Rainy and stormy.
A pretty good day. I got up reasonably early and watched the news. I drank some coffee and relaxed for a while. Later on I watched my British drama Ashes to Ashes.
I made my lunch and then headed off to the school. It was raining quite hard so I did get a bit wet. When I got to the school I had to hang up my clothes in the bathroom so that they'd dry.
My first lesson went quite well. We didn't do the regular text lesson, we did some Halloween activities. I think that my student enjoyed himself. After the first lesson I set up for the second then took a bit of a break.
A few minutes after my class was supposed to start, my student called to cancel again. Sigh. She was really busy.
I called my husband to see if he would come and pick me up, but there was no answer. I sent him a few text messages too. I read my magazine, started a novel, and then I took a nap. Finally, around 10 o'clock I just gave up and decided to go home. Of course, the rain was really strong at that time and I got soaked. I felt my phone ring when I was nearly home.
When I got home, I had to strip off and change clothes. I was dripping water all over the floor. I changed and about 5 minutes later Fumihiko came home. He had had to drive to Niigata tonight and his phone didn't work on the way back. It's very annoying really.
We had a quick and cheerful dinner in Gusto, then came home. I'm now watching Sex and the City, but will probably go to bed soon. I do have classes tomorrow.
I also got a bit of a surprise today, I found out that it was a long weekend. I had no idea. I didn't look at next month's calendar so I didn't know. I hope things go okay.
Well, that's it for me. I've got to go. Bye!
Showing posts with label October 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label October 2008. Show all posts
October 30, 2008 - Thursday
Some rain, but mostly clear.
I had a good day today. I got up, watched the news and then I took my shower early. I did do laundry today. Unfortunately, I forgot to check the pockets of a new pair of pants and left a tissue in the pocket. It was my dark coloured wash too, so you can imagine how everything looks with tissue all over it. Live and learn.
I had some of the dulce de leche for breakfast today on toast. It was very nice. Yum.
I went over to the school and popped into a drugstore on the way. Thursday is my "I can go shopping day", so I looked around the store and bought a few things. I got to the school in good time and set up for the day.
Classes went well today. We did some Halloween colouring in the first one, and then at the end of classes everyone got to say "Trick or Treat" to get a treat. That was fun. My adult student liked it too.
Fumihiko was late picking me up, but it was okay as my last class went a little long. I cleaned up and got ready for tomorrow.
I had to use my heater at the school today. It was only 16 degrees when I got there first. I used my oil heater to get it up before my first class, then ran the air conditioner's heater during the children's lesson. At the start of this month I was still using the air conditioner. Hard to believe it's cooled down that much.
Fumihiko and I went to Cocos for dinner. We had a nice meal and as we had a coupon for dessert, decided to share one. It was Halloween mud pie. It was different from the mud pie I used to have back home, but it was good. Very glad that I shared it as I think one would have been too much. Fumihiko kept talking about sharing another one. I think he was joking.
We came home and had a quiet evening. It was late when we got back, so there wasn't much we could do anyway. Fumihiko has now gone off to bed and is sleeping away.
Got to go. Night night!
I had a good day today. I got up, watched the news and then I took my shower early. I did do laundry today. Unfortunately, I forgot to check the pockets of a new pair of pants and left a tissue in the pocket. It was my dark coloured wash too, so you can imagine how everything looks with tissue all over it. Live and learn.
I had some of the dulce de leche for breakfast today on toast. It was very nice. Yum.
I went over to the school and popped into a drugstore on the way. Thursday is my "I can go shopping day", so I looked around the store and bought a few things. I got to the school in good time and set up for the day.
Classes went well today. We did some Halloween colouring in the first one, and then at the end of classes everyone got to say "Trick or Treat" to get a treat. That was fun. My adult student liked it too.
Fumihiko was late picking me up, but it was okay as my last class went a little long. I cleaned up and got ready for tomorrow.
I had to use my heater at the school today. It was only 16 degrees when I got there first. I used my oil heater to get it up before my first class, then ran the air conditioner's heater during the children's lesson. At the start of this month I was still using the air conditioner. Hard to believe it's cooled down that much.
Fumihiko and I went to Cocos for dinner. We had a nice meal and as we had a coupon for dessert, decided to share one. It was Halloween mud pie. It was different from the mud pie I used to have back home, but it was good. Very glad that I shared it as I think one would have been too much. Fumihiko kept talking about sharing another one. I think he was joking.
We came home and had a quiet evening. It was late when we got back, so there wasn't much we could do anyway. Fumihiko has now gone off to bed and is sleeping away.
Got to go. Night night!
October 29, 2008 - Wednesday
Rainy most of the day.
Today was a good day. I got up in time to watch most of the news, then stayed up. I was a woman on a mission. I wanted to make dulce de leche today!
The weather was terrible, so I didn't want to go out. I surfed the internet and found a few sites about how to make dulce de leche. One method is to make it on the stovetop, but I didn't want to keep the gas on for a long time. I found a couple of sites that describe how to make it in a slow cooker, so that's what I decided to do. Because there is an element of danger in making this, I don't really want to describe how to do it on my blog. (The can could explode if not done correctly.)
Also today, I vacuumed the apartment. Yay me. I found some books for a friend of mine, and when I was getting them out knocked over a box full of plastic packing chips. They flew all over the room. I had so much fun picking them up afterwards.
I also typed up my column and did a little bit of editing. I am still editing. I also wrote a few emails that I'd been putting off.
When Fumihiko came home tonight he found me in the kitchen doing the washing up. I did some dinner prep while he was there too. I washed and spun the lettuce, chopped and seeded the tomatoes and put out the shredded cheese in a bowl. I made tacos for dinner tonight and they were well received. I haven't made them for a few months, so it was a nice change. They were good.
After Fumihiko did the dishes we went out to the grocery store. We needed a few things. I got us a bit of ice cream for later and we also got some sugar for Fumihiko and some avocados for me. They had a bag of 3 for 180 yen. Wow. I think there's some guacamole in my future! We also picked up our pan. We have been saving stamps from the grocery store for bringing our own bag to the store and could get a nice little stainless steel pan.
Back at home we relaxed for a while and I finally reckoned that the can was cool enough to open. I warned Fumihiko that it could be dangerous to open it, so he grudgingly opened the can for me. I hadn't told him what I was doing today with the slow cooker. He was very surprised to see a light brown liquid oozing out of the can. At first he thought that it was spoiled, but I grabbed a spoon and dug in! We had some of the dulce de leche on the ice cream and it was delicious. I'm looking forward to having some on bread tomorrow.
I'm back to work tomorrow, and will hopefully have a good day too. I think there might be some laundry in my future.
Got to go, night night!
*****To give credit where it's due, I first learned about dulce de leche from the Blue Lotus blog. She has wonderful pictures of this delicious ambrosia.
Today was a good day. I got up in time to watch most of the news, then stayed up. I was a woman on a mission. I wanted to make dulce de leche today!
The weather was terrible, so I didn't want to go out. I surfed the internet and found a few sites about how to make dulce de leche. One method is to make it on the stovetop, but I didn't want to keep the gas on for a long time. I found a couple of sites that describe how to make it in a slow cooker, so that's what I decided to do. Because there is an element of danger in making this, I don't really want to describe how to do it on my blog. (The can could explode if not done correctly.)
Also today, I vacuumed the apartment. Yay me. I found some books for a friend of mine, and when I was getting them out knocked over a box full of plastic packing chips. They flew all over the room. I had so much fun picking them up afterwards.
I also typed up my column and did a little bit of editing. I am still editing. I also wrote a few emails that I'd been putting off.
When Fumihiko came home tonight he found me in the kitchen doing the washing up. I did some dinner prep while he was there too. I washed and spun the lettuce, chopped and seeded the tomatoes and put out the shredded cheese in a bowl. I made tacos for dinner tonight and they were well received. I haven't made them for a few months, so it was a nice change. They were good.
After Fumihiko did the dishes we went out to the grocery store. We needed a few things. I got us a bit of ice cream for later and we also got some sugar for Fumihiko and some avocados for me. They had a bag of 3 for 180 yen. Wow. I think there's some guacamole in my future! We also picked up our pan. We have been saving stamps from the grocery store for bringing our own bag to the store and could get a nice little stainless steel pan.
