October 31, 2024

Thursday - Sunny but cool

Last night, F was complaining about my late bedtime and how he couldn’t sleep because I stay up late. I happened to finish my blogging early so I decided to go to bed about an hour early. Well, that was a mistake. I went to bed. At first, I sat on the side of the bed and read a book on my phone, then I got into bed and tried to go to sleep. I turned off the room light on my side of the room too. 

I read for a while until I thought I could sleep and then put my phone away. Unfortunately, that was when F started moaning and moving around. He sat up in bed, and then went looking for medicine, turning on the light above the bed. Even though I was wearing an eye mask, the light was blinding. I couldn’t sleep and I was getting kind of angry with him. This was exactly why I don’t go to bed with him at the same time. 

This morning when I woke up I was still a bit annoyed. F had already left for work, so I went downstairs and then came back to the bed. I watched a few videos before going back to sleep. F texted me to say his sister was coming over to do some yardwork. I asked him if I had to help but he said I didn’t. Yay. 

I got up later and dressed. I went downstairs and grabbed my breakfast and as usual, came upstairs to eat. I had a quiet afternoon. I watched the news at 12:30 and then decided that I might as well start working on my cards. I got quite a few done. I won’t take them to the post office quite yet though. These are the “Please don’t send me nengajo” cards. 

I went to grab my lunch and brought it upstairs. I watched another episode of Bones while I did that. It was a good episode and when it was over, it was time for the other news programme!

F called a bit after 5 and said he was on his way. I went downstairs to get started on dinner. Tonight I did chicken wings and served them with salad, macaroni salad, and cucumber sticks. F had made rice last night, so K and F had rice too. I didn’t want any.  Dinner was very nice and most of it disappeared. Hurray.

I did the dishes and then went upstairs to change. I made sure that F knew we needed to go out before I went upstairs. I got dressed to go out and then waited for F to come upstairs. He didn’t come up so I finally texted him and asked him if he was ready to go. He came upstairs to get ready!

We left soon after and went to Mina. F came in with me today and it was as annoying as usual! He has this tendency to go off on his own while I’m looking for food for the family, meaning I have to carry the food in my arms until I find him. Or, he buys himself beer which to me is something I don’t need! I don’t really begrudge him beer, but tonight he bought the small cans and he meant to get the large cans. I thought it was very funny! 

We came back to the house and I put away the groceries. We came upstairs and relaxed for a bit. I watched Yellowjackets at 11:00 and F ended up asleep. He was so tired tonight that he has fallen asleep and has been asleep for at least 3 hours!

Anyway, tomorrow I plan to go to a movie in the morning, if I can get up in time to catch the bus! If I don’t, I’ll stay here and do laundry. This is a long weekend but we have the social worker coming on Monday which is rather annoying. Japan is such a nanny state. 

That’s about it for me for today. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

October 30, 2024

Wednesday - Sunny, but rainy in the afternoon

I woke up fairly early this morning, but was able to go back to sleep for a bit. I got up later, went downstairs and then came upstairs and got dressed. I didn’t go back to sleep again, but I did relax on the bed for a while. 

I grabbed my breakfast, brought it back upstairs to eat. I watched the news a bit later and had a quiet afternoon. I didn’t do any of the things that I thought I would, I wasn’t too upset about that.

Today at lunch I went downstairs and got my food. I brought it back upstairs and then I watched an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. It was fine. I’m still at the stage where I don’t understand the love for the show. Maybe it takes a bit longer?  I’m still on the first season.

F called after 5 to say he was on his way, so I went downstairs and got a start on dinner. Today I did quite a bit of making. I washed and spun dry my salad, made some cucumber pickles, made some tuna salad with green onions and then, made scrambled eggs. I toasted some English muffins and buttered them. Tonight’s dinner was quite popular. I haven’t done eggs in a while, so it was a nice change. 

I did up the dishes after dinner. I felt really tired while I did them, but they did get done. After the dishes were done, I did the garbage up. There wasn’t a lot since I did it on Sunday night, but next Monday is a national holiday and there’s no pick up. 

I went upstairs afterwards and relaxed, then took a shower. I went upstairs again and watched Grey’s Anatomy. It’s back…20 years and counting. I like some of the characters, so we’ll see how it goes. Will this be the year I get tired of it?

And that’s about it. F and I had words again about my bedtime. I like to stay up late, he says he can’t sleep with the lights on. I told him to wear an eye mask like I do. Honestly, he’s getting quite annoying with this whole thing. I did suggest sleeping in separate rooms so he didn’t say much more. I wouldn’t mind, I sleep better when I’m alone!

