January 31, 2015

Saturday  - Snowy, cold and windy

A good day.

I got up in the morning, unlocked the door and then went back to bed.  I couldn’t sleep for a bit, but when my alarm went off again around 11 I got up and stayed up.  I heard from F just after.  He was going to take his mother to lunch and then he’d come home.  

When he came home, I was in the shower!  He was going to run off again to take something back to his mother, but I asked him to wait a couple of minutes.  I made some tea for us and fed him a cinnamon bun!  He liked it.  I decided to send over a couple of cinnamon buns to his mother and the two remaining buns that I had made yesterday, since I didn’t think we’d eat at home today.  

When F came back we vegged out for a while then I asked about going to have lunch for me.  F had taken his mum to a nice restaurant so he wasn’t hungry, but I was!  I suggested Bikkuri Donkey!! so that’s where we went.  I had a plate lunch and F had coffee.  It was quite nice really.

After lunch we went to the store where I got my last three pairs of glasses.  My in-apartment glasses keep falling off my face, so I wanted to see if I could get them tightened.  Of course, the man at the shop was very nice, did the job, then cleaned my glasses, and F’s glasses for good measure and didn’t charge us for it!  Gotta love Japanese service!

We came home and relaxed for a bit.  I was on my computer for a while, and so was F.  Not on mine, on his.  A bit after 5 I sent him back to his mother’s to walk his dog and see how she was.  

He came back a bit later and then we headed off to Mikawa.  It was slushy outside and there was snow coming down.  It wasn’t nice weather at all.  We got to Mikawa and then parked at the mall.  It was a bit hard to find parking spaces that didn’t have huge lakes in them or that you had to cross a huge lake to get to the mall, but F managed.

In the mall, we discussed having dinner.  F was still full from his lunch and frankly, so was I.  I decided that I’d skip dinner and just have popcorn at the movie!  We went to Jusco and I got a little more yarn to finish my project and then we looked at gloves for F.  I got him a pair for his Valentine’s present.  He doesn’t want chocolates this year, so thought I’d get him something useful.  Then, we had a quick gander at the ladies clothing for me, but honestly there wasn’t too much I was interested in.  We walked back to the theatre and bought our tickets.  

We went to see Exodus: Gods and Kings and it was pretty bad.  I thought I might find something to like about it, but I didn’t really.  It seemed too much on the surface, there wasn’t much depth to it.  The only thing I did sort of like was that I realized just how awful the plagues were! There was one thing that I nearly laughed about.  In the morning before F came home, I watched a cooking show where the chef learned how to cook grasshoppers, then I saw a plague of them in the movie! I kept thinking how the Egyptians in the movie could just eat the grasshoppers!

After the movie we came home.  F still wasn’t feeling that great, and I was tired, so home it was.  I watched Mystery, Alaska.  I hadn’t seen it in years but it was cool to see Russell Crowe in his old and buff days.  It wasn’t a great movie though.  

That’s about it for me really. We haven’t made any firm plans for tomorrow so check back then and see what I have been up to.  Until tomorrow….

January 30, 2015

Friday - Cold and snowy

A good day finally!

I overslept this morning.  I didn’t in a way.  I got up around 8:30, went to the washroom, went back to bed for 30 minutes, woke up an hour and a half later.  Sigh.  F was sitting on the couch watching TV.  I had thought he was going over to his house to walk the dog, but he was enjoying couch time.  Sigh.  

F made some bread overnight and even though he offered me some, I turned him down.  I just didn’t want any then.  He finally got dressed and went to his house, but came back really soon.  

We went out for lunch together.  I suggested a hotel that has a cheap lunch, but we haven’t gone there in ages.  We went to their parking area, parked and went into the hotel.  We found out that they don’t have their cheap lunch anymore, but F noticed a flyer for a Japanese style restaurant that was in the hotel.  Of course he wanted to go there.  I wasn’t sure to be perfectly honest, but of course it turned out to be quite a nice place!  We had set menu meals and they were really nice.  I had the Hana lunch and had things like chawanmushi, sashimi, ebi-fry and cutlet with it, F had a simpler, cheaper one and had grilled fish…which would have been great for me!  Funny. 

After lunch we went to Mr. Donuts for tea and coffee, we shared one of the new treats there….It was nice but too sweet for both of us.  We picked up some groceries for me and some kerosene for the apartment and then came home.  

F left our apartment somewhere around 5:30.  Tonight he’s in a ryokan in Yunohama with some friends.  I don’t begrudge him the time away at all, in fact, I wish he’d go out with friends more!  He’s a bit too clingy for my comfort.  He did phone me around midnight to say goodnight.  He was very…happy!   Is that a nice way of putting it?

I stayed home and did something interesting.  I set up the bread maker to make some dough.  I took it out, made half of it into buns and then made the other half into cinnamon buns!  I let them all rise again and then I baked them.  I had to do them in two batches as I don’t have a big oven.  

I made four buns...these are the remaining two!

Cinnamon buns :-)

I ate my dinner, had a couple of buns with it and then some of the cinnamon buns.  They were yummy!  I’m rather impressed with myself!  I hope they’ll be good for F in the morning when he comes home!

The rest of the evening I’ve spent watching TV and crocheting or working on my computer.  I originally had plans to watch all kinds of things, but with F not leaving me alone until late I didn’t have time to do the other things I wanted to do.  I have enjoyed myself, however!

That’s about it for me for tonight. I’m not sure what will be on the agenda tomorrow.  I’m hoping to see a movie, but it depends on how F is feeling.  Come back and find out what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

January 29, 2015

Thursday - Snowy and colder

An okay day.

I got up on time this morning and went through to the living room.  I started the heater and had a bit of tea.  I relaxed, read my blog, the usual.  I had a nice morning really.  I got a delivery from the post office too.  My best friend had sent me a present.  Yay!  I didn’t open it yet.

