I haven’t blogged much about my trip to Dublin, or really I haven’t blogged much at all lately… Being off work means that my daily routines more or less have gone out through the window, which in some ways are nice, but I forget to blog. There are so many other things to do.
This picture is from St. Stephen’s Green on Saturday right after the rain stopped. The whole park smelled fresh after the rain and was so green it almost hurt. A gem right in the middle of the bustling city.
July 31, 2007
Cleaning mode
I’ve been hit by a serious cleaning mode the last two days. Every single drawer, cupboard, the refrigerator, freezer and cooker has been cleaned both outside and inside. I’ve probably also thrown away ten bags with just stuff and junk. For example old plastic cups from Anglo State’s homecoming game in 1991. It was a great evening, but I do not need four plastic cups to remember how fun I had. The same goes for the chopsticks I get whenever I buy Chinese or Thai takeout. One pair is enough and I still use a fork. That’s being a packrat…
Tomorrow I’m going to tackle my closets and bathroom cabinet, which probably will be very interesting, but never less rewarding. The feeling of clean and organised cupboards is always unbeatable.
Tomorrow I’m going to tackle my closets and bathroom cabinet, which probably will be very interesting, but never less rewarding. The feeling of clean and organised cupboards is always unbeatable.
July 28, 2007
Two days with a one-year-old
My cousin, her husband and one-year-old daughter just left after spending two days here in the city. I usually say that I’m not a kid person, but things went amazingly fine. I guess Frida is a bit of a charmer though, and love being spoiled by both my mum and me. Every time she gets into something and you say "no" she just smiles at you and look very innocent – "I didn’t do anything". And as we are not around all the time we can’t resist. Of course…
What amazed me most was how much energy there was in her tiny little body. Almost like an energizer bunny that just keeps going until it totally crash. Right there right that minute. Being a parent you need to be even a stronger energizer bunny, and I understand now why parents with small children go to bed early because they have to get up early every single morning. It doesn’t matter if it’s the weekend or you’re on holiday. Rise and shine!
So yes, I’m very impressed and have to admire all parents out there. You’re doing one heck of job!!!
What amazed me most was how much energy there was in her tiny little body. Almost like an energizer bunny that just keeps going until it totally crash. Right there right that minute. Being a parent you need to be even a stronger energizer bunny, and I understand now why parents with small children go to bed early because they have to get up early every single morning. It doesn’t matter if it’s the weekend or you’re on holiday. Rise and shine!
So yes, I’m very impressed and have to admire all parents out there. You’re doing one heck of job!!!
July 25, 2007
35 years old today
As of today I’m now 35 years old and closer to 40 than 30. Ugh! But then on the other side 35 is just a number and one is only as old as one feel.
As usual becoming a year older I tend to think about things I haven’t accomplished and missed out on. At 35 there are so many musts that one just should have. Perfect career, perfect husband, perfect family and so on.
Sitting at Copenhagen airport on Monday on my way home from Dublin watching people passing by (so much fun) I realised that my life may not be as people and society think it should be, but I like it very much (most of the time). So far in my life I haven’t done very much according to the book so why should I start now?! I honestly don’t think I would be happy doing it. That’s just not me. I'm happy now and that's what counts.
As usual becoming a year older I tend to think about things I haven’t accomplished and missed out on. At 35 there are so many musts that one just should have. Perfect career, perfect husband, perfect family and so on.
Sitting at Copenhagen airport on Monday on my way home from Dublin watching people passing by (so much fun) I realised that my life may not be as people and society think it should be, but I like it very much (most of the time). So far in my life I haven’t done very much according to the book so why should I start now?! I honestly don’t think I would be happy doing it. That’s just not me. I'm happy now and that's what counts.
July 20, 2007
In Dublin
July 18, 2007
Holidays and holidays
There are holidays and there are holidays. As I’m preparing to go to Dublin the next couple of days I got an email from a friends who’s in Svalbard with her husband for a week.
Sunshine and 10 degrees, but the polar wind is harsh and it’s very nice to wear a hat. Today we’ve been out kayaking all day looking for seals. We’ve seen some polar bears, but only far away. The week isn’t over yet so hopefully we’ll get closer to them.So my concerns about what to pack and if it’s going to rain or not in Dublin become pretty small after reading what they experiencing. It just sounds amazing and simply breathtaking. Getting any closer to Mother Nature than this is probably hard, so one can only say: Wow!
