My husband was very patient waiting for me with breakfast. I mean, he did eat before me while reading (best breakfast ever in my opinion but not in his). We did get to talk, I was mostly about the „Big Time“-book and about how much better I fell now that school break is over and I have less time.

The day was very productive again, I cut my husband’s hair and did the breakfast dishes while listening to „Isolde’s Liebestod“ which was actually nicer than I remembered. I found a version with Waltraud Meier and was reminded about the fact that a friend’s friend in uni worked as Ms. Meier’s assistant which meant that sometimes my friend would take over. I found the idea of having an assistant very strange. They had to do things like clean her flat, do phone calls for her, run errands, and all kinds of things. From time to time they also would get a card to the opera, if she had an extra, and so I got to see most of a Wagner opera that I unfortunately don’t remember. Ms. Meier played a role that was only in the first act, and her boyfriend watched her. The two of them both left after that to go on vacation or something, and so my friend got to sit in the boyfriend’s good seat while I got to see the rest of the opera from the gallery, standing in a place where you can’t see part of the stage but can look right into the orchestra.

Anyway, after that I got the vacuum upstairs and ran it through the apartment which was sorely needed before going on my walk/run. I was a little late at this point but that was okay because I had thought my run would be 68 minutes when in fact it was 58.

It was drizzling a bit but not raining very hard. My legs felt very heavy, I think the combination of a harder walk/run on Monday followed by pushing myself a little in strength training the night before was quite a bit. Good thing I won’t be exercising today. Much.

I was a little late for lunch but so was the food so I got my shower in before eating. Husband had to downgrade the meal because we were out of red lentils and he didn’t have time to make the saffron rice he wanted. It was still delicious:

Since my first lesson started a little later than the days before I had time to do the dishes before playing my video game for twenty minutes before dashing off to teach.

Then it was one student after the other until the evening, I had a 20-minute dinner break and then I met my writer friend for a writing session over Zoom.

I wrote many words. Which was extremely surprising, I would have thought I was too tired for that at that point.

Afterwards I started this post, wrote my list for today and brushed my teeth, then played some more video game, read a bit and went to bed.

Today I think I’ll start packing in earnest. Though I added the rest of the clothes that I want to take yesterday. I should maybe charge my ebook reader and the power bank. And I need to figure out where I put the notebook I want to take. And watch the makeup tutorial again, you know how it is.

I can’t praise „Big Time“ by Laura Vanderkam enough, by the way, she has a way of making me feel much better about my time. Looks like there is enough time after all.

So, I went to bed only 15 minutes late and slept for more than eight hours, woohoo!

I woke up and felt – tired and blah. My smartwatch was convinced I needed to rest for the rest of the day. Um, no.

I did my morning routine a little slower than I would have liked but still made the time to work on the manuscript for 15 minutes. I also wrote morning pages, did yoga and meditated.

Just as I was about to get out of bed my „wake the boy up“-timer went off. I didn’t have to, though, because he had woken up on his own. I saw him very briefly as he was getting his water bottle and then I heard him leave the house in a hurry. There are train shenanigans going on this week, again, and so he decided to instead take the bus to the subway.

Well. The bus to the subway was overflowing and he couldn’t squeeze himself in. Since he thought the next one would be equally full he just turned around and went back home.

He got himself breakfast while I was still doing morning routine stuff and I didn’t see him after he told me what happened.

I was very determined to have another good day. And I had, only I also had a morning where everything takes longer than expected. But I did listen to my piece of classical music, and did my internet rounds, and looked at my list, and wrote messages right and left and did some admin stuff.

And then I went out to buy yogurt and go to the health food store.

The weather had been dreary and cold all morning with intermittent rain. I had looked outside before leaving and thought it a good idea to pack an umbrella but there was only a little rain, so I made do with my rain jacket. I wanted to do a trial run for the weekend and see how the jacket would be doing in the rain. I was also wearing the new pair of shoes I want to take with me on my trip to see if I’ll could walk in those for a while.

And then it started pouring down like crazy. I still didn’t want to get the umbrella out and then carry it around the rest of the way and I’m happy to report that the raincoat was sufficient and the shoes were only mildly uncomfortable.

I got everything I wanted apart from radicchio or any kind of salad, and made my way back home in time for lunch.

Lunch was a little late, though, so I had time to unpack groceries and fold two loads of laundry. Well, the parts of the laundry that were still on the drying racks, because the clothes had been hanging there for a while and had been picked off in part.

And then we ate lunch. Not outside this time:

I had a little over half an hour after that, that I used to read a bit and play my video game for twenty minutes.

Then there were many, many students. The student who often doesn’t show didn’t show up again (sick this time, poor thing), I did some more admin while I waited and after 15 minutes of that I decided to play the piano until it was time for the next student. That was fun.

Then more teaching until 6.30. I knew I still had a little time until the boy and I were supposed to do bodyweight training, so I refilled a fountain pen, cleaned the mirrors, touched everything with the feather duster and then I saw that my husband had started the dishes and had to stop right in the middle, so I finished those as well.

The boy was a little late but I didn’t mind. We did our exercise and then I could finally eat dinner.

After dinner I opened the manuscript for another 15 minutes, started writing this post, made a list for today, brushed my teeth, played some more video game and then went to bed with a book, well, ebook reader.

Oh, and at some point in the day I also filled some shampoo in a small travel container and packed my makeup into the toiletry bag.

Why yes, I was pretty tired last night but I felt soo good.

And now we just do it all again. Minus the grocery shopping and strength training plus cardio and writing sprints.

I went to bed only half an hour late but didn’t sleep well, no idea why.

I was very determined to use the day wisely, with all the teaching and my upcoming trip it’s better not to procrastinate. Also, I did not do any housework the week before, some parts of the house are looking a bit dingy already.

So I dawdled a little less than usual and managed 15 minutes of writing time in addition to all the other morning things. Husband and I talked and I started the new pair of socks for real. I finally got to try the alternate cable cast-on and that looks good, is stretchy and fairly easy to do.

Since I wanted to be on time for things I did look at the clock throughout the morning and was rewarded with being only ten minutes later in leaving the house for my walk/run. I realized that my 68-minute walk/run actually takes me 90 minutes when you count changing clothes, getting ready and putting my contacts in.

The weather was marvelous but very warm:

I have progressed to 2 1/2-minute running intervals and I did better than expected. Also, the whole thing was rather exhausting.

I came back home, took my contacts out and took a shower. I was so sweaty and hot that my glasses fogged over, and when I took them off in the shower I still couldn’t see properly. So I thought my vision was blurry because there was sweat in my eyes. I also felt pretty dehydrated which could also be contributing.

I got dried myself and got dressed and put my glasses back on. In the shower the sight in my right eye had been blurry but with the glasses it was my left eye. Weird.

I started having thoughts of retina tears, of course, but there was not much time for contemplation, husband was making salad and very stressed. So I helped chop things, all the while unable to use my left eye.

We ate lunch outside:

After lunch I had only 15 minutes where I read and ate chocolate before my first student. They were coming in 45 minutes earlier than usual.

Not being able to see out of your left eye is very distracting while teaching piano. Thinking you might be going blind and should go see your eye doctor for emergency laser surgery is even more distracting.

After the first student I had a 45-minute break, of course, until the next student. I was still determined to get stuff done but something about the way my sight was only blurry in one eye bugged me. Was there something in my eye? If so, what was it? I tried looking at it properly but for that I have to take my glasses off and then I can’t see anything.

And then I had the right idea: what if the thing that was in my left eye was the contact lens? I mean, I remembered taking lenses out of both eyes and putting them in the case.

Right.

I looked at the contact lens case and found that there was no lens in the right side, only in the left.

What must have happened was this: I took the right lens out but because I was sweating so hard and the lenses are not the newest I fumbled, the lens stuck to my finger and I had a hard time getting it into the case (that’s what I remember). I also remember that taking the second one out was weirdly hard as well, and that one also stuck to my finger and I finally put it back in the case.

Apparently, it was the right lens stuck to my finger and I didn’t see that I hadn’t put it in the case. And when I tried taking out the left one I still had the right one stuck to my finger and thought that was the left one.

And when you walk around with your contact lens and your glasses at the same time that makes your vision rather blurry.

After taking that lens finally out I then changed the sheets on my bed and all the towels, then went looking for the wool shaver in a chest of drawers that I never open. Shaver in hand I looked at the other stuff in there and wondered what was in that big plastic bag:

Well, it seems to be about 400 grams of purple Corriedale. The purple Corriedale that I thought I had all spun up. I had been wondering about how small the quantity of yarn was that I got when I remembered buying 500 grams and the other big bump of fiber is huge but I couldn’t find more of the fiber.

So instead of vacuuming the apartment like I had planned (but I had run out of time for that anyway) I fetched a niddy-noddy and another lazy kate to pull the plied yarn of the bobbin.

The other lazy kate hadn’t been used in years. It was stored in a plastic bag on a shelf in my studio. When I tried taking it out I couldn’t because it was fused to he bag.

The plastic feet of the lazy kate had dissolved completely.

I pried it out and used it anyway but the next step will be to get the remains of the plastic feet off the bottom and put new feet on it.

I then taught the rest of my students, one student canceled so I used that time to refill the humidifier in the piano and play some piano exercises, and the last student of the day was my writer friend from New York, so we did a piano lesson and the talked for half an hour.

I had asked the boy to do the dishes which he did, so all I needed to do there was to put some things away. I ate dinner while reading (I started reading „Big Time“ by Laura Vanderkam yesterday, and I find it very uplifting.) and then opened the manuscript for 15 minutes.

Right in the middle of that my husband showed up after being done with teaching and we talked a bit. He was very tired and exhausted. I then wrote some more, started writing this post, fought some video game bosses with my son’s help, brushed my teeth, wrote a list for today, played some more video game and went to bed.

This whole day just shows how much better I do when I don’t have a day with all the time in the world. On the other hand, having days with nothing to do is also good for recharging but still, full days with a lot to do suit me better.

Nice conversation with my husband while I finished knitting a pair of socks for him, and afterwards I wove in all the ends:

More conversation with my husband, then the weekly phone call with my mother who finally got. new cell phone. And then promptly had trouble with her TV receivers but that got resolved as well.

After the phone call it was time to go out for lunch. The boy had originally said he didn’t want to come but then changed his mind after looking at the menu. Thre are actually two vegetarian main dishes on there.

It was a new-to-us Greek restaurant not far away. We really liked it, it is set back between the indoor pool, the high school and a sports club. Everything was outdoors and very cozy and green. Here’s our appetizers:

And here are the main dishes:

The food was excellent. We particularly liked the red beet salad and decided right away to try and put walnuts and feta cheese on ours the next time. My husband was very happy with the portion size (I had to leave half my meat uneaten, I was so stuffed) and we’re sure we’ll be coming back.

After coming back home I took a little break and then started playing Genshin real quick.

The boy helped me with a pesky mini-game that I just couldn’t get, I tried a few other things, washed a few of the breakfast things and then it was time for my monthly Zoom with a writer friend.

We talked for an hour and had a lot of fun. We had the kind of conversation where you think you’re going to talk about something specific beforehand and then you end up somewhere completely different.

After that the boy and I did bodyweight training, I ate dinner, my husband showed me some more of his old paintings and drawings that are rather impressive. He had a phase as a teenager where he wrote and painted in addition to his music and he is currently going through boxes of his old stuff.

I talked with him and then with the boy and played a little more, started writing this post, helped the boy write another email, spent a little time on the manuscript and then planned out the week.

And now for the first real teaching day this month.

On the other hand I have done yoga and meditation every single day this month so far, so that’s good.

My husband went for his long 10k run, so left early and assigned me the task of turning the beans off at a certain point. I was done with dishes and such fifteen minutes before that time and instead of just getting ready to leave the house for running right away and then maybe waiting for five minutes I went online and reinstalled the Instagram app on my tablet. Great move.

Somehow after that I was late for my own walk/run.

The weather was gorgeous and I did pretty well. It’s very funny, I run along on my endless 2-minute running intervals, feel like I’m close to keeling over, then look at my smartwatch and see that my heart rate is 134. Ahem. I’m not that unfit, I should be able to train at 145 to 155 for a while before it’s too much. So my perceived effort is very different from the actual one:

I came back home half an hour late but I had left a note, and I could even shower before lunch.

We had pasta e fagioli, a family favorite:

After lunch I read a bit, ate some chocolate (a little more than my (almost) no sugar challenge allows) and then I started playing Genshin Impact. The plan was to play for an hour or so, then do the dishes and open the manuscript.

Well. The quest I was playing was rather nice and also very, very long and I kept thinking „just a little more“ until I had to rush off to my weekly writer Zoom call. That call was lovely even if I never quite got to check in but I already knew that I was not super happy with the amount I got done.

After Zoom I met the rest of the family for our weekly session of ‚Columbo‘. The episode was great, it was the one that Peter Falk wrote himself thta features a wonderful Faye Dunaway. It was very good, though I have to say, the fact that there is never any blood anywhere (after shooting someone in the chest in front of a white door on a beige carpet, ahem) is starting to get to me but then that’s just what they used to do on TV. The other main character was played by Claudia Christian and I was very proud that I recognized her as the actress who played Commander Ivanova in ‚Babylon Five‘.

After watching TV I ate some more chocolate (again, twice the amount I had planned to eat) and went on to play just a little more until I finished the quest right after my bedtime.

I started writing this post, took care of the leftover food and tidied the dirty dishes so that we could make breakfast this morning, brushed my teeth and went to bed.

Today I really should get some housework done but we also want to go out for lunch, so we’ll see what actually fits.

And then it will be back to teaching and regular life.

First I dawdled until I didn’t have time for writing before breakfast anymore, then I did the usual morning routine, talked with my husband, and started turning the heel on my sock.

I read a bit, then we talked some more, and then he went out to meet a friend for lunch.

I read even more and then set out to buy frozen pizza and ice cream. Because as we were eating out with family on Wednesday, when everybody else ordered huge desserts and I didn’t really have time, I had promised myself to buy ice cream the next time I went to the supermarket.

I made the pizza for lunch:

I liked the book very much and finished it in two days. And that was only partially due to it being rather short. I then bought the next in the series, and an unrelated T. Kingfisher book that I saw on a friend’s blog.

After finishing lunch I went into waiting mode quite a bit. I waited for the boy to come downstairs for lunch and for my husband to come back, and all of that took some time. Time that I spent first reading and then playing.

At six I met my writer friend for a co-writing session. This time I let myself get very distracted and ended up reading forum posts and ordering postcards but in the end I still made great progress on my manuscript. Though I have the feeling something really should be happening by now.

Next on the list was bodyweight training with the boy. I forgot to wear compression gloves during the (pseudo)-pushup part of the training, we’ll see how that feel later today.

The boy and I then shared a pint of ice cream as dinner. I got lucky, the one time I went and bought ice cream my favorite brand was on sale, hurray!

Then it was time to do all the dishes and brush my teeth, I started this post, made a list for today, played some more and went to bed.

And now for a pretty busy weekend.

And then I had another morning where time ceased to exist, so no manuscript time and I was very late for breakfast. I did force myself to do yoga, though, and meditated for five minutes.

Breakfast was nice but then I found I had made a mistake in the sock-in-progress, I had one gusset stitch too many, so I had to count all the stitches several times, then tried to find out where I went wrong and had to decide whether that meant pulling the past 34 rounds out.

In the end I decided to fudge it. It might mean the second sock has two more rounds than the first one but I doubt that is actually noticeable. I just decreased a stitch in a place that will probably not stick out.

But all of that took some time.

Husband and I talked at length about my dumb problem with school breaks and how unhappy and cranky I get when I have free time which is rather embarrassing. Also, about how that affects him. Fun!

Then I did the dishes and went on a very short walk/run (because I was even more late at that point):

The weather was gorgeous at that point which I found confusing because I had expected rain but I was not. complaining. The rain can storm came later, in the evening.

Husband and I ate lunch which was delicious:

All the Greek food brought to you by way of leftover burgers.

After lunch I took a shower right away and then did the lunch dishes. The boy showed up after I had just finished those and produced – more dirty dishes. I decided I didn’t mind, doing dishes – like any kind of housework – is just an ongoing process. The kitchen still looks better with just a few plates in the sink than with two dirty pots, a frying pan and all the plates and cutlery we used for lunch.

After that I took a break, started playing my video game and then just went on and on. In between I talked with my husband again and he decided to run to the town lake and take a dip for a bit of spontaneous summer feeling. He is meeting a friend of his tomorrow for lunch and was also afraid he wouldn’t have the time to go running beforehand.

At six I met my writer friend for a co-writing session and I finally got the timeline-thing sorted. I also did a bit of research for book 3 about art colleges in Berlin and Münster, as one does.

Then I stayed at the computer a bit longer to start writing this post, then finally ate dinner, made a list for today, played just a little bit and went to bed somewhat earlier.

And now I need to figure out what to make for lunch today.

Because we were going to a memorial service for my sister-in-law’s mother.

So we all had taken showers the night before (one reason for the late bedtime because only one person can have hot water at the same time in this house), and after breakfast my husband and I dressed in our funeral clothes. Unfortunately, I do not own a black raincoat and my winer coat was definitely too warm, so I went in a dress with a cotton cardigan on top, light pantyhose (because I didn’t have a black one) and black Mary Janes.

I also did my makeup for the first time in a year or so. No picture, sorry.

One of my husband’s nephews and his wife came to pick my mother-in-law and us up. The boy needed to be at uni so he did not join us.

Everything went well, the service was very moving (for everyone but me, as usual).

Since my husband didn’t have any students that day and since I still had 3 1/2 hours before my one student of the day was due we decided to join the family for lunch. We don’t see each other often and thought it would be nice. Which it was.

The restaurant was very Bavarian up to the point where they wrote the menu in transcribed Bavarian which was a bit surreal. I got pork roast with creamed mushrooms and rosemary potatoes:

It was very good.

When we were all finished with eating and no one was ordering dessert I thought we’d be home soon. Husband and I sat around waiting while the small talk went over us in waves.

At the point where the first guests were leaving because they still needed to drive all the way to Nuremberg some of the other guests started talking about dessert.

I had to tell our designated driver that I needed to be home by 4. Foolish me had thought three hours would certainly be ample time to eat, talk and finish the 15-minute drive back home.

Well. We did make it. Just barely. I texted my student that I would probably be on time, not to worry, just open the garden gate and wait inside, and when I rushed to the annex door she was pushing her bike in.

I had to teach in my black dress and cardigan and – most annoyingly – in the pair of glasses that are for looking in the distance. The glasses do have a small part for reading but deciphering sheet music with them was no joke.

So all went well but being very dependent on other people at times is one of the drawbacks of not having a car.

After my lesson my husband and I finally did all the dishes from the day before and breakfast together, we talked briefly with the boy, and then I sat down to dinner, played Genshin and procrastinated taking my makeup off.

I was very foggy after coming home and could not make myself write, so I might do some extra writing today. I also did not go for my usual Wednesday run, maybe I’ll find time to do it today. My husband actually went for a run after we did the dishes to clear his head.

Today is a public holiday, so no grocery shopping, which means there might be time for it.

After the usual morning routine and a short conversation with my husband over breakfast I again lost about an hour and I can’t even say to what.

Did the dishes and then realized that I needed to hurry if I wanted to get to the cobbler before they close for lunch.

I did make it, then went to a nearby supermarket, and after that to the health food store. Unpacked the groceries and folded a few clothes before eating lunch:

That was delicious. What was extra nice was that my husband specifically asked me to bring zucchini for lunch but I had already bought some the day before, ha!

I tried to make myself do the dishes but failed, read a little (I finally started the „No Baggage“-book by Clara Bensen and so far I really like it. Since I finished „A Taste of Poison“ by M.Kato in the morning I also started reading the newest Alexis Hall „Father Material“.)

I did play some Genshin and then it was time for my one student of the week. I changed into real pants and got all ready and then I waited.

Well.

Turns out that lesson is supposed to be today, not yesterday, oops.

I played some more Genshin, ate dinner, met a friend for a writing sprint over Zoom that I spent sorting out that timeline for book 1, then met the boy for bodyweight training, took a shower, squeezed those dishes in real quick, and went to bed.

Today will be notably different but I’ll tell you about that tomorrow.

First, I went to bed on time (which is pretty much unheard of) and then went on to sleep through my alarm. After almost nine hours of sleep I felt like half my brain was offline for most of the day.

I did my complete morning routine including restarting the 30-day morning yoga playlist and opening the manuscript for 15 minutes.

In case you’re thinking that all of this sounds super productive and focused I have to tell you that I also lost almost an hour to faffing around on the internet before breakfast and also another thirty minutes to opening Instagram right after breakfast. In my defense I was a bit tense after a conversation with my husband about my tendency to a) jump to conclusions and b) be tense and stressed because of my conclusions which then radiates out to him.

