October 31, 2015

Saturday - Rainy and cold.  Happy Halloween!

A good day.

I got up this morning and took a shower almost immediately.  I wanted to get it over and done with.  I had a quiet morning, F came back just a bit before 12 I think.  He brought us some tortilla chips so I went ahead and made guacamole. After that, I stir-fried the last bit of the romaine lettuce and called it all lunch.  We ate and it was quite good.  

In the afternoon we went out to S-Mall to go to Doutors.  Actually, I just wanted to see the kids in their costumes.  It’s weird how ridiculously happy seeing little kids dressed up like princesses and Mario made me!  The kids had a little parade through the mall which was fun to watch.  

F and I drove out to Mikawa to take my new pants in to be hemmed.  Yes, I know I could do it myself, but it is hard and they do a great job, so… We put my pants in, they should be ready next week.  We got a few things for F’s mother and then discussed having dinner in the mall.  There wasn’t much I was interested in, ditto for F, so we went elsewhere.

F wanted to go to a restaurant in the hot spring/sento Den-Den in Mikawa, but when we got there they were closed.  Oh darn! We ended up back in Tsuruoka and went to Kintaro sushi. It wasn’t busy at all, probably because we arrived quite early.  We had a yummy dinner there and then came home.

Around 8 pm we went out again to go to Machi-ga-kine to see St. Vincent with Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy.  We both enjoyed the movie a lot. 

Afterwards, we went to the grocery store and picked up a few things and then came home.  We had a bit of a midnight feast, and even finished up the guacamole. It was good! We watched Good Morning, Vietnam on TV.  It was the first time I’ve watched it all the way through in years.  

F has just gone to bed and is already out, and I should get off to dreamland too.  We’re going out tomorrow morning if he feels up to it, so I need to be up in about 5 hours.  Yikes!  I hope I can make it!

Come back tomorrow and see how our trip to Tendo goes.  Until tomorrow….

October 30, 2015

Friday - Rainy and cloudy

A good day.

I got up this morning early as a matter of fact and came through to the living room. I had a normal, quiet morning except that I fell asleep when I planned to do a workout.  One minute I was watching Castle, the next I was snoozing.  I haven’t done that in a bit, so was a bit annoyed with myself.  I thought I’d do my workout early today, and had even changed into my workout gear, but zzzzzzz.  I woke up and started my workout, expecting F to come home at any time during his lunch hour, but he didn’t.  My workout was good.  I did one with a resistance band and I think it is doable for me.  I’d like to do a longer one though, so I will have to put two together at least.

In the afternoon I worked on my column.  Or tried to.  I watched some of Helix from when I was away, and had lunch too.  

When F called to say he was finished work, I had finished my column except for the conclusion and some polishing.  I went into the kitchen and got to work on dinner.  I roasted a carrot tonight.  It was a huge carrot, honestly!  We also had salad and most of the meat we got as a wedding gift from F’s niece.  Dinner was quite good, so yay!

After dinner I had a Skype meet-up with my area rep/friend in the next city over.  We hoped someone else would join us, but it didn’t happen.  Her son talked to me a little in English and asked where F was, so F came over to my computer and said hi.  It was cute!

When we rang off, I  finished my column, polished it quite a bit and then sent it off to the editor. Whew!  Now I can enjoy myself this weekend and not worry about it.

I’m not sure what we’re going to get up to this weekend.  I’m hoping that I’ll get over to the Mall in Mikawa to have some of my new pants shortened, and maybe see a movie, but really, it depends a lot on F and what he feels like doing.  The weather isn’t great either, so he might want to stay home and relax.  Come back a bit later and find out what happens on our Halloween!  Until tomorrow….

October 29, 2015

Thursday - Rainy and colder

A good day.

I got up this morning and went through to the living room, did my usual stuff and even did a workout this morning.  I was in the midst of said workout when F called to see if I needed anything.   I actually did, so asked him to pick up some plain yogurt for me.  

After F came and had lunch here, he left again.  I tried to get into writing but it took ages to do any.  I took a shower first and did some computer stuff before I got down to work.  I wrote one movie review and the F called to say he was on his way home.  Sigh.

I got dinner started, but it took a while tonight.  I was making oven baked sweet potato fries again, but they took a long time.  Tonight I used the turntable in the bottom of the microwave to bake the sweet potatoes on.  It’s made out of stoneware, so can take the heat. It worked quite well, but I didn’t cut the potatoes small enough so I had to do many sessions of baking.  Still, it worked.  I also made some dip for them out of the yogurt that F brought me.  I drained some yogurt and added in a clove of garlic and some lemon juice.  It was much lower in calories than the mayo called for in the original recipe, and it was very yummy.  

We also had some tandoori style chicken with it all, plus some of the big salad from Costco, so we ate quite well.  F seemed to really enjoy his meal, and I did too.

He did the dishes and I tried to write.  I got a little bit done after F went to bed, but I still have to cover at least one more movie (but I know which one I’m doing) and polish the whole thing.  I hope I get it done by tomorrow.  

F had an early night. I don’t think he’s feeling too well and I feel a bit pre-cold myself.  I think it is the season changes again.  Sigh.

Tomorrow I’m cooking dinner again, but it hopefully won’t be so labour intensive.  I also have to finish my column and get it sent in to the editor.  Wish me luck with that.  Until tomorrow….

