Living La Vida Loca In Japan: December 2012

Showing posts with label December 2012. Show all posts

Gotochi Cards

I've recently received a few Gotochi cards from friends around Japan, so thought I would post a few of them for your viewing pleasure. In most cases I don't have any extra information about the cards.

A fellow Postcrosser and AFWJ member sent me these two cards. She lives somewhere in Hyogo and had to go to great lengths to find them as her local post office doesn't sell them!

They are very appreciated!

She also sent me these ones, as she found them on a short trip.

The dancing one reminds me a little of the Yamagata Dancers card.

These last two came from another member of AFWJ. We've been swapping cards for a couple of months now and it is always a treat to find one in the mail.

She sent the card of the sand baths when we were having some very cold weather in hopes that it would warm me up. It did!

The man on the bottom card is Saigo Takamori, an influential Samurai in Kagoshima. My husband told me that he also made the trip up to Shonai at some time as he was friends with the local area head.

There you are...my latest Gotochi cards! Great aren't they? Thank you ladies for sending them. I adore them!

Postcrossing - Incoming Cards

December 27, 2012 to January 2, 2013

I'm back with another bunch of lovely cards and postcards from all over the world. I have some interesting cards for you today, so let's get to them.

Remember that you can click on any or all of the cards to see them larger.

This first card comes from Rainer in Germany. He took this picture himself and had it made into a postcard. He said that he took it in autumn. It shows his neighbour village and in the background (very hard to see on my scan, sorry) some wind power stations. He says that in Germany they have a lot of them. He goes on to say that they are not as dangerous as a nuclear power plant when a tsunami or an earthquake happens.

I calmly pointed out in my thank you note that we have many of these windmills in Japan. The next city up the coast from mine has a lot of them.

Rainier did use gorgeous stamps on his card. The big stamp celebrates the 500th anniversary of the Sistine Madonna.

This next card comes from the Ukraine but shows a Russian writer. This is Nikolay Nekrasov. He was also a poet, publisher and a critic according to the sender, Olga.

She notes that where she sent the card from is snowy and cold.

Nikolay Nekrasov, Russian Writer

Thanks! One of the things that I love about Postcrossing is finding out about the people on both sides of the cards I receive.

This next card comes from the Netherlands and shows a painting by Henk Helmantel. He is a modern painter who finds his inspiration in objects around him. It is a little hard to write intelligently about him as most of the information I have had to be translated from Dutch via a web translator.

Ann sent this card to me and says that she teaches painting - oil and acrylics. She would love to do it herself, but teaching is so nice to do. I couldn't agree more!

Henk Helmantel- Wooden bowl with tomatoes, 1983

I really like this little picture. The tomatoes do look good enough to eat!

My next card isn't a postcard. It's a greeting card from Spain. It came in an envelope with a postcard, but since this card has a message and the ID number inside it, I'm posting the greeting card. I'm not too upset to get a greeting card. The sender was very friendly and I know that in some languages, the word for postcard and greeting card is the same.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Thanks Lluna!

My last card in this entry comes from a place that I have recently become interested in, Turkey. Last year, a good friend moved to Istanbul and also Istanbul was featured in the beginning of Skyfall, the latest James Bond movie.

The card itself is quite nice, however the sender affixed a typed or printed message on the back, so sadly I just don't have the same affection for it that I do when people take the time to hand-write their cards.

The sender is an architect of ships and yachts. He collects postcards, stamps and coins. He likes swimming, cycling, going to the gym, playing chess and watching cartoons and 3-D animation films.

Happy Holidays

Well, there you have it. Five great cards. Which one do you like best, and why?

I'll hopefully be back with more cards soon. I have recently received 4 Gotochi cards, so I am planning to show them off.

Until next time!

December 31, 2012

Monday - New Years Eve - Cold and snowy

A quiet day.

It was almost funny. I woke up this morning feeling much better, but someone else felt sick. He had a headache and wasn’t able to get up for ages! I was up around 9:00 am, he didn’t get up for hours.

I had a good morning though. I made mini-quiches and a little later set up the bread machine to make cranberry-cinnamon bread. F got up in the afternoon and stayed up. To be honest I was surprised that he felt well enough to get up.

