Archives for December 2025

I went to bed too late but slept well. Shrug.

Morning routine went well but I skipped meditation again. The day before I made post-its with checkboxes for my proofreading and that is really motivating.

Speaking of motivation, I also kept thinking about those goals I had set at one point, most of which I still haven’t reached two years later. On the other hand, even if I gave up on writing those goals down I still would want to reach them so I guess the striving continues.

I did a massive round of grocery shopping and erranding. After leaving the house a little late because the boy had dumped a big pile of dirty dishes in my lap the night before.

So. Dishes, then the smaller health food store for vitamins and vegetarian weisswurst, the pharmacy to get my husband’s medication and then the big health food store.

Back home where husband and I managed to start fighting about nothing, I guess we’re both exhausted and would like our routine back, thank you very much.

Since lunch wasn’t ready yet I turned around right away and walked to the nearby supermarket.

Then there was lunch:

The reason for this feast was the leftover chicken.

Then there was chocolate and reading and some Genshin playing before I went back out again. The pharmacy didn’t have one of the medications (the doctor’s office had made a prescription for 30 pills instead of the usual 100, argh, and those needed to be ordered first) so I had to come back in the afternoon. Which also meant I could look for smoked salmon in a different store. Apparently that is obligatory for New Year’s two stores were out.

I now have smoked salmon, and some sliced bread that I hope tastes okay but unfortunately I was unable to get a vegetarian salmon alternative.

I came back and played some more and ate a pastry. Just when I wanted to do the dishes my husband showed up to say that he wanted to take a shower. So I played some more. The second time I was just about to start the dishes the boy showed up and wanted to take a shower.

So I started this post instead, ate something while watching C-drama for the first time in weeks and that was mostly it for the day.

And today will be New Year’s Eve. The plan is to eat weisswurst, watch the new „Knives Out“ and drink champagne. And not stay up for too long.

Just as is appropriate for the days between the years.

I did my morning routine (sans meditation because I was late), dishes, went online, then outside for a walk:

We had spaghetti bolognese with salad for lunch because there was still leftover fried ground beef.

The boy asked if his friend could come and celebrate New Year’s Eve with us because otherwise he would be alone at home and we said yes. We planned the food for that day. No cheese fondue this year because husband is still feeling off from what we ate last week.

I played a lot of Genshin. I did dishes and talked with everyone and ate dinner and then played Genshin some more.

I looked at my goals for 2024 because I hadn’t set any for this year and had found the only one I had reached was to publish „Masked in Ice“.

I have made progress on all of them, getting the house in order, losing weight, writing and publishing and learning Chinese but only tiny progress. My hope is that tiny progress will add up eventually.

Too late to bed, yada yada…

I opened the manuscript and did yoga despite not feeling like it at all.

I called my mother and did some dishes and listened to my husband complaining about people. Just as I was brushing my teeth I saw my brother-in-law enter the house. He was early to help my mother-in-law cook.

Of course, no one had any idea when her guests would arrive. They were rather early, starting at 11.30. Apparently they were prepping lunch for 1 o’clock.

The boy and I went upstairs after our own very late lunch:

It was nice seeing nieces and nephews. Most of them had left their spouses at home, only one had brought her two kids, and oldest nephew was in the hospital with his wife and newborn daughter. (Everything is fine, the baby was born right that day.) Also, we’ll see all of them again a week from now when it’s my mother-in-law’s birthday.

The boy and I trotted back downstairs. I read and played games and waited for my husband’s friends. I said hello just as they were about to start playing in the basement. The keyboarder asked me for a USB-hub which I gave him, no problem. I just have to remember to get it back tonight.

I played Genshin Impact, this time with a plan and started leveling another character up.

I did dishes and was interrupted in drying them by my husband who said they were going out to eat. I went with them. Because my husband had asked me to, and also because there is this Italian restaurant in the neighborhood that I’e been wanting to go to for ages.

They have excellent pizza:

When we came back home the boy had finished drying the dishes, I played some more and spent time online, started writing this post and went to bed.

I guess, the rest of the list has been shunted to today.

And yes, I went to bed too late again. Did my complete morning routine, though, including opening the manuscript so that was good.

We were still waiting for my husband’s friends to tell us if they were coming and when but no dice. Well, my husband texted them around lunchtime and in the evening I finally got to know they’ll come today.

I started the heel increases on the sock in progress, did the dishes and went to buy toilet paper, candles and snacks.

We ate leftovers for lunch:

I had planned to go for a walk in the woods but then didn’t because of the dunnwannas.

