Archives for August 2019

Well, and one crossed out.

I woke up shortly before six and made the mistake to not write morning pages and move the novel-writing to later. Somehow later never happened. Though, technically, the next day counts as ‚later‘.

Had breakfast, read, knitted. The rest of the family showed up. There were conversations and dishes and then I went for a run/walk:

6.9 k with intervals of 2 1/2 minutes running and walking. Though I did find a lot of excuses so I never had to run for longer than two minutes in one go. I’m working on it. It was fun, though, and the weather was near perfect:

Back home I helped with making lunch and then took a shower. Was rather hungry when lunch actually appeared on the table:

Cucumbers from our own backyard. The boy tried a new variety of fake meat and found it tasty.

Then I took a break, got ready for the podcast and recorded it.

After which the laptop started acting up. It froze every other second and I then realized that it hadn’t made a backup in almost two weeks despite me hooking it up to the backup drive and starting the process. Oops.

In the end I was very happy that the podcast had been saved to the cloud. As a last resort I installed the software update that had been blinking at me for a whole day already and that seems to have fixed whatever problem there had been. At least it looks like it.

Phew. I almost started looking up if I had ever bought extended warranty for this computer.

This time I managed to brush my teeth before watching Star Trek with the boy. I’m still trying to get my weight back down so that my jeans will fit me again and brushing my teeth before dinnertime is a trick that usually works. I keep thinking I’ll just not eat anything but without brushed teeth it is much easier to just eat a bit of cheese or chocolate. So yesterday I had this idea to set an alarm for ten minutes before we usually sit down together to remind me and it worked. Well, so far it has worked once but it’s a start.

After that I answered someone’s question on revelry, wrote in my journal, read a little and went to bed.

The two things I did not do from my list were working on the novel and doing my knee exercises. Those got moved to today’s list.

Today there will be writing, knee exercises and getting the podcast ready to be published tomorrow. Also barbecue, unless it rains.

I woke up at six after too short a night – I should have turned the lights out earlier. I had been so fed up with my sloth-like habits the day before that I actually managed to meditate and write morning pages. And then I forced myself to open the laptop and spend twenty minutes with my novel. I only wrote twelve new words but I did look through the last three scenes and got myself up to speed on what had happened before. It is somewhat hard to write a story when you don’t quite remember what the characters did before. Which is what happens when you step away from writing for a few weeks.

I got up, had breakfast and knitted a bit while my husband had breakfast. It was one of those days where we are all crossed wires and odd timing, unfortunately. We waited for the boy, I did dishes and such and then it was time for the epic errands and grocery run. I walked to the bakery and the health food store, forgot that we need stamps and went back home. I unloaded what I had bought, pulled out my bike and a canister and went to the gas station to buy gas for the lawn mower.

That is always a little weird. Pulling up at the gas station with my bicycle, then getting that teensy, tiny canister out, filling it and then walking up to the cashier to pay my five euros. But I’m not buying a car just so that buying gas doesn’t look weird.

Back home again and then I walked to the grocery store. By then I was rather hungry and somewhat exhausted.

Back home my husband was stressed by making lunch and we were both really late. The boy hadn’t shown up in time for lunch again. He claimed not to have known that he should have shown up at the usual time without being prompted. Yeah, right. Food was good, nonetheless:

There really are a lot of zucchini blossoms this year.

My husband went to take a nap while the boy was still eating. Because we were expecting the firewood delivery. I had just sat down and had a bit of a break when the doorbell rang and then we got loads of firewood. Hopefully enough to last us all through winter. So I raised my husband and went outside with the boy in tow. We moved and stacked the wood for two hours. I decided that it was okay to skip exercise for the day. I still want to get back to strength training but not that day.

When we were finished with that (there is still some wood that we need to find a place for but it’s in a wheelbarrow under a roof for now) I saw that not only there was a huge pile of dirty dishes, no, I also had to put away all the groceries that I had bought. Meanwhile my husband was emptying all the trash cans in the house because it was trash day today and found that there were maggots in the kitchen trash can. Fun! So, first I assisted my husband while he was cleaning that mess, then I put all the groceries away and then I did that big pile of dishes. After that I had exactly 23 minutes until I had to teach a voice lesson.

Or so I thought. My student was thirteen minutes early. Teaching was nice, then the boy and I watched one episode of Star Trek: Voyager and then it was definitely time for bed.

