February 25, 2013

Monday - Snowy, windy and cold

An odd day.

I got up at my first alarm so that I could watch the Academy Awards this morning.  I also got dressed right away too. I didn’t want to be looking for clothes if someone came to the door.  

I got down to the serious business of Facebooking the Oscars!  It was a hoot.  An old friend from my university and I make it a date, we comment on the Oscars together and it’s a bit like watching them together.  This year we were joined by a guy from my high school and then later on, a blog buddy!  3 people in two different continents watching the same show and “writing” about it in real time.  Fun!

I enjoyed the show this year. It was my first experience seeing Seth MacFarlane and I thought he did an okay job of hosting.  I was quite happy for Jennifer Lawrence and also for Ang Lee. Adele was amazing as always….and how cool to have Dame Shirley Bassey there for the Bond tribute.  She sang Goldfinger. Sing it with me now… “Goldfinggggah”! 

The Academy Awards took up all of the morning and some of the afternoon.  I was deciding to go out and shovel some snow when the TV started broadcasting a siren noise.  There was an earthquake in the middle of Japan.  I think it hit Tochigi and was fairly strong.  A couple of seconds after the warning on the TV it hit us, but it was very mild here.  Still, it was so close to the anniversary of the big one we had two years ago, so I know people are a bit anxious about the whole thing.  

I went out after a few minutes and shovelled some snow.  I did the doorway of the apartment building, then F’s parking space, and then went down the driveway a little bit.  It got darker and the snow started up again, so I gave up and came inside.

After F came home, we relaxed for a while and then went out to my school.  I needed to set the heater for tomorrow’s class.  We did that, and then came back home.  

I got started cooking dinner.  I had asked F to help me, as part of  a conversation over dinner, but as usual he did nothing.  Sigh.  He says he’ll do something, but he doesn’t.  Anyway, I prepped the chicken, set the table, prepped the soup and heated it up.  While we were eating the soup, I cooked the chicken in the microwave.  The soup wasn’t hot enough of course, but I followed directions so go figure.  

The chicken was good, and so was the salad.  I was sure that it wasn’t enough, so I cooked a few hash brown patties for us and served those too.  It was quite a nice dinner.

F did most of the dishes, and then decided to make bread again.  Yesterday’s loaf didn’t rise properly, but it tasted good.  He wanted to make the same type again and did.  I took it out after 1 and it didn’t rise again.  He thinks that it was the flour.  It wasn’t strong flour.  I’m ticked because he wasted the onions that I caramelised. 

We re watched the Oscars tonight. I enjoyed it without writing all through it, and F seemed to watch parts of it.  He took his bath, and while he was there I took out the bread.

We discussed the flour and he was all set to try making more bread.  However, starting to make bread at 1:30 in the morning just isn’t a good idea in my opinion and he got angry at me for saying so.  He threw the bread pan on the floor I think…no idea if he picked it up.  He did some “work” on his computer and then stormed off to bed without talking to me.   Good Riddance.

Anyway, I’m done.  It was a good day until F started to act stupid.  Sadly, I’m getting used to it.  Tomorrow I have an afternoon class, but I’m going to have to do a lot of snow shovelling and walking to get there first.  Sigh.  Night! 

Oh, and today was a personal anniversary for me too….a rather sad one, but I haven’t been wallowing as much as I usually do for it.  Probably a good thing?

December 17, 2012

Monday - Sunny and warm-glorious winter day!

I got up early this morning!  I was a woman with a mission.  I had to meet my friend by 9:20, so I was up, dressed and out of the apartment before I often get up!  I walked to the meeting place and she was there.  

We went over to the Machikine theater and since we were very early, bought a drink and then sat and chatted for a while.  When we were ready to go in to see the film we bought our popcorn from a very nervous clerk and found some seats.  We both enjoyed the movie, Skyfall. It was my second time, but I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time!

After the movie, we decided that lunch was in order.  I suggested Restaurant Futaba, and so we drove there. They had a table for us and we both had the same, the baguette sandwich.  We ate and gabbed and closed out the restaurant for lunch…almost!

I thought that my friend would have to leave, but she didn’t, so she suggested going to the beach because it was a lovely day and we could.  It was a lovely idea.  Over by the beach it was a tad windy, but quite a nice day really.  

We left the beach and grabbed something to drink from a convenience store, then she dropped me off where she first picked me up.  

I walked home, got the mail, (3 Christmas cards today) and went into the apartment.  I got a card from the post office telling me that I had a parcel waiting for me.  I did a few things like scan the postcards I wrote last night, updated my Postcrossing wall and did a bit of reading. 

F came home on time and I asked him to help me get my parcel.  He said it was fine.  He changed and we headed out to the post office. I mailed 4 postcards and picked up my parcel. It’s from my BFF in Canada.  

Next up was dinner.  We went to the Tonkatsu restaurant and had a nice meal.  After that, we hit the grocery store and bought some food for tomorrow night.  Then, we came home and relaxed.  

Tomorrow I’m back to work if all goes well.  I’m hoping that the nice weather will hold a little longer so that I can bicycle to work in the afternoon and not have to shovel snow!  Wish me luck with that!  Night.

December 16, 2012

Sunday - rainy but warmish

A good day.  

