IT Girl

I promised Marie and Anki I'd post these photos ! :)

Stop taking photos and help me!

Are you going to help me or what?!

It's not funny anymore!

Pekaboo Farm happy again!

Little Pianist

Future concert pianist in the making?

Thanks H, T, E & H for the piano (christening present)!

To Keep or Not to Keep...

I have a complete set of encyclopaedia (including atlas, three dictionaries and yearbooks from the 1990s) from Bra böcker that I don't know what to do with*. With the Internet and all the sources (reliable as well as as unreliable of course) it holds, I don't really need an encyclopaedia anymore and I would really only keep the set because it "looks good" on the shelf and for the odd-chance it would be worth money in the future (unlikely). The risk of Internet disappearing in the future is virtually non-existent though and even if we for some reason wouldn't live in an information society I could probably buy a set again or go to the library. On the other hand, it could be fun for Isolde to browse through when she's a bit older. I will definitely keep the atlas for that reason.

So what to do?! I need advice, people!



* We did move them to the new flat but they are still in boxes.

Show & Tell: If I Could Decide, I Would...

...make sure everyone had access to clean water.*

Last week I attended the Junior Water Prize Award Ceremony, which is part of Stockholm Water Week. The Junior Water Prize competition brings together the world's brightest young (15-20 years old) scientists to encourage their continued interest in the environment and climate change, and water issues especially. This year's winner was a Canadian team of three who received their prize from Crown Princess Victoria for their research on biodegradation of the plastic Polystyrene. This could help break down all the plastic and chemical debris in the world's waters - you have probably heard of the rubbish and waste patch in the Pacific Ocean (due to streams and flows it tends to all end up in the same place). A Chinese team was awarded an excellence diploma for their technique for improving soil fertility.



The ceremony was such an inspiring evening! These kids are so smart and have so many creative ideas! There's hope for the future!

Someone who was also very inspiring is ITT (Junior Water Prize sponsor) Senior Vice President and President of ITT Fluid & Motion Control Gretchen McClain. She gave an amazing speech encouraging the youngsters to continue the fight against environmental destruction and climate change and never to give up. She also painted a very illuminating picture of how much clean water is wasted in the world every day due to inadequate water management systems; the equivalent of the water falling down Niagara Falls over 24 hours. And this includes facilities in the developed world, which have all the technology and money to prevent such waste of water.

* There are lots of other things I could have written about considering the Swedish general election is less than five days away but I decided to go for something that would improve the lives of all citizens of the world instead.

1+1 = 3

Or... Why You Have Had to Wait for a Wedding Plan Post

Time to come out of the closet, the pregnancy closet that is. Especially now when I also literally have to step out of my regular closet and into a maternity one.

I've been wanting to write this post for so long and now when I'm typing I don't know where to begin. Sometimes it's hard to put words on feelings, especially when you are in a state of mind of pure happiness and bliss. We're just so happy and being pregnant is such an amazing feeling!

I'm in week 22, i.e. half-way and a bit through the pregnancy, and since a month or so the baby has been kicking a lot, making it all feel so real! I sometimes forget for a moment that I am pregnant - when I'm busy doing stuff and because by bump hasn't really been that visible until recently - but suddenly there's a little kick and I'm reminded that I always have a little companion. I like to think about him or her as my constant companion :)

The pregnancy wasn't actually planned - well, it was in the plans for the coming year or so - but we were absolutely thrilled when we found out! The little one has messed up our wedding plans but that's mundane in the scheme of things; we'll just have to work around that (more on that later).

We found out on 10 May when I took a pregnancy test because my period was four days late. My period is always regular to the day, or maybe the day after, so when it was only two days late I was getting suspicious. The day of the test (I bought it after work but obviously it was on my mind all day at work) I had a hard time believing I would actually be pregnant but I was secretely hoping I would be. Peter said afterwards that as soon as I voiced my suspicions he knew it would be so. I think that's why he was less shocked (though my shock was a happy kind of course) than me when the test turned blue immediately. I was in some sort of "I can't believe it's true" rush - with goosebumps and the shakes - while Peter was pretty calm and hugged me and said "congratulations". At that time it seemed like it was much more natural (for lack of a better word) to him but later he's confessed that he probably didn't really comprehend the hugeness of it at the time and that it was much later, a few months into the pregnancy, that he really realised. In many ways it's taken me some time too to really understand that we're having a baby, that we're going to become parents; I guess that's why we have nine months* to get used to the idea.