Back at home we relaxed for a while and I finally reckoned that the can was cool enough to open. I warned Fumihiko that it could be dangerous to open it, so he grudgingly opened the can for me. I hadn't told him what I was doing today with the slow cooker. He was very surprised to see a light brown liquid oozing out of the can. At first he thought that it was spoiled, but I grabbed a spoon and dug in! We had some of the dulce de leche on the ice cream and it was delicious. I'm looking forward to having some on bread tomorrow.
I'm back to work tomorrow, and will hopefully have a good day too. I think there might be some laundry in my future.
Got to go, night night!
*****To give credit where it's due, I first learned about dulce de leche from the Blue Lotus blog. She has wonderful pictures of this delicious ambrosia.
October 28, 2008 - Tuesday
Cloudy and then rainy.
A pretty good day. I woke up this morning when Fumihiko was getting ready for work. I ended up getting up for a while too. I watched some foreign news, drank a cup of coffee and then when baseball started, went back to bed for a quick snooze. I woke up a lot later, having slept through my alarm. Sigh.
I got up again and showered and drank more coffee. I watched a bit of TV and then tuned in for The 4400. I'm enjoying watching these episodes, particularly since the series has been cancelled and there won't be more.
I got ready for work and ate, then headed off to my school. I had a lot of things to do before my class and I didn't quite get them done. However, I did enough so I was happy. My first class went well. We did a couple of different activities in class, we played phonic snap, but only had one "pair" each time, then did a little Halloween colouring. At the end of class we had some time, so I read him a spooky story.
In between my classes I planned for next week and did some paperwork. When it was time for my second class I waited for my student but she didn't come. One of the student's had already told me she couldn't come, but the other ? Hmm. I'll email her tomorrow and see what happened.
I did put my time to good use and wrote my column for the next Journal. The deadline is at the end of this month so I really needed to get my skates on! It's written, I just have to do a bit of fact checking and type it out. Yay.
Fumihiko called me after 9:00 pm and then came to get me. We went to Grado tonight and both had the same thing, fettuccine with salmon, shrimp and ikura. It was so good. We also watched the movie that was on their TV. I'd never seen it before, and wasn't sure what it was. That's odd for me, so I knew it must have been made in the late 60's or early 70's. Sure enough, at home tonight I found it. It was Me, Natalie with Patty Duke and James Farentino, made in 1969. It looked interesting, but we had to leave before it was finished.
We made a quick grocery store run as well and will be having tacos for dinner tomorrow night. Yum. I like tacos!
At home we just had a quiet evening. I made some decaf tea and we enjoyed that. Fumihiko has just gone off to bed and if I'm smart I'll go soon too. I'm probably not so smart.
That's it for me. Got to go. Night night!
A pretty good day. I woke up this morning when Fumihiko was getting ready for work. I ended up getting up for a while too. I watched some foreign news, drank a cup of coffee and then when baseball started, went back to bed for a quick snooze. I woke up a lot later, having slept through my alarm. Sigh.
I got up again and showered and drank more coffee. I watched a bit of TV and then tuned in for The 4400. I'm enjoying watching these episodes, particularly since the series has been cancelled and there won't be more.
I got ready for work and ate, then headed off to my school. I had a lot of things to do before my class and I didn't quite get them done. However, I did enough so I was happy. My first class went well. We did a couple of different activities in class, we played phonic snap, but only had one "pair" each time, then did a little Halloween colouring. At the end of class we had some time, so I read him a spooky story.
In between my classes I planned for next week and did some paperwork. When it was time for my second class I waited for my student but she didn't come. One of the student's had already told me she couldn't come, but the other ? Hmm. I'll email her tomorrow and see what happened.
I did put my time to good use and wrote my column for the next Journal. The deadline is at the end of this month so I really needed to get my skates on! It's written, I just have to do a bit of fact checking and type it out. Yay.
Fumihiko called me after 9:00 pm and then came to get me. We went to Grado tonight and both had the same thing, fettuccine with salmon, shrimp and ikura. It was so good. We also watched the movie that was on their TV. I'd never seen it before, and wasn't sure what it was. That's odd for me, so I knew it must have been made in the late 60's or early 70's. Sure enough, at home tonight I found it. It was Me, Natalie with Patty Duke and James Farentino, made in 1969. It looked interesting, but we had to leave before it was finished.
We made a quick grocery store run as well and will be having tacos for dinner tomorrow night. Yum. I like tacos!
At home we just had a quiet evening. I made some decaf tea and we enjoyed that. Fumihiko has just gone off to bed and if I'm smart I'll go soon too. I'm probably not so smart.
That's it for me. Got to go. Night night!
October 27, 2008 - Monday
Cloudy and rainy.
Today was a better day, but honestly, it would be hard not to be better than yesterday.
I got up early and took out the garbage. In doing so, I also threw out a really big fish. It's terribly sad in a way. Three years ago I ordered a fish from Canada to be delivered to my apartment. It arrived, but we never got around to eating it. I didn't really know what to do with it, and so it sat in my freezer for 3 years. Today, it got the boot. Hurray.
I had a putzy morning/afternoon. I watched CSI: Miami and Cold Case, then today's episode of The 4400. After that I went out. I printed out my latest column, grabbed a magazine and went to the mall. I didn't buy anything at the 100 yen shop. Yay me.
I went to Doutors for a sandwich and a cappucino. I ate, read my magazine, and then when I finished, worked on my column. I wrote the beginning and did a little bit of editing to the stuff I'd written before. It's starting to shape up.
I came home and relaxed for a bit, then Fumihiko came home a bit later. We had a nice time avoiding any dangerous topics.
We went for dinner to Cafe Framboise. I had herb chicken with bread crumbs, hubby had a Japanese style dish. I was happy with what I had.
We made a couple of stops after, one to the drug store to pick up some cleaning supplies, then one to the grocery store.
At home we watched last week's Ugly Betty, then Jekyll. After that, we flipped over to watch ER. Today was mostly about Kovatch, with Forest Whitaker as the guest star.
And that was my day. A huge improvement over the last few, hopefully tomorrow will be good too. Night.
Today was a better day, but honestly, it would be hard not to be better than yesterday.
I got up early and took out the garbage. In doing so, I also threw out a really big fish. It's terribly sad in a way. Three years ago I ordered a fish from Canada to be delivered to my apartment. It arrived, but we never got around to eating it. I didn't really know what to do with it, and so it sat in my freezer for 3 years. Today, it got the boot. Hurray.
I had a putzy morning/afternoon. I watched CSI: Miami and Cold Case, then today's episode of The 4400. After that I went out. I printed out my latest column, grabbed a magazine and went to the mall. I didn't buy anything at the 100 yen shop. Yay me.
I went to Doutors for a sandwich and a cappucino. I ate, read my magazine, and then when I finished, worked on my column. I wrote the beginning and did a little bit of editing to the stuff I'd written before. It's starting to shape up.
I came home and relaxed for a bit, then Fumihiko came home a bit later. We had a nice time avoiding any dangerous topics.
We went for dinner to Cafe Framboise. I had herb chicken with bread crumbs, hubby had a Japanese style dish. I was happy with what I had.
We made a couple of stops after, one to the drug store to pick up some cleaning supplies, then one to the grocery store.
At home we watched last week's Ugly Betty, then Jekyll. After that, we flipped over to watch ER. Today was mostly about Kovatch, with Forest Whitaker as the guest star.
And that was my day. A huge improvement over the last few, hopefully tomorrow will be good too. Night.
October 26, 2008 - Sunday
Rainy all day.
Not a good day. I'd really rather not talk about it. So, I won't.
Not a good day. I'd really rather not talk about it. So, I won't.
October 25, 2008 - Saturday
Sunny and warmish.
Today wasn't a great day. It wasn't a bad day either, but more bad than good really.
I went to bed really late last night so I slept in equally late today. I didn't care. I didn't have any plans at all for today.
We had a later lunch in Gusto, but not our usual one. One of the many things that irritate me about my husband is that he never makes plans, but he's always in a hurry to get somewhere. Today, he was really anxious to leave the apartment and eat, but he didn't know where. Everywhere he thought of going was past its lunch time, so it didn't work out. That's why we ended up at Gusto.
On the way home he wanted to go to a couple of tire shops, so he went in, I waited in the car. We did stop by my school briefly as I had left things ready for today's student and wanted to clean up a little. I grabbed my clothes from this week and brought then home.
