September 29, 2015

Tuesday - Cool and Sunny

A good day.

I had a busyish day today.  I woke up early, around 6 in the morning, but didn't get up for a while.  I played games on my phone and finally got up around 7 and watched some TV.

I had breakfast and then came and kept my sister company while she used her treadmill.  After she finished, she showed me how to use it and then I tried it too.  I used it a couple of times, I liked it, but it took a bit of getting used to.

I took a shower before lunch and then my sister had one after lunch.  We relaxed a bit, I came downstairs and crocheted another square while I watched junk TV.  After my nephew came home, my sister and her son and I went out shopping.  I toured a couple of drugstores and got a few things for my trip and my life!

We came home and did a little bit of work on dinner, then my sister and her husband made dinner.  I did help today, I cut up the potatoes for boiling.  We had boiled potatoes, grilled pork and guacamole and chips too.  It was very good!

I found that I was getting very tired after dinner, so I bid everyone goodnight and then came downstairs.  I'm going to go to bed very, very soon!

 There won't be any updates tomorrow or for the next few days as I'm going away with a friend for a little rest and relaxation.   We're going to the mountains. I think we are both looking forward to it.  I'll try and update in a few days.  Keep an eye out for my next blog entry.  Until then....

September 28, 2015

Monday - Cool but sunny - gorgeous day

A good day.

I went to bed early last night, but woke up early, played a game on my phone and then went back to bed! I overslept a tad, but no big deal.

I got up and had breakfast.  I had Prince Charles' cereal and greek yogurt.  It was yummy!

My sister had agreed to take me out to Leduc today, so we drove out there and I did a little shopping.  I had some good luck today. I bought a few tops and a couple of pairs of pants.  I got some jewelry and a belt too.  I liked that.  We toured through a Michaels too, but even though they had cool yarn, I didn't buy any.  I didn't have a project in mind and I have too many lined up at home.

We came back to my sister's and we had lunch.  We relaxed for a bit and then my sister picked up her son and I did a work out at home.  Afterwards, I did a workout, just a short one.  It was fun to do it in a place with lots of space.

My sister and her son and I went to the grocery store.  I did a little shopping for things for me to take back.  I got some popcorn flavouring, gravy mix and a slow cooker flavourer.  Hopefully  they'll all be good.

We had a good dinner of fish fingers and oven fries, then laundry was done by both my sister and me.  I am down in the basement trying to get my clothes washed and dried so that I can take things with me to Banff.  Some of the things are hang to dry so they may take a little longer than I have.

I'm now getting ready for bed and watching Storage Wars, which is insane.  Usually I stay tuned to the Food Network but I'm trying something else.

I'm not sure what I'll get up to tomorrow.  Come on back and find out.  Until tomorrow....

September 27, 2015

Sunday - Cool and sunny, with warm moments

A great day.

I woke up just before my alarm this morning.  I took a shower right away and then got dressed.  I checked my email and my friend had said he was debating bringing his truck or his brand new to him smart car.  I was quite leery about riding in something so small on Alberta Highways, so was a little nervous about the whole proposition!

When he showed up a little late with his smart car I was nervous, but thought that I should give it a chance.  I got in the car and I was surprised at how roomy the car was inside.  We drove to Camrose, catching up along the way.

We had a great time at the Homecoming event.  We were both a little sad because neither or us saw any of our contemporaries, but it was lovely to see our College again and wander through the buildings and just see the changes since our 30 (!) years since we went there.  We had our brunch there and went to Chapel as well.  We ended the time there with some photos of us in front of the main building and a trip to the bookstore.  I got a t-shirt, which is something I never had when I was there as a student.

During the day, we were given a coin to commemorate our service as Resident Assistants.  I have read about other people receiving theirs so I was rather pleased and happy to get my coin.  It was special in all honesty.

We drove back to Beaumont in my friend's little car.  It was a wee bit scary but all in all not a bad experience.  He did say that he'd probably keep it for driving in the city after today, it was just that he received it yesterday!

When I got back to my sister's house I went in.  Everyone was home from Hockey and the Comic Con in the City.  My sister and her husband were working on dinner, so I changed a little and then joined everyone for dinner.  We had steak and baked potatoes and salad.  I don't get a lot of steak, and none at all that had been cooked outside on the barbecue so I was happy to have dinner today.

After dinner and clean up my brother-in-law went out and my sister, niece and I did face masks!  They did two of the ones I brought over from Japan, I did a mud pack of theirs.  We did have pictures but unfortunately I can't put pictures into this from here!  We looked quite frightful!

After that, and the cleaning off afterwards, we took a quick trip outside to see the lunar eclipse.  It was kind of neat, but it was cold outside so we didn't last out there very long!

When we came back in, I sat on the couch and basically fell asleep.  My sister chased me off to bed and  I went to bed but had the TV on.  I woke up a couple of hours later and got up and now I'm writing this.  I think I'll be going back to bed fairly soon.

No ideas what we're going to get up to tomorrow.  I'd like to go shopping again, but it doesn't matter if I can't!  Come back later and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow....

September 26, 2015

Saturday - Cool but sunny

A good day.

I am writing late today because I went to bed very early Saturday night.  I couldn't keep my eyes open, and have an early day today, so it was a good thing.

I did a little shopping in Edmonton yesterday, got a new shirt and a pair of trousers.  Didn't get around to exercising much, which could be why I had no energy!

Today I'm off to Camrose in a few minutes to see my College and go to Homecoming.  A friend is picking me up in a couple of minutes, so that's all you get for now.  I'll try and update tonight if I'm not too tired!

