April 16, 2017

Sunday - Warm, sunny, and a bit windy

A good day.

I slept in this morning, sort of!  I woke up this morning with F telling me that he was going to take  his mother to the onsen.  I let them leave and then I went down and had another go at trying to hook up my computer.  It didn’t work of course.  Sigh.  I am quite upset about all of this.  I really don’t need this.  I gave up and went back upstairs and went to sleep.

F came back and after a bit we went out for lunch.  His mother had gone out today with F’s sister to a memorial service for someone, so we didn’t have to take her out for lunch.  We drove out to Naa and had a very nice lunch there.  

After lunch we drove back to the apartment, but made a stop at Kimuraya, the bakery factory.  We got a small treat each for later, and also had some of their coffee.  I bought us each a scone from the everyday bread section, they were small and very yummy, nothing like the big ones at Starbucks.  

We went to the apartment and got busy.  F worked in the kitchen, I put some of my clothes in my suitcase and in my bag, then worked on the things I did yesterday.  I finished cleaning all of the doors in the apartment and also started to clean a bit of the walls too.  

We took a break to get more supplies and also to check to see if his mother needed anything.  She didn’t.  We took a load of stuff back to his house, unloaded and then went for dinner.  We didn’t go anywhere fancy tonight, just Marumatsu.  We both had the same basic dish which was okay for a change.  

We slipped next door to McDonald afterwards for a bit of dessert and some wi-fi.  Still can’t believe we don’t have any yet.  Grr.  

We went back to the apartment and did a bit more stuff.  F has left me a huge mess of boxes and stuff all over the apartment, usually in places that I want to be in.  He still didn’t call about the tatami or about the movers and I am vacillating between being sick with worry and not giving a crap about it.  There’s nothing I can do about it.  I can’t call and if we don’t get all our stuff out, HE is the one that has to explain why we didn’t.  He would rather spend time taking the windows in the kitchen out and putting them in the bathtub to wash them than make a call.  I cleaned the insides of the windows very well over the last two days and they looked good.  They now look like crap.  What a waste of time.  Mine and his.  Now he says he’s going to do the bedroom windows too.  I’ve no idea when he thinks he’s going to do that!

We left the apartment a bit after 9 pm.  We loaded up the car with a few things and brought them to his house.  I brought more clothes and also some of the gomi for tomorrow. 

Tomorrow I’m off to the apartment again, but I have to do some lesson planning too.  I hope that I can bring my computer to help with it, but I’m not sure that I’ll be able to do it.  Fingers crossed I do.  I also need to catch up on my telly!  I know that it isn’t exactly the most important thing, but I am so bored here at the house because there is nothing to do when we get home.  F falls asleep and I don’t.  

Anyway, that’s it for me for tonight.  Come back later and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

April 15, 2017

Moving Tales

Saturday - Cool and windy

A good day.

F and I both slept in quite late this morning. I think he wasn’t feeling great from his back, I was just glad that I didn’t have to get up early!  We got up and asked F’s mother if she’d like to have lunch with us.  She would, so we ended up in a ramen/curry place.  They had ramen and gyoza, I had curry. It was okay, but a bit heavier than I wanted.

We bought a few groceries and then came back to the house via the park.  F let K and I out and we walked to the park.  F joined us after he parked the car and we did a little walk around the park to enjoy the cherry blossoms.  It was a bit cold and they weren’t completely out, but it looked nice out there.  

It was windy!

Okay, they're pretty!

We came back to the car and drove back to the house.  I attempted to start up my internet again, but didn’t manage it.  I am waiting for passwords from the internet provider.  Once I have them, I should be able to call again and ask them to help me.  Or that’s the present theory.  I’m honestly so disgusted by the whole thing.  I would never have move my computer over here so early if I had known I would be without the internet for so long.

After my failure to figure things out, F and I went to the apartment and got to work.  Finally, he did some stuff.  He still hasn’t called the tatami person, but he cleaned up a lot of his stuff today and took his clothes out of the room.  I cleaned the toaster oven as we’re probably going to use it here and then washed the other half of the window that I did before.  At 5:30, F was wanting to take the windows out of the frame and wash them in the bath, but I wouldn’t let him.  We had the lights on inside, and with the windows out, every bug in the vicinity would come into the apartment.  No thanks dear.

After a while, F broke down our big kitchen rack and then did some cleaning in the kitchen.  I cleaned some of the walls in the living room and the doors too.  It’s starting to look better and it is getting there, but I don’t know how much time we’ll be able to put in tomorrow.  We have to get a ton of stuff out of there still.  Most of it is big stuff now, but there are still a lot of boxes of stuff, plus the fridge, table and chairs and bed.  Don’t forget the microwave and the TV.  We also have to cut up the couch or something. It’s been broken for a year, so there’s no point in moving it with us.  Sigh.  I loved it, but F wrecked it.  

We called K to see if she needed anything for dinner, but she was fine.  F and I kept working until a little after 8 pm then we went for dinner to the Chinese place by the bridge.  We had one dish that we usually have, and 3 others that were slightly different.  We liked them all today. Probably not enough vegetables, but we did have some. 

We came to F’s house via a convenience store for a drink for me and then came upstairs.  We didn’t unload the car…tomorrow morning will work for that we think.  

We watched a movie on my computer, F fell asleep at the end of it, I did some knitting.  And that’s about it.  It was a good day, I just wish we’d had a few more productive Saturdays before now! 

Come back soonish and see what I get up to next.  Until tomorrow…or something like that!

April 14, 2017

Moving Tales

Friday - Sunny and warmer

A good day.

I got up this morning and went to the apartment with F.  He dropped me off and then went on his way. I went into the apartment, dumped most of my stuff, and took the bags of garbage to the gomi station.  No big deal.  I came back in the apartment and turned on the heater and drank my coffee.  I vegged rather a lot this morning, but did a few things in the end.  

