Archives for January 2019

I woke up right before the alarm again. And didn’t write first thing. And totally forgot to meditate. I think.

I was that kind of day. For no apparent reason.

I made breakfast, there was no new snow (yeah!), my husband showed up at an unexpected time (He is still trying to get up at 6.45 but didn’t hear his alarm…), I prepared the podcast and timed myself to see how long it takes, I worked a little bit on the crochet blanket.

My husband left me alone so I could work on the novel and I promptly felt blocked and unable to write so I pulled out my list of things I needed to do throughout the day and finished Module 2 of the book cover design course, found a couple of hat patterns that would be great for a new hat for the boy, and researched difficult to sing songs for a student.

There were dishes somewhere in between, and then I went on a run. Rather late. I decided to mostly use sidewalks this time again. And while it was not as scenic the running was great. I had a bit of a view at the end, even:

Bridge over highway. All of these pictures show the magic of framing because if you turn around all you see is houses and streets.

On my way back I started to listen to an actual audio book, something I never do, but I read that there was extra content in „Can’t Hurt Me“ in audio and so I decided to take advantage of the free trial membership for Audible (in the US no less) to get that and another book that’s only available in audio (Storyteller: How to be an audio narrator). I might be interested in doing my own audiobooks eventually. At some point in the future. If my German accent is faint enough. And if I have the time.

Yeah, I know.

When I came back I helped to make lunch:

There is salsiccia in there.

Then I really, really wanted to get goin right away but didn’t. I did do the dishes, though, and did some more research and did my singing and piano warm-ups.

Then there was teaching.

And then I still hadn’t written. So I needed to get that done. All I actually wanted to do was eat al the things, crochet and start the new hat. (It’s so cool! It looks like the TARDIS but it’s actually a Dalek!!)

But no dice.

Today there will be grocery shopping and the recording of the podcast and teaching. I’m not even putting strength training on the list because that just won’t happen. I’m looking forward to a busy day filled with things I like, though.

I’m not quite sure if I was productive or not. I think I was but my to do-list did not get checked off.

Woke up shortly before the alarm, did the usual morning things but forgot to meditate.

My husband showed up at seven when I was trying to squeeze a little writing in before making breakfast. Breakfast was had. We talked. I crocheted.

There were dishes and laundry and I went to the bakery and the health food store and to another shop for toilet paper. I came home and helped to make risotto:

It was really good.

I felt achy and without energy all day. A hormonal thing. But that made me fall into a bit of a slump after lunch. The boy always comes home later than usual for lunch on Tuesdays and so I spent my break after lunch first talking to him and then playing a game on my iPad. I also researched birthday gifts for my husband’s aunt and uncle. And I helped the boy order his speakers and graphic tablet. He finally decided what he wanted to spend his birthday and Christmas money on. And I did a little admin for teaching. And helped my husband with something computer-y.

So my plan of using the time I had gained from a student canceling went out the window. Well, I did use the time, only not the way I had planned.

Then another potential new student called. In my addled state I told her to come in today at the same time as another student because I was convinced today was Thursday. Luckily I realized it just half an hour later, called her again and fixed it.

I taught my students. Another potential new student called, this time for my husband.

I worked on my Patreon newsletter. I felt too exhausted and achy to do strength training so I just did ten pushups on my desk. I still wanted to research music teaching websites and write some more but that didn’t happen.

I ate dinner. I finished reading a book. I went to bed.

I’m hoping for more energy today. I want to go running, prepare the podcast, write, teach all the students, and do some other things that I’ve forgotten right now. 

Fortunately that is not a problem.

Because I have a list.

I seem to be sleeping rather well these days, I got woken by the alarm again. I did the usual meditation and listening to classical music and peering out the front door to see if the sidewalk was frozen (it wasn’t), made breakfast, had a quiet boy sitting at the table (not unusually quiet, just normal quiet) and my husband only showed up after the boy had left and I had written for half an hour.

I crocheted a bit and we talked and I did dishes and dawdled and booked a train ticket for the boy for Easter break. I had to go through the whole process twice because I misremembered my credit card’s security code. Hmpf.

Then I tried running but the paths in the woods were so slippery that I gave up early and only did 3 k instead of 5.