Until later....

September 25, 2015

Friday - Cool but sunny

A good day.

I slept well last night so when my alarm went off this morning was quite surprised!  I got up and went upstairs.  I think I had missed my nephew, but I saw my niece briefly before she went to school.  I came downstairs and got dressed after breakfast.

We stopped in at the bank in Beaumont for me to exchange a little money and pay a bill.  Then my sister and I drove into Edmonton and went to West Edmonton Mall.  It's been years since I have been there.  There was a bra shop having a sale there and we went to check it out.  I got myself sized since I have lost weight and don't really have a good fitting bra at the moment.  I was quite surprised at the size of the one the specialist suggested.  I did buy it, but I'm going to have break it in a bit like breaking in new shoes!

Since we had some time left, we went looking for jeans for me.  I tried on some in Mark's, but they weren't right.  I ended up at Additionelle and tried on a couple of pairs.  I found one pair I liked, so got them.  Yay!  My sister got herself a dressy t-shirt.

On our way out of the mall I bought us a drink at  The Second Cup so we drove home with them.

We had lunch when we came back to my sister's house.  We both had eggwhite omelettes with veggies and avocado.  I had mine in a pita bread.  Yum, yum.

The rest of the day was kind of cool.  My sister had to go to a hockey meeting for parents and a practice for her son, so I was at home with my niece.  I washed my new jeans and my plane pants, then put on some music and danced around the living room.  It was so nice to have room.  My niece and I talked about music a lot and I asked her to send me 10 new songs a month that I should listen to because I never hear new music where I live!

We had leftovers for dinner which were great and then my sister and her husband went out for a while. I stayed in with the kids and we watched a movie together.  I was hoping for Holes, but we decided on The Maze Runner.  It was okay.  I did have problems staying awake at the beginning, but then I started munching on potato chips.  Sigh.

I came downstairs when my sister and her husband came home.  The kids were on their way to bed too.

I'm not sure what is going to happen on Saturday.  I have no plans, but I'd like to do a bit of shopping, even if it is in Beaumont at the drugstore! I might do a bit of laundry too, we'll have to see about that.

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

September 24, 2015

Thursday - Cool but sunny

A good day.

I had a great flight over.  I was rather amazed.  Early on Wednesday, F drove me to the airport and saw me off.  The plane was quite crowded and left late because people were still checking in bags and clearing security at the flight time!  It was the last day of the national holiday week and people were returning home to Tokyo I assume!

Haneda Airport was extremely crowded and I was worried I wouldn't be able to meet up with the lady that I had planned to meet with.  Luckily she recognized me and we spent a nice few hours together.  We had Turkish Donair Wraps for lunch, very yummy, and after a stint in a museum where we got in trouble for talking too loudly (it was a MUSEUM, not a Library!) we went over to the International terminal for more tea and talk.  Finally around 4:30 she had to go home to prepare for work the next day.  I was on my own.

I did a little exploring, found the hotel that I'll be staying at on my return trip and made sure it was okay.  Looks nice!  I had a light dinner of chicken and avocado salad gohan at Mosburgers.  It was really nice.

I charged up my phone at a stall before going through security, and then decided to just do it.  I went through easily, found my gate almost immediately and decided to do a little Duty-Free shopping.  I got myself a lipstick at MAC and a couple of T-shirts for my niece and nephew at Uniqlo.  Souvenirs of Japan made in China.  Sigh.

I called my husband and then charged my phone again, and ended up chatting to an American on his way to Hawaii with his family.  Living in such a small town, I forget about things like chatting to a stranger...little pleasures in life.

My plane to Canada was a few minutes late in leaving but I was very surprised when they announced they had shut the cabin doors.  No one else was sitting in my row.  In fact, the back of the plane where I was had a lot of empty seats.  It was very comfortable.  I was tired, and I made the decision NOT to watch any movies until I woke up later.  I did watch some interesting shows about Niigata city and Murakami city, places that I have visited this year.  They were made in Japan about Japan, but rather informative and quite good.

Dinner on the plane was chicken, rice and soba noodles, plus miso soup and then ice cream for dessert. It was quite nice!

I managed to snooze a bit, so was happy about that.  Of course, it wasn't deep sleep, but I felt much better than usual when it was time to shake a leg and get off the plane.  I cleared customs and immigration fairly easily and then went through into the next security area.  I found my next gate and had a sandwich and tea.  I went back to my gate and then snoozed for a few minutes then decided I needed a Starbucks.  I had a chai latte, it was good, but I missed my Japanese teas that I like.

The flight to Edmonton was fine.  I had a seatmate who was chatty so she kept me awake the whole way chatting about ourselves and Japan.  It was lovely and friendly.

My sister met me at the airport, my suitcase was the FIRST off the plane, so we were out of there very quickly.  My brother in law and sister drove me to their home.  I wasn't in bad condition and even managed to stay awake until midnight yesterday!  That was a really long day!

Today, my sister and I did a workout.  I lasted about 10 minutes and then went back to my style of things.  However, I didn't stop moving and I didn't sit down, so bonus.  I think we were active for about 45 minutes or so.  Yay!

We made a quick grocery store run and I could have spent all my time walking down the aisles just looking at the amount of stuff.  It's so different from my little grocery store in Tsuruoka.  I got a few things I needed for my visit here, and a few things for me to eat.  I got pita bread, granola and some greek yogurt.  Yum.

