Desert Days

View over Las Vegas

Las Vegas is still a town that does not quite make sense to me. That someone would see this spot of land and think it is a good idea to build up a city in the middle of the desert – mind blowing. And it’s growing every year we come visit, too. We went on a pre-turkey hike today and had to walk through a construction site before hitting the actual trail.
Our kids are still very impressed with the fact that our friends have a mansion (at least compared to the house we have in the Bay Area) and paid less than we did. After initial ideas to move here, too, they were pretty much cured of that after spending a 4th of July weekend in town. It’s just way to hot during the day to be outside. We can always be outside in the Bay Area. I think that is one of the things I appreciate most – the weather is outside weather all year long.

I did learn to appreciate the desert though. It has something very meditative about it. I like the calm and the big open space. The colors feel very calming to me.

I could live here for a while but probably not to settle – until I get enough of the heat. I have been thinking about this more and more. I do not mean moving to the desert but just where I would like to live. Maybe it’s because my dad was selling his house? Where would I go if kids and work were not part of the equation? If you would ask me if I would rather live near the ocean or near the mountains, I would pick ocean every time. I like seasons even though my migraines tend to be worse in changing weather. Small town or city? Somewhere in the middle would be my preference. Close enough to the city that you have all the amenities in driving distance but far enough away that you don’t have all the bustle. Maybe at some point I will figure it out.

How do you feel about the place where you live? Would you want to move somewhere else or are you happy where you are?

Game Day

After arriving fairly late last night, we spent the morning catching up with our friends and settling in. Some pre-Thanksgiving shopping was done and in the afternoon we scheduled the “Lost City” escape room for some of us with Escapology. We had to find the lost journal of some long lost explorer, find the treasure and escape the lost city. I thought it was really well done. Have you done an escape room before? It’s something I really like to do with the kids together and mostly we complement each other well when it comes to solving the puzzles. It gets easier the more escape rooms you do and I think we only needed two of the three hints this time around and made it out within the hour.

Random decoration in the escape room place

After doing some more grocery shopping we made pea soup and played Hitster while waiting back at our friends place.

It was pea soup weather today. Even though it was warm during the day, it was really windy and it definitely felt like fall. It was a bit confusing since there were already so many Christmas decorations up at the mall.

Do you know the game Hitster? A German friend was recommending it, since it worked so well for the whole family. Basically you have a stack of cards with a QR code on one side that will connect you to spotify and play a song. You have to guess where the song belongs on your timeline (the release year, artist and song name are on the other side of the card). The goal is to fill your timeline with 10 cards. It’s so easy to understand and so much fun. The adults were singing along and even the kids recognized some songs and learned some old favorites.

at the beginning of my timeline

I guess it’s more a card game than a board game? Do you like playing games with the family? Any favorites? I think this was a good compromise. I like playing all kinds of board games but not everyone in my family does. Since there was the music component there was lots to talk about that was not game related.

We did transition to play something together on the Playstation after dinner. The game was ‘Overcooked’ and you have to move cooks around the kitchen and deliver specific dishes. I am apparently incapable of understanding how to move my fingers fast enough on the remote. The little characters never do what I want them to. Oh well, at least I tried. Watching has its entertainment, too.

Long day on the road

It started really well. We left at 10am and had 4 hours to drive – I thought maybe 5 with stops. Little did I know that dust storms will close freeways. 9 hours later we arrived. Note to self (and everyone who will want to hear): Google does not know everything. Maps tried to send us on a dirt road over the mountains. It was all good until the real road suddenly ended and cars already came back telling us we should turn around (which we did). At least we were not the only ones listening. The good news was that we made it safe and sound to our destination in the end.

Questions answered round 2

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. You can find the full list of participants over on San’s blog here #nablopomo2023

On the road

Today we drove halfway to Las Vegas (visiting our good friends). Nothing much happened. The drive on I-5 from the Bay Area is pretty boring but it is the fastest. It was raining most of the way anyway so not much to do outside. The upside: there were clouds! Do you like clouds as much as I do?
But now back to answering questions.

On day one of NaBloPoMo I did a little introduction round and asked if you had questions. You can still fill out the form if you like. This is the second round of answers on this. You can find round one here and one about why I live in the US in more detail here.