Why we were surprised and why I say the pregnancy wasn't planned, is that we weren't trying for a baby. I stopped taking the pill at the end of last summer but not in order to start trying then but in the anticipation that children were in the plans one-two years into the future and I wanted clear my body of extra hormones well in time (this may not be medically necessary but I felt that after so many years on the pill this was something I wanted to do). Instead we used other kinds of contraception. BUT, after we got engaged in early April we were a bit careless and had unprotected sex a couple of times around the time of the month when we thought it was safe. My period had just ended a few days earlier...

But there are no safe periods and evidently we had to turn 34 and 32 before we fully understood this fact! :) When I looked more closely at the menstrual and ovaluation cycle and worked out what seems to my usual cycle I realised that our unprotected sex took place a few days before my most fertile period of the month and as you may know a man's semen can survive for up to four days in the right environment...

With so many people around me having problems conceiving I have felt bad in a way that it was so easy for us. For that reason and due to the fact that miscarriages are also quite common, I was quite worried in the beginning of the pregnancy (probably not more worried than other women but...) and it was something that was often on my mind. Peter as well as friends and family have told me not to be silly but it's difficult to keep such thoughts completely at bay. But all-in-all I have enjoyed being pregnant - except for the morning sickness (though there is a plus-side to that too; breakfast in bed served by Peter almost every day for four months!) - and now, almost 5½ months pregnant, I'm way past the risk period and fully embracing the growing life inside me.

I'll finish this first post (I can reassure - or warn - you that there will be more written on the subject of pregnancy and babies...) with the obligatory bump shot. This one is from week 20+2, i.e. five months completed. We have been for two scans but only one visit (in week 9) with the midwife so far, however the next appointment is next Monday and from then on we will see her more regularly (one every four weeks to start with and then every two weeks). So then I should found if I'm "normal" but I think my bump is quite standard.

One thing that has really surprised me is how much my breasts have grown! I thought that happened towards the end of the pregnancy when the breasts filled with milk ahead of delivery. But those of you haven't experienced this yet; be prepared for growing one, two or even more cup sizes!

9 January 2011 is the magic date by the way!

* Or ten months actually since pregnancy is 40 weeks; why do we say it is nine months??

Show & Tell: Life after Death

Image from www.bloodhoundrealty.com

I have chosen a more serious topic for this week's Show & Tell (though it's of course possible to joke about it as well, as with any topic; up to you!) because I thought it would be interesting to hear people's thoughts and ideas on the afterlife. I wrote when I set out my themes a few weeks ago: apologies for the morbid subject but I find it interesting to think about what happens after we die, if anything, and how miniscule our lifespan (as individuals) is in the history of the universe, or even that of mankind.

I don't have any particular belief "this is what will happen to me" but I hope and want to believe that something does happen, that we go somewhere, to a new world or a parallel dimension...somewhere, something. Some sort of heaven but maybe not necessarily the heaven described by any of the religions. Maybe Nangijala. That would be nice. Without Katla.

Image from www.makemymood.com

We live such a short time on earth if you consider how long earth has been around or even how long humanity has been around. Makes you humble. And at the same time feel like there must be something more to it. But maybe we just want to, have to, think that because it's so unthinkable that we are so insignificant in the scheme of things. I think the urge to be immortal, to live on, is one reason why we have children. In addition to the want to love and care, and to be loved and cared for, of course.

I think about organ donation. In many ways passing on your organs, either as a live or a dead donor, is a way to live on as well. I registered as an organ donor years ago, however I have said no to research because I rather want my organs to go to someone. But I'm starting to reconsider since research is so important too and maybe my body proves to be better fit for research, who knows. I don't believe my body need to stay intact after I die because if there is a life after death, it's my soul that will move on. I don't think I need my body. If I do need one I'm sure I will get a new one.

Image from www2.warwick.ac.uk

I think by the time you're old and you know you are dying you just accept it. It's natural in a way. But when you are young it's difficult to think about death. Young people who know they are dying from an illness accept their fate as well, most of them at least. I think a calm descends on you. It's more difficult for those around you. And the person dying is more sad for the life they will not lead than being scared about dying itself. So death is really about the lack of life than about death as such. Life after death is probably much more difficult for those left alive. In a way, life after death is about them, those left behind.

