July 31, 2022

Sunday - Hot and Sunny. 

I slept in rather late today. I woke up early, went downstairs and then came back to bed and slept more. F had turned the AC on again in the room this morning so I could sleep. I hate waking up already sweaty!

I got up around 11 today, but F stayed in bed longer. He had been up for a while and had fed his mother, so that was good. 

Finally, around 2 we dragged ourselves out of the house. We had lunch at Coco's. F wasn’t happy about the choice, but honestly, it wasn’t terrible. We had coupons for cheap drink bar and I didn’t go overboard ordering side dishes, so lunch wasn’t too extravagant. 

After our lunch, F filled up the car with gas and then we went for a drive. We drove to the Mount Gassan parking lot. It was quite a drive, up a narrow mountain road, with not much warning when cars came towards us. Still, the views were gorgeous and it was something that we haven’t done in a while. 

When we arrived at the top we parked the car and took lots of photos. The views were great, but then a big grey cloud came up. It blocked the sun, but we got a cool effect of the sun through the cloud.

At the 8th stage of Mt. Gassan (in the parking area)

We used the washrooms and donated to the cause (they ask for ¥100 to cover expenses…toilets on the top of a mountain are a big perk so no prob.) We took a few pictures, and we ate some chocolate mushrooms that I had bought on a quick stop we made. After a little more walking, we got back in the car and drove down the mountain. The sun was in our eyes for part of the time so it was rather scary. 

F asked if I wanted to eat when we got back, but I didn’t. What I did want was to get K a bento and get some groceries. We tried to go to a new to us grocery store. We did get her food to eat but didn’t get all the groceries I needed. We brought the food back to the house, put it away and then we went out for our dinner.

F suggested that we go to Togashi, our favourite yakiniku restaurant. I wasn’t sure that he really meant it since he often doesn’t want to eat meat. He said he did. We went and were able to get in right away. We ordered a set and also some vegetable soup, beef tongue set, and some kimchi. Everything was really good and we enjoyed our meals.  We were relaxing after a great feast when I realized we had only 29 minutes left to get our groceries and go to the drugstore. We paid and left. 

We ended up just being able to go to the drugstore. We got some necessary stuff and checked out just before they closed.

I asked F to take me over to MaxValu, the 24 hours grocery store, and he obliged. We went around the store and it was bad. F kept following me when I was trying to get stuff done and I didn’t want him to walk as much as he did. I also couldn’t find salads for myself. That was rather annoying. I like to have a lunch salad every day, but they didn’t have any bagged salad at all. 

We paid and that was an experience too. F thought he might not have enough money. He didn’t. He decided to pay by credit card, but couldn’t make it work. I had money in my hand to give him and I finally said to just pay by cash. I gave him money and then he paid. I had packed the groceries as we had to use the self-checkout tonight. We left and on my way out of the door, my handbag’s strap got caught in my glasses cord. I had to stop and fix it, F just kept on going. I was quite upset. He didn’t even notice I wasn’t there. I had to undo everything with one hand as I was carrying the groceries. 

Back at the house I put away the groceries and then came upstairs to watch Project Runway. It was a good episode tonight and I think the right person won as well. So that was good.

That’s about it for me for tonight. It was mostly a good day, but the shopping part was very frustrating. 

Tomorrow I have to do a final review of my column and get it sent in. I have another idea for a project after that, but we’ll see how things go. 

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

July 30, 2022

Saturday - Hot and sunny and humid

Last night when I went to bed F woke up and he went downstairs. I had turned off the AC before bed, but it had bothered him and he was complaining about being dehydrated. Sigh. I finished my book and tried to go to bed before F came back, but when he came back, I had to turn off my light so I woke up!

This morning I slept in quite late and it was wonderful. I had forgotten to set my alarms last night so I didn’t wake up. F came back to the house around 11 I think.  We had a hot drink and he suggested going to Amarume to go to the yakiniku restaurant there. I thought it a grand idea, so off we went!

We had a lovely lunch in the restaurant. I didn’t have the usual Korean-style meal, I had a “good” meat lunch. We added on salad bar today as it was a new thing. That was yummy. I had to help F with his as crutches and salad bowls don’t mix well!

We checked out the farmer’s market but didn’t buy anything today. After we left, F suggested going to the airport and seeing what was going on there. I thought that was a fun idea, so off we went.  We went in and the place was so quiet. It was a bit crazy how quiet it was. We got drinks and went up to the third floor and sat in some chairs and drank. We had a great view of the parking lot. F looked out the window and said, “Oh look, there’s another Vitz that is the same colour as my car.” I looked out and told him that it WAS his car! He didn’t think he parked where he had. I thought it was funny. 

We came back to Tsuruoka and picked up some food for K. We came back to the house and relaxed for a bit. F gave his mother the food we bought earlier and she seemed happy.

F and I left the house around 6:30 or so. F suggested going for okonomiyaki. It’s been so long since I had that so I was happy. He wanted to go to a place in Mikawa, but I reminded him that most of the seats were at low tables, and really weren’t good for him.  I reminded him of the restaurant in Tsuruoka that makes it. If we could get one of their tables, we could go there instead. We went and had a look in the window. Both tables were empty, so we went in. We hadn’t been there in ages so I had my old favourite. F had his old favourite so that was good. We did share a bit and had an order of gyoza between the two of us. 

After our meal, we drove out to Mikawa and got our tickets for Jurassic World Dominion. We had enough points to get a free movie each, so that’s what we did. We both enjoyed the film. It wasn’t a great film by any means, but it was fun.  

