December 31, 2016

Saturday - Clear and sunny

Happy New Year!

A good day.

I got up this morning and showered and then waited for F.  I had a couple of cups of tea and then F came back. He was in a good mood which was nice.

I got really sleepy so went back to bed, but he came in to the room and asked if I’d like to go to the Grand El Sun for lunch.  Since I like that place I got up.  

We drove over there and of course the restaurant was closed!  We drove around a bit looking for another place to go and even went into a place, but it had nothing for me. We ended up at a Taiwanese restaurant and had a pretty decent meal. 

After lunch we went to the cafe that we tried to go to yesterday.  F and I shared a Dutch Baby Pancake and had coffee too.  It was very good.

We came home after this and vegged for a couple of hours.  F went to pick up the sushi we ordered last week and delivered some to his mum as well.  Then, F came home and we ate.  The sushi was good.  We had about half of it, and left the rest for later.

F watched a lot of really bad TV, but for a change asked if I’d like to go to Tsuruoka Park at midnight for our Hatsumode, or first visit.  I said sure, so off we went.  

We walked to the shrine and spent about 20 minutes waiting.  There weren’t that many people out tonight, which surprised me a lot.  It is a little cold, but other than that, the weather is good, so I thought there would be more people.  

Selfie from Tsuruoka Park

 We did our thing, visited the smaller shrine in the corner of the park and then came home.   

We ate the rest of the sushi and had some drink.  F is snoozing on the couch and I’m going to go off to bed soon as I’m falling asleep at my computer.

Tomorrow we’re off to Yamagata City for a night, so I won’t be here to update.  Hopefully we’ll have a good time.  I would like to go and see a movie but we’ll see about that.  Don’t miss me too much.

Have a happy New Year everyone!  Until later….

December 30, 2016

Friday - Cold but mostly clear

Crap day.

I got up a bit late today because I fell asleep really late last night.  I went to bed late, but lay in bed for ages and couldn’t sleep.  I’m blaming the caffeine, but it could have been anything really.  

F and I went out for lunch. I suggested his fish restaurant and that’s where we went.  It was quite nice, I had crab and ikura on rice, F had different kinds of tuna on rice.  After lunch, we picked up some kerosene and then came home for a bit.  I ended up going to bed in the afternoon and sleeping for a couple of hours.

F woke me up around 5 and after I got dressed again, we were going to go to a new coffee shop. We got there and of course they were closed.  They had just closed, early today for the upcoming holiday.  F does this thing lately where he’ll say that he’s getting ready to go somewhere and then he’ll just keep sitting at his computer.  It is so annoying.  He did that tonight too.

We tried to go to another place which was also closed, so F demanded that I pick a restaurant.  I wasn’t hungry yet, so declined that honour.  He was going to drive me home until I said that I had wanted to go to another grocery store.  

We went there and F was being his mean grumpy self so I asked him when he’d get over being angry at me.  He walked off and left me in the store.   I bought some stuff and was going to walk home, in fact I even started walking before I decided to go back and get in the car.  We didn’t talk until we got home.

Things are slightly better now, but F subjected me to the crappiest of TV tonight, so I watched something on my computer.  I cooked my dinner of pasta with salad on the side and then did my dishes.  

I’m not sure how I’m going to get through tomorrow to be honest.  I tried to ask F if we could watch something at home on the DVR tomorrow night, but he wouldn’t agree. If he is in the right mood we might go to the museum or maybe not.  I’m not hopeful.

Come back in the new year and see how the last day of 2016 goes for me.  Until tomorrow….

December 29, 2016

Thursday - Gloomy and snowy

A wasted day!

I woke up the first time at 8:30 am to find F still in bed.  I reminded him that he was supposed to take out the garbage, and he did, thankfully!  I went back to sleep and basically woke up again just before 11am.  Sigh.  

I got up, had a shower, had some tea and waited for my husband.  He came home again just before 2pm.  When I say just before, I mean something like a minute before. He came into the apartment and plunked himself down in front of his computer.  Didn’t ask if I’d had lunch or if I was hungry, nothing.  I asked if he’d eaten (no) and if he was hungry (yes), so then we had to decide where to go.  

I suggested the Indian restaurant, and that’s where we went.  We got there around 2:40, but had a quite nice lunch.  I had a chicken curry, F had a paneer curry. When we were deciding what to do after lunch, F suggested going to the Internet Cafe.  It was fine with me, but I said I’d like to pick up my bag of crafts from the apartment which was on the way anyway.  

