October 31, 2017

Tuesday - Sunny and cool

Happy Halloween!

An okay day.

I had a lazy day today. I wasn’t feeling that great in the morning and it was cold.  I decided to work on me today, so just took things slowly and quietly.

Having said that, I did go and have breakfast with K this morning.  I think she had a cold too, as she was wearing a mask for a while. After breakfast I did the dishes, took my medicine and came upstairs to relax.

I didn’t really see too much of K for the rest of the day.  I had lunch up here as she had already eaten and I enjoyed that too.

I didn’t see anyone until F came back after work. He was late today, didn’t get back until after 7pm.  We decided to go out and I suggested an Udon restaurant.  The three of us went and had a good meal I think!  

Afterwards, we dropped K off at the house and then went grocery shopping.  We stopped at McDonald for a while to use the wifi, then came back to the grocery store to get things for tomorrow.  We bought some kerosene as well and then came back to the house.

F and I had a few words about the water heater…it isn’t working well, but F’s suggestions were rather obvious and unnecessary. I took a shower and then watched some telly.

That’s about it!  Tomorrow I have no idea what I’ll get up to.  That makes it exciting for you to come back and see how it goes.  Until tomorrow….

October 30, 2017

Monday - Rainy and cold

A good day.

The weekend itself turned out quite well.  F and I left for Niigata quite early on Sunday morning and made fairly good time. We checked into the hotel early and left our stuff, then went to the restaurant.  Of course, my friend ended up being a bit late, but she made it eventually and we had a great conversation and some quite nice food! We moved to a nearby coffee shop, and while we were there, we noticed a Halloween Parade go by on the sidewalk. It was rather fun to watch!

After my friend left, F and I went over the street to the hotel and went to our room. My nose started running, and to be honest, hasn’t stopped since.  Ack. 

F and I went out for dinner and were planning to go and see a movie, but the theatre was in the opposite direction from the restaurant, and I started feeling really bad.  Since the restaurant took ages to give us our food, we ran out of time.  No movie.  Instead, we headed back to the hotel and I watched some TV.  We both ended up going to sleep just after midnight. 

This morning, we had breakfast in the hotel and a little later checked out and drove to Musashi where we were going to meet our friends.  They found us and we spent quite a few hours with them today.  It was lovely to see them, they live in England now and we hardly ever get to see each other.  We had coffee then lunch.  We even had dessert together.  

They had to leave us too soon  When we said our goodbyes, we did a little bit of shopping in the store and then headed over to the mall.  We checked out the theatre, but the movies started too late for us. We did a little bit of shopping and then had the Halloween Frappucinos in Starbucks.  

After that, we headed out of the city and on the way back to Tsuruoka.  We stopped for dinner at a roadside restaurant. It was quite nice. 

When we got back to the house, we brought our stuff in and then went to the store to get a few supplies for tomorrow.  

We came back to the house and tried to get on with things.  It is freezing in our rooms.  The heater was off of course when we were away, and the oil heater doesn’t work that fast to heat things up.  Brr.  

No idea what I’ll get up to tomorrow.  Please come on back and find out.  Until tomorrow…. 

October 28, 2017

Saturday - Sunny but cool

A not great day. 

I thought today was going well and then it didn’t so I’m quite perturbed actually.  

I slept in a little in the morning and got up.  F and I had to go to the doctor’s office, but instead of going out for breakfast I thought we should eat here.  So we did, and it was fine.  F had granola like me but had it with milk, not yogurt.  K had her usual corn flakes.  I washed the dishes afterwards and then it was time to go.

The doctor’s office was fine mostly. They do an odd thing there, the nurse comes around in the lobby and takes people’s blood pressure and asks how they are doing.  Well, today I refused to have my blood pressure taken in public.  I asked if we could go somewhere private to do that.  They [F & nurse] still ended up having a discussion about my health in public which I wasn’t happy about either.

We waited over an hour to have our 3 minutes with the doctor.  He actually spoke in English to me and asked about my trip.  That was a surprise! 

After the doctor, we went back to the house to see if K wanted to go for lunch. She didn’t, so off we went.  I suggested a place we went once before I left with another place as back up.  We got to the restaurant, it was busy but we got seats and then ordered.  I liked it a lot, F not so much.  I had the vegetarian curry with mushrooms and coconut milk, and a teriyaki chicken dish with a baguette, F had the teriyaki and a pork stew with genmai rice. I thought it was quite nice honestly. F didn’t like it as much, but that’s his problem.

We came back into Tsuruoka and had ice cream at Baskin Robbins. They had a deal on where we’d get “free” earphones if we spent more than 400 yen there.  We did and got our earphones. They look like ice cream and are darn cute.  After that, I wanted to go to the hundred yen shop, so we did.  I picked up a few things, and then F got a few things, so we left the store a little poorer! I picked up a couple of big towel hangers, two shower curtains, some clothes hangers and F got shoe polish, a ruler and some spray stuff for work.  

We bought a few groceries for his mother too, and then came back to the house.  We were intending to go out again later, I thought.  That’s when it pretty much went pear-shaped.

I took the two big towel hangers to the garage’s second floor.  I came back in and checked the avocados.  They were starting to soften, so I suggested making some guacamole to F.  I thought he was okay with that.  I started cutting up the avocados and scooping out the flesh.  No big deal.  I went upstairs and dropped off my stuff, then came downstairs again and cut up some of the garlic sausage.  

F came into the kitchen and started to make some wonton soup from a packet.  I said to him, “Not for me thanks,” and he got mad. He told me he didn’t want any guacamole or any sausage and went upstairs.  I wasn’t telling him not to make the soup, I just didn’t want any.  

