Christmas Fun!

Wow! I got just a ton of presents! David got lots too! I really don't think I've been this 'nice' this year really!

Anyways...

From David I got: Dance Universe 2 Dance Stage, a new school bag, a pair of long johns, and an organizing board for the wall.

From my parents: some cash, socks, PJs, turkey gravy mix, beef jerkey, two nice hotmats

From david's cousins: Duka gift certificate, a nice candle.

From David's parents: tickets to the rehearsal for Melodifestival here in town, money towards a new bed, two sweaters, a hat, some slippers, a new pair of gloves, a mixer, some candle holders, a cake server, etc

From David's brother: a second hand control to the 360

David got a ton of things too: NHL 09, cash, some things I listed above were to both of us, new slippers, a tool set, candle holders, a new sweater, a scarf, a nice shirt, gift certificates to Dressmans and Bokia, a new frying pan, some dishtowls from Peter, some whiskey, etc

And I'm sure we've both got tons of other things that I've totally spaced on.


Once the after Christmas sales start, David and I have tons of things to do. Some things need to be returned since they're the wrong size, and David's game is going back to the store since it is half price to buy it elsewhere, we've got gift certificates to use, and all sorts of fun things! We're also hoping to buy a new bed soon, but that also means buying new sheets since ours won't fit. It'll be nice to upgrade past the 120cm bed that we've got now. To something that doesn't have pointy springs in it and is a bit wider.

Hope everyone else had a lovely Christmas and thanks again for all the presents!

Bleh Bleh Bleh! (And double BLEH!)

I'm getting soooo annoyed at my homework attempts. I'm not sure that I'm actually making any progress in my understanding of programming OR math. I'm starting to feel so emo that I'm in the "I'm too stupid for this" phase.

But the only thing to do about it is to keep working. If I work at it long enough, I'm eventually bound to understand something.

I've also noticed a drastic increase in things such as 'house cleanliness', 'face book posts' and 'irc spam' in times when I really don't want to do my homework. I think I'll be heading in to school tomorrow morning and try to get some studying done there where there MIGHT be a few less distractions... I hope.

Still Studying...

I feel that I'm studying constantly... but without actually making ANY progress forwards. Tons of things in C++ that I don't understand. Math is going better but I'm having major problems with integrals. I've got less than a month until finals and tons of things involving Christmas and New Years that need to be done. Oh, and did I mention that I need to understand C++ well enough to make a game before school starts back up? Bleh.

Today I'm hoping to go Christmas present shopping, clean the house, fry up some chicken for tonight's dinner, and get the Christmas tree set up. A bunch of David's family is coming over for Fika tomorrow. I don't think we have enough places for all of them to sit. I need to go buy some fika treats for them to eat... and I think we need to borrow a bigger coffee pot... Otherwise only 4 people will get coffee every 10 minutes.

And as usual, here's a random link.
Confused 10 year Old
This time the link is from CNN. I guess sometimes that it is really difficult to decide what is actually best for a kid. I'm sure this isn't it, but I'm not sure I know what is the best for her. Just something to think about. I've got to throw something not mind numbingly technical into my posts. I can't neglect the side of me that has studied social studies the past 5 years. :)

Another random BBC link.

Syrian underclothes

This is just another BBC article. But it made me think, mostly because it goes against what the media generally reports as coming out of the middle east in terms of women's rights and and such.

Anyways. Phosare meeting today went really well. Not much happened, but I got a chance to socialize and to see who else made phosare. There are a LOT of datorspels peoples. We're like half the phosare force. It'll be fun! I can't wait!

Facebook

For some random reason (probably related to boredom and not wanting to study) I've rediscovered facebook. I've been spending insanely too much time there. I guess it's a way to socialize even when I'm sitting in a lecture or bored at home. Same reason as I hang out on irc probably.

Anyways... I was too lazy to find a nice article to post today, so you get to go without. I'm done with classes for the rest of the year though! I am going to go back tomorrow for a phosare mote, and perhaps one last fika before Christmas break. Thinking to wear my student overalls tomorrow, just because I can!

Are parents responsible?

S Korea parents fined over rape

This is just a random BBC link, but it brings up an interesting point. Are parents responsible for their child's behavior? At what age does that stop? I've seen very good parents have like 5 angels and one kid that is the devil. And nothing would get that one badly behaved kid to act like the others. But I've also seen examples of very very bad parenting that still resulted in amazingly well adjusted children and adults. It is an interesting thought to kick around in my head though.

