Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!
It was a nice Christmas.
This morning we got up… well, a little early I guess… and sat under the tree opening presents. Even the Aidols. Yuki wasn’t around, she spent Christmas Eve with her parents. Which, of course, is fine. That’s important. She did come over with her parents for the Christmas day feast, but more about that later.
The aidols just basically traded trinkets with us, but that’s fine, it’s the thought that counts. We got Yuuko some snacks, which were gone in pretty short order, Mariko got some new guitar picks, which she appreciated, and we got Minami a printed still of her singing, which she burst out into tears when she saw (don’t ask how we managed to get that done so quickly, but Sabby has her ways). But they were happy tears. They gave us all some small stuff too, which was fine. We didn’t expect anything at all, and like I said, it’s the thought that counts. We gave Ai a printed still of me sitting in the train with all the girls clustered around me in their cosplay outfits and me looking completely annoyed, and she bust a gut laughing and said it was the best present ever. We didn’t go overboard this time, but, well, you know.
And then I showed Minami the letter I got from the Japanese talent agency, and she glomphugged me and burst out crying again. But again, happy tears. I’m okay with happy tears. She chattered for a full hour about it before she finally calmed down, and even called her grandparents, who apparently do treat her well enough. She said she’d tell her father when she sees him.
The feast was, of course, a feast. Sabby really went overboard, as she always does, and everyone was invited. It was a full house. There was, of course, all of us, Ai and the aidols, Yuki and her parents, Diana and Crystal and their parents, Jack and his family, Liz and her family, Emiko and her family… and even some of the people from work, like Katie. It really was a full house but we made it work. There was turky and stuffing, and all the traditional things, and enough for everyone too. It was really close to fifty people, and I really have no idea how we even managed to pull seating off, much less enough food. But we did. Helped that people brought food as well, it wasn’t just us. Some folks were sitting on the arm of the chair, some just lounging against the wall, and David and a couple of the Aidols camped out with his console and were playing games and eating at the same time. Usually we’d be upset but that was three chairs we didn’t have to set.
I don’t think I need to say that Yuuko downed a lot more than you’d think could fit into that little body, haha.
Anyway, Yuki’s parents seem nice. They speak very little English but there were enough Japanese speakers there that they were entertained, and Yuki and I could translate as needed. They seem really proud of her, and seem to regret that Yuki’s experience as an idol was as negative as it was. But they did see her performance, and they were really pleased with Minami’s performance too. I said that Minami was really happy to get an audition with a talent agency, and I guess they saw her eyes, because they said she should come and visit sometime. I guess the house is a little empty without Yuki there. Awww.
I hope she does. She could use some good parental figures.
Everyone went home with full stomachs. It was a good day, with family and friends, and what more could you ask for?