I went upstairs after a bit to try to find out what was wrong but it was difficult.  He’s having some health issues at the moment which are all my fault in his opinion.  At least that’s how it seems to me.  

He did come down later but said again that he wasn’t going to eat.  I took the stuff into the living room and K and I had some.  We polished off the garlic sausage I had cut up, and I ate a lot of the tortilla chips and guacamole.  When K had had enough, I washed the dishes and took the chips and dip upstairs.  

Today at the hundred yen shop I had bought two shower curtains.  I put one on a tension bar and stuck it in the doorway to the storage area upstairs.  F hasn’t been able to get the door to close for a while and that space is sucking all of the heat out of the room.  It’s only a flimsy little shower curtain, but it does seem a bit warmer up here.  The other shower curtain I put behind a towel that I use to separate my computer/TV room from our bedroom.  There’s one panel there that I can’t close, so at night I hope it’ll keep more of the warm air in the bedroom where I need it.  

I ate my chips and then put the rest of the guacamole in the fridge downstairs.  I put my earphones on (no, not the new ones!) and watched Never Let Me Go on TV.  That is such a sad, moving film.  It’s beautiful, but so sad.  F was sleeping or trying to for a while, but got up after a bit.  

He talked to me and things weren’t awful or anything, just sad.  At first he’d go to a movie tonight, then he wouldn’t.  He asked if I’d go for a walk, but it was after 10 pm and I was in my pyjamas already. He did take a shower, and then I did too.  He’s been sleeping for a while. 

Tomorrow morning, we’re off quite early to go to Niigata for a night.  We’re going to see some friends on both Sunday and Monday.  I’m not sure what time we’ll be back here on Monday, so there may or may not be an update then.  I’m hoping that we’ll have a better time there than we did here today!

Come back in a couple of days then and see how things have been.  Until…..

October 27, 2017

Friday - Sunny and warm

A good day.

I had an okay morning. I got up at my usual time and watched the news. I even made the bed nice and early so I didn’t have to rush later on. I went downstairs and had breakfast with K, and that went well too.

I grabbed my two small towels that were hanging in the garage and brought them up to my room. I did a bit of Postcrossing too. Today I wrote up 3 cards and got F to send them, but that’s getting ahead of myself. I put out the clothes I wanted to wear for tonight during my class. And, I did a bit of binge-watching of Twin Peaks!  I don’t know if I watched three or four episodes, but it was quite good. It seemed to make more sense that way than usual. I didn’t go downstairs until after 2 for my lunch. 

I prepared my lunch and it was good. I did ask K if she would like some, but she’d already eaten.  I had some cooked vegetables, a cheese bagel and the rest of my smoked duck breast plus the smoked salmon I bought yesterday. It was amazing really!

F started phoning me around 4:30 to report that he didn’t know if he’d finished work on time.  Since I needed him to drive me to work, it was a bit nerve-wracking. He phoned me around 5:15 too, to say that he was able to finish soon and would come and get me. He showed up just before 6 because traffic was bad. To do him credit, he got me to where I needed to be before my self-appointed deadline, so that was fine! I taught my class and was a little sad to have to say goodbye to them again. I was just filling in for a friend for a couple of weeks.

F picked me up and we went to Gusto for dinner. He’d already eaten a bit of food, so had a side dish and I had a burger with avocado. They were both quite good. We were very quiet there as we were both engrossed in our phones. That’s something that is happening a bit too much in my opinion.  

We came back to the house and F went to bed almost immediately. I watched a bit of telly, but not the stuff I really wanted to watch. (I have recorded Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but haven’t seen it yet.) And that’s my day basically. It wasn’t bad at all.  

We’ll be away this weekend, but not until Sunday. I most likely will blog tomorrow night, so come back if you are at all interested!  Until tomorrow….

October 26, 2017

Friday - Sunny and warm

A busy day.

This morning I got up and took my water pot downstairs to fill it up rather than bringing some water up in bottles.  I said hello to K and then watched the news upstairs.  After a while I made the bed and then went downstairs to have breakfast.  We had our usual cereals and today I added in raspberries again too.  Yum.  

I brought back in some of my laundry that was dry. I still have a couple of towels in the garage.  I watched some TV, cut up the cards for tomorrow’s lesson and just kept to myself.  I was late going down for lunch and so it looked like K was already eating. I didn’t ask her if she’d like to have some of mine.  It might be mean, but I don’t think she likes my lunches that much.  Today was good though. I had a bagel and smoked duck breast again, plus a hot salad.  The grocery store sells this thing in a microwaveable container with dressing in it.  It’s some vegetables that cook quickly like cabbage and mushrooms.  You heat and eat.  It’s really nice.  

After lunch, I decided to do some baking.  A neighbour had given K some blackberries and F had asked me to do something with them.  F suggested jam, but that’s a lot of work and there wasn’t enough anyway.  I wanted to do a cobbler, but ended up making a crumble instead.  We didn’t have the right ingredients for a cobbler.  

It took a while to make it as I had to find the ingredients, find my bowls & baking dish, wash and dry them all, make up the dish and then wash and dry and bake the crumble.  Ack.  The kitchen was covered in red stains…my shirt would be very suspect.  When I took the crumble out of the oven after 30 minutes it looked very nice.  I put it in the kitchen to cool and then went back upstairs.

When F finished work, he called and I asked him to bring some vanilla ice cream for the crumble.  He did…great big individual containers.  I served us all a helping of the crumble, plus a thing of ice cream.  It was nice, but there was too much ice cream!

I sent F off to get his mother something to eat. I stayed behind to do the dishes and then to change my clothes.  By the time F came back, I was ready to go out.  