So, basically, we spent the next 6 hours at the Internet Cafe.  I did a little crochet, read a little and watched much too much of Say Yes to the Dress! Finally, after 9:00pm I asked F if we could leave when the next hour was up.  We paid and left.  

We tried to find a place for dinner, but the first two weren’t open.  We ended up at Gusto again, but the far one.  I had the steak donburi that came with a very black avocado.  I was quite shocked and cut a lot of it off.  

Despite me asking to go to the grocery store near the restaurant, we didn’t.  When we were near home, F asked if I’d like to go to our usual place but I didn’t want to.  I wanted to go to the not usual place of course!

Spent a little bit of time watching TV and then not watching TV.  F has just gone to bed and I’m going off there soon too.  

I have no idea what we’ll get up to tomorrow.  I hope that it is more interesting than sitting in the Internet Cafe for hours.  However, I’d rather do that than fight with my husband so…

Come back later if you like and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

December 28, 2016

Wednesday - Snowy

An okay day.

I got up this morning and came through to the living room.  I watched a bit of TV and after I’d been on the couch for a while noticed that there was a milk carton sitting under the coffee table.  F strikes again.  I picked it up and put it back in the fridge.  I don’t drink it, so don’t really care if it goes sour early.  I wonder how long it was there!

I had a quiet day at home.  I worked on my Journal Column, and over the course of the day managed to get it written and hammered into shape.  

F called me around 5:30 to say he was finished work but would go to his mother’s.  I started on prep in the kitchen, but when he came home, he started in on the snack foods right away.  That was a tad annoying.  It was also disheartening, since I’d changed our menu to suit him.  

Still, when I cooked he did come over and eat and things were okay.  After dinner he did the dishes and then surprised me by asking if I’d like to go out for coffee or something.  Of course I said yes.  

We just drove to McDonald and had some Royal Milk Tea and a little bit of chat and relaxation.  After that, we went to the grocery store so he could get some beer and wander aimlessly around the store.  

We came home after that and had a quiet evening in.  We had bought some Japanese style Christmas cake tonight at the grocery store, so I made some decaf coffee and we had the cake with that.  It was nice.  

F went to bed and I’m still up, although I’m planning to go to bed soon.  I’m a little worried about too much togetherness over the next few days as we always fight over New Year and I always swear that I’ll never spend another New Year here.  

I don’t think we have any plans to be away over the next couple of days, but we will be away for a night early in the new year.  So, meet you back here tomorrow night?  Until tomorrow….

December 27, 2016

Tuesday - Rainy and finally snowy

A good day.

I got up this morning on time to watch Nikita, the “new” morning show.  I always enjoyed it, so it is fun to re-watch it again. I had tea and breakfast, same old, same old!

F popped home for a quick bite, just as I was going to take my shower.  He ate and ran, I showered!  

A little while later, he came back and we decided to go out for lunch.  We chose one restaurant, but when we got there, it was already closed.  Sigh.  Instead, we ended up at a Japanese restaurant that we went to fairly often.  It was okay. I had oyako-don and F had ramen.  It was pretty good.  

F needed to hit up a bank machine and after he did that, we went for tea at Doutor.  Well, I had tea, he had coffee for a change.  It was a nice break.  Soon after, F dropped me off at home again.

I had a relaxing afternoon, watched the news and the tribute to George Michael on Nightline.  Sigh.  George, George, George.  He was only a little older than me.  Much too soon.  

I got ready to go to work, and I was just going to step out the door when F called to say he was finished and would drive me to work if I wanted.  Yay. In a couple of moments he was home, and drove me off.

I had two lessons tonight, the final two and I think they went quite well.  Afterwards, I handed the textbooks back in and left.  I enjoyed teaching again, but don’t really know if I would like it to be a regular gig.  

F picked me up and we went to Gusto for dinner.  I actually had the same thing I had last week, the cut steak and grilled vegetables and it was nice.  Today, F had tonkatsu curry and he said it was okay.  

We picked up a few groceries at the store and then came home.   Almost immediately, it was time for Criminal Minds, so I had to watch it.  I had a bit of couch time, but instead of crocheting, I did some finishing of squares.  I darned in the centres and also fixed the closing bit of the square.  

And really, that’s about it.  I had a nice day.  F has one more day of work and then he’s off for the rest of the year. I really hope he isn’t going to be glued to sports for the holidays…it is quite annoying when he does that!