I packed up the coffee pot this morning, then I went into the room that F used for dressing himself and picked up a lot of stuff from the floor.  I made a box for his socks, a pile of his work gloves, and I washed a whole bunch of work/cleaning towels and then hung them up.  By then, it was almost time for my shower, so I took it and then got dressed for going out. 

My friend picked me up and we went to Pisolino today.  We had a good time, and we talked about her classes as I’m going to do a few of them next week.  When she had to go, she dropped me off at my apartment and went on her way.

I went back in, changed back into my cleaning clothes, and got busy.  I took down the kitchen curtain and the hooks on the window that I used to hang my beadwork on, and then I cleaned one side of the window. I didn’t do the other side because it was a bit far to reach at the moment, but it looked so much better afterwards.  I also washed the curtain and hung it to dry. I’m not sure if we’ll use it again, but it was pretty, bright and cheerful, and I would like to keep it in case!

I cleaned a couple of the drawers in the kitchen. One was a bit involved as it had some greasy marks in it, but I got it clean.  I wiped down the outside of the drawers too for good measure.  

F wasn’t late today, and also wasn’t as tired as he was yesterday.  He came to the apartment and I gave him some cake and coffee.  We chatted for a while, he checked with his mother to see if she needed any food, then off we went for dinner.  I had suggested Bikkuri Donkey!!, so we went there and had a fairly decent meal.  I had my usual pine-burg steak and enjoyed it.

We bought a few groceries and then came back to F’s house.  His mum was up and said hello, but then F and I came upstairs.  We spent a quiet time upstairs…made a game plan for tomorrow…and then played a few games on my computer.

I’m hoping to have a chance to try setting up the internet again tomorrow.  F might try taking his mother out in the morning, so that I can give it another try.  It’s really hard to have people around when all I want to do is curse and pull my hair out..and I have to act polite and unaffected.  

I do feel rather cut off.  If it wasn’t for my iPhone I would be so isolated, so I’m glad that I have it.  I hope that I can get the internet set up soon.  I have a lot of blog entries to post and a lot of things I need to get back to….Hello Postcrossing!

Anyway, that’s it for tonight. I am hoping that I’ll be able to upload this tomorrow.  That’s the game plan for now anyway.  Wish me luck with it all eh!  Until tomorrow, fingers crossed….

April 13, 2017

Moving Tales

Thursday - Cold and rainy.  Clearer at night but colder too.

An odd day.

I woke up around 5 am and noticed that F wasn’t in bed, or in our room at all.  He came back and said that his back was sore and he hadn’t been sleeping.  I went back to sleep.

When my alarm went off before 7 I got up right away and went downstairs to the washroom.  I came back and F was still in bed.  He did get up then, and we got dressed.  

We left quite early this morning, grabbed our coffee at 7-11 and got to the apartment early enough for F to drop me off before the school zone time.  Yay.  I took out three bags of gomi this morning too.

Inside the apartment again, I got to work. I filled the kerosene tank, then cleaned the bathroom sink.  I did a bit of hand-washing and then did some laundry too.  I took down my dry laundry and folded it up and put it on the bed.  I did take a break from work during ER for my breakfast and tea. Before I hung up the new laundry, I decided to move a couple of things that were behind the drying rack.  I moved them into the living room and they became one of my day’s projects.  

I did laundry and also cleaned the bookcase and the rubber stamp case that I moved into the living room.  They look much better now.

F came home for lunch and was surprised at how much I had done.  He left again to go back to work and then I ate my lunch.  

I didn’t do quite as much after lunch, sad to say, as I was texting a friend, but I got a few things done.  I was going to put the coffeemaker away since I cleaned it yesterday, but discovered that it still had a bit of water in it.  Hopefully one more day will help that.  

I packed a suitcase with some of my clean clothes, although I didn’t fill it yet.  I also tried to make sure that I had enough clothes left for next week’s work.  I should still have.  

F was mostly on time today, but was very tired when he talked to me on the phone.  I started the kettle and when he arrived, I made us some coffee.  He promptly fell asleep, even before he drank any.  I let him sleep for almost an hour and then woke him up.  We had to get going since I was worried about his mother.  

He called her, but she’d already eaten.  We decided to go for gyudon and then pick up a few things later on at the store.  We went for gyudon, but ended up having a bibinba kind of thing.  I had a low carb version with konnyaku noodles instead of rice, F had a version with rice and an egg.  His was fine when it arrived, but the waiter had got my order wrong, so we sent it back.  It was good, but a little too spicy.

We visited the grocery store and picked up some things for his mother and for us too.  Then, we drove towards home.  On the way there, we passed the park and the lanterns were already lit up.  It looked lovely and festive, so F drove his car into the park.  We parked and walked around a little and took some pictures, but most of the trees haven’t started blooming yet.  The weather for the next few days is not going to be good, so we might not get a good chance to see the cherry blossoms.  

We came to F’s house and his mother was in bed of course.  We left the food for her in the kitchen and came upstairs.  After a bit of a snuggle, F went to sleep.  I am freezing and bored, the way I am a lot of the time lately.  

I feel like there is still so much to do at the apartment.  There really is, but F just isn’t pulling his weight. I can’t call to make arrangements for moving the furniture or to have the tatami seen to.  He isn’t doing it.  I bring items to the door to be taken back to his house, and F won’t bring them.  I don’t want to be doing this for another month.  Once things are out of the house, we’ll be able to start/finish cleaning it but I have no idea when things will be moved.  Every room still has furniture or things that need to be taken out of it.  I can clean bits, and will be working on that soon, but I have classes two days next week, so can’t really spend all of my time on it.  

