Yard work = DONE

My hands are shaking from all the vibrations, I am sweaty and dirty, but I am also done!

It took a lot longer than I thought. First I used the leaf sucker thingy to suck up leaves in areas where I can't reach with the mower. Then I mowed the entire lawn with the collection attachment (HEAVY to empty in between!), and then I used the edging tool to edge along the lawn (kantskärning). And then I used the leaf blower to clean up any cuttings on the side walks.

After I take a shower Sarah and I are going out for lunch, then off to the research center and probably a garden center or two as well.

Last night Sarah, Ken and I played Mario Kart on our Wii like crazy, I would have to say that is THE favorite in our house, so much fun! Can't wait until sister Carina get hers (wait listed in Sweden!), then we can play against each other over WiFi, fun!

Now I feel great! What an exercise!!! If anyone wants you to join a gym, just get a non-self pulling mower (icke självgående) and you have excellent cardio and strength training in one!

Now off to the shower...

Veggies on my mind

I can almost not work, all I think about seems to be gardening. I keep taking detours on the Internet, looking things up and chatting with local gardeners online to get tips...

I think I have no choice to get those Earth Boxes this weekend, otherwise I will go nuts! :-)

There is just one problem, I want to get the entire outside area ready for spring, and the first step in doing that is to mow all the leaves up. That might sound strange, but we have a live oak in the front that drops very skinny leaves, too small to be picked up by a regular leaf rake. So the easiest way to "rake the yard" is to go over it with the lawn mower and use the collection attachment. It works great! BUT the first time you do this every year (usually only needed one or two times to get rid of the leaves), it is HARD work and is very heavy to empty that collection attachment. I usually need Ken to do it, I am just too weak.

Problem is he is in the middle of tax season, and we are happy if we see him after 8 at night. There is just no way he will have time to do this over the weekend (he has to work 7 days a week this time of the year).

I think I am going to have to deal with it. I just need those leaves GONE! Plus, the grass will not have a chance to grown until they are gone, and it looks messy.

So the plan is tomorrow to mow in the morning, then take a shower and go over to the Earth Box research center to get the boxes, and probably also go to some gardening centers.

I went by Lowe's yesterday (Lowe's and Home Depot are HUGE stores with EVERYTHING for the home, including garden centers). They had some great seedlings there, but not ALL the varieties I need. I seem to have a hard time finding tarragon (dragon in Swedish). Plus I would love to have some scallions/green onions...

Last night Ken and I talked, and he and I agreed to plant a few trees. Mainly we want an avocado and a mango tree in the back, and I also want a lemon tree. So that is the plan. Both avocado (but especially mango) get very big, up to 25 feet tall (8 m). The avocado will have to be a Florida variety, not the Hass I usually buy at the store. The trees you buy are a few years old, so there will be no fruit for at least a couple of years. But you have to start somewhere! The lemon trees I looked at yesterday, however, had lots of fruit coming in, so that will be a harvest already this summer. Great!

This is how the Florida avocado looks like

So it might be a tough weekend... But I can't wait (except for that mowing-the-leaves-up part...)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Spring is here!

I feel such a rush of spring! I just want to get out in the yard and start planting things, I am really itching! The planting season has officially started for most plants here in Florida, and the rest will follow within a week or two. We are in growing zone 10a, which is next to the warmest growing zone in America, so that could explain it.

The temperatures are now pleasant and nature has really started to morph into cascades of green around here.

Since I most likely will not get in on the community farm being on a wait list and all, I decided to grow my own organic veggies.

Not an easy task, considering our yard is all sand under the grass. To the rescue comes the Earth Box. This smart set up was invented by a vegetable farmer, who's family has been growing veggies here locally since 1901. He knows his stuff. The Earth Box has become an international success, and I can't wait to try it out!

It is ideal for a person like me that only have a very light green thumb, and who is struggling against the Florida heat and bugs. This baby will help. It is a garden in a box, the set up contains all you need, so you just have to add water to the reservoir every so often.

I am planning on getting 3 boxes to start, and I will try my luck with tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, salad, herbs en masse, scallions and perhaps a few more things.

This is how a set up with several boxes can look like:

Since veggies really thrive in these boxes you can often get a better harvest than from traditional containers. A normal crop usually could be 50 lbs of tomatoes from one box...