October 28, 2015

Wednesday - Cool and a bit cloudy

A good day.

I got up this morning and did my usual stuff.  I watched some TV, I did a workout from a different DVD too.  It was very challenging for me.  I also finished just before F came home for lunch.  Whew.  I don’t think he gets that I like to exercise close to noon and sometimes afterwards.

In the afternoon I did a few things around the apartment and even washed some of the new towels that we bought at Costco so we can start to use them.  I had the oddest conversation with F tonight though.  I want to cull the old kitchen towels, especially the ones that have been stained or are getting a bit worn, so I asked him if he’d like to have some of the old towels for cleaning the car or whatever.  He started telling me how he’d use them for the kids at his work.  I told him that I couldn’t in good conscience let him use my old kitchen towels for the kids to use for their faces like he was talking about.  I told him that he could use them for their feet if they were going to the beach, for example, but he couldn’t use my old towels for children’s faces.  Then the penny dropped and we both realized that we were talking about different towels.  I meant my old ratty ones, he thought I meant my nice new towels….why on earth would I give those ones away??? He thought I didn’t like them! 

I did a bunch of dishes tonight, there were quite a few leftover from lunch today.  When F came home, the kitchen was fairly tidy.  

We went out for dinner to Fireball for a change. I haven’t been there in ages so it was nice to go again.  When we arrived, the place was empty and they had U2 playing on the stereo.  It took me right back to my college days, and what with the recent events that happened at Augustana I was feeling very natsukashi.  I wanted to dance, and did in my chair and when I got up to go to the drink bar.  The Joshua Tree was one of the seminal albums of my college time, almost all my friends had it, and it really helped me have a great time tonight!  F and I ordered the set meal like always, so we had soup and salad and drink bar, plus smoked salmon and mushroom pasta in a vodka sauce and chicken throat spaghetti in a tomato cream sauce.  They were both great, but the chicken spaghetti was the best one tonight.  We got a little bit of dessert too.

By the end of the meal we were both quite stuffed, but in a good way I think.

We picked up some groceries and dropped off our recyclables at the store too. I’m going to try to make a decent dinner tomorrow night.

We came home and I watched a bit of TV.  F had a bit of computer trouble, but I got him sorted out.  Yay for me.  

Today was quiet but okay.  Come back later and see if I manage to get a bit more of my column written, and if dinner is all I hope it will be!  Until tomorrow….

October 27, 2015

Tuesday - Sunny and warm

A good day.

I got up this morning and F was already in the living room.  He had the day off and stuck around the living room for a while.  He left to go over to his mother’s house.  Silly me thought he’d be back in a few minutes, it was hours before I saw him again!

I didn’t do a workout today because I thought F would be back soon.  Oh well.

When he came home we had lunch at home.  We had a Costco bagel each and some chicken luncheon meat on it.  I made a pot of tea, and we finished up the spinach salad from Monday.  It was a light lunch, but a nice one.

In the afternoon F finally got around to calling Apple to see about his phone.  It has been out of order for weeks.  I told him that I’d go out and go for a walk.  I didn’t want to interfere with him or distract him when he was on the phone.  

I walked to the post office and bought some puppy stamps, they are really cute.  I thought the new 18 yen stamps would be out too, but I was two days too early.  Sigh. 

I continued to the park. I went into the secret corner of the park where there is a little shrine. I went in and took a few pictures.  It really is a special little area that no-one seems to visit outside of New Year’s Eve.

This is just a little run of torii, but it looks so cool.

I walked a bit more in the park, listened to my favourite statue’s music and then went home again. I got my walk in after all, and I got some vitamin D too!

F was still on the phone with the Apple help desk, but things seemed to be working.  In fact, they did get everything up and running again.  Hurray for that.  

We vegged for a while and then I made dinner.  Tonight we had garlic and cheese chicken from the store, plus another spinach salad with egg.  I sautéed some mushrooms and onions that were left from last night and served it all up.  It was good and got quite good reviews.

F did the dishes and later on gave me a bit of bread that we got from the wedding and a bit of fudge that I had brought him from Canada.  It was good, but I really shouldn’t have had any!

I watched a bit of TV tonight and finally got a start on my column.  I hope the rest of it goes as easily as this did tonight.  

That’s about it for today.  Tomorrow I have to write and work out.  Unbelievable!  Come back later and find out what else I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

October 26, 2015

Monday - Cloudy and cool

A good day.

I overslept this morning, the first time in ages!  I think it was because I slept until 8ish and then decided to sleep a little longer.  I got up, watched House, had tea and vegged for a bit.  

I couldn’t get motivated to move this morning so finally it was around 12 when I started my workout.   Of course, F decided to come home for lunch today. Sigh.  He mocked me a bit, but it was funny really.  When my workout was over I chatted a bit to him.

I had a quiet day at home.  I was supposed to be working on my column but instead watched some of the TV from my holiday.  I did think of a few movies to cover, however, I haven’t quite decided on my topic yet!  I have a choice of two…

I took a very late shower, but enjoyed it.  I decided to start working on the kitchen before F came home, but he came home soon after I did that.  I cooked dinner tonight and it went quite well.  We had baked salmon in foil packets with onions and shimeji mushrooms, spinach salad with hard boiled eggs, and garlicky stir-fried broccolini.  It was nice.