I know things will probably be fine, but honestly, I’ve never had such a complicated move in my life.  I’ve probably never lived in one place as long either, which may have a lot to do with it.  Sigh.  And, it’s not like I even wanted to move here.  I don’t.  I hate it so far.  This isn’t my home and I don’t know if it will ever feel like home.  

Anyway, that’s it for me.  I’m not sure what will happen after F’s work on Friday.  I’m having lunch with a friend to talk about my classes next week, and then I’ll be back to the moving preparations I think.  Wish me well!  Until tomorrow….

April 12, 2017

Moving Tales

Wednesday - Rainy and cold

An okay day.  

This morning when I woke up, I discovered that K had been angry with F last night.  I heard them yelling, but he had told me that it was just his mum not being able to hear him well.  Today he said that she was angry because we didn’t come home to eat.  Well, er…um….why should we? All of my cooking gear is in boxes and it is spread all over this city.  Sigh.  I didn’t say hello to her this morning, I didn’t actually see her and she wasn’t outside today either.

We stopped at the conbini this morning for our coffee fix and F’s breakfast, then headed off for the apartment.  F dropped me off a bit early today as the guards were out reminding people that school has started again.  It’s a great system, except if you live in a school zone! I didn’t mind walking a little way to the apartment at all.

I turned on the heater inside and snuggled under a robe with my coffee until it warmed up.  I watched ER and had breakfast and tea later on too.

Today I didn’t do a big project, just a few little ones.  I cleaned the coffee pot, finished clearing the kitchen rack and then cleaned it too, and got out three spare suitcases from the spare room and checked them out.  One I want to toss, but the other two aren’t in bad condition.  F is wanting to keep them all, but honestly, there is no way that I will ever use the bad one again!  The outside is very dirty and it is really old too.

As part of my lunch today, I broke open my mincemeat tarts!  They expire at the end of the month and by gum, I want to have them.  I did give F one when he picked me up, so it’s not exactly like I’m hoarding them.

I got quite a lot of the telly on the DVR watched today. I started early and then went late. I don’t know when I’m going to give up the TV there.  I set the DVR up for tonight too.

F was a bit late tonight as he had to work late.  It gave me a bit of a chance to get some more stuff done.  That was good.

When he came, I plied him with coffee and a mincemeat tart.  Yummers.  We talked about going out and I wanted pasta.  I did ask that we go to the electric shop as I wanted to get some new cables for the computer set up to see if they would work.  We bought a couple and then decided to go to a pasta restaurant near the shop.  Our original plan was to go elsewhere, but we changed our minds.  I think it was a good idea.  We went to a place that we had a bad experience with last time, but this time was fine.

Dinner was quite good. I had pasta with fresh tomatoes and bacon in a garlic sauce, F had mushrooms with a creamy egg sauce.  We were both pleased.

We went to a grocery store and picked up a few things for his mother and then came back to the house.  She seemed in a better mood, but was already in bed.  She asked if I wanted to eat something, but really I didn’t! 

F and I made our way upstairs and spent a quiet couple of hours together.  I planned a class that I’ll be teaching next week, and played a few games of computer solitaire.  I caught up on my Facebook and email too.

And that’s about it.  Tomorrow I’m going to take my computer to the apartment and try and plan another class if I have time.  I also want to do some laundry and of course do a few things on the move.  Come back later and see if I am still here or if, as I suspect, this will be greatly delayed!  Until tomorrow….

April 11, 2017

Moving Tales

Tuesday - Sunny in the morning, Rainy in the afternoon

A good day.

We got up this morning and went to the apartment.  F was faffing around with his iPhone and missed his usual conbini, so we went to the one closer to our apartment instead.  I didn’t mind, I think the coffee is better there anyway.

Once in the apartment I turned on the heater and huddled up in a big robe until I felt warmer.  I drank my coffee and watched the news too.  When I felt more awake and warm, I went through another one of F’s “boxes”.  As I did yesterday, I threw out junk and kept the good stuff. I kept a few things out to see if he really needed them, and after washing the box put everything back.  

I had breakfast a bit after ER today, but no worries.  I started sealing some of the boxes that I’ve had lying around for a while and put them in the hall.  F came home for lunch again, and this time I asked him to bring me something.  He did, a Korean style dish, tofu and meat and egg on rice.  It was really good, if a little spicy.  I waited until he left before I ate.  There aren’t a lot of seating areas at the moment! 

In the afternoon, I put on some of the TV shows from the DVR and then worked on a couple of things in the apartment.  First up, I boxed up the stereo that we never use in the corner, and then did a quick sweeping of all the dust underneath it.  Then, I started to tackle the kitchen shelf.  I’ve used a big rack as my pantry and it has been really good, if a bit crowded with stuff.  I got the top 3 shelves done before F finished work, which means I have the bottom one and then underneath to do when I start tomorrow.  Yay me.  

When F came to the apartment (still want to call it home), I made him some tea and then he called his mother.  She wanted some food tonight, and I needed some for tomorrow at the apartment, so F and I went to the grocery store.  We got her food, me food, and then F some beer.  

We dropped off my food first, then drove back to the house and gave F’s mum her food.  We unloaded the car and then F and I went out for dinner.  It was cheap and cheerful Gusto tonight.  We each had burgers, his was on rice with veggies, mine was a burger with a cooked tomato and cheese on it, plus salad.  It was good!

We came back to the house and relaxed upstairs.  I did a little bit of throwing old and crappy things out, which made me quite happy.  I also found a lot of things that I had forgotten about.  I found a lovely necklace that I can’t remember getting! F joked that it was a present from him to another girlfriend.  I still have a few things to toss.  With the sorting system of gomi here, I have to be careful to do it the right way.  I am also planning how to set up my half of the upstairs.  I want to have an office type space for my computer and printer/scanner, but I’d like to use the space efficiently.  There isn’t that much and we have a lot of stuff.  I have tons of books and DVDs.  My CDs are mostly sorted already, but I haven’t started on the books yet.  