Sunday we went hiking on the glaciers and in the afternoon we took a boat trip looking at the icebergs. Today and tomorrow we’ll be hiking and on Thursday we’ll go on another boat trip looking for walruses.
July 17, 2007
Bargain of the day
Today was the annual summer trip to the oldest and biggest outlet shopping area in Sweden. I think some of the main shops there have been around since the late 1960’s. Long time before there was even something called outlet shopping. Back then things were just very cheap.
One could probably describe the inside of the store as organised chaos and you can’t do anything else than just dive in. After finding some shirts and two jumpers I ended up by the winter coats. And there it was the bargain of the day. A grey wool half-length winter coat for only 399 kr ($56). Unbelievable!!! A slim and straight model with a shawl collar that can be buttoned up if needed. I tired it on and it was love at first sight. It was just so very much me. With my red scarf, hat and gloves I’m going to both look and feel great this autumn. And the best thing is that I have probably only paid a third of the high street price. Yeah! I just love a good bargain!
One could probably describe the inside of the store as organised chaos and you can’t do anything else than just dive in. After finding some shirts and two jumpers I ended up by the winter coats. And there it was the bargain of the day. A grey wool half-length winter coat for only 399 kr ($56). Unbelievable!!! A slim and straight model with a shawl collar that can be buttoned up if needed. I tired it on and it was love at first sight. It was just so very much me. With my red scarf, hat and gloves I’m going to both look and feel great this autumn. And the best thing is that I have probably only paid a third of the high street price. Yeah! I just love a good bargain!
July 16, 2007
A long wait
But today the sun made a very bright and nice comeback, and I got to sit on the balcony all day in my beach chair reading. Oh, how I have waited for this moment. To feel the sun in my face, close my eyes, relax and just being swept away somewhere far, far away. A perfect summer’s day!
Scary picture
I watched an interview/documentary with Cherie Blair on television last night. Apparently her first real interview about life at number 10 done the last days of May. Strong, gutsy and straightforward women always impress me (trying very hard to be one myself) so that’s why I watched. She didn’t say anything new really, i.e. media trained. My first and immediate thoughts was that she had become old, but who doesn’t in ten years?!
They had some clips showing her at work as a barrister and to my horror I realised the she had the same handbag as me. Good grief, my taste can’t be that frumpy, can it? Going to bed later on I couldn’t get the picture of her walking down a hallways with “my” handbag out of my head. A scary picture.
I bought my handbag at the January clearance at Selfridges’s. I wonder if she did too?
They had some clips showing her at work as a barrister and to my horror I realised the she had the same handbag as me. Good grief, my taste can’t be that frumpy, can it? Going to bed later on I couldn’t get the picture of her walking down a hallways with “my” handbag out of my head. A scary picture.
I bought my handbag at the January clearance at Selfridges’s. I wonder if she did too?
July 15, 2007
New wines
It’s been a while since I wrote anything about wines, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped drinking and trying out new ones. Here are my latest tries:
Kloster Eberbach Riesling Kabinett 2006 - Germany
Light yellow colour. Notes of green apples, pears and come citrus. Quite sweet taste of apples and pears. Went very well to our shrimp noodle wok as long as the wine was chilled. The last glass was way too warm and then too sweet for my taste.
Palandri Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 - Australia
Very dark red almost blue colour. Strong notes of burned oak, cassis and chocolate. Strong taste as well of oak, cassis, black berries with almost a hint of pepper. Not my kind of wine, but I’m sure it would be very nice to beef or lamb steaks.
Château Prat-Majou-Gay 2004 - France
Dark red brick colour. Notes of oak, dark berries and some pepper. Fresh taste of oak, smoked meats and dark berries. An old favourite of mine that I had forgotten about until finding one last bottle in the rack way back in the closet (Hm, yes I keep some my wine in the closet. Only place where the racks fit.)
Kloster Eberbach Riesling Kabinett 2006 - Germany
Light yellow colour. Notes of green apples, pears and come citrus. Quite sweet taste of apples and pears. Went very well to our shrimp noodle wok as long as the wine was chilled. The last glass was way too warm and then too sweet for my taste.
Palandri Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 - Australia
Very dark red almost blue colour. Strong notes of burned oak, cassis and chocolate. Strong taste as well of oak, cassis, black berries with almost a hint of pepper. Not my kind of wine, but I’m sure it would be very nice to beef or lamb steaks.