He had asked to go to the Internet Cafe last night, but it was a bit late.  Tonight we decided we’d go.  He asked about dinner and I assumed we’d eat there, but he wanted ramen.  He’d heard about a ramen shop and wanted to go.  I volunteered to stay in the car, but then he got quite nasty about it.  So, I walked over to the ramen shop with him.  He had his ramen, didn’t like it of course, and then walked back to the parkade.  

We went to the Internet Cafe and each got a massaging chair booth.  I watched some regular TV, had my dinner (an okay but not great chicken cutlet burger thing) and read a little of a magazine.  

When time was getting short, I let F know.  We left as our time was up.

We made a quick trip to the grocery store for my lunch tomorrow and then came back to the house.  We took our showers and I watched a little TV.  

That was it for today. It was quite a good day really.  Come back later if you like and find out about my Friday.  Until tomorrow….

October 25, 2017

Wednesday - Sunny, then cloudy

A good, but odd day.

I got up this morning, did my usual stuff.  I had a call from F asking me to be ready at 1:30 in the afternoon, and ask his mother to come too. He needed us to bring our identity cards for some tax papers.  I decided that I would wait and try to get the message across to K during breakfast.

I went down and prepared breakfast.  I had everything ready when F called me again to say he was on his way to pick us up. I was nonplussed to say the least.  I told him that we were just going to eat, but he was on his way.  He arrived and talked to his mother.  She didn’t know where her card was, so F left and said he’d come back later.  We ate our breakfast finally and it was nice, if quite late!

Later on, F called to say that he was able to get the papers he needed without our ID so all that kerfuffle was for nought!  Crazy guy.

I did dishes and then a load of laundry. I brought a few things in from the garage, I wasn’t sure if they were dry or not at first, so I hung them over the heater.  

In the afternoon, I was going to go down for lunch, but when I did, I noticed that K was entertaining a friend.  I didn’t really want to disturb them, so I decided to wait.  I did get called in to meet the lady, but she didn’t speak English, and I didn’t understand her accent at all!  I made an escape upstairs a little later.  I had my lunch quite late, around 2 I think. It wasn’t bad, a bagel, duck and some salad.  

In the afternoon I worked on my lesson plan for Friday’s class. I got things worked out and printed up.  I have one little thing to do and that is to cut up some cards I made.  It took a while, but I wanted to get it all down on paper.

Around 4, K called me down and gave me some of the local persimmons.  I had a few bites and then took the rest upstairs with me. I thought it was a tad odd that she wouldn’t have any with me, but whatever!

F came back to the house around his usual time and we talked about dinner.  We thought we might make a nabe but we couldn’t find our nabe pot!  Then, he suggested going for sushi, so that’s what we did.  

The three of us went to the sushi restaurant and got right in. We didn’t have to wait.  The food was good, but for some reason, K sat next to the conveyor belt.  F did too, which was fine.  K didn’t take any food off the belt and she didn’t help when food arrived for us.  I think I was a little grumbly about it at first, but then I thought it was funny. Poor F didn’t have a very relaxing meal.  We ordered 3 plates of onion rings and when they came, K ate hers and then wanted more.  We ordered another plate, but she didn’t want them by the time they arrived!  

Some of the food was nice, but we didn’t win the lottery until the end! I got a keychain that I’ll likely not use!

We brought K home and then F and I went out again to get some wifi.  We went to Mosburger for a drink.  

We came back to the house and I watched a bit of telly.  It was rather enjoyable. I’ve just started watching The Blacklist and since I’ve always been a huge fan of James Spader, I am loving it. 

That’s about it for me.  Tomorrow I might go for a walk, or I might stay in and do some baking. I’m not sure really.  Come back and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

October 24, 2017

Tuesday - Sunny and warm…gorgeous day!

A good day.  

Yes, after the typhoon blew through the weather today was gorgeous!  It was sunny and warm.  Quite beautiful really.

I had a quiet, normal for here morning.  I got up and watched the foreign news, then went and had breakfast with K after a while. I did us a few raspberries in with the cereal which were very nice!

I did the dishes and then did a load of laundry and hung it up in the garage.  I changed to go out with my friend, and I got a lot of things ready to go when she arrived.  She came very close to 12 and we decided to go to the mall for lunch.  We got to the mall and went to the hotel.  They’ve done some renovations lately and things have really changed there.  We got a table in a far room, there were only a few other customers there, and had our lunch.  

I probably ate too much, but we had some great conversation and I was able to see and hold her baby for her for a few minutes so things were really nice.  After a while the baby needed to be walked around, so we left the restaurant and went for a bit of a stroll around the mall.  It was rather fun walking around, looking at things and not buying them.  We stopped for dessert at Baskin Robbins and then had to split up our little party.  She went back to her city, and I took some things off to the post office to mail.

On the way back from the post office, I stopped in at the local souvenir shop and bought a few postcards and something for a friend. After that, I went back to the Mall and looked around a bit more.  I’m into Christmas shopping now.  Sigh. 

Around 5 pm I went to Doutors and had a kinako soy latte.  I drank it and waited for F.  He finished work, but went to the doctor, so I was in the store for a while.  When he came, he got us each more drinks and then we went out for dinner.

We went over to Coco Ichibanya Curry and had Imoni curry.  It was surprisingly good.  It wasn’t very expensive either, so that was an added bonus. After we ate, we drove to the grocery store and got a few things for K’s meal for tonight and for my lunch tomorrow.  Yay us.  

We came back to the house.  F gave his mother some of the food and I came upstairs when there was a good change.  I watched a little TV and made us something to drink.  We had a quiet but nice evening together. 

Tomorrow I should do a bit more laundry, I might do some postcard sending and I would like to get a start on my next class planning. It is much better to plan a class early in case something happens and I can’t later on.  

