August 5, 2026

Wednesday - Hot and Sunny

I woke up when F was getting up this morning. I fell back asleep almost immediately so that was good. I woke up finally when my alarm went off. I didn’t get up until the second alarm went off though.

I went downstairs and then came back to the room. I sorted out my clothes and then went back to bed. I watched videos and overslept a little. I slept a little later than yesterday, but it was fine.

I went downstairs, got my breakfast and brought it back upstairs. I ate and then relaxed for a while. I decided to write a couple of postcards later on. I’m sending to Europe. I’m happy as they usually arrive faster than ones to North America or other parts of Asia. 

I went downstairs and grabbed my lunch. I brought it upstairs to eat and today I watched an episode of Matlock. I like the characters, but the show is losing me a little. 

F showed up while I was watching my show. He took some time off work today to go to see his doctor. He changed clothes and then left to go out.

F got back a bit before 6pm. I went downstairs to work on dinner. It was hot in the kitchen. Sigh.

Tonight’s dinner was chicken drumsticks with rice, salad, cucumber pickle, and some gobo salad. K and F also got some mini-tomatoes, so that was good for them.

I got dinner on the table a little late, but not very! I had to wait on the chicken to be cooked. Dinner was good I think. F didn’t eat all of his chicken, but apart from that he did well. 

On one of his trips to the house today F brought some ice cream so we had dessert as well today. Yay for that. 

I went back into the kitchen and got stuck into the dishes. They went…no big deal. After they were finished I started on the burnable garbage. I got most of it done. I did ask F to go to his mother’s room and bring her garbage out. I don’t think she’d like me going in there!

When I finished with that I came upstairs and did my bedroom garbage. I left the bag for F to put his stuff in too. 

I relaxed for a bit and then went downstairs and took a shower tonight. It was nice, but I had to refill my shampoo bottle today. 

I went back upstairs and watched tonight’s Grey’s Anatomy. It was okay. I’m not really sure where things are going to go with the characters, but it is okay. 

I’ve been doing my end of day things and watching/catching up with my internet stuff. It’s been interesting. I’m presently looking at someone’s haul from an internet store. It’s sort of making me want to go shopping, but I rarely do that. 

Tomorrow I should do my weekly laundry as F is planning to take Friday off and I’ll probably miss my Friday laundry date! It’s not a date, it’s just a thing that needs to get done. I need to wash some towels for a change. 

Oh, that reminds me. K tried to do laundry today but didn’t set the machine correctly. She set it so it was trying to take water out of the bath…the machine has a hose to do that, but there is no water in the bath, and she didn’t move the hose at all. The machine was making a little noise, but wasn’t washing her clothes. I stopped it and reset it for her. I hope it worked. I didn’t snoop inside the machine so I didn’t check if she put any soap inside. It’s the second time I’ve seen that she’s messed up the machine. It’s sad to think that she’s probably lost how to wash her clothes. I’ll have to let the social worker know later in the month. 

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

August 4, 2026

Tuesday - Warm and sunny

I woke up this morning when my alarm went off. I got up, went downstairs and then came back to the bedroom. It was hot in the room so I turned on the AC for an hour and watched a few videos. I fell asleep again, but woke up quite a bit earlier than normal. I got up and dressed then. 

I went downstairs to get my breakfast stuff and then came back to the room. I had my breakfast and then spent some time on my computer. I had a quiet afternoon if I’m honest. It was nice. I backed up my computer and printed out a recipe that I was planning to make for dinner.

While I was eating my lunch, I watched an episode of Evil. I just decided to watch it today. It was quite a good one, but there are only 3 more episodes in the series so I wonder if they’ll end things properly or if it’ll be a cliffhanger?

F called me a little early today and said he was on his way back. I watched a video for 20 minutes and then went downstairs to start dinner.

Tonight after I did the dishes, I got started on the rest of dinner. I made some more cucumber sticks, and then I started the main dish. Tonight I made Buta Kimchi or stir-fried pork with kimchi. I measured things, I prepped some onion, and got ready. When the time came, I started cooking. 

I got things on the table really close to 7pm and called F downstairs. He came a little later and we ate. There wasn’t enough rice for us, F had said there was, but he forgot how crunchy the ends are on the second day. The buta kimchi was good, but a little salty I thought. F thought it had too much sauce, but it didn’t really!

After dinner I did the dishes and listened to parts of three podcasts! I listened to the news from Canada, then finished up Kermode and Mayo’s Take. I only listened to a few minutes of Flickering Dreams but it was fun so far. Tomorrow….

I went upstairs to change and then watched as F did his hunt for his wallet. How can that man lose something so important? He did finally find it…in the car. Ack. 

We drove over to the grocery store and I went in. I bought stuff for dinner for the next couple of days and breakfasts for K and F. I hope things go well with that! I came back to the car and we drove back to the house. 