We were both woken up this morning by F’s mother calling at 10 am.  She was summoning him to take her shopping for a new pair of boots.  He went, but left me in charge of the bread machine.  Although I tried to go back to sleep, I couldn’t.  I got up and watched a bit of TV and read email and blogs.  

At 11 I stopped the bread maker and took the loaf out.  I couldn’t get it out of the pan, and that is where I was when F came home.  He took over and then had some of the bread.  I went back to bed, and slept a bit longer.  

I got up around 12, had a shower and then was in a better mood.  We decided to go out for lunch.  I suggested a couple of places, so we ended up at one of them, Cafe Pacific Airy Heights.  We both had grilled chicken, although we had different sides and drinks.  It was a lovely lunch.

After that, we drove to Mikawa to the shopping centre.  The mall was insanely crowded.  I really don’t like it like that.  We bought our tickets and as we had time, did a little shopping before the show.  Didn’t buy anything.  Came back to the theater, bought our drink and popcorn and went to enter the theater.  We were told that the theater that we were going to had no heating today.  Yikes!  They gave us each a chemical heating patch, and directed us to take a blanket if we needed it.  We found our seats and made our washroom trips.  I took off my fleecy shirt that I wear as a sweater, put it over my knees with a theater blanket on top of that.  I put my coat back on and hoped for the best! My coat is a good warm, Canadian one, so I wasn’t too worried about myself.  

With all that, you’d wonder if I could enjoy the movie.  Well, I did.  We went to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and I loved it.  The song that the Dwarves sing at the beginning is still playing in my head.  It was fun, exciting and generally a good time.

After the movie, F was Jonesing for dinner.  I didn’t want to go to his suggested places, so I suggested going for okonomiyaki.  It was a good suggestion.  We drove to the restaurant and had a fun meal cooking for ourselves.  

We drove back to Tsuruoka, and F watched election results.  Worse than that, he kept telling me about the results!  I really didn’t care.  I can’t vote here.

We had a quiet evening apart from the election results.  Still, it was important for F, so I’m glad that he got to see them.  There was one bad thing though.  I’d served up the last of the crumble with some tea.  F had his cup next to his computer on the coffee table.  He got up to go to the kitchen, stumbled over the computer cord and it moved the computer.  His cup went flying, as did the tea in it.  The cup broke, the tea was all over the floor, but apart from that, everything was okay. No damaged computer.  Or husband.  We’re both sad about the cup. I bought it for F a few years ago as a birthday present.  It was a handmade cup, and the store where I got it has since closed.  Sigh.  He liked it a lot. It was quite a manly mug, and it suited him.  

Well, apart from that, it was a good day.  Tomorrow I’m out of the apartment early for a date with a friend, if all goes well.  Wish us luck!  Night.

December 8, 2012

Saturday - Snowy and cold

Last night, F had asked me about going to the doctor and I had told him truthfully that I wouldn’t be able to leave the apartment until 9:30, which I think is quite reasonable, and for me, darned early.  

Today, I got up at 9, took a shower and got dressed and waited to see what he would do.  The answer was nothing.  He didn’t get changed, he wouldn’t leave the apartment and he wouldn’t take me to the doctor.  His big decision was to take off Tuesday so he could take me and him to the doctor.  Not what I wanted at all.  I did take quite a bit of whining and nagging from him though.

We had a rather pouty breakfast at Gusto.  I wasn’t being talked to nor looked at for that matter.  I wasn’t too happy and was dropped off at my school.  I slammed the car door…sue me.

At my school  I got set up for the class de jour.  My student came on time and we got to work on our new text book.  It went quite well, but as I suspected, the first unit is going to be very easy for her.  Still, better too easy than too hard.  

After her class, I did planning, paperwork, dishes and I read the newspaper.  I called F and he picked me up.  We stopped off at the craft store on the way home.  I bought more Christmas cards and some Christmas postcards, AND a cushion form.  I’m presently working on a cushion cover, so wanted something to put it over.  Yay me!

We came home for a while and F headed to bed. He was still a bit odd, grumpy one minute, fine the next.  I woke him up around  6 and asked if he wanted to go and see the movie.  At first he said no, but I told him that I would go and see the film by myself next week. I wasn’t threatening him, just stating a fact.  He decided to go after all.

We drove over to the theater, bought our tickets and then had dinner in the restaurant.  We both had shabu-shabu.  It was kind of neat how they did it, they gave us individual amounts of meat with a small burner each on our tray.  We had to boil the soup and then dip the food in.  Well, my water only boiled for a couple of seconds and never did go back up after I took the lid off it, so I really hope my pork was cooked enough!  It was a nice meal and it was very nice to be eating at my own pace. When I have shabu-shabu with F, he goes too fast for me.

Then it was movie time!  I got the popcorn and drinks, and of course F spilled half of his popcorn when he sat down.  He didn’t go and ask them to clean up this time, which surprised me a little.  He did that before and they gave him new popcorn.   Oh well.  

The movie?  Skyfall.  It was great.  I loved it, from the first minute, right up until the end.  I liked that there was more thought to this Bond and how could I not love a movie that has MORE Judi Dench and shows my favourite Turner painting,  The Fighting Temeraire?

After the movie, F and I went to the grocery store for a quick few things and then came home.  He popped out again for something and then we were home for the night.  I watched some of my Saturday shows and enjoyed them.  