Tomorrow I am back to the apartment and have to finish the rack.  I plan to bring back more clothes as well and work on clearing out the fridge since Thursday is the burnable garbage day.  Many things can go out…ba ha ha!!

Come back tomorrow if you dare and find out what I get up to.  Until then, then!  Night.

April 10, 2017

Moving Tales

Monday - Sunny and warm

An okay day.

Had a good night and got up this morning without any problem.  I got dressed and left with F for the apartment.  We unloaded the car before we left, we had filled it with lots of garbage that we had to take to the corner this morning.

After a brief stop for coffee, F dropped me off at the apartment and he was on his way.  I turned on the heater and the TV to watch the news and started my day.  

I watched ER, had breakfast and also went through one of F’s little boxes.  He’d filled it with crap over the years so I tossed the unimportant stuff and then cleaned the box for good measure.  I did a few loads of laundry and also dealt with the already clean stuff too.  I wasn’t hugely busy, but it was time consuming. 

F came home for lunch and cheered me on a bit.  I didn’t need anything from him for my lunch, which was a nice thing.  

In the afternoon, I ate my lunch and watched a couple of episodes of Agents of Shield.  I really like that show! Then, I got busy.  I went into the closet in the bedroom and cleaned it out.  I basically washed the whole thing.  It was very tall, so I had to use a ladder for the top of it, but I think I did a good job.  I washed the walls and the floor, the shelf and the doors.  It took a bit of time, but looked very good afterwards.  

By then, it was nearly time for F to finish work, so I took a shower.  When I finished, he came by a few minutes later.  We had coffee and he called his mother to see if she’d like something for dinner.  She asked for a bento, so I suggested getting some bentos for all of us.  F liked that idea, so that’s what we did.  

We drove to the grocery store and bought some bento, drinks and snacks and then came back to the house and had dinner with F’s mother.  It was quite nice.  His mother had tonkatsu, F had a pork bento and I had some chicken salad which I shared with everyone and a some spring rolls and tortilla wraps.  We all had some chicken too.  

I tried to set up my computer again, but didn’t have any luck again.  F keeps saying he’s going to call and ask for help, but unfortunately, that’s all that he does.  If he actually did it I would be so much happier.  

We came upstairs after I gave up and had a quiet evening.  I read a bit on my phone and F took a shower…he’s snoozing away now.  It was a good day, apart from not getting my computer set up.  Sigh. I have no idea what I’m doing this time.  It seemed simpler before.

Tomorrow I am off to the apartment again.  I’m not exactly sure what I’ll do there, but I hope to seal and bring back a few more boxes!  Wish me luck with that eh!  Come back and see what I get up to tomorrow…later!

April 9, 2017

Moving Tales

Sunday - Rainy in the morning, then lovely and sunny in the afternoon

A good day.

I was quite upset that we didn’t do anything in the apartment yesterday, but we made up for it today. We slept in this morning and then took K out for lunch with us.  We went to Sashimiya and had donburi for lunch.  Yum.  F and I had the same one, negitoro and maguro, K had a mixed sashimi bowl.

After lunch we ran a quick errand and then went back to the house to try and hook up the internet again, with no success.  Sigh.  The names on my computer for everything are different than the names on the pieces of paper I have, plus the papers are all in Japanese.  F can read them, but I think he understands all of them less than I do.  So frustrating really.

After a bit of not having success, I decided it was time to go to work.  F and I drove off to the apartment, letting K know that we would probably be late getting back.  

We got to work and got a lot done.  F cleaned most of the tatami room by himself.  I helped with the windows and helped with the balcony by lending him my fake crocs! I cut down a couple of boxes, wounding myself in the process…ow.  I gathered up lots of garbage and helped clear out the tatami room.  We were both busy.  I took a lot of stuff out of the bathroom today too.  I got rid of some of my old perfume, which means that now my hands smell quite interesting!  

We left the apartment for dinner after 7 pm and went to Coco’s.  We both had the same thing, brined roasted chicken with roasted potatoes.  F added on rice and drink bar, I just had drink bar.  We each had a dessert too as they had a special offer on. It was a triple chocolate thing, so really yummy!

After dinner, we picked up a few things in the nearby grocery store, then dropped off stuff and picked up stuff at the apartment.  We put a lot of garbage bags in the car and F got some clothes for tomorrow. I dropped off a salad for myself.  

We came back to the house and had a quiet evening.  I answered a bit of email on my phone and played a couple of computer games, no big deal.  

Tomorrow I am back to the apartment. I hope to work on part of the bedroom and get it ready to go.  I might also pack a few more things if I can.  I just want to get this apartment done.  I’m not really enthusiastic about living in this house, but living between places is just not fun and it is wearing me down so much.  

I’ll likely be here tomorrow too.  Read more if you dare!  Until tomorrow….

April 8, 2017

Moving Tales

Saturday - Cloudy and rainy all day

An okay day.

Yesterday was a bit frustrating.  F had the day off, so we left in the morning and took some stuff to the apartment.  We had a decent breakfast at Gusto too. 

We took stuff from the apartment to dispose of it.  We successfully took some of the metal stuff we don’t need anymore to the green station for recycling.  Then, we tried to take 4 or 5 bags of papers to the burnable garbage station.  I, being the paranoid Canadian that I am, want to destroy any and all papers with my name or any important information on them that I no longer need.  F, being the naive and trusting Japanese person that he is, thinks I’m stupid and should just throw it all in the garbage like he does.  Anyway, he told me that I could take my papers to the burnable garbage place and have them burnt.  I also wanted to have some other garbage from my old Eikaiwa tossed there too.  On the way into the place, he said to me that he thought the papers had to be bundled.  I was agape at that.  I’d never heard that from him before.  