Fumihiko brought me home and then went to order his winter tires. Yawn. I spent quality time on my computer. After he came home, he tried to sleep. I watched Journey to the Center of the Earth. I love schlocky sci-fi like that, so I enjoyed myself.
In the evening we went to Benkei for dinner. It was good, but the new version of the restaurant doesn't have my old favourites. It's terribly sad. When we came home we watched the first part of The Stand. I think Fumihiko liked it. Gary Sinese was so young back then!
We watched Grey's Anatomy at midnight. Well, I did. Fumihiko muttered all the way through it. I'm now waiting for Heroes to come on, except it hasn't yet. It's 20 minutes late and driving me crazy. I hope to get to bed early today. Well, earlier than yesterday anyway!
I should go. Fumihiko has a meeting to go to in the morning, then I'm not sure what we're going to do with ourselves tomorrow. I hope I get to have a little time to myself, but you never know.
Gotta go! Night.
Today wasn't a great day. It wasn't a bad day either, but more bad than good really.
I went to bed really late last night so I slept in equally late today. I didn't care. I didn't have any plans at all for today.
We had a later lunch in Gusto, but not our usual one. One of the many things that irritate me about my husband is that he never makes plans, but he's always in a hurry to get somewhere. Today, he was really anxious to leave the apartment and eat, but he didn't know where. Everywhere he thought of going was past its lunch time, so it didn't work out. That's why we ended up at Gusto.
On the way home he wanted to go to a couple of tire shops, so he went in, I waited in the car. We did stop by my school briefly as I had left things ready for today's student and wanted to clean up a little. I grabbed my clothes from this week and brought then home.
Fumihiko brought me home and then went to order his winter tires. Yawn. I spent quality time on my computer. After he came home, he tried to sleep. I watched Journey to the Center of the Earth. I love schlocky sci-fi like that, so I enjoyed myself.
In the evening we went to Benkei for dinner. It was good, but the new version of the restaurant doesn't have my old favourites. It's terribly sad. When we came home we watched the first part of The Stand. I think Fumihiko liked it. Gary Sinese was so young back then!
We watched Grey's Anatomy at midnight. Well, I did. Fumihiko muttered all the way through it. I'm now waiting for Heroes to come on, except it hasn't yet. It's 20 minutes late and driving me crazy. I hope to get to bed early today. Well, earlier than yesterday anyway!
I should go. Fumihiko has a meeting to go to in the morning, then I'm not sure what we're going to do with ourselves tomorrow. I hope I get to have a little time to myself, but you never know.
Gotta go! Night.
October 24, 2008 - Friday
Rainy with thunderstorms.
Today wasn't the greatest of days. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't one of the best I've had so far this month.
I got up early, but didn't feel all that well. I had a long long nap on the couch. I got up and showered and then went on with my day. I watched Ashes to Ashes again. I really like it. I wish I could have seen the original show.
The 4400 was on this afternoon, so I watched it and a little later headed off to the school. It had rained most of the day, but didn't look too bad when I left. Well, by the time I got to the school I was soaked. The rain had really come on strong. There were places that I didn't think could get wet while I was fully dressed that did get wet. When I got to the school I parked my bike and went inside. I hung up my wet clothes in the bathroom and got ready for the day.
It was a good thing that I was ready a little earlier than usual because my student showed up 15 minutes too early. I'm not sure why his grandmother dropped him off early, but I was none too pleased. I wouldn't start his lesson early and I needed a few minutes to finish getting ready. Our actual class went quite well, and I even gave him a quiz which he aced.
After class, I did my paperwork and then I got ready for my next class. The student cancelled again, just before class time. I read for a bit and then called my husband. There was no answer. I hadn't heard from him by 8:20 so I decided to just go home.
Going home tonight was a bit complicated. My bike light's batteries had died, so I had to replace them. The spares were in the school. I went back in to get them. My clothes were still wet, so it was uncomfortable wearing them. I finally got everything done and set off. I got quite wet on the way home too, but it was an uneventful ride, thankfully.
When I arrived at the apartment, I changed into my pyjamas and checked email. Fumihiko called at 9:00pm wondering where I was. He'd been at his mother's again, and didn't get my message.
When he came home I made dinner. Tonight we had ginger pork, salad, veggies and chawan mushi. It was good actually.
The rest of the evening was quiet. We watched Spiderman 3 on the TV and after that I've been watching multiple episodes of Sex and the City. It's interesting, funny, but a little too smug for me. Still, I keep watching it.
Tomorrow my one and only class has cancelled, so I don't know what I'm going to do.
That's it, I'm out of here. Night night.
Today wasn't the greatest of days. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't one of the best I've had so far this month.
I got up early, but didn't feel all that well. I had a long long nap on the couch. I got up and showered and then went on with my day. I watched Ashes to Ashes again. I really like it. I wish I could have seen the original show.
The 4400 was on this afternoon, so I watched it and a little later headed off to the school. It had rained most of the day, but didn't look too bad when I left. Well, by the time I got to the school I was soaked. The rain had really come on strong. There were places that I didn't think could get wet while I was fully dressed that did get wet. When I got to the school I parked my bike and went inside. I hung up my wet clothes in the bathroom and got ready for the day.
It was a good thing that I was ready a little earlier than usual because my student showed up 15 minutes too early. I'm not sure why his grandmother dropped him off early, but I was none too pleased. I wouldn't start his lesson early and I needed a few minutes to finish getting ready. Our actual class went quite well, and I even gave him a quiz which he aced.
After class, I did my paperwork and then I got ready for my next class. The student cancelled again, just before class time. I read for a bit and then called my husband. There was no answer. I hadn't heard from him by 8:20 so I decided to just go home.
Going home tonight was a bit complicated. My bike light's batteries had died, so I had to replace them. The spares were in the school. I went back in to get them. My clothes were still wet, so it was uncomfortable wearing them. I finally got everything done and set off. I got quite wet on the way home too, but it was an uneventful ride, thankfully.
When I arrived at the apartment, I changed into my pyjamas and checked email. Fumihiko called at 9:00pm wondering where I was. He'd been at his mother's again, and didn't get my message.
When he came home I made dinner. Tonight we had ginger pork, salad, veggies and chawan mushi. It was good actually.
The rest of the evening was quiet. We watched Spiderman 3 on the TV and after that I've been watching multiple episodes of Sex and the City. It's interesting, funny, but a little too smug for me. Still, I keep watching it.
Tomorrow my one and only class has cancelled, so I don't know what I'm going to do.
That's it, I'm out of here. Night night.
October 23, 2008 - Thursday
Cooler and cloudy, bit of rain at night.
Today was a pretty good day. I got up early-ish, but there wasn't any news on. I did watch my British drama from NHK, State of Play. I'm quite enjoying it. It's got a young James McAvoy and a not so young Bill Nighy. Really twisty and turny at the moment.
I had a surprise visitor in the afternoon. Fumihiko came home for a bit. He'd had to go to a union thing, so he had to take half a day off in order to go. He didn't want to go, but it was one of those duty things.
I had a slow relaxing afternoon watching some US dramas, then cooked my brunch and headed off to work. I
I was quite busy when I got to the school. I vacuumed and I dusted, then I did a bit of paperwork. I got things ready for the day and then I relaxed for a bit and read my new Empire.
Classes were fine today. No big deal really. Between classes though I had a bit of an accident. I like to suck on ice cubes between my classes, so I'd just filled up my ice cube tray with water before my first class. After the class, I took it out to grab a cube from the container underneath and then when I put it back into the freezer, misjudged it, hit the fridge and the whole thing went flying! Yikes, there was water and ice everywhere. I had about 3 minutes before my class was supposed to start. Luckily, my student is never really early, so I grabbed up the ice cubes and ditched them. Then the doorbell rang. She was there. Sigh. I let her in, asking her to be careful, and then cleaned up the mess. Ack. Luckily, she's a long time student, and not the sort of person to be upset by a pool of water on the floor.
After work, I did my paperwork and a quick clean up. I had just finished the dishes when I got a message from Fumihiko. Was I finished? Yes, just! I called him back and he picked me up.
He was in charge of dinner tonight so he chose to go out. He told me he fell asleep at the union meeting. Oops. We went to Cocos for dinner and had a nice meal together.
We came home via the grocery store, and I got stuff for dinner. Looks like it'll be ginger pork tomorrow, with salad and chawan mushi. Sounds good to me.