And that was my day.  My plans for tomorrow have changed, but with the weather I’m not upset.  My friend is a little tired and I understand that, being tired myself. Tis the season!  I might go and have lunch tomorrow somewhere nearby, or I might just raid the cupboards and see what I can come up with.  Until tomorrow night then….night!

November 24, 2012

Saturday - Cold and rainy

Busy day.

I had set the bread maker last night, so it was due to come off this morning at 10.  I woke up properly around 9:30 and told F I was taking a shower.  He was in charge of taking out the bread if I wasn’t back in time.  Happily, he got up and took the bread out for us.  I heated up the stew and we had lovely whole wheat bread and stew for our lunch.  

F dropped me off at my school and then went on his way.  I got very busy.  I was a bit late getting to school so I had to cram an hour’s worth of activities into 40 minutes.  Made it-just!

My student and I had a great class. We finished the text and next time she’s going to start a new text. It’s an adult text but I think she’s ready.  She’s one of the best students I’ve had as a child, so she’ll be fine.

After class I did my usual paperwork, and then called F.  He picked my bicycle and me up.  We went to the doctor. I’ve been feeling a bit off lately and I wanted to know if everything was okay or not.  I got oodles of medicine and we went on our way.  

We drove out to the mall at Mikawa and had dinner.  It was okay, nothing special.  After that, I did a little shopping and F looked at books.  I didn’t buy much, but I enjoyed being able to go alone.  We met back up in time to go to the movie.  Tonight we went to see Lockout, a kind of science fiction escape from the fancy prison in space movie.  I liked it more than I thought I would.  Guy Pearce is quite a believable action star.  

We came home via the grocery store and picked up a few things.  At home, we ate some of the food and watched a couple of TV programs.  I think F even watched Project Runway today.  Surprise!

And that’s about it.  It was quite a good day, even though I wasn’t sure it would be.  Tomorrow I have no idea what’s going to happen.  Wish me luck eh?  Night.

October 28, 2012

Sunday - Rainy

An okay day.

I slept in late this morning.  I wanted to get up in time to take the bread out of the maker, but I didn’t.  I realised before I went to bed last night that I was getting a cold. My nose started running and I was becoming quite miserable.  I went to bed and this morning felt better, but not well enough to get up!

When I did get up, I didn’t talk to F for ages.  It was pretty dumb on my part, but I didn’t feel like it.  He was watching inane J-TV and I couldn’t stand it. After a while though, I cut some of the bread (F had taken it out of the machine), toasted it, and we had it for breakfast. It was whole wheat and was really nice.  

We had lunch in the yakiniku place that stays open for lunch late on Sundays, and then went over to the theater.  Today F and I went to see We Need to Talk About Kevin. It was an amazing film, not easy to watch, but excellent.  We were the only two people in the theater too.  Weird.  F and I talked about the film for quite a while, which is how I know that he liked it too. Usually, he doesn’t have much to say about the films I take him too! He also said he’d like to see it again.

We had dinner in Cocos tonight.  He had the raw salmon donburi and I had chicken.  We shared the Halloween Mud Pie, which was a good idea as half was the right amount for me anyway.  

I bought groceries on the way home as F had spent all of his money.  Tomorrow I’ll finish up the pasta and the alfredo sauce from last week and have steamed chicken in with the pasta.  That should be nice I think.  

We had a quiet evening in.  I tried to watch a movie on WOWOW, but it wasn’t that great so I turned it off.  F has been YouTubing it for the whole evening.  

It turned into a good day, even though we were fighting last night.  Hurray for that.  Got to go. Night!

October 27, 2012

Saturday - Clear and sunny

An okay day.

Did my usual Saturday morning things, with the exception of taking my computer to work with me.  At my school I got set up and when my student came was ready for her.  She came in, but sent her mother home for her textbooks.  What the heck? I told her it was okay, but she insisted.

After class I did paperwork, read the paper and started my movie column.  I didn’t get very far, but at least I started.  I had to clear away my computer a bit before my next class of course.  And of course, today my student cancelled.  Sigh.  She was still in a meeting that was supposed to finish an hour beforehand. 

After the student’s time was up, I called F and asked him to pick me up.  We drove out to Mikawa and had dinner right away.  We had a spat over where to go.  He wanted the fish place again, I really didn’t. I tried to bargain with him by saying that if I went there with him tonight, we wouldn’t go to a fish place again this weekend, but he got angry at that.  He wanted me to pick the place, but frankly, in that mall, there really isn’t much that I want to eat.  I went to the fish place with him, had what I always have when I’m there and it was okay but not what I really felt like eating. 

We did a little shopping. I was quite surprised that F was actually helpful and suggested some potential presents for my family.  We got the things, and also some socks for him.  Lately all I see is him wearing socks with huge holes in them. It is rather embarrassing because people may think I have something to do with his sock choice.  

We went to see The Expendables 2.  I enjoyed it in that, “I can’t believe I watched that and enjoyed it” sort of way.  It was loud, dumb and the testosterone was leaping off the screen.  I did a check before the movie, I wasn’t quite the only woman in the theater, but there weren’t many of us.  Still, it was fun, but only if you can leave your brain at the door.

We came home after the movie and I set up the bread maker with some whole wheat flour for tomorrow. It’s half and half at the moment, half white flour, half whole wheat.  I’m hoping that we’ll have some nice bread in the morning.  Of course, that may not happen.  

