March 31, 2017

Tales from the Move

Friday - Cloudy but pleasant

A good day.

We did our usual get up early and drive to the convenience store this morning.  I really enjoy my morning coffee.  F dropped me off at the apartment this morning and then went on his way to work.

I’m afraid that I didn’t do too much this morning.  I did a couple of loads of laundry for F and a couple for myself, and hung it all up.  I took down my dry stuff and folded it up, stuffed some of it in my suitcase too.  

F came to the apartment with his lunch, and heated up his noodles in the microwave. They were in a plastic container and he put it on for 6 minutes.  When the time was up, the container had melted over the noodles!  He still ate them, said they were fine.  I would probably have thrown them out personally, but then again, I wouldn’t have been eating noodles in the first place!

I took a shower and then headed off to see if my hairdresser would have time for me.  When I got there, she said she was meeting with someone and asked me to come back in 30 minutes, which I did.  I went to S-Mall and just hacked around for a bit.

I didn’t take a photo with me this time as they were packed/my printer is packed, so I just asked her to cut my hair in the same way as usual.  She did a lovely job and I was so relaxed I nearly fell asleep!  After she shampooed my hair, she noticed that she had missed one of the hairs above my ears so tried to cut it. Unfortunately, my hair is fine and light so it was hard to see.  By the time she picked up her scissors, she couldn’t find the hair again!  I just laughed, and then we were both laughing.  She’s a fun person.

When she was finished with me I looked better and felt a lot better.  I paid and walked back to the mall.  I had a soy latte at Doutors and waited for F to call me. He didn’t, so after an hour I walked home again.

At the apartment I decided to do a few things and tried piling up empty boxes in one corner of the tatami room.  I got a few done, but F was on his way by then.

He brought in some kerosene for us and then went to his house to deliver some for his mother and also to take her some food.  

When he came back to the apartment he had lost his wallet.  He was going to go looking for it, but I said that I had enough cash to pay for the Internet Cafe.  We drove over there and were lucky enough to get a massaging chair each.  Yay.  

I watched Castle and Numbers…dozed a little, and also knitted a little too.  A few minutes before our 3 hour limit was up, I roused F who was watching wrestling.  We checked out and then came to F’s house.  

At the house, F looked and looked and looked for his wallet.  He didn’t find it, so decided to drive over to the apartment again.  He didn’t find it there either.  He searched the car and finally found it.  It had fallen under his seat and he wasn’t able to see it in the dark.  Hurray.  I’m glad that mystery had a happy ending.  

Unfortunately, when F had been to the house earlier, he had forgotten to turn on the heater in our room, so it is quite cold.  I’m all bundled up in sweatpants and sweatshirts and fuzzy socks.  I have my coat around my shoulders and my quilt around my body. And I’m still cold.

Tomorrow I am not sure what we’ll get up to.  I am hoping to go back to the apartment and make F make some phone calls to book things like tatami makers and moving vans.  His mother may have other ideas, however!  I hope that I’ll be able to update tomorrow night.  Until tomorrow….

March 30, 2017

Tales from the Move

Thursday - Sunny with rain

A busy day.

I woke up early and checked my phone today. I got a lovely note from a friend telling me that she had had her baby yesterday.  A lovely little girl.  I’m so happy for her and her family.  Yay.  I looked over and F was watching me check the phone, so I told him too.  

I dozed off again, and had a rather hard time waking up at 7:00 this morning.  Still, I did.  I got up, dressed and went out with F.  We said a quick good morning to F’s mother and then took out the gomi to the corner of the street.  We drove off.  This morning, F stopped at the Family Mart near my post office and we each got a coffee.  It has nice coffee I think.  F dropped me off at the apartment and since I was carrying a lot, even helped me get into the apartment.  Once he left, I took even more garbage out and then came back into the apartment.  It was cold, so I turned on the heater and vegged a bit.  I even made more coffee when I finished my bought one! 

I watched ER and had tea and breakfast, then got to work.  I turned off the TV and worked all through the rest of the morning.  I found another box of F’s and went through it.  I hope he’ll never notice that I took out the ten year old travel brochures!  

F came home for lunch just a bit after I decided to stop there. He ate and then headed out again.  When he left, I got back to work.  I folded a few clothes and then put them in my suitcase to go out again. I had planned to go for a haircut, but it started to get cloudy and I decided to stay home.  Maybe tomorrow?

After lunch of baguette and chicken salad, I went back to work.  This time I decided to clear the island, or most of it.  I took stuff off, boxed it up and wrapped it up and finally tried to clean the surface.  F had so much junk up there it was ridiculous.  Although I am not a tidy person, I am finding that he had so much more clutter all over the apartment than I did.  I tended to keep mine in my areas, he spread it everywhere.  Anyway….

I got that area done and looking decent and was about to quit for the day.  However, F called to say he was going to be late today so I decided to keep working too.

This time, I moved into the corner of the room that housed F’s stereo.  I didn’t like using it as I feel that it ate my cd’s. It was dusty and under a lot of junk, so I cleared it up.  I even found two of my own cd’s that I thought I had lost.  Yay.  Anyway, it looked much better after I was done.  I was putting the finishing touches on the area when F called to say he was coming home.

I changed back into clean clothes and then he was home.  We chatted for a bit, he did a few things around the apartment, and then we headed off.  

Tonight I suggested just going for something simple like Kappa Sushi or gyudon, so he went with Tsukiya.  We both had gyudon with kimchi. It was spicy, but good.  I had mine with a salad and miso soup, he had his with an egg and miso soup.  

We picked up a few groceries after dinner, dropped some off at the apartment for me tomorrow and then came back to F’s house.  His mum was sleeping already, but seemed happy to see us.  We came upstairs and spent some friendly times together.  I showed him how to play some of the games I have on my computer and we just relaxed.  