The mini-quiches were great and F was able to have one. When the bread came out it hadn’t risen but it tasted delicious. I toasted it and it was great. I think if I make it again, I’ll do the long making route, rather than the quick loaf.

Around 6:30 or so we went out. We went to a take-out/delivery sushi place and ordered a tray for later. They wouldn’t deliver (too booked up) so we would have to go back. We toured the grocery store too looking for something to nibble on, but didn’t find much. We came home and watched Top Chef and then F left and picked up the sushi. When he came home, we had a lovely little feast.

We watched a lot of TV tonight, none of it was sports or real life men trying to beat each other up. We watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and five minutes after midnight I wished F a happy new year. He did ask if I wanted to go to the temple tonight but since I was already in my p.j’s I said no.

It was a very quiet, almost sedate New Year, but after the debacle that was last year, I’ll take it happily.

That’s it for me. Thank you to all of my readers for listening to me whine and moan this year. Please come back for more next year! Night.

Postcrossing - Incoming

To December 24, 2012

I haven't updated my postcards in quite a while. I am sorry about that. I hope that this entry will help make up for it. Things have slowed down a bit during the holiday season, both for me sending cards and receiving cards. However, I am now up to 300 sent cards and Postcrossing itself is nearing another milestone. Probably today, the 15 millionth card will be registered.

I do have a confession to make. One of my received cards has vanished. It is somewhere in my apartment, but I haven't been able to scan it yet. I will put it up as soon as it come back from wherever it went!

On with the update...

Elena sent me this card from Belarus. She doesn't write much about herself, just that she lives in the city of Brest.

Brest-Litovsk. St. Nicholas Fraternal Church (1916)

She also used a lovely Christmassy stamp, which I appreciate very much.

The silver bits are very shiny so this is quite a bright stamp.

WanChen sent this next card from Taiwan. She wrote me about a song that she is teaching to her nephew called "Auntie Tiger". It is quite funny. She wishes me a good mood and best December days.

The card is a recipe for Gan Bian Siji Dou. It looks rather yummy.

Wan-Chen also used some beautiful stamps to send her card.

Thank you!

There isn't too much to say about the next card. It says only "Merry Christmas" on the back and also the front, according to the translating page I used. Still, the card is very beautiful.

Merry Christmas

This next card shows a very famous lady from the 50's and 60's, Brigitte Bardot. She is still around, although lately is more famous for promoting animal rights.

Brigitte Bardot - BB...
"Voulez-vous danser avec moi?
1959

The sender actually wrote more about the stamps than about the card! She notes that on the stamps we can see the three Dutch princesses. Amalia will be queen of the Netherlands some day. Her grandmother Beatrix is the queen now.

Caroline also wished me a nice day.

The Dutch Princesses

Missing card should go here. It was a very cool card of Yuri Gagarin, and I feel like an idiot for misplacing it.

The next card was one of two that arrived on the same day. Both feature the same person. That has only happened once before, on a day when I received two Marilyn Monroe postcards. On this day, December 24th, I received two cards with Leonardo DiCaprio on them!

The first card comes from Taiwan, from Jianxian. He sends his best greetings and writes that his favourite movie is "Seediq Bale". He wishes me all the best and a happy new year 2013.

The Man in the Iron Mask

He also used some very interesting stamps as you can see below.

A very nice postcrossing! Thank you.

The other postcard I received that day is of a young Leonardo. It is also black and white, which fits my favourite kind of card. Sabine writes that she is happily married and mam to 3 adult and foster kids. One of her daughters used to love Leonardo DiCaprio when she was a teenager!

I know lots of people who loved Leonardo when they were teenagers. I actually like him more now that he has matured a little, although I always thought he was a good actor.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Thanks Sabine!

There you have it, six lovely cards. It should be seven, but....

Which one do you like best? Any comments? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time...

December 30, 2012

Sunday - Colder

Kind of a bad day. I woke up this morning with a screaming headache. Felt horrible. I had planned to go to a laundromat and wash our bedding so F asked if he could strip our bed. I asked him not to as I wanted to go back to bed.

