October 31, 2016

Monday - Rainy and cool

A good day.

I got up this morning a bit early and came through to the living room.  I made some tea and got my breakfast together too.  I also made up tomorrow’s breakfast so that was a little exciting too.  I managed to watch The X-Files while I was doing it, so yay.

I had a bit of a nap after breakfast and tea, woke up and got dressed before 12.  I turned off the TV and got stuck in to my column.  I think I wrote it all, but will go back and check it tomorrow before I send it in.  I like to sleep on it for a night or two.

That took most of the afternoon, so I was almost glad when it was time to get dinner prep started! I had a quick lunch first, and had some of F’s bread.  I had finally twisted his arm into making bread again.  It was so nice! I did the dishes and then started peeling potatoes and generally working on my curry.

I made a recipe I have only made once before, and this time I cut back a lot on the amount of cayenne pepper.  It was still a tad too hot for me, but it was very edible!  I made the curry and also put on a pot of quinoa to cook.  

F came home while the curry was cooking and he said he liked the way it smelled.  Yay.  Finally, I had dinner all done and we sat down. The curry was great.  F had his on rice, me on quinoa.  We had some salad on the side too.  It really was good.  No meat in it, the only thing was I used a chicken consomme cube for the base.  

Almost immediately after dinner, F did a runner.  He went back to the bedroom and went to sleep.  I cleaned up the kitchen and then did the dishes.  He slept until quite late and only woke up because his mother called him.  I was a tad sad because I had barely talked to him at all today. 

He stayed up for a while before taking his bath.  While he was gone, I popped myself some popcorn in the microwave and then ate it.  I did offer him some, but he didn’t want any.  I also had some gorgeous chocolate tea that a friend had given me. 

That was it for my day. Tomorrow I have to check my column and then send it in to the editor.  After that I’ll be free.  Hurray!  That’s it for me for now.  Come back later and see if I get my column sent in and what else I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

October 30, 2016

Sunday - Cool but sunny

A good day.

I slept in this morning and it was lovely.  When I got moving, F asked if I’d like to go for lunch.  Well, of course I would.  

We got dressed and then tried to go to Naa, but their parking lot was full.  F kept driving and we ended up at Bistrot des Ponts in Mikawa.  Yay!  We were able to have lunch there and it was nice.  We had their lowest priced meal for a change, and it was chicken saute with mashed potatoes. It came with kabocha soup, rice or bread and a drink.  I of course had the bread which was great.  We added on dessert which was a tart tartine and that was nice too.  

Over lunch, I asked F if we could go over to Mikawa Mall to look for a present for my sister.  Her birthday is next month.  I also wanted to look at yarn since I may have to make a blanket or two in the next few months! He was amenable, so off we went.  

I looked at yarn, but didn’t buy any.  I did look at clothes and got something for my sister.  I was sorely tempted to look at clothes for me too, but I’m still trying to cull my wardrobe, so that wouldn’t have helped at all! In the mall we stopped at Mister Donuts to have a coffee and a doughnut and then went to Seattle’s Best Coffee for a Java Kula.  They had Biscoff flavoured ones today and they were quite nice.  

We came home for a while and vegged in front of our computers for a bit.  Around 6:30 F asked if we should go and have dinner so we negotiated a place.  We went to a new restaurant, Sanuki Udon.  It’s a Japanese Fast Food place that sells udon.  It was okay, just quite busy.  It only opened a week ago so I understand that.  F had some tempura with his, I didn’t.  We had a larger than normal bowl and got charged for a smaller one. F fretted a lot about it and then during a lull in the crowd tried to pay more!  They told him that it was their mistake so not to worry about it.  

After dinner we bought a few groceries in the nearby store and then visited their hundred yen shop.  I picked up a few little things, nothing major.  After that, home again.  On the way home, F asked if I’d like to go for a walk, and I said I would if it was something like walking to McDonalds for a coffee.  (I think I’m getting rather obsessed about coffee these days…anyone else think that?) He said that was okay, so we got changed into warmer gear and went out.  We walked to McDonalds and had Cafe Mochas.  I think mine had too much milk for me because I can’t breathe, my nose has completely plugged up.  Sigh. 

We walked home again and just spent a quiet evening at home.  We didn’t watch much TV, just spent time on our respective computers.  

Tomorrow I must finish working on my column and I am also planning to cook a big dinner, so I hope that works out too! However, if I don’t get some sleep, I won’t be of any use tomorrow, so I’m going to run now!  Come back later and see if I manage to do all I want to do.  Until tomorrow….

October 29, 2016

Saturday - Cool and cloudy

A good day.

I went to bed terribly late last night, so overslept today.  I got up and had made the bed when F came home from the doctor.  I showered and then we went out for lunch.  I suggested Hyakkenbori and that’s where we went.  It was quite nice, but we did have to wait for a while first. I had chicken, F had the special today which was a mixed fry.

We went to Yamaya to pick up a few things.  I needed allspice, but got lots of snacks and things.  F got ramen and more ramen! 

We came home to unpack and since nothing was happening, I went back to bed.  I slept for at least an hour, probably two.