F wants to go to the Internet Cafe tomorrow night, so I’m not exactly sure how that will work.  I hope it does! We’ll have to tell his mum we’ll be out late.  I hope she’s okay with that.  

If the weather is okay, I might go to get a haircut tomorrow, or not.  I might keep it all until next week too, it depends how much work I manage to get done.  It is still chaos at the apartment, but much less than it was.  Hurray for that at least.  

Not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow, please come back and check it out!  Until tomorrow… 

March 29, 2017

Tales from the Move

Wednesday - Sunny with some rain in the afternoon

A goodish day.

I got up early again this morning and went out with F when he left for work.  We stopped at the 7-11 for coffee which was nice.  I’m starting to get into coffee in the morning.  

He dropped me off at the apartment and went off to work.  I turned on the heater and vegged for a bit before getting to work.  I had breakfast and tea over ER, but went through another box of his stuff.  I tossed a full bag of garbage from his box.  Does anyone really need travel brochures from 10 years ago?  Answer…no, no they do not! I kept books, I kept any papers that looked like they might be important, but tossed a lot.

I pulled a few things down from the top shelves and played keep or throw for a bit, but left it after a while.  F came by for lunch and brought me some food.  He made his own food, and promptly dropped some of it on the floor.  Sigh!

I wasn’t terribly motivated in the afternoon, but did pack a few things in one of my suitcases, and then decided to do the garbage up for tomorrow.  Thursday is the burnable garbage day.  I had a mostly empty bag so went looking for more garbage.  I checked through the freezer and tossed a few things, and then my eyes fell on F’s bread basket.  It was full to the brim of things for making bread.  I got busy (she says chuckling to herself like a maniac)…Anything that was more than 6 months past its expiry date went out, and even a few things that were less than 6 months past that.  It had been overflowing before, no more.  I washed the actual basket out, and then put the stuff I didn’t turf back into it.  Lots of room now.  

In all I prepped 4 bags to go out, and also put the ironing boards, irons and a couple of boxes by the door to go with us.  

During the afternoon I also took a shower.  I finished up the sachet of shampoo I had bought at the conbini on Friday…I tried a silicon-free shampoo and my hair has felt really shiny and silky ever since.  It also wasn’t itchy which is a major bonus for me!  I had planned to go and get my hair cut earlier, but didn’t.  Oh well.  There’s always tomorrow.

When F finished work he came to the apartment and picked me up.  I had asked him to buy me some bread…he brought me a baguette for tomorrow.  I’m not sure I’ll be able to eat it, but I’ll try.  It looks good, but might be hard.  

He had to pick up some food for his mother and I wanted to pick up a couple of gift bags at the 100 yen shop.  We divided and conquered.  I got some cute bags for my blankets that I am giving away, plus some extra coffee and teas for the apartment.  I’m drinking a lot while I’m there.  

Then it was time for our dinner.  F suggested a good fish restaurant which was fine.  Unfortunately, the parking was full.  He then suggested a place I refuse to go and was throwing a bit of a tantrum about it.  The next place I thought of was closed, so then I asked about the chicken izakaya.  We went there.  We had to sit in the outer section, but they turned on the heater for us and it was fine.  We had some nice chicken dishes, a bit of salad and then were good to go.  

At F’s house, we unloaded the car and put it all in the garage.  We also had a couple of framed jigsaw puzzles too.  They went upstairs in the garage.

We went into the house and then I came upstairs.  

I did a little unpacking tonight.  I did a couple of boxes of cds.  I think I have most of them now. I put them in my racks.  That was fun, except most of my racks are full now!  I also found a dress and a skirt that I didn’t remember in my wardrobe, and miracle of miracles, my old Pentax from college.  The camera case is a bit mouldy and I think I should have it checked out in case it isn’t working well, but I have been wondering where that was for years.  So yay.

I played solitaire on my computer while F watched.  He’s snoozing now and I should get some sleep soon too.  7:00 am is early for me and I have to get up and be out before 7:30 tomorrow.  

I’m not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow.  I hope it’ll be more packing and sorting… or it could be some going to get a hair cut.  I’ll keep you posted!  Come back tomorrow night and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

March 28, 2017

Tales from the Move

Tuesday - Sunny with a bit of cloud

An odd day.

I got up with F in the morning again and we headed out.  We stopped at Family Mart this morning for their coffee and then F nicely dropped me off at our apartment.  

I grabbed a box of stuff out of the tatami room and went through it.  F had packed it and it had a bit of everything in it.  It took me a couple of hours to go through it properly and afterwards I had a full bag of garbage, and a big pile of papers I wanted F to check through.

F stopped by once to bring me a salad and to pick something up, but most of the day I was in the apartment alone.  I did go out to the post office to deposit some coins in my account.  I’ll miss having a post office so close.

After I repacked some of the box with the stuff I’m sure he wanted to keep, I did some cleaning in the tatami room.  Our ironing board’s foam had disintegrated over the years and was all over the place. I cleaned it up, and got stuck in a few other places too.  I had some lunch and finished up the bread pudding today too.  Yum.  

F was feeling quite tired today and also said he wasn’t hungry.  I suggested going to Marumatsu for dinner, and it turned out to be an okay idea.  The food was pretty good tonight.  I had a katsu dish in soup and gave F most of my rice, he had a soupy dish with natto. Blergh. 

F had called his mother before we had dinner to see if she needed anything and she was a bit shirty on the phone to him. She said that she wanted us to come home early.  Well, we’ve done nothing but come home early in my humble opinion, so nuts to that.  However, we did come in before 9 pm and didn’t bring in a lot of stuff with us tonight.  