After we ate, F whipped the cream and I got out the raspberries.  We had raspberries and cream, so yummy.  I haven’t had raspberries in years so it was lovely to have them again.

F did the dishes and I worked on the column ideas.  Later on, F took a nap on the couch and I watched the memorial service for my former boss at college.  It was really good and quite heart-warming.  I didn’t know everyone there, but I did know a few of the people there.  

And that’s it for my day.  I’m not sure what tomorrow will be like.  F isn’t working tomorrow.  He may use the day to get his phone fixed, or to go to the doctor, I’m not sure.  Come back later and find out what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

October 25, 2015

Sunday - Cloudy, rainy and sunny at times.  Windy.

A nice weekend. 

F and I came back from Yamagata City today.  We went there yesterday to go to the wedding ceremony of F’s niece.  We left here on Saturday morning, picking up F’s mother and drove to Yamagata.  We made good time and even had a chance to stop and have a break.  

At Sagae rest stop.  All dolled up!

When we got to Yamagata, we dropped F’s Mum off at the wedding venue and then drove to our hotel to check in and park the car.  That done, we walked back to the station and went to the hotel that the wedding was at.

Not the bride or groom this time.  Whew!

We had a lovely time.  There were some funny parts, but not really intentionally funny I think.  At one part, the two families were being officially introduced to each other and the person introducing me couldn’t think of how to say my name so it was a bit like he forgot it! F’s mother misplaced her jacket and we had the staff search for it, but it did turn up, probably where she left it.  

The bride was gorgeous, the groom handsome, the food amazing and the speeches were thankfully not too long.  In short, we had a great time.  

After the wedding, we had to see F’s mother off on the bus home, which took a while, then we walked back to our hotel to change our clothes.  I was dying to take off my shoes.  It was the first time that I wore them and they hurt my right foot in a couple of places.  I was so happy to be in a casual t-shirt, pants, and runners afterwards.  

I had the hot tea.  The fruit floating on top was amazing!

We popped out to Starbucks for a bit and tried their fruit tea which was lovely. We walked back to get a few munchies near the hotel and bumped into F’s sister and other niece.  We said a quick hello and goodbye and then off they went.

We got a movie card for the room and watched Big Eyes which was okay, but not terrific.  I liked quite a bit of it though. We went to bed fairly early.

I woke up at 4:00am to watch part of a memorial service for my ex-boss from college.  However,  I was trying to watch on my iPhone, it was late and the picture was so small that after about 30 minutes, I gave up on it.  I probably should have put on my glasses and sat up, but F was sleeping in the same bed, so it was hard to do that.  

This morning, we had a light breakfast in the hotel and then drove out to Kaminoyama to the new Costco.  I had signed up on-line, so we had to pay and show our ID, plus get our pictures taken.  After that, we were free to shop!

It was F’s first time in a Costco and I think he was a bit amazed.  He looked a bit dazed going through the place.  I enjoyed it however and we ended up with a bit of stuff that should be quite useful. We got some new sheets for winter, some new kitchen towels and some new hand towels for the bathroom, amongst other things.  We also got a bit of food.  I’m looking forward to some raspberries, some bagels and some sharp cheddar, amongst other things.  We couldn’t buy too much today as we didn’t take a cooler with us.  

Once out of Costco, with the car loaded up, we drove back into Yamagata and had lunch.  F chose a soba restaurant for lunch, but that was closed, so then he picked a yakiniku buffet place.  That was a good choice as they had all kinds of food and some really interesting teas in the drink bar.  My favourites were the blackcurrant and the organic green tea with mint.  Yum.

After lunch, we started the long trip home.  We stopped for postcards in Cherry Land and once along the way to take pictures of the trees but made good time.

We stopped here, but all through the mountains was
amazingly beautiful.

When we got home we unloaded the car and then vegged for a while.  We went for dinner to Nagomi and had soba.  While we were there, we were each given a type of sushi which was a nice surprise.  

We did some shopping in both the drugstore and the supermarket and then came home.  We had a lovely quiet evening at home.  

And that was that.  The two days passed quite quickly.  Up next I have to start my Journal column and start incorporating the things we bought into our daily life.  Come back soon and find out how that goes!  Until tomorrow….

October 23, 2015

Friday - Sunny and warmish

An okay day.

I got up this morning and vegged on the couch for a bit.  I did a really hard workout this morning, it was too hard for me in one part!  I couldn’t keep up at all and had to modify.  

In the afternoon I did computer stuff and then took a shower.  Because tomorrow is a big day, I did all the personal grooming stuff today so that I wouldn’t have to try and get it done tomorrow.  

In the afternoon I watched a movie called Push.  It was quite controversial when it came out, but today I thought it was a bit odd.  It was okay really, but I wouldn’t recommend it to most people.  I did some of my crochet at the time too.  

In the evening F came home around 6:00 so I got dinner started right away.  We had pasta with a bought sauce, lettuce and some shrimp.  It was quite nice. We had some grapefruit flavoured greek yogurt for dessert.  That was quite nice.

After dinner, F went over to his mother’s and left me with the dishes.  He didn’t even ask if I’d do them.  I was a tad miffed, especially since he’d left a couple of big things to wash last night too.  Not sure what’s going on there.

