A thief in action…

Rum hazed days

I’m sitting here feeling a little bit guilty that I have not posted anything for a whole week. My excuse is hazed in rum fumes. I had a few really busy days in the beginning of the week in work as all had to be done in time for our team’s kick-off event on Thursday.

Oh boy did we kick-off. After the obligatory meeting the activities started…. sailing, archery, climbing, canoeing and all was done in teams so the competition was fierce. After getting soaked, arms aching from paddling in a not very synchronized manner and with the mother of all bruises on my arm from archery (that string hits hard people) the BBQ and the drinking began. This is Ireland after all and the party was on.

Oh lord I had way, way too much cider, beer, rum&coke lemonade and even cigarettes… Jeez, no idea where I got that bright idea from, I have not smoked in years. A free bar is truly an evil thing. There was dancing, there was drunken ramblings deep discussions about extremely important topics (I’m sure they were), there was good-humored slagging between different nationalities, there was laughter and when the bar closed the party continued in one of the cottages we stayed in. It was a fabulous party day with great people.

At 3am I stumbled to bed, still fully intending to drive home later on that day. Yeah right.

Breakfast at 9 was… OK. At 10 I was supposed to drive myself and two friends back home. At this stage everyone was laughing at the state I was in. It was not happening. One of the girls ended up driving with me doing my best not to get sick in the car. There was no way in hell that I could drive anywhere, so I ended up sitting on her sofa for hours trying to recover. I had to sit very, very, very still for a long time. Oh my… it was one of the worst hangovers I have had in many years. Put it this way, I was ridiculously happy when I managed to drink a glass of water at about 5pm.

So the lesson is… avoid rum, cider and cigarettes too much lemonade. Or just don’t do it often… I still feel in a haze today which is insane. Still though… it was brilliant. I work with some awesome people!

This seems strangely apt:

Live life to the fullest.

Came across this a while back. I just love it.

“As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn’t supposed to ever let us down, probably will.

You’ll have your heart broken and you’ll break others’ hearts.

You’ll fight with your best friend or maybe even fall in love with them, and you’ll cry because time is flying by.

So take too many pictures, laugh too much, forgive freely, and love like you’ve never been hurt.

Life comes with no guarantees, no time outs, no second chances.

You just have to live life to the fullest.

Tell someone what they mean to you and tell someone off, speak out, dance in the pouring rain, hold someone’s hand, comfort a friend, fall asleep watching the sun come up, stay up late, be a flirt, and smile until your face hurts.

Don’t be afraid to take chances or fall in love and most of all, live in the moment because every second you spend angry or upset is a second of happiness you can never get back.”

~ Unknown

Senses and images.

The last two weeks have passed really, really fast and I am once again back in Dublin. I have had a great time in Sweden and could write a long detailed account about all the good times, hysterical laughs, great conversations, lively discussions, divine wines drunk and fabulous food eaten… but… I decided not to. Instead I will focus on what tickled my senses and share a few photos with you.

Because it is easy to just write down a point by point description of what I did but this was a holiday that I tried to experience with all my senses. In a way that really relaxed me and did what it was supposed to do – recharge me. So I will try to do my best to convey this to you. If I fail, well then at least you will know one thing… it still was a fabulous holiday!

Laughs with my brother. The smell of paint in the summer air. The sun warming in my back as I work away. Muscles aching in the evening. Feeling relaxed.

The scent of freshly cut grass. The adrenaline when I nearly keeled over – lawn mover go-kart…

That first taste of a cold beer after a day outside. The divine smell from the BBQ.

The sense of calm in the forest. Seeing the light filtering through the trees. The peace all around.

The amazing scent of fir trees after a warm summer shower.

The sweet taste of wild strawberries.

The belly aching laughs when playing Kinect with my sister and brother. The groans of embarrassed despair when seeing the recordings of said gameplay.. (and forget it, NOT sharing those.. ).

The beauty of all the many small lakes dotted between the trees. Sinking into warm still water as the sun sets. The faint sound of buzzing insects.

The smell of the salty ocean. The laughter from children running into the water. Sand between my toes. The sun warming my tummy. The intoxicating scent of sun-kissed skin. Feeling the world slowly tuning out as my eyes get heavy and I snooze in the sun.

The smooth taste from a 10yr old Tullamore Dew single malt. Feeling thoughtful, happy and content in the evening sun.

Calm sea. Not even a breeze to be felt. Distant cries from seagulls echo across the water.

