The routine...for now

I’m trying to really make the most of my last few weeks of “vacation” before I start my job at the beginning of August. Part of this means getting up early. I’m not what you’d call a “morning person”. I hate waking up. But now that my weeks of freedom are coming to an end, I have to wake up early for two reasons: 1) to acclimate my body to a normal schedule, and 2) to fully enjoy every last day at home, before the inevitable work travel begins.

Honestly, I’m VERY excited about working again. Has it been a fabulous break? Yes. I feel relaxed and it’s been a treat to have so much time off. Plus, I’ve had time to get settled in the house, to get to know our little town, and to learn how to drive a 5-speed. Ok, MOSTLY learned. I spend a lot of my time trying to figure out how I can park in such a way that I will never have to reverse for any reason. Reverse is truly the worst when learning to drive stick. I find myself thinking, “OK, if I go to the store and I park on the left side, back row, I can just roll backwards out of the parking spot…OR…I could park on the far right side of the building where no one ever parks and then I can just pull straight out of the spot. Better yet, I can just ride my bike. Yes, I’ll ride my bike I think.” Also, I try to avoid left turns. This makes driving...challenging.

But that’s beside the point. The point is, I’m about to go back to work. I’m about to start traveling for work. (Oh my gosh, the rental cars will be manual. WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!?) So I’m trying to make the most of my final weeks of not working.

It gets light out around 5am here, so by the time Zach leaves for work around 7, it’s pretty bright in our house. I usually wake up when Z leaves, but I don’t really GET up. I lounge for a little while, read the news on my iphone, mentally prepare for the day. It’s gloriously quiet here in the morning (minus the occasion tractor) and I’m finding that to be such a lovely gift. I make my tea, eat breakfast, and read or (these days) watch some of the Tour de France. Since I have all of this extra time, I have been baking goodies for Z and trying out new dinner recipes. Today I will venture out to the metzgerei (butcher shop) for the first time…don’t worry, I’ve already googled how to say “chicken” and “beef” in German. Still, I get so nervous every time I have to have an interaction that may or may not be understood. It’s hit or miss whether or not people here speak English, and why should they? We are in Germany, after all. Just more motivation to learn how to speak German.

We usually go on a bike ride when Z gets home, if the weather is nice (which is hit or miss). I’m trying to take advantage of this too, because I know once it gets cold, I won’t leave the house. AND I know that once I’m working all day, I’ll be more inclined to work on dinner than to head out on the bike because I won’t have had time to prepare food earlier in the day.

So a few more weeks of enjoying full days of free time…and I plan on enjoying it to the fullest. But very much looking forward to getting back into work as well.