I woke up at 6 today, despite going to bed close to midnight. I was tired, but I had to get some work done early – Isilon is going to be at Supercomputing 2005 and it is a big deal, and I had promised to do a few tweaks before the show. I got out of bed, ate breakfast, read some email, and was ready to move out (in fact, I was already putting on my shoes) when I couldn’t find my wallet. I came back into the house, looked in various places, and as a last ditch effort, went outside to check the Jetta. At first, I found nothing, and thought that all was lost – without the wallet, I didn’t have my keycard, so I couldn’t get to work. Then, wedged between the driver seat and the center console, was my wallet. Whew! I went into work and began wrestling with my changes. I made solid progress and was only interrupted by a trip to Larry’s with Jane (for donuts) and our usual team meeting. I came home for lunch and Eriko popped out of bed when I arrived and brought out the meal she had fixed. It was yummy. We concluded the lunch hour by watching some TV and chatting. Back at work, I rushed to complete the tasks I had before 3 o’clock – which was the time for an engineering meeting. With only seconds to spare, I think I made it. (Verification will come later). After the meeting (where Zack won a ticket to see Sheryl Crow) there was a planned party at Jillians. Zack, Kaya, and I went up and picked up Eriko who I had called in advance. We found a convenient parking space and for the next several hours, we ate, we drank, and we played lots of ping pong. The Kirsch Brothers had many victories and only a few defeats. It was fun. Eriko looked a little bored at times, but in general she seemed to enjoy herself. She and I played ping pong quite a bit and Zack played with her a bit too. We returned to the house, said bye to Zack, and relaxed on the couch for an hour or so.

I woke up about six (the alarm was set for seven) and decided to lay in bed for a few minutes… which of course, turned out to be until the alarm went off. I got out of bed, ate my bowl of cereal (two kinds) and headed off to work. Eriko was sleeping and didn’t budge. My morning was fairly occupied – I had a meeting with my new boss, a technical lead meeting, and the regular team meeting. I tried to fit in some emergency repairs I need to do by the weekend in, but didn’t make much progress. I came home for lunch and found Eriko sleeping. I was debating whether I should prepare myself lunch or go out when she came out of the bedroom, so I stuck around. I made myself a quick meal with baked potato and fixin`s while Eriko drank some juice. We spent a little bit of time watching a PBS kids program (Reading Between the Lions) that she had told me about yesterday. It was well done – funny and educational – and who doesn’t like cute stuffed lions? Back at work, my day continued to be full. I had a meeting, another sudden meeting (and I had to trade interview spots), an interview, a team meeting, and then I had to update my weekly status. I had about an hour to work on my emergency repairs but didn’t make a lot of progress. I’ll really have to hit the ground running tomorrow. I walked home with Scott and he invited Eriko and I to a game party he’s having at his house. I think we might show, although I doubt we will stay long (since our bedtime tends to be pretty early). Eriko was waiting for me when I got home but she already ate. Luckily, she made enough for two. ;) I ate dinner and then watched a little BBC news on TV. We hung out on the couch until 7:40, when we left for Capitol Hill (and more specifically, the Century Ballroom). We weren’t going to dance, we were going to meet Gene (the former owner of the Jetta) who was in Seattle (he’s from Redmond) to go salsa dancing. Gene brought me the title paperwork, so now I just have to deliver it to the DMV. Eriko didn’t feel too super after we got home, so she spent a little bit of time on the couch resting. I did the dishes and checked on some financials. We spent some time together on the couch and I rubbed her feet and ate ice cream. Then it was time for her shower.

The alarm went off at 6 AM. I was tired, but I knew I had plenty to do so I woke up early. I probably should have studied Japanese or watched a CS lecture, but I needed to get in and get some work done so (after eating) I left for work. As it turns out, Melissa called me and we talked for over 30 minutes, so my early start didn’t buy me that much in terms of work productivity, but it was nice to talk to her. I did have a solid, productive morning, but it turns out the stuff I was working on was clearly defined and I had to send it back to our great spec writer for clarification. I came home for lunch and found Eriko alert but not in a cooking mood, so I fixed myself a baked potato with some leftover chicken korma sauce (it was quite delicious). Back at work, I was pretty productive until the end of the day when I was just involved in too many conversations. I came home to Eriko who had dinner waiting. It was also delicious and she was a little full so I ate half of hers – then I was full. We waited around for a bit and then took the bus down the hill to Key Arena to see Disney on Ice’s Finding Nemo. The line for entry was very long – the bombings in Jordan caused them to really heighten security. It (the need for heightened security) was sad to see, especially since this was an event that was meant for families and children. I wasn’t expecting much but the show was really good. It helped that I hadn’t seen the movie as I didn’t have any expectations for the story line. The skaters were quite and the overall show was very beautiful at times. Eriko enjoyed it as well. We waited around for a bus ride for about 20 minutes, during which time I read some big email from work. Things are happening. Back at home, I ate some ice cream, watched the news, and it was time for bed.

