What Difference A Year Makes

Isolde in almost the same spot on the sofa (sporting new covers) in the Nice flat in April 2011 and in May this year. She was just three months last year and back then we felt she was getting big but looking at the photo now she seems so tiny of course!

2011 Recap

Happy New Year!  A bit belatedly perhaps but I haven't managed to post a new year blip until now.

This year's...
...happening
Becoming a mother

...project
Moving before the summer and renovating the kitchen at the end of the year

...song
Blinka lilla stjärna (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star), Trollmors vaggsång, Sov du lilla videung, which are the three songs I sing to Isolde every night

...trip
Nice, France in April and the US (Delaware and Florida) in October

...hip hip hurray!
My grandfather turned 90, my dad 60, my cousin 40 and we attended one wedding (Anna and Richard)

...person
Isolde

...toil
Giving birth!

...garment
Nursing top

...best book 
Read a grand total of four book :(  But of those, I enjoyed "Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann" by Jonas Jonasson the most

...worst book
Not applicable

...purchase
Our new car, a dark blue Passat 140 TDI, which runs on diesel and is a green car according to the Swedish definition

...TV moment
I follow very few series except for sitcoms so difficult to choose a moment.  Maybe the British royal wedding?

...change
Becoming a parent and being home with a baby instead of working

...film
Never Let Me Go was the only one I gave a 5 (list of all viewed films coming)

...daily joy
Waking up to baby babble and laughter

...gratitude
To have a healthy baby and as a bonus, a very content baby that is seriously one of the happiest babies I've ever met (I don't lie when I say that she very rarely cries)!  And I'm grateful every day for my little family.

...greatest expectation
Isolde's next development leap as well as moving to a new home

...greatest disappointment
Can't think of anything.  Perhaps that I had planned to change jobs during my parental leave but time flew and I didn't even try.  But when I did return to work, I had the opportunity to do almost 100% new stuff so going back didn't end up too bad after all.

...greatest joy
Isolde and Peter as a father

...greatest "I wish more had happened this year"
Before I went on maternity leave I had great plans about how to spend the leave (besides taking care of the baby); I was going to bake sourdough bread, plan our wedding [party], scan all my old photos, etc. but I have done none of that...

...most wonderful weekend
Maybe not wonderful as such since it involved 30 hours of gradually increasing pain...but the Saturday and Sunday of 8-9 January when we were about to become parents is probably the most memorable weekend.  It was such a fascinating experience and despite the pain (which I have in many ways forgotten - it's so true what they say) I have only good memories from the delivery room and especially from our room at the ward afterwards.

...ponder
How come time flies?

...restaurant
Pontus (like last year) where we had a big dinner the evening before I went into labour

...hardest and saddest
My grandfather and two friends still having health issues.  I also still think a lot of a friend whose mother passed away in 2010 already - my friend had a baby this year and I think about the fact that her son doesn't get to meet his grandmother and my friend doesn't get to share what I do with my mum.  But she has her dad of course but becoming a mother is perhaps a time when one's mother becomes extra important.

...best party
We haven't thrown any parties this year except for Isolde's christening but I promise that next year we'll finally have our big wedding celebration!

...gadget
The iPhone.  Still.  Again.

...personal greatest success
Being the best mother Isolde could have! :)

...memories
So many, especially with Peter and Isolde of course.  The birth feels like it just happened and at the same time so far ago.

...forgot to do (deviance from normal behaviour)
Didn't hug and kiss Peter as much as I should.  It's like you're both so pre-occupied with the baby that it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon before you realise that you haven't said "good morning" to each other yet!

...greatest lesson
Carrying around a baby builds really good arm muscles and you can't really complain about not sleeping when you should have really gone to bed when the baby did at 8pm instead of at midnight when you ended up going...

...spending
Buying and renovating a flat, buying a new car, baby clothes...

