July 12, 2025

Saturday - Hot and Sunny, cooler in the evening

I woke up this morning around 7:30 again. I went downstairs. F was still in bed sleeping and I came back to bed and was quiet for a while. He woke up just after 8 and went downstairs to cook breakfast for his mother and get her ready for her Day Service. 

I slept on for a while and then F came back to bed and we snoozed for a bit. Around 11:30 we started talking about lunch and what to do. I had suggested going to Fujishima today for lunch. They have reasonable lunches in a nice setting. Today we got the table by the garden window which was lovely to have while we ate. We both had the same meal, the ginger pork one. It was pretty good.

After lunch we headed back into Tsuruoka and were going to go to Komeda for coffee, but I wanted to buy a birthday card first. We decided to go to Hachimonjiya first. We drove over there and I bought a couple of birthday cards. Then, I thought we were still going to Komeda, but F suggested that since we were outside Starbucks, we might as well go there! So, we did. I had a decaf iced coffee and F had his usual frappucino. It was nice to sit inside in a comfy chair and watch the world go by.

We were going to leave, but then F remembered he wanted something for his car. We went over to the drugstore and he found his cleaning stuff. Then I suggested a couple of munchie things for me and then he got some for himself. Finally, I suggested a cooling wipe packet for my nephew who’s arriving next week. F got himself one too!

We went to 3 of the 4 businesses in that area. The only one we didn’t go to was the hot yoga place! I think that’s pretty funny.

We went back to the house and I went upstairs and turned on the AC. F was downstairs waiting for his mother and possibly doing something with his fish. 

Later on, we talked about when to leave for the mall. We decided that we should leave around 7pm.  I was on my computer and did a few things that I usually do around that time of day. F went downstairs to cook dinner for his mother and then when he was done, we got ready to go out.

We drove out to the mall, found a decent parking spot and then went in. We bought our movie tickets and then went over to get our food. F had the okonomiyaki and yakisoba pack and I had a bibinba. Mine was great. I got my free drink for having my movie ticket so that was good.

We went back into the cinema and waited for either a big line to form at the concession stand, or our movie to be announced. We bought our popcorn and drinks and then went to the cinema. Today we saw Superman and it was fun! It’s been a long time since a Comic Book Movie actually felt like it was fun. I was happy because Nathan Fillion was in it and he was quite funny in this. 

After the movie we came back to Tsuruoka. On the way F asked if I wanted to go to a convenience store. I didn’t really, but would go if he liked. He decided not to go, but then tried to turn in when we passed the last 7-11! We didn’t go. 

Back at the house, F set up the rice cooker for his breakfast with his mother and I went upstairs. It was too late for my TV show, so I just watched some YouTube. It’s been a quiet nice. It’s actually cool enough that I don’t have to turn on the AC tonight. Well, strictly speaking, I turned it on and then turned it off 3 minutes later when I realized I didn’t really need it!

That’s about it for me for today. I really don’t know what I’m going to get up to tomorrow. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

July 11, 2025

 Friday - Hot and sunny

I woke up this morning as I was freezing. F had left the room and had turned on the air conditioner for me. Well, it was working really hard and I was cold. I woke up and decided that I should take a trip downstairs. I grabbed my glasses but they caught on something and fell into the gap between my bed and side table. The one I haven’t cleaned between in ages. I grabbed my glasses but they were covered in dust and cobwebs. Bleck. I cleaned them off as best as I could and then went downstairs and washed them. I used the ‘loo and then came back upstairs and went back to bed. I watched some videos and then fell asleep again.

I got up fairly early today and then dressed. I went downstairs and then came back upstairs to my room. I grabbed my laundry and took it downstairs and put it in the washing machine. Then I went into the kitchen and put my breakfast together. I brought it upstairs to eat. 

I hung up my laundry in the room and then started my movie de jour. Today it was The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1. It was…okay. It was all about the wedding between Edward and Bella and then what happens after the wedding. 