We came back to Tsuruoka after the movie and hit up a conbini before coming back to the house. It was nearly midnight when we got back.  At the house, we just had a quiet evening in. It’s been rather nice and friendly.

It’s terribly late now and I really should be getting myself off to bed. Come back later if you like and hear all about Sunday. Until tomorrow….

July 29, 2022

Friday - Hot and Sunny

Last night I went to bed a little late, but when I went to bed, F got up. He went downstairs and didn’t come back for ages. I really wanted to go to sleep, but I couldn’t because It was my light that was on for him. Finally, he came back and I went to bed very soon afterwards.

I woke up this morning when my alarm went off. I got up and went downstairs right away. F was still in bed and I think he was already awake. I came back upstairs and he left. I watched the news and then watched the early morning news too. I sorted my laundry too.

F left a little before 10 am and then I got busy. I did a couple of loads of laundry. Of course, I had to move my stuff out of the corner before I could take down and then put up my fresh laundry. I washed undies because…well, undies, and then a pair of pants and the shorts and t-shirt that I’ve been wearing around the house for the last couple of weeks!

Around 12 F phoned me to say that he was finished with his massage and was on the way back. He asked if I was ready to go and I very nearly was. I had to stop getting changed to answer the phone! I finished and by the time I went downstairs, he was back. 

We went to his favourite restaurant and it was fine. We were able to get in and both of us had their weekly lunch special. It was grilled mackerel and sashimi. It was fine. I’m not a huge fan of mackerel, but it was nicely cooked and tasted good today. 

After lunch, we hit up Starbucks for frappuccinos. I had the espresso Affogato cream one and it was very nice. I wanted to have the peach one, but it was rather expensive I thought. F had his usual dark mocha chocolate chip. We stayed in Starbucks for about an hour. I nearly fell asleep, but it wasn’t too busy. We weren’t hogging seats is what I’m trying to say. 

F wanted to leave and go back to the house but turned the other way. I suggested going to Gyomu Supa since it is during the week and probably wouldn’t be too busy. It wasn’t.  We picked up a few things. I got pasta for a side dish, some shri-lompo for F and he picked up some noodles. 

After we finished there, we went back to the house. F suggested ordering food from his friend’s sushi shop for dinner. I wasn’t too enthusiastic. I’d already had two kinds of fish today and I didn’t want any more. When we got back to the house F talked about ordering food from the place again. I looked at the menu and I didn’t want anything. I finally decided to get him to order me a roast beef salad and that was it. I had leftovers and a bagel in the fridge, what more did a woman need?  I napped for a while and then about half an hour before the food was due, I went downstairs and started heating up my leftovers in my air fryer. I also put away the dishes in the drainer. I put fresh water in the kettle and heated it up…I was busy.

The food came before 7 pm and I got my salad. It looked good, but why is the roast beef in Japan always so rare? My leftovers were perfect and I enjoyed them so much! Sadly, I slightly burned my bagel, but it was still good. We all ate. F and K got tempura on rice. They also got chawanmushi and soup. I got the salad. Honestly, though, I was fine and happy with what I had.  

I was less happy when F left the room without saying anything and then snuck upstairs. I got to do the dishes. Yes, I listened to a podcast but this is why I didn’t want to have food delivered tonight. I always get stuck with cleaning things up. 

I went upstairs and F was all over the bed. I asked him why he left but he didn’t have a good answer. 

I relaxed for a bit and then F asked if I’d like to go and get ice cream. I asked if he meant to go out for ice cream or get it and bring it back. He meant the latter. 

When we were driving I asked if he planned to go to a convenience store or a grocery store. He picked a grocery store. He wanted some things for breakfast tomorrow. We went to the grocery store and walked around and picked a few things out. I got some ice cream for both of us and F got his supplies for his noodles.  We checked out, I packed the groceries and we came back to the house. I made F put the groceries away for his stuff as I wanted him to know where it is!

We came upstairs. I watched an episode of The Mentalist and then took a shower.  I did eat my ice cream and it was good!

My shower was fine and when I came upstairs F was asleep. I’m still up blogging and watching YouTube. I rather enjoyed my evening. It was quiet and sometimes that is just what you need. 

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

 

July 28, 2022

 Thursday - Hot and too sunny!

Last night I went to bed and I hit the timer button on the AC so that it would turn off after an hour. I read for a few minutes and then went to sleep. Unfortunately, F woke me up a few minutes later complaining about the AC still being on. He got up and went downstairs. I had told him he could turn it off if he wanted. I think I was asleep before he got back in the room. 

This morning I overslept for a few minutes, but got up, went downstairs and then came back to bed for my snooze and news watching. I dragged myself out of bed, got dressed and then went downstairs to grab breakfast. During much of today, they were working on the new house next door. It was rather disconcerting to head downstairs and see guys working outside my window! It was quite noisy all day too. 

I came back upstairs to eat. After I did that, I really wanted to take a nap, but I didn’t. Instead, I got stuck into my column. I wrote about two more movies and was congratulating myself on only having to do two more tomorrow. My phone rang. F said that he would take tomorrow off work and what would I like to do with him? Argh!! It’s not that I’m upset that he has time off, it’s that he didn’t tell me until the late afternoon. The deadline for my column is Monday and if I’m off gallivanting with him on the weekend I might not finish in time.

I pushed on for a while and got another movie written about. Whew! That meant I had only one more movie and the conclusion to do. F called me tonight around 5:30 to say he was on his way back to the house. I went downstairs to get a start on dinner.