F and his mother had a few words downstairs while I came upstairs.  I told F that I was a bit worried about his mother trying to tell us what to do.  We are both in our fifties after all. It isn’t like we are young and crazy and in need of guidance! I can see that this will be a bone of contention in the future.  

In our room upstairs I played Patience with actual real cards for a bit and F took a bath and is now reading.  

Tomorrow I am going to the apartment again.  I might go and get my hair cut if the weather or the mood strikes me.  I’m not sure about that though.  I think I will take things out of the closet in the Tatami room and see what is there. I’m hoping that some of it can be thrown away…we really need to cull our stuff.  

That’s it for me for now.  I know I won’t be actually posting these entries until I have the internet again, but I am in the habit of blogging, so like to write about my day.  Talk to you later eh!

March 27, 2017

Tales from the Move

Monday - Rainy

A good day.

I got up early again with F and dressed, then we went off to work.  We stopped at a convenience store for some coffee and a danish.  They have a 200 yen special so it really isn’t too bad.  Of course I didn’t NEED it, but the coffee was good.  F dropped me off at the apartment and then went off to his paid work!

I had taken back a big suitcase of stuff from the house from when I lived there before.  I spent quite a bit of the morning going through it, trying things on and culling a lot of the items from the suitcase.  Some things are nice, but really unnecessary nowadays.  I don’t need a bright red, satiny shirt…don’t have anywhere to wear it.  Not like I can wear it to the grocery store or anything. Well, I guess I could technically, but I might cause a sensation.

F swung by to give me some good news.  We don’t have to be out by the end of March.  That is particularly good news since F is the one that hadn’t made any arrangements for things to be finished at the apartment. He has to make arrangements for our fridge to be moved out and also our bed and table, that kind of thing.  He hasn’t done any of that.  

I took a bit of a rest during some of my telly and then got back to work.  Today I worked on the bedroom a little, and also the kitchen.  I boxed up quite a few things, tossed a bit, and wrapped and boxed some glasses and more kitchen stuff.  Tomorrow I think I’ll work on the tatami room, since that is one area that we’ll have to get workers in soon.  

I had a few breaks for coffee, tea and bread pudding, and of course lunch.  I heated up some turkey chilli for myself and it was nice.  

Fumihiko picked me up and I asked that we go for coffee or something so I could get a bit of free wifi for a change.  We went to Doutors and had a little break.  After that, we went to the grocery store to  pick up a few things for F’s mother and F too.  I bumped into a British friend of mine and her friend from Malaysia, so spent a few minutes chatting.  I’ll probably meet up with my friend next week for lunch.  

F and I had a quick and actually quite good dinner at Gusto before we went back to F’s house. We unpacked the car.  F’s mother helped us by bringing all the boxes to the bottom of the stairs.  I very carefully carried them back the other way when she was out of sight!  They weren’t supposed to go upstairs!

Upstairs, I unpacked two of my smaller suitcases and put the clothes in them away. Yay for me.  I also “found” a dress that I have no memory of buying for myself.  I tried it on and it is lovely!  It’s a black and silvery lacy dress, with a fringe on the bottom so it is almost flapper-ish and it fits beautifully!  

After all of this, I got out the blanket that I finished crocheting last night and darned in the ends.  I found a bit of a mistake I had made before, and fixed that too, so it took longer than I expected, but…it is done!!!! It looks lovely.  I will try and post a picture to my blog soon.  

That’s about it.  Tomorrow I’ll go back to the apartment and try and get more of the stuff corralled and boxed and cleaned and whatever!  Wish me luck with that. I’m going to need it!  Until tomorrow…

Oh, wait a minute!  Today was the 20th anniversary of my coming to Japan.  Yes, 20 years ago I arrived at Narita Airport with two suitcases and a lot of hopes for the future.  I never expected to still be here 20 years later.  Most of the time I am glad to still be here!

March 26, 2017

Tales from the Move

Sunday - Sunny and warmer

A good day.

We all slept in a bit this morning.  I didn’t drag myself out of bed until 10 something-ish I think.  F and I were going to go over to the apartment and grab lunch on the way, but his mother asked us if we’d like to go out, so we went out together.  She wanted ramen but I don’t eat that, so we ended up going to a Japanese restaurant near a shopping centre.  It was okay and she was able to have soba so was quite happy with that.  After lunch, we did some shopping together and then dropped her off back at the house.

F and I went to the apartment and got to work.  He did a lot of boxing and cleaning, I really hope that he didn’t just pack up all his old crap.  I kind of think he did though.  I boxed up a lot of the Kitchen stuff, and a lot of the stuff in our bedroom, my stuff that is.  I have a bit left to do, but more and more of our stuff is coming over here.  Around 7 pm we quit for the night.  We needed a break!

We brought stuff to the house and put some of our stuff in the rooms over here.  The kitchen has a lot of extra things now, I’m not sure where they are all going to go after I de-box them.  

After a few minutes, F and I left to go and have dinner.  I had suggested going to the Good Luck Cafe on Ginza-dori.  I am feeling the need for some vegetables and a change of scenery.  We went there, it wasn’t busy and got a nice assortment of food.  We had some ajillo, which was my favourite dish of the night, plus some lettuce with bacon and parmesan in it, then a salad, and finished with a plate of broccoli and shrimp tomato cream pasta.  It was all quite good.  F had a beer taste drink, not a real beer, but seemed to enjoy it.  

We came home via a convenience store where he bought himself a real beer and then we came to our rooms.  I suggested watching a movie and we watched something on my computer and did a bit of crochet.  I finished my little blanket, except for darning in the ends.  I think it looks fabulous in all honesty!  I’ll post pictures when it is really finished.  

F has fallen asleep and it isn’t even midnight.  Today is the 20th anniversary of the day I left Canada.  I wonder if I would have left if I had known what the next twenty years would bring?