When I woke up, we got ready to go to the theatre.  We had to have a search for our movie cards first and then we only had a few minutes when we got to the theatre.  As we’d gone to an early show, I had suggested going to the bakery.  We did, and bought a bread thing for each of us.  We sat in the lobby and ate them. Yum.

The movie, Inferno, was kind of dumb.  I enjoyed it, more for the performances by the women in the film, than for the story.  I wouldn’t really recommend it, but it was okay. 

After the movie, we came home, I changed my jacket, and we set off for Ginza Dori and a restaurant/bar.  We had a few dishes there and then headed off to another place that F wanted to go to.

At that place, it was really crowded, but we got seats.  We had a few dishes and F had a couple of drinks.  They were really starting to get pushy about me.  The woman wanted me to join a party of foreigners some time, but I don’t have any interest to be honest.  I was quite uncomfortable by the end, so we left and walked home via the convenience store.

We got home just in time for Project Runway, which was quite good tonight.  I stayed up late blogging and gaming, but am just about ready for bed.  I’m not sure what I’ll be up to when I get up.  If you are interested, come on back.  Until tomorrow….

October 28, 2016

Friday - Rainy and cool

An okay day.

Today was a very quiet day around the apartment.  I overslept in the morning and completely missed my X-Files, checked email and had breakfast and ignored the TV for a bit.  I made the bed, and got dressed a little late, but no big deal.  

In the afternoon I buckled down a bit and worked on my column. I’m about halfway done, but will probably have to stop working on it for the weekend.  Having F around isn’t conducive to my writing process.  He can’t help it, he is just not sympathetic to my cause.

I wrote a letter to F’s doctor as well. He is retiring at the end of the month. I’ve been his patient a few times too.  He’s a very cool man, speaks pretty good English, and I like him as a person.  

In the evening I started to get the kitchen in order and put water on to boil for the pasta.  F was a little late, but since dinner wasn’t a big deal tonight, it wasn’t a problem.  We had pasta with a cilantro-genovase sauce and it was okay.  F and I are in the stages of getting to like cilantro. We’re not quite there yet, although I do think I’m further along than he is! We also had sauteed shrimp and salad. I did the dishes since F pleaded that he was dizzy and tired.  I thought he was going to bed, but really he just sat on the couch and played with his computer. Grr.

Around 11 I went to the couch and watched Shameless and darned in a few more ends.  The one side of my panel is starting to look fairly good!  I may finish this year, you never know.

I am still up very, very late for me but will hie myself off to bed soon.  I’m tired and I have no idea what I’ll be doing after I get up.  Come back later and find out about my day!  Until tomorrow….

October 27, 2016

Thursday - Sunny but cool

A good day.

I got up at my usual time and of course watched The X-Files.  It was okay.  Mulder isn’t in these ones, Scully is working with the guy who played the T1000, Robert Patrick.  He’s okay, but he isn’t Mulder.  Obviously.

I took a shower and then got dressed and waited for my friend to arrive.   This is not the usual friend I go out with, this one lives in Tsururoka.  She picked me up and we went to S-Mall to get something for lunch and then headed on to her apartment.  We ate there and then chatted and talked for the next few hours.  

Around 4 pm she brought me back to S-Mall where I went in and hacked around the hundred yen shop for a bit and then went to Doutors for some tea and a sandwich.  I actually began writing my column too, so yay me!

F called me a little before 6 and then came and joined me.  We both had a cup of tea and decided to go to Kintaro Sushi for dinner, since we hadn’t been in ages.  Well, I hadn’t, apparently he took his mother one day when I was away!

We went for sushi and it was nice.  It was still really quiet when we went there, but the sushi was as good as ever.  I had the sashimi plate too, so that I could get a few more bits of fish.

We followed dinner up with a trip to the drugstore and then to the grocery store.  Tomorrow’s dinner is going to be pasta with shrimp.  

I watched Bones and darned in more ends of my poncho.  It’s going a little faster now that I have an idea of how to darn in on some of the stitches.  I also watched Elementary and enjoyed it too.  

Tomorrow I really must write more of my column.  Since I have the movies and the topic it isn’t too bad this month, the column should write easily. I hope.

Come back later and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

October 26, 2016

Wednesday - Sunny

An oddish day.

I got up a little late this morning and came through to watch The X-Files.  I missed an episode because of my trip and it feels like I have missed a lot.  I had breakfast and then spent some time on the couch.  

F came home for lunch today, just as I was going to start making the patties for dinner.  I ceded the kitchen to him and let him have at it.  When he left for work again, I got to work.  I didn’t have all of the ingredients today, so I improvised a few and I think I did okay.  I set up the tuna patties in the fridge to chill for later.

I did a few things in the afternoon, but not much. I relaxed a bit. I had a latish lunch, I made a version of okonomiyaki with egg and some leftover cabbage. It was pretty good actually.

I was beginning to prep the vegetables when F came home.  He didn’t call me first, which was quite unusual.  He said he was tired and talked a little about work. He called his mother and told her that he was too tired to visit her tonight.  I think he was, but it surprised me a little.  

