March 31, 2014

Monday - Muggy and cooler

An okay day.

I got up a little later than usual, but it was fine. I checked my email and did a bit of stuff on my computer, then took a shower.  

I did a couple of loads of laundry in the afternoon. I was washing the t-shirts I bought on Sunday.  I hope to start crafting with them soon.

I had a quiet day to myself. I wrapped my friend's parcel and took it to the post office. I sent it by airmail for a change and it was relatively cheap.  Yay for that.

Around 6 pm I started on my dinner prep.  I cleared the table and set it, then started chopping vegetables and also putting the coating on the chicken.  When F came home I needed a few more minutes, but then I kicked everything into high gear and got busy.  I asked F to warm the tortillas, but he didn't really start doing that until I was almost finished.  I cooked the meat, and then the veggies, and brought everything over to the table.

Dinner was great.  F was a bit grumpy beforehand, so I wasn't sure he'd eat much, but he did!  Yay for me.  We used real lime juice and it really added a zing to the fajitas.

Afterwards, F did the dishes, but he wouldn't do the frypan.  I'm not sure why, but he's being pig-headed about it.  So, fine and dandy, I washed the frypan when he was done. It did take a bit of elbow grease as the sauce baked on the pan a bit, but I got it better looking than before I used it, so that was good!

The rest of the evening we spent fairly quietly.  I watched TV after F finished his program.  Then, I did a few postcards for Postcrossing.  I think I need to catch up with my received cards!  My account seems unbalanced, but I'm sending cards, I really am!

Tomorrow I'm going to do up my postcrossings and take the cards to the mailbox.  I hope that I can get a little bit of my craftwork done so that I can work on my examples for the presentation. 

That's it for me for now.  I've got to go.  Night!

March 30, 2014

Sunday - Rainy and cooler

A good day.

I got up earlier this morning than I usually do on a Sunday.  F had gone over to his mother's to hang her new curtains for her.  I watched a bit of TV and then F came home.  He was a sweetie and he made breakfast for me today.  It was toast and quiche, but how lovely to have it prepared for me!

In the afternoon, F found Okuribito (Departures) on TV and we watched that.  We didn't go out until it was over.  I was a bit surprised that NHK edited out a couple of scenes though.  

We had a late lunch at Marumatsu.  It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either.  It was fairly cheap though.  

After lunch we headed over to Hard Off. I wanted to see if there were more T-Shirts in and there were.  I picked up 6 shirts.  I'll likely have to go back again for more.  I got a notice that said they were having a sale, so I should go and pick up more stuff then!  I don't want to spend too much more money though.  

When we finished at the second hand shop, we decided to go to karaoke.  We drove over to one or our old favourites, only to discover that it wasn't there anymore.  Oh no!  We regrouped, went home for a minute or two and then went over to the Internet Cafe to have karaoke there.  

We had a lot of fun for 3 hours.  I tried doing Let It Go from Frozen.  I was terrible until I decided to just let it go and sing.  Okay, I was still terrible afterwards, but I enjoyed myself more!  We had a bite to eat there, I had pizza, F had a Japanese dish, and then we had to leave.

We went to the grocery store and picked up the makings of fajitas.  I'm going to attempt them tomorrow night.  I made them before and they were really great, I'm just hoping they will be tomorrow too.  

We watched a bit of TV tonight and then F took his bath and went to bed. I'm trying to get there soon too.  I'm tired, but I had a good day.  It was really surprising how nice it was.  Come back tomorrow and see what I get up to!  Night.

March 29, 2014

Saturday - Warm and sunny

A good day.

I slept in a little late this morning, but got up and made breakfast for the two of us.  We had toast and avocado and a piece each of last night's quiche.  Yum!

After a little while we got dressed and went out.  F wanted to go to the internet cafe, so we did.  We spent 3 hours there, we ate lunch there too.  I didn't really watch very much…I started a movie, but am not sure if I'll go back and finish it.  

When our time was up, we left, made a quick stop at home and then went out to the mall.  I did a little shopping, and had a little bit of success too.  