He basically started with „since we don’t have pork cutlets“ as an intro to discussing the two other options we had, and I took that as a hint that my grocery shopping was sub-par, and that I should rush to the grocery store that same morning to get all the stuff we didn’t have in the house.

That discussion took us beyond our new cutoff time for breakfast conversations. That cutoff time is a crucial ingredient in reducing lunchtime stress.

We’re good, we both said we’re sorry and meant it.

So then I did the breakfast dishes while listening to classical music and read „War and Peace“ while brushing my teeth, and went out for my walk/run almost an hour later than I had wanted.

It had been gray and wet in the morning but when I was out it looked like this:

All dry and sunny:

I came back home just in time for lunch:

I took a break, read quite a bit, and then went out to do some grocery shopping. Thre stores later I had yogurt (had bought the wrong kind and do not want to eat that one for breakfast), potato chips and chocolate bars (emotional necessity) and also zucchini, pork cutlets, ground beef and sugo.

I played my video game and then finally took a shower just in time for my bi-weekly coaching session. My friend also told me about the two BTS concerts she had visited last week. Very exciting. But not going was probably the right decision for me, the many, many screaming people would probably drive me crazy.

Then I ate potato chips and a chocolate bar for dinner, talked with my husband, read, and then met the boy for our weekly boss-fighting together.

I started writing this post, opened the manuscript for fifteen more minutes (coach’s homework), made a list for today and finally did the dishes before going to bed a little late.

I spent quite some time yesterday thinking about what I want to wear to my high-school reunion. Both my husband and my mother think I should wear the red dress instead of skirt and t-shirt and they’re probably right. A part of me thinks looking good is not as important as having pockets but I can survive with just a purse, probably.

More pondering soon.

The day went well anyway, with all the usual things including talking to my mother on the phone, knitting, helping with lunch a little, folding laundry, starting laundry and hanging up fresh laundry, and in the afternoon my husband and I pulled together and cleaned the house so that it is livable again.

We had a grocery shopping fail, none of the things he wanted to cook were in the house but we ate excellent rice and lentils:

I spent most of the afternoon playin my video game, then did some cleaning and then did bodyweight training with the boy. Dinner while reading, then I started writing this post, and then I finally turned to the thing that was the most important on my list: reviewing May and making plans for June.

Things I wanted to do in May:

1. Turn the lights out at 10.30 or earlier: I managed that exactly 4 times, ahem.
2. Continue regular exercise: done. 
3. Continue writing the current novel: done. I had the faint hope of finishing it this month, that did not work out.
4. Write an author newsletter: done.
5. Make an Amazon Author Central Page: nope
6. (Almost) no sugar challenge: okay. I ate more sugar than I wanted on two days but that was mostly it.
7. Ply purple Corriedale: not done. I still need to do spinning wheel maintenance. But I did start plying.
8. Make music for fun 3 times a week: got a total of 6 times, so no. But 6 times is better than none.
9. Read 5 books: yes! I even finished 6.
10. Continue Chinese, “War & Peace” and „Year of Wonder“: done (I did not listen to one piece of music but will do that today, so all is well.
11. Genshin Impact: I reached all my video game goals
12. Spend time with family: yes. Husband and I went to Vesakh and on a hike and biked to the beer garden. I did not spend extra time with the boy but that’s okay.

So, all in all I’d say the month went better than I thought it had. Bedtime procrastination continues to be a big problem. I did buy a course and short book about it, we’ll see if that results in better evening habits.

Anything marketing related continues to be a struggle, as does spinning and making music outside of teaching. Still, I am happy with the month as a whole.

And now I get to think about what I want June to be like.

My husband and I talked very briefly and I finished a sock:

I did go for my walk(run and got back in time to take a shower before a late lunch. It was so hot and humid, I felt like just lying down on the ground and falling asleep.

But I didn’t:

The running parts are continuing to feel somewhat better, so that’s nice. I still haven’t figured out how to take proper selfies.

Lunch was good but not all that exciting. We found out that we had run out of sugo when my husband wanted to get another bottle from the basement and there was none. So the boy got tomato puree in his sauce.

I played a bit of Genshin and then did the dishes just in time for writer Zoom.

That was really lovely this week, so I did have the feeling of time well spent. I also started the next sock.

Afterwards I folded laundry for a few minutes because I was the first one there for watching ‚Columbo‘. Excellent episode.

And after that I played some more and then went on YouTube and watched video after video about vocal coach reactions to BTS. Seems I’m music-starved. Also, geeking out about vocals is fun.

Unfortunately, that meant I went to bed too late.

Yawn.

Last day of the month today. I am playing with the thought of doing a plan for the whole quarter again. Hm. Not sure. I really would like to do some decluttering and then books for me aren’t really projects that only take a month. I’ll think about that later today.

But first the whole going to bed too late routine. I did set my alarm earlier and that meant I did have time for the manuscript before breakfast. I’m still reading what I read before and already found something that I need to mention again in the new chapter.

I did skip yoga for a change, I broke my streak after doing yoga every morning since the beginning of the month.

Husband and I had breakfast and I knitted a bit and then did the dishes before we left the house.

The weather was still hot and sunny but for the most part we biked through the woods so that was good. As usual my husband wanted us to ride next to each other so that we could talk on the way, something I really don’t like to do when biking. Riding my bike for me is not as mindless as walking, and I need to pay attention to the ground, is it sand, gravel, are there branches on the way, do we need to go back to single file because someone comes from the front, or worse, from behind?

My husband (like the boy) spent many years riding his bike to school with some of his schoolmates and riding his bike for fun with his friends in the afternoon. I did not.

Anyway, everything went fine and we did talk even when it was stressing me a bit at times. We got our usual beer garden fare, for me this time with alcohol-free beer:

Yes, I took the usual cheese spread, for the record, this version was much better than the one I had on Wednesday.

And then we rode out bikes back.

I read a bit and ate some chocolate, then played my video game for a while. I taught one student, then did bodyweight training with the boy, had dinner while reading, played some more, started writing this post, made a list for today and went to bed.

The first week of Pentecost break is almost over but I’d say we’re making good use of it.

I did do my usual yoga, five minutes of meditation and such in between I talked with the boy who had to leave early for uni. Husband and I talked quite a bit over breakfast and then I got a text from the boy that his train was canceled. He pressed on, took the next train but then had to change trains and the next train did not come. The train after that was on the station display as „arriving in 7 minutes“ for 15 minutes or so, and by then he would have been an hour late for a 90-minute lecture. And that was if everything went smooth after which it probably wouldn’t have.

So he turned around and came back home.

At that moment I told my husband that I was pretty sure my one afternoon student wouldn’t be able to come because she uses the trains as well and I was pretty sure the train chaos would not be sorted until the late afternoon.

Since I hadn’t been able to get my favorite chocolate in the first two tries I decided to walk to the other health food store and try my luck there.

Not only did they not have that chocolate, they also were out of the vitamins I buy for the boy. So, of course, I had to buy four chocolate bars as a consolation. I shared with the boy but still, more sugar than I had wanted to eat.

After that I walked to the nearby supermarket and things went pretty well. Came back home and helped briefly with making salad after putting the groceries away.

We ate lunch as a family which was nice. The boy looked up if Leibniz-Kekse get their name from the mathematician, and yes, they do. We did not eat cookies, we ate rice and beans:

After lunch I first read a bit (while eating two chocolate bars), then I played Genshin for a while and then did the dishes. I got ready for my student fifteen minutes before her lesson, and got a text from them that they couldn’t make it because of the train chaos ten minutes later.

I did updates on my websites and wrote a blog post on my poor, neglected author blog. Five minutes after hitting publish I got my first comment

It was spam.

I ate dinner and played some more Genshin Impact. I reached a few milestones, including getting the sword I wanted for my new character. Turns out I already did half the necessary subquests before, so it didn’t take all that long.

In between everything I also spent quite some time talking with the boy and he helped me with video game stuff. I am completely unable to put teams together for endgame content. Which isn’t easy with my limited roster, but well.

I started writing this post, made a list for today, and opened the manuscript again very briefly. I am currently rereading everything because I’m a little stuck. Rereading should be easier than writing new stuff but somehow I still procrastinate.

And today will go on another little excursion. Fun.

At least I hope so.

My husband also went swimming in the lake, I didn’t.

It was super hot. I think I’m somewhat fitter than the last time we did this, also probably fitter than most times. The hike from the train station to the monastery (and beer garden) is my annual test of how fit I am. And despite the awful heat I was doing pretty good.

We ate the usual, shared a big mug of strong beer and each had a small one without alcohol:

We also ate our usual dessert:

Well, we ate most of it but not all.

Went down the hill again and to the lake where I sat around while my husband went swimming.

And then the only other thing I did was shower and play Genshin (not at the same time), time got away from me and today I need to catch up.

My husband also went swimming in the lake, I didn’t.

It was super hot. I think I’m somewhat fitter than the last time we did this, also probably fitter than most times. The hike from the train station to the monastery (and beer garden) is my annual test of how fit I am. And despite the awful heat I was doing pretty good.

We ate the usual, shared a big mug of strong beer and each had a small one without alcohol:

We also ate our usual dessert:

Well, we ate most of it but not all.

Went down the hill again and to the lake where I sat around while my husband went swimming.

And then the only other thing I did was shower and play Genshin (not at the same time), time got away from me and today I need to catch up.

I did not, unsurprisingly.

What I did do was talk with my husband and knit and read and run errands. Since the weather is super hot and since I might want to wear my new red Mary Janes to the reunion I walked all the way to the cobbler to have them widened a bit. They should be ready by Friday.

I also ordered some more stuff for my husband and, also, after I read this month’s queer romance newsletter (highly recommend) I bought a handful of books.

I have to confess that I unsubscribed from that newsletter in the afternoon. As much as I love it it only leads to me buying books that I then don’t read.

The errands and grocery shopping went okay but it was way too hot. And then I got into an argument with my husband who said he can’t imagine being inside all the time seeing the same things all day instead of spending the nice weather outside.

Something in me snapped, I have been spending my whole life fending off people who told me I should come outside with them because the weather was so nice. Yes, I know about the weather, thank you. All the interesting things are right here inside. If I wanted to look at grass and trees I would go and do so. In fact, I do leave the house about six times a week, I do look at trees and clouds and fields and grass, I just find that roughly 45 minutes per day are perfectly adequate.

I really find the sun glaring, you can see it in every single photo of me that was taken outside, I am completely unable to keep my eyes open. I am super allergic to all kinds of pollen and mild up to the point where I itch all over as soon as I do any yardwork. And that is with the antihistamine. The outside is also much louder (there are two construction sites near our house at the moment and you can hear the cars, the highway and the people talking while walking by our house.

And yesterday (and today as well) it was so hot that I was drenched in sweat after walking to the supermarket and back.

Today, by the way, we are planning to do a little excursion to the Andechs monastery.

Lunch yesterday was rather early, which is always appreciated:

I started playing Genshin Impact pretty much right after lunch, the plan was to plan for an hour or so and then tackle my to-do list.

I played for two hours, then started a load of laundry after changing all the towels, I did the dishes, I talked with the boy who had gotten an email that he has now officially finished his Bachelor’s. He still needs to wait for the official certificate but hey, he does have a degree now.

(My mother-in-law actually gave him a card for the occasion. Did you know there are „congrats you finished your Bachelor’s“-cards? I didn’t.)

After doing all that housework I was super hungry so I ate dinner a little early, then the boy and I did bodyweight training, we talked for an hour, I played some more Genshin, then remembered the load of laundry that I hung up while watching YouTube and then I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole.

I did write this post but gave up on writing for the day because I was just too tired at that point.

I really need to find a way to make myself write without a body double. I mean, I know I can do it, it’s just very hard. I should try the  organized writing sprints in the Heart Breathings group again.

Not today, though. Today will be hiking, beer and bad food.

I was outside in the heat:

We ate Greek food that my husband made:

I really hope that I’ll also do other things today and so I better get myself going.

Oh, and I ordered fabric for another T-shirt or two because I decided I need to make a new one.

And off I go…

After waking up too early I then went straight to social media and such, not the best decision ever. And, no surprise there, I also did not open the manuscript. Weird.

The morning was very nice with my husband, then I talked with my mother on the phone and had to deal with her disappointment that I’ll be coming her way for the high-school reunion but won’t visit her. She lives a little over an hour away from where I need to go. Since I rely on public transportation that would mean leaving the reunion early to take the last train to her. Or traveling there and back the next day and adding 2 1/2 hours of travel time to a full day of sitting on trains.

She was also pretty upset because her cell phone broke, it was sent off for repair and now she hasn’t heard anything for three weeks. She relies heavily on texting her various friends and has no backup of her contacts.

I tried helping her over the phone, told her what to ask for when she gets her replacement phone (at least it was still under warranty) and I’m hoping she’ll be able to sort it out herself.

The whole morning I was super cranky, pretty typical for a school break. Which is absurd.

We had asparagus risotto for lunch:

The leftover asparagus we had is in there. The boy and I both had hoped for soup but, well. It was super hot, so not soup weather, probably.

I talked with my husband some more about why I am always getting so weird about school breaks but we are not sure yet. It definitely has something to do with wanting to use the time both for relaxation and for getting stuff done. Which can’t be done at the same time.

I spent the afternoon reading a little and then I threw myself into playing my video game for a couple of hours. The boy and I did a little bodyweight training, then ate dinner, and then I went right back to playing. I did reach several game milestones, so that was nice.

I also realized how much I try to be efficient most of the time, even when I’m relaxing and having fun, and how much I feel like I have to hold myself back to not run off in all directions at once. So I decided to make my project for the next two weeks to allow myself all the research time I want, even if it’s not connected to any current project.

That made me feel much better, almost giddy with excitement.

And then I bought myself two new books: „The Techniques of Painting“ by Brigid Marlin, recommended by KJ Charles in „How to Fake it in Society“, a book about the paints and techniques of the Dutch renaissance masters, and „Worn“ by Sofi Thanhauser about the history of clothes and the people who make them. I will probably learn more from the book about painting than from the one about clothes but I still started reading that one first.

Some time in between I also changed the sheets on my bed, so that was good. And I wrote for ten minutes at the time where I should have turned the lights out.

Today will be another weird in between day, Pentecost Monday.

I started the heel increases on the sock in progress and did some dishes, and then I went out for my walk/run. It was pretty hot already at that point:

It feels like I might be getting marginally fitter, even.

Back home I cut up all the veggies and salad ingredients before taking a shower. We ate lunch out on the porch:

The boy and I did the dishes right away, I read a bit and then sat down to play my video game. I finished „How to Fake it in Society“ by K.J. Charles which I greatly enjoyed. After that it was time for my weekly writer Zoom. It was nice to see them all again. After that we went out on the porch again for salmon on toast and alcohol-free champagne. The boy also had salmon-free salmon.

We watched the episode of ‚Columbo‘ where his nephew gets married, then the boy did the dinner dishes while I started writing this post.

I am really looking forward to planning the week out today, I don’t want to squander my week off.

But I did have a rather low energy day.

I spent the morning booking a hotel and train tickets for the upcoming high-school reunion that I only heard about two days ago. One of my former schoolmates actually tracked me down by searching for my name, music and Munich, I think.

So I did not change the sheets or clean anything. I did fold two loads of laundry, at least.

It was nice, warm and sunny and we ate outside:

I only had a few students scheduled in the afternoon. The first one texted a few minutes after the beginning of their lesson that they had forgotten (again). The second and third student both showed up as usual. The fourth one was another no-show with no explanation whatsoever and the last one canceled via email.

I tried using those breaks for something and I did work on the novel timeline, sort of, for a while but all in all I just sat around waiting. I also started doing a lesson in the new Chinese workbook that I bought last week, and I bought a course and ebook about bedtime procrastination after watching a video about why bedtime procrastination makes sense. Apparently I am the time of bedtime procrastinator who has the hardest time stopping it because it’s automatic. Oops.

And then I realized I had one of those days where trying to force myself to do something is no use so I ate dinner and read a little before doing bodyweight training with the boy. During which we talked about Genshin Impact (duh) and then he helped me with artifacts and I tried the new event (mostly unsuccessfully) and played and played until it was almost time to turn out the lights, and then I started writing this post, made a list for today and went to bed.

Phew.

I would revel in the feeling of having two weeks off but to be honest my days won’t look all that much different I guess.

Still. Sleep would have been a healthier idea.

Anyway, I did the complete morning routine including fifteen minutes of writing. And after breakfast I started doing a little research for the story as well.

I talked with my husband at length and then I went off to the supermarket on my bike. The sun was shining, the streets were pretty empty and all was good. Until I locked my bike at the store about to grab my bike panniers and realized that those panniers were actually still back home.

I think this has been the second time this happened ever. I did briefly think about going back home for them but I was too late already. So I did all the shopping, did not get frozen pizza (because those pizzas are huge and I had no idea how to get them home), paid for a big, sturdy paper bag, put all the heavy stuff in my big backpack and used the backup shopping bag that I carry in my backpack.

I managed to get everything home even though changing gears and getting off and on the bike with the huge bag hanging from the handle was a bit challenging.

I unpacked the groceries, helped quickly with the sauce, and then we had the asparagus my husband had bought at the farmer’s market the day before:

Then I talked with the boy, had a short break and went to work.

I had very few students that day, one just didn’t show up, I guess they won’t be coming anymore, but that’s not bad. I would have liked to know, though.

I did not use my breaks productively. I did play the piano, though, so that was good.

In the evening I had half a bag of potato chips before meeting with my writer friend over Zoom to write. By then I was already pretty done with the day, so writing was a bit of an uphill struggle but I still managed some new words.

Then I started this post, wrote my list for today, finally started the new video game quest and went to bed.

I opened the manuscript and then played some more Genshin Impact. I am very determined to finish the remaining quest as soon as possible. I also pulled on the new character banner first thing in the morning, as one does, and am very happy with the result.

I did the dishes, listened to a piano piece by Clara Schumann, and got ready to leave the house:

It had rained like crazy before but when I went out for my walk and run it was dry.

Back at home my husband was busy making lunch and I had time enough to take a shower before it was ready. We had capellini with a pesto he had made from wild oregano that grows in our garden. Most of the salad ingredients came fresh from the market, very yummy:

I only had a little time until my first student because I was starting lessons earlier than usual, and then taught all the way until late. I had a break between students that I used for research and to refill the water in my piano’s humidifier.

Then I finally got to eat dinner, started writing this post, wrote a list for today, brushed my teeth and made some more progress on the video game quest.

Today will bring a little less teaching so I’m hoping to get some other stuff done as well.

So. I did the complete morning routine including two sessions of writing (only for 30 minutes total but better than nothing), ran all the errands and went to the health food store, folded a load of laundry, and then there was lunch:

I ate a chocolate bar against my own rules, so no (almost) no sugar yesterday. The chocolate didn’t even taste as good as I had expected, seems after eating dark chocolate only for a while a milk chocolate bar feel too sweet. I didn’t know there was such a thing.

I read and played a little and then it was time to teach. I had very many students planned but the whole thing got a little easier when one of them asked if they could reschedule.

After teaching I ate dinner, then did bodyweight training with the boy and after that tackled my current Genshin Impact quest in earnest. For hours.

I am happy to say that I finished it, now there is only one more left before I’m completely up to date.

Oh, and I also had two wins, I got rid of the used toner that I had been wanting to send to recycling for months, and I finally found the PDF course about taking headshots that I had bought before. One of these days I will have a new author photo, yes.

Today there will be too much teaching again, not quite as much other stuff, I hope.

I almost got eight houts of sleep again, even though I went to bed too late. I opened the manuscript after morning pages if only for fifteen minutes. I had hight hopes of having some more time after breakfast but, well.

There was yoga and five minutes of meditation and then breakfast with my husband who had already finished eating. I still go to knit a few rounds. I went online briefly, then my husband was back asking me to order some stuff online, so I did that and it took me thirty minutes. And that was it for writing.

I did the breakfast dishes, sorted recycling and took all the paper for recycling outside to the bin because that will be picked up today.

I went out in the sun for my walk/run:

I have reached the point where I can actually run for 90 seconds without feeling I’ll drop dead, and I did it several time in the 45 minutes that I was out.

I came back home to a stressed husband, took a shower and ate lunch:

Because mowing the lawn had taken almost twice as long as usual he had not had the time to make a sauce or pick the arugula. Still, food, and the omelette was rather good.

Then I did the dishes, hung the load of laundry up that my husband had started in the morning. I had to start the spin cycle a second time because the laundry was still wet after the first time. Overloaded machine, ahem.

