HPKCHC

The dreaded thesis has been sent in. So, I suddenly found myself with time on my hands again! What a marvellous feeling, I got all fiddly and nervous and started fondling ALL of my stash. And believe me, there is some stash to fondle here in my office...

I ended up in the yarn box, with a couple of knitting needles at the ready, but with absolutely no idea what to knit. Ravelry to the rescue! And, speaking of Harry Potter's new adventures on the silver screen, there incidentally exists such a thing as a group of people on Ravelry that are all "wizarding and witching" about, you even get sorted into a house, and there's Quidditch and Potions classes and, and, and... Of course I had to join the madness, and I am proud to say my local yarn shop has seen me twice in the past 13 days, and I have used the yarn as well. I've turned in homework for two classes (Flying and Transfiguration) so far, I have a third homework done (Defense against the Dark Arts, or DADA for short) and I don't think I've had it yet for this month. After all, we're only halfway through!

I seriously hope this DOESN'T mean I have lost the xs-mojo, but that I will find it again one day. I have way too much xs stash to stitch from before giving it up, but I also know that I am a serial crafter - I spend a certain amount of time with one craft, and when I have had it for now, I move on to another craft. And it's a circle, seeing as I don't do much crafting other than knit, stitch, sew and think. Yes, I have a bunch of beads and jewellery stuff as well, but that was a very quick phase. I didn't like it that much, I like jewellery but not the fiddling.

Do you want pictures, you say? Oh well, you don't have to twist my arm, I'll show you. (One of the requirements at the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup = HPKCHC is that you turn in your homework with a picture, so I actually have to take pics of my stuff. Neat.)

A hat for my friend's son, beautifully modeled by my dear daughter - she decided a tiny smile was in order when the subject wasn't her, but the hat she was wearing. Try to get a decent photo of _her_, and you will fail.

A strange, google-eyed picture of me modeling Renesmees hat, so called because the cable on it is the same one used on Bella's mittens (google it, and you will, amongst other things, find a knitting pattern). I have no idea why the pic ended up sideways, it looked alright in my computer... I don't know who will wear it, so wishes will be accepted ;)

I'll probably be knitting quite a lot for a while, we're on the last 6 months of nursing school now - I can't believe I will be a registered nurse this summer! The mere idea of letting me out into the world on unsuspecting patients is a little daunting - what if I don't get a job? What if noone wants me and I end up unemployed? What if I screw this up?

To be continued...

Faster = auntie

I'm going to be an "auntie"! And this time, not by my own siblings, but by S' sister's oldest daughter (yeah, hm, that got kind of difficult)! Anyway, I'm soooo searching the ONS' for nice birth samplers, even though they baby's not due until August sometime (no, they haven't been to a US yet). Good ideas are very welcome; I made a search on Sew and So - 356 results... And I have quite a few magazines as well with patterns, but do you think that's enough? NOOOO - it has to be PERFECT!!!

Sidenote: why do all the girlie patterns get to be all cute, and the boy patterns are all "sailor, bugs and rough"? I might be biased here, as I've just held a lecture on health related to culture and gender in school, together with my group... I think I'll have to go with something none-gender specific, like Tatty Teddy, Humphrey's Corner or Newton's law...

Yay! I get to stitch cute and not have it live in my house! :)

My baby...

is no longer a baby... We went to IKEA on saturday and bought her a "real" desk chair to sit in by her desk. So now she is no longer my little baby on a baby chair, she's on a proper desk chair with wheels and all! I just have to put up a pic of her here, with her legs crossed <3


I've been very busy these last weeks, preparing for school of course includes making myself a new school tote/bag/purse to carry my essentials in. I still haven't decided wether I'll be needing to take the laptop with me to school, so I made a tote/bag that is big enough to fit the laptop as well if necessary. Not the best pics - I didn't give myself the time to crop and such, so they're straight off the camera.

Empty of course it looks like a pile of fabric... It's not easy to see, but I actually managed to make a hidden zipper pocket at the front, just where the two fabrics meet. Very proud of that one, it took a LOT of pondering to get it right. It didn't turn out as I planned, but it is hidden and can take lots of stuff without anyone noticing.

