Today was a day with a lot of driving back and forth. First driving the kids to school, then driving myself to work. After finishing there, driving to pick up my son from school and back home. I dropped of my work things, researched where to get a pizza for the pot luck in the evening changed into gym clothes and drove there. One hour gym and back home I went. Changed again and ordered pizza, got everything else together (brownies and drinks) and the kids, picked up the pizza and drove us to the potluck to celebrate the end of cross country season at the middle school. I was really proud of my son that he wanted to do cross country without any nagging from my side! The teachers were great and he seemed to enjoy it. After we had dinner there I drove us back home and now I finally have a minute to sit down and finish my post for today.
At the gym I got multiple questions what the meaning of my T-Shirt was. Do you know the logo? It’s from a German company that already exists since 1826 and was started by Maria Clementine Martin a nun who lived in cologne Germany. “Kloster” is a monastery and “Frau” means woman, so it basically refers to the woman who started it since she was a nun. The main product was a tonic containing 13 different herbal alcoholic extracts one of which is lemon balm that gave it it’s name “Melissengeist”. Melisse meaning lemon balm and “geist” referring to the high alcohol content (79%). You can still buy it today (even in the US) and it is a staple in a lot of German households. It’s supposed to help with all kinds of things like anxiety, sleeping problems, stomach upset, a cold. I think we only ever used it with a headache or muscle ache. You simply apply it to the affected area. Honestly I mainly liked the logo. Blue is my favorite color and it’s white on a blue background.
Are there any household staples in your household I might not know about?
I am still sad about the election result but have to figure out first how to best process it all before I write anything down. I am so tired. Tobia wrote a great post about how to cope with it all and there were some good suggestions. If I wouldn’t have said I do NaBloPoMo this would be the time I would hibernate because I don’t know what to say.
This morning my husband send me a message from the gym with a picture:
Rockin’ around the Christmas tree
So I guess it begins.
The next thing was that my son requested a Santa Hat. I am not sure if something happened at school or why but his reasoning was that Halloween is over and now he wants to transition to the happiest season of all.
Newest knitting project
Dutiful mom that I am I went ahead and did some online search and found this pattern for a Santa Hat that looks pretty straight forward. I went ahead and stopped by JoAnns to get yarn after my fitness class last night. And today I picked up the right sized needles at my local yarn store after finding out that all I had at home was to small. Do you think I will be responsible if he will be know as the boy who wore a Santa Hat all of November and December?
Are you already preparing for the holidays?
I voted
To be honest, to some extend I am just trying to distract myself from the happenings in this country I call home now today. I voted right after I got my ballot so there was nothing left for me to do today. Being able to vote is such a privilege. I am anxious like so many others. I may hope for an outcome I wish for but I am prepared for the worst. Whatever happens we will still have our local community and that is something. There are many kind and engaged people around these parts. I am dreading the questions if we would move back to Germany if you know who gets elected. We are not planning to. This is our home now, too and the kids don’t know anything else. At this point it would be really hard for them not to speak of our own culture shock after 19 years.
I had a relaxing Sunday. In the morning I went to a bi-weekly German coffee meet-up. I am at the point where I can use the extra German immersion even we speak it at home. I guess 19 years living in an English speaking country will do that to you. I am really thankful the Susi who got it started. It’s a small group but that is just fine with my introvert self. I made some Spaetzle with lentils for lunch and finished ironing laundry from the last 3 weeks. Do you iron all your laundry? I usually only do shirts and some dresses/pants that will be extremely crinkly otherwise. T-shirts and such will be just folded and I do keep up with that. After I was done it was enough standing for the day and I spend some time reading blog posts, commenting and writing this one.
From here on I fill you in why I sometimes mention my hurting leg. It’s on my mind quite a bit so I thought it might be good to get it out of the way. So if you want to skip this, feel free to stop right here.
I loved Elisabeth’s idea of the “Cool Blogger’s Walking Club” – 10 minutes walking a day does not sound that hard, right? Well, I managed one week and the rest of the time I was struggling on and off with my lower back/leg/hip. I had it happen so often these past few days that I wanted to say “I can’t do this or that because of the pain in my hip” that I decided to get it out of the way and just write it off my chest and be done with it.