He wanted to go for breakfast, so I said okay. We both dressed. He wanted to go to a Taiwanese restaurant that I don’t like. I said okay so there’d be peace. I get out to the car and he tells me that we don’t have to go there if I don’t want. I said I didn’t want to go anywhere, so he stopped the car in front of our apartment and he let me out. I got out, went back to the apartment, put on my pajamas and spent the rest of the day in bed. I got up and heated up soup at one point so I had something to eat today, but then felt nauseous. More bed time.

At no point has my husband started a conversation with me, nor has he asked how I am doing. Obviously I am faking.

Back to bed soon. Night.

December 29, 2012

Saturday - Clear and sunny

Not a great day again.

I got up this morning after my alarms went off. F was in bed. I got up and checked my email and then went back to bed. F got up. I fell back asleep. When I finally woke up and got up, F was on the couch, headphones on, watching Ultimate Fighting and being a bit grumpy.

I heated up some soup for myself, and then offered him some. He refused, so I had two bowls of it myself, got dressed and asked him to drive me over to my school. I wanted to shovel out my parking space on a nice day. He grumbled a bit, but drove me over. He said that his neck was really sore today.

I got out of the car and went into my school, grabbed my snow equipment, got to the parking space, and there he was. He was already trying to break the ice. He laughed at me for bringing plastic equipment, but that is all I had. He told me that I wouldn’t be able to do it. I asked him to go home. I knew that he was in pain and it wasn’t my intention today to make him work. He drove off in a huff.

I worked for quite a while and the got most of my space cleaned up. There were a couple of corners covered with snow and ice, but I left them. I thought I’d come back out later, after the sun had done its work on them. I cleared a lot of the path to the apartment building. I think I made a difference. After that, I went into my school and did a bit of reading. I didn’t work.

Around 3:30 I went outside again and sure enough, the sun had loosened up some of the ice. I moved what I could. There is still one corner under ice, but I can’t do anything with it. I went back in to the school and got ready to go home. I called F to ask him to pick me up. No answer. I left a message. I waited 20 minutes and called again. No answer. Left a message. I decided to walk.

Of course, by this time it was 4:30 and getting dark. I set out and made fairly good time. I was lucky in that most of the sidewalks along the way were cleared, but there was still a lot of ice in other places.

I got home and the door was barred. I leaned on the doorbell rather a lot to get him to come and open the door. I asked him if he had missed my calls or had just ignored them. He had been sitting a meter from his phone and didn’t know I called.

He went and had another nap. I worked on my computer and tried to warm up. Finally, around 8 I went and woke him up and suggested dinner. We went to the pasta buffet place and had quite a nice dinner.

Afterwards, we came home and he disappeared into the bedroom again and has been there ever since. Sigh. I watched a couple of TV shows and enjoyed them. Now I am watching the American Music Awards. It’s sort of interesting, especially since I haven’t heard most of the songs before!

Anyway, I should get out of here soon. I’m a bit tired and I have what could be a long day tomorrow. Wish me luck. Night.

December 28, 2012

Friday - Sunny and warmer, slightly

A busy day.

I got up this morning and after a little bit of a slow start, got busy making soup. I chopped, cut and boiled veggies for ages, and then took the chicken from our Christmas meal and took the meat off it. I was busy. I had other plans too, but I was tired so didn’t do them!

F came home and was in a bit of a mood as he was in pain today. I cooked dinner and while it was good, I think there was something missing in a way.

F wanted to go out and mail some letters for work. I had a few postcards to mail out, so went with him. After mailing things off, we went to Mr Donuts for a cup of something. While we were there we started talking about health matters and the subject of my low-carb diet came up. I don’t do low carb right now, but I used to and I loved it. F complained that I was “cranky” when I was on it, but I don’t remember it that way. I remember someone else as being whiny and always complaining that I wouldn’t eat ramen or other Japanese high carb nutrient-deficient foods with him. He got in another mood and was going to go on about it as he does, when I told him that he wasn’t going to change my mind and he should just stop now.

We came home and he watched boxing. I really didn’t care. I just wanted to watch one program and that was on later. I was “allowed” to watch my show and somewhere in the middle of it himself took off to bed.