I helped a little with making lunch, took a shower, ate:

Watched a youtube video (it was writing related!), practiced a bit, made a new orthodontist appointment for the boy, worked on the book cover design course for a bit and played around with my new light for recording videos a little. Then I got a phone call from a student’s mother because the student was sick which resulted in her coming over with her younger daughter who will start recorder lessons with me next week.

Then I taught my regular students and then I had another potential new student, this one adult and rather busy. I put a new E-string on his guitar and I liked him very much. It will be a few weeks before he has time enough to start lessons, though, so we’ll see how that goes.

Then I got a message from my mother that the apartment next to their house is still free for the time we’d want to come visit so I booked more train tickets, this time for the boy and me visiting my parents during Pentecost break. My bank account is feeling the strain but I’m happy that everything is well organized this far in advance.

I made the boy practice piano, started this post, and then had about an hour for other things until the ALLI Advanced Salon with Orna Ross and Joanna Penn. That one was rather interesting, highly recommended. Well, if you’re interested in self-publishing.

Watched that while doing more crochet in bed, read a bit and keeled over.

Today there will be shopping at the health food store and another errand, strength training and as much other stuff as I can possibly fit it. Well, that and breaks and such. You know me. Person least likely to develop burnout.

I did sleep well past six for once. I had turned my alarm off. I only started making breakfast after seven. So, rather lazy morning.

My husband showed up a little later than usual as well and the boy was really late. Apparently, he had slept until ten. I suggested that he’d tell us the next time and we were a little angry at him showing up so late for breakfast on weekends. The agreement was that he’d come down for breakfast at 9.30 and he usually shows an hour later with no sense of inconveniencing us or anything.

So there were dishes and conversations all around and then I tried booking some things for the MENSA annual gathering in April. Yeah, that was funny. There were several hours where the server was completely down, so that occupied me most of the day. Fun will be had again next week for the second round.

Then we started cooking too late so we’re very grateful for the pressure cooker:

Prime boiled beef, roasted potatoes and green beans with horseradish (Tafelspitz, Rösterdäpfel, Fisolen und Kren in Austrian). That was a really satisfyingly good meal. And there is broth left over that we can use today or so.

The boy started a discussion about the loudspeakers he wants to buy from his Christmas and birthday money which led to us all traipsing around the house looking at various speakers and stereo amps that we have sitting around, then upstairs to his room to look at how much room there is and then back down.

We made plans of moving things around the house but ultimately decided that it would be the best if he actually did buy something new.

So I went upstairs with the boy again and we spent some time looking at various speakers in his price range and at his computer setup to find out how this would all work. That took about an hour-and-a-half. Then we started on graphic tablets. He is drawing much more at the moment and I think something not too pricy would be a good idea for him.

Then I spent some more time wrestling with the booking website and I finally prevailed. Then it was late enough that I was about to give up on the day but I did try to phone my mother because I want to talk to her about the boy and me maybe visiting my parents after Pentecost. She wasn’t home so I did my yoga, got interrupted by the boy, and after finishing yoga I found that my mother had called me back.

We talked very shortly because it was time for the boy and I to watch Star Trek. But my mother will ask her neighbor if we can have his vacation apartment when we visit.

Meanwhile the boy had gotten talking with my husband and they had started to examine different kinds of audio cables and jacks because the boy didn’t quite understand what he’d need for his speakers and I had forgotten to tell the boy that I had already talked about this with my husband.

Well, and if you have a son with a big interest in physics and technics and a husband with a big interest in music and technics it might happen that jacks get taken apart and there might happen to go a piece missing.

The boy and I finally watched an episode of Star Trek Voyager and then realized that it was becoming too late to watch anything else.

I got ready for bed, the boy took a shower, I started playing a game on my iPad instead of doing something productive, suddenly it was very late and I got ready for bed.

I did find a picture on my phone while writing this post from the night before that I liked, so here you get it without context at all:

Today there will be running and teaching and I have a long, long list of things I want to do and there will be a potential new student to meet.

I’m seeing another full week ahead, though not one with many appointments. Which is rather good.

Woke up from the alarm again, second night of enough sleep in a row. I could really get used to this.