Phosare!

Well! I've made phosare. I'm not totally sure what I've just got myself into, but it should be fun anyways. I really should update my blog more often. I say that everytime I post something here. But this time it has been a REALLY long time since I last posted. School has, as usual, been crazy. I've been meeting up a lot with friends.

Yesterday we had 'bar emptying', which was fun. The evening started with someone too drunk to buy anything, and ended with the police showing up. But actually no real problems. I didn't work in the bar really. I know I'm totally useless there. I did collect a lot of glasses, did a lot of dishes, and spent lots of time standing in the door or refilling the fridge. Fun fun fun!

Now I've only got a few more days left before this thing that we call 'vacation' but just actually is a chance to catch up on school work.

The color Pink

I've discovered an interesting thing when hanging around large groups of guys... they hate pink. Which just makes me want to embrace it. It's actually rather odd when you think about it. A color is just a color, right? But why would guys hate pink so much?

Here's an interesting link:
http://cerise.theirisnetwork.org/archives/181

The question really comes up... can one enjoy pink? I feel that I can fit into a room full of guys, through my own identity. It doesn't require trying to distance myself from all things girly and pink. I can be good at math and hopefully some day, good at programming... all without trying to avoid pink.

Being a girl doesn't mean that one has to love pink, being a guy doesn't mean that one has to hate pink. But pink, like it or not, has a lot of connections with being female. And damn it, I like being female!

I think I'll try to choose pink over other colors when given a choice in today's world. At least the guys in class won't try to take my stuff. ;) They probably think it'll poison them!

Wedding party this evening!

Well! This evening is our Swedish wedding party. It's really low key. We're going to have a pot-luck, and maybe play a few games. Mostly it's just an excuse for a party. It'll be quite much fun I hope!

School has been a LOT of work. I feel that I barely even have time to think between everything. It is fun though. It gives me some purpose to wake up in the morning. That's always good.

Oh! And I also got my school overalls yesterday. I need to wash them, remove the sleeves, dye them black, wash them again, reattach the sleeves, take them to get a pattern put onto the back, then sew lots of things onto them. And I think I might sew them into a skirt, but I haven't totally decided yet. Always fun!

Anyways, back to work!

Wow...

School start has been just crazy. I've had almost no time to think, let alone blog.

Anyways, I've started a new program at school. It's an engineering degree in Computer Game Development. Somewhat surprisingly, I'm the only girl in the program... in the last 5 years.

We're studying Calculus, Python, and I'm doing physics too. It's a tough starting course load.

The two weeks before the start of school we had 'nollening' which is like two weeks of getting to know the other first years. That was crazy because we had preparatory math at the same time.

It's fun to be starting something new, and I've always wanted to learn to program. We'll see how this goes. I'd rather have a job, but since jobs seem to be few and far between right now, I might as well accomplish something while looking.

Pictures!

I've now got the pictures online from the wedding. Our pictures anyways. Others will go online at later dates.

This weekend we're going on a little road trip. I can't wait!

Besides this? Not much happening. I think I've got permission to start at the university program I want this fall, but I'd still rather have a job. Oh well. I guess we take what we get.

The weather is looking nicer too. Perhaps we can bbq tonight for dinner! Yum yum!

Guitar Hero

Well, the house is pretty clean now. So there isn't much in the way of wifely duties to do. And I made a nice big stew this weekend so we'll have food for another day or two.

So what do I do with myself?

I play Guitar Hero! It is this video game with a controller shaped like a guitar that David and I got for our wedding. Fun fun!

The Bedroom Dream

I've got an awful lot of dreams going on at the moment... there's the dream for a new kitchen, getting my drivers license, and then the newest (?) one... the new bedroom. This is prompted by me getting up this morning to go to the bathroom, only to return and find someone had taken up the rest of the bed. Now I know I could have pushed him over and taken back my fair share... but he's been so tired that I just moved myself out to the couch.

I couldn't really fall back asleep so instead I played around with Ikea's website and my little scale models of the apartment. I've decided for 2000kr I could get new bedroom furniture. This doesn't include the all important bed though, which seems to cost a minimum of 4000kr. Although I like the one in the Jysk advertisement for 7000kr that looks a lot like an American bed. I'd happily take a nice bed frame and a mattress though too. Ikea has some nice ones, but expensive if you don't want white. The picture above has the cost written on the wardrobe, but that's because I was too lazy to rename that bit of furniture, I already own that.

