Archives for February 2024

I actually went to bed on time, slept well, started the day scrolling through Instagram and still managed to do my full morning routine.

The plan had been to be done with novel revision in time for my coaching call at 2 but that didn’t happen. I did open the manuscript for half an hour, did the breakfast dishes, talked with my husband about some of my current problems, listened to some Schumann and got ready to go out for lunch.

When we arrived at the nearby Greek restaurant we first thought it was closed. There was a note on the front door and we couldn’t see any guests inside. Well, the note was about them having technical difficulties accepting cards at the moment and all the guests were in the back.

The food was excellent. Well, except the salad but who cares:

I did not drink the ouzo we got before and after and went with alcohol-free beer because of my stomach. It was very nice to get out together and do something different than usual. The waiter asked us about the boy and couldn’t believe it when we told him that little boy is already 21 now. (We did ask him if he wanted to join us but he declined.)

We popped into the nearby vine shop on our way back and came home with plenty of time to get ready for my Zoom call. I spent the first ten minutes of that call waiting to be let in, apparently the coach hadn’t seen me. I finally tried logging off and coming in again and that worked.

I would have loved to tell the coach that I had finished revision but I hadn’t. The call was very nice and uplifting, as always, though. And afterwards I just stayed at the computer and an hour later I was finished. Phew!

So, that happened. The next steps will be doing all the publishing tasks that I’ve never done before. I need covers and blurbs and author bios and all that stuff. Lots to do. But first to celebrate this step.

I then started writing this post, ate dinner, did Duolingo and watched some C-drama. Today will be the day I do all the housework and all the grocery shopping. That will be fun.

I mean, apart from it being strained and feeling weird all the time. But we’ll get to that later.

I woke up super tired because I had stayed up way too late. I did write morning pages, had an epiphany or two but skipped yoga again. My husband and I ate breakfast, no woodstove because it was way too warm outside for that.

My husband went off with a friend for some hiking and having lunch together and I forgot the time again and had to scramble to leave in time to get to my ENT appointment. Especially since I had forgotten that I wanted to tape my feet because they’re hurting again.

I walked to the doctor’s office while listening to BTS again, then read more of the current romance novel while waiting for an hour. I was very impressed the office not only had an air purifier but every person working there also wore a proper mask. I really like that doctor, by the way. I told her about my gastroscopy and the results that I had remembered to bring along like a real adult. Because I set myself a reminder, by the way. And when I came back home I set another reminder to bring them along to my next visit with my GP. And then I wrote a note into the reminder where I had put said results.

So. There is nothing physically wrong with my voice. But I am suffering from functional dysphonia. In short I need to build my singing and speaking muscles back up. I got a prescription for speech therapy. I’ll have to find one and getting a spot will take some time for sure. I also decided I should get back to daily singing warm-ups and did a bunch of research for exercises I could do.

The doctor said I could rehab on my own if I want.

I had decided to reschedule the weekly supermarket run but went to one of the smaller supermarkets on my way home for bread and cake. The boy and I wanted to get burgers delivered for lunch but it turns out – again – that the nice burger place only opens in the evening. So I ordered Chinese takeout. Which was yummy:

Spring rolls and fried noodles with chicken. The boy had tofu.

After that my husband came back and was very happy. We talked briefly about my doctor’s visit while he was making coffee for his friend, then I did the dishes, did my singing warm-up, taught two students, ate dinner and started writing this post.

In my epic research session I also looked up the procedure recommended for my thyroid. I tried making an appointment but couldn’t figure out how. I probably need to use the phone for that one. While bitching about the dermatologist it occurred to me that there is more than one dermatologist in the vicinity. So now I have an appointment with a new one in the next town over for the day after my GP appointment. And I made an appointment with my orthopedist because of my feet. I’m sure she’s really tired of seeing me. Not as tired as I am of having a reason to visit her, though.

So, all will be revealed after a phone call next week and the three doctor’s visits the week after.

In an attempt of going to bed at a reasonable time for a change I then moved more stuff to today (nope, I don’t see a problem with this at all), did Duolingo, watched an episode of C-drama („Love Me, Love My Voice“ (很想很想你) and went to bed.

Another full day ahead today, watch me as I finish the revision of book 3 before noon, then go out for lunch with my husband to return in time for my monthly Zoom thing. Sure. It will be fine. No problem here.

But there were Faschingskrapfen. Which – as I just learned – are called Berliner in English just as they are where I grew up in Northern Germany.

I did not get enough sleep, I did yoga and that was the most productive thing I did all day. Couldn’t bring myself to open the manuscript or write morning pages or do anything. In the end I gave up and let the dishes sit over night, did not take a shower, did not exercise, nada.

I did walk to the health food store, got said Krapfen, some chocolate, tea and ginger. Lunch was bratwurst, potatoes and green beans:

Don’t mind the water in the glass, my husband took the sieve-thingy off the faucet to decalcify it and so there’s a lot of minerals making the water cloudy.

The boy was back from his test just after lunch but decided to not eat. Because he wasn’t hungry. At 4 all three of us met for the carnival Berliner:

The Berliner don’t look like much, they were just stuffed into a bag and smooshed. Tasted okay, though. I sat around doing nothing all afternoon, taught one student, bullshitting my way through a new-to-me piece of music and explaining all kinds of things about chords, playing guitar and piano. Then I had dinner and then a glass of champagne because my husband decided that was needed to celebrate carnival:

Then the boy and I talked about something we found on Twitter, I started writing this post, looked at some more social media and went to bed.

Here’s to a better day today.

I turned the lights out at 1 am, got up as usual and was therefore somewhat tired all day. I did manage morning pages and yoga, then had breakfast, crocheted a bit, talked with my husband who gave me an article from his guitar magazine to read, opened the manuscript, called my mother on the phone who is doing better with her shoulder and sat around while my husband cooked.

For once we were laughing and talking and did not fight at all. We both like that better.

Lunch was chicken, rice, peas and carrots:

I also did a covid test that turned out negative. I sat around reading and playing games for a bit, then the boy showed up and ate lunch and we talked.

One of the things I want to do more of this month is actually watching some of the courses I own. So this afternoon I started watching a video about a certain enneagram type. I felt the information slide right off my brain again so I stopped. I guess I won’t learn the enneagram after all. I mean, I’m not convinced at all anyway. I did review the past week and planned for the week ahead and made an appointment with general practitioner online because my mother reminded me that knowing I have gastritis is all good and well but it should be treated eventually.

Talked to my husband some more, then the boy, ate too much bread for dinner, played silly games on my iPad, started writing this post, did Duolingo and the dishes, watched some C-drama while the boy took a shower, read some more and went to bed.

I started watching „Love Me, Love My Voice“ in addition to „Unchained Love“ and it is really sweet.

Today will be Faschingskrapfen and a day off. 

I woke up before the alarm after more than eight hours of great sleep. Then did the complete morning routine and made breakfast on time. I crocheted a bit and finally managed to measure how much yarn one stripe on the blanket-in-progress is using. Which means I can gather all the leftover yarn I have and figure out if I have enough.

While doing the dishes I watched part of a video the boy recommended to me, the theoretical physicist Angela Collier did a review of „Love, Actually“ by Ali Hazelwood. It seems I do own this book but I haven’t read it yet. So, the review is a bit spoiler-y but a lot of fun. I don’t usually mind spoilers at all. I also listened to the hauntingly beautiful „Agnus Dei“ by Charlotte Bray.

Then I spent some time on social media before finally getting a grip and opening the manuscript for twenty minutes. I’m using a new pomodoro app called Fatty Cat! It doesn’t really compare to PomoFarn but, well, it works. I’m not quite sure if it’s right for me because apparently when you don’t use the timer for two days in a row your cat dies. Which I find a bit extreme. Not working on my project for two days in a row should be perfectly fine.

There was polenta with fennel for lunch:

We had to eat early because we wanted to go to the demo for „diversity and democracy“ in town. All three of us, I even roused the boy for it. I had been afraid there wouldn’t be any people but the turnout was better than feared but could have been better. On the other hand they organized the whole thing in just ten days.

The speeches were heart-warming, there was a band playing that suffered a bit from their drummer being sick. It was nice feeling in the presence of like-minded people. I was a bit surprised that I didn’t meet more people that I knew but there was one of my singing students, the parents of two former students and the band’s bass player went to school with my husband and was happy to talk to him again.

The funniest moment was when we talked to yet another former classmate of my husband and they said, „Oh, and that must be your daughter,“ pointing at the boy. Well, long, curly hair apparently reads as feminine even in combination with beard scruff.

We went to the nearby supermarket for our favorite yogurt, the TV guide and – of course – chocolate.

And that was it for me and productivity for the day. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading, eating chocolate and playing games on my iPad. Oh, and watching packing videos.

Then there was dinner, a few more conversations with the rest of the family, a moment where all of us thought my mother-in-law had fallen down the stairs but it was just a bottle the boy had accidentally kicked down the stairs. The bottle didn’t even break but every person in the house rushed to the hallway in alarm.

Then I finally did the lunch dishes listening to Angela Collier again, took a shower, watched some C-drama and went to bed.

I’m really hoping to get some stuff done today. And to not kill my digital cat again.