I watched my Saturday night shows.  Episodes is back and was quite funny, also caught Gossip Girl which was less funny, but more hmmm.  

Tomorrow I’m not sure what we’re going to do.  I’d like to go and see another movie, but I’m not sure if F is up for it now.  I think he’s still mad at me, since he went to bed without saying goodnight.  Sigh.  

That’s it for me.  Gotta go.  Night.

October 25, 2012

Thursday - Cloudy then rainy with added earthquake fun!

Had a good day today.  Had a long, busy day today!

I went to bed very late last night. I wanted to as much of my usual stuff as possible.  

This morning I got up, I didn’t want to, but I did, and got ready to go out.  Today I was off to the Mikawa Mall.  I walked to the bus station in S-Mall and checked the cost of the bus to Mikawa.  I had a nice bus ride over.  The bus wasn’t crowded for a change and the ride seemed shorter too. Hurray for that.  

When I got to the mall, I had a quick, cheap,and not so great lunch at McDonalds and then went shopping.  I didn’t buy too much at first, but I did a lot of scoping out.  I even walked over to the hardware store that’s next to the mall.  I didn’t buy anything, but I looked.

I went to see The Raven, with John Cusack.  John Cusack is a very tall actor, but Edgar Allan Poe, whom he played, was not tall.  Apart from the height difference, which really he couldn’t do much about, Cusack did a good job as Poe.  Unfortunately, the movie was rather a mess.  There were good moments, but overall, I wouldn’t recommend it.  

After the movie I went and bought some of the things I’d scoped out, and even tried on a few things in the Ladies department.  I didn’t buy anything, but I did think about it.  If Christmas wasn’t coming I probably would have got myself something. 

I had a break at Mr Donuts and then F called to say he was finished work.  I told him that I would wait for him at the entrance in Jusco by the food court.  He had to pick up his suit in Jusco, so it would make sense to park near the entrance to the store.  Twenty minutes later I got a call from him wondering where I was.  He’d gone to the far end of the mall and couldn’t find me.  He walked down the mall to meet me and I walked up.  I showed him a jacket that I saw earlier and asked what he thought of it.  I’d like him to get a cozy jacket to wear in fall.  He liked it, so I asked if I could get it for him as an early birthday present.  It was okay, so I did.  We picked up his suit as well, and then made the long trek to the car.  

Dinner tonight was at an okonomiyaki restaurant, the kind where you make your own.  It was good, but I wish we’d had something else with our okonomiyaki.  We both got hungry later on.  While we were in the restaurant, F noticed that we were having an earthquake.  It was around a 4 in Miyagi and between 1 and 2 where we were.  

On the way home we stopped for groceries and then gas for the car.  We had a quiet evening at home.  I went over to the couch at 11:15 for a bit of hooky and The Good Wife.  I like that show, F was antsy and made all kinds of noise through it.  I managed to hold my tongue tonight!

That’s it really.  My feet are sore and my wallet is a little emptier, but I had a good day. It was really nice to be out and about by myself again.  Got to go.  Night!

October 21, 2012

Sunday - Cloudy and cool

A good day.  I woke up at 10 this morning and F was putting together a mix in the breadmaker.  I went back to sleep.  When I got up just before 12, he was gone.  I knew that he was out at a spa or his mother’s, so I got up, checked the breadmaker and then got on my computer.  The breadmaker beeped a few minutes later and I took it out.  Oh no!  Something had gone wrong.  The dough was half the size that it should be.  

F came home at that point and we bemoaned the bread, but still cut a couple of slices and had it.  It tasted quite good, but just hadn’t risen enough.  

We decided to go to a movie this afternoon and so decided to go to the restaurant at the theater.  We went over to Machi-kine and their restaurant.  They’ve created a new menu so F had ramen and I had a bacon and kabu stirfry and it was good!  I was quite impressed.  Kabu is a kind of small turnip I think, or a large radish, I’m not sure what.  

We went to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy today and it was great.  So atmospheric.  It was quite difficult to keep everyone and everything in my head at one time, but I think I managed it.  I really enjoyed it. I think F did too.  It was nice to see a movie with no car chases, or huge special effects too.

After the movie, we headed to S-Mall and got a few things for F’s mother.  Today was her birthday and since F didn’t get her anything (nor did he think there was any point in getting her anything—grr), I had suggested some sweets from the mall.  F bought her some dango and some shu-cream, then bought us a couple of shu-cream with Earl Grey Cream inside.  We bought a couple of other things in the mall and then F dropped me off at home and delivered the sweets to his mother.

At home we relaxed for a while and then headed out for dinner.  F wanted to go to Hana, so we drove there and discovered it was closed.  Oh darn.  (snort)  Then, I suggested the sushi/soba place that he likes near a pachinko parlour.  We ended up going there and had an okay meal.  I had tempura udon and it was nice, F had fresh 100% soba.  We came home via the grocery store.

We had a quiet evening at home.  We watched Rabbit Hole, the movie with Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart.  It was very sad, and very good.  While Nicole Kidman is good in the movie, Aaron Eckhart was too, and that’s almost a surprise.  He does a lot of action films and is believable in them, so it’s nice to see him in a smaller film holding his own.  He did that film with Helena Bonham Carter a few years ago that was intriguing, and so was this one.  