When he came back he was in a foul mood.  He started yelling at me when I asked why we had to meet with the others tomorrow before driving to the wedding.  To me, it makes sense not to meet up, we know where we are going and we are not taking the bus.  He  started getting quite shirty with me and told me that I didn’t have to come.  Since I really don’t want to anyway, I said okay. 

Anyway, he went out again and when he came back he was in a better mood.  I finished my doily and it looks quite nice.  I ironed it and wrapped it up.

The finished doily.  I'm quite happy with it.

And really, that’s about it.  Tomorrow we’re off to Yamagata to go to a family wedding.  We’ll stay in a hotel in Yamagata tomorrow night, so I won’t be updating then.  Hopefully I’ll be back on Sunday night with all the news from the weekend.  Until next time…. 

October 22, 2015

Thursday - warm and sunny

A good day.

Well, it is late and I am very tired, so I’ll make this snappy and go to bed.

I got up on time this morning and then watched some TV.  I started some laundry and did a workout again.   Today I did a 2 mile walk behind the couch!  It was quite intense and I was glad that I managed it.

I did a lot of laundry today, and I even culled another pair of yoga pants from my collection.  I watched some of the TV that F had DVR’d for me while I was away and then got started on dinner.  

I made a quick run to the post office to get some stamps and to mail off some postcards.  While I was there, a worker gave me a flyer about the new 18 yen stamps that are coming out this month.  Hurray!!  

When I came home I washed the dishes and then worked on dinner.  I cut up all the veggies and then made a sauce for them.   

F came home briefly and then headed out again to see his mother.  It was her birthday today and as usual he hadn’t given her anything.  Sigh.  I think he gave her some of my souvenirs from Canada.  I don’t mind really.

I looked up a sauce for our stir-fry and then when F came back I started cooking.  It didn’t take long.  We had garlic pork with a vegetable stir-fry with a combo sweet chili/soy sauce on it.  It was good and got good reviews.

After dinner I went to the couch early to work on  my doily.  I only got a couple of rounds done tonight, but it looks quite good.  Here’s the latest snap! 

I started to fall asleep on it, so decided to give up for tonight and go to bed.  I thought I was over jet lag, obviously not yet!

And that’s it for me.  I had a good day.  Come back later and see what  I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

October 21, 2015

Wednesday - Sunny but cool

A good day.

I got up on time and came through to the living room.  I watched House and caught up with things on my computer.  After that I got ready very quickly and left for the theater.

I went to see Kingsman: The Secret Service at Machi-Kine.  It was up and down.  I enjoyed Colin Firth, he was marvellous in it, but thought overall it was a bit of a letdown.  

After the movie, I biked to S-Mall and had lunch in Patio.  It was quite good today.  After that, I hacked the hundred yen shop and then visited Doutor for a cup of Royal Soy Milk Tea.  Lovely.

I detoured on the way home to a drug store to pick up a few things.  I got home a little before 5 pm. I had done a lot of bicycling today.

F came home fairly soon after me for a change.  We went out for dinner to Gusto.  It wasn’t a great meal, but it was okay.  I had avocado tuna salad gohan which was basically all the things mentioned above on rice.  I liked it.  F had noodles and said they were okay.

We bought groceries on the way home and then settled in for the evening.  I wrote a few postcards and then went over to the couch for some crochet.  I enjoyed that, especially since the doily is getting bigger.  The thread is very twisty though.  

The first picture shows the doily before I started it tonight, the second after I did a few more rows of it.  

Aqua Doily, row 9

After Row 12

And really that’s about it.  It’s after 1:30 now so my jet-lag must be easing.  Hurray!  And that is it for me for today.  Come back later and see what happens!  Until tomorrow…. 

October 20, 2015

Tuesday - Cloudy and rainy

A good day.

I woke up when F’s alarm went off, and then again when mine did. I got up at the latter one and began my day.  

I wrote my blog entry for the day before in the morning and posted it.  I had breakfast and some tea, and watched some telly.  I was late getting going, but finally after noon, I got into my workout clothes and did another Leslie Sansonne workout.  This was a two mile one and I was sweating quite a bit by the end.  Yay me.

I watched a bit more TV, wrote up some of my postcards for my postcard blog and then took a shower.  I did a bit of cleaning while I was in there too.  

I watched some TV and some of the stuff on the DVR.  I’ve finished Cathy and the Big C, and deleted a bit of stuff off the DVR.  

Around 5 pm I went into the kitchen and began to work on dinner.  I wanted to make baked sweet potato fries, so I did.  I had a batch in the oven baking when F came home.  I was surprised that he was so early, but he told me that he was still on call until 10 pm tonight.  If his office called he would have to go.  

I hurried up with the rest of dinner, and got the chicken in to bake in the toaster oven when I put a batch of sweet potatoes in the oven.  When it was finally time to eat, it got rave reviews.  I also whipped up some garlic mayonnaise and that was really nice with the fries! 

I had done a lot of the clean up as I worked on dinner tonight, so I didn’t feel guilty about letting F do the dishes.  

I decided to do a bit of postcrossing since it has been ages since I sent any cards.  I requested and wrote 4 cards tonight, I’ll send them in the morning hopefully. I scanned them as well.  

