I love the morning on weekends.

Mornings during the week are a different matter. The shrill ringing of my alarm clock, followed five minutes later by the insistent buzzing of my mobile’s alarm will tear me away from some dream. I am one of these people who have very colorful and pleasant dreams. Sometimes they are like a film and I am reluctant to wake up because I want to know how the story ends. Therefore I put on the alarm half an hour earlier than necessary. That way I can carry on snoozing until I am ready to face the world.

The first thing I do in the morning (after the unavoidable things like going to the bathroom and brushing my teeth) is grabbing the leash and taking the dog on a walk. After the first five minutes which feel more like sleepwalking I am wide awake and happy to be alive. Especially now in spring I like being up and about around 5.30.

After a quick coffee I have to leave home to drive to work. 12 hours later I return and the first thing I do after getting out of the car and doing the unavoidable (like going to the bathroom and giving my partner a peck on the cheek) is walking the dog again. Afterwards it’s fixing dinner, eating and soon after I am ready to go to bed. Most evenings I am too tired than to do more than read a few pages, ring a friend or watch a film. I hate myself for having become one of these boring people who fall asleep on the sofa, but that’s the way I am these days. I use the night for sleeping. The times when I stayed up until early morning, drinking red wine, smoking cigarettes and having endless discussions about anything and everything are long gone.

Weekends are a different matter. I wake up when I am ready to do so and that is still early enough. After walking the dog I fix myself a big pot of coffee and start working on my blogs. Some of these mornings I start reading the paper or have endless phone conversations with my friends. There is no rush. No place I have to go to! I love these weekend mornings and if they turn out rainy and cold these morning can easily stretch into the afternoon before I am ready to think of such mundane things as doing housework or shopping. Weekend mornings – they are the best part of the week for me!

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/because-the-night/

Daily Prompt: About Page of the Future

Write the About page for your blog in 10 years.

Ten years ago I had resigned to the fact that life would simply continue to trickle away. Going to work, walking the dog, fixing dinner, tending the garden, getting older, looking forward to retirement.

Oh, but life is full of surprises and it is impossible to foresee the future. Not long after I started my first blog I came across a small announcement in the paper: “Looking for challenges? We are looking for test people willing to participate in a psychological research program. For more information ring ….”

Always being interested in psychology I rung the number. The man on the phone told me in few words that a group of researchers from a well-known university were looking for test persons willing to meet one personal challenge a week. I decided to join that experiment and filled out an endless seeming questionnaire about my fears, hopes, dreams, likes and dislikes.

The experiments started easy enough. The first week I was asked to eat Leberwurst and drink camomile tea, both things I hate up to this day. The second week I should take a midnight walk through the park and the third week I was to ask my boss for a pay raise, which I got. As the weekly challenges became more demanding, I started to change. I became more confronting and aggressive and less willing to put up with any kind of nonsense. As a result I earned even more money and when my boss retired I took over the company. The new job involved lot’s of travelling and I met interesting people and saw fantastic cities and landscapes. Finally I was leading the kind of life I had always dreamed of!

But was I enjoying it? Yes, I was. Did I miss being at home, in North Germany? No, I didn’t. Did I miss seeing my partner and my children? I did, but I came home at least once every three months. Did it hurt, when I found out my partner had a lover? Yes, but quite honestly, I didn’t think it was a serious threat to our relationship. Was I sorry I missed the baptism of my first grandchild? Yes, I was, a little bit, but I saw the videos and spoke to my son and daughter in law on the phone. I was busy, I was successful and I loved every minute of it. The years were passing at an incredible speed and I thanked the psychologists for helping me finally lead the life I had always dreamt of.

During a conference in Monte Carlo I visited the casino and won almost 1. 000 000 Euros. Now I was rich on top of everything else. I decided to take a holiday and spend a my 65th birthday at home.

The house was dark when I arrived and nobody greeted me. I was a bit irritated that my partner was not there to greet me. He came home the next morning to tell me that he didn’t want to be with me any more. He was going to marry Claudia, his new lover. I must admit, I was a bit shocked at that and surprised that my place should be taken by such an inconspicuous woman who liked gardening.

Feeling a bit lonely in the now empty house I decided to visit my son in Köln and get to know my granddaughter. When my granddaughter saw me she started crying, hiding away behind her mother. I was a stranger to her. Conversation with my son and his wife was awkward, there was a lot to catch up on, but somehow we couldn’t find any familiarity. I was shocked to see that he had lost most of his hair. Feeling sad and a bit lonely I left them earlier than I had meant to.

Next I visited my best friend, Lydia. She was happy enough to see me and I invited her to the best restaurant in town. I felt glad to be with a friend, but when I asked her whether we could meet again the next day she said no. She told me in clear words that though she still liked me she did not feel we were friends any more. I had not been there when she was sick and needed me. She had found new friends, who really cared about her.

That night I could hardly sleep and after getting up early I went to work and put in my resignation. Now somebody else is traveling and running our international projects.

I am rich. I have seen the world. I know people all around the globus and enjoy being in touch with them. I still love travelling. There are many things I could write about.

However, life needs to be balanced, and as I need challenges and inspiration, I also need a place where I can be safe and secure, where I can love and be loved. Therefore this blog is about family and friends, gardening and cooking, reading books and taking trips and building up a happy life. I am just beginning to learn how to be a friend and a grandmother and hopefully, sooner or later, a partner in a relationship.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/09/daily-prompt-about-page/