Oh, news flash….just as I write this, I can hear swans flying overhead. It’s funny how when the house is quiet I can hear a lot of things outside. 

Come back later if you like and read all about my day. I’m sure it’ll be just as boring as this one was! Until tomorrow…. 

October 29, 2024

Tuesday - Sunny and cool

Dear me, my day didn’t get off to a good start, sad to say. F’s alarm woke me up. F was long gone, so I turned off the clock and went downstairs. I came back up to the room, sorted my laundry and then went back to bed. I watched some videos for a while and then I went back to sleep. And then I woke up a bit, turned off my alarms and then woke up again. A lot later. Oops. 

I got up and went downstairs, grabbed my breakfast and came back upstairs to eat. I had a bit of a quiet afternoon and then I went downstairs to do a load of laundry. 

A few minutes later, I went downstairs to prepare my lunch and when I was finished that, my laundry was ready to take upstairs. I took it upstairs, hung my laundry and then ate lunch. I watched another episode of Elspeth and followed that up with the news at 4 pm.

After 5 F phoned me to say he was on his way back. I went downstairs eventually to start dinner. As usual, I started with my lunch dishes. Tonight I made hamburgers from scratch, salad, sautéed mushrooms and French fries. It turned out quite well, but it was a bit fiddly at first. Dinner got good reviews and most of it was eaten. After I cleared the table, I cooked the final hamburger for K’s lunch tomorrow. 

After I had done the dishes, I went upstairs and changed. F and I went out to the grocery store and I picked up some food for the next couple of days. I hope I bought enough!

It was nearly 10pm, so I asked F to take me to the drugstore near MaxValu because I needed to pick up a few things. He was very obliging and we drove over there. We picked up some stuff. F got some beer and I got a couple of snack foods, plus some personal stuff.

We came back to the house and I put the food away. We came back upstairs and at 11pm I watched FBI: International. It was a good one tonight, about a kidnapped boy. 

That’s about it for my day. I was thinking of going to a movie tomorrow, but I might wait until Thursday. I’m not sure when I’ll go, but I really want to go!

Anyway, that’s it for me for today. I’m not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow, come on back and find out! Until tomorrow….

October 28, 2024

Monday - Sunny in the morning, cloudy and rainy later on.

I woke up quite early this morning and made a trip downstairs. I came back upstairs and watched a few videos before going back to sleep. It was quite dark outside and therefore, inside too. I slept rather late and didn’t wake up until my alarms started working and playing music.

I got up, dressed, and went downstairs and grabbed breakfast. I came back to the room to eat and relax. I watched the news, and then relaxed a bit too much for the day. I did my usual Monday thing of backing up my computer and thinking about doing laundry, but not doing it. 

Later on, I got my lunch and brought it upstairs. I watched an episode of Major Crimes and then put on the news after it. A bit after 5, F called so I went downstairs to get dinner started.

I made toaster oven chicken and roasted some potatoes tonight. I tried to do the roasted potatoes a new way, I tried microwaving the potatoes first and then air-frying them, but it didn’t save any time at all. In fact, I think it might have taken more time. We also had salad and broccoli for dinner. It was an okay meal, nothing special.

After dinner I did the dishes, but I didn’t clean the stove. I didn’t use it tonight, so why should I? It never fails to amaze me how F can make a huge mess on the weekend and not clean it up.

I went upstairs and relaxed for a bit. Around 10:30 I went downstairs again and took a shower. I came back up to the room and was planning to watch an episode of Buffy, but decided to try a new to me show called So Help Me Todd. It was quite cute, it was about a man who ends up helping his lawyer mother by investigating people for her. I think I’ll try another episode or two to see if I like it. WOWOW has been kicking it with the foreign shows these days…too bad they are just on streaming.

And that’s about it for my day. F went to bed around midnight, but I don’t think he’s sleeping yet. I hear mumbling from his part of the room, which annoys me a lot!

I’m not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow. I really should do that laundry and maybe start writing my cards. I’ll talk to you later eh. 

Until tomorrow….

 

October 27, 2024

Sunday - Sunny and warm, rainy at night

I went to bed rather late last night, so I wanted to sleep in a bit. I got up sometime around 9 for a trip downstairs, F came back to bed around then. We had a snuggle for a while and then we both fell asleep. We basically slept past noon today. F felt a bit embarrassed afterwards, but I didn’t mind.

