Falling Out of Rhythm...

Let me start by wishing all Norwegians everywhere "Gratulerer med dagen".

17 May is the Norwegian constitution day and celebrated and revered by all. Yet again, I am not able to be in Norway on this day, but I am there in spirit!

 

♥

It has been a while since I wrote on the blog and my only excuse is 'life'. I have missed the blog and reading about what people get up to and getting inspiration from so many. But it has been a hectic month, both at work and at home with exams looming for Our Boy. In addition, I have been struggling with a bad back since Christmas and have tried to get this under control with physiotherapy sessions and daily walks which does wonders for both body and mind. I hope to be back on the blog more regularly now!

 

Here are some picture from what I have been up to the last couple of weeks:

 

Capturing the chestnut tree in bloom in the street behind my office...

 



Business meeting in London...

 

Afternoon tea with Our Boy

 





Fundraising event at work for the children's charity Barnardos

 



Another course to learn to make leather-wrap bracelets

 



A glimpse from my daily walk by the river.

A little piece of heaven on earth

☺

 

A Real Treat on A Normal Working Day...

The Women's Staff Network within the university I work for hosted a lunch time seminar today with comedian Deborah Frances-White as part of the 2013 International Women's Day's.

Deborah is not only a comedian, but also an author, screen-writer, corporate speaker and executive coach.

It short - it was an excellent event.

Funny, insightful and thought provoking.

Her talk focused on what women need to do to become 21st century leaders

- without the power suits, Dynasty hair and shoulder pads!

Most people fear public speaking - almost more than death. It was very effective to see her simple demonstration of how most would behave and how to change it to so you can 'own' a room.

☺

Above is a You Tube clip I found of her.

Food for thought on a Friday.

Have a great weekend!

A New Era...

This weekend we had a farewell party for our boss who retired as director for our research group. It was a nice event where we had invited everybody we have worked with these 11 years this group has excisted. Not everybody could come, some are now as far afield as New Zealand, Australia or China, but we ended up with a good selection of people from the various years and projects. It was fun and almost a bit nostalgic seeing them all again!

 

The evening went very fast and as usual, I ended up feeling I did not get a chance to speak with all... Well, perhaps some other time, I hope!

 

So, while we wait for our new director to join us in the spring you could be mistaken for thinking those of us still here would be like the mice in the Norwegian saying:

 

Når katten er ute, så danser musene på bordet...

(When the cat is out, the mice dance on the table)

 

Surely not!

It is just a picture I used for illustrating this 'cheeky' post...

☺

 

Also, 1 October today...!

Incredibly how dark it was this morning!

It was still pitch black when I woke at 6.30am. I had to turn the lights on before I got out of bed..

 

That was a first this fall...

 

PS: we have a board to answer to... just in case anybody got worried!

Weekend....!

This way of busking out of a waste bin is a sure way to get attention...

It has been over a week since I gave any sign here on the blog...

No other excuse than a lot of work going on at the moment.

Should be getting a bit better after next week, I hope

 

In the meantime, I leave you with some pictures snapped throughout the week taken with my IPhone.

☺

I simply had to try this cake at the cafe/bakery Fitzbillies - it is called Norwegian Crisp - another version of Palmiers actually (made of puff pastry) and not particularly Norwegian as far as I could tell...

 

A snap shot taken last weekend when The Professor and I walked around the Folly at Wimpole. Just love that place!

On the return from the Folly

The weekend will be busy with more workand a retirement party for a colleague, but I hope the weather will hold and I can clock in another walk at wonderful Wimpole. Might even take a proper camera this time...!

 

Enjoy your weekend!!

♥



End of Another Academic Year...

Tomorrow is the end of the Easter term here at the University.

The academic year is divided into three terms: Michaelmas Term, Lent Term and Easter Term.

True to tradition, as we do at the end of each term, we invited all the students working in the area of research my group is related to for a lunch in the President's Lodge in one of the old colleges.

Here are some (poor pictures taken with my IPhone) glimpses of the walled garden

The weather looks nice, but it isn't quite the summer temperatures we could wish for and the event was held indoors. 