The best part is that though Earth Box has their headquarters in Scranton, PA, their Research Center is just 14 minutes from my house... Based on information I have gotten from other people they love to help you out and give great advise, so if I can fight the Florida bugs (and there are tons of them), I am looking forward to eating my own veggies this summer. And if it works good I will add more for sure. I am thinking broccoli and onions, perhaps carrots? Mmmmm...

I am thinking about taking Sarah to the Research Center this weekend and scope out the boxes and perhaps buy them. We will see... The garden centers around here are now teeming with seedlings just waiting to be planted, so I might not be able to hold off until the big project is finished. Sarah and I planted some lettuce yesterday, in a regular pot. It will be her own growing experiment, and we will follow it every day to see how it grows. She seems pretty excited about it. Maybe she will taste some too... Who knows, miracles do happen...

I am in pan heaven!

My trusty old sauté pan is starting to go out on me. No wonder, I use it almost daily and have had it for many years now.

I was starting to look around for a replacement, and I liked the Calphalon Nonstick The Producer Sauté Pan, 5 QT, from their Contemporary line.

Only one eansy, teansy little problem... it costs $190! A little too much just for a pan, at least for my budget. I looked around but it is about the same price all over.

Then I figured I would check eBay, and wow, there it was, just a few minutes left on the auction: a brand new specimen with my name on it... I won it for $26! I am in shock, that is such a great deal! Can't wait to get my new beauty...

Up all night

Felt like we had a baby in the house, and we sort of did.

Bob, now going on 9 years old, has arthritis, and due to the low pressure we have (I feel it too) his joints have been extra painful last few days. But over night it was difficult, he yelped in pain every time he changed position, and me, being a super light sleeper, rushed out in the living room every time to check on him and make sure he was as comfy as could be.

This morning I called his Vet and went over there and got some anti-inflammatory doggy pain pills. So hopefully they will work nicely, the poor thing. They said he could come in for a steroid shot if he needed it. He got one of those when his knee was swelled up once, and it really helped. So hopefully he can sleep comfortably today, and we too, tonight!

It is official!

2 minutes ago the Swedish Royal Family made it official: our Crown Princess is now officially engaged to her boyfriend of many years, Daniel Westling.

The wedding will take place early summer 2010, and Daniel's new title will then be Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland.

He sure has come a long way from being a common man, a gym owner...

But I am very happy for Crown Princess Victoria. She is a genuine person and deserves to be able to enjoy her love in the public. Great that she finally has found the right person and is ready to take the next step. Hip, hip hurray for Victoria and Daniel!

Phew

Just got word from the Italian client about the big project. The original deadline was February 26, now it is March 20. Plus the last pieces of the project will be less work than the once in the beginning. I feel so much better now, less tense.

Like I said before, it is almost 800 pages, and I have almost done 200, so that is good news. They have divided the 800 pages into chunks with 200 page sin each to make it easier to work with. And since the memory from what has already been translated adds up, the following pieces gets less and less untranslated text. Buts still, we are talking about more than 250,000 words that has to be translated, edited and proofed. Not a small task...

Weekend

Well, due to the pain from the infection, I did not work on the big job at all...

On Saturday Sarah and I hung out until lunch, then I dropped her off at the office with Ken, and she hung out with him until 6 PM. This way I did get some work done, but I ended up working 5 hours on a different job, but at least I did something.

I am starting to feel the pressure of finishing this behemoth of a job. It is getting close to deadline, even if it is actually somewhat floating at this point. But I have probably no more than 1-1½ weeks to finish.

I need to concentrate, I need to bare down and DO THIS. After it is done I am free again, no big deal. Just need to focus and get this done. No distractions, no nothing. Here I go... ;-)

Intestinal trouble again

Forgot to mention, I have another intestinal infection. Since I have learned my lesson (a week in the hospital, hello!), I called the doctor right away and hopefully the antibiotics will kick in.

I am just a bit nervous about the weekend, since these kind of infections are painful, it feels like having an infected appendix. Well, technical, it is sort of the same thing, an infected intestine is an infected intestine. So I have a feeling it might be a painful weekend, not exactly what I need with all this work I have to do...

Well, at least the surgery worked great, and I am very thankful to have a "normal" life now, infections and blockages are part of the package deal, just have to take it and live with it.