We had decided yesterday to have lunch in Sakata today at a Shabu-Shabu restaurant my friend had told me about. We drove there and were surprised that it wasn’t very busy at all. Mind you, it was quite late in the afternoon for lunch!

We went in, chose which course we wanted and then ate our meal. As usual, when it is the kind of place that you can order as much as you want, we ate too much. However, we did enjoy ourselves. We did make a bit of a mistake in the broth that we ordered though. We got a yuzu one that was lovely, and a spicy miso one that was too spicy for us. 

When we finished at the restaurant we staggered to the car and drove back to Tsuruoka. On the way to Sakata and then back to Tsuruoka the fields were full of swans. We have a running joke that the farmers are planting swan seeds and they are growing well. They will fly off soon enough. 

The white specks are swans...there are so many!

We came back to Tsuruoka and bought some groceries. I asked to go to Pal Shopping Centre and we both went in the store. F bought some rice and then I chased him back to the car. I did the rest of the grocery shopping and then paid and took everything out to the car.

We came back to the house. F gave K her dinner, I had bought her a nice bento. We went upstairs and just relaxed. I was on my computer, F was on the bed. We talked about dinner, but neither of us even felt like eating!  Finally, just before 8 pm, F asked me if I wanted to go and I said sure. I wasn’t that hungry, but thought it was better to eat something rather than not. I asked F what restaurants were still open and he listed off the ones that I usually do, so I agreed to go to Cocos!

We drove over to Cocos and looked at the menu. I got a chicken and nut salad, F got an omurice and we shared a free order of fries and also dessert. They had their special Halloween dessert on offer, so we agreed to share it. It was quite light, so we were able to eat it all. It was cute!

Under the chocolate cream was a light sponge cake, lots of cream, and a cracker base! It was nice. 

We came back to the house and I did up the garbage. There was rather a lot so I wasn’t too happy about it. I’ll have to do it again on Thursday as next Monday is a national holiday without garbage pickup. 

I watched something on my Fire Stick, specifically, The Great British Sewing Bee. It was a good one today, they made 70’s clothes and punk stuff as well. 

After it finished, I turned off the TV and got stuck into my blog. That’s about it for me for today. Come back later if you like and hear all about my Monday. Until tomorrow….

October 26, 2024

Saturday - Sunny but not that warm

I woke up this morning and F was playing on his computer beside me. I suggested that he get up and get his mother up and get her ready for her day care thing. He did get up, and so did I for a washroom run. 

I went back to sleep and didn’t wake up until Lizzo started singing on my phone! F was in the room at the same time and he said something to me so I stopped my alarm and then F said something else that I didn’t hear and then left. I was worried he was angry at me, so I went downstairs and found out that he had actually left….the car was gone. 

I went back upstairs and got dressed and a little while later F came back. I went downstairs to talk to him and discuss lunch. I gave him an idea for today and also tomorrow. Today, we decided to go for Indian food to the new restaurant.

We were able to go in and get a table. They had a good number of lunch specials. F had the chicken curry and I had the keema curry which was in a saag sauce. It was really nice. We both had the hot level of spiciness and it was perfect for me. 

After our meal, F wanted to go home but it wasn’t even 2 pm yet and I was not ready. We ended up going to Hachimonjiya, the book and stationary shop. I needed to buy some cards to send to friends and former students to say please don’t send me New Year Cards. In Japan, the tradition is that if a family member dies, you can’t send or receive New Year Cards. The cards we were looking at were pre-printed and the messages were in Japanese of course. I wanted F to help me with them in case there was some nuance that Google Translate didn’t get right.

I’ve been talking about getting these cards for weeks and I was finally getting them. F looks at me and asked me,“ Who died?” I was aghast. I felt like bursting into tears and said,”My brother.” Just then he had to go to the washroom so he left me alone. I’m guessing he was having a brain freeze, but it was really hurtful that he couldn’t even remember that. I picked a few packets of cards and then we paid and left.

We went back to the house and relaxed. F was downstairs for a while before he came upstairs and went to bed. He got up and went downstairs a bit before his mother came back.

I didn’t really see F again until almost 7 pm. He made dinner for his mother and then came to see what I wanted to do for dinner. I suggested going to the Chinese restaurant on the other side of the park. We drove over and were able to get in. They were fairly busy, so we had to take a tatami room. I wasn’t too happy about it, but it was fairly comfortable as there was a place for our feet under the table. 

We had a nice meal. We shared some yakisoba, mapo-han and kara-age. We ate and then paid and left. I suggested going for coffee afterwards and F agreed after a few minutes. We drove over to Komeda Coffee and each had a hot decaf coffee. We spent a nice hour or so there.

