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Saturday, January 31, 2009
Already February
Time is just flying by so fast. Tomorrow it's already February again. It's really amazing how fast this year is already zipping by. But I guess the sooner spring rolls around the happier I'll be so maybe it's a good thing. :) It's been cold, icy & snowy forever now. My parents emailed me a bunch of pictures from all the snow at their house so I guess Austria isn't much better off than us.
I am glad it's the weekend. Had a work call at 6:50 am this morning but was luckily able to resolve it without having to go into work. Managed to answer all my emails and work on some more Spanish with my Rosetta Stone software. I definitely find it intriguing and am always looking forward to the next chapter.
Not much planned for tomorrow either. It's the Super Bowl so we will watch that. I am not usually much into football but I don't mind watching the Super Bowl. The commercials are always fun. :) Maybe I can get some letters done too.
Mail update. So far letters are going out on Monday to: Jessica/DE and Charles/TN. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Sarah/Canada, Nina/WA, David/IN, Alex/Germany and Jetta/Finland.
Posted by Hanna at 05:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Snow + Cold Rant
More snow. Ugh. I am really getting sick of the crazy cold and this winter. I guess we have been spoiled with the last few winters where it hasn't been this cold. I think it has reached the freezing point maybe once or twice over the last few weeks.Really getting sick of it.On top of that it's snowing again today (3-5 inches). I know, I know, it could be so much worse and other parts of the country are having even more issues but I am still not happy.
Well let's see what today brings. So far this week has been somewhat ok at work so hopefully today will be ok too. I am definitely ready for the weekend again. :)
Mail update. No letters have gone out. :( Received letters from/still owe replies to: Jessica/DE, David/IN, Alex/Germany, Charles/TN and Jetta/Finland.
Posted by Hanna at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Hola - a nice laid back weekend
I am very happy to be at home and enjoying a nice laid back Saturday. It's nice not to have to work today. Instead I made myself lunch (a yummy toasted sandwich on marble rye bread with honey mustard, turkey & Swiss cheese) and answered all my emails. Afterwards I decided to play around with my Rosetta Stone Spanish Software some more. I am really enjoying that program and love the way they approach learning a new language. I am only on the 2nd lesson so I haven't gotten much past the basics but so far I am really liking it.
We are invited over to a friend's house later tonight. Haven't seen that couple in ages so it will be nice to meet-up and catch up.
No plans for tomorow yet. Should try and catch up with some of my letters so I will do that.
Before I forget should also mention that I did stay home on Tuesday and watched the inauguration on TV. I am very happy that I got to watch it. I am still really excited about everything. I know that he won't be able to perform miracles but at least there is hope.
Mail update. Since my last update letters went out to: Celia/MA and Carmen/Malta. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Jessica/DE, David/IN, Alex/Germany, Charles/TN and Jetta/Finland.
Posted by Hanna at 04:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Monday, January 19, 2009
One more day
I don't think I have ever felt that involved in politics but I guess this is different. I am so excited about Obama's inauguration tomorrow. I was considering taking a day off this week since I worked 6 days last week and am very much thinking about making it tomorrow so I can watch the inauguration.
Yesterday we watched the HBO special at the Lincoln Memorial (I was glad to be able to watch it even though we don't normally have HBO). It was great to see all the actors and musicians come out in support of Obama and the upcoming change in this country. I really enjoyed seeing Obama and his family sitting there watching and just looking like a normal sweet family. Obama seemed to really have fun, at times even singing along and bopping his head to the music. He is such a laid back guy. I really am excited to finally see him in the oval office.
I know it's not going to be easy and I know there is a lot of hard work to be done and I hope that the world isn't putting too much pressure on him but I think if anybody can do it he probably can. He seems like a guy that can hold his own next to people like Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. I loved when they were showing parts of old presidential speeches. It made me think "Wow, look at all these historical figures and the important impact they had on this country. You will never be able to show a clip of Bush speaking and have somebody think "Wow, what an amazing man !"
Mail update. No letters have gon out. :*( Received letters from/still owe replies to: Alex/Germany, Charles/TN, Carmen/Malta, Jetta/Finland and Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 07:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Sunday, January 18, 2009
** COLD **
I am really tired of the cold snap we have been going through here in Connecticut. It's been barely above freezing for days and mostly a lot below it. I know it's a lot worse in other parts of the country so I shouldn't complain all that much. But I am definitely ready for spring !!!
This week seemed pretty busy at work. I guess part of it was that we had somebody on vacation so that always tends to make things more hectic trying to cover everything. But all in all we did ok and survived the week. Let's see what next week brings.
Tomorrow I am going to my monthly Austrian meet-up in NYC which will be fun. There wasn't one in December due to the holidays so it will be nice to go again. On Thursday there is another German-language meet-up in West Hartford. Feels like ages since I have been to one so it will be good to go.
Not too much else new really. Still haven't had time to try out my Rosetta Stone software but we finally took our Christmas decorations down, unpacked, did laundry, etc. Spent some of today taking care of some bits around the house. All in all a pretty good day.
Mail update. No letters have gon out. :*( Received letters from/still owe replies to: Alex/Germany, Charles/TN, Carmen/Malta, Jetta/Finland and Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 08:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Weekend Update
And another week already gone by again. Can't believe that it's already Sunday evening again. Somehow I didn't really get anything done this weekend. Oh well.