I had a whole ten minutes then before my first student of the day and I spent that eating chocolate and drinking tea while the boy talked with me. I asked him to go to the supermarket later to get bananas and parmesan. Which he did.

I taught very many students but also had a bit of a break because someone canceled. During that break I wrapped the toner recycling return package (you can send the empty cartridges back for recycling for free) and I played the piano for a bit.

Then more students until it was a little later than usual. I ate dinner and then met with the boy so he could help me with those tough bosses I can’t do on my own. Afterwards I spent quite a bit of time playing more Genshin with mixed results.

By the time I finished (and talked some more with the boy who was doing more dishes) it was already time to turn the lights out but I still started writing this post and made a list for today.

Unfortunately it looks like I won’t really have time for much today as well but hey, I am getting stuff done, so that’s good.

I also opened the manuscript before breakfast if only for ten minutes, did yoga (just like every single day this month) and talked with my mother on the phone.

Lunch was only medium exciting, both the boy and I were looking around for veggies. Well, this was it:

I did the dishes right after lunch and listened to my daily piece of classical music (and yesterday’s daily piece as well but it all evens out) and then I sat down to plan the week ahead.

And then I played my video game, actually stopped at some point, vacuumed the old part of the house after my husband had done the annex, he cleaned the toilets, I started a load of laundry and then I mopped the kitchen and bathroom floor.

It’s been a while. A very long while.

I then ate dinner, met the boy for bodyweight training where I opted to make quite a few of the exercises easier because I was not feeling up to it, and then came the moment when I had planned to open the manuscript for a second time.

When I found myself on Instagram I realized that I was not feeling up to it, and so I changed plans, started writing this post, made a list and hoped for a better day today.

Not that yesterday was in any way bad at all. I just had too many plans for just one day, it happens.

I still had a slow morning and didn’t write before breakfast. But I did start a new pair of socks:

Originally I had planned to learn a new stretchy cast-on but I found I was too distracted talking with my husband to focus on it, so I did a tubular cast-on. Which means that I finally have that cast-on down pat.

After breakfast I actually opened the laptop and worked on my manuscript for ten minutes. That’s my new goal, ten minutes in the manuscript every day. We’ll see how that goes.

And then we got ready to bike to Munich.

When we left it started to rain. The weather varied wildly, sometimes it was sunny and almost warm, sometimes it rained but it was very cold all throughout. We were going all in wearing long johns under our pants, wool sweaters, rain jackets and mittens. We also found some insulating seat cushions in the bike shed and took thermoses with hot tea.

We dig get lost on the way but eventually got there anyway. When we arrived in the park we decided to eat lunch first, before the first dragon dance in the amphitheater was finished. Which was a good idea. While looking for a free table we ran into some old friends of my husband’s and ended up eating with them.

I forgot to take a picture of my food, sorry, I had spring rolls and Pad Thai. It was very good.

And then we watched the dances and listened to the (pretty boring) moderator and the festival blessing in Tibetan. Here is a picture of some Thai dancers at the end of their performance:

And this is one of the Nepalese dancers:

You can’t see it in the picture but this woman was amazing. She also slipped and fell at some point, the rain had made the wooden stage very slippery.

We left shortly after we ran out of tea. It was all very nice but a little cold still.

And then we biked back home, much slower this time, one of the reasons was that the wind was against us.

I ate an early dinner, then played Genshin Impact, talked briefly with my husband and the boy, did my usual evening things and went to bed too late.

I might have to cull today’s list. Maybe.

But that made me slow again in the morning. I’m starting to waffle about morning phone use as well. That is a very hard habit to break and I’m not quite sure it will be worth it.

Of course I’ll only know after I try it out for a while.

Anyway, no writing before breakfast again. I did yoga (15 day streak!), morning pages, dishes, and spent some time looking into project management stuff again. I keep finding Notion templates that look promising and when I open them they are full of stuff I don’t need and I can’t seem to figure out how to modify them. Looks like I might have acquired yet another huge project, sigh.

I did finish a sock, though, and now I have a new pair:

My husband did all the things including running and making lunch:

I only had very little time before my first student and I read a little and played some Genshin. I managed to level a character up, yeah! I had been working towwards that for weeks at that point.

Then there was teaching. It all went pretty well, I even managed to do my lesson prep in the ten minutes before my first student, phew.

I had one student cancel but by that point I was so exhausted that I just read a little. Until my husband fetched me because something had gone wrong with the computer setup in the basement yet again.

Looks like the adapter was lost, so his keyboard wasn’t working and when he tried to fix it (he thought the ethernet cable had gotten pulled out by mistake but that cable is only still there because all the cables are nicely bound together for eternity), anyway, when he tried to fix it he turned the monitor off without realizing it.

So I wiggled on all the cables, turned the monitor back on, went upstairs and ordered a cable with a USB-C plug.

I had one more student and talked briefly to my husband who was super exhausted and out of sorts as well, on top of the whole computer thing that painfully reminded him of the past few weeks he also had to go out in the pouring rain to get his tomato plants under cover.

Then I got ready for bodyweight training, the boy even showed up right on time because he knew that I had another appointment after, we trained and talked, I hopped into the shower, got dressed again and met my friend over Zoom for a writing session.

We wrote for almost an hour but after forty minutes I was pretty done with the day. I still started this post, made a list for today, and then that was it for the week.

Fingers crossed that we can celebrate Vesakh today without getting drenches and frozen. I will report back, of course.

Still practicing.

All in all I was very happy about a day off. But as often happens with days off I never quite get going. It feels like every time I want to start something someone comes along and wants something.I didn’t even manage to listen to the daily piece of classical music.

Lunch was easy, we were half-celebrating Father’s Day and since my husband still had leftovers from his lunch the day before the boy and I got frozen pizza so that he wouldn’t have to cook:

These pizzas are way bigger than our plates. Definitely enough for two meals.

I did not do the dishes after (there weren’t many either), spent some time playing Genshin Impact where I made some substantial progress and then completely failed at some other stuff, and then it was time to spend my scheduled time on figuring out my writing business project management.

But first my husband wanted my help with some tech stuff. He had a recurring glitch between the computer, TV and amp that he is using in his studio. Well, I had no idea what was happening there either but I tried niggling all the cables and restarting the TV and so far that seems to have done the trick. Fingers crossed.

Then I talked to him about my resistance towards the whole project management research task, made a decision about what method to use, tried it out, got super frustrated again, tried some more stuff, the boy showed up, and left the door to the hallway open for forever which made me all cold and then he went back and forth several times with the door open.

Now, that was supposed to have been my thinking time. Ha!

So I took all my stuff to the living room where I was interrupted twice, then realized that I actually better continue using what is half-working for now after clearing up my discomfort with setting any dates, be it release dates, writing dates or anything similar which means I need to continue with a „it will be done when it will be done“-schedule.

I mean, once I have better numbers I might start ordering covers before the book is completely done but also, I need to know the number of pages for the paperback cover, so maybe not.

I then met my friend for writing over Zoom and that gave me a satisfying number of words, at least.

I started writing this post, made a list for today, read some more, and played some more and went to bed.

I went to bed too late, actually 45 minutes late. And then I slept a little longer and there went my writing time for the day. I guess it really is time to cut back on phone use in the mornings. It comes down to the question whether I find it more important to stay entertained and informed first thing in the morning or to do the thing that I claim is super important to me.

I did the complete rest of the morning routine which is also pretty telling because I rarely cut out my morning pages. And this month so far I have done yoga every single morning. Go me.

Husband did start a fire in the wood stove again and this time he also used said fire to boil tea water. We only talked very briefly because he needed to leave for his eye doctor appointment (everything was fine) and I needed to leave as well to get my prescription renewed.

Since Wednesday is usually a walking/running day my original plan was to bike to the doctor’s office which would have taken about half an hour. But I was weirdly reluctant to leave. Only when it was getting later and later did I finally realize that it was super windy and biking through that wind would definitely not be fun.

So I changed plans and took the train.

Got to the doctor’s office in time, got my prescription renewed without much fanfare, walked back to the train station, waited for the train and went back via the pharmacy. The next time I’ll have to do the will be in August.

The whole trip took a little more than an hour. The trains only go every twenty minutes so sometimes it goes faster but often it takes even longer. (And teenage me scoffs at someone saying „only every twenty minutes“. We used to sometimes wait for more than an hour for the next bus. I am very happy to live where I do.

I walked home, said hello to my husband who had just returned as well and was planning to do a very short run before lunch and then I ordered takeout. Did half the breakfast dishes, walked out again to pick up our food, told everyone it was ready and finally sat down:

Also, ate this:

We all ate together which was nice. Then I had about fifteen minutes of break before I had to get in the shower and get ready for teaching.

The new ukulele student was very tired and shy but did better than expected. I had a break between students that I used to practice the piano and refill one of my fountain pens, then more teaching.

My plan had been to eat the rest of my takeout for a quick dinner and then open my laptop and write before playing my video game and going to bed on time.

It took me almost twenty minutes to get myself from the annex to the kitchen. I talked with my husband a bit, I tidied a bit, and then I finally ate. And fell into an Instagram hole because I didn’t want to do the dishes or anything else.

I pulled myself out of that hole after eight, finally dealt with the dishes, brushed my teeth and set my computer up at my writing desk.

The boy came downstairs and asked me to make him a pot of tea while he took a shower because he was pressed for time, so I did that and started writing this post in between.

I was tired and exhausted and didn’t really want to do anything, and I had a list of things that I wanted to do in the game but I prevailed and opened the manuscript anyway. Not for the whole hour I had hoped for but such is life.

I’m not quite sure if me not having time to write is a self-fulfilling prophecy or stark reality. Something in between, probably.

Anyway, we are now entering public holiday territory, a completely free day, which traditionally means I get all the things done. Sure.

It was so cold that we decided to start the wood stove first thing in the morning. Which meant I could do my complete morning routine including some manuscript time.

And then I did some admin, started researching project management stuff (bad time for it), tried to renew a prescription via email and some other stuff.

I did the breakfast dishes, and then went out grocery shopping. Since tomorrow is a public holiday I decided to try and squeeze all the shopping in yesterday.

I went to the supermarket where I get yogurt (that is currently under renovation, and has barely any shelves left but there was yogurt), a different supermarket on the way for the stuff I usually buy elsewhere, and then the health food store.

I distinctly remember my husband saying, „I’ll just put both kinds of laundry detergent on the list anyway, it’s not that far to walk home from the health food store.

Which is correct. Only, I was not only lugging the detergent home, I also had six pounds of yogurt, two bottles of tomato pulp, two huge bottles of hand-soap refill, two different kinds of bread and a huge bag of muesli. That was a heavy load. But I made it. This is why we do strength training, by the way.

My husband was already eating when I unpacked the groceries but it was fine. I was ravenous when I finally sat down to lunch:

When I was almost finished with eating my husband brought a load of laundry and told me he had already put the third drying rack in the living room. So instead of taking a much-needed break I then folded two loads of laundry and hung up the third. (Which means we only have one drying rack in the living room right now, much better.

I then got an email back from the doctor’s office that they couldn’t renew my prescription via email but that I would have to come in and have them scan my insurance card. So guess what I’ll be doing today…

I had less than ten minutes to sit down, read and relax before teaching.

I have to say the rest of the day was less hectic that anticipated, I had a total of three students cancel. Unfortunately, I was so exhausted at that point that I didn’t really do much besides reading and playing my video game.

I ate dinner before bodyweight training with the boy, then he did the dishes while I played some more. He ordered me to do some rather stressful endgame stuff and ended up playing instead of me on the last level. I think I know what I did wrong but also I still need to strengthen my characters.

We talked, I played some more, I made a list for today that includes switching my walk/run for a bike ride to the doctor’s office, started writing this post, did my foot and knee exercises and went to bed.

Today I’ll teach the second new student of the week and then I’ll have a pretty long teaching day. But tomorrow I’m having a day off from teaching, so that will be nice. (Never mind that I’m planning to do publishing admin then, piece of cake.)

Still, I slept like a log and started my day at the usual time. The ‚no phone before breakfast‘-rule is not going well, I found myself knee-deep in newsletters before I realized what I was doing.

So, I wrote morning pages and I also opened the manuscript but only for a measly five minutes.

There was some yoga and meditation and breakfast. I even got a round or two of knitting in before it was time to go outside for my walk/run:

It was rather windy and turned so stormy later that there was a warning in my weather app. Everything was okay while I was out, though.

Oh, and on the way I passed the construction site behind our house where they were delivering two garages and setting them on the property. Impressive. I was happy I could squeeze through on the sidewalk because the street was all closed.

I only went outside for half an hour, then came back and jumped into the shower right away because I needed to catch a train.

I had an appointment with the eye surgeon.

Lights were shining in my eyes, they were measured and looked at from lots of angles and then I saw the surgeon himself. Two people talked to me about different kinds of lenses I could choose from and which would be best for my situation. Teaching piano is a bit of a special situation and means you need sharp sight at different distances. Also, I am already used to multi-focal contact lenses.

I went back home with a detour to pick up all the chocolate and some trail mix. (Almost) no sugar challenge be damned. I was 45 minutes late for lunch but that was okay because I had a somewhat later teaching start.

I only took a small piece because I wanted to leave room for dessert.

I read a bit and talked with the boy briefly before getting into teacher mode.

Taught all afternoon, then met with my friend, the coach. I now have a neat new list of deliverables for the next time. You know how I like homework.

Afterwards I was basically toast. I ate all the trail mix and a chocolate bar, collated some data about my writing time the last month (it has gone up significantly in the past two weeks but not quite high enough), started writing this post, made a list for today and opened Genshin. The boy and I fought some bosses and that was basically it, I was just too exhausted at that point.

And yes, today will be very busy as well. But not as exhausting, I hope.

Unfortunately I started the day phone first which meant no writing. In the end I squeezed that in just under the wire which is better than not at all.

There were the usual morning pages, yoga, a little meditation and breakfast with my husband who is still spending about an hour every night (or sometimes in the morning) sorting through some of his old things. Diaries, journals, and assorted stuff from his teenage years. He is astounded at how much he was actually writing at that time.

I don’t think I have ever gone through my old things, maybe I should. But then, I just pulled out a bullet journal from 2017, started looking through it and now it has been sitting there untouched for at least a week, maybe two.

Anyway, we talked, I knitted, and then it was time to celebrate Mother’s Day. My husband went upstairs to give his mother the flower for her balcony that he got on Friday, and I called my mother like I do every Sunday. I stopped giving her presents for Mother’s Day a long time ago. Not that I don’t appreciate her but the whole thing with Mother’s Day in Germany being mostly the result of a bunch of slower shops trying to sell more is a but off-putting.

Since I was super tense and anxious about the upcoming week and today’s appointment with the eye surgeon I then planned the week out. It’s always interesting to see how soothing a mere list can be.

On the other hand I was really happy to get a flower from my own son:

He even remembers how much I like roses and the color orange.

I folded laundry, hung the new load up that my husband had started right after breakfast, vacuumed the annex and changed the sheets on my bed while my husband was making lunch. I did help a little with the salad. And then the three of us ate outside together. It was nice and sunny but very windy:

After lunch I actually did the dishes right away, cleaned the washbasins and toilets and started the second load of laundry for the day.

I read a bit while eating some chocolate, and then it was time to fill out the form for the eye appointment today. I did my best, and then it was finally time to play Genshin Impact.

Or so I thought. The boy came downstairs for something he needed because he wanted to do a sample paint on a Warhammer figure. Um. We decided to do our bodyweight training right away.

Which we did. We were lucky, it was the day of the program that only takes 20 minutes.

Then there was dinner, finally video game playing where I tried getting all the materials one can only get on a weekend, then I played the quest I had started that afternoon all the way to the end and ended up starting the next one after that without really meaning to.

So I left that one which might mean I need to start over the next time but I didn’t care, I still had stuff to do. First I needed to hang up laundry again, and then I started writing this post before finally opened the manuscript but not for all that long (I am using my dedicated writing desk with my fancy clicky keyboard more often and that makes me happy).

I brushed my teeth and washed my face in between, packed my purse for today with the train ticket, wallet and the forms I needed to fill out, made a schedule for this morning that includes a walk/run and a shower before leaving for Munich, turned the TV on so I could watch YouTube on the big screen and plied some yarn.

Phew.

I’m pretty sure I can’t do that much every day but when I can it is definitely fun. Also a bit stressful at times. I might have to do about the same amount of things today. Not tomorrow, though, and Thursday is a public holiday and will be completey free.

Well, as free as a regular Sunday, I suppose…

Husband still needs rest but decided he wanted to run the big 10K round and was rather exhausted while cooking.

But before I was just about to open my laptop and write some new fiction words when the boy came downstairs saying that he did find those Warhammer figures he wanted but not on the site that has them cheaper and what to do. He had been wanting to get those exact figures back in winter and I said we’d give him the money as a birthday/Christmas present but then they were out of stock before he could get his hands on some.

Anyway, now they were available again for preorder. I opened the cheaper site, and voilà, there they were. So we ordered them from my laptop plus a few other supplies.

Then I descaled the electric kettle, changed the BRITA filter and refilled the water in my piano’s humidifier.

I went outside for my walk/run quite a bit too late. The weather was very sunny and warm:

I was all proud that I was running through all the running intervals until I returned back home and saw that I had clicked on the wrong day of my training schedule. Instead of 57 minutes of 1’30 of running and 3’30 of walking I had done 41 minutes of 1’ of running and 4’ of walking. Oops.

When I came back home almost ten minutes early that threw my husband off completely and he burnt the onions. Lunch was still very good:

After lunch I did the dishes right away (yay!) and then sat down to play Genshin Impact for more than an hour. Talked with my husband a bit and then it was time for writer Zoom and knitting.

The knitting was making good progress and as for writer Zoom, it was the first time all of us were there in weeks.

I put some frozen pretzels in the oven and then watched ‚Columbo‘ with my husband and the boy.

Then read some, started writing this post, made a list for today and went to bed.

So all the laundry and housework I had planned to do yesterday will have to happen today, as will all the writing. Oh, and it’s Mother’s Day, I keep forgetting.

Aynway, that is the kind of headspace I am currently in, so definitely in need of a day off or two.

Of course I picked up my phone first thing, despite all my good intentions, but I also managed all the morning routine. Still working on the phone-scrolling vs. novel-writing ratio. I’d like to tilt it more towards something creative of my own.

My husband still looked stressed so I stressed him more by talking about what had been stressing him out the day before. (Not recommended.) But my big thing for the day was that I wanted to set the new computer up in the basement and connect it to everything, and also I wanted to exercise, teach all the students and do some cleaning.

I did talk with my husband for quite some time, did the breakfast dishes, then set the computer up. And it works. Phew!

Next up I realized two things: 1) the boy had put the vacuum upstairs because he was expecting a friend to come over and was frantically cleaning and tidying his room, and 2) because his friend would be visiting, our usual Friday evening bodyweight date would have to be moved or canceled.

So I did my exercise before lunch instead. And then I was rather exhausted. Physically exhausted for once which doesn’t happen all that often. I still folded two loads of laundry but that was it.

We ate lunch outside, all three of us together (first time in ages):

My husband’s idea was that we would all eat Caprese salad first with bread and then some plain spaghetti aglio e olio after. Yes, I am aware that it’s not proper to put parmesan on this dish but I don’t care, I like it with cheese. Now, both my husband and the boy were completely sure that I had eaten Caprese with them in the past which seemed weird to me because I really don’t like raw tomatoes. It’s a sensory thing, the seeds are inedible. Once they’re cooked it’s much better. Also the taste of the raw ones is just so – green, brr.

I had about forty minutes between lunch and my first student but for once I did not play a game or read a book, I did the dishes because I knew the boy’s guest would arrive soon and they had planned to use the kitchen table for drawing. The boy was very grateful and then proceeded to schlep another huge pile of dirty plates downstairs.

All day while doing the dishes I had tried to listen to a Brahms violin sonata. I started the day before and was interrupted 90 seconds in. I was also interrupted after lunch three times while listening to a simple 10-minute piece of music. It is rather nice but somehow I missed a bit of the whole musical arc, funny that.

On the other hand that really illustrates how it is possible to find time for things. I didn’t have a ten-minute block of time that worked for me and listening to that piece of music in two days (to be fair that also comes with trying to listen to something in a high-traffic area of the house at a time of day where people are constantly moving around) but I practiced slow breathing and listened to it anyway. Even if the experience was not quite what I had envisioned.

Then there was all the teaching, one student after the other.It felt like a rather long day but that is often the case on Fridays.

Then I finally ate dinner, in the living room this time because the kitchen was still occupied, read a little, started writing this post, and then finally opened Genshin Impact.