With all my props in it! :) The bottle with LOKA on top is an empty water bottle if anyone is wondering - gotta have water close by! There's still plenty of room, so I can easily fit two or three text books in it as well in case I decide NOT to take the laptop + the fabric is really sturdy (IKEA ...) so it can easily carry all that weight. (Of course I had to buy more of the same fabric saturday, same weight, different print. ;) )


I also made myself a pencil case to keep all my pens in one place - yep, I'm a pen collector... I can't go past the pen shelves in the book store without buying at least one! So, I have LOTS of nice pens in my hidden stash...

I've been stitching for an exchange over at EMS as well, but of course I won't show my finished product until I've heard from the other side of the globe that it has actually arrived there. :)

Today I plan on taking it easy, it's first day at daycare for Hannah today, so I'm all alone with time only for myself (and blogging, of course). It's good to get a week "alone" before school starts, to get myself organized and prepared as far as I can. On Thursday I'll be going to campus to get entrance cards and library cards and a little information; it'll be a full day at campus for the first time!

Have a great day!

I've had it!

...with Internet Explorer, that is. So I've "upgraded" to Firefox - it remains to be seen if it really is better, but I'll give it a go before deciding! So far, it looks a lot faster.

Other news: We've been to Dalarna for a couple of days - Hannah's choice btw. She wanted very much to see where dalahorses are made and how they do it... We had a good time, on the second day we went to Santa's world and met all kinds of creatures - Santa, of course, a wood fairy, a troll, a witch, a fairy tale princess, lots of gnomes and normal animals as well. The witch and the troll were scary, the wood fairy was the best. The lady of the woods (= Huldran) was very beautiful, but a bit scary - she might snatch one of us to live in the woods! Hubby naturally hurt his back lifting Hannah, so the drive home was a bit too long with a 4-year old and hubby insisted on driving. Men! Speaking of which, he's at the chiropractor's right now - I hope it gets sorted, on Monday we're going to Vimmerby to see Astrid Lindgren's world - another choice Hannah's made. :) After that, it'll be all relaxation - nothing more planned.

I've ordered my first school books, so I can start reading at once - it never hurts to be prepared! I'm guessing school will be hard enough anyway, so I'll try my best to get some reading done now. As I said in my last post, I went to an information meeting at the school, and they told us the basics - what my title will be when I'm done (Degree of Bachelor of Science with a major in nursing, thank you very much), how the classes are taught, and a quick run-through of the first course. We'll be doing one course at the time, two courses each term and the years are sorted into themes to keep it easier for us. We will be residents on several occasions, on several different places to make sure we will have seen most of the different types of work we will encounter later on.
The first course is heavy, with lots of work, so that the ones who don't cope with it will drop out quickly... I hope I'm not one of them!!! o_O The books are a heavy load as well, for the first course the books cost about SEK 4200 / $680 if I buy them all new... I'm counting on getting some of them from the library, but 80% of the books are books we need through all 3 years.

I'm very happy that I've been able to save a little money when I was working, even though I've had some major S.E.X. lately just to be able to stitch even if I can't buy... ;)

Last day of an era

So the final day is here. It feels good, I only have some cardboard boxes of old papers to throw out and some personal stuff to carry out to the car left to do here. And of course eat cake, but that's purely recreational! :)

We went out for lunch and just made it back before the rain started, so all in all my stomach feels good about this. Too bad I'm taking the bus home though, I have sandals and stuff to carry in addition to the umbrella... Exported all my personal files and contacts to USB-sticks, so there is now nothing left except to turn the voice-mail on and close the door.

I have been accepted to the school, so that's final at last. Even though I counted on it, it still feels differently when I have seen it black on white on my computer screen. It feels like I have landed somehow...

That's it for now, I think I will have a bit of a summer holiday!

The day next to the last...

So, today is Thursday, and tomorrow is my last day here at work. My last day as a regular worker for about three years (not counting summer jobs or work practice). I feel like I'm being left out of the loop somehow - and yet, I really look forward to step outside the box! I'll be somewhere else with studies, Hannah will be starting school next autumn - I wonder how everything will work out with time and money...
I'm cutting ties here, and I feel a little like a baby - like I have no clothes on, and everything is brand new and shining. I understand completely why babies cry...