At 10 pm I watched Grey’s Anatomy from the couch and worked on the doily.  I have finished row 9 I think. It looks really good and is going quite well.  I hope it continues that way!

I caught The Following today too.  It’s still quite a scary show.  I like it, but hate the violence.

And that is me.  It is a little after 1 am and I am still up.  Hmm.  I wonder why?  I am tired now, so I think I’ll go off to bed.  Please come back later and find out what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

October 19, 2015

Monday - Sunny but cool

Written October 20, 2015

I had a busy day.  In the morning I did some of the cleaning that hadn’t been done when I was away.  I did the toilet and the bathroom sink, swept the floor and then did a work out.  F popped home for a visit and then left again.  I was lounging on the couch for that, watching TV.  They’ve started putting more English TV on in the morning.  I did one of my new workout videos as well.  It was only 18 minutes of it, but it was pretty good and I had a nice sweat going by the end of it.  

I caught up on my computer stuff and also watched some of the TV that was on the DVR.  I caught the final Project Runway, hurray for that! I also watched an episode of Cathy and the Big C or whatever it is called.  

I had a late lunch of a cheese omelette done in the microwave.  It was good, but there was nothing to have with it, so it felt a little small.  

I wasn’t sure when F would be home, so I decided to do a little work in the kitchen.  I cleared off the cluttered table and washed a lot of the new dishes, the inside of the microwave, and put the dishes away.  I got the nabe out and washed that too for him to use later.  I needed to do quite a bit.  F hadn’t bothered to put a net filter in the drain thing, so all his ramen gunk was stuck to the drain.  I said a few not very nice things about him then.  I had to clean it all out again.  Grumble, grumble!

When he finally came home, the kitchen looked much better and he actually thanked me for doing it.  That’s practically unheard of around here!  He was cooking and made us a nabe.  It was a fairly simple one, we had hacksai, konnyaku noodles, tofu, and chicken nankotsu balls.  I had made him buy us a packaged soup, so it was nice!  

After dinner, I did the dishes again, and then went to my computer to print out a new crochet pattern.  Yep, one of F’s nieces is getting married this weekend and I am on the hook (ha!) for another doily.  I started it last night.  I had to re-start it because I tried with the wrong hook.  After this one is done, I’m going back to my sister’s table runner.  It’s looking quite good.  I managed to get quite a bit done while I was away.  

Around 10 I let F watch Japanese TV and I started to fall asleep.  I tried to blog, but one of my sites wasn’t working so I chucked it in and went to bed around 11 pm.  

Jet lag…can’t wait to get over it.  Hope it goes soon.  

And that was my day yesterday!  Come back later and find out how my Tuesday goes.  Until tomorrow….

October 18, 2015

Sunday - Sunny and warm

A good day.

I am still horribly jet lagged again, so I may fall asleep on this!  I woke up this morning at 6 and despite trying hard, wasn’t able to fall asleep again. I got up before 8 and F followed a little while later. 

I suggested going to McDonald’s for breakfast, so we did that!  It was rather fun.  I wouldn’t want to do it every day, but as a one off it was cool.  We both had the Big Breakfast set, so sausage, egg, English Muffin and a hash brown. Yum.

F had been talking about going to Very Berry Soup in Sakata for lunch so I emailed my friend to see if she was free to join us.  She was, so I took a shower and F visited his mother.  When he came back, I was about ready to leave, so off we went.

There was a festival in Sakata, but we found parking after a few minutes and went to the restaurant.  It was lined out the door and the manager was passing out menus.  She skipped me, but gave both the lady in front of me and my husband one, so I wasn’t too impressed.  I do read  quite a lot of Japanese so huh? We were told that the wait would be about 40 minutes for a table.  It was okay, we could see they were busy.  My friend and her son joined us.  We finally got a seat after we ordered and paid, but for some reason it took almost an hour for my tray to arrive.  Everyone else’s food took even longer.  We had no idea why it took so long, it was only soup and pasta for us.  

We walked around Sakata for a while afterwards, but the little boy was getting tired so we said goodbye to everyone and went our separate ways.

F and I went to the hundred yen shop in Marine 5. I got a few things which was cool.  We got a ticket for the car parkade.  When we drove out, it didn’t cost anything!  Yay for that.

We went to Mikawa and bought tickets to see The Intern.  After that, we had bibinba for dinner, which was nice.  When we went to see the movie, F told me he had already seen it!  He’d seen a movie last week but couldn’t remember it.  I enjoyed the movie, and F said he did this time too.  It was quite feminist and not at all what I thought it would be like.  

After the movie, we drove back to Tsuruoka.  We went to the grocery store and bought a few things for dinner and breakfasts for the next few days.  

Then, home!  I’m still up at midnight, which is a bit of an improvement, but I will be going to bed soon as I am very tired.

Today, I wore some of my new clothes including my black dress with the handkerchief hem and my brown leggings.  I put a fringed belt on top of that.  For the first time, I wore my Birkenstocks out of the house!  I bought them last year, and have never worn them outside before today.  They were surprisingly comfortable.  

Really, that was my day.  I’m not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow.  Hopefully, you’ll come back and find out.  Until tomorrow….

October 17, 2015

Written October 18, morning...