That's about it for me. It was a good day. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be bad, so I'm a little fearful about getting to work, but I should be okay. Also, tomorrow The 4400 starts again on WOWOW in the afternoon. I'm hoping it's season 4 because I haven't seen that season yet.
I'm done.
Today was a pretty good day. I got up early-ish, but there wasn't any news on. I did watch my British drama from NHK, State of Play. I'm quite enjoying it. It's got a young James McAvoy and a not so young Bill Nighy. Really twisty and turny at the moment.
I had a surprise visitor in the afternoon. Fumihiko came home for a bit. He'd had to go to a union thing, so he had to take half a day off in order to go. He didn't want to go, but it was one of those duty things.
I had a slow relaxing afternoon watching some US dramas, then cooked my brunch and headed off to work. I
I was quite busy when I got to the school. I vacuumed and I dusted, then I did a bit of paperwork. I got things ready for the day and then I relaxed for a bit and read my new Empire.
Classes were fine today. No big deal really. Between classes though I had a bit of an accident. I like to suck on ice cubes between my classes, so I'd just filled up my ice cube tray with water before my first class. After the class, I took it out to grab a cube from the container underneath and then when I put it back into the freezer, misjudged it, hit the fridge and the whole thing went flying! Yikes, there was water and ice everywhere. I had about 3 minutes before my class was supposed to start. Luckily, my student is never really early, so I grabbed up the ice cubes and ditched them. Then the doorbell rang. She was there. Sigh. I let her in, asking her to be careful, and then cleaned up the mess. Ack. Luckily, she's a long time student, and not the sort of person to be upset by a pool of water on the floor.
After work, I did my paperwork and a quick clean up. I had just finished the dishes when I got a message from Fumihiko. Was I finished? Yes, just! I called him back and he picked me up.
He was in charge of dinner tonight so he chose to go out. He told me he fell asleep at the union meeting. Oops. We went to Cocos for dinner and had a nice meal together.
We came home via the grocery store, and I got stuff for dinner. Looks like it'll be ginger pork tomorrow, with salad and chawan mushi. Sounds good to me.
That's about it for me. It was a good day. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be bad, so I'm a little fearful about getting to work, but I should be okay. Also, tomorrow The 4400 starts again on WOWOW in the afternoon. I'm hoping it's season 4 because I haven't seen that season yet.
I'm done.
October 22, 2008 - Wednesday
Sunny but a little cooler.
Today was my day off and I had a quiet day at home for most of it. I got up, grabbed a coffee and watched news this morning. Then I did some computer stuff, which ended up taking a while.
In the afternoon I finished cooking the half of the spaghetti squash that didn't cook well before, then had that for my lunch. It was good. I also watched Medium, which was a repeat, but a really good one. Alison was "taken over" by a woman who had just died and her poor husband was left to deal with the crazy snobby person who now inhabited her body. I thought that Jake Weber did a really good job of being the bewildered husband trying to hold his family together.
When Fumihiko came home we had a hug or two then went to return our/my DVDs. I made him take them back to the store because I knew I couldn't be trusted not to take more out!
We had dinner at the soba restaurant that's on the way home from the DVD place. It wasn't bad. I had a soba/sushi combo. While we were eating dinner, Fumihiko asked me if I wanted to go to karaoke. Well, frankly I did!
We stopped off at a grocery store to get a few munchies, then went to the karaoke box. We got in right away as it wasn't busy. We picked the wrong system because it didn't have all the neat songs I wanted to sing, but it had enough. For the next couple of hours we sang songs and had fun. I did a lot of stuff, finally finding Pilot's January. My throat started to act up a bit halfway through, guess I'm not really over that cold yet. At that point I was able to do songs by raspy voiced singers, so my Rod Stewart and Bonnie Tyler's weren't bad. It was a surprising thing for us to do in the middle of the week, but very enjoyable.
We came home via the grocery store to get milk and a few necessities. Now we're both just kicking back and relaxing at our computers. Today was really a fun day, the evening especially.
Tomorrow I'm back to work. Wish me luck. Until then....
Today was my day off and I had a quiet day at home for most of it. I got up, grabbed a coffee and watched news this morning. Then I did some computer stuff, which ended up taking a while.
In the afternoon I finished cooking the half of the spaghetti squash that didn't cook well before, then had that for my lunch. It was good. I also watched Medium, which was a repeat, but a really good one. Alison was "taken over" by a woman who had just died and her poor husband was left to deal with the crazy snobby person who now inhabited her body. I thought that Jake Weber did a really good job of being the bewildered husband trying to hold his family together.
When Fumihiko came home we had a hug or two then went to return our/my DVDs. I made him take them back to the store because I knew I couldn't be trusted not to take more out!
We had dinner at the soba restaurant that's on the way home from the DVD place. It wasn't bad. I had a soba/sushi combo. While we were eating dinner, Fumihiko asked me if I wanted to go to karaoke. Well, frankly I did!
We stopped off at a grocery store to get a few munchies, then went to the karaoke box. We got in right away as it wasn't busy. We picked the wrong system because it didn't have all the neat songs I wanted to sing, but it had enough. For the next couple of hours we sang songs and had fun. I did a lot of stuff, finally finding Pilot's January. My throat started to act up a bit halfway through, guess I'm not really over that cold yet. At that point I was able to do songs by raspy voiced singers, so my Rod Stewart and Bonnie Tyler's weren't bad. It was a surprising thing for us to do in the middle of the week, but very enjoyable.
We came home via the grocery store to get milk and a few necessities. Now we're both just kicking back and relaxing at our computers. Today was really a fun day, the evening especially.
Tomorrow I'm back to work. Wish me luck. Until then....
October 21, 2008 - Tuesday
Sunny and warm.
Today was a good day. I got up at a reasonable time today and felt quite good. Lately, when I get up I just feel drained and really tired, but today, I was fine. It must have been that extra hour of sleep I had! I watched the news which was on for a change. Hurray.
I had a pretty quiet daytime. I didn't do much, except I watched Grinch with Jim Carrey. I don't really like Jim Carrey that much, but he wasn't the problem with the movie. It was not likable. I remember the original animated one with the voice of Boris Karloff. It was fun. It was only 30 minutes long. I didn't actually see it until I had graduated from university, but it was so very much better than this. The only good point of the movie was hearing Barenaked Ladies in the background.
I had lunch and then headed off to my school. I had a good trip there and everything went well today at the school. My first class was fine. My second class rocked! Almost literally. When I came back from Canada, the hotel had given me an English newspaper. It had an article in it for English learners about Finnish Heavy Metal bands. One of my students, the one who came today, is a huge fan of Finnish Heavy Metal. So much so, that in addition to learning English she's also studying Finnish in her spare time! We discussed the article, she learned a few new (English) words as well, and enjoyed herself.
After class, I turned my cell phone on and got a message from Fumihiko saying that he was in Yamagata City. Yikes. I did my paperwork up, cleaned up and then set off home. I stopped at a convenience store because I didn't know how long he'd be and I was a tad hungry.
I'd been home for about 20 minutes when Fumihiko called to check on my whereabouts. When he came home and changed, we went out to Gusto for a cheap and cheerful dinner. Rather than having a set dish, I had a salad and 2 appetizers. It was just what I wanted.
We came home via the same "conbini" to pay the telephone bill, then relaxed in front of our computers. Fumihiko went off to bed a little bit ago, and I should get going soon too.
Wonder what tomorrow will bring? Bring it on!
Today was a good day. I got up at a reasonable time today and felt quite good. Lately, when I get up I just feel drained and really tired, but today, I was fine. It must have been that extra hour of sleep I had! I watched the news which was on for a change. Hurray.
I had a pretty quiet daytime. I didn't do much, except I watched Grinch with Jim Carrey. I don't really like Jim Carrey that much, but he wasn't the problem with the movie. It was not likable. I remember the original animated one with the voice of Boris Karloff. It was fun. It was only 30 minutes long. I didn't actually see it until I had graduated from university, but it was so very much better than this. The only good point of the movie was hearing Barenaked Ladies in the background.
I had lunch and then headed off to my school. I had a good trip there and everything went well today at the school. My first class was fine. My second class rocked! Almost literally. When I came back from Canada, the hotel had given me an English newspaper. It had an article in it for English learners about Finnish Heavy Metal bands. One of my students, the one who came today, is a huge fan of Finnish Heavy Metal. So much so, that in addition to learning English she's also studying Finnish in her spare time! We discussed the article, she learned a few new (English) words as well, and enjoyed herself.