Well yesterday we were at work till the afternoon. Then we headed straight to NYC because we had tickets to see Rockapella in concert. It was snowing and at times with the wind it felt like needles blowing in your face but the snow and wind died down evenually so it wasn't so bad in the end. The show was really great and a lot of fun.
Didn't get to bed until after 1am so didn't get up until late this morning either. Then had lunch and answered some emails. But somehow it's already 5pm and I don't know where the day went. Didn't unpack yet and our Christmas tree/decorations are still up to. Well, I guess that will have to be next week's project. I also wanted to play with the Rosetta Stone software. Not sure that will happen either. Oh well. There is always tomorrow or the next day. :)
Mail update. A letter is going out tomorrow to: Lotte/Denmark. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Jetta/Finland and Celia/MA.
Posted by Hanna at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Thursday, January 08, 2009
2008 Recap - 2009 Resolutions
So we are back in Connecticut and back to reality. I wasn't too happy to face the cold and an ice storm the first day back but hey what can you do ? The first day back at work was hectic as expected but not quite as horrible as I imagined. So far today is okay as well so let's hope it stays that way.
It's weird that it's January and 2009 already. Somehow I always feel like January is a clean slate somehow and you get all renewed chances to start over and try to change things you didn't get to do the year before. Some of the things I would like to do in 2009 are use my Rosetta Stone software to learn Spanish, exercise more/be more active, cook more at home, keep reading a lot, drive more, organize some more of the clutter in our bedroom/livingroom/kitchen, etc.
Mail update. Since the last update letters went out to: Emilia/Finland and Kimber/Canada. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Jetta/Finland.
I finally filled out the End of the Year 2008 survey so if you are interested take a look.
2008 End of Year Survey
1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? Go to the Austrian meet-ups in NYC and the German meet-ups in West Hartford, CT
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I managed to de-clutter my closet/bedroom/livingroom/kitchen for the most part and read quite a bit. Didn’t really follow through with exercising more, taking a class (maybe a language or a cooking class) or cooking more at home. I will probably make some more resolutions for 2009 and try again.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My friends Sharon & Ann-Kristin
4. Did anyone close to you die? my Austrian cat Stupsi
5. What countries did you visit? Germany, Denmark, Austria & Canada
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? less stress & less worrying
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? not sure
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? not sure … maybe being more social & going to a bunch of meet-ups .. doesn’t sound like a very big achievement though
9. What was your biggest failure? Not practicing driving enough
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? nothing major
11. What was the best thing you bought? A new bedset from Austria
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Barack Obama – he really inspires me 13. Whose behavior made you appalled and/or depressed? The way the Republicans behaved during the presidential election
14. Where did most of your money go? Our broken oil tank & cleanup & new oil tank
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Finding Café Steinhof (an Austrian restaurant in NYC), Karl Ehmer’s (a German deli in Danbury that sells Hungarian salami) & Whittard’s (tea shop) in Boston
16. What song will always remind you of 2008? maybe Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long”
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? same
b) thinner or fatter? about the same
c) richer or poorer? about the same
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? just relaxing
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Stressing about work and other things I have no control over
20. How will you be spending Christmas? Spent it with Mike’s family here in Connecticut
21. Did you fall in love in 2008? no, already in love
22. How many one-night stands? none
23. What was your favorite TV program? CSI NY
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? don’t think so
25. What was the best book you read? the Outlander series by Diana Gabalon
26. What was your greatest musical discovery? mmm .. not sure
27. What did you want and get? vacations, fun weekend trips
28. What did you want and not get? a car… ha ha
29. What was your favorite film of this year? Ratatouille (even though that came out in 07 I think but I didn’t see it until 08)
30. What did you do on your birthday? Was at work but after work we went to TK’s for free wings and a nice get together with some friends
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? less stress in general
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? not sure I have one
33. What kept you sane? Mike
35. What political issue stirred you the most? the presidential election
36. Who did you miss? my family and friends all over the world
37. Who was the best new person you met? Met some lovely people including Lydia, Giota & Tizz
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008: Try not to let everything get to you so much (although I already knew that I think – it’s just hard to keep in mind sometimes)
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. “Don’t worry – be happy”
Posted by Hanna at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Friday, January 02, 2009
Sunny Florida
Another update from Florida. The weather is still gorgeous, warm and sunny. Having a really nice time so far. Yesterday we walked on the beach some more and had appetizers & drinks at the Old Salty Dog (Strongbow on tap - how awesome is that ?).
Today we went to the Ringling Art Museum which was really great. Huge grounds, a pretty mansion, art gallery & circus museum. Afterwards we had lunch and then walked on the beach some more. The sand is so white and fluffy here - really pretty.
Tomorrow we are checking out here in Siesta Key and into a different hotel in Sarasota. Might drive down to Ft. Myers to tour the Edison Winter Home Museum. Definitely having a really nice time. If you want to see a silly picture of Mike & me from New Year's Eve click here.
Mail update. A letter went out today to Alex/Germany. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Emilia/Finland.
Posted by Hanna at 06:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack