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Sunday, December 12, 2010

What's been going on..?

So, I have been absent for a while - as I explained there was a (pc) death in the family...  It's such a hard thing to live with when you're so digitally dependant!!  I was keeping up to date with what's happening in the world (my world of Facebook friends!!) very quickly at work each day and trying to keep up with my personal emails there too...

Blogging though, that's a whole other ball game - the peace and headspace that I need to write anything down in this format just doesn't happen at work!!

So, what's been going on..?  Work, as usual - there's a lot of that to keep us going!!  One of our Aussie colleagues went home, there's a lot of family stuff going on for her at the moment and it's the right place for her to be...  It just feels like we lost a family member - over here our Aussie colleagues are like family, we all got put here together and no-one had a choice about who they came with, it's a bonus if we do nice things for each other - and best of all, we all get along pretty well...  So, it does rather feel like our little 'family' over here got one member smaller...

We went to Germany - we took a long weekend to head down to look at some of the Christmas markets in Cologne.  It was SO's (a bit late) birthday present - we stayed right in the centre of the city and walked around a bunch of these little markets and ate and drank our way generally through the weekend.  I'll have to put some pics up soon...

We moved 'house'...  After 4 months of living in an apartment in a hotel - we have now moved into an apartment in Stockholm that we have a 6 month lease on (whether or not that will get shortened or extended we're not really sure at this point)...  So, it's a small place - but now we have a separate kitchen (which includes an oven and a 'real' size fridge - which are real bonuses!).  We had a few annoyances when we moved in - the night we came to look at the place we ended up just talking to the guy who was renting here before in general about living around here, and what he was up to etc - and so after a quick look around the place we had to leave as the next people to inspect were knocking on the door.  We got a very quick glimpse into the bathroom, and never ended up getting to see the laundry...

So, when we got here we found that the shower head was mounted very low on the wall and pointed somewhere around our knees - now SO and I aren't exactly the tallest people in the world at around 5'4" or 5'5" so you can imagine just how low this thing was.  You take it out of it's holder, wet yourself, put it back in the holder to lather up and then pick it up again to wash off - showering was a joy especially in such a cold environment.  Luckily we have a fabulous landlord - and he has had his son install different shower head and bracket, so now we can have a proper shower...

The laundry, I found the night we moved in - is across the snowy courtyard and in the basement of another (almost adjoining) building...  Grrrr, it's definitely better than having to schlepp to the laundromat with all the clothes, but still a huge pain in the butt...  But, the real bonus of this place is that it's on top of one of the subway stations - so we walk out the front door and about 3 metres to the door of the station and down into it...  In the snow, and with how cold it's been here - that's a real bonus, and we figure that will be definitely be a huge benefit over the net few months...  And, it is very lovely to not have to walk through a hotel reception each night to get 'home'.

I got a new computer - obviously - I decided to try a mac this time around and check out life on the 'dark' side...  It's certainly very pretty over here - and I hope that one day soon I'll figure out all the things it does or is telling me with it's little beeps and noises!!  It's certainly a whole new world!

Yesterday there was apparently a suicide bomber in Stockholm - not a pleasant thing to ever have happen in the city you're living in - but we were helping our boss and his family move 'house' yesterday, and while their new place is not very far from where the incident happened - we were blissfully ignorant of the whole thing until we got home and saw something on the telly...

I had a really homesick day yesterday - another 2 of the Aussies have already left to head home for the Christmas break, and our boss and his family are heading out this week.  Just one of the others and SO and I have decided to stay in Europe for the break (and our colleague who's staying here has her parents coming to visit) so with all the talk about home, family and Christmas - I had a very teary night last night.  I watched a couple of sooky girly movies to help get it all out - and today am all a bit drained - but feeling a bit better for it...

We are gearing up to finish work this week - Wednesday is our last day - before a few weeks break from the project...  We decided that as we were so busy with everything going on (and we were staying in Europe to see more of the place while we can) that we'd book ourselves onto a tour of 'Imperial Europe' - so we are off to see some of Germany, Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary for 10 days starting on Friday...  It should be a good trip and we're looking forward to it, and the time that we'll have to recharge before getting back to work in the new year...

Well, it's a bit of an epic post - but I guess a lot's been going on in the absence of having the technology to catch everyone up - so there it all is...

Thursday, December 9, 2010

I'm back...

I'm sorry, I have been absent and terribly slack in my updates...

Partly again it's the running around trying to see things and get things done in amongst the working every day thing, and partly it's because my laptop unfortunately came to a very untimely end :(

But now I have a beautiful, shiny new Macbook Pro (my first Mac) and so hopefully I'll be a bit more present...

In the last little while SO and I went for a lovely long weekend down to Cologne in Germany.  There are a number of Christmas markets there - it was all very lovely and dressed up pretty for Christmas!  I'll try to post some pics when I manage to see if my camera and the new computer are compatible!!

Anyway - I hope you're all well and happy...  I'll 'see' you all again soon! x

Sunday, December 12, 2010

What's been going on..?

So, I have been absent for a while - as I explained there was a (pc) death in the family...  It's such a hard thing to live with when you're so digitally dependant!!  I was keeping up to date with what's happening in the world (my world of Facebook friends!!) very quickly at work each day and trying to keep up with my personal emails there too...

Blogging though, that's a whole other ball game - the peace and headspace that I need to write anything down in this format just doesn't happen at work!!

So, what's been going on..?  Work, as usual - there's a lot of that to keep us going!!  One of our Aussie colleagues went home, there's a lot of family stuff going on for her at the moment and it's the right place for her to be...  It just feels like we lost a family member - over here our Aussie colleagues are like family, we all got put here together and no-one had a choice about who they came with, it's a bonus if we do nice things for each other - and best of all, we all get along pretty well...  So, it does rather feel like our little 'family' over here got one member smaller...

We went to Germany - we took a long weekend to head down to look at some of the Christmas markets in Cologne.  It was SO's (a bit late) birthday present - we stayed right in the centre of the city and walked around a bunch of these little markets and ate and drank our way generally through the weekend.  I'll have to put some pics up soon...

We moved 'house'...  After 4 months of living in an apartment in a hotel - we have now moved into an apartment in Stockholm that we have a 6 month lease on (whether or not that will get shortened or extended we're not really sure at this point)...  So, it's a small place - but now we have a separate kitchen (which includes an oven and a 'real' size fridge - which are real bonuses!).  We had a few annoyances when we moved in - the night we came to look at the place we ended up just talking to the guy who was renting here before in general about living around here, and what he was up to etc - and so after a quick look around the place we had to leave as the next people to inspect were knocking on the door.  We got a very quick glimpse into the bathroom, and never ended up getting to see the laundry...

So, when we got here we found that the shower head was mounted very low on the wall and pointed somewhere around our knees - now SO and I aren't exactly the tallest people in the world at around 5'4" or 5'5" so you can imagine just how low this thing was.  You take it out of it's holder, wet yourself, put it back in the holder to lather up and then pick it up again to wash off - showering was a joy especially in such a cold environment.  Luckily we have a fabulous landlord - and he has had his son install different shower head and bracket, so now we can have a proper shower...

The laundry, I found the night we moved in - is across the snowy courtyard and in the basement of another (almost adjoining) building...  Grrrr, it's definitely better than having to schlepp to the laundromat with all the clothes, but still a huge pain in the butt...  But, the real bonus of this place is that it's on top of one of the subway stations - so we walk out the front door and about 3 metres to the door of the station and down into it...  In the snow, and with how cold it's been here - that's a real bonus, and we figure that will be definitely be a huge benefit over the net few months...  And, it is very lovely to not have to walk through a hotel reception each night to get 'home'.

I got a new computer - obviously - I decided to try a mac this time around and check out life on the 'dark' side...  It's certainly very pretty over here - and I hope that one day soon I'll figure out all the things it does or is telling me with it's little beeps and noises!!  It's certainly a whole new world!

Yesterday there was apparently a suicide bomber in Stockholm - not a pleasant thing to ever have happen in the city you're living in - but we were helping our boss and his family move 'house' yesterday, and while their new place is not very far from where the incident happened - we were blissfully ignorant of the whole thing until we got home and saw something on the telly...

I had a really homesick day yesterday - another 2 of the Aussies have already left to head home for the Christmas break, and our boss and his family are heading out this week.  Just one of the others and SO and I have decided to stay in Europe for the break (and our colleague who's staying here has her parents coming to visit) so with all the talk about home, family and Christmas - I had a very teary night last night.  I watched a couple of sooky girly movies to help get it all out - and today am all a bit drained - but feeling a bit better for it...

We are gearing up to finish work this week - Wednesday is our last day - before a few weeks break from the project...  We decided that as we were so busy with everything going on (and we were staying in Europe to see more of the place while we can) that we'd book ourselves onto a tour of 'Imperial Europe' - so we are off to see some of Germany, Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary for 10 days starting on Friday...  It should be a good trip and we're looking forward to it, and the time that we'll have to recharge before getting back to work in the new year...

Well, it's a bit of an epic post - but I guess a lot's been going on in the absence of having the technology to catch everyone up - so there it all is...

Thursday, December 9, 2010

I'm back...

I'm sorry, I have been absent and terribly slack in my updates...

Partly again it's the running around trying to see things and get things done in amongst the working every day thing, and partly it's because my laptop unfortunately came to a very untimely end :(

But now I have a beautiful, shiny new Macbook Pro (my first Mac) and so hopefully I'll be a bit more present...

In the last little while SO and I went for a lovely long weekend down to Cologne in Germany.  There are a number of Christmas markets there - it was all very lovely and dressed up pretty for Christmas!  I'll try to post some pics when I manage to see if my camera and the new computer are compatible!!

Anyway - I hope you're all well and happy...  I'll 'see' you all again soon! x

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