Come back in a bit and see how my Wednesday goes!  Until tomorrow…

October 23, 2017

Monday - Rainy and super windy

An okay day.

Today a typhoon blew through Japan.  It is quiet now, but for most of the day, the wind was wuthering around the house and the rain was quite fierce.  Usually, the typhoons miss us, but not this time.  

I got up in the morning, dressed, made the bed, the usual stuff.  I went downstairs to have breakfast only to see my husband arrive.  He’d fallen at work and had to change his clothes as what he was wearing was all wet.  Poor thing.  He left and I had breakfast with K again.  

I came upstairs after breakfast and got an email from my friend cancelling our day out together.  I had suggested it earlier as I was worried about the roads, and her driving here with her little one in the car.  We’ll try again tomorrow, hopefully, it’ll work out then.

I got a phone call today too, in the middle of the day.  One of the ladies in AFWJ phoned me and we had a little chat.  It was lovely to hear from her, but not so great to have to chat in English in front of my mother in law!

I had a quick and pretty good lunch today. I had a Costco bagel with peanut butter and cheese, some soup, and some peaches.  I enjoyed it and it kept me going most of the day. K begged off, which was a good thing as I didn’t have enough food for both of us really.

F popped home again a bit later to pick something up, but I’m not sure what.  He left again fairly soon afterwards.  

I had a quiet afternoon in my little room.  I watched quite a lot of TV and was upset to learn that one of the shows I watch had a double episode on while I was gone, and I didn’t get the last episode of the series.  Yikes.  Still, I can catch it on the re-runs probably.  

F came back from work around 6 pm and we decided to eat at the house.  We went to the store and picked up a few things, then brought them back to the house to eat with K.  I had some roasted chicken, F and K had a tonkatsu.  I had bought some salad, so we shared that, plus some spicy tofu and some of the kimchi we got at Costco.  Yum.  F did get a bit antsy with me in the kitchen when we were reheating the food.  He didn’t do it in a reasonable order.  He’d use the oven in the middle of things and then want to use the microwave to heat things up in plastic…that kind of thing.  Still, it all got done eventually.  

I did the dishes after dinner and discovered that the water heater isn’t working properly. I’m rather upset.  I told F tonight and he realized I was right. 

After dinner I came upstairs and watched some TV. I didn’t see anyone else for a few hours.  F finally came upstairs and I gave him a hug, which seemed to help things.  He’s not doing well at the moment.  

And that’s about it for my day.  The storm seems to have passed (crosses fingers) so I’m hoping that tomorrow will be a nice day weather-wise.  Wish us luck with that.

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

October 22, 2017

Sunday - Rainy and Cool

An okay day.

We had a pretty good weekend all told.  It was a little funny on Saturday…neither of us looked at the calendar and showed up for our doctor’s appointments, only to find out that the doctor wasn’t open this Saturday and our appointment is for next week.  Sigh.

We went off to Yamagata in the afternoon and made good time.  I wasn’t feeling that great, I had woken up with a bad cold and my nose was running.  I begged off going to F’s friend’s brother’s yakitori shop because it is too crowded and smoky and I didn’t want to go there.  He suggested another place, but it was full.  Instead, we went to a place I’ve wanted to try.  It turned out to be an All Beatles All the Time kind of place. It was okay, but not great. The service was s—l—o—w.  We did go and see Atomic Blonde at the cinema in Yamagata and it was great.  Loved it.  Violent as all get out, but believable violence.  We went back to the hotel room, I had a drink of tea, a few potato chips and went to bed. I don’t think I even said goodnight to F.  

Unfortunately, he didn’t sleep as well as I did.  His back and neck bothered him, likely from the approaching typhoon’s high pressure system.  

We had breakfast in the hotel this morning, then checked out and drove to Costco. We spent some fun time getting stuff there. I have a hard time with F there, he just seems overwhelmed or something.  Heck, it is quite overwhelming I suppose, but I know what I want usually, he doesn’t.  We didn’t pick up too much stuff, but it came to a large sum!  We got a kitchen mat for his Mum and I, I got some raspberries & avocados, some tortilla chips, some popped popcorn for me, some garlic sausage and a few other things.  

We didn’t have lunch there for a change, we went out for Yakiniku.  It was fine, not the best or worst.

We also went to the Mall and did a little shopping.  I got a few craft things and F got some stuff for himself.  He also got his mother a vest-y thing for her birthday.  I got more guacamole mix at the Kaldi’s there as well.  We had a drink in the mall and then left!  That was it really.  

F drove us back to Tsuruoka and we made good time despite the bad weather.  We stopped at Cherryland for our gelato.  Today’s flavours were taro potato and edamame for F, I had chocolate and walnut.  I liked mine a lot!  We looked in the shops too, but only bought a little souvenir for his mother. 

We came back to Tsuruoka, and arrived around 7 pm.  We unpacked the car and then went out for dinner.  I had asked for Cocos and F, being obliging for a change, said yes.  We had an okay meal there.   I knew that F was tired, so I didn’t push going to the grocery store.  

And that was our trip really.  It wasn’t bad at all.  I feel much better today, in fact, I feel quite good.  I’m still taking the cold medicine, but I might stop tomorrow if things go well.  

Come back later if you like and see how my Monday goes. It might be stormy or it might be fun!  Until tomorrow….

October 20, 2017

Friday - Cool and rainy

A good day.

I got up this morning on time, had a quiet morning really.  It was nice.  F got off to work on time but was a little slow moving in the morning.  The weather doesn’t do his back any favours.  I had breakfast a little late this morning with K, but it was our usual cereal fest!