Come back later and find out how Wednesday goes.  Until tomorrow….

December 26, 2016

Monday - Rainy

Boxing Day - A good day.

I got up this morning and watched the last episode of Revenge this morning.  It was silly fun.  I had my breakfast and my tea during it as is my habit.

I did some laundry in the early afternoon and hung it up, I planned a couple of lessons and I had a very late lunch too.  

F came home around 7 pm and I put stuff out on the table.  We were just having leftovers from yesterday, but it was nice.  We watched Pitch Perfect while we ate and both of us enjoyed it.  

In the later part of the night, F watched some TV and then at midnight, I watched some too.  

It was a quiet day really, but quite good.  Tomorrow I have to teach, and F is off in the afternoon.  We might go and have lunch or something, I’m not sure.  

Come back later on if you are interested and see how Tuesday goes around here.  Until tomorrow….

December 25, 2016

Sunday - Clear and sunny

Merry Christmas!  A good day.

We went to bed really late last night so got up late this morning.  That wasn’t a bad thing really.  I got up around 10:30 and started working on brunch.  I ended up making a couple of things, mini quiches in wonton wrappers and bacon and egg cups.  They were both pretty darn good, just a bit fiddly.

After we ate our brunch, we opened presents.  I gave F another bag of stuff for emergencies for the car.  I gave him stuff like wool toques and work gloves, bandages, antiseptic wipes, regular wipes, flashlights and lights with a magnet on them…things that come in handy when you need them.  There was even a lap blanket.  His “big” present was a couple of t-shirts and a backpack.  He often uses a really ratty one when we go away and it makes me want to throw it out.  I got a shirt and a pair of pants from my sister, and a handbag from F.  I asked for it, so he got me the one I wanted. Yay for that.  

We had an okay afternoon.  F kept putting off visiting his mother, so finally, I had a shower and then asked that we go to a drugstore.  We went and then decided to go to Yamaya too.  At Yamaya we bought a bunch of food that we wanted…don’t know when we’re going to eat it though!  

F went off to visit his mother finally and I got a head start on dinner.  I started preparing things and setting the table, etc.  We had a little buffet going.  There was salad, plus crackers, cheese, cold meat and some cans of nibbles too.  We watched a couple of movies, had a bit of drink and some food.  It was nice really.

We watched Despicable Me 2 and then the live action Cinderella, which was okay really. I wanted to watch happy things on Christmas Day.

F snoozed on the couch for a while and I got him up to take his bath.  A little while later my sister said she was okay to do a video chat, so we did that too.  It was fun seeing her and my niece and nephew too.  

It is now very late, although honestly, earlier than yesterday when I went to bed, so I’m going to end this and get to bed.  It is over for another year.  I’m sad really, but it’s okay.  I have to get back to “real life” soon anyway.  

Come back later and find out how my Boxing Day goes.  Until tomorrow….

December 24, 2016

Saturday - Rainy and snowy

A quiet day.

I slept in rather late this morning.  I went to bed around 4 am last night, earlier than F, but still pretty late.  He got up and went to the doctor this morning, I tried to get up and went back to bed for another hour.  That of course became two or more. Sigh.

We had soba for lunch and as might be expected I wasn’t happy.  I don’t like soba that much.  F picked the place and then had ramen there.  Why would he do that in a place that is famous for soba?  I don’t know, but of course he didn’t like it! He also got quite nasty with me and said I was really grumpy.  Gee, I wonder why?  I didn’t think I was, but I HATE Japanese noodles and only agreed to go because I didn’t want to fight about food.  

After lunch I suggested going for coffee, which we did.  We went to a place in downtown Tsuruoka, a little coffee shop with amazing fruit tarts.  I had a pear and pomegranate tart, which actually wasn’t that great! They didn’t cook the pears and they were quite hard, which really felt weird.  The cakey middle part of the tart was great though.  F had a grape tart, he really liked it, but his wasn’t cooked either.

We picked up a few groceries and then came home for a while. The idea was that F was supposed to go over to his mother’s house and do some shopping for her.  However, he fell asleep on the couch and didn’t wake up until 9:00pm when I woke him up asking for dinner!

We went to Cocos for our meal and it was okay.  I had chicken and roasted potatoes, it was rather nice honestly.  F had jambalaya with shrimp and we shared the Christmas Mud Pie.  It was really good. 

We picked up a couple of things at the grocery store near Cocos as they have a foreign food section, but nothing too exciting, then came home.  When we left the restaurant, we were surprised to see it was snowing!  Here's a snap from outside the grocery store!