That’s about it really.  F and I both wrote up some cards for Postcrossing.  I’m at my limit until a couple of the ones travelling go through.  I made him bring the heater through to the living room again as it is quite cold at times.  

Tomorrow I’m not sure what I’m going to do.  I have to go to the post office and mail off a couple of things. I have a bookmooch to Greece and a few postcards to mail off.  That’s it for me for tonight. Night!

October 13, 2012

Saturday - Cloudy and cold

A good day.  I had a hard time getting up this morning, but finally did.  I took a shower, had some yogurt and a slice of our chocolate bread from last night. Yum.  

F and I went to Gusto for breakfast and I had the porcini mushroom burger again. It is very nice.  After we ate, F dropped me off at my school and I got to work.  

I set up for my first class and when the student came, had a good time with her.  She does very well.  

After her class I did paperwork, worked on my postcard wall, read the newspaper, checked a couple of class lesson plans and got ready for my last class.  Sadly, the student was unable to come today, but will come next week.  

I worked on something for a while, finished up all of my paperwork and then called F.  He came to get me and we decided to go to the Farmer’s Market Restaurant near Komagihara Park.  We arrived and F realised that he’d forgotten his wallet!  Grr.  That meant that I got to pay for dinner.  (He did pay me back!) We both had an okay meal. We came home for a few minutes then headed out to the movie theater.

For the first time in a long time, the local Tsuruoka theater was showing films in English.  Hurray!  Tonight we went to see Jane Eyre with Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender.  I really liked it, and thought that Wasikowska did a very good job as Jane.  

After the movie, F and I went for a burger to Mosburger and then came home.  I watched a bit of TV, my usual Saturday night stuff. That’s about it really.  We’re winding down for the night.  I have no idea what we’ll do tomorrow. I hope it’ll go well.  Anyway, I’ll talk to you then.  Night.

October 4, 2012

Thursday - Cloudy, then warm and sunny

I had a good day today. It was a little different from my usual Thursdays lately, but that’s a good thing!

It did start with a phone call again. One of F’s co-workers this morning called before 7:30am.  Egads.  Off with his head!

I went back to sleep and got up before 9 again.  I did my usual morning stuff, had an early breakfast and read the paper while watching Ghost Whisperer.  I showered and used my computer for a while.

I cooked my lunch a bit later and had a nice one.  I had leftovers from last night, plus a couple of other things.  After I did the dishes, I left for my school.

I set up for my class today and did a bit of prep work as well.  My student came on time and we had a good class.  After our class we started talking about some topics that were definitely not usual ones for an English lesson!  I was a tad surprised honestly. 

When my student left, I switched on my phone again and discovered that F had texted me.  I texted him back and then did my paperwork and set up for tomorrow.

I phoned him and discovered that he was on the way to my school. I told him I’d meet him outside and then did.  

We drove out to the mall, but halfway there I asked him about our movie point cards.  When I went to Kobe, I had taken them out of my purse and had given them to him in case he wanted to see a movie while I was away.  He hadn’t given them back.  We turned around and went home for them.  When we got home, I suggested that he take my bike out of the boot as it was still light enough to see what he was doing.  

We found the cards, got back in the car and headed back out to the mall.  We had a yummy bibinba each and then an ice cream at Baskin Robbins. I had Chocolate Raspberry Truffle…amazing! and F had Jamocha Almond Fudge which used to be my favourite many years ago.  

After a 100yen/5 minute massage in the chairs near the movie theatre, we went to see The Hunger Games.  I thought it was really good.  I like Jennifer Lawrence and think she really is an actress to watch.  The movie was very well done and we both enjoyed it.  It was over two hours long, which surprised me, but the first part did set the scene for people who didn’t read the book.  

We came home after the movie and spent a quiet evening in.  I watched The Good Wife, which has just started up again, and then when I channel surfed, found a Canadian drama called Heartland.  It was set in the country, so it had cows and farmers and kind of made me homesick!  The cows were making a right noise, as they do.  Can’t even think about how many years it has been since I’ve heard cows make that kind of noise! It was set in Alberta, for added homesickness!  

And that’s about it.  I’m not feeling all that great.  Some of my medicine finished yesterday and I feel a bit achy and wheezy today.  F might take me to the doctor this weekend, I’m not sure.  We’ll see how it goes.  Night. 

September 26, 2012

Wednesday - Sunny and warm

A good day.  F got up nice and early and did lots of cleaning today. I sort of wish that he hadn’t because he kicked up all sorts of dust, but it was nice.  When the Fire Alarm check guys came, F handled the whole thing. I was very happy about that!

I watched quite a lot of TV this morning and it wasn’t until the afternoon that we left the apartment.  We went to the mall and had lunch at one of the restaurants.  We did a little bit of shopping (socks) and some window shopping too.  Then, we went to see Mirror, Mirror.  It was fun.  It wasn’t a “great” movie, but it was cute.  We both enjoyed it.

After the movie, we left the mall, and F suggested going to Bistro des Pointes.  We haven’t been for ages, so it was a lovely suggestion.  We had a fabulous meal.  F had steak, I had the local pork.  Mine was so good.  It was in a dried tomato sauce with many cherry tomatoes on it.  Yum.  For dessert I had coconut blancmange and F had cassis mousse.  So yummy.

We came home after dinner and relaxed. I worked on some stuff for my woman’s group and then goofed off to watch Grey’s Anatomy.  I’m now watching an old episode of House.  

