daily journal

I might have stayed up an hour too late and then gotten up an hour early and then picked up my phone. I did manage to turn it around somewhat by only skipping meditation and opening the manuscript after breakfast but, well, better next time, I guess.

I knew I would have a long and busy day. One of the top questions in the morning was if there was enough yogurt for two days or only one. Because if there wasn’t I would have wanted to pick some up ASAP. But there was enough so all is good.

We had breakfast in a cold kitchen because we were expecting the chimney sweep in the early afternoon and weren’t sure if he would look at the chimney for the wood stove or only the furnace. So we didn’t light a fire just in case.

I cut my husband’s hair which was long overdue, he’d had to smooth it down with water for a few days. I did the dishes and then went out for my walk/run:

I had been anxious about the ice warning but it turned out the footing was much better than the week before because there was all this snow and that provided grip. Even the running parts were fun.

Lunch was early for once (no wood stove, ahem) and so we ate just after I returned home:

Then I took a shower and was lucky in that the chimney sweep rang just as I was pulling up my pants. I opened the door with a towel around my hair but fully dressed. I left him downstairs and then half-waited for him to tell me he was finished only to find that when it was time for me to start teaching he was already gone.

I’m assuming he talked to my husband and didn’t just head out without a word.

Then there was teaching and scheduling makeup lessons for when I was sick in December. The Monday students make the bulk of that because that was the only day I canceled completely. My schedule looks pretty full the rest of the week but after that I will be mostly caught up.

And then it was time for dinner and the first session in the course I am taking right now, „The Liberated Writer“. I am still rather skeptical about the whole enneagram thing but I like the teacher and I think it will be a good place to tackle some mindset stuff.

It turned out I knew quite a few of the participants from elseweb and I think the whole thing will be interesting and helpful. How I will fit that into my week is another question, especially with the extra lessons. But that’s just this week. It will be fine.

I started writing this post right after, then made the list for today and that was mostly it for the day because I was very, very tired.

And now I’ll go out for errands and grocery shopping. Then teaching, then homework, I guess.

Is still a bad idea.

It meant that I had less time for the manuscript and was late anyway.

After a late breakfast and some talking and crochet I called my mother on the phone and then it was time to make gnocchi from scratch and veal cutlets. Only cooking on the wood stove did not go well and we ended up eating at 2.30 in the afternoon. By then I wasn’t even hungry anymore:

After that I ate some chocolate and then set out to finish the video game tasks I had set myself. And a few more. When I looked up again it was 6 already and I still hadn’t done the dishes or anything.

So I did the dishes, husband saw me and helped, and then the boy and I did bodyweight training. I had dinner and because the boy had suggested I do just a few quick things in-game before the week was over I went and tried those. Oh my, that was a disaster. We even tried it in co-op mode and, well, I spent an hour at least and still failed.

After that I was a little late, of course, and still hadn’t planned the week or anything. I did change the BRITA filter and descale both kettles in the breaks between sets while exercising but that was it.

So I started typing this post real quick, planned the week and made a list for today, watched half an episode of C-drama while crocheting and went to bed.

And now to a week that will be rather full. I will have five Zoom meetings this week. Serves me right for signing up for yet another course.

I went to bed on time and slept well for more than eight hours. Ha!

And then I did my complete morning routine including 50 minutes of manuscript time. I’d say, taking most of the email off my smartwatch is a good move.

My husband and I continued our conversation from the day before about chance and outside forces steering our lives. A lot of what we were talking about hit our respective trigger points, so not an easy talk. But we did end up understanding each other better which is always good.

At the same time I was trying to do the gauge swatch for the Wildshore Blanket CAL. I had to redo it (note to self, don’t try to learn a new stitch pattern while having an argument with your spouse) because I hadn’t read the pattern properly and the scallops ended up square. Second time went better:

And yes, I am aware there is a mistake in the first lavender row. And then I had to redo it again because the swatch ended up being too small and I switched to a bigger hook, did it again, and now the tension matches and I like the fabric better.

And then it turned out that the milk had gone sour, we didn’t have meat for lunch, and were out of both kinds of potatoes, so after doing the dishes I went off to the nearby supermarket.

Back home, unpacked everything, put my contact lenses in and went walking /running:

I was a little late in coming back home but that wasn’t a problem because lunch wasn’t ready either. So I took a shower and then we had lunch:

After lunch I ate all the sweets and read, played Genshin and started the actual blanket. I didn’t get far, though, before it was time for the weekly writers Zoom.

During Zoom I tried setting up the foundation row for the blanket. I counted to 161, then crocheted back and ended up with 159 stitches. But it said the blanket needed to be 161 stitches wide. So I ripped all those treble crochets back, added to chain stitches and started again. Counted (while listening to and talking with people), everything was fine, I had 161 stitches.

I checked the pattern and it said: „at the end of the row you should have 159 stitches“. So my first try had been correct after all. I briefly thought about just decreasing two stitches in the next row but ended up undoing that row yet again, plus to chain stitches and starting over.

By then it was time for our weekly (or not so weekly) episode of ‚Columbo‘, I started writing this post, did my daily list, and went to bed.

The plan for today includes making gnocchi from scratch. My guess is that lunch will be late again…

So, I didn’t actually manage to go to bed on time. I’m blaming the boy, of course, nothing to do with me at all. Ahem.