It all started harmless enough with some lower back pain at the beginning of the year – sometimes more, sometimes less, sometimes it would disappear altogether. Then in April we went on a trip to New York and did a lot of walking. Well the week after I almost was hobbling around because my thigh and hip were hurting so bad. Getting up from the chair was awful. I finally made a doctor’s appointment. He already told me over the phone to take a high dose of Ibuprofen for a week so by the time I had the appointment the pain was almost gone. He did order some physical therapy for me and that was that. The physical therapist said it was likely sciatica from what I described (by that time the pain was back) and gave me some exercises to do at home to come back after 4 weeks. It did get better eventually only to suddenly come back even with me doing my workouts daily. I am still trying to figure out what triggers it – sometimes it is just standing for 30 minutes while preparing dinner, or pulling weeds one day to not being able to move without pain the next. One day it was so bad out of the blue that I went back to the doctor. This time x-rays were ordered which came back with the diagnosis of mild arthritis in my right hip but she was thinking that this is likely not the cause. I asked for another physical therapy appointment in early October to get the first available in mid November. Since the physical therapist was saying that an MRI was a good idea to find the cause I am getting that, too. I got an appointment for that also in mid November but at least I hopefully have a better idea why it is happening.
So physical therapy – check – and I am doing the exercises religiously.
Diagnosis is in the works – so check there, too.
I signed up for a gym membership to build up some strength. The gym has group classes what I liked and they are giving me adjustments when I can’t do something. I am careful and it feels good to do be moving. I have to reserve the classes and show up for them what seems to be the only way that works for me. Otherwise I just find something else that needs doing at home first or the kids need something.
I went to a chiropractor since so many people said it helps them – the vote is still out on that. He also gave me some exercise suggestions what hopefully ties me over until I have the next physical therapy appointment. He thinks its most likely muscles and not sciatica. I have the feeling it is a mix of both.
Did I mention we got a new mattress? This was not an easy project my friends since my husband likes a soft mattress and I like a firm one. We found a local company which makes splits what is perfect for us.
Can you tell yet, that I am frustrated?
I believe it will get better eventually and various people said I am doing all the right things (including sleeping more, drinking enough and eating better), but most days I am just really tired of it. Wish me luck and if you have any other suggestions I am all ears!
Some days I wish I lived in Germany. The doctor can suggest something that is called “Kur” and you are send to a hotel like therapy center where you do physical therapy and other things that are supposed to help you get better. I would be so on board with that.
Ok, enough complaining and now you know if you made it this far.
My Saturday started out as usual with some vacuuming the house and a round of yoga. Then I got one of the kids in the car to go get a COVID and flu shot with me. One more thing off the to do list. Fingers crossed it helps. I just had covid in August and it was not too bad but I don’t need another flu experience like last year for x-mas in Germany. It was only one of the kids but seeing how miserable he was, was no fun.
After lunch I took the kids to a friends house and stopped by the yarn store because they had a trunk show I was interested in. It was from a local bag company my daughter already has one from and I wanted to see if I find something else she might like. I did not end up buying anything but at least now I have a better idea about the sizes. Sometimes I have a hard time telling when I just see it online and have the measurements. I did walk back out without getting yarn either but sometimes just touching the it gives me a fluffy feeling inside. I have to finish my current project first before I can think of the next one. Across the street is also a garden shop that I popped in. Again I did not buy anything but I love walking the isles full of plants and dreaming up the perfect backyard.
In the afternoon we went to look at a specific e-bike I am interested in. I thought about this long and hard. I love riding my regular bike but commuting with it takes a lot of extra time out of my day. Sometimes I just need something a little faster. My hope would be that I can ditch the car most days and use the e-bike instead. It would mean no parking hassle and even though it may not be as much of a workout as an “real” bike, I would be moving (and it is almost as fast as the car). I already looked at a couple and did some research online. I wanted to look at the Velotric Discover 2 in person. So the rest of the afternoon was spend on driving to the closest electric bike shop having it in stock and trying out said bike. I loved it so much. I am still going back and forth which color to get but I think I am set on the bike. The salesperson in the shop was super nice, too. He had me try another one and did not try to sell me on the one I wanted even though it was pretty clear that I was in love with it. Final decision to be made next week.