Walking through Ale forest along the coast. A bird sanctuary can be found in a small swamp. The green colours are amazing. The buzzing and blood sucking mosquitoes are not as amazing. The itching bites are annoying but still… part of summer.

The food… oh the fabulous food. Every bite to be savored. Taste bud heaven.

The stormy spray of sea mist. The wind blowing through my hair. Giggles as we try to get at least one pic we both can live with.

Holidays, check-in’s, regression, cattery anxiety and the colour red

Image via Wikipedia

It is finally that time again. Holiday time! I started my holiday today by going to the hairdresser and my hair is a vibrant red again. All cut and styled and looks good. The red will hopefully last a while but it does have a tendency to wash out quickly and get stuck everywhere else; my sheets, my towels, down the drain… Whoever invents a nice red hair colourant that doesn’t wash out so fast is onto a winner. As long as it isn’t a carroty red – cos that is maybe not THAT great…

In less than two days I will head to Dublin airport and then off to Sweden I go. Bag will be packed with shorts and tops, flip-flops and oh maybe a pair of jeans (this is where I am challenging the weather gods to behave and let it stay sunny and warm for the next two weeks).

As per usual I will forget something semi-important and pack too much stuff that I won’t use. I will get dazzled in the airport shop and ignore the sorry state of my credit card and happily find more stuff I do not really need. The obligatory shopping spree in the booze section is not to be forgotten. Why does everyone I know like whiskey so much?

As I am no longer capable of being totally off-line I will spend a substantial part of my holidays checking-in on FB at various locations, just so that all can keep tabs on me. Why you might ask… well ‘cos I can. It gives me a weird and something a shrink would find fascinating freaky sense of achievement doing so (yes I know, we could derive many issues out of that statement but lets not).  This blog will suffer a bit unfortunately as I will not have much time to spend blogging but I will follow-up when I am back. As I will be staying with family the whole time I am away my internet access will suffer somewhat. Thank god for smartphones and this is where I once again will ignore financial drawbacks – in this case my forthcoming phonebill.

I will spend the beginning of my holidays at my parents. Will definitely not have much internet access there. Am pretty sure they have not even heard of WIFI. They do have a PC and internet but trying to explain why I need to go on that “facebook thing” as my Dad calls it will just be too much work. As per usual procedure when I am visiting my parents I will regress back to a 14 year old, which always happens after a day in their presence. I just have to accept the fact that I will start coming out with heavy sighs, go all “ahhh but Muuuuum”, demand my favorite foods and argue with my Dad about the remote control. I might go insane…

After those “rejuvenating” days I will stay with my brother and his family and then with my sister after that. I am looking forward to meeting all, have many laughs, lots of outdoorsy days and evenings, nice food, lots of a few drinks and just a good time.

Tomorrow I have to bring my cats to the cattery. They will stay in this really nice place on the country side with a dedicated little hut and their own enclosed outdoor space… it is like a cool luxury cat hotel. Still… I will miss the little buggers and I have a funny feeling they know what is coming considering the major sucking up that is happening this evening. As the drive to this place will be a little under an hour I will be treated to howling cats in the car. They are not too fond of driving… anywhere.

Once I am back I will hopefully have lots of pictures that I can share with you (note to self – remember to bring camera). No dreadful bikini shots will be included.

So adios for now and hope you all will have a great few weeks of summer ahead wherever you are!

 

 

A weekend gone past fast…

It is Sunday afternoon once again and I sit here nursing my cup of tea. This seems to have turned into a ritual of sorts on Sundays – a cup of tea, music in the background and writing posts surrounded by my two cats.

The weekend has flown past once again. It has been a good weekend. Friday was a roller-coaster. A lot going on in my head and a busy day. I was exhausted on Friday evening.

Saturday was, for lack of a better word, a cathartic day. I wrote and wrote and wrote. Posts of all descriptions spewed out. A few I might publish in days to come. I just needed to write. Yes, talking helps but sometimes I just cannot express myself fully. I do not even know what to say half the time. Writing helps me understand what I am feeling. There are moments when I sit down to write a post and I end up writing something totally different to what I intended to. Those pieces are from the very core of my soul. They come unbidden and honest. I also realized that this emotional roller-coaster is not something that will be OK on commando. I’ve tried to push it away and tell myself that all is good and even though it is OK at times, I am not there yet. I only fool myself. I will have to give it time. So I’m taking one step at a time and it is getting better. I do not expect everyone around me having to deal with my shit all the time. So I write.