What’s your favorite book?
If you would have asked me in High-school I would have answered “Siddharta” by Herman Hesse. We read it in school and it really got my teenage brain thinking. Honestly I don’t remember much now. Later came Harry Potter. I think that is the one book I would like to be able to read again for the first time.I also like the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and am contemplating re-reading it. I just don’t have that much time to read, sigh. A little magic is always good and I enjoyed the “Rivers of London” books from Ben Aaronovitch. My taste is a bit all over the place and there is not one specific book I can’t live without. I do prefer fantasy, historic fiction or YA but I am not too picky. I wish I had more time to read but I do listen to books whenever I can.
Do you have a book you think I should try? Any special one you can’t imagine life without?

What is a hobby you do?
This is probably already answered when you followed along. I do like to do things with my hands – no matter if it is pottery, knitting, crochet, sewing, drawing, painting, gardening, baking. How can you pick just one?

What role does blogging play in your life?
I am a little sad to say not a very big one unless it is November. My family wants to stay out of it so I am trying to stay vague about them as much as possible but it is hard as they are always on my mind. I love the community that came with it and I was hoping to keep up after last November. It proved really hard. I missed everyone and was still checking in occasionally but mostly followed quietly along. I am doing the #project365 on Instagram where I try to post a picture every day what I enjoyed. I don’t do it for the followers but for the connections and for myself. Being an introvert is not easy sometimes and working and family and other hobbies and friends – something got to give. It gets easier as the kids get older – at least mostly.

And last but not least: How do you find parenting? What’s it like to be a parent to tweens and teenagers?
I love my kids dearly but I sometimes find it challenging to balance them and myself. There is quite a few things I don’t do right now because it would take time away from parenting. I am sure I am not alone with that? Honestly my kids make it mostly easy. They turned into very responsible tweens/teenagers. I don’t think I can credit myself for all of it. My husband and I make a good team and they had an awesome aftercare in elementary school. The teachers there were kind and helped them keep their homework organized. I think it really carried over. The emotionally ups and downs are harder. I see more of myself in my daughter what is good and bad. It brought up quite a few insecurities I had when I was growing up. I would say so far so good. I keep checking in with them every day and make it a point to know who their friends are. Try to get them to bring them home. I volunteered quite a bit in the lower grades and am glad I know most of the parents and the other kids they hang out with. The very big drama passed us by so far and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it stays this way.
It feels like social media and the pandemic really elevated all the usual issues that were already around during my time like eating disorders and other instabilities brought it to a whole new level and it’s heart breaking to hear about.
The hardest thing for me really is that my mom passed away a couple of years ago and I can’t ask her for advice or how it was when I was growing up.

One last thing outstanding: Christmas in Germany
I will get back to that in December when we are there.

Around the house

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. You can find the full list of participants over on San’s blog here #nablopomo2023

Elisabeth wrote about her favorite thrifted art pieces and she got inspired by Daria’s house tour who in turn had the idea after J’s blog post about house decor. Sorry, if there are other’s I missed. I am a bit behind on blog reading but hope to catch up over the Thanksgiving week. I really liked the idea, too and since San asked about my crafts I thought I’d go for it since it will show some of that,too.

We kept three of the pictures from the previous owners of our house. They liked to travel and museums and I especially like the big Van Gogh. It’s a poster they had put on a wood backing. I think the colors work really well.

The other one that is still up is this Milton Avery Poster also on a thick wood backing.

I do like to go to estate sales and this is where these moth are from.

Next up a couple of paintings I did with the kids when they were younger. These are in the hallway.

Same with this one.

And these two one of them made in school.

This one I put together with scraps from their earliest paintings. I just could not throw them completely away. What do you think of the pink bathroom tiles? I was not sure at first but they really grew on me.

The portrait is one my sister made of my mom and the hearts left and right I made with the kids when they were little.

This V was also done by my sister. It was a wedding present from her since I took my husbands last name and it starts with a V.

This mobile I made a while back. It’s mostly made of paper from ads we got in the mail. I like how the feathers move when the heating is on.

Can you tell I had a faze with macrame? I learned it in school and it was not that difficult to pick up again.

The sun was made by my niece.