Tomorrow I’m off to the apartment again to do more boxing, sorting, packing and cleaning.  I’m so looking forward to it!  Actually, in a way I am.  I enjoy getting rid of things and finding old treasures.  Today I found things that I didn’t know that I had lost!  That’s a good feeling.  

So, that’s it for me.  I am going a bit crazy with no internet, but there’s not much I can do about it.  Luckily, I can keep in touch with most things over my phone, but I still feel like I’m missing out!

Talk to you all later I hope!  Night night!

March 25, 2017

Tales from the Move…

Saturday - Clear and sunny, cold at night

A good day.

I went to bed late last night because I was over in the apartment.  I had a bit of a busy day yesterday.  I went over to the apartment in the morning with F, and after breakfast and some telly got busy.  I packed and sorted, same old thing.  In the afternoon I ran out to the post office and sent my sister the craft project I promised her years ago.  It’s mostly done, and I’m afraid that if I don’t get it to her soon, it would get lost in the move.  

Back at the apartment, I did a bit more work and then quit later at night.  I made dinner from the freezer and then decided to make a bread pudding with what was left in the apartment’s fridge.  I used a new recipe and it turned out well.  I watched Penny Dreadful which was great, except dear F called me at the last ten minutes of it AND my oven beeped at the same time.  Ack.  I asked F if I could call him back in 10 and got my stuff out of the oven.  The bread pudding looked great and I did call F back after the show was over.  He was a little drunk, and wanted to chat!

I had a little bit of the bread pudding,(yum) and then sat down and did some crochet.  I got the second last row done…but it took me until 3 am!  I ended up watching an odd Nicole Kidman movie. I went to bed on it so I don’t know how it ended.

Today, I woke up when F came back to the apartment.  I slept in a bit, but then got up.  F suggested going out to Kintaro sushi for brunch, so that’s what we did.  I wasn’t terribly happy, I had wanted something cooked, but didn’t really want to make a fuss.  The sushi was fine.  

After lunch, we went back to the apartment and over the next few hours packed and sorted quite a lot.  I started in on the kitchen, got our dinner china packed up, plus some of the kitchen bottles and things.  I did lots of laundry too. I also packed a couple of my suitcases with clothing to move over to the house.

F was busy, he took a load of stuff to the recycling centre and then we tried to take some of my personal papers to the gomi-station, but they didn’t work today.  We came home and I made tea and we had a snack.  

We quit a bit before 7 pm and loaded up the car.  We took a load to the house and then unloaded the car.  I gave F’s mother some of my bread pudding and we explained how to eat it…heated with milk is nice.  

Then, we took off for Mikawa to see Kong: Skull Island.  First we had dinner which was bibinba tonight.  Yum.  We didn’t have a lot of time after dinner, so went to the theater, got our drinks and popcorn, and then saw the movie.  We both quite liked it.  It wasn’t a serious film, but it was fun and the action was decent, so we liked it a lot.  

After the film, we drove back to Tsuruoka and came to F’s house.  I tried on some of the clothes in the wardrobe and they were too big. Yay for me.  I unpacked one of the suitcases I brought over, and refilled it with the older clothes in the closet.  I’ll go through them and decide if I want to keep of dispose of them.  Fashion has changed in the last 12 years or so, and so have I.  

It is getting very, very cold here. It is supposed to go down to -1 tonight and feels too close to that now.  We even turned on my heater here before we went out.  I think the room is too big for the power that it has.  Our apartment is much warmer than this house.  Yet another thing that I really hate about this place.  

Tomorrow I think we’ll be back to the apartment to do more ferrying over of stuff.  There’s still a lot to do.  I just want to get it done.  I’m tired of living out of suitcases and on restaurant food!

I hope to be back tomorrow.  Don’t miss me too much.  Night!

March 23, 2017

Blogging from the move, before the internet came back!

Thursday - Sunny and clear…cold at night

A good day.

We’ve been going to bed early because it is either too darn cold or too darn boring to stay up late here at the house.  There is no internet and no TV in our room, so I am bored stiff at night. 

This morning we got up early and F drove me most of the way to the apartment.  I walked the rest, stopping at a convenience store for a coffee.  I went into the apartment and found out about the terrorist incident in London.  I had originally thought I might take a nap, but I didn’t.  I ended up staying awake and then getting busy.  Today I worked on my corner of the living room and got it mostly boxed up. Yay me!

I stopped for lunch and had some bagels and chicken from the freezer.  That was good.  Then, I got back to work and did a lot more tidying, sorting and throwing out.  

F came by the apartment around 6:00 and picked me up. We went to the supermarket first as I needed some soy milk at the apartment. F got some stuff for his mother too. 

For dinner,  he wanted to eat ramen so I thought of a place we could try.  We went there, but it was closed.  We tried another place and got in, but the food turned out to be not so great.  Sad to say.  I even had a mini-ramen with my meal, but it was quite blah.

We came back to F’s house and unloaded the car, then said goodnight to F’s mother and came upstairs.  I watched an Adam Sandler movie -Don’t Mess With the Zohan or something…it wasn’t good. It had a few yuks, but really missed its mark.

And that’s about it.  Tomorrow I’m off to the apartment again, but I might be staying there tomorrow night too.  F is supposed to go to a work party. He’s trying to weasel out of it, but I really want him to go.  I’d like to watch Penny Dreadful in peace for a change.  The TV isn’t set up here at the apartment yet, so I would be terribly annoyed if I can’t see it this time.  

Talk to you Saturday I hope.  Until next time…  

March 22, 2017

Posting from the move when I had no internet....

Wednesday-Sunny, rainy and cool

An okay day.  After a freezing night in the house, F left for work.  I stayed upstairs for a bit and unpacked some essentials like my cds and then went downstairs to say hi to F’s mum and have breakfast.  It was only yogurt and cereal, similar to what I usually have…got it at the supermarket.