On the way back home we made a quick stop at Trader Joe’s for dinner and at World Market. I managed to check off a couple more small presents for the Advent calendar I am making for the kids and a friend.
Have you tried an electric bike before? What do you think of them? Would anyone be interested in hearing more about my top picks?
I have to say I was a little sad when I put away the Halloween decorations. Part of it is the neighborhood. I always liked Halloween just fine but the neighborhood we live in now is infectious. There are a couple of houses around the corner from us which are insane. The pictures don’t do it justice. After the kids were on their way I took a short walk up the street myself to just soak in the atmosphere. It really made me want to rethink our plans for the coming year. Maybe a shoot that drops the candy down from our porch? One reason why we don’t get as many trick-or-treaters is that there are quite a few steps up to our house. I should rope in the kids and their friends.
At work we had a lab meeting on Halloween and decided to do a group picture dressed up as characters from the Minions movie. I made myself a distinct nose on a whim and went as Gru. Since I don’t have hair it was easy enough with painted on eyebrows, a black jacket, a scarf and black training pants. Husband went as a crow to work since they always have a Halloween thing and the kids were a wizard and Marissa from the video game Hollow Knight. So the weeks leading up to the day I spend sewing a wizard cape and making butterfly wings. If you ever wonder why some of the wings on Etsy cost so much money I can explain a thing or two about that now.
My wing planning
The not so good thing was that I had a migraine on the day, but it helped with the grumpy Gru look. The morning went ok. I went home early spending some time sleeping off the side effects of my migraine medication. In the evening I felt better luckily.
Do you celebrate Halloween where you live? Did you dress up? How do you feel about the holiday?
In a rash decision this morning – after reading a number of blog posts from fellow NaBloPoMo participants – I decided to sign up, too: 30 blog posts in 30 days (during the month of November). You can read more about it on San’s blog about it here. The reading session this morning reminded me of how much I enjoyed it the first time I participated. It made me feel connected in a way the online world usually does not make me feel. Part of me is a little guilty when I don’t post the rest of the year. It’s like getting out of touch with old friends. I hope, like with good friends, we can catch up where we left of. It’s about priorities. This month one of my priorities will be to post daily and trying to keep up with everyone’s blog posts. I also hope to give my readers a better idea what my day to day life looks like. My sister was asking me the other day what my routine is like. This is something that gets drowned out if you don’t see each other on a regular basis. So hopefully this will be a kind of a daily check in for this crazy month of November with all the holidays looming in the near future.
Me on the beach in Seaside, Oregon on our summer road trip
What other priorities I have you might wonder?
First and foremost my family – they will always come first. I have two teenagers this year, one of them working on their driver’s license what I feel is slightly scary. In the US it is just us four, me, my husband and the kids. The rest of the family is in Germany but we try to stay in touch as best as we can.
Then there is my work. Since we moved here in 2005 I work in the same research lab at UC Berkeley and I really love what I do. I am the lab manager/cell culture fairy/ jack of all trades for them and as the years went on a little bit of a the lab mom because by now a lot of the students could be my own kids and I love them dearly (most days). I work 80% and that seems about right most of the time. I really would miss it, would I stop but sometimes it’s a struggle to keep up with life outside work and all its responsibilities like dinner, laundry and gardening not even to mention keeping everyone’s calendar straight.
Creating something with my hands is my favorite past time – let it be knitting, sewing, painting, baking. I have also started to read more again thanks to a book club I joined. When I was a kid I was a real bookworm.
Last year I started learning Spanish on Duolingo and even though it’s not perfect it helped me learn the basics. I am still keeping up with my streak (453 days) but recently switched to French.
Last month I signed up for a gym that offers classes only. I can talk more about the why and how it is going another day, but this is something that is not negotiable this month so it makes the list.
If you are doing NaBloPoMo this year what is year motivation? What is one of your other priorities in your daily life?
Home here and there 