Norrland - Årrenjarka

Sweden - the land of lakes and forests.  Such a stunning place - Årrenjarka.  Wish we lived closer to it.  I want to go camping here some sunny day.  We'll fish in the lakes and cook food around the campfire, like we did in 2011, but hopefully in warmer times

Sunrise over Globen

Pretty sunrise (at 8:00).

Pink Grass in Älvdalen

The busyness of business

It's been ages since I have had time to blog. Now I'm on a day's leave and finally sitting down for a few quiet moments. My head has been full of work for months now. There are too many projects going on. Too much inter office politics and bickering going on. I got too caught up in the GTD mindset. I find it causing so much agitation. This is because I'm not doing it properly, which leads to increased agitation. So I'm putting the GTD aside for a while. Important things will be dealt with as they appear. If they're not important then they will be dealt with when they get important. I will keep a few tricks from GTD going, like writing down all things I need to do and doing the weekly review. For those interested I do my work weekly review on Wednesdays and my personal one on Sunday mornings. Yes I keep them separate - otherwise I get sick at home thinking about all the office work I can't do and vice versa. Previously I've been a person who can switch off as solon as I leave the office. That is the state I am aiming for again. I do not live to work. I live to live! Instead of focussing on how busy I am I'm going to try and focus on doing the things that I find refreshing. So I'm hoping to invite lots of people over for informal meals. No fancy meals and tough if the house is not magazine style tidy. A clean house that reflects our busy lives in the occasional piles of clutter is just how it's going to be. You won't get sick coming to my place, but you might sneeze a bit. But that could be your fault for being allergic to my cat. :) We've just had a visit from our circuit overseer. Straight after our circuit assembly. While very tiring these two things have been a source of encouragement and motivation. I gleaned lots of tips and I hope to incorporate some into my daily life soon. I was also reminded of the things I am doing right. In a day and age where there is so much pressure to be the perfect wife, the perfect career woman, the perfect you name it - it was high time I was reminded that there are a few things that I am doing right. My plan now is to slowly start adding things one at a time. It takes time to build up a new habit and I don't want to break any of my existing ones by taking on too much at once. Time for dinner. The weather in Stockholm has been stunning today, so a break (BBQ/grill) is in order. Fire up the Weber, DH! It's grilled chicken with home made tzatziki and a greek salad for supper.

Current obsessions

Music
The Piano Guys - Beethoven's 5 Secrets
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour (especially Heart Attack - on my gyming/jamming mix)
Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People
Simple Song - The Shins
David Garrett - November Rain

Food
Yummy pasta salads galore this week for lunch.  I had left over supper for lunch today and I was so disappointed...missed my pasta salad
Otherwise I'm feeling a little uninspired food wise...but spring is temptingly close along with lots of awesome braai food again
Oh yes, and I tried my hand at cooking both Fillet Steak (melt in the mouth tender, very mild flavour) and Rump Steak (yum, yum, chew, chew...)  I think I can cook Fillet Steak really nicely now (smokey hot griddle pan coated with sugar & butter (!), seal the outsides, put on a place cover in tin foil and rest a few minutes in a slightly warmed oven).  But the Rump Steak needs trying again - pity it's such a difficult cut to find in Sweden.

Technology
My new "little" point and shoot camera  - a Samsung WB690 "super zoom" camera
I saw a real life Asus Zenbook last weekend - lust at first sight!  Only question is which colour?

Clothing
I love wearing this jersey (I have it in this colour and in black)

Cardigan - från H&M

http://www.hm.com/se/s/02FPGV

En lång cardigan i trikå med struktur. Fickor fram.

www.hm.com

Beauty Products


The Body Shop - White Musk Libertine
This is my spring/summer scent for 2012.  I've even splurged and bought the matching shower gel and body lotion!

I've also signed up for a monthly Glossy Box.  My first one arrived this week.  It's got some really lovely products to try out - even two full size samples!  Definitely got my money's worth this month.

What are you doing tomorrow?

I've been updating my Filofax today - with dates, not a different system for once!  It's fun looking for different events to enter into my calendar.  It doesn't mean I'll attend all these events, but it's good to know what's on offer.

I look at the various Convention Centres around Stockholm to see if they have any interesting shows coming up. There are also some annual events that I attend - I check their webpages in December or January when I'm updating my new diary for the next year.  Those pages often have links to similar events, so I click through and look for things that I think either Monseigneur Foojah or I will like.

But this evening I have decided to set up a little Tickler File for this kind of thing.  I want to get a Monthly index and then fill each month up with the details of things that normally happen in that month.  I'm also thinking of putting in obligations/chores that should be done in that month too.  I do a rough monthly plan to  balance keeping up with house maintenance, obligations and of course fun and relaxation.  I think setting up a tickler file will help me build up a reference work so that I can know what is possible in certain months.

I already have a file.  I just need to get the monthly dividers.  I know what I'm doing tomorrow, do you? :-)