Archives for January 2024

I turned the lights out at midnight which was way too late. Especially since I had to get up at 6.30. Because of the train strike my plan had been to take a bus and the subway instead and to leave super early. I looked at the public transportation app all morning and finally decided to take the usual train after all because the few trains that were running were all pretty much on time. I took one that was supposed to arrive twenty minutes before my appointment and everything went well.

Here you see the not actually crowded train. It was storming all day up to the point where I was afraid the wind would rip my earbuds out.

Me looking at a map and figuring out where to go beforehand paid off, I found the clinic without an issue. While there were a few other people wearing masks on the train in the clinic I was the only one. Then things started going downhill. They wanted the referral from my doctor and my blood test results. I gave them the referral but later realized that I had forgotten to add the letter my doctor wrote and I’m not sure I uploaded it, oops, and also, the last blood test results I had were from a year prior. Also oops.

So I went and had blood drawn and got injected with some nice radioactive stuff and got my scintigram. The person who drew my blood poked around in my arm, pulling and pushing the needle repeatedly, the whole thing hurt and now I have a really impressive bruise.

After that I got yet another ultrasound were the doctor complained about the scintigram not showing anything because I was still taking my thyroid meds. He was very cross with his higher ups.

I will get the results in a few days through an online portal, interestingly.

I went back home, briefly thought about going to the big music store right next to the train station since the next train wasn’t due for 14 minutes but then my usual anxiety took over, I went to the train station right away and – the train before was just entering the station.

I bought myself some treats, walked home from the station near my house, talked with my husband and had lunch:

This was the same thing we often eat cold in the summer as pasta salad primavera but this time we ate it cold.

I still had some time before teaching but didn’t feel energetic enough to do the dishes, I taught for two hours, ate dinner and puttered around a bit, went online to watch the thing about photovoltaic, decided I really couldn’t bear to listen to the extremely boring speaker, talked with my husband again and started writing this post.

Then I did the dishes and Duolingo, watched something and went to bed early. What a day.

Probably due to having a packed schedule. I always do better when I have lots of stuff. Up to a certain point.

I went to bed half an hour late, still got up in time to do my full morning routine. Very good. I ate breakfast and went online a bit but did not crochet or talk with my husband because I had to brush my teeth really well and go to the dentist for a dental cleaning. The hygienist was really nice and the whole experience was not as bad as I thought it would be.

I then went to the pharmacy but gave up when I saw the lines, went to the health food store and back home. I opened the manuscript and did a few mobility exercises, ate the delicious lunch my husband made:

It would have tasted better without the lingering taste of disinfectant in my mouth but okay, I talked with the boy a bit, rearranged the dirty dishes to make them less overwhelming, took a shower and started teaching. The boy and I are trying an accountability thing where we tell each other our plans for the day. Maybe that will make it more likely we get stuff done.

I was glad that my first student of the day had canceled, more time for the shower. I had a break between students that I tried to use for returning phone calls and an email all from people who’d like lessons with us.

And this is why I prefer email over phone, email is asynchronous, I can reply whenever and it doesn’t mean both parties have to be available at the same time.

I put the shower curtain in the washing machine, taught another student, my last student canceled as well and I ate dinner. Talked with my husband, then with a friend over text until the boy showed up, did the dishes while listening to a video, started writing this post, figured out the insane schedule for today, did a covid test and Duolingo, watched some C-drama and went to bed.

Today is starting real early because the train conductors are on strike. I will try to reach Munich by bus and subway instead of train. The train would take half an hour, the alternate route will take at least an hour and that is without lots of traffic. At least it’s only the trains that aren’t going, not everything. I mean, technically there will be one train every hour but wow, will there be chaos.

I went to bed only a little too late, slept well and did my complete morning routine in time. Gold star. Made breakfast, talked with my husband, only crocheted a little bit, played my usual iPad games and such and – shocker! – opened the manuscript for 25 minutes. Then did the dishes, dealt with laundry and did some bodyweight and mobility training. I had been a bit unsure about the exercise because my shoulders, especially the left one, were hurting all night.

The special wedge pillow might be good for my stomach but not for my shoulders and back. But moving helped. Phew.

Then there was lunch, potatoes, spinach and fried eggs:

The boy and I talked at length, discussing strategies for studying, decisions about which exams to take this semester and which ones the next and when and how to start his bachelor. Then I walked over to the annex only to realize that I had forgotten about my first student. Oops.

He had walked in the door at 2.30 while I was in the other part of the house, my husband hadn’t seen him and I had not remembered that my Monday start time is now half an hour earlier. According to a message his mother sent me he had waited for six minutes and then gone back home. I am super sorry, this should not have happened and I have now added a regular alarm to his lesson. I will reschedule for sure.

Then it was the usual one student after the other, then dinner, sitting around looking at social media while dreading taking a shower, starting to write this post, finally deciding not to get wet, watching something on TV, doing Duolingo, a bit of reading and off to bed.

Today there will be the dental cleaning, the health food store and lots and lots of teaching again.

All in all a pretty good day. I went to bed a little late but slept well even though I was startled awake at 2.30 by a pile of wood toppling on the porch. I recognized the sound, turned around and fell back asleep. In the morning I did my complete morning routine and had already started making breakfast when my husband showed up. I had cake for breakfast again.

I did the usual morning things and talked with my husband, then called my mother on the phone and did the breakfast dishes. The classical piece of music for the day was the „Trauermusik“ by Hindemith. I hadn’t known that Hindemith was a violist and that he went to London to play his viola concerto in 1936 but then the Kind died and they had to change the program. The BBC wanted him to play anyway but they couldn’t find anything that fit so Hindemith sat down in an office at 11 am, wrote until 5 pm and he and the string orchestra played the music he had written that evening live on the radio. It is very lovely.

Then I folded laundry and vacuumed the annex while my husband cooked:

The amaryllis a student had given to me for Christmas has started blooming:

It is making me very happy. Seeing it grow and flower over the past few weeks was a delight. I hope I can keep it for a while.

The boy showed up late for lunch but we were happy to see him nonetheless. Afterwards we got talking and I started thinking to get myself a Nintendo Switch again. After looking up different models and such I decided against it for the second or third time. I had to remind myself very sternly that I had just had the boy’s Switch sitting in the living room for months without playing it. That conversation made me try out two of the games I had bought a couple of weeks before on my computer, though. I did my weekly review and planned the upcoming week and wrote an email.

Then I did the dishes, vacuumed the old part of the house, cleaned the washbasins and toilets, changed all the towels, started a load of laundry and finally put all the Christmas decorations away in the attic. I’d say climbing two flights of stairs four times with boxes should count as exercise.

I then talked to my husband again, ate dinner, did Duolingo, wrote in my Bullet Journal, watched an episode of C-drama and went to bed. Oh, and hung up laundry, of course.

Today there will be more laundry and then the rest of the week will be very, very full.

Hence no real post today. I couldn’t bring myself to start writing a post last night and today we’re celebrating my husband’s birthday. I’m really looking forward to having two days off.

Here’s a picture of the cake we had for breakfast: