creative.mother.thinking

I went to bed at a reasonable time and slept like a log but was wide awake early.

Since there was a major Genshin update I was already in the game first thing. I also pulled for the new character, Odette, and got her and a couple of others, very nice.

Husband had an early dentist’s appointment that I had forgotten about so that didn’t really mesh well.

I did the usual morning things, then went out to run get my husband a new phone plan. I ended up having to walk all the way to the other end of town because the first shop was all out but then found what I needed and walked all the way back in the midday heat.

I had also planned to figure out some admin stuff concerning my mother-in-law but ran out of steam.

Husband made us delicious lunch:

And then I finally sat down to play Genshin for real.

I wasn’t sure if I had a student or not, our communication wasn’t clear the last time, so I took a shower and waited a bit but they didn’t show.

I did some tech stuff and got the phone running, then talked to husband, hung half a load of laundry, played a little more and ate dinner. I also troubleshooted my earbuds that aren’t charging properly. At one point I was convinced I’d need to go to the store and have them looked at today but it seems they’re working again. Maybe the troubleshooting helped.

And then it was time for the solar eclipse.

Well.

We had the proper glasses and some alcohol-free champagne at the ready but then I found there was no place in the house or garden where we could actually see the sun.

We thought the annex roof might be a good idea, so we scrambled up there. I felt very heroic because I don’t do heights well but husband helped me and held the ladder.

And…

That was still not hight enough. There is an apartment complex across the street that made seeing the actual sun impossible.

Husband took the chance to clear leaves of the roof, we clambered down again and the switched between watching the live stream from Munich on YouTube and going outside to watch the light change.

We should have prepared better but we didn’t and it was okay.

I started writing this post and played some more before going to bed.

And today I’ll be mostly on the move. I will even brave riding my bike very slowly. My vision in both eyes should be good enough and I’ll ask the eye doctor beforehand because I’m having an appointment in the morning.

and I am so exhausted and tired that I spend a lot of time just sitting there propping my head up with my hands, so this is another short post.

I had gone to bed at 10 and did not sleep well and woke up early.

Talked with husband, went to one town over because my attempt at renewing my allergy meds prescription had failed. Or so I thought.

Renewed prescription, went back, ran all the errands, talked with husband some more and had lunch:

I played a little Genshin Impact and made all the mistakes, then finally filled out the care grade application and some other paperwork, did some research in between, talked a lot with my husband, texted quite a few people, talked with my writer friend over video call, ate dinner with my husband, sent that application off by email – finally – started writing this post, tried doing some more stuff and failed and went to bed.

So much that I don’t even want to write about it here.

I did go to Munich and met with a friend which was nice, we only ever see each other once a year or so.

All in all a Monday that had definite Friday vibes, weird. I still didn’t manage to reach someone at my mother-in-law’s care home, sadly enough, so I’ll try again today.

There was lunch:

And plum tarte at a café in Munich:

And I’m very much hoping to catch a breath today.

I went to bed too late but not quite that late. I’m really resenting that eye shield I have to wear in the night but, well, better than hurting myself because I’m rubbing my operated eye.

I still haven’t done any yoga or anything, even though I did bookmark some that I could do right now.

My husband and I had planned to do something together today and tomorrow. Turned out he thought we’d bike through the heat. I’m a bit sorry but I had to disappoint him. I am not biking anywhere at the moment, I’m doing fine with my eyes but walking down stairs is already taking a lot of focus I don’t think I should get on a bike and navigate the world at that speed. And definitely not in the heat we’re having at the moment.

He didn’t take it well.

I talked to my mother on the phone at length which made me late for doing the dishes that I had pushed to the morning and when I came back to the kitchen my husband had already done them.

He is working like a madman right now, he is going through his mother’s stuff and the garage is already full. We will need to get more trash bags, the ones that the city will actually pick up, soon.

There was pasta with zucchini for lunch. The garden might be dry and neglected but there are still zucchini:

This time I did the dishes right after lunch, then played a bit of Genshin and became super frustrated with a thing where you have to fly through hoops. I tried six time or so before I stopped for the day. The boy has given me pointers, though, so I’m thinking it should go better the next time.

I planned the week and realized I was hung up on the whole ‚if we had a cancelation would you be interested in having your second eye done next week“-thing. So I made a plan and wrote at the top that I would just cancel everything in case that happens. Which would be awesome.

Then I tackled my mother-in-law’s voicemail and phone. I listened to all her voicemail, I called one of her friends to give her the new phone number and I changed the recording to tell people why they couldn’t reach her under this number anymore. Phew.

I started catching up on my year-long projects, I am reading „War and Peace“ with priority and I decided to just skip three weeks or so from the book that gives you a piece of classical music every day. I have gone through this list before and so I’m not catching up on that one.

My husband installed his father’s old loudspeakers in my room because they are better than mine, very nice.

And then I met my writer friend on Zoom for a chat.

Today I’m going to Munich (in the heat) to meet at friend that I’m only seeing once a year. It looks as if normal train service has resumed which would be super awesome and make my life much easier.