I took a nap in the afternoon and then got up for dinner.  Van had made a lovely roast beef, and we had roasted veggies, and mashed potatoes with that.  I helped a bit with the clean up and ended up watching TV with my sister and her husband.  I did a little crochet too.

And really that's it.  My two days so far.  I have emailed F a few times, his phone isn't working at the moment so we haven't been able to video chat or anything.  Maybe later.  Tomorrow I may do a bit of shopping, it depends how things go.  If I have time, am able tomorrow night I'll fill you in on my day.  Come back later and find out what else is going on!  Until tomorrow....

September 21, 2015

Monday - Warm and Sunny, gorgeous day!

And a good day….

I got up quite early this morning.  F was up earlier and off to his mother’s house, but I got up and even showered.  I had just finished when he came back.  I watched Burn Notice and then we had some tea.

We had a nice quiet morning, left here around 11:45 to go to the craft store for my replacement hook.  Sadly, they don’t stock the same kind that I broke, so I got another one in the same size and hoped for the best.  Different manufacturers can vary the size of their hooks, even though technically they are the same size!

We drove off to Voice and waited for our friends to arrive.  They were a tad late, but we called the restaurant and told them we were running late.  We met up and then drove to the restaurant.  We had a lovely meal at F’s favourite place, Naa.  It’s an old farmhouse so the space is really neat.  The food is home grown, F says it is also organic.  It was good.  I had both pork and fish, so did he.  Most of the others just had the pork.  I think everyone liked it, although some people felt that the meat portion was too small….actually, I do too!

We weren’t ready to go home yet, so we went to S-Mall to Baskin Robbins for some ice cream.  It was rather fun.  Both F and I had only one type each, but the others had double scoops. I tried the Baseball Nuts and it was really nice. It was vanilla ice cream with black raspberry threads and cashew nuts.  F had Banana Split Supreme and said it was nice. We chatted and laughed, but finally had to break up our party.  We went upstairs and saw them off in their car, then F suggested going downstairs again and having a drink, so we did that!

We spent a nice few minutes at Doutors.  I had my last Royal Soy Milk Tea for a while and then we hacked the hundred yen shop.  I got a few things, mostly for our apartment.  We came home after that and relaxed for a bit.  

F went over to his Mum’s house to take care of the dog and do a little shopping for her. I stayed home and worked on my Postcard blog.  I have entries almost until I come back, which is quite good I think.

We went out for dinner around 7:15.  F wanted yakitori, but the place was closed, then the yakiniku place he wanted to go to was full until after 9 pm.  His next yakiniku place was closed too, but the third one was open and we only had to wait a few minutes to get in.  Score.  We had a nice meal there.

I was trying to get home in time to attend a meeting on Skype, but it turns out that Skype was down for everyone, so the meeting didn’t happen.  They’ll try again tomorrow night, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to attend.  I need a quiet night and to get some sleep.

So, to that end, I’ll just let you know that I won’t be blogging tomorrow night, and that blogging will likely be light for the foreseeable future.  I’m not sure how much computer time I’ll have when I’m in Canada.  I’d rather spend time with friends and family while I have them around! However, I’m sure I’ll be back sometime in October with all the mundane details of my life!  Until then….

September 20, 2015

Sunday - Hot and Sunny- Gorgeous day.

A good day.

I got up rather late today. It’ll likely be the last time I get to sleep in for a while, so I felt I deserved it! When I got up, I had breakfast and read my blogs.  It was nice and relaxing.

When F came home from his mother’s I suggested going to lunch to Cafe Cinq, in the souvenir shop.  It was great.  We did go there and had a lovely meal.  I had grilled chicken, plus salad, rice, and a couple of eggy things.  It was lovely.  F had tomato curry and liked it. After we finished, I used the rather unique washroom in the souvenir shop.  Have a look at it!

Yes, this is a washroom!  Behind that tank is a very modern Japanese toilet, the kind that lifts the lid when you approach.  On the wall to the right, a broadcast of the fireworks in Tsuruoka.  Oh, and what's IN the tank?

Jellyfish!  Tsuruoka has a fairly famous aquarium that features many Jellyfish so why not?
F and I have been arguing about whether the jellyfish were real or not!

After lunch we started to get things done.  We went to the glasses place to ask them to tighten the screws on my glasses, then were going to go to the electronic store, but I realized that I’d taken my point card out of my handbag already.  We quickly came home and then went back to the store to pick up some ink for my printer.  

After that, we came home again and relaxed for a while.  

In the evening we went out for sushi.  Since my lunch was quite big, I only had a little bit of sushi.  We did have to wait quite a while to get in, but it was okay.  The sushi was good as always.

We went to Mr. Donuts afterwards where I didn’t have a doughnut, but did have tea.  F had the whole shebang, coffee with a doughnut.  I think he enjoyed it.  He didn’t talk much to me there.

We came home and were going to watch something on the DVR, but I couldn’t get the darn thing to work.  F tried too, but he couldn’t make it work either.  He started trying to watch a whole bunch of things which made me annoyed.  By clicking and trying to play them, he took the “new” sign off them and now it looks like we’ve watched them.  Grr.  He tried to get to the machine, but we had too much junk in the way so he threw a tanti and went to bed.  He came back when I’d cleared a path, but he still couldn’t make it work.  We may have filled up the disk, but that’s his fault.  I’ve asked him numerous times to take some of the stuff off and put it on a dvd for me and he’s never done it.  

I have a list of things that I want him to record for me while I’m away so I hope he figures it out soon.  