...new people
The mothers and babies of my "mummy group"

...most romantic of the year
Peter continuing to make me breakfast every morning - during my maternity leave when he got up to get ready for work and now when I'm the one working he gets up and makes me breakfast while I shower and get ready even though it should be me making him breakfast now!

...New Year resolution
Even though I lost all the pregnancy weight I still have some excess around tummy and thighs which will need to go this year.  So go to the gym (that I'm actually paying for every month)!  And read more books!

Isolde at 7 Months

Can't believe our little busfia is already 7 months old (almost a week ago, on 9 August)! Where did the time go?!

At seven months, Isolde:

• sucks her thumb often, and occasionally her toe. It's always the right-hand thumb. A month ago she sucked on both thumbs and also quite often her index finger (like her dad did when he was a baby) and it was a irregular activity for her; a lot one day and then not again for a few days, but now it's all the time. It gives her comfort when she finds something new a bit "scary" and it puts her to sleep in the evening and back to sleep in the middle of the night. She'll never lose it like a pacifier but I guess it will be harder to wean her in two-three years time... But that's then and now's now!


• at six months mainly wanted to sit still and play and fiddle with things - she can still entertain herself for quite some time though if she's in that mood - but now wants to stand up or practice crawling. It's far from crawling at this stage; she can creep backwards and she also does some sort of push-ups whereby she gets up on her toes and pushes her bum in the air. She hasn't succeeded in getting up on her knees yet though. She things it's more fun though to hold on to our thumbs and raise herself (no help) to standing, or to pull herself up in the pram by holding on to the sides (in the safety of a harness!). She wants to stand up almost all the time!


• still rode in the Bugaboo's bassinet until today when we changed to the seat (when we tried a few weeks ago we felt she was still too little and short and the seat harness was way too big). I had to buy a harness for the bassinet though since she has wanted to sit up for the past month and could potentially climb the sides and fall out.


• has a wonderful giggle and laugh. She loves it when we tickle her or pretend to scare her. She's still a very happy and content girl who hardly ever cries (mainly only at night and then it's mostly in her sleep (or she's half-awake) - we truly feel we've been blessed with such a sunshine girl!


• with some exceptions, is a good sleeper, often without much fuss from 8 or 9 pm to 5 am (if she goes to bed later she still wakes up at 5). After a feed she usually goes back to sleep for another two hours. Irrespective of whether we get up at 6, 7 or 8 am, she usually wants to play for 1-2 hours and then take a morning/AM nap (and mum usually sleeps then too). She usually sleeps an hour in the afternoon too. She often falls asleep during the evening feed but when she doesn't, she's pretty good at putting herself to sleep, however not without some whining and thumb sucking. This applies to nap time during the day too but then she's usually tired and wants us to leave her alone in her crib. Often she naps in the pram while we're out and about though. In her crib she sleeps like a banana with her face pushed into one of the corners. Or right across the bed.


• still flirts with strangers and hasn't shown any signs of separation anxiety yet but I assume it will come soon as she's at that age. The first few minutes she's usually studying the person though, sorting through her person file cabinet. But then it's like she found the right one and a smile appears.


• smiles for the camera and sometimes stops what she's doing to pose. A real linslus!

• doesn't have any teeth yet. We thought one was on the way a couple of weeks ago as she's had a couple of cranky days and nights. She was drooling and fiddling with her tongue a lot, but nothing. We'll probably know once the real teething does start though, as I understand it's quite tough for most babies. I've heard that the later the teeth break, the better, as they are stronger then but I don't know if that's correct. For me I don't mind if they wait as long as I'm still breast-feeding.


• can protest when she doesn't like something, for example when 1½ year-old Elvina was getting too close (but she was still intrigued of course). When she's "upset", as in not wanting to do something we want her to do, such as eat, or she's bored or tired and not happy with being left on the floor, for example, she groans and grunts rather than cries. And in between the groans, sucks her thumb :) She also grunts if we don't feed her quickly enough when she's hungry.