Château Prat-Majou-Gay 2004 - France
Dark red brick colour. Notes of oak, dark berries and some pepper. Fresh taste of oak, smoked meats and dark berries. An old favourite of mine that I had forgotten about until finding one last bottle in the rack way back in the closet (Hm, yes I keep some my wine in the closet. Only place where the racks fit.)
July 14, 2007
A well-timed cold
Well, with all the rain and cold weather lately it wasn’t really surprise that I ended up with a sore throat on Wednesday night, which yesterday had turned into a full-blown cold. Just lovely! So here I am with a runny nose and feeling sort of miserable. One comfort though is that weather is still bad, so I can be inside without feeling guilty (and just wallow in being ill).
One thing that makes me wonder is that I hadn’t had a sick day at work for the last year and half and then bang two days before going a four week leave I catch a cold. Just bad timing or a classical example of not having the time to be off ill during the rest of the year? Thinking about the last year I’m not really surprised. But then on the other hand colds catch you whenever they want to. It’s just about being lucky or not.
One thing that makes me wonder is that I hadn’t had a sick day at work for the last year and half and then bang two days before going a four week leave I catch a cold. Just bad timing or a classical example of not having the time to be off ill during the rest of the year? Thinking about the last year I’m not really surprised. But then on the other hand colds catch you whenever they want to. It’s just about being lucky or not.
July 12, 2007
Quote of the day
The path of duty lies in what is near, and man seeks for it in what is remote.
~ Mencius ~
~ Mencius ~
July 11, 2007
Ginormous
The combination of "gigantic" and "enormous" was added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary earlier this week. Along with Bollywood, sudoku, speed dating and approximately a 100O other words.
Myself I have never heard about ginourmous before, but according to the dictionary company it’s an old word.
Myself I have never heard about ginourmous before, but according to the dictionary company it’s an old word.
But Merriam-Webster traces ginormous back to 1948, when it appeared in a British dictionary of military slang. And in the past several years, its use has become, well, ginormous.Hm well, I think I’ll start using it when it gets super ginormous.
July 10, 2007
Elegant bridge
My favourite bridge in London, Albert Bridge in Chelsea, is today’s photo at The London Daily Photo. The problem though is how to photograph it, but as usual Ham has done an excellent job.
Makes me miss London!
Makes me miss London!
July 09, 2007
She’s beautiful
The sun that is. She just peaked through the clouds and showed us how a perfect light blue sky looks like. Now she’s gone again, but at least she hasn’t forgotten about us. She’ll come back. I hope.
The countdown is on
With only four more days of work before going my annual four-week holiday the countdown is on. This morning preparing my oatmeal "only four more days of doing this" went through my mind. The same went for waiting for a crowded bus, which really wasn’t that crowded since many people already are on holiday.
After work I went to a DVD shop and got the last two seasons of Sex and the city. I also bought The last king of Scotland and The Queen. Two films I knew I wanted to buy the minute after I had seen them.
Naturally, of course, I also stopped by a bookstore where I got four pay for three paperbacks. So let the holiday begin. Come rain (not really), come sun. I will have things to do and enjoy. Just four more days of getting up by the alarm. I’m almost there…
After work I went to a DVD shop and got the last two seasons of Sex and the city. I also bought The last king of Scotland and The Queen. Two films I knew I wanted to buy the minute after I had seen them.
Naturally, of course, I also stopped by a bookstore where I got four pay for three paperbacks. So let the holiday begin. Come rain (not really), come sun. I will have things to do and enjoy. Just four more days of getting up by the alarm. I’m almost there…
July 08, 2007
Mother overload
Just back from spending most of the say with mum and her husband and since most of the time where spent in the car I have only one word to say – overload. Mother overload.
It seems like the older she gets the more overprotected she becomes. I’m soon to be 35 (in 17 days), but she acts like I’m a teenager just starting to discover the world. This morning she called to let me know it was raining (yes I knew that since we live 15 minutes from each other) and I needed to wear sensible cloths and shoes to the birthday party we were going to. Thank you mum I couldn’t have figured that out by myself!
In the car I could not stand her chatter about what everybody was doing and not doing. She clearly has too much time on her hands, so I acted like the true teenager and turned on my iPod.
I try very hard to ignore what she thinks and says, but it’s very hard from time to time. I am an adult and I have been around a lot more than she ever a will think. She does get on my nerves and then I feel very much guilty because she is my mother and I’m her only daughter. Guess, this is just one of those mother-daughter things that one just have to learn to live with. But boy it’s hard and today wasn’t a very good day.