I didn’t take my shower as I was a bit late, and I had already thrown on some clothes when the Postie came earlier.  I made the bed, F came home for a very quick lunch.  I’m not honestly sure why he comes home for lunch when he only stays 10 minutes and then leaves to go back again! 

I watched a bit of TV and waited for another delivery.  We’d ordered some new flour and it was supposed to arrive this afternoon, between 12 and 2.  Well, technically it was after two, but only by a hair, so I don’t think I get a free pizza!  

I took my shower in the afternoon and then had lunch.  After 6 F called me to say he was still working and would be late.  He called back a while later to say his phone was about to die, and then called again to say that he was coming home.  He wasn’t feeling very well either.  Oh no!

When he finally arrived, I was sitting on the couch starting a new crochet project.  It’s a small one, but I think it’ll be fun!  If I have enough yarn to do it, and I think I do.  Maybe.  

We went out for a quick Gusto dinner and I enjoyed mine.  I had a hamburger with wasabi sauce and it was nice.  F had a noodle dish that he said was okay.  He wasn’t having a good time.  We came home after dinner. 

I watched a bit more TV, F took a bath and then took himself off to work.  He’s taken the day off tomorrow.  He has a big party that he wants to go to tomorrow night with some friends, so he hopes a day at home will help him feel better.  I’m not completely convinced, or happy about it to be honest.  

Anyway, that’s about it for me.  Now that my day tomorrow may have been crashed by my husband I’m a little anxious about what is going to happen.  Come back tomorrow night and see what happens!  Until tomorrow….

January 28, 2015

Wednesday - Snowy

A good day.

I got up a few minutes early this morning. I filled up the kerosene tank in our heater and then went on line to check out the world.  

I ended up on the couch for some computer and then reading time.  After my shows I tried to go back to my computer but I fell asleep!  Oh no!  

F called to say he was bringing a bento home and then I got dressed.  I got dressed and said hello to him as he came in.  I was actually a bit busy today as I did some laundry and had to hang that up.  

In the afternoon I struggled to stay awake, but after a while I hit my stride.  I watched some TV and then after 4 pm I went out to the lobby of our apartment building and did a little sweeping.  When I came back in our apartment I vacuumed for a few minutes.  Yay me.  After that, I did the dishes from lunch and then took a break.  F called to say he was coming home, except he didn’t really.  Not for a while anyway.  

F was really tired when he came home, but it was his night to cook.  I suggested he rest for a bit, and he did.  He went into the kitchen and prepared the nabe.  

It was quite good, except for my usual complaints!  It wasn’t hot enough (he’d turned off the nabe when it was done so it cooled off) and the broth was pretty tasteless.  Still, I wasn’t feeling in a fussy mood tonight, so I liked it.  

After dinner, I did the dishes and tidied up the kitchen and did up the garbage for F to take out in the morning.  I watched a bit of TV too.  At 11 I joined F on the couch for a bit of crochet.  F wasn’t doing crochet, just me!  I’m back on one of my earlier projects.  It’s going well. I’ve made a few decisions with it, so I’m quite happy about it.

And really, that’s about all I have for you today.  Tomorrow I’m not sure what I’ll get up to.  I hope more laundry and I hope more reading and crochet.  Come back and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

January 27, 2015

Tuesday - Rainy then clear

A good day mostly.

I got up this morning in time to watch Grey’s Anatomy.  I discovered that they aren’t showing it from the very beginning, which disappoints me a bit, but really I don’t care that much!  

I had my usual morning of reading, breakfast, etc, except I got a delivery today.  The person who received the thing I sent last week sent me a box of chocolates to say thank you. Very nice of her, but unnecessary!  But nice!

I did receive some bad news about a member of my family today. It is about a person that I hadn’t met, but is very sad.  I don’t want to go into it because it isn’t my story to tell. 

During the afternoon I watched Exile and thought it was good.  British storytelling is so well done, and with great acting.  Jim Broadbent was amazing. 

In the afternoon I also got my cards ready to go out.  I scanned them and uploaded the pictures to Postcrossing.  In the end, I didn’t take them to the post office, but never fear, they did get sent out today.

F was a bit late tonight.  After his work, he had to visit his mother again.  He came home and we decided to go out for dinner.  Tonight he chose Hana, a local fish restaurant.  I didn’t like it very much to be honest, but F was happy and I didn’t care that much either way! I didn’t think my food was cooked all that well.

After dinner, we visited the drugstore and then the grocery store.  We’re going to make a nabe for dinner tomorrow night. 

We came home and watched a little TV.  I went over to the couch and sewed in a few more ends on my scarf (that mysteriously appeared today) and then did a bit of crochet edging on another project.  

I’m trying to get to bed a little earlier tonight, which is why I’m writing this now, rather than later.  I think it’s a good thing.  

Tomorrow I don’t really have any plans.  I hope that I’ll be able to get out of the apartment, or do some of the lobby sweeping that I have shamefully avoided so far this month.  In any case, come back tomorrow and see what I get up to!  Until tomorrow….

January 26, 2015

Monday - Clear and warm

A good day.  

I overslept again today.  I missed the first episode of Grey’s Anatomy, but then again, I missed it the first time it was on too.  What’s new?

I got up, did a little bit of reading and then got on with my day.  I was really surprised today that F didn’t come home for lunch.  Surprised in a good way!  I honestly don’t know why he doesn’t go back to his office to eat lunch, but that’s him.  

I did some laundry and was about to get stuck into doing some housework when F called to say he was coming home for a few minutes then would take his mother to the doctor again.  Honestly, I really wish the doctor would do more than give her painkillers.  This isn’t fair to her.  She’s quite an active old lady, she shouldn’t be in so much pain.

I had a fairly quiet afternoon after lunch.  I did the dishes and got the table cleared off so that I wouldn’t have to do that at dinner time.  

