rose's random rambly writings

So, I took some time off from everything. Nice battery charger, I must say. Not very exciting, but nice and restful.
And when the nice, sunny days outnumber the rainy ones - well, that's me happy!
So much so, I could even appreciate the beauty in a typical late-autumn foggish day in the woods after I came back to Norway...

And - other happenings through selected smilies.

Got a new, very much longed for and well overdue, laptop. Now, on to the other things on my list of things in the household that has pretty much their best-before-date and really should be replaced (take notes, Santa!): fridge/freezer, dishwasher, kitchen table + chairs, living room table and last, but definitely not least, bed.

Speaking of bed, I can't seem to manage to sleep past nine o'clock in the weekends anymore. It's really getting ridiculous how I always wake up at almost exactly that time. Sometimes five minutes before, or ten minutes after, but almost always at nine sharp. And I don't feel well rested when I wake up either.
The girls at work tell me that it's age related and that they've had it like that for ages (which, I suppose, makes it wrong to call them girls). So, I guess it's official - I'm old. Next weekend I might try melatonin before going to bed to see if it helps (and I miraculously get younger).

Christmas is settled. This year, it's back to Sweden to celebrate with dad. Last year was the first time ever I spent Christmas in Norway and although it was nice and all, I noticed that I really like Swedish Christmas food better.
Although I suspect it will get a bit boring on Christmas Eve, I am actually looking forward to going this year. I don't feel stressed about it, but I'm sure that will come as time comes closer.

Speaking of Christmas, I haven't got a single present sorted yet. Last year, most of them were taken care of on the autumn vacation in Morocco but since this year's autumn trip wasn't as exciting, I didn't get anything to anybody. Oh well, I do have some ideas - at least that's something.

Excited about getting a new colleague. Not that I'm not sad about seeing another one go, but to be completely honest - I couldn't work with her. Really like her personally, but when it comes to working... hell no! I think it'll be a whole different workday - in a good way.

I love how it's December in a couple of days, and I'm still wearing my autumn jacket! No snow, no frost, no ice. Not yet, anyway. People are starting to mope about how they long for snow, but I'm happy with the weather as is. Yes, it is gloomy but I think I can handle that better than heaps of snow and ice.

I have a good feeling about actually being able to pick up blogging again. Although it might not exactly happen this side of New Years, I'm getting there.

But - before I do - as always there is plenty of stuff to check out on my watch list first...
See you around!

I didn't think I would miss it, but I do.
It's not statuses in general I miss. If it was that, I could just simply log into Facebook more often and drown in them...

No, it's the lack of being able to read your MyO statuses, as well as being able to communicate my own to you I miss. I think.
Therefore, I have made a short list of what might have been statuses from me from the last weeks months.
As a bonus they almost sort of sum up some of what has been going on, or rather has not been going on, on my end lately too.

They are in no particular order (except for the last one ).

* I'd give my left arm to play with Def Leppard.
* Weather: good. Wine: good. So is life.
* Why does my news icon keep telling me there are two more news items than there really is? And why can't I edit it?
* Celebrating Norway's national day at Oslo's geographical zero point. Turned out to be in the middle of the woods. Not many flags, bunads and marching bands here
* Current bugging: Excessive use of exclamation points and question marks. No matter how much you want to know, it looks stupid!!! Ok??? (Exception: full stops can be used no limit...)
* :martini:
* Me? Participating in the world's largest relay race? Ummm...
* Stupid zombifying medicine!
* I want a house.
* Some days will be hell and others will be heaven // still, in a week there always will be seven.
* Gah! Pollen is coming! ACHOOO!
* Long weekend is here. I am not. #travel

Ahhhh! It really felt good getting all those trapped statuses out!
Try it yourselves!

Ok, so it is a bit late to post this, but I wanted to show you a tiny part of the last part of my summer vacation.
For my last week of summer vacation, I went up to the mid-western coast of Norway. The weather was surprisingly okay (you can never know in this country!) and made for some nice hikes up the mountains.
As this was in August, it was cloudberry season. Or actually, I suppose it was in the end of cloudberry season. Not sure what cloudberry is? I'm not surprised, as it's a very choosy berry when it comes to where it wants to grow. It only grows in the northern hemisphere, and also here it's very scarce. The favourite places for a cloudberry are bogs (oh ha ha!) and meadows and acidic grounds. Dryness is not for the cloudberry.
Thanks to this, it's considered almost a delicacy here.

So... anyway. It was late in the season, and most cloudberries had most likely been picked by fanatics, but during one of the mountain hikes I struck gold:Left: It isn't always easy seeing a single cloudberry in the terrain.
Right: A nice and ripe cloudberry.
And that was only the first. The meadow hid quite a few of these little ones, and I ended up with about half a litre. That's not much, but it's the most I've ever picked.

Now, to be completely honest, I'm not particulary fond of cloudberries. I like my berries sweet, and cloudberries can be tart. However, this year it will be the first time ever I'm going to spend Christmas in Norway and tradition is to eat cloudberry cream with own picked berries for dessert, so it will be nice to actually be able to contribute with something .

Anyway - this then concludes my summer vacation 2010!

Take my hand and join me on the first part of a short three week tour...

For the first part of my vacation, I went to Italy. More specifically to the north western coast - also known as Versilia or the Tuscan riviera.
I knew beforehand that there wasn't very much to do in the tiny little town I stayed in, but there are lot of things to see nearby. The weather forecast had said rain, thunderstorms and generally not so good weather, so I was prepared to go on several outings to the Tuscan countryside and other places worth visiting during these ten days.
However, the forecast were about as off as possible (with the exception of one day) , and the weather was hot and sunny. Not much else to do then than to laze around and maybe hang around the beach, looking at the beautiful back drop of the Apuan Alps...Oh, do you see the white on the mountains? That's not snow, but marble!

On a small place like this, where everything closes at around midnight (when you've just finished dinner or a digestive ), it's easy to get a little bit bored. Or no... bored isn't the right word. But maybe you find your eyes beginning to wander around and you start noticing little things around you...
Anyway. One night at dinner, I noticed a strange looking ornamented flower pot. Have a closer look and tell me what you see
I lived about a 15-20 minutes walk from the town centre. Italy isn't exactly famous for its sidewalks - especially not in small places like this one.
Getting to the centre could be a bit hazardous - especially during the evening when it was darker outside. However, that wasn't the only dangerous thing on the way... At least so it seemed.
Here's a sign I passed a few times every day:It says: "Watch out for the dog. And the master."
And just around the corner from the trigger happy patron, I saw something that must have been a bullet hole in a mirror :Uh-oh... Maybe time to move on!

To be continued...

WOOO!
* I finally got me a new phone. After having had my SE Z610i for well over two years, it was time to let it have its well deserved retirement. So - I got a HTC Hero and man! is it a world of difference! (Yes yes, feel free to laugh at me! I never knew how smart smartphones really were... ) I love it, and I've only just begun discovering it!

* I have a ton of work these days. The WOOO part is that some of it is very fun and challenging. I like that... makes it feel less stressful. The fun part involves things I've never done before which makes the challenging part. On Monday I'm going to present a bit of my labour - keep your fingers crossed!

* Coffee moccha is one of the greatest inventions of all time. I love living 50 metres from the closest coffee bar (and around 70 metres to the second closest)!

* I have Swedish dill and chive crisps! :yum:

BOOO!
* I got the mother of all paper cuts yesterday. It stretches over almost half my left middle finger and IT HURTS! It was actually cut by some of the documents I've prepared for the Monday presentation so now I have both sweated and bled over it. Let's hope there won't be tears! *knocks on wood*

* The weather we're having is really depressing. I'm so eletrical I keep getting shocks when I touch metal. Also, my lips feel like sandpaper again a couple of minutes after I've moistured them.

* A downside to the presentation on Monday is that I have to catch a flight early in the morning which means I have to get up über early. It has kind of ruined the weekend for me, as I keep thinking on how early I have to get up.

The last few days in other smilies...
It was Mik's birthday on Thursday. I missed it here, but I've had "Happy Birthday Stubbles" as my status for three days so I hope that makes up for it . I hope you had a grand day!
While walking off the tracks in the woods on Saturday, it very quickly went dark. Lighting the way with a small flashlight, there suddenly was a loud growl 5-6 metres to the right. I stopped and my first thought was wolf. Another growl, and the flashlight was turned towards the sound. Two eyes were flashing back and I thought that it probably was time to pick up the pace and head towards the trail (which wasn't far away now). But then - a small little brown head materialized between to tree trunks. A little brown dog head. Although it didn't growl more, it didn't seem to want to be disturbed so we left it there. I wonder if it was a wild dog or if it was just lost so close to the trail...
A week ago it was the big cinema day in Norway. I don't go to the cinema very often, but tickets to half price and free candy managed to drag me out.
This last week has been all about Berlin in the media. For those of you who have missed it, on Monday it was 20 years ago they teared down the wall. Seeing all the reports, happy people and documentaries had me longing back there. Ich bin ein Berliner!

Last but not least - a big to you! I hope you have a great weekend!