Archives for May 2018

Since I had woken up way too early with thoughts about the data protection plan in my head I decided that this would be the day I tackled the issue. All other plans went out the window.

I started researching right after breakfast and went running.

I had been raining and was still rather cloudy.

At least the woods and fields are not completely dry anymore:

I helped just a little with the shrimp risotto we had for lunch:

I did the dishes, sang, taught my students, played guitar and piano, taught some more and every time I had a minute I researched and put new pages on my blogs and website. I even managed to change the copyright notice at the foot of this blog. It hadn’t been updated since 2011 because I couldn’t figure out how.

I think I’m set now, I only need to do the same for my husband’s abandoned blog. Phew.

In the evening I was all set to write but then we had first an unexpected stack of dishes to wash because the boy brought everything downstairs that he had been hoarding in his room, and then there was an unexpected load of laundry to hang up (and two to fold), and then I was pretty fried.

I still wrote but only about a third of what I wanted. On the other hand I’m pretty happy that I wrote at all after a day of legalese and staring at code. I got ready for bed, started writing and when I took a short break I fell asleep so I turned out the lights at 9.30. Which is why I woke up at 5.30 this morning and wrote this post.

Today I will be running errands such as having my photo taken for a new ID and passport. Me, Ms. Super-Organized when talking with my husband last week after he had told the story of how when he traveled to Brazil for the first time in his twenties he only found out that his passport had expired the day he was about to leave. I am sure that that would never happen to me. I was also sure that I had a reminder in my calendar to renew my ID and passport until I went to look at it.

Seems I’ve been without valid ID and passport for a month without knowing.

Which means I will go to have my picture taken, biometric and all, and then I will have them renewed either today or tomorrow, depending on how long things take.

I have a lot of students to teach today, Basically non-stop between 2 and 6.30 which means I will have to squeeze the writing in somehow. Also, I’m determined to re-start strength training. (I know. Every week on Tuesday and then I don’t.

Well, I guess it’s go, go, go today.

Apparently, I seem to have been in bad need of a day where I did nothing at all.

I woke up at the usual time and made breakfast, started reading the new Gail Carriger novella and crocheted some more on the shawl I started yesterday:

Then I decided to rip the shawl back because those colors will be perfect for my husband but not for me. Unfortunately, too many holes are considered too feminine in our society so I looked for a different pattern. I found one that I really liked but I would have needed a double-ended Tunisian crochet hook for that and a second ball of yarn. I only realized after buying the pattern.

So I did the obvious and ordered new crochet hooks. As one does.

I did find another pattern for a cowl for my husband eventually. I’ve been working on that all day and I really like it.

I got nice flowers for Mother’s Day:

My hibiscus died some time last year and I’m happy to have a new one. I really hope that I will be able to keep that one alive.

I called my mother on the phone and helped making pizza:

Oh, and someone commented on that plate on instagram. It was a present from my colleagues when I left the school I had been teaching music at for a few years. I try not to look at it too closely because the sheet music and the instruments are all wrong. It makes me want to pull out a red marker and correct all the mistakes. But it’s one of two plates in the house that are big enough for pizza.

Then my husband left to meet a friend in the city. I had big plans that included sewing and writing but in the end I barely managed to do the dishes. I did manage to eat an entire bag of potato chips but I don’t think that’s something to be proud of. I am building up a rather unnatural amount of resistance against the whole sewing project. I can totally see myself sitting there, wailing, at the end of the year while still wearing the same ratty pair of yoga pants.

It finally started raining which was glorious, everything was all dry and sad. And I managed to take care of everything in the backyard in time.

There was a bit of writing but not all that much. And I actually managed to go to bed on time for once so I’m giving myself a gold star for that.

Today there will be running and teaching and writing and crochet and music and the usual stuff.

New week, new chance.

Another day where I woke up too early. I need to go to bed earlier again.

I really wanted to start writing right away but didn’t. I never do.

But I did start writing right after breakfast which gave me 32 minutes and 980 words. Woot!

I went running rather early and did not do the breakfast dishes. Running was great but around kilometer six my hip started hurting again. I didn’t like that.

I only took one measly photo because I have the feeling that that is draining the battery.

When I came back home my husband had a) started to worry because I was out for so long, and b) lunch ready. I really loved that.

I took a shower right away, ate my lunch and went off to spinning meeting on my bike. I have to say that after those 11k my legs weren’t all that thrilled about biking. But I got back into the groove.

Spinning meeting was nice as usual and people apparently liked the cherry lemon muffins I had made. There are dried sour cherries in there plus lemon juice and peel so they are rather luscious. I had three myself.

I did leave early because I wanted to be back home And spent an hour sitting on my husband’s terrace starting a new crochet project.

Then I watched some Netflix without the boy because he didn’t feel like it and then I actually sat down to write some more words.

Today there will be a whole lot of nothing. And writing, and music. And maybe taxes, I’m not quite sure yet. I have all these big projects that are fighting with each other so I don’t get any of them done. I think I should stick to one and finish it, and then the next.

And the taxes are the one thing that does have a definitive, outside deadline.

We’ll see.

That day just shows how much even the tiniest change in routine can throw me off.

So there was the holiday the day before. And the not getting enough writing done. And then, somehow, I ended up procrastinating like crazy all morning which led to me buying two more books (yeah, I don’t have any idea either) and not cleaning anything before getting ready to go out for lunch.

I hadn’t been able to decide what to eat at the Greek restaurant, and thinking about my options made both my husband and me realize that we’d rather go to the Asian place. Which was a little cruel against the boy. Trying to find vegetarian options at that Greek restaurant was always somewhat hard but he love vegetarian sushi and fried noodles, and fried rice and spring rolls and just about all the food at that Asian place.