He found the  last half of The Poseidon Adventure so we watched that and I did a little crochet.  At 11 I went back to the couch for Project Runway and more crochet.  Unfortunately, I was mostly finished a square when the handle of my hook snapped.  Darn! I’ll have to run into the craft store and get another one as I planned to take it on my trip.  The project is for my sister.  She commissioned me to make something for her two years ago and I haven’t finished.  Of course, I just restarted it last week.

Anyway, tomorrow I have to go to the craft shop, then we’re having lunch with some friends and their children at F’s favourite “Farmer’s Restaurant”.  I’m looking forward to seeing people, but I’m not sure what else we’re going to do during the day.  Wish me luck and come on back and find out!  Until tomorrow….

September 19, 2015

Saturday - Rainy, cloudy and then rainy again. With Rainbows!

A good day.

I got up this morning to an empty apartment.  F was off with his mother.  He took her to an onsen and the dentist and took her for a quick lunch too.  When he came home it was almost 2 pm!  I was a touch annoyed since I hadn’t had breakfast and thought he’d be home early.  

When he came home, we decided to have lunch out.  We went to the Grand El Sun, the place where we got married.  We had a nice lunch there.  I had pork with bread and tea, F had fish croquettes with rice and coffee.  The food was good, just a little petite!

After dinner we went to the cell phone company to see if I could get a plan to use my phone in Canada, but I couldn’t.  Well, strictly speaking I could if I didn’t mind paying 3000 yen a day plus calling charges.  I think I’ll turn off the cellular and just use wifi when I find it! F gassed up the car and then we came home for a bit.

Rainbow outside the phone company building

Rainbow from the parking lot of our building

We went over to the Mikawa Mall around 6 pm and had dinner at the pasta place.  I really like their food.  I had a tuna and grated daikon pasta in a yuzu sauce that was really nice, F had mentaiko with mayonnaise.  

After dinner, we bought some socks from Jusco and F ran them to the car.  We went to the theatre and went to see Ant-Man.  It was a lot of fun.  It was a bit silly, but quite enjoyable.  After the movie, we drove back to Tsuruoka.  I watched CSI and did a tad bit of crochet, F went to bed fairly early.  

At midnight I re-watched While You Were Sleeping and enjoyed it just as much as ever.  I’ve been trying to do a bit of fact-finding for my trip and getting some mental prep done for it.  I hope to be able to do a few things tomorrow to get ready.  

Come back in a bit and find out about my day.  I have no idea what it’ll be like!  Until tomorrow….

September 18, 2015

Friday - Cloudy and finally rainy

An okay day.

I got up this morning on time and watched my show while I drank ice tea and surfed the net.  All day the TV had the outline of Japan highlighted to give a warning for the possible tsunami coming from the Chile earthquake.  It was giving me a bit of a flashback to 2011 so I tried not to watch too much on TV today.  (The threat was cancelled and the Japan Meteorological Agency says that there may be slight changes in sea-level, but no tsunami danger is expected.  Whew!)

I did a workout today and then some laundry.  I thought I’d better wash my workout clothes so that they are clean when I come back.  I burned a couple of CDs and got them working properly today.  Yay for that. 

I also put a spaghetti squash in my slow cooker.  I know I can do it in the microwave, but it takes a long time in my little one and I wanted to try it this way.  It worked well.

I got out my stereo and tried out my new CDs.  They were okay, so I listened to one and then got on to the kitchen stuff.  I washed the dishes and was just going to start dinner when F came home.  He had forgotten about going to the store for me.  To be fair, he did try to call me, but my phone was in the bedroom and I didn’t hear it.  

I sent him off to the store and I took out the spaghetti squash.  It was done.  Yay!

I cooked the psycoro steak and then we had spaghetti squash with our choice of sauce plus the salad that F bought.  I liked it a lot, F not so much.

F did the dishes much later, and I went to watch Castle on the couch and do a little crochet.  My little runner is coming along well, but it isn’t going to be done in time.  I’ll probably take it with me and see if I can do some in Canada.  

That’s about it really.  I most likely have plans with friends on Monday that I’m looking forward to and I still have the whole finishing packing thing!  Come back later and see what I get up to before then.  Until tomorrow….

September 17, 2015

Thursday - Cloudy and rainy

A bit of a mixed bag day.

I got up early this morning and stayed up. Yay!  However, I was watching telly and had just got up from the couch when I heard a smash behind me.  I had knocked my cup off the coffee table and onto the floor.  It broke into many pieces.  I’m quite saddened by that as F bought me the cup a few years ago.  It was probably hand made.  The top wasn’t level, which drove me crazy for months because I’d forever be spilling my tea when I walked with it.  Anyway, it’s gone, my lovely blue mug and I am mourning it.  Its departure from this place did allow me to get out a new mug that I got for my birthday from my sister and her family.  It is a white china cup with the slogan “You can take the girl out of Kirriemuir, but you can’t take Kirriemuir out of the girl” on the outside and a small Scottish flag on the inside of the cup.  Kirriemuir is the Scottish town that we lived in for 3 years when I was young.  

I also tried to burn some cds with my computer.  It’s the first time I have tried doing that, but it looks like iTunes may have messed up the order.  I have to try them in a regular cd player soon.  It was frustrating as I had done two cds.

I did work on laundry and also packing this afternoon.  I have my one big suitcase mostly packed and I weighed myself and the suitcase and got F to weigh himself and the suitcase later on and we were both close to the same total, so I might be safe!  I do have a few things to slip in the case yet though.  