After class, I turned my cell phone on and got a message from Fumihiko saying that he was in Yamagata City. Yikes. I did my paperwork up, cleaned up and then set off home. I stopped at a convenience store because I didn't know how long he'd be and I was a tad hungry.
I'd been home for about 20 minutes when Fumihiko called to check on my whereabouts. When he came home and changed, we went out to Gusto for a cheap and cheerful dinner. Rather than having a set dish, I had a salad and 2 appetizers. It was just what I wanted.
We came home via the same "conbini" to pay the telephone bill, then relaxed in front of our computers. Fumihiko went off to bed a little bit ago, and I should get going soon too.
Wonder what tomorrow will bring? Bring it on!
October 20, 2008 - Monday
Sunny day.
Today was okay. I woke up to an empty apartment and was rather surprised. I didn't hear Fumihiko leave at all. I got up, checked my email, and then went back to bed for a bit. I overslept.
I got up and started to do laundry. Yay. I did three loads of laundry so it's finally done. Hurray. I watched my weekend's TV while I was doing that. Most of the shows were quite good. What About Brian just ended though. I liked it, but apparently most of the actors have gone on to other things.
I stayed in today, didn't go anywhere so when Fumihiko came home and didn't really want to talk to me I was a little upset. He was busy doing his organization thing for the apartment, but unfortunately he didn't really even tell me that! He went out, then came back in and turned on the TV right away. I had enough at that point so I left. I grabbed my jacket, purse (gotta have that gaijin card) and went for a walk. I think it really was a good thing to do as it got me out of the house and let me walk off a bit of my upset. After all, it's not like he really wants to do all that stuff, just that it had to be done today.
When I came back we did talk for a bit and then I started cooking dinner. Tonight was the night to try making the spaghetti squash. I stabbed it a few times and stuck it in the microwave. After a few minutes I turned it over. While I cooked it, I set the table and started the chicken in the pan. The chicken was done, so I turned it down then finally off. The spaghetti squash? not yet. I put it on for longer. Finally, I decided to take it out and just try it. It cut fairly easily, and the middle part was stringy when I took the seeds out. Basically we ate one side of the squash. The other side wasn't quite done I think. We mixed it in a bowl with some Japanese style pasta sauce. Dinner was ready. Fumihiko liked it, and he liked the spaghetti squash too. It was a little crunchy, which made me think that we were a little zealous in getting all the "spaghetti" out. Still, it was quite nice for a change.
Fumihiko did the dishes and then got me to do a bunch of printing for him. When his stuff was done, I realized that I should do some printing for myself and I checked out some websites for Halloween stuff. I printed quite a bit for myself, then did a birthday card for a student.
In the evening, we watched Jekyll which is getting very scary and weird, then settled in to watch ER. It was a pretty good episode, Morris got punched out and nearly arrested, Neela looked gorgeous visiting downstairs from Surgery and Abby met some nannies in a park and decided not to get a nanny!
That was mostly my day. I quite enjoyed it. Any questions? Tomorrow I'm back to work, and I could really use a good night's sleep. Talk to you then.
Today was okay. I woke up to an empty apartment and was rather surprised. I didn't hear Fumihiko leave at all. I got up, checked my email, and then went back to bed for a bit. I overslept.
I got up and started to do laundry. Yay. I did three loads of laundry so it's finally done. Hurray. I watched my weekend's TV while I was doing that. Most of the shows were quite good. What About Brian just ended though. I liked it, but apparently most of the actors have gone on to other things.
I stayed in today, didn't go anywhere so when Fumihiko came home and didn't really want to talk to me I was a little upset. He was busy doing his organization thing for the apartment, but unfortunately he didn't really even tell me that! He went out, then came back in and turned on the TV right away. I had enough at that point so I left. I grabbed my jacket, purse (gotta have that gaijin card) and went for a walk. I think it really was a good thing to do as it got me out of the house and let me walk off a bit of my upset. After all, it's not like he really wants to do all that stuff, just that it had to be done today.
When I came back we did talk for a bit and then I started cooking dinner. Tonight was the night to try making the spaghetti squash. I stabbed it a few times and stuck it in the microwave. After a few minutes I turned it over. While I cooked it, I set the table and started the chicken in the pan. The chicken was done, so I turned it down then finally off. The spaghetti squash? not yet. I put it on for longer. Finally, I decided to take it out and just try it. It cut fairly easily, and the middle part was stringy when I took the seeds out. Basically we ate one side of the squash. The other side wasn't quite done I think. We mixed it in a bowl with some Japanese style pasta sauce. Dinner was ready. Fumihiko liked it, and he liked the spaghetti squash too. It was a little crunchy, which made me think that we were a little zealous in getting all the "spaghetti" out. Still, it was quite nice for a change.
Fumihiko did the dishes and then got me to do a bunch of printing for him. When his stuff was done, I realized that I should do some printing for myself and I checked out some websites for Halloween stuff. I printed quite a bit for myself, then did a birthday card for a student.
In the evening, we watched Jekyll which is getting very scary and weird, then settled in to watch ER. It was a pretty good episode, Morris got punched out and nearly arrested, Neela looked gorgeous visiting downstairs from Surgery and Abby met some nannies in a park and decided not to get a nanny!
That was mostly my day. I quite enjoyed it. Any questions? Tomorrow I'm back to work, and I could really use a good night's sleep. Talk to you then.
October 19, 2008 - Sunday
Sunny and warm. Glorious day.
I got up in the early afternoon, but I felt quite well rested for the first time in ages. I spent a little time at my computer, then Fumihiko and I went out
We had a nice lunch at Moku-Moku then went over to Yamaya for some foreign food. I got some sunflower seeds, Fumihiko got some Korean noodles. After that, we drove to an electronics shop to look at TVs. Yes, we just got a new one, he was thinking about getting one for his mother. He picked one that he thinks will be okay for her, but didn't buy it. Today was an information gathering trip only! I did get myself a new mousepad. I got a new mouse when I was in Canada so decided to get the new mousepad to match it. It looks very swank. It's a black suedette kind of thing, my mouse is black and navy and my computer is black...very matchy-matchy!
We drove out to the mall when we were done. It's my sister's birthday next month so I needed/wanted to get her something. I looked around the clothing department in Aeon and finally chose a few things that I think she'd like. I also got something for my niece for Christmas. It's cute I think. Fumihiko was a sweetie and bought the things, so I offered to buy him a coffee to make up for it. So, that's what I did.
We came home for a bit. Fumihiko wanted to go to Togashi for dinner tonight so he actually made a reservation for us. At 7:30 we turned up and got a table. The place was quite busy, so it was a good thing that he did. The yakiniku was very good, as it always is there.
We hit the grocery store on the way home. I'm going to cook tomorrow night's dinner. Too many nights eating out in a row sort of bug me. I've been trying to get Fumihiko to not go out so much, but it's hard when I'm the person that works late. In all fairness, he does cook when he's home early enough, it's just that I don't always like what he cooks. Sigh.
We came home and Fumihiko made some popcorn and we settled in to watch another one of the movies we rented this week. Four down. Tonight it was The Family Stone. I'd seen most of it on WOWOW before, but had missed the beginning. I really liked it. I cried at a couple of places, Fumihiko didn't like it too much or was having a hard time saying whether or not he liked it.
When the movie was over, he started watching some horrible kickboxing so I listened to a couple of CBC podcasts. I don't get what the attraction is to things like kickboxing. Probably never will. Hopefully never will!
Anyway, that was my day. Tomorrow I'm off work as well. I might go out, or I might stay home and do laundry. I think I said that before, didn't I? Ha ha ha! Until tomorrow....
I got up in the early afternoon, but I felt quite well rested for the first time in ages. I spent a little time at my computer, then Fumihiko and I went out
We had a nice lunch at Moku-Moku then went over to Yamaya for some foreign food. I got some sunflower seeds, Fumihiko got some Korean noodles. After that, we drove to an electronics shop to look at TVs. Yes, we just got a new one, he was thinking about getting one for his mother. He picked one that he thinks will be okay for her, but didn't buy it. Today was an information gathering trip only! I did get myself a new mousepad. I got a new mouse when I was in Canada so decided to get the new mousepad to match it. It looks very swank. It's a black suedette kind of thing, my mouse is black and navy and my computer is black...very matchy-matchy!