Image from utopiaorbust.files.wordpress.com

Lastly, Swedish funeral arrangements. The Muslim custom of burying their deceased within 24 hours is a bit rushed and exaggerated; even three days may not be enough time for far away relatives to return, and by that time the sad news may not even have sunk in. But waiting three and sometimes even four weeks as is the case in Sweden is a scandal! A week is appropriate, two weeks if necessary. I understand that if Sweden only (for the most part) hold funerals on Fridays (for some reason??) it will be difficult to book that special church that meant so much to the deceased. But it seems like people nowadays can hardly fit in a funeral in their busy lives and that's the real reason, not church booking arrangements. Sweden has very lax laws on this apparently whilst for example Norway and Denmark have one or two weeks maximum before the deceased must be buried. I think it's disgrace to deceased to let him or her lie just there in the morgue. Sure, they are dead but still. Out of respect to when they were alive.

Just some randoms thoughts.

Not so proud of my Alma Mater today...

Oxford has apparently blocked Spotify because it is a music streaming services and it uses peer-to-peer technology. And it's not educational either. I wonder how long they will be able to stick to that decision...

The Scale of the Challenge

Today I went to an interesting seminar about climate change organised by the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. After the presentations (one on the science and one on the security implications of climate change - both very interesting but I won't go into the detail here) there was a panel debate with four Swedish politicians - Sofia Arkelsten from the Moderate (Conservative) party, the Left party's Jens Holm, Claes Västerteg from the Centre party (former agrarian party, now small business party) and Social democrat Anders Ygeman.

Their first task was to envision a Sweden eleven years from now, in 2020...

...that would have had to reduce emissions by 50% compared to 2009 levels*. In the scenario emissions trading is not allowed and since it's only eleven years away we cannot count on much of the new technology, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) or electric cars to have come through the pipeline yet, or on any new nuclear plants having been built (or at least not to be in operation yet).

So what did our group of politicians come up with?

• - Transport - the main quick fix as these represent a large chunk of our emissions - is very, very expensive. The tax on petrol is at least 27 SEK per liter. We have not seen the benefits of investment in the rail sector yet.
• - Taxes and other economic instruments are our main tools. A massive tax on CO2 is in place. Aviation and heavy transport by lorries are subject to further levies. All cities have a congestion tax.
• - We heat our homes with electricity - biofuels (still) emit too much and are thus costly considering the high CO2 tax in place.
• - We are moving to the cities as urban areas are more energy efficient. More effective use of space means that - by building smarter and denser - we don't need to travel as much and waste collection, sewage and other logistics are also more efficient.
• - Usually we can't afford to go on vacation but if we do we stay away longer.
• - We have stopped eating meat as it is too costly from a CO2 perspective**, with the exception of game and some grazing animals.
• - Renovations and refurbishment of homes that improve energy efficiency and/or reduce emissions, e.g. solar panels, insulation, are tax deductible.
• - We are discussing closing down industries in Sweden to reach the goal but we are concerned that will just move emissions elsewhere. We need to take a global perspective.

Radical as it may sound it illustrates well the scale of the problem. If we are to stop the increase in global average temperatures at two degrees this may be the only way to go.

They politicians went on discussing if society will succeed making a change (even if not as drastic and radical as the above), what the necessary changes in the economy and in consumption patterns will be and how we can consume without destroying the planet, but that's another post!

* This would be tougher than any of the targets that the EU has committed too so far or that are on the table in the climate change negotiations. Sweden's commitment is 40% by 2020 on 1990 levels.
**Today, 2009, emissions from meat production is equal that of 4 million cars on Swedish streets.

Elvina!

My friend Malin managed the feat of timing the birth of her second child - a baby girl with the beautiful name Elvina - with her older daughter's tenth birthday! !

Congratulations Malin & Ronny! And Filippa, who's a big sister!



More pics on Malin's blog!

I also want to congratulate Åsa & Rikard who became parents to beautiful Wera last week!

Show & Tell: Light

Erica's last theme is light. (Simone takes over Show & Tell in November.)

Image from svenskakyrkan.se

The topic made me think of recent "advertising" from the Swedish church ahead of All Saints' Day, a day to commemorate the dead. In Sweden the custom is to put wreaths and candles on the graves of passed loved ones. If you pass by a Swedish cemetery on this particular weekend you will see hundreds of flickering lights - so beautiful and solemn.