Not that I should be dreaming about stuff like this since we don't really have much money right now, and the kitchen has a higher priority. But hey! I can always dream!

The Bags Arrive!

Our bags have arrived! And nothing inside any of the 4 bags, weighing in at 50 pounds each, broke! yes! The same could not be said for one of the bags itself. The metal frame has been bent to the point that the next smallest bag no longer fits inside. Wonder if that falls under 'normal wear and tear' or not. I'll give SAS a call tomorrow and see if they want to fix the damage or not.

Right now I'm starting on major loads of laundry. Ick!

Wedding went well

Wow, it's been a month since I last found time to sit down in front of my computer and upgrade properly. I'm jet-lagged beyond belief at the moment, and have none of the 4 checked bags. Oh well. Such is life.

The wedding went wonderfully and I'll try to get pictures online for that sometime next year. Ok, maybe sooner than that.

Right now I'm just way too tired to post much of anything!

2 weeks to go!

Wow! Has it really been an entire week since I last found time to write? It's just crazy. David is here now and today we went and did a bit of shopping, met with the priest, and did a bit more shopping. We've also finished up the last of the favors and organized some closets. We've organized all the wedding documents. And we've watched about 4-5 hours of home and garden TV while doing everything else.

Tomorrow we're going to the mall to buy shoes for David, some red ties, presents for people, and perhaps some makeup for me.

I wish I had the energy to type up all the odd thoughts going through my head right now. 13 days until we get married. I wonder if I'll feel like an adult then? When does one stop feeling like 'a kid' and begin feeling like an adult instead?

3 weeks left...

In 3 weeks I'm going to get married! Man it feels like I've still got tons of things to do. I'm waiting on 4 packages of things I've ordered online too.

It's crazy thinking that I'm getting married... it makes me feel so adult all of a sudden. I don't really feel like an adult, but I feel that I should feel like an adult. That almost makes sense I guess.

There are a million details that go into weddings. The big things like invites, the dress, the shoes, the food, and the locations. But there are also a million small things like making sure we have enough coloring books and crayons for the kids, making sure I've got the right jewelry for the wedding, the many many fittings of the dress with small alterations each, and the thank you presents for those who are helping me. That's what the four packages are.

The house also needs to be cleaned and recleaned, laundry washed, and everything looking shiny and nice before guests show up. I think I'm going to spend today trying to make sure that all the doors and light switches in the house are spotless. I'll have to do it at least one more time before the wedding too, but that's the way it works.

I'm sure I'm forgetting to buy thank you presents for someone... I haven't bought anything for my maids yet... and I'm sure my mom needs something better than what I've ordered for her. Eek! I hope I remember who I'm forgetting soon!

In California

Well, I'm in California. It's been REALLY busy here. This is what I've been up to since I arrived...

Tuesday evening - plane landed, found fast food, went home and slept.
Wednesday - Tried to get a guest count, slept lots, realized I had a 103 fever. Slept more.
Thursday - Shoe shopping attempt 1.
Friday - Mom and Dad gone all day to help the brother move. Had steaks for dinner at 9pm when they got home.
Saturday - Another day of shoe shopping, finally found the right shoes.
Today (Sunday) - I'm supposed to help my dad put together some mailers to send to relatives with directions. Not sure at all why they weren't included in the invites, but oh well.

Meanwhile I've assigned David the task of helping me put together 'Welcome Packets' for the Swedes. That way when they arrive they'll have some guidelines of stuff to do to avoid driving my parents insane, and they'll also have some ideas of fun things to do in the area.

Once David gets here I need to take him tie shopping, meet the priest, meet the DJ, and do the 100 thousand last minute things that I haven't thought about yet. (Seating chart? Vows? Rings?)

I'd like to go curl up and sleep for a week. Oh well.

One month left

Today is the 18th. I'm getting married in a month! Wow!

VG in Math D!

Wow! I was totally surprised today when I got an email saying that not only did I pass the math test, but I got a VG (well-passed). Yea! It was the lowest VG one could get, but I did it! There was a third of the book that I didn't understand at all, and about a third of the problems on the test I just left totally blank because I didn't even know where to start. And yet I still managed to pull off a VG. That's quite scary actually. I don't think with this little grasp of a topic in a math class in the states I would have gotten much more than a low pass, if I even passed. A VG is considered to be quite a good grade in Sweden and is the highest grade level at university (there is one more at the highschool level though). Weird! But I'm happy!

Tuesday, US!