That's our car in the snow!

Around midnight I watched a little telly and F snoozed more on the couch after a late night snack.  

Tomorrow is our Christmas.  F wanted to open presents after midnight but I said no!  I would like to prolong it as long as possible.  I’m odd like that!

Anyway, I’m off to bed in a little bit, so I’d just like to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, whichever you prefer.  Thanks for the kind words you’ve left over the years and for coming back and reading the words from a verbose Canadian writer who just happens to live in a strange and wonderful place!  Until tomorrow….

December 23, 2016

Friday - Cold, windy, and rainy

A good day.

I got up this morning and watched my telly.  F was still in the apartment (it was a national holiday today) but he was supposed to go and visit his mother.  He finally did and I had time to myself.

In the afternoon when he returned we discussed lunch and finally decided to go to Doutors in the mall and have a sandwich or a dessert.  We did that, and it was a nice idea.  I had the sandwich! After our meal, we separated and each did a little bit of shopping.  I got F something else, and I hope that F got me the thing I told him to get me!!!

We came home and relaxed for a while and then around 5:30 I started to change my clothes.  We were going out for dinner.  We left our apartment at 6 and walked over to the restaurant at the University.  We had a lovely dinner at Hyakkenbori with really delicious food.  It seemed a lot like we were the only people in the restaurant, although there were tables reserved.  What did we have?  Fish, soup, sashimi and then filet steak and sushi with miso soup.  Dessert was lovely too.  We had a lava cake, a kumquat and some cookies and a cup of tea.  It was amazing. 

Our First Course
Abalone, shrimp, and a few other little things.
The Christmas tree was edible and made out of brussels sprouts!

Close up...F & I had different designs on our plates.

A clear soup with crab and a crab dumpling.

Sashimi and fish.  There was Sea Bream, Tuna, Turban Shell,
Shrimp and Fugu.

Grilled Sea Bream

Filet Steak with wasabi stalks, grilled onion, tempura romanesque
and a tomato.  I loved this plate...it looked like a record!

Chirashi sushi. It came with miso soup.

Chocolate Lava Cake, kumquat with ice cream inside, cookies and
a cute little Strawberry Santa. With tea. 

We walked home again and then spent a quiet evening in.  We’re now chilling out watching Twin Peaks.  It’s been a good day.  

Tomorrow I’m not sure what we’ll get up to.  F might go to the doctor in the morning and I hope to wrap some of the presents I bought yesterday.  I will also have to do some Christmas food shopping.  Hope the stores aren’t too, too crowded for that! Come back later and hear all about it.  Until tomorrow….

December 22, 2016

Thursday - Clear in the morning, rainy for the rest of the day.

A good day.

I got up this morning a little after 8 am, made the bed and took a shower.  I had breakfast and watched Revenge then got dressed and left the apartment on the dot of 10 am.  

I taught a class this morning and it went quite well.  After it was over, I walked home via the post office.  I bought a few stamps for my postcards. When I came out of the post office it was raining.  Good thing I had brought my umbrella!

When I got home, I changed out of my work clothes and relaxed for a while.  I did my internet things and I had some more tea.  I checked my evening class plans and had lunch too.  

I left the apartment again just before 5 pm.  My lesson tonight went quite well and I enjoyed meeting the students.  I came home afterwards to an empty apartment.  

F was hoping to see a doctor tonight, but couldn’t get in.  He came home a few minutes after I did.  

We talked about dinner and he suggested a couple of places which were fine.  F wanted to walk so that he could have a drink, and I didn’t mind.  It was raining, but warm out.  

We walked over to Yoronotaki and had a nice meal.  It was mostly meat based, but quite nice.  We had sukiyaki, nankotsu, yakitori, potatoes and a couple of other things.  After we ate, we walked home again.  

We got home just in time to watch Bones.  I made some tea and enjoyed the episode, F snoozed on the couch.  I printed out some nengajo, but I haven’t written them yet.  

That is most of my day.  It wasn’t bad.  F is off work for the next few days.  Tomorrow we’re going out for a nice Christmas dinner, then hopefully sliding into Christmas day.  

Come back on Friday and see what I get up to. Until tomorrow….

December 21, 2016

Wednesday - Clear and sunny

A good day.

I got up early again this morning.  I’m not sure why I have been waking up early lately, but I’m not too broken up about it!  I got up and then snoozed on the couch for a bit.  I watched my telly and had some tea and breakfast too.

