Archives for December 2024

I woke up from the alarm and wrote my morning pages and then found myself unable to do anything else but doomscroll. I guess I needed a day off but I’m not sure this was the best way to do it.

I spent quite some time weaving in ends on the blanket in progress. I’m very determined to not leave those until the end but on the other hand I do not like to weave in ends in front of TV. This might turn into a routine where I spend the evening crocheting and the morning dealing with the ends.

I did go for a walk, at least, that is one part of my exercise routine that I’ve skipped so often lately that it doesn’t deserve the name routine anymore. I also dropped another parcel off, the boy is now the official owner of a winter coat that fits and it only took ordering three coats!

Before I left my husband had started peeling potatoes, then he stoked the fire again and when I returned 40 minutes later he had gathered all the ingredients and washed and peeled everything. He wanted to make Spanish tortilla following a recipe he found in a book. The recipe included dicing the potatoes and boiling them before starting the whole rest of the process. I helped cutting everything in small bits, then took a lavish shower and after that the food was still not ready. We ate at 2.30.

And yes, tortilla is not supposed to look like that. This one had red bell pepper in it and green asparagus. Next time we’ll try a different recipe for sure. It did taste better than it looked, at least.

My plan had been to start doing my course homework at 3 so I would have it at least mostly done by 5 where another YouTube live was scheduled for the course but, alas, lunch was late and then I talked with my husband and then with my son and then I feel back into a deep, deep weekend slump and all of a sudden I was almost late to the live thing.

I watched that, spent some more time playing silly iPad games and then it was time to meet with the rest of the family for Saturday dinner and watching ‚Columbo‘. But first we made guacamole and bickered about how to do it best, of course:

The episode of ‚Columbo‘ was good but a little boring at times. I had a beer while watching and afterwards decided to watch an episode of another show and have a second beer. My husband watched part of it with me which was a bit funny. I don’t know how it feels to come in at episode 8 of a 12-episode series. He was also very confused that I was watching something in Japanese.

And then I watched the last episodes all the way through. I might even go back and watch the whole series again because we all had to wait for the second half of the series for weeks and I need to get things sorted a bit better. On the other hand the whole thing is rather silly. And I am apparently starting to get a feel for those regular recurring phrases like ‚thanks‘ and ‚sorry‘ and such.

I went to bed too late and woke up with an aching stomach, duh. From the way I feel today won’t be much more productive…

I went to bed at a reasonable time and slept well. Woke up, lounged in bed for forty minutes anyway and started my morning pages. My husband showed up just as I was done with those and was about to start writing fiction. He wanted to start the wood stove early and for once the timing was good.

Then I started my daily fiction writing session, had to interrupt it after less than ten minutes to trudge upstairs and wake the boy, I came back downstairs and then my husband interrupted me again because he thought I was already done with writing. Because he had heard me on the stairs. I wrote anyway and the words were flowing nicely.

Then I went to the living room for yoga where the fire was going and my husband had put the kettle on. Five minutes into my yoga session the water was boiling and I decided I had enough and made myself tea.

Only tea this time, no breakfast and no pills because I needed to have my blood drawn to check my thyroid levels. So I walked to the doctor’ office and back, then finally had breakfast (with the rest of my tea gone cold despite the thermos, serves me right for not warming the thermos up beforehand) and did the rest of my morning things.

I changed the sheets on my bed and started cleaning and then got notice that the package I was waiting for had been left with the neighbor. Well, I had forgotten to turn the doorbell back on, oops. So I went there to retrieve my package.

My husband spent most of the morning cooking, interspersed with a short run and this is what he made:

I took a short break while talking with the boy, taught the first student of the day, folded a load of laundry and hung up a second one (yeah, I have clean underwear again!), taught my second student of the day and then did the dishes. After that I waited for the boy to come downstairs so we could do bodyweight training.

After exercise there was dinner while reading, I started writing this post, did a bit of Duolingo and then watched the live stream for Sarra Cannon’s „Your Path Forward“-course. Followed by an episode of a Japanese TV series while spinning and crocheting and then bed.

Every time I watch some Asian drama that is not Chinese I realize that I actually do understand a little bit of Mandarin these days. Because crocheting while watching something Japanese with subtitles means I completely miss chunks of the plot. In Chinese dramas I usually get the gist regardless.

I’m calling that progress. And now the weekend!

And ordered new orthotics.

I had gone to bed too late yet again, woke up from the alarm, did not dawdle quite as much at first but made up for it with half an hour online between morning pages and writing fiction. The writing went well for a change, so that was fun. I actually had a thing happen and will find out more about it soon.

I did not want to do yoga but did it anyway. When I did my three minutes of meditation I was interrupted twice, once for each other family member.

The plan had been to bike to my appointment and then to the supermarket straight away but I didn’t get the grocery list done in time. So I walked (while listening to music, nice), ordered the new insoles, bought yogurt and some pasta, walked back home, made the list and went back out again, this time by bike.

You wouldn’t believe the piles of groceries I ended up bringing home.The shopping cart was basically full. A lot of it was for the holidays already, but still.

Meanwhile my husband made lunch:

After we were just about to finish eating the boy came back from uni. He ate and the two of us talked quite a bit. Then it was time for teaching, I had a one-hour break after that which I had planned to spend in a very productive way. (Reader, she did not spend her break in anything resembling that state.)

My second student was sheet delight and after her lesson I stumbled my way through a Chopin etude. First time playing the piano in ages.

I had the time to do that because the next student had to cancel. And then it was another chunk of time playing Christmas carols, most notably there was another rendition of ‚Jingle Bells‘.