F showed up early in my cooking time. He went upstairs to change and relax for a bit. I did not get to relax for quite a while.  Tonight I did curry chicken wings from Costco (microwave only), a zucchini salad, a zucchini-and-mushroom sauté, and some okra. There was a regular salad as well. I did some wedge-style fries in my air fryer. I set the table and called F downstairs. Dinner was quite good and everyone ate quite a lot. Yay me.

I did the dishes and listened to a couple of podcasts. That was enjoyable. When I was done, I told F I was going upstairs, which I did. I changed and then went back to my column. I did a final push and finished writing it. That means I can relax and enjoy myself tomorrow. I’ll review it again tomorrow and on Monday and hopefully send it in on Monday. 

I made some microwave popcorn and then came upstairs to watch The Rookie. After it was finished, I turned off the TV and then turned on YouTube. 

So, tomorrow F has an appointment with an insurance person and then booked himself a massage. He was talking about going to his favourite place for lunch, but I’m not sure if his mother will be coming too or not. I should point out that it is HIS favourite place, not mine. I don’t generally mind it, but I don’t love it! Oh well, he rarely asks for places for lunch and it is nice that he has an idea for a change. 

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

July 27, 2022

Wednesday - Hot and sunny.

I woke up rather early this morning. I think F may have woken me up, but I don’t think he meant to. I went downstairs and then came back upstairs and went back to bed. Of course, I overslept and really didn’t get up for a long time. Oh well. 

I got up and went downstairs, grabbed my breakfast and came back upstairs. I ate and then took a nap. Yup. I know.  I just couldn’t stay awake. 

I got up and had a cup of tea. I opened up my column attempt and looked at it. I decided to check out the NHK BS 103 movie and….it was a movie eligible for my column. Woot! I watched it and loved it as much as usual. What was it?  Field of Dreams! It just really is a wonderful film.

Speaking of my column, I got quite a bit done today. I think I’m about on target. The only thing I worry about is if F takes a day off work. I don’t think he will though. He’s been quite busy these days at work.

I went downstairs a bit late today, but since I knew that F was going to be late, I didn’t worry too much. He was late, sad to say. 

Tonight I made a stir-fry with store-prepared veggies. I did add a few mushrooms to it, and some pork that I got last night. We also had salad and I made some bibinba rice using a mix from Costco. There were some mini-tomatoes for K and F too. 

Dinner wasn’t difficult to make, it was just timing tonight. I wanted to wait until F was nearly on his way, but I also wanted K to be able to eat on her schedule. I cooked just before 7 and then the two of us sat down. F came back around 7:40. I heard him but he took a while to get out of the car. I was a touch worried about him as he didn’t move. I think he was watching a video or something. 

I didn’t get dinner started until quite late, so I didn’t get clean-up started for a while. I had done a little early on, but it wasn’t too bad if I’m honest. I listened to my podcasts and then when I finished  I did the kitchen garbage. It really needed it. K has this thing where she makes so much garbage but she doesn’t put it in the garbage can. It rather annoys me!

I went upstairs and prepared my garbage to go out. When F came upstairs I got him to do his as well. A little after 10 I went downstairs and took a shower.  When I finished, I came back upstairs and watched Grey’s Anatomy. It was an okay episode tonight. There was one rather enjoyable scene though. One of the doctors…young and fit…told his patient that she should think about losing weight. The resident who was helping her was a large guy too and he tried to stop the doctor. The patient got rather fed up and tried to leave.  The doctor noticed her real problem and grudgingly admitted that losing weight wouldn’t help her. A little later in the episode, Dr. Bailey went off about the BMI and how ridiculous it is. I thought that was really interesting. Japan LOVES the BMI and it is quite annoying really!

And really, that’s about it for my day. Tomorrow I have to work on my column again. I’m hoping that I can send it in on Monday when it is due. Cross your fingers for me! 

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

July 26, 2022

Tuesday - Hot and sunny

I woke up this morning and the room was already 29 degrees. Oh good grief. I opened the window and turned on my fan. I went downstairs then came back up and put on my water pot and watched the rest of the news. I also watched the early morning news too.

I got up a bit later and went downstairs to grab breakfast. K was bopping around a bit and was wandering around the house in a dress that she hadn’t done up all the way. Since she leaves the windows open downstairs and there are workers in the house being built next door I thought she should button up! I doubt if she understood me!

I worked on my column a bit today and I finished writing about two and a half films. Yay! If I can do the same for the rest of the week I’ll be finished on time. If!

I started watching a bit of a movie but decided not to watch it. Good call I think. I watched the news and then worked a little more on my column. 

I went downstairs around 5:30 tonight to get a start on dinner. I made a roasted vegetable and sausage roast in my air fryer tonight. It worked really well. We had that with salad and the rest of my bean salad. F brought some rice on his way back to the house and so K and F both had rice with their meals. I think it was quite popular, dinner I mean, not the rice!

After dinner, I did the dishes of course and listened to my podcasts. The dishes weren’t too bad tonight as I’d only used my air fryer and I had done a lot of the prep dishes before dinner. I was still hot and tired. We did have the air conditioner going downstairs, but the kitchen still was hot. Too hot.

F got himself ready to go shopping but I had to go upstairs and change my clothes. Tonight I suggested going over to Mina. I asked F if he wanted to stay in the car, and he did. He gave me some money and I did the shopping. Yay.

It was so much easier to go through the store without F. That sounds a bit mean, but I didn’t ask him for advice, which he never gives anyway. It took a while, especially since I had to text F a couple of times about things that he wanted to have. 

We came back to the house and I put the groceries away. I asked F to set up the rice cooker for tomorrow since I’m planning to make a dish with rice for dinner.  He did. 

