Archives for May 2024

Let’s see, I went to bed at 11 which would have been great if I hadn’t had to get up at 6.15 to help the boy get out the door on time. I did feel well-rested, so that was good.

I made tea for the boy and started writing morning pages when he showed up downstairs to show me that there were no subways to uni. At least for the next 90 minutes, so no hope of getting to his first lecture in time. He ate breakfast and went back to bed. Then later there were still no subways so in the end he stayed home.

I had breakfast, talked with my husband about the Kate Davies KAL and crocheted. Husband couldn’t understand why I wanted to be part of a group following someone else’s creative project so to speak. Trying to get him to share my joy and excitement was almost impossible at that moment. Still, I am very happy about the whole thing and am actually thinking about knitting the first pattern and am also looking forward to reading the Margery Allingham books and the essays and make the mystery shawl.

I cut my husband’s hair, did the breakfast dishes, my husband started a load of laundry, and I opened the manuscript. I only have about half an hour of proofreading left, yeah!

Then I pulled out the sewing machine and installed it on my new writing desk. I put one of the new needles in that I had bought specifically for the project and decided to start with some leftover fabric. Yeah. Doing a test was a very good idea because I ended up with quite a few skipped stitches. I spent some time troubleshooting both before and after lunch and even got my old sewing machine down from the attic. And researched sewing machine repair shops in Munich.

Lunch was nice:

Then I taught some students. The first one asked for an online lesson because the forecast was for thunderstorms and while the second student was playing it started to rain. And half an hour later the rain got really heavy. My last student of the day canceled because he didn’t want to brave the storm on a bike.

So I ate dinner while looking up solutions for skipped stitches because I hadn’t given up on making the faulty machine work. But I also got the old machine ready, realized that that machine is rather nice but also that I like having more options than just „small zigzag“ and „big zigzag“ and that having a needle threader on the machine is rather nice. I have to take off my glasses every time and then try three times.

So I did a test patch on the old machine. And had – lots and lots of skipped stitches again.

In the end I changed from the new needle to another one I had deemed to old before and, lo and behold:

By the time I had reached that point it was already 9 pm. I still had to do the dishes and take a shower and I also wanted to watch some C-drama and knit. And start writing this post. Which was a bit much for having two hours left in the day.

Oh, and in between all of that I also did some more research on plantar fasciitis exercises and watched a bit of the bullet journal course I’m taking.

Unfortunately, today will be extremely busy as well, I’ll tell you tomorrow.

As I said I had a late start to the day and not much energy. And was disappointed about not going out for lunch. And husband was in a mood as well. I did force myself to write morning pages, at least, but that made me late with the breakfast dishes which made lunch late. You know how it is. We had pancakes with spinach:

For the record I really don’t like marjoram. Otherwise it tasted good. The radishes are from our yard.

At that point I was in a really bad mood and wanted a little treat and anyways. So I put on pants and shoes, walked to one of the nearby supermarkets and bought a pint of ice cream, a bag of licorice, some chocolate cookies, bread and the probiotic yogurt drink my husband favors.

I went back home, ate all the ice cream and all the licorice until I felt almost sick, then a couple chocolate cookies until I finally stopped. I scrolled social media and played silly iPad games and gave up on all the many things I had planned to do for the day.

Oh, and I came across a video where a Brazilian YouTuber is interviewing Xiran Jay Zhao. Very nice conversation and I was extremely happy that I could understand most of the Brazilian intro before the interview which was conducted in English.

At least I did the lunch dishes around dinnertime and took a shower but that was all. Oh, and revived a sock-in-progress. After breakfast with the hat finished I needed a mindless knitting project, remembered the sock, tried it on and found that it would come out too short. So I ripped the toe back and started knitting ten more rounds straight. My husband found it almost painful to witness me undoing hours of work but I’d rather spend an hour or two more knitting than ending up with a sock that is too short. I changed to a smaller needle than usual which is why my regular sock recipe isn’t working.

Today we will actually celebrate our wedding anniversary after all. One week late we’ll go to our usual restaurant. I’m planning to drag the boy with us but he might not be willing.

And then I just have to see what else I can manage. Not much, probably.

Let’s see. I only got half the cleaning done yesterday, I taught my students, and not much else. I’m happy with that because I still need more rest than usual. Go figure.

There was lunch:

Chinese takeout ordered and picked up by me. 

After I finished teaching the boy and I ate the second half of our takeout and watched the second episode of the ‚Dead Boy Detectives‘. We both agreed the first episode was better but we’ll still watch the next one.

Then I watched some C-drama, decided that I was too tired to write this post, did a bit of Duolingo and then sat there for an hour or so too tired to get ready for bed.

The plan for today was to go and try the new Italian restaurant in the neighborhood for lunch but first, the boy didn’t want to go, and second, my husband forgot that that was the plan and decided that he couldn’t face people today, so pancakes with spinach is it.

I also want to finish the cleaning, look at the manuscript and do some sewing. And take a shower. Right.

Oh, and the hat that I thought I had finished on Thursday? Turned out I hadn’t read the instructions properly so I had to rip back all the decreases at the end. I reknit those yesterday and this morning I got this:

I went to bed slightly too late, slept well and woke up before the alarm. Actually wrote morning pages and meditated. My blood pressure is too high at the moment but I expect it to go down again once I have healed.

Had a nice conversation with my husband over breakfast, worked two rounds on the crochet cushion, did Duolingo and the breakfast dishes, opened the manuscript, despaired because the software that I use to help me with proofreading was sluggish and didn’t work properly, installed a new version that did the same but managed to do two chapters anyway.

My original plan was to go to my doctor’s office to get the prescription for my blood pressure medication renewed and ask about the histology report. But then I got a message that there was an earlier time slot open for an appointment which means I now have an appointment on Tuesday to ask about the report (and get the prescription renewed) and another one at the end of the month so they can check my thyroid hormone levels.

So I just walked to the supermarket where I get our yogurt, to the drug store for travel size toothpaste and to the health food store for buns, bratwurst, chocolate and licorice. Yes, I am perfectly aware that I said I don’t want to buy as many sweets this month.

Lunch was shrimp risotto:

I delegated the weekly supermarket run to the boy. Just as he was about to leave there was a huge thunderstorm so he kept moving his departure back. In the end he left just as I was finished with teaching.

I ate dinner and procrastinated like crazy, the boy came back and I helped putting the groceries away. Then he helped me with the dishes. We talked while he was eating dinner and decided that it might be fun to watch „Columbo“ together as a family. My husband and I watched it on TV in the 90s but the boy had never seen an episode. I need to ask my husband if he would like it, could be fun.

Then I finally started writing this post, did Duolingo again, watched an episode of „Find Yourself“ while finishing the Musselburgh hat and went to bed.

Plans for today include changing sheets, cleaning the house, teaching late, takeout for lunch and watching an episode of „Dead Boy Detectives“, so something to look forward to.