I cooked dinner tonight and tried two new recipes.  One was great.  I made Roasted Squash with Cinnamon and Nutmeg using my leftover kabocha.  The other one was a Pinterest Fail.  Sigh.  I thought it sounded yummy, Sweet and Spicy Baked Honey Sriracha Chicken, so I made it.  The first part, breading and baking the chicken was fiddly but okay, and the chicken looked great.  However, the sauce…oh dear.  Maybe I didn’t get the balance of the ingredients quite right as I was in a hurry, but the chicken was so spicy we could barely eat it.  F even got out a happoshu (light beer) to drink with it.  I really should have tasted the sauce while I was making it, but I was in a hurry to finish up.

Also, since my oven is small and my tray is small, I had to bake the chicken in two batches, which put everything behind a bit.  

The evening was quiet.  I thought that it was Friday, so I was trying to watch a show that wasn’t on tonight!  It quite surprised me when I realized it was only Thursday!  I did manage to do a bit of crochet though, and F did the census for us tonight.  I think he has to do it for his mother too.  

I’m going to try and get as much done tomorrow as I possibly can for my trip.  I’ll have F at home for the next few days as we’re starting “Silver Week” and when he’s around I don’t have much luck with getting stuff done! Come back later and find out what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

September 16, 2015

Wednesday - Sunny and Cool

A good day.

I got up this morning just as F was going out to his mother’s house.  He had to run some errands with her and then go to the doctor.  His hand has been bothering him quite a bit and I insisted he go and see his regular doctor if he couldn’t get in to see the doctor at the hospital again.  

I watched my show, drank some cold tea, read my blogs and then took a shower.  When F came home again, I was ready to go or stay or whatever!  

We had an early and quite yummy lunch at Subway in the mall.  I had coupons so it was nice and a little cheaper.  After that, we drove to Machi-Kine and went to see Pride, a British movie about what happened when a group of gays and lesbians started helping the striking miners in Thatcher’s Britain.  I loved it, F liked it I think, but not as much as I did.  

After the movie, F and I went to Doutors for an orzo latte each.  That was nice.  

We came home for a bit and then got ready to go out.  I wore a two piece skirt and top ensemble that I’ve had for years and rarely wore.  We took a taxi to the restaurant, Tsuzume.

We were shown in to a room upstairs and presented with the most amazing looking dinner.  It tasted pretty darn good too!  It was Japanese Kaiseki and we had a couple of drinks with dinner too.  My first one was non-alcoholic, my second was with alcohol.

When the "birdcage" was removed there were very nice dainty foods to eat.  There was tamagoyaki, a kind of sausage and a shrimp sushi.  There was a kind of custard and some kiku-chrysanthemum petals. 

Somen in a clear soup with a tofu square and fish wrapped around the noodles.

Sashimi on an ice boat.  Shrimp and tuna.

A fish croquette with some tempura.

Chawan-mushi with mushrooms and a meringue top.

An eggplant base with eggplant and pork in a miso sauce.  

Spanish Mackerel stew.  Really nice!

Miso soup and pickles.  Served with the Mackerel and the rice.

Rice that was cooked at the table.  I gave a little of it to F as I don't like rice that much.

Dessert!  Vanilla ice cream with mochi and a kinako sauce, blanc mange with a meringue on top and fruit millefeuille. Came with Hoji-cha.  

After we finished our meal, we decided to walk home.  I think it was a good choice, except I wasn’t wearing walking shoes, they were flat, but loose, and F kept walking faster and faster.  

At home, we watched a bit of TV and then F went to bed.  I did some crochet and darned in the ends too.  Yay me.  Then, I prepped the garbage for F to take out tomorrow morning.  The usual Wednesday night thing.  

It was a really nice way to celebrate our anniversary of our public ceremony…privately!  We didn’t do the gift exchange thing this year, but really, F has given me so much this year that I don’t feel slighted in the least.  

Come back tomorrow and see if I manage to get all of the many things I need to get done.  I may be leaving for Canada with no clothes in my suitcase!  That wouldn’t be very good.  Until tomorrow….

September 15, 2015

Tuesday - Cool and sunny

A good day.  I got up this morning and managed to stay awake for a change!  I did a work out and then did a lot of laundry today too.  

I had a busy-ish afternoon.  I went through some of my clothes again and put some of them in the box for storage.  I sorted out a few things that I’m thinking of taking with me on my trip and basically kept myself busy.

When F came home we decided to go out for dinner.  He even picked the place tonight and it was a good one.  He picked the place behind Pal.  We had a good meal there.  I had chicken cutlets and F had veggies and noodles in a starchy sauce.  I think he liked it.

We bought a few groceries on the way home and then settled in for the evening.  I watched Grey’s Anatomy from the couch and did a little crochet.  

F is off work tomorrow.  He’s going to be doing some running around in the morning and hopefully will go and see his doctor again.  His hand is still quite sore. I’m worried that it might be infected still inside.  I hope not, but you never know.  

Anyway, we have a few plans for tomorrow as it is our “big” anniversary.  We’ll have a nice dinner out, and perhaps a few other things as well.  Come on back and see what we get up to. Until tomorrow….

September 14, 2015

Monday - Sunny but cool

A good day.

I woke up before my show and took up my place on the couch.  Unfortunately I fell asleep on the couch and ended up dozing through most of my show.  I didn’t work out today either.  I did have an early breakfast and ended up re-watching The Host.  Not my favourite movie, but I like the lead actress.

