Archives for July 2024

For once I went to bed on time but I still overslept by almost an hour. And then my husband showed up 45 minutes earlier than usual because he suddenly remembered that he had promised to do the dishes the night before but then he wandered off and forgot. So he showed up before breakfast fully prepared to make up for it by washing dishes before breakfast.

Which turned out to be unnecessary. I had taken one look at the kitchen, said to the boy that my husband had promised to do them but obviously forgot and then we just took care of it, the end.

I still managed to squeeze most of my morning routine in.

Then my husband and I had a slightly tense conversation that was cut short because I need to leave the house in time for my dentist appointment.

My teeth were thoroughly cleaned, the dentist told me I need some work done. So I have another appointment in September. Afterwards I went to three shops for vegetarian Weißwürste, Brezn and alcohol-free beer.

For a few minutes I contemplated rushing home only to turn around and bike to the supermarket but even though I might have had just enough time I decided I definitely didn’t have enough energy.

So we ate lunch early:

While I was away the package with my new summer shoes came. I ordered these red Mary Janes. I already own a pair in black that is a size smaller but my orthotics don’t fit. I will need to break them in first, they are pretty stiff. I ordered the red ones because they were 45 Euros cheaper than the other colors. I love red and also red shoes but they don’t go all that well with the all-brown wardrobe I’m starting to build for summer.

Then I had some time before teaching. I taught only a manageable number of students, a lot of them ones that are a pleasure to work with.

After work I ate dinner, then the boy showed up and we sat, talked and sent each other links to Twitter posts and also tried to read the Wikipedia article about Napoleon in French. We were only semi-successful because none of us really speaks French well. (I took it for three years in school and the boy does French on Duolingo on and off.) I can usually figure out texts okay-ish but speaking is another matter.

While talking the boy mentioned his upcoming tests and something in August which reminded me that we had planned to visit my mother during summer break, one thing followed the other and I found myself booking accommodations and train tickets. Now I just need to tell my mother. I did book everything in a way that makes canceling easy, so things should be fine.

Then I started writing this post, did Duolingo gave up on the dishes and C-drama while knitting and went to bed on time.

Today will bring an early piano tuner, a very full day of teaching, a friend of my husband’s showing up with all his gear for this weekend’s rehearsal and maybe watching soccer with my husband. I haven’t watched a single Euro match so far and all my students agreed that this might be the last match for the German team.

I actually managed my complete morning routine, so that was something. I had fallen back asleep after the alarm and had started my day late but still.

I also was extremely fuzzy-brained yet again. I did the usual morning things, and went off to the health food store.

The big fight with my husband the day before did clear the air and made us both feel closer to each other and better understood. It would be great if we could get there without the drama but, well, we’re working on it.

My husband made all the things for lunch and I only helped a very small bit:

That is tomato rice with olives, fried romana salad with pine nuts and dried apricots, crumbled manouri cheese, stuffed vine leaves (also homemade) and some chopped spring onions.

Here’s my plate:

The salad, spring onions, vine leaves and the many herbs are all from my husband’s garden. It was all rather delicious even though we ended up not eating the romana stalks because they were way too bitter.

I even managed to do the dishes after lunch. Well, half the dishes, the boy hadn’t eaten yet and so I had to leave half the pots. I did try to take a little break before teaching but the boy then came downstairs and we talked instead. Which was very nice but I totally forgot about the time until I heard the annex door swing shut when my first student arrived.

(I’m training my students to ring the doorbell and I try shutting the annex door in a way that it can’t be pushed open from the outside while my husband encourages everyone to just wander in so he doesn’t have to get to the door all the time. So now some of my students just push the door open as well because he told them it was fine.)

At least I heard him.

I’m really happy that my commute is just a few meters. Ahem.

I taught all the students until past dinnertime and used the break in between to finally write the email to the piano tuner. Or rather his office person. Not sure if I should have sent it to him directly or not but then I also wasn’t sure if I should talk to him or his son. We’ll see what happens, I guess.

I ate a late dinner and started eating the cantuccini one of my students had brought me from her vacation in Italy. I thought I’d just eat a few.

Well, let’s just say that box of cookies doesn’t exist anymore.

Just when I was about to decide what to do next on my extensive evening routine list the boy showed up again and ate dinner. I was happy to see him and to talk for a bit which in this case mostly consists of both of us showing the other one things on Twitter.

We totally forgot all about time until it was past ten, then I decided to throw all my plans out, just do Duolingo and watch something.