We drove out to the mall when we were done. It's my sister's birthday next month so I needed/wanted to get her something. I looked around the clothing department in Aeon and finally chose a few things that I think she'd like. I also got something for my niece for Christmas. It's cute I think. Fumihiko was a sweetie and bought the things, so I offered to buy him a coffee to make up for it. So, that's what I did.
We came home for a bit. Fumihiko wanted to go to Togashi for dinner tonight so he actually made a reservation for us. At 7:30 we turned up and got a table. The place was quite busy, so it was a good thing that he did. The yakiniku was very good, as it always is there.
We hit the grocery store on the way home. I'm going to cook tomorrow night's dinner. Too many nights eating out in a row sort of bug me. I've been trying to get Fumihiko to not go out so much, but it's hard when I'm the person that works late. In all fairness, he does cook when he's home early enough, it's just that I don't always like what he cooks. Sigh.
We came home and Fumihiko made some popcorn and we settled in to watch another one of the movies we rented this week. Four down. Tonight it was The Family Stone. I'd seen most of it on WOWOW before, but had missed the beginning. I really liked it. I cried at a couple of places, Fumihiko didn't like it too much or was having a hard time saying whether or not he liked it.
When the movie was over, he started watching some horrible kickboxing so I listened to a couple of CBC podcasts. I don't get what the attraction is to things like kickboxing. Probably never will. Hopefully never will!
Anyway, that was my day. Tomorrow I'm off work as well. I might go out, or I might stay home and do laundry. I think I said that before, didn't I? Ha ha ha! Until tomorrow....
October 18, 2008 - Saturday
Sunny and warmish.
Today was surprisingly good. I'm not sure why really, it just was. I got up around 7 for a trip to the loo and discovered my husband fully dressed on the couch. He hadn't been to bed. He said he'd slept a bit on the couch last night and had already been to the doctor's office to put his card in. I went back to bed!
I got up just after he left for the doctor, checked my email and then when Fumihiko came back, I went back to bed. Fumihiko followed me, and this time he got some sleep too. We slept for quite a while.
In the afternoon we went out for brunch and had a nice meal at Jiro. After that, Fumihiko dropped me off at our apartment, then took his mother out to get her glasses fixed. He was gone a while so I used that time to do a lot of my computer stuff.
In the evening we went to the mall. We had to pick up some paper for my accounting book, then my clothes that had been altered. I also got some whole wheat bread while we were there. Yay for me. We drove to the other end of the mall to park nearer the theater. Dinner tonight was care of one of the restaurants in the mall. It was okay. I was reasonably happy with my burger, Fumihiko less so with his Japanese food. I was surprised to see one of my students in the restaurant too, so said hello.
We went to see Eagle Eye, which was a little bit preposterous and a little bit like Big Brother. I thought it was fun. It didn't pretend to be a deep meaningful film, so I quite enjoyed it.
After the movie we drove back to Tsuruoka and stopped at Mosburger for a great coffee milkshake and a cold burger. I'm not sure what happened there. Both of our burgers were less than hot. I think they pre-cook everything and then reheat it, except in our case, they didn't really reheat it. Sigh.
We came home and watched a bit of TV. Fumihiko watched his stuff until it was time for Heroes, so I asked if we could watch it. It was fun, except the evil Sylar has Peter Petrelli and Mohinder in a bind. OH NO!
That's it for me. I don't really have any plans for tomorrow, not sure what we'll do. I'll talk to you tomorrow night and let you know what happened! Night.
Today was surprisingly good. I'm not sure why really, it just was. I got up around 7 for a trip to the loo and discovered my husband fully dressed on the couch. He hadn't been to bed. He said he'd slept a bit on the couch last night and had already been to the doctor's office to put his card in. I went back to bed!
I got up just after he left for the doctor, checked my email and then when Fumihiko came back, I went back to bed. Fumihiko followed me, and this time he got some sleep too. We slept for quite a while.
In the afternoon we went out for brunch and had a nice meal at Jiro. After that, Fumihiko dropped me off at our apartment, then took his mother out to get her glasses fixed. He was gone a while so I used that time to do a lot of my computer stuff.
In the evening we went to the mall. We had to pick up some paper for my accounting book, then my clothes that had been altered. I also got some whole wheat bread while we were there. Yay for me. We drove to the other end of the mall to park nearer the theater. Dinner tonight was care of one of the restaurants in the mall. It was okay. I was reasonably happy with my burger, Fumihiko less so with his Japanese food. I was surprised to see one of my students in the restaurant too, so said hello.
We went to see Eagle Eye, which was a little bit preposterous and a little bit like Big Brother. I thought it was fun. It didn't pretend to be a deep meaningful film, so I quite enjoyed it.
After the movie we drove back to Tsuruoka and stopped at Mosburger for a great coffee milkshake and a cold burger. I'm not sure what happened there. Both of our burgers were less than hot. I think they pre-cook everything and then reheat it, except in our case, they didn't really reheat it. Sigh.
We came home and watched a bit of TV. Fumihiko watched his stuff until it was time for Heroes, so I asked if we could watch it. It was fun, except the evil Sylar has Peter Petrelli and Mohinder in a bind. OH NO!
That's it for me. I don't really have any plans for tomorrow, not sure what we'll do. I'll talk to you tomorrow night and let you know what happened! Night.
October 17, 2008 - Friday
Sunny but a little cooler.
It's late so I don't want to write a lot, but thought I'd better write something. Today was okay. I didn't do laundry. Quelle surprise!
I went off to my school at a goodly time and had an okay lesson. Sadly my second student of the day cancelled again, but I didn't waste the time. I used it to do my books. Yay me.
Fumihiko and I had dinner at Cocos tonight. I had chicken and Fumihiko had pasta. It wasn't bad at all. We came home afterwards.
Tonight we watched When Harry Met Sally....Surprisingly Fumihiko had never seen it before. He really enjoyed it. I did too. I was terribly verklempt at the end as always!
So, that pretty much was my day. Quiet and sweet. I like it that way. Night.
It's late so I don't want to write a lot, but thought I'd better write something. Today was okay. I didn't do laundry. Quelle surprise!
I went off to my school at a goodly time and had an okay lesson. Sadly my second student of the day cancelled again, but I didn't waste the time. I used it to do my books. Yay me.
Fumihiko and I had dinner at Cocos tonight. I had chicken and Fumihiko had pasta. It wasn't bad at all. We came home afterwards.
Tonight we watched When Harry Met Sally....Surprisingly Fumihiko had never seen it before. He really enjoyed it. I did too. I was terribly verklempt at the end as always!
So, that pretty much was my day. Quiet and sweet. I like it that way. Night.
October 16, 2008 - Thursday
Sunny and warmish.
Today was a fairly decent day. I got up this morning and watched the news. Of course the news wasn't good at all. Sigh. But, it was on. After that, I took a bit of a nap. I hate to admit it, but I didn't feel all that well. I'm not sure what it was, just couldn't get on with my day.
Finally I got up, showered and got on with my day. I was fine after that. I got a box of books back from a friend with a nice long letter so I wrote her a long email, and I watched another Christmas movie. And wished I hadn't! It wasn't that good.
I went off to work around 4 today, and just before the lights where I cross, got a bug in my eye. Yuck. I couldn't see for a while and it was really difficult to keep my eye open. I went to a drugstore on the way, and used one of their mirrors to fish the little black thing out. I also bought a new toothbrush and some sweetener for my coffee.
I was quite busy at my school today. I had three lessons for a change. My first student usually comes on Saturday, but couldn't this week, so I slotted her into my Thursday schedule. My other two classes came as usual. The middle one was the most work for me as the students are beginners at English and the ages are really too far apart to work well. Still, they are trying hard. The last class was fine though. We went over a take-home quiz, then did some reading work.
After class I got some bad news from a student that was supposed to start classes again on Saturday. She isn't going to come. Well, at least she told me and didn't make me wonder if she forgot her class or whatever.
Fumihiko picked me up around 10 and we went to Grado, the pasta place that's not too far from our place. Tonight I had salmon, ikura and shrimp fettuccine. Oh my goodness, it was wonderful. The sauce was light enough to let the fish flavours through and I ended up really enjoying it. I must say, I've always been pretty happy with the pasta there. They seem to know their stuff. Fumihiko had the steak. He gave me a piece of his steak, but it was too big and I nearly choked on it! I didn't have a knife so I couldn't cut it smaller. The only letdown of the meal was the coffee at the end. It was lukewarm. I'm not sure how they make it, but I think they have it cold and then heat it with their espresso machine (does that make sense?) Anyway, it was easy to drink quickly.