Speaking of which, I also spent a not inconsiderable amount of time with a software update on my phone, then I found it had deleted loads of apps, including Genshin, and when I tried reinstalling there wasn’t enough space left. I tried moving stuff around but then had to go without the game on my phone. I’m not playing it on there a lot anyway, but sometimes I like opening it to look stuff up or to do something easy and quick.

First world problems for sure.

And today I will have a day off, hurray!

Of course the reason I went to bed past midnight was that I had an extra long teaching day. Or maybe it was the fact that I was too tired to get ready for bed. Or that I started compiling data about my writing in the evening. Or that I still played Genshin after that. Or that I then decided to research C-dramas I want to watch in the future (never mind all the C-dramas I started watching at some point that I still want to finish, eventually. Or that I didn’t brush my teeth early enough.

We’ll never know. Every day it’s a new reason for the exact same thing.

On the bright side I did my complete morning routine including twenty minutes of manuscript time, morning pages and yoga before breakfast. Our conversation over breakfast was a bit strained because my husband is so stressed out. One of the main reasons is the computer setup both in the basement for drum lessons and in his studio for everything else.

So I had a change of plans and started looking at the new computer we bought for downstairs. I had set it up at one point about a year ago or so, but it needed a software update and I wanted to test some things.

It will definitely work but I will give my husband one of my computer mice. The one we use right now has a USB-A dongle and I don’t feel like getting an adapter for that.

So I spent all morning listening to my husband complaining, waiting for the different computers to load, update and back up with sprinkles of dishes and making the grocery list.

The supermarket run was quite the production. There was a spot of rain but not all that much, I managed to hit the exact time that the school on my way lets students out (twice), and had to walk around the whole store three times or so because they are rearranging things yet again.

I didn’t feel all that bad about not finding polenta when the store employee I asked didn’t know as well, told me she was looking for something similar and just pointed vaguely in the direction of rice or baking ingredients. Sure.

When I arrrived home both my mother-in-law and my son entered the garden gate at the same time. My husband hastily left the kitchen and declared he’d eat alone in the annex because he needed some quiet, and so I could just unload the groceries while the boy was talking to me about group theory (something with algebra, don’t ask me) and then I read  while eating, interspersed with short exchanges with my son.

I was very happy that lunch was already ready on the table:

Afterwards I only had a little time for reading and playing my video game (time that I mostly spent looking for certain flowers in vain, very frustrating) before I needed to hang the laundry up that I had started in the morning and get ready for teaching.

The laundry was very wet and heavy, I seem to have overloaded the machine and so it didn’t spin properly. Well, it will get dry eventually. Most of the time when that happens I’ll move the laundry around and start the spin cycle again but I didn’t have time for that.

I saw another potential new student and it looks like I have two new students now, starting next week. I got the dreaded, „couldn’t we start the lesson a little later?“ again, and no, sorry, the rest of that day is solidly booked until my dinnertime.

Speaking of which, my third and fifth student didn’t show up. With the first of those I’m not sure if I remembered something wrong or if she forgot, no idea. I had her in the calendar but then I made a repeating calendar event. The second one texted me, super sorry, she had to work late.

I was able to reschedule her for today which pleases me no end. I like working with her. Which reminds me that I need a new song for her to sing.

So I used my first surprise break to write my author newsletter. I had done a first draft the day befire and put it together  which took almost an hour. Only after did I realized I could make blocks of text, images or links and save them so that I could pull them for each newsletter. That would make writing them much faster.

I debated making music or writing new words during my second surprise break but in the end I just took a break. And ate the bag of chips and the chocolate I bought at the supermarket. Yes, I know what I wrote about the day before but getting one salty snack and one extra sweet treat per month is part of my challenge. I decided to make it my Mother’s Day treat. Well, advance Mother’s Day treat, wahtever.

The day still wasn’t over at that point, so I started writing this post before meeting with my writer friend for an hour of writing. After which I played some more Genshin Impact and went to bed with a book.

My husband has already vacuumed the old part of the house, so there is less to do today. I’m plannign more laundry, some vacuuming, setting the new computer up, and teaching all the students. Oh, and bodyweight training because it’s Friday.

Time for the weekend.

I went to bed on time, yeah! Well, five minutes late because I spent five minutes doing foot and knee exercises, I’d say that’s alright.

I did the complete morning routine including twenty minutes of writing and was even pretty early. Husband and I had breakfast, then a bit more talking while knitting (about people and Buddhism, among other things) and then I made my online rounds before cutting my husband’s hair. Then the dishes and then I wasn’t quite sure if I should write some more, or not. So that meant I scrolled through Instagram, of course.

It was time to walk/run at that point. The promised rain hadn’t shown up but the skies were looking darker and cloudier. I decided to risk getting wet and went running in just a t-shirt and shorts:

When I came back home my husband’s bike with the trailer was standing in front of the garage which was weird. He had carted empty bottles to recycling but was nowhere to be seen. I ended up putting his bike away after talking to him, he had been in such a rush that he decided to just park it outside.

There was also a card in the mailbox about a package that had been delivered to one of our neighbors because none of us was at home. It’s a pretty rare occurrence, and I know and like the neighbor, so I went over and retrieved the package.

I hung the load of laundry up that my husband had started in the morning, took a shower and then it was time for lunch:

It doesn’t look much but it was very good.

I played some Genshin and then it was time for work. Lots of nice students, a short break in between where I didn’t really do anything but read, and then I was very happy to finally eat dinner. The boy had just returned from uni and told me about his day, and then I fell into a spreadsheet rabbit hole.

I’m reading this book about writing that is all about spreadsheets and wordcount and production schedules and that made me look into the data I have for my own writing. I already knew how much I can write in an hour but I did not know that I only spent an average of 9 minutes per day on writing this year. That is not enough, I’d say because at that pace writing takes ages.

At that pace it would take me 600 days to write a book. On the other hand, that data is from the beginning of this year when I was also busy getting two books ready for publishing and putting them out, so I’d say the numbers are skewed.

Anyway, time to get a bit more serious about writing again.

After pulling myself out of confusing data I started writing this post, did the dishes, wrote a list, brushed my teeth and played some more video game. I want to level a character and for that I need to gather materials.

Today there will be grocery shopping, some writing, not quite as many students but I’ll see another potential new one, and in the evening I’ll meet a friend online for another writing session.

I was, again, very determined to make good use of my morning and, again, didn’t really. I dawdled, I read newsletters, I wrote morning pages, I opened my computer and – read more stuff online.

Sorry for all the whining, I’m getting pretty cranky and angry at myself.

There was yoga and my 5-minutes meditation and then breakfast with my husband. We talked a bit longer because he had gotten a letter about his retirement and we had to look stuff up and will have to make a decision about when he should start drawing his pension. He will have to keep working at least for a while because the pension is not really enough to live on.

That did take a little longer than usual but that was okay. I did the dishes and then set out to another epic errand run. Dropping the clothes return off, tea shop, the supermarket for yogurt and the health food store. Planning the route was a bit puzzling because there was no way to avoid looping back. I decided on tea first, then yogurt, then health food store because that one is closest to our house and would give me the most stuff to carry.

I set out in rather warm and sunny weather that had me sweating in just a t-shirt. My husband has been very concerned about the rain that was forecast but so far there was only very little the night before. Tomorrow will likely be much wetter.

Just before entering the supermarket I realized I had forgotten my list at home. That happens way too often. Maybe I should get into the habit of taking a picture of it at one point in the day but, of course, the best habit would be to take the list with me.

I texted the boy and asked him to send me a picture of the list. There was a faint chance he’d be awake and see it in time.

I bought yogurt and cheese, then walked back towards the health food store. When I hadn’t gotten a reply to my message at the point where I had to decide whether to go back home or brave the store without a list, trying to remember everything on it, I decided to walk back home and risk the extra ten minutes of walking.

I offloaded tea and yogurt and went back outside.

I was very tempted to blow the „(almost) no sugar“-challenge. I mean, just one measly chocolate bar? A few salted nuts?

But then I remembered that this was only the second week of the challenge and how much better I’m feeling without it.

When I came back this time, lunch was ready and my husband had even set the table out on the porch. We’re setting a new record of eating outside this year already:

That meal came about because we still had a bottle of dark beer in the house and didn’t want to throw it away. Also, both of us shared the rest of the bottle but there wasn’t much left.

I only had a short break that I spent reading and talking with the boy while attempting to play my video game. Badly.

Then I taught all the students, including a potential new one (very nice) but excluding the one that skips lessons rather often. This time I only waited for six minutes and then started playing the piano. I figured I’d hear the doorbell if she rang.

After teaching I cleaned all the mirrors and got ready for bodyweight training. Then I waited for the boy while reading, we troubleshot his new sneakers (they have weird laces and lacing), and then we finally started training.

I was very hungry by the time I ate dinner. Afterwards I started writing this post while the boy was making himself fried potatoes and veggie nuggets for dinner, I wrote my list, washed my face and did the exercises for my feet and knees (the list of exercises I need to do every day is getting longer and longer), opened the manuscript for a short time, played some more Genshin Impact and went to bed.

I really need to get back to writing earlier in the day because when I do I feel so much better.

I finished a sock:

And then started the next one right away.

I did the dishes and got ready to venture outside for my walk/run:

I came back home and took a shower right away. The idea was to leave time for writing between lunch and teaching but instead it just stressed my husband who would have needed help making salad.

We ate outside again which was nice but very loud. The construction next door has reached the landscaping stage which means there are big diggers and such makings noise next door constantly. After lunch I took a short break, talked with the boy, and before I knew it it was time for teaching.

I taught most of my usual students but one had canceled so I used that time to call a potential new student. For ukulele which is always nice.

My last student was my friend whom I gave a piano lesson over Zoom and then we talked for a while.

Then it was time for a quick dinner before I met the boy for our weekly meeting to fight the bosses that are too hard for me on my own. As per usual I made all the dumb mistakes and managed to let both of my characters die at one point. The good news is that you can still get the rewards regardless.

We tackled the mountain of dishes and pots from lunch together, then the boy finally tried all the new clothes and shoes that we had ordered, and then I was late for bed again.

I’m hoping for a bit more free time today. Teaching starts half an hour earlier but I’ll be done about 90 minutes earlier as well, so that looks pretty good.

I went to bed at midnight, both because there were still things I wanted to do and because I was dreading the day because of that conflict with my husband.

I woke up at 6.30 before my alarm but was pretty slow at first. When I was right in the middle of my morning pages my husband showed up and – surprise – was all in a good mood, conflict basically over. Phew. We’re good again which is much better.

I skipped writing again but did yoga and meditated and then we had breakfast. There was brief talk of having breakfast outside but since my husband already started eating while I was doing yoga we decided to stay inside.

There was nice conversation, I called my mother and we talked, and then I helped my husband making salad for lunch. Right after the day where we had set a new rule that I am not allowed in the kitchen before lunch is ready. Well.

This time we did eat outside:

This is the view from our back porch into the yard:

After we went back inside my husband started doing the dishes right away and I helped. I’m finding that it’s easier to do the dishes after having eaten outside because I am not sitting on the kitchen bench, moving back inside involves a natural transition and that can lead to just starting the dishes easier.

Of course it’s much easier still when someone else starts them.

I read quite a bit, then played Genshin Impact until a timer reminded me that I had planned to write in the afternoon. I had a bad case of the dunnwannas paired with „I have a thing at 5 so I can’t do anything else before“, and read some more.

An article about bullet journal led me to thinking about how many of those I already have and I pulled the first one out that I could find on the shelves. It is from 2017 and while there are quite a few things I’m still doing the same way I also changed lots of things. Back then I did not review nearly as much, it’s mostly just lists of what I want to do.

There are also a lot of notes about books I’m reading. Nine years ago I made my way through a ton of writing books. 

And then it was time for my 5 o’clock Zoom. I was meeting with an online friend who had helped me think through stuff a few months ago and I felt like I should return the favor. We had a fun conversation where I barely knit which is rare.

I then browsed the internet until five minutes before the boy and I had scheduled bodyweight training. I went outside to see what my husband was up to and found him on a bench at the back of the garden taking a break. I sat next to him which I never do and we got to observe a hedgehog shuffling through as if we weren’t there.

Then I was somewhat late for bodyweight training and we suffered through the dreaded 10 sets of 3. It’s all one-minute intervals which means you never quite get going for real and you keep interrupting yourself all the time. Weird.

It was time for dinner afterwards, then I brushed my teeth, wrote the list for today and then started this post interrupted by both my husband and the boy but only briefly.

I played a little more, then finally started plying the purple Corriedale and went to bed.

Most of my energy yesterday was spent on talking with my husband about the kind of things that keep bugging you about your partner and will never get better, no matter how hard the two of you try. Fun times.

Other than that I did my walk/run (even if I chose an easier version with short running intervals because my legs still hurt):

The weather was gorgeous and the woods and fields were filled with lots and lots of bike riders. The ones that come from behind on their e-bikes at high speed are particularly bothersome, especially when you’re wearing headphones and listening to music. I dropped a return package off on my way (before the exercise, not after) and was back home with enough time to take a shower before lunch:

My husband used the leftover asparagus to make risotto.

We talked some more and I used my anger to do the dishes right away. Then I continued reading „All of Us Murderers“, ate some chocolate and played Genshin Impact.

The plan was to use the hour before my weekly writer Zoom to actually write. Before that I wanted to talk briefly with my husband because I don’t like to be angry.

Well, that conversation made me even angrier and took more time than anticipated so there was no writing.

Writer Zoom was just me and the writer who hosts the meeting, everybody else just didn’t show up. I told her that I was out of sorts because I had a fight with my husband but then we continued having a very nice and helpful conversation about writing and what we did that week, knitting and playing the fiddle.

While talking I managed to botch my sock in progress, I tried fixing my mistake but made it worse instead (the mistake was several rounds down, I did a 2/1 cable instead of a 2/2 and I soon lost patience with the whole process and just ripped back the offending rounds completely.

After that the knitting went really well and I am loving the magic chart I set up in KnitCompanion, you can set up charts in that app in a way that means you can see the row you’r working on really well and it moves your marker forward by a row with a single tap. It’s brilliant.

After that Zoom call I ate dinner, opened the manuscript for 45 minutes and got many new words that look pretty good right now, talked with my husband again repeatedly and with the boy a little who was getting ready to leave for that party, I played more Genshin and achieved a new milestone but only at the price of playing right up to my bedtime, I started this post, made a list in my bullet journal, brushed my teeth and such and went to bed late.

My list for today is pretty long. There will also be more uncomfortable conversations for sure. Ack.

But apart from that I have been having a great week.

Oh, and I finally listened to Richard Strauss „Metamorphosen“, the one piece I didn’t manage on the April list. At least I am all done with last month and can look at the May pieces now. Debussy, Tavener whom I don’t really know, and a Mozart piano trio. I’m looking forward to doing the dishes to that today.

After breakfast my husband and I kept talking and I finished the heel turn on the sock-in-progress. Then I found the heel was off by two stitches because I had misunderstood the instructions before the heel turn. I briefly considered fudging it but then thought, pulling just the heel turn back wouldn’t take much time.

And I was right.

I turned the heel again, a little grumpy that I needed to start that part over, finished it, then looked at it properly and – it was offset way worse this time. No idea what I did wrong there. I mean, I started the turn in the entirely wrong place, that much was clear, I only have no idea why.

So I pulled it back yet again and started over (fortunately only the heel turn which is only a few stitches and rows), this time very slowly with lots of focus. Until I went back to reading while knitting. This time it was the newest Penric & Desdemona story, Darksight Dare by Lois McMaster Bujold, great book, I finished it last night.

I am happy to say that I finally have a working sock heel, one that actually will line up with the chart for the foot. Which I’m planning to start today:

Sorry for the bad picture, when I wrote about the day in my journal last night I realized I would need a picture of the sock. I took it right then because I knew this morning would be a bit rushed again.

I had plans of doing some cleaning in the morning but instead I reviewed the past month and made plans and goals for this one. I’m pretty happy with last month, even though I only finished reading one book instead of five, played music for fun (as opposed to during work) only seven times instead of thirteen times.

But I did keep up with my exercise schedule, apart from when I was traveling, I did open the manuscript, and moved quite a few things forward.

Lunch was delicious, pasta with zucchini:

We were even sitting outside when eating. It was nice and warm but rather windy and after half an hour outside I started sniffling and my eyes were itchy. It’s clearly hay fever weather.

My husband started doing the dishes right away and I helped him, so I did not sit in the kitchen looking at a big pile of dirty dishes all afternoon. I took a short break, read and ate chocolate, and then went on to tackle video game tasks.

That kept me busy until it was time to meet a friend for an online writing session. We did this for the first time ever. Normally we meet over video call to chat or coach or teach piano but this time we had agreed not to talk longer than five minutes or so, and then to actually do the work.

Well, we wrote for almost an hour and I got a record number of words written. it was great because I had been thinking about these scenes for a while already.

I couldn’t do it for longer because I was scheduled to do bodyweight training with the boy. Which we did, and I confirmed (again) that the new version of squats I had been doing the past two weeks or so were what makes my knees hurt. So I scaled it back to something easier.

Then I could finally eat some dinner and confirm that the new kind of bread I bought tastes indeed awful. The rest of the family agrees so I won’t buy that one again. More chocolate as an antidote, and some more reading and then I looked at some online ukulele lessons about inversions and movable chords. The lessons were a little too long to start that time of day but I did play through her easy version of „Autumn Leaves“ and then pulled out a few songs that I used to play every day when the boy was much younger.

I used my travel ukulele that had been sitting in my bedroom in it’s bag for so long that the battery in the tuner had stopped working. Playing ukulele again made me very happy.

After that I did my best to improve the boy’s rather asymmetrical (not in a good way) haircut, started writing this post, finally did my Chinese app thing, wrote a list for today, played some more video game, read some more and went to bed.

Yep, good day even if not everything fit that I would have liked. But the things that did fit made the day better.

So. Only 5 1/2 hours of sleep, no manuscript time but most of the rest. I went to the nearby supermarket and hung up a load of laundry.

I helped my husband with lunch and we had several disagreements, especially about the consistency of the sauce:

I only had three students because the first one canceled and ended up doing something Genshin-related wth a time limit. I mean, that is mostly what I’m doind in the game right now. Quick, this mini-game will be gone in a few days!

I mean, the boy helped me a lot.

I taught my last student a bit longer because reasons and then proceeded to have a disagreement with my husband because he wanted to do the dishes while I was teaching and then his student arrived ten minutes early and I dropped the thermos for chamomile tea (only into the sink but that was quite a bump), then I finally ate dinner

More Genshin, starting this post and making a list for today. Which includes making more lists because we’re in a new month. And no teaching but an appointment to meet a friend for writing instead.

Well, that was not really helpful. And I bumped up again my abysmal mental math skills. I’m sure that character would not have taken that long for those problems.

Breakfast with my husband was very cozy when the doorbell rang all of a sudden. It was a friend of my husband who wanted to ask him for a favor. After talking with his friend he went out early to buy asparagus at the farmer’s market. Which allowed me to spend time with the manuscript.

I walked to the pharmacy to pick up the two meds they didn’t have in stock the day before, then turned around and went walking/running. Well, there wasn’t much running involved, I felt hot and low on energy and my knees hurt but I was still glad to be outside:

Came back home to lunch:

Then I could take a nice break before teaching. Had another break between students where I mostly wrote emails and listened to voicemail, and then the next student texted me that she couldn’t make it because she and her daughter were at the doctor’s office waiting and it would take a while.

I asked her to come in an hour later than usual and that worked. But it also made me late for dinner.

I ate, I started playing my video game against my better judgment and, yep, went to bed too late again.

Today will be another busy day but the next three should be a bit less packed.

I am very happy that I managed that.

And then I went full tilt into my morning routine including a rather productive 20-minute writing session.

Husband and I talked over breakfast and since I was pretty early we could eat together, even. At the end of our conversation and while I was knitting my husband even started doing the dishes. Which then meant I never got around to listening to my daily piece of classical music but that was okay.

And then I squeezed the health food store and the pharmacy in so that my husband and I could go out for lunch together. Because we wanted to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

Everything went well and the weather was nice while we walked to the restaurant. We had hoped we could sit outside but their garden was closed and we had to sit inside in the dark.

I let myself get tempted by the kritharaki and had to learn again not to order things like that at a restaurant. I guess we should make our own kritharaki at home soon. Preferably baked with cheese but the version I had yesterday came with prawns instaed:

We also had eggplant creme as an appetizer but I forgot to take a picture.

Afterwards we walked back home in the sun, and then I had thirty minutes or so off before it was time to teach. I had four very nice students and rather enjoyable lessons with one student really leaning into learning something rather hard and unpleasant. She didn’t get there all the way but she got much better in the course of the lesson.