I went downstairs to grab my lunch and brought it up to the room. I watched an episode of Matlock and enjoyed that for the most part. I ate lunch and it was very good too. 

F called me after 5:15 and said he was on his way. I went downstairs a little bit earlier today to get a start on dinner. I made pasta with a lemon olive oil sauce and we also had salad and sliced precooked chicken. F and K got mini tomatoes again too. 

I got dinner on the table very close to 7 pm and we were finished fairly early. I cleared the table and then washed the dishes. I listened to a couple of podcasts, but I didn’t get my movie one finished as I didn’t have that many dishes!

I went upstairs around 8:30 pm and then just crashed on the bed under the AC for a few minutes. An hour later I went downstairs and took a shower. 

I came back up to the room and started watching the second part of Breaking Dawn. It was….okay. The film had too much of a “It was all a dream” thing going on. I didn’t like that bit of it. Some bits were funny, some were exciting, but really it was just a bit meh. It finished and that was a good thing. It’s been interesting rewatching all of these movies so close to each other. I’ve realized that they are better than I remember, but they really aren’t great. I place the blame at the original novels which were not very good. She had a few good ideas, but the execution in the novels isn’t done well. 

I turned off the TV and got stuck into my computer. F fell asleep somewhere along the way and I should get to bed soonish. 

That’s about it for me. I’m hoping that we’ll go and see a movie tomorrow night, but who knows. We could also go on Sunday as F is off work on Monday. We’ll see!

Come back later if you like and hear all about my Saturday. Until tomorrow….

July 10, 2025

 Thursday - Hot and Sunny

I woke up this morning when my alarm went off. I hadn’t heard F leave this morning so that was nice for me. I made a trip downstairs and then came back up to the room. I sorted some laundry and then went back to bed for a snooze and a bit of video watching. I woke up a lot later and got up. I dressed and then went downstairs with a load of towels. I put them in the washing machine and then went into the kitchen and made my breakfast. 

I came upstairs to eat my breakfast and while I was there I put on Eclipse, the third movie in the Twilight series. I found it on the video on demand  area of my Japanese cable station. It was okay. It wasn’t my favourite but there were quite a few scenes of Jacob running around shirtless. It was sunny and had a bit of Bella having to chose between the two guys. I like Robert Pattinson as an actor, but I wouldn’t have picked him in this film so far! There were also a couple of cool fights in this one.

I went downstairs and grabbed my lunch. I ate it upstairs and watched an episode of Bones. It was one from the beginning which was fun to watch. I’m not sure if I saw all the early episodes. 

F phoned me after 5:15 and said he was on the way back. I changed my clothes and went downstairs to start dinner.

Today I made chicken drumsticks with some cucumber sticks and hummus, bibinba rice, salad and macaroni salad. I thought dinner was good, but the kitchen was so hot today. It was rather horrible. 

Dinner was okay. I was a little upset with F and K tonight. I was still bringing things out to the table while F and K were sitting there. I suggested that F start putting things on the plates. So, he did. He put food on his plate and his mother’s. That meant that when I sat down, my plate was empty and they were already eating. I mean, I did tell him to put things on plates, but why not put something on mine too?

F had texted me today to say that he was going to take Monday off as a Buddhist priest was coming to the house. I asked him if he had any plans for the day but all he said was that he had to prepare for the priest to come. I’m afraid I wasn’t too polite at that point, I think he’s wasting his time. He’s never been religious at all so what gives? He stormed off upstairs. Good riddance really. 

I finished eating and then I cleared the table and did the dishes. When I finished I went upstairs and asked F if we could go to the grocery shop. He said yes. 

I changed and a few minutes later we went.  At the grocery store I picked up a few things for tomorrow but I didn’t get very much. I did get myself a couple of snacks which I paid for with my own money!

We came back to the house and F took a shower. I went upstairs and watched tonight’s episode of Yellowstone. It was good, they found out that John had not committed suicide. They are doing some weird stuff with the episodes at the moment, I don’t really like it. Oh well. 