I took a shower and also got dressed of course, a few minutes later, F came home from work.  He brought stuff for lunch again, and didn’t eat it all again. In the afternoon I went over some of my lesson plans and decided that I had better plan a little more, so I did.

Lunch was more leftovers and I finished before 3:30 I think.  I also washed the dishes and got out some of the stuff that I’d need for dinner tonight.  

I got dressed in my suit and then took a taxi to work.  I can’t really talk about it, but it went fairly well I thought. I came home by taxi a bit later too.

When I came home, I changed and then got started on dinner.  F was home but was complaining about his back again.  He wasn’t able to see the doctor tonight.  

Tonight I made pasta with 4 cheeses sauce.  The pasta was fancy stuff with spinach in it.  It was only supposed to take 5 minutes to cook, but it took a lot longer.  Still, I had everything on the table fairly soon, and miracle of miracles, F came over quite quickly and didn’t make me wait.  We had the pasta with some smoked duck breast, salad and some tofu that was left over from Monday.  Most of it disappeared quickly! 

I did the dishes because of F’s back and then I settled in for the evening.  I checked my lesson stuff for tomorrow and then wrote some nengajo.  I had printed 10 last week, tonight I wrote them all.  I have another 15 or so to go.  

F went to bed a little while ago, and because I have a bit of an early start tomorrow, I’m going to join him soon.  It’s nearly Christmas.  How exciting!  Or is it?  I’m not sure yet.  We do have some nice stuff happening though in the next couple of weeks.  We have a fancy dinner reservation on the 23rd, and we’ll go to Yamagata City just after the New Year.  Some friends are also planning to get together in early January, so I have lots to get excited about.  Yay!  

Come back later and find out how my Thursday goes!  Until tomorrow….

December 20, 2016

Tuesday - Rainy then clear at night

A good day.

I got up this morning around 8:00 am and decided that I had to get up and stay up.  So, I did!  I got up, filled up the kerosene tank and then watched a bit of news on the telly.  It was an eventful day in the world…sadly not a good eventful day.  A Russian Ambassador murdered in a Turkish Art Gallery, a big truck running into a Christmas Market in Berlin. 

I watched Revenge and the news and then took a shower.  In the afternoon F came home for lunch, bringing all sorts of things that he didn’t really need!  But it’s okay.  He left again and I watched some TV, had my late lunch and then started to get ready for work.  I left the apartment around 5:30, walked to the place where I was teaching and taught a couple of lessons.  It went fairly well, considering how out of practice I am.

Around 9:00pm I was finished and I went outside.  I thought that F would be ready and waiting, but he wasn’t!  I called him to see where he was and he was still at home.  Huh?!

He came about 10 minutes later and we went to Gusto for a cheerful late dinner.  We both had steak as it was their special meal…I had mine with veggies and bread, he had his with rice and avocado.  I think it was pretty good.  

I decided that I’m going to cook dinner tomorrow night. It’ll be something simple, pasta with salad and sliced duck, but I don’t really want to make F take us out every night this week! We picked up a few things at the grocery store and then came home.  

I watched a bit of TV.  Tuesday night is one of my busy nights.  Criminal Minds was quite gruesome tonight, it was the one where Derek was kidnapped and being tortured.  

Tomorrow I have one evening class, but I’ll be home around 7 pm I think.  After that, I’ll be cooking dinner!  Wish me luck with that.  

Come back later and see how my day goes on Wednesday.  Until tomorrow….

December 19, 2016

Monday - Warm and cloudy at times

A good day.

I got up about on time this morning and watched a little telly and had tea and breakfast.  I got dressed and a little later F came home for lunch.  I’m not sure why he does that, but it’s up to him.  

I did some lesson planning in the afternoon and a whole lot of photocopying.  It was good to get most of it done.  I still have a few little things to do for Thursday, but most of it is done.  Yay.

In the later part of the afternoon I had lunch, watched the news and got the nabe out and washed it for F.  He was planning to cook dinner tonight and was making a nabe.  

He came home around 7 pm I think and proceeded to get right to work.  He made the nabe out of duck, pork and a lot of vegetables.  It wasn’t bad. He did make the soup stronger and that helped a lot.  

I did the dishes after dinner and we spent a quiet evening in.  I did some crochet on the couch and then darned some of the ends in.  I like doing that in batches as the mood strikes me!  I probably need to put the squares out again and take a picture, but it might not be this week.  