I then ate dinner, realized I was completely brain dead already, played Solitaire on my iPad, started writing this post, did a very short Duolingo lesson, decided to skip the foot exercises, spun for ten minutes while watching C-drama and crocheted a bit and then went to bed.

And today brings us a blood draw to check my thyroid levels which means no food and no meds beforehand, the changing of the sheets and the cleaning of the house. Also I enrolled in two classes that both start today. I know. Great plan, as always.

No pictures, it’s still lying on the porch in its wrap but still.

I went to bed only slightly too late and started the day with lounging in bed reluctant to get up for half an hour. Then wrote my morning pages and some new words of fiction but decided to skip yoga again.

I had a peaceful breakfast all alone before my husband showed up and wanted to talk to me about childhood trauma or something.

And then we had to hurry a bit because we wanted to go to the farmer’s market before it closed at noon. We did get our potatoes and found that no, there are no Christmas trees to be bought there.

Last year the boy and I wanted to buy a tree for the first time in years. Well, when we finally managed to we turned out to be too late. There were none to be had anywhere that we could reach on foot. We ended up cutting a very, very small pine tree that was growing in our yard and then found out that my mother-in-law had thrown away not one but two of our Christmas tree stands.

Anyway. I was determined this year would be better. My husband was nice enough to help me because the boy and I never are free both at the same time and at a time when that Christmas tree stand in front of the supermarket is open as well. Last year we tried twice and the first time there was no one to sell us the tree and the second time there were no trees left.

But. This year my husband and I went to the supermarket. There were trees but no seller again. So my husband asked one of the super market cashiers. Turns out there should be a supermarket employee outside. So we waited. And then I went looking for him inside, no dice. But. After a while someone came and helped us.

There were only three trees left and my husband and I had decided which one we wanted in those long minutes of waiting already. Turns out when you want one of those trees you take the tag off the tree, go inside and have it scanned, pay the money and then take your tree home. So, next year I won’t wait for someone to help me, I can just take the tag off, scan it at self-checkout and push the tree through the wrapping thingy myself.

I was very glad that my husband was the one carrying the tree home, by the way. If I had to get it home by myself I would probably have taken the bike trailer and a bungee cord.

After that my husband started to cook and I helped a little bit. While waiting for the water to boil he drilled another hole through the kitchen light over the counter and fixed the tube with another piece of wire. And now that light is working again. And then I took a shower.

There was a somewhat late lunch:

After that I only had a very short break before teaching all the students. Since one student canceled I had another short break between students and used that to write another email to my web hosting provider, to start a load of laundry because I realized I was running out of clean underwear. In fact I had to resort to wearing a bra that is too small after my shower and that despite the fact that I just bought four new bras.

I also folded all the laundry that was left on the racks.

After teaching I met the boy for some bodyweight training, then finally ate dinner (mmh, fresh sourdough bread) together with the boy, talked with him while hanging up the new load of laundry, briefly talked to my husband who had done the dishes, read a bit, did Duolingo, foot exercises and started this post and then watched a bit of C-drama while spinning.

And yes, today will be rather busy as well but hopefully not quite as full as yesterday. All day I kept thinking how great it was that my feet didn’t hurt (or my fingers) just before I remembered that I’m taking painkillers again because of that acute arthritis pain. So I should better be careful, gauging the state of my feet by pain level doesn’t work right now.

But hey, no pain!

Even fuller than usual Tuesdays.

I had gone to bed a little late (but not too much) again. I did my complete morning routine despite not feeling like it. The writing continues to be slow.

Husband was in a mood again, so we talked over breakfast. Well, his breakfast, not mine. I pulled out the Flowerpress blanket in progress but mostly wove in ends. I like how those blankets made from squares look but I don’t like to weave in all the ends. Plus, this one will only be put together at the end. Joining as one goes is usually much better.

After that conversation with my husband I looked at the clock and went into an immediate panic. The plan for the day was to go to my orthopedist’s office and get a new prescription for orthotics before they closed for lunch. I had planned to leave at 10.45 when it was already twenty minutes earlier.

I re-calculated my morning, went on my usual online round very briefly, did the breakfast dishes, did one Duolingo lesson, brushed my teeth, got dressed and dashed off.

Prescriptions were renewed promptly, I caught a bus back only 5 minutes after I arrived at the bus stop, then went to the orthotist to make an appointment, to the pharmacy for more medication including stronger ibuprofen and the health food store. I walked back home, met my mother-in-law, asked her about my husband’s niece and her triplets but she didn’t know much besides the fact that they were born prematurely. I turned around and took the package with the winter coat that doesn’t fit the boy with me to return it. We also ordered two more coats for him in the hopes that one of them will fit.

I put the groceries away, talked some more with my husband and we ate lunch:

After lunch and talking I had about 15 minutes to myself before the boy came downstairs. We talked very briefly, I played some silly games and read a little and then it was time to teach all the students all afternoon.

In between students I tried to find something in my assorted bullet journals but failed.

I had the great plan of playing the piano for a bit after teaching but didn’t feel like it again, then ate dinner, talked more with my husband saw the boy briefly again when he returned from uni, spent some time sitting around in paralysis, started writing this post while feeling braindead, wrote in my bullet journal, did Duolingo, made myself a cup of tea, did my foot exercises, spun for ten minutes while watching C-drama, then knitted for the rest of the episode and went to bed.

Looking at my calendar and lists I can say that the rest of this week won’t be much better. And I started using cortisone cream against my eczema again so need to remember to take it twice a day as well. At least that is only until Friday morning. Where I double-booked myself, harumph, but I should be able to untangle that beforehand.