Hubby thinks I lack a purpose with my life, and to a degree I think he's been right - this autumn will show if I have found my meaning and direction.

Things are getting better at home - we still have days when we don't speak to eachother and others when we shout, but all in all it feels better now. S has seen a therapist who gave him a few new tools in his toolbox, among which the most important is probably the power lever.
He's always had too much ambition and too much speed to cope with other people _not_ wanting to go fast forward, but now he is on his way to learn that you can't go full speed in a pedestrian area - it's dangerous not only to others, but to yourself as well... He's also had to learn that he can't do everything for everyone, and there's no point worrying about things you cannot change. (And if you can change them, why worry? just do it!)
My balance is improving! I can do pirouettes on my ballet shoes now... *v*

I am both stitching and knitting, and being the obsessive personality that I am, I now collect free digital scrapbooking stuff too. Come this autumn, I might actually get to use all the digiscrap stuff, when I am a student I get Adobe Photoshop at a fairly reasonable price. :) I tried the test version for a month, and I count the weeks until I can finally have a copy on my computer... We have lots of fun planned for this summer, so I just have to remember not only to BRING the camera, but to USE it as well!

On a digiscrap/blogging note: Does anyone know how to change the background image on the template? I've got some beautiful .png files that I would love to have here... Yes, I will of course give full credit when I find out how to do it.

Until next time - may the lillies of peace be with you.

With a little help from my friends...

Well, ok, lenghty e-mail conversation with Angela (thank you Angela, you're one of the angels in disguise, I think!) have made me at least get my ballet shoes on, and since they're made for standing on the toes, I'm a little more secure again. Not that afraid of falling, because I've realized that even though it will hurt, I will not be falling down a cliff :)

I have only 9 working days left on this job, and then I get to go to the unemployment office and say that I have nothing to do... It will probably end up with me having a bit longer summer holiday than normal, because I count on starting my studies in the end of August - and I can't imagine the unemployment office telling me to get a job for three weeks, because it usually takes a lot longer to even FIND a job here. Even more so now when there will be so many "redundant" people coming from Volvo Cars in Gothenburg (they have said about 2000 people will be redundant - 1200 employed, the last 800 are consultants)...

I'm lonely at work without my beloved colleagues, and not that much less lonely at home (we don't speak much at the moment, will have to try to work on that) so I've once again started eating to comfort myself. My body apparently runs best on chocolates... I don't worry too much about that, as I said I only have two weeks left until my "holidays" begin, and we don't keep much candy and sweets at home. Besides, I'll be with our daughter, so I will keep my hands occupied with her.

I get freaked out at times, thinking about life as a grown up student with family, and then as a nurse, but it's very much like the feelings I had when I was pregnant with Hannah - and that worked out OK, I don't think I've been the world's worst mum yet...

Post number 100!

The previous post was actually number 100! I didn't realize it when I posted, probably because I had approximately 100 gazillion things in my head at the same time... So, happy 101st to me! :)

We had our "farewell to the marketing department-lunch" today. All of us who were currently employed, 4 persons, plus the two from the R&D department we've worked the most with - one of which has already left the company to work with a major car manufacturer in the area(he's a brilliant engineer and a really good person, as well as looking great ;) ). The other is the only one who stays...
It was a great lunch - we talked about the past, the present and the future, and agreed that we'll meet for a barbecue later this summer. Too bad the hour ended all too soon, though. Great food and a banana split for dessert suited us perfectly, especially as the company will pay for it all ;)

I will miss seeing them every day, but it's not like life has ended with this - we're all still living in the same area, so it shouldn't be that hard to meet up every now and then. In case some of them read this: I love you guys! <3

June

Life is spinning my head around - stuff keep happening all the time, and I barely have the time to think it over.
Remember I told you about lots of people being sacked at my job? Well, it turned out they chose to make do without the entire sales and marketing department. Some might remember what my prediction was one month ago - and it seems I was very much correct in all my assumptions. The only thing the folks who are left there now have to wait for, is the day when the biggest customer decide that they no longer want our products on the new models. (Yep, we're talking cars and car accessories here - big swedish car manufacturer anyone?) Too bad the R&D manager now got what he wanted - he's never thought anything good about sales/marketing... He's one of those people who think they know best, even when they don't - and he certainly won't fess up to the fact that he might be mistaken!