When F came home he was ready to go to bed!  He’s been feeling a bit odd these days, hope he’s okay.  I think it might be a slight cold or something.  I sprang into cooking mode and did some vegetables for us along with the chicken we bought yesterday.  We had basil chicken,  green onions, sriracha green beans, and salad.  It was nice actually.  I quite impressed myself at how fast I was making it all!

I tried to give F the night off dishes duty so he could go to bed, but he said he’s stay up a bit longer.  He didn’t go to bed until midnight, so it’s probably a good thing!

I had a fairly relaxing evening.  I did up a few postcards, finished my scarf (finally!) and darned in a few ends on the blanket I’m making too.  My scarf is great.  It may not look brand new and perfect, but it is very soft and cozy.  I sewed it into a loop, and I can wear it looped twice around my neck for looks or three times for warmth.  

My little scarf made from Combination Yarn and done in a 2x2 Rib.

Anyway, that’s about it for now.  I’m going to try and get to bed fairly soon, so I’ll end this.  It was a decent day.  Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be rainy which is sad as I had thought about going out.  Still, I should run to the post office in the evening.  That’s it for me.  Night!

January 25, 2015

Sunday - Clear, warm and sunny!

Happy Robert Burns Day!

I got up this morning a little before 11.  F had already been over to his mother’s and then came home again.  He was watching TV and using his computer.  He was a dear and made me some tea and gave me some of his yummy bread that he made overnight.  

We decided to go out for lunch and chose the Grand El Sun.  When we got there, it was busy.  From the signs we noticed that they had a bridal fair on.  Cool!  We went to the restaurant and had our lunch.  I had pork, F fish.  It was nice. Today they also had a salad bar set up, so that was a yummy change.  Over lunch I confided to F that I always felt a bit left out because I never got to go to a Bridal Fair!  When we were preparing for our wedding, I lived in Hokkaido so F had to do all of the prep work for our wedding! 

After lunch, we decided to see if we could take a quick peek at the Bridal stuff.  However, we ended up being shown around by the lady that worked on our wedding!  It was kind of cool.  I did feel a bit guilty about it, but it was later in the afternoon and it wasn’t terribly busy, so it’s not like she was avoiding real prospective couples.  The wedding hall has been completely redone since we were there, so it was fun to see all the interesting new parts of it. The new chapel is gorgeous…the one that I got married in is now the Japanese ceremony room.  

After our time at the Grand El Sun, we went to Yamaya and bought a few things.  They seem to be having less and less that I want there, it’s quite sad.  Still, we got a few things and I’m glad about that.

We came home after that.  Well, I did.  F dropped me off and went over to his mother’s to walk his dog and check on her.  She seemed to be fine, so F came home fairly soon.  

We decided what to do for dinner.  I suggested that we go to Coco Ichibanya and then over to the Internet Cafe for a bit.  F liked that idea, so we went off in the car.  Halfway to Coco Ichibanya F suggested going to some place in Fujishima.  I wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but didn’t want to upset him, so said it was okay.  It turned out to be a kind of truck-stop/drive-in.  We went in and actually had an okay meal.  I had oyako-don, chicken and egg on rice, F had a stew type dish.  We drove back into Tsuruoka and went to the Internet Cafe.  It wasn’t too busy and we were both able to get massaging chairs right away.  We spent the next three hours getting massaged. It was lovely!  I watched Fox TV, and specifically an episode of American Idol.  It was an audition show, and one with Adam Lambert as a judge so it was quite cool. I did a little crochet while I was there too.  I started back up with one of my older projects. It felt good to do a little more on it.  

When our time was up, we bought a few groceries, then got gas for the car and came home.  We spent a quiet evening at home and that’s where my story ends!  

Tomorrow I’m not sure what I’ll get up to.  I hope to do a bit of laundry and maybe some cleaning!  We’ll have to see about that one though.  That’s it for me.  Night!

January 24, 2015

Saturday - Clear and warm

A good day.

I got up this morning when my alarms went off.  F had gone out with his mother and was taking her to an onsen.  I decided to go back to sleep for a while, and did so.  I needed it.  I woke up a little before 11 and felt quite refreshed.  

F came home a little after 11 and we talked about our plans.  We decided to have lunch out today and then dinner at home.  We almost never do that on weekends, so it was a fun thing.  

We had a very delicious lunch out at Fireball.  I had smoked salmon and mushroom pasta in a vodka sauce, and F had pork and tomato pasta.  They were both nice, with mine just edging into our favourite!  We shared pastas and they came with soup, salad and a drink today.  

After lunch, we spent a few minutes in my local craft shop.  I didn’t buy anything today, but I wanted to!  Actually I decided that I’d just as soon not buy anything.  Ha!  We went to the grocery shop to get some coleslaw.  They didn’t have any of course, so we bought some shredded cabbage and some mustard.  While I was in the shop, a woman came up to me and asked me if I remembered her.  She had on a face mask and glasses….I had no idea!  I asked her who she was and as soon as I heard her voice I remembered her.  She was one of my private students when I worked at L’Eikaiwa.  She was a lovely lady, but I haven’t seen her for about 7 years and I haven’t been her teacher in more than 10 years.  F and I talked about it later and think that she must have forgotten that she was wearing a mask! 

We came home and I took the leftover bread dough out of the fridge.  I let it warm and rise a little and then I baked it as buns.  We only got 5 buns tonight, but they smelt incredible when I took them out of the oven.  F had to go and walk his dog, so we wrapped up a bun for him to take to his mum and I packed up a bit of the leftover chicken for her too.  I am not sure if she’ll like it so I didn’t give her a lot of it, but when you aren’t feeling too well, it is nice not to have to cook a lot on top of everything else.  

While he was gone, I got the table set and waited for him to come home.  I microwaved the food when he came home and we ate our leftovers.  We still have quite a bit of chicken left, but all the spinach and egg dish is done.  The buns were really nice, but they’re done now too.  F is talking about making more!