I came back upstairs, re-watched last week’s Castle and then grabbed my clothes from the garage.  They were dry, or nearly so.  I came back to my room and watched a bit of Scorpion too.  Not sure about that one.  I went down a bit after 1 to do lunch today because I was worried about getting hungry during my evening’s class.  K surprised me by wanting to have lunch with me, so I prepared something for both of us. We had two pieces of bread left, some sliced roast beef, and half a bag of salad.  I made a roast beef sandwich for us, cut into four pieces. I put the salad in our bowls and then added a little bit of the roast beef to it.  I also thought I’d add some instant soup to the fray.  Just then, F’s niece arrived with her daughter to visit her grandmother.  K invited her for lunch and I was a bit worried because I didn’t really have enough for three people but she said she’d already eaten.  Whew!  We sat and chatted and watched the baby play for an hour.  

After she left, K and I had our lunch and it was quite nice.  I got most of the sandwich and the instant soup was pretty good as well.  I did the dishes afterwards as well.  

I went back upstairs and did a few things to pass the time.  During the day, I had put out my clothes so I didn’t have to think about it later. However, I thought about changing the shirt I picked but when I was in my closet looking for another one, a temporary bar that F had put up years ago came loose.  It crashed down and put a hole in the paper window shade.  Oh no!  After all that, I didn’t even change my shirt. 

F called me at 5:15 to say he was on his way back, so I quickly dressed and went downstairs so that I could jump in the car when he arrived.  He got back around 5:40 and then we were off.  He made really good time and dropped me off outside the place where the class meets.  I went in and from then on things went well.  

After the class, I called F to pick me up, which he did.  We had dinner at Gusto. I had hoped for Cocos, but F didn’t want to go there.  

After a while in the restaurant, we came back to the house.  F is really tired today, so he went to bed quite soon.  I’m still up blogging but am yawning away.  I’ve been back in Tsuruoka for a week now and Canada feels a bit like a lovely dream.  I had such a good time with my family and am not having such a great time here. 

I just edited out a big paragraph about why I am not glad to be here.  I know that when I was away F found my blog again so I’m not sure that I want to be that forthcoming.  I do have plans to make this space better, but I am getting either opposition or apathy on all sides.  

Anyway, sorry for the whiny post.  I know, First World Problems.  

To let you know, I won’t be posting tomorrow night as we’re going off for a night. Hopefully, you’ll hear from me on Sunday!  You can look forward to that!  Until tomorrow’s tomorrow…. 

October 19, 2017

Thursday - Cold and cloudy

A good day.  

This morning I woke up as F was getting ready to leave.  I said a sleepy bye to him and then ended up getting up anyway.  

I had a quiet morning really.  I had some tea and watched a bit of telly, then went down and gave K some breakfast.  There was a bit of a glitch as her water pot didn’t have enough water, so she had to wait for her tea.  I did the dishes again and then came upstairs.

Upstairs I decided that I was going to go for a walk.  I put on my current workout gear and a jacket and then headed out.  I went over to the park and did quite a bit of walking really.  I went around the course one and a half times, going a little further than last time.  It was nice actually.  There weren’t a ton of people there, but it wasn’t deserted.  One not so great part was a festival was being set up and the workers didn’t seem to care about the walking course.  Boo!

I had started a load of laundry before I left the apartment, so I went back to the house just before it was due to finish.  I hung some of it up in the garage, grabbed the dry stuff up there, and then came back to the house.

After a while, I was just going to start getting into my lesson plan, when I heard some bumping and thumping downstairs.  K sounded a bit like she was on the warpath.  I eventually went down for my lunch, but she didn’t acknowledge me at all. I know she’s deaf, but she actually came into the kitchen when I was there and ignored me.  She was cleaning, maybe she wanted me to help?  However, I had lesson plans that I had to make so I couldn’t.  

What I did do was eat my lunch and then I vacuumed our room up here and the staircase.  It’s really hard to do the stairs as the cord doesn’t reach all the way up or down them.  I think it’s a little dangerous, to be honest.  

Oh, and while I was trying to plug in the vacuum cleaner behind the couch, I found a bag from Jupiter…for those not in the know, it’s a famous import food store.  It had a Taco Kit, some gravy packets, some candy, a pasta lunch dish and a can of mushroom soup.  Unfortunately, the expiry dates on all of the food were 2003!  Yikes.  It must have fallen off the couch when we lived here before and wasn’t found.  Sigh.

I dispatched most of the stuff to the garbage.  I have to open the can of soup, so I’ll do that on Sunday night most likely.  

After the vacuuming, I dug in on the lesson planning.  I really had to do it.  I could just wing it, and might if I was their regular teacher, but I prefer to know what I’m doing when I walk into class!

F called around 4 to say he was still working and didn’t know when he’d finish.  I told him to relax because it was Thursday and I didn’t work today!

He made it home a little earlier today, and we had a nice reunion. We decided to go out to the shop and then pick up some guidon for all of us.  

And, that’s what we did.  We got a few things at the store and then came back to the house via the guidon shop.  

We all ate together and things seemed fine. It was nice not to have too much food tonight.  Sometimes when we go shopping we just get huge amounts.  Yuck.  

We had a quiet evening. I watched the first episode of This is Us, which was really great.  I am quite interested in it.  I watched something else too.

F and I both took our showers and then relaxed a bit more. I’m going to go off to bed soon as I am quite tired.  

Tomorrow I might do a bit more laundry, might go to the post office and will go to work!  Wish me luck with that.  Come back later if you feel like it and see how my day goes.  Until tomorrow….

October 18, 2017

Wednesday - Cloudy and Cooler

A good day.