We had a tea at Seattle's Best and then I went upstairs to look at the kitchen goods store and F went to Jusco to get some bandaids.  When he came back, we bought our movie tickets and then went to see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. We really enjoyed it.  For a Ben Stiller movie I was impressed at how gentle it was.  There was one big scene that was dumb and clunky, but apart from that it was well done.  

After the movie, we headed to Tsuruoka and had curry at Coco Ichibanya.  We both had "Grand Mother's Curry" and F won a spoon…again!  He gave it to me, which was kind of nice.

We came home and had a relaxing evening.  I watched a little bit of TV and F went to bed after a while.

It was a good day today.  Tomorrow I'm not really sure what we'll get up to.  I asked F if we can go to Hard Off again, but I'm not sure if he'll want to or if we'll have time or not.  Come back tomorrow night and see what we get up to.  Night!

March 28, 2014

Friday - Warm and sunny

A good day with a bad start.

I woke up around 5 this morning. As I woke up I realized I had a huge headache.  It was bad.  I went to the washroom and then took a couple of tylenol.  I couldn't face going back to bed right then, so I sat on the end of the couch and fell asleep there.  

F got up a little later and found me there, and brought me back to bed.  We had a snuggle until I fell asleep again.  I slept quite late this morning, and really had to rush around this morning getting ready.

However, I basically made it. Yeah! I met my friend and we went over to Fireball for lunch.  It was really good and I think she liked it too.  We had pizza and pasta…her pizza was chicken and gorgonzola cheese, my pasta was smoked salmon and mushrooms in a vodka sauce.  Yum!  After lunch we did a little banking business and then decided we needed an ice cream to celebrate!  We went to S-Mall to do a little business and then had our Baskin Robbins treats.  I had yogurt peach and box of chocolate (or something like that).  Both were really good.  She drove me home and we made tentative plans to meet in a couple of weeks.  

I came in the apartment and started scanning my postcards. I scanned the ones I was sending and then the ones I received yesterday.  After that, I hopped on my bike and took the outgoing cards to the mail box.  That done, I came home and decided to get dinner started.  

I had to do a lot of food prep for my quiche, but it was okay.  F called to say he'd be really late, and he was.  By the time he arrived, I did have the quiche in the oven, but I had to do things like chop and pre-cook the veggies, so I was busy.  

I got the table set and put everything out, and then we ate.  It was good.  The quiche was yummy, and I made the asparagus the same way I did earlier in the week.  We both enjoyed our meal, and I am happy to report that no ramen was mentioned!

We had a quiet evening in.  I made some tea, we watched some of the World Figure-skating and then I put on some of my stuff.  After that, I watched a movie on NHK, Young Victoria, about the young Queen Victoria.  I rather liked it.  

F went off to bed and I really should go soon.  That headache has been bouncing in and out of my head all day.  It's just a little bit away at the moment.  

Tomorrow we might go shopping, and might see a movie, or might go to the Internet Cafe.  I'm not sure yet.  Come back tomorrow night and see what we get up to!  Night.

March 27, 2014

Thursday - Warm and sunny

An okay day.  And, it's my Japanniversary.  I've been here for 17 years now.  

I slept in quite late this morning since I stayed up late last night.  Really late!

I got up and had a quiet relaxing morning. I had a little breakfast, then used my computer for a while.  

F came home for a bit at lunch and then left again.  After he left I took a shower and got on with my day.  My lunch was really late today, but very nice.  

F was a bit late today, but I didn't mind.  When he came home he showed me all of his injuries.  He's banged up his bad toe and hurt his wrist.  It has a huge bruise on it.  I have no idea how he manages to do that.

We tried to decide on dinner, but F pulled one of his, "Hey, if I say where I want to go you will say no," bits again and really upset me.  I had such a lovely day by myself yesterday, I felt good about myself, I was happy, and then he pulls that again.  I went and had a think in my bedroom then suggested a local place that we go sometimes.  I was thinking more about this whole thing, and you know, I don't get to eat my favourite foods either.  I don't get to have roast chicken whenever I want.  I can order it at Christmas, but it isn't really how I would like it. There are no Greek restaurants anywhere near here. I can't walk into a store or a restaurant here and buy my favourite foods.  I'm not deprived, but I am starting to feel like someone needs to just stop whining.  And I don't mean me.

