We slept in today – the alarm was off and we took advantage, finally rising out of bed about 10 AM. I was still stuffed from the Indian the night before, but Eriko was hungry. She made herself some breakfast and I watched. We lazed around and eventually Eriko started taking a nap, so I moved into the bedroom and started watching a UW Colloquia lecture on my handheld media player. That worked pretty well, although the lecture was a little boring. The whole day went by quickly, even though we didn’t do anything. We watched some TV, I did some Japanese homework, Eriko talked to her mom, Eriko made herself several meals (I just snacked on ice cream and leftovers, as I was never really hungry), I watched some more Japanese anime, and we wrote thank you cards as well as a birthday card for Katrina. In the evening we watched the 2nd game of the world series, which was great. After that, I typed up some journal entries and Eriko looked at some magazines. While Eriko showered, I exercised. After I showered, Eriko continued to look at magazines and I watched two anime episodes.

I slept good and the alarm woke us (both) up at 8 AM. I laid in bed for about 5 minutes and then popped out to check my mail and cook breakfast. Eriko woke up a few minutes later and began to eat. We left the house about 9:05 and headed north on I-5. Traffic was light and we made it on-time for her drum class, which started at 9:30. I helped carry in her new bongo drums and then I left. I went to Target to buy toothpaste and paper towels. To kill time, I went to Best Buy, but I was about 10 minutes early so I hung around and listened to my iPod. Soon, I was inside and was quickly accosted by a pretty young lady named Kara, who was interested in telling me all about their digital cameras. Before long, she moved on, and so did I. I walked around the store several times and eventually wound up where I really wanted to be – the bathroom. ;) I headed back to Eriko’s class, stopping at Starbucks along the way. I sat outside in the sun and listened to some comedy (on the iPod) and also worked on my new Japanese textbook. I went into the classroom a little early so I could hear the 7 people (including the teacher) playing a very cool Carribean rhythm. Back at home, Eriko watched a Japanese trivia show (we had downloaded) and I took a short nap. I retrieved the mail from the mailroom and Eriko had a package from her mom. She was quite excited, although customs confiscated two small food items. Eriko made a quick call to her mom to let her know and then we headed off to India Bistro to meet Carol and Aaron for dinner. Dinner was nice and (since Carol is pregnant also) we had lots to talk about. Unfortunately, Eriko’s dish was incorrectly spiced (and I didn’t realize it until I stopped eating mine) so that put a damper on the mood (but she didn’t blame me, so I felt better). Back at home, we were stuffed – I watched the end of World Series game 1 and Eriko used the computer. While she showered, I watched an anime on the computer (I’m finally getting around to finishing a series I started during summer). We switched places for my shower and then spent some time on the couch watching TV while waiting for our food to digest.

I slept well and woke up relatively early. I had lots of time before I needed to be at work (I’m aiming for 8 AM as a start time) so I worked through the Washington State voter’s pamphlet and decided how I would vote on several issues. I’m not sure if I will actually vote for the various seats, I simply don’t know enough about the candidates. Then I headed off to work, where I worked on some bugs. This period in the development cycle is a little boring, because it is difficult to feel like you’re making progress, since bugs are never-ending. I came home for lunch with Eriko (which she made) and it was yummy. Afterwards, I had coffee with Zack, which was nice. It turns out he will be moving even closer to me. My afternoon was semi-productive until I had coffee with Rob, which was also nice. (Note that I had decaf both times, otherwise I’d be loaded). I came home for dinner with Eriko and then we watched some TV. We went to Safeway and then Eriko took a nap. I started watching a lecture on my handheld device but that didn’t last long. We showered and went to bed early.

I had trouble sleeping (thinking about work) and decided to wake up later. Once I fell asleep, I slept pretty good. The alarm went off at 7:30, but before that I got wacked a few times by Eriko who was awake and thought I had overslept. I got dressed in the living room, as I’ve started putting my clothes out of the bedroom the night before (to be more quiet). I ate a banana and headed off to work. I worked on my team status, made some progress on bugs, and had a meeting of the leads. I came home for lunch which the intention of telling Eriko that she didn’t need to worry about cooking; I came home to see her. I found her laying in bed feeling bad. I explained myself to her and her attitude changed immediately; she was soon out of bed and we had a nice lunchtime together, with me eating various things I could find. Back at work, I was semi-productive (that seems to be the trend these days) and I met with my new boss, which was nice. Back at home, Eriko had not finished making dinner because the meat was not thawed out yet. She was very happy though, she had gone out for snacks with three pregnant Japanese ladies who live in this area – Yuko, Junko, and Yuko. I thawed the meat out for her (in warm water) and she made one of my favorite Japanese dishes – okonomiyaki, with pork and squid. I got to ask her lots of questions about the ladies and the things they talked about (pregnancy, Japan, husbands) and it was nice. We watched a little TV, I did the dishes, and we watched the new Chris Rock comedy. We worked on the computer together, looking for Japanese drama, animation, and radio shows that Eriko could watch. I also fixed a diary entry mistake she had made. I read some of the Japanese book while Eriko worked on the computer. We watched some more TV (something about Raymond) and then we showered (rather, she showered while I used the computer and then I showered).

I slept pretty solid, except I woke up several times after bumping into Eriko. It seems that I’m tossing and turning, even if I don’t notice it. The alarm went off at 6:30, but I didn’t get out of bed for another 15 minutes or so. I hung around the house for about 45 minutes. I decided I want to get into a morning routine of waking up early and then hanging around the house rather than rushing off to work. I got an idea about something to do on the computer, so I went to work (otherwise, I would wake up Eriko with my typing). I was semi-productive in the morning, working on a performance bug. I had lunch with Eriko, which was delicious, but she was very quiet, tired, and didn’t eat. My afternoon started off about the same as my morning, until we had a company meeting. I won 1st place for my ‘Ideal Male Wedding’ entry, which was a description of Eriko & I’s legal ceremony in front of the office. (The contest was favorite moment at work). I also had a few beers, so the time after work was not productive at all… I left work early but Scott and I ended up chatting quite a bit and I didn’t actually get home any earlier. Eriko had dinner ready but it was a repeat of lunch; she didn’t eat and was quiet and tired. I had a headache (from the beer) and took a nap on the couch. We watched a little TV, I did the dishes, and the we took showers.

I slept pretty solid but since I went to bed late I got out of bed about 30 minutes after the alarm. I didn’t spend much time at home before saying goodbye to Eriko and heading off to work. I was semi-productive in the morning, but not fully engaged. Eventually I got more into the bug fixing I was doing and became relatively productive before my team heading out to Pesos for a team lunch. We welcomed our latest two employees (one hired very recently, the other a few months ago), which was nice. Back at work, there was a regularly scheduled engineering meeting in which my name was mentioned (although forgotten at first). After that I wasn’t real productive, but the time did go fast. I then went to Japanese class and it was nice to see Hideki. We talked about my company and that was challenging – describing what a technology company does in Japanese. ;) I’m starting on a new book (intermediate level) which is a good sign of progress, even if I don’t feel I’m making as much as I should be. I had another hour at work, but wasn’t real productive. I got home by about 6:20. Eriko was still making dinner because she got a late start; she had been talking to her parents on Skype. She was in a pretty good mood. I watched a little TV and did some other odd things while waiting. Dinner was yummy and then I did dishes. We watched some TV, went to Safeway, watched some more TV, and then I started to read a Japanese book. I worked on finances while Eriko showered and then I showered. Before bedtime, we shared some potato chips together. Eriko was in a noticeably better mood.