I've been so completely jet-lagged that I go to bed early every night.  I have been back for a day and a half now, but haven't had much time to write. On the 17th, we went out to dinner and then I came home, brushed my teeth and went to bed.  It was before 10 pm! On the other hand, I've been waking up at 6 am and haven't been able to sleep much more.  I got up this morning before 8 after failing to catch a few more zzzzzs.  

The trip back was fine really.  I didn't have a boarding pass for my big flight to Haneda, but was okay for the Edmonton to Vancouver one.  I had to wait at the gate for the ANA staff to arrive and beg for a seat.  I asked very politely if I could have an aisle seat, the man told me the plane was full!  However, he came through for me, but it was a bulkhead seat.  Still, not too bad really. I had oodles of leg room, which being as short as I am, I didn't need!

I sat next to a young Canadian woman who irked me by asking if she could read my brand new just out of the plastic, had to go to three stores in the airport to find it Chatelaine.  I said no because I was going to read it, and then did for a bit.

I watched a few movies on the plane, Love and Mercy (The Barenaked Ladies song, Brian Wilson kept running through my head all through the movie), Inside Out (I dozed off a couple of times during it), Spy (howled myself silly) and Max Max:Fury Road(really wanted to see it again). They were entertaining.

Going through Immigration and Customs were a breeze, although I had to wait for a bit to get my suitcase.  Wasn't impressed by the handler of the "drug dog" though, who kept allowing the dog to rub up against many of the waiting people, including me.  I like dogs, just don't enjoy random dogs rubbing up against me.

I sent my very heavy bags off on baggage delivery and then checked into my hotel.  I had a lovely room, very far down the corridor.  It was also in the airport, so that was rather cool too.  I popped out to forage for dinner and had pasta at a cafe.  I bought a few munchies for the room, came back and watched the end of an NCIS episode and crashed!

Friday was fun.  I woke up around 6 again, took a bath and then a shower, then went for breakfast.  After breakfast I repacked my stuff, watched a little telly and then checked out.

I did some shopping(postcards of course!) in the international area, and then went over to the domestic terminal a bit early.  Good thing really.  I got to the check in machine and it told me to contact ground crew for my flight.  I got into a huge line, which thankfully moved quite quickly, and was given an aisle seat again for the trip home.  Yay!

I had lunch at West Park Cafe and had an avocado burger.  They have great burgers, they are grilled, unlike in most places here.  Their fries however, weren't that great, but they had a lovely sour pickle on the plate so I forgave them!

After lunch I went through security, grabbed an English Breakfast Tea Latte at Starbucks near my gate and sat and waited.  I had a great seat on the plane, and a great flight too.  Sometimes it gets bumpy near Shonai airport, but it didn't on Friday.

I had to wait a while for F when I arrived as he was still working.  However, he picked me up a little before 6 and we had a nice reunion.  We went to Kintaro Sushi for dinner....after three weeks of no sushi, it was lovely to have some again.

We went home and I was in bed before 11 pm I think!  F came to bed soon after but I was already asleep.

Saturday we waited for my suitcases to arrive, which they did just before 12.  F wanted lunch, I wanted to unpack and show him stuff.  He won.  Grr.

We had lunch in Amarume which was nice, but a bit expensive.  I even bought more postcards there.  They are cute ones though.

We came home for a bit, and then had dinner at the chicken restaurant in Tsuruoka near the river.  It was really good, but I was so tired!  We came home and I brushed my teeth and I think I was in bed by 10 pm.

I hope that I'm able to update more about today, but it depends on what we get up to today.  We might see a movie today or not, I'd like to, but I begged off of it yesterday as I was sure I'd fall asleep on it.

Come back later and find out all the interesting stuff that happens today!  Until later....

October 13, 2015

Tuesday - Warm and Sunny

A good day.

I spent most of the day packing and re-arranging my suitcases.  I think they are under the maximum weight.  I think and hope!

I wrote a letter to the wife of the man who died, and sent it off today.  I hope the address was correct.

It was a teacher development day today and my nephew didn't have school. I was rather glad about that as I was able to spend a bit of time with him.  We played a bit of indoor hockey, then catch and also did some more origami.  He likes the paper aeroplanes too.

My sister, nephew and I made a quick run out for money and groceries!  I arranged to have my credit card paid and took a little money out for the trip.

In the evening I had dinner with my family.  It was leftovers and was great! I really enjoyed it.  Turkey rules!

In the evening my sister and I scanned a few old family photos, which she emailed to me.  I don't really need the originals and my sister can pass them on to her children.

Well, that's about it for me.  I'm looking forward to seeing my husband again, but not looking forward to the trip. I should be home in a few days, but I'm not sure when I'll be up to blogging again!  Don't miss me too much, but please check back in a few days!  Until next time....

October 12, 2015

Monday - Thanksgiving Day - Sunny but cool

A good day.

After last night's late party, we all were draggy this morning.  I woke up around 9 am, but probably didn't hear anyone else until closer to 10 am.  I got up and went upstairs for some tea and then breakfast.

I walked on my sister's treadmill for a while and then worked on packing my suitcases.  I think that everything will fit...I just hope that my cases are under the weight they should be! I may do some distribution tomorrow though.