We had a quiet evening in. I watched some Apple TV and then the new FBI International. It isn’t quite as rah-rah as a lot of those shows tend to be, but I’m still not sold on it. I’m not sure if I’ll be watching it for the whole season. We’ll see!

That’s about it for me. Tomorrow I’m cooking again and also writing part of my column. Wish me luck with it. Oh, and I have to try and stay cool too! It was 30 degrees up here before noon today. I’m afraid I turned on the air conditioner. I was quite dehydrated in the morning. 

I’m digressing again. Tomorrow will likely be just as hot. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow…. 

July 25, 2022

Monday - Hot and sunny

I managed to go to bed a little early last night. The was good. I also woke up a little early this morning. I was less happy about that, but it is what it is. I got up, went downstairs and then watched the news from the bed.

I snoozed a little today, but I also worked on my column. I got a little bit done. Yay me. I’ll have to do more tomorrow and the next day.

At lunch, I used the new toaster oven. It made toast! Woot. It’s a bit different from my old oven, but it was okay. I watched an episode of The Handmaid’s Tale and the news as well. 

In the evening, F called and said he was on his way. He needed to stop somewhere and asked if I needed anything. I didn’t really need much, so I asked for something for the kitchen. I went downstairs and started on dinner.

Tonight I made herb chicken in the air fryer, a white bean salad, and some asparagus. We had a salad too and F and K had rice with their meals. I think everyone enjoyed their meal. I hope!

I did the dishes afterwards and I also took all the plastic bottles I had on my side of the room and emptied them, washed them when necessary, and squashed them. Yay me. I finally got them out of my room.

I came upstairs and relaxed. We’ve been running the air conditioner today, well, I have. It was 30°C today and that’s a bit too hot for me. When I went downstairs to cook dinner, I just turned on the air conditioner downstairs after I closed all the windows and doors. I tried to wake K up, but since she didn’t, I closed the doors to her room! Sorry….I tried.

I took a shower and then watched some YouTube. I was thinking about watching something off the Fire Stick but didn’t do it as F was nearly asleep. 

I’ve had trouble today with my YouTube. I’m not sure why, but it has stopped working on Firefox. It is working on another browser, so that’s good, but I wonder what the heck is going on. 

Anyway, tomorrow I have an exciting day planned of column writing and trying to stay cool. I’m going to cook dinner again and hopefully, we’ll go and do a bit of shopping tomorrow night too. We’ll need a bit more food!

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

July 24, 2022

Sunday  - Sunny and warm, cooler at night

Today turned out okay. I wasn’t sure it would for a while, but it did.

I woke up in the morning, went downstairs and then came back to bed and slept a bit longer. I finally dragged myself out of bed around 11:30.  We didn’t go anywhere for ages though. 

Around 2 pm I finally bugged F to get going so that I could have some lunch! I suggested a few places and then we decided to go to the Bus Depot’s tonkatsu place.  When we got there, we parked and I saw the sign. I thought it said that the last order was at 2:30 and it was 2:28 at the moment. F made us go in, and he saw the sign. 2:30 was the last order during the week. Weekends lunch went much later! I had tonkatsu and F had another dish, a grilled pork. He gave me a taste and it was very nice. I liked mine a lot though.

After lunch, we went over to Musashi and got some of K’s favourite soda and another case of a sports drink. I loaded them in the car. We had another run through the store, F dragged me all over the store and I wasn’t too happy with him, but it was good that he went to see what interested him.

We were going to go back to the house, but I suggested checking out the coffee shop that I had discovered on the net on Friday. It’s not really close to the house, but it is within walking or biking distance for me. We got there and went in. I think the guy was really hoping that we’d eat something, but we were still full from lunch. F had a blend coffee and I had an iced coffee. Unfortunately, their iced tea was made of Earl Grey tea so I had to pass. 

We enjoyed our time in the cafe. I’m not sure if I will visit it by myself very often, but I’m happy that there finally is a place I can go if I want/need to get out of the house. 

We popped back to the house for a little while. F and I carried the sodas into the house and then we spent a bit of time inside. I was upstairs and F came up after a bit and suggested that we go and buy a new toaster oven. I was surprised but was fine with it. I said it was okay if we got K something for dinner first. I was worried that she hadn’t eaten for a while. We zoomed off to the grocery store and picked up a few things for her and a drink for me. 

F delivered the food to K and then we went off to K’s Denki, the electric goods shop.  We looked at toaster ovens and finally decided on one.  F asked for a discount and he got one, so that was nice.  We got help from the store to bring the oven out to the car. I probably could have carried it, but hey, why not take help if you can get it!

After it was in the car, we talked about what to do next. I suggested dinner and either the nearby keiten sushi place or a family restaurant. F wanted the not so close sushi place. We drove there, but it was quite busy, so we went back to the first one. It wasn’t too busy. We had to wait about five minutes, but were able to get a table, so that was nice. 

The sushi place was good, but rather expensive. We didn’t eat all that much as F wasn’t too hungry still. I did enjoy what we had though. I paid and then we went to get groceries. I knew that F had walked a lot today and was tired, so I offered to go inside by myself. He was fine with that. We went to Pal and I bought some food. It took a little longer as it is a shop we don’t go to that often, but it was really fine. 

I picked up a bit of food and then paid. I went out to the car too. F was waiting and was surprised to see me! 

We came back to the house and I put away the groceries. F unboxed the toaster oven and then we set it up. I even washed the grill and the tray that came with it. 

I came upstairs and after a bit watched Project Runway. It was a collaboration between the designers and designers of accessories. It was okay, but I was a tad sad about the person who went home.

And that was my day. F went off to sleep around midnight and I started blogging. 