He then asked the people in the office and they asked what I wanted to burn.  He told them magazines…so they said I had to recycle it and bundle the rest.  ARGH!  NOT magazines… Journals from a women’s group I belong to, not glossy paper, with lots of personal information.  So, F wouldn’t go in.  They tried to get me to put my bags of stuff somewhere for recycling, but I was absolutely horrified at that idea. If I won’t put it out in regular garbage, why would I put it in a shed?A shed in the middle of nowhere that I have absolutely no control over? So, F and I were insanely angry at each other. 

We went back to the apartment and he went into his dressing room and did stuff, I went into the kitchen and did stuff.  Eventually, we calmed down and I had the brainwave to go out and get bentos and take them back to his mother’s while we waited for the NTT hookup people to come.  We did that, and it was nice.  We sat and had lunch with F’s mother.

After lunch, we went upstairs, supposedly to unpack.  Well, I unpacked a couple of suitcases, F…watched me.  NTT didn’t come until after 4 pm and it was quite the rigamarole.  They had a crane, had to send new wiring into a tube down to the phone line and the poor guy was yanking the cord something fierce.  I had to move a lot of F’s mother’s treasures so that they wouldn’t get damaged.  F had a work party that night, and the time was getting late.  He said he’d cancel, I said no way and then the guy was done. Whew! 

There was no time for us to set up my computer, so we just had to run.  F drove us over to the apartment and then called a cab for himself.  

I spent the next few hours alone and happy.  I went through a box with some of my old crafts in them and got purple ink all over my hands, then went out to the convenience store.  I bought a salad, a drink, and some munchies, then came back and watched some serious telly.  Castle, Numbers and then of course, Penny Dreadful.  It was wonderful seeing it by myself.  F did text me a couple of times during it, but that was quiet at least.  

I watched something from the DVR and then got really sleepy so tried to go to bed.  F returned home just as I was about to climb into bed.  He went to bed soon too.

This morning, we got up and F went to his first doctor.  I took a shower and soon after F was back.  

We had a nice breakfast and some coffee, then went to our doctor.  We were early, but had to wait about an hour.  Sigh.  Too damn long if you ask me. 

After the doctor, we had lunch in The Grand El Sun and then came back to F’s house.  I wanted to see if I could connect to the internet.  Short answer? Nope!  We couldn’t plug everything in, so F and I zoomed out to pick up a plug adapter.  We got one and then came back after a bit of a grocery shop for his mother.

We tried again, but nope, it didn’t happen.  I was very frustrated, especially since F’s mother was coming over to watch and she was eating something loud and crunchy right behind me.  I couldn’t say anything and F was, as usual in these circumstances, worse than useless.  He doesn’t know anything about the machines and can’t think of anything useful to say.

I gave up.  I didn’t want to start yelling at either of them while I was working so I suggested we leave.  We did.

F and I were driving around talking about going for coffee when he saw the old Mr. Donut building was reopened as a fish izakaya.  Of course he wanted to go right away.  We parked and went in.  They didn’t have room for us as we didn’t have a reservation, so they gave us coupons for their other branch. We walked over, but F decided not to go.  I really didn’t want Japanese food for dinner, but I didn’t want a war either.  

We moved the car and then went to a hole in the wall type of izakaya.  The food was good, but the service was slow and it ended up being a good 1000 yen more expensive than either of us thought it would be.  Not good.  

We drove to the theatre, but had almost an hour to kill.  F decided he needed ramen so drove to another restaurant and had some.  I had a couple of gyoza, didn’t really want any to be honest.  We raced back to the theatre and miraculously got there 10 minutes before our movie started.  

We went to see Ghost in the Shell and both of us enjoyed it.  We loved the visuals…I thought Scarlett Johannson was actually quite good.  I felt it was a little Blade Runner-y with the look of the cities, but kind of liked that too.  

After the movie, we just came back to the house.  I did a little research on hooking up my internet, so if I have a chance tomorrow I will give it another try.  Fingers crossed it works.  If it doesn’t, I might have to get F to contact the company and get them to do it.  He won’t like that!

So that is it.  My last two days… Lots of frustration and not a lot of moving out of the apartment.  We have to do stuff tomorrow…lots of stuff.  I hope to be able to post “live” soon.  Not sure when I’ll be able to update these reports.  Wish me luck with that eh?  Night….

April 6, 2017

Moving Tales

Thursday - Warm and sunny in the morning, cloudy later on

A good day.

I had a pretty good night last night. I was able to sleep quite well and then got up this morning. It was a bit more difficult to get up, but I did! 

We left and F drove me to the apartment via the conbini.   We’re quite into the coffee thang now! He dropped me off at the apartment and I took out the garbage.  I watched ER and did some knitting this morning. I just felt like it.  Then, as I wanted to accomplish something today, I boxed up some of my bowls.  I put some plastic things in a box and sealed it.  I took a shower and then got ready to meet my friend.

We went to an Indian/Nepali restaurant and had a good meal plus some great chat. After we ate, we went to Doutors to have some coffee and discuss some work related matters.  I’m subbing for her for a couple of days at work later this month.  She’s on holiday so it should be fine really.  When we ran out of time, she dropped me back at my apartment and then went off.  

I went into the apartment, had a cup of tea and then decided to get to work.  I did some more packing, and packed another box of stuff.  This time I packed plates and ramen bowls!  I got them quite well wrapped I think and sealed that box.  Then, I went out on the balcony and did a bit of tidying up there.  I swept up many of the leaves, and picked up a lot of the trash that had accumulated over time.  It still needs a good sweeping and possibly a mop over the surface, but it looked better than when I went out.