My colleague C went home the same day he was told he had to leave - he's always said that's the way he wanted to do it, but I've never seen him so upset in the two years I've worked with him. As far as the money and the law is considered, he'll be on the payroll for at least 3 more months - and then it's back to looking for a job. He was in his 25th year at the Firm, although the company has changed names two or three times in those years. The knowledge he possesses is amazing, and now the Firm has chosen not to give the customers any technical or other support. The Firm will only sell the products, not tell the customers what to do if something goes wrong. It could work if they were Toyota and "never" had any problems with their products - but they're not...

My other colleague M will be leaving at midsummer's day. (Big holiday here, btw.) She's so sad - to make matters worse, she was the one negotiating for the union together with an objective union rep, so she's known about this for quite some time without being able to say a word to anyone. To top it all off, she's recently been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis AND gluten intolerance...

I (and N, who I'm subbing for) will be going to school in the fall, and all sorts of thoughts run through my head about that. Can we stay in our house or do we still need to move? Do we need another car? (We sold ours, hubby has a company car now and I take the bus.) Will we manage as a family, through thick and thin? (No, we're not married, we just live together and have done so for 10 years now.)

But my heart really goes out to M and C - their lives have lost the stability, and everything will need to be changed accordingly. C doesn't take that well to change, he's one of those who take some time before they get used to different routines... I'm not that worried about M - she has her PT course later this summer, and as soon as she gets back up from being knocked down, she'll be fine. She just became a grandmother again (yes, she started early, she's not even 50 yet) and has a new baby boy to keep her on track. He's a cutie, she sent me a MMS with his pic :)

AND to top all of this, I've got the worst summer cold ever. I can't remember having such a cold in summer ever before, so now I get to stay in bed and be fragile for a while ;)

On the upside, our pond goldfish have plenty of babies - does anybody need some? I wish you all a good week!

Life is a rollercoaster...

You just gotta ride it! (to quote a rather famous song)

I've been on such highs and lows these past three days, I can hardly believe it myself. Persons in the company's leading team using foul language about employees - to their face! - and saying what's been agreed and signed on, no longer is valid. Computers acting up like crazy. People not telling us that they don't have the time to ship to our customers until it is too late - so we've basically been lying to our customers for two days about the delivery date! People not being at their desk, so I get stuck with all customer calls, invoicing, orders and purchasing - I've hardly had the time to breathe! I wonder how the h*** the company is supposed to survive if three more people in the office are supposed to quit, not to mention how we're supposed to manage production with 7 people less down there...

My prediction? What will be left here in three years, is the production facility, production manager, purchasing of raw material and goods in/out. No economy department, no sales department, no R&D department... These days I'm rather happy I will be going to school this autumn instead of working here, because this is unbearable much longer. There's no spunk left in people, and the spiral is only going down...

And then again, we've laughed so hard we cried, hugged eachother and said nice things to eachother... We're going to see yet another house the coming Monday, but I can't really seem to get up the excitement about it - I'm a bit tired it seems.

Life is truly a rollercoaster!

We got it!

They took our offer on the house! So now we have to get the official OK-stamp on it, and then we sign the papers. Sooooo many thoughts running through my head right now, cleaning out our current home to make the move easier, and not to mention make the sales pictures look better! Home styling, anyone?

On a less happy note they have now officially warned us that there will be layoffs at work this summer. 10 people will be forced to leave, from an already slim staff. They've gone through this for several years in a row now, mainly because the managers are unwilling to get more customers - they rely solely on our biggest customer, and when the big customer lose sales big time in the US that affects our sales directly... I'm on a short term contract, so I'm not affected more than that my contract won't be prolonged - which is according to plan, as I intend to start studying this fall. But the really scary thing is that they will probably cut where the cuts are really noticeable - sales/marketing and customer support + production. How do they plan on selling more to other customers if they don't have customer support and a sales department who can answer calls????? I give up, I go home in stead.