I came back upstairs to do more unpacking and along the way, F called me to say that our internet provider called him and they wouldn’t be installing it today…it wouldn’t be done until April 7th…Oh good grief.  I was not a happy camper.  Since there was no reason to stay in F’s house then, I decided to leave and go back to the apartment.  I said my goodbyes to F’s mum and rode off to my apartment.  I went via the convenience store to get something for lunch.  F called me a couple of times on my way home…I was a touch annoyed!

I got to the apartment first, but stayed out of the way so that F could have his lunch and get back to work.  Then, I had lunch.  Today it was carbonara and was quite nice.  

I did a lot of work today.  I worked on the island between the kitchen and the living room a bit, in the living room a bit, and also mostly cleared off my desk. I had a few garbage bags ready to go as well.  I took some of the perishables out of the fridge and freezer and got them ready to go too.

When F finished work he came to the apartment and picked me up.  He looked for some of the stuff that he has misplaced and we left to go and have dinner.

Dinner tonight was in Cocos and we had mostly the same thing.  We tried a new dish, brined chicken and it was pretty good.  They also had a dessert special too, so we had that as well.  

We did a quick tour of a grocery store for F’s beer and his mother’s kimchi and then came back to his house.  His mum was still up and so we said hello before coming upstairs.  

F has to go to work early tomorrow so we’ll probably have an early night again.  There’s no TV yet and no wifi so I am resorting to knitting and reading to get me through!  Good thing I like both!!

Will try and update tomorrow too.  

Finally Finished!

So I was a little optimistic about how long changing our internet would take. The date I thought we would be hooked up was the date they called my husband to arrange the set up. Grrr.

We won't have internet again until the end of the first week of April. I hope to resume regular blogging then!

But, I did just finish this and thought I would post a picture. Hope it works.

March 20, 2017

Monday - Clear, sunny and warm

A busy day.

I got up this morning in time to watch ER.  I couldn’t have breakfast because I didn’t have any yogurt!  I didn’t have tea either, so when F came home I’m afraid I was a bit of a mess.  We had a bit of an argument, but after a while made up and got to work.  F and I loaded up the car with our laundry and then went over to his house to take a few things to his mother’s house.  We left quickly afterwards and had lunch at Restaurant Futaba.  We both had the Quiche lunch and it was lovely and fairly reasonable too!

After lunch, F dropped me off at the laundromat with 3 huge bags of laundry and he went off to get his new car.  I spent the next hour or more washing clothes and then transferring them to driers.  When I arrived at the laundromat it was quiet, but over the time I was there, it got quite busy.

F came to get me and show off his car.  We folded up the laundry and put it in the car and then drove off to our apartment.  We made our bed, and then drove over to F’s house and made our bed there too.  We left the rest of the bedding there too.

We went and had some coffee and fruit tarts and then came home again for a bit.  I was cold as the sun had gone down and I was in a sleeveless vest.

We relaxed a bit at home and then went for dinner.  We had Indian food tonight.  The great thing was we had a stamp card that was full, so one of us had a free meal. Yay us.

After dinner, we bought a few groceries, but couldn’t get garbage bags.  We had to pick up some at the drugstore instead!  

We came home and had a quiet evening in.  I watched my show and did a row of my blanket’s edging.  Oh, yes, I forgot to say, I saw the baby that I’m making it for today!  She’s still very little, but sweet, so I hope that I can finish up soon.  I want her to have the blanket before she is walking.  

So, this was quite a big day for us to be honest.  F got his new car (his old one broke down just before our trip to Sendai and wasn’t cost effective to repair it), we did laundry and made beds in two places and drank coffee!  

I will most likely NOT be here tomorrow night, so come if you want, but don’t be surprised if I am not here!  

I’m not sure when I’ll be back, but please check back for me!  Until next time….

March 19, 2017

Sunday - Clear and sunny, warmish

A good day.

I got up very late this morning, but I did go to bed very late last night too.  When I got up, F had already made a trip to his house with some stuff and had taken his mother to her hairdresser.  

He suggested taking his mother out for lunch, so I quickly got dressed and we headed out.  We picked her up and went to Nagomi, a soba & udon restaurant.  It was a good choice and we all enjoyed ourselves.  After lunch, F and I dropped her off at home and arranged a few boxes and then left.  I suggested going for coffee so we went to Aurora, a little coffee shop we’ve been to a few times, but not for ages.  It was a good choice.  I had an African coffee blend, F had the stores regular blend.  We were both pleased.

We came home and spent the next few hours working.  F went through some of his stuff in the living room, and set up the DVR to put some of my stuff on DVD (more on this later.) I “unboxed” some of his stuff in the tatami room.  F has this little habit of cleaning up by throwing everything into a box or bag.  No rhyme nor reason.  I am always annoyed by what I find when I have to go through the boxes.  Anyway, I went through 2 or three of his boxes and then got some of my boxes from the tatami room and boxed up my stuff.  

Around 7:00pm we went for dinner to Jiro and then went looking for a laundromat.  We finally found one, but I’m not sure if we’re going to use it tomorrow or not.  When we came home, we loaded up the car with stuff to take to F’s house and then looked at my bicycle.  I might ride it over to his house tomorrow so that I have it there.  

We had a quiet evening.  F tested the dvd he made and discovered that the DVD had only recorded in Japanese, not in English.  That meant that the series I had kept on the DVR for over a year was completely useless to me.  I deleted it all. Sigh.  I told F that he has to buy me the dvd of the series!  I was very disappointed, but at least I got to see it in the first place.  