• kisses us in her own special way, which means an open mouth and lots of dribble on our cheeks or noses. She used to be more cuddly with me but since Peter started his holiday and has been with us 24-7, she's starting to be as cuddly with him.

• eats really well now after the sloooow start on solids. In the early hours she still breast-feeds but after 8am she eats oat cereal (usually around 9am) for breakfast. The next meal is lunch around 11am-12 noon. Dinner is between 4-5pm. At lunch and dinner she eats ½ to 3/4 of a jar of baby food followed by fruit purée (half a jar or half a banana or equivalent at the most). Between lunch and dinner she's served a snack, usually fruit and wafers with liver patée or cream cheese. Sometimes she also snacks between breakfast and lunch depending on when she eats breakfast, which in turn depends on when we get up in the morning... The food day is finished with oat cereal between 6-7pm and breastmilk an hour afterwards, roughly. At the moment it feels like all day is about feeding! Full-time nursing was so easy - we didn't have to keep track of the time and she could easily eat when she wanted, where she wanted. Now we have to remember to pack food, bibs, etc.

• talks a lot - although no words or anything near words except for perhaps hej (hi) - and with more melody in the language. She tries new sounds and noises and makes new faces almost every day. Sometimes she's babbling and looking at us intently like she's really trying to tell us something. She still blows bubbles and makes fart noises. Lately she's been doing it a lot when she's being fed, not because she doesn't want to eat but because it's more fun with food in her mouth I guess!

• is just such a little darling and hanging around her is like walking on sunshine every day. It's amazing to rediscover life and the world with her every day. We could not imagine how much we'd enjoy being with her and how strong the love for her is - because it is in a way stronger or at least different from what we feel for each other. It's so cool to see how she learns something new or develops in some other way, constantly - every day. It's like she's a new person every day and at the same time, the same personality that could be seen when she was a few hours old.

Show & Tell: My 2011 (and a recap of 2010)

Erica's last theme for December - and the last theme of 2010 - is My 2011: expectations, dreams, wishes, resolutions. I thought I'd summarise my 2010 first and then tell you about my expectations for 2011 at the end. The "show" part of the post is in the links!

This year's (2010)...

...happening
Finding out we were pregnant!

...project
The pregnancy, though it hasn't been that difficult, rather the opposite. Maybe flat hunting then, a project which has not delivered yet.

....song
Sarah Dawn Finer's song for the royal wedding; illustrates the love between Peter and me this year as well



...trip
Eight heavenly days in the Maldives, which turned out to be our engagement trip

...hip hip hooray
A proposal and a yes
A blue line on a plastic stick (such a surprise at the time, albeit a happy one)
A wedding

...person
Belly Dancer

....toil
Fruitless flat hunting, though frustrating and fun at the same time

...garment
My red Hunter wellies

...best book
Haven't read much this year unfortunately so among the 10 or so books I have read, definitely "At Home" by Bill Bryson

...purchase
My new bike

...happiness
Experiencing the wait for the little one together with Peter

...TV moment
The Royal Wedding or the Football World Cup

...change
From not really knowing where Peter and I stood at the beginning of the year to getting engaged, pregnant and married!

...film
Saw very few films at the cinema but of those, "Toy Story 3"

...daily joy
Waking up next to my soulmate. And playing with my iPhone :)

...gratitude
That I have had such a sail-through pregnancy, except for the morning sickness but many have it much worse

...greatest expectation
Waiting nine months for our mini-me

...greatest disappointment
Not finding that dream flat yet

...greatest joy
Constant fascination with being pregnant

...greatest "I wish more had happened this year"
I go on and on about it, it seems, but I would have wanted to moved to something bigger

...most wonderful weekend
Not a weekend maybe, more like Sunday-Monday, but our wedding and the stay at Grand Hotel including spa, breakfast and dinner leading up to us tying the knot

...ponder
How this workoholic will manage being "just" a mum for a while

...restaurant
Pontus where we went for my surprise birthday dinner in January or Lydmar where we enjoyed a pre-wedding dinner

...hardest and saddest
My grandmother passing away, my grandfather being ill and one of best friend's still being ill for a second year (though it looks like they are onto something now)

...best party
Our New Year's party (though technically that was the last hours of 2009 and early hours of 2010), or Peter's birthday party in April (also attended five weddings this year but I think our parties beat them! ;) Maybe because at three of the weddings I was busy trying to hide my pregnancy...