Tomorrow, I have to work on my column as the deadline is fast approaching and I haven’t done anything on it for a few days. I also have the usual dinner cooking nonsense, so that will be fun. On one of the days, I’ll be using the new toaster oven. I’ll use it tomorrow to make my toast I think too! Fingers crossed it doesn’t burn my toast!

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

July 23, 2022

 Saturday - Rainy and drizzly

Today was an okay day. I got up a bit after my alarm went off and I got dressed. I read my blog and then around 11, F and I left for the doctor’s office. We had our usual time there, grabbed medicine and then went for lunch. F had asked that we go to a soba restaurant. I was okay with that. 

When we got to the restaurant, I was surprised to see that it was a place that I had bicycled by a few times when I lived over at the old apartment. I had always wondered about the restaurant, but never went. 

We went in. F grabbed the menu and ordered right away. I hadn’t even seen the menu…I didn’t really want soba, so how would I know what to order? I ended up getting a regular order of soba with a side of tempura chicken. F, on the other hand, ordered himself a mountain of soba. He said it was something like 700 grams of soba. I don’t know if that was before or after cooking though. It was huge. He also had a little tempura with his. It was ordinary soba, not all that great. I ate it, but honestly, the slurping going on around me was a huge turn off. F had planned a massage for himself for 2:20 and he ate such a big amount of food. I thought he was nuts. 

After we left the restaurant, he wanted to go back to the house. Again, crazy. He had 40 minutes before his massage and he wanted to go across town and then come back to the nearby mall, drop me off and then go on in another direction to get his massage. I suggested just going to the mall if he had to go.

We drove to the mall, taking the “scenic route” and couldn’t find a place to park. F ended up on the roof parking. I thought he was crazy to be honest. He had to climb down a lot of steps and then when he was finished in the mall, he had to climb back up. He’s on crutches. Honestly, he doesn’t take care of himself. 

After a few minutes he left for his massage and I did a little shopping and window shopping. I looked at the new Tokai. It looked great, but I’m not sure it’ll stay as big as it is. Will people come to the mall to go to the craft store? I hope so.

I bought a few things in the hundred yen shop, visited the grocery shop. It was Costco day and they had muffins and pain au chocolate and it looked good. I told F about it later, but he only seemed interested for a couple of minutes. 

I ended up in Doutors with a glass of rooibos tea and waited for F. He joined me a bit later and I got him a drink and myself another one too. We relaxed for a bit and then decided to go and get food for his mother. F wanted to drive across the city to get his mother some sushi for dinner. We ended up doing that.

We did a quick trip to the grocery store and picked up some stuff for K, F and I got a couple of small things too. We came back to the house and F gave his mother the sushi. We came upstairs for a while and relaxed.

Around 7:30 I went over to F and talked to him about going for dinner. He had no idea that it was as late as it was. I suggested a few places and he suggested a high end sushi place. I was okay with that, but when we got in the car, we decided to go to the nearby Korean restaurant. We went there. We had some ideas on the menu, but then F wanted a set meal. We ordered two slightly different ones with extra bowls so we could share. F’s was like salty miso soup, mine was spicy with beef. I enjoyed it, but it was a tad salty too. 

We paid and then came back to the house. I watched a bit of Apple TV and then took a shower. After the shower, F and I had some ice cream and then he’s gone to bed. I think he’s sleeping now. 

It was an okay day. I have no idea what we’re going to get up to on Sunday. I hope it is not too bad, whatever we do. Come back later if you like and hear about my day. Until tomorrow….

July 22, 2022

Friday - Cloudy and drizzly, cooler

I woke up when my alarm went off and I got up. I went downstairs and then came back and watched the morning news. I was ticked off as it looks like they’ve changed the Friday New York segment a bit. I’m not sure if it was just for this week, or if it will be the same next week or two. If it is the same as this week, I won’t bother watching the news early on. I watched the 5 am news too. 

I had a quiet morning. I did have breakfast and a cup of tea. I got dressed and checked a few different things to wear, but ended up wearing a comfy shirt and pants. I think it was a good thing really. It’s too hot and sticky right now to wear  something that is a little uncomfortable. If I’d been planning to come back to the house immediately after our lunch, that might have worked, but I was planning to stay out today. 

My friend came a bit after one pm today, so I went downstairs, said goodbye to K and then went off with my friend.

Today I had suggested Recolte. It’s a French/Italian restaurant across the city. It’s quite good. F and I have been there a couple of times. It can be a little expensive, but the food is good and it tends to be quiet. We drove over to the restaurant and after a bit a fun parking, went in.

We had a lovely meal. They had lunch sets which were around 1500 yen, which was very reasonable for what we got, and also lunch courses. Those were a lot more money, but we didn’t have them. It did look like good value though.

I had a fresh pasta in a light curry sauce with shrimp and some green vegetables. It came with soup (chilled eggplant soup) and a side salad. There was also a small cake with it, but my friend and I decided we’d have the special dessert for a little extra. We both had hot coffee with it. My friend had suzuki (fish) with a butter sauce that she really enjoyed. Hers came with soup and salad as well, plus bread and dessert and coffee. Unfortunately, she is allergic to eggplant, so I got to eat two soups!  The soup was quite small, so it wasn’t too difficult for me. 

The food was lovely, the service was great, and the company was even better. We had lots of talking but finally it was time to go. I used the washroom and when I came out, I found that my friend had paid for lunch. Oh gosh. She really didn’t have to do that, but it was much appreciated. I suggested that I’d pick up our coffees later on!

We drove out to the Mikawa Mall, stopping at a hundred yen shop for some supplies first.  I didn’t buy anything. Woot. 