Dinner was fine.  I decided that I'll make a quiche tomorrow night, so bought ingredients for that.  We came home and each watched a bit of TV.  I wrote up 4 postcards to mail off tomorrow if I have time.

And that was my day.  Tomorrow I'm having lunch with a friend and may do an errand or something with her.  In the afternoon I plan to mail my postcards and then get a start on my quiche.  I'm looking forward to it!  Night.

March 26, 2014

Wednesday - Cloudy and overcast, rainy at night

A good day.

I got up this morning, watched a bit of tv, ate breakfast and read the paper.  In the afternoon I decided  to go out, so I did.  I went to a couple of banks to make withdrawals and deposits, then a drugstore.  I came home after that.

I unloaded my backpack, grabbed my book, and headed out again. This time I went to the mall. I had a tea and a sandwich at Doutors.  I read some of my book and then went shopping.  I didn't buy very much, honestly!  

I came home and relaxed for a minute or two.  After that, I got dinner underway.  I had sauteed basil chicken, garlic-lemon asparagus and salad.  It was lovely.  I really enjoyed my dinner.  While I ate, I started watching The Girl Who Played with Fire, the second movie in the Millennium series.  It was great.  I really enjoyed it and thought they did an excellent job of bringing the story out of a really wordy book.  

After the movie I watched some TV and did a little bit of crafting.  I finally tried out the craft that I'm doing in public in June and it worked quite well.  It's more difficult than I thought, but quite rewarding too.

That's about it for my day.  It's been quiet and nice and calm and productive, so I'm quite happy about the whole thing.  That's it for me.  Night!

March 25, 2014

Tuesday - Warmish and Sunny

An odd day!

I woke up this morning because the living room light was on and F was having a panic.  He'd lost his car keys and couldn't find them.  He tore our bedroom, the kitchen and the living room apart, but nothing.  I got up and helped him a bit, but had no luck either.

I get quite upset when F is in panic mode, I'm just not made to ignore it.  He decided to ride his bicycle to work, so I had to help him find the pump and advised him to take a cloth out to wipe the dust off first!

I was up early, and just stayed up.  It was ages before my alarm went off, but I didn't feel I could sleep.  

F popped in three more times during the day, so every time I was almost relaxed, he would come home and tear up the apartment again.  So annoying.  During one of his visits, he told me that his party wasn't today, it was tomorrow.  I was so looking forward to some peace and I didn't get it!  However, maybe tomorrow I will.

When F came home from work I suggested he call JAF (the Japan Auto Club) to see if they would/could open up the car.  He did, but they wouldn't be able to come for two hours.  

We looked for the keys again, but nada.  We waited.  Finally, they came and F was able to get into the car and get his spare set of keys.  Yeah, I'm not sure exactly why his spare set was INSIDE the car…I don't like to ask.

Anyway, we went out to dinner to the Chinese place we sometimes go for lunch.  It was nice.  I had spicy tofu on rice and sweet and sour pork, F had a small ramen and some chicken.  It was nice.

We came home afterwards and finally relaxed a bit. I made some tea and we chilled out.  F has just gone to bed and I'm still up.

Tomorrow F will be away for sure and I will have my lovely day to myself.  I have lots of plans for it, so come back tomorrow and see what I get up to!  Night.

March 24, 2014

Monday - Sunny and warmish

A good day.  

I went to bed a bit early last night and did wake up early, but I went back to sleep.  Oh shucks!

I got up and had a quiet morning around the apartment.  I showered, had breakfast and relaxed a lot.  

I wrote a couple more Postcrossing cards, then scanned them and the ones I received on Sunday.  I took the outgoing cards to the post office and slid them into the slot while the pick up guy was parked right next to the mailbox.  Yay.

I came home and washed the dishes from the day, and tidied up the table.  F called quite late to say he was going to come home soon.  He checked that we had some of the ingredients with me and then went shopping.  

He came home and almost immediately got cooking.  He made spaghetti carbonara for us.  He's been raving about it for months, but he was a little disappointed in how it turned out.  It wasn't bad, but something must have gone wrong as I don't feel it was carbonara.  

