I woke up early and popped out of bed. I’ve always liked waking up early; I just usually don’t have the discipline to go to bed early. With Eriko around, that happens pretty naturally and then it is easy for me to get up! I was hungry and made myself a real breakfast (omelette & bacon). Eriko was slow to rise, but she did wake up before I left. I had a busy schedule at work today; several meetings and several interviews. I even had an interview at lunch, so I couldn’t see Eriko until the evening. I arrived home a little before six (early) and we ate dinner together. Afterwards, she was quite tired and took a nap while I read. Next, she went to bed and I moved to the computer. After an hour or so she got up and that was my signal to go to bed.

I woke up late this morning; I forgot to turn “on” the alarm. (Actually, in the middle of the night I woke up and thought I turned on the alarm, but in reality I didn’t hit the right button). Eriko and I shared breakfast together, which was nice. Off to work I went. I don’t remember whether I was productive or not, but I had no scheduled meetings today. I came home for lunch and we shared a nice meal together. Eriko walked me to the park, and off I went. I was a little late coming home as Scott and I stood outside and chatted for a bit. Dinner was yummy. Soon after, Eriko became tired and tried to nap. I read magazine, used the computer, and read this FreeBSD kernel book from work. I also had some ice cream! Then it was time for showers & bed.

I woke up early this morning (about 6:20). I set the alarm aggressively; my strategy was that if Eriko was going to continue to go to bed real early and not wake up in the morning than I might as well get up earlier so that I could go to sleep earlier (and maybe leave work earlier too). To my surprise, after about 30 minutes, Eriko left the bed too. We made a banana smoothie for breakfast and then Eriko went back to work. Since I was at work so early, I arrived at the same time as my boss’ boss (VP of Engineering) and he invited me to join him for coffee, which I did. That was interesting. Two of my other co-workers happened to be in pretty early as well. I remember working diligently in the morning. I decided to invite Zack to join Eriko & I for lunch, and with her permission, he did. That was nice and I think everyone enjoyed it. Eriko cooked and Zack was probably a bit surprised. ;P Back at work, we had a meeting at 1. I was then scheduled for another meeting but after about 30 minutes I couldn’t stand it and left. It was a training seminar and the material was not at all interesting. That gave me another hour of work befor I had my Japanese lesson with Hideki at Starbucks. Now we are on Chapter 10 (last in this book) which is about the Environment & Society. I went back to work for less than an hour, and then headed home. Eriko had prepared curry (which I love) and had a tale as well – she had gone to Uwajimaya and discovered that (due to some downtown construction) the bus route was dramatically different. She got a little lost and had to reverse her direction and walk a bit, but found Uwajimaya. A nice discovery (on her part) was that since she was so busy (she had left at 5 PM and only had an hour before I came home) she didn’t have time to feel sick. I encouraged her and let her know that Melissa had said the same thing. We enjoyed some levity on the couch before heading to Safeway for juice and ice cream. Soon afterwards, we showered and hit the sack.

I woke up a little late since the alarm didn’t go off. Eriko stayed in bed. I wasn’t real hungry (my stomach still had food from the previous day of eating) so I just ate a piece of toast with honey. I went into work and had lots of stuff to do. The day was relatively light, with only a single meeting in the morning. I went home for lunch and Eriko had prepared a meal; afterwards she walked me to the park before I headed down the hill. I don’t remember much of the afternoon. Eriko prepared dinner and we ate when I returned home. It turns out that the reason the alarm didn’t go off was because it had reset itself to Japanese time. It is a clock which is designed to self-synchronize to the Japanese clock radio signal, but up to this point it hadn’t worked. Eriko was very lethargic and took a nap; I studied Japanese and used the computer. Soon, Eriko went to bed. I kept using the computer and after about an hour, Eriko was out of bed. That was my sign to finish and I took a shower and hit the sack.

