December 19, 2017

Tuesday - Snowy and a bit of rain.  Cold and windy too.

An okay day.

I got up this morning and went downstairs to use the washroom and get some water for my water pot.  I saw K bopping around the kitchen and said hello.  Literally.  I don’t know if she understood me or not, but I think the tone got through.

I came back upstairs to do my morning things and went down again to have breakfast.  K wasn’t around anymore, so I grabbed my breakfast.  I noticed that F hadn’t washed the curry pan last night when he did the dishes…grr.  I put it in the sink to soak.  

I went upstairs to eat and a little while later came downstairs to do the dishes and tidy up the kitchen.  After that, I went upstairs again, but not before noticing that I had got some mail.  Woot!  Two Christmas Cards and a package of Gotochi Cards that I was in the middle of doing a swap with.

I watched a bit of TV and started to work on my column again.  I covered a few films and was quite happy with the way it was going.  I went downstairs around 1 to have lunch as I heard K bumping around downstairs.  She begged off lunch again, which is fine.  

I grabbed my stuff and brought it upstairs to eat.  I did that and worked more on my column afterwards.  

I watched the news around 4 pm and waited for F to come back to the house.  He called me a little after 5:30.  He came to the house and we chatted for a while.  It was nice.  I suggested going out for dinner to an udon shop.  He was okay with that.  His mother ate the bento we’d brought her last night for today’s lunch. 

The udon shop wasn’t that good, to be honest.  I was annoyed with F. He keeps telling me that I have eaten dishes that I know I would never order.  He even mixed up the restaurant’s specials with the ones they had (and I liked) a couple of months ago. It was annoying.  

I didn’t enjoy my dinner honestly.  I had the udon salad and it wasn’t bad at all, but I just stopped being in the mood to eat there after we arrived.  Recently the thought of going out to eat with my husband is making me feel ill.  My stomach gets huge knots in it because I can never guess where the blazes I am supposed to suggest.  No place I ever suggest is correct or good or cheap enough for him.  He only ever suggests ramen shops or the port in Sakata which is a place that I will never, ever go again.  So, I feel sick. 

As we were getting ready to leave, F suggested going somewhere else afterwards.  I said I’d wait and see how I felt after we bought the groceries.  

We went to the grocery store and I got the ingredients to make chicken soup.  I’m going to make it in my slow cooker. I just hope that K doesn’t trip over the cord or take the lid off, or something like that.  I hope that it works out.  I just can’t bear eating in crap places in the name of F saving money.  I got one more thing for Christmas dinner and some stuff for lunches. The usual.

After shopping, we decided to go to Mosburger. They have wifi and some nice desserts.  We drove there and on the way I suggested detouring a little to drop my mail in the main post office's mailbox.  F sailed past the turn-off. He said he mistook where he was.  I asked him how long he had lived in Tsuruoka.  Sometimes he just forgets where he is going, even though we just talked about it. 

Mosburger was fine. I got a dessert and a tea, he got dessert and a coffee.  I paid using my prepaid card. F was the one who charged it after all, and I can’t get to Mosburger without him!

We had an okay time and then headed back to the house after an hour.  At the house, we unpacked the groceries and came upstairs.  I checked which garbage goes out tomorrow and put the correct bag in the genkan for F to take out in the morning. 

We came upstairs and had a pleasant evening.  I watched some telly, F played with his phone.  It was fairly friendly.

So, I really should go. I’m going to be going downstairs a bit early for me so that I can slice up the vegetables and make some soup.  I’m a bit nervous, but I’m also looking forward to it.  I haven’t cooked in ages.  I still don’t feel welcome in K’s kitchen.  It’s also blooming cold in there since it is a separate room from the living room and there is no heat in there.  

Oh, and that’s another thing.  I hate this house.  It is horrible.  It is creaky and noisy just walking around.  Everything was done with an eye to being cheap rather than being good.  My latest annoyance is that there is no light switch in the genkan (entryway for anyone who doesn’t know Japanese houses.) The switch to turn on the outside light and the light in the genkan is halfway down the hall.  How stupid is that? If you come in the house after dark, you will trip over all the boots, shoes and other paraphernalia that we have left there.  I said to F one night that the person who designed the entrance must have been really stupid.  He told me it was the carpenter who built it.  I told him that it went double for him.  Why on earth wouldn’t you put a light switch in the entrance?

I am digressing, but obviously, this house was not well thought out.  

Anyway, that’s it for me.  Grumble, Grumble.  Come back later if you dare and see how my soup turns out.  Until tomorrow….



2 comments:

Rosa said...

What a pain that must be to come home in the dark! Is there any place to plug in a lamp in the genkan? If not, make a point of putting some kind of battery operated lantern or a big flashlight--lol!

It's weird to cook in someone else's kitchen, isn't it? It always feels like you're invading their space, even if you live there.

Helen said...

I'm not sure if there is a plugin there. I shall have a look. I didn't think about a battery operated light, that might work...or something like a motion sensor light might be helpful too. There is the outside light, but even though the front door has frosted glass in the middle, it is still dark inside.

And yes to the kitchen thing. I try to use as little of her stuff as I can, but I still have to use the odd thing. I've been here months now and she's never made any space for my stuff. I've asked F to ask her to move it, but he weasels out of it. He doesn't seem to understand that a request from him would go over so much better than a request from me!

Thank you for visiting and commenting. I was in a horrid place when I wrote this!