Oh, and there will be more phone calls and paperwork in the morning as well, great.

I went to bed too late and am not really sleeping all that well at the moment. One factor is the eye shield I’m still wearing at night. It feels like sleeping with my glasses on.

We ate breakfast, I did the breakfast dishes and took a shower. There was more paperwork and decisions to make about some of my mother-in-law’s stuff and such.

We ate a very quick lunch, potato salad from the day before and some bratwurst:

Yes, the brats spent a little too long in the frying pan.

My brother-in-law showed up, he and husband loaded one of my mother-in-law’s dressers into his van and we went to see her at the care home. The home is rather nice. She is still very confused but actually looking better than before. She is getting four meals per day, and all the people who live on her floor eat together. I think that does her good.

We went on a walk around the block to a nearby park, even though it was very hot. She still does well when walking but has a hard time getting up and sitting down again.

We talked to two people working there about the paperwork and got the number of someone who I can ask on Monday, we sorted some stuff, my brother-in-law set up his mother’s TV so there is a chance of her finding the channels she wants to see.

We also hope that she’ll figure out her phone, she needs to dial a 0 first, then the area code and the actual number. Because the care home is in a different area but I’m not sure she understands that.

She also has a nice tower fan in her room but she didn’t realize what it was and how to turn it on and off. Same with the electric blinds.

We came back home, I walked to the mailbox to send a letter for my mother-in-law that I had forgotten for days (which reminds me that I need to check her voicemail as well), I took a break, I played Genshin, I ate dinner, I talked with my husband a few times, started writing this post, did the dishes and went to bed.

In between I texted wth the boy and my sister. It’s all very new for him. My sister went back home and was pretty happy to be back in her own home with her feet up and some nice pizza in the evening.

I am very exhausted.

I mean, the day in a nutshell revealed itself when I wrote half a sentence of morning pages and was interrupted.

The boy had to get ready early to catch a train to visit my mother. Because of construction just getting to Munich took him twice as long as usual. But we are very experienced train travelers so we booked with ample buffer.

Or so we thought.

Here at home we talked, I helped the boy squeeze everything he needs for 3 weeks into our biggest backpack, waved him goodbye, had breakfast, answered another phone call from my brother-in-law that turned my day from a rest and decompress day into another paperwork, admin and people-day, went grocery shopping (only the light stuff because I’m not allowed to lift heavy at the moment) and had lunch:

Meanwhile the boy decided that a walk, a train, a bus, and another train would be the best route to the main train station. He was right but the last train was so full that he had to take the next one. Not a problem at this point, he still had about 40 minutes of buffer at this point.

Lunch:

The excellent leberkas was a recommendation from the cashier at the health food store who saw me with the last limp package of the prepacked sort, that was looking rather pale and sad and pointed me towards the in-house butcher. I don’t usually go there because you have to speak to a human being to buy there but I did it and it was totally worth it.

And I had a flash thinking about my teenage self. She would never have thought that a situation where I was totally fuzzy and spaced out and had trouble finding the right change and making a decision about meat products could be rather nice and personable with everyone feeling a little better afterwards.

Meanwhile the boy had reached the main train station with almost an hour to spare, hurray!

But – plot twist – the train he was supposed to take skipped Munich altogether. He had to find another one. And the next one, two hours later was completely booked out.

Since he was early he was able to take another train going another route. He was rather scared his ticket wouldn’t be valid but it was. We tried to book him seat reservations for the new route but no luck. And he’d have to change trains more often and would arrive a little later.

Okay.

He got on a train to Mannheim and got a free seat, yeah! That train got later and later and later as well. He changed trains again, to a later one than expected. And had to stand on the train. For hours. He did stand in the dining car (there is a ‚bistro‘ part) and got himself something to eat and a beer. Even though he doesn’t like beer.

Missed the next train. And the next, I think, but at some point I lost track.

Anyway. He arrived 90 minutes later than expected. With all the buffer and missed trains the trip took him 10 hours. A trip that should have taken roughly 8.

On the bright side he got there safe and sound, just a little late.

While I was texting back and forth with the boy I was also busy filling out more paperwork for my mother-in-law. My husband has been decluttering and tidying her stuff upstairs non-stop since the day before. Mostly the kitchen but also some other things. And this will take a while.

A lot of the paperwork I’m filling out right now sadly doesn’t have a „I don’t know“ or a „what is this thing even?“-option. Adobe Acrobat does weird stuff to everything I try to print out. Turns out the PDF-viewer inside my browser does better than that.

At one point it became really clear that I need way more rest than that. Especially with all the reading and writing I’ve been doing. So at around 5.30 I plunked myself down in front of TV, ate a ton of junk food and watched first YouTube and then some C-drama. I didn’t even knit.

And then I procrastinated the dishes. Of course.

Started writing this post, did the dishes anyway and went to bed.

And today will bring: a visit to the care home, and more paperwork. Meh.