad scored ninety seven and my sweetie scored ninety six so I'm quite proud of her because I know my Dad is a good player. Hitomi doesn't play that often and so that makes it all the more of a secret smile, she's too humble in front of Dad! Can someone tell me if a score of ninety six on a seventy-two par course is good or not?
Aside from being out in the fresh air and walking the course and getting a little exercise, I would much prefer playing my little computer crazy golf and then dashing off for an ice cream with my little sister, Kyomi, just to find out all about her. My other sister, Kazumi, decided to go off sight-seeing and shopping with Rina. Dad and the girls are here until Saturday the nineteenth and then they will return home to Otaru.

The girls are not my true blood sisters and it is quite disagreeable that the distance between them living in Otaru and Sapporo makes us almost strangers. They are the daughters of a wonderful woman who was the neighbor and best friend of my beloved Mother when she went to retire in Otaru in 2000. Unfortunately their father was from the Philippines and not a legal citizen of Japan and after many attempts at legalizing his residence he was sadly deported. He told his wife that she and the children must remain here because he wanted his daughters to have a Japanese education. A year later and after a great deal of pain and of her living the life without her husband, my Mother agreed with their Mother that she would become the legal guardian of the children so that their mother could be with her husband again. Even after all this time he is not allowed back here even for a visit. It is obviously for a reason of which I am unaware. They remain in contact and visit once a year. Once their education is completed I do not know their future intent. They have a good life here and I imagine a good future too if they choose to stay. They have always called father as "Papa" and this is the only life they've known really. Yes it feels as though we could be strangers but if they decided to leave once their primary goal set by their biological Father was completed, I would miss them more! Secretly I am quite pleased how Kyomi tries to emulate me. She brings out the 'big sister' in me that makes me feel needed in a special family way and I like that feeling very much. She is a lovely young lady who looks younger than she really is and beautifies the phrase of coming into "full bloom." How eagerly she assimilates my words as if in my sharing of my wider experiences in life with her could somehow promote an acceleration of her own maturity and have her become seasoned and mellowed within the space of weeks rather than years. Perhaps it may!

Monday evening was the evening that Hitomi and I had arranged to meet Yoshi at the Lex. We arrived at seven and had a pleasant hour when suddenly I had a call from Riko saying that I should come into work. I laughed and explained that I was hardly dressed appropriately for the office since I was out with friends. She explained that a late brain storm was required for some urgent changes were required before the issue went to print on Thursday and my presence was kindly requested.
Of course we all know that this means get here five minutes ago!
The office is the opposite direction from home when standing outside the Lex so no time to go home and change as I hailed my taxi.
I received strange looks from reception and security as I entered the foyer looking more like a lost singing telegram girl minus the flowers rather than Jazz, ace reporter and the Kobunsha version of Lois Lane!

Our meeting was up on the mythical floor nine (cloud nine), far above the domain that I usually inhabit and far from the ringing phones and the overheating computers of our desks. Up there was a respectful silence and they even had real drinks not the suspect liquids served in flavor absorbing plastic cups that I usually have on floor three. It was homely with soft furnishing and soft carpets, soft voices with gentle suggestions rather than the loud voices fighting over requests, ideas and questions. Even working from home doesn't quite have the same ambiance as up there in those hallowed halls.
Quick take a picture of our group on floor nine, no one will believe it especially with Jazz looking the way she does!
It was two thirty five a.m. when we were done and they wanted us back in the office at ten working on the new proposals. I am definitely going to be putting cucumbers on my eyes!

Hitomi and I go to Kobe this Saturday and so it will be this Friday that my blog goes private.

I am getting quite a lot of page hits from my post "Ballroom Masque." Putting my enquiry of 'ballroom masque' into Google, I was surprised to see that my blog was number 1 in the returned results of 53,300! "It's so nice to be up on top!"