Tomorrow is my last full vacation day, if you don’t count the weekend. It’s been lovely having 3 weeks nearly completely free from shoulder pain and stress and office politic aggravation. I’ve done my absolute best to actually rest, relax, and recharge, and I really, really hope that one day back at work won’t undo it all.
This week has been marvelously sluggy: I’ve slept in nearly every day, or at least woken at my own pace, and stayed abed with my book or iPad until I felt like getting motivated. I had a to-do list for the week (because of course I did) and I’ve gotten all of it done and then some, including:
- cleaning and organizing the front hall closet
- getting all the Flyinge loppis donations ready to go
- cleaning the fridge
- harvesting and freezing kale (2 bags!)
- framing my mom’s flower embroidery piece
- creating a photobook of the Ireland trip
- starting a Chrstimas present project
In addition, I’ve also played boule with AIC friends, and tomorrow I have an AIC lunch and then dinner with Debbie and Camilla: the perfect way to round off my vacation! Since the beginning of vacation, I’ve also read 8 books and have just started the 9th. It’s the middle one of a trilogy and I might even get the 3rd one (and my 10th of vacation) done before I start work on Monday. Maybe. We are going to dinner with Anders’ sister on Saturday but otherwise don’t have any plans for the weekend, and I’m hoping for sunshine so I can enjoy a last couple of days spending the afternoon hanging out on the deck and on the swing.
I’ve done a bunch of AIC stuff as well: adding new activities to the calendars, calling and activating 3 new members, and creating the PDF of the last newsletter. The entire board is staying on for next year, which I’m thrilled about, as it’s been one of the best boards we’ve ever had. I suspect it won’t be quite as smooth this coming year, however, as some of them are dealing with a lot of ugly personal issues, but I am hoping for the best. I feel like we’re organized, dedicated, and ready to go, so I hope that the new members will start being active and signing up for the great activities that are being organized.
Karin is moving to Copenhagen in about 3 weeks, and I think I’m a little in denial about it. She’s hardly ever home and has been working nonstop nearly all summer, or away, so it’s not like it will be all that different, but living in another country, even if it’s the one next door, does mean just that much more distance and less chance of her popping home for an evening or day. She’s full up still with work and also job-hunting. Since she didn’t get into CBS, which was completely unexpected, she’s been feeling very stressed about her plan B. I’m sure she’ll be fine, but it’s really too bad that her expectations for finally starting school were shot down once again.
Martin is on the verge of a new job as well, at a restaurant in Lund, and because they want him to start officially at the end of September, he’ll be able to finish out that month continuing to work at Beachgarden. Even though he doesn’t really want to be working in food service forever, I’m just thrilled that he has this possibility now when the job economy is so poor, so that he’ll be able to continue supporting himself, while he figures out what his long-term plan is.
Anders is already back at work since Monday but has been getting home early every day and is working from home tomorrow. He’s in the middle of painting the garage. He has only one end and the doors to go. It’s already looking SO much better! Considering it hadn’t been painted since it was built, over 20 years ago, it’s not surprising how much this facelift has helped!
Our garden is about halfway to done. I pulled another handful of snap peas today, don’t think I’ll get too many more. We need to harvest the onions soon, and probably the carrots. There is still about a row’s worth of potatoes in the ground and we need to start using them. I harvested a huge pile of kale today and froze 2 bags of it (have 2 bags of snap peas in the freezer as well). The latecomers are the tomatoes: they’re barely started, and there are only some small green fruits beginning to grow.
Hard to believe the end of August is near and the end of summer with it. How fast time flies.
Mood: relaxed
Music: Japanese Breakfast—Sit