I had a really hard time watching him cook the sauce though.  He kept using metal tongs in my non-stick pan…a huge no-no.  I bit my tongue a lot and reminded myself that this was an old pan and I had a replacement for it already.  It didn't help much, but I did it!

I washed the dishes and then as I had just found out at dinner that F had a party tomorrow night, asked him to take me to the grocery store.  He obliged and I got some chicken, salad and asparagus for tomorrow's dinner.  Yum.  

We had a quiet evening in afterwards.   F watched Kickboxing and set up the bread maker for my breakfast.  Yay!  

I watched a bit of TV from 11 on.  Things have been nice today.  

Tomorrow I'll be on my own, but I'm looking forward to it. I have a few things in mind that I will get up to, wish me luck with that! Got to go. Night!

March 23, 2014

Sunday - Rainy and sunny at times

A mostly good day.

Yesterday we drove to Yamagata City and checked into our hotel.  Once we did that, we took baths in the hotel's onsen.  It was quite nice, and not very busy, which made me happy!

After our bath, F called his favourite yakitori shop to see if they were open, so we walked over to the place.  We were able to get in right away, but they hadn't even set up yet.  We watched the cooks build their fires, set up the beer dispenser and shuffle their customers around to make more room.  They did that a little too much and as I was really hungry I even told F that if they did it one more time I was going to move outside and go somewhere else.  They soon got things underway and we were able to have some yakitori.  Most of it was pork rather than chicken.  There was only one that I didn't eat, I let F have the pleasure.  

After our meal, we went to Starbucks and had their Vanilla Frappuchino with Lemony Swirl. That was nice!

Then, we went to the theatre and saw Frozen in English.  I loved it!  It was amazing.  The songs were great, and I loved the story.  I don't want to spoil it, although I feel like I'm the last person to have seen it, but I really enjoyed it.

We retired back to the hotel after the movie and then went to bed around 2 in the morning.

This morning, we got up and had breakfast.  F had a bath again and then we headed out.  My plan was to head to the mall and do a little shopping before heading home.  We shopped at the import food store, had lunch and then headed out.  I wanted to come home, but F didn't.  

I was dragged to the Yamagata City Art Museum where we spent an hour or two looking at photographs and then paintings. The photographs were mostly excellent, of local scenes, but there were a few family groupings that just didn't belong.  The pictures were from a photo competition, so I don't know if they were all the entries or the winners or what.  We also saw some of their permanent collection of art.

We had dinner at BigBoy and had lots of lovely salad. After the night before I really needed it.  

We drove home and got home a bit after 9.  We had stopped at the grocery store first.  F said he'd make carbonara tomorrow, but now he's claiming he's lost his recipe.  Sigh.  

We're having another kerfuffle about bedtimes.  I think I should be able to go to bed whenever the blazes I like, F doesn't agree.  Sigh.  But, I'll try and table that for another day because F was a mostly good guy this weekend.  He didn't have to take me to Yamagata after all, he just did, and that was lovely of him.

Tomorrow I'll have to unpack, do laundry and get myself sorted out for the rest of the week.  Come back tomorrow night for all of the scuttlebutt.  Night!

March 21, 2014

Friday - Rainy and cooler

A good day.  I got up a little later than I have been lately today, but still early.  I watched a bit of TV and then F suggested going out for brunch.  I suggested we eat breakfast at home, so that's what we did.  

We had a nice lunch at Bikkuri Donkey! and then I asked that we go to the craft shop.  I hacked around the store, but didn't buy anything. I did drool over a few gorgeous balls of wool, but wasn't persuaded to buy it.

We made a quick stop at home and then went to The Internet Cafe for a few hours. It wasn't really my idea, but it wasn't a bad way to spend a few hours.  I read some of a magazine, watched a little telly.  No big deal.

For dinner tonight F was wanting ramen (he had some for breakfast) but I said no.  Enough with the ramen.  I asked him what else he'd like and he said soba.  That wasn't what I wanted, but you know, I can compromise once in a while too, so said okay.  We went to a restaurant near his work and had a nice dinner.  I had soba that I had to dip into soup with chicken in it, F had soba.  It was fine. 

We came home after dinner and I've been watching TV ever since.  I did start a new craft project although I'll probably rip it back soon, since I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing! 