I read, I knitted, I talked with the rest of the family, the boy helped me with a boss in Genshin and then there was writer Zoom. It was really nice but I ran into one of those German/American cultural differences again.

My husband decided to do more recordings in the basement instead of watching TV with us, so we decided to watch ‚Goldfinger‘. It was my first time but I had read the book back in the late 70s. We both really liked the film even though some things are really dated. We both liked that the film wasn’t taking itself too seriously, and well, Sean Connery.

Then more Genshin, I started this post, did the dishes and went to bed too late again.

The plan for today is to review the year, call my mother and talk with my husband’s friends.

Another night of meh sleep, another morning where I somehow never got around to opening the manuscript. I keep thinking I can open it later in the day. Oops, rookie mistake.

Husband and I spent a lot of time talking, mostly about friendships and people. Also, we’re waiting for his friends to tell us when they want to come in for making music. Husband insists on waiting for them to make the first move for once. Not knowing is driving me up the wall. I mean, him as well, but not as much as me, I think.

For once we were actually on time with chores and cooking and so our nice Christmas meal was ready on time:

Very yummy, potato dumplings (with store-bought dough), red cabbage and duck breast. And a piece of Silesian poppy see cake for dessert.

Just after we had finished eating, the boy finally showed up for the first time that day. Then my husband again, to talk some more. He is in the process of recording some stuff and needs to wander the house getting in the right mindset.

I did get quite a bit of knitting done. I also spent a lot of time reading because I really wanted to finish „The Curse of Chalion“. Excellent book. I liked it so much that I bought the next in series right away, and then I got second thoughts. I’m not sure I’m in the right mood for that book, we’ll see.

I did all the dishes:

This is after washing them but before drying and putting it away. Husband came into the kitchen asking me if I wanted help twice while I was dealing with this. I just wanted to listen to my YouTube video in peace while getting the kitchen back in order. Of course, shortly after there were people pulling out leftovers and frying stuff again. No idea why the rest of the family can’t eat bread for dinner like normal people.

Mind you, we have a fridge stuffed with leftovers to the brim, I guess we’ll eat some of those today.

My plans to sort the yarn or play the piano somehow never came to fruition but I did manage to kill a boss in Genshin for the first time on my own that had thwarted me several times before, so yeah.

And then the boy wanted to take a shower right before it was time for me to brush my teeth, something that often leads to me going to bed too late. And for some reason I spontaneously pulled out my ukulele (I mean, I have one for this exact reason stashed in the old part of the house) and played a few songs. Nice.
I could see the boy was immediately transported back to his childhood when I would play these exact ukulele songs while he was falling asleep in the next room.

And today will probably be more waiting plus going to the supermarket for toilet paper which is sort of important.

But hey, I started doing cardio again.

To be honest, I never quite know if walking to the grocery store counts as cardio or not but, well, I left the house with the intention of exercise.

I had gone to bed pretty early and slept for nine hours. Phew.

As a result I was super out of it most of the day, feeling tired and exhausted and fairly dizzy. I don’t know how other people do this but every time I get enough sleep after a few days of sleep deficit I’m totally ready to stay in bed for another week or two.

I started the day with picking up my phone and then – unsurprisingly – somehow ran out of time for the manuscript. Boo.

Here is proof that I left the house:

I even tried my new contact lenses and they are working well.

I took a shower and my husband made pasta with tomato sauce because we couldn’t stand cabbage two days in a row:

As you can see we continued our theme of wine with meals, my husband had gotten this really excellent wine as a gift and opened the bottle for lunch.

I had loads of plans for the afternoon but mostly spent it talking to the boy, playing Genshin and doing research and such for a writing retreat I want to attend in April. This is really, really exciting. I really like the person leading the retreat and since she is American she does not come to Germany very often. So I decided to sign up.

The sign up was a Google form which seemed a tad unprofessional, and since I didn’t hear anything I thought something had gone wrong. But no! I got an actual letter in the mail with all the details. So yesterday afternoon I paid half the fee, researched trains and booked a ticket and seat, and then I researched the place where the retreat takes place.

It’s in a really fancy hotel. I might have to take more than one outfit plus a change of t-shirt and underwear for this one.

I had big plans of watching a course I have on „Die Hard“ and sorting my yarn but that never happened. I ate dinner, drank the leftover champagne from the day before, watched a video about J-Hope practicing for his tour, started writing this post and eventually went to bed.

And today will be another chill day, I’m sure.