Tomorrow I have an early class, so I had really better get to bed soon.  Hopefully things will go well tomorrow and I’ll get all the things done that I need to have done before my trip.  Got to go.  Night!

September 1, 2012

Saturday - Sunny and Hot  (What a surprise!)

A pretty good day.

We had a fairly relaxing morning today.  F didn’t go to the doctor, I showered, checked my computer and then took a short nap.  

We went out for lunch to the place near Komagihara park.  It’s a buffet restaurant at times and we had quite a nice lunch.  After that, we hacked through the veggie store and I got some zucchini and a spaghetti squash.  Hurray! I didn’t get one last year I think.

F dropped me off at my school after lunch and I got busy.  I did quite a lot of things.  I swept, dusted, re-arranged my postcards, and did a bunch of other things too.  My student did come today, although she was a few minutes late.  We had a good class and set the schedule for the month.  

I cleaned up after class, did my paperwork and then called F to pick me up.  We decided to go out to Mikawa to see a movie, and to eat out there.  We agreed to eat in an “omu-rice” restaurant, but when we got to the restaurant, F didn’t want to.  Then we did something radical!  We split up.  He went to his Japanese fish restaurant, I went to the omu-rice place.  Surprising, and good.  I had an omelette with butter rice in it and grilled chicken and vegetables.  It was quite nice.  We spent a few minutes in the bookstore and then went upstairs.  

On the way upstairs I asked F about his dinner and sort of said to him that he didn’t ask me about my day at all.  I told him that it has been happening a lot lately and he got a bit upset.  Not angry for a change, just sad.  Some of the medicine that he takes has side effects and it seems that one of them is that he just doesn’t show much interest in things.  It upsets me for obvious reasons, but it would have been so much better if he’d only told me earlier.  

We did go and see Prometheus and I enjoyed it.  I liked the actors and the story up to a point.  I thought the journey and the things that went along with the journey were excellent, but when things started going bump in the night, it wasn’t quite as exciting.  Still, definitely worth seeing for me.  F wasn’t so sure.

We came back home via a new convenience store that I hadn’t even seen before for some drinks and then had a quiet night in.  I watched a bit of TV, F went to bed a little later.  

One exciting thing, I found out that there is a Edward Burne-Jones Exhibition in Kobe when I will be there.  I have a free Friday so I’m hoping/scheming how to get to see it.  I love the Pre-Raphaelites and I’ve never seen a whole exhibition of work from that time.  Of course, I don’t know Kobe, and I don’t know how much it will cost, but it sounds totally worth it.  It will be coming to Koriyama too, but even though that is quite close, relatively speaking, it still takes four hours or so to get there.  

That’s it for me.  Night.

August 18, 2012

Saturday - Hot and sunny

A good day.  I went to bed rather late last night, so I wasn’t able to get up at a good time today.  Oops.  

F went out and then came home.  We both vegged for a while and I had a lovely chat with my BFF on a chat system.  It’s rare that we are able to connect as she’s a morning person and I’m a night owl.

We had lunch in a yakiniku shop.  I had yakiniku and bibinba.  I was surprised because the bibinba was cold. I’ve never had it that way before. It was still good though.  F had ramen of course.

We made a quick trip to the hardware store and then drove out to the big mall.  We checked on the movie and it was starting in 10 minutes so we paid our money and went in.  We saw The Avengers and it was fun.  We both enjoyed it a lot.  It was so much lighter than The Dark Knight Rising.  We stayed until the very end too, and are glad that we did as there’s a scene at the end of the movie.  

Afterwards, we had dinner at the mall. Not in the place F wanted, and not in the place I’d have preferred, but in a place where we could both have something we wanted.  I had a burger and F had …ramen …of course.  

We drove home and finally made a bit of a plan to go away next month.  I made a reservation, but it ended up that the hotel is going to charge more than I thought.  Grr.  Still, I hope it’ll be okay. It’ll be nice to get away.

We watched a bit of TV and it’s been quite quiet here at home.  We had a good day.  I hope that tomorrow will be good as well.  That’s it for me.  Night. 

August 14, 2012

Tuesday - Hot and sunny

A good day.  I got up a little late this morning, but it wasn’t a bad thing.  I got up and watched The O.C. this morning.  I don’t think it’ll replace SATC, but it does have Peter Gallagher in it and he’s pretty cool.  

Anyway, F came home a bit before 12 and we went out for lunch to Restaurant Futaba.  After that, we came home for F to take a quick shower and then we headed out to Mikawa.  

We spent a few minutes at the bookstore, but then went to the mall.  We had a drink and then a little bit of window shopping.  We didn’t really buy anything, but we tried a bit!  One thing that we did buy was kakigori.  We were thirsty so bought them in Aeon.  

Around 5 we went to the theater and bought our tickets to see Total Recall.  We got our drinks and popcorn and then found our seats.  F wanted to change them as they were close to the front.  We went out, got them changed and watched the movie.  We both quite liked it. I thought it had shades of Blade Runner and Minority Report in it.  It wasn’t nearly as funny as the original movie, but was quite exciting.  It did fall apart a bit at the end, but it was okay.

After the movie we did a little more window shopping, but no buying and then left the mall.  We had curry for dinner at Cocos Ichibanya and then came home.  