I hope this isn’t going to set the tone for this week. We have 6 days to survive with each other and no plans at all. Wish us luck. Night.

December 27, 2012

Thursday - Cold and windy, bit of sun in the afternoon

An okay day.

I got up this morning and true to form, F came home about 20 minutes later! This time it was his wallet that he’d forgotten.

I had a quiet morning, I did a few loads of laundry, ate breakfast but not lunch, and had another nap on the couch. I didn’t sleep quite as long as yesterday, but I was still surprised at how tired I was.

I watched a bit of TV today, did some internet stuff and went out to the parking area and shovelled out F’s parking space for him. I couldn’t get it down to the ground as the snow had frozen hard.

After F came home, we had a bit of a snack, and then headed out for dinner. F wanted to go for yakiniku as he received a coupon in the mail for a restaurant. We went and it was not that good. We ordered some special beef and it was tough, not what you’d expect for the price. I also ordered some chicken and it wasn’t that great either. And the restaurant was freezing too. That place is always cold.

On the way home we bought groceries, went to the drugstore, and checked on my school. I’m going to try and make soup tomorrow and cook dinner too. Wish me luck with that!

We had a fairly quiet evening at home. I went over to the couch for The Good Wife and did some crochet. First time in ages that I’ve had time to do that. I really miss it to be honest.

Tomorrow is my last day of being alone. After tomorrow I’ll have F underfoot for a week. I’m a tad worried about it. He refuses to make any plans for our time and I think that will give us too much time together. Still, he does deserve a break! Must go. Talk to you tomorrow. Night.

December 26, 2012

Wednesday - Boxing Day-Cold and windy

An okay day.

I got up quite early this morning and it was a good thing too! I noticed after I was up that F had left his phone and his notebook here. I knew that he’d be back, and he was…in about 3 minutes after I saw them! He left again very quickly. I read the newspaper a bit late and had some of F’s yummy bread. He’s turned into quite the breadmaker lately! He likes to have it for his breakfast and I can’t say I blame him. Last night he set up whole wheat bread with walnuts. Yum.

I was watching the British news when I just had to take a nap. I curled up on the couch, pulled my lovely blanket over me and was out for the next hour and a half! I don’t think that really qualifies as a nap.

I got dressed finally and did my computer stuff, and later on I went out and cleared a bit of snow from F’s parking space. It was really cold today though. Not Canada cold, but pretty darn close! The snow was really frozen, so I couldn’t do too much, but did make a difference for him I think.

When F came home I offered him a hot drink and a bit of time to relax. I was watching an Agatha Christie and didn’t want to start dinner until I knew “whodunnit”.

I started dinner fairly soon afterwards. It wasn’t labour intensive. I set the table and cooked the meat. We had some coro-coro steak, which is a chopped and formed meat in cubic form. What we did with it tonight is have it with some sauces and just dipped a cube into a sauce before eating. One of my students had given me a box of yummy tasty sauces at the end of the year. We had curry ketchup and tartare sauce. Incredibly good.

During dinner, the doorbell rang. I was pretty sure I knew what it was. The poor guy at the door was holding a big heavy box. My sister’s presents had arrived! Yay.

We finished dinner, F did the dishes and then hung laundry before we opened our presents. My sister and her family were very generous to us. We got clothes and pens or pencils, and lights as well. Very nice things and we were both quite happy with them all. F is always really touched that my family gives him gifts!

We had a quiet evening together. I worked on my nengajo and got them almost done. I think I’ve got them ready for the people that I had to send to…I may do one or two more just because I want to. I’m not sure what I’ll do tomorrow.

And that’s about it. I hope that I can enjoy the holidays now. It feels like I’ve been under such stress for a long time, but maybe I can relax finally! Got to go. Night!

December 25, 2012

Tuesday - Cold, snowy, windy and rainy

A good day.

This morning after I got up and had breakfast, I decided to get stuck into my column. I got it typed up and rewrote the beginning and wrote an ending for it. I emailed it off, then wrote my Area Report. Whew. Sent it off. Done, done, done!

I received my books from F this afternoon too. I didn’t open the box because it wasn’t addressed to me, but was happy. I wrote a few nengajo and then went out to shovel F’s parking space. There was a lot of wet snow out there. I shovelled it carefully. If I’m not careful it really hurts to shovel the snow, so I take it easy.

