Three weeks

This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

Time just flies by, I’ve already been here three weeks, it’s crazy! I really love it here in southern California, but I’ll have to admit, it is kinda lonely at the moment. It’s not easy when all the au pairs have different schedules. I have things to do, for example study for my California Driver License. I think I’m gonna start that tomorrow. And since I got my Sony eReader today I want to read. The girl is sick when it comes to reading. The last Harry Potter book she read in like 4 hours. Maybe she can teach me how to read fast. That would be awesome, because I have 600 ebooks on my eReader already.

I celebrated my three-week day at the gym. Today I killed my legs. I didn’t do exactly as it said in my gym program, I was too much of a coward to try the full squat! I think it is a good exercise, so maybe next week… Rigjt now, ten hours later, my legs hurt like hell. I still have a lot of muscle soreness all over my body, like the chest and actually still the back. I think I’m just gonna have to get used to it. Tomorrow will be my last day of my first week of hardcore work outs. I will do core. I’ve already changed the two crunch exercises to machines. Much easier! Afterward I am going to reward myself with a jacuzi bath and/or some time in the sauna. I will probably need it!

Right now I am waiting for my uncle and his kids to login on Skype. Ella really wants to talk with me :).

And after that I think it’s time to get some sleep. It’s been a long day with stubborn children…

Sony eReader. My Sony eReader! It weighs like nothing, the screen looks exactly like paper and is so much smoother than a big fat book. It has WiFi, a dictionary (unfortunately not a SV-EN), Facebook, a web browser, you can add normal pictures, make notes (both with a keyboard and handwriting (a pen was included)). I love it! Wonder what book I will start with… yes, of course I will simultaneously read two books at the same time, I can’t wait 1000 pages until I can use it!

The last day of January

This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

This was a normal day. Making the kids’ breakfast and lunch boxes, leaving the kids at school, picking them up, doing homework and playing with them until dinner. We had fun playing. Before lunch me and the boy built a pillow fortress in my bed. It was almost as big as my whole bed which is really big! He was in there like the whole afternoon and even did his homework in there.

When they both were ar school I drove to the gym. I am already behind me schedule, but I’m not doing anything this weekend, so I might as well hit the gym and maybe take a closer look at the jacuzzi! So instead of leg, I did chest and triceps. My thighs are better after todays work out and 15 minutes of running on the treadmill (withouth my calves hurting!) but my arms are like spaghetti and I think my chest is really going to hurt tomorrow. But I love it! No pain no gain. I just have to keep my hands off of candies and sweets…

The weather is nicer. A little cloudy, but around 75 and I walked around in shorts all day! Maybe I should go to the beach on Saturday and see if there are any beachvolleyball players already.

Now it’s time for my big bed and a chapter in A Dance with Dragons!

Pillow fortress The big fortress in my bed!

Like a housewife

This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

I was really afraid that today would be horrible. Malin went home to Sweden this morning and the kids were crying a lot! First time I’ve seen them cry in almost three weeks (except for the girl this Sunday when she accidently broke a lamp in a store and was so upset). I was prepared to be kind to them and let them be sad if they wanted to. But after breakfast everything was back to normal! Such a relief for me, because it would have been really hard with two crying kids, telling me they hate me and want their old nanny back (yeah, I am called a nanny here – don’t know the difference, so it doesn’t matter).

Before lunch the boy was at a playdate and when I picked him up when I was going to drive him to school I saw two peacocks sitting on a stone wall across the street. There is a peacock farm nearby and I was told they wandered around in the neighborhood, but I haven’t seen any before this week. Saw two three days ago in another yard just sitting there, looking cool.

And while I’m on the animal topic, I saw another tropical animal today, a lizard!! When I got home from dropping off the boy at school I went to the front door to see if my Sony eReader had been delivered yet. It hadn’t, but according to FedEx it will be here on Friday. When I turned around I saw something on the wall, in the corner of my eye. It was a lizard! Don’t know what kind. But it was kind of big, like 1dm from head to tail. I was so excited. But when I told the kids later in the afternoon they just looked at me like I was crazy and said that it was nothing. They have much bigger ones in their backyard sometimes. I am still very excited when I see a hummingbird in the garden. Animals are fun!