Well, tomorrow we'll be driving to Yamagata and spending the night, so I won't be updating tomorrow night. I'll try and let you know all about my weekend on Sunday night.   Come back and read me then!  Night.

March 20, 2014

Thursday - Rainy and cloudy

A good day.

I got up early again this morning. Hmm.  This going to bed early has some benefits I guess.  I watched my TV, had a shower, breakfast and more TV.  

I had my lunch and I watched a few things on TV.  That was nice.  It really was a quiet day.  I had hoped to go out in the afternoon, but I never did. The weather wasn't great and I had other things to do.

F came home briefly to prepare for his party, then left without actually saying goodbye.  I made dinner.  I had tortillitas, from a Mark Bittman recipe.  I made mine with chicken and avocado and they were yummy!

I ate dinner and put on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the Swedish one (Män som hatar kvinnor), and watched that.  It was great!  I have seen the American version and liked it, plus read the book, but the original was well done too.  It seemed a little more raw, not as polished, but exciting.  

I watched an old The Good Wife and finished up my scarf finally.  Yay!  I'm not completely happy with it, but it's okay really.  

F came back a little after midnight, then took his bath.  We'll probably go to bed soon.  

I'm not sure what we'll get up to tomorrow.  I hope it'll be good.  Keep your fingers crossed for me eh?  Night.

March 19, 2014

Wednesday - Cloudy, overcast, but not rainy

A good day.

I got up this morning before my alarms went off.  I know it is crazy, but I did.  I had to fill the kerosene tank, then settled in to watch the rest of Covert Affairs.  

I had a quiet day for the most part.  I watched some TV, had breakfast and lunch, did some laundry, wrote a couple more postcards, scanned them and then biked off to the post office and then then convenience store, and then came home.  

I cooked dinner tonight, and it was quite nice.  We had pasta with chicken and salad.  Simple, but nice.  

In the evening we had some tea and a nice conversation.  I checked the theatres in Yamagata and discovered that Frozen is playing in English there.  I asked F if he thought that we could go and see it and we're going to try!  We've made a reservation at a reasonable hotel and will drive there on Saturday.  With a little luck we'll get to see it.  I'm going to try and make F book us tickets before we go, so we don't have a wasted trip!

I'm excited!  We didn't have any plans for this weekend, even though I had asked earlier if we could make some.  Let's just hope it goes well.  

And, tomorrow night, F is going out with some friends.  I'm really glad for him.  He hasn't gone out for a while and I have, so I think he's quite due for some fun.  

That's it for me.  I have to decide what I'm going to do tomorrow night…hopefully I'll have fun.  Wish me luck!  Night.

March 18, 2014

Tuesday - Rainy

A good day!

I got up early, and so did F this morning.  We had decided to go to the Internet cafe to spend the time while the fire alarm inspection happened.  That was great on my part, but F?  Not so much!  He got up, couldn't find his jeans and even worse, couldn't find his car keys.  I took some garbage out for a change and came back and looked for the car keys.  He had packed them in a bag and put the bag inside a box.  He really didn't want to find them, did he?

We took our recyclables to the grocery store then went over to the Internet Cafe.  As you can imagine, it wasn't very busy at 8 something am, so we were able to get massaging chairs right away.  I spent the next 3 and a bit hours in bliss.  I watched Covert Affairs, part of a movie about Graham Chapman of Monty Python and part of today's Walking Dead episode.  A little before 12, I packed up my stuff and left to meet my friend.

She came to pick me up and we drove off to Komagi Spa and had lunch there.  It was very nice!  We stayed and chatted for a long time, then walked through the grocery/veggie department.  I didn't buy anything, but my friend did.  

After that, we went to the Bussan-kan souvenir area and walked around a bit. I was looking for postcards but couldn't find any. We treated ourselves to some ice-cream. That was nice!

Sadly, that was all the time we had today.  We had to go our separate ways.  She drove me home and then left for hers.  As always, it was lovely to see her and chat with each other.

F was at home when I arrived and we chatted for a bit.  There wasn't any mail today either.  That's about two weeks now with no postcards.  I'm getting worried! 

In the evening we talked about going out to eat.  F didn't want to go to anywhere that I suggested, he only wanted ramen. I didn't.  I told him I'd go out with him if he would take me to the grocery store afterwards.  He took me to a ramen shop, where I had some gyoza and he had ramen.  He didn't like it, my gyoza were okay though! 

At the grocery store, I got a bit of food for tonight for myself and also for dinner tomorrow.  I think I'm going to cook for both of us, but I only planned to cook for myself at first!

This whole food thing is getting to me.  I had rice everyday this last weekend and it was too much. I just want not to have any for a few days, and F is acting like I kicked his puppy or something.  I really don't understand how what I eat or don't eat has anything to do with him.

The evening at home was quite nice.  We had some tea and a small apple pie each from Hirosaki.  I bought them when I was on my trip.  They were good.  Hirosaki is the "apple" city in Tohoku.  

And that's about it.  Not sure what I'll get up to tomorrow, but it'll be fun finding out.  Come back and see me tomorrow.  Night.

March 17, 2014

Monday - Sunny and warmish

An okay day.

I went to bed early last night, but F was restless for a while.  He had a hard time sleeping, so I didn't sleep either for a bit.

I got up fairly early this morning, showered, had breakfast and enjoyed it, watched some TV and enjoyed it too.  I wrote a couple of postcards as well.  

I scanned my cards and then ran them off to the post office. I didn't receive any postcards today, which was terribly sad :-(  My poor postcard blog hasn't been updated for days.  

I came home and after a bit, I cleared the table and washed the dishes. I included the nabe as it had been a while since we used it.  F came home a bit late tonight and prepped dinner.  

While he did dinner, I took to my bed with a couple of tylenol and a hot water bottle.  During the day I started having back spasms…and they continued all day.  The hot water bottle helped a lot, but I'm still having them.

Our nabe was yummy.  I loved it.  We didn't eat it all although I wouldn't have minded doing that!  I did the dishes afterwards, while F got started on cleaning up.  He cleaned up a lot of his stuff, but his idea of cleaning is to put things in boxes and then never look at them again.  He "found" a lot of my stuff and brought it into the living room for me to go through.  Unfortunately, he put it on the couch and it was all covered in icky spiders, dirt and cobwebs.  He put the boxes right up against my lovely afghan.  Now, what kind of person does that?  Grr.

We've made a few plans for tomorrow too.  We're going to get up early and go to the Internet Cafe.  That was MY plan, until someone told me he took the day off tomorrow.  I'm going out for lunch with a friend and he's not coming :-)

Anyway, I have to get to bed in a bit.  I plan to get up early so we can hit up the Internet cafe early enough to get our free breakfast.  Wish me luck with that.  Night!

March 16, 2014

Sunday - Clear and warmish

An okay day.

I woke and got up around 11 am today.  Spent a bit of time on the computer falling asleep, then went over for a bit of a snuggle with F on the chesterfield.  That was sweet. 

We went to Kintaro Sushi for a latish lunch and then did a little driving around Tsuruoka.  We went to have a look at computer mouses at an electronic shop, then F started driving us off to the Mikawa Mall.  I was a tad surprised, but what the hey.  We got there, and walked around a bit.  We had some drinks and a doughnut at Mr Donut and then left the mall again.  

We came home via the taiyaki shop as we thought it was the 100 yen day.  They stopped having that, but we did get some taiyaki to bring home with us.

We ate them at home and a couple of hours later, went out for dinner. We had a coupon for dessert at Cocos so that's where we went.  I had chicken, F had a new dish, chicken with ramen.  Of course he hated it and didn't eat all the veggies.  Sigh.  We had our cake and it was quite good.  One of the ooey-gooey types of cakes.  It was nice.

After dinner we bought groceries.  We decided to have a nabe, but it's a bit of a worry.  Neither F nor I really want to eat each other's food anymore.  When I make something special he gets snotty about it and refuses to eat, and I certainly don't want to eat ramen, so we're a right pair of twits.  Anyway, tomorrow we'll eat nabe, and I hope it'll go well.  