(And yes, when we planned for buying a new house, we made our budget based on me studying, so losing my job doesn't change any of that. At least there is some light in the tunnel for me personally!)

House-hunting

No, we haven't taken out the big guns and started pointing at anyone yet. But the first house we looked at (last post) wasn't for us. Too close to a rather large road, rooms were too small and it needed lots of work on the roof and new drainage (sp?)... A co-worker also were there, and they have bid on it - time will tell... Just goes to show that what works for one person, doesn't work for another.

We went to see another house today at lunch - and that was WAY better for us. First of all, it had all the space we could possibly want - 160 sq. metres is plenty for a family of 3... The "head and feet" of the house was excellent, and the ones owning it have been painting one wall each summer, so the outside was perfect. We're talking hubby's parents with us tomorrow afternoon to look at it again, and then we might be talking about REALLY spending some green! Of course there will be some painting and fixing anyway, but there's nothing stopping anyone from moving in right away. Everything can be fixed afterwards.

Now we just have to remember that we love eachother and that we want to stay together for always, and we'll be hanky-dory for the next 25 years... :P

Exciting times!

To begin with, hubby will be starting a new job at the end of April - he'll be selling cars to companies! He's really looking forward to it, and so am I - he hasn't been happy the last year at his present job; too much to do and he's the only one working, his boss is an expert at taking long lunches and going out for coffee when something needs doing...

And next, we're house-hunting again... We've lived in our little house for almost 6 years, and now it's time to find a new home with more space, closer to town where hubby will be working. Typical, we've spent these 6 years redecorating, painting and fixing stuff so that it now suits us perfectly - except for the space. Hopefully, all those manhours will pay off when the real estate agent comes to price the house on thursday.
Today we're going to see a house - it looks perfect for us, close to the school and daycare center, bicycle distance to the town center and the bus stops right outside the door if/when I start studying in the neighbouring city. The only question is how many others want this house - we can't afford to pay very much above the asking price...

Wish us luck!

Studies...

Now I've entered my application for school from the autumn term. Wish me luck!

Apparently, at home there's been a snow storm with about 60 cms of snow... But here, everything was gorgeous and sunny, as the following pic will show. What H is doing? Looking for rocks and shells to throw in the water, of course!

Decisions, decisions...

OK, so it's time to decide what to do with my future, and I've gotten a little more info on what's to come at work, so the decisions wasn't that hard after all.
I'll take their offer to continue working here until christmas, and then I may or may not (depending on work) start my studies in January 2008 in stead. They really don't want to lose me NOW, but they can't promise that my job will exist for an entire year... It's a good thing I've already thought of studying, or I think I would panic! Being unemployed really isn't my cup of tea, I hated every second of it; even though it was rather nice getting to sleep in every day I got so lazy and bored I could hardly clean the house when I was alone...

I'm definitely going to start studying, the only question is WHEN. If it weren't for our financial situation, I would start this fall, but there's a house to paint, a garage door to change and a bathroom to pay for...

Speaking of the house, I went on a real roadtrip on saturday - I picked up a small trailer and headed for a place I'd never been before to pick up some timber for our house. (We have to change some of the wall boards - they've gotten mushy!) Got a printed map from the internet from the guy who'd sold us the boards, got in the car and drove off. My father in law was with me to read the map, but the only problem was - the map didn't show any of the important pieces! So we headed out north where we should've headed south, and ended up with a 60 km round trip in Dalsland (our area). Thank goodness the weather was good! It was kind of nice, but a lot of time was spent there that could've been spent taking down the old boards... Lesson learnt? Always check the map on the internet yourself or take someone with you who has just the slightest knowledge of the area...

Life is catching up on me...

I've been working too much lately. Not that I've actually put in much longer hours, but my head is constantly spinning around work, my customers and how life will look if I do or don't start my studies this fall. I keep making plans and having ideas on how to organize my work so the company will do well, and then "stuff" happens and I remember that I've applied for nursing school this fall.