Directly after school we went to Jamba Juice in Encinitas. I had a Caribbean something. It was really good; pineapple, mango, strawberry, and more that I don’t remember.

When we got home we did homework and I did the laundry. Thought that I would only get two machines, but now I think I’ve done like six! I had some stains on two of my pants that I saw after the machine was done, so I put on some stain remover . One pair got clean. But my white jeans were still dirty. So I washed them in chlorine and now they are all white again! Finally after four months. It is fun to party with Hanna, our trips to the woods and all of our crazy ideas, but it has its price (this is not the first clothes I get muddy while being drunk). I miss it! I am longing for the second pubcrawl in 2014.

When all the homework was done the girl and I started baking. My host mun told me this morning that we should do some baking today. So we made Chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cupcakes. The kitchen was a total mess when I was supposed to start with dinner. But she was kind and helped me clean up (even though she did most of the baking).

I was multitasking like never before. Laundry, cooking, cleaning the surfaces, clearing away things, vacuum, making the table and putting away all the cookies we made. I guess that is what it feels like to be a mum…

For dinner I made a shrimp wok with carrots, broccoli and egg. Served with pasta in lack of noodles.
I thought it was good. But the kids didn’t… once again… They hate my cooking :(.

This morning I called European Wax Center and made an appointment for my free afternoon. The girl who took care of me was so nice. The wax was some imported beads from France that was blue. It hardened on the skin and she just tore the wax of. Not putting a strip on it. That was cool.
It didn’t hurt and all of the hair on my lower legs disappeared. I could get used to this.

When I walked out of there I felt like a new person, newly made nails and silky smooth legs. It’s fun to try new things and feel pretty at the same time!

I’m sorry for the long post today, but I like to write and I feel more comfortable every day writing in English. Now I just want to talk more!

Now I really need to sleep, I am so exhausted and tired. I cross my fingers that the alarm clock in my room will leave me alone tomorrow. 6:15 is way to early to get up. And even though I muted it yesterday, it still woke me up with a pounding heart this morning! I hate it!!

Two peacocks

A lizard! The 1 dm lizard on the wall.

Chocolate chip cookies Messy cupcakes When the girl poured the batter in the forms she thought something was missing because the batter was very thin. She had way too little flour in. So she sprinkled flour over each cupcake and stirred. We haven’t tried them yet, but they look good!

Dinner is served It’s not fun when my cooking isn’t appreaciated… Maybe it will be better when I’m used to cook in another kitchen, with other ingredients. If not, I am gonna hate Wednesdays…

Manicure and pedicure

This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

I think I could get used to getting a pedicure once in a while. Not too expensive and it was so nice. I was at the salon with Malin and Ida for about two hours this afternoon, I was in a massage chair the whole time. And lower leg massage from the pedicurist was included in the pedicure, but I had tight jeans on, so I didn’t get it… But I did get lower arm massage when I got the manicure. Now I have french manicure on all my nails and I feel so pretty. After, we bought some coffee and when I picked up the kids from school I got there in flip-flops, new nails and a coffee in my hand. It felt really wrong… But still nice!

Other than that I didn’t do anything special today. The sky was blue, but it was still very windy and cold. I want summer (or the warmth at least)!

Pedicure Manicure

UCSD Extension

I got an email from UCSD Extension today that made me very happy. I asked about a Sustainability course that might be of equivalence with the Environment and Sustainable Development course I will take in my third year at Chalmers. They said that the course is an evening course, 6pm-9pm once a week during the summer (jun 24 – sep7). And when I asked my host dad if those hours were okay, he said yes! So now I am waiting for a response from my counselor at Chalmers if I can transfer that credit. If I can, that would make me super duper mega happy! The only thing is that the course is kind of expensive, $415. And I only get $500 from my host family and I have to take 3 more credits.

I have found two more courses that interest me: Advanced Pronunciation & Fluency (3 credits, $300) and Advanced Conversation Improvement (0 credits, $200). I think I can turn the hours into credit for the au pair program, but I think it might be too few hours anyway… it’s a one month course. It’s too bad, because that’s the one I really want. Both of them are evening classes as well.