I got up at my usual time this morning and made some tea. I had a problem getting started really but finally dressed myself. I watched the news and later went downstairs and had breakfast with K. She washed her own dishes today, not sure why!  

After breakfast, I did a quick load of laundry and then brought my now dry clothes in from the garage.  

I spent the next little while in my room getting ready to go out.I decided on yoga pants and a denim shirt, comfy and a bit warmer.  I took a jacket with me, and also a hat.  I left the house just after 11:45, said goodbye to K and walked to the bus stop. I was early, but not as early as I was last time. Yay. The bus was late too, so there’s that!

I got off the bus at the station and went into FoodEver.I thought I might get a cheapish lunch there, or a good one, or whatever. However, the places I wanted to eat were closed.  I thought I’d walk along the street and check out the other area near the station with restaurants, but they were all closed. Sigh. Internet Cafe then.  

I walked to the Internet Cafe and was able to get a massaging chair right away.  I had lunch there too and enjoyed myself relaxing away. I watched a pretty bad movie about present day Knights of Camelot in Thailand….they were all descended from the Knights of the Round Table (and they dance whenever they’re able). It was pretty crazy and not very good….sort of fun in an oddball way.  The thing about the Internet Cafe’s movie channel is that all of the GOOD movies are dubbed into Japanese. The bad, schlocky sci-fi ones are left in their original language.  Sometimes they are surprisingly enjoyable. This was very much a time waster, but some of the actors were better than they had to be!

I left around 4:30 or so, paid, and then walked over to S-Mall.  I did a little shopping in the hundred yen shop and then went to the place to meet my friend.  We had some ice cream, and she gave me the books for the class I’m going to teach over the next couple of weeks.  

After she left the mall, I texted F to see if he was able to come and get me.  He was, so I said I’d pick up some coffee for us. He met me outside the mall, a little later than he thought he’d be, but it was okay. We fixed our coffees the way we wanted and then drove to Mikawa Mall.  We picked up my newly hemmed pants and then went to the craft shop for a snoop. We decided to have dinner in the mall and went to the new soba shop. It’s part of a chain and was pretty good. I actually enjoyed it.  

We bought a few groceries in the big Aeon and then headed back to Tsuruoka. F’s neck is bothering him, and my thumb is me, so we think the weather is about to change. Sigh.  

We’ve had a fairly quiet evening here. I watched a bit of TV, but nothing too memorable.  

Tomorrow I need to prepare for my lesson on Friday, maybe do a tad more laundry and get a package ready to mail. I will be a busy person! I hope.  

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

October 17, 2017

Tuesday - Sunny and warm

A good day.

I got up this morning and did things a little bit differently for a change.  I was up and dressed before 8 am, watched the news in English, and then when it was over, went over to the garage and checked on my clothes that I washed last night.  Most of it was still wet, so I left it.  

I came back in, had some tea and then went down to see K and have breakfast with her.  After that, I came upstairs, got changed into some athletic wear and went for a walk in the park.  I was only gone for 30 minutes, but I did one and a half loops, so I was quite pleased with myself.  The weather was perfect for it and there were a lot of people in the park today.  

When I got back to the house today K asked if I’d like some of her bento, but I declined.  I really wasn’t interested in a fishy bento.  I came upstairs, cooled off and even opened a window.  It was that warm!

I had lunch an hour later. I brought it upstairs and it was nice. I had some smoked chicken, salad and bread.  It was all very nice.   I even went downstairs a little earlier to wash the dishes.  

During the afternoon I watched two episodes of Criminal Minds and finally got around to cleaning the corner by my bed.  I had talked to F about bringing my oil heater over there.  It makes so much more sense to have the heater in the room where we need it, rather than quite far away from the bed.  I already feel warmer.  I will have to be careful getting out of bed though. I don’t want to burn myself.  

F called me to say he was coming back, then called again to say he had to go out and did I want to go with him?  I did.  I asked him to help me find a bus stop, but he must have forgotten.  Grrr.  

We went to a couple of tire shops for F’s work, and then went to the grocery store and picked up stuff for dinner.  As usual we bought too much, but it wasn’t too bad really. There are enough leftovers for K’s lunch tomorrow.  

We cleaned up the kitchen and the living room, then F and I came upstairs.  We relaxed, had our showers and I watched Criminal Minds, the newest episode.  Really, that’s about it for the day.

I have to go out tomorrow to meet someone about my class on Friday, and to get my textbooks. I’ll probably leave early on in the afternoon and go downtown since that is the bus that I do know. I’m hoping to go over to Mikawa as well tomorrow night because my pants should be ready and that would be really nice to pick them up!

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

October 16, 2017

Monday - Sunny but cool

An okay day.

I got up this morning around 8 am and it was easy to do. I filled up my water pot and made the first of many cups of tea. I watched quite a few episodes of the TV that I had taped when I was away and then deleted them.

I went downstairs around 9:30 and had breakfast with K. It was just cereal and yogurt, but since it had been rather a long time since I ate, it was nice. After doing the dishes, which necessitated me having to clean the basin and empty the dish drainer first, I did a couple of loads of laundry. Oh, yes, and F popped in for a few minutes while I was getting breakfast ready for us.

In the afternoon I offered K lunch, but she didn’t want any. It’s too bad in a way as it was quite Japanese but that was her choice. I had some eggplant/chicken thing, a chicken steak and a hot salad. That was good. I ate upstairs and then did some computer stuff along with more TV watching.

I did the dishes around 4 pm and then when I came back upstairs I went through 3 of my drawers and removed a bunch of clothes that I don’t wear for whatever reason. Many are a little stained, some are too old, some too tight or too baggy…just things that I don’t really wear anymore.  I have at least one more drawer to go through. Wish me luck. I should also go through my closet as there are a ton of things that need to be removed!