Image from solakra.blogg.se

On the Swedish church website A Light in the Dark there are texts about what this holiday / custom is about and why it has become important for people. One writes that nowadays few have family and roots where they live and then it becomes more important to remember at least once a year. The need to connect becomes stronger when home (even though "home" can be fluid) is far away. Maybe it's that old cliché - "distance makes the heart grow fonder". And distance can be time as well, and not just geographical distance.

Eva Brunne* writes:

Lighting candles, remembering, thinking of what went so well, but also on that which didn't go well. It's like the candles relieves thoughts and feelings. Many times I have walked around the cemetery and heard parents tell stories to their little children about a grandmother or grandfather they perhaps have never even met. A story that connects and links to the future. And then they light the candle. [The light] points forward and into a life where we carry many stories with us that are necessary for our continued life.

But light also refers to optimism in dark times. There is always a way to light up the dark; the dark never wins. Life prevails over death. Good is stronger than evil.

I think a lot about that in these times of success for the Sweden Democrats, that, in my view, racist and backward-looking party. I sure hope that the voters that seem attracted to (according to the polls) these dark views find some light in their lives well ahead of next year's election** so that the Sweden Democrats don't get into Parliament.

* It doesn't say if she's a priest or other member of the church staff or just a member of the public
** September 2010

What an Entrance!

I'm going to a wedding later today. Will it be like this, I wonder?!

Show & Tell: If I Won 10 Million

As I was away over the weekend (boat cruise to Tallinn, Estonia, with a friend) I'm running late with Show & Tell (again). But today I'm staying home from work (well, I went there for an hour but realised pretty soon it wasn't doable) due to a bad cough I have come down with (I always seem to get this very "chesty" cough when I have a cold and I don't want it to develop into a proper chest infection).

Since it's already Wednesday I thought I'd have a look at everyone else's 10 million post from last Friday and pick something I would do too if I won that kind of money (though 10 million in Swedish kronor isn't that much).

It's of course appropriate to start with Erica who was the hostess of the March themes. Hard to pick one but on Erica's list I liked:
- Set up a plan for the rest of the money [not spent on the below], i.e. save and invest some of it

Other things I would do - inspired from my fellow bloggers:
- Celebrate with champagne (of course), the expensive kind, and a party
- Go on a spur-of-the-moment trip to New York or some other cool city (maybe somewhere I haven't been yet)
- Buy a flat in Stockholm OR
- Buy the house we (well, I) have always dreamt of (probably in Enskede) and decorate it just the way we wanted
- If I was living in a house already when I won the money; invest in a green energy solution for the house (solar panels or the like)
- Buy an old house/building in Italy, renovate it and open up a B&B or just use it as a summer house (or maybe have some nice Italian couple run it and keep a couple of rooms for family and friends)
- Treat myself to four-day work weeks and three-day weekends (I like my job too much to stop working) but first I would probably take a sabbatical, i.e. buy more time in a way
- Set up bank accounts and start saving for my (future) children
- Help family and relatives pay off debts or in some other way
- Have more parties (like the one we had when Peter turned 30)
- Sponsor a child somewhere in the world (actually I should do that already; I don't have an excuse really)
- Donate to charity
- Travel a lot and often, maybe back to Africa to start with and maybe Zanzibar
- Buy a new computer, maybe a nice iMac
- Buy a car, an environmentally friendly one in the true sense (i.e. not just a FlexiFuel or similar one)
- Buy a summer house in the Stockholm archipelago
- Buy a lot of new clothes
- Pay of student debts, which many bloggers mentioned

New Chapter

Stole this from Skolis!

Show & Tell: Change aka 2008 Recap

Today is Show & Tell day aka Friday theme and Strandmamman is in charge of the themes this month (you can see the themes in the left-hand column).

Today's theme is change and what better way to illustrate change than to give you a recap of my 2008 together with my thoughts for 2009. In the same way a birthday does not mean you turn a whole year older from one day to another, moving from 31 December to 1 January does not mean much actual, immediate change. Instead change, not all but most, is gradual. Yet, a new year does feel a little bit special. It signals fresh, new start and relief and can be that event that pushes you to do or change something. Even if it's just a frame of mind, making you think in a different way or encouraging you to dream or plan something.

So, to my 2008. This year's...

Happening
Peter's 30th birthday party. Lots of hard work before and after but such a success!