Afterwards I wrote an email to a potential new student and played piano for a bit before going back to playing my video game.

The boy and I did bodyweight training and I found out that the variation of squats that I’m doing is probably the reason my right knee and ankle feel off. Oops. I thought it might be the running but probably not. So I guess I’ll scale back a bit.

Afterwards we waited for my husband to finish teaching, ate dinner and then opened a bottle of champagne. Between the three of us we also finished it. It was nice to taste champagne again but I’m also very happy to not drink today. While we were sitting there drinking champagne I pulled out the sock yarn sample I’m spinning and I finished the first third of the sample. Yes!

I then started writing this post, was interrupted by the boy, we got talking about Genshin and he helped me develop a strategy for what to do next, and that took up the rest of my evening.

I went back to this post, wrote a list for today and went to bed just slightly too late.

Today will be back to normal, something I always appreciate. I’m all fired up for spinning right now since I finished the first third of the sock yarn sample and all the spinning for the cardigan.

Husband was in productivity mode and I had a lot of things that I wanted to get done as well, so we didn’t talk as long as usual. I did the dishes, folded a load of laundry, finally cleaned washbasins and toilets and even cleared the sieve in the faucet.

And then I went on a one-hour walk/run. It was very hot. I had 2-minute running intervals and was sure I would drop dead any time soon but every time I felt like that I looked at my smartwatch and saw that my heartrate was only between 135 and 140 so I mostly kept going. Her ie me all sweaty and exhausted at the halfway point:

I think the raccoon eyes are the lack of sleep, mostly.

I returned back home with enough time to take a shower before lunch:

I took a break with chocolate and my video game and then the boy joined me at one point to get his own lunch. He asked if I had time to do the weekly bosses together (that’s where he helps me with the harder ones and you can only do it once a week). The answer was yes, but it went a little longer than expected and afterwards I was very full of adrenaline.

And then I went and taught piano.

I used a break between students to refill the water in my piano and play a little for myself, then taught some more and then met with the friend who is coaching me.

I would have liked to be better prepared but, well. Coaching was helpful as always.

Since I am very determined to make better use of my time in the evenings I then started writing this post, finally ate dinner (was very hungry at that point), did the dishes, played some more video game and went to bed.

And today my husband and I are going out for lunch, just the two of us, because it’s our wedding anniversary.

I did all the usual morning things not including the manuscript, then breakfast with my husband and then another one of those draining emotional conversations. It ended well, though.

I called my mother on the phone and we told each other about the past two weeks. Meanwhile my husband was busy making lunch and when he looked out the window he saw his brother’s grown-up children arriving, one after the other.

That was puzzling because we didn’t know anything about it. I took the chance to ask one of them when I saw him in front of the garden gate, and he said they were there to play cards. In our garden. Now, this is also my mother-in-law’s garden but we would have liked a bit of warning.

After lunch it turned out that the boy had known about it. My mother-in-law had told him and had also assumed that we already knew because one of our nephews is taking guitar lessons with him. But, he hadn’t had a lesson in ten days.

Husband had planned to spend the day puttering around the garden, taking care of the compost and relaxing in the hammock but there were five people sitting right there having a small party.

We ate lunch with an accompaniment of grumbling but it did taste nice:

I finished reading the last Sarina Bowen book afterwards and then was slightly stuck on what to read next. I then started playing Genshin Impact.

Around four when I thought about eating a piece of milkbread my husband showed up. His brother and nephews had offered to help us with that plaster board so it was time to put on real shoes and get busy.

Even with the four of us it was not easy. The couldn’t believe how heavy this thing was. But we managed and now our balcony is whole again, after years and years.

That made us so happy!

My brother-in-law even produced a cordless screwdriver from his car that is stronger than mine, and that helped.

I then ate my snack, played some more video game and finished a quest, then started another one, and then it was time to do bodyweight training with the boy. We were a little earlier than usual because we also planned to cut his hair.

Which we did. Just like the last time I did this, years back, I set out to cut it a length that would still work with a ponytail and just like then he ended up with – short hair. That is not symmetrical at all. On the bright side, it looks okay after he washed it but I did not pack the scissors away, I will do some corrections later today.

I also decided to send him to a hairdresser the next time because I find it way too stressful.

After that it was half a bag or tortilla chips for dinner, more Genshin, then I started writing this post, planned the week and today rather quickly and went to bed somewhat earlier for once.

Husband and I talked a little longer and so the rest of the day was off but not by much. I finished a pair of socks:

I am very proud that I then opened the manuscript and added new words to it. I am writing scenes that I didn’t know I needed, very exciting.

I did the dishes while listening to classical music. I am really far behind on my „A Year of Wonder“-project and I have no idea when I will manage to listen to all 25 minutes of Richard Strauss’ „Metamorphosen“. For now I skipped it and made a note to come back to it.

There was the walk/run:

It was warm enough for short sleeves and shorts for the first time this year. I also managed to do the full 60-minute session of my Couch to 10K-program. My thighs were somewhat complaining at the end.

Lunch was ready when I came back:

I then read a bit, played my video game for a while and got rather frustrated because nothing was working out like I wanted it, then I finally took a shower, the boy came downstairs to get my help in choosing loads of new clothes (his old ones are falling apart) and then I was late for my weekly writer Zoom.

Zoom was very nice even though I had to sit through it without knitting because I didn’t have the time to wind the yarn into a ball, and then the whole family met to try and repair the balcony.

Well. So there is this huge sheet of plaster board that used to be underneath the balcony but then a drain pipe broke and there was water coming out the porch ceiling right next to the lamp that was there. Not good. So my husband and I took the plaster board off.

I remember it almost killing me to hold and move that thing because it is very, very heavy.

Now, yesterday the plan was to move the board back to the porch/balcony, have my husband and the boy up on ladders pressing it against the beams and then I would put the screws in and screw it in place.

Well.

The good thing is, no one got injured and everything is still in one piece.

The bad thing is that we would need another person to help us with this job. There was no way the two of them could hold it over their heads while balancing on ladders for long enough to let me fix enough screws that it wouldn’t come down again.

We thought about constructing something to hold it up, we also thought about asking a friend to help but what we will probably do is to ask the gardener we know to fix it for us and then we’ll just pay him.

After that we had mini pizzas while watching a rather good episode of ‚Columbo‘ and then I had to rush to get the rest of my evening routine done.

And no, I did not turn the lights out on time. Again.

Today there will be the usual Sunday things, some cleaning that I didn’t manage yesterday, and I will probably cut the boy’s hair. Wish me luck.

Husband and I talked a little longer and so the rest of the day was off but not by much. I finished a pair of socks:

I am very proud that I then opened the manuscript and added new words to it. I am writing scenes that I didn’t know I needed, very exciting.

I did the dishes while listening to classical music. I am really far behind on my „A Year of Wonder“-project and I have no idea when I will manage to listen to all 25 minutes of Richard Strauss’ „Metamorphosen“. For now I skipped it and made a note to come back to it.

There was the walk/run:

It was warm enough for short sleeves and shorts for the first time this year. I also managed to do the full 60-minute session of my Couch to 10K-program. My thighs were somewhat complaining at the end.

Lunch was ready when I came back:

I then read a bit, played my video game for a while and got rather frustrated because nothing was working out like I wanted it, then I finally took a shower, the boy came downstairs to get my help in choosing loads of new clothes (his old ones are falling apart) and then I was late for my weekly writer Zoom.

Zoom was very nice even though I had to sit through it without knitting because I didn’t have the time to wind the yarn into a ball, and then the whole family met to try and repair the balcony.

Well. So there is this huge sheet of plaster board that used to be underneath the balcony but then a drain pipe broke and there was water coming out the porch ceiling right next to the lamp that was there. Not good. So my husband and I took the plaster board off.

I remember it almost killing me to hold and move that thing because it is very, very heavy.

Now, yesterday the plan was to move the board back to the porch/balcony, have my husband and the boy up on ladders pressing it against the beams and then I would put the screws in and screw it in place.

Well.

The good thing is, no one got injured and everything is still in one piece.

The bad thing is that we would need another person to help us with this job. There was no way the two of them could hold it over their heads while balancing on ladders for long enough to let me fix enough screws that it wouldn’t come down again.

We thought about constructing something to hold it up, we also thought about asking a friend to help but what we will probably do is to ask the gardener we know to fix it for us and then we’ll just pay him.

After that we had mini pizzas while watching a rather good episode of ‚Columbo‘ and then I had to rush to get the rest of my evening routine done.

And no, I did not turn the lights out on time. Again.

Today there will be the usual Sunday things, some cleaning that I didn’t manage yesterday, and I will probably cut the boy’s hair. Wish me luck.

I knew I wanted to get quite a bit done and opted for morning pages and yoga but no writing.

Husband and I enjoyed breakfast together, I knitted while we talked, and then I did my usual online rounds and did the first half of the breakfast dishes. Breakfast dishes have two stages, the first one is cleaning all the tea things and the second one is everything else.

And then my husband and I met to figure out a stopgap solution for the broken audio mixer in the basement where he teaches drums. He had gotten the smaller audio mixer out, the one I used to use for recording my podcast, had connected it to the computer and the speakers and it did – nothing.

So he had to use a rather inadequate bluetooth speaker the day before, not ideal at all.

So we tried it all again and the first thing we found was that the socket the mixer and speakers were plugged into was turned off.

Unfortunately, that was not it. But then I put the speaker cable into a different output, pressed a few buttons, opened the system settings on the computer and switched the computer’s output to the new mixer and – voilà!.

Phew.

After that I had exactly one hour left before lunch. I set out to change the sheets on my bed, clean the mirrors, dust everything (very superficially), start a load of whites, and even managed to vacuum the whole house (only the middles). In between I ordered takeout and then picked it up in the nicest, sunny weather.

Lunch was very good as usual:

And I managed to eat only about half of my main dish:

I had the rest for dinner. (What’s in the bowl is half, well, the bigger half.)

I asked the boy to hang up the laundry because it would be done while I was teaching but after I taught all the students I found it still in the machine. I had even used a five minute break where a student was late to pick out a new piece for my last student and print it out, but no, I couldn’t rest, I had to hang up laundry.

Then I changed into exercise clothes and did bodyweight training with the boy. I might be getting marginally stronger, even, but it’s a bit frustrating that it all goes so slow.

I do have to remind myself that I was under the weather for weeks not that long ago and so now I need to rebuild. And I need to do it in a way that I don’t hurt myself and especially not my hands.

While I was eating a handful of licorice after lunch I also decided that it is time for a(n almost) no sugar challenge again. The rules are the same as the last time, I can have up to four pieces of dark chocolate per day, I can have cookies, ice cream and cake when I make it myself or on special occasions like birthdays, and that’s it.

I’m pretty sure I’ll feel much better following those rules, we’ll see how that goes.

After training I finally ate dinner, talked briefly with my husband, started writing this post, made a list for today, finally did the day’s dishes, played some more Genshin Impact (the boy had given me a long list of things I needed to do ASAP, funny enough) and went to bed a little earlier for once.

Oh, and I am all caught up with „War and Peace“. I had gotten behind but managed to read enough yesterday that I’m also done for today.

And now for the weekend. I wouldn’t mind it being a productive one as well.

I went to bed too late, slept well, did my morning routine but did not open the manuscript.

Husband and I had one of those emotionally draining conversations but hey, I finished a hat while we were doing that:

I did some of the dishes, went to the supermarket, came back and had lunch:

The boy had returned from uni in time while my husband was all peopled out so the boy and I had lunch together and I got to listen to some of the stuff he learned in his crystallography lecture

My first student had canceled so I had quite a bit of time. I played Genshin Impact, I also read a little, and then it was time to teach my first student.

We had a fun time talking about waltzes and other music in three-four-time and then I had a generou break that I used to do the dishes and start folding the laundry.

Just when I was almost done my husband showed up because the mixer he uses in the basement when teaching drums didn’t work. We eventually decided that he should dig the small one that we own, the one I used to use for recording my podcast out from the annex attic and connect that to his basement computer but something wasn’t working so I gave him my small bluetooth speaker as a stopgap. That one is not loud enough for sure.

So that is something we need to figure out next. Best until lunchtime because then he’ll need it again.

Meanwhile my next student was already waiting.

I taught her and then a friend over Zoom, we talked for a while, and then I had guacamole and tortilla chips for dinner, finished reading a book, switched to another one, played some more video game, started writing this post and went to bed.

Today will be stupid busy. We need to fix the mixer/loudspeaker situation, I want to finally clean some of the house, get takeout for lunch and then teach all the students. Oh, and do strength training.

Oh my.

I did not manage to open the manuscript, though, because my husband showed up in a mood and that threw me off.

We are continuing our new morning routine up to the point that my husband has asked me to buy a new clock for the kitchen because from where he sits at the table he can’t see any of the clocks we have, and with the new routine he really needs to know what time it is.

When I was doing yoga in the living room and my husband had left the room briefly there was a big thump all of a sudden and one of the logs fell out the wood stove to the floor. Thankfully there is a glass plate on the hardwood floor there and I managed to wrestle the huge log back. As far as I know nothing got singed but the room stank of smoke for a while after.

We talked about all the things including my coaching the night before, pentatonic scales for guitar and some other stuff.

I did dishes and went out for my run. Then I went back when I realized I had forgotten to put my sports bra on and started over. The sun was shining but it was pretty cold. Hence the fire:

When I came back I thought I had time to take a shower before eating but nope. The bra thing had cost too much time. Lunch was very good:

I had quite some tim after lunch but didn’t use it as well as I wanted. I did some stuff in the video game and took a shower but didn’t manage the dishes.

I taught my usual Wednesday students including replacing a guitar string for a student, something I don’t do often, usually my husband restrings everything. It’s magic, I have a broken string and the next time I look it’s whole again.

After that it was time for bodyweight training with the boy. This should be the last triple exercise day for a while, I hope. I was so tired and exhausted while out running that I didn’t run all that much, maybe a total of five minutes. Strength training went a little better but I was still sore from Monday.

After training I ate dinner and talked with the boy, then read for a bit and then did the many dishes. Halfway through that the boy showed up again, we started talking and – whoosh! – an hour went by. I brushed my teeth, drank a cup of tea, talked some more and then finally started writing this post, wrote my list and went to bed an hour too late.

Sigh.

Better today.

We had breakfast and my husband and I talked some more about my „am I doing enough or not“-problem. To which the right answer is of course „it depends“.

We are continuing with the new schedule for the mornings which means we have to push ourselves a little to get stuff done on time but it also means that we eat lunch around 1 as intended, hurray!

But first I ran errands. I renewed a prescription, bought toilet paper, interdental brushes, yogurt and chocolate, then went to the health food store for one or two things. And more different chocolate.

I came home pretty early and my husband was right in the middle of the extra stress phase of cooking which is the worst time to be putting away groceries. Oh, and I was so out of it when leaving before because I was thinking so hard about that problem that I left without my list and wearing the wrong glasses. I realized when I was about 5 minutes away from home, briefly considered going back but then thought I can do without.

Well, I should have gone back because my husband had found two things we also needed from the health food store but didn’t catch me before I left.

Anyway, so I unpacked everything, then turned around and went back to the health food store.

The cashier recognized me and asked, for the second time today?

Yep.

There was lunch:

I wanted to do the dishes right away, you know so I would go to bed on time, but when I was looking for a container to put the rest of the pasta in I found another round of bugs in that box. We had had bugs in that cupboard just recently and had gone through everything and thrown stuff away and my husband had cleaned everything very thoroughly.

Well, turned out there was some flour left that was the source of the infestation. There weren’t many, though, so I cleaned the part that was dirty after throwing away the flour but had to skip doing the dishes because I still had to hang up the load of laundry my husband had started in the morning.

Then there was teaching which was fun but I’m still very exhausted and brain-dead.

I had a brief break between teaching and going to coaching over Zoom, so I ate some dinner rather quickly before attending.

The group coaching session was rather helpful. (Her main advice after offering a few suggestions that I had to counter with „I’m doing that already“ was – to go to bed earlier. Duh.)

I then started to write this post, tidied the kitchen, made a list for today and played my video game for the first time that day.

Today should be a little less busy which is good because I could use a bit of breathing room.

Not that I felt normal in any way, I was extremely tired, very exhausted and my brain still needs some time off. We learned a lot last week.

I did set my alarm as usual and was very determined not to pick up my phone before breakfast. And I didn’t. I just started researching stuff right away on my laptop.

I did my morning pages and five minutes of yoga and five of meditation, and then had breakfast with my husband. We talked quite a bit, mostly about the retreat but also about some stuff of his, and then he suddenly said he had thought about those frequent conflicts around lunchtime and that he wants us to stop talking in the morning at 10 and the dishes done by 11.30, so that everything else we want to do fits in, including cooking with minimal stress.

He thought I’d be unhappy about those restrictions but I was so happy and relieved. It’s exactly what I’ve been thinking and I usually do better with structure than with free-flowing whatever.

So we stopped talking at 10 and I got my laptop out and started working on the manuscript for twenty minutes. Brushed my teeth, did the breakfast dishes and then decided to walk to the health-food store because we were out of oats and fruit.

And then I came back, turned around and went for a short walk/run:

When I came home lunch was already on the table, hurray! And we did not fight in any way:

The price for a peaceful lunchtime was that my husband (and me to a certain extent) had to just go from one thing wo the other without stopping. But I’d say it was worth it.

I took a short break and then a shower and then I taught my usual Monday students.

Afterwards I played the piano for a couple of minutes, helped the boy with the wording of an email and then the two of us did bodyweight training. Wow, am I out of shape! I only missed two workouts but I did spend most of my trip sitting somewhere without moving. My knees already started hurting again.

We both ate dinner, I started writing this post, we did our weekly boss fight together, and then it was time for the dishes and bed.

And today I’ll walk to the health food store again, I guess.

I did feel a little less tired in the morning, though, so that was interesting.

I started packing all my stuff up while getting ready for breakfast and even squeezed my morning pages in.

By the way, I was very, very happy about my minimalist packing and I ended up using everything but the „just in case“-stuff like bandaids, pain meds, pocket knife and nail file. Those are all things that are super annoying if you need them and don’t have them. And it’s not like the small town we were in was full of shops where you can get everything.

I checked out right after breakfast, paid for all the snacks I had binged on from the mini bar and the one beer I had, and confessed to have destroyed a plastic stand for a small piece of paper because I used it to prop a window open and forgot about it when I closed said window.

I didn’t even have to pay for it, hurray!

We then all met in the conference room with everybody’s rolling suitcases plus backpacks piles against one wall. And my small backpack under my seat. Ha!

We had our last hours of workshop and you could see everyone visibly drooping. It was still all very nice, and I’m happy to have met all these writers.

Then we had our last meal together:

There was some rucola with fried tofu and some cherry tomatoes, and then rice with turkey ragout:

And then some yogurt cake with mango and strawberry sorbet:

After that we talked a bit among ourselves and then I sat there with two more hours or so before my train was leaving. My original plan was to visit the craft fair but I had already looked at everything the day before.

So I took an earlier train to Karlsruhe, the weather was really nice, and when I saw that the zoo is right next to the main train station I briefly considered going there for 90 minutes until I saw that tickets cost 15 €. I looked for a nice bench and read some more „This Kingdom will not kill me“. I started really glomming on to it some time the day before and actually finished it later on the train just before reaching Munich.

I bought myself some snacks for dinner and a bottle of coke and waited for the train.

My trains were all on time, the high speed one to Munich was even two minutes early so I arrived home earlier than expected.

While still traveling I had gotten messages from both my husband and the boy offering me soup for when I’d come home. The boy had made himself ramen for dinner and had something left and my husband had bought chicken thighs and was offering to make chicken soup which was very sweet but I declined because I was not hungry.

I arrived back home and was greeted by the rest of the family and I was very happy and relieved.

Verdict on the new way of packing:

I am loving it but had still taken more than I would have liked but that was mostly because I needed lots of print outs, and some sets of cards and I took more yarn than I usually would. I knew the hat would need 117 grams or so, the first ball that I used was only a partial one so I took two full ones. When I travel I usually take a sock project and that means 100 grams of yarn. I also took a tiny tape measure because I needed to know the length of the hat.

The backpack looks very good but the back and straps are not all that comfy to wear for longer stretches of time. On the other hand I was walking around with it all day without any problem.

Whereas the rest of the group was all dealing with rolling suitcases plus backpacks bigger than mine.

Granted, I was the only one who wore all her clothes two days in a row and the skirt and leggings all for days but then one of the other writers was surprised when I told her I live in sweatpants at home because she found me rather elegant.

It’s all in the skirt.

I am also very pleased that my go-to travel outfit these days includes so many pieces that I made myself, handknit socks, of course, and leggings, a t-shirt, a skirt and a cardigan that I made myself.

