It’s Friday

And it’s quiet! In the best of ways as I think I have gotten new neighbors upstairs. People who don’t wear those Indian sandals that make a really loud noise when they are used for walking on floors. People who don’t have a weird kitchen thingy that runs clunka-dunka-swoosh-swoosh up to 6 hours per day (still wondering that the heck that thing was anyways). And people who do not go to work at 4 in the morning. At least I hope so, but since it has been much more quiet up there the entire week one can always hope.....

It has been a week with crazy weather. Not Michigan crazy but pretty darn close

Still I have never felt quite as much as a true Michigander as when I watched my east coast colleagues take shelter in a basement because of a thunder storm. The storm was bad, but the tornado warnings? Seriously? In my opinion it was certainly NOT tornado skies, and I am quite sure that they are all sick of listening to me telling them how a tornado sky really looks😏😬

Also I have gotten one lung done on my next cross stitch project:

And I am a SO not in the mood for starting the second one. But I guess I have to move alung (.......) if I want to get it done.

And last but not least I was told today that I have managed to accomplish quite a bit more than expected during my first 3 months at this new job of mine, and that feels awesome! Especially because it has been very very intense to try to keep up with all the strategies and politics and big personalities, that tend to mix up in a place like the pharmaceutical industry. And just the pace of things in general🏃‍♀️🤯🏎🌪has been quite the challenge. I am held to very high standards but I can tell it is good for me and that I am growing tremendously.

Michigan Memorial Day

Nothing like a much needed long weekend. This is the first time where my visit back to Ann Arbor included 3 nights instead of 2, which made a big difference. I have been sleeping! Something I have not had much luck with in the past week unfortunately. Hopefully this will break the cycle for a while. But suffering from insomnia seems to be a life companion of mine, that I try to deal with to the best of my ability but once in a while it runs wild and I have a hard time pulling myself back in.

The weather has been somewhat OK. Kind of sunny and nice in a kind of “yeah - I’ll just ignore the forecast of thunder and bike 8 miles to Saline for a friends birthday lunch”........ It was a really good ride there, but going back ended with me trying to not get soaked while waiting under a tree for that sweet husband of mine to pick me up:

Sunday was raining and cold. And what better weather for the annual clean out of Luca’s room! Sigh. He hates to do it as much as I do, but it’s just necessary as things kind of pile up

And we got it done #insistingmaniacmom. Despite a few disputes about what needs to go and what canstay. There was something to look forward to at the end though - a visit to the newest (and very hyped apparently) bubble tea place in Ann Arbor:

It was good! I have had enough bubble tea by now that I recognize the good from the bad, and this was really good. Especially the part where you get to decide the amount of sugar and icecubes that go in there. We brought them with us to the Arboretum where the rhododendrons are in full bloom:

Luca did a little photo series of yours truly called “coming to get you”

And poof - it’s suddenly Monday and I am in the airport waiting to go back.

There’s two kinds of Pennsylvania

And this weekend I got to see them both. Saturday was spent in the ‘burbs where I had to take my car back to the dealer for a software update. I decided to somewhat make a day of it starting out with awesome coffee (but a very mediocre croissant) in Lansdale and then car and I ventured all the way out to Lake Nockamixon for a hike. The trail were super muddy and I quickly gave up trying to make it without the proper mud gear. I actually had to take a small break at the lake side to wash my feet as well as my footwear:

But with a good book, a shining sun, and only few speedboats on the lake it was not a bad situation at all. Afterwards I got my car fixed and then I headed towards Doylestown (that area we are considering moving to) where I had invited myself to dinner at a colleagues house. On the way there I needed to kill half an hour and as I passed this place:

I thought “well. Might as well just check it out”.

......

😳

🤨

🤯How do you describe a place where you in 10 minutes encounter more mullets than in a lifetime, where a guy strolls the isles with a live snake around his arm, and where they sell cappuccinos with cannabis oil? I ended up taking onepicture that I hope somehow gives a good idea about the place: cheap makeup brushes and dinosaur skeletons hanging from the ceiling:

I don’t really think I’ll ever go back.

On the opposite ends of things is the hipster scene in Philly. I had signed up for a so-called “sippin’ and stitched” event, which was embroidery and beer at a local bar in Fishtown. I even managed to persuade someone else to go with me! I walked to fishtown from city center which gets me through Chinatown

As well as the trendy neighborhoods and the opposite-of-trendy neighborhoods. And after about an hours walk in the heat it was good to sit down with a cold beer. And stitch. And chat. It was a sort of “pressed flowers and moms day event” and of course I ended up with something completely weirdo (as usual, sigh). May I present “hiding hipster”

You are all probably blown away by this artistic level, right?😉

12 weeks in.13 weeks to go

I am heading back to Pennsylvania after a long awaited visit to Ann Arbor. It has been 4 weeks and that’s just too long. Period! And it will not be such a long stretch of time again as I have tried to get flights with only 2 weeks in between. I honestly thought I was going to be better at this as we have been through it before when we moved to California but it just sucks. At the same time I try to keep reminding myself that doing the move this way - with me going first - was a joint decision. It might be hard for me but it will spare the kids for changing school in the middle of the year and spending a whole long summer in a state where they don’t know anyone. Still being away from everyone else for this long feels awfully wrong and getting up day out and day in to keep doing something that feels wrong is not an easy task. It’s hard to decide if I am a super cool mom doing this for the best of her kids or a downright idiot, who has lost complete track of what’s important in life😕

But enough misery for now. The weekend has been awesome. I have gotten - ehm - stunning footwear matching Teresa’s. My sweet daughter certainly outdid herself for Mother’s Day this year❤️:

I have spent lazy mornings in my soft big Ann Arbor bed that comes fully equipped with canine companionship:

And I have been shoe shopping for Luca’s stinky giant feet. What a treat!

Last but not least. When we are just a few months away from finally leaving our apartment we have hung pictures above the couch. About time right? But Ulrik happened to bring home the perfect pictures for this spot in his second semester portfolio. They have been working with markers and using the to recreate surfaces and I just love this drawing in particular:

These boots are made for walking

Greetings from the couch where I rest my sore and worn out feet! There is a contest at work going towards making us “the healthiest workforce in the world”🙄 and I decided to stay completely out of it. Until one of my colleagues begged me to be on their team because I walk to work regularly. The deal is that people sign in for teams of 8, sign up for an app and a step counting contest, and then all steps from all 8 people are counted daily as the app links to other step counters. And I thought I was going to kill it!

Ha!

Apparently I am not the only super stubborn person on that team and I barelyhave a lead as of today:

I may or may not - ahem...... have gotten to walking several rounds around my apartment complex at weird hours after taking out the trash to keep this lead. And we are only 4 days in out of 21 total. Sigh.

In addition to this, my beloved wrestling shoes are on the verge of dying from taking me mile after mile after mile:

So of course I went to get a new pair. As if! It is not wrestling season and it took me some serious detective work to track down a new pair in the right size on amazon which should hopefully arrive in Ann Arbor so they are waiting for me next time I visit.

Last but not least I can share a few photos from today’s walk that brought me right across the border to New Jersey where I got to visit New Hope on the PA side and Lambertville on the NJ side - separates by this bridge across the Delaware River :

It was really pretty with a bunch of little fancy stores and beautiful homes

One of those places where I can’t wait to take the rest of the family for icecream once they get here❤️