After dinner, F did the dishes and then we headed out to Mikawa Mall.  I nearly fell asleep on the way.  We got there and parked the car of course.  We walked over to Aeon/Jusco and I checked out the craft corner.  I saw some balls of yarn that were on for quite cheap so I got some.  I’ll make something fun with them I think.

We looked at baking goods, but didn’t buy anything there.  We walked back to the theatre and went to see the new Annie.  We both really enjoyed it.  

We came home and had some crab. Yes, more food!  Ay ya yai! F had bought it yesterday, but we had too much then.  Tonight it was nice.  After that, he whipped some cream, and we had the strawberries we didn’t have last night.  That was nice, but I sort of feel like I don’t need to eat for a few days!

Today turned out much better than I thought it would.  I’m not sure what’s going to happen tomorrow.  F has to go to his mum’s in the morning, and then in the later afternoon too.  I’m not sure if we’ll go shopping or stay close to home.  Come back tomorrow and find out.  Night!

January 23, 2015

Friday - Cloudy, rainy and I didn’t go out.

Busy weird day!

I woke up this morning and then F told me that his mother had called him this morning to say she couldn’t walk and he had had to go to her house and take care of her.  He was going to take her back to the doctor when the clinic opened. He had also taken the day off work.  I said a sleepy goodbye and nodded back off.  

I got up and watched X-Files, did my reading and then watched America’s Next Top Model. It was the finale so it was nice to see it.  I think they picked the right woman.  I had breakfast too, and that was yogurt and oatmeal this morning. 

After 11:30 I got started on dinner.  I washed all the dishes that needed doing, got my slow cooker out and washed that too.  I took the skin off the chicken and then dumped the chicken into the slow cooker and made up the cooking liquid.  I put it on the floor of my bedroom as there was an available plug-in there and I needed the ones in the kitchen.  One thing done!

I got a bit started on another dish I was making for dinner and F came home for a while.  I had a quick lunch as he’d already eaten, and then I suggested that he make up some bread dough.  I wanted to have some buns with dinner and I was going to make them, but I thought it would be better if he did it!  

I did take a break for a bit while he was in the kitchen, but soon enough, I had to go back and get things ready.  For the bread, I didn’t have a baking sheet, so  I used the ceramic plate in the microwave.  I covered it with some baking paper that I have and then pulled some of the dough out and made buns.  I set them aside to rise.  F was pointing out that the directions said that they should be set somewhere that the temperature was 30 - 35 degrees Celsius, but I pointed out that there was no freaking place like that this time of year!  I covered them with more of my baking paper and was told that it should be a fukin.  Whatever that is!  The baking paper was just fine, believe me.  My mum always used a tea-towel, but I haven’t any linen type ones.  

Anyway, I went on with other prep and when the rising time was nearly up, preheated the oven.  I baked the buns and when they came out, they were gorgeous!  

F went back to his mother’s to walk the dog and check on his mum.  I kicked dinner prep higher into gear and worked on the other dish I was making, baked eggs in spinach and mushrooms.  It came together fairly well, and when F came home, things were nearly ready to eat.

We had pulled chicken on homemade buns, baked eggs in spinach and also F had brought us some chopped cabbage, so we made sort of a coleslaw for the top of the sandwiches.  It was quite nice, but honestly, not nice enough for all the work involved!  I cleared the table afterwards and F said he’d do the dishes, but went off to take a nap.  That was around 8 pm and it’s 2:30 am now.  Luckily I did the dishes or they’d have been caked on and yucky!  

I’ve spent this evening watching TV quite peaceably and trying to relax.  We had strawberries and cream for dessert, but they are both in the fridge.  Sigh. 

I’m not sure what’s going to happen tomorrow.  F’s Mum is going to need a bit of care as she isn’t able to walk much.  F is taking care of her so he’ll have to go over a couple of times tomorrow at least.  I’m not sure what kind of things we’ll get up this weekend.  I’d like to go and see a movie, but not sure if we’ll swing it tomorrow or not.

That’s it for me for now.  Until tomorrow!

January 22, 2015

Thursday - Rainy but warm

A good but somehow draining day!

I got up on time this morning and watched X-Files. I did my usual things, with a twist.  I was in a hurry.  I read, had breakfast and then took a shower.  F came home again for lunch and I told him that I was going to leave with him.  He didn’t really understand because he tried to just leave and I had to say that I was coming too.  

I went to the mall, got there a bit before 1:00 and had a look around.  I checked out the restaurant upstairs, but both of their pasta specials had tomato sauce so I skipped them and went to Subway instead.  Yay!  I had the new duck pastrami with balsamic sauce and that was yummy.  

I walked around the mall for a bit and then went over to my hairdresser.  She had a client when I got there, but her mother took over and I was able to have my cut started.  I got a great cut and it was so nice to be pampered a little bit!  After I was done, I paid and then walked back to the mall.  

I did a little more window shopping and then went to Doutors for a cup of tea.  I was getting ready to leave when F called me.  He was finished work.  I told him I had to get some more groceries so he said that he’d come and get me.  I picked up some cream and some mushrooms in the grocery store, and also some strawberries.  We got a couple of nice buns in the bakery and then came home. 

At home I tried to get dinner on the table fairly quickly.  I asked F if he’d like to make a dish.  He made it, but he kept getting in my way!  Still, it was done finally.  While I was cooking I looked for the ingredients from last night that F had received from a friend.  He’d told me yesterday that he had received a huge amount of spinach.  It wasn’t in the vegetable section of the fridge.  What?  Eek!  He’d left it thrown on some things near the fridge.  Almost all of the spinach that was there looked dead and wilted, and there wasn’t nearly the amount that he told me there was.  I’d assumed there was a large amount for tomorrow’s dinner, so I’d bought ingredients for the recipe.  Also, there wasn’t very much spinach at all.  I was royally annoyed! 