I worked on with dinner, got everything cooked and as usual, he wouldn’t come to the table.  I had put a cooked patty on his plate in an English Muffin, all the food was on the table, but he chose to go and hang up his washing.  Then he chose to sit at his computer and try and sign out of a program.  I had enough.  I sat down at the table and started to eat.  I told him to let me know when he was ready and I’d let him pass to get to his seat.  That was it.  He blew up at me and told me he wasn’t eating.  Okay, fine.  I ate a couple of my lovely tuna burgers, salad, sautéed mushrooms and steamed broccoli.  Then, I cleared the table and washed all the dishes. 

Ten minutes later, he goes to the fridge and takes out the other two burgers that I had put away and asks if he could have them.  What?  So, not only would he not eat with me, but he’s going to eat the leftovers?  I told him to go ahead.  He said he liked them, but he didn’t have any of the other stuff that went with them.  

Later tonight I made us some tea and watched my shows.  I thought he’d go to bed soon, but didn’t.  He suggested going away for his birthday next month, but only wanted to take off one day of work.  His birthday is a national holiday here, but we’d basically have to go somewhere and be back in two days.  He wanted to go to Misawa in Aomori, I countered with Aizu Wakamatsu, so I think we’re going to go there.  Fukushima is a little closer than Aomori, and a lot easier to get to!  One is 5 hours away, the other is 3.  I made a couple of hotel reservations for us, but if he changes his mind I can still cancel everything.

That’s about it for my day then.  Tomorrow I’m having lunch with a friend and I hope to get started on my column.  I have a few movies in mind finally and found my special notebook for writing out my column.  Sometimes I like to write it in longhand first and then type it up.  It just is easier at times.  

I’ll be back tomorrow night, most likely.  Until tomorrow….

October 24, 2016

Monday-Sunny and Warm

A good day and a good weekend!

I had a good trip to Sendai, got back tonight.  I’ll just give a few highlights before I go on with my entry about today.

My trip to Sendai on Saturday was fine.  I had no problems finding the hotel, the only problem with the hotel was they asked for my passport.  I reminded them that I didn’t have to show it to them and paid my bill!

The room was fine.  I had a semi-double room and as the hotel was brand new, everything was nice and shiny in the room.  I relaxed for a few minutes and then headed out to The Mall.  At The Mall, I did a little shopping (socks!) and then headed over to the theater and bought my ticket to see Star Trek Beyond.  I had an hour or so and I wanted something to eat, so took myself off to a Starbucks for quiche and a sandwich.  After that, back to the movie.  

I enjoyed the film, thought it was okay but not great.  I shed a bit of a tear when “For Anton” appeared at the end.  I went to the washroom and then left the building.  I was halfway to the subway station when I realized that I didn’t have my socks bag.  Ack.  What to do?  I decided that since I wasn’t sure I could get back in the building tonight and I wasn’t sure how late the subway runs in Sendai, I would go back to my hotel and try and go back on Sunday.  I had a fairly early night that night.

Sunday morning I got up early and took a bath in the hotel’s public bath, then got dressed and headed to the station.  I met up with my friends, we had breakfast and then headed out to the ETJ Expo.  We nearly took the wrong train, but righted ourselves.  

We set up the table and had a good day chatting and talking about our organization to interested women.  Some people had to leave early, but three of us went out for coffee afterwards.  I left them then and went back to my hotel to drop off my stuff.

I zoomed back over to The Mall and picked up my socks which were being held by the clerks at the ticket desk.  I was really happy that they had them!  

I didn’t have time for much exploring, but I had dinner in an Italian restaurant, then bought a few munchies at the grocery store in the Mall.  I went back to the hotel and got a movie card and watched a movie before going to bed.

Today, I checked out of the hotel and put my stuff in two lockers.  My backpack was huge and I didn’t want to try stuffing it in one locker with my suitcase.  

I caught a subway and went to a new cinema for me, The Forum.  I saw Genius, the film about Max Perkins, a famous editor.  He edited books by Fitzgerald and Hemingway, but this book was mostly about his relationship with Thomas Wolfe.  I liked it, although I’m not sure if everyone would.  

After the movie, I headed back downtown.  I had lunch in a hamburger joint that one of the ladies from the day before had said was the “second-best” hamburger restaurant in the station.  I never found out where the first one was.  I didn’t like it that much.  My hamburger had a layer of salt on it, and along with the french fries left me terribly thirsty.

I bought a few postcards in different stores and gradually made my way over to the bus station.  I boarded my bus at 16:25 and was off on my way home.  

F met me at the bus centre and we first had a coffee in Doutors and then went for dinner at Togashi.  We had Yakiniku and it was great.  I had spent the weekend having sandwiches and onigiri and I needed something “real”.  

We bought a few groceries and then came home.  I got caught up on Postcrossing and email, the usual.  

And that’s it. I’m sitting here yawning at my keyboard, so I think I’m going to get myself off to bed soon.  Come back later and see what my Tuesday is like!  Until tomorrow….

October 21, 2016

Friday - Warm and sunny

A good day.

I got up this morning and watched The X-Files…same old, same old.  I had a nice morning actually.  I did a couple of loads of laundry, nothing exciting, mostly towels.