I had emptied out a kitchen drawer earlier, so decided to pull it out and see if anything had fallen behind it.  Nothing had with this one, but it was dusty.  I cleaned it and then did the others too for good measure.  Yay me.

I nearly rested on my laurels then, but decided to attack one of F’s little corners of crap.  I threw anything that I thought he might want to keep in a box, and picked up a lot of “stuff”.  I seriously don’t have any idea how he decides to keep the stuff he does!  

I had just about finished when F called to say that he was on his way home finally.  When he came home he was tired as usual.  We had a nice hello and I showed him some of what I had done.  He did a couple of things and also took some of my boxes out to the car.  

His mother didn’t need groceries, so we went out for dinner with a clear conscience.  Despite my having a big lunch, I was hungry again, so when F suggested yakiniku I wasn’t opposed.  We went to Aliente and had a pretty good meal.  We each had a combo meal, so our staples were the same, but the meat was slightly different.  We shared all the meat and it was rather nice.  

We came home afterwards, and stopped in a convenience store for some cold drinks for me.  Then, we came home.  I’ve been listening to music and relaxing. 

Tomorrow, F is off work and we should be getting our internet hooked up here.  I will be so glad to get it back. I have missed it so much.  However, F also has a work party, so we’ll be staying at the apartment tomorrow night. I think it’ll be the last time that we do an overnight there.  In the afternoon, I hope to get some things done besides the internet hookup! I have a huge list of things that I hope to get done with F’s help tomorrow.  

Come back in a couple of days and see how things go with that!  Until then….

April 5, 2017

Moving Tales

Wednesday - Clear and sunny, warmer

A goodish day.

We went to sleep early last night, well I did.  Poor F didn’t sleep well. He was having a back night and woke up and made noise which made me wake up.  I was able to get back to sleep, he wasn’t.

On the way to his work today we stopped for coffee again and then he dropped me off at the apartment.  On the way past the gomi box, I thought I saw something, so took a little stroll past it.  Someone had put out their batteries and lightbulbs.  Yay!  I had two bags of used batteries and about 5 old fluorescent light bulbs waiting to go out.  I took them out to the gomi station and left them.   Yay.

After that, I went back to the apartment, took some medicine and watched ER.  I emailed my friend to let her know that I was feeling well enough to go out, but she emailed me back to say she was under the weather.  Oh no! We postponed until tomorrow, fingers crossed.

After ER, I am afraid that I took a bit of a nap.  The Japanese medicine sometimes makes me really sleepy so I wasn’t too upset with myself.  I woke up just before F called me to see if I wanted anything.  I reminded him that I wasn’t supposed to be there, but then asked for a salad!

While he was on his way, I made us tuna melts.  I  had told him about them yesterday so I made us one each on an English muffin.  He liked it.  I also made us coffee too.

He went back to work and then I ate the rest of my lunch.  I was still drowsy, but finally roused myself and got to work.  I went into the tatami room, and cleared the area around the window.  Then I took down the curtains, washed them, and while they were being cleaned, cleaned the window frame and the windows.  I didn’t do a thorough job, but I did a quick and dirty version and got them looking not too bad.  I should do the outsides as well, but that is a bit trickier for me as I’m short and the outside is on the balcony which is a step down.  I rehung the curtains after they were washed.  They looked better, but not perfect.  

F was a bit late tonight, and very tired.  He picked me up and told me that his mother wanted to come out for dinner with us.  That was fine, so we picked up a few things for us in the apartment and then dropped them off.  After that, we headed off to F’s house.  

We picked up his mother and went out for tonkatsu.  We each had the same thing, roast tonkotsu and it was nice.  Dinner was quiet.  F’s mother doesn’t hear well, so she doesn’t talk a lot these days,  I don’t speak Japanese, and F was tired.  Very quiet dinner.

We came back to the house and F and I came upstairs.  I took my pill and then the two of us just had a nap. I was out for roughly an hour, but felt a bit more awake afterwards.  

And that’s about where I’ll leave this off.   Tomorrow I should have lunch with my friend, and then on Friday we’re finally getting our internet hooked up at the house.  It may take a while to get it really working though. I’m just not sure how it’ll go.  I have a whole slew of things that I hope to do after the internet guy does his thing…fingers crossed they’ll get done.  I’m also not going to be here on Friday.  F has his big welcome new team members party at work, so I’m going to stay in the apartment.  He’ll have been drinking, so he’ll probably join me there after he finishes.  I’m planning to watch Penny Dreadful and enjoy my solo evening!

Come back later if you dare and find out how my Thursday goes.  Until tomorrow….

April 4, 2017

Moving Tales

Tuesday - Sunny and warmer

A good-ish day.  

I woke up early today.  F woke up around 5 am and went downstairs for a minute, and then I had to too.  I went back to sleep, but almost slept through my alarm. Yikes! I did get up, and even remembered to take all my stuff downstairs to the car with me.  There were a couple of empty boxes, some garbage bags and my stuff too.  It was hard to carry it all.

We picked up coffees on the way to the apartment and then F dropped me off.  It took me a long time to get moving.  I felt horrible.  Last night I thought it was my allergies acting up, today I was pretty sure that I had a cold.  I vegged on the couch for ages, but finally got up and did a few things.  I started with the easy thing, I cleared off the bed in the bedroom.  F and I are thinking about spending the night there on Friday since he will have another work party.  If he walks to the party and back, it’ll be much closer than his house.  I want to because then I can watch Penny Dreadful “live” on WOWOW. 