No big deal as long as I stay out of the hospital, THAT is NOT FUN, and I have NO DESIRE to go back to that. My goal is NO HOSPITAL STAYS this year, do you hear that, body? :-)

Wee for Wii!

Sarah and I (and sometimes daddy) have really enjoyed the Wii. Most games are pretty fun, some of the games we got really sucked.

I decided to sell the once we didn't like or the once we had already completed all the levels and felt we were done with. So I put them up on eBay. There is quite a market for almost new Wii games, and the money I made from the sales I used to get new games. Great re-cycling, huh?

We are now waiting for 6 new games to come, but they will probably not be here until next week.

The new once are:

Mario Kart (this one has been recommend by many)
The Simpson's Game
Chicken Shooter (you shoot crazed chickens, sounds kind of therapeutic...)
Guitar Hero World Tour (hey, I get to play with Aerosmith!)
Sea Monsters (we loved Endless Ocean a lot, this is a similar game from National Geographic)
Sims Animals (new game that just came out that Sarah has been begging for, looks like fun!)

Especially now when I work so much it is nice to have a distraction like this at night, and Sarah and I have a lot of fun together.

If you like me have no idea what all those different games out there are, here is a great (Swedish) link to most of the video games on the market, a tip from my dear sister, who is now also hooked on the Wii :-)!

You can choose your type of system and then find trailers for pretty much all games, giving you an idea what they are all about. Check it out!

Now back to work. I feel like I am behind on this project, so I will need to work all weekend, not fun...

Hope you all have a great Friday!

Afternoon slump

It is here: the slump. I feel so tired and just can't wrap my brain around work right now. I have to leave in 20 minutes anyway, to go by the bank, the post office and then pick up Sarah in school. Luckily the bank and the post office are both within a 2 minute ride form my house.

Then we have to stop by Publix and get some groceries. I am making a nice chicken with rose and black pepper, with freshly made Parmesan risotto and lime sauce. Yum!

Made a really nice cinnamony apple cake last night, still lots left for dessert tonight...

I just wish my energy levels would not dive into an abyss every afternoon. Of course, the job I am working on is extremely boring, so that probably has a lot to do with it. Still have 100 pages to go for today, but it will have to wait until I get back home.

I think I will take the dogs for a walk before I leave (they come with me), it is really windy outside and a balmy 24 C, maybe that will perk me up.

Tickling

Sarah really love when I attack her with tickles. Especially under her arms; she can barely stand it, but she still wants more!

I just felt really bad this morning when I realized I actually must have given her bruises! She had one on her hip and one on her lower back.

She says she has no idea how she got the bruises and that they don't hurt, but I feel bad since I am sure I gave them to her. I can see it now, in school: "My mommy bruised me up!"

I guess I will just have to dial it down a notch, but she really really really like the rough tickling...

Sounds of an island

While I work I sit right next to a window, and I can hear all the sounds from out there. Someone is mowing their lawn, the wind rustles a few leaves, but most of all I can hear the sounds of the sea gulls.

And it sounds just like in Visby, Gotland... This time of year, before the intense summer heat, I could fool myself to being on my island, a day in June... At least it SOUNDS the same!

If I could just smell the warm, newly painted tar on an old fishing shack door... Feel the cold of a sandstone to sit on, tasting the flower of the cowslip (gullviva, and yes, you CAN eat the flowers), seeing the wood louses (gråsugga) scurrying around.

Then I would truly feel I was back on my island... Gotland. But at least I have the sound of the seagulls!

Veggies

I have been trying for a while to buy a share in a local so called CSA, a Community Supported Agriculture Operation.

The particular CSA I am interested in is called Geraldson's Farm and they have 200 member shares each season.

Basically, you pay a one time fee and get to pick up your bounty of usually 6-8 different kinds of veggies, November-May. You also get a free picking day when you can go to the farm and pick all you want at no extra cost. This comes out to about $16 a week, way less than I currently spend on produce. It is like a subscription to vegetables!

Plus, this is all organic and since it is grown just down the road from us, it feels a lot better than buying veggies flown in from, sometimes, even other countries. Minimal carbon footprint compared to produce from, say, South America. And just imagine how many more nutrients there is in freshly picked over stuff that has been trucked around for a week or so...

