Leander, 2016
こんばんは
Here’s a photo of this evening’s clouds at sunset. I am not sure what emotion it makes you feel by looking at it, but maybe there is uncertainty in the skies?
おやすみなさい
– B 
Cloudy skies
Leander, 2016
Category: Slice of Life
Leander, 2016
Aquarium update
Cedar Park, 2016
こんばんは！ Good evening!
Tonight’s post is about our aquarium that we’ve had for several years now. It’s a plain 10-gallon glass tank, simply decorated with some rocks, a nice piece of driftwood, and a “Pirates Cove” skeleton accompanied by his jug of rum. You know, the classic!
For fish, we currently have three tiger barbs, although one of them wasn’t looking too well this afternoon, I wouldn’t be surprised if we lose him the next couple of days. We also have several live plants, which are relatively new. I always had plastic plants in my aquariums, but thought I would give some live plants a try. I really like them! They are easy to take care of, and look nice.
But lately our tank has been overcome with some brown algae. In order to combat this, I picked up several Malaysian Trumpet Snails which are supposed to be great tank cleaners – eating algae, dead leaves, and even fish poop. 🐌 We only have about 8 so far (our local fish store gave us some of theirs free of charge) but they are working hard! You can really see a difference on the parts of the tank they have been active in. But what I am looking forward to is for them to have baby snails (it should take a month or two) and then we’ll have a snail army to clean the tank! Apparently they all come out in the middle of the night and do their work. 🌛
I’ve had an aquarium of one size or another for most of my life… all fresh water type. I have fun watching the fish and taking care of them, but the new snails are by far the most fun things to watch. It sounds funny, right? But they are fascinating!
Anyways, that is tonight’s aquarium report! Have a good evening and we’ll see you tomorrow.
おやすみなさい！
– B
Kitten invasion
Cedar Park, 2016
こんばんは！ Hello, how’s it going?
We’ve been enjoying having the two kittens in our house. So far, they are staying in our “sun room” which is next to our TV room. We are keeping them separated from our dog, Lani, for a while… Lani is so excitable and whines and growls a lot. The kittens were really scared at first, but now are slowly getting used to the dog, although they have only briefly been in the same room together. We’ll give it a couple weeks I think before we introduce them fully. But, they do look at each-other through the French doors.
Cedar Park, 2016
In other news, the rain has been pretty heavy. This morning the kids’ schools were delayed by two hours… of course they were so happy about that. Koa just said to me a few minutes ago that he’s hoping for a short day tomorrow as well. There’s a good chance he will get his wish! ☔
I hope you had a nice Monday, and we’ll see you tomorrow! Meow or Nyan!
おやすみなさい！ – バロン
Rainy sunday
Cedar Park, 2016
こんばんは！ How’s it going?
Today was the first day of our huge rainstorm, which is supposed to last maybe three more days. ☔ Our house is not in any danger from flooding, but there are some parts of town that are near the river and those get so much water that they overflow the banks. It’s really dangerous and there are often reports of people getting swept away as they try to cross through the water in their cars. Even though we have the saying “Turn around, don’t drown” some people think they can make it and just try anyways.
I stayed in the house today and actually had a task to do: file our 2015 taxes. Like many other people, I use TurboTax to do our taxes, and after several years of doing it, it has become pretty quick and easy. The main thing is that you need to just keep all your tax documents in one place as they come in during the year. I have a box that I put all the documents, and when I receive an email saying I have tax documents online, I will print those out immediately and put them in the box. Then, when I finally get down to doing the taxes, it’s all there!
I remember several years ago, I had so much trouble figuring out where everything was, but now it is a breeze. I think the software has gotten a lot better with each year so that is a huge help!
While I was working and looking for a folder to archive all the documents, I found a clear file that has all the stickers I have collected over the years. I forgot about one sticker that I bought in Japan a few years ago… it’s a cat with a camera! It actually says “Neko camera” (neko means cat). So I put it on my Chromebook. I now have 5 stickers on it… SCANDAL, Neko Camera, Momusu, K-on!, and a KTUH sticker that my brother sent me.
I’m still enjoying using the Chromebook for my blogging… I am typing this (and pretty much all my posts) using it.
Cedar Park, 2016
Well, it’s getting late so I am going to read a bit, then sleep. Let’s have a good week!
おやすみなさい！
– バロン
New kittens
Cedar Park, 2016
こんばんは！ Hello, how’s it going?
Today our two adopted cats arrived at our house. They are sisters and have similar facial markings, although one is mostly black and the other is calico color. Sorry you cannot tell the color from the black and white photos so you’ll just have to trust me!
I wanted to name the kitties Sadako and Tomie, which are names of infamous Japanese horror movie monsters, but Mariko says no way. I don’t think we’ve decided on names just yet. 🐱
We’ve been playing with them all afternoon, and I am so sleepy now. I actually took a nap today as well, but my body must be exhausted from work. Speaking of work, I went in to the office for a couple hours this morning to finish up some things. It was nice to be able to focus on the task at hand without the distractions of emails and IMs coming in. 😄
Well, I am going to rest… have a good evening!
おやすみなさい！
– B
Cedar Park, 2016
