don't you wish you were here???

Swedish Idylle
Originally uploaded by tabita.

I'm too tired to really post about all my adventures right now after putting a bunch of pictures on flickr (and running 6 miles, eating, showering, drying hair, eating, ordering train tickets, shopping at IKEA, eating, going for a walk, grocery shopping, and showing my dad what I do for a living).

I will blog lots tomorrow. That's a promise! (Check out Flickr for now)

Happy Birthday Rohan!!

Have fun! Don't drink too much.

I'm off to visit my brother, the Rock Star... :)

Reunited at last

Reunited at last
Originally uploaded by tabita.

Whew - arrived here in Sweden on Sunday. Couldn't really sleep on the flight, so that day is mostly a blur. I do remember wrapping lots of presents by recycling paper from my mom's kitchen couch and handing out a few of those. The Jelly Bellies were a hit.

Monday, I went for my first run here and made some observations on the blurring of the gender roles in this country. I saw two dads and two sets of children/dogs out for walks. The first dad was pushing a twin buggy with two crying children and had a little one on a tricycle riding behind him. As if that wasn't enough, he also had a big dog flanking the buggy. I saw the second dad in the woods with one little girl and a big net. I'm not sure if the purpose of the net was for catching frogs, butterflies, little fishies, or whatever got in the way. I saw zero moms out pushing strollers.

Yesterday, I decided to venture out on the bike (doing a little cross-training to avoid injury) early in the morning. I drove down several bike lanes until they ended in some neighborhood until I found the most beautiful little dirt road. It wove through the green countryside with surprises around each bend - a horse pasture here, a big cage of bunny rabbits there, a stretch of trees that had been carved into strange creatures... It was an amazing way to start the day.

Today, I woke up to pouring rain, so since I couldn't go for my run after breakfast, I took a nap. Only in Sweden on vacation could I take a nap one hour after waking up. It was swell. I woke up at 10:30 and found that the rain had stopped, laced up my running shoes, and headed out toward the little dirt road again. Marvelous.

I think I have finally recovered enough sleep to function properly, which is nice. I have discovered that sleep is quite essential to my well-being.

Check out flickr for some more pics involving some Kubb playing that took place tonight. The "Green" team won, thanks to Rebecka - she is the Kubb Queen! I'm a kubb loser, but that's OK. At least I was on a team of winners.

It's light for so long in the evening. Everybody should be able to experience this. It is truly amazing. Until later then...

leaving tomorrow!!!!!

And I just sent the last business email of the day to my UI guy in India.

I need to do laundry. I need to pack. I need to take out trash. I need to do dishes. I need to take care of all things financial. I need to clean out the A/C filter. I need to put the charged batteries back in the camera. I need to find the adaptor for my laptop. I need to blog??? Oh wait - check.

Next time I blog I'll be in the homeland. Hopefully I'll be blogging frequently and posting lots of pics - so stay tuned. I'll miss you all!!!

Rebecka och Todd - jag kommer snart!!! :)

good 6 mile run...

...bad cream cheese-filled Krispy Kreme doughnut. It's all about balance... :)

Have a nice day!

Horror at Target

Katie and I were chased by a possessed shopping cart in the Target parking lot tonight. It was frightfully delightful.

That's all I can muster up the energy to write. Except for this explanation sentence. And that last one... Ok - I have to rest.

broken promises...

Today, I had 5 1/2 hours of sleep and I didn't work out. Hmmm. I guess I'm not good at keeping promises to myself. I'll do better tomorrow. At least on the workout part. :)

I love the Internet. I just told the post office to hold my mail for a month while I go to Sweden and I didn't have to speak to a human being or leave the comfort of my home. This is swell. It's amazing how one could totally never leave the house and still get by (unless one had to go to work, or something).

The count-down has begun. Leave in four (4) days. My pal Rohan called today and asked me if I had started packing yet... What a joke!!! It'll be Friday night (stretch goal), but more likely Saturday morning panic packing. It really is just a simple 3 step process:

1. Throw entire wardrobe into humongous dufflebag
2. Throw all gifts and other deliverables into suitcase
3. Pack my swell laptop backpack with items needed for the actual journey (such as laptop, high level designs that need to be reviewed, "Crossing the Chasm" (my vacation homework), makeup, toothbrush, passport, tickets, and other odds and ends).

Easy.

it's a race...

...against myself. Yes - I have worked 71.25 hours so far this week and am well on my way to break my 75.50 hours from last week. Hmmm - wonder what my prize will be? Actually, I promised myself today that no matter what, next week I will sleep 8 hours every night and go to the gym every day. I felt like crap yesterday and decided that something needed to be done.

Enough about that.

Yesterday, I heard for the first time a Baylor University radio commercial on a local christian radio station. It was amusing. Especially the "there is so much diversity" part. Goodness.

Well, I'll be heading to the gym in a few. Enjoy your Sundays out there. I miss all of you. I promise that I'll be back by the end of July (if I still have any friends left by then...).

Rebecka rocks!!

Yes - she called me at work yesterday (thanks - I needed a break) and our whole conversation was in Swedish!! Isn't that so cool?!?! I'm so proud of you honey! Vi ses om 9 dagar... :)

wednesday update

My dear friend Prasad left for India today. It's quite tragic. We had lots of adventures trying to get him out of the country on time. Only positive thing about this is that I get to drive his silver Mercedes. It's beyond awesome. It's clean, it's quiet, it's fast, and EVERYTHING is automatic. Some examples:

Lights come on automatically (yes, i'm starting with the not so spectacular, but still very nice features). Oh, and they also go off automatically. Imagine that.

You know how you can flip your rear view mirror when there's someone tailgating you in the dark and their headlights make you see nothing? Well, in this car the rear view mirror automatically adjusts to the lights behind it. It's very nice...

Similarly, the windshield wipers come on automatically and adjust the speed to the amount of rain that is coming down (I actually came up with this invention several years back, but someone must have stolen my idea...). Oh - and the squirty stuff that you can invoke to clean your dirty windshield - yep - automatic as well.

I could go on and on, but I have 50 bugs to prioritize. So, ta-ta.

PS. Elmer (this is my car), I still love you more than any other car in the world!!! Even though NOTHING is automatic about you.

i hate mondays!!!

That's all.

the notebook

I've seen the beginning of this movie two days in a row at the YMCA this weekend. I have to know how it ends! It's a beautiful love story. Makes me want to cry. I'm a fan (however it ends)...

computer trivia

Today, I learned how to select and deselect a checkbox using the keyboard. It's the space bar!!! My computer life is getting incrementally easier. I love this kind of stuff.

lördag...

The Swedish word for Saturday is lördag (no - we do not capitalize days of the week). The words that it originated from is "lögare dag," which means "bathing and washing day".

Well, today I celebrated lördag by showering and doing 7 loads of laundry. I think that's a record. Only 3 drying cycles tho - I consolidate. I've used about 1/3 of the electricity this month as opposed to this month last year. Which is good.

Ok - I'm tired. Need to put the sheets back on the bed and crash. Night.

venting...

Why can't people spell? Why do people not know the difference between "its" and "it's"?? Or "there," "their," and "they're"??? Why????

Ok - I know somebody who has nothing better to do will not proceed to go through my posts in an attempt to find a misspelling somewhere. That's fine. Have fun. :)

On another note, it's the weekend. I'm working 100% of it (except the couple of hours I will spend at the gym). Feel free to drop a meal by or come help me with my laundry. Good times (as Katie would say).