That’s about it for me for tonight.  Tomorrow I’m working in the evening, so I will have all day to stress about it!  Still, I think it’ll turn out okay.  

Come back later and find out about my Tuesday.  Until tomorrow….

December 18, 2016

Sunday - Rainy but warm

A quiet but good day.

I slept in quite late this morning, even later than my usual Sunday sleep-in.  I did wake up earlier and thought about getting up, but I was tired and didn’t feel all that well.  So, I went back to sleep.

When F came home, I did get up finally and we talked a little about our day.  Since neither of us had any plans and were both achy, I suggested going to the Internet Cafe for some massaging chair action.  F’s idea was to go there and have lunch as well. I got dressed and off we went.

However, we got to the Internet Cafe, and there was no parking available at all.  We decided to go and have lunch somewhere else.  Coco Ichibanya was nearby, so I suggested there.  We went and had a spicy soup curry for lunch.  It was good, but spicy.

When we went back to the Internet Cafe, there was a parking space.  Even better, there were two massaging chairs available. We were there for the next 5 hours or so.  What did I do?  I watched some YouTube, did a lot of crochet and drank many free beverages.  

After a while, we left.  We had dinner at Bikkuri Donkey!! and it was okay.  We wanted something lighter, but the place we thought about wasn’t open tonight.

We got a few groceries at the store and then came home.  I did a bit of lesson planning and then went over to the couch for Downton Abbey.  It won’t be on again until the new year.  I’m glad, I don’t want to miss it.  

And that was about my day.  It was rather good.  I did at one point say to F that I felt like I didn’t see him at all today! That was a bit sad!

Anyway, tomorrow I’m back to my regular schedule.  I have one more lesson to plan for this week and a bit of catch up work around the apartment.  Will I get it all done?  Doubtful!  Come back later and see what my day is like.  Until tomorrow….

December 17, 2016

Sunday - Clear but cloudy

A good day.

I woke up this morning with a running nose and watery eyes.  Is it my allergies again or something else?  I’m not sure.  Anyway, I went back to bed for an hour or so, but that turned into two hours.  Oops.  

When I got up, I took a shower.  F had made some bread, so I had a piece and made some instant coffee too.  Soon afterwards, we went out for a late lunch.  We went to the butcher’s shop/restaurant near my dentist.  Lunch was good, but as always I feel like a sardine at that place.  Not my favourite place to lunch at all, even though the food is good.

We went to S-Mall and had some tea or coffee and a little relax, then F bought a few food things for his mother.  I saw him off and then I went and did some shopping of my own.  I got him a few things that I won’t go into here.  I’m basically repeating a present I bought him a few years ago, but I’ve learned from some of my mistakes and I’m simplifying it a bit.

F called me the second I paid the clerk, so I hastily packed everything up so he couldn’t see it and then we went off together.  First we went to a drugstore to pick up more allergy medicine for me, and then we went to the movie theatre.  

Tonight of course, we went to see Rogue One.  It was really good.  I actually didn’t like it quite as much as last years Star Wars movie, but that was more of a personal thing.  I did really enjoy it though.  Poor F hadn’t steeped himself in the Star Wars history as much as me, so I think he was a bit lost at times.

After the movie, we went to Cocos for dinner and both had the same main dish.  We had a grilled chicken steak with a spicy yogurt sauce. It came with roasted potatoes too.  It was nice.  We both added on a set to it, I had a bun and the drink bar, F had rice and the drink bar.

When we finished dinner, we just came home.  I spent the last couple of hours writing up lesson plans and hoping like heck that I know what I’m doing!  I still have a couple of lessons to plan for this week, and then two for next week. However, I can’t really write up next week’s as I haven’t taught the class yet so don’t know how much we can cover!

And that is basically that.  Tomorrow F is planning to go to his mother’s in the morning and I’m planning to sleep in.  Then I’ll maybe go out for lunch and hopefully do something enjoyable in the afternoon.  Wish me luck with that!

Come back later and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

December 16, 2016

Friday - Snowy

A good day.

I got up early this morning and did all my usual things.  In the latter part of the morning I got dressed in an old (as in more than 10 years) pair of jeans.  They fit.  Woot!  

I watched a few shows from the DVR and finished all the Once Upon a Time episodes that I had.  I’ve finished up to season 4 and I really enjoyed it.  I hope NHK will show more, but I’m still waiting for them to bring back The Good Wife, so I won’t hold my breath.

