Kelly Azuma

This morning I woke up just after 9am and because it was quite cold I was just laying there thinking about what I was going to do with my day when I heard a key in the door. It was Yasu, he had come home from work sick.

He told me last night he didn’t feel well but he didn’t really elaborate. So I set about getting him sorted out with a blanket and a cup of tea, heated up his bento for him and gave him some flu pills to take. We watched some jtv and then about 12pm I bundled him off to bed with a heat pack.

I got stuck into my business website and it’s almost finished. I also tackled my healing room, I didn’t realise how many books I’ve accumulated in the last year!! I seriously need a small bookcase for my healing room now. I’m quite happy with the amount I got accomplished today. I really made a good effort.

I also got outside for a while, sat and ate some fruit outside on the patio. I was going to go for a walk up to the river at the back of us but it was soooo cold and the wind was freezing, I decided to do it tomorrow, hopefully it’s warmer.

I cooked lasagne for dinner and Yasu woke up more or less when I was serving it, so good timing. He stayed up for a while and has just gone back to bed with a heat pack, some vicks on his chest and some flu pills. I’m such an old mother hen but I can’t help it. Whenever he is sick I seriously want to look after him so much, I’m not sure where it comes from, maybe it’s just being a woman?

Apart from that I had two pieces of good luck today, I received a $20 gift card in the mail courtesy of a survey I had done last month, and I also got a phone call from a market research company to come in and watch tv for an hour and get paid $60. The research is about car insurance, which we have, just have to watch the tv and the following cm’s and say what we think about it. Pretty easy money. Thanks Abraham! :)

Today turned out to be a somewhat lucky somewhat unlucky day.

I headed up to the shops around 12pm to post off a parcel to a friend who recently had a baby.

I also had to take a coat back to Target that I had bought on lay-by, that when I got it home I didn’t like the way it looked (it looked better in the store mirror…funny that). I got a refund and went in the store but couldn’t find something to replace it that I really liked.

I went into another store and found a black skivvy. I had been looking for one for a while and it was marked down to $10 so that was a bargain. I also got a nice furry hoodie in a dark fawn colour which is sooo warm.

I was heading to do some shopping when I passed a new hair salon that had just opened and they were advertising for hair models for the students to practice on. I enquired and they asked if I would like my hair cut in June, and it would be for free. If I wanted a colour I could get it half price. So I agreed to have my hair cut mid-june and made an appointment. If I’m happy after the cut I will go back again and get a colour.

Afterwards I went to the grocery store to buy a few things, and happened upon Tofu. I have eaten Tofu in the past and never really liked it as I hate squelchy slimy foods, but as it was on special I thought I would take it home and see what I could do with it. I like making traditional Japanese homestyle foods and a challenge suited me.

I next went to the health food store and found they had Azuki beans to buy, $4.48/kg. I got about 50 grams and it cost me 44 cents. Very cheap!! I have them soaking in the fridge now, and will attempt to make Azuki-an tomorrow. I can’t believe the store has been selling it all this time and I never knew. I’ve been buying the really small cans of Azuki-an at the Japanese supermarket for around $6 for a 100g can.

Anyways, so I bought my Azuki and a bag of Japanese senbei that I love. I went to my friend’s cafe but she wasn’t there as her young son is in hospital with a bad asthma attack (he has them often). Another lady was working, also a friend, and she gave me all these muffins that they had excess of because it was a very slow day. I also got some freshly made plain croissants for my breakfast tomorrow, and a cup of tea.

I set my cup of tea down on the table and as I was reorganizing my bags I accidentally knocked the cup of tea towards me and the whole thing went all over my jeans and down my leg so that one side of my jeans was totally wet. I had some tissues in my bag so managed to wipe the table and my bag, but I had to go catch the bus with wet pants. Ugh. Especially as the weather is quite cool now, it was quite uncomfortable!

On the way to the bus station I passed a newsagent and because my day couldn’t get any worse I purchased a scratch ticket. I was amazed when I won $6 so I was now $5 in front. Yay.

When I got home I looked in my letterbox and just about died, it smelled like a fart-bomb had exploded in there, but I know what really happened. The tsukemono that my friend sent from Adelaide had arrived! Not only that, it had leaked all in the parcel and outside, so that the bag was totally wet and the post people had had to put it in another bag and tape it up. I unwrapped it and found the Daikon and Daikon leaf tsukemono inside. I had to dash off a quick email to my friend, I’m waiting to see if it’s still edible. I put it in the fridge and now the whole fridge stinks. Hah!

After that I threw my jeans in the washing machine and started making 肉豆腐 (Niku-dofu). I finished cooking just as Yasu arrived home and then I served it. He couldn’t stop saying “yum, yum!” and he loved it. I liked the flavour but I still have an issue with the flavour of Tofu. It’s the same flavour as the outside of いなり寿司. I find it hard to get used to that flavour for some reason. But as long as Yasu loved it, then that’s all that matters to me. :)

肉豆腐

After dinner Yasu had a 玄米茶 and I had a 紅茶 and now we are chilling out with a muffin.

My day has been a mixture of highs and lows. I’ve never had a lucky and unlucky day at the same time before. I think it’s pure optimism that has kept me going today. haha :)