So we compromised. My husband and I had lunch there – and my sushi was excellent as was his duck – and then we brought some sushi home for the boy. Win win.

Then there was the teaching, and then more procrastination and then we watched „Big Bang Theory“ for an bit, and then I wrote a few words but not nearly enough.

And I didn’t manage to clear the bobbins I wanted to take to the spinning meeting. I did choose a new project, though. And now that I’ve seen that there is enough fiber for two pairs of socks I’m thinking about spinning the fiber two different ways so I can compare how the yarn holds up. I did bake muffins, though.

So. Today there will be a really early run, and then I’ll clear off the bobbins and pack a new spinning project and then I will have an extremely early lunch and ride my bike to the meeting.

And somewhere in there there should be writing as well.

That will be interesting.

I woke up too early, of course. My husband is still in a really bad and overwhelmed mood and I didn’t write because I thought I would have enough time later.

Note to self: there is never enough time later.

There was breakfast, rather late, and reading, and the boy even got up at 9.30. And I didn’t meditate which is the new normal on days without school. We all talked a lot and so I went running rather late. (Sorry, no picture this time. I ran the exact route I run every time and it pretty much looked the same as the day before.)

There was delicious food (as always). By now my husband reminds me to take a photo before tucking in:

Lamb burgers, kritharaki, tsatsiki and green beans. Very yummy. And red wine.

After lunch I taught my one student for the day. That student is the only one who takes guitar lessons from my husband and additional singing lessons from me, and he has exams at the moment because he is finishing school, and so we decided to have him come in on the holiday for his two lessons.

I did manage to wash the dishes before the lesson, so that was a win.

After the teaching I sat down to watch the Giro d’Italia and spin. I have now successfully re-plied a little less than half of the green polwarth. Woot! Doesn’t feel like a big accomplishment because I still have quite a bit to go.

Then I spent almost an hour with emails, blogs and ravelry and found out about a webinar on making good habits stick. I signed up for that and found out that it was on the same day at 7 pm.

So after hanging up a load of laundry, the boy and I watched an episode of „Star Trek: The Next Generation“. I have to say that season five is really, really good.

Then I watched the webinar.

Well. Let’s say that it took only 37 minutes and also I started the gauge swatch for a new sweater. And no, 8mm needles don’t work for that yarn for me. It was worth a try, though, and while the color of the yarn (mostly alpaca, it is really luscious) is not right for me it is so super soft that I don’t care.

Then I wanted to spend the rest of the day (about an hour) trying to at least write some words but then my husband had the strong impulse to talk to me, twice, and then I gave up.

Meh.

And he had been waiting for rain the whole day but there was none – it has been way too dry the last few weeks – and then he decided to fill one rain barrel to the brim from the hose, and then it started to rain, and when he tried moving the full rain barrel away so that he could place the other one under the spout it broke and he hurt his thumb.

Which is why he then came back and told me all about it.

Well, today is already looking pretty good from where I sit. There will be the ritual cleaning of the house on Friday, and the changing of the sheets. There will be music and writing (yes, this time for sure) and also my husband and I will go out for lunch while the boy gets to munch on frozen pizza. I talked to him and apparently he doesn’t mind. Because it’s a regular Friday and I have to start teaching at two the timing would be rather awkward for the boy who gets off from school at 1.10. Which means he would joins us at around 1.20 and then I would have to leave at 1.45. Which is not quite enough time to enjoy your meal at a restaurant.

So my husband and I will leave here at noon and be at the restaurant around 12.15 and then we have ample time for food and conversation. (And several ouzos that we will get pressed to drink.)

So I better write all my words before then.

Then I will teach a few students and in the one-hour break that I have I will attempt to bake muffins for tomorrow’s spinning meeting. And then teach the boy. And watch some more Star Trek, I think.

Sounds like a plan.

It’s a bit like exercising. It doesn’t always feel great while you do it but usually you feel better afterwards.

I woke up super-early because I went to bed super-early as well. And then I read a bit, as usual, but I also started writing a little. Before six a.m., while still in bed. Fun!

My husband is still in complete overwhelm mode but my mode was stellar. That could also have been due to the increased does of thyroid medication but I doubt it.

I went running:

I helped making lunch, I bought yet another book, I made a little music, and then it was time for teaching. And then more writing in the evening.

Not too much, though, because then I watched yet another webinar, this time about book launches by Tim Grahl. That was actually a very good webinar, I even took notes while watching it which I never do.

Still, I did fall asleep somewhere in the middle because I don’t usually stay up that late. Which doesn’t mean that that webinar wasn’t good, it was just that I was so tired. Time difference between here and the US can make things hard at times. Also, when you have a regular bedtime around nine and you stay up until 10.30…

So, about buying books I was looking at the mass of unread books on my e-reader I can say that I now have enough books to last me about 1 1/2 years without buying any new ones. 150 novels and 76 non-fiction books. Oh, and a shelf of books on paper.

The plan was to buy fewer books this year, and I am buying fewer books. And for about three months I actually managed to buy fewer than I read. I’m not quite sure what to do, though, because I really love buying books, they’re not all that expensive and I usually read them right away.

There are some books in that to-be-read pile that I should just give up on. I won’t finish them anyway. But then I already went through and did that a few times in the past few months.

On the other hand having a huge pile of books that I love and that I still want to read is not the worst problem to have by far.

Today is a public holiday. There will be running and one lone student, and probably not much else.