I had such grand ideas. I would write every day, I thought. publish something every week! How long has it been? How long ago was Easter? Time is so fluid for me, I don’t have much concept of time these days. Did I ever?

Since I last wrote, I’ve been getting myself back in shape. I’ve been trying to get to the gym at least a couple of times a week. I can already feel (and see) a change. There’s still a way until I can be rid of my gut. It’s shrunk significantly, but it’s still there.

That said, life tends to overwhelm me. A couple of times I’ve tried to go after work in the evening. In the end, I needed to just go home. After a day in the office, I’ve not been able to face the crowds of people doing their post-work training. I’ve not had the physical or mental energy for that. Not often…

We’re off to Berlin now. We caught the ICE train just before 6. Heading out for trains or planes is the least enjoyable part of travelling for me. You could say that I hate it. When travelling alone I can manage my time to account for how stressful I find it. When travelling with other people, that process falls apart. Once in place on the train or after security at the airport, I’m normally fine and can relax. Four hours of calm (perhaps the kids would say boredom) until we arrive.

I’ve only been to Berlin once. What seems like a lifetime ago in 2016, we went. It was just before we had planned to move back to England. That never ended up happening, but that is another story. The kids were four and six then. We visited a lot of the important spots.

They have few memories of the place, though of course see the city on TV and in the news. The main memory of our visit seems to be the Ritter Sport chocolate shop rather then anything historically or culturally significant. We bought them custom-made chocolate bars, that they loaded with their own wild selection of fillings. I promised them that they could get another this time.

Now thirteen (tomorrow) and fifteen, their interests are quite different to what they were back then. Shopping seems to be the main thing they want. Today is a public holiday, though, so that’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I don’t particularly savour the idea of standing around in shops while I wait for them to find the things they want to buy. However, it is Mia’s birthday. I think it’s important she gets to do what she really wants to. Maybe I can even do a little shopping for myself. Or perhaps I can find a place to take in a quiet coffee and do some writing. Who can tell how long it will be before I have time (and head) again to sit and put words next to each other on a page?