It is a lot of money, so I think I will put it on my wish list for my birthday that is coming up pretty soon. Otherwise I think I want to pay for it anyway. Education is good! And I won’t get another chance at studying at an American University.

I feel so relieved that I probably have solved this study problem! 🙂
UCSD Extension

The sun is back

I was so happy when I saw that the sky was all blue when I woke up this morning. But I’ve learned these weeks that sun don’t always means warmth. It was really windy and cold, like 65F. But in March I’ve heard it will be warmer, and the only thing in the way is the short month of Febraury. Nice! I am looking forward to hanging out on the beach and playing beach volleyball again!

I had trouble sleeping yesterday, so I’ve been tired today. And the alarmclock, that was already here when I got here, started beeping at 6:15 on the highest volume. The same thing happened last week. Think I need to take a closer look on that clock and stop that torture.

My work out today went really well! I managed to do all of my exercises all by myself except for the deadlift. I asked a guy for help and he gave me a thourough explanation, showed how it was done, and gave me feedback when I tried. That was very nice of him. I don’t think that I would have gotten that service back at my gym in Sweden…
Everything today, included warm up, stretching and cool down took like 75min. That means that I have time for jacuzzi and sauna afterward!

The boy had a friend over in the afternoon, so me and the girl were hanging out. Didn’t do anything special, girl talk and some game playing on my phone.

Now it’s dinner!

My work out schedule

Finally I’m done with my gym program. I think it is pretty good to be honest. But we won’t be sure until after some time.

This is what I came up with:

MONDAY: BACK (barbell deadlift, barbell bent-over row, and cable pulldown) and BICEPS (barbell curl and dumbbell Curl)

TUESDAY: CHEST (dumbbell bench press, dumbbell fly, and lever pec deck fly), TRICEPS (dumbbell one arm extension and barbell lying triceps extension), and LOWER ARM (dumbbell hammer curl)

THURSDAY: LEGS (barbell full squat (we’ll se how that works with my short calf muscles…), dumbbell lunge, lever seated leg curl, and lever lying leg curl) and CALVES (calf press (if I can do it…)

FRIDAY: SHOULDER (dumbbell shoulder press and dumbbell lateral raise) and CORE (weighted crunches, weighted twisted crunches, v-ups, and possibly my 5-series that I used to do when I did the athletics).

I was thinking 3 sets with 10 reps. If any weight lifting expert is reading this, and it sounds crazy, please tell me, so I don’t hurt myself :).

And I will try to run at least twice a week, when I have time, like Wednesdays and once in the weekend. And maybe do an alternative work out schedule so I don’t get bored with the same exercises week after week.

Other than putting this together and watching a lot of videos on the Internet on how to do all of these exercises I have been with Pia and the kids at Chuck E. Cheese’s. That is a big gaming hall for kids. So you buy tokens, play games and get tickets you can turn into gifts at the end of your visit. I have seen it on movies, but I didn’t think it was like that in real life. A fun experience!

After that we went to two home decoration stores. The girl accidently broke a lamp in one of them, got reallys ad. But the personnel were kind and said we didn’t have to pay for it.

Dinner was really good, chicken stew with broccoli and pasta. I love broccoli! But that means that I can’t do my broccoli and bacon thingy on Wednesday. Wonder what I will do instead then…

Tomorrow evening Malin gets here again. We have already decided to go to a nail salon on Tuesday. That will be fun!

Oh, I almost forgot! This evening I ordered a Sony eReader! I have like 1100 pages left in the book I brought, but I couldn’t resist anymore.

Now I have a date with my pillow. Good night!

Fashion Valley

This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

I’ve spent my first money on clothes here in the US. It only took me about two weeks. It’s dangerous with all the low prices…

My day started with Hanna on Skype. It feels so weird not to be able to talk with her like all the time. There is so much going on right now. But it’s nice that things like Skype and Facebook exist. Otherwise this year would be rather tough I think.