F came back to the house around 6 and we decided to go out for dinner.  I suggested sushi and he chose to go to the new sushi place with the lottery for plates of sushi dropped in the disposal chute. It wasn’t too busy and we got in quite soon.  We ate a lot and then I won a prize tonight.  Woot. I got some Halloween masking tape.  I could use it on a postcard if I wanted to.  

We visited McDonald afterward for some free wifi and dessert, then picked up a few groceries for F’s mother’s dinner. 

We came back to the house, but she had already eaten and was in bed.  It was just after 8 pm.  Sigh.  Why so early?

F and I came upstairs.  I spent some time on my computer, he on his phone.  I watched The Good Wife and a couple of other things and that’s about it.  You are now up to date with my life.  So exciting, isn’t it?

Come back tomorrow if you dare and see what I get up to.  I bet there is more laundry in my future!  Until tomorrow….

October 15, 2017

Sunday - Cold and dreary

An okay day.

I went to bed around 11pm last night…so early. I had an okay night but was wide awake by 7am this morning.  Yawn.  I am usually not awake at 7 am on a Sunday.  

F and I finally got up around 9:30, got dressed, and took his mother out for breakfast.  We went to Gusto and had a nice but quiet brekkie.  I had my usual scrambled eggs with sausage and bacon and it was fine.  After food we went to MaxValu for a few groceries and then brought them back to the house.  

F and I went to the Internet Cafe for a few hours today.  I watched a couple of CSI shows and also tried to find bits on YouTube about a really silly reality show I watched while I was in Canada.  I saw a bit, but nothing too important yet.  

We left when our 3 hours were up and checked on his mum.  She was fine, and didn’t want lunch, so we went in search of some.  I really just wanted to go to Doutors but we ended up going to FoodEver first.  There was nothing suitable there, so we then went to the mall.  Of course, the Doutors was now very crowded with people just coming in, so we really should have gone there first.  We ended up going to the Pizza Hut and sharing a Bulgogi pizza. It was good, just a little sweet.  

We bought some food for our dinner and went back to the house.  K was cooking some fish and the kitchen reeked to high heaven. I lost any appetite that I had, plus I had just eaten so begged off for a while. 

I went down again about half an hour later and cleaned out the fridge a bit and also did the stuff in the kitchen sink.Gross. That helped me lose even more of my appetite.  

I had planned to eat something, but F wasn’t in the room. He came in and proceeded to get the only thing I wanted to eat out the fridge and spill the contents all over the fridge. He had to throw some of it out, so I just decided not to eat at all.  

I went back upstairs and had a little cry about being back in Japan in a house I dislike intensely.  It wasn’t helped by me not being able to find the light switch in the middle of the room or my bedside lamp switch. 

F came in and gave me a hug which helped immensely. A little while later he had his shower and then I had mine.  My stomach is growling now, but mentally I’m not hungry. I think I’ll wait until breakfast.  

So that was my day. It was rather a bust. I am hoping that the weather will be better tomorrow so that I can go out to the park or something and get a walk in. I have snazzy new shoes now, so I’d really like to use them!

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

October 14, 2017

Saturday - Sunny and warm, rainy at night

A good day.

I slept fairly well last night. I was in bed by 10:30 and fell asleep almost immediately.  I did wake up a couple of times to go to the washroom and because I was too darn hot under my quilt.  

In the morning F and I talked about going out for breakfast but really ended up hanging around until my suitcase arrived.  I unpacked the treasures for other people from it, gave F and K their pressies and then ended up stuffing a lot of clothes back in the suitcase because there is nowhere to put them!   One of the first orders of business next week is to toss a bunch of clothes that I didn’t get rid of before.  I need to make room for the new stuff.

F and I went to Hyakkenbori for lunch today. We had asked K, but she ended up finishing her bento from last night and didn’t want to eat anymore.  We went and had a lovely meal. I had the pork stew for a change, F had udon and fish and quite enjoyed it.  

We went back to the house for a couple of minutes and picked up the pants that I wanted to have hemmed.  We drove out to Mikawa and I had my pants measured on me and then put them into the store’s care.  I had to try them all on and there was a bit of hilarity when I came out of the changing room wearing a pair of leggings that didn’t actually need hemming!  And of course, I noticed that the new pair of shorts I had bought was in the pile too…I didn’t model them, took ‘em back with me.  

F and I had a quick drink and a doughnut at Mr Donut and then moved the car to the other side of the mall.  We went to see War for the Planet of the Apes and both of us really enjoyed it.  It was far better than it had to be, there were even a few biblical overtones too.  I enjoyed it and really think that Andy Serkis should be rewarded for his performances in motion capture.  

After the movie, F wanted to go and look at the food in the grocery store.  I was okay with that, had even suggested buying food and taking it to the house.  We got his mother a few things and dropped it off for her.  F’s sister popped by for a few minutes and I gave her some omiyagi from Canada.  

F and I went to a restaurant he likes near the main post office. It isn’t a great place, but sometimes the food is quite good.  We had an okay dinner, but the place was quite busy and noisy, so we didn’t really talk to each other tonight.  

And that’s about it. I was terribly tired and really just want to end this so I can go to bed. I seem to be getting more and more tired.  I went to bed around this time last night, plan to go to bed very soon tonight.  

I’m not sure what tomorrow will bring.  We might go to the Internet Cafe, or we might just have a quiet day in.  Come back later and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

October 13, 2017

Friday - The 13th...Ack!  Rainy in Tokyo, clear up here

A good couple of days.