So about a third of my to-do list did not get done but I’m okay with that because I also did some stuff that wasn’t on it. Definitely not an unproductive and wasted day.

I am hoping to get some more creative work in today. I want to write some more new words, go for a run, prepare and record the podcast and not spend the whole day on instagram. We’ll see how that goes.

I woke up at six from the alarm and actually meditated first thing. Didn’t lounge in bed (much) but got up and made breakfast. Because my husband had his colonoscopy at 8 we needed to leave by 7.30 and I wanted to have breakfast and be ready before then. Poor husband had to wake up at 4 for colonoscopy prep.

We got ready in time and left the house, caught the train and everything went smoothly. I had had hopes of getting some writing done while at the doctor’s office and I did finish a book on how to write romantic comedy (not that I actually could do it) but then there was a little girl waiting for her father and she was watching videos on a tablet. She did wear headphones but the sound was loud enough that I could understand every word right on the other end of the room. Nobody said anything and it wasn’t all that important but my focus went out the window right then. I didn’t even have my own headphones.

I had accompanied my husband just in case he needed me on the way back. He didn’t really but found it nice anyway. One always feels somewhat weak afterwards and he had been afraid there would be bad news. His father was about his current age when he was diagnosed with colon cancer and died a few years later. Which is why my husband is usually rather diligent in getting those colonoscopies every few years.

Everything was perfectly fine again and the doctor wanted to do some more routine checkup things but my husband was rather happy afterwards.

And here comes my customary announcement to get your checkups. Yes, colonoscopy prep is not all that pleasant but colon cancer is way more unpleasant. And can be easily treated if it’s noticed early enough. I wouldn’t have thought that that is such a big issue for many folks but when my ob/gyn told me to get a colonoscopy after I turned fifty it seems he didn’t expect me to actually get one. I mean, I have had better days in my life but really? People skip a medical exam because it’s unpleasant?

In a way this is rather fascinating but in a different way, like, in a common sense way this is completely unacceptable. „Yeah, you see, I would have had an uncomfortable 24 hours where I wasn’t allowed to eat and had to drink all this weird stuff. So I opted for dying of colon cancer instead. Which is much better. Of course, this is perfectly reasonable.”

I mean, I know people do things like that all the time and it isn’t like I’m behaving rational all the time but I’m drawing the line somewhere.

When we came back home the boy wasn’t up yet so I stormed his room and woke him. (He asked me to, by the way, plus I needed the thermos he had liberated the day before). He and my husband had Brez’n while I suffered in silence. I later caved because I was rather hungry and ate a handful of almonds.

Then I went on my walk/run. I have now reached the point in the 10K program where I run and walk for equal amounts of time. Well, at least in theory. As predicted I found many excuses to cut my running intervals short. I have to say that my willpower seems to be at an all-time low at the moment. Also, I managed to pick the one hour in the day where it was raining buckets:

This was my very unglamorous halfway point. The rest of the way was all fields and woods, by the way.

My husband was nice enough to cook without my help so I could take a shower before lunch. It is rather nice to not eat lunch cold, wet and mud-splattered. I was rather hungry:

And then I spent most of the afternoon playing a new game on my iPad. The game isn’t all the good, even, I just can’t stop playing it. The one thing I did manage was to make deodorant but I ran out of soda and so I could only make a very small amount.

Then it was time to watch Star Trek. We only watched one episode of „Deep Space Nine“. I liked it and it had a surprisingly complex message.

Then I played that stupid game some more and stayed up too late because I felt bad about not getting anything done, as you do.

Today there will be some grocery shopping. I’m not quite sure if I should aim for all the errands and all the grocery shopping on this particular day because Thursday where I would normally go to the supermarket will be a public holiday. And tomorrow is running again.

Later it will be time to wait for the wood delivery and I will teach one student. And plan the podcast. I hope.

Another lazy morning and lazy breakfast. More talking with my husband. I knitted half the bind-off back on the Comodo cardigan back because it had turned out too loose and started again.

All the usual morning stuff got done and the boy was up only fifteen minutes later than the day before and fully dressed. We’ll see how that goes in the future.

I did my weekly stretching exercises in front of Youtube, this time it was all about hips and back. I have to say that there were several exercises I could barely do, I still have a long way to go until full mobility. But my knees don’t hurt at the moment which is a big plus.

My husband had to fast all day after breakfast so I made pizza for the boy and me. I had planned to make it on Friday but with the dentist it never happened:

It was very good if I say so myself.