And that’s about it for my day. I will probably do some more laundry tomorrow and I might watch more Twilight movies, if I can manage it!

Come back later if you like and hear all about my adventures on Friday. Until tomorrow….

July 9, 2025

Wednesday - Hot and sunny, rainy at night

I went to bed early last night. I shut down my computer about half an hour earlier than normal and went to bed. F got up around the same time I went to bed and did a few things. He finally went to bed. 

This morning I woke up when F did. I even ran downstairs before he did and then when he was getting ready to leave, I ran downstairs again to take him his breakfast! I’m sort of nice some times!

I went back to bed and snoozed for a while after watching a few videos. I ended up sleeping a little late, but no matter. 

I dressed, went downstairs and made my breakfast. I brought it upstairs and a little later I started watching New Moon on the DVR. I actually liked this one a LOT better than Twilight. Although Bella moped through the first half of the movie, she became good friends with Jacob and he was very muscular and nice to look at. Edward wasn’t bad to look at either, but he didn’t take his shirt off as much! Also, they took out the washed out look of  the first movie and this film was bright and sunny.

When the movie finished, it was lunch time. I went downstairs and made my lunch, then brought it back upstairs. Since I was late going downstairs, I didn’t have time to watch a drama on the Fire Stick so I ended up watching an episode of The Big Bang Theory. It was okay.

After the news was over I realized a few minutes later that my DVR wasn’t recording. Ack! I was supposed to be recording Eclipse. It turns out that I forgot to set the DVR to record it. Luckily I found out later that I can watch it on the Fire Disk tomorrow, so that’s good. 

F called to say he was on the way back to the house. I went downstairs to get started on dinner, but I took my time. I had to turn on the air conditioner downstairs as it was hot in the kitchen.

Dinner tonight was premade burgers with French Fries, salad and veggie sticks with hummus. It was nice. I liked it, but I’m not sure if it was good for K! She did eat some of the cucumber though.

I did the dishes after dinner and then did the garbage in the kitchen. F added in his mother’s stuff and then I took it to the genkan. I went upstairs a few minutes later and did the same for my garbage in the room. I had the air conditioner on and I took a bit of rest on the bed while the room cooled down. F came upstairs and we had a nice little chat/snuggle time. 

Later I took a shower and then came upstairs to watch Grey’s Anatomy. It was quite a good episode today. I turned off the TV after the show. I tried to turn off the light for F, but he got up and went downstairs so said no. Oh well. 

Oh, and yesterday, I bought myself a new pair of chopsticks. My favourite chopsticks…well, one of them went missing a few months ago. I looked all over the kitchen but couldn’t find it at all. I got myself a cheap pair but then one day last week, one of them rolled off my plate on the way down the stairs and went missing under the stairs. F has a lot of stuff hidden under there and I wasn’t going searching in his junk for a one hundred yen pair of hashi.  Last night at the grocery store I saw a nice pair of chopsticks and decided to get them. 

Tonight at dinner, I showed them to F and he admired them and then talked about my favourite pair. I said to him that I still missed them and I had a feeling that the missing chopstick was under the stove. He went into the kitchen to check…and there it was! Of course it showed up the day after I bought a nice new pair. Still, I have my lovely chopsticks back, so I’m happy!

My favourite pair of chopsticks. They're personalized and weren't cheap! I got them at a mini-convention with friends and they are my favourite souvenir as they are practical for living here. 

That’s it for me. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

July 8, 2025

 Tuesday - Hot and sunny, muggy

I got up this morning after my alarm went off and went downstairs. I came back to my room and went back to bed. I watched a few videos and then took a nap. 

I got up a bit late and dressed. I went downstairs, made my breakfast and then I brought it upstairs to eat while I relaxed. 

I had a quiet afternoon. I did watch Twilight today and it was…a bit meh. I still have problems with it. Edward was a stalker and Bella’s main attraction was that she smelled good? Okay then. I recorded New Moon today, hopefully I can get around to it tomorrow!

