Using Your Time Wisely

Do you use your time wisely? I don´t. I wish I could say I did but I´d be lying and I try not to lie whenever I can. (Sometimes you have to lie so you don´t hurt someone´s feelings but otherwise lying isn´t very good)

I have a million projects I should be doing. I could be busy for weeks...maybe months...but I spend too much time on the computer. Some people are addicted to drugs...alcohol...sex...I am addicted to this little square thing-a-ma-jig. I have to check it first thing in the morning....I drink my morning coffee while reading online newspapers and facebook. Everyone else in the house is sound asleep. Even the dogs..

Me though? I am awake...I am here, reading, blogging, chatting several times throughout the day...I think after many years of living on the west coast of Norway and feeling very alone and disconnected from the world, the computer became my life line. My connection to the world outside of where I am. With Skype I can keep connected with my loved ones and while I can´t hug them physically I can SEE them, hear their voices, and not have to guess what they mean when they write something, I can hear what they mean by the tones in their voices or laughter.

It is summer...or getting there really fast and I love to play in my garden. I say play because I am not a gardner, I haven´t a clue what I am doing and while I am in the garden club in the area I never attend the meetings or get togethers....why? I´m not sure really...why don´t I? It´s a great question I have no answer too. I could speculate but the bottom line is I don´t prioritize it. Still, I do my best to wing it...visiting garden centers is some of the highlights of my summer and I almost never can go in one and not come out with something...anyone else experience that??

This is my latest purchases....I am missing one more plant for a wall hanger I have and then I need to start getting some more pots in order to get more plants...which I will....throughout the summer! The color in these flowers make me so happy. I love all the life plants bring to an area. You can take a boring veranda/porch and you´re like...yeah yeah...it´s big....but so what? Add a bunch of plants and some garden furniture...and voila, it is an outdoor paradise you love spending time in! In order to make our veranda a place we enjoy spending time in I have begun my quest for some new garden furniture and I started with this porch tent and two picnic tables. I got the picnic tables from work and I have bought sand paper so I can sand them down and then paint them with a oil base so they will look like the house in color. My plan is to put them together for one long party table where friends and family can gather, eat good food, sit outside into the long summer nights laughing, drinking and making merry. (I´m such a dreamer...hehehehe) The Captain is going to have to fix the one table as you can see there is a part under that is missing, but he can do it. He´s like McGyver, he can fix anything!

I also got some material for my little man (he´d kill me if he heard me writing little man as he loves to show me his muscles and how big he is getting these days), Thomas, to make me some bird houses which I plan to paint in really cute colors and I bought these tiny little terracotta flower pots to put on the porches of the bird houses and I will find some tiny fake flowers to put up in those...should be real cute!

I have also been on a mission to find a reasonably priced vacation for the Captain, Julia, Thomas and I this summer. Sarah has to work so she will get a vacation later on. (at our expense- as thanks for watching the dogs while we are gone) The kid´s request was a place to swim...pools pools and more pools. The Captain´s request was let it be cheap so we can do other things throughout the summer then just that one week. Me, I didn´t really have any requests...however it would be fun with something else interesting to do wherever we went then JUST lying by a pool. Right now, you can find airfare and hotel packages to under 1000 Norwegian kroner to many exotic and exciting places which we would love to visit, Greece, Spain, Turkey...just to name a few, however, if you want to go in July (which is when we can go because the Captain is home then) you suddenly pay over 5000 Norwegian kroner PER PERSON for the same trip! So what could cost us 5000kr for five of us anytime before or after July costs us 25000kr (or more) in July!! CRAZY! I am with the Captain on this one and would like to do more with my summer then just this one week. However, I do want to get away and we have been talking about trying to find something reasonable for the summer and then finding one of those cheap trips to one of those exotic places in the fall/winter.

Well, I found our destination. Leksand Strand in the heart of Sweden. This place is located around the beautiful Lake Siljan and right next door to this camping place we will stay at there is Sommarland Water Park with several activities to entertain my water happy children (and their dad). You can click on the English flag on this site and read about this place and the things to do in English. I have been looking around at what kind of shopping there is in the area and it is overflowing with antique stores and interior shops and quaint cafes. There is a lot of history in the area and a cool outdoor theater built in a cavern called Dalhalla. There is also a bear park, one of the biggest in Scandinavia here. So I think we will have a great week here and it will be the inexpensive vacation the Captain and I wanted so we can do something more exotic this fall/winter.

I am going to leave you with this question folks- what summer plans do you have?

Thanks for stopping by everyone! Until next time my friends...