I also think it makes a great learning opportunity for Sarah, to really get to see where all the veggies come from and follow their growth (and maybe maybe get to her to actually eat some of it!).

As a member you are welcome to volunteer at the farm anytime you want, another great learning opportunity. But I have to say it appeals to me being able to go there once a week and pick up my already assembled share without having to pull one single weed...

This CSA also offer a Farm Buying club, which means that for a $20 annual fee you can order fresh, local and organic eggs and meat.

The growing season in Florida starts in November and ends in May, so it would not be until fall. Only one problem: I am not exactly the only local who finds this a great idea, so for now I have to suffice being on the wait list and hope someone else changes their mind...

If you live in the US and are interesting in finding a similar CSA in your community, just go to Local Harvest and search. There are Swedish alternatives too, one I know of is called Bondens Egen Marknad.

Jamen...

Fick just lära mig något nytt...

Jag bakade scones igår, och jag saknade så svenskt grahamsmjöl. Jag fick hålla mig till nytta med mitt amerikanska fullkornsmjöl (whole wheat flour).

Tänkte att jag skulle kolla upp grahamsmjöl och vad det heter här i USA, kanske man kan få tag på det i någon hälsokostsaffär eller så.

Slår up slår upp.. ja här är det: Grahamsmjöl = whole wheat flour.

Duh! Efter vidare eftersökning visar det sig att i andra engelskspråkiga länder kallas det oftast för graham flour eller wholemeal flour.

Där ser man! Här har jag gått och längtat efter grahamsmjöl, när jag i själva verket redan använde det, ha ha! Det säger ju ganska mycket om mina ytterst obefintliga bakkunskaper...

Googleicious

“Eating a burrito, Tom Cruise received a Botox shot while reading about a car bomb that had gone off in Iraq. Further he read about how much some people love marijuana. Perhaps because they don’t get a hangover?, he thought.''

So what the heck is this all about???

The highlighted words are this week's most Googled words in the Unites States. I will let you see if I get any extra visitors now, ha ha!!!

Work project

Two people actually asked me what kind of project I am working on (the BIG one). It is really really boring, but it is a manual (or actually several manuals) for a distributed control system, a so called DCS. These systems usually control manufacturing systems or processes, the one I am working on is a very advanced control system for turbines and balance of plant (BOP) applications including coal fired boilers, nuclear, and integrated gas combined-cycle installations.

The controller elements are not central in location (like a big computer) but are distributed throughout the system with each component sub-system controlled by one or more controllers. The entire system of controllers are connected by networks for communication and monitoring.

So now you know I am not exaggerating: It is really boring. But I have received great materials from Swedish engineers, so the terminology and the glossaries for the project are already in place, it is more like a gigantic translation puzzle of sort.

No wonder my brain is so fatigued every afternoon, this kind of project require a lot of brain power, in fact, any kind of translation project can be kind of tiring, just keeping two languages in alignment at all times. It is physically tiring, for sure.

But this is what I will be working on for all of February, so now I have bored you all to bits. :-).

Typical Monday

Everything feels so sloooow and I am tired today. A typical Monday I guess! I decided not to work at all over the weekend, I was just too tired and needed the rest, but that means I need to get a move on.

Today is President's Day, a Holiday. So no school, mail or banks today...

We are waiting for the neighbor to get home, she is suppose to go over there and play this morning, and she can't wait. She always have a lot of fun over there, plus they can play outside, they have a great fenced in backyard, which we don't have.

I like the neighbors, but as you might recall from before, I have a really hard time with their twisted political views. The other day one of them told me Obama was a black communist... Sigh.

And they probably KNOW I think their views are very ignorant and not at all informed, but what can you do. At least that is the only thing I don't like, they are very nice over all. But people, read up before you bark out shit like that!

Now back to the grind... :-)

Sunday

Got all the laundry done yesterday, the house still need a good vacuum, so we will see if I can't get that done.

I did clean the kitchen, but it looks like I have another load for the dishwasher already.

I better get that stuff done. I would love to grab my Sony E-book reader, but I can't afford to get lost in a book. I better work instead. I can enjoy some time off after this project is done...Sigh...