...gadget
The iPhone

...personal greatest success
Love and family life in order! :)

...memories
The Maldives and also our UK roadtrip in the summer. Experiencing different stages of the pregnancy from May onwards. And our wedding of course!

...forgot to do (deviance from normal behaviour)
Didn't read as many books I wanted to and had planned to do

...greatest lesson
There's no such thing as a "safe" period of the month - and we're very happy for the "mistake"! :)

...spending
Travelling and baby stuff (but not that bad as we have very generous friends - only expensive purchase is the pushchair)

...new people
New colleagues at work including a new boss who's plain cool and down-to-earth

...most romantic of the year
Peter surprising me with a day of luxury for my birthday. And treating me to breakfast in bed throughout months of morning sickness.

Thoughts and wishes for 2011
* That we have a healthy baby and our transition to parenthood is smooth and happy
* That we find and are able to buy that dream flat

Resolutions
- Read more
- Get back in shape post-pregnancy
- Scan all childhood photos and make more photo books
- Use my KitchenAid regularly, especially for baking bread
- Actually finish embroidery projects
- Apply for a new job

Previous years' annals: 2007 and 2008 (apparently I didn't do one for 2009??)

Show & Tell: Time Travel

Helena's second theme for June (I will get to your first theme soon!) is time travel. We have actually had this theme before and then I was the hostess! Great minds think alike! :)

Today I thought I'd take a little bit of a different take on the theme. At this particularly moment I would actually like to travel only about five days into the future. Why? Because I have an important work event Monday-Wednesday next week and I wouldn't mind already finding myself at the other end of it! I'm of course looking forward to it and in many ways want to actually experience it - especially after having worked several months on it - but I would still prefer having it behind me. A successful event behind me! Fingers crossed everyone!

Show & Tell: Time

Around New Year's and the turn of a decade many bloggers did a sort of summary of their noughties but I didn't get around to it then. So I thought I'd use Saltistjejen's theme time to do a little list of "the event of the year" during 2000-2009.

2000: Finished my BA degree and moved from London to Oxford to start an MPhil (Masters) in European studies in Oxford

2001: Studies hard but also had a lot of fun, for example at the annual Ball in June, which I co-organised with fellow students (photo)

2002: This was the year I attended FIVE weddings between April and September! Otherwise the highlight was finishing my studies (though the actual graduation ceremony took place the following summer).

2003: Started my first real job - this was the year of the beginning of my career you could say!

2004: Went to Kiruna and the ice hotel (didn't sleep there though) in March - all through work so I didn't have to pay a dime!

2005: Met Peter at the end of the year, what could beat that!

2006: Started my current job in January after almost 2½ years in my previous job

2007: Went to South Africa - still one of my favourite trips

2008: My aupair child (who's no longer a child but a young adult) visited me for the first time

2009: Went to see Madonna in concert, finally (but said goodbye to another great musical star, MJ)!

In terms of "tell" I wanted to show some photos from another highlight of the last year of the decade: our trip to southern and western Sweden in August 2009.

Some sort of sun clock (Åhus)

Some people argue that the Ale stone formation is some sort of clock

2009 was a year Peter and I spent a lot of time on "us" and that included travelling and doing a lot of fun things together



Time can also be distance; the distance "clock" in Smygehuk, the most southern point of Sweden



This was probably the view visitors to Skanör had 50 years ago too



Modern architecture for modern modes of transport while boats have almost always been around in some format or other



Stress-free vacation



No reference to time really, I just like this photo; makes me think "small man in a big world"



I like the fact that there is still trust, at least in the countryside, in times of mistrust

You Know that You Are Living in 2009 When...