I asked F to make rice for tomorrow night and then I put the groceries away. I came upstairs and chilled out in front of my computer. At 11pm I watched Law & Order. It was fine, no big deal. After midnight I started doing my end of day things. 

I went downstairs and realized that I didn’t really need the AC on as it was cooler outside than in our room. I turned it off and opened the window. Fair enough, it isn’t too humid tonight so we might as well cool things down naturally. 

I’m not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow. I’d like to maybe write a postcard or two as I have to get thinking about my column soon. Ack. I need a topic since the Journal theme isn’t really movie friendly. 

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

August 3, 2026

Monday - Warm & Sunny

I got up this morning when my alarm went off. I hadn’t woken up at all after I fell asleep. I was out. I did my usual thing of going downstairs and then coming back upstairs. I sorted out a couple of loads of laundry and left the basket for me to take downstairs. 

Then, I went back to sleep. I had watched a couple of videos, but I snoozed a lot. I used the AC for a few minutes and then turned it off. 

I got up and then went downstairs with my laundry after I got dressed. I started the washing machine and then grabbed my breakfast. I brought it upstairs to eat.

I did a couple of loads of laundry today, they are hanging up in my room. I went downstairs a couple of times to bring up the laundry. I was a bit late going down to make my lunch too as I decided to watch Saturday’s episode of FBI. It was a good episode, about a serial killer. 

I went downstairs to get lunch and then brought it upstairs. I decided to watch an episode of Lie To Me while I ate. It’s an okay show, I wasn’t after anything demanding today.

F called me after 5:30 to say he was on his way back.We were both cheerful with each other, so that was good. I went downstairs soon after to get started on dinner.

I didn’t have any ideas what to make for dinner tonight! I did bake some chicken in the toaster oven, but the rest of what I made was uncooked! We had salad, cucumber sticks, celery pickles, and mini tomatoes. F had set up the rice cooker last night and so we had that too. I had made some mayo-ranch dressing to dip the cucumbers in and that was good. There’s a bit left over too for tomorrow I hope.

I did the dishes, listening to Kermode & Mayo’s Take and of course, CBC News. It’s so nice to listen to Canadian news, it’s just so newsy! It’s also not full of hyperbole either. 

When I finished downstairs, I bagged up the plastic garbage and then reminded F that he should take it out in the morning. I put it in the genkan.

I went upstairs to relax for a while. I made some tea for myself and chilled. Then, a bit after 10:15 I went downstairs to take my shower. F was in the process of going upstairs so we got to say hi to each other. 

I took my shower and then went upstairs again. F and I chatted for a few minutes and then I sat down at my desk and watched an episode of Ted Lasso. It was the second last one of season 3. I was hoping that it was the last one so I could start the new season when it comes, but I have one more. No worries! It was so good. I really enjoy the show even though it’s been ages since I saw some of it.

And that’s about it. I’m not sure what I’m going to get up to tomorrow. Usually Tuesday is laundry day, but I already did some, so I will have to find something else to do. Maybe I’ll write a letter, a postcard, or I’ll start my column. Who knows? It’s a mystery to me at the moment. 

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

August 2, 2026

Sunday - Rainy and cooler, clear later on

I woke up fairly late this morning. F was still in bed, he hadn’t fed his mother yet. When I was downstairs, I saw her in the living room, so when I went upstairs I told him. He got up and then went downstairs to take care of her. 

I checked a few things on my computer and then went back to bed and slept a bit. F came back in the room and we both dozed a little bit. I got up after noon and then F was immediately wanting to know where I wanted to eat lunch. He was his usual cranky self and didn’t like any of my suggestions but wouldn’t suggest any that he liked and I might. 

We tried to go to Arpeggio but they were full. We went back to the car and drove up the street. We passed a building with a new sign on it so I read it out. F asked me what I said, so I said it again. Then he wanted me to repeat it again. I refused. I was highly annoyed with him. He stopped the car and ordered me out. I refused to get out. He started whining about how he had to take care of the people walking on the street while he was turning the car…I know that, but having to repeat myself THREE times just felt like too much. Recently he just hasn’t been listening to me. He goes everywhere with an earphone in his ear and listens to his phone…he never hears me when I talk to him and if he does hear me, he doesn’t listen. I’m getting very frustrated with him. 

He ordered me out and I just apologized. I know he has to take care of other people, but I’d like him to take a little more care of ME. My arm is really sore and him shouting at me to get out of the car really upset me.

We ended up going to Gusto again. I didn’t mind. I quite like Gusto, F says he hates it, but he only orders things they aren’t that good at! I had a steak set today, I got some cut steak, with a salad, soup of the day, and a nice crusty bun. F had a burger that he didn’t like. We both had drink bar and soup bar today. We stayed a while and then left. When we paid at the door, I used some of my points and brought the price down by a bit. Yay me.

