Operation Tubetop

Over 4 years ago I used to bike to work. My old place of employment was a 15 minute bike ride away and the route involved absolutely no road traffic. The best part en route to work was the last part which took me through Schweizer Garten - a lovely little park during the day. I would zoom through under chestnut trees feeling exhilarated and alive while the wind whipped my hair across my face. It was the perfect start to the day. Then I lost my job and did the responsible thing and got knocked up. My bike stayed in the basement for years and when I started working again, the thought of biking there was a pipe dream. Enter a co-worker who convinced to give it the old college try again and, voila, I am back on the bike. But of course I had to get prepared to take the plunge again. I bought a helmet over the weekend and with the Husband's help (there was nagging), a new seat was placed on my bike. I bought a gel-cushion like-one and the Husband couldn't understand my need for a n

What a spectacular day! The weather is perfect. I woke up at 6 this morning and decided to take a little walk. Since I am biking to work for the first time tomorrow, I decided to check out the route from our new place on foot. It seems that there aren't any bike baths immediately which makes me a little noivous but if I can make it 5 minutes, then I should be able to hit the paths eventually. Jeebus take the wheel. I bought a helmet yesterday because safety is important, kids. I think it should take me about 40 minutes to get to work which is about 10 minutes longer than with public transport but the trade off is sweaty pits and a work out. Since I have not biked in years, I will just bike there on Monday. Bike back Tuesday evening. Bike there on Wednesday and bike home on Friday (Thursday is a public holiday). Eventually I would like to bike at least 3 times a week - maybe even 4 times - but easy does it. I also need to find my way back to Yoga so that is another goal over the n

Just a mini post regarding our new (fabulous, so very very fabulous. I'm sorry. I'm obsessed) place re: the Kid. The Husband was mostly concerned about how the Kid would adjust to our new digs and at least daily he would wring his hands and voice his concerns. I kept saying "After a week, he will be at home and we will start to see a change in him for the better." The Husband didn't believe me and while I hate to say it...well... I was right. Oh, who am I kidding? I LOVE TO SAY IT! I WAS RIGHT!!! Before the move. Male sofa building. So RIGHT. RIGHT! THAT'S ME!! RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT! On Sunday morning we brought the Kid back from the Inlaws and watched him closely. Even though we had been to the apartment at least half a dozen times with him before the actual move, and the Kid seemed to know the place fairly well, he never seemed to completely relax in it. As he walked into our new forever home, he ran straight to his room, saw all his toys - new and old - a

I meant to write earlier but I am just getting over a 24 hour bug and/or food poisoning. Literally, it lasted 24 hours. I also still need to write the next couple of parts of the story of the move and of course eventually post pictures of the new place. But first, let me regale you with the story of the BUG. On Easter Monday I woke up in a somewhat foul mood. I was grumpy and tired and just thought I was suffering post tramautic stress from the move. We took a nice walk, visited the playground, cleaned up a little and then had some dinner. As I finished my last slice of pizza, I felt that good old familiar tummy voice "Girlfriend, your ass is mine. That was one slice of cheesy pizza too much. See you in hell, motherlover!" So I told the Husband that I had to lie down and I hoped that I would fall asleep and get through the pain and the sweats and the chills. The Husband put the Kid to bed and then headed to ours. He crawled in beside and me and whispered "Hey, the Ki

Happy happy happy Easter Monday! It has been a crazy four and a half days. We (the Husband and I) have just spent our third night in the new place and lemme just say that our new bed is ahmahzing. Yesterday was the Kid's first day and night in the new place so of course I didn't sleep well - combination of my cold sore throbbing and keeping an ear open for the Kid. We still have a few boxes to unpack (more of my clothes) and then I will be able to say we have officially moved in. It has been 4 and a half days of physical labour, tears, stress and frustration - peppered with joy. And it has all been worth it as I sit on my sofa and look out my window and see trees and hear birds singing. I LOVE THIS PLACE! So today is Part I of the "move" story. I figured I would break it up into sections so that you, dear readers, wouldn't be overwhelmed by my stupidity and short fuse. So come, walk with me down the path of ire and frustration. Bask in my lack of comprehension o

Hard to believe that this is our last weekend at our old place. Did I get a lot done this weekend? Not really. I finally found white pillowcases for our living room. That was a win. I went to three different places and had no luck but my last stop had them... and on sale. There's a moral of the story there somewhere. In the afternoon, we went to the new place and unrolled our mattress. Oh! It be big and beautiful! I brought some more clothes over and realized I needed more hangers. I have now purchased an additional 90 hangers. I have a problem. I love clothes. I truly do. I don't need designer labels, I just need lots and lots of clothes. And I have lots and lots of clothes. I don't shop that much but my mother gives me a ton (last trip to Berlin I arrived with 1 kilo of stuff... left with 23 kilos of stuff - would have been more but I caught her trying to sneak more stuff in. She's fast) and I have a hard time parting with my clothes. The problem with so many cloth