In the afternoon I did get a little bit busier.  I did some more laundry and I also went out into the apartment lobby and gave it a thorough sweeping.  I noticed that it was nice outside, so I took my latest blanket outside and took a few pictures.  I think it’s a little washed out in this light, but turned out rather well I think.  

It was quite sunny so there was a bit of a shadow. 

I think it looks very snuggly!

The two blankets side by side, thanks to technology!  I have already given away the first one so I couldn't do this in real life.  The blanket on the left is the original one, the one on the right is the one I just finished. 

In the evening F was quite a bit late tonight, but dinner was an easy one so it didn’t matter much.  We had pasta with a bought sauce.  The sauce was from the foreign foods shop in Niigata, although it was a Japanese invention.  It was kabocha cream with mascarpone cheese.  It had raisins in it, which surprised me, because I liked it, and I don’t like raisins much!  We had some steamed chicken breast from the store, salad, and some of the leftover kabocha from last week.  It was nice really!

F did the dishes and we settled in for a nice night.  I watched Gossip Girl and did a bit of crochet, then afterwards I darned in the ends so far.  It looks rather nice and I quite like this pattern.  It works in my head.  The other one, no matter how long I worked on it wouldn’t stick in my head! 

F went to bed fairly early and I’m still up.  I’ll try and get to bed soon though as I’m quite tired from the weekend.  

Oh, and one more thing…today is the 14th anniversary of the day that F and I went to City Hall and registered our marriage.  Being married to F has always been interesting, mostly in a good way.  

Tomorrow I hope to get a little more laundry done, I might tackle my wardrobe…and apart from that, I’m not sure!  Come back and see if I get up to anything good!  Until tomorrow….

September 13, 2015

Sunday - Cloudy and Rainy with sunny patches

A great day.

F and I had a great visit to Niigata.  We got away early on Saturday, drove to Shibata and went to the Koji Fukiya Art Museum where we saw some of his gorgeous works, plus bought a ton of postcards!  I love his work. He worked in different styles during his life, which I liked.

Some postcards of Koji Fukiya's work.

After that, F and I drove into Niigata and went to another store for postcards for me.  While there I offered to buy F a cup of coffee, which then morphed into us having a “tea time” snack at the restaurant.  It was amazing.  We had what basically was a sandwich, but it was so good.  It looked like it was made with a pita bread, and inside was lettuce, ripe tomato and a slice of nama ham. There was a mayo-mustard mix on the side.  Really, both F and I were impressed with the sandwiches.  

We drove into the downtown area afterwards and checked into our hotel.  We had a nice little room, everything was fine there.  We went out for dinner and found our way to a Spanish restaurant behind the station called Olmo.  F wanted the set menu course so we were eating again!  This was really good though.  We had salad, a meat plate with sausage, chicken, pork and lamb on it, plus pasta, a margarita pizza (the one thing that was a slight letdown as it was soggy…and we’d told the guy that I don’t eat tomato sauce), carpaccio, and a few other things that I can’t remember at the moment.  I even had an alcoholic drink, limoncello with soda which was lovely.

We walked (or waddled) back to the hotel via the station and picked up some cold non-alcoholic drinks on the way.  F had an early night, but I stayed up a bit late watching a movie.

Today, we had an early breakfast at the hotel, then both took showers before we checked out.  We did a little shopping around the station area and stopped for a drink in a cafe.  We put our shopping in the car and then went to the restaurant.  We were there when it opened and got a table for the 4 of us.  We had to wait for the others to join us, and were greatly surprised to see that we were now 5! One of the ladies had brought her daughter.  

We had a really nice meal at Arcoiris.  It is a Mexican restaurant.  F had 3 tacos and I had a beef burrito.  The last time I was there I had had the tacos so decided to be different this time!  The burrito was good.  We spent a pleasant couple of hours at the restaurant and then drove over to the Art Museum.

We all went to see the Pre-Raphaelite and Romantic Paintings exhibition.  I had seen it before, but I loved it even more this time.  One of my friends is an artist so found lots of interesting things about the paintings and it was really special to be able to share some of my favourites with F. 

We spent quite a long time there.  The other three left after a while as the daughter was getting tired, but F and I had a drink in the coffee shop.  Since he was a bit sleepy, we went for a walk around the nearby park when we finished.  

We headed back to the car and I suggested driving to the next city on the way home and having dinner there.  Niigata, while a lovely city, doesn’t always have parking at the restaurants, and the big mall was in the opposite direction from home.  F agreed, so off we went.

We ended up in a Big Boy restaurant and had a good dinner of steak.  I had mine with mushrooms, F had his on rice.  We both had salad and soup bar, mine had curry and rice bar too, and then we both added on drink bar.  

We arrived home quite late.  We’d taken a couple of detours along the way…F was being creative with his driving, and we had picked up some groceries before coming home.  

I watched Project Runway and then F went to bed.  I’m so tired that I’ll be off in a minute too.  We had a really nice time this weekend.  Hurray for that.

Not sure what tomorrow will bring.  I hope to do some laundry and maybe some packing?  Come back later and find out!  Until tomorrow….

September 11, 2015

Friday - Clear in the morning, rainy in the afternoon 

An okay day.

I got up early this morning and decided that if I wanted to wake up in time for Burn Notice, I’d better go directly to the couch.  I did wake up properly in time and watched it and read blogs.  After the show I turned off the TV and somehow fell asleep.  I didn’t really wake up until almost noon.  Not sure how!  