We slept in, although I reach a point where staying in bed becomes detrimental; I woke up before Eriko. The morning was pretty calm. She felt a little better but was still quite sluggish. I spent the morning on the computer and she was watching a (strange) Japanese movie. I called Alex about ten to see if he still wanted to have brunch with us and he did – ETA in about 30 minutes. We were merrily plodding along when we were startled by banging on the window – Alex had arrived. My poor phone just doesn’t get reception and I haven’t told the condo manager about our landline yet. We hung around in the house for another 15 minutes or so as the movie finished up and then we wandered outside. I had anticipated us eating at the 5-spot, which is a very popular establishment in Queen Anne (especially for brunch). Today was no exception and the wait was 45 minutes! None of us wanted to wait, so we went down the street looking for other food. I suggested Pete’s pizza (where we had failed to eat a weekend or two ago) but they were still closed. We continued on and found the Queen Anne Cafe, which was also bustling but only had a wait of 10 minutes. While we were waiting, Alex and I spoke about Eriko’s pregnancy, our jobs, etc. Eriko, sitting down, drew a very good drawing of a face – completely outshining the older woman who was also doodling. Finally, our table was ready and we ordered our food – an omelette for each of us. They were delicious and there was lots of food. We had a good laugh as Alex put ketchup on everything (except the bread). Eriko and I couldn’t finish our food, but Alex ate the small amount of my leftover omelette. Afterwards, we walked back to the condo and said our goodbyes. We were both stuffed and it didn’t take long before Eriko announced that she was taking a nap. I received permission to use the computer and spent my time there; after an hour or two Eriko was up and it was almost time to leave for our next venture. We left about 30 minutes before 6, heading for an Italian restaraunt (whose name I cannot remember). We found good parking and arrived ahead of my co-worker, Todd, and his ex-wife/girlfriend/future-fiance, Miki, who were meeting us there. We had to change tables because Eriko was a little cool (due to an open patio door). Todd & Miki arrived soon and we began to talk and order. I enjoy the bread and olive oil (and they kept bringing more) so I was happily eating. Eriko wasn’t very hungry (due to her big breakfast) so we decided to split a meal – veal meatballs (my choice). As it turns out, the advertised “big” portions were not so big… I only had four meatballs! Luckily (for me), Eriko wasn’t interested in eating at all and just wanted bread and some of the sauce. Thanks to the bread, my partially full stomach, and a glass of wine, I was able to feel full. We enjoyed our time with Todd & Miki, although Eriko was pretty quiet and it turned out she wasn’t feeling very good. On the way home she really had to go to the bathroom and I urged her to wait. It was a comical dash once we arrived, as she grabbed my keys and let herself in. She wasn’t feeling very well for the rest of the evening and we didn’t stay up much longer.

We slept in a little; the weekends are nice. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to be able to sleep in for hours like I used to. Part of the reason is that we are consistently going to bed relatively early (especially lately). Eriko was not feeling well and didn’t want to cook. I wasn’t hungry and just ate some toast. Eriko went downhill from there. She went to take a nap, but couldn’t get comfortable, nor sleep. She couldn’t handle even the slightest noise and was quite irritable, so I was chased off the computer rather quickly. I tried the TV on low volume, but that was also too much. I became a little frustrated and decided to take a shower (I had missed it the night before). Feeling a little more calm, I found an audio recording of Seinfeld’s stand-up comedy and listened to it while laying on the couch. I caught myself nodding off in the first 20 minutes, but changed positions and focused throughout the rest. Eriko emerged from the bedroom and fixed herself a snack. I was a little miffed that she didn’t fix any for me, but I managed to make myself a nice sandwich. She was really suffering, with both a headache and a stomachache. I turned the Mariner’s game on mute and we watched that for a bit. I used the computer for a bit, but was feeling pre-occupied by her comfort. (Of course, me attempting to do anything for her did nothing but annoy her). We were surprised when the computer made a ringing noise, as if a phone call was coming through. Sure enough, it was Eriko’s dad (via Skype). We couldn’t hear him very well (there was a large amount of feedback) and he couldn’t hear us at all. Eriko and him chatted briefly and then we signed off so that I could work on the connection. I tried using a different kernel module for my soundcard and it worked right away (against Skype’s test123 user). Eriko called her dad back (who confirmed the success) and he called her mother. We waited a few minutes and then Eriko called her mother (still using Skype). A funny note on the connection: when her mother answered neither Eriko nor her knew they were connected; I had to give Eriko a nudge and say ‘moshi-moshi’. Eriko and her mom talked for over an hour; the connection was really good and Eriko’s spirits were lifted. While talking to her mom, Aine (sister) and Shogo (brother) both wandered into the room and said a few words. It was neat for me to hear both sides of the conversation (since we only have speakers, no headset); of course, I could only understand a little bit but I felt particular proud when Eriko’s mom asked “where are Nick’s parents”, she replied “I don’t know”, and (from across the room) I said “Colorado.” (Although technically, I think they left Colorado at that point, but it was close enough). I cooked mashed potatoes and pork for dinner (for me) and we watched some TV. I used the computer while Eriko showered and then it was time for bed.