I have seen similar e-mails before but I thought there were a few new items on the list and thus that it was worth posting.

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave - Haven't done that but I can see it happening...for some
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years - Actually I have; I always bring a deck when we go travelling
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3 - Haha, yes!
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you - Yes! All the time! Some of my colleagues even call you from the next room. At least I take the opportunity to stretch my legs
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses - Haha, yeah, I'm at least worse at keeping in touch with those (though there are not that many of them anymore, I mean, without an e-mail address)

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your mobile phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries - Nah, but I do call Peter to come down and keep me company while we roam the streets for 15 minutes to find a parking space. Good thing we don't use the car on a regular basis.
7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen - Probably but it's gone that far that I don't even notice it
8. Leaving the house without your mobile phone, which you didn't have the first 30 years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it - It depends what I'm doing but half of the time the answer is yes. Not panic perhaps, but at least discomfort
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee - No, I shower and get my breakfast beforehand

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile :) - Haha, no!
12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing - Yup
13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message - I immediately thought of posting on the blog!
14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list - Yes! I might have made it easier for you readers though since I divided the bullets in groups of five *lol*
15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list - Haha, yes!

AND NOW YOU ARE LAUGHING AT YOURSELF

Show & Tell: If I Were a Time Traveler, I Would...

I got the idea for a time traveling theme for Show & Tell from the book The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger that I read a couple of years ago and consider one of my favourite books. It's about a man with a strange genetic disorder that causes him to unpredictably time travel, and his wife, who has to cope with his frequent absences and dangerous experiences. Because of his time travel he knows his wife throughout her life (almost) while she of course does not know that she will marry him in the future. He also knows when he is going to die. The book has been filmed - and will be out at cinemes in December. A must-see for me!

I also like the books about the literary agent (detective) Thursday Next by Jasper Fforde. The first book in the series is The Eyre Affair where Thursday Next is chasing a criminal by moving back and forth between an alternate 1985 and the pages of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Not really time traveling in the true sense but traveling between the real world (well, in this case the author's made-up 1985 and the years preceding it) and a fictional one. So far I have actually only read the first book but I have bought some of the others in the series and they are sitting there on my shelf waiting to be read...time permitting.

When I was little I had a recurring dream that I was sick in a hospital back in the 1920s or 1940s or something and my mum was a nurse in the hospital but did not have time to care (only) for me due to all her other patients. For some reason it took place in England. Probably it was just an effect of me dealing in my own little way with having a brother and having to fight for my parents' attention and devotion, but I like to think that perhaps there is a little chance that I had memories of sorts from an earlier life. I don't really believe in that stuff but at the same time I cannot see how I at the age of 6 and 7 could have imagined an English hospital. Or perhaps I had seen too many Forsyte Saga episodes with my parents...

In a way this theme sits very well with this weekend since we (at least in Europe) are changing the clocks this weekend. I didn't know that back when I came up with the themes so it is really a fun coincidence. Spring forward, fall back is how I remember whether we lose or gain an hour though in Sweden they usually illustrate it with whether you're taking out the grill for the summer or putting it back inside :)

As I'm writing this I've just got back from a dinner with three childhood girlfriends. This particular evening we didn't talk at all about the past but some times when we meet that's all we talk about! The old days and common memories. One of my friends, Jenny, remembers everything; we call her our collective memory. Sometimes I wish I could go back to certain experiences, events or feelings, but most of time looking at photos or having an evening of reminiscing will do fine. I don't think anyone of us want to go back to those early teenage years when we had ugly haircuts - of course high fashion for the time - and pimples. The school photos from those days sure provide a good laugh!