F put on the Olympic Closing Ceremony again.  Parts of it were great, parts of it not so much.  Most of that had to do with the Japanese overdubbing, but some of it was a little “what the heck is going on?”  I liked it though.

After F took his bath and I started watching some TV.  Yay!  

It was a pretty good day. I wasn’t sure that it would be, but I’ll take the good ones when and where I can.  Got to go.  Night!

August 8, 2012

Wednesday - Cooler and sunny, bit humid

A good day.  I got up at a goodly time today and showered, then watched SATC.  We’re nearing the end now I think.  I’ve enjoyed watching this show much more than I would have thought.  F called me during the show and asked if he could visit me and bring me some fish for lunch.  I told him no until he mentioned that he meant Taiyaki!  After that I said he could come.  He brought me a German potato one which was perfect for breakfast, and a custard one which was just perfect!Yum.

I had a quiet day. I wrote a postcard but didn’t get to the post office to send it. I think I might either send it tomorrow or leave it for F to take in the morning.  Hmm.  

For my lunch I had one of the two remaining stuffed zucchinis with some orange tomatoes on toast, plus a bit of cooked meat.  It was all good.  

F was a bit late tonight and when he came home I stayed out of his way.  He had a work party to go to at a nice restaurant in town.  I had plans of my own.  A few weeks ago I invited one of my ex-students to do something with me tonight.  I didn’t really care what, dinner, a movie, karaoke, coffee…just wanted to go out and have fun.  She asked that we go and see the Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises as a friend of hers recommended it.  So, that’s what we did.  After her work, she drove over here and picked me up.  We went off to Mikawa and saw the movie.  It was even a good night for it as it was “ladies night” so we got in for 1000yen each.  Woot!  

I had seen the movie before, but she hadn’t.  We both enjoyed it and afterwards she had lots of questions about Batman that I didn’t always know the answers to.  It was a fun night.  

She dropped me off at home and I was home for probably 30 minutes before F came home.  He was quite “happy”.  I let him watch a bit of wrestling on TV, but he fell asleep on table tennis so I chased him off to bed.  He’s out like a light now.

That was my day. It was quite a good one and I really enjoyed myself.  I hope that tomorrow will be just as good, if not better.  Night.

July 28, 2012

Saturday - Hot and sunny

I woke up in a panic this morning, thinking I had overslept. I hadn’t!  I got up and showered.  After, we tried to watch a bit of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies but I got really upset with the Japanese announcers (again!) for NEVER SHUTTING UP.  They spoke over Paul McCartney for heaven’s sake. 

We left for the restaurant but it was busy for a change, so we had to wait.  I was a bit annoyed at F because he didn’t get ready until I was out the door.  Gah.  Still, we ate before the go to work time and then F dropped me off.  

I got ready for my first class, taught it and it went well. We really enjoyed ourselves and she went off with her mother.  

I had a couple of hours until my next class so I relaxed, did a bit of paperwork, drank some tea, read the newspapers and then twenty minutes before my next class, I got ready for it.  Time came, but my student didn’t. I called her after 10 minutes, but there was no answer.  Since it was her time, I stayed there until the time was up, but she never called and didn’t come.  

I called F and asked him to pick me up afterwards.  He did, and that’s when things started to get weird.  He picked me up and asked me what I wanted to eat.  I didn’t really care at that moment as I wasn’t hungry.  We drove out to the mall and parked.  

We walked past all of the restaurants in one part of the mall, but F wasn’t interested, and neither was I.  I didn’t want Japanese food, definitely no noodles and no rice if I could help it.  F had said earlier that he’d like some fast food, so we walked to that area of the mall.  I have a wonky ankle at the moment so it was a tad painful to walk over there.  I checked the bakery and they had some nice looking sandwiches, so I said to F that I would buy some of them and eat them while he ate his food.  Except, he wouldn’t buy any.  He turned up his nose at everything.  We walked back to the restaurant section and of course he wanted Japanese food.  We went to a fish/noodle restaurant.  I wasn’t impressed, but had some okay salmon and ikura on rice.  Just what I didn’t want. F barely talked to me all meal.

We went to see The Dark Knight Rises and it was good.  It was also quite busy in the theatre.  It was one of the first times that I’ve seen that theatre that full.  I really enjoyed the movie, and loved seeing Tom Conti in it. I haven’t seen him in movies for years.  

We came home after the movie and we talked a little bit.  F wants me to choose the restaurants all the time, but frankly, I don’t want to.  More than half of the time, F will turn his nose up at the places I want to go because of course they don’t serve ramen.  I think my husband is a carbohydrate addict. I wish I could get him to give them up for a month or so. But, that’s just my pipe dream, I know it’ll never happen.

We watched a bit of TV, or at least I thought we did until I realised F was listening to his computer with the earphone on.  He went to bed a while ago. I’ve got him at home for the next two days so I hope we both survive it!

That’s it for me.  Got to go.  Night!

July 9, 2012

Monday - Hot, humid and very cloudy

A good day.

I woke up early this morning and brought the fan into the bedroom.  I turned it on and fell back asleep in the cooling breeze. Yay.  Of course I overslept a bit, but I was enjoying myself!

I got up, watched SATC and did some crochet during it.  I really wanted to finish my first row of the last three rows.  I did. Hurray.