Something turned into one episode of „Spy x Family“ and another full episode of „Handsome Siblings“ and then I decided to finally try out some exercises for my arthritic fingers. I only did them half-heartedly from the memory of looking them up the day before.

Well, what can I say, those exercises hurt like hell but – this morning all my finger joints felt like 60% better, less stiff and almost pain-free. Duh.

Mind you, the doctor told me to rest the fingers as much as I can and take the painkillers until the inflammation is gone and only then to start doing exercises or stretches. But. I’m almost out of painkillers and the fingers weren’t really getting better.

So I guess I’m adding finger exercises to my long, long list of things to do.

I did not sleep well and am somewhat tired today (I’m blaming the cookies) but my brain seems a bit less fuzzy. Whatever.

I think the chronic pain and the monitoring of „Is it better? Is it worse? What did I do now to aggravate my feet/fingers/back/knees?“ is constantly draining some energy. Not only physical energy but also mentally.

I guess I’ll try some more and the report back.

I could have done without the drama. It wasn’t big and it’s all sorted now.

Since I had gone to bed too late yet again, woke up from the alarm and actually did my morning routine. I’d say the new „no phone before breakfast“-rule is working – and it is – but I still picked it up and managed to buy a 91 cent ebook before doing anything else. Still practicing.

I did do my complete, full morning routine. Phew. And made breakfast before my husband showed up.

Then it turned out that he was still very angry at me for snapping at him the night before.

I did all the usual morning things and then finally made jam. My husband had volunteered washing the berries and getting them ready for jam-making. And had been very surprised when a game of soccer with overtime was not enough to finish that task. Before I went to bed I had added the sugar to the berries, stirred it all and put it in the basement until the next day.

I forgot to take a picture but we got 5 glasses of jam.

Meanwhile my husband got crankier and crankier. I did bodyweight training. Then I waited for lunch. And waited some more. At one point we started arguing about the night before and all those things that pile up when you have been together for 3 decades. The argument continued through lunch, always super fun:

We talked and raised out voices and cried at various points complete with several attempts of each of us to leave the room to eat in peace, each of them abandoned in favor of talking it out.

We ended the conversation shaken but with a new understanding of the problem. I think.

Then I took a break and ate some chocolate. And took a last-minute shower that gave me a couple great ideas for a blurb for my novel. I hope what I wrote down very hastily in my notes app makes sense because by then I was cutting it rather close to the start of teaching.

I only taught from 3 to 6, was very determined to make good use of the evening and not procrastinate. The only things still on my list were the email to the piano tuner, the dishes, Chinese and watching something. Also, finishing the cast-on for Clue 2.

But. I ran out of energy. Did the dishes, Chinese and watched something and then went off to bed.

So let’s hope for way less drama today. And some more good ideas, I won’t mind those.

And I did all the things on my list!

Well, apart from the morning routine.

I went to bed way too late, slept well (but not enough) and woke up from the alarm. I managed to write morning pages but ran out of time for yoga again. No, I have no idea why more than an hour is not enough to write morning pages, do yoga and meditate. I also start breakfast in that time and make my bed and open the windows and close them again but still. Maybe I really need to reinstate a ‚no phone before breakfast‘-rule.

The day’s list was long and I was briefly shocked when my husband said he wanted to make gnocchi from scratch for lunch but no worries, he’d do them on his own.

Yeah.

So I wrote my blog post and brushed my teeth and talked with my husband and called my mother on the phone who said some things that popped back up hours later (that always happens) like not to take my pain meds as often as the doctor had told me to. Oh, and just you know, the only thing that affects arthritis is the weather. Nothing to do with what I did the day before or what I ate or how much I slept. You know, those things that are proven to have an influence on inflammation or your joints.

I did the dishes and while I waited for the potatoes to cool down I started the weekly cleaning. I made the gnocchi and was very happy that I hadn’t vacuumed the kitchen before. The gnocchi were good but the sauce was a bit meh. We had run out of sugo and agreed that we won’t buy frozen porcini again for a while:

Then I spent a long time playing silly games, talked very briefly with the boy, did the dishes and set out to do more cleaning. I finished that in time for dinner, ate a cheese sandwich, planned the month and the week out, did Duolingo while the boy was sitting across from me eating dinner and then doing Japanese.

I went online again for a short while, started writing this post, watched an episode of C-drama while trying to keep count casting on 345 stitches and went to bed.

I am really looking forward to the new month. I have quite a few shiny and sparkling goals and, of course, this time everything will go so much better!