Today there will be the planning of the week, the walk/run, a shower and lots of teaching.

At one point in the day I felt so tired that I might have fallen asleep sitting up.

I will have to make sure that I don‘t fall asleep on the train later today.

The retreat is going very well, and I might have the beginning of an answer to one of the big things I have been thinking about. Sorry for being so ominous but it‘s mostly to do with how much to do is actually enough and how much energy to spend and if I could do better or not.

Lunch at the hotel was very good again, tomato soup, bratwurst, Saumagen, sauerkraut and potatoes and a rather nice warm chocolate cake with lemon sorbet for dessert. Of course I only took a picture of the main course:

Then more workshop stuff and we also visited the craft fair that was held on the castle grounds. Did I mention the hotel is a castle?

For dinner I had planned to get a bag of potato chips and eat those in my room but someone said they had made a reservation at a nearby restaurant and so I went there and got dumplings in mushroom cream sauce:

And then we went back to the hotel, I started writing this post, read a bit and went to sleep.

Today will be breakfast, packing, checking out of the hotel, more workshop, the last lunch with all the other writers, maybe some more time at that fair and then I‘ll make my way back home changing trains a lot.

I‘ll arrive around the time that I usually should get ready for bed so that will be fun, and then it will be back to normal.

But I wrote morning pages and lounged in bed for a bit before going over for breakfast.

The last writer for the workshop had finally arrived, her flight had been canceled because of the Lufthansa strike and so she had to miss the first day.

We did our thing at the workshop and I did that thing where I don‘t stop talking and interrupt everybody but I‘m trying to do better.

Here is a picture of the first course of my lunch:

Sorry that I did not take pictures of the roastbeef I had or the almond tarte. It’s all a bit much.

After lunch (the food here is excellent, really) I went back to my room for a bit of quiet time and not only was it smelling iffy, there also was a puddle underneath the toilet.

Oops.

But that is the nice thing about being in a hotel, it was not my problem to solve.

They sent someone to have a look, and while he came immediately, he also left all the doors wide open which meant all my stuff was basically on display.

The nice woman at the reception desk had already said that they might have to give me a new room, so I just packed everything up real quick.

And yes, I did get a new room which was nice because that puddle was creeping closer and closer to the door and it did not smell good.

My new room is bigger with more light, so that‘s nice.

The workshop continued all afternoon, this time we did some stuff outside in small groups because the weather was so nice.

Afterwards another write and I went to an Arabic restaurant around the corner, had very good food, and talked a lot.

This time I remembered the picture:

We came back early because we both needed quiet time and so I spent the rest of my evening alone.

I guess tomorrow will be pretty much the same as today. Minus the toilet thing, I hope.

Everything went very well, though. I got up, made myself a breakfast that I packed into my backpack including a thermos of tea, I caught the first train of the day and while that one was two minutes late that didn‘t bother me because I had half an hour to change trains in Munich.

The next train was fifteen minutes late which bothered me more because I wanted to catch an earlier train on the next leg.

In the end I had four minutes to get from platform 3 to platform 10 and thanks to traveling with just a small backpack and also thanks to regular jogging I actually made it.

That train was late as well but again I did get my connection and from the last station it was only five minutes to the hotel where I am staying.

My room was ready already, despite the website saying it wouldn‘t be before 3 in the afternoon, so I even got to put my feet up for a bit before lunch.

I met the other writers at lunch for the first time, they are all very nice and a rather mixed bunch. One came all the way from Australia, even.

The coach is very good, it is all delightful.

But. I might run out of yarn. I finished the first ball today, and am at a length of about 21 cm already. The whole thing is supposed to be 52 cm, so I‘m not sure that will last me until Sunday night.

I guess we‘ll see, I brought two more balls but I won‘t need all of them, so I‘ll slow down with the knitting a bit.

In the evening we tried going out for dinner but the few places in walking distance were all closed so we ended up getting sandwiches and chips at the supermarket and then ate them outside sitting on a bench.

I completely forgot to take any pictures, so there‘s that.

And now for more retreat. And more knitting, of course.

I did yoga, meditated and took my blood pressure and then ate breakfast with my husband. We talked and I knit and then my husband went to the farmer’s market for potatoes.

Meanwhile I gathered all those pesky small things you need while traveling. Charging cables, a nail file, my tiny pocket knife, a thermos mug, a container for today muesli, bandaids, headache meds and my prescription medication.

I also packed it all together and it does fit in the smaller daypack but there is not as much room left as I’d like.

And then I went on a short walk/run:

When I came back my husband was in a mood. He had burnt the burgers because he went downstairs to get the load of laundry upstairs. They were still edible, though:

I then took a break and played Genshin, and then jumped into the shower real quick.

Taught a regular number of students, and then immediately turned around to get a coaching session from my friend. On her birthday! Which was fun but by the time we were done I was very, very hungry, and very, very exhausted.

My husband had wondered why I was still on Zoom after teaching because he had forgotten I had told him the session had been moved to today. (American friend had wanted to do her taxes on Monday.)

So then I talked with him, finally got to eat dinner, talked with my husband some more and steeled myself to do the dishes and such but husband said to leave the dishes, he’d do them today.

This is what my packed bag looks like, by the way, the only things that are still missing are my glasses case, my earbuds and my phone:

This is based on the list I made during the packing class last fall but I added quite a few things to it: 2 pairs of glasses, a small purse, sunglasses, my eReader, a container for my breakfast, a bigger powerbank that can charge all my devices, two extra balls of yarn (that I probably won’t need but of course I need to be prepared), an extra fountain pen, a stack of paper that I am supposed to bring with me, two card decks (also for the retreat) and a foldable travel nail file.

See for yourself:

The stack in the back is my travel clothes, the bright orange packing cube next to it holds my clothes, oh, and I packed some almonds so I don’t starve.

After all of that I then talked with the boy, he helped me massively with Genshin so that I could go to bed a little earlier, I wrote this post and scheduled it for today and then went off to bed.

Today I need to get out of the house before 7 so I can catch a train. Wish me luck for the train ride and all the connections. There is construction on at least two routes so things might be interesting.

Anyway, I will eat lunch somewhere else than home, how exciting!

I did yoga and bodyweight training but I did not open the manuscript.

I turned the heel on the sock-in-progress.

I went to four shops and now the fridge is full again, we have lots of tea and the glasses that kept pinching my ear and not fitting properly are now actually wearable.

Lunch was past salad:

The boy went to uni completely in vain because one of his lectures was only online and the other one was canceled. And he even got up super early and all. During a subway and bus strike.

But everything went well and all is good.

I started packing in earnest and now all that is left is all those really small things like the pocket knife, tissues, pain meds and such. And I need to make a list of all the last-minute stuff. prescription meds, all three pairs of glasses (oh, and sunglasses), all the cables and chargers, that kind of stuff.

And that is what I will do today.

See you!

So then the boy showed up (at 6.45) and needed to talk about which classes to take this semester. You know, the one that starts today.

Needless to say, I was late again and I did not write before breakfast. But then, a family member needed to talk…

I did open the manuscript after breakfast, so at least that was good. I also read two chapters of „War and Peace“, many episodes of that webcomic, did the dishes, watched part of an online thing for a class I’m taking and dug out my packing cubes.

I then sorted through all the electronic crap that we had up in the attic cupboard. Most of it was for recycling but not all.

And then I went walking/running:

I only did half an hour because I was pressed for time but I did push myself a little harder.

Then we ate lunch:

After that I jumped in the shower and then played Genshin Impact for twenty minutes before it was time to start teaching.

I taught many, many students, ate dinner, and then met with the boy for playing co-op and managed to kill all my characters twice in a row. Why yes, that might also be the sleep deficit.

The boy did the dishes again, I started writing this post, made a list for today and went to bed.

Today will be all the grocery shopping, teaching, bodyweight training and packing.

Not quite sure why that is. The not getting enough sleep is certainly part of it, as is the energy drain of the house being a pigsty and all those unfinished projects, but still.

I did my morning routine including opening the manuscript and reading through a few scenes to get back in. Like every day I really didn’t want to do yoga and then felt better because I did it.

We had breakfast and were talking about phases of life and transitions, I called my mother on the phone and her big piece of advice for this week was that a) you can also use beans from a can instead of soaking the dry ones and cooking them for hours, and b) when I leave for my trip on Thursday I should definitely get up 15 minutes earlier instead of stressing myself, right.

Never mind that I am a big girl and have known both of these things for many, many years.

I then helped my husband a little with chopping things and grating cheese for lunch:

There was more talking and then some reading and chocolate. I did not read my chapter of „War and Peace“ that day or listened to the daily piece of classical music or did my daily 2 minutes on the Chinese app because I found this really awesome webcomic „Assassin Roommate“. I spent most of the day slowly making my way through the first season of that.

I am very proud that I did not leave the dishes until late but actually did them around 5 and then proceeded to plan the upcoming week.

The boy and I did a short session of bodyweight training, I ate dinner (more comic-reading), and then I went on another one of those Zoom calls. This one is a monthly one and I am never quite sure if it’s helpful or not. I do like most of the people, so there’s that.

After that was finished (and after completing most of the heel increases of the sock-in-progress) I started writing this post, made the list for today and did not look at my phone again.

And now I’ll be off to an extra long day to start the week properly.

When I pulled my new controller out of the bag where I keep my portable office to charge it and the right joystick was pulled off I suddenly realized why my old controller broke so soon. Seems I should not put it inside that bag without a case. I did order a case, I hope it fits and will help to keep it in shape.

Husband and I talked, my sock grew a little, I did the dishes, cut my husband’s hair and then went off to my walk/run:

The weather was gorgeous and there were hordes of bikers out.

When I came back it turned out we were out of sweet mustard. That was essential for lunch so I went back out again to the nearest supermarket.

Back home for the second time I took a shower and then quickly cut my hair. After lunch my husband took the shears and snipped a few more strands a little shorter. It is hard to get your hair even in the back when it is a little longer.

Lunch was very Bavarian and very tasty:

While eating we talked about running because my husband had run 10K for the first time in ages. He had thought he was getting too old but turns out he was just not in shape. That made me look up my heart rate readings for my own walk/run (4 minutes of walking for every 1 minute of running) and I found that my heart rate never went above 140. Mostly it was between 110 and 120 which tells me I might want to push maybe a tad harder the next time.

I spent some time reading and eating chocolate and then I played my video game for a while until it was time for the weekly writer Zoom.

The meeting was rather nice. After that I had a free evening, we decided to skip the weekly ‚Columbo‘ because my husband wanted to watch something else and I was happy about a free evening. That I spent playing more video game.

The boy was nice enough to offer to do the dishes while I was starting to write this post, then I wrote a list for today, read a bit more and went to bed.

And now the last day off before teaching starts again.

Breakfast with my husband, some knitting, I did the breakfast dishes, folded some socks and filled my traveler’s notebook with all the papers I ned to bring next week. And then it was almost time to leave for lunch. Unfortunately I hadn’t heard from the boy yet. In the end I went upstairs to wake him up five minutes before we needed to leave.

We did not leave on time but I used those ten minutes waiting for him sorting through some old electronics and cables that used to live in the attic cupboard.

We walked to the other end of town in the rain and then found that we didn’t have a reservation. My husband had sent an email the day before but hadn’t gotten an answer.

We were lucky, though, and got a table. The one between the bar and the stairs to the toilets but still.

I got the 4-course tasting menu and it didn’t disappoint. First a vey sweet and brightly colored alcohol-free aperitiv:

Then some thinly sliced veal with greens that I did not recognize:

And then some crespelle with spinach, the same that my husband had as his first course and the boy as his main course:

And then some excellent lamb fillet:

And as dessert some strawberry tiramisu:

Now, those who know me know that I really dislike strawberries. But I hadn’t realized there was a dessert at all and I felt bad at letting it go to waste so I tried it and I really liked it as well. There weren’t many of those nasty strawberry seeds in there, it was really nice.

And then we walked back, this time the rain had stopped. We made a short detour to a supermarket because I had forgotten to get trash bags and came home with two sizes of trash bags, yogurt, chocolate, canned veggies and tissues.

After that I played for a bit, then finished knitting a sock while on a Zoom call, then refilled three fountain pens, did bodyweight training with the boy, saw that the new controller was finally there. („Your package was received by a neighbor Vaur der Haustur at door“ which means it was placed outside our front door without anyone ringing the bell first.)

We finished our exercise, I unpacked the controller and had a few problems at first but then got it going and I really like it. I’m not quite sure if I want the blinking lights or not but I can change that as the mood strikes.

Then I ate dinner, started writing this post, played around with my new toy and went to bed.

I am really happy that we actually managed all the things we wanted to do. Hurray!

On the bright side I did not spend my break paralyzed at all, woot!

Yesterday I did not get enough sleep, then did the morning routine. No writing but instead I looked at the digital proof for Eva Mandel 3 for the paperback version that will be available outside of Amazon.

Husband and I talked about our past selves, mementos and all the crap that is in our cupboard in the attic. Which reminds me that I need to go through all the old computer stuff that I just put in there over time.

There were dishes to wash and groceries to buy and then there was lunch:

I spent some time playing Genshin Impact and finished the overarching quest. Very moving, great story, chef’s kiss.

And then it was time to teach. I had a lot of fun with the two students I had, the third one was stuck on a train and couldn’t make it.

I ate dinner, then played some more, watched some YouTube, talked with the boy quite a bit (about Genshin), started writing this post, did the list for today and went to bed.

My controller is acting up so badly that it’s no fun anymore, good thing I ordered a new one that should arrive today. I spent all of ten minutes researching, fingers crossed this one will work like it should.

Today we’re doing the second fun thing we planned for this break, we’re going out for lunch. I’m really looking forward to it.

But first I managed to sleep for almost eight hours, yeah! I wrote morning pages, did my ten minutes of yoga and meditated for five minutes. I did intentionally skip manuscript time because we wanted to leave the house early and I thought I could do cover research in the afternoon.

Oh, and I downloaded the new patch for Genshin Impact and pulled for the character I wanted. I spent quite a few wishes but ended up with basically all the characters I wanted, yeah!

I did not do cover research in the afternoon.

But first breakfast, talking with my husband while knitting a bit and doing the breakfast dishes.

And then I walked over to where the cargo bikes are parked and had to figure out how to unlock one and how to get it home. I have to confess I pushed it home because I was a bit apprehensive about riding it on the sidewalk.

Meanwhile my husband was busy loading the bike trailer. I have to say, the garage looks much better now with all the old boxes gone. This time we took all the old electronics, computers, pieces of metal, batteries, loads of plastic and some other packaging and the remnants of the CD stand plus the drying rack.

The cargo bikes „trunk“ turned out to be much smaller than expected because there were seats for two children in there. We did manage to fit the enormous drying rack in but it was leaning to one side and a bit unstable.

I had adjusted the seat to what I thought was the right height for me, and started pedaling. Right on the street with quite a few cars. Not rush hours, though, phew.

I had to stop three times to adjust the seat, turns out I like my seat lower to the ground than usual with a bike like that. Meanwhile I was trying to figure out the bike. Pedaling was hard which was unexpected, I pushed some buttons but they didn’t seem to do anything, and I found a thingy to control the gears. I think.

So we went to the other end of town, together. As usual my husband was biking very, very slowly, up to the point where I thought I might keel over. Going faster is much easier. Apart from when you have to go uphill. I had to push the bike again because that was impossibly hard. Again, I think I turned the motor off by mistake.

Going uphill meant that an LED bulb fell out of the bike trailer and shatter in the street so we had to pick up bits of glass.

We managed to sort almost everything into the right containers and the guys working at the recycling place were very nice and helpful.

There were also many trash bags full of recycling from the boy tidying up his room. Unfortunately that was only the batch from the last time. I got informed that he has started another collection of trash bags full of recycling.

I guess we should figure out if the boy can ride my husband’s bike (because his bike doesn’t have the hitch for the trailer).

Anyway, I rented the bike for two hours (was just 5.50€, the rent is subsidized by our town) and we took just barely more than an hour.. I can definitely see myself doing that again. Next time I’d want to figure out how to use the e-bike part as well.

And then I went on my walk/run while my long-suffering husband was all set to go back again with a huge box of packing materials. But. It was just ten minutes to noon aka closing time. The people working there would not be quite as nice if he showed up right in time for their lunch break, so he moved that to the afternoon.

I went walking/running. I chose an easy version because I had already done quite a bit of exercise and was still a bit sore from bodyweight training the day before.

And then there was a shower and lunch:

After that it was time to spend some quality time continuing with the video game. I was very close to finished that overarching quest and have decided I want to do that first before exploring all the new content.

Then I taught a lone student, then I played the piano for fun, ate dinner and played some more.

I started writing this post just ten minutes before my bedtime, then the boy came downstairs and we started talking.

Yawn.

Today will be pretty busy as well, there will be a supermarket run and an afternoon of teaching.

Which then meant in turn that I was very late in helping my husband take care of the recycling.

So in the end he took three loads of cardboard to the nearby smaller recycling place and I just cut boxes apart and dismantled a huge CD stand. We looked at the rest of the things in the garage and made a few decisions for today and then I went out to one supermarket and two health food stores.

And then there was lunch:

I played a lot of Genshin Impact, I refilled two fountain pens and the humidifier in my piano, did bodyweight training with the boy (where I made two of the exercises harder which I’m still feeling today) and ate dinner.

I then started writing this post, did the dishes while listening to a course video, made a list for today and played some more video game.

Today should be recycling again and also teaching one student.

And continuing book cover research, sigh.

I went to bed a little late, slept well and managed the complete morning routine, including opening the manuscript of romance #1 and sorting out the timeline. Which I finished.

Then yoga, meditation, taking my blood pressure and finally breakfast. And knitting while talking with my husband.

I did my internet rounds, then the dishes and went for my walk/run:

I was dressed way too warm for the weather, shorts and a t-shirt might have been enough. It’s funny, I am always cold but not when I’m out for exercise.

I came back home to lunch on the table, my husband cleaned all the small bits of meat from the lamb bones and put them into kritharaki with tomato sauce.

And then I started playing my video game. I wanted to gain an exploration reward and that took me many hours that day.

I also researched renting a cargo e-bike and made an account with the company that has a couple of bikes right next to our house because we want to deal with recycling and get some bigger stuff to the dump. Always fun without a car.

After a while I remembered that I am supposed to be a responsible adult, vacuumed the old part of the house including those places where dust gathers in the very old radiators we have in the bathroom and living room. There are open spaces in between and I actually got a special attachment for our vacuum to get in there.

Then I cleaned the washbasins and toilets and the edge of the tub. And I filled shampoo and conditioner into small lip balm tubes and cut a piece off the soap I use, all for my trip. I’m almost set for toiteltries now.

And then I taught a piano lesson over Zoom, ate dinner, continued working towards my exploration reward and then did my weekly bosses with the boy.

After that I played some more until I finally got my reward.

I started writing this post while the boy did the dishes, wrote my list, brushed my teeth and went to bed.

And today I might ride an e-bike for the first time ever to cart cardboard around. Among other things.

But. The Osterzopf was very, very good, and I had some for breakfast today right again, yum:

We put the lamb roast in the slow cooker a little too late, so we had to wait for lunch until after 2 o’clock but it was delicious and so soft you didn’t need a knife:

We also opened a bottle of wine, the first time in quite some time. It was also very, very good but we all stopped after the one glass.

My mother-in-law even had organized ice cream for dessert and afterwards the boy and I tackled the dishes under her protests.

I then played a bit, the boy and I did bodyweight training, I ate dinner (and half of the rest of the ice cream), planned the week, started writing this post, and went to bed not too long after.

I also signed up for another online class. It might be a bit ambitious to take an online class and an in-person one from the same teacher in the same month, but there you are.

Not pictures but still very important and satisfying was that I turned the heel on the sock-in-progress.

I slept a cozy 8 1/2 hours (after going to bed half an hour late again) by oversleeping, so no manuscript time in the morning.

I had breakfast, knitted a bit, did the dishes, made the Osterzopf  dough, and went on a short walk/run:

And one of these days I’ll get a pictures where my eyes are all the way open, you just wait and see.

Then I immediately turned around to go to the supermarket for toast, ham, salad, pine nuts, fake salmon and licorice.

When I cam back home my husband was busy making pizza and had put the egg yolk I had saved for my bread in his pizza dough. I might have lost it a tad, I was so proud of taking care of everything, then I worked like crazy, went running, went to the supermarket, got almost run over by a speeding white van at a zebra crossing and then my egg was gone.

Well, we had 10 more eggs…

I helped with the pizza and the salad and we had a delicious lunch that was only an hour late:

After lunch I immediately tackled the dishes and the baking sheets, then braided the dough, washed everything up while the oven was preheating and only took my break once the Easter bread was in the oven.

