Another late morning; I had trouble waking up. Eriko woke up too, but we didn’t have much time together. I was at work by 8. My calendar was quite full today, so I didn’t work on many issues. A meeting with my co-worker turned into an introduction to his wive’s new wine bar/art gallery, which was cool. They’re looking for investors and I see the potential; unfortunately I don’t have that kind of money. It takes money to make money, and I see why. I made it home for lunch with Eriko (although I was a little late). She was quiet and told me that talking hurt her stomach area a bit; it was nice being together. I left work a little early, arriving before 6. We had a nice meal, but Eriko was uncomfortable and silent most of the night. I sat with her on the couch and eventually watched a playoff game, but we never made any conversation. She went to bed about 9 and I stayed up for about an hour afterwards. Sometimes the reality of marriage is two warm bodies co-existing but not interacting. My expectations are changing, but I’m not disappointed.

I set the alarm a little later this morning (7) but I’m still very tired when it goes off. Eriko woke up too. I wasn’t hungry for breakfast and my throat was still sore, but it was much better than the day before. Surprisingly enough it hadn’t moved up into my head at all. I go to work a bit early and arrive about 7:45. I had to make copies of the AOS stuff so I could mail it out. I worked on issues until the regular morning meeting and then again until lunch. I was caught by a co-worker right as I was about to leave and didn’t arrive home until about 12:30. Lunch was good and I returned about 1:15. I had a meeting, missed a meeting, and had a real solid interview with a potential candidate for my team. I worked on an enhancement until close to 6 and got nailed trying to leave. As a result, I left about 6:30; I walked & talked with Scott and didn’t get home until about 6:45. Eriko wasn’t thrilled but patient. We had leftovers

I slept very poorly and had a hard time waking up; I got poked by Eriko to get out of bed. I had some yogurt and honey and left for work; Eriko was still sleeping. I arrived at work about 7:30 and a few minutes to prepare for an interview at 8. I reviewed some work I had done the day before and had the usual morning meeting. I did some more work on my problem and soon it was time for an early lunch. Zack and I met mom, dad, and Eriko at work and we walked aimlessly down the street until Eriko suggested Shiki (a Japanese restaraunt). We guided the tour in that direction and soon were enjoying a nice meal. I had to rush home after lunch to pick up a copy of Eriko’s birth certificate and make the translation electronically available (as I was meeting the translator later in the day). I made it back to work by 1, in time for a regular meeting. I printed out the translation and attended two meetings before heading off to my Japanese lsson. Hideki (my teacher) didn’t have anything to do after class and wanted to avoid traffic, so he came over to show me where the starter was on my MG. He met Eriko and received a quick tour of our place. After Hideki left, Eriko and I waited for our dinner guests. Zack showed up (but couldn’t let himself in) and soon let mom & dad in as well. We sat around for quite a while, drank some wine, talked, looked at wedding photos, ate nuts and eventually made our way to an Indian restaraunt down the street. Eriko was suffering, as she had not partaken in may of these snacks. Dinner was good (although not India Bistro) and everyone was thorougly stuffed. We said our bon voyage to mom & dad (they leave for a 2 month cruise in two days), and started the evening routine which ends up with my eyes shut.

I’m up early, Eriko is slow to move. I can’t remember if she made it out of bed before I left (although I think she did say goodbye). I got some work done in the morning, had a meeting, got some more work done, and then it was time for lunch. Zack and I met mom & dad outside of work about noon and we took Zack’s car up to our house to pick up Eriko, who was waiting. We drove back to work and went to a nice Thai restaraunt. I was stuffed! There was a long delay in parting, but eventually mom & dad walked with Eriko back to the condo and Zack and I went to work. I had another two meetings, did some work, and then walked home. My co-worker was going that way so we walked together (almost all the way up the hill) and talked about our new wives/lives (he was married a few weeks ago). I saw mom & dad in the park near our house, so I stopped and chatted, bringing them with me to the house. Of course, they brought wine (they don’t seem to cross the 6 PM boundary without some wine) so we sat around and talked. We moved onto the 5 spot, a local restaraunt, and had a nice meal. We waited around for Zack and he took mom & dad to their place. Eriko and I were exhausted, and hit the sack.

I wake up, after Eriko. However, as soon as I leave the bedroom, she wakes up and complains that she couldn’t sleep because I was snoring! I make pancakes and then start doing some work. I’m making modifications to an allocation library so I can do better tracking. I worked on this most of the day, actually. Eriko woke up and had some pancakes and then rested on the couch. We watched the Mariners game. We went to Ballard and met Alex & Kellie’s @ Ray’s boathouse for an early dinner (or lupper - lunch + supper). Back @ home, I read my FreeBSD book and we watched a show about the next mega earthquake coming to Seattle. I got scolded a little for spending too much time on the computer. Zack called and wanted us to reserve time to see mom & dad, but he couldn’t commit to when. We decided to go to bed early and were just about to hit the sack when Dad called and pretended to be gathering. Pretend or not, the only place we were going was to bed. ;)

We were up pretty early. I took a sleeping aid before bed (my throat is starting to bother me; I’m guessing that the night of poor sleep was a cold taking root) and slept great. Eriko got up too, but she was tired and not feeling so hot. Before too long, she was asleep on the couch. I read my FreeBSD internals book before succumbing to the sandman. We were both awakened unexpectedly by the doorbell – the mailman, with a package for Eriko. In it were maternity outfit brochures, some vitamins, and some other booklets from her mother. Eriko began looking through these materials and I moved to the computer. After a short while, I decided it was finally time to get my haircut. I located a barber, Counterbalance Barbershop, gave them a call, and headed that way. The barbership was only about 5 blocks away and in between was an ATM so I grabbed some cash. I was immediately surprised (upon entering the shop) to see two big dogs lying on the floor. They weren’t just lying, they were barking too. ;) I’m glad Eriko declined my invitation for her to come along. There were two barbers and two clients, so I sat and waited. I had brought a magazine and my iPod so I was prepared for the wait, however there was a NY/Boston game on TV that was more interesting and I watched that. The barber was smooth – he asked for orders, I told him I had too much hair, and he started cutting. The game was exciting, but the Red Sox just couldn’t seem to pull it off. I stopped at Trader Joe’s on my way home and picked up some juice (for Eriko) and other items (wine, ham, soy milk). Back at home, Eriko laughed and said I looked like Seinfeld (in the low-flow episode). I ate some lunch and I had just started getting to work (at doing nothing) when Eriko decided she wanted to go maternity clothes shopping. I suggested Target (but I didn’t really know) and off we went. Target had a dismal selection. We bought a few assorted items (shower head with cable, cotton) but no maternity wear. I looked up the address to babies r’ us (on my blackberry) and we headed there. Unfortunately, the store was not to Eriko’s expectations – only baby clothes! In Japan, baby clothes are always accompanied by clothes for mommy (makes sense to me). Dissappointed, we headed back south. Macy’s was the next idea, but I was already burned out on shopping and suggested we stop at home and eat first. Eriko suggested pizza and we were headed to Pete’s. We played some pictionary before our meal arrived and ate far less than either of us expected. We both agreed to go to Macy’s another day and went home. Eriko fell asleep almost as soon as we got home and I worked on the computer. The rest of the evening was restful – Eriko wasn’t feeling in tip-top shape (she thinks it is anemia) but she wasn’t feeling horrible either. We watched some TV, I practiced Japanese, we took turns on the computer and we were in bed by 11.