Thanksgiving and beyond - November 28-December 3, 2019

My routine has been completely thrown off over the past couple of days. I don't like it and have decided it is wisest to stick close to the female pack leader for now. It all started on Thursday. I am supposed to get a long walk on Thursdays but we stayed around the house instead. It wasn't even raining outside. The female pack leader was busy in the kitchen most of the day. I kept a close eye on the floor hoping she would drop some food but didn't have any luck. Friends come over in the evening which made me happy. I always like the extra attention I get from friends. I especially like it when they let me lick them. Fridays I am supposed to go for a run, but instead I got really tired and the pack left me to nap in the crate all day. Saturday I got my missing run with the male pack leader before sleeping the afternoon away in the crate. Sunday was quiet and uneventful with a little time spent in the crate. Monday it seemed like the routine was returning but then our run was shorter than normal. Tuesday it got really weird. We went on a run even though it wasn't our normal running day. Late in the afternoon the female pack leader started acting like she was getting ready to leave. I stuck close by her side hoping she wouldn't leave me. I was so relieved when she put my collar on, but then she wanted me to get in a strange car. I wasn't so sure about that but she insisted. It took a while to find a good place to lay in this car. We took a ride and found the male pack leader. I was so surprised and excited to see him I couldn't wait to get out of the car. He took me to 'work' with him. I was a bit concerned why the female pack leader wasn't coming with us, but there was a lot to explore at 'work' so I was quickly distracted. Eventually he and I returned home. The female pack leader walked in the door sometime after dinner and I was SO happy to see her. I made sure to keep an eye on her the rest of the night. I stayed outside the bathroom door while she got ready for bed and curled up on the floor beside her once she was in bed. It wasn't as comfortable as sleeping in my bed is but I felt better knowing I was close to her.

Jenn's take on the past few days: First, I need to comment on the above picture of Dash. I have a bathmat at my side of the bed because I do not like stepping directly onto the cold floor in the morning. I hope to replace the mat with a rug in the future but it'll do for now. Tuesday night he chose to 'fold' up the bathmat and sleep there rather than on his very spacious and padded dog bed. Dunno what goes through that dog's head sometimes. Anyway, Thursday was Thanksgiving with all of the usual cooking, eating, drinking and socializing. David smoked the turkey per tradition and he outdid himself this year. It was incredibly moist with that great smokey flavor. Since Friday was officially the start of the Christmas season we wanted to check out one the many Christmas Markets. We decided to go to the one at the Red Brick Warehouse. They are historic old warehouses at the port of Yokohama that have been converted into trendy shopping/dining/event spaces. We took the train. It was the first time we have been the only people on a train. More people arrived shortly after this picture was taken but it was still almost empty when it left the station.

It was a short walk from the train station to the warehouses and on the way we passed Elephant Nose Park.

While it looked optimistic we were ultimately disappointed as 90% of the booths were food venders. I had been hoping for a unique shopping selection.

The tree and lights were really pretty though. And the gluhwein was really good.

We went inside to see what the Warehouses had to offer and found a "makers market" (high end craft fair) in one of the event spaces. I was excited to compare a Japanese craft fair to one in the US. There were subtle differences. Some of the woodwork items were much more delicate (tiny wooden bugs for example) then what I have seen previously. The fabrics used for purses and such were exceptionally beautiful...think of kimono prints. A good amount of quality leatherwork was there too. From there we explored the traditional shopping areas of the warehouses, if any of the stores were chains I did not recognize the names.

As we left we were treated to an ice skating show.

Saturday we stayed close to home. We didn't want Dash to have to be in the crate all day for two days in a row. We did get out for a little exploring and checked out some of the Hard Off stores near our house. A Hard Off store is the Japanese version of a thrift store with second hand merchandise at discounted prices. I picked up a really nice tripod for ~$13. Sunday we went back into the city to check out our first shrine sale. A shrine sale is essentially a flea market located at a shrine. On the way there we stopped to get dumplings from a small 'to go' shop.

I had hoped to take pictures of the shrine while we were there but the vendors were everywhere. Some even had their items displayed on the statues. We came home with a neat wooden Japanese beer crate that I plan to repurpose as storage for our mittens and scarves.

We detoured through some of the shopping areas as we meandered back to the train station and stumbled onto a small craft fair. There was a Starbucks next to the craft booths so we stopped to have a drink. A nice Japanese family took advantage of us being there to have their daughter practice her English. I would guess she was about 4 years old and cute as a button. Monday was back to work for David and back to cleaning/errands/decorating for me. I am SO close to having the house 'in order'. It has been more time consuming than normal because every time I need something it seems to take trips to up to three different stores. Then if I still can't find what I need (a rug I like, picture hanging wire, etc.) the Amazon search starts followed by waiting for the item to arrive. Tuesdays I have my Japanese class in the evening. I had dropped Dash off with David before going to class so we wouldn't have to medicate him. He is still periodically trying to eat his way out of the crate. I have several appointments this week so I don't expect we will resume our normal routine until next week. Dash will not be happy with me.