Dinner was fine.  The daikon that F prepared was really nice and the chicken was quite good too.  F did the dishes and I just vegged for a bit.  I’m going to make a couple of new dishes tomorrow because I have the ingredients and I’m a bit worried about it all.  Timing is going to be a bear.  I’m going to be  trying to make some buns so not just timing, but locating all of the cooking paraphernalia will be tough.  

F and I were having trying times tonight.  I was trying to ask him to look up how to make crusty buns in the bread maker.  I knew I’d have to bake them separately, but he couldn’t seem to understand that.  He kept trying to show me “butter rolls” which are the crappy Japanese soft bread things.  I don’t like them. Hopefully things will work out.

So, tomorrow I have to load my slow cooker, bake some bread, wash some strawberries, and cook some spinach.  Ack!  If F pulls one of his “I’m not going to eat your food” tantrums I might not be responsible for what happens.  

I watched some TV tonight between having hugs with my husband.  We weren’t fighting, and we both felt bad that the other person didn’t really “get” what was going on.  

Oh, and I have a new sign off for you.  I was watching Castle tonight and he said something to the effect of “‘Night’ is boring.  ‘Until tomorrow’ is more….hopeful.”

It just resonated with me…or maybe that was Nathan Fillion!  Until tomorrow….

January 21, 2015

Wednesday - Warmish and sunny

A good day.

I got up this morning in time to watch X-Files.  F was still here, he hadn’t left yet.  After a bit, he called his mother and then got dressed and left to take her to the doctor.  I had a relaxing rest of morning by myself.  I had my reading time, then breakfast and some tea, and then I got dressed for going out.  Oh, I forgot, I had to get dressed in a hurry because F got a delivery and I had to pay the guy for it!  I didn’t want to go to the door in my skating penguin pyjamas!

F came home around 12 and we discussed where to go for lunch.  He had already eaten, so he didn’t want much.  I decided on Cocos as I like it and I haven’t been there in a while.  I had a yummy pasta lunch and F had drink bar and a dessert.  

After lunch, we went to a convenience store and sent off a package to a lady in Tokyo, then continued to my hairdresser.  I was hoping to get my hair cut today, but she was too busy.  I’m going to try and go to see her tomorrow instead, depending on the weather that is.  

Since I had nothing that had to be done for a while, and F did, I suggested that he run his errands and I would spend a bit of time in the mall.  Surprisingly, that was okay with F, so I did a little shopping until he was done. Around an hour later he called me and picked me up at the mall.  

We decided to go to the Internet Cafe for a bit.  During the week it isn’t very expensive and we both could do with a massage.  I had my book with me anyway, so was looking forward to reading for a while.  We were able to get chairs right away, and spent the next 3 hours watching TV or reading and relaxing.  

We had dinner tonight at Togashi’s, the yakiniku place.  It was good.  Neither of us wanted a lot of food, so we ordered a small set and each of us picked an extra dish we wanted.  I had chicken, F had pork, and I also got some tamago soup, which we shared.  Dinner was really nice.

We picked up some groceries after dinner.  I got some chicken breasts to hopefully make pulled chicken, and something that I can cook quickly for dinner tomorrow night.  I’m hoping to be out most of the afternoon, so won’t have time for time consuming prep.  

We came home and watched some TV.  During Scandal I darned more ends in on my scarf, and I used my computer a lot.  It was a good evening.  Tomorrow I hope to be able to get my hair cut as I said, and then I’ll feel like a new woman.  I have to go.  Night!

January 20, 2015

Tuesday - Didn’t go out…sorry!

An okay day.

I got up a couple of minutes late this morning, but I got up, so I was happy about that!  I had a quiet morning.  I watched my show, then had my reading time.  I ate breakfast and drank some tea this morning.  It was nice and relaxing.  I spent rather too much time on the couch, so this morning when F called to say he was coming home for lunch, I took my shower.

After my shower, F was just about ready to go back to work.  Poor guy didn’t get to see too much of me.

In the afternoon, I watched a new British show, which was excellent as usual. It was called Exile.  It had Jim Broadbent and John Simm in it.  Broadbent was amazing in it. I made my lunch during it and had a pizza.  I made a half and half this time, half was sort of Greek, and half was mushroom.  It was all yummy!

After 5 I decided to finally do something I’d been putting off.  I went into my bedroom and put a lot of clothes away in the closet.  I also decided to wash a bunch of clothes so that I could put them in my closet.  I now have a huge mound of laundry, but a much less dangerous looking set of drawers in the corner.  Yay me.  F came home when I was finishing up.  

He was tired and in an odd mood.  I wasn’t sure when he wanted dinner and he wasn’t really talking.  Still, I finally got it together and made dinner.  It was a quick and simple one tonight, pasta and roast duck breast, with a cabbage salad.  It was really nice to be honest.  

In the evening I watched a bit of TV while F took a nap.  I had a hard time getting him up to take his bath.  I wouldn’t have gotten him up either if he hadn’t turned on the bath in the first place.  

We are now both chilling out and relaxing.  I had a fairly good day today.  Tomorrow, F is off work, but he’s taking his mother to the doctor in the morning.  In the afternoon, I’m not sure what he’s going to do.  I’m hoping to go and have a hair cut, but I’m not completely sure if I will or not.  

That’s about it for me.  It was a fairly good day, all told, and I’m pleased that I finally “attacked” the clothes corner in my room.  Unfortunately, I’ll now be washing clothes for ever and ever!  Wish me luck with that.  Night.

January 19, 2015

Monday - Snowy

An okay day.

I got up mostly on time today and went through to the living room for my X-Files Fix.  They’ll be taking it off soon, so I need to catch up as much as I can.

I had a quiet morning except that F came home to pick something up, and later on to eat his lunch.  I watched my bad TV, read some of my book and the newspaper.  I didn’t take my shower though.  I’ll have to do that tomorrow.