It will be worth it when I get paid! Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Expanding family

Not ours - but do you remember I told you about the new neighbors across the street? The once with 8 or so kids? The parents are outside right now with some of the younger kids. It looks like they are pretty young parents, perhaps in their low 30s.

All of a sudden I noticed the BUMP. She must be at least 8 months pregnant!

That would make it 11 people in the house! Wow. And I complain about the lack of space in our 140 square meter house, and we are just 3 people and 2 dogs!

How can they afford all those kids? It is not like they get any money for having kids, no "barnbidrag" like in Sweden. And the house they are renting must be way too small with its 3 bedrooms...

The entire family looks healthy, well groomed and dressed all the time.

It is a little bit of a mystery...

Who dunnit mystery

I am in a gas chamber! Someone keeps farting and is really stinking up the office! I have two suspects, both pretend like they have no idea what I am so upset about. And no, it wasn't me, I can't fart after I had the surgery...

Lets take a look at the evidence...

OK, so here is Bob, napping on his dog bed...

And here is Stan, napping under his usual blanket (well, at least you see one of his paws sticking out...)

So who dunnit???


-

dum

-

dum

-

dum...

It was Bob!

And how do I know that? Well, first of all, Stan is all wrapped up in a blanket, so much harder for any stink to leak out, and second of all, did you see the clue???

Yes! Bob stole something and ate it, leaving some evidence behind...

It was...

A bag of Veggie Crisps! So, he stole food and ate it all, no wonder he has gas now...

Mystery solved, now I just need to open a window to clear the air!

Another long weekend

Sarah has Monday off, it is Presidents Day, so no schools. I feel I will be OK with the project, so maybe I can take the weekend off and clean up the house a little. Maybe get out a bit, it is kind of boring just sitting here typing all day long. Good I have the dogs, at least then I get to go for walks every day!

Sarah is having a big Valentine's Party in school today, followed by an ice cream party. Apparently only kids who has been following the rules are allowed to attend the ice cream party. Sarah was sounding kind of happy knowing that the boy who used to be really mean to her, is not attending. He did not follow the rules. Sounds kind of tough on the 5-6 years old! But I guess they have to learn to listen sooner or later...

All the kids made heart shaped mailboxes with their names on them, and all had in homework to create Valentine Day cards for each of their classmates. This is a BIG industry in America! There are tons pf packages aimed just at school children. They usually contain just enough cards for an entire class, and the kids can choose their favorite characters. We got these a few years ago, I almost forgot I had the package tucked away in a cabinet until I saw the homework assignment.

Sarah's Valentine Day cards, with some of the leftover candy in front

Sarah wrote her name on the cards (inside the envelopes), and each kid's name on the outsides. For the teacher she got a chocolate apple, we thought that was kind of cute. We attached little packages of Sweethearts, those iconic little candy hearts with messages on them.

She should have a fun day in school today!

Little wiggle room

At least the Italian client was very accommodating, she had no problem giving me extra time. After all, the document has almost 800 pages, even if I am not translating all of it it is still a huge project. And the new file they sent me seems to work great. So nice to be back to normal again, I was really stressing out about this yesterday. I would hate to loose all that money because a corrupted file, but like I said, seems to be smooth sailing now.

I am planning on going by Super Target after picking up Sarah in a while. Just need a change of pace from my regular Publix where I do most of our food shopping. I love Publix, they are great and I know where everything is, but sometimes you just want a change, and they usually have products at Target that Publix don't have.

I have no idea what to cook for dinner tonight. I have to clean a bit too, and I am not sure how much energy I will have left for cooking after that...

Nice view

I am really enjoying the nice tulips on my desk this morning.

I have had some problems with some corrupted files my client sent me, so I pretty much lost 2 ½ days of work, so now when I have to get back at it it will be really intense to try and make up for lost time, it is really a nice thing to have something pretty to look at next to my computer screen...

I am going to ask the client for more time, after all, it was their file that caused the problem. This project is supposed to be turned in on the 26th, so hopefully they can give me a few extra days.

Yesterday we had over 30 C, sooo nice! I have a feeling we won't have any more freezing nights. I had to clean out among our banana trees teh other day, they really really did not like the freezing temperatures, it was all a brown mess. But they are hardy, they will come back in full force soon.

You migth not hear from me as much until the deadline is over, too much work to do!