In the afternoon I watched some of the TV off the DVR and deleted it afterwards, then had lunch and scanned my cards too.  I was thinking about going to the bank tonight, but didn’t.  

I rode my mother in law’s bike to the post office.  I wanted to take mine, but the front tire was flat.  I must have a puncture since I blew it up a couple of weeks ago and haven’t ridden it since.  At the post office I dropped off my mail, made a small deposit into my account and then came home again.

At home, I began working on dinner.  I started by doing the day’s dishes and then cut up some vegetables and basically prepared things so that we could just make our pizzas and enjoy ourselves.  

F was a bit late tonight. I didn’t know that he had gone to Yamagata City, so I felt sorry for him.  He was also quite tired.

We had “make your own pizza” for dinner.  We had bought bases from the store, some caramelized onions, chicken, leftover taco meat, grated cheddar, zucchini, olives, fried potatoes, mushrooms and sliced tomatoes.  We made all sorts of combos, and then baked them in the toaster oven.  They were delish! It’s a fun way to make a meal.  It is a bit of work, but if things are are leftovers then it isn’t too bad.  

F did the dishes and I did a few getting ready for my trip things.  Tomorrow I will be catching a bus for Sendai and on Sunday I’ll attend the ETJ Expo representing my women’s group, AFWJ.  I’m looking forward to it as it’ll give me a chance to meet up with some friends I hardly ever get to see.  

So, that’s it for me.  Don’t miss me too much, and come on back in a few days to hear all about my trip.  Until….?

October 20, 2016

Thursday - Rainy and cooler

A good day.

I had a very quiet day today, for the most part.  I didn’t go out, didn’t do too much, but I did accomplish a couple of things I needed to get done.

In the morning I of course watched The X-Files, but snoozed a bit on The Dome.  F called me, a thing that happened a lot today! I made the bed, got dressed and a few minutes later F came home with his bento for lunch.  It was the first time he’d been home for lunch all week so I really should have been happy to see him, but I find that when he’s home I don’t get anything done at all.  

After he left, I worked on my packing for my trip.  I think I have everything sorted out.  I probably should pack a hat just in case it gets colder, but other than that, I think I’m okay.  

I was just thinking about lunch at 2:00 pm when F came home as he had time before his driving gig.  The people he was driving were in an office nearby and it didn’t make sense for him to go back to his workplace.  After he left, I had my lunch.  I put together an awesome chicken/taco salad thing.  Seriously, the thing was amazing!

I watched an episode of Once Upon a Time off the DVR over lunch and then cleared a couple of other shows off too.

Around 5, I did the mountain of dishes and then put a few finishing touches on dinner.  I grated cheese and washed tomatoes, I plated a few things too.  F came home and immediately started to watch wrestling from the the Olympics which I think was over two months ago.  I wasn’t best pleased when he didn’t come to the table when I asked him to.  I kept my cool however, and I made my own taco and started to eat it and didn’t nag.  

He came and we enjoyed dinner.

He didn’t do the dishes tonight, but he was tired and I didn’t care.  I know if I do them, I don’t have to re-do them later!  There weren’t many tonight as I didn’t really cook, I just reheated.

Later on, F went for a walk and then took a bath.  I watched Bones and I think I finished crocheting the two panels of my poncho.  I’ll measure them tomorrow to make sure.  Then I’ll probably have to start darning in the ends.  Oh no! I also wrote up three cards for postcrossing.  I’ll have to send them tomorrow.

That’s about it for me.  I have the heater on tonight. It isn’t terribly cold, just a bit chilly and the floor is quite cold.  I’m comfortable with it on.  

Come back later and see what I get up to.  There is a slight chance that I won’t update tomorrow night as I’ll be travelling on Saturday and won’t be around for a bit. If you check and I’m not here, don’t worry! Probably, until tomorrow….

October 19, 2016

Wednesday - Warm and Sunny

A great day!

I got up in time to watch The X-Files and have some tea and breakfast.  Today’s X-File was quite funny, Mulder and Scully helped advise a movie about their work, but of course the movie got lots of things wrong.  It also had a brief cameo of Téa Leoni as the movie-Scully.  

After my show, I made the bed and then took a shower.  I got dressed after the shower and waited for my friend.  She arrived nearly on time and I went out to meet her.  

I gave her some goodies from Korea and Niigata and then we talked about going for lunch.  We decided to go to First Point so drove off down the road.  On Ginza-dori we parked and went to the restaurant.  Today I tried to have their carbonara, but they were out, so I had the shrimp pasta in cream sauce again.  That was nice.  My friend had the chestnut and mushroom pasta that I had on the weekend.  We were both quite pleased with our dishes.  We had a lot of conversations and good food, so we enjoyed ourselves.  We took a short walk down the street after lunch and then decided to have a quick drink at Cafe Studio Cinq.  We had more chat and a quick discussion about what to do with our online group that we moderate.  Then, it was time to go.  She dropped me off at home and went back to her city.