My brother in law did the cooking of the big Thanksgiving meal and it was lovely.  We had turkey, yams, stuffing and a bunch of other lovely foods.  It was fabulous to be with my Canadian family celebrating this holiday.  I wish my husband could have been here too, but other than that it was great.

In the evening I did some laundry and a bit of crochet in front of the TV.  After a while we watched one of the Vin Diesel movies, Riddick.  It was okay.  I nearly fell asleep at one point, but when everyone laughed at me, I woke up.

After the movie I came downstairs to put away more clothes and get ready for bed.  I didn't go out today, so it was one of the first days here that I didn't spend any money.  Yay for that!

I'm not sure if I'll be able to post tomorrow night or not.  If I can, you'll hear from me, otherwise, I'll post when I'm back in Japan.

Until next time....

October 11, 2015

Sunday - Cloudy in the morning, nice in the afternoon & evening

A mostly great weekend.

I went off on Friday evening with my friend.  We went shopping in Edmonton after we checked into our hotel.  We went over to Bonnie Doon Mall and found quite a lot of things on sale.  We each got a few things which is great.  We had dinner at Tony Roma's, I had a burger which was rather nice.

We went back to the hotel and went to sleep quite soon afterwards.

On Saturday, we got up and decided to go over to the Mayfield Common area.  We drove over there and got a tea and a muffin or a coffee and a biscuit on the way.  When we got there, we went into Penningtons and got down to the business of shopping.  We were there from 10 until 11:30!  We were supposed to meet a friend at 11:30 for lunch, but had to call her and ask her to wait a little longer for us! I did very, very well.  I got a fabulous outfit for a wedding that is coming up soon, and got all the pieces too.

We met up with our friend and we spent 3 hours together in the restaurant.  We had a great meal and a great time.  It was lovely to have the three of us together again as we were all in high school together.  It really was a special time and we got to renew our friendship and see that we are all still good people!

After lunch, we did a bit more shopping, less for me now than for my friend as she also had errands to run.  I did go to a store and get pantyhose as I had completely forgotten to get any!  We ran our purchases back to the hotel and decided what to do.  My friend suggested going to see a movie in IMAX/3D, so off we went.

We went to the Telus Space Sciences Center and got our tickets to Jurassic World.  I had seen it before, but my friend hadn't.  I didn't mind seeing it again, and I have always wanted to see a film in IMAX, so it was a treat.  It wasn't any more expensive than a normal movie in Japan!

We had a bite to eat at The Second Cup and then walked back to the theatre.  The movie was more fun the second time, and very cool in 3D!

After the movie we went back to the hotel.  When I checked my Facebook feed I discovered a post from a friend that said a man I knew from my college, my former boss to be precise, had just died.  I was stunned since I had seen him 2 weeks before and he looked fine.  When I messaged her she told me that the man had died of a massive heart attack on Friday.  I'm shocked and deeply saddened.  He was a big part of my life at Augustana and it had been so nice to see him again after all these years.

I had a fairly early evening that night too.

Today, we overslept a bit.  We were supposed to go swimming, but my friend needed to leave the city and take care of some family business, so we decided not to do it.  Instead, we tried to have breakfast after we checked out of the hotel but  the place was too busy.  We went to Tim Hortons for a quick breakfast instead.  She dropped me off at my sister's place a little ahead of schedule.  We hugged our goodbyes.

I came into the house, talked to my niece and then did a workout on the treadmill.  When my sister came home I had a little snack and then decided to go with her family to a neighbour's home for a  Thanksgiving dinner.

We had a fabulous dinner of venison, garlic potatoes, stuffing with sausage, carrots, and buns.  It was lovely.  The men talked and talked, especially about sports while most of the women either listened or rolled their eyes.  My sister and I and her kids left around 1 am, and her husband walked home soon afterwards.

And that was it.  I only have a couple of days left in Canada. The time seems to have gone by so quickly that I have a hard time understanding it! I have had a great time but I do miss my husband.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in Canada and Japan.  I hope that we'll all have a lovely day.  Come back later and find out what I get up to.  Until tomorrow....

October 8, 2015

Thursday - Warm and sunny

A good day.

I woke up  early this morning and didn't want to get up, but I did.  I went upstairs, had breakfast and then had a quick shower.

My sister drove me over to Sherwood Park with her for her eye appointment.  Afterwards, she dropped me off at Southgate Mall and I got down to the difficult job of finding "stuff". I detoured into a few stores, but made my way to Sears where I got quite a lot of cool clothes.  I did rather well actually.

I had lunch at Opa! in the fast food section of the mall.  It was Greek food and it was good!  I had Lamb Souvlaki with a Greek Salad and some pita bread.  Yum.

I did a little more shopping and even got my Christmas cards for the next couple of years!  I think that they are really nice.  At 3:30 I started heading towards the transit center and got on an LRT.  I got to Century Park about 5 minutes before my time, but my sister and her son were there already.  They had arrived 5 minutes before I did!

We drove to a Walmart where they picked up some stuffing and I picked up some undies and a pair of pajamas. Yay me.  We drove back to Beaumont.