F was a bit late tonight and had a veggie time when he made it home. He opened the box and gave me my books. I was a tad upset when I noticed that I’d spelt the heroine’s name wrong in one of the movies I wrote about. I sent the editor a corrected version, I hope she gets it!

F and I went out to Cocos for dinner. I know that it is Christmas today, but we’d already had our big meal. I had hamburger and F had paella. We shared one of the desserts. It was big, so it was a nice thing to do.

We visited my school for a couple of seconds. Lots of snow in the parking lot. Sigh. Then, we did a quick shop. We’ve eaten out a lot lately (and will again) so I got stuff for dinner. I think it’ll be okay.

The rest of the evening we vegged a bit and wrote more nengajo. I have done my students, and am now working on cards for my friends. I did call my sister and we chatted for a few minutes. I talked to my niece and nephew too. Yay!

Tomorrow I hope to finish my cards and then I’ll be a lady of leisure for the rest of the holidays. Snort! Actually I would like to do some crochet and I have a few things to try and clean around the apartment. Wish me luck with everything. Night!

December 24, 2012

Monday - snowy - didn’t go out

A good day!

I got up a bit late for me on a week day. I really wanted to be up earlier to make us something to eat, but I overslept. F went over to his mother’s home after I was up to take her shopping and such. I showered and then started my mini-quiche.F came back before I was finished, but it was okay. I had put him to clearing the table earlier. He cleared the coffee table and I had actually meant the kitchen table, but he did a good job and it was a good mistake to make. When they were done, we had the mini-quiche and opened our presents.

Mini-Quiche, big yum

We did quite nicely. We went out yesterday and basically picked what we wanted, so I gave F a wallet, some socks and a bath bomb. He didn’t pick that one, it was a surprise! I got some socks from F, and some books will arrive tomorrow for me. I also opened the present from my best friend and found a couple of travel mugs, some low-cal drink mix, a new shirt and a hot water bottle. All lovely things.

After presents, F and I had a bit of a nap and didn’t get up again until he was supposed to go and get the chicken! When he left, I got started on making dinner. I raised the coffee table and set it, and was just going to start on my salad when F came back. He relaxed for a while, but as my salad was taking an age, I asked him to help. The chicken was precooked, but I’d planned some mashed potatoes from a box and some gravy from a packet I’d brought from Canada. I asked him to make the potatoes so he did. The box was Japanese and I had no idea how to make them so though it would work. He did his stuff and let them sit for 4 minutes. Then I asked if he’d do the gravy too. My plan was that he’d use the microwave and make it that way. It was simple and I could oversee it if necessary.

My salad was finished. I thought I’d do up some of the dishes. I noticed that F was stirring the mashed pot like a crazy man but it didn’t look right. It had the consistency of wallpaper paste. He took the gravy out of the microwave and it too was rather thin. I looked at the bowl of gravy and noticed that it looked like it had too much water in it. Sure enough, F examined the measuring cup he’d used and noticed that he’d got the wrong measures. He’d put almost double the amount of water in the gravy and done a similar thing to the potatoes. Ack!

Luckily I had a second package of gravy, but not the same kind. I got him to combine it with the bowl of gravy. He did that, and it started to get much better!

With the potatoes, I wasn’t sure. I thought I could make potato pancakes with the mix, so I spooned some into another bowl and added an egg and some flour. I mixed them and then fried them. They made small pancakes that were actually quite nice with gravy. Whew! Talk about a “Make it work” moment. Poor F was so sorry. I think he’d never made potatoes from a box before!

We ate our dinner with some Peartiser to drink and had a great meal.

The gravy at the back and the potato pancakes on the right!

We were watching the Lethal Weapon movies which were on WOWOW today and they were rather fun. Dinner was great. I made more pancakes halfway through and F did the dishes afterwards.

We took a break for a while and watched a bit more telly. I printed some nengajo for F and then baked my persimmon crumble for our dessert. We had that with ice cream and it was yummy.

It was a nice Christmas, fairly low stress. It’s too bad that we couldn’t have it ON Christmas, but F has to work tomorrow.