In the afternoon I scanned my cards and didn’t take them to the post office.  I was just going to start cooking when F called and asked me for more help with business English.  I took notes and then emailed him back a bit later.

After I finished that, I started caramelizing some onions.  Well, first I had to chop them up!  I did that and then got them in the pan.  They took a little longer today, probably because I didn’t have the pan on high enough.  While the onions were on the stove, I got the mushrooms washed and cut up, and the table set.  When F came home, everything was done except for the onions, and they were done soon afterwards.

Tonight we had “Make Our Own Pizzas” and it was yummy.  We used bought bases and put on them what we liked.  We cooked them in our toaster oven and then split them.  They were really good.  We could choose from bacon, mushroom, caramelized onion, basil, cheese, sundries tomato or feta.  Honestly, it was fun and delicious.

F did the dishes afterwards and I settled in for some computer time.  There was nothing much on TV, so F got to watch a whole bunch for a change.  At 11 I watched Person of Interest and sat on the couch and darned in some of the ends on my scarf.  It’s going to take a while, sad to say.  I do want to wear my scarf fairly soon though.  

And that’s about it.  It was a good day really.  Tomorrow, I’m not sure what I’ll get up to.  Wish me luck in finding out.  Night.

January 18, 2015

Sunday - Cold, snowy and windy

An okay day.

I slept in rather late this morning, but got up and went through to the living room where F was quietly watching TV. After a bit of computer time we started talking about where to go for lunch, so I suggested going to the Indian/Nepali restaurant again.  He agreed, so off we went.  

It was so snowy outside.  Sad to say a lot of snow had fallen this morning and continued falling for much of the day. On the way to the restaurant, we saw a lot of people walking around the Ginza area, and realized there was a festival on.  We got to the restaurant and had a yummy lunch. I had the chicken curry with a piece of tandoori chicken and naan, F had almost the same except no tandoori, and his curry wasn’t chicken, it had mushrooms in it.  

After lunch, I suggested to F that we go and check out the festival.  It was one for Cod Soup, which is something that he likes (and I REALLY don’t), so we managed to find a parking spot and walked back to the festival.  It did seem fairly quiet, so it was mostly over.  However, there were a few people eating and drinking along the street.  I even saw another foreign wife that I met once upon a time and waved and chatted a little with her.  

It was very cold outside during this time, not really good festival weather.  

After walking around the festival we didn’t want to go home quite yet, so we went to S-mall and did a little bit of hacking around.  We bought a few things in the hundred yen shop and then came to Doutors for our treat.  It was really crowded in there so I grabbed a seat while F got our drinks.  I had my usual Royal Soy Milk Tea, and F had the new drink, JavaMocha or Mocha Java.  I’m not sure what it was called.  Afterwards, we came home, with the plan to watch a movie.

We came home and after about 20 minutes in which no movie was put in the DVD player, I went to bed!  I was wiped for some reason.  I set my alarm to wake me in 20 minutes.  I did wake up, but reset the alarm for later.  I got up after 7, having slept for about 3 hours.  Oh my!  I didn’t expect that and I have no idea why it happened.  

After a bit in the living room I suggested getting dinner to F.  He first suggested Aki, the Okonomiyaki place which I was happy about, then changed his mind to go to his fish restaurant, which I wasn’t.  Still, I shut up and let him have his way.  We drove off to the fish place and discovered after we were out of the car that it had closed already.  Shucks.  Instead of going to the okonomiyaki place like I think we should have, he chose to take me to another flaming fish restaurant.  

I didn’t have fish, and I didn’t have a set meal.  I think I annoyed him with that, but I only had a few hundred calories left to me today and I didn’t want to squander them on food I didn’t want.  I had a vegetable/meat stir-fry and it was just about perfect.  It wasn’t too much for me and it was quite good too.  F had cod soup and an onigiri so he was happy.  He did seem a bit ticked at me at first, especially when I announced that I didn’t want a set meal.  Honestly, I don’t know why he gets so upset with what I eat and don’t eat!  I didn’t want to go and have fish AGAIN this weekend and think that this whole bait and switch thing that he’s pulled on me twice now has got to stop.  Just because I agree to one restaurant doesn’t mean you can take me to a crappy one.  

I also put in my request for my birthday dinner tonight.  He doesn’t want to go on my actual birthday which annoys me a little, but I can understand it.  I requested MY favourite place, not the new one he wants to try with lots of yucky fish.  (Okay, the fish may not be yucky, but it very well could be!)

We bought our groceries for the next couple of days tonight.  We’re going to do make your own pizzas tomorrow night and then have pasta on Tuesday unless things change.  I hope they don’t!  I will have to do some prep tomorrow though, that will keep me a bit busy.  We also picked up a bit of kerosene as we’re going through it faster with the bad weather.  

We came home and even though F wanted a movie I told him no because Downton Abbey was going to be on in 30 minutes!  I wanted to watch it “live” and so I did.  I watched it and finished my scarf during it.  Yay!  I still have many ends to darn in, but I’m done it now.  I do have to decide if I’m going to leave it long or sew it in a loop.  

I wrote up 3 postcrossings tonight too.  They are going off to Russia, Germany and Italy.  I might do another one tomorrow.  

Well, really, that is it for now.  Tomorrow I have to caramelize some onions for dinner, scan my cards and run them to the post office and generally be a wonderful human being.  I might manage two out of the three.  I don’t think there’s any point in going for three out of three!!!  Night.

January 17, 2015

Saturday - Cold and snowy and windy

A good day.

I got up this morning, checked my computer stuff and then took a shower.  I got dressed and then gently suggested that F get dressed too.  My friend was due at 12 and F was still in his pajamas.  He got dressed in time!

F, my friend, her son and I went to the Komagi Spa for lunch.  It was a good choice because they had a lot of food to choose from and it wasn’t terribly busy.  We stayed there for a couple of hours chatting and eating.  It was fun.  After lunch we had planned to go out and do something outside but instead decided that the weather was too awful, so we went to karaoke!  