I went through my paper and stationery cabinet and junked a bunch of stuff and repacked it a bit.  It took ages to do it, but it looks pretty good.  F probably will take it over to his house tomorrow.  

F went to bed a bit before midnight and I might try and get there soon myself.  It’s not early, but it would be for me lately.

Not sure if I’ll be updating tomorrow night or not, don’t miss me too much if I’m not around.  Until next time….

March 18, 2017

Saturday - Rainy and cloudy

A good day.

I got up at a fairly decent time this morning, but decided to go back to bed very soon after. I needed more sleep.  F came back to bed too and we slept for a while. 

We got up around noon and then went out for lunch.  We went over to Hyakkenbori where I had fish again and F had tempura.  We both enjoyed our meals.  We visited the Chido Museum after that to see the Hina dolls and also the Miniature collections that were on display. Both were great.  

As usual, I took a couple of pictures of the garden afterwards.  I love seeing the changes in the place every time we visit.

In an ongoing attempt not to do work today, we followed up the museum with a trip to the mall to go to Doutors.  On the way into the mall, we found someone’s medicine…they’d dropped the bag with some stuff in it.  We turned it into the information desk, but they couldn’t make an announcement because there was a concert going on a the moment that was being broadcast live! We went to Doutors, had our beverages, picked up a few items for us and for F’s mother and then came home.  F put a few boxes in the car and I gave him some of the fruit crumble I made for his mother.  He went off to visit her and I checked my email.

I had a few things to do on my computer for my volunteer job, so I took care of that and a few other things.  F got back just as I was about to start on his corner of the room.  

Over the next few hours, F and I cleaned, boxed, sorted and threw out oodles of stuff.  Most of it was fine, but there was a lot of dust, and weird stuff.  My husband is a big packrat…I am too, but we both collect differently! 

We took a break to go and have dinner in Gusto.  We picked up more tape beforehand, and then came home and finished the corner.  We got almost all of the DVDs boxed up, and a lot of F’s books.  He wanted to keep old travel magazines, but I threw the older ones out…they won’t be useful now anyway.  

We stopped around midnight and took a break for the last of the fruit crumble and some chips and dip and tea.  After a bit, F went to bed, I’m still up but plan to get some sleep soon.  I’m tired!  

Tomorrow we will likely be doing more of the same! Boxing, packing, cleaning and sorting.  Wish us luck with it all eh?!  It is getting closer to the time when I won’t be able to update for a while, so please don’t miss me too much.  Come on back in a bit and see what’s up with me.  Until tomorrow...? 

March 17, 2017

Friday - Rainy and cloudy

A good day.

I got up on time this morning and I was just getting my breakfast ready when F came home from the doctor’s office.  He was in an odd mood and we ended up having a bit of a fight.  I was rather annoyed with him and him with me.

After a bit of us being in different ends of the apartment, we decided to take some things to Hard Off to see if we could sell them.  I got 100 yen for a game, F got 250 yen for four printers!  Unbelievable really.  

Since we were now at lunch time, I suggested lunch first.  We went to a ramen/curry shop near hard off and had a pretty decent lunch.  I had a lunch special of a hamburger with rice and salad.  F had mini ramen and something else.  

After lunch, we went and ditched the stuff that we couldn’t give to Hard Off, some cords, old electric stuff.  It’s supposed to be recycled there, so that was a good thing to do I think.

We went home and loaded up the car and took another load to F’s house.  I took over some clothes today, as well as my postcard collection and a few other things.

We came home again, had some coffee and some fruit crumble and then F went to bed and I went to work!  I did a few loads of laundry, tossed a few clothes and also boxed up some of our kitchen foods.  I tossed a lot of outdated things…and gave F his precious noodles to decide if he wanted to toss or keep them.  

Around 6:30 I heard moaning from the bedroom and went to check on F. He wasn’t doing well as usual, so I suggested going for dinner.  He was okay with that.  We went to the Chinese restaurant near our apartment and had a pretty great dinner.  We came home afterwards and did a little more work before taking a break for me to watch Penny Dreadful.  I did a round of my blanket while I was watching and a bit beyond.  Yay me.  

Blanket before edging...all sewed together!

That’s about it. I’ve been watching the Tony Awards which has been really great.  I would love to go to New York and of course Broadway sometime.  I would have such a great time, if I could afford it that is!

Tomorrow I think more packing and cleaning are in order. F has to run some errands in the morning, I’m probably going to be at home for a bit.  

I think I’ll be here tomorrow night, come on back if you are interested, if not, oh well!  Until tomorrow….

March 16, 2017

Thursday - Rainy and cool

A busy day.

I got up this morning, mostly on time and had breakfast and tea.  I had a quiet morning, but in the afternoon I did get busy.  I finished packing a couple of boxes of stuff in the kitchen, emptying out a couple of high cupboards.  I even wiped them out for good measure, so that they are done.  

I had a bunch of stuff on the couch to be looked at by F, so I just left it there and then cleared off the table.  I decided to make the fruit crumble that I’ve been thinking about making for a while and did.  I took out the bag of fruit from the freezer and made it and even baked it for good measure! 

When F came home I got dinner ready fairly easily.  We had pasta with the last of the 4 cheeses sauce, teriyaki chicken and some salad.  I opened up the last packet of beets too.  

F was being a bit of a pain coming to the table for a bit, but then gave me a big hug before he sat down.  It was really nice, and just what I needed.  I probably won’t be cooking much more here so I wanted our last dinner at home to be low-stress.  

After dinner I checked my computer and found that some jerk had left me about 5 or 6 really nasty comments on my blog. I deleted them when I recognized them for what they were.  

F and I went to the grocery store to pick up some soy milk and ice cream for the crumble.  We didn’t spend a long time there, and then came home.

After F’s telly was finished I watched some TV and started crocheting the border of the baby blanket.  It looks very pretty in my opinion.  

