Month: February 2022

Weekend Coffee Share – too many variables

Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, can I get you a cup of coffee? Or tea? 

This week our thoughts are with Ukraine, and the people of Ukraine. In the news they say that Europe haven’t seen a war like this since the second world war. I’ve been watching more news this week, than I have this past year. Ukraine isn’t that far away (I have friends there,) and there was only a few weeks ago we had reason to step up the military presence at the island of Gotland (Swedens biggest island in the Baltic Sea.) Sweden is not a member of the security alliance NATO, but there is a cooperation with NATO, and a zero tolerance for this war. I’m not going to say anything more about this, other than that it makes me very sad. War and killing is unworthy of our human existence. It would be so much more useful to focus our energy towards stopping climate change and making sure that there is a world for our children to inherit. (Well perhaps rising oil and gas prices due to this war will force people to make changes. It will effect all of Europe.) How are things in your corner of the world?

The weather this week have been interesting. On Monday we had a fabulous snow storming giving us a lot more snow. On Tuesday, when I went skiing with the children at work, all the new snow made the conditions perfect for skiing, and the sun was shining on us. There was no wind on Tuesday. It felt like spring. The snow photos in this post is from the ski slope, taken this Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday we had mild weather with wind, clouds, and partly sunny. On Friday it was sunny and no wind. Looks like the weather is going to be beautiful this weekend, and this coming week. In a way I want the snow to stay, so that we can take the kids skiing many more weeks. In another way I want spring to arrive. I want the ice to be gone, so that I can ride my bike, and enjoy my container garden. 

Do you have any plans for the weekend? It’s been an intense week here, and I have some laundry, and cleaning to do, I also need to help my daughter with her homework, read some of my own schoolbooks (this week its about curriculum, and what knowledge is, how to transfer that knowledge into specific learning situations at school.) I am going to start by taking a long walk in the sun, and pick up some literature for my next class that just arrived. Hopefully that walk will clear my head. I have a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head, about my children, and work. I feel great, but there are many things to consider at the moment. I found out about my yearly pay raise yesterday. I am not entirely happy about it. I love my job, but my salary doesn’t match my education, performance, and responsibility. In combination with the cost of living getting higher and higher every year, rather quickly actually, do I owe it to myself and my children to get a higher paying job? I am the single provider in this family. It would be rather easy for me to get a better paying job. Many variables to consider. I’m not going to make any decisions today, but naturally I’ll have to think about it when the increase of rent every month is higher than the increase of how much I make every month (not good when your goal is to purchase a place of your own.) 

I promised you a photo of my new haircut last week, here it is. My friend Nora took the photo.

Thank you Natalie for hosting the Weekend Coffee Share. I hope you are enjoying a fabulous weekend! I’m hoping to get outside and enjoy the sun now.

Love,

Maria

Weekend Coffee Share

How about coffee in my sunroom?

If we were having coffee, I would suggest sitting outside. The whole weekend have offered lovely, sunny weather. What can I get you today? Some coffee? Or tea?

The sandwiches in the photo at the top have a special cream cheese inside of them. Messmör is made traditionally in the mountain region of Jämtland (where I went on my Christmas holiday.) It’s made in cast iron pans, and has a hint of vanilla in it. The taste remind me of my childhood. Would you like to try a sandwich with messmör?

My daughter is learning how to cross-country ski. We’ve been skiing both Saturday and Sunday. If you ask her, she knows how to ski now. I am hoping that she will continue to enjoy cross-country skiing (she absolutely hates downhill skiing…) I would love for the two of us to be able to enjoy cross-country skiing together. It’s a wonderful feeling to glide on the snow through the forest, or over a frozen lake. It’s like you are weightless. The silence. The fresh air. The animals you get to see. It’s pure magic, and I so want her to experience that. She doesn’t have any sport that she really likes, I’ve introduced her to many, but none of them stuck. Maybe cross-country skiing could be it? 

What have you been up to this weekend? What’s the weather like? I actually had to leave work early on Friday due to a horrible headache. I slept for a few hours, and felt good again. Maybe it’s all the hours of overtime these past two weeks, I don’t know. The weekend have been good. I even got a haircut on Saturday. No photos yet..but there are some changes, including bangs, that I haven’t had in many, many years. I feel comfortable in my new style. I had been thinking about it for almost a year. 

I also spent some time writing a report about phenomenology for school. It went OK, at least I believe so. Sometimes it’s hard to tell. For the first time in my life school is a challenge, and I kind of like it! It sure makes things more interesting. I’ve ordered books for the next class, starting in a few weeks, yesterday. Some of them I’ve requested to borrow from to the closest library (they didn’t have all of the books,) and some I’ve purchased online. 

Thank you Natalie for hosting the Weekend Coffee Share. Please visit her blog, and have a look at all the lovely coffee shares. I hope you are enjoying a fabulous weekend!

Love,

Maria