I woke up early this morning because I had Japanese homework to do. After eating breakfast, I got to work on reading some conversations and looking at the grammar points. I finished up and went into work a little early. I had a meeting with my boss, another meeting, and I shared the Japanese/American interaction paper with Todd – as a result, my morning wasn’t so productive. I came home for a nice lunch with Eriko and told her about my conversation with Todd. Back at work, we had an ice cream cake party (which was yummy). I didn’t get much more work done before I went off to Japanese class. Hideki and I had good time and ended up discussing Japanese/American marriages ourselves! After a brief hour of work, I came back home. Eriko was on the phone with her mom and so I fixed my own dinner. We had lots of nice conversation on the couch and I went to Safeway to pick up some groceries. Then we had more nice conversation and it was time for bed.

I was able to sleep in a little bit, because we had an OB appointment at the Nadeshiko Clinic. I set the alarm for about 7:40 (the planned wake-up time was 8) and was eating breakfast when Eriko woke up. I did a little work on the computer as I needed to write a status email. We ate our separate breakfasts and headed over the 520 bridge to Kirkland (a little before 9). The mood was civil but not so comfortable. I headed back to Isilon and arrived in plenty of time (about 9:40) for my meeting (at 10). Unfortunately, I had to find parking (and grabbed a latte) so it was about 10 by the time I actually got in the building. The staff meeting was good and interesting. I had another meeting with my team afterwards and then it was time to pick-up Eriko. I was a little rushed, having left the office at 11:35, but I made it in-time (noon) to pick-up Eriko. In fact, I was there a few minutes early and went inside to use the bathroom. She was waiting outside the bathroom for me a few moments later. A really cool thing happened at Nadeshiko – Eriko talked to her nurse about us and got a nice sheet of paper describing common communication problems between Japanese and Americans. It was specifically tailored towards the Japanese wife and American husband. When Eriko showed this to me (after we arrived home), we were both very relieved – this was not just our problem! Lots of people had this problem. I went back to work and excitedly told my co-worker about the information we had acquired. He was also very interested (as he is currently dating his ex-wife, who is Japanese.) Back at home, Eriko and I spoke about our new world quite a bit, and she shared the discovery with her mother via Skype. She also told me that she drove the Jetta around the block! We spent some time playing with a baby playpen that my co-worker Edgardo gave us before heading off to bed.

This is going to be a combined entry. I fell behind on my note taking and can’t do the individual days justice. On Thursday, the big highlight was the symphony. Eriko and I took the bus (#13/#2) there, arrived on time, and enjoyed it quite a bit. I was a little irritated on the way there, but eventually I got over it. I fell asleep at the end of the first part (which is the way I like it) and got entranced by a few idle members of the symphony on the last part, which kept me awake. On Friday, I came home early; I wasn’t having a productive day and staying longer didn’t hold any interest for me. That may not have been a good move, however, as Eriko wasn’t in a good mood and soon after we managed to both get irritated at each other – which lasted the entire weekend. From Friday evening until Sunday evening, Eriko didn’t say more than a few words to me. I, of course, had quite a few to say to her, but they seemed to fall on deaf ears. Ah, the challenges of taking two individuals and putting them together with no real escape from each other. Especially Eriko; when I’m able to overcome my own emotional involvement in the situation, I can’t help but admire (and cringe) at the place she has found herself in – a foreign country, no friends/family, newly pregnant in a new marriage, and married to me. Any of those individually would be enough to drive a normal person crazy. On Saturday I was able to get out of the house and spent some time helping Zack move from his apartment to his new shared house. He lives closer to me now but I don’t know whether or not I’ll see him more often… Sunday I used the computer, watched Starship Troopers (on TV), ran a few errands (to get out of the house), and tried not to upset (or get upset at) Eriko. In the evening she was finally starting to talk more, although she clearly has no desire/strength for anything more than the most trivial of conversations. I spent the late evening working on this journal entry, trying to focus on Japanese, and procrastinating by reading a textbook on (mathematical) Optimization.