I guess this post doesn't really answer the question what I would do if I could time travel but is rather a summary of whatever comes to mind when I think about time traveling, but it will have to do!

Images from Amazon and January Magazine.

Show & Tell: Time Traveling

If I were a time traveler I would go back to this morning and write today's Show & Tell post on time traveling.

But unfortunately I'm not a time traveler so I will have to take a raincheck and get back to you tomorrow :)

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.

Show & Tell: 5 O'Clock

This week's Friday theme is 5 o'clock. When I read Victoria's choice of topic for 20 June I immediately thought of: leaving work at 5 pm. I'm one of the lucky ones working 9-5; actually only 7 hours a day as my working day includes a one hour lunch break (usually that's not the case in Sweden). And due to some access restrictions in my particular part of the building I have to keep these hours. I can come in at 8 or 8.30 but I rarely work beyond 6 pm because if I do I need to find a colleague with higher security clearance who can stay with me.

I'm actually most productive in the afternoon but at 4pm I start looking at my watch, or the work desktop clock. At 4.30 pm I start "closing up the shop", clearing my desk a little bit and making neat piles of paper instead of the regular 9-5 chaos, checking if I have done what really needs to be out of the way that particular day. Then I go to the kitchen and put all the glasses and cups that have some way accumulated on my desk during the day in the dishwasher. Peter usually calls and we talk about what we're having for dinner and who will stop by the food store on the way home, or where we're meeting if we're doing something else after work. I only have a 15-minute walk from work to home, so most days if I'm not doing anything particular after work I will go home and have a snack and watch some sitcoms and surf the Internet until Peter comes back around 6 pm. I like this time of the day, winding down after work, having some me- time before it's time to cook dinner and do whatever needs to be done that day in terms of chores - laundry, ironing, hoovering or what have you .

Since I don't start work until 9 and I live only 15 minutes from work I don't need to get up until 7.15 or 7.30, which means that I'm very rarely up at 5 am. Sometimes I wake up around 5, especially this time a year when it hardly ever gets dark in Sweden, but I go back to sleep with a smile - another two hours of sleep, yes!

This feels like a very boring post but maybe 5 o'clock isn't very exciting! :)

Passing Time

Lullun and I share a love of lists! Johanna also challenged me to tell time a few months back so...

What I did...

15 years ago (1993):
1. I was in my first year of upper secondary school
2. I went to Estonia with a church youth group (or was it 1994...?)
3. I listened to "I Will Always Love You" a lot

10 years ago (1998):
1. I moved to London to study
2. I spent the summer in Darien, Connecticut, as an aupair with the extended family of my original American aupair family (I was an aupair in 1995/06)
3. I met a lot of new friends in the UK, both English and of other nationality

5 years ago (2003):
1. I spent 5 months as an intern with the European Commission (well, technically 3 months was in 2002 and 2 months in 2003)
2. I had a really fun summer working for the Swedish pro-euro campaign, even if we lost the referendum :(
3. I started my first proper job at a consultancy working with EU research funding, among other things

3 years ago (2005):
1. I went on my first ever charter trip. It went to Marmaris, Turkey, and I brought an old childhood friend.
2. I left the consultancy (well, technically on 6 January 2006) for greener pastures
3. I visited my friend Helena in Toronto where she was spending 6 months with her now husband and daughter

1 year ago (2007):
1. I did a LOT of travelling: Hong Kong, Malta and South Africa were the highlights, but I also went to London and Barcelona
2. My friend Anoushka got married
3. I moved in with Peter

3 months ago (January 2008):
1. I looked at all our photos from South Africa
2. I celebrated my birthday
3. I worked a lot!