I grabbed my lunch after 3 and came up to eat and finish the movie. Then I watched the news. F called after 5 and said that he was on his way. I went downstairs close to 6pm to get started on dinner.

Tonight I made a stir-fry with pork and a lot of veggies. I did buy a bag of precut veggies and I added a few others later on. I was a bit late serving dinner, but it was fine really. 

After dinner, I cleared off the table and got busy washing dishes in the kitchen. I did get done before 9 pm. I went upstairs, changed my clothes and then F and I went to the store.

At the store I went in and got quite a lot of things. I got things for dinner for the next couple of days, breakfasts for F and K, and a few other things. I bought myself a new pair of chopsticks too. I’ve still not found one of my favourite pair. I’m quite annoyed as they were expensive and I liked them a lot.

We came back to the house and I put away the groceries and then went upstairs. F took a shower and came back to the room. I watched FBI: International and thought it was okay today. 

And that is what happened today. I may have to do more laundry tomorrow, I really should anyway. Isn’t that exciting? 

Oh, I watched a bit of YouTube, a bit of Jimmy Kimmel with a guest interviewer. They interviewed Nathan Fillion who is from my hometown. He showed a picture of The Nathan Fillon Civilian Pavilion which is on Whyte Avenue!  The Pavilion is across from The Princess Theatre which was the theatre that I went to all the time. I lived just off Whyte Avenue. It was such a great area at the time. Now it’s even more trendy and a bit dangerous now I think. Certainly expensive! I miss it.

Come back later if you like and hear all about my day…until tomorrow….

July 7, 2025

Monday - Hot and humid

I didn’t sleep all that well last night. It was so hot in our room and I kept waking up. I woke up around 4, I did go back to sleep, but it was sad to be awake at all! I woke up again when F got ready for work. I wasn’t completely awake, but I thanked him for turning on the AC. I don’t usually turn it on that early, but I won’t say that I minded at all. I slept on until my alarm went off. I went downstairs, but came back up to the room afterwards.

I sorted my laundry and loaded up my laundry basket. Then, I went back to bed for a bit. I watched some videos, snoozed for a bit and overslept too. I dragged myself out of bed a bit late, dressed and took my laundry basket downstairs. 

I set up the washing machine and then made my breakfast. I took it upstairs to eat. I had a fairly quiet afternoon. I didn’t watch very much TV but during my lunch time I watched another episode of Major Crimes. It was one of the Philip Stroh episodes and was quite exciting.

After the news, I knew that there was a movie on the TV, Twilight. I had decided to record it today, hopefully to watch and delete tomorrow. I saw it on TV a few years ago, I wasn’t too impressed. However, now I rather like Robert Pattinson as an actor and I know that Kristen Stewart has had quite a decent career too. Well, I had forgotten that Billy Burke, the actor that plays Philip Stroh plays Bella’s father in the movie. He’d escaped in Major Crimes and here he was with Bella in Twilight. It was rather amusing, to me at least! F called me about 5:20 today, so I turned off the movie to talk to him.

A little later I went downstairs and began dinner prep. I washed my dishes from earlier in the day and started to get things ready for dinner. I turned on the AC in the living room and noticed that F was outside watering the plants. I said hello to him then shut the doors!

Tonight’s dinner was good. We had toaster oven chicken with a basil flavour, salad, kabocha salad, cucumber pickle, steamed broccoli and for K and F, some mini-tomatoes. It was a nice dinner and most of the food disappeared. What didn’t will be part of my lunch tomorrow!

I did the dishes again and listened to my movie podcast while I was busy. It was very hot in the kitchen and I was quite tired. When I finished, I came upstairs, turned on the air conditioner and after I took off my kitchen clothes, collapsed on the bed for a bit. F came up and we spent a bit of time together. 

I closed my eyes and when I opened them 15 minutes had gone by! I decided I had better go downstairs and take my shower. I did that and came back upstairs.

Upstairs I decided not to watch an hour show so I put on an episode of Mythic Quest and thought it was quite funny. When it finished I was going to watch something else, but it was nearly midnight so put that on hold. 