I've never felt so divided in all my life. On one hand, I've got a job with a boss that seems eager to give me a possibility to grow, not only duties and obligations. On the other hand I try to see into the future, a little longer than just a couple of years. Just going on the way I am today definitely has it's upsides to it, amongst others that I'll actually be making money for a change. But changing course in life and doing something completely different is very enticing - I could become a nurse! I've always loved studying, basically because I know I'm good at it, but it would also mean that our economy will be on the really low side for at least 3 years. If I go on to become a midwife, it will take another 2 years before I can get a job and make some money again.

I know, money shouldn't be the only thing I strive for, but being unemployed after having a child is definitely nothing you get rich from doing. I'm pretty fed up with having to check the budget every time I want to buy something for myself, and not having a penny left in the bank account when all the bills are paid every month.

My choice isn't made any easier by the current government's plan either - making life harder for those with the smallest bank account seems to be their agenda for the next 3 years. I can't afford not being able to get a summer job, because you get no money for being a student in summer anymore. Which also means that I HAVE TO start studying this fall, and not wait until spring, as I won't be able to find a summer job in my future line of work with only one term of studies in the bag.

No wonder I have no time for normal life, when my head keep spinning so fast I feel dizzy... If anyone has any good ideas, I'm all ears! - or eyes, in this case ;)

Oh, my goodness...

I didn't realize it'd been that long since my last post! Been busy with work and all that...

I've mailed my application for the fall, to start training to be a nurse. I finally figured out that although it is nice to make money, I don't want that to interfere with me being happy with what I do in the future! And if I want to study, I have to do it now, before I get too old and lazy to be poor again... + it's really good hours for my "baby" Hannah while she is small. I know I'll be accepted, so now it's only a matter of working my way through the days until then, trying to save up as much money as I can to have SOMETHING to fall back on.

I've ordered some stuff from a swedish company that is going bancrupt (no, I'm not so stupid that I payed beforehand) - some linen threads, buttons, some stork scissors and a HUGE table cloth for christmas. I got some good discount, so it won't be as expensive as usual. BTW, this part of the post is totally contradictory to the last paragraph... Saving money AND shopping for stash? Oh well, I can't think of everything!

Got word from my "mum" that my Kreiniks are on their way... Yay! In not too long I can finish my L&L angel!

Last bit of info from the land up north: Our first spring flowers have sprung! The crocus are blooming in the front flowerbed, now I'm just waiting for my favourites, the red tulips!

I'm having trouble posting - so bear with me for not posting in such a long time!

As of today, I am employed by the workplace I've been on since september - I got a temp until june 30th. It means more money for my savings account! Happy dances! I needed that, if I'm to start studying to be a nurse I want to have something to fall back on if the government "forgets" to pay me for studying - It has happened before, believe me.

My home computer has been down since before Christmas, so I'm taking the time to blog some updates from my work computer - don't know if my IT manager would be so happy if he knew that....

Updates:

Our home computer is done at the pc shop today, so I'll be picking it up on my way home - and then I'll be able to post pics again! Yay! *happy dance*

I've been officially offered a temp at the place I'm working at now - I've been on a contract via Manpower for 4 months, and now my colleague has been accepted at the university, so she'll start her studies in two weeks. I'm then needed on a more permanent basis, and "renting" me would be too expensive for them so they've decided to employ me directly. Woohoo! This means more cash in the savings box, so I might be able to start studies myself this fall (to be a nurse) if I still feel like that's the right thing to do when the spring term is over.

I've been able to get lots of stitching done while the computer has been down, so I've even tried my hand at some over 1 stitching. It was fun, and will make a fab scissor fob, but I don't think my eyes will make it any more... Pics when the scissor fob is complete!

I bought myself a subscription to the World of Cross Stitching for Christmas, and I've already received my free kit, but my first mag won't arrive until March... Or is it February? I never get the issues/months right... I'm really looking forward to it, but I'll be putting the sub for Cross Stitcher (UK) on my wish list for my birthday again this year - I've really enjoyed getting it in the mail! :)

More posts to come when I've got the pc installed at home again! *happy dances all around the office*