Sorry to be so long winded. Anyway, I’m sure you’re not reading, hopefully you are all having a Merry Christmas with your family or friends. Good night!

December 23, 2012

Sunday - Snowy and a bit windy

Good day.

After yesterday’s entry you’d think today would be horrible too, but it was much better. I slept in, got up for a few minutes, grabbed my paper and glasses, went back to bed and read the paper in bed. Afterwards I did take a small nap, but got up fairly soon.

We had lunch in Grado then headed out to Mikawa shopping centre. We did a lot of shopping, some of it together and some of it apart. For the first time in ages F “let” me have some time to myself while we were in the mall. We bumped into one of my former co-workers and her family today too. That was especially cool since she doesn’t live in Tsuruoka, or even Japan anymore!

I got some shopping done for F and F did a little for me. He has ordered me something that will arrive in a couple of days. I hadn’t been able to get him anything.

We had dinner in the mall and then bought a couple of groceries. After the groceries we came back to Tsuruoka and bought more groceries and then picked up some stuff from my school. We came home.

I did a lot of prep work for tomorrow. Since I couldn’t get a Christmas pudding, I’m going to make a persimmon crumble for dessert again, and then did a little prep for breakfast too. Hopefully things will work out. I’ll try and take pictures of some of the interesting foods we have.

This evening we watched a couple of movies. They were on TV, and a little odd. We had a good evening together.

Tomorrow we’ll have our Christmas. Now that we’re talking again, I hope things will go well. That’s it for now. Night!

December 22, 2012

Saturday - Clear but cloudy, finally rainy

A pretty bad day.

I got up early for me on a Saturday, took a shower and then dressed. F took me to the doctor’s office again, but it was horrible as usual. He can’t get over the whole “I must be there by 9 am” mentality and as a result is rude and nasty to me…when he bothers talking to me at all. I usually get the silent treatment. Today, when they called us in to go to the doctor, F went first, and was taking his shirt off when I walked in. I walked out again and told him he could go first. The doctor didn’t even poke me today, just said that I looked better and asked if I felt better. I do, so he told me I’m cured and I don’t have to go back. Hurray for that at least.

We came home again and after a few minutes on my computer I went to take a nap. I was exhausted. I find dealing with F when he’s in A MOOD so draining. I got up around 1:00 pm and after I got up, F went to bed. What the hell? I told him he couldn’t sleep now, he had to take me for lunch and then to work. He told me there was bread for lunch. I told him that wasn’t enough for me, and he didn’t say anything. He refused to get up to even take me to work, and wouldn’t agree to pick me up after work either.

So, I walked to work. I went via the grocery store for some food for lunch. It wasn’t a difficult walk today, it wasn’t cold, but I have foot problems and I knew that after walking so far my feet would be very painful. I got to work, had my lunch, did some laundry, set up for my lesson, and then when my student came, taught her.

After class I read a book, I took down all of the Christmas decorations and put them away, and I finished my paperwork. I also stamped my student’s nengajo with my school’s stamp. At 8:30, I phoned F to see if he’d come and get me. I had a couple of heavy things to carry. My student had given me a box of goodies for a year end present, but it was heavy. There was no answer. I left a message and said I was leaving in 10 minutes. No call back.

I walked home in the rain. I didn’t bring my heavy stuff, and I didn’t have an umbrella. The good thing about the rain was it had washed away a lot of the snow so walking home was easy.

I got home and F was still in bed. I closed the door to the bedroom and got on with my evening. I was going to make dinner, when someone appeared out of the room. He did speak to me, but I’m so angry with him that I could only say a few words to him. He did find my cellphone message and had the good grace to apologise for missing it before. He went back to bed finally.

I had a good time watching my TV shows and typing my column for the Journal.

I’m not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow. I still haven’t got my husband a Christmas present and I don’t feel like he deserves one at the moment either. Anyone know where I can get a big lump of coal? I have to run. Night.

December 21, 2012

Friday - Warmish and sunny

A “meh” day!

I got up this morning on time and watched TV while I visited the internet. After a while I showered and was just going to get dressed for going to work, when my phone rang. F was inviting me to lunch. I said I would go if he would drive me to work afterwards. He agreed.