I finished up my soup from Monday for lunch, and had a couple of other things too.  Lunch was good.  I scanned my postcrossing cards from last night and then around 5 pm I took them off to the post office.  I just missed the pickup, but at least they’ll go out tomorrow morning.  

I came home, did the dishes and then started putting a couple of things together in the kitchen.  I made a cabbage salad thing from a spice packet I’d bought before, and created some wasabi mayo dressing.  F called to say he was on his way, so I started getting things out of the fridge.

I cooked the meat when he arrived and a little while later we had a nice meal.  We had saikoro steak and salads, and quinoa.  F had rice too.  We used the wasabi dressing on the steak, and that was nice.  

F did the dishes and then a while later dozed on the couch.  I watched a bit of TV while he snoozed away.  I also printed a few of my nengajo (new years cards) tonight, but haven’t written them yet.  I thought I could always do that later if I have the chance.

And that’s it for me for today.  On Saturday, we might go and see Rogue One, and I’m not sure what else! Come back later and find out what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

December 15, 2016

Thursday - Clear early on, snow later

A good day.

I got up before 9:00 this morning and took a shower.  When I finished I had breakfast and a little later got dressed and headed out.  I walked over to a local building and met with some people.  Without going into many details, I’ll be doing some relief teaching over the next couple of weeks and this was helping me get into the flow of things.  

A friend and I went over to S-Mall and bought our lunch, then went back to her apartment for more discussion and eating of lunch.

She brought me home at 4ish and then I spent some time watching the news and catching up with Facebook.  Around 5pm I started working on dinner.  F got home and I cooked dinner.  We had a good dinner tonight.  We had chicken and quinoa, plus salad too.  It was good, and F seemed to like it a lot.

We had a quiet evening in.  I did some crochet to Bones and we had some decaf coffee and half an apple each.  F snoozed on the couch and then took his bath. I even wrote up a few postcards tonight, first time this month!

I’m not sure what I’ll be doing over the next couple of days.  I think I’ll be home for most of tomorrow as I have a few things to catch up on.  Come back later and see what I get up to!  Until tomorrow….

December 14, 2016

Wednesday - Cold with a bit of rain and hail

A good day.

I got up this morning to an empty apartment.  F didn’t have a good night again so decided to take the day off.  However, he had to pick up his medicine from yesterday’s doctor visit and check on his mother.  I sat on the couch and did my usual things for the morning. He came back just as my show was ending, so I yielded the couch to him.

After a while we made a game plan for the day.  We would take my mail stuff to the post office and send it, then go to the car dealership to pay for some work F had done recently and then have lunch.  That’s basically what we did.  

I was very organized at the post office and had even downloaded the custom forms from the website and filled them out that way, so I wasn’t holding up people unnecessarily.  I did get a bit annoyed when the woman kept going over the “dangerous goods” list on the back of the form…why on earth would I send my sister and family dangerous chemicals or radioactive material…if I could even get it in the first place? Still, she didn’t freak out at having to help a foreigner so that was good.  She made a list of the things in the box in Japanese…not sure what the point of that was.  I mean, it makes sense in a way, but what is she planning to do with it I wonder?! Usually the clerk just runs through what everything is so that they can check if it is okay or not. I also got my Christmas Cards sent and a last minute gift too.  Hurray for that.

We had lunch which started off being a bit of a “thing”.  I had made a couple of suggestions, but F wanted to go somewhere else.  We went to one place, but it was closed, another place was also closed and then finally went to one of my suggestions.  I had thought about going to Pisolino, the Italian buffet place.  Usually it is quite good, but today, what I ordered wasn’t very good at all.  I had shrimp and broccoli pepperoncino which is usually a little spicy, but today was dull.  F had carbonara, he liked it.  We shared a turnip and anchovy pizza.  I liked the turnip because of the crunch, but couldn’t taste the anchovies at all.  

Oh well. 

We went to the car dealership and paid the bill.  We also gave them our big bag of bottle caps that we have been collecting for years!  They have a collection stand, but I think what we gave them might fill it!

We came home and F snoozed on the couch and I spent time on my computer and texting people.  I watched the news too, so that was good.

In the evening F and I decided we weren’t really hungry, so waited a bit for dinner.  Finally he suggested udon. I didn’t really want it, but knew that one place he likes actually has some salads on the menu, so suggested going there.  We did, and had a decent meal.  I ordered something that I thought was small, but turned out to be huge!  The salad was good though.