I tried to go back in the apartment but F had come home and automatically barred the door.  I unlocked it, but couldn’t get in. I had to ring the doorbell to get him to let me in!  I wasn’t upset, I know he just does it without thinking.  

We had a good reunion and discussed what to do with our afternoon.  It was fairly quiet for a while. 

In the evening, we went for dinner to Sashimiya, which was good.  We both had tuna and negi-toro donburi, but F had his larger.  We tacked on an order of motsu and onion and cheese rings.  (The onion rings were okay, the cheese rings not worth the calories.)

We went to the Internet Cafe for the next 3 hours.  We were both lucky enough to get massaging chairs.  I watched a couple of episodes on YouTube of L.A. Frock Stars and read a little, knitted a little and drank coffee a little.  

We bought some groceries at the store afterwards and then came home.  I watched Grey’s Anatomy and did up the garbage for F to take out tomorrow.  

That’s about it really.  It was so lovely to see my friend, she’s glowing these days.  It was also nice to see my hubby at home and enjoy having him around.  He’s been having a rough time at work and  it was good for him to relax.  

Tomorrow I’ll get back to preparing for my weekend trip, and I might even pop out for a little while in the afternoon if I have the chance.  Come back later and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

October 18, 2016

Tuesday - Sunny and warm

A good day.

This morning I got up and watched The X-Files and had my breakfast with some tea.  I love these relaxed mornings.  Unfortunately, I continued the relaxed morning into the afternoon!  However, I did get a few things done.  I finally got down my quilt from the cupboard and put the cover on it.  Then, I made the bed and took off my blanket and towelket.  I took off F’s blanket too, but left him the towelket.  He likes his bed complicated.  I’m not sure he’ll even notice, fingers crossed.

In the afternoon I took a shower and used some new shampoo.  I bought a sample of it in Sendai as I’d seen a bottle of it locally and thought I might try it.  It is supposed to add shine to my hair.  It does, but unfortunately it makes it a little itchy too, so I probably won’t be buying it.  Sigh.  

I had lunch early for me, after my shower and it was really good.  I finished up a few things from the fridge, and made myself a really yummy Buddha bowl.  It was a pleasure to eat today!

When lunch was over I scanned my cards and got them ready for the post office.  I ran them off and then decided to detour to the convenience store. I didn’t get the iced coffee I planned on getting, I got an iced tea.  It was really good, so yay me.

I came home and got started on dinner.  I set up my onions in my frying pan to caramelize and while that was happening, I did the dishes and then prepped the other things for dinner.  I knew that F might be late tonight, but I still ran out of time.  He came home around 7:00 I think, but I still had to bake dinner.  I made a tian and lemon pepper chicken.  We had those with salad.  It was lovely.  Really good. F even had seconds of the veggies and lately he hasn’t been doing that.  

F did the dishes afterwards and I emailed a friend to let her know that I was free to Skype.  She wanted some feedback from the workshop she gave a couple of weekends ago.  We had a great chat.

I made us some tea and we finally finished up the apple crumble with some ice cream for a late dessert.  I watched Criminal Minds and later on NCIS: LA.  And that was, more or less, my day.  

Tomorrow, F is hoping to take the day off to take his mother to the doctor as she’s under the weather.  I have a lunch date that I’m looking forward to so yay on that.  I should be back tomorrow night, so please come back in a little bit.  Until tomorrow….

October 17, 2016

Monday - Warmer

A good day.

I got up this morning as my alarm rang and made it to the couch in time to watch The X-Files.  I had some tea and some overnight oatmeal and enjoyed myself.  I really relaxed, so it was nice.

Around 1, I started working in my bedroom.  I moved the box that has been in front of my closet for ages and then went through some of my clothes.  I did a little bit of KonMari on my wardrobe.  I didn’t throw out a lot of stuff yet, but I did throw out some, so yay me! I also did a little bit of packing for my trip on the weekend.

When I finished I had a very late lunch.  I finished up some of the yummy stuff from last week.  Then, I got started on dinner for tonight.  I was making tacos from scratch.  I had some leftover taco seasoning mix that I had made before and decided to use that.  I got many of the other ingredients ready for dinner.  I just needed someone to eat with.

F didn’t come until after 7 pm so I was a tad worried about him.  He’d gone shopping for his mother and apparently had some food with her too.  I cooked the ground meat and then it was time to eat.  The tacos were pretty good but I was disappointed that F only had one.  Then he told me that he’d eaten something with his mother. 

After dinner F finally did the dishes and then he went for a walk.  I stayed home and did some Postcrossing.  Yay.  I wrote 4 cards today so that was good.  I’ll have to scan them and send them tomorrow afternoon.  

We had a fairly quiet evening here, except F watched some TV. It wasn’t the bad kind, so I’m not complaining.  

Basically that was my day.  Mostly unexciting, but I am glad to have started working on my wardrobe even a little.  

That’s it for me.  Come back later and see how my Tuesday is.  Until tomorrow….

October 16, 2016

Sunday - Warm and Sunny

A good day.

I got up around 11 am today. It’s Sunday, my usual sleeping in day, so didn’t feel too bad about it at all. I got up and went on line for a few minutes.  