Still, I wore a dress AND no stockings!

☺

Our own office summer party will not take place for almost another month in this garden so we can hope it gets warmer by then!

♥

Black out...

Hmmm.... so what do you do in the office when there is a power cut and therefore neither computers nor phones work...?

It is actually rather thought provoking to consider how much of many people's (working?) lives are run with the computer.

We had a power cut over much of the city centre yesterday and it brought a lot of work to a grinding halt. Empty, black screens stared back at us and it was hard to think of anything else to fill the working day with that didn't involve the use of the machines.

A colleague had suggested some days ago that we should consider a day without the use of email and the internet. Instead, we should get up from our desks and WALK over to whoever we needed to speak with OR at least pick up the phone to talk with them.

Not sure how efficient I would be then.

Could you work without the aide of computers?

Jamie Oliver - Christmas Lunch Treat

Every year my boss takes his closest colleagues out for Christmas lunch to show his appreciation for our work.

This year he took us to Jamie Oliver's restaurant.

I have been there before and very much looked forward to going again.

In preparation for this event I had only had a banana for breakfast so I was literally starving...

We all shared various lovely antipasti for starters

Then I had a lovely seabass for mains

and

Cheese board for dessert
Plus Jamie's gorgeous unusual mince pies made with filo pastry.
I am generally not a fan of mince pies, but these I wanna try to make myself!

What a treat!

No need for dinner tonight...

:-)

Secret Santa!

Yesterday we arranged Secret Santa at work for the first time ever!
We had a lovely little lunch gathering where everybody brought in something special from their country to eat and we all got a Secret Santa gift.

I brought Norwegian pork roll (sylterull - made for the first time ever) served with mustard on crackers, and gingerbread crackers with blue cheese, plus a bottle of Gløgg (bought at Ikea!).

You don't know what Secret Santa is?
Well, every on puts their name in a jar. You have to pick a name (not your own, of course) and buy a present for that person for a maximum amount (we chose £5) - all done in secret. You then wrap the gift and it is opened to much sillyness and fun.

Great fun with little effort and I think people had been rather inventive with the limited budget!

Tonight is the Christmas party for the school (theme is Casino!) and Monday we have a Christmas dinner for our group.

What do you get up to at work before Christmas?

Busy Days!

It is a bit quiet on my front these days 

- not much time for the blog.

My dear in-laws arrived before the weekend

and we have been busy settling them in and

spending time with them.

This is a busy time of year for many people I guess, not just us in the educational sector.

Conferences, meetings, plans, budgets, as well as the needs of new staff, new visitors, new students all need to be addressed.

It is like everybody have hatched and thought up a lot of ideas and plans while on summer holidays...!

But on the whole I like it!

I like being busy.

But I also like to see an end to this particularly stressful period... probably will stay this intense for another couple of months...

In the meantime -

Thank God for Yoga!

It is literally a life saver and keeping both my mind sane as well as my body flexible.

New class tonight and

maybe a glass (diet-Coke) in the pub next door afterwards....?

:-)

Rude Awakening...

Today was the first day back at work after the holidays. 

Talk about feeling like being thrown in at the deep end... 

I have to admit that I check emails daily when I am away (normally in the evening when often any problem has already resolved itself!), but I am good at choosing what MUST be dealt with and what can wait. 

However, I think many knew I was away and didn't email me, but rather came with it 'all' today...

The picture above is from our holidays when we walked passed a relaxed group of people playing cards in a park in Antibes. 

Looks nice and relaxing, don't you think? 

Wouldn't mind a few more weeks with this kind of activities, I think... 

Actually, come to think of  it, the average age was a little high in this group. 

I don't think I am ready for that kind of life yet, after all... 

;-)

Our Boy was supposed to start year 11 today, but I made him stay home as he had a slight temperature and a cold. I took him to the doctor this morning as he also had an ear infection while we were on holidays and I worried this would flare up again. Fortunately nothing sinister going on and I think we are looking at him going to school tomorrow. 