Project
(Excluding various work projects) Peter's party and planning our US trip

Song
I usually don't have favourite songs - I move on quickly - but perhaps Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" or Leona Lewis "Bleeding Love" (which happens to be a Coldplay produced song). I also discovered "Dancing in the Dark" by Jessy this year but I think it's from 2007?

Trip
Our US roadtrip along the east coast of the US - New York, Washington DC, Delaware/Maryland and New England (from Connecticut to Maine)

YES!
I will have to say Obama's victory as well as some of the progress made at least in the EU to combat climate change. We're far from there but some important steps have been taken.

Person
Peter is the most important person in my life of course but if we talk globally or generally I guess I will have to be boring and say Barack Obama.

Slavery
At least two high-profile official visits at work where we were given abour 4 days notice that the person was coming. Chaos, stress and long hours, but fun!

Garment
All the summer clothes we bought for cheap dollars in the US and couldn't wear once back in Sweden as the summer was already over. Good thing summer comes back every year! And of course any shoes as I'm a shoe-o-holic.

Book
As I mentioned in my previous post I didn't read very much in 2008 and I don't want to pick a book I didn't read, so I will have to go for "The Big House" as it's very much associated with our US trip (it takes place in Cape Cod, one of the places we visited).

Purchase
Technically Peter paid for it, but our D-SLR camera (a Canon EOS 450). I have had so much fun playing with it and learned a lot about photography.

Happiness
Many little moments with Peter

Hardest
Seeing friends struggle with serious illness as well as infertility (luckily not in the same family). And something more mundane, frustration at some of the archaic practices at work.

TV moment
At least not watching the Olympics with a 10-hour delay in the US

Gadget
I'm still waiting for my Kitchen Aid! In the meantime I will say Spotify. It's not an actual thing but I think it qualifies as a gadget.

Blog
Lullun in Greenland. Unfortunately she has stopped blogging now but for most of this year she taught me so much about Greenland, made me long to go there and in some mysterious way ;) got me an interview for a job there (which I didn't get but still, a fun coincidence)!

Community
Facebook and my blogging family

Change
Nothing dramatic. Only thing I can think of right now is starting to work with climate and energy issues (i.e. still with the same employer, just new policy areas)

Film
I don't know, "Batman" perhaps, especially since the late Heath Ledger was so good in it.

Personal greatest success
Various achievements at work

Memories
Our travels, especially the US roadtrip but also our trip to Italy with my parents and the long weekend in beautiful Gotland after Almedalen.

Forgot to do (deviance from normal behaviour)
As I mentioned in my previous post I didn't read as much as I normally do and would have liked to. I also feel like I didn't stay as healthy as previous years, especially when it comes to food (I gained a couple of kilos).

Mistake
As Anne said, no big regrets but lots of small ones

Greatest lesson
Living 3 minutes from the gym is not a guarantee for frequent visit. Need a proper schedule and no deviations and distractions!

Spending
Travelling

New people
Fellow bloggers and new nice and fun colleagues. New babies in my circle of friend, especially H's little Heidi.

Best weekend
The weekend between Christmas and New Year that Peter and I spent at the country house, just the two of us. The weekend in Tällberg with Céline and Diego was also very fun and relaxing. Probably we had fun evenings in the spring of 2008 as well but that feels like ages ago! :)

Most romantic of the year
A photo of a ring of pebbles shaped as a heart Peter made for me when he was in Prague with the lads and sent me in an MMS

Thoughts and wishes for 2009
I hope 2009 will be an important year, not just in terms of work (which is a given, considering Sweden will host the EU Presidency in the autumn and the world is scheduled to take some key decisions on the climate change front), but also for me personally. But I won't go into any details; if you say your wishes out loud they won't come true!

8 -Track

I've been challenged by my cousin's wife to provide a few personal details.