We went to Kappa Sushi and had an okay lunch. Unfortunately, some of the food was slow in arriving and we were late in leaving. F had only 10 minutes to get back to work, so I just told him to go and that I would walk from the restaurant.

I walked, visited a drugstore along the way, and then went to my school. I checked the parking lot and it was fine. Yay. I didn’t have to shovel snow today.

I went in and got busy. I set up the school for the day and then worked on my movie column. I got quite tired, so took an almost nap. I set alarms, turned off the lights and got 40 quick winks in my chair.

My student and I had a great class and we booked the next few lessons for the new year too. After she left, I got busy with paper work. F called me a little before 5 to say he could finish on time, but I told him I wouldn’t be ready yet. I suggested he go home and just stay there until I called.

I was finally finished around 6. F came to get me and we first went to the post office. The post office had delivered an envelope to us, but it wasn’t addressed to us! It was from Britain and the “from” person had the same family name as mine, but the initial was different, however, it sort of looked like my initial. F returned it to the post office and I bought a couple of cards.

Next up was dinner. We went to Framboise tonight. It was very quiet as we were the only customers for a long time. We decided to go to MaxValu for groceries afterwards.

For some reason tonight, I seemed to be annoying F a lot. I kept thinking that he was angry with me, but he insisted (rather angrily it seemed to me) that he wasn’t. Anyway, we came home and he tried to set up the bread machine for tomorrow. I’m not sure why. Anyway it didn’t work, so he tried something and it didn’t work, then I tried to do something, but he didn’t listen so I was annoyed and then he stormed off to bed.

He got up later when I was watching TV and proceeded to hog the couch. I made us some cocoa and he seemed better, but went to bed again after I started the bread maker. We couldn’t get the timer to work, so just started it. Bread will be done around 5 am…I am not planning to get up for it. Been there, done that, not doing it again.

Anyway, that’s it for me. I hope tomorrow will be better. Got to go. Night.

December 20, 2012

Thursday - Snowy, but not too cold

A productive day.

This morning I woke up at 8:30. I know, it surprised the heck out of me too. What was even more surprising was that I got up and stayed up! Today I had an early lesson so I had to get ready. I showered right away and then watched Grey’s Anatomy while I rationed myself to 30 minutes on the computer in the morning.

I had breakfast and then got dressed for the road. I was dressed and out the door before 11 am. For me, that’s almost unheard of!

I walked to my school. It wasn’t bad really. It wasn’t terribly cold and it only snowed for a little while. At my school I dumped my backpack off and grabbed my snow scoop and went to the back parking lot. Happily the snow wasn’t very deep, so I built it up at the back of the space. I also cleared a bit of the path to the apartment building. I couldn’t work too quickly, nor lift the snow too high, my side wouldn’t let me, but I had time.

After I finished I went into the apartment and started getting ready. I had a little over an hour. My lesson was prepped, but I wanted to check it, plus do all the other things I like to do before class. About 30 minutes before class I went outside again and checked the parking space. It had snowed again, so I re-cleared it and then went back in. Luckily, this snowfall wasn’t very deep.

My student came a minute or two late and we got on with our lesson. She’s a lot of fun to teach and quite a high level student, so easy to work with. After class, she went on her way and I got busy again.

I put the foam board up on the window again. With the big window I lose a lot of heat in the room, so putting the board up helps a bit. I didn’t cover it all, just half of it. After that, I did my usual paperwork. Later, I wrote a letter to my nephew, and then I got stuck into my latest movie column.

I was getting a bit sick of being in my school, and it was late, so I sent F a text to see if he was done work yet. He was, apparently he’d just returned home, so he said he’d come and get me. I packed up all my stuff, turned off all the things in my school, set the heater for tomorrow and then went to the door. I grabbed the scoop and went to do a little bit more of the snow removal. That’s where I was when F arrived. He finished up for me and then met me around the front of the building.

Tonight we had dinner at a shabu-shabu restaurant. He’s been suggesting it for a while, so I finally said yes. It was quite nice. We had local pork and used a sukiyaki and a soy milk broth to cook in.