I tried a new trick Jessica Abel had talked about in yesterday’s webinar, in order to prevent myself from mindlessly reading through the internet in the morning I set myself a timer telling me to start writing five minutes later.

It didn’t quite work as planned but I did get up on time and my husband slept until I woke him at 8.40 so I did some writing before he came and even some more while he was sitting in front of the wood stove building the fire.

Result: instant good mood.

I really should remember that.

I went running and that made me happy as well:

The ground was pretty soggy and slippery but I did some running in between all the walking and it was fun.

When I came back my husband had been worried that I’d twist my ankle. It’s a bit funny. Now that he is wearing actual barefoot shoes that don’t give support at all he is worrying about my ankles. My ankles were fine, I’ve been running in this kind of shoes on all kinds of terrains for some time now. I also think that his shoes might be more slippery than mine.

He did see my footprints when he was on his way home and could see that I had not come back yet. Seems I’m the only one with Five Finger shoes.

Then he made leftovers for lunch while I took a shower. I think I haven’t helped with cooking much all week. Weird. But it was a somewhat weird week all in all.

Then I talked with the boy at length, about the upcoming MENSA annual gathering in Hamburg, about how you get to know people at an event when you don’t know anybody, about school and about studying physics and IT. He helped me with the dishes.

Then I navigated the overwhelm that is the annual gathering website because I need to book the first part of the whole thing today and the second one next Sunday.

I did end up with a plan that might work and if I don’t get into the events I want I won’t be too sad. I’m sure I can have fun without overbooking myself.

Then I met a friend for a virtual knitting meeting and that was really great.

After that my husband approached me with the plan to buy yet another guitar. Since that is the model I immediately fell in love with last week I’m not sad about that either.

I put on makeup and real pants instead of yoga pants with holes in them and we went and celebrated my mother-in-law’s birthday.

The food was really, really, really good. And it’s even more special because I only eat it once a year. Maybe I should change that. I was sitting next to the boy and since my sister-in-law on my other side was more interested in talking to her daughters I ended up mostly talking to him. And it was really nice. I’m still a little surprised every day how much I enjoy spending time with my loved ones. I shouldn’t but I do.

After everybody was finished eating I thought in my infinite naivety that we’d leave soon and didn’t order a second beer. Well, no, they weren’t. First we waited and waited, then people decided that they wanted dessert, then we waited for the dessert and then we waited some more.

About an hour after finishing dessert some people were starting to make noises about going home so I immediately put on my coat and then, of course, I had to wait some more.

We went back home, talked a little with my husband’s cousin who had wanted some more of my husband’s chili powder

I was regretting that I hadn’t put a beer into the fridge earlier in the day but then my husband told me that he had thought of me earlier, and there was indeed one of my favorite beers ever was in the fridge.

Today there will be yoga and the booking thing and all the usual stuff. A real day off. I’m expecting a massive afternoon slump. And no, I’m not setting myself up for failure, this is called ‚being realistic‘.

Woke up from the alarm after sleeping well and long enough for a change. That made me rather happy.

Then I went outside and threw gravel on the sidewalk to deal with the dusting of snow there and the boy and I had a nice relaxed breakfast together. My husband showed up some time before the boy left and started the fire.

Then my husband had breakfast and then we had a big, fat fight.

That took much of the morning and went on into lunchtime. Fun!

I did clean the house and changed the sheets while my husband was running and we made pizza together.

At least we ended up understanding each other better and apologizing and clearing things up but fighting always feels like a big waste of energy and time.

We did the dishes while waiting for the boy to come home. He was rather late and had forgotten that we had asked him to call us when he comes home late. We’re hoping he’ll remember next time.

Then I taught all the students and watched a planning video in between and right after my last student the webinar started. It was really good but a break before would have been better.

I also found that I had only one page left in my bullet journal. Migrating all the monthly things into a new notebook when there are only a few days left in the month just didn’t feel right. It seems I’ll lug two notebooks around until the end of the month instead.

After the webinar was over the boy and I watched Star Trek and ate leftover pizza. I worked on the crochet blanket and will be ready to start part four (that was released yesterday) some time today.

Today there will be running and food and writing and a virtual knitting meeting and in the evening we’ll go to my mother-in-law’s rescheduled birthday party.

I predict an extended Sunday slump this week.