Tomorrow F is off work and will probably see his doctor.  Then, I’m hoping that the two of us will get a lot of stuff done for the move.  Fingers crossed anyway.

Should be here tomorrow if you’d like to come back.  Until tomorrow….

March 15, 2017

Wednesday - Beware the Ides of March —Cloudy and rainy

An odd day.

I got up really late this morning.  I slept through my alarms and got up much later than I wanted to.  I did have my tea and breakfast though.

F didn’t come home for lunch, but I’m so used to him coming that I was almost disappointed that he didn’t.  Instead I tried to do a few things around the apartment and I also did a bit of laundry.  I cleaned out the shelves under my side of the bed and threw most of the stuff out. 

In the afternoon I went over to the post office and deposited the coins that I had rolled and counted last week.  It came to quite a surprising amount actually.  Yay for me.  I deposited it in my account and then came home.

At home I had a late lunch…I made French Toast with Aquafaba and it was good.  Then did the dishes.  I took a shower, no big deal.

When F came home he had his earphone in his ear so basically shushed me when I tried to speak to him.  I was quite wounded really.  I was in the midst of getting dinner on the table, didn’t know why he was being like that.  

He didn’t want to come for dinner really…he was a bit annoyed when I asked if I could turn down the TV…it was so loud.  I had baseball blaring at me.  I hate baseball.  

I actually finished dinner before F for a change and went into the bedroom and closed the door.  I decided to pack a few of my clothes from the closet and did so.  Along the way, I found a few things that I couldn’t/shouldn’t keep which was a little sad, but I am mostly okay with that.  I came out a few times to show F a few of my things, but really he just cared about the baseball.

After 10 pm I realized I was missing my shows and set up the DVR for them in a break.  Annoying that.  Then, when he left the couch, I sat there for a while and finished sewing the squares on my little blanket.  It looks pretty great!  I have to edge it now, but I hope that will go fairly quickly.  

And that was my day.  F has an early morning tomorrow and a driving assignment, so probably won’t be home for lunch  (yay) so I might have some time to get a few of my things finished or started.  However, he is supposed to take Friday off, so we’ll see if that proves to be a good thing or a bad thing!

And…we’re supposed to be moving over the weekend.  I’m not sure if it’ll happen or not, but I’ll be losing my internet here on Tuesday.  I hope to be able to keep posting, but I’m not sure how much time I’ll have in the next few days and weeks.  I’ll be around, not sure if I’ll be here or not though.

So…probably here tomorrow!  Please come back a bit later and see what is new with me.  Until tomorrow….

March 14, 2017

Tuesday - Pi Day! - Rainy and cold

An okay day.

I got up this morning and did my usual breakfast and tea on the couch.  I was a little busier than normal though.  In the first break, I took care of a couple of personal things and I made the bed.  

After my show, I boxed up our videos.  Yes, we still have some of those. F has a VHS machine back at the house.

F came home for his lunch and I think was surprised to see me working.  He also was nice to me, so that was good!  I had pre-boiled the kettle for him, and along the way offered him some coffee.  

After he left for work, I did a few more things including cleaning the toilet.  The top had some stains in it, so I tried a couple of things.  At first I tried WD40, which was okay, and then I tried baking soda, which was much better. I did some general throwing out of stuff for a while.

Around 2 pm I started making dinner.  I did have to do some prep work, but I put everything in my slow cooker and then left it.  I made Curried Vegetable and Chickpea Stew.  

I knew that F would be late today, so I did the kitchen clean up early and got it done in time.  Yay.  I decided to tackle my computer desk and got through a huge mound of papers.  There are some things that I want to keep, but I did throw out a lot of stuff.  

When F came home, he brought me a White Day present, which was nice of him, as I hadn’t been out to get him one.  I got dinner together fairly quickly.  I cooked the last of yesterday’s bacon and then we had the stew, plus bacon, plus yesterday’s quinoa.  I thought the stew was fabulous, F liked the bacon a lot!  He said the stew was good, but didn’t want seconds.  Sigh.  

After a while, he did the dishes and then we went to the grocery store for a quick shop.  F needed rice, and I wanted something for dinner on Thursday.  

We came home again and watched Castle.  I sewed some of the squares together on the blanket.  I have 4 left, and then I can start the edging.  Woot.

That’s about it for today.  Tomorrow the packing continues.  I’m trying to decide where to start.  I could possibly move out some more of my hobby stuff, but I think it might be hard for F to move it all by himself.  

Come back later and hear all about my scintillating packing!  Until tomorrow….

March 13, 2017

Monday - Clear and sunny

An odd day.

I got up late this morning, had tea and dragged myself around for most of the day.  I think I was just tired from the weekend.  

During the day I went through some of the clothing drawers that I uncovered on the weekend. I tried on clothes, put some in for washing and also washed it, and did a few little things.  

I had an early for me lunch and then started dinner prep rather early.  I even cleaned a few things out of the fridge, leaving F’s ramen soup packets alone.  

When F came home I kicked dinner prep up a notch.  Tonight we had bacon from Costco, roasted cauliflower, quinoa (me) and rice(F), salad and a few other things.  It was quite good.  F did the dishes and then vegged on the couch.  

I wanted some tea so I offered him some too. He didn’t want any.  I tried talking to him while I was walking back to my corner and he threw a bit of a tantrum.  Apparently I was in his way and he couldn’t get to the sink to take his medicine.  He really was quite rude about it.  I told him he only had to ask me to move.  I think he thinks I read minds.  Nope.

So, for the rest of the night it wasn’t nice here.  I did get to watch X-Files but after that, I asked if he wanted to watch something.  He didn’t, so I requested the TV go off.  He turned it off, but put it back on later to watch some of his crap.  