Mothers don't stop worrying about their kids, even if they are 15 and a head taller than us, do we?

Spoilt...

pictures taken with my IPhone

A colleague of mine and I have been looking at some conference facilities for an upcoming event we are hosting. Today we went to King's College and the top pictures are from the student's main dining hall with the magnificent ceiling and the bottom from the Front court looking at the famous Chapel.

The colleges are quiet now as we are in exam season. It is important to bear in mind if you are planning a visit as no visitors are allowed in during this period.

The College was founded in 1441 by Henry VI (1421-71) and is one of the 31 colleges in the University. In addition to academic excellence it is also world-famous for its Chapel and choir. The Christmas Eve service from King's is broadcast to millions around the world.

I am ashamed to admit that living here it is easy to become blind to this splendor and beauty and just take it for granted...

Privileged Surroundings

End of term lunch held for the students in privileged surroundings...

And lucky us that also get to come!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Floor Saga...

The renovation work in Our Boy's bedroom is going ever so slowly...

We have been waiting for the new floor for over 3 weeks after being told it would take 10 days to 2 weeks. I am really frustrated as the supplier is telling me one new story after the other. I finally lost my temper on Monday after being served yet another lie from them and actually filed a formal complaint with head office over the behaviour of their employee. I understand delays can happen, but I can't tolerate being lied to. The person at head office with was very nice and empathetic, and I was promised a reply within 48 hours... Much to my disappointment I have still not heard anything - and the 48 hours have long passed. The disappointing thing is that I have renovated two other rooms and used their floors and been really happy. This time it is simply a disaster. I am giving them till lunchtime tomorrow and then I will cancel the order.

There are other shops!

In the meantime, the decorators are done with the re plastering and  painting and we have gone with a grey color (Goosewing from Dulux) on one of the short walls to give the room a more masculine feel and a slightly creamy color on the others to give some light (Jasmin from Dulux) and white on the ceiling. 

We have put in 8 spotlights in the ceiling and they are divided into three different zones (2+4+2) with a dimmer switch for each part.

I am really pleased with these brushed steel dimmers.

Little joys! ;-)

We are lucky to have very patient builders who just fit our work in between other jobs. I am so fed up with the mess all over the house, but surely there must be an end to this!

Our Boy is at the local theatre with his class tonight seeing 'Much Ado About Nothing' by Shakespeare - which is part of their curriculum this year, so it should be educational.

I will spend the rest of the evening in the kitchen making some cupcakes to take to work tomorrow. My amazing colleague is leaving and we are having farewell tea tomorrow at noon. We had a lovely lunch for her in the President's Lodge in one of the colleges yesterday, but it is always good to have an excuse for cake!

And in another couple of weeks a new colleague is joining us, so that should be an opportunity to have 'welcome-to-us-cakes'!

;-)

Relief!



(The picture from the bench in the guitar teacher's garden)

Sigh!

I can't say how happy I am that the weekend is finally here! 

I normally don't write much about my work on the blog, but I make an exception today. I have just had what I call my "exam" which actually is the board meeting. We hold these meetings twice a year and I always work myself up in such a flap before these meetings.
If I am honest (which I should be!), the meetings are not that bad, the people are nice, but I still worry about things I fear might be controversial and cause conflict. However, it never ceases to amaze me that things I think might be controversial just flies through, while items on the agenda which I thought were straight forward get all sorts of attention... I think this is why I have almost become superstitious and fear that if I DON'T fret and worry, THEN the meetings will go badly.
Silly, I know.

But, now on to the weekend!

The Professor is home, I did the weekly grocery shopping last night and we are going to friends for dinner!

What a great way to start the weekend!

Just hope Our Boy would get that hair cut tomorrow...

;-)

Working Weekend

http://www.flickr.com

I don't often work during the weekend, but occassionally we have a conference going and this time I have the afternoon/evening shift.

Not much for me to do really, just making sure it all is running smoothly. My assistant is a genius when it comes to organising these events so I expect it to be fine.

It isn't my favourite way to spend the weekend, but still nice enough.