We came home and had a quiet evening at home. Fumihiko made us some decaf coffee, hot this time, and it was nice. Just a perfect way to end the evening.
Tomorrow I have a couple of classes in the evening, and I hope to tackle the growing mound of laundry. Hope to, don't promise to!
Night night.
Today was a fairly decent day. I got up this morning and watched the news. Of course the news wasn't good at all. Sigh. But, it was on. After that, I took a bit of a nap. I hate to admit it, but I didn't feel all that well. I'm not sure what it was, just couldn't get on with my day.
Finally I got up, showered and got on with my day. I was fine after that. I got a box of books back from a friend with a nice long letter so I wrote her a long email, and I watched another Christmas movie. And wished I hadn't! It wasn't that good.
I went off to work around 4 today, and just before the lights where I cross, got a bug in my eye. Yuck. I couldn't see for a while and it was really difficult to keep my eye open. I went to a drugstore on the way, and used one of their mirrors to fish the little black thing out. I also bought a new toothbrush and some sweetener for my coffee.
I was quite busy at my school today. I had three lessons for a change. My first student usually comes on Saturday, but couldn't this week, so I slotted her into my Thursday schedule. My other two classes came as usual. The middle one was the most work for me as the students are beginners at English and the ages are really too far apart to work well. Still, they are trying hard. The last class was fine though. We went over a take-home quiz, then did some reading work.
After class I got some bad news from a student that was supposed to start classes again on Saturday. She isn't going to come. Well, at least she told me and didn't make me wonder if she forgot her class or whatever.
Fumihiko picked me up around 10 and we went to Grado, the pasta place that's not too far from our place. Tonight I had salmon, ikura and shrimp fettuccine. Oh my goodness, it was wonderful. The sauce was light enough to let the fish flavours through and I ended up really enjoying it. I must say, I've always been pretty happy with the pasta there. They seem to know their stuff. Fumihiko had the steak. He gave me a piece of his steak, but it was too big and I nearly choked on it! I didn't have a knife so I couldn't cut it smaller. The only letdown of the meal was the coffee at the end. It was lukewarm. I'm not sure how they make it, but I think they have it cold and then heat it with their espresso machine (does that make sense?) Anyway, it was easy to drink quickly.
We came home and had a quiet evening at home. Fumihiko made us some decaf coffee, hot this time, and it was nice. Just a perfect way to end the evening.
Tomorrow I have a couple of classes in the evening, and I hope to tackle the growing mound of laundry. Hope to, don't promise to!
Night night.
October 15, 2008 - Wednesday
Sunny and rainy, very rainy. Thunderstorms at night.
Today was a better morning, although this morning the doorbell rang instead of the phone. ARGH. At 7:30 I'm trying hard to sleep.
I got up at a reasonable time this morning and drank coffee. Lots of coffee! I was really sleepy. I decided that I would try to go to the mall and have lunch at the hotel, so I had a reason to stay awake.
I managed, but the weather changed and there was torrential rain outside. I decided to wait a bit. Just as suddenly as it started, it stopped again.
I bicycled off to the mall just before 1:30 and made good time. I went in and had my lunch at the hotel. I didn't have a huge amount of time before it closed, but it was enough for me. I read my Chatelaine, a Canadian magazine that I brought back from my trip. It was nice to get a dose of Canadiana.
I did a little bit of hacking around the mall, but I didn't buy much. I got a thing for Fumihiko to put his license in and a pair of magnetic earrings at the hundred yen shop. I bought some bagels for breakfast tomorrow morning.
When I was done, I decided to do something a little crazy. I rode off on my bike to Mr. Donuts and had a milkshake. I knew that they had them from our visit this weekend, and frankly I was craving one ever since. It really wasn't that great, but it was okay! While I was reading and drinking it started to pour down again. And, there was thunderbolts and lightning (very very frightening me) too. I waited until the storm had abated a little, then set off home by bicycle. I did get a little wet, but by the time I was near my apartment the rain had stopped.
At home I changed into drier clothes and watched a bit of TV. That was nice. Fumihiko came home sometime after 5:30 and we chatted for a bit.
Fumihiko requested that we go to the okonomiyaki restaurant tonight and I said it was fine, if we could go to the DVD store and rent some DVDs for my project. So, that's what we did. We had very good okonomiyaki, one cheese and one with shrimp, then went over to Tsutaya. I ended up getting 5 DVDs. Hopefully I'll enjoy them all. In all likelihood though, I probably won't like all of them!
We came home via a grocery store that was on our way home, not our usual one and while we were checking out the produce section I discovered some things that looked like light and long pumpkins. I asked Fumihiko if they were spaghetti squash. He didn't know, but said the info posted in front of it said that when they were cooked they had long stringy bits inside. Aha! Sounds like spaghetti squash to me. When I was reading my Chatelaine this afternoon it had a little blurb about how to cook them. I had to buy one. I'll check it out either tomorrow or Friday to see if it's good. I haven't had spaghetti squash for years.
We came home and watched Bad Santa with Billy Bob Thornton. It was funny, but so crude. The language was shocking, but the story was hilarious! Fumihiko even got a big kick out of the movie too.
That was about it for my day. Fumihiko went to bed after snoozing on the couch for a bit. I'll go soon. I have a few things to do first.
Tomorrow I'm back to work and I'm going to be a bit busier than usual. A Saturday student is coming tomorrow as she can't come at her regular time this week. I have to go to the school earlier than normal for Thursday.
Got to go. Night night!
Today was a better morning, although this morning the doorbell rang instead of the phone. ARGH. At 7:30 I'm trying hard to sleep.
I got up at a reasonable time this morning and drank coffee. Lots of coffee! I was really sleepy. I decided that I would try to go to the mall and have lunch at the hotel, so I had a reason to stay awake.
I managed, but the weather changed and there was torrential rain outside. I decided to wait a bit. Just as suddenly as it started, it stopped again.
I bicycled off to the mall just before 1:30 and made good time. I went in and had my lunch at the hotel. I didn't have a huge amount of time before it closed, but it was enough for me. I read my Chatelaine, a Canadian magazine that I brought back from my trip. It was nice to get a dose of Canadiana.
I did a little bit of hacking around the mall, but I didn't buy much. I got a thing for Fumihiko to put his license in and a pair of magnetic earrings at the hundred yen shop. I bought some bagels for breakfast tomorrow morning.
When I was done, I decided to do something a little crazy. I rode off on my bike to Mr. Donuts and had a milkshake. I knew that they had them from our visit this weekend, and frankly I was craving one ever since. It really wasn't that great, but it was okay! While I was reading and drinking it started to pour down again. And, there was thunderbolts and lightning (very very frightening me) too. I waited until the storm had abated a little, then set off home by bicycle. I did get a little wet, but by the time I was near my apartment the rain had stopped.
At home I changed into drier clothes and watched a bit of TV. That was nice. Fumihiko came home sometime after 5:30 and we chatted for a bit.
Fumihiko requested that we go to the okonomiyaki restaurant tonight and I said it was fine, if we could go to the DVD store and rent some DVDs for my project. So, that's what we did. We had very good okonomiyaki, one cheese and one with shrimp, then went over to Tsutaya. I ended up getting 5 DVDs. Hopefully I'll enjoy them all. In all likelihood though, I probably won't like all of them!
We came home via a grocery store that was on our way home, not our usual one and while we were checking out the produce section I discovered some things that looked like light and long pumpkins. I asked Fumihiko if they were spaghetti squash. He didn't know, but said the info posted in front of it said that when they were cooked they had long stringy bits inside. Aha! Sounds like spaghetti squash to me. When I was reading my Chatelaine this afternoon it had a little blurb about how to cook them. I had to buy one. I'll check it out either tomorrow or Friday to see if it's good. I haven't had spaghetti squash for years.
We came home and watched Bad Santa with Billy Bob Thornton. It was funny, but so crude. The language was shocking, but the story was hilarious! Fumihiko even got a big kick out of the movie too.
That was about it for my day. Fumihiko went to bed after snoozing on the couch for a bit. I'll go soon. I have a few things to do first.