We bought a few groceries and then came home.  I watched CSI: Cyber and did a bit of crochet during it.  That was good for me.  Haven’t done much for a while.

And that was basically it for the night.  It was a good day in that I got my mail sent out.  Next thing I have to do is to make my nengajo.  I’ll be busy next week a bit, so that could get difficult. 

Come back later and see how my Thursday goes.  It could be fun, could be interesting.  Until tomorrow….

December 13, 2016

Tuesday - Rainy

A good day.

Last night I had made arrangements to meet up with a friend to discuss some work opportunities for me.  Unfortunately, she had to cancel as she wasn’t feeling well.  However, my friend in Sakata was coming to Tsuruoka on business and asked if we could meet up.  At first I had to decline because I already had plans, but when my other friend cancelled we decided to get together after all.

I got up early this morning, had some tea and cereal, then watched a bit of TV.  I took a quick shower and then got dressed.  I went out to meet my friend just after 12.  She picked me up, and as we were driving out of the parking place, saw F making his way home for lunch.  We waved and went on.

We had sandwiches at Subway, with the potatoes and a drink.  My friend had some Baskin Robbins too. I was going to, but decided I’d better not if I didn’t want to have my nose running all day tomorrow.

My friend had to be back to work by 2, so she left Tsuruoka.  I looked around the mall a bit and then went over to my hairdresser’s to see if she was free.  She wasn’t then, but asked if I’d come back at 3:00 pm.  Of course!  I went back to the mall, walked around a little and then went back for my hair cut.  

I got my hair cut really short again, but I like it.  It looks quite good, and a lot more stylish again.  It was getting a bit long and shaggy.  

I went back to the mall and had a cup of tea in Doutors and then decided to walk home.  F hadn’t called yet, so maybe he was working late?

I got home around 7 pm and after a few minutes decided to get dinner on the table.  I started to heat up the soup from last night and set the table.  

F called a few minutes later and was home quite soon.  He’d been to the doctor.

We had dinner and then I suggested that F do the dishes. I wasn’t mean about it, but it was time he did them.  There wasn’t that much to do, since most of the meal was already made, just had to be reheated.  

In the evening, I noticed that Groundhog Day was playing on WOWOW.  I haven’t seen it in yonks so I asked F to put it on.  He didn’t really watch it at first, but I think he was pulled in and really seemed to enjoy it.  Yay.  

He went out to the convenience store and to run an errand, and came home and took his bath.  

He finally went to bed, and of course, I’m still up, but planning on going to bed soon.  

Tomorrow I MUST take my stuff to the post office!  If I don’t get it into the mail, it absolutely won’t arrive until February, and that would be bad! 

Come back later and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

December 12, 2016

Monday - Snowy

A goodish day.

I got up on time this morning and noticed that the kerosene heater was nearly empty.  I filled it up, started it, and then did my usual morning things.  I had tea and cereal, then a little snooze.  F came home for a minute, he’d had to drop someone off nearby and was waiting to pick them up.  He left again and I was alone.  

I got dressed and made the bed, then I started making soup.  As always happens, it took longer than I expected.  I had to cut up the veggies and the meat too.  Soon I had it bubbling away in the slow cooker though.

In the afternoon I did a load of laundry and put away a bunch of clothes and towels.  I did have some problems putting away towels in the bathroom though.  The shelf is much too high for me and I couldn’t just throw the towels up, although I did try!

I was supposed to run to the post office, but didn’t manage.  I didn’t even get around to eating lunch until 5 pm.  F called me and said he wouldn’t be home until 8:00pm.  Around 7:30, I started doing things like setting the table and getting some of the food out.  He came home at 7:58 and I made him go and change and then we had dinner.

He basically was too tired to eat much and only had a bowl of soup and a very little bit of salad.  He buggered out of doing the dishes again, but I let him off because I knew he was tired.  Still, he’s been “tired” a lot these days.  

Earlier in the evening a friend of mine had been featured on the local news programme, so I had taped it for F as he knows her too.  I made him watch it and then let him watch whatever he wanted.  He watched skating.  Sigh.  I got sucked in towards the end because of Patrick Chan, and the fact it was the exhibition rather than a competition.  

We had a quiet evening here.  I am going to try and get to bed soon as I’m a bit tired and I may or may not be going out tomorrow! If I go out, I have a few ideas about things that I can do with myself, if I don’t, I have some other ideas of things I can do by myself!

That’s it for me.  Come back in a bit and see what my Tuesday is like.  Until tomorrow….