We made a quick stop at Yamaya for me to buy more tea and then we came back to the house. As it had stopped working, we took a look at the outside motor. Sadly, we still have no idea what’s going on. F thinks that it isn’t getting any power. I’m trying to get him to call a repairman but he’s dragging his feet. Good grief…August has just started, the hottest month and his mother lives downstairs and I have to cook in the kitchen. I’m thinking of going on strike!

We relaxed for a bit and finally F went downstairs and cooked for his mother. Then, F was as nasty as he was earlier about where to go for dinner. I told him that he could suggest someplace but he didn’t. 

We literally drove around the city for 45 minutes looking for someplace that would fulfill F’s vision. Every other place he wanted to go was closed. At one point when we were near a bit supermarket, I suggested just going in, doing our shopping and then getting bentos and going back to the house. That wasn’t acceptable. I hate bentos so it was a hail Mary pass for me.

We ended up at China House, which I had completely forgotten about earlier, then thought that they would already be closed. We went in and finally were able to have dinner. I had the mapo-dofu set meal, F had yakisoba and he also ordered some gyoza to share. He could have suggested the place 45 minutes earlier but he’d rather drive aimlessly through the city. 

When we finished eating it was after 9:30 pm so I suggested going back to the big grocery store to get our shopping. Our usual place closes at 10 so it wasn’t a good option.

I went in and did the shopping. I’m not a big fan of the shop but it’s okay. I had to get stuff for dinner for a couple of nights and stuff for breakfasts as well. I got things bought and there was still a bit of money leftover, so that was good.

We came back to the house, I put away the groceries. F did something, I don’t know what. I went upstairs and turned on the AC then went downstairs to get some water for my water pot. I also took a couple of pain pills for my arm. It was really bothering me, but it’s mostly okay now. 

I decided to watch some AppleTV on my computer as I didn’t want to annoy F any further. I watched an episode of Sugar which was good again. I really like Colin Farrell these days. 

F went to sleep without saying goodnight. That’s okay, I was sort of ignoring him. I’m having a bit of a rage at him anyway. I’m sure I’ll be fine tomorrow, but it’s hard when he keeps getting so angry with me for being me. 

Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Hopefully it won’t suck as much as this weekend did! Until tomorrow…. 

August 1, 2026

 Saturday - Cloudy & Rainy

Today was a bit better of a day than I expected, and yet, some of it was rather frustrating too. 

I woke up this morning around 9am. I try to wait until F leaves with K for her Day Service. I went downstairs and then came back up to the room. A few minutes later I went back to bed for a longer snooze. 

I finally got up and dressed. We had doctor appointments this morning so we drove over to the clinic and went in. I had asked F to help me fill in the paper last night saying that I knew about the side effects of the vaccination and that I wasn’t pregnant or breastfeeding. I’m a bit too old for that! Unfortunately, F hadn’t filled in HIS form, maybe because he didn’t know about it? So, I could get the shot and F couldn’t. Of course, mine was the one we had to pay for. 

I got my shot, we picked up our medicines, and then it was a very late lunch time. It was almost 1pm by the time we finished. 

F had suggested a place he went to recently for lunch. They serve Omu-rice. I was worried that it would have tomato in the rice, but they didn’t. It was more of a chahan than a rice filling he said. Okay then. 

We drove to the restaurant and it was really lined up. F went and put his name on the list and we were 4 groups back, so it would be a while. Luckily it wasn’t sunny as we waited outside for a while. At one point I did remind F that I hadn’t eaten yet today, so as it got close to 2 pm and then later he was annoyed with me and said we could give up and go back to the house (where there was no food that I would want to eat….)

We finally got in and F ordered for us. It took a while to arrive but when it did, it was rather nice. It was quite big…and we ordered a small one each!

After lunch we came back to Tsuruoka and F went to a grocery store. I stayed in the car as I was a tad tired and didn’t want to go out. Then, we came back to the house.

F bopped around between upstairs and downstairs, I was upstairs for most of the time. He came up for a nap after his mother got back. I decided I’d take one too. I took a couple of 20 minutes of snoozes. I did try to suggest F go downstairs and make his mother’s dinner, but he kept putting it off. Finally around 6:30 he went downstairs to cook for her.

I got redressed and waited for F to finish. We finally left around 7:10 and we still had to eat. We set off, and then F tried to go to the wrong restaurant so we had to turn around. We finally got to the gyudon shop. I had curry with a caesar salad and miso soup, F ordered his usual gyudon with an egg and miso soup and pickles. We did have to call the waiter over a couple of times. They forgot my salad dressing and they didn’t give us the free tea they give everyone. I ate all of mine, F stopped halfway and said he couldn’t eat anymore. 

