Changes :: Mudanças

Dear friends, I've been playing with blogger and exporting, importing and deleting blogs, so the previous posts may appear in a random order on google reader or other readers. Amazingly, I added the followers gadget from Sabrinas to this blog and I still have 120 followers! Despite what I wrote in the goodbye post from Sabrinas, of course of love knowing that there are some of you out there that like to read what I write. So, a big Thank You to you!

And before heading to the kitchen to cook lunch (I'm home today - I had a tennis match in the morning and I'll be working on a paper in the afternoon; by dinner time, I'll have to go to the lab do some lab work until late at night, so I decided to stay home during the day), let me show you how my living room looks today:

Queridos amigos, tenho andado a brincar com o blogger, a exportar, importar e apagar blogs, por isso não se espantem se os posts anteriores aparecerem fora de ordem no google reader. Surpreendentemente, adicionei o gadget dos seguidores das Sabrinas a este blog e fiquei com os meus 120 seguidores! Apesar do que escrevi no post do Adeus nas Sabrina, claro que adoro saber que há por aí algumas pessoas que gostam de ler o que eu escrevo. Por isso, um grande Muito Obrigada para todos vós!

E antes de ir para a cozinha fazer o almoço (hoje fiquei em casa - tive uma partidinha de ténis de manhã e vou trabalhar num artigo à tarde; à hora de jantar tenho que ir para o laboratório, onde vou ficar até às tantas, por isso decidi ficar em casa durante o dia), aqui ficam com uma foto da minha sala hoje:

Flickr favourites

Today, just a short post to let you know that I love Flickr and I could spend endless hours looking at beautiful, inspiring photos. Here are some of my favourite photos on Flickr. Please click on the links below to see the original photo and the photostreams of these amazing people.

1. Week 15: The life of a scientist, 2. Please come in!, 3. My room, 4. ..setting the table for breakfast..., 5. Untitled, 6. Untitled, 7. tea and doodles, 8. Kitchen view, 9. ~ you can actually "like" me* on FB, too ;) {*my blog}, 10. Week 11: Lookin' Out My Back Door, 11. Spring in the hallway, 12. home....., 13. Untitled, 14. Living room, 15. Untitled, 16. ~

Evening bliss

Hello dear friends! How are you today? Is it summer already where you live? Here in the Algarve it is hot and sunny and the beaches are getting crowded... I've been spending more and more time in the balcony - that's where I am right now, enjoying the sea breeze... One good thing about living at 37º of latitude and having a south-facing living-room with a balcony is that the sun is so high in the sky that the rays don't enter directly into the room. Anyway, I wish you all a pleasant evening!

Olá queridos amigos! Como estão hoje? Já é verão onde moram? Aqui no Algarve já está sol e calor e as praias começam a ficar cheias de gente... Tenho passado cada vez mais tempo na varanda - é onde estou neste momento, a saborear a brisa do mar... Uma coisa boa de viver a 37º de latitude e ter uma sala virada a sul, é que como o Sol está tão alto no céu, os raios não entram directamente na sala. Bem, desejo-vos a todos um agradável serão!

Decluttering day

Yesterday the hubby and I went to Ikea in Seville, Spain (closer than Lisbon), filled our car with white stuff and I spent this afternoon decluttering the basement (it's a holiday here in Portugal). 

I'm tired, but it is so good to seat at my desk looking at the ocean...

I did it! I woke up at 6h30 today!

I usually wake up around 7h30. Sometimes I snooze until 8. But it has been a dream of mine to wake up early - or earlier. Not to do anything special, like going to the gym at 7, which I do sometimes, but just because. Just to go outside and listen to the birds singing. Just to drink a cup of tea quietly, when everyone else in the house is still sleeping. Just to seat in the balcony with my laptop and read my favourite blogs with no rush. So, yes, that's what I'm doing right now.

My goal is to wake up at 6 every morning. It's easier now that the sun is already up, but I'm not about that when the winter comes...

Friday bliss and plans for the weekend

Yesterday's work day was not that productive - being constantly interrupted by phone calls and people knocking on the door doesn't help when you're trying to focus on writing an article.

But in the afternoon my Decorate arrived! Fantastic book! Can't wait to go to the beach tomorrow and read it all through.

And I also got my basket of organic vegetables and fruits, from a project in Portugal called Prove that aims to promote and sell local agriculture and horticulture products.

Now I have a busy Saturday ahead. I have to go groceries shopping in the morning, then I'm going to a ballet show with the kids (based on the Wizard of Oz and danced by children), then lunch that will include some of the items in the picture above, a birthday party in the afternoon and later maybe a tennis game.

And tomorrow is elections day in Portugal. The plan is to vote early in the morning, buy sardines and snails and head to the beach house to spend the day under the Sun!

HeiaHeia

Today I found, via KatjaR, a great and useful site, HeiaHeia, to keep track of my sport activities. It's fun! You can check my profile here.

Making me sick

There are two things that really make me sick:

- the excuse "I don't have time" - this is the worst thing a co-worker can say to me, especially when they're single with no children. I have two kids, a home to take care of, a demanding job, and I have time. It's all a matter of time management and planning. I'd rather hear them saying "I didn't do this or that because I didn't feel like it". Plain and simple.

- people complaining about their jobs - this is such a Portuguese thing. At least, I don't think I've ever read foreign blogs where people complain about having to go to work. Things like "oh, bummer, tomorrow is monday, I have to go to work" really pisses me off. I think we should be all proud and thankful for having jobs, instead of complaining about them. But then again, this Portuguese mentality is in part responsible for the economical problems that Portugal is facing right now. There are several reasons why northern european countries are rich and productive, and people's strong mentality and will to move forward is one of them.

That being said, I love Portugal (we have wonderful things like the weather, the food and the history, and people are usually warm and friendly), but if I was offered a god job in places such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark, or even Germany, I would fly out tomorrow.

Balcony season is open!

The weather here in the Algarve is so nice and warm, so now we have all our meals outside.

And instead of watching tv, we listen to music (today was a Gershwin cd, but most times is jazz). 

And it feels so good...

Playing with photos

"A Softer World" is a 3-pannel long webcomic launched in 2003 by Canadians Joey Comeau and Emily Horne.

There's a group on Flickr dedicated to 3-pannel strips like ASW, made by Flickr members. Some of my favourites include this and this by Nieske. I just love them!

Last year, inspired by all the fantastic strips on Flickr, I even made some of my own:

Surprise party

Yesterday I threw a surprise dinner party to celebrate the hubby's 40th birthday. 

I invited family and friends, and it was fun! Maybe I'll take him for a surprise weekend abroad (maybe Paris, where he was born) when he turns 50...

Some random musings

I love to procrastinate. Well, I don't love it, but I do it quite often... like just right now...

I have several urgent and important actions in my action list (I follow the GTD method), I have an article to write and a lot of lab work to do, including several dozens of phytoplankton samples to count at the microscope, but I just don't feel like it right now...

Earlier today I manage to empty my inbox and to file trays on my desk, so that was a nice jump start of my day!

And I finally ordered Holly Becker's book, Decorate, from Amazon. I was indecisive about whether or not to buy the book, but this article in Red magazine made up my mind!

Oh, and if you'd like to see the cutest and loveliest way of announcing pregnancy to the world, check out Astrid's post. Congratulations Astrid and Sølve!

Wild flowers

Some pictures taken this week, somewhere in the Algarve...