F wanted to go for lunch fairly soon, so I got dressed and off we went.  He wanted to take me off to Kushibiki, a suburb of Tsuruoka, so off we drove.  I was worried that he was going to take me to a horrible little place he took me once before, but he didn’t.  He took me to a nice place that he might have taken me before, but I couldn’t quite remember if I’d been there or not.  I had a meat-veggie stir-fry and it was good.  F had ramen with spicy tofu in it and he liked his too.  

After that, we did a little driving around.  We drove to Asahi Village and went to a road stop there.  I bought a zucchini and a spaghetti squash there.  Yay! After we left there, we went to another road stop a bit closer to home and went inside.  We looked around and they had spaghetti squash too, a bit cheaper than I got it for!  I didn’t buy one.  We did get persimmon ice cream, but honestly, it didn’t really taste like persimmon so we were a tad disappointed.

We thought about going fishing, but decided that it was too late in the day now to start, so just came home.  We relaxed for a while until it was time to think about dinner.

For dinner tonight, F suggested the place we originally wanted to go to last night.  Oh, yeah…last night I was so very tired. I don’t know if I wrote about the festival that we found when we got downtown! We sort of ignored it, but wished we’d known earlier about it.  We ended up going to the restaurant.  They use local produce and are fairly cheap and not too bad.  They also let you have as much rice and miso soup with your meal as you like.  I have very little rice, F has a lot so we’re both happy!

During our meal, I suggested to F that we go for coffee afterwards.  The only place that we could go locally was McDonalds!  We went, I had a cappuccino and F had a latte.  They weren’t bad drinks.  I have decided that Tsuruoka really needs a non-alcohol place for adults to go after 8:00pm.  There’s nowhere now.  

We bought our groceries for the next couple of days and saw that the grocery had tiny spaghetti squash!  They’ve never had them before.  I got a few things for the next couple of days worth of food, and something for my lunch too. 

We came home and watched an okay but not great Russell Crowe film (Fathers and Daughters) and then a really weird film with Rupert Grint (Ron from Harry Potter) and Ron Perlman.  F went to bed a little while ago, I’ll probably go to bed fairly soon tonight.  

I’m not really sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow.  I have a bit of a plan, but knowing me I’m not sure if I’ll get to it or not.  Come back and see just what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

October 15, 2016

Saturday - Sunny and warm

A good day.

I’m really, really tired at the moment so if I stop making sense, please understand!

 The doctor’s appointment in the morning went well and we didn’t have to wait all that long.  The weird thing was that when we had moved to the area closer to the doctor I looked over at F and there was a caterpillar on his collar!  I picked it off in a tissue and let F deal with it.  We assume that it came from one of the trees that F had looked at in the morning.

We had lunch at Krippa, the Indian/Nepal place.  The young guy is still there by himself.  The food was okay, but the service is really slow.  

After lunch, we went to the Chido Museum to see their Samurai show.  It was quite interesting.  Then we went to S-Mall to have some Raspberry Coffee.  I liked mine, F didn’t.  

We came home for a while and I worked on my computer for a bit.  F took a nap.  

In the evening, F checked on his mother and then came back.  We decided to walk to the theater and have dinner on the way.  We got to the main street and saw there was a big festival going on. We didn’t stick around for it, but the restaurant we wanted to go to was closed.  We walked to First Point and had a lovely meal.  It was really good.  I had pasta with chestnut and mushrooms.  Yum.

We went to see Trumbo and I was very impressed.  It was quite good.  I liked a lot of the actors in their smaller parts.

After the movie, we walked over to The Good Luck Cafe to have a drink or two.  We had a little food too, then walked home.

At home, I watched Project Runway and some other stuff.  Now, I must go to bed as my sentences aren’t making sense when I write them!  Until tomorrow….

October 14, 2016

Friday - Cloudy but warm

An okay day.

I got up this morning and had breakfast and tea.  I was a little late, but I didn’t fall asleep so that was good!

I did some laundry and when F came home for lunch he brought me a sandwich.  It was nice of him, but I really didn’t want it that much.  Still, it was good!  

In the afternoon I hung up my laundry and scanned my cards.  I also got a bunch of cards ready to send to another Postcrosser in Japan.  I was able to help fill in some of the gaps in her collection.  Oh, and a friend from elementary school in Britain had asked if I could help her daughter do a project for school.  I did it last night before bed, and today I asked on my women’s group if anyone else would like to help out.  I had quite a few responses, so that was good. 

I ran off to the post office a bit after 4 and mailed my cards.  While I was in the post office having my package sent, one of the workers came over with a brochure for the special 18 yen stamps for sending nengajo overseas.  The nice thing is that they are perfect for me sending regular cards overseas too! It was very nice of her and I hope to ask F to help me order some of the stamps.

I came home again and started working on dinner.  I found a couple of recipes and put them together.  I also decided to roast the cauliflower that F had bought yesterday.  The weird thing was that it was full of caterpillars!  I think I got about 5 of them out of it.  It wasn’t even that big!  I cleaned it out as best as I could and cut off any area where there was a bug and got it ready to roast.  