Rules
1. Publicise the rules on your blog
2. Answer the six 8-lists
3. Notify those you want to challenge on their blogs

8 Favourite Shows
1. House
2. How I Met Your Mother
3. Scrubs
4. Two and a Half Men
5. ER
6. Heroes
7. Design Simon & Tomas (home decoration show)
8. Äntligen hemma (home decoration show)

8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. Went to work
2. Spent half-an-hour on hold with the doctor's office (specialist; my regular doctor answered right away)
3. Drank too many coffees at work as usual
4. Met with my Jusek (union) sponsored mentor and the other four "mentees"
5. Bought a dress and a skirt at H&M
6. Had tacos for dinner
7. Watched "House"
8. Went to bed early for a change (which means 2230)

8 Things I Look Forward To
1. Visiting Malin on Friday-Saturday
2. Doing show & dinner with my parents on Saturday
3. Putting up the Advent lights and candles on Sunday
4. Céline and Diego's visit from Barcelona next weekend
5. Spending Christmas with my family, especially since we were abroad last year
6. Spending New Year's in Paris
7. In the long term, getting married
8. In the longer term, having children

8 Favourite Restaurants (in Stockholm, no particular order)
1. Kungsholmen
2. Beirut Café
3. Elverket (for brunch)
4. Babajan, Etnografiska (for lunch)
5. Texas steakhouse
6. Restaurangentm
7. Abbios (for the pecorino sandwiches)
8. Ljunggren

8 Things on My Wish List (in no particular order)
1. A bigger flat in the city centre or a house in Enskede
2. A new job, either in the Swedish government offices or at an EU institution
3. Marriage (and a wedding too)
4. Children
5. Travelling to the continents where I haven't been yet, i.e. South America and Oceania
6. Losing a few kilos and become fit
7. Making or winning lots of money so I never had to worry about that
8. Long, happy and healthy lives for my family and friends (and myself)

8 Persons I Challenge
1. My cousin Emma
2. My cousin's fiancée Marit
3. Skolfröken
4. Lullun
5. Marianne
6. Petra
7. Britgirl
8. Fröken Johanna

Yes!!!!!

Image from dn.se

I'm off to London for a few days and will be back here next week!

Lists & Careers

Can't remember who challenged me but this list floated around in the bloggosphere a couple of months ago.

CLOTHES
1) Lace - In bed, or perhaps on a skirt
2) High boots - Yes, I have high boots and boots with high heels and flats. I saw a pair at the shoe shop the other day that are exactly like the ones I bought last year, but with a strap instead of laces at the top back. But I couldn't get an almost identical pair, could I?!!
3) Ancle/wrist length skirts - No, not my thing, I like them knee-length
4) Baggy jeans - No, I prefer them more slim or tight-fit
5) Dressed fashion - I assume this means office wear and yes, I like it. But lately I have gotten a bit tired of it and am wearing jeans to work more often (we can do that if we don't have any meetings). And dark jeans with a nice top and a jacket can look pretty dressed up too.
6) Toe-showing shoes or open shoes - Sandals (if I can find any that I like), flipflops or very dressy shoes for a party, but otherwise, no. And no crocs! Horrific things!
7) Wedges - Nope. Don't really have any but am not completely opposed, it depends on the rest of the shoe
8 ) Cape - Not sure what that is which must mean I don't have one. I do have a little cape-looking knitted thing that I wear once in a while when it's not cold enough for a coat. But does that qualify as a cape?
9) Leopard pattern - No! But they did offer some lingerie and badrock for purchase at the hotel we stayed at in DC this summer
10) Coats in bright colours - Yes, I have a bright red one. But I also have a black longer one I use much more.
11) Check pattern - Skirts and shirts, yes, but it depends on the pattern
12) Vest - Yes, I don't have one but I would like one. I have some knitted ones - I mean sleeveless tops to wear over shirts - but I would like one of a more dressy kind
13) Hat and other headgear - I like hats but I haven't found one I look good in yet. And I'm not sure what kind of occasion I would use it for - I don't go to English weddings too often. But a stylish one for the winter would be nice. I have some nice winter hats (mössa) for the winter though

MY HOME
5 things in my freezer: leftover food in little Tupperware boxes for work lunches, chili chocolate ice-cream, hot dogs buns that are a bit old, quorn in different shapes (filets, mince and cut up pieces) and ice
5 things in my wardrobe: clothes, these clever transparent shoe boxes, gifts for family and friends, our bed cover (it probably spends more time there than on the bed) and pile of clothes that need mending
5 things in my bathroom cupboard: face peeling from Kerstin Florian I should use more often considering the price, a very empty deodorant (forgot to buy a new one today again!), thin floss from Oral B, YSL Elle perfume, day and night creams from Oriflame AND LOTS OF OTHER STUFF!