My niece was studying for an exam tomorrow, my sister had to go to a hockey meeting, so I suggested that my nephew join me in making some paper airplanes.  I had brought him some origami paper and a book with me from Japan.  I thought it was a cool way to share some Japanese culture with him, plus it was an activity we could do together.  For the next hour or so, we had a blast making airplanes and then flying them.  We got into a bit of a war though and it was quite noisy!

When my sister came home, she cooked, I kept her son busy and then we all had dinner.  She made pork chops on the barbecue, baked potatoes and there was salad too.  It was a yummy dinner.

After dinner I chatted with my niece while my sister did some hockey stuff.  She is an interesting young woman.

I got a message from my friend about when she would be by tomorrow to pick me up.  And that brings me up to now, more or less.  I'll be away for the next couple of nights, so I might be able to update again on Sunday night, but if I'm tired, it could be a bit later than that.  Sadly for me, I'm getting close to the end of my vacation, but I still have a few days yet.  Come back later and see how my holiday ends! Until next time....

October 7, 2015

Wednesday - Sunny and warm, cool at night

A good day.

Last night I wasn't feeling very well if you remember, so I didn't get a lot of sleep.  This morning I didn't want to get up, but did anyway.  I had some tea and a little later some breakfast.

In the morning I did about 45 minutes on the treadmill and then did a load of laundry.  I had lunch soon after that too.

I had a quiet day basically.  I helped my sister make some tomato sauce and later on the two of us went to the grocery store to pick up dinner.  Since the grocery store didn't have the lightbulbs she needed, we went to the hardware store where she got them and I got a wooden spoon and a spatula that I had wanted.  Yay.

We came back and heated up the pizzas we bought and had a spot of dinner.  It was very good! I had got a frozen pizza without tomato sauce and it was quite nice.  It was so nice that my sister and my niece said they'd get it again, without me!

In the evening I did some more laundry and helped my sister in her garden.  It was time for her to take out some of the plants and put them in the composting bins.  I helped with sweeping up leaves and also taking out the plants.  We worked for about 15 or 20 minutes outside.

In the evening we watched a little TV, I did a little crochet and we all went our separate ways around 11pm.  I was so tired, I could barely keep my eyes open.

I think I'll be going into the city again tomorrow.  I have a big department store that I'd like to check out and see if I can fill in a few wardrobe gaps for myself.  I will have an early start, so I had better say goodnight soon. I'll try and fill in my day later on.  Until tomorrow....

October 6, 2015

Tuesday - Warm and Sunny, gorgeous day

A good day.

I slept a little late this morning.  It made a nice change to be honest! I went upstairs before 8 though and had breakfast (yogurt and cereal) and then came downstairs to work out.  I did a half hour on the treadmill and then took a shower.  I had a very quick lunch before my sister and I went out.

We drove into Edmonton, facing some quite bad traffic along the way.  We visited an elderly relative of ours in her senior residence.  It was lovely to see her, she's 93 and doing fairly well.  She gave us a few mementoes from our families history, some photographs and even a sweater that our mother made for her!  That was rather wonderful, since neither of us have anything that she made.  Unfortunately it doesn't fit either of us, but it is so nice to just have it!

We had to leave after a short time as my sister had to pick up her son.  She let me out at Southgate Mall and I did a little shopping.  I tried on a few things in The Bay, but thought they were a little expensive.  I was sorely tempted by a couple of dresses and a pair of boyfriend jeans, but really didn't want to spend the money yet.  I decided to leave them all and come back later if I decided to get them.

I was thirsty, so went for a drink and decided to have some root beer.  Since I was at an A&W, I added on an order of onion rings.  They were awesome!  Freshly made, so hot and crunchy.  Yummy.

I thought about going to Sears too, but decided to leave the mall and go to Whyte Avenue a little early. I went to the bus station and waited far too long for a bus.  It took about 25 minutes to arrive and it really shouldn't have!  I rode the bus to Whyte Ave and enjoyed the view.

I nearly bumped into an ex-coworker, but sadly she didn't see me, and I didn't recognize her until she was past me. Oh dear.  I had hoped to talk to her, but I didn't have the chance.

I did a little bit of walking along Whyte Ave. It was quite bittersweet to see everything again.  I was amazed at how many places had changed, even in the last two years.  I enjoyed my walk, and even made it as far as The Wee Book Inn, across from the Princess Theatre.  Of course, I took pictures of The Princess!  I went into The Wee Book Inn and bought 3 books.  After that, I hightailed it back to the restaurant and met up with my friend and ex-coworker.

We had dinner at The Continental Treat and it was amazing as always!  We started with our favourite Dill Pickle Soup, and then had a main course.  My friend had wiener schnitzel and I had a baked chicken breast in a white wine mushroom sauce.  It was so nice.  We decided to splurge on dessert too. I had worked out for 30 minutes in the morning after all!  I had a chocolate pyramid with creme brulee in the centre with ice cream and whipped cream on the side.  It was amazing.  Seriously amazing.

When it was time to go, my friend walked me over to the University and I caught the LRT down to Century Park where my sister was going to pick me up.  I had no trouble and even spotted her as soon as I got out of the station.

We came back to Beaumont where I came downstairs to get ready for bed.  I'm quite tired and hoping to get some sleep soon.

It was a fabulous day and it was wonderful to see my relative and my friend again.  I'm not sure what I'm going to get up to tomorrow.  Come on back and find out!  Until tomorrow....