One week until we move. ONE WEEK! There is so much to do and I am about to hyperventilate. But I will keep it together. Maybe. This is our last weekend in our current abode and I cannot believe that I have spent 10 years here. Seems like a lifetime and yet, it just flew by. This weekend will be a weekend of last minute purchases, the Husband and I snapping at each other and just general panic. The boxes come on Monday and I have yet to figure out the perfect system for packing. Oh but I will soon, I will. The good news is that most of the "creative" stuff is done. I have my colour schemes figured out, know where each and every piece of furniture will go and all that is left to purchase is a small stand for the kitchen and a mirror (the last mirror, I promise). It seems that we are still missing our bed (don't get me started) and the corner cabinet of our kitchen. Ikea informed the Husband that the piece will eventually be delivered, maybe next month, and they will ins

Day three of sick leave. I'm still not feeling great but I am looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. I'm at the "put glue on hand, let it dry, peel it off" stage. So fun. Our kitchen "montage" is almost booked. Don't get me started. One piece is apparently missing and the Husband compared our list with the delivery list and doesn't see this "piece" missing. Frustration! So at one point I will have to check each box and bauble that has been delivered and find out what is missing. Personal nightmare. Our last weekend in the apartment is coming up. I cannot believe it! There is so much to do and I wish I was back in top form so I could get 'er done. Even though I have moved a bazillion times, this is the first time as an adult that I have movers coming. I have done my best to bring stuff over, but Billy bookcases are not easy to carry. So our timiline is somewhat like this: April 15th- boxes arrive April 17th- Kid dropped off

Well, I have an upper respiratory tract infection. Of course I do. Last week I was battling a cold but I didn't battle well enough. Yesterday I was able to see a doctor (thank you private health insurance and your crazy crazy snob-inducing ways). He was a new doctor for me - Spanish and passionate and I kind of wished he would have tangoed me out of the office and instead of a rose in my mouth, a prescription. I did get mah drugs and now I am just trying to sleep the bug off. SLEEP IT OFF! Why did I get sick? Stress of course. And Friday night was the night that I finally allowed myself to open the floodgates and let that sickness in (and yes I took an early Saturday morning walk because Mommy no like to sit still). So on Friday night, the Husband and I were having dinner and he mentioned something (not that important) and it just triggered me. I collapsed emotionally and the ugly cry began. Full out wails and deep gulps and snot bubbles. I was crying for everything. The past yea

Yay! Friday! Yay! A very much needed day. Just two more weekends in our place and then onto the 4th district. Cray cray. This weekend will be filled with organizing and throwing stuff out and of course, stocking up on clean and healthy foods. For the weekend, I am hoping to mix Greek yoghurt with muesli and berries for breakfast, smoothies for lunch and some righteous veggie wraps for dinner. Our fridge is going to look like a normal healthy person's fridge and not like a frat house fridge. Yay! Maturity. Tonight I am making a flatbread pizza with buffalo mozzarella, roasted peppers and onions and some spicy pesto... with no wine. No wine at all. Sob. It has been once again a crazy week and I am looking forward to some downtime in May. Just a few weeks to go and then all will be right in the world. Kind of. I showed our nanny the place last night and she seemed to really like it which means happiness all around. Right? Right. On to another topic, my necklace racks arrived tod

Well. Well, I don't know how to say this but I'm giving up the hooch. Not for good because that is crazy talk but until April 22nd. I will be abstaining from my loyal friend the Booze for 21 days. What brought this on? A life changing event? Did I end up in a gutter? No. Nothing catastrophic happened but I've been feeling stressed and lethargic and gross and I figure some abstinence won't hurt. I actually don't drink that much. But I do like my wine and on days that I have been stressed, I can easily have more glasses than I want and then the next day I feel bloated and I make bad food choices and then I want more wine because I feel bloated and made bad food choices. When you have a toddler at home, mommy needs to be "on" every.single.morning. And I am "on" but I want to be more "on". I want to feel more alert in the mornings and I feel that I need to give my body a little overhaul. So with the booze abstinence for 21 days comes the

Gaaaah! Did you feel that disturbance in the force yesterday? Did you see all the birds in Vienna take flight around 9 a.m.? My head - it exploded. And then it exploded again and again. Yesterday was not a good day. I took the day off because I was, like, expecting our new kitchen to be installed and because I am the only one that cooks in our family, it is kind of important that I get a say in how it will be installed. And so, at 7:25 I was in my kitchen-planning outfit; yoga pants and a fleece sweater and I was about to make my way to our new apartment. We had been told that the kitchen would arrive between 8 and 10 a.m. Just as I was going to take my last sip of coffee, the phone rang. The guys were already outside our new apartment with my beloved (maybe) kitchen. So I ran to the ubahn and got there 10 minutes later to let the guys in. They brought things up faster than I can judge a person's outfit. They were very fast. Then they asked me to sign a sheet and I asked "So