It seems like the older she gets the more overprotected she becomes. I’m soon to be 35 (in 17 days), but she acts like I’m a teenager just starting to discover the world. This morning she called to let me know it was raining (yes I knew that since we live 15 minutes from each other) and I needed to wear sensible cloths and shoes to the birthday party we were going to. Thank you mum I couldn’t have figured that out by myself!
In the car I could not stand her chatter about what everybody was doing and not doing. She clearly has too much time on her hands, so I acted like the true teenager and turned on my iPod.
I try very hard to ignore what she thinks and says, but it’s very hard from time to time. I am an adult and I have been around a lot more than she ever a will think. She does get on my nerves and then I feel very much guilty because she is my mother and I’m her only daughter. Guess, this is just one of those mother-daughter things that one just have to learn to live with. But boy it’s hard and today wasn’t a very good day.
July 07, 2007
What’s wrong with this picture?!
Tealights in July.One should not feel the urge to light tealights in the middle of July, but with another day of heavy rain and grey skies I just had to get some comfort from burning candles.All this rain is really starting to get to me. My mood has gone down the drain along with the rain that just keeps coming. I’m close to feeling miserable and I have almost started to panic. I know I need the sun. Without any sun the autumn is going to be one long journey of misery and by November I’ll be ready to emigrate to a warmer climate. I need and want the sun so bad!!!
July 05, 2007
July 04, 2007
38 different varieties of milk
It has recently been reviled that Tesco, Britain’s major supermarket chain, is selling 38 different varieties of milk.
Britain's largest food retailer typically sells specialties such as low cholesterol, lactose free, omega 3 enriched, locally sourced, soya, flavoured and goats' milk alongside standard cows' milk.As a customer I do like to have different choices, but 38 varieties seems a little bit overboard. And 154 different jams? I would just get confused and buy the one I always buy. The same goes for milk. But I guess some customs are picky and if they can’t find what they want they’ll go elsewhere. Plain supply and demand really. But 107 verities of pasta? How picky can one be? It’s only pasta or milk. Or jam. Not rocket science.
Tesco also stocks 154 different jams, 107 varieties of pasta and 98 types of fruit cordial.
July 03, 2007
Building an ark
After yet another day (and week) of pouring rain I’m very much thinking about building an ark. It just keeps raining and raining. And raining. There is water everywhere and people are getting more and more miserable. One small comfort is that I’m still working. I feel sorry for those people who are on holiday right now. When you live in a country where it’s dark, wet and cold almost six months of the year you do not need a summer of rain. So let’s hope that the weather will change by the end of next week by the latest. I want and need warm and sunny days on my holiday.
Talking to friends in both Texas and the UK they are experiencing the same weather, i.e. pouring rain. The UK I can understand, since most of our rain (always) keeps moving in from the British Isle, but Texas. Texas by this time of the year should be very warm and sunny. Once again the word is upside down, or at least the weather is. Building that ark sounds more and more like a very tempting idea.
Talking to friends in both Texas and the UK they are experiencing the same weather, i.e. pouring rain. The UK I can understand, since most of our rain (always) keeps moving in from the British Isle, but Texas. Texas by this time of the year should be very warm and sunny. Once again the word is upside down, or at least the weather is. Building that ark sounds more and more like a very tempting idea.
July 02, 2007
How cool is this?
Flight patterns that look like art along with some very groovy music. I'm hooked!
July 01, 2007
Holiday now, please
My annual four-week holiday starts in two weeks, but right now those two weeks feel like an eternity. I want my holiday to start right this minute!
I’m tired, worn out and lacking both energy and inspiration. Most of all I just want to sit in a beach chair and read. But with all the rain we been having lately it’s OK with a nice comfortable sofa or armchair inside.
I do not want to think about all musts and have to anymore. I want to think about what can I do today and how can I enjoy my day. I want to go to bed late and don’t think about setting the alarm. I want to try new recipes and experiment in the kitchen. No quick things just to because I’m hungry and in a hurry.
Please, please could my holiday start tomorrow?!
I’m tired, worn out and lacking both energy and inspiration. Most of all I just want to sit in a beach chair and read. But with all the rain we been having lately it’s OK with a nice comfortable sofa or armchair inside.
I do not want to think about all musts and have to anymore. I want to think about what can I do today and how can I enjoy my day. I want to go to bed late and don’t think about setting the alarm. I want to try new recipes and experiment in the kitchen. No quick things just to because I’m hungry and in a hurry.
Please, please could my holiday start tomorrow?!
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