At the mall, we had coffee and I did buy them. We had a great chat for a while. All too soon, she had to leave, so she went after hugs. 

I did a little shopping in the grocery store and then went upstairs and looked at the craft section.  Their cotton rainbow yarn is on sale and I was sorely tempted to get some. However, I didn’t. Maybe next time?

I looked at the clothing section and tried on a couple of things but they weren’t right for me. After that, it was time for F to finish work. I went to the washroom, and of course he called me!  I couldn’t hear him so I hung up and then texted him later!

When he got to the mall he called again and I told him I’d meet him. I went out to the parking and saw him right away. I dropped off my shopping and then we decided to go and have a drink.

We went to Mr Donuts. I had a Royal Milk Tea and F had their new summer fruit juice. We spent quite a bit of time but finally got on the road back to Tsuruoka. 

F suggested getting chicken bentos for dinner, so we drove to one of the shops and went in. We were able to get bentos, but they didn’t have any rice left. I was fine with that, and we had rice at the house. 

At the house, F made miso soup and made rice for three, even though I had told him I didn’t want any. I didn’t eat it. We had a pretty nice meal but honestly, I didn’t want the miso soup either and I really didn’t need it. I changed my clothes because I knew that I’d be gifted with the dishes and I was right.

I finished the dishes around 9 pm and came upstairs. F followed a little later. I ran the air conditioner more because of the humidity than the temperature tonight.

I watched a couple of shows on Amazon tonight. I watched the end of the first season of The Boys. It ended about the way I thought it might. I also watched The Tick. That show cracks me up. I would think it is for children but the characters swear a lot!

And that was my day. It was a nice one. It was lovely to go out with my friend and have a delicious meal. It was even better to have a meal with someone who talked to me and didn’t constantly have their nose in their phone! 

Anyway, tomorrow F and I have doctor’s appointments and he’s booked himself a massage for the afternoon. I think he’s planning it too close to our appointments, but that’s up to him. When I said that, he moved it 20 minutes later. Eye roll! 

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

July 21, 2022

 Thursday - Cooler and horribly humid

I had a good night last night. I went to bed rather late, but that was okay. I didn’t wake up early, but when I did wake up, I was surprised that F was still here. Apparently though, he wasn’t “still” here, he had come back. He’d gotten up and left for work, but came back. He needed to hit up a drugstore before he went to the office. 

We said goodbye and then off he went.  I watched the news and then the early on news. I did snooze a touch, but got myself up earlier than I have been later.  I dressed and then did the first of three loads of laundry. I finally got it done. Woot. 

I had a quiet day today again, apart from the laundry. I didn’t work on my column, sad to say. I had a nice lunch in the afternoon and then watched Superman and Lois. It was the last episode of the first season. I enjoyed it a lot today. I’ve only seen the last ten or so episodes, but I thought it was quite well done.

I got a couple of messages that were both good and bad. My sister said that her son was accepted into his chosen university. Yay. My husband texted to say that while he was eating lunch in a ramen shop someone hit his work car. Of course, it wasn’t his fault as the car was parked, but he still has to do a report on it. Sigh. I told him ramen was dangerous!!

I watched the news, folded up some laundry and then went back to my computer. I went downstairs a little before 6. The first thing I did was change the battery in the clock. Yay! Now I can tell the time, hopefully. I washed dishes and then waited for a while to see if I’d hear from F. I sent him a text finally and asked if he’d be able to eat hamburger, since that is what I had decided to serve. He texted back a bit later saying that he hadn’t left work yet, but would soon. He also didn’t know about the hamburger. 

I wasn’t really doing any cooking tonight. Everything that I put on the table was prepackaged and I didn’t have to do too much work! I was glad about that! 

F called on his way and asked if I needed anything. I sent him to get something for his mother’s breakfast and a salad for us if he was okay to do that. 

F arrived a bit after 7 and we ate a few minutes later. There was prepared hamburger, I’d cooked some spinach from frozen, we had salad that F bought and there was also bought potato salad from the store. It was all really good and went down well with me and K. I think F liked it too. He did eat a bit.

I did the dishes after dinner, which didn’t take that long. I didn’t have any pans or really dirty things, so it was fine. 

I came upstairs and ended up watching an episode of The Boys. I really don’t know about that show. It’s terrible, but also really good!  The characters are awful, even the good guys are bad…I like it though.

I took a shower and then came back upstairs and watched The Rookie. It was a good episode mostly set in a hospital. 

I turned off the TV and got into my computer stuff. F and I have chatted a little, but I think he’s sleeping now. He’s still not feeling all that great, which makes me a bit worried. Hopefully he won’t be sick this weekend. 

And that was it for my day. It turned out quite nicely. Tomorrow I’m off for lunch with a good friend and I’ll likely not come back to the house until F finishes work and picks me up.

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

July 20, 2022

Wednesday - Rainy and humid, cooler

F didn’t wake me up this morning, which was good. I did wake up once around 6:30 or so but fell back asleep after that. I got up at my usual time, well, a little later, and then I watched the news.  At 9:00 I watched “the piano show” and enjoyed that. I did snooze a bit when it finished. I had a very hard time dragging myself out of bed today. 

I went downstairs and grabbed my breakfast. I didn’t do any laundry today but decided it was okay. 

I had a quiet day. I did more work on my column and actually got it started. Yay for me. I did a bit of research first and I’ve seen some of them recently, so that would be good. I might rewatch some if I have the chance.