Afterwards we went to the nearby drugstore for a couple of minutes and then came straight home. I watched a bit of TV and then turned off the TV for the night.

Tomorrow I have an afternoon class, but it’s a little later than today’s. I don’t have to get up and out on the road as early. Yay for that. That’s it for me. Got to go. Night.

December 19, 2012

Wednesday - Cold and snowy

An okay day.

I got up at a goodly time and watched Grey’s Anatomy, read the newspaper and had breakfast. F had made some yummy bread this morning and I had a couple of slices with my yogurt.

I spent the afternoon sleeping for a bit, and then on my computer. I did a load of laundry and also made some mini-quiches. I’m thinking about making them on our Christmas morning so wanted a dry run. After that I did up the dishes. Next up, I went outside and shovelled F’s parking space. I wanted to see if I could do it.

F came home a little later and we at some of the quiche. He liked it, which made me happy. It was a really simple recipe too.

Then, we went out for our dinner. I had suggested Sukase, a local restaurant near city hall. We had a good dinner. F had sashimi, I had pasta and salad. After dinner, we went to my school and set the heater at my school, then visited a drugstore for supplies like TP and chocolate!

We came home and spent a quiet evening together. I tried to print out some cards on my computer, but my computer had a bit of a meltdown. I had to restart it a couple of times. I also watched Grey’s Anatomy and it was wicked good this week too. Of course it is the season finale and unless I want to read ahead on the ‘net, I’ll have to wait and find out what happened. I’m sorely tempted!

That’s about it for the evening. I have an early class tomorrow so I have to get up on time and get out of the house quite early. I’m not sure just how that is going to work, but I really hope that it does. That’s everything for now. Catch you tomorrow? Night!

December 18, 2012

Tuesday - Cold and rainy, snow later on

An okay day.

I got up a little late this morning but it was fine. I had my breakfast and watched a little bit of TV. I was on my way to the shower when F called and asked if I’d like to have lunch with him later on. I wasn’t sure, but then decided it would be really nice to see him.

He picked me up a few minutes after 12 and we had our lunch. It was okay. I had gyudon with 3 kinds of cheese, F had a regular kind. During the meal, he tried to get some ginger for himself, but somehow managed to upend the chopsticks and spoon box. Most of the contents landed on the floor. Sigh. One of the waiters picked them up for us. I’m sure that he thought I did it as they were on my side of the table, but I didn’t. Honest! He dropped me off at home after lunch.

I finished up a few things and then was overcome by cold and sleepiness. I took a short nap on the couch, and then got up. I had a few minutes before I needed to leave home, so I changed into some better clothes for bike riding in the rain.

I left and made good time to the school. I hadn’t pre-set the heater so it was a little cold in there, but ran the air-conditioner heater for a bit along with the oil heater. I did a bit of cleaning, put up new postcards, changed my clothes and got ready for my class. The student didn’t come. After 10 minutes I phoned her, but there was no answer. I waited for her, but didn’t hear from her until her time was up. She was busy with personal matters. I read the newspapers, did up my paperwork and then called F to come and get me.

He picked me and my bicycle up and we went first to the grocery store to get a few things, and then came home.

At home, F got stuck into making the nabe, despite me asking if I could help. Tonight we had a bit of a seafood nabe. The soup wasn’t very strong flavoured. I didn’t care for it. I much prefer things to have an actual flavour, but F seemed to like it. It wasn’t his old bitter one, for which I am grateful.

After dinner, I did the dishes and then printed a few nengajo for my students. I think I’ll try and write them tomorrow at my school after my lesson is done. That way, I won’t have any distractions and might do them.

I didn’t watch much TV tonight. I put on a synopsis thing about Boardwalk Empire, and then Hatfields and McCoys, but didn’t really pay as much attention to them as I should.

Tomorrow I’m not sure what I’ll do. We have a couple of inches of snow outside. If it melts, I think I’ll go to the mall or out somewhere and look for a present for F. We haven’t bought each other Christmas presents at all yet. We don’t really need anything. I’d love a few books, but I have so many that I hate to ask for more. F says he doesn’t need anything, but….Come back tomorrow night and find out what I do! Got to go. Night!