We left. F swore that we could get to the cinema in time. We sort of did. I had told F the movie started at 8pm but it really started at 8:20.  We arrived at the mall after 8. We went into the mall, up to the cinema. We tried to buy our tickets but the point cards didn’t work. We had to buy the tickets without them. F was absolutely useless at telling me what was on the screen when it had a message about the cards. We got the tickets, then went to the popcorn ordering station. F hung way back and then got mad when someone else took “his” turn. ACK. Finally we got our snacks and went into the cinema. There were washroom runs for both of us.

We went to see Spiderman: Brand New Day and it was great. I’ve always been a huge fan of Spiderman and Tom Holland too, so I was predisposed to like it. It was funny, bittersweet and also quite good. The character has been changing a bit and I’m there for it. 

After the movie, we left the cinema and drove back to Tsuruoka. It was about 11:30 when we got back. F went to sleep soon after, I’m up late as usual. 

My arm hurts a bit, but so far that’s all the bad side effect that I’ve had. I’m hoping that I’ll be okay. It was my second shingles shot if you were wondering. 

Anyway, that’s about it for me for tonight. I’m not sure what we’ll get up to tomorrow, it’ll probably include grocery shopping, but we’ll see. Come back later if you like and hear all about my Sunday. Until tomorrow….

July 31, 2026

Friday - Rainy, cloudy and humid

I woke up before my alarm this morning. I did my usual trip downstairs and then came back to the room. I went back to bed for a bit, but I didn’t go to sleep again. I tried to nap, but it wasn’t happening. 

I got up, dressed for going out, watched a review of a couple of movies and then made my break! I left the house and walked to the bus stop. I left the house at 10:30 and made it to the bus stop just before the bus time. Surprisingly, the bus was only 2 minutes late and I was the only passenger at first. 

Now, when I got off the bus near the cinema, there were a few other passengers. One was a lady who had some trouble getting on. She had a cane and sat near the door. When I left, I had to ask her to move her feet so I could get by. I might have forgotten to swipe my card, I’m not sure. As I was getting off the bus, I saw the lady’s hat on the step, so I got off and then handed it back to her. 

I walked from the bus stop to the big drugstore. I grabbed myself a bottle of rooibos, then also picked up a few things for a mini lunch and a walked back to the cinema. 

I went in, paid my money and then went to see a documentary about Twiggy. It was called Twiggy.

I really enjoyed it. I used to have a record of Twiggy’s and I liked it very much. I also was over the moon to catch a glimpse of my favourite British rock singer, David Essex. Twiggy came over as very nice, unspoiled and a real person. It’s quite interesting just how many walks of life she was able to enter. She was one of the first supermodels, she sang, she danced, she did movies, TV, and albums. 

After the film, I used the outside of the lobby to have a seat and eat some of the food I bought earlier. After that, I walked over to the bus stop.

I caught a city bus to the mall and did a little shopping. I didn’t get anything of note, just a few things for myself. I debated with myself whether to get an ice cream or go to Doutor for an iced coffee. Doutor won. I went in and had a sandwich and a decaf iced coffee. The coffee was strong, but just what I wanted!

I decided to catch the 15:15 bus back to the house. I waited for the bus and then got on. I had an enjoyable ride back to my stop. It was rainy outside but it was cool and dry in the bus. However, when I got off the bus and tried to swipe my card, it didn’t work. The bus driver did some magic with the card reader however and it worked. Whew!

I came into the house and went upstairs. I turned on the AC and stripped most of my clothes off! I hung up my clothes to dry and enjoyed the cool air. I had some tea and then F called me around 5:30. 

I went downstairs to start dinner and a little later F came in. He was soaked from just walking back from the car. He had done some shopping and put it away, then went upstairs. A few minutes later I got a text that said he couldn’t eat again tonight. Sigh. I asked him if he wanted me to make him a plate and he said he did. 

So, K and I had dinner together again. It was fine. When she went off to the washroom, I turned the TV so that the news would be in English. She can’t hear it anyway, and there are subtitles so she can follow along if she wants. Dinner was okay. She got some mini-tomatoes and we had garlic butter pasta with sliced chicken breast and salad. It was good. 

I did the dishes afterwards and then said goodnight to K. F had come downstairs so there was a line up for the washroom!

I took a shower before 10 pm tonight and then thought I’d watch a movie on the DVR. I started Monkey Man. I liked what I saw but then decided not to watch it tonight. It’s not all in English and it was quite violent and I wasn’t in the mood for that kind of thing. Instead I watched another episode of Ride or Die. It was fun actually. That’s what I was looking for. 

And honestly, that was about it for my day. Tomorrow we have a busy day. I’m hoping to be okay to go and see the new Spiderman because I love Spiderman, but we’ll have to see if it happens!

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