One more macrame in the hallway.

This one I made just after we moved into the house. I always wanted to get on but so far I just could not decide what I want. The stars to the right of the mantle were also made by ad paper.

Another one in the dining room.

The top left is a print I got at some pint and the right a linocut print by a local artist. The owl I made when I painted with the kids. Owls always remind me of my grandma who collected them.

What brings me to the final one. It’s also a lincut print from Boarding All Rows. It was a present for my husband and I love looking at it. It always reminds me of the desert.

That’s it for today. It’s not all but it was so hard to get pictures today. It was a gloomy day in the afternoon since it was raining and we had the lights on early. Lots of reflections and shadows…

Speechless

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. You can find the full list of participants over on San’s blog here #nablopomo2023

The morning left me pretty speechless. Today was my birthday and my big surprise was that I received a Cricut Maker 3. I was always eyeing one but always felt it was not quite necessary and a luxury. Well, now it is sitting on my dining table. This was a real big surprise. I usually have to voice very specific wishes but this year I only heard “it’s covered” and it was! I still can’t quite believe it. I see so many projects in my future including new snow flakes for my big front window. The bats I had up for Halloween would have been so much easier, too. Christmas T-Shirts for the family? I have the feeling I am not the only one in the family who is excited about this. We were gathering around earlier as it was making the first cuts. I made a snow flake and a bee decal for my coffee mug. It’s pretty amazing but now I am really tired. It’s 11:10pm and I am glad I finished today’s post before midnight.

Anything in your life you did not think you needed but wanted?
What should I make next?

Knitting Love

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. You can find the full list of participants over on San’s blog here #nablopomo2023

I planned to take a picture of my current knitting (that scarf for my dad who washed his previous one in the washing machine), but of course the day went different as planned. Instead I helped one of my kids for an hour at the sewing machine for a present project of theirs (no, not planned for today).

So instead here is a picture of my Ravelry page

For everyone who does not know what Ravelry is: you can search knitting and crochet patterns. See what others made, see what yarns they used for their projects, save your own projects and so much more. It was a revelation when I found out about it.

I do know how to crochet as well but most of the time I knit these days. It is relaxing. It keeps my hands busy when I watch TV and awake and focused when I listen to a talk at work. I like how a the half finished project feels on my lap when I work on it, the warmth and the weight. It teaches me patience and I love when a project now turns out as I expected.

I learned in school (I think 7th grade) and I still remember how sticky and hot the stitches were in my hands and how hard to get it look right. In 11th grade I would drive my teachers crazy because I knitted in class when I had to listen to something (I really can concentrate better when I do).

Did you know that there is even a difference how Americans vs. Germans knit? I had no idea until I saw it. The stitches are made a slightly different way. The American way is called English knitting and the German one Continental. I also had to learn how to read English instructions. In German you call them right and left stitches and in English it’s knit and purl. I am glad you can find instructions online for almost anything these days.

Do you knit or crochet? What do you prefer?

Shout out for fall

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. You can find the full list of participants over on San’s blog here #nablopomo2023

Fall leaves and clouds

When asked which season I like best I usually say spring, because everything starts growing again and the world turns green. But really I think every season has its appeal in some way.

Fall has a little of a bad reputation, don’t you think? I know it’s all relative. In California fall still does not feel like fall to me most of the time since it is so different from the fall I grew up with. No foggy mornings (we do have that in the summer here), no colder temperatures with frost in the morning, the days get shorter but it is still light out at 5pm and it is also missing that cold, wet, miserable feel that came along with it in Germany. But fall also means pretty colored leafs and not having as much to do in the garden . It’s a time of slowing down, at least it could be, but most of the time it is not – what is not fall’s fault but mine. It’s summer is over, school starts up, we try to figure out the new schedules and before I know it it is Halloween and this year especially it feels like it went straight into pre-holiday mode from there. Having christmas decorations up at the supermarket on October 31 does not help. It feels like I always short change fall a little.

The plan is to collect some pretty leafs tomorrow to press and do something with later. At least then I keep the memory of it a little. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving next week. I do like this fall-ish holiday very much, since it’s mostly about sharing a meal with people we care for and for giving thanks.

Thank you fall!