I got my two cards ready to send and scanned them, plus the ones I got last week.  After a bit, I changed and went out.  I was a woman with a mission.  I went a slightly different way and then I went by the main post office and dropped off my postcards.  After that, I headed to the theatre and went to see The Eagle with Jamie Bell and Channing Tatum.  I really liked it.  I like action movies that have a bit of a plot and and good performances, so enjoyed this one.  It started at 3 and let out just after 5 so I knew I’d have to high-tail it home to get there before F.

I was halfway home when my cellphone rang.  F was calling to say he was on his way home.  I told him I’d probably beat him there, but it didn’t seem to sink in that I wasn’t at home.  I did get home a few minutes later, parked my bike and checked the mail. We got 4 postcards, 3 of which were mine.  Yay.  

F arrived a few minutes later and as usual never asked about my day.  I’m not sure that I’d have volunteered that I went to a movie without him, but I wouldn’t have lied about it. As it is now, he didn’t even ask.  Sigh.  

After a bit of card registering and discussion, we decided to go out for dinner.  The place we decided on wasn’t open tonight, so we ended up at “The Sweeney Todd Restaurant”.  For a change, there was someone else there.  I told F that we probably saved his life by coming in before they nabbed him in the back.  We were fine because there were the two of us together!

We bought a few groceries after dinner. I’m going to cook tomorrow night. It’ll be basil chicken, probably with pasta on the side, plus steamed garlic zucchini.  At least that’s the plan at the moment.  

We came home and watched a bit of TV. F went to bed fairly early, but I watched CSI and the new Rizzoli and Isles and did another round of the blanket.  One more to go!  Woo-hoo!  I have to try to get it to the recipient soon, as she might leave Tsuruoka any day.  

And that was my day.  It was a pretty good one and I enjoyed myself.  Tomorrow I’ll likely do mundane things like laundry, at least that is the plan now.  Wish me luck eh?  Night!

July 8, 2012

Sunday - Hot, humid and cloudy

A good day.

Had a spat with my husband early on. Honestly, the man hasn’t learned the importance of agreeing to disagree.  He thinks I should always accept whatever he says as true and intelligent.  (Snort!)  He ran off as he usually does, but left his wallet behind.  I texted him and he came back a bit later.

We made up and then went out for lunch.  We had a quick and yummy lunch at Kintaro Sushi, then went to pick up my glasses.  I got a new pair of glasses for reading and using the computer.  I’m supposed to use my older ones for reading and farther distances now.  My new ones are okay so far.  

After the glasses shop, we had a drink in Mr Donuts.  F had one of their new doughnuts with ginger in it. He said it tasted like gingerbread.  Sort of glad I didn’t try it. I don’t mind gingerbread, but don’t like ginger much.  

We discussed what to do, and F wanted to go to the museum.  We tried going, but they’d already closed for the day.  After that, he suggested a movie.  We drove home for a few minutes and then out to the mall.  We had dinner at the mall, a “Pair Set” at the fast food court. It wasn’t good.  We had yakisoba and okonomiyaki.  To be fair, the okonomiyaki was good, it had been freshly made and was quite delicious.  The noodles were not anything special.

We went to see Man on a Ledge tonight and it wasn’t anything special either.  It was fun, but not a must-see by any means.  It was one of those movies where if you think about what happened, it won’t hold together.  

After the movie we drove back to Tsuruoka and bought some groceries.  I didn’t buy anything for dinner tomorrow.  

We watched a bit of TV, including an Atom Egoyan film called Chloe. It was very weird, but Canadian, eh!  The main actors weren’t, but the director and the location were. After midnight, I re-watched the first part of The Walking Dead, and F joined me after his shower.  

That was my day.  It turned into a fairly good day after all.  Tomorrow, I’m not sure what I’ll get up to.  Come back and find out. Night!

July 7, 2012

Saturday - Cloudy with some rain, some afternoon sun

Tanabata!

A good day. I overslept a little in the morning, but since I wasn’t having to leave as early as usual it was okay.  I showered and then got dressed.  

F and I had brunch at Grado today and it was really nice.  We both had beef rolls with veggies inside. We had different soups and bread and rice. After that, F dropped me off at my school and I got very busy.  I cleaned the bathroom and then took the foam insulation off the window. Thankfully I had used good tape this time when I fixed it up, so the tape came off the window frame easily. Yay.  When I finished the cleaning portion of the day, I read the newspaper and got ready for my class.

My student was a couple of minutes late today, but she came. Yes!  We had a good class and had some good discussions too.  After her class I sent her on her way and I did my paperwork.  After that, I called F and asked him to pick me up.

He came to get me and after a brief stop at home, we went to the theatre.  We bought our tickets and then went to have dinner.  We had quite a nice dinner, but as always, F ate so fast. I kept telling him that we had oodles of time before the movie, but he ate his noodles so fast.  

We went to see Bridesmaids and what a hoot.  We both really enjoyed it.  I wasn’t sure that F would like it because I knew it was a “chick-flick” but it was really funny and somehow smart about the characters too.  

After the movie, we came home.  I watched a bit of TV, but poor F wasn’t feeling too well, so he went to bed early on.  I hope he’s okay. He was complaining about a headache.  I think he carries on a bit too much, but what do I know?

Anyway, tomorrow I think we’ll pick up my new glasses and I’m not sure what else we’ll do.  Come on back tomorrow night and find out. Night.