Tomorrow I'm back to work and I'm going to be a bit busier than usual. A Saturday student is coming tomorrow as she can't come at her regular time this week. I have to go to the school earlier than normal for Thursday.
Got to go. Night night!
Serendipity is...
reading a magazine article on how to cook spaghetti squash in the afternoon, and finding a spaghetti squash in the evening at grocery store that you rarely visit!
(Let's hope I actually get around to cooking it!)
(Let's hope I actually get around to cooking it!)
October 14, 2008 - Tuesday
Cloudy and a little cool.
This morning I was rudely awakened by the telephone. One of the neighbours called my husband to get a copy of some paper. I tried bravely to sleep on. Didn't manage much. He bummed around the apartment making all sorts of noise before leaving. Hurray. I was awake, so I got up and checked email. There was baseball on so no news. I went back to bed. I slept. For a long time. Usually on a work day I set my cellphone's alarm, but last night I had a lot of trouble getting it charged properly. Anyway, I was cold so I went into hibernation mode.
When I finally roused myself I decided to shower first, then come back and get out the quilts for our bed. I think it's time. While I put the covers onto the quilts I watched my weekend TV programmes. Mostly enjoyable. Sadly on Cold Case, the little romance that my favourite character was having seems to be over. Oh no. Poor guy.
I got ready for work but left a little late. Still, I made fairly good time getting to my school and it was mostly ready for today anyway. I did a quick sweep and then changed into my teaching clothes.
Classes today were fine. My first student is doing really well. My second class was all about grammar and the students weren't too happy about it! Still, we got on with it, and worked through most of it. Next time should be more about doing work rather than analyzing the whys and hows. One of the students in my last class stayed a little late and we discussed James Franco, the young actor. I told her that I have a few screensavers of him...I actually meant wallpapers on my computer, but she got the drift. He's quite dishy.
When I turned on my phone again, my husband sent me a message saying he was busy, so I sent him one back that said "me too!" I really was. I did all my paperwork, did the dishes and set up for Thursday's classes. I still didn't hear from my husband, so I did a little re-decorating. I got out the Halloween stuff that I had from before, and I put up the new things that I bought on the weekend. I also made a new "vase" for some of the taller flowers I had bought on the weekend. Basically I took a chip canister and covered it in strips of scrap construction paper. It took a while to do it, but looks surprisingly pretty. I was quite impressed with myself.
By the time I finished it was after 10 pm so I texted my husband. He called me back. Apparently he'd finished work about 20 minutes after his last message, but hadn't thought to tell me. Sigh. When I said I was busy, I meant with things around the school, not with students. My husband knows my schedule, it's posted on the fridge and updated weekly.
He picked me up, we went and bought gas for the car, and then came home. Fumihiko had prepared a nabe for us for dinner. It was okay. I'm not sure why, but recently his nabe's just don't taste that great. He says that he's using soba soup as the base, but I don't think he should! Still, I should be grateful that he made dinner for me (and I am actually!) The nice thing about nabe is that there is very little clean up. I didn't mind doing the dishes tonight.
We had a very quiet evening. Fumihiko went to bed a little after 1. I should go soon. I'm quite tired. Hopefully I won't be cold tonight.
Night night!
This morning I was rudely awakened by the telephone. One of the neighbours called my husband to get a copy of some paper. I tried bravely to sleep on. Didn't manage much. He bummed around the apartment making all sorts of noise before leaving. Hurray. I was awake, so I got up and checked email. There was baseball on so no news. I went back to bed. I slept. For a long time. Usually on a work day I set my cellphone's alarm, but last night I had a lot of trouble getting it charged properly. Anyway, I was cold so I went into hibernation mode.
When I finally roused myself I decided to shower first, then come back and get out the quilts for our bed. I think it's time. While I put the covers onto the quilts I watched my weekend TV programmes. Mostly enjoyable. Sadly on Cold Case, the little romance that my favourite character was having seems to be over. Oh no. Poor guy.
I got ready for work but left a little late. Still, I made fairly good time getting to my school and it was mostly ready for today anyway. I did a quick sweep and then changed into my teaching clothes.
Classes today were fine. My first student is doing really well. My second class was all about grammar and the students weren't too happy about it! Still, we got on with it, and worked through most of it. Next time should be more about doing work rather than analyzing the whys and hows. One of the students in my last class stayed a little late and we discussed James Franco, the young actor. I told her that I have a few screensavers of him...I actually meant wallpapers on my computer, but she got the drift. He's quite dishy.
When I turned on my phone again, my husband sent me a message saying he was busy, so I sent him one back that said "me too!" I really was. I did all my paperwork, did the dishes and set up for Thursday's classes. I still didn't hear from my husband, so I did a little re-decorating. I got out the Halloween stuff that I had from before, and I put up the new things that I bought on the weekend. I also made a new "vase" for some of the taller flowers I had bought on the weekend. Basically I took a chip canister and covered it in strips of scrap construction paper. It took a while to do it, but looks surprisingly pretty. I was quite impressed with myself.
By the time I finished it was after 10 pm so I texted my husband. He called me back. Apparently he'd finished work about 20 minutes after his last message, but hadn't thought to tell me. Sigh. When I said I was busy, I meant with things around the school, not with students. My husband knows my schedule, it's posted on the fridge and updated weekly.
He picked me up, we went and bought gas for the car, and then came home. Fumihiko had prepared a nabe for us for dinner. It was okay. I'm not sure why, but recently his nabe's just don't taste that great. He says that he's using soba soup as the base, but I don't think he should! Still, I should be grateful that he made dinner for me (and I am actually!) The nice thing about nabe is that there is very little clean up. I didn't mind doing the dishes tonight.
We had a very quiet evening. Fumihiko went to bed a little after 1. I should go soon. I'm quite tired. Hopefully I won't be cold tonight.
Night night!
October 13, 2008 - Monday
Sunny and warmish.
I slept quite late today but it didn't really matter as we didn't have any plans for today. After I got up we went for lunch. Our first choice was closing early so we ended up at the Washington Hotel. I had pasta and Fumihiko had chicken.
After lunch we went for a drive. Fumihiko took me up to Mount Gassan today. It was beautiful up there, but a little scary. The road was so very narrow. In many areas there wasn't room for two cars to go past each other. At one area a woman had driven her car off the road and had one wheel stuck in the ditch. It took a team of men to get her back on the road.
The mountain was so beautiful. The fall colours were out in full glory. My poor little cellphone just wasn't up to the job, but I took a few pictures anyway!
We drove home and vegged for a while. Fumihiko took a nap and I spent time on my computer. After a while, he woke up and then we went out for dinner. Fumihiko wanted tonkatsu, and as he'd been asking all weekend for it, I thought it was high time he got it!
We came home via the grocery store. We had a quiet evening at home. We watched Jekyll and then we watched ER. I'm now watching Pillow Talk on NHK. It's quite funny in a cornball sort of way. I like that Doris Day and Rock Hudson are playing adults, but the story is quite silly.
Tomorrow I'm back to work. I should do some laundry, but I'm not sure that I will. Tune in tomorrow for another scintillating update of "As The Washer Spins," right here on Blogspot. Night!
I slept quite late today but it didn't really matter as we didn't have any plans for today. After I got up we went for lunch. Our first choice was closing early so we ended up at the Washington Hotel. I had pasta and Fumihiko had chicken.
After lunch we went for a drive. Fumihiko took me up to Mount Gassan today. It was beautiful up there, but a little scary. The road was so very narrow. In many areas there wasn't room for two cars to go past each other. At one area a woman had driven her car off the road and had one wheel stuck in the ditch. It took a team of men to get her back on the road.
The mountain was so beautiful. The fall colours were out in full glory. My poor little cellphone just wasn't up to the job, but I took a few pictures anyway!
We drove home and vegged for a while. Fumihiko took a nap and I spent time on my computer. After a while, he woke up and then we went out for dinner. Fumihiko wanted tonkatsu, and as he'd been asking all weekend for it, I thought it was high time he got it!
We came home via the grocery store. We had a quiet evening at home. We watched Jekyll and then we watched ER. I'm now watching Pillow Talk on NHK. It's quite funny in a cornball sort of way. I like that Doris Day and Rock Hudson are playing adults, but the story is quite silly.
Tomorrow I'm back to work. I should do some laundry, but I'm not sure that I will. Tune in tomorrow for another scintillating update of "As The Washer Spins," right here on Blogspot. Night!
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