And that's about it.  I helped F fix one of his computer problems, but can't really help him with the other one.  I'm watching a bit of telly before bed.  Tomorrow I'm not sure what I'll get up to, wish me well with it, eh?  Night. 

March 15, 2014

Saturday - Warm and sunny at home, snowy up north.

Beware the Ides of March!!!

I had a good end to my week and a pleasant trip home.  I enjoyed my trip and I think it went well.  

I got up early this morning, showered and then had my breakfast at the hotel.  It was okay.  I went back to my room and re-packed until I got everything in my backpack!  I checked out of the hotel and walked over to the train station.  It wasn't very far, it was only 30 meters or so!   I went through the gate and then went on to the platform.

When I arrived on the platform I was a little surprised.  There were a few people there with their cameras and cellphones at the ready, there was even a man with a tripod and large lens on his camera.  I looked around and tried to see what they were waiting for, but I couldn't. I thought that it might be a special view of the mountain as it had new snow on it.  Perhaps it was a celebrity?  Then I saw it come into view.  The Akebono.  Today is the last regular run of the overnight train.  As it pulled into the station, the photographers went into action.  The people on the train were waving, one window even displayed a sign saying, "Thank you Akebono" in English.  I was a little moved.  I've never ridden that particular train, but just seeing the outpouring of love for it was sweet. A few minutes later, the train pulled out of the station and the crowds dispersed.

When it was time, I got on my train.  I had an easy ride to Akita.  I listened to P!nk and read my book.  I got about 250 pages in.  At Akita I bought an "ekiben" for my next train and got on my train.  Which instead of being a boring cream colour was now a lovely new yellow train.  Woot!  I think today must have been JR's day to change the trains or something.

We got into Tsuruoka on time and F was there at the station waiting for me.  That was lovely of him! We had a tea at Doutors and then came home for a bit.  Although I had a wonderful time, it was nice to be home!

We went out for dinner later on, then to the theatre to see The Dallas Buyers Club.  It was good.  I wasn't sure in all honesty why Jared Leto won the award. I didn't think he was that good, but Matthew McConaughey was excellent.  He did deserve his Oscar.  

We came home and had a quiet evening in.  I watched some TV and F is gently snoozing on the couch.  I'm not sure what we'll get up to tomorrow night. Come back and find out!  Night.

March 12, 2014

Tuesday - Warmer, clear and melting

A slightly better day.

I went to bed just after 1 am last night.  That's the earliest that I've been to bed in months.  I didn't sleep for a while, but then I did.  I woke up when F went to work, but didn't get up.

I did get up well before my alarms today though.  I was quite surprised.  I worked on my computer and then watched my show while I had breakfast and drank some tea.  The Walking Dead was on today too, so I watched that one as well.  Scary stuff, even though I've seen it before AND it was the middle of the day!

F came home and had his lunch during Heartland.  I wasn't sure what to say to him, so I didn't.  He brought me some chicken which I ate a little later. 

In the afternoon I scanned my cards, plus I wrote a couple extra ones, then took them to the post office on my bike.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to ride but there was hardly any snow out.  Yay!  

When F came home he was really quiet for a while. He made himself ramen almost right away, scarfed it down and then watched TV.  I asked that we go out, so a little later we did.  We went to the drug store where I loaded up on things like meal replacement bars in case the trains are greatly delayed.  Two years ago when I took a train to Niigata that got delayed for two hours, I had fortunately brought breakfast along and it saved my sanity.  I would have starved to death if I hadn't brought my onigiri and sandwiches.  

F went to the grocery store for supplies…ramen and beer…and then we came home.  F broke into one of his supplies and is now snoring away on the couch.  

I'm watching telly and trying to psych myself up for my trip. I'm actually looking forward to the train part, just as long as it doesn't get snowed in somewhere!

Well, that's it for me.  Tomorrow I'll be off, so I won't be around until Saturday at the earliest.  Don't miss me too much Dear Internet!  Talk to you in a few days.  Night.

March 11, 2014

Tuesday - Cold day

Not a good day.

I got up this morning at an okay time, had breakfast, basically the usual.  I read my paper as well.  Things were nice. I was by myself and things were quiet.

I had lunch late as usual, but no worries.  I watched The Help today.  I liked it, thought it was a little bit softened, but the performances were good.  