But. Not having interesting email and newsletters on my Watch really did make a difference. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still spent some time re-reading old boring emails. And then I still stayed in bed staring at the ceiling. The good thing was that that staring-at-the-ceiling time meant I had a solution for how to tackle my new spinning project afterwards.

I did the usual morning things and this time that included almost twice as much time in the manuscript as usual. I did the whole morning pages, yoga and meditation thing, then had breakfast with my husband after which we talked a bit about the F Mixolydian #11 scale. And the fact that there is no such thing. My husband had encountered another exampled of the jazz musician as a human calculator way of thinking.

Then I was super inspired to start prepping fiber for my sock yarn. I had decided to spin a sample first, and for that I pulled off enough of the fiber that I had all the different colors in there:

And then I divided it lengthwise into three parts and started spinning the first one. It went very well. I’m just not quite sure I’m spinning fine enough but I guess I’ll see.

After that I did the dishes while my husband was out running, and then I slowly started the weekly cleaning. You know, the one that hasn’t really been weekly lately.

Everything went fine but when my husband came back he was resenting the fact that I kept running into his way. (He was also running into my way but I don’t mind as much. And cooking lunch has priority, of course.) We ended up in a not all that fun row but made up before the meal was over. The food was very good, though, if a bit too spicy:

I played some Genshin and finished the quest that I had tried four times a few days ago without success. Turns out I was making one or two crucial mistakes that made the whole thing unnecessarily hard.

And then it was time for teaching. I had a short teaching day with a lot of variety, piano, ukulele, guitar and then piano again.

Since I wasn’t finished with cleaning that’s what I did next, right after hanging up a load of laundry and starting the next one. The boy and I did bodyweight training on top of sore muscles and after that I could finally eat dinner. Phew.

But I wasn’t quite finished. I did the dishes right away because the boy wanted to take a shower, brushed my teeth and hung up a second load of laundry. In between I made my list for today and later I started writing this post.

And then there was some C-drama while knitting and bed. I was rather tired at this point but that’s okay after a day like that.

Now I’d just like today to be equally productive. I guess that’s up to me.

I went to bed at a reasonable time but that didn’t really help because I had to get up an hour earlier than usual.

We had to leave the house that early to attend a funeral service. The uncle who was driving my husband, my mother-in-law and me said we might need an hour for that 25-minute drive and we did because it was rush hour and there was construction. And so we arrived just on time.

The service was wonderful but the chapel was freezing.

Afterwards we walked to a nearby pub for white sausages:

We sat with people we had never met before but also managed a few words with the deceased uncle’s wife.

And then the three of us went back home on public transport. My mother-in-law was easily overwhelmed and confused by all the people and unfamiliar streets but she did quite a bit of walking with just her cane and an arm to hold onto.

We took the subway and then the train and got lucky that we didn’t have to wait for too long anywhere. Mind you, my mother-in-law looks frail enough that she was offered seats on every platform and in every car.

Also, how great is it that everything is that accessible. She didn’t have to climb stairs even once, there were elevators and escalators everywhere.

In our hometown she even opted to walk all the way back home from the train station on my husband’s arm while I made a quick detour to the nearby supermarket for a few things the boy hadn’t found the day before.

And look what I found:

At home my husband immediately started a fire in the wood stove because we felt frozen to the bone. We still had an hour before teaching which was nice.

The first thing that afternoon that I had was being coached by a friend. It was the first time we did that and she is very good. Very motivating session and I got homework. You know how I love me some homework.

The I taught a student, used a 60-minute break for manuscript time (I told you she was motivating), taught some more, ate dinner, decided against doing the rest of the dishes (husband had done everything we needed for breakfast), ate dinner, played some Genshin even though I was too tired, started writing this post, decided against watching TV, made a list for today and went to bed.

Today will be the first regular day since the beginning of December or so. I guess I can finally breathe out.

And not much time to write here. Last night I was late because of the exercise, had to go to bed early because of an early alarm this morning, and right now I have to leave the house. I’m hoping to be back in time for teaching. Otherwise things might get a little weird.

I went to bed way too late, yet again and then spent 45 minutes or so unable to fall asleep. Ack.

Still, my sleep app thought my readiness for the day was „optimal“ and I did feel fine.

Morning routine including yoga but not manuscript time or meditation, talking with husband, dishes, and off I went into the extremely chilly woods:

I came back, took a shower and then got to enjoy fennel and polenta:

In between I finalized the plans for the new spinning project but I did not get around to actually prepping the fiber and starting.

I barely had fifteen minutes between lunch and teaching. Which went well and I started scheduling extra lessons for the missed ones in December because I was sick.

In between I wrote a grocery list so the boy could do the supermarket run. There were some things he didn’t find but at least we’re back to having butter again.

Once he was back and had put the groceries away we turned around and did bodyweight training. We’re both pretty out of shape. So I guess now we need to work at getting back into shape again.

I ate dinner while reading and talked with the rest of the family in between. The boy said he wanted to take a shower but he’d be quick. I ate lots of chocolate while reading and he still hadn’t come back. So I made the executive decision to do the dishes first which turned out to be a very good decision because it took him so long to return that I had done the dishes, dried them, put them away, and was in the middle of brushing my teeth until he reappeared.

I started writing this post, played my video game for a bit, watched C-drama very briefly and went to bed.

At least I laid out my clothes last night and tried them on. I even put out my jewelry.

And yes, today will be super busy as well. It should be the last of these crazy people-heavy days for a while, though.