When I grabbed lunch, I tried my toaster again and it worked. The timer didn’t stop on me, which is good! It toasted my bread. Yay. I came back upstairs and ate, while I watched something off the DVR.  It was so long that I couldn’t watch it all before the news.

I watched the news and didn’t hear from F tonight again. I went downstairs around 5:45 and started on dinner.  Tonight I was making steam shabu-shabu. After I did the dishes, I heated up the water in my pan and got on with cooking dinner. While I was cooking I texted F to see if he wanted to join us for dinner. A few minutes later he texted me back and said that he’d be leaving work soon. 

I got dinner on the table fairly quickly. We had the steamed pork slices, steamed cabbage, salad and some okra. It was very nice.  K and I ate.  I had set F’s place and left the plates empty in case he came soon.  Unfortunately, when he arrived, he said that he wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to eat anything. He’d been quite unwell for a while he said.

K and I ate and then I cleared the table. I washed the dishes and listened to a couple of podcasts.  When I was done, I went upstairs to change. It was so humid that I was soaking wet. Bleck. I changed and then put all my garbage together. When F came back up I asked him to put his garbage together. He did. I took it downstairs. F took a shower a bit later and while he was gone I turned on the TV and watched the rest of my show from earlier in the day. It was a three-way crossover of the FBI shows. There’s going to be a new one starting soon, I guess this was the intro. It was okay. Nothing terrific yet, but that’s okay.

I also watched an episode of The Tick tonight before I turned off the TV to wait for Grey’s Anatomy. It was okay tonight. Some fallout from the accident with Owen and his wife…and some of the things that happened last week.  

F and I have been getting on better. He really isn’t that well at the moment. He may have eaten something at lunch that disagreed with him.  I feel sorry for him, I really do.  

Normally, I would have asked F to take me out tonight to get groceries, but with him not doing well, I didn’t want to ask him. I think I have enough for tomorrow night anyway. There won’t be fresh salad or veggies, but I have some frozen vegetables in the freezer.  

Anyway, tomorrow should be a bit busier as I have to do my laundry. I’ve got plans on Friday, so need to get my usual stuff done early. 

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

July 19, 2022

 Tuesday - Rainy and humid

I went to bed a little early last night. It was probably a good thing since F decided that he needed to make as much noise as he possibly could this morning. I think he was doing it on purpose to get a rise or to wake me up. He let his alarm ring twice, turned on the lights, dropped things…in other words, just letting me know that he was being a jerk on purpose.

He left, and I got up. I watched the news at 8:00am and afterwards did snooze a little bit. I was tired and upset.

I had a very quiet day today. I barely saw K since I didn’t go downstairs very much. I had breakfast and then lunch later on. I watched an episode of The Handmaid’s Tale while I ate. I enjoyed the episode for a change. 

I knew that I wouldn’t hear from F when he was finished work, and I didn’t. I went down early and started dinner. I did a quick and easy one today. Grilled chicken, steamed mushrooms and salad. There was leftover grilled corn for K too. I thought there was rice, but there wasn’t. Oh well, I didn’t care about that. 

F arrived just as I was setting the table. I asked him if he’d eat with us, but he said he wouldn’t. K and I ate and it was okay. After dinner, I cleaned up and did the dishes. I was out of the kitchen before 8 pm so that was a good thing. One sad kitchen thing happened though, the timer stopped on my toaster oven. Sigh. I was baking the chicken and the noise of the toaster suddenly stopped.  It was still baking though. I checked the temp before serving the chicken and it was fully cooked. Whew. I’m sad about the toaster oven. It was bought by my company when I came over to Japan, actually before I came to Japan. It’s more than 25 years old then, and it’s worked extremely well. Now I’ll have to get a new one. Probably.

I went upstairs and went on my computer. After a few minutes, F went downstairs and made his dinner I think.  

I had to clean up the burnable garbage in the kitchen tonight as the bag got full over the weekend and no one thought to put it out. I have to leave it in the kitchen until tomorrow night though. Yay!

F took a shower and did a load of laundry. I went downstairs later and took a shower of my own. I didn’t watch any TV tonight. I’m a bit sad, but F is still rather angry with me, so I thought it politic not to watch TV. 

So that’s about it for me for tonight. It wasn’t as bad a day as yesterday, but it was hella humid tonight. Argh. 

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

July 18, 2022

 Monday - Marine Day - Hot and Muggy

I didn’t want to get up this morning so I didn’t. I really wish that I had stayed in bed all day. I stayed in bed quite late but finally dragged myself out of bed and over to my computer. F did ask if I wanted to go for lunch, but I honestly didn’t. For a long time, I didn’t want lunch and then I did! Around 2 I asked F if he’d like to go to Arpeggio. We drove there, but got there just at 2:30.  Basically, F dawdled so long that we missed the last call. They apologized and said that they were out of rice, so we couldn’t eat there.

After that, we drove around Tsuruoka, looking for a place where we wanted to eat. There wasn’t anything. If I said I’d go somewhere, F wouldn’t and vice versa. We literally drove all over Tsuruoka. I thought he was crazy. Finally, he started talking about a place near the river that had light lunches. It finally twigged that he meant Kissa Marina and I said it was fine. 

We could get in and were seated right away at the counter. After a few minutes, they asked if we’d like to move to a table and of course, we said yes. We moved and then ordered. I had shrimp and avocado Genovese pasta and F had a roast beef donburi. Both meals came with soup, salad and a drink. F’s roast beef was a little tough, but I really enjoyed my meal. We paid and left.

I suggested getting groceries next, so we drove over to the grocery store and I went in and picked up some groceries for the next couple of days. F asked me to get him some senbei which I did. I came back to the car and we came back to the house for a bit. I put the groceries away and then went upstairs. 