I took myself off to the tatami room and did a little throwing out.  I just tossed three old coats of mine that I haven’t worn in years.  One was unwearable anyway, the rubbery outer coating had peeled off in places.  I felt a bit better that I got a few things done.

I did a bit of sewing on my blanket too tonight.  I finished another side, and started sewing on the last side panel.  Woot!  

F went to bed early and I am up late.  I am worried about so many things right now.  Will we be able to pack everything up?  F’s thing at the moment seems to be to chuck everything in boxes…but he throws everything in.  I went through one of his boxes on the weekend. He had money, jars of coin, vases, pens, old batteries, all mixed in together.  It was terrible.  I am taking the coins to the post office, and managed to separate things so they made sense.  I did break one of the glasses he had put in the box…don’t know why it was in there in the first place though.

Anyway, tomorrow I’m going to use my slow cooker.  I hope my husband will smarten up and eat what I make!  

Come back tomorrow and see what is going on with this move.  Until tomorrow….

March 12, 2017

Sunday - Cool but sunny

A productive day!

We went to bed terribly late last night, or this morning.  I didn’t go to bed until 4:30.  Sigh.  I set my alarm for 8:30 or so, but didn’t really expect to wake up.  I did!  And I even got up.  F and I both got dressed and we headed out to Coco’s for breakfast.  Recently, they’ve started having breakfast on weekends and holidays, but of course, I never get up then….today I did!

It was really nice.  I had a Spanish omelet and F had a Japanese meal and we were both quite pleased.  We dropped a few things over at F’s house and then came back to our apartment.  

We both worked very hard for the next few hours. I worked in the tatami room for a while and then moved over to the spare room.  I cleared away a lot of stuff and threw out many, many things.  Yay me.  I discovered a few treasures along the way too.  I found my briefcase from my sister and her husband. In it were some notes from my older nieces and a goodbye card from my friends in Canada before I left.  It nearly made me cry!  

We took a break for some bread and then went out for a quick-ish lunch. I suggested Cafe H&P and we went there.  They weren’t quick, but they were good.  We each had a stuffed crepe, mine was tuna salad, F’s was rum-raisin and we had drinks too.  I had a cafe latte, F had chocolate milk.  At first F wanted more food, but then said he’d go home and make ramen for himself.  We went home and that’s what he did.

I got back to work and cleared my way over to my clothing box.  I’d bought spare drawers for my winter clothes years ago, but F had blocked them with his stuff, so I could never get the things out. I tossed a few things immediately that were too big or hideous, and a few I’m going to look at tomorrow and probably wash and then decide.  

I made a few more boxes of stuff. Yay.  F tried to get rid of a few things, but the recycle place was closed, so he came back.  We stopped to have dinner.  I took a shower before we went out. 

I suggested going to Fireball for pasta, but hitting up the Gyomu Super on the way.  The Gyomu Super sells a lot of frozen stuff, and bulk items, plus I knew that they have chickpeas and coconut milk at reasonable prices. Yay them.   I got those ingredients, plus a couple more and then we went for dinner.

The restaurant wasn’t too busy tonight, so we had a nice meal.  I chose chorizo and cabbage spicy pasta and F chose pork and mizuna in a tomato cream sauce pasta.  They were both good, but we both thought mine was better.  We also didn’t have either pasta made bigger.  Whew!  F wanted to, but I talked him out of it.  I’m glad.  

After dinner, we bought some groceries and then came home again.  We both decided NOT to do anymore packing tonight as it was 10 pm.  F watched baseball and then wrestling until late, so I was rather annoyed with him.  I sat on the couch and sewed a few squares of my blanket. Later, I watched the repeat of Pretty Little Liars so I’m caught up with that!  

I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do tomorrow.  I plan to cook tomorrow night, so I might do some packing in the afternoon, or some cleaning, it depends how I feel.  I have to look at those clothes and then decide if I’ll keep them or toss them.  

Come back later if I haven’t bored you silly, and hear all about it.  Until tomorrow….

March 11, 2017

Saturday - Cold and windy with dustings of snow

A good, productive day.

I got up this morning and found that F had been making bread and was basically snoozing on the couch.  I let him sleep for a while as I needed to use my computer, which I did.  

When he woke up, we did a little bit of packing each, and then we went out for lunch.  It was a bit odd, because F was completely mixed up about where we were planning to go, and drove us in the wrong direction.  We re-grouped and got there eventually.  We had a decent lunch and then ran some errands.  We needed some kerosene for the apartment and also needed to drop off some used ink cartridges for recycling.  We also went to a nice coffee shop and had some coffee too, since we didn’t have any with our meal.

We went home again and worked in different areas of the apartment for a few hours.  We got lots of stuff boxed up and gone through.  I went through a few of F’s boxes and sorted them out, and set out a few of my things to go to the house.  Fumihiko took a load over and when he came back we worked a little longer and then went for dinner.

F suggested going to Kitchen Futaba tonight so that’s what we did.  It was very nice.  We shared a nama ham salad, then each of us had an entree.  I had chicken confit, he had steak.  They were both great.  We even shared dessert tonight.

We came home after the grocery store, and took the night off.  I watched How to Get Away with Murder and did some square sewing together.  Now, I only have the two sides to join to the main piece, and then I must do the edging.  I’m practically almost done!  I did a few minutes of knitting afterwards too.

And that’s about it for my day.  F has just woken up, but I’m going to bed soon.  We might go out for breakfast if I can get myself out of bed early enough!

One thing I didn’t mention was that it is 6 years today since the big earthquake.  F and I decided not to go to the memorial ceremony.  We haven’t forgotten, nor do we want to, but for me, I need to start looking ahead, rather than back.  That’s my excuse anyway. 

Come back on Sunday night if you like and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….