Have a great day!

I am following in Obama's footsteps - CHANGE!

Just felt like a little change - hope this blog "look" works on everyone's computers!

Sitting comfy...

...in my birthday chair. Yes, the husband gifted the fabulous office chair to me!

Came home in the afternoon at the same time UPS delivered an awesome bouquet of tulips! My favorite flower of all, thank you so much sister Carina and my sweet nieces Christina and Sandra. It was a very nice surprise, very much appreciated!

So now I am trying to figure out how to make the husband pick up some dinner on his way home, to go with the nice ice cream cake he got me at Friendly's...

Turning 35 is not too bad at all!

Productive day

I managed to get all work done just after lunch, and I have all laundry under control, cleaned the kitchen and set a dough for hazelnut cookies that I am going to bake after dinner (meatloaf).

Just waiting for Ken to get home, and then we are all going for an hour long walk in the park, it is almost 25C outside!

Nice t get some time to relax, tomorrow the next big project is coming from my Italian client. And this will be the biggest one so far, almost 900 pages. Luckily I don't have to translate ALL the pages, some of it will be bits of pieces that I have translated from previous projects. But still. Huge.

Oscar trivia

I have a fun test for you guys. It is actually pretty nifty how they made this, it is a YouTube movie clib, and you click on the square that (hopefully) has the correct answer, and you immediately get taken to a new YoutUbe clip, and it will go on for 30 levels if you get all correct.

So how much do you knwo about this year's Oscar nominees? Take the quiz!

Fun Saturday planned

I have a lot of work that needs to be done over the weekend, since I am getting started on another big project on Monday. BUT I am taking today off.

Sarah and I are planning on going down to Sarasota for some shopping, see the new 3D-movie Coraline, have lunch and just have fun.

Then in the afternoon we are meeting Ken at a pizzeria, since my day off does not include any cleaning, cooking or other work. Just fun :-) And it is going to be over 20C today, much welcome!

Have a nice weekend!

Yes!

Not to go into too many boring details, but I use an Excel spreadsheet to calculate how much money I will make on some of the larger translation projects I do.

For larger projects I use a so called CAT-tool, it can remember sections I have already translated previously, so I don't have to retype everything. It doesn't translate for you (not to be confused with the horrible "machine translators" out there). This is also great in keeping a large project consistent throughout, almost a necessity actually.

The CAT-tool also recognizes sections that are not exact matches to something I have translated previously, but close. Most larger translation agencies want you to use a CAT-tool, and the payment is usually staggered based on repetitions and matches. So you don't get the full rate for a 75 % match, for instance, but you do get something, and the percentage gets smaller the higher the match.

Now I have confused all of you...

Anyway, the spreadsheet lets me plug in the numbers of matches for a project I am about to start, and that has been pre-analyzed by the CAT-tool. This will tell me how much money I will make on the project before I receive an actual purchase order from the client. I had forgot to fill out one section in the spreadsheet, and I just realized the current project that I am starting on Monday will actually pay 2,000 dollars more than I first was thinking. That is like finding 2 grand unexpectedly in your sock drawer, or something. A very nice surprise!!!

January and February has turned out be be my best work months so far, it would be awesome if this kept up all summer!!!

Wow!

The job projects just keep on coming, I am having a hard time trying to fit them all in... This is awesome, I really like the idea of making a bunch of money early on in the year, I want to eliminate any debt that I still have.

I am just saying, what recession? I have never been so busy with work before in my life! Great!

Nominering!

Oj, tack Nika!

Bloggen har blivit prisnominerad av Nika i Ohio!

Ska lista fem saker som jag absolut inte kan vara utan och sedan nominera 5 st som jag vill ge utmärkelsen till.

1. Man, barn och hundisar. Utan dem vore det ju inte speciellt kul alls...

2. Resten av familjen och vännerna i Sverige.

3. Min dator, den är verkligen en livslina för så många delar av mitt liv.

4. www.Lingo.com, de ser till att jag kan ringa på min vanliga telefon hur mycket jag vill till de ovan nämnda...

5. Min nya Sony Reader, helt kanon, kan ladda hur många böcker som helst där, aldrig utan böcker numera...

Och nu till 5 personer som jag nominerar, det blir svårt för det finns så många bra bloggar där ute:

Saltistjejen i NY (Anna)
Mitt liv i Toscana (Veronica)
Tainia O i Connecticut
Petchie's adventures
Moster Lotte i Visby

Fun surprise!

