Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking....

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Things that I love....



  
  I love being with my husband
   I love action films
    I love chocolate
     I LOVE Mamma´s cooking
      I love my parents
       I love Norway and England
        I love dancing
         I love studying to be a coach
          I love my band
           I love the way dogs walk up stairs
           I love playing the drums and singing
            I love playing the guitar and piano
             I love fresh mint
              I love going out for coffee
               I love my friends
                I love playing in snow
                 I love swimming 
                 I love that you saved my life......

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Rage against the machine...















Everyone is scared, or at least wary, of some thing. Some people are terrified of snakes or spiders, of going outside, of catching a cold or even of other people. I´m scared of sharks yet find them fascinating at the same time because they are so swift, deadly and skillful. I find myself watching documentaries about them and want to see pictures of them and what their stomachs might contain; an oxygen mask of a recently devoured diver perhaps, or even a limb from the same source. It´s gruesome I know, but it´s still interesting to me to know more about them. They are like a finely tuned machine; precise, streamlined and unbreakable.


I bring all of this up to compare my morbid fascination of sharks as a hunter and frightening animal to that of the scariest machine of all - the sewing machine. Invented in 1790, this terrifying piece of equipment was designed to make life easier for the seamstress and possibly the prison guard as it is a perfect devise for torture. 


This may sound ridiculous to you, but I happen to know that sewing machines can smell fear. It´s true. My Mother would sit at her sewing machine quite happily for hours, busying herself away with mending of clothes and making quaint fabrics to delight her household with. She didn´t seem worried at all. And why would she seem anything else then perfectly content - the machine never attacked or refused to work when she went near it.


How I wish I could say the same. Even at first glance, I could see that the sewing machine and I would never be friends. It seemed to double in size as I approached it - even from a distance of two meters. If I sat down and tried to make the smallest of hems on an old pair of trousers, the machine would spring to life at the slightest whisper of my foot near the pedal, and would increase speed for no reason as it aimed for my fingers, desperate to make them one with the fabric forever. 


I have some clothes that need repairing as we speak, and so, naturally, I have avoided the torture instrument that is the sewing machine entirely. However, this makes progress slow as everybody knows that sewing by hand is as dull as reading an instruction manual for a new phone. There is no choice for people like me who are inflicted with primal fear of these hazardous inventions. 


My conclusion is this: A stitch in time saves nine. Doing it properly the first time is clearly the best option. Who would want to ruin perfectly good material by poking holes in it with a 9 inch death needle anyway? No, I´m sticking to hand sewing as it´s much more traditional, and will continue to rage against the machine for a while longer.



Friday, December 16, 2011

I am a coach!!!!!!!!

For 4 years I was without a job. I didn´t know what I wanted to do. People would tell me to: "Just work anywhere for now." Sure, you try that sometime - it´s awful. 

Now, I´m training to be a coach at Coach Team in Oslo as part of NLP studies. I completed my first exams yesterday and now have a certificate to show me that I´m on the right road. I am thrilled.

I am a coach who coaches people!!!!!!!! Rejoice with me.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Hurra for happy endings.

Call me shallow. Call me naive - I seriously don´t care. I will only watch happy films with a happy ending from now on. This has always been my goal anyway. So let me change that to: I will background check films with greater care and accuracy in the future.


My other half and myself watched, what we thought would be, a lovely BBC period drama. It´s called "Clarrisa," and it´s soooo sad. Storyline:


1) Tragic girl is forced to marry someone
2) She refuses, and instead hopes to be saved by untrustworthy bloke (Enter Lovelace)
3) Untrustworthy bloke lies and deceives said tragic girl
4) Tragic girl runs away - family of tragic girl disown her
5) Untrustworthy and complete nut job bloke treats tragic girl horribly (rapes her and continues to lie)
6) Tragic girl dies in prison - put there on false charges
7) Untrustworthy bloke basically commits suicide by not defending himself well in a sword fight
8) Family of tragic girl regrets their actions and feel awful
9) Best friend of tragic girl lays flowers at tragic girls grave on her wedding day - and....
10) The end!!


Soooooo, what did you all learn from this? What´s the moral here? Don´t lead a tragic life? Try not to die in prison? Never trust a bloke named "Lovelace"? A-ha, yep, shouldn´t be a problem. Thanks BBC, you really made my night. Off to bed now to watch amusing youtube videos and to forget film forever. Goodnight and bring on the happy endings.


          ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Some advice on friendship...

Just so you know.... what I´m about to say is really not profound, nor is it written poetically. It´s just some advice you can take or leave to ensure healthy friendships.

Let´s do the "don´ts" first shall we..to get them out of the way.


1) Don´t hang around with weird people - they´re weird.
2)  Don´t spend time with confusing or overly complicated people - you´ll most likely not get to the bottom of what they´re really talking about at any time soon.
3) Avoid demanding types - they´re mostly interested in what you can do for them and may walk all over you.



4) Don´t befriend people who talk about themselves at every turn. It´s a habit that doesn´t seem to break easily.
5) Be wary of people who advertise their skills as friends or who just plain advertise their personalities. In my experience, these people often think they have these gift or wish they did, but in reality....they don´t. (Remember, if they feel the need to list their qualities, they usually don´t posses them). 
6) People who don´t express gratitude are often people who will take you completely for granted. Avoid them like you would an angry bull. 






Do:
1) Search out people who are givers as well as receivers.
2) Ask yourself if your friendships are balanced.
3) Pick people who are real, honest, generous and sensitive - these are life giving qualities.
4) Be a giver - and make sure your friends are givers too. I cannot stress this enough. 



“A friend is someone who helps you up when you’re down,
and if they can’t, they lay down beside you and listen.”

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Perfect cup of English tea...


.....sooo winter is approaching. Here´s how to make a lovely cup of English tea to warm up:




1) Find a good sized mug - one that makes you smile
2) Boil the kettle
3) Add 1 cm of milk to the bottom of the mug
4) Add 1 level teaspoon of sugar to said happyclappy mug
5) Put tea bag** in the mug at the same time as you pour in boiling water
6) Let the tea stew for 30 seconds to a minute
7) Take the tea bag out
 8) Stir the tea vigorously while you count to 5,  inserting the word `elephant,´ between the seconds, thus ensuring accuracy
9) Find yourself a biscuit
10) Enjoy

*These are recommended: P.G. Tips, Lipton Yellow Label tea, Twinings English breakfast tea, Tetley
* Teas to avoid: Earl Grey, anything fruity, posh mamby pamby tea... yeuch...so gross



Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Yippekaiyaay



I´m leaving facebook - and have therefore decided to invest more time writing. Sometimes I avoid blogging, because I assume I have to write for ages, but that´s not necessary. Leave you with a picture of me and my niece and nephew messing about in the water. Good times.

Nuff said. Speak soon.