FIVES
5 places where I lived: Södertälje (hometown), Pittsburgh, London, Oxford and Brussels
5 jobs I have had: paper and mail delivery, supply controller (logistics), political campaigner, consultant, desk officer
5 things in my handbag: access card for work, log in thingy for Internet banking, purse, umbrella, lip balm, keys
5 things in my car: FM radio transmitter for mp3, CDs, napkins, change and umbrellas

Then to the SHOW & TELL from Friday which I haven't managed to produce yet even though I'm the hostess this month at all!

If I could change careers, I would...
I haven't actually thought that seriously about this as I'm pretty happy with my choice of education, qualifications and career although I have to confess I constantly think about changing jobs, albeit within my field. I think I have mentioned this before but my boyfriend calls me the most disloyal employee since I always think of where to go next! That being so, it doesn't mean that I don't give every job 110%. But I do think a lot about the future and where I would work next. There are so many jobs I would want to do and so little time to do it!

But if I changed paths completely I would:

• Train to become a police officer. My boyfriend looked at me strangely when I told him but it's true, I have thought about it somewhat seriously. What appeals to me I think is partly the "doing something for society" and partly the being out and about meeting people. Or perhaps it's the gun and feeling authoritarian in uniform, I don't know! What doesn't appeal to me though is the three-year training. However, when I see police in the streets in Sweden I feel reassured that they have such thorough training - in the UK it only takes two or three months to qualify!
• Start my own consultancy within my field of expertise. Well, I guess this wouldn't be a change of career completely, but I would imagine that running one's own business is quite different from being a "regular" employee. I have tried the private sector already and I wouldn't mind going back after a 20-year career in the public sector. I would do something where I could mix the two sectors, i.e. political consulting or helping companies apply for public funding; the latter is what I did as an consultant. In the interface between the public and the private sector.
• Open up a café. Self-explanatory I guess. Would be fun to run it with a friend who really enjoyed cooking and baking. I would do the running of the business part and my friend the actual work hehehehe... We would also - although this has been done thousands of times before - promote local artists by displaying their works on the walls and selling them to our customers.
• Rent out prams/strollers/pushchairs at airports. This is an idea that a commentator over at Skolfröken's blog mentioned and I can't believe no one has thought of and/or realised it before (or perhaps they have but I don't know about it?). I don't have any children yet but I have many friends that do and I've heard them complain about how they don't like the travel with pram because they often get broken in the handling. So why not offer a pram rental service at the airport! Just book online as you would with a car and pick up by bagage. Return at the same or another airport!

Challenge

Another challenge is circling the blogosphere; this one reached me through Marit.

Rules
* Describe the rules
* Answer all questions
* Select 6 persons to challenge in turn
* Let the person who challenged you know that you have accepted the challenge

Five things on your "to do" list today
1. Go to work despite bad cold
2. Cancel dinner plans with friends (unfortunately, due to cold)
3. Calculate division of costs between Peter and myself for our summer travel
4. Book rental car for US trip
5. Blog and read the usual suspects (i.e. my favourite blogs)

I left work a bit early but managed most of the day with my little pile of tissues, cough drops, nasal spray and Savlon (to stop getting a dry and red nose) beside me. The rest is also accomplished except for the rental car but Peter is looking at that as we speak (or I write I should say).

What did you do ten years ago?
In 1998 I studied Political Science at the University of Uppsala for a term before moving to London to continue my studies (ended up staying for four years). I spent the summer in Darien, Connecticut (US) with the extended family of my 1995-96 aupair family and helped out hauling the kids around to different sports and other activities. I met a number of people who are still very good friends even if I don't see that very often these days.

Places where you have lived
--> 1995: Södertälje
1995: New Jersey
1996: Pittsburgh
1996: Södertälje
1997-98: Uppsala
1998-2000: London
2000-2002: Oxford
2002-03: Brussels
2003 -->: Stockholm (Hallunda, Hammarbyhöjden, Årsta and Gärdet/Östermalm)

Five things you would do if you became a billionaire
1. Pay off my student debts
2. Help my family with anything monetary they might need
3. Travel the world
4. Buy my dream house in Stockholm and a flat/house in London, New York and somewhere sunny and hot
5. Donate to charity

A lot of people have done this challenge already but I take my chances and pass it on to Fröken Johanna, Anne, Anna, Johanna, Petra and Nonna.

Extraterrestrial Accommodation

Looking for a new place with something extra? Here it is.