I'm too tired to go into everything but just wanted to say that I'm back in lil old Tsuruoka all safe and sound.  The trip back was fine,  I had no problems at all.

I'll try and update a bit more in the next couple of days...depending on how hard the jetlag hits me.

Until tomorrow?

October 10, 2017

Tuesday - Rainy and cold

A good day.

I got up fairly early this morning and took a shower right off the bat.  My sister was out on personal business, so I thought it was a good way to deal with her absence.  After that, I dressed and went upstairs for breakfast and coffee.

My sister came back just after I finished up.  I was downstairs working on my packing.  I also did some laundry and got the last few things I had worn washed and dried.  My big suitcase is full and is very close to the limit, but should be okay.  My little suitcase is full and not really near the limit.  It is stuffed though.  I'm very glad that I didn't have to send anything to myself!

My sister asked if I'd like to go out for dinner tonight and the answer was yes.  My brother in law had suggested going for dim sum and I was very pleased.  I hadn't had any this trip.

I tried to check in for my planes tomorrow, but the system wouldn't let me as I am on a codeshare.  I hope like heck it'll work out!  I'm sure it will though.

We went into Edmonton and had dinner at the dim sum place my family likes.  It was really good.  We had a bunch of stuff and we were all so full afterwards!  We even brought a bit of food home for my nephew tomorrow.

We watched episode 4 of Star Trek:Discovery, which I am really enjoying.  I'm sure we won't get it on my channels in Japan, but it is a shame. I really have been enjoying it.  It hasn't quite found its footing yet, but has great potential.  I was thinking they were going to go in a Blake's 7 direction by making one of the main characters a convict, but I am sure that is just wishful thinking on my part!

We went our separate ways around 9:30.  I've spent some time redistributing my stuff between suitcases and I think I'll be okay tomorrow. I should go soon as I have to try and get some sleep and get up early to do my last minute stuff before I go.  I also have to say goodbye to my nephew and that will be tough.  He's a great kid.

I won't be posting for a few days.  Don't miss me too much.  I'll be back as soon as I can be.  Until....

October 9, 2017

Monday - Cooler...didn't go out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A mostly good day.  I slept in a bit, but did get up fairly early. I went upstairs and had my breakfast and coffee.  I'm really going to miss the Keurig machine!

I had a bit of a quiet day, which means that I can't really remember what went on! My headache came back so I took some more headache medicine and then had a lie-down until it started to work. Later we had lunch, which was plates of last night's dinner.  It was really nice.

My niece left after lunch and we gave each other a big hug before she left.  I miss her a lot when I'm not here.

My nephew and I played card games for a while.  That was fun.  He's got quite a way about him.

In the evening, my nephew and I watched Deadpool.  We'd both seen it before, but I was quite surprised to watch it with him. He's only 12, but going on 50.  Some of that film is very adult and I wouldn't have suggested it for him personally, but his mother said it was okay.  I think she'd forgotten how adult it is too.

We went our separate ways around 9:30.  I came downstairs and am now watching crazy reality TV from the US.  Some of it makes me quite annoyed and I'd like to yell at the people and ask them what do they think they are doing?!

This is my second-last night here.  I'll be leaving Canada on Wednesday and will arrive back in Tsuruoka on Friday.  Between Wednesday and Friday, possibly into Saturday, I won't be updating as I'll be travelling or too jet-lagged to blog.  I'm not completely sure if I'll blog tomorrow or not.  If I can do it early enough then I will!

Come back later and see how things go.  Will I get everything in my suitcase?  Fingers crossed!  Until tomorrow...?

October 8, 2017

Sunday - Cooler...didn't go out!

A good day.

Last night I got a nasty headache and it has continued through today. I did take a bit of medicine today so that I had some time without it, but it came back later on tonight.  Again I've taken some medicine but it isn't working as well as I would like.  Sigh.

Anyway, I was in bed last night watching TV when I fell asleep!  I woke up an hour or so later and turned off the TV and went to bed.  In the morning I woke up when I heard people upstairs getting ready to leave.  I slept on and got up around 9.

I went upstairs, said hello to my niece who was working on her homework and made my breakfast.  I had some coffee and then took the medicine I mentioned and went back downstairs again.  Downstairs, I got dressed and then started to pack.  I needed to see how much I could get in my suitcase.  I have one suitcase full and I have my smaller case with a few things in it. I hope it'll be enough space!

My sister, brother in law, and nephew came back later after the hockey game.  My nephew's team won again, this time it wasn't close at all.  We had some lunch and then I sat on the couch with my nephew and played a game on my iPhone.  We did really quite well and were having a lot of fun with it and each other.  We were ribbing each other quite a lot.

My brother in law and my sister were working on dinner and soon the house was full of delicious smells.

We had our big Thanksgiving meal around 5 pm and it was lovely.  We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and gravy and Brussels sprouts.  Everything was good, the stuffing was a tad dry, but since it's been a while since I had any I didn't care.  After dinner, I gave my sister a bit of a hand to clean up, but there wasn't a lot to do.

As a family we debated what to do this evening and we decided to watch a dvd.  However, my sister had to go out and buy it first!  We ended up watching Wonder Woman.  I think we had all seen it before, but it was really enjoyable this time too and I loved watching it.  It was also fun watching with comments from the crowd!

After the movie, we all went our separate ways.  I took some medicine for my headache, hopefully it'll start working again soon.

I'm not sure what we'll be up to tomorrow.  My niece has to head back to her college and I think my sister will do some shopping at the store to help her out.  I can't really do more packing until Tuesday.  I have to do more laundry soon to make sure that things will dry before I leave.  I leave on Wednesday. It is coming up soon...too soon.  And yet, I miss my husband so maybe not soon enough!

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