Saturday evening was spent in the company of friends. With Caipiroska’s, glasses of wine, lively discussions and laughter – an evening cathartic for the soul in a fabulous way. Maybe not so cleansing for my liver though… but worth it.

So now I am back to Sunday. It will be a relaxing one. Maybe there will be room for some writing or maybe I will just read a book. I’ll find out.

Wind

Head bowed. Face hidden in the palms of my hands. I close my eyes.

Images swirling through my mind. Voices echoing around the room. I am sinking.

The air feels constricted. The noise in the background comes from me. I do not know what to do.

 

A hand held out. Gentle words heard. I reach out.

A touch that reaches deep into my soul. There is a sliver of light. I lift my head.

Slowly the noise recedes. The swirling calms down. I take a deep breath.

 

A shaky step forward. The steps become fluid. I start to run.

My heart is pounding. My focus restored. I begin to smile.

The world feels whole. There is wind under my wings. I have no idea when or where I will land and I do not care. I laugh.

Closing my eyes

Image via Wikipedia

I am having my (very late) breakfast and am trying to plan my day.  If the sun was shining I would be on the balcony… plans or no plans. Instead I have enough little things to keep me busy. My cats are thrilled I am home so that they can show me all the new spots they have found in the apartment. The chasing game has ended and we are now in pro-longed cat nap time.

I have spent 3 days putting together IKEA furniture with a friend. It has been fun but also frustrating, especially when it didn’t want to work out the way we had planned. Lots of coffee, swearing and insane laughter later… it is done. Even managed to get out-of-town for a few hours. Drove to the Wicklow Mountains with no particular destination in mind… probably explains the VERY bumpy roads we ended up on. It was really nice getting out and a good laugh. Next time though… I will bring proper footwear. I love my sandals but they are not great for longer walks.

Right now though, I will close my eyes and listen to one of my absolute favorite songs by Adele.

Whimsical mood

Image via Wikipedia

You know that feeling when you are in work but the last thing on your mind is actually work? When everything but work is more interesting. This is not the same as when work feels like a pain in the neck but more of a barely noticed side-task.

That is me today. Must be the leftover residue from the boozing session my muse had last night. I just feel like talking nonsense all day and not really bothering much about anything. My colleagues already think I am off my rocker as it is ( that weird Swedish girl who never shuts up talking, is bruised all the time, with no business fashion sense at all and who swears loudly at her screen…). Haha aah well, what can I say…. that’s me. So instead I decided to write a post (while in work..tut tut).

Ahem… not sure what to write about though. Wouldn’t mind sitting in a nice café now with some friends, drinking copious amounts of lattes and musing about this and that lightheartedly. I could spend hours doing that right now.

I am also pretty sleepy today as I just could not get to sleep last night. I blame the muse as she was hiccupping and wanting to have profound discussions about post topics after the pub crawl. It is very hard to sleep and debate post topics at the same time. Once I got involved in the subject, the muse abruptly fell asleep snoring loudly… at this stage I was wide awake and with no ground breaking post to present to you guys at all. Bloody useless muse! *

Hmmm manager walked pass…. maybe I should stop talking nonsense and ACTUALLY do some work this afternoon. Hope you guys have a good morning/day/afternoon/evening in whatever timezone you are at the moment.

* Muse is not really a real person (don’t tell her though) – thought I’d tell you, you know… just in case. Haven’t quite lost the plot… yet.

Smile … it is Friday after all!

Am in work which normally means that I am (mentally) running from one thing to the next but today… I am not. I am smiling. I am on the edge of a laugh. I enjoy the banter. I bob my head to the music in my headphones. I blog (shhhhh don’t tell).

It is Friday just like it was last week… but for some reason it feels better this Friday. It has been a pretty good week even though it is the month-end. Busy in work but, considering all, it has gone smoother than the last few months. Yes, it has been mad for a few days but you know what… I truly believe I rather laugh than cry and laughed is what I have done no matter what this week. (… slightly hysterical at times but ehhhh who cares!).

A long-awaited book was released which has given me much enjoyment this week. I have managed to combine a work trip to Norway in March with a visit to a friend in Stockholm and her 30th birthday party, a party I thought I couldn’t make it to. This evening I am off to another friends birthday bash and it is the perfect way to end the work week.

The music in my headphones are old songs from the 90’s which remind me of happy summer days and evenings with friends when we were carefree students. That is what I feel like today: carefree.

Happy and carefree on a Friday. Damn it feels good! Happy Friday people!