Photo: Scanpix

Show & Tell: Change

This week's theme is change. Two different things sprung to mind:

• Climate Change - the change happening and the change we need to make
• Gender equality and the change achieved and the lack of change

I have chosen the second topic this time around. It would have probably been the perfect post for last Saturday, which was International Women's Day, but six days late isn't too bad!

8 VOICES ON GENDER EQUALITY IN SWEDEN
First, some thoughts from Swedish personalities on the best and worst with being a woman in Sweden today*.

Jan Guillou, author:
- The best is that we live in the world's most gender equal country. The worst is that the gender equality has not come very far. (It's all relative.)

Katrine Kielos, temp. Editor-in-Chief, Dagens Arena, columnist
- That we live the world's most gender equal country according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2007. At the same time the worst thing is that Sweden is not gender equal, just least unequal according to the same report.

Pär Ström, integrity and gender equality debater, author of the book "Mansförtryck and kvinnovälde" (Oppression of men and female empire):
- The best with being a woman is that there is great understanding and great interest in society for women's problems and difficulties. The worst is that Sweden to an unusual high degree has typical female and male professions. This has to do with people's free choice, but a consequence is that it is more difficult for the average women to have a career.

Anitra Steen, CEO Systembolaget [state monopoly alcohol stores]:
- The absolute best thing is that there is an infrastructure that makes it possible to have children and at the same time develop your career and yourself. That there are childcare, parental leave allowance and other tools helping one to manage family life in parallel with a career. I don't want to point out the worst things; I think that the most dangerous a woman can do is to see herself as a victim, then I rather see the advantages.

Thomas Bodström, Chair of Parliament Justice Committee:
- The best is that we probably live in the most gender equal country. The worst is that women are being abused and sexually assaulted in Sweden today.

Ebba Witt-Brattström, Professor in Literature, feminist
- That we have a global task to before the world's women show that it is possible to achieve our relatively high degree of gender equality, and at the same time combat the increasing contempt for women within and outside the country. The worst is that we right now have a meaningless debate about feminism directed by the media and with little relevance to women's reality.

Tobias Billström, Minister for Migration
- We live in one of the world's most gender equal countries. But there are still informal barriers, for example that womens labour market is so limited to the public sector.

Dilsa Demirbag-Sten, journalist and author
- The best is that me and my male fellow beings are equal before the law. That I live in a country where the state is obliged to protect me from oppression on the basis of religion, opinion, gender or sexual orientation. The worst is cultural relativism, that women are still oppressed in the name of culture and religion.

A FEMINIST GOVERNMENT VOICE
Second, some thoughts from the Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg**. I didn't vote for them and I don't agree with most of the stuff they are doing, but Borg is one of the most sensible members of the Cabinet and he's not afraid of calling himself a feminist.

Why do you call yourself a feminist?
- Because I think it is one of our time's greatest restriction on freedom that men and women are limited by gender roles, that say what they should do and shouldn't do. Freedom is about shaping your own life, and the fact that gender roles endure is one of the greatest barriers.

It has been a bit taboo to call oneself a feminist in your party [Moderates/Conservatives], why is that?
- Historically it's been like that, but I think the attitude has changed a lot. Young people want to have the right to shape their own lives and young fathers want to be part of family life. If you want to live a good life you must take responsibility for your children and then you cannot let gender roles hinder that.

The lack of gender equality is one of Sweden's and Europe's biggest problem. When did you have your feminist awakening?
- I have worked with gender equality issues for a long time, but it becomes more concrete when you have children. More practice and less theory.

What can you as Finance Minister do to reduce the gaps between women and men?
- At the moment there is a positive development, women's salaries are increasing and women work more so that their incomes are growing. The one with the power over the money has great influence over the family; if women earn 40% less than men it has consequences. I work for getting women into the labour market, and making it easier for them when they are there.

What development has been most important during the 2000s from a feminist perspective?
- I think that the gender equality work has stood still. The positive exception is that I think I'm seeing that young men are more active as parents. When I took parental leave for the first time people laughed and said "now he's going on vacation". But the next time I saw a change in attitudes.

What is the most important feminist issue for you right now?
- The gender equality bonus. When a couple share the parental leave, and the lowest earner go back to work and the highest earner stay at home, they get 3,000 SEK in tax reductions each month.

What is required from the feminists of the future?
- You have to make yourself aware and discuss these issues with others. You have a personal responsibility.

* Source: Svenska Dagbladet 8 March 2008
* Interview in Dagens nyheter 2 March 2008