I didn’t do my walking, but I looked outside and saw that it was sunny outside.  I thought that since I have been wanting to go to the drugstore by myself for a while, this would be my chance.  I got dressed and hopped on my bike.  

I went to the craft store for good measure, but didn’t buy anything, then hit up the drugstore and got a few things there.  I came home via an ATM.  When I got home I realized that F had been home for lunch. He’d called me, but I hadn’t heard the message sound.  

I had a good and quiet afternoon at home.  I washed a couple of coats in preparation for winter and put a few things into my suitcase.  I’m getting worried about the whole thing!

F came home at a reasonable time today and I had dinner underway already.  I roasted some kabocha,  and had prepared the tandoori chicken for baking too.  I had to do the kabocha in two lots, so it took a little longer, but really I was quite organized so I think it went okay.  Dinner was quite good and we both enjoyed it.  F even liked the kabocha, which surprised me because he doesn’t like it much.

He did the dishes and we settled in for a quiet night. I watched Castle from the couch and did some more crochet.  I like the pattern I’m using now, but it is quite small and uses a fair amount of thread.  Still, it is easy and pretty so yay!  I just hope my sister likes it!

I packed a few clothes for our night away and charged my iPod a bit.  I hope it’ll work tomorrow.  We’ll be leaving in the morning and driving to Niigata. I won’t be updating tomorrow night and may not on Sunday if I’m too tired.  Don’t miss me too much!  

Until tomorrow’s tomorrow….  

September 10, 2015

Thursday - Rainy and cloudy all day.

An okay day.

I got up this morning, stayed awake and even did a slightly extended workout.  Yay me.  It surprised me, it did!

I had breakfast after my workout, which meant I wasn’t hungry until quite late.  Sigh. Eating lunch just before you cook dinner is a bit silly, and yet, I do it! I thought about going out during the day, but never got around to it and with the weather forecasts being as bad as they were, I didn’t really want to risk going out.  

Just in case anyone is worried, there’s no flooding in my area, at least not yet.  I heard the storm might be coming up the Sea of Japan side.  

I didn’t have a busy day at all.  I feel like I did, but really I didn’t.  I got ready to cook dinner, but when F came home he wasn’t feeling well and went to bed. 

I did cook for myself and it was quite nice.  I did hamburg with sautéed spinach and then I concocted an odd pasta side dish.  I served the above with salad.  I liked it, but it was a bit sad eating by myself.  

F stayed in bed until I turned on the TV around 11pm.  I started a new doily that might be for my sister if it goes fast enough, it isn’t too difficult but looks nice so it might work.

It is now quite late and I have to get to bed soon so that F will go back.  He claims to have a cold, which worries me as I’ll end up with it and then I have to travel in two weeks, and we have weekend plans.  ARGH!  

I know what I did tonight…I wrote two postcards and bought my travel insurance and printed out some information for F about when and where I’m travelling to.  Whew.  

I’m honestly not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow.  Maybe if the storm passes I’ll go out, but according to my weather apps it’ll rain most of the day tomorrow.  Sigh.  Come on back and find out what I get up to!  Until tomorrow….

September 9, 2015

Wednesday - Cloudy and rainy

A good day.

I woke up this morning around 6 am because my husband’s sister texted him.  He thought it was my phone and asked if I got a message…of course it wasn’t and I didn’t.  He checked it and it was about his niece’s wedding next month.  Interesting stuff, but not at 6 am!  

I went back to sleep and ended up waking up around 8:30.  F was long gone to work.  I was going to go back to bed, but knew that if I did I’d never get up.  It was so dark and gloomy, it felt like the middle of the night.  I made an executive decision to sit on the couch and snooze there.  Of course I half fell asleep and barely woke up half an hour later.  

I had a snoozy morning, I did read my blogs and watch my show, but I was half asleep.  I was also drinking some decaf tea, which didn’t wake me up at all! I also skipped my workout today as I left it so late that I really couldn’t justify doing it.  

In the afternoon, I did get a little busier.  I finally got out the vacuum cleaner, cleaned the apartment and then cleaned off my two suitcases.  I put one inside the other and yes, it did fit.  Whew.  The only thing is that it is quite heavy.  Sigh.  I had put some stuff for the trip inside already, I may have to rethink some of the stuff I’m taking.  Or not!

I also washed a bunch of my jackets. I have to think about what I’m going to take with me and do it carefully.  I think I’ve almost settled on a light fleece jacket and a shell that should fit over it.  Between the two of them I should be mostly okay, unless we get full on snow, which is apparently forecast for next week.  Grr.

F was very late today.  He didn’t come home until 8pm.  He had to stay late because he was driving someone.  

We talked about where to go for dinner and decided on Cocos.  It wasn’t too crowded, so we got seated right away.  In a strange turn of events, I had steamed salmon and F had grilled chicken.  So, he had chicken and I had fish!  Mine was good though. It was one of the Autumn specials and I liked it a lot. It was a bit expensive though.

After dinner we went grocery shopping and I got food for the next couple of days.  Tomorrow we’ll be having hamburgers, the day after chicken.  I think it’ll be okay.  I bought some veggies that I want to try cooking.  I even got kabocha, which F isn’t a big fan of, but I am! 

We came home and I watched a bit of TV and did a motif on the long forgotten project I was doing for my sister.  Unfortunately, I’ve forgotten the tension I was using and my latest motif is too big.  That means that the runner I was making will not look great.  I spent some time looking for a new pattern on the web and may have found something.  I’ll likely try it out and see how it goes.  

