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.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference

- Robert Frost

I had a tough time sleeping last night – partially because I was riled up by my conversation with Eriko and partially because I had some caffeine just 3 hours before bed. After a few trips to the bathroom and one short rest on the massage chair, I managed to fall asleep. I actually slept pretty solid, with some vivid dreams (which I cannot recall). I woke up at 7 when the alarm went off and got out of bed fairly quickly. I got dressed, drank some juice, and was out of the house by about 7:30. Eriko never stirred. At work I was feeling fairly awake and fairly energized. I got to work writing my status and working on some bugs. I had a meeting (which prevented me from attending the regular morning team meeting) and another. Before noon, however, I had made great progress on a necessary enhancement. I went home for lunch. Eriko had a meal ready and it was yummy, but we ate in silence. She did make about 40 sweet-potato cupcakes, which were also delicious. I left about 15 minutes to 1 (my usual time) and mosied down the hill. I made more good progress for the next two hours before I had yet another meeting. This meeting was less than productive and hopefully I won’t have to call one of its kind again. After that meeting I was dragged into another one, which was a little emotional (not so much for me) – but I got a free, cool, Isilon bag. I had about 30 minutes to spare and Zack and I went for coffee and talked about our weekends. We departed at an intersection; me heading back to work, him heading for Safeway (to buy soup). I had another meeting to discuss the recent recruiting event and what changes we could make. Afterwards I didn’t get very engaged at work because I was accosted by several of my teammates. At 6 I walked and talked with Scott as we headed up the hill for home. He just returned from a vacation to Hawaii. I enjoy talking to him. Eriko was making dinner when I arrived and so I retrieved a package for her from the “delivery (exercise) room. I thought dinner was quite yummy but she didn’t enjoy it too much and complained about a strange feeling in her esophagus. Soon, she was laying on her side and I was falling asleep on the couch. I started doing the dishes and she sat in the massage cushion. She told me that she suspected that she was depressed. We talked briefly about the subject. She was a little worried (about her body) and wanted to call her mom – unfortunately, her mom was not online (Skype) and the phone card we had was out of credit. So, I decided to try the SkypeOut service, which allows you to dial a phone anywhere and talk over the computer. I bought some credits and she called her mom at home. It worked great and she quickly hung up after asking her mom to setup the computer. The re-connected (this time for free) and talked for probably an hour. I went into the bedroom and worked on some Japanese homework while drinking some wine (as well as attempting to understand some of their conversation). Occasionally I came into the living room and checked the Astros/Cardinals game (on mute). After the call, I watched the last inning while doing the dishes. Eriko began going through the box of goodies from her mom and I moved to the computer for a bit to go through finances. Eriko took a shower and afterwards began reading on the couch. I searched for low fares (finding none) and coordinated with Zack to purchase one. This took much longer than it should have, as the interface is a bit unwieldy and once you move to far in the process you have to start over and re-enter the information. In addition, a flight I clicked on “purchase” became suddenly unavailable (at that price) and I had to go through the tedious process once again. Eventually, I purchased decent (but not great) tickets for the 3 of us for the holidays. Finally, I could take a shower. Afterwards I hopped back on the computer and Eriko continued to read her magazine, which she seemed to enjoy.