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.

Autumn Wishlist

Some things I'd like to buy


HEMTEX

HEMTEX

Summer in Sweden

There's so much to do in Sweden in summer.  How are we going to find time to fit it all in, and the usual routine "must-do's" too?  How to enjoy summer relaxing to the full without feeling stressed out about not enjoying summer to the full?  Then again, how do you relax with a full to do list...even if you're like me and can live in chaos, living with a full to do list just sucks all the enjoyment out of relaxing.

Today feels like we've done some summer things.  That might be because it has been so warm today.  We had plans to go look at bicycles today, but the shop was closed.  Good thing we phoned first to check.  Then we tried to buy a second hand bicycle from someone in our hometown, but it was sold just as we phoned.

Then we saw that someone local was selling their outdoor furniture.  Since the beginning of spring we have wanted to buy a new set of outdoor furniture for our deck.  We had already selected the set we would buy, but hadn't actually done it because it was quite a bit of money to lay out.  Then when we saw the set today on the local second hand website it just looked so cosy.  Nothing at all like the set we had chosen new.  But it looked worn in, and it was dirt cheap.  Even with hiring a van for a few hours to pick it up and transport it it was still only a fraction of the price of a new set.  So now the set it installed on our deck.  Next step is to get some oil and give it a little TLC...and maybe a bolt or two to strengthen the weakest spots.

We also bought a tent today.  I have been wanting to go camping again for two years, but we never really got around to it.  But this summer feels like the summer we are going to go camping again.  We got a lovely little four man sleeper tent (which means it's perfectly comfortable for two people).  It also has a little "courtyard" section of the tent to set up kitchen in.

All camping I have ever done has been with all the creature comforts of home...electricity, chairs, tables occasionally even fridges!  I am super keen to try out some very basic camping.  I have been doing a lot of research to work out our magic minimum of gear needed for camping.  My trusty Filofax has been the repository for all this research.

My idea is to get a kit together and have it ready to go at a moment's notice, so that if the weather is nice one weekend, we can just chuck the kit in the car and head off for a lake somewhere.  Then if the place is nice we'll set up camp, but if it's not so nice we can head home at the end of the day.

We had a taster of this kind of thing last weekend.  We had a short holiday up in the north of Sweden.  One of the days we were near a lake.  We cooked simple meals on alcohol stoves and fires.  We considered spending the night by the lake in a tent, but it was actually too cold.  But it was still a lot of fun.

It's also just lovely to sit outside in our garden in the beautiful summer weather and that's how we have ended the day.  It's now nearly 7:30 and I'm sitting comfortably on the verandah.  It's not too hot, nor too cold...it's just right.  Some days are just perfect :-)

two posts in one day

 The start of my outdoor kitchen (I hope) - looking forward to summer

Simply Me

Time to simplify. This is a thought that has been on my mind a lot lately. And actually simplifying life is quite a complicated process. 

I know it's possible to have a completely simple life. And that could be nice. But it's not what I'm looking for. 

I suppose what I am talking about is efficiency. Streamlining all the need to do's so I have more time for the want to do's. 

I have been reading a lot about David Allen's GTD and find it very attractive. But I am 1) too lazy and 2) too parsimonious to buy his book. 

I have learnt a lot from the FlyLady - especially about the importance of routines. I have begun my Household Journal but it still needs to be worked into something usable. Right now it's a glorified reference book. 

Now is the time to take what I have learned from months of trawling the Internet and come up with my own system. When it's finalized I may blog about it. Or I may not. I am lazy after all. 

Even if you can't hear my voice

I can't speak - the words just won't come out right. Even if you can't hear my voice, I'll be right beside you dear. Does anyone else feel this way? Guess so, seeing as Snow Patrol sang about it too.

Do you ever feel the tears welling up inside your chest - even though you're happy & content? Are they tears of happiness? I don't know - maybe I'm just a bit emotional. I'm sitting listening to Snow Patrol (who I've never sat down and listened to until now...hmm...how'd I miss this?). Something about largely piano-based music touches me deep inside, or is it a certain tone in the lead-singer's voice?

I don't know much about anything - but I'm eternally interested in the effects of music on the state of mind. The opening bars of some songs can completely change my mood. At the beginning of this post I was listening to Run by Snow Patrol - now I've listened to several other songs in the meantime. They're a bit average - just a few nice songs.

I'll have to go and find something else to listen to.