F vegged on the bed for a while and then around 6:30 he asked me if I wanted to go shopping.  I had wanted to go to S-Mall to see if my craft store had opened yet or not, but it hadn’t according to the website. We went to the local grocery store at my suggestion to get something for K’s dinner. F as usual was so picky. He would pick things up and then put them back two minutes later. Frustrating. Oh, did I mention that we had a big blowup in the parking lot before we went into the store? We did.

We came back to the house and F gave his mother food. I came upstairs and stayed at my computer, and had a cup of tea if memory serves. I got a text from F asking me to come shopping.  I finally decided that I would. I wish that I hadn’t gone.

We started driving, but I had no idea where we were going. We went to a ramen shop. F asked me to come in with him but I wouldn’t do it. I asked him what I could eat there and he said chahan (fried rice). Just the idea made my stomach churn. I felt off the whole weekend, so I didn’t want it. He went inside and ate, locking me in the car.

After he finished, we went along the street to Yamaya. I grabbed a basket and picked up a few things that I wanted for myself or the kitchen. I looked around for F but he wasn’t there. I bought my stuff and felt really resentful that F didn’t pay for the kitchen stuff.

As he didn’t care if I ate or not…that is what he said, we headed towards the house. As we got close to the house I asked him to take me to the 7-11 on the corner near his house. He did drop me there. I went in and picked up a few things for dinner.

When I got back in the car we had words and then spent the next couple of hours arguing and driving. It wasn’t good, which is an understatement. When I wrote out what really happened I decided that I couldn’t post it.

We finally came back to the house and I heated up my food and ate it. I also prepared the plastic garbage to go out tomorrow. 

There is a possibility that I won’t be around for a couple of days. I’ll most likely show up again when I feel like it. I’ll probably be here, you just never know. So, I’ll talk to you when I talk to you. Until tomorrow….?

July 17, 2022

Sunday - Hot and Sunny, with some clouds

I went to bed quite late last night and then this morning I slept in. It was wonderful!  I woke up early, made a trip downstairs and then went back to sleep. When my alarm at 11 am went off I was very surprised! I got up after a bit longer and started to get dressed. I didn’t finish though. F came back upstairs and we had a bit of a snuggle. We stayed in the room for a while under the air conditioner. It was lovely. 

F suggested going for sushi and I was okay with that. We drove over to Kintaro Sushi and parked, but they had already finished lunch. Sigh. We spent the next few minutes driving around trying to find places to eat but ended up going to Gusto. It was fine. F hates on Gusto, but if you are careful about what you order, it’s fine. F had fried chicken (kara-age) and I had grilled chicken with veggies and lemon. 

After lunch, we were parked next door to Gyomu Supa, so I suggested leaving the car where it was and going over there. I said I’d go by myself because I didn’t want F to have to walk all that way. Of course, he walked. Sigh. I grabbed a few things that I needed/wanted, F picked up a couple of things and then we checked out. 

One of the things that we decided to do today was to try and have a test drive on the type of car that F is considering buying. He wants to get a hybrid car and thought about buying one from a different company than he usually goes to. We went to the company and were seated, given some brochures and some bottled drinks, and had an interesting time. I’m not sure if F is still considering that car or not. We wanted to go for a test drive, but apparently, they didn’t have one of the cars in the dealership at the moment. That seemed odd to me!

We drove around Tsuruoka for a while and then I suggested going to a hundred yen shop in Mina. I needed a washroom and there was one I could use there. F was okay with that, so off we went.  We went through the shop…it was upstairs, but there is an elevator so F didn’t have to do the steps. F didn’t want anything, but I bought some writing paper and a thing of chips. The writing paper is sweet…I don’t know who I’m going to write to as I rarely write letters these days, but I’ll try to catch someone. 

F had left the store before I did, so I met him in the car. I realized I wasn’t feeling that great, so asked if we could go back to the house for a while. F obliged me, and we went to the house.

While we were at the house, F suddenly asked me if 7:40 was an okay time. I didn’t know for what, but he said it was for our reservation for Kula Sushi. Of course, I said it was.  

We spent an hour or so having a bit of a veg in our room. Soon enough it was time to go. K came with us and we drove over to Kula Sushi.  We had to wait for a while but did get to sit fairly soon. We ordered some of our usual side dishes and some okay sushi. I noticed that K was full long before F did. I keep asking him NOT to order so much food for her, he mostly listened tonight. 

After dinner, he brought K back to the house. We spent a few minutes there, making sure that she took her medicine. After that, F and I went out for ice cream.  I had some ice cream in the freezer from a few days ago, but K ate it this morning! Sigh.

We went to McDonald's near MaxValu and both of us had Flurries with mango and calpis. I liked the mango part of it! We had a nice time.

On the way back to the house, as F changed gears and once again banged my leg with the gear shift, I said it would be nice to have a bigger car so that he didn’t have to bang my leg every time he shifted gears. He got angry with me and said that he had to do it. I was really surprised at how quickly he turned from happy to angry. I wasn’t really angry at him then, I was just thinking that it would be nice not to have to worry about it anymore. 

We came back to the house, and he headed into the washroom, I went upstairs and grabbed my towel and PJs and came downstairs and took a shower. 

When I came back upstairs I did talk a little to F but didn’t say much. I watched tonight’s Project Runway and enjoyed it. I turned off the TV and then went over to YouTube. 

And that was my day. We had some nice times, but then F got grumpy. If I was being charitable I’d say that it was because he was in pain and he was tired. If. 

Come back later if you like and hear all about the last day of the long weekend. Until tomorrow….