Reading...

a book in French! Yep, that's right. I thought I would change it up a bit and try a Frenchie... I do read a lot of books in English, because I like English, I enjoy reading it and it keeps my level of English up (for work and so on). I also enjoy reading English novels in their original language, I get more "into" it. It has worked well so far, so why not try this approach to French?! (I'm an English and French teacher Lower Secondary school/Junior High/Collège level).

It's just that I'm not as good at French as I am at English... So it takes more of an effort and is not as enjoyable to read in French as in English, so what to do? Well, why not read a novel I've already read several times in English?! So, I ordered "Samantha, bonne à rien faire" ("The undomestic goddess") by Sophie Kinsella (just LOVE her novels!) on ebay. It arrived last week and I've already made progress. I read it with the original beside me, so if there are words I wonder about, I can look them up there...

I've also bought this book from ebay:

Another book by Lucy Dillon taking place in Longhampton, involving dogs and LOVE.... :)

xx/Johanna

Kitchen progress and a book tip

I went shopping with Little Red today and we made a quick stop at IKEA to buy handles for the kitchen island. Last time I was there, they were out, so I made sure they had them in today.

They had them and this is how it turned out. I'm very happy!

By the way, I have read the "sort of" sequel to "Lost dogs and lonely hearts" by Lucy Dillon, It's called "Walking back to happiness". It's not really a sequel, but the people from the first book are mentioned in this one. It's about how a young widow struggles after her husband's death, with herself, with their renovation object for a house and with the pushy help from her family. She's supported my her wonderful dog Minton. Yes, there are a lot of dogs in this novel too... :) It was quite as good as the first one, so I totally recommend it, and you don't have to read "Lost dogs and lonely hearts" first.

xx/Johanna

Encouragement from my bosses

One morning when I came to work, I found a beautiful rose in a small vase on my desk (everyone else too). It was from my bosses with a note that said: We wish you good work spirit (zeal) this school year.

It felt good to see the pretty flower on my desk, I just hope it makes it through the weekend, because I forgot to take it home with me on Friday....

xx/Johanna

Bzzz, bzzz, busy...

OMG, the last three weeks have been so busy I haven't had any energy to spare on this blog (made one post for my sewing blog though).

I was home with the kids one week when Mr Red went back to work. It was fun, but tiring. Thank god for caffeine pills... Especially since I went off energy drinks, I just couldn't go on drinking that much sugar...

Last week I finally went back to work! I feel very proud of myself for that. (Been on sick leave since February bacause of a burnout (depression caused by exhaustion). It has actually gone quite well at work, but at home in the evenings I'm totally knackered and have fallen asleep on the sofa every night at 8 after putting the kids to bed.

This week has been mostly about work too. Mum and dad came to visit Sunday to Tuesday with each of their dogs. Mum has an old pekingese, Kalle, and dad has a energetic yorkshire terrier, Lukas. Lukas and Big Red became soul mates on Sunday after playing with a ball ALL AFTERNOON. None of them grew tired, they just kept going! It was fantastic to see.

Other than that visit, work.... I had two lessons of my own yesterday and participated in the other three on my schedule with my substitute. She's great and actually was a student of mine 12 years ago... :) The students in 7th grade seem really sweet and I hope we will have a good time together this school year.

Well, now I'm off to decide on the work tops for our kitchen, new ones or not....That is the question...

xx/Johanna

Kitchen happenings

Yep, we went ahead with my kitchen plans, went to IKEA and bought new fronts for the kitchen island AND new bar stools (the old ones were hideous, too high and totally uncomfortable).

I think it looks GREAT! Sure, we HAVE to change the worktop, but it's ok for now. And the stools are so comfortable, so finally I can actually sit at the kitchen island, as intended. :)

xx/Johanna

Book tip!

I just finished the loveliest book! I started reading it just the other day, and was hard to put down and I finished it just a few minutes ago. It's a real feel-good novel, and if you like chick-lit, you will like this one too.

In English the book is called: "Lost dogs and lonely hearts"

It's about Rachel who inherits a house and a kennel for homeless dogs from her single, childless aunt. She has recently separated from her boyfriend/boss and quit her job, and now has to deal with everything that involved with inheritence (taxes, lawyers, relatives and their wishes...). Fortunately, the homeless dogs, and Rachel, get a lot of help from volunteers, the very insightful employee Megan and the local vet...

You also get to follow some people who get involved inte kennel one way or the other, foe example Doctor Bill who adopts a frightened, but lovely poodle named Lulu.

I really recommend this book if you want something positive to read!

xx/Johanna

Not much

Soooo, not much going on over here.... I'm home with the  kids all week before work, daycare and school start again on Monday, and that's a handful. I LOVE my kids, but they can be real trying... Big Red's favourite pasttime right now is to tease his little sister. And for Little Red everything is "poo"... Nice, huh?!

So, just trying to survive the week... ;) Well, tomorrow we're of the see my best friend Eleonor at her house. Maybe we finally will get so see their newly built upstairs (I know, it's crazy, they put on another floor on their house to get two floors...).

I'm thinking about making some changes in our kitchen. The kitchen is white with white tiles and a beech work top. We also have kitchen island which is brown wood with a white worktop. It sounds weird, but it looks good. But now, I've grown a bit tired of the mismatch and want an all matched kitchen, all white with dark grey worktops. I know exactly what worktop I want, it's just a question of how much it will cost.... Probably too much.... :( Fortunately the brown wood parts aren't difficult OR expensive to change. LOVE ikea! Well, we'll see what will happen in the kitchen department...

xx/Johanna

Weekend trip

This is the last weekend of our vacation and we're away on a weekend trip. Yesterday we visited my sister and her family and my mum in Tranås. We celebrated my birthday with af delicious barbecue and cake. I got an electric toothbrush and a gift card for a new bra.

My kids got to ride the lawnmower (the kind you sit on and drive) and Big Red even got to drive it himself...

Today we've been at Kolmården, Sweden's biggest zoo, all day. We're now at the hotel ( Vildmarkshotellet), and have another day ahead of us here at Kolmården. The weather has been really good, so I'm pleased.

xx/Johanna