F came home for lunch and brought me a salad which I had asked for.  It was nice.  I made him coffee while he was there, and he was off again.  I rested a bit more in the afternoon, but finally got to work on the tatami room again.  I cut up a box that we wouldn’t be using again, and moved a few more things out of the way.  Afterwards, the room was a little bit emptier.  

F showed up around 6 pm tonight and I made us coffee again.  Tonight we tried calling his mother, but she didn’t answer.  We loaded up the car with some of the stuff I had found/moved into the hallway, and came back to the house.  We unloaded the car and put a few things away.  At first, K said that she wanted to come out with us for dinner, but then said she had already eaten and would stay home!  Either way she was welcome to join us.  

F and I had a pretty good dinner at Cocoichi Curry.  He had the curry of the day, I had the soup curry which was just a little too hot for me, but still good.  After dinner, we hit up a drugstore to get me some OTC medicine for my cold.

We came back to the house and spent a while chilling out.  I’ve been playing Rod Stewart’s Great American Songbook and we’ve been up here relaxing.  

Tomorrow I am hoping to have lunch with a friend and of course get quite a bit more done at the apartment.  If I have time after lunch, I might prepare a few more things to go to the apartment.  I think I am going to have to work a bit harder.  I meant to do it today, but wasn’t up to it. I hope to start tomorrow!

Come back later and see if I manage to do anything in the apartment and if I am up for lunch with a friend.  Until tomorrow….

April 3, 2017

Moving Tales

Monday - Sunny in the morning, rainy later on.

A good day.

I got up this morning and left with F for his work.  K tried to give me some breakfast, but I really didn’t feel like rice as usual, so I went off with F.  He bought us a coffee on the way, he also got some breakfast for himself.  

At the apartment, I went in and turned on the heater and looked at the weather app on my phone.  The bad weather had been pushed back later so I decided that I would go to the movie after all.  I went by bicycle and got to the theater in good time.  Today I saw Maggie’s Plan.  It wasn’t a great film, but it had its moments.  I could see myself in the character at times.  I didn’t love the film, and I probably wouldn’t recommend it, but I didn’t hate it either.

After the film I went to a local bakery (but not the one in the theater as it was closed) and grabbed a few things then on to the grocery store for more lunch things and some garbage bags.  After that, it was home for me.  I changed and after a slow start got to work.  I didn’t do a lot today except laundry, but it had to be done.  I also moved a lot of our boxes in the apartment to the door area, plus got some of our garbage ready to go.  I also got some of the stuff out of the top of the closets in the bedroom and the tatami room.  

When F finally called to say he was coming I changed back into my nicer clothes and turned on the kettle.  I made us some coffee and we talked about what we were going to do.  F called his mother and she wanted some food, so we’d get that for her.  We decided not to take very much with us tonight, then loaded up what we were taking with us.  

We had dinner at the little Chinese restaurant on the corner, and had two dishes that we usually have, plus one that F choose.  It was a good choice for us, shrimp and egg on rice. I told F it was good for sick people, since it was easy to digest.  

We bought a few groceries at the store, mostly for K, but some for F too and then came to F’s house.  We came straight upstairs and didn’t even see K as she was asleep.  

Both of us are a bit sniffy with runny noses tonight.  I thought mine was from allergies, but since F has it too, I’m wondering if we have caught colds?  We haven’t been eating that well and definitely not getting enough sleep.  In fact, I’m thinking about having an early night tonight.  Wow!  Bet you never thought you’d hear me say that.  Anyway, tomorrow I’ll go back to the apartment and I’m going to make a special effort to get a lot done and ready to go.  It’s hard when F is so tired after work to ask him to take stuff out, but if I get a lot done, he might be willing to do it.  Fingers crossed anyway.

Come back later and find out how my Tuesday went!  Until tomorrow….

April 2, 2017

Moving Tales

Sunday - Cloudy and a little cool

A good day.

F and I stayed up a little late last night, so we slept in quite late this morning.  I think it actually wasn’t morning anymore when we shook a leg and went downstairs.  

We took F’s Mum (should probably start calling her “K” or something since that is her first name’s initial) out for lunch.  We were going to go to a not great place at first, but then I suggested Hyakkenbori and F thought it was a good idea.  We went there and after a tiny wait, had a lovely lunch.  I had teriyaki chicken, K had fish and F had tempura.  It was all very nice.  

After lunch, F went to the glasses shop to see if they could fix his glasses or order new ones.  Luckily, they fixed the problem quickly so we were able to leave soon after.  I wanted to visit a hundred yen shop nearby, so we went there.   Sadly, it didn’t have what I wanted, so we left.  K wanted to go to a hardware store, which we did. I couldn’t find what I wanted, but K did.  She also went through the pet and garden section.  The plants in the garden area made my allergies really bad, so I sniffed and sneezed through the rest of that store! 

After all of this, F and I drove K home and left again to go to the apartment.  Except we didn’t go right away.  I wanted to see the new section on the mall.  They’ve improved the bus station and it is very nice and modern now.  Of course they had flowers everywhere so I was a bit sniffy! The Doutors there is just a tiny one where you can buy some takeout drinks and a few sandwiches.  Still, it opens early and closes after the one in the mall, so woohoo!  Coffee later than 8 pm!!  We stopped in the real Doutors and had a coffee each and also used their wifi to catch up with the world.

We finally went off to the apartment and worked quite hard for the next 3 or 4 hours.  I worked on the tatami room and got some things out of the closet and disposed of. F wants to keep everything which is really annoying me because some of the things he wants to keep have a severe mildew smell, but if he does the work to clean it up…good for him!

After 7:30 we loaded up the car and headed for Cocos for dinner.  I enjoyed it, F didn’t as much.  I had their ethnic chicken with garam masala sauce, F had ankake rice or something.  