A few weeks before Christmas I got a message from Allure, one of my favorite beauty magazines, that I had won a perfume. I am a panel member and sometimes try products they send out and then let them know what I think about the products.

It said they would choose the perfume, so I was excited to see what I would get. But nothing came in the mail, and to be honest, I figured I was not going to get anything considering how much time has passed.

But then last night there was a ring at the door and UPS dropped of a package from them!

A very battered and messed up package... It looks like it was torn completely open, sent back to them and then taped and resent. That would explain the delay!

The surprise got even better when I realized the perfume they sent was a full size bottle of Marc Jacobs Daisy, the perfume that was highest up on my list to try next! So a very nice little surprise, free perfume is always good :-)!

The messed up and patched up package from Allure

The yummy smelling perfume!

The mystery of how a man's brain works...

Over night we have had one of Florida's coldest nights. It was freezing! It just now went up to over 0C, so cold!

The heat was on last night, but knowing Sarah and how she always kicks off her covers, I asked Ken to go into her room and put her blanket on her. He was very sleepy, but he did so.

As she usually does, around 1:30 AM she came into our room, but this night she was kicking a lot, so at 3 AM I carried her back to her room.

To my surprise I found something strange on her bed, trying to figure out what the heck it was and where it came from it dawned on me: Ken! Instead of using her blanket to tuck her in, he had grabbed her Swedish sheep skin from Gotland (not exactly clean I can imagine) from the floor, and placed that with the woolly side over her. It was a, eh, cute idea, but maybe not that great! Men...

Summer plans

When school is out for the summer we will have to figure out what to do with Sarah. She would go stir-crazy being home every day, which would make me go crazy. Besides, I wouldn't be able to work much if she was here all the time.

This is the first year we have to think about this, since she was still in preschool last year and just continued on in the same school over summer.

So the best solution we figured, would be some kind of summer camp. Preferable one with lots of fun activities!

There are a lot of choices in our county, some all athletic inspired, some more or less like regular day care.

I think we found one that would be perfect! The only bad part is that it is a bit to drive every day...

It is a Farm Summer Camp. She would be there between 9 in the morning to 1:30 in the afternoon. The farm itself is familiar to us, since we have been there back in 2006 for a day of horseback riding. They have all kinds of horses, ponies, donkeys, potbellied pigs, bunnies, ducks, chickens and dogs, and the kids (their will only be 6 kids in all) will help take care of them, as well as ride the ponies. There will also be arts and crafts and other fun stuff.

Sounds like the perfect fun place to be! Now we just have to wait and see if we can get a spot there for the summer... Wish they allowed adults too, both Ken and I want to go!

All done

Now the tickets for my aunt and cousin are booked and paid for with Continental Airlines, so on April 2 I will get some Swedish visitors for sure! It will be so much fun! Just 2 more months...

Getting older

With my 35th birthday coming up next week, I got a "getting older" present: my first dandruff!

So I had to bite the sour apple and buy some Head & Shoulders yesterday...

At least I am not at the adult diaper stage yet. Nah, frankly, I really don't feel that old. Except maybe for when I see all those wrinkles on my face. When did that happen?

Weather go round

Here we go again, another round on the weather ride!

Tomorrow night we are suppose to get freezing temps again, followed by a weekend with almost 30C!

Today it is a bit chilly and windy... good I made cookies last night, Swedish Drömmar (dreams) and oatmeal cookies.

Now back to work again...

Early birthday present

I was hoping, but not exactly sure.. But my wonderful husband informed me that I could keep the office chair as a birthday present! A bit early, since my birthday is not until the 11th, but NICE!

This week will be another intense work week. And on Monday another super intense work period starts. The client says it should take 4-6 weeks to finish, but based on the volume I am guess more like 2½, since I am pretty fast. Either way, things will be pretty busy around here.

This will work out great, I will work like a horse until the end of March, then I will take a couple of weeks off (almost) and enjoy a visit from aunt Elisabeth and cousin Carola, which also happens to be when Sarah is on spring break. So awesome timing!

Now, better get back to work...