And that’s about it for my day. I’m not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow. I’d like to do a few things like go out, but I probably won’t. I’m not enjoying this heat!

Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

July 6, 2025

Sunday - Cloudy but hot and humid

I slept in rather late. It was funny, at first when I woke up I thought F had gone to work, then I remembered that it was Sunday! I stayed in bed until somewhere around noon. F came upstairs and asked if I wanted to go for lunch. I got dressed, went downstairs and then I suggested a couple of things. I suggested either Togashi for yakiniku or Gusto. F picked Togashi although he didn’t seem too happy about it. 

We drove over and F ordered for us off the tablet. Their tablet is only in Japanese which is a little sad as it is difficult for me to read. I could probably manage, but some kanji is difficult to decipher.

I asked for a bigger meal today as I was hungry. I also had a secret reason…if we went to the concert, I knew we wouldn’t have time to eat before it. I was right about that!

Our meal was good and I think F enjoyed it too. Afterwards, I asked that we go over to the electric shop nearby. My printer needed some ink so I bought a couple of cartridges. On the way out I grabbed myself a fan (uchiwa in Japanese). They give them out for free. F grabbed himself one too.

We decided to do our grocery shopping next as I didn’t want to be rushed later on. I went to PAL again as it was in the same area. I got just about everything I think. This time there was bread and things for lunches and dinners. Hurray! 

After I bought and paid for everything I went back to the car and we came back to the house to put things away. I did that and then I went upstairs and basically crashed on the bed! It was so hot outside and in the kitchen.

I had a bit of a nap and F joined me on the bed for a while. We basically made up today, obviously. A little after 5 F went downstairs and gave his mother her bento for her dinner. 

I got redressed and we left the house around 5:40. We drove over to Matsugaoka and found a parking spot. We went into the big hall with our fans from earlier and it is a good thing we did. F had told me there was probably air conditioning there but there wasn’t! It was in a big, old fashioned room and they had opened up the doors to let in the cooler air and any breeze, but there wasn’t much at all. F made a washroom run around 6pm and to be honest, I made one about quarter after. The concert started at 6:30 and was okay. Oh, the seats were simple metal chairs with a plastic coated cushion. They weren’t uncomfortable, but a little sweaty! I was very glad we took our fans as we were quite hot. 

The artists played a saxophone and a bass. The Bassist was the woman that runs Arpeggio and we both felt really sorry for her. Between each song she had to wipe down herself and the bass because she was so sweaty. 

I did enjoy the concert, it was nice to get out of the house and listen to some live music, but I wasn’t too impressed with the music. It seems to me that every jazz concert I’ve been to recently has played the same songs! They also did Danny Boy, but I don’t think that is a jazz song, is it?  Maybe I’m out of line with that! I thought it was an Irish folk song.

We left the concert around 8pm and walked back to the car. We were sitting near the front, so we were quite late in leaving. We talked about dinner and I suggested Gusto. F wasn’t too happy, but it was one of the closest places and his idea of ramen didn’t give me something that I would like. 

We went to Gusto and had an okay dinner. I had a chicken and vegetable meal with basil sauce. It was quite good. F had a fried chicken meal and we shared an order of fries. We also had a small ice cream each as they had it on special. 

After our dinner I asked that we make a stop at the drugstore nearby. It stays open late so we had time. I went in and got a few important things for myself but also picked up some snacks and pasta sauce for dinner sometime! 

After that, we came back to the house. I put F to work, he had to hang up the fly repellent that we bought yesterday in the kitchen. He also had to make rice and get his clothes ready for work tomorrow. 

I came upstairs and relaxed a bit. Sunday is my busy day with all the shopping and meal planning etc. Around 11:30 I put on an episode of Murderbot and enjoyed that. F was asleep by the end of my show and hasn’t woken up which is good.

I’ve been getting ready for bed and the end of the day and now I’m here. 

I’m not too sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow so you’ll have to come back and find out! Until tomorrow….