After dinner, we made a brief stop in the grocery store for some garbage bags and something for K’s breakfast.  We came back to the house and unloaded the car.  We’ll have to take the garbage out of the garage tomorrow. Don’t want K to have to do it…some of it is much too heavy for her.  

We came upstairs and have been vegging ever since.  F is now wrapped around my back, snoozing away.  I’m listening to Nat King Cole and trying to prepare myself for going to sleep.  Then again, 7 am is only 6 hours away, so I really should get going.  Come back later if you are interested and see how my day goes!  I am thinking there might even be a movie if I can motivate myself to go! 

Until tomorrow eh….

April 1, 2017

Moving Tales

Saturday - Warm and sunny

A good day.

I woke up late this morning and quite surprised myself!  It was after 10 when F’s bumping and thumping around the room woke me up.  I had gone to bed with an eye mask on, so the light didn’t wake me up for a change.  

We got dressed and went out for lunch.  We went to Cafe Studio Cinq and had the Miyuki-bashi plate.  It was quite delicious, and it was lovely sitting in the restaurant watching people walk around the river.  

When we finished, we walked over to a store a block away.  I was looking for a replacement handle for my little teapot.  The bamboo has split and I don’t really trust it with a full pot of hot tea.  The store that I bought it in doesn’t sell teapots anymore.  Instead, we had a cup of coffee each and an oban-yaki filled with keema curry!  It was spicy and quite good.  

After this little break, we went back to the car and F dropped me off at the apartment.  He went back to his house to take his mother to the temple and then out if she needed to go.  I didn’t see him for quite a few hours!

At the apartment I got to work again.  I did a lot of little things, piled up some boxes near the door, moved some of my boxes of clothes near the door, cleaned the boxes and moved a lot of the stuff that had been on the bed and the floor.  These boxes are basically plastic drawers.  They are lightweight and convenient, but the dust has really built up over the years.

I got two ready to go home with us, and cleaned one of F’s for him.  I had a few cups of tea and coffee as well while I was waiting.  

F finally arrived.  He’d had some visitors at the house so couldn’t come earlier.  No worries.  He made some arrangements for us to go and deliver the blanket that I made for the baby to the parents.  We just walked over since they live in the next building to ours, delivered it, didn’t go in, and then came back to the apartment.  

We both worked until 7:00ish and started thinking about dinner.  F suggested Hana, and then changed his mind, so I suggested sushi since a friend on Facebook had gone tonight and it looked so good.  We didn’t go to our usual place, we went to a more expensive restaurant and it was really good.  A lot more expensive than usual though. 

After dinner, we tried to go to a 100 yen shop to see if they sold tea pot handles, but got to the store about 2 minutes after they closed. Sigh. Maybe tomorrow?  We bought a few groceries and then came back to F’s house.

F’s mum was in bed already, so we came upstairs and left the stuff in the car.  We watched a movie on my computer and then have just been chilling out ever since. We’ll probably end up back at the apartment tomorrow too. With F working all week, it is really hard to get things done all by myself.  I need him to help me get things out of the apartment and also to go through his own stuff.  It’s really hard.  I know he’s tired after work and doesn’t want to do it, but I can’t read the massive amounts of paper that he’s kept over the years to know if it is junk or something really important!

We might also make another trip to the 100 yen shop, and we’re thinking about going to the glasses shop as well to get F a new pair of glasses, since his ones seem to be developing a problem with the frame.  

Wish us luck with all that we have to do.   Fingers crossed we can get enough done, and still have a little fun too.   Come back later and see what we get done! Until tomorrow….

April 30, 2017

Sunday - Sunny, then cloudy later on

A good day.

F and I slept in a bit this morning, then got up.  He suggested going to an out of town restaurant and then going to see the tulips with his mother.  I thought it was an okay idea, so went along with it.  

We got to the restaurant and got a table.  F did something really stupid though.  He ordered two noodle dishes.  He ordered bifun and a yakisoba.  I had only asked for some stir-fried vegetables, but he also ordered some gyoza and ramen for his mother.  That of course was fine.  I only ate some of the vegetables and some of the bifun. I didn’t bother with the yakisoba since it looked horrible, and I already had noodles.  I didn’t have any gyoza either.  Honestly F, you need to vary your diet a bit more.  

We went to look at the tulips which were really pretty.  It wasn’t very crowded up there. In past years there were lots of people and booths of people selling food.  It was like a party.  This year, nothing.  We walked around a little, took some photos and then came back to F’s house and dropped off his mother.

We went over to the apartment and while F worked I took a nap!  I was so tired today for some reason.   After a while I got up and made us some coffee and then decided to pack up most of the stuff in the fridge.  I threw out a bunch of stuff too, some of it with F’s blessing, so that was good.  

We brought a carload of things back to F’s house and put the boxes wherever.  I asked F to help me unpack the food and we put it in the fridge.  Most of it fit!

We went out again to have dinner.  I had hoped for Krippa, the Indian place. I wanted to try it again…I thought we were going there, but F went with my other suggestion of Kintaro Sushi.  We went to the restaurant near the house, not our usual one.  We had a nice meal, if it wasn’t very relaxing.  

After dinner I suggested going to McDonalds for coffee, so we drove around Tsuruoka looking for a coffee shop.  We didn’t find one open.  Finally, we ended up at our usual McDonald, despite that one being quite far away.  F had coffee, I had tea, we used the wifi and then came back to his house.  

F went to bed fairly early, I’m still up. I’ve been playing catch up with my email.  I tossed a lot of it, but had to answer some of it.  I think I’m nearly up to date.

Tomorrow, F is off work.  He is having a medical test in the morning, he just changed doctors again so the new one wants a new test.  In the afternoon we’ll visit a friend in the next city. We hope/plan to go to city hall and change our address officially soon too.  Could turn into a busy day!

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