Books and Films 2015 and 2014

Maybe not of any interest to my readers (if there are any left out there..?) but a good way to keep a record for myself.


Read Books 2015

• "Bakom ljuset" by Åsa Nilsonne
• "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer
• "En spricka i kristallen" by Cecilia Gyllenhammar
• "Kaffe med rån" by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
• "Expeditionen: Min kärlekshistoria" by Bea Uusma
• "The Sex Life of My Aunt" by Mavis Cheek
• "Murder in Mesopotamia" by Agatha Christie
• "Döden på en blek häst" by Amanda Hellberg
• "Den brinnande flickan" by Mark Billingham
• "Den sista frestelsen" by Val McDermid
• "Död joker" by Anne Holt
• "I stundens hetta" by Viveca Sten
• "In Persuasion Nation" by George Saunders
• "The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil" (novel) by George Saunders

Seen Films 2015

• The Bridge series +++++
• The Intern ++++
• Wall-E ++++
• The Intouchables ++++
• Tucker and Dale vs. Evil ++++
• Paddington ++++
• The Imitation Game ++++
• Jurassic World +++
• Survivor +++
• Get Hard +++
• Keeping Mum +++
• The Interview +++
• Home ++

Read Books 2014

• "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden" by Morgan Spurlock
• Could not finish "Don't Read This Book If You're Stupid" by Tibor Fischer
• "Livet efter dig" by Jojo Moyes
• "Utslag av oro" by Mark Haddon
• "Strandsommar" by Anita Shreve
• "Till min dotter i Frankrike" av Stephanie & Barbara Keating
• "En man som heter Ove" by Fredrik Backman
• "Mr Rosenblum's List" by Natasha Solomons
• "Ludmila's Broken English" by DBC Pierre
• "Ok, amen" by Nina Solomin
• Started "Analfabeten" by Jonas Jonasson
• Started "Martina-koden" by Martina Haag

Seen Films 2014

• Sherlock Holmes series +++++
• The Grand Budapest Hotel +++++
• About Time ++++
• The Grand Seduction ++++
• Begin Again ++++
• Frozen ++++
• Gravity +++
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas +++
• Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit +++
• The Other Woman +++
• Lucy ++
• The Signal ++
• 22 Jump Street ++
• The Wolf of Wall Street ++

2015 in Summary

• Did you do something in 2015 that you have never done before? Experience the joy of having lice (Isolde and me) and pinworm (just Isolde but all of us had to take the medicine for preventive purposes).
• Did you push through any major change? Potty-training Harald, if that counts :)
• Did any of your friends become parents this year? Our best friends here in Brussels had number 3 now in December and Peter's sister with family had their no 2 earlier in the year in April. And our friends who moved from Belgium to Wales last October had twins in May this year. And several other friends and acquaintances here in Brussels had babies.
• Did someone close to you die? Peter's grandmother passed away at the beginning of the year. Always sad to lose a close relative but she was 93+ and not in a very good shape so I think it was a relief for her to be able let go.
• Which countries did you visit? Sweden (as we live in Belgium), Wales, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, France (twice), England and Luxembourg.
• Best purchase: A new car with 7 seats so that we can do more sightseeing when we have visitors. A new sofa as well although I think I like the style of our old one better, but we really needed a new one.
• An important date/day: Peter and I had our fifth wedding anniversary on 1 November 2015 and it was ten years since we met around the same time.

Excursion with the cousins' boat in August 2015

• Did something make you really happy? The news that my friend Jenny who has lived in Brazil for the last four years was going to move back to Europe and Sweden.
• Do you miss something during 2015 that you would like in 2016? More visits from family and friends.
• What do you wish you had done more of? Slept more, mainly gone to bed earlier in the evening. Read more books, travelled more locally where we live (Belgium and surrounding countries), exercised more, gone to museums and exhibitions.
• What do you wish you did less off? Losing my patience and yelling at the kids.
• Favourite programme on TV: Bron (The Bridge), The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Julkalendern, documentary about Astrid Lindgren, documentary about the oldest Swedish blogger (103!)
• Best book you read this year? "Expeditionen: Min kärlekshistoria" by Bea Uusma
• What was your greatest success at work in 2015? Contribution to the country analysis on Sweden (mainly labour market chapter) and adoption of two funding programmes for Sweden. And that I managed to take French lessons as well.
• Greatest mistake: Not something really bad, but I wish I would have slept more and done more exercise, i.e. taking more care of my own health. Then maybe I wouldn't have a stiff back now and needing to go to the chiropractor (though it is mainly due to bad work environment - not being able to stand up and work in particular).
• Were you happier or more sad this year compared to previous years? Not much different from earlier. I'm pretty happy most of the time, but perhaps that there's not enough time for everything I, we, want to do. And I'm worried that Peter is not as happy here in Brussels as I am (mostly because he doesn't have a job and colleagues, etc.).
• What did you spend most money on? A new car, but otherwise, in terms of running costs, rent (for a marvelous house we really like) and Harald's crèche fees.
• A wish that came true? Not my wish but my mum had wanted to go to Chelsea Flower Show for a long time and I made that happen (her 60th birthday present from last year but the trip was this year).
• A wish that did not come true? A job for Peter and more travelling.
• What did you do on your birthday? Went out to dinner with Petra and Arielle and celebrated at home with Peter and the kids.
• Is there something that would have made your year even better? A job for Peter, more sleep and less work (in an ideal world).
• What made you feel good? Time with my family and friends, and work (when it is not too hectic).
• Who did you miss? All our family and friends in Sweden, and friends in other near or faraway places.
• The best new people you met? New friends here in Brussels, especially an American family who is moving to Stockholm next so hopefully we will overlap there eventually as well.
• Describe your style during 2015? Work wear - trousers with a cardigan or a jacket, skirt and cardigan or blouse. Black or blue trousers or skirts and more colour on top.
• What made you laugh? All the funny, silly and intelligent and ingenious things the kids say. Books and movies.
• Lessons learned about myself over the past year? Not something I really understood about myself this year - I have known it for a while - but I let it guide me more. So I'm not going to prioritise going to the gym, especially not right now when the kids are still little. Instead I need to enable exercise at home, hence I bought a cross-trainer during the autumn. Admittedly it hasn't been used that much, maybe 5-6 times in the beginning, but I will make a new start now.
• Did you learn something new in general? Not completely new but I improved my French a little bit.
• Most proud of: That Harald stopped using nappies. We took it slow and let it take its time during autumn - starting in good time before he'd start school in January (where they have to be potty-trained, except for la sieste - and after 1-2 months he (with our help) had done it. He's still in a nappy at night but 6 out of 7 nights it is dry in the morning, and he doesn't want to wear it so we put it on after he's fallen asleep.
• Greatest wish right now: That Peter finds a job soon so that we don't have to move to Sweden just yet.
• What will you do different next year? Prioritise more, maybe take a break from the French lessons this spring as it brings a bit added stress to the work week.

The kids throughout the year

I never get around to doing a annual accounts post every year but I did one for 2013 and a half-year report in 2012 as well as a full-year report for 2011.