When F came home we had leftover chicken, quinoa, stir-fried asparagus and mushrooms, roasted cauliflower and salad.  It was quite nice.  F asked me during my cooking if I’d like to start walking with him again and I had to tell him quite honestly that I wouldn’t.  I tried to be nice about it, but I think I upset him.  I told him truthfully that I enjoyed walking, but not fighting about walking.  I couldn’t walk fast enough for him, he wouldn’t walk with me.  If he wanted to go for a walk, I had to set the route.  He wouldn’t suggest routes, and constantly either walked right behind me or 20 feet in front of me, neither of which did I enjoy.  So, no, I don’t want to start walking with him again.  

He was quiet for most of the evening after that.  During dinner, he finished early and I was still eating.  He started washing the dishes and then started to ask me where to put the clean dishes that were in the drying board from before dinner.  It was so annoying.  He wouldn’t let me clear off the table either.  Finally he went off in a huff to bed and of course fell asleep.  Guess who did the dishes.  Yep, me.  

At 9:00pm I turned on the TV and he got up.  He went for a walk by himself, but probably should have just gone back to bed.  He’s not doing that well these days.  He came back and made himself some food and left all his dishes in the sink, where they will remain until he does them.  

He went back to bed around midnight.  I’ll try and get to bed soon.  I have to go to the doctor tomorrow, one of those in and out silly Japanese things where I’ll have to wait for an hour to see the doctor for 3 minutes.  Annoying.  At least I have a good book to take with me.  

  

Not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow after the doctor’s office.  I hope we’ll have a good day together.  Come back later and find out.  Until tomorrow….

October 13, 2016

Thursday - Cloudy but warmish

A good day.  

I’ve managed to go over my usual bedtime so I’ll have to make this short.  I got up early but fell asleep on the couch.  I woke up, watched a bit of telly and had breakfast, then took a shower before F came home for lunch.

After lunch, I did a few things around the apartment and then took myself off to the mall.  I had a sandwich at Subway and then a raspberry Royal Soy Latte at Doutor.  The latter was odd, but good! I was hoping that F would call me but he didn’t, so I walked home again.

At home, I had just decided to start on dinner when F arrived.  He hadn’t done the shopping I asked him to do during lunch so sent him to the shop while I did some food prep.

Tonight we had the last of our Costco avocados as guacamole.  I made nachos, so toasted some tortilla chips covered in cheddar in the toaster oven.  They were nice with the guacamole and some salsa too.  We finished dinner with a bit of the apple crumble from last night and some ice cream that F had bought us.

The evening was quiet here.  I did some postcrossings and then went to the couch for Bones.  It was exactly like the end of a series so they must have thought they’d be cancelled or something.  I know there isn’t a lot of the show left.  

F had an early night and I’m about to join him as I’m quite tired tonight.  

Tomorrow I have to scan my postcards and send off a bunch of them, plus I have to cook some veggies for dinner.  The meat is already cooked, so I just have to add the veggies I’ll be making.  Hmm.  

That’s it for me.  Until tomorrow….

October 12, 2016

Wednesday-Cloudy and cool

A good day.

I slept in late today, but so did F.  He had a half day off from work this morning, so we took advantage of it.  He went to the doctor’s office in the morning and then came home again.  I suggested going for lunch, so we did that.

We went to a fairly new place near my dentist’s office.  It is a former bento shop that now has a tiny restaurant.  It wasn’t quite as busy as it was last time we went, but it was busy!  We sat at the counter.  I had a steak donburi and F had the roast beef one.  His still looked raw, but that’s how they serve it around here.  Lunch was good.  F brought me back home afterwards and we still had a few minutes to relax before he went back to work.

In the afternoon I unpacked my suitcase and tried washing my jeans and my new jacket.  On Monday in Niigata I got bird-bombed.  Oh yay.  I didn’t notice until I saw my reflection in a window….don’t know how, but the bird got my jacket, jeans and shoe, missed my head though.  Whew!

I had a bit of a lazy, getting back to normal afternoon. I watched some TV from the DVR and then at 5ish I headed into the kitchen.  I washed a few dishes and started getting dinner prepped.  I was trying a new recipe so had some things to do.  It turned out very well.  I did a one-skillet balsamic chicken and vegetables and was just about as easy as the recipe said!  I also cooked some quinoa and had F bring us a salad from the shop so dinner was nice.

F did the dishes and for some reason in the evening, I decided to make an apple crumble.  F was being a tad annoying because he was watching something on his computer (loudly) and watching something completely different on the TV (loudly).  I couldn’t think and it was bothering me.  I grabbed my iPod, put on some tunes (loudly) and danced my way through making my apple crumble.  Win-win for both of us!

I baked the crumble and it turned out quite well. I did burn the top of it a little, but it is hard to get that right in the little microwave oven that I have.  F and I each had a bit and it was very nice.  

After my baking was done for the night, I wrote a letter and watched my TV.  It was very quiet  around here, but nice to get back to normal.  

I’m not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow.  Come back and find out!  Until tomorrow….