I watched part of a lecture on research for fiction writers and I drew a few curves on my tablet along to the course about digital art. My husband showed me the pictures he had taken while away and before I knew it was evening.

There was the ritual Star Trek watching while I finally finished the bind-off and got the cardigan done, then I got ready for bed and that was it.

Today I got up earlier than usual because I decided to accompany my husband to his colonoscopy today just because it’s nicer to have someone there in case. He isn’t supposed to get home alone. We’ll take the train anyway, it’s not like any of us is driving but still.

Which means I’ll leave the house shortly and then sit around at the doctor’s office for an hour or two before heading back home.

At least I did get enough sleep. And I meditated for five minutes in the morning. I still had a hard time getting out of bed and starting breakfast.

My husband showed up and started to tell me everything that happened while he was away and I told him a lot too and the boy got up on time for once and came down for breakfast already dressed. Not in pajamas. Shocking!

More talking and some dishes and we decided what to make for lunch and found that we were running out of honey and bananas and salad so I went to the health food store for the third time this week. I was halfway home when I remembered that we weren’t making salad for lunch after all (that had been part of the first idea my husband had had but we then decided to cook something else). We were making cauliflower and all of a sudden I was completely sure that we only had one package of frozen cauliflower in the freezer. And one package is not enough for three people.

So I turned around and went to the health food store for the second time in a row, just for cauliflower. (Of course when I pulled the other cauliflower out the freezer it turned out there were two packages left after all.)

Going to the health food store on a Saturday morning is never a good idea.

When I came back I met my husband who was already back from running and in a hurry to go and buy beer and alcohol-free beer and soda.

I peeled potatoes and started getting everything out for making lunch and then I went running. I wanted to walk and run for about an hour and I only had half an hour left. But it was okay in the end because we ate later anyway.

The run was nice but running earlier is easier because then I’m not as hungry:

Food tasted wonderful:

With all the exercise and walking around getting groceries I was somewhat exhausted after that. Read a bit, played some games on my phone, did the dishes, took a shower, watched a writing lecture, went online again and then it was time for the ritual watching of Star Trek.

And that was basically it for the day. I did have an idea or two for the newsletter and the podcast, so that’s good. I also have a list of open loops from the trilogy I’m writing. I even printed it out and everything. Sometimes I take it out and look at it and then I put it away again.

Today I want to spend more time with my husband, do some stretching and make a plan for the upcoming week. I’m really hoping for some Monday magic.

Well, that went different than expected once again.

I woke up late, at 6.30, lounged in bed, took my thyroid medication a little late and had breakfast. Then waited for the boy to show up. The plan was that we would start making lunch at 11. Instead of doing something productive while waiting I just sat there knitting and reading „Reticence“ (great book!). I found that I was rather anxious about the impending dentist’s appointment. I did water all the plants but didn’t do much more.

So the boy overslept and only got downstairs around 11.30. So I made the executive decision to eat sandwiches for my (rather early) lunch while he finally had breakfast. Did the dishes and went off to the dentist.

The dentist appointment was less stressful than anticipated. Interestingly the tooth that had lost its crown was not a dead one as I had bee told before. Which explained why that tooth had been hurting for two days now. Not all that bad but a little uncomfortable. It turned out that my file said the tooth was dead but the x-rays told a different story.

The crown I had lost and put back again was sitting so tight that the assistant had to fetch pliers to get it off. They cleaned the tooth, put some cement or glue in (or something) and put the gold crown back. Then the x-rays which showed that everything was peachy and my implant is looking good as well.

A first: nobody asked me if I was pregnant before x-rays for the first time in decades. I had a little chat with the dentist, was advised to not eat for an hour and toddled off. Then I shopped for Brezen and sausages and went back home. Waited for half an hour or so and then made a rather late lunch:

The boy had vegetarian Weißwurst.

Then I would have had enough time to do most of the things on my list but found myself oddly paralyzed and playing games on my new phone.

I decided the day was a bust, gathered the boy, we watched an episode of Star Trek and then it was time to wait for my husband. Since we were finished with watching TV right in time I walked to the train station to meet him. We talked and told each other at least some of the stuff that had happened over the past three days. I went to bed a little late, glad for him to be back but a little unsure about what to change in order to feel better about summer break.

Right now I am having a vision of me sitting around getting crankier and crankier until school starts again. Which is not that unrealistic. I have had Augusts like that in the past. Bleagh.