After our coffee, I asked F if he needed to get anything for his mother’s breakfast, so we did a quick trip around MaxValu. I didn’t get anything, F bought a few things. 

We came back to the house and F put away the groceries. Yay for me not having to do it!

I had a quiet evening. I did have a shower and then came upstairs and watched CSI: Las Vegas. It was fine. 

That’s about it for today. I’m not sure what we’ll get up to tomorrow. We might go to Sakata for lunch, but it depends how F is. He said he wasn’t feeling well so I hope this doesn’t continue. 

Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….

October 25, 2024

Friday - Warm and sunny

I woke up when my alarm went off this morning, I went downstairs and then I went back to sleep for a bit. I got up an hour later and got dressed.

A little after 11 I went downstairs and got ready to leave. I did say goodbye to K, but I couldn’t really explain to her when I’d be back. Oh well, at least I told her I was going out. 

I walked off to the bus stop and waited for my bus. I had decided earlier in the morning that I might as well just go to S-Mall and eat there and then take a bus later back to the cinema. That’s basically what I did. I do think the bus driver forgot I was still on the bus when we got to S-Mall as he almost drove past the get off point!

I had planned to go to the Hotel for their cheaper lunch, but when I went in, there was a big group in front of me and they got turned away!  I think the restaurant was full. I did peek in the door and it looked busy. Instead, I ended up at the Pizza Hut Express. I had one of their Pizza Melts, the only one they have without tomato sauce. There was a container of tomato sauce, but I didn’t even open it. 

After I ate, I made a quick detour through the hundred yen shop upstairs. I made a few purchases and then I went back downstairs and waited for my bus. It was on time and I got off at my stop on Sanno Machi. I walked over to Machikinema, went in and bought my ticket to see May/December. It was showing in the big theatre and I was the only viewer. Oh no! I felt bad for the cinema. It was a decent film and I’m actually still thinking about it and what the characters really were. The performances were good, the story was sad and scary and a lot ickky!

After the movie, I wrote up a request for another movie, then went to the main post office. I was too late to make a deposit, but I did see they were selling the “Don’t Send Me Nengajo” cards. I didn’t buy any, I decided to ask F to help me buy them. Google Translate is good, but I’d hate to buy the wrong message on the card.

I decided to catch the bus, but there wouldn’t be a bus for 40 minutes or so, so instead of waiting at the nearby stop, decided to walk to the next one. It was a nice walk and I’m glad I did it. I used to visit this area a lot on my bike when I lived at the apartment and when I first came to Japan. At the next stop there were benches so I was able to have a seat for a while. 

I got on the bus when it arrived. There was a female bus driver which is rare enough that I was happy to see her. I got off at my stop and walked back to the house. I said hello to K. She asked me something, I think it was about where F was, but I wasn’t sure.

I went upstairs and relaxed. F and I texted a bit, but I didn’t know when he arrived at the house because he didn’t come upstairs to change. He prepared dinner in his uniform! That was typical, but I think weird.

He called me down when he said dinner was ready, and of course it wasn’t. He hadn’t put out the drinks yet, or the bowls. I put out the glasses for him and stayed out of his way. 

How was his nabe. Well…same as usual…a bit bland. Make that a lot bland. I don’t know what it is about F but he cannot make a nice broth for his hotpot. A few years ago he let me make one from chicken consommé and that very nice…but he didn’t like it. I went to the kitchen and got out the gochuchang and the sriracha for the nabe. It helped a bit.  It was a nice not to have to cook tonight. When dinner was over, I put away the condiments and the drink bottle and then I went upstairs. If F ever helped me I might have stayed, but he doesn’t, so I wasn’t going to stay. 

I had a quiet evening. F came upstairs after a bit. I decided I’d watch something on the Fire Stick, so I went downstairs and made some nachos. I had a tiny amount of cheese in an open bag, so I tossed that on top and then I heated up the tortilla chips.  I had offered some to F before I went downstairs, but he said no. When I brought them upstairs,  F asked if he could have some so I gave him a few, plus a container of guacamole. He came back for seconds! It was fine, but if he’d said he wanted some in the beginning, I would have given him some.

I ended up watching a show called The Devil’s Hour with Peter Capaldi. It’s a six part series and the first part was quite creepy, in a good way. 

And that’s about where I am now. I should get to bed soon. I’m a little tired as I did a lot of walking today, but I enjoyed it. 

I have no idea what F and I will get up to tomorrow. I hope we have a good day. Come back later if you like and hear all about my day. Until tomorrow….