It was a surprisingly good choice.  The child didn’t really sing, although he did request songs quite often, but F, my friend and I did quite a bit of singing and it was rather fun.  After two hours it was time to go and we split up our little party.  

F and I came home for a while and vegged in front of our computers.  We talked about where to have dinner and finally F suggested Kintaro Sushi, so off we went.  We had some nice sushi there and it wasn’t very busy as it was closing soon, so we had a good time.  

After dinner, we hit up the drugstore for some batteries and then came home.  At home we watched a bit of TV and F went to bed about an hour ago.  I wanted to watch Marple, so I stayed up, but now it’s done, so I think I’ll be heading to bed soon.

Not sure what we’ll get up to tomorrow.  I think it depends on the weather a bit. It isn’t nice out there.  That’s it for me.  Got to go.  Night!

January 16, 2015

Friday - Clear and warm

A good day.

I got up this morning on time and came through to the living room.  I watched X-Files and had some fake coffee.  That was nice!

I read part of my book during my “reading” time and then watched my silly show, had breakfast and was just thinking about having a shower when F called me and asked me to have lunch with him.  I accepted his invitation so I had about 35 minutes to get ready.

When F picked me up, we went to Bikkuri Donkey and had a nice meal. I had a pine-burg and he had a lunch set.  He gifted me his salad which was very nice of him.  Because time wasn’t great for him, I suggested that he just drop me off somewhere on the way home. He did, although he didn’t seem to want to drop me off near the right road!  I walked home and watched Only You, which was the movie de jour on NHK.

In the afternoon I scanned my postcards for postcrossing and then took them off to the post office.  I needed to get new stamps and I was hoping the post office had some new ones.  They did, so today I bought some of the new Beatrix Potter stamps.  They are cute, but I was hoping they’d be bigger than they are!  I also was gifted a bunch of pocket tissue packets.  I didn’t really understand that they were giving them away!

Back at home, I started getting ready for dinner.  F came home and was really tired.  I made dinner and it was bigger than I expected. I had planned to eat some of the leftovers from last night as my lunch, but went out instead!  We had some of them for dinner.  So, dinner was chicken, tofu burgers, leftover coleslaw, leftover couscous and some gratin.  It was pretty good actually.

The rest of the evening was quite quiet.  We had a snuggle for a while, but then came back to the living room and watched some TV.  It was a pretty good night.

Tomorrow we have plans to see a friend if everything goes well.  She’ll come over with her little one and we’ll do something!  Wish us all luck.  Night!

January 15, 2015

Thursday - Warmer and rainy

A good day.

I overslept again.  I think it was because I turned off my ringer on my phone when I play games, and then the alarms don’t work!  Yikes.  

I got up and started my day as soon as I could.  I did get in a bit of reading today and that was nice.  However, I didn’t get any wardrobe updating done or anything like that.  There was a reason though.

F called me to say he was coming home for lunch, and then did.  I made some tea for us and he ate his meal and then left.

I got an email from my sister asking if I’d opened my presents yet.  It’s not my birthday yet, but they already arrived.  I opened my box, unwrapped the presents and was really chuffed!  I got some great stuff from my sister and her family.  I got souvenirs from her family’s trip to Britain last year.  Great ones!  

She asked if she could video chat with me, and so my sister, her daughter and I chatted for a bit.  It was lovely in all honesty.  

A Sherlock t-shirt!

A mug, a pen and a pencil, a tea towel and another Sherlock t-shirt.

Afterwards I had a quick lunch and then got a bit of a start on dinner.  I wanted to make a salad out of some cabbage and a carrot.  I did that and was looking up dressing recipes when F came home.  I ended up not making one after all.  Tonight I made some couscous with chicken flavouring, sautéed some pork, and we had the coleslaw type salad with some mayonnaise and dressing.  Dinner was really good!  It was simple, but nice.

Since we didn’t have any vegetables for tomorrow, we went out to the grocery store for a few minutes.  I was happy about that.  I picked up a couple of tofu/chicken patties and a salad. 

When we came home, we had a quiet evening. It was my big TV night.  I watched some TV from the couch and did a bit of knitting, but I lost a stitch somewhere.  Sigh.  This poor scarf will probably fall apart on me.  I also wrote up a few postcards to go out tomorrow.

And basically that was my day.  F has told me that he will take a day off work next week to take his mother to the doctor.  I’m hoping that he’ll take me to get my hair cut as well.  

Tomorrow I may get a start on my closet. I really need to be able to use it again!  That’s it for me.  I have to go.  Night.

January 14, 2015

Wednesday - Clear and sunny

A good day.

I got up early today…a little bit of over-compensation maybe?  It was good anyway.  I watched X-Files, but it was one I had seen recently so I wasn’t too into it today.

I decided to spend the time between my silly shows reading, so I got a good 20 some minutes of my book in.  I’m really glad actually.  I had breakfast, read the paper for today, yesterday and Sunday too a bit later.  I was late going to take my shower as I thought F might call.  He did, just a bit before I went into the shower.  He was on his way home and wanted to get me something.  I let him get me a salad.

After my shower, F was home already and almost ready to leave again.  He went back to work, but he had a headache, poor guy.  He also told me that he’d go over to his mother’s after work.  She needed a few supplies.  

In the afternoon I did a couple of loads of laundry and then had to do some more help with a letter for F’s work.  I was hungry for my lunch at this point and I was typing things for my husband and was sending them to him but he wasn’t getting them so I was rather annoyed.  When it all got sorted out, I took out some time to eat and then scanned a bunch of my postcards.  