Particularly when the conference dinner is held in such nice surroundings:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/President%27s_lodgings.jpg

The Office

When the weather was nicer earlier this week I had by chance brought the camera with me. 
On my way to work I decided to take some pictures of my office. Isn't it funny how we become almost blind to the places and houses we see everyday?

I work for one of the departments in the University, and my group is housed in this building.

I like the entrance door much better in the house next door ....:

It looks very English with the red mailbox outside, doesn't it?

The house was refurbished when we moved in last year and they managed to keep the lovely tiled floor in the entrance area. A shame with all the fire safety equipment needed that spoils the picture, but that is health and safety, you know!

I wasn't sure I wanted to show my messy office, but here it is..!

Not much thought has gone in to the composition of this picture as you can see... I should have tidied the desk a little!

 I round off with a poster hanging on my wall with a very typical scene from the river.

Ah..., not even one week after the holidays I am wishing more days could be spent in the sunshine on a punt!
I know - I am always greedy for more holidays...

Sunshine!

I don't have much time for the blog these days as I am trying to finish off an essay in research methodology for my master thesis. I am thorougly fed up with it, but I have a small hope that if I push it, I might be done with it this weekend...

I am telling all my friends to stop me next time I come up with such a silly idea as doing a master while working full time, with a family, and really wanting to spend time on other hobbies! It seemed like such a good idea at the time...

However, all the course work is over and done with, so after this it is 'only' the thesis left ;-)

In the meantime, The Cat is enjoying the few rays of sunshine that comes our way. Don't be deceived - it is still rather chilly, at least compared to what we normally should expect this time of year...

Not a Happy Bunny....

Warning: I need to have a rant!

I have two issues these days that is driving me crazy:

1. The first relates to a particular Swedish furniture company which I have previously glorified.

 They do not deserve this anymore.

We had ordered a sofabed for the flat in Edinburgh.

This took 3 weeks to deliver.

We waited patiently.

The sofa arrived and

The Professor attempted to put it together.

Now, I am the practical person in this relationship and the wizz at putting flatpacked furniture together

(if I may say so myself...).

The Professor is the theorist and drives me mad LOOKING at the pieces while trying to figure out how to put it together.

Now, I was obviously not there and he was left to do this himself, bless him.

He called me rather upset saying the sofa has two left arms and no right arm...

I told him he was being silly and

he then sent me a picture from his phone clearly showing two identical arms... (technology, eh?)

Upon calling and complaining the unnamed Swedish furniture company it has taken them 1 week to come up with the following solution:

we will have to order a NEW sofa (another 3 weeks to wait) as they could NOT just send another arm... However, they are not willing to take the incomplete, unusable sofa back - that will be up to us to do as we "please" with... My question is, surely there must be somebody out there stuck with two right arms for THEIR sofa???

We have reached the end of our patience and

you might have guessed that the sofa is going back and we are cancelling the order!

Back to square one in finding another sofa we can agree on...

2. My second rant is about a domestic internet provider

(which also is part of a larger airline and credit card  company).

I am trying to get internet installed in a flat owned by my employer and this seems to be taking AGES (at least weeks!) and something which should be simple is proving to be very testing and complicated.

I am fed up calling the company, pressing one button after another in order to be able to speak with a LIVE person. 

I feel for the poor tenants in the flat having me running in and out with one engineer after the other to try to sort it out.

I am not a happy bunny but feel better for having had it all out now... ;-)

Under the weather...

I have not written anything for a couple of days for two reasons:

1. I have a cold (however, not a MAN-cold)

2. I am "snowed" under with work in the office. Twice a year we have a board meeting and it is part of my job to write and prepare various reports, accounts, budgets, etc etc for this event. It is ALWAYS a mad scramble to get it all together and I never seem to manage to be better prepared. I feel like this is my annual exam and I fret a lot... I have a great assistant, but she is also snowed under with another event happening the same time, so I can't really ask for any help. Besides, I am also the only one that has the info needed.

I will stop complaning now - good to get it out! The papers will leave me on Friday, so I should be in a better place then...

First - yoga tonight - I NEED IT!