Yesterday (16 April 2007):
1. I celebrated Peter's 30th birthday by taking the day off
2. I went for spa treatment and a nice lunch with Peter
3. I bought half of Systembolaget's stock of alcohol for the party on Saturday

Today (17 April 2008):
1. I went to a chocolate tasting at work at lunch time
2. I received Åsa & Rikard's wedding invitation
3. I listened to Peter compiling music lists for Saturday's party

Tomorrow (18 April 2008)
1. I'm hopefully going out for lunch with some colleague(s)
2. I'm going to the supermarket for the final stuff for Saturday's party
3. I'm making a nice pasta sauce from ingredients in the fridge that will otherwise go bad

In 1 year (April 2009):
1. A friend of mine who's trying for a baby has succeeded
2. I'm planning my wedding (I hope!)
3. I have changed jobs

Friday Four - Time Travelling

I really liked the book "The Time Traveller's Wife" and I need something to blog about while I sort out my South Africa photos (though I have posted most of them on Facebook). In addition, it was a long time since I did one of these Friday Four things (the guy even stopped posting them so I had to take an old one).

Theme: If you could wind time back and forth, what would you have done if you were...

1) ...7 years old?
Written down what I felt my first day of school because I can't remember it at all :( Weird, because I really enjoyed school. The good thing is that it must mean that it was a traumatic experience for me (it's not like my mum got lost on the way to school).

2) ...15 years old?
Convinced my parents to get me a moped and to let me go on one of those summer language exchange courses.

3) ...30 years old?
Not postponed things, like posting travel photos or sewing pillow cases (I bought the fabric in Hong Kong in March and... that's how far I've got)

4) ...60 years old?
Retired and spent the rest of my (hopefully very long) life travelling the world, spending time with grandchildren and doing charity work for a worthwhile cause (or involving myself in local or national politics).

2007 Summarised

Stealing an idea that is going around a lot at the moment.

This year's....

Daily joy: Facebook, reading my favourite blogs
Gratitude: surviving bad turbulence when flying home from South Africa
Greatest expectation: the long wait for the trip to South Africa (from March to December)
Greatest disappointment: the rainy summer
Greatest joy: spending every day with Peter
Greatest triumph: praise at work (e.g. a very nice personal thank you letter)
Greatest "I wish more had happened this year": a ring would have been nice...!
Most wonderful weekend: a cosy weekend at the country house
Ponder: where to (job) go next
Relief: at least some sort of progress on the climate
Best new contact: new blog contracts, or re-finding old friends on FB
Happening: seeing wild animals hands-on in Africa
Project: Helena's hen party for which I was the co-ordinator, or the planning of the South Africa trip
Trip: South Africa, or Hong Kong
Person: Peter
Piece of clothing: a dress from Sand that was way too expensive (though worth it!)
Book: Snabba Cash
Purchase: Nintendo Wii
Restaurant: the thai place near home which is saviour
Most difficult: finding time to read (due to my Internet addiction)
TV moment: Heroes
Best party: Helena & Tommie's wedding or many of the 30th birthday parties I attended
Film: elephants in South Africa

A Voice from Victorian Past

The latest edition of Oxford Today, the University of Oxford tri-annual alumni magazine had a little notice about a time capsule that was found while doing renovation work on the Sheldonian Theatre. For those of you who don't know the University, or the city of Oxford for that matter, the Sheldonian is the venue for matriculation (Oxford lingo for being officially and ceremonially registered as a student) and graduation as well as various concerts and lectures. The article tells us:

Builders "discovered a metal time capsule left by a worker in 1901 when the [painted] ceiling was last dismantled for repairs. Inside the capsule was a hand-written note from builder Frank Morrill, together with a pair of Victorian workman's trousers and some tools, including a bradawl. Mr Morrill gives instructions to whoever finds the 'valuable treasure' to hand them over to a museum, before signing off, 'Yours in ashes?'. Mr Jeffrey Hackney, Chairman of the Curators of the Sheldonian, said the trousers will be offered to a local museum in line with Mr Morrill's wishes."

I wonder what the 21st century builder would leave behind?