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?
It’s already been a week since I got back from a quick solo trip to Germany. A couple of months ago it was announced that there was a 30 year highschool reunion in the works. This year the timing actually worked in my favor and so I headed on a little Germany trip by myself. To make good use of my time I squeezed in a couple of “side trips”.
I started by meeting up with my dad near Munich to visit my sister and her husband. Even though it was already end of August it felt like summer and we spend the evenings hanging out in the beer garden at our hotel. There was lots of good food there. Since it was too hot to spend much time outside we went on one outing to the Bucheim Museum. It’s right at the edge of Lake Starnberg in a park-like setting and it was a lot of fun.
Pictures from the Buchheim Museum at Lake Starnberg
Besides the collection of expressionist paintings it also had an exhibition about Paul Maar. He is an illustrator of children’s books and almost everyone in Germany knows his drawings. His most famous one is the book about the Sams. It’s a character that shows up one day at the house of Mr. Taschenbier (Bag Beer – don’t even ask). It has red hair and blue dots on his face. For every dot (seven) Mr. Taschenbier can make a wish… Sorry, I am getting off topic a little.
Paul Maar exhibit
On another day we went on a walk near the lake early in the morning to skip the heat, visiting the spot where Ludwig II of Bavaria was found dead. He is pretty famous because he had the Neuschwanstein Castle build, the one that Disney used as inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty castle.
Cross to commemorate the location where the body of Ludwig II was found at Lake Starnberg
On my 4th day in Germany I got on the plane to Hannover in Northern Germany. Germany is not that big but it would have taken me all day to take the train there. The German train system is also not the most reliable these days so this was the safer bet. My parents in law were nice enough to let me borrow a car from the so I could drive to Nienburg where the high school reunion happened.
I stayed with a good friend from school I lost touch with over the years. It was really nice hanging out with her after so many years. Life sometimes is a weird thing. We could not even remember why exactly we lost touch or how it happened but I think it was partly we moved to different places after school and I was in a new relationship and our interests and friends groups drifted apart. She’s a school teacher now and volunteers at a printing museum where they also have classes for kids. It sounds like she enjoys it a lot and the place is awesome. She gave me a little tour before I headed off to the high school meet-up.
Good times near Nienburg/Weser
The re-union itself started out with us going on a dragon boat outing on the river that flows through Nienburg, the Weser. I had never done that before and it was really fun. One of my friends who I usually see when I visit Germany also came and it was good to catch up but most of the others I had not seen for 25 years. I talked with some I had almost never talked to in school. We all grew up in the years since I suppose. There were no major surprises. Many became lawyers, teachers or doctors. We will see if it takes 25 years again before I get to ho next time. My aunt and uncle still live in the area but other then that I don’t have any ties to the place anymore other then my memories since my dad sold the house. It still oddly feels like home – especially the wide open fields in the area but I also realized in the past years that I would not want to move back there. Visiting feels good though.
Before getting on the train to Frankfurt (where my brother and dad live and from where I was leaving), I hung out with my parents in law a bit. The time felt so short on this visit that I did not even get in touch with anyone else. I hope to see my other friends the next time around. The train ride went smoothly luckily even with a 40 minutes delay but it was fine. I kind of like riding the train. It’s more comfortable then the plane or the car and you can read while the scenery passes you by.
Visiting my brother now is almost like visiting a second childhood home. His family always has room for us and we usually pick up where we left of even if there is a year in between. My dad lives really close and he came over to hang out with us in the backyard.
All in all it was a really relaxing trip despite all the going back and forth. It still feels foreign to travel by myself and not have the kids with me but it make things so much easier if you only have to take care of your own needs and plans. Luckily they are at an age now where they can clearly state what they need/want and my husband took care of the rest. There were also no schedule change surprises this year what made the start of the school year way more pleasant.
Does your high school have re-unions? Would you go? I was talking with my colleagues and most of them said they did not know about this custom. Lots of years at my school do it every 5 years and the school invites back after 25 and 40 years I think. Granted that our grades are much smaller than here. My graduating class had about 60 students whereas my daughter’s will have about 350. Another thing I am curious about: are you still friends with people from school? I have one friend I talk to throughout the year and we stay in touch but most of my other friends are from later in life.
Mural in Eureka, California where we stayed one night during our vacation
I am still learning how much time I do have to actually write a post. During vacation? Not so much time. Especially not if I don’t plan everything out in detail. Hey, at least I booked all the stays on the trip and had not to scramble to find one on the day of or the day before. I know some people like that or would just go camping. Very early in our relationship I told my now husband it would stress me out to no end if I would not know where to sleep at night (he would not mind so much at least back in the day – now he just lets me do what I want). At least some of the nights we spend researching and planning what we would do the following day. The route was planned out but everything else was still up in the air.
Last weekend was spend doing laundry and getting the kids ready for school. It is now back to work and school for everyone. It feels a little easier now with the kids in high school and middle school. My son did really well last year in middle school so I am less anxious having to be on top of him most of the time. I would not have thought that he would be this independent and responsible when he was in elementary and I am so proud of both of them. Last year the start was a little rough I think mostly due to the fact that I felt a little traumatized by my own high school experience. The school system in Germany is very different and they split up the kids in different tracks after 4th or 6th grade. I was the only one in my close friend group that ended up going to Gymnasium. It’s the school that goes up to grade 13 and prepares you to study at a University. Needless to say I felt a little lost at first. But it turned out better than I expected for my daughter.