And basically, that’s about it for me. I’m not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow.  The weather is all kinds of horrible in other areas, so I’m not sure what we’ll have. If it is bad, I’ll likely stay home, if okay, I might run out for a bit. I have some errands to run.  Come back in a bit and see what I get up to.  Until tomorrow….

September 8, 2015

Tuesday - Cloudy and cool

An okay day.

I got up this morning on time and watched Burn Notice.  I even got a load of laundry done quite early.  I did two short walks today too.  My foot was fine today, and it was good to go a little bit longer.  There was a cool thing though…Veronica Mars the movie was on this morning.  I watched and DVR’d it because it was my work out time.  After my work out I watched it all again.  It was really good and I was glad to see a lot of the old cast back for this.  

I did a bit more laundry and noticed that a shirt hadn’t quite come clean when I was hanging it up, so I re did it.  It seems to be my sunscreen, I don’t wear make up so I guess I’ll have to be more careful when I put on my sunscreen.  Although my new stuff that I got in the hospital seems to be a lot better.  Did I mention that?  When I was in the hospital gift shop I saw some sensitive skin sunscreen and I got it. So far so good.  That’s two hospitals that seem to have good sunscreen products…I got some in Taiwan a couple of years ago too!

I took a shower around 4 and then remembered that I still had to mail my postcards!  I dressed quickly and then biked off.  I also went to the convenience store to pick up something for lunch!  AND I bought myself an iTunes card.  I’ve not done that before, but I wanted a couple of books so got the card for that.

When I came home I ate and then I started to get dinner underway.  F came home soon after and dinner wasn’t long.  We had soup from last night, with cheese and garlic chicken, plus salad and fried mushrooms.  I liked it a lot, and so did F.  He left the TV on during dinner so he could follow some Volleyball game.  I guess I shouldn’t complain but I really don’t like to have the TV on during dinner!

In the evening I read and finished a book on my iPhone and took a bit of a nap.  Except I was really reading my book and then ended up texting with a friend about our weekend plans.  I knitted during Grey’s Anatomy and completely messed up the hat I’m doing so have decided to frog it again.  I think what I’ll do is knit it up again with either the yarn I’m using now, plus another yarn or switch to the other yarn at the top. When and if I drop a stitch, I just can’t see it as I’m using eyelash yarn and it is too frilly to let me see what I’m doing properly! 

That’s about it for me.  I did read an article about sleeping better today and they said that I should turn off my computer at 9:00 pm.  I’m wondering what the heck I’d do with myself if I did that.  On the other hand, I might get more sleep!!! 

Not sure what I’ll get up to tomorrow.  I heard the weather is supposed to be bad so I might just stay home again.  Come back later and find out.  Until tomorrow….

September 7, 2015

Monday - Rainy and cloudy

A busy day.

I got up this morning a little late and watched most of Burn Notice, the latest morning show. I like it, but this is a repeat of a repeat.  I read my blogs and decided to do a workout even though my foot was hurting this morning.  I put the two mile workout on, and thought that if my foot was sore I’d stop at the halfway point where there is a break in the workout.  Sadly, that’s what I ended up doing. And yet, I was on my feet for much of the day, but my foot was fine later on!

After my workout, I started making soup.  It turned out to be quite an involved affair, but that could just be me!  I made bacon and hakusai soup officially, but I’d really call it bacon and vegetable soup.  It was good!  I put it into my slow cooker so I could let it go.  I also had the idea to put a couple of hard boiled eggs in tonight’s salad so that there would be a bit of protein there too.  So, I boiled a few eggs too.

I did some laundry for myself and of course took down some of the dry stuff on the hanger.  I tried some of it on and decided that a few things would go in my box of no longer fitting clothes.  I kept a few things where I probably shouldn’t, but I really want something comfortable to wear around the apartment.  I have a pair of Japanese jeans, and while they fit me, they aren’t comfortable to relax in!  The denim hasn’t given yet and they are a little too form-fitting to be comfy. Anyway, some stuff went in the box, others didn’t.

F called around 5 to say he’d be late, so I had a bit of extra time.  I decided to go out and sweep the apartment lobby.  I did that after F had called to say that he was going to his mother’s first.  

I swept.  It was a bit tough to see the dust as the lights in the lobby aren’t great, but a few people saw me out there, so at least they know that I tried!  I’ll see if I can do it again this week.

F came home while I was out there, so when I finished I went into the apartment and washed my hands thoroughly and then started putting dinner together.  

I got F to cut the bread he’d made overnight so we had bacon and hakusai soup, salad with almonds and croutons and hard boiled eggs and homemade pain de compagne.  It was a pretty good meal if I say so myself!  And I do.  

F did the dishes and I relaxed for a bit.  Around 9 I went over to the couch for Gossip Girl and some knitting time, then after that I did a few Postcrossings.  I’m going to have to put my account on hold soon for my holiday.  Darn!

And that basically was my day.  Tomorrow it depends on the weather whether I’ll go out or not.  I am hoping to start packing a few things in my suitcase so I don’t have to wait until the bitter end to do it.  Things that I might need on my trip, like my bathing suit, that I won’t need here. (Probably! For the first time in ages, F asked if I wanted to go swimming last weekend!) I’d like to do some banking and perhaps some shopping too.  We’ll see how the weather is and how active I feel.  And then there’s still a huge pile of laundry by my bed that should get done soon.  Come back later and find out what I end up doing!  Until tomorrow….