I got the usual "I'm mad at you and not talking to you" treatment from F tonight.  He started making his own food and I reminded him we were supposed to go out for dinner.  He stormed off to the bedroom.  In a little while I went in to talk to him.  It didn't go well.  

I left the bedroom.  Did my computer stuff.  I made dinner for myself later on, then he did the same for himself.  

We've been having angry words on and off at each other all night.  It isn't helping much.  He did ask that I try and go to bed earlier. I've been trying to do that myself, but it doesn't help, and when we've been fighting like this, doesn't make me want to be anywhere near him.  And sleep?  How can I? 

I get blamed for everything that's wrong in our marriage.  I'll accept my fair share, but I'm not to blame for everything.  

Sorry, this is a bit disjointed. I keep writing things and erasing them.  This is the internet and I don't know who's out there!

Oh, and of course it was also the anniversary of 3/11, the big earthquake.  I surprised myself by doing the minute of silence, and got quite emotional seeing some of the scenes from the tsunami on TV. I still remember how scary the earthquake was, and how much uncertainty there was and sometimes still is about the Fukushima situation. 

Anyway, I will sign off now.  I will be away on Thursday and Friday night, depending on how things go I may or may not update tomorrow night.   Night.

March 10, 2014

Monday - cold and a bit snowy, clear in the afternoon

Was a good day at first.  

I got up at a good time today, debated showering and didn't just yet.  I watched my show, had some yummy toast and yogurt, and read some of the newspapers.  

After my first show, I showered and then came back for The Walking Dead.  I also did a bunch of laundry too. In fact, I did two loads, mostly in preparation for my trip.  

Around 5 I had a light and very late lunch then did the dishes.  

F came home around 6:30 and I was just starting to get dinner organized.  My back was sore and I was tired of standing, but I cleared off the table, set it, and then prepped all the vegetables.  Finally it was cooking time.  I cooked, thing went fairly well.  I had just served up the stir-fry and mentioned that I hadn't prepared anything to drink.  He went looking for drinks and I said I was going to sit down and start eating.  He got upset and said that he wanted to get out of the kitchen.  He refused to eat anything and that was that!

I ate, did the dishes, put the leftovers away and left the kitchen.   Then, he went and made his dinner.  

We barely spoke for the rest of the night.  He watched horrid Japanese TV until I took over the TV.  

He went to bed and I stayed up.  As usual.  And that was my day.  It started well, but ended not well.  So, that was my day. I'm not sure why F got upset, but then again, I rarely am sure why.  Tomorrow, the preparations for my trip continue.  Night!

March 9, 2014

Sunday - Snowy and wet

A good day.  A surprisingly good day.

This morning I got up and, well, it wasn't morning anymore…but only just!  F hadn't slept. He'd been up since 5…He'd tried to nap but wasn't able to.  Sigh. Poor thing.

After I got up, we vegged for a bit.  F made us a drink and gave me some toast.  Then we went out for lunch.  We went to Grado and it was really nice.  I had chicken with a gorgonzola cream sauce, F had hamachi with basil sauce I think.  They were both really nice.

After lunch, we went over to the Chido Museum to look at their Hina Doll exhibit.  Every year, they put out different sets of hina dolls.  I liked the ones that were there this year.  We enjoyed the exhibit, had a gander at the garden again, and then went for some tea at Mr. Donut.

We came home for a brief minute and then decided to have dinner.  F was starting to drag and I wanted him to go to bed early tonight.  We went to Sukase, a restaurant that we went to fairly often before.  It has just moved its location and is now where Gozaya used to be.  

We both had their special tonight and it was quite nice.  We had soup, salad, and bread or rice with trout and shrimp.  We had tea and dessert afterwards.  

We went to the grocery store after dinner and bought the makings for tomorrow's dinner. I'm going to do a stir-fry, something quickish and healthy.  

We came home and had a fairly quiet evening in.  I made tea, we watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel again…I love it.  I so want to be Judi Dench in that movie.  

And that's about it.  I will head off to bed soon, so that I can try and get a bit more sleep than usual!  Tomorrow I have a list of things that I need to get on with, wish me luck!  Night.