I did read a bit while eating licorice, played a very quick round of Genshin and went off to my weekly writer Zoom.

Where there was only one other writer besides me. My guess is the Easter weekend didn’t work out for most of us.

After that I met my husband who was hanging up laundry after having browned the lamb roast for tomorrow and researching how to make it in the slow cooker. Husband was very disappointed that I had used up all the creme I had bought. That is because I bought exactly as much creme as I needed for baking.

Turns out he would have wanted to make sauce with creme. I had no idea. I guess we’ll improvise.

Then we ate some salmon on toast with some pretty good alcohol-free rosé champagne, watched a rather good episode of ‚Columbo‘, then the boy and I tackled the dishes, I started writing this post, made a list for today and went to bed a little late yet again.

And guess what? Today will be very busy again.

I felt tired and as if I just wanted to crawl back into bed.

I was also very late and decided to skip yoga, meditation, and manuscript time.

So, basically a lost day already, and that before breakfast.

Husband and I had breakfast, I tried making myself do yoga after but instead I felt completely paralyzed. I still did the dishes and then uploaded book 3 to a second distributor. So people can at least get the paperback from all the shops.

Then there was still a bit of time before lunch, so I vacuumed the annex.

Lunch was delicious:

I took a break, I read and I played my video game for a couple of hours. Then I actually stopped and wrote a post on my author blog. Seems now that I’ve actually finished putting out the first three books I have brain space again for things like telling the world about them.

I took a picture of all the paperbacks:

Then the boy and I did bodyweight training, I ate dinner, I played some more, I started writing this post, made a list for today, the boy offered to do the dishes and so I got to watch TV and spin for a bit.

And today there will be more exercise and some baking.

Did the complete morning routine, spent time with my husband, went grocery shopping by bike along with everybody else, their kids and grandparents. The are moving things around in the supermarket again, there were things I just couldn’t find. I know the theory is that people then see more stuff that they buy but I often just tend to go home without even the things on my list.

Lunch was pretty late but rather good. It has been a while since we last ate Leberkas:

Then a break and then I taught three students. I had wanted to use the break between students in a productive way but all I managed was to play a new piece of music on the piano, „Ambre“ by Nils Frahm. I’m loving it.

After I talked with my husband while he finished doing the dishes and then I finally got to eat dinner. After which I started playing my video game. And then I was so focused on reaching a certain achievement that I completely forgot the time until the boy showed up around 11 pm. Oops.

I still started this post and the list for today because I thought that would make me sleep better but it didn’t help me sleep longer, of course.

I think today will be another day completely off, I need some rest.

I started by going to bed too late yet again, slept well, did most of my morning routine, no manuscript time again.

I really, really didn’t feel like doing yoga or meditation but I did it anyway to set a precedent for the new month.

Then breakfast with my husband, we’re still basking in the glow of a successful outing. I only knitted a bit and decided to work on a new pair of socks for me first and leave the hat I started a few days ago for travel knitting. That hat has reached the stage of stockinette in the round and round and round (for 52 centimeter/12 inches) so it will be perfect for train rides and such. The socks will require a bit more attention than that.

I dawdled and spent some time reading and making my usual online rounds. I am really loving the new Ilona Andrews book.

And then I went out for my walk/run:

I came back, peeled three eggs, minced some herbs and could eat lunch right away:

I took a break, read some more and then played Genshin Impact for a while. I did not take a shower yet because my husband needed one as well and he also had a student at 4. So he got to shower first.

When I looked up from my game it was already past 5 and since the boy and I had planned to do bodyweight training at 6 I decided to shower after that.

I then reviewed the month of March. I had four goals in March: 1. Publish „Masked in Silver“ which I did, 2. Write the new romance which I did a little, 3. Get back to exercise which I also did, and 4. Sleep 8 hours per night – LOL.

The goals I set myself for April are way more numerous. I decided to go more granular again. I included a reading goal, some knitting and spinning goals and (for the first time) some vide game goals. Since I’m spending my time on that and am actually aiming to reach certain goals they should really be on the list.

Because otherwise the list looks very empty when in fact it is full of things that haven’t been written down.

After showing that list to a friend I realized that learning Chinese was not on it. Oops. It is certainly not a top priority but I would like to make a little time for it anyway.

After training (and reading about Macao on Wikipedia during breaks) I ate dinner, read some more, finally took that shower and offloaded the dishes to the boy.

And then I tackled the much-dreaded email newsletter for the few people who signed up to be informed when the new book would come out. I had that on my list for many, many weeks.

The there was a little more video game time, a little bit of spinning and bed.

Pretty productive for a day that was supposed to be all free I’d say.

First of all I went to bed way late, past midnight. There were several things I needed to prep for the day and then there was the kerfluffle with the blog.

I still set my alarm earlier than usual and did the morning routine. Sans writing but with morning pages and yoga. I had an early breakfast and then went to the dentist for a dental cleaning and such. I met a new dentist, very nice and seems very thorough.

After an hour or so of that I went to the other side of the street to the health food store and bought mostly veggies and fruit. Also some chocolate.

Then back home, unpacking the groceries, briefly helping my husband to do the dishes and a short break before we walked out the door to catch a train to Munich.

My husband had misheard the time the train would be leaving as 12.21 so he was a little stressed and pushed me to hurry which then led to me standing in the street patting my pockets looking for my phone (that held the train ticket, among other things) and then returning. Not before assuring my husband that the train was leaving at 12.31 instead.

My phone was not where I expected it to be. It turned out to be in my jeans pocket, underneath my heavy coat (there had been snow before). But everything turned out alright.

We took the train, then walked to the Alte Pinakothek and on the way we visited a very small dim sum place that was tucked away in a side street. The place was very bare-bones but the staff was extremely friendly and attentive and the food was marvelous:

I forgot to take the photo until after we had obliterated all the spring rolls and dumplings. I was a bit sad that there were no special Chinese dumplings to be had but the food was delicious, super fresh and they make all their own sauces.

We managed to actually eat all the food but my husband had to help me.

Then we went on to the museum and the place was hopping. My guess is that we weren’t the only ones who wanted to get a visit in before the train line through Munich shuts down for almost two weeks, and also it was the last day of the semester, so some students wanted to make use of their last day of student discount. At least that’s what the person who sold us the tickets said.

The exhibition was breathtaking, we stood in front of paintings like van Gogh’s actual sunflowers and all those paintings everyone knows. There was Monet’s waterlilies and especially my husband was very moved by the real thing. He is the one with all those fat art books on the shelves, by the way,

Afterwards we strolled rather quickly through the whole Breughel and Dürer part because we had reached our limit to taking things in for the day.

Then we walked back to the city center and the train station, took a train home and then I did the thing I often do, on the way home we picked up my new orthotics, yogurt in one supermarket and potato chips in another before finally getting home.

And that was mostly it for the day. I read, I ate potato chips for dinner, I played, I started writing this post, made a list for today and went to bed a little earlier this time.

And today is a new day, a new month, and a new quarter.

I did my complete morning routine and used my manuscript time to figure out universal links for books 2 and 3. Which took longer than expeceted.

Husband and I talked about melodic minor over breakfast while I knitted a bit. Then I did the breakfast dishes while he started a load of laundry and then it was time to brave the weather:

I should get myself a new hat, this one is starting to disintegrate. Since I bought it back when my husband was still working at the department store it might be 25 years old, oops.

Oh, and in between the dishes and leaving the house I tried buying some sheet music of „Ambre“ by Nils Frahm, and it took me twenty minutes to convince that website that I did not want a subscription but just wanted to pay for this one piece of music, thanks.

Lunch was ready when I returned:

The plan was to play my video game until 4 and then work on the newsletter. Well. I played a little longer than 4, then took a shower, cut my toenails, talked with my son, did some research for today’s trip to Munich and was done with all of that just in time for being coached at 6. I did open the newsletter website, I think, but that was about it.

Only to have to tell my coach that the last two weeks went a little different than planned. On the bright side I did publish book 3 so all was good.

After the coaching call I sent the first three chapters of my romance novel off to a writing contest, then tried doing the newsletter again until the boy reminded me that he was waiting for me for our weekly video game bosses. He helped me very patiently, and only when it was 9 pm, and I made one stupid mistake after the other, did I realize I had forgotten to eat dinner.

So I ate something, made a list for today, started writing this post, found that my blog had locked me out, tried to fix the issue but failed, finally did the dishes, prepared everything for today and went to bed too late.

And today will be slightly insane but I’ll tell you all about that tomorrow. At least the blog let’s me in again.

There was yoga and breakfast and the weekly phone call to my mother, there were dishes and reading the daily chapter of „War and Peace“ (that is a veritable soap opera, by the way), and then there was lunch:

I spent the whole afternoon playing Genshin Impact, something I had actually planned for. Then I dawdled, the boy and I did bodyweight training for a whole twenty minutes, he offered to do the dishes, and I watched a bit more of the BTS documentary.

I had promised to take a sock photo in better light but there was only a very short time where the light was actually bright and I missed it, so here is a bad photo in bad light:

And then there was bed.

I am a bit torn between spending today the same way and actually getting something productive done, we’ll see what will come out on top.

There was yoga and dishes and then I went out for my walk/run:

My husband made lunch:

I had met that mother of a student who also writes while out in the woods and we had exchanged pen names. So far I really like her book.

I went on Zoom, met with a bunch of writers and finished a sock. Then I started a hat. I’ll take pictures later today when there will be more light.

My husband, the boy and I then met for a glass of alcohol-free champagne and some salmon on toast:

We then watched a episode of ‚Columbo‘ that was pretty good, I played some more video game. did the dishes too late, started writing this post and went to bed too late.

Which was a great move the evening before the start of daylight savings time but there you are.

Well, there were dumb typos in the manuscript, all introduced while proofreading. Good thing those got caught before anyone bought the book.

I did yoga and meditated a little and then ate breakfast with my husband. He was off pretty fast because he wanted to go for a run the first time in ages.

So I turned to my laptop again, corrected the typos and started the whole uploading process again. Managed to use the wrong cover at first, didn’t remember how to do any of this, so the usual.

But only an hour or so later I had uploaded all the files for the ebook and paperback on Amazon. The ebook is already live (“Masked in Silver” by Susanne Winter, book 3 in the Eva Mandel Urban Fantasy Series), the paperback will take a little longer.

Then I did the dishes, vacuumed the old part of the house, and decided to use the sunny (and cold) weather to get the vegetarian salmon I forgot the day before. My husband had another list of things he wanted from the health food store and, of course, I needed some more chocolate.

The health food store did not have veggie ersatz salmon. Neither did the other health food store but they had the vitamins the boy had asked me to get, neither had the supermarket near the train station, so I went to the exact same supermarket I had visited the day before and – finally got what I was looking for. Phew.

Husband had made an easy and quick lunch, omelette with cheese and fried zucchini:

I took a short break and then called the dentist’s office because they had sent me the invoice for the boy’s dental cleaning. I need his name to be on the invoice so I can get some of the money back from insurance. Only when I stood there on the phone, looking casually at the invoice I saw „cleaning for the boy“ written on there for the first time. Oops. I explained my mistake and said I was sorry.

And then there was the teaching of the students. I managed to reschedule all the lessons during my trip in April, yeah!

I talked briefly with my husband (and told him that the ebook was already live), did bodyweight training with the boy, ate dinner, started writing this post, did the dishes, made a list for today, played more video game and watched the documentary on the new BTS album.

And then bed.

In between all of these things I also figured out the best day and time to go to the museum next week, tidied stuff away and helped to fold the clean laundry.

Definitely a good day.

We had an early breakfast and just as I thought I should start the fire in the woodstove he was back again. We did a bit of housework and then I walked to the nearby supermarket. Only to forget one important thing so I guess I’ll get back today or tomorrow.

I actually did get the final version of the book cover and the plan was to start publishing book 3 in the afternoon.

Well.

But first lunch:

That sauce was made from leftovers and there were fresh spaghetti. Also, a bag of gummybears somehow ended up in my bag in the shop. Weird.

I had quite a bit of time in the afternoon. The plan was to play a bit of video game after lunch, then teach one student, work on publishing stuff, teach two more students and then relax.

But I picked up my controller just real quick.

On the bright side I did make some great in-game progress.

After teaching I ate a quick dinner while my husband was doing the dishes and I later joined him. I played more video game, started writing this post, made a list for today and went to bed.

And today will be full and busy again and then – Easter break!

I wrote my morning pages, opened the computer and tried finding a document with the keywords I used when publishing book 1 and 2, failed because there doesn’t seem to be such a document anywhere, and decided to skip yoga and meditation because I didn’t feel like it and my husband was already almost done with his breakfast.

I finished knitting the heel of the current sock-in-progress after breakfast, did the dishes, helped my husband order something on the internet, saw that I had an email from my cover designer, okayed the last version and went for my walk/run:

It was very windy. The weather changed quite dramatically, we’re even supposed to get snow again.

When I came back home lunch was already on the table so we ate together and talked some more:

Then I played some Genshin, took a shower and only then realized that I had forgotten about the load of laundry that was ready to be hung up.

I frantically folded the clean laundry still on the rack so that at least one of them was free, hung up two sheets and had to leave it at that because my first student was about to arrive.

I sent the boy a message to please hang up the rest of the laundry but later it turned out that my husband had had a cancelation and used that time to do all kinds of housework. He even cleaned the basement stairs.

After my last lesson I played some piano exercises, refilled the water in my piano’s humidifier and ate dinner. I read a little, played a little, did the dishes, started writing this post, made a list for today, played some more and went to bed.

Today has already started off weird because my husband had a doctor’s appointment at 7.45 which meant getting up earlier for both of us.

My big hope for today is to move book 3 forward to publication, we’ll see how that goes.

In the morning I did my complete morning routine including opening the note I made with everything that happens in book 3 and the blurbs from books 1 and 2.

And then I wrote a draft of the blurb and it went rather quickly.

There was yoga and a pretty late breakfast again. I did the breakfast dishes and kept adding things to my list.

First I went to the doctor’s office to leave another urine sample. I was supposed to do so two weeks ago or so. I swung by the drug store for tongue scrapers and was very proud that I did not buy any mint chocolate.

Then I went to the health food store the second time in two days and braved the meat counter. Could I order lamb roast for the Thursday before Easter? He wasn’t sure. He did show my some very nice lamb fillet but, well, that was extremely pricey and also just a teensy piece, I needed at least five times as much.

He said he might be able to order something but wasn’t sure. And then he said he had some in the back, vacuum-sealed that would keep long enough. Bingo!

I also went on to buy some spices and more chocolate and chamomile tea, all things I had forgotten to bring the day before.

The plan was to change the sheets on my bed before lunch but there wasn’t time. Lunch was an old standby, rice and lentils:

Then I had a bit of a break before my first student that I used to read (started Sarina Bowen’s „My Kind of Guy“ that morning) and play my video game. I was very proud of myself after because I am actually getting better and had a major breakthrough.

Then there was teaching. And at one point a student showed up that I had rescheduled. Only I had given her the wrong time and had double-booked myself. Oh-oh.

But, the student I had double-booked her with was the one who almost never showed up. So I told her what had happened, started teaching her and sent the other student a text asking if she would show up, and if so (she would have been almost ten minutes late at this point) if we could do her lesson a little later.

Well, turns out she did not show. And had never intended to. Crisis averted. But I would have liked to know beforehand.

Since that left me with half an hour of free time between students I then finished writing the blurb, proofread it and sent it off to the cover designer and then I went online and ordered the contact lenses I had wanted to get for weeks.

Another student, then a quick round of piano exercises and it was time to do bodyweight training with the boy.

Then dinner, I started drifting off to social media but caught myself almost in time, started writing this post, did the dishes, wrote my list for today, descaled the electric kettle and changed the BRITA filter, played some more video game and went to bed.

I had really hoped to also have time to watch TV and spin but, well, can’t have everything. I would love to finish spinning the purple Corriedale and make myself a sweater from it but, well, another day.

I tried doing everything a little earlier than usual and was somewhat successful. Because we were out of yogurt and the fruit we need for breakfast after yesterday’s breakfast I really needed to go to the store. Which I did. Twenty minutes of walking.

After putting the groceries away I went back out again, this time for a short walk/run:

My husband was equally busy so lunch was frozen pizza with salad:

And then I had a little time to myself before taking a shower and starting to teach my students.

Teaching went well, teaching a friend over Zoom was the highlight of the day. Even though I had to convince her not to cancel her lesson because she hadn’t had touched her instrument for weeks. Well, then at least you can play in the lesson. She played well and then we talked about the new BTS album and their concert at length, as one does.

So I was a little late eating dinner and also to meet the boy so he could help me with the weekly bosses in Genshin Impact. I played like an idiot but we won anyway, thanks to the boy.

After that I played some more and then somehow fell into a YouTube hole and ended up going to bed too late again.

Today will be a little less full but I realized that I had forgotten to get some stuff from the health food store and also I need to ask about ordering some lamb roast for Easter. This year will be the first that my mother-in-law won’t make the Easter lunch, so I need to get that organized in time.

I can’t wait for Easter break. And yes, I am aware that we just had a week off not too long ago but I was sick that whole week and so it wasn’t as restful as I had hoped.

Because around 9 or so I had told the boy I’d play first and do my evening routine later.

I mean, I did. Mostly. Way later.

It’s often these tiny things, I think they don’t really make a difference and then they turn out to make all the difference in the world.

Anyway, I wrote morning pages but did not open the manuscript, did yoga and meditated for five minutes before having breakfast with my husband. Both my weight and my blood pressure are moving in the direction I want them to, so that’s nice. My guess is also that those two things are connected.

We talked about all kinds of things, and then I was too late to call my mother who had already been waiting. Ouch. After the phone call I quickly did the dishes and then my husband made a big lunch for us:

In typical fashion he had forgotten to make the Brussels sprouts that were the original inspiration for this meal. Good thing they are still in the freezer.

We ate lunch, all three of us together, and then we went out to vote again. There were two run-off elections, one for the main mayor and the other for the county administrator (no idea how to actually say that in English).

Afterwards the boy and I ate the ice cream I had bought on Thursday. My favorite ice cream brand was on sale.

Then it was time for one of the monthly Zoom calls I often watch, so I did that while knitting part of a sock. Then the boy and I did bodyweight training where I tried using heavier weights for one of the exercises but my finger. joints protested so I scaled back again.

I finally ate dinner, started writing this post while the boy was making himself ramen, I wrote a list for today and for the week and brushed my teeth earlier this time.

And now for another week filled to the brim. 

I did run (and mostly walk):

Then I squeezed in the door right when the concert started. I watched that, knitting in hand, and enjoyed it tremendously. I was a bit apprehensive about the new songs at first but they are definitely growing on me.

The concert was just an hour, then I took a much-needed shower and there was lunch:

I read and played and then it was time for the weekly writer Zoom. After that I finished a sock and wove all the ends in, and then it was time for the weekly ‚Columbo‘. Very nice episode, even the music was better than the last few times.

After that I played some more, decided not to start anything that would take long, let myself get sucked into farming materials real quick and ended up going to bed too late. And I almost forgot to do my Chinese app, even.

That was a really nice and exciting day but an earlier bedtime would have been a good idea.

I then tried to be good, wrote morning pages, eventually opened the manuscript for twenty distracted minutes, did five minutes of yoga and meditated quickly before breakfast.

After breakfast I listened to the album properly while knitting the heel of the sock in progress. And that meant no cleaning, no changing the sheets, nothing. I squeezed doing the dishes in and then went out to pick up the Chinese food I had ordered for lunch:

And here’s the main course:

That is actually the boy’s lunch, not mine, my husband had put the noodles with tofu in front of me and it took a while to register that I had ordered chicken and what I was looking at was tofu.

But all was good, the boy got his vegetarian meal and I got the meat.

Then it was almost time for teaching.

I thought the rest of the day would be a little hectic with teaching, then Zoom, then bodyweight training but one of my students canceled and then another one which meant we could train between me teaching and going on Zoom. I even had time to reheat the second half of my lunch for dinner and eat it before the call.

I did sit through the whole call and it was very interesting but unfortunately I was no longer able to listen and to process information. Oops.

After the call (which went half an hour longer than expected) I said goodnight to my husband who didn’t know (or didn’t remember) that I had a call, then played Genshin for a while and just when it was really high time to get ready for bed the boy showed up, wanted to take a shower, and told me all about Genshin lore.

Which was very nice but not at that time of day when I had talked to people all day (or had been talked at).

I started writing this post, then made a careful list for today and went to bed.