October 11, 2016

Tuesday - Cooler and cloudy

Once again it is late and I am tired.  I’ve had a long but fabulous weekend full of fun, friendship and good food!  I didn’t have a traditional Thanksgiving day yesterday, but I did have a lovely Mexican feast with a friend and then spent the rest of the day enjoying myself.  

To begin at the beginning would take too long and I’m too sleepy to start.  Basically, I went to Niigata by train, met up with some friends and did a Rejuvenation Workshop with them, then had a fun night out.  On Monday, I slept in and then went for lunch with one of the ladies from my group.  She had to return home after lunch, so I saw her to the station and then went and did my own thing.  I went shopping and exploring and didn’t really go back to my hotel until quite late.  

Today I checked out and then went postcard shopping.  I went to the post office and bought Gotochi cards, then headed off to Billboard Place.  I had lunch at a new to me place and then went to see a movie, Me Before You. It was okay. It was a tearjerker and I don’t usually respond well to those.  After the movie I had coffee and a bagel somewhere and then headed back towards my hotel.  I picked up my bags and then went to the station and caught my train home.

F picked me up at the station and we went to Jiro for dinner and then did a little shopping for groceries.

We came home and had a quiet evening.  F is in bed as he is very tired, and since I’m yawning up a storm, will go and join him soon.  Not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow, guess you’ll just have to find out for yourself.  Until tomorrow….

October 7, 2016

Friday - Sunny and warmish

A good day.

I overslept again this morning.  I was rather annoyed with myself as I wanted to watch The X-Files, but missed it completely.  Still, I did get up!

I had breakfast and watched something from yesterday on the DVR and then finally got dressed and made the bed.  I was still making it when F came home for his lunch.  He ate and then left again.  He did bring me an ice cream which I just remembered. I haven’t eaten it yet!

In the afternoon I watched a little bit of telly and even had my lunch early for a change.  After that, I went for a walk.  I needed to go to the bank machine, so I walked there.  I also detoured around the grocery store and then went to McDonald and had a quick cappuccino.  It was quite nice, plus I read a little on my phone so I did enjoy myself. 

I came home and then got started on dinner.  I washed the few dishes from the day and then started cooking.  Today I used a spice packet and made a tomato and avocado salad, got it in the fridge early for dinner.  I also decided to make avocado pasta, so I was preparing that when F came home from work.  Finally everything came together and we ate.  We had two avocado dishes, but they were rather nice.  The avocado pasta was okay, not great, but quite easy so I was happy with it.  I think if the avocado was a day or possibly two riper, it would have been better.

F was apparently exhausted so I did the dishes while he sat on the couch and watched me.  At 9:00 pm I watched the last episode (sob, sob) of White Collar.  I’ll miss it as it was rather fun.

I did some crochet on the couch while I watched Numbers and made some tea for us as well.  I broke out the tea I got in Korea and it was very nice.  

And that’s about it. F is off snoozing and I’m still up.  I’ll try and get myself off to bed soon though.  It is highly unlikely that I’ll post tomorrow night as I’m off to Niigata to meet up with friends for the next couple of days.  Please don’t miss me too much.  Until….next time….

October 6, 2016

Thursday - Clear and then rainy

A sad day.

I got up early again today and had breakfast and tea.  I watched The X-Files and surfed the net a little.  After a couple of my shows I got dressed, made the bed and started in on dinner.  I made up the tuna burgers mix and put them in the fridge to firm up.  I expected F to come home for lunch, but he didn’t today.

I was getting ready to do some of my usual computer stuff when I received a message from my sister. She told me that she’d just found out that a relative of ours had died last month, but we were only finding out about it today.  The relative lived in England, was older and single, but was a lovely woman.  Even though I haven’t seen her in person in years, we kept in touch and sent gifts and cards at Christmas.  

I was quite sad, and frankly, quite regretful. I have been meaning to write to her all year and just never got around to it.  Sigh.  I should have written.  

In the afternoon, I had a little cry, and then scanned my cards.  I walked them off to the post office and also walked myself off to the conbini and got myself a cafe latte for the walk home.

When I got home I got stuck on dinner.  I did a lot of dishes and then made the easy zucchini salad I’ve made before.  F got home while I was making it.  

He changed and started to relax while I got dinner ready.  Tonight we had quite a good dinner. We had tuna burgers on hot dog buns, with cabbage salad, zucchini salad,  steamed broccoli and a few green onions.  There weren’t as many leftovers as I had hoped!  Still, I was pleased.  Dinner was good, and it was remarkably stress free.

In the evening we had a quiet night.  F watched some Japanese TV and then at 10 pm I watched Bones and did a bit of crochet while he took his bath.  He went to bed when he finished and I stayed up a bit longer.  Okay, a lot longer.  

I did something a little different for me.  I did some colouring.  When I was at Costco last week, I bought myself a book of zen postcards to colour, so I started one tonight.  I haven’t finished, but I like what I’ve done so far.  It looks good.  I’m a little surprised at how popular colouring is for adults these days, but it is enjoyable too.  I might even send someone my postcard(s) if I like them!

And that’s about it for me for today.  Tomorrow I have to get out of the apartment for a bit and start getting ready for my trip on the weekend.  Come back in a bit and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….