Coffee

Lately I am addicted to coffee. Not the good kind that you buy from proper coffee shops but the unhealthly kind from the "evil machine" at work! It seems I am unable to press any other button than "Cappuccino" or "Latte" on that machine even though it has a perfectly well functioning button called "hot water" with which I could make tea. Right next to the "evil machine" is a kettle. So I could boil water and make a proper cup of tea. The company provides many different types of teas: green, chai, black, roiboos, and I bring my own ginger/lemon tea bags, but do I make any damn tea? Nope. I just go like in a trance over to the "evil machine" and press THE BUTTON. And get my fix. Not once or twice a day, but maybe 6,7, or 8 times a day!!! It is time fo me to stand up and say it: Hello, my name is Monika and I am addicted to coffee machine coffee.

Progress made on the exercise front

I am making progress on the exercise front. Last week was rather successful:
Monday: biked 15K
Tuesday: yoga class (1.45 hrs)
Wednesday: biked 15K
Thursday: biked 15K
Friday: Walked 6K (nice forests around my parents' town Hässleholm - see photos)
Sunday: gardening

This week started off well as I biked to the Malmö office yesterday, 18K return trip.

No changes yet in body weight or body mass (aim is to reduce the waist line) but my mood is better :-)

Good news story of the day II

This morning I found another good news story to share.

Warren Buffet and Bill Gates have kicked off a fundraising campaign called The Giving Pledge with an aim to raise USD 600 billion (yes, billion!) to address society's most pressing problems by bringing more dollars to philanthropy.

Read more here.

Exercising is good for me ...

Well, the biking challenge at work is finished for the spring. A new challenge will start after summer. Until then I think I will try to keep biking – to improve my overall fitness (status: not that great today). I biked to/from yoga class Tuesday night (19K) which felt good. Today I biked to the commuter bus station (7.5K, but hopefully 15K total as I need to bike back as well after work).

I made it to yoga class on Saturday morning after dropping my friend off for the half marathon across the Öresund bridge (between Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmö in Sweden). Cheering the runners on towards the finishing line Saturday afternoon made me feel like running again … not sure if I will actually take it up again, but at least I am inspired!

Good news story of the day

It is not easy to find the “good news” in the news these days. It is mainly stories about the huge oil leak in the Mexican gulf, Israeli soldiers boarding boats on international water with a deadly outcome, a weakening euro and euro-land debts, new fighting in Sudan, and on and on it goes ….

So I am looking for the Good News in the news and here is one that I want to share: The Gates Foundation pledges $1.5 billion for women’s health in a joint program with the UN. That is great news! Sad that it is needed but great that women’s and children’s health is being recognized as a big need and a quick way to improve standard of living in any country. Check out this article in the Globe &Mail to learn more.

Bullying at work

For those of you who read Swedish, this excellent article series in DN (www.dn.se) is a must-read! It talks about how un-caring we are when a fellow human being is being bullied at work. And how we do not act. Or even re-act. We just go on as if it was not happening. And what is happening is that a fellow human being is being being robbed of their dignity, their self worth and that it is done very deliberately by the bully. Read Maciej Zaremba's articles and reflect. Reflect upon your own behavior and actions.

Biking challenge - update after 6 weeks

Have not posted any biking updates since week 3 … but making up for that now:
Week 4 was spent in Brazil. No chance of any outdoor biking so I biked on the stationary bike at the hotel gym. 12K one evening and 16K the other. Total for the week 28K.
Week 5 I was back in Sweden and very busy at work and after work so I opted for driving to work the whole week … only did 3K on a lunch break when I biked into Lund to do some shopping.
Week 6 (this week) was the last week of the challenge and I biked 15K. In total I have biked 119K and saved 24.4 kilos of CO2. I have also used up 3570 kcal (but have not noticed any difference in my body L)
My goal was to bike 210K, I finished 91K short. However, without this challenge I think my total distance in 6 weeks would have been something small like 10 or 20K so I am pleased.
And yes, I will continue to bike even though the competition is over!

Radioprogrammet Stil i P1

Lyssande på P1 i bilen på väg till jobbet idag. Hörde programmet Stil som handlade om rosor.

Och om illustratören Petra Börner som gör häftiga tryck på både kläder, och bokomslag. Kolla in hennes hemsida – min favoriter i klädväg är Poppy Print och i bokomslag How green are your wellies? Visste inte att hon hade gjort omslaget till ”Mister Pip” av Lloyd Jones, en bok jag läste förra sommaren och tyckte mycket om. Snyggt är även papperstrycket ”Blueberry & Pomegranate”.

"Men strunt är strunt och snus är snus, om ock i gyllne dosor. Men rosor i ett sprucket krus är ändå alltid rosor. "

Gustav Fröding (1860-1911)

Garden dreams

When I visited a friend in Brazil recently, I found these exotic trees in his garden ... I can only dream of growing starfruit, coco nuts and bananas in my garden in Sweden!

1 June 2010

... + 12 degrees, rain, wind, very un-like a summer's day ...