F came home a bit late tonight due to seeing his mother.  We vegged a bit and then we went out for dinner.  F suggested two places, and I liked one of them, but then he opted for the other place.  Sigh.  When we got there it was so smoky inside.  He never seems to remember that they don’t have a non-smoking area and I’ve got asthma.  I decided tonight that I wouldn’t have a set meal as it was just too big, so I ordered a vegetable/pork/egg stir-fry dish and then F talked me into sharing a plate of raw harumaki (veggie rolls).  I enjoyed it mostly. It was a little bland, but at least it wasn’t huge.  F’s meal was huge and he kept trying to offload some of it onto me.  I did have a piece of his fried chicken and it wasn’t great.  

After dinner we tried to buy groceries in MaxValu.  We got some of course, but I had wanted chicken breasts and couldn’t find any.  I wanted to make pulled chicken, but can’t.  I’ll do a couple of simple dinners over the next couple of nights hopefully.

We came home and I watched a bit of TV.  I saw CSI and then Scandal.  Is it me, or is the show just getting really silly?  I know we’re supposed to think how wonderful Olivia Pope is, but honestly, if you’re going to have an affair with a married man, why does it have to be the President of the United States? I did a bit of knitting during Scandal.  I’m getting near the end of my scarf.  Yay!  I’m looking forward to getting it done.

And basically, that was my day.  It wasn’t bad at all really.  Tomorrow I think it depends on the weather as to what I get up to.  If the weather holds, I might be able ride my bike down to my hairdressers and get my hair cut.  I’d really love that.  Or, I might stay home and try to tidy up my clothes in my bedroom.  I’d love that too! Come back and see what I get up to!  Night.

January 13, 2015

Tuesday - Cold and clear

A good day.

I overslept this morning.  Oops.  I had set my alarms to wake up but either they didn’t do the job, or I slept right through them.  I got up finally and had breakfast while watching my silly show.  

I had a quiet morning more or less.  I also did a little bit of cleaning.  I cleaned the bathroom sink and I also went out and did the apartment building sweeping.  It’s our month again.  When I was finishing it up, F came home from work.  Yes, another partial day-off.  This one wasn’t all for him though.  He took his mother to a doctor before taking himself as well.  He did offer to take me, but I didn’t want to go today.

I came back in the apartment and did a few things on my computer.  I watched a bit of TV, including some of the things I’d programmed into the recorder while we were away.  When F came back from the doctor he was very tired.  He snoozed on the couch and I got busy with dinner.

Tonight we had a fairly simple dinner, spaghetti with choice of sauces, plus some stir-fried cabbage with a mix that we bought yesterday.  There was also smoked roast duck too.  We had a nice meal.  I had basil pasta sauce, F had tuna sauce and we were both happy!

F did the dishes and then we relaxed for a while.  At 10:00pm I went over to the couch for Grey’s Anatomy and some knitting time.  I’m still not done my scarf, but it’s coming along nicely.  

And that was about it.  We had a nice quiet day.  I got a few things done around the house and in the evening wrote a few postcards to send tomorrow.  I’m going to have to try and get them scanned and ready to go.  It was a good day. Woot!  Night.

January 12, 2015

Monday - Cold and Snowy

A good day, a nice weekend.

I wasn’t hopeful about our weekend, but it turned out very well.  On Saturday morning, F was much nicer than he’d been in days. He asked if I’d like to go to the doctor and I wanted to.  He took me and I got some medicine which seems to be working. 

We came home and I heated up the stew and we both had some.  it was good!  We threw some clothes into a suitcase and drove to Niigata.  

Our hotel was fine. It was a small room, but the bed was big enough and we went out for dinner to an izakaya that F likes.  It was good that night too. I watched some TV in the room that night and also read some of my book.

On Sunday, we had breakfast in the hotel and then went to an art museum in a hotel.  As it was the celebration weekend of young adults in Niigata, the hotel was full of young men in suits and young ladies in beautiful kimono.  The museum was very interesting.  Some of the art was great, others wasn’t that great, same as usual really.  We also had lunch in the hotel, they had a lovely buffet and we enjoyed it a lot. After the hotel, we headed out of the city a little and went to a senbei factory.  We “made” senbei…we flavoured some plain types and then grilled some others, and ate that with some tea.  It was fun actually.  

Grilled and then dipped into soy sauce senbei

 Back to the city and we went shopping.  We went to look for postcards for me and then to the big mall.  We had drinks at Starbucks, bought some CDs at Tower Records and then a few things including a lovely new spatula for cooking.  

We drove back to our hotel and had a lovely dinner at a Mexican restaurant nearby.  I had wanted to go there for a bit and it was great!  I even surprised myself and had a mojito!  We’ll go there again I think.

We went back to the hotel after dinner, I read and watched Downton Abbey.  Yay.

Soup, salad and bun with hot tea

Today, we had breakfast in the hotel, packed up, and checked out.  We drove over to Billboard Place and then did a little shopping.  I was shocked to discover my tea shop had moved…much further away so I might not go there again. We bought some rooibos tea in a department store sale and I got a few more postcards in Loft.  We had lunch at a soup restaurant and it was nice.  Not too expensive or high cal, and on a cold day, was lovely.

Around 1:30 we went over to LoveLa 2 and did a little looking around.  F had dropped his phone earlier and it didn’t work.  He took it to a phone shop and they fixed it for him.  That was good.  Then, we waited to meet up with a member of my women’s group.  She arrived with her husband and we had tea and talking time!  The men talked for a bit, and we chatted away.  We’re both crafters so we had a lot in common!

After we broke up our little party, F and I had a later lunch and then started driving home.  At one of the rest stops we had a dinner and that was nice.  I had beef stew and F had ramen!  To be fair he didn’t have ramen during the rest of the trip.  

When we got back to Tsuruoka we bought groceries and then came home.  I made tea and we had some treats from our trip. Our apartment is still a bit cold, but it’s getting warmer.  F asked me to go to bed at a decent time tonight, so I’m going to attempt it.  

Not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow.  Come back and find out!  Night.