Talking about school systems: is it an American thing that it seems like the first two/three weeks of school are kind of a trial period for classes? With the course system there seems to be always so much shift that they might end up with a completely different set of classes and teachers by the time this period is over. Last year my sons classes changed after the three weeks what really sucked. It was still the same classes but mostly new teachers who of course already set ground rules etc. It was due to 100 kids more than expected showed up on the first day and they had to adjust class sizes. In our high school it is even more interesting since you can end up with a completely different set of class topics (intentionally or unintentionally). When school starts and they get their schedule they can submit change requests of they want to not do a class or change a class. Sometimes they end up in classes they did not sign up for. E.g. my daughter has”Introduction to Law” instead of the requested “Psychology” – we will see how that plays out. Some friends got switched in the middle of the night the day before school started or there are kids who don’t have a schedule yet when the head to school the day of. Needless to say this whole system of courses starting with high school is completely new to me. I started courses in 11th grade and I had to pick two majors in 12th grade and make sure I cover all required courses to graduate but not before that. I guess the course system is the same in the whole US? But also the soft schedules in the first two weeks? I always wonder if it would not be better to get the schedule figured out starting two weeks before school starts or is there a method to the madness I am not aware of?
Beach in Seaside Oregon
I will leave you with a picture of my vacation before I sign off for today. It already calms me a little just to look at it. I hope it does the same for you.
I am in full summer vacation mode. We are already on the road since last week Friday and slowly the vacation routine is kicking in. I was going back and forth about going to Germany again this summer but it turned out that my brother’s family would be away on vacation while we would have been there. Also: I really wanted to find out if a family vacation without visiting family is more relaxing. I do love my family but sometimes it feels like I need another vacation after hopping from one relation to the next. I can report back now in two weeks time.
Knitting is always a good way to pass the time on a roadtrip (when not driving of course)
Instead of going on a long flight we packed up our car and went on a two week roadtrip to Oregon. Our first night landed us in Ashland, Oregon. It’s about 5 and a half hours from the Bay Area. I originally wanted to stay in Redding our first night and drive towards Crater Lake from there but with all the fires burning currently the air quality is really bad in those areas.
Ashland compilation (art on the side walk top left, fairy house door at a book store top right, view across a stream on a mural bottom left, stream in Lithia park bottom right)
Ashland is a cute town that also runs the yearly Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I opted not to get tickets this time but it does sound fun. Instead we just walked through town and Lithia Park a bit and had dinner outside next to a stream. It was hot and felt like summer. Heading back to the hotel me and the kids had a swim in the pool before turning in for the night.
Museum pictures compilation
Day 2 was only a three hour drive from Ashland to Eugene. We arrived in time to have a late lunch at the Eugene Saturday market that offers food, music, arts and crafts. And since it was still a little early after that for hotel check-in we headed to the Museum of Natural and Cultural History on the University of Oregon campus. We saw 9600 year old shoes, learned about something about the origin of Oregon, animals that used to live there and kelp forests. There was also a pretty cool exhibit about wolfs. After that we checked into our hotel and after some relaxing had some dinner nearby at McMenemins North Bank. It’s right next to the Willamette river and sitting outside it almost felt like having dinner somewhere in Germany near the Rhine river.
Willamette river at sunset
That’s it for day 1 and day 2. More traveling to come. Do you prefer staying in one place for vacation and venturing out from there or are you team roadtrip? I never did roadtrips when growing up but I do appreciate them now. I like both for diefferent things. Roadtrip it is for us this year.
My life feels pretty busy at times, but I do try to fill my time with something that is just for me anyway. At the beginning of the year, I participated in the #stitchbookchallenge2024. Ann Wood introduced this challenge and you can read all about it on her website ann wood handmade. Basically you create 20 pages by stitching each for 15 minutes for 5 days. 100 days later you have 20 pages you sew together in a book. I had a little laps during our spring break trip (we went to New York) but otherwise the 15 minutes were very doable. When I read that Tobia is doing the 100 day project again and it really inspired me. Have you done something like that? Would you? It was a highlight of my day and helps me relax better than any meditation would. I guess it is a form of meditation now that I think of it. I love doing things with my hands and it gave me some stitching practice. The saying ‘practice makes perfect’ really rings true in this case for me.
I wrote something up before in the past couple of month and never hit post. Honestly, most days I am just tired. I feel like I am constantly trying to figure out how to balance it all. It’s a constant. Every new school year for the kids, it’s new schedules combined with my work and the general life stuff (like shopping, cleaning the house, laundry, garden, taking care of my health and my kids’, everything). Maybe it would be easier if I was a list person? Anyway, blogging has been something that fell of the wagon in these past couple of months.
This morning it’s a beautiful day in Berkeley, California. So on my way from the parking garage to work I decided to stop at a coffee shop and analyze some data (for work) and start writing, in the hope that it will be the start to do it on a more regular basis again (for me). I am sorry I have not been checking in much with the lovely people from NaBloPoMo that San got together. It’s definitely not you! Hopefully it’s not to late to reconnect…
Home here and there 