Today will be tricky. It’s Saturday but I have a couple of things that I need to be on time for, the BTS concert, weekly writer Zoom and the weekly watching of ‚Columbo‘. And I need to fit the rest of the things around that. Fingers crossed I can do it.

Started the morning routine, did well until the point where I should have opened the manuscript and – went on social media. Meh.

Did yoga, meditated for 5 minutes and had breakfast with my husband. Then dishes and off to the supermarket on my bike.

Of course by then I was – late again.

I came back home at a time where lunch should have been ready but instead the potatoes were just starting to cook. Seems I was not the only one taking ages with everything. We also had a bit of a snafu with veggies and no carrots left in the fridge and so my husband opened the one can of peas and carrots the we keep for emergencies:

That brought back memories, as a kid I thought this was what peas always looked like. Meh.

Then there was chocolate and a bit of video game and then teaching.

After which I ate a whole bag of potato chips for dinner while reading around in three different books, procrastinated the dishes until I finally got going, tried listening to the Schubert string quintet for the third time and got interrupted again. This time by the boy.

I decided to let the string quintet be string quintet. Three attempts at listening all the way through are enough, I’ll continue on with the next piece today.

The boy and I got talking up to the point where I showed him a few BTS and one Stray Kids video, I then started writing this post, made a quick list for today and went to bed eventually.

We’ll see how today goes, the list is long, of course. I okayed the new version of the cover for book 3, so now I „only“ have to write the blurb and I’ll be set.

I gave myself a deadline until Monday.

I did write morning pages and opened the manuscript (still working on writing the timeline of book 1 down) but decided to move yoga around which meant there was no yoga. Duh.

There was breakfast and dishes and I managed to catch up with my reading of „War and Peace“ and almost catch up with the classical music.

Then there was the walk/run:

I might skip to a slightly harder version next time, starting over from the beginning is a little too easy. Sorry for the squint, everything feels too bright these days, probably the cataracts.

When I returned lunch was already on the table:

I took a break, then was somewhat late for taking a shower, looked at my calendar to make sure I hadn’t forgotten an early student and saw that the boy had a dentist appointment 20 minutes later. I didn’t know if he was awake or not but figured if he got dressed and brushed his teeth right away he might still be on time.

He was awake but had forgotten all about it and was a little late in the end.

I was on time, freshly showered, my hair still wet.

I taught a few students and in between looked at the new version of the cover for Eva Mandel book 3. I think this is it. Now I just need to write the blurb. Still.

After teaching I talked with my husband for 5 minutes, then changed and met with the boy for bodyweight training. We were both still very sore from our Monday workout.

Afterwards I finally ate dinner, played Genshin Impact, asked the boy to do the dishes, and then we ended up talking about Genshin for over an hour.

I eventually went to bed, I always do.

I went to bed at a reasonable time and – didn’t sleep all that well. I guess changing my sleep habits will take a while. I had a bad case of the dunnwannas and did not open the manuscript. I also dragged myself through yoga and my 3-minute meditation.

One of the reasons I started the day in a slightly bad mood was the fact that I had an appointment to get measured for new orthotics. Mostly because I didn’t want to leave the house. Especially since it looked very cold, gray and wet outside. I even went back for an umbrella only to pack it back up and stuff it in my backpack because it wasn’t raining all that much.

After my appointment I went to the health food store and was back home way earlier than expected.

I unpacked the groceries, folded all the laundry and then waited for lunch:

I had a short break before teaching but only very few students. My day had started with cancelations and rescheduled lessons so I was out early.

After that I mostly sat around reading and playing, the boy came home from uni and told me about the experiment they had done, I ate trail mix instead of dinner, played some more, did the dishes, started writing this post, made a list, played some more and went to bed.

I did my complete morning routine, including spending some time on getting the timeline straightened out and written down. Which also meant I could make a note of a bike that was at two houses at the same time and some luggage that I had forgotten about when starting to write book 2.

I also did my usual yoga. My back is really acting up and I am basically tense and sore head to toe so gentle movement seems like a good idea.

Husband and I talked at length, then I did the dishes, folded about half a load of laundry and hung up the fourth one in two days. The whole living room is a mess of drying racks.

I then went out for my walk/run. I am starting over again and am still on 30-second running intervals, so it’s all very doable.

Lunch was ready when I came back home. Simple but tasty. And we’ll be getting more eggs today so these needed to be used:

I then took a shower before a 30-minute break and then there was teaching. All the students that I had massively corrected in a cranky mood the week before played much better this week. One didn’t show until her lesson should have been over, time-blindness is a thing and I was very sorry for them but I didn’t have time to move the lesson elsewhere.

I was pretty exhausted after that, tired and hungry so I ate a few almonds before doing bodyweight training with the boy. We started extra easy with 2 sets of 8 to get back into the groove.

I then ate dinner and waited for the boy again to kill some video game bosses together. While waiting I wrote a list for today and started writing this post and then I decided I had enough for one day.

Some more reading and playing, I asked the boy to do the dishes and then was done with the day.

I did buy yet another book, this one about fatigue. We’ll see how I’ll like it but the topic is certainly super interesting.

I promised a picture of the finished socks and here they are:

I started the next pair right away and after five rounds or so I decided to pull everything back and use a different cast-on that looks better and is stretchier.

I talked with my husband and called my mother and did not read my daily chapter in „War and Peace“. I am also behind on listening to my daily piece of classical music but I guess I’ll get back to it soon and will make up for the missed days.

It was cold enough for a fire in the wood stove so our house was cozy and warm. Lunch was a little late but then it often is on Sundays:

My afternoon was all Genshin Impact all the way, I had to put some serious time in to finish the event stuff that ended last night. The boy had already told me off for leaving it all to the last minute but then he still helped me with a few things.

In between I talked briefly to the rest of the family, did the dishes, changed the towels and watched my husband clean washbasins and toilets and wash three loads of laundry and hang them all up.

And yes, I am spending too much time playing that video game. I need to change that. Half the time should be enough, it’s not a race to finish the fastest.

I ate dinner, played some more in between reading and then I started writing this post, made a list for today and went to bed.

Today will be somewhat busy, the plan is to go walking/running and do bodyweight training in addition to teaching. I also really need to get back to the cover designer ASAP…

1. I had gone to bed 45 minutes late.
2. I had dawdled in the morning and there was no time to open the manuscript.
3. Even if there had been time I wouldn’t have wanted to write. (This is pretty standard after not writing for a while.)
4. The weather went from sunny and mild to gray and cold.
5. I felt totally paralyzed and had a super hard time with transitions all day.
6. There were dog walkers everywhere when I went out.
7. The yarn I was knitting was dark, sticky and blue.

You get the gist.

I did have a nice walk/run:

I came home a little late and lunch was barely started (another reason for crankiness) so I took a shower and then folded some laundry. And then there finally was food:

I read and played that video game and had to stop right in the middle because it was time for the weekly writers Zoom. Since the US are on daylight savings time already but we still have another week to go the meeting was an hour earlier.

In the kitchen my husband was busy doing the dishes so I helped drying them a little. Made myself dinner and we watched the „Rest in Peace Mrs. Columbo“-episode. That one is a good one.

I then didn’t want to do anything at all (that was basically the theme for the day) but did make myself start writing this post and make a list for today before slacking off again.

Despite the list I’m still not quite sure what today will bring but it will certainly be very, very cold.

Oh and I finished my husband’s socks while watching TV. I’ll take a picture later today.

I went to bed on time. I did not sleep all that well, all my own fault for eating junk late in the evening. But hey, eight hours of sleep.

I even opened the manuscript and did yoga and everything.

Husband and I had a long conversation that was actually nice and then another one (still nice). I started doing the dishes but ran out of time because the big thing for the day was riding my bike to the next town over and get another prescription for orthotics from my orthopedist.

Which I did. The weather was nice, sunny, a bit windy and not too warm and getting there only took about twenty minutes. I had to bike next to a big road most of the way but there is a separate bike path and all was good. I came back home much earlier than my husband had expected.

There was still half an hour before lunchtime and he was pretty stressed out. He had tried doing garden stuff, the dishes, going out to buy alcohol-free beer and lemonade, and starting to cook.

Which was a bit much all at once so he couldn’t finish any of it. I was all set to tackle the dishes but he thought it would be better to cook first. Which was right.

So I dusted and vacuumed the annex after helping with chopping vegetables and setting the table.

Lunch was just a tad late but very tasty:

After that I played my video game for quite some time. One after the other most of my students canceled or rescheduled their lessons so I was free until 4.30. I then dusted and vacuumed the old part of the house before sauntering off to teach.

Nice lessons including a very new student. First time ever that I got contacted by someone’s PA. I thought I was emailing back and forth with a family member, of course, and got the parent’s name wrong, oops. But it all got straightened out eventually.

I then skipped playing the piano, cleaned all the mirrors, ate dinner, started writing this post and making a list for today and did all the dishes. No bodyweight training yet, the boy and I decided to start that again on Sunday. For now 40 minutes of biking has to be enough for one day. Well, that and 10 minutes of yoga.

I was super slow first thing in the morning, so I ran out of time for the manuscript, husband and I had a misunderstanding first thing and there went the rest of my energy for the day.

The original plan was to do all the things but in the end I shunted some stuff to today and tomorrow. I turned the heel on the sock-in-progress and promptly made a mistake – at least not a big one – then the dishes and in between made sure the boy was awake. He had a Zoom meeting for uni at 2 and wanted to get up a little before that, of course.

I decided to go to the nearby supermarket because my husband was meeting a friend for lunch and so I had to provide the traditional frozen pizza:

I found out that I don’t care for pesto on my pizza.

I then talked with the boy, briefly, and with my husband, ate all the gummy bears read and played Genshin and then it was time to teach.

A break, more talking, more teaching and after I started eating dinner at 8 pm which is a bit late.

The boy came downstairs and opted to kill some bosses in game in co-op mode. He thought that would take about half an hour but in the end it was 1 1/2 hours because my poor characters are so frail, so he swapped their equipment around and such.

Then I started writing this post, made a list for today (another super busy day), and went to bed. I’m very determined to make sleep a real priority.

Not quite sure determination is actually the thing that counts but we’ll see.

I actually went to bed on time and slept well, phew. I still was super tired all day but at least I wasn’t making the problem worse.

I did my morning routine without manuscript time, seemed I was totally blocked about the novella-in-progress, so much so that I thought about starting something else or revising the new urban fantasy.

Husband and I had a great conversation over breakfast that we had to cut short because he had to leave for his dentist appointment.

While he was away I tried to make myself write unsuccessfully. I spent some time online and I knitted while reading.

Just as I was about to get up from the kitchen table my husband returned. Everything had gone well, things are looking good.

I did the dishes while listening to Piazolla and then to a podcast about writing.

And then I went out and redid the first day of Couch to 5k for the umpteenth time. I wasn’t quite sure if I’d be up for it but thought I’d just try and if the running parts (45 second intervals) were too much I could always just walk back.

It was glorious:

The sun was shining and it was fun to move and to listen to some BTS and I got to think round and round the novella-in-progress until I felt all motivated and had sorted through all kinds of problems with my writing.

It looks like this might not actually be a novella in the end, though, those two guys have some serious stuff to work through.

Very exciting!

I came back home to lunch already on the table so we ate next:

We ate together, then I played some Genshin and took a shower before teaching all the students. One of my students had canceled so I used that time to get a start on writing down the timelines for the first romance novel because that is relevant for the second one. I can’t write more until I have sorted that out.

Thought looking at the timeline of those heroes’ lives I might have to go back through that story again to make sure people are all their appropriate ages. The whole thing is ‚contemporary‘ without any world events or covid. Sure.

I taught my last student of the day did a few scales on the piano, ate dinner, then started writing this post, made a list for today, did the dishes and sat down to tackle more Genshin. I really have to put some time in next because there are several things I want to do until the end of the week (there is an event that is ending plus another thing that feels urgent but isn’t).

Then a bit of reading and lights out.

Today will be a very, very full day including grocery shopping, making something for lunch, teaching and all the other stuff.

I still set my alarm at the usual time, and everything took ages. I wrote morning pages about sleep and about my mindset around it and interrupted the writing to buy a couple of books, ahem.

A little later in the morning I started reading „Hello Sleep“ by Jade Wu. I had been thinking about getting that book for a while but, well, I a not insomniac. I’m just needlessly sleep-deprived.

In the prologue she writes:

So, when did you lose touch with sleep? When did it stop being an enjoyable thing and become a struggle instead?

Ouch. So, when and why did sleep become something to avoid? I remember going to bed because I was sleepy even as a teenager. I am definitely a morning person, so that’s not it. The first time in my life that I did not just go to bed when I was tired was when I met my husband and we moved together. He is a definite night-owl and that and our afternoon working hours meant that I shifted my sleep to more of a night-owl schedule. But still I would get around nine hours of sleep most nights and when I was tired I’d go to bed and fall asleep.

There is a story I tell a lot when my husband and I were on vacation on Madeira and in the morning I told him that I had been tossing and turning for ages before falling asleep and he said it had taken me about five minutes. Duh.

Then I got pregnant and had a baby and first I had trouble sleeping and then the baby would wake me up all the time, as they do. A couple of years later I actually did have insomnia, I would wake up in the night, unable to fall back asleep and get more and more stressed out about my lack of sleep.

I thought I might have a thyroid disorder, or something else was wrong and did a sleep study. And nothing was wrong.

So after that I decided that if my body wanted to be awake in the night it was its own problem, I’d just stay in bed, nice and cozy, and tell myself quiet stories. My body could take care of sleep or not but a few nights with non-adequate sleep wouldn’t kill me.

And my insomnia went away and I went back to my usual „sleep like a log as soon as my head hits the pillow“-state. Maybe with a break or two to use the toilet but that was it.

Then I decided to get more productive and become a real, full-time writer and read the „Miracle Morning“-books. Some time in 2016 or so I decided to get up at 5 am every day, regardless of when I went to bed and that sleep was for the weak.

My plan was to do a lot of journaling and writing and meditating in the morning but somehow I always ended up writing some more in the evenings because I didn’t fulfill my quota. In the end I got totally used to just being tired all the time. I don’t even know how much sleep I need anymore. Tiredness or sleepiness is meaningless because if I followed that clue for when to sleep I just wouldn’t leave my bed in the morning.

See, those are the things I’m thinking about. How can I heal my relationship with sleep? When did I become one of those dumb people who think sleep is a waste of time?

When I do get enough sleep everything is easier, I don’t lose as much time, I don’t do as much stuff I later regret, I don’t impulse buy books by the dozen and snacks by the pound. Sleeping more actually gives me more usable time than sleeping less plus doomscrolling for a few hours.

Anyway, I talked with my husband for quite some time, watched half a video about medieval knitting guilds while doing all the dishes from the 24 hours before, then did a brief research excursion on speed knitting (funny, there was a video „speed-knitting continental for beginners“ with a pretty slow knitter“), toyed with the idea of learning lever-knitting (looks intriguing and very fast, maybe worth a try), timed myself while knitting half a round on my current sock (50 seconds for 32 stitches in sticky, very dark yarn and 3-by-1 rib where I kept having to knit back because I made mistakes because I couldn’t see the stitches properly and then I went out for errands and groceries.

My husband went to the dentist and found that his appointment was for today, I made an appointment to get new orthotics and found that instead of the weeks I thought this would take I could have gone in today but I need a prescription first, and then I bought all the veggies and fruits and schlepped them home while listening to BTS.

There was an easy lunch:

And then very little time until teaching and I still needed to take a shower. I taught a couple of students with wet hair, had two students not show up at all, and was done early.

I ate dinner an some trail mix, started writing this post, made a list in my bullet journal, did the dishes, brushed my teeth and changed into pajamas and only then did I sit down to relax.

Still not quite sure if I should go for a stupid little walk today, we’ll see. I am definitely no longer so sick that I need to avoid all exercise.

I spent a sizable portion of the morning setting up the new router and then connecting it to all the devices including the mesh wifi devices that are scattered around the house so that wifi extends to the whole house.

I did not manage to connect the last two devices before lunch:

After lunch I got a bit hyperfixated on finishing the next part in my video game. I did finish that one eventually in the evening and then got a list of things that I should do next from the boy in the evening.

The boy was also the one who finished setting up the two missing devices which took quite some time. (I could tell right away when he woke up because I got a text asking me why he didn’t have internet.)

My husband did three load of laundry throughout the day.

While teaching I also had to interrupt my lesson to do some emergency tech support because while the internet (and phone) were working my husband couldn’t figure out how to connect his computer with his TV for playing music during lessons.

One student canceled and another one moved her lesson slightly back because she had had a doctor’s appointment and was late but because of the cancellation I could fit her in some other time.

During the break I read the confirmation for my hotel reservation for September and proceeded to buy a train ticket as well. It’s really weird these days, I buy a ticket and immediately after it says that there are current updates. Only there aren’t really, there is just a nagging exclamation mark but no update text.

After teaching I played the piano, I ate dinner, I played a lot more and went to bed too late again. Very late. Today will surely be lovely.

I also tried booking a hotel room for our family reunion in September. I’m a little sad that the boy didn’t want to come but, well.

I called my mother on the phone, did dishes and then there was lunch:

I ordered another non-fiction book and yes, I still don’t really read those.

I finished the Wilshores blanket by weaving in all the remaining ends:

Unfortunately I managed to take the picture of the wrong side, oops. The border in a 

I had plans to finish cleaning (which I did) and set up the new blurb but the blurb didn’t happen.

We went to vote in our very regional elections. Looks like 

I played my video game a little too long but managed to tear myself away in time for vacuuming the old part of the house and doing washbasins and toilets.

And then I went to bed to late. Great start into the week

I crocheted quite a bit and ended up finishing the border on the crochet blanket in the evening.

I somehow was so late with chores in the morning that I could not fit the vacuuming in, decided to do it after lunch and ended up not having time left because the things I did in my video game took too long.

Lunch was great, comfort food is the best:

There might also have been a steady stream of licorice all afternoon, ahem.

I went to writer Zoom, folded all the laundry, failed to change the sheets on my bed and watched the wrong episode of ‚Columbo‘ with the rest of the family. It was rather confusing when we thought we’d watch the one with Mrs. Columbo but instead we had a writer murdered by her younger lover. Who was so irresistible to all the women that he could do what he wanted to any of them, including the older sister of his lover who knew perfectly well  what an ass he was and had told her sister to break up with him. That was no plausible at all. Especially since she knew he had shot her sister (though at that point they didn’t know he had actually murdered her) and was definitely after the money she would inherit from her sister.

Also, as we all know, romance authors are sweet and innocent and not business savvy at all. Sure.

Anyway. After I went back to my game and finished that part of the quest the I had to leave hanging for Zoom and TV and then I was too late for everything. I still started writing this post and made a list for today.

That list looks remarkably similar to yesterday’s list plus the phone call to my mother and voting in regional elections. Oh, and setting up a new router. Will I manage to do all of that? Probably not but I’ll try.

I still managed to vacuum the annex and I also taught all the students. Then played Genshin with the boy, fell down a social media rabbit hole and ate too much licorice. We had pancake soup for dinner and an omelette for lunch.

Good thing it’s the weekend and I have weekends off.

Because I was so early I decided I had time for a quick look at Instagram before everything else. Ahem. And then it was very, very late. I wrote morning pages, did yoga and meditated very briefly. No manuscript time at all.

Husband and I had breakfast then he left to start working in the garden. I thought I might maybe have some manuscript time or write feedback for the cover designer or something but, no, my brain decided no to cooperate.

I also thought I would be well enough to brave biking to the bigger supermarket but by the time I had done the dishes I was feeling more fainting couch than mall, so I changed plans and walked to the nearby, smaller supermarket. There are things on the grocery list that have been there for three weeks now. But it can’t be helped.

There was lunch:

I took a break, read and played my video game and took a shower and then it was time to teach. Nice teaching day. My last student forgot about his lesson and texted me after the fact. I only waited for 7 minutes or so, and then decided to play the piano for fun.

I talked with my husband while eating dinner. He had done the dishes and was busy making red beet salad. His student hadn’t shown up as well.

I then went on reading and playing Genshin Impact. I am currently upgrading all the weapons my characters use and everything takes longer than I would like.

In between playing the piano and eating dinner I refilled three fountain pens and managed to let one drop on the hardwood floor. I am now having lovely turquoise sprinkles on the floor, ahem.

I started writing this post a little late, wrote a list for today, and went to bed.

I am reading three books at the moment: „War and Peace“ where everybody is in the war against Napoleon at the moment, „Star Shipped“ (no war and I just started it) and „Discoverability“ by Kristine Kathryn Rusch which is a bit outdated but still helpful.

Today I’ll do a teensy bit of cleaning and teach all the students. Somewhere in there I really should do publishing stuff but I dunnwanna and my brain is still mush.