After that I went to Encinitas to pick up Anna Maria. I drove us to Fashion Valley where we walked around for an hour before the other girls arrived. They got lost on the way.

When they showed up we went into two stores, like Abercrombie & Fitch (I don’t know if I hate or love that store..) and Forever 21. At Abercrombie I bought a hoodie because that is what you use as a jacket here and I only have one. At Forever 21 I bought a belt which means that the girl is going to be so happy tomorrow when I give here the one I don’t have to use anymore. I also bought a tank top and t-shirt at Q when it was just Anna Maria and me.

At 5:30, after waiting 50min for a table, we sat down at the Cheesecake Factory. Today I ordered teriyaki chicken, it was really good too. I think I will try a new dish everytime too. My cheesecake today was Adam’s Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple (Creamy Cheesecake Swirled with Caramel, Peanut Butter, Butterfingers and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups). Really good! Next time I think I will try the carrotcake cheesecake.

After that we decided to go to San Diego. So I used my GPS again to find Little Italy. I think it was way too soon for me to drive in San Diego. It was very scary. So we decided to go home to one of the au pairs I met today, Monica. But when we got to her house it was so late so I went home instead. There was a thick fog, so my scary driving experience wasn’t over. And even though it was late (about 10pm) there were lika million cars on the freeway, so that was scary too… Everything went fine though and I am safe and sound at home again.

This whole day was really fun. I got to meet three au pairs who live close to San Diego (which is not that far from Carlsbad); Alejandra, Monica and Dina. Very nice girls!

Now it’s time to go to sleep! Good night (or good morning Sweden)!

Healthy breakfast My breakfasts are very healthy almost every day. Today I got an orange from the yard, it was really good!

Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple Adam’s Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple at The Cheesecake Factory. Super delicous!

Little Italy, San Diego This was all I saw of San Diego today before I drove away to small and safe Carlsbad.

Rainy day #2

This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

It was worse today. Yesterday it stopped raining in the afternoon and you thought that it would be sunny today. But no. Still not very cold, but I miss the sun and summer feeling it gave. When it is this kind of weather, it is chaos at school. Everyone drives the children to school and you can barely get to the parking lot. Horrible! Normally I feel comfortable behind the wheel, but not in the rain at the school… Hopefully it will be better next week.

I had some freetime before lunch today because the boy was ona playdate. So I went out in the rain driving around, and going to Target for the very first time. That store is loved by this family.

I picked up the boy from his playdate and went home and did some lunch. At school he got a number award in school today. He can count to 100. I stayed and watched the Flag Salute and then took the car out driving some more. This time to Vons, mostly to just check it out. Butt hen I remebered that my calves hurt and bought liniment. It feels good!

When it was time to pick the kids up again after school it was still raining and the chaos was there. I even got there late because of all the traffic… The girl was at play practice so I just picked up the boy and we played Wii Mario Kart until it was time for the girl to come home. And when she did we all three sat in my bed, playing on my tablet and hugging each other. The kids competed on who of them loves me the most!
The girl also did pedicure on me. It’s very pretty!

Tacos for dinner and now I don’t know what to do. Maybe I too should go to sleep.

Tomorrow is a big day! I wanted to meet some other au pairs at Fashion Valley and asked three, and all of them are bringing one more, so we are a bunch of girls going shopping tomorrow. I’ve never driven so far away from home before, so this will be a real challenge. I think I will have to use my GPS for the first time…

Pedicure by the girl

Rain

This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

Under these last two weeks I have experienced three out of four (maybe five) different kinds of weather; biting cold, normal warmth, and rain. The only thing missing is hot summer and maybe hail. That doesn’t happen often, but it can. I’ve heard that it only rains for ten days every year, let’s see if that is true.

This day was much like the other. It feels like I’ve started to get a routine already. I haven’t figured out yet when I will eat breakfast. There are three options; before the kids eat (which means that I have to get up like 6:40), at the same time I’m prepairing the kid’s breakfast and lunch boxes and emptying the dishwasher, or after at 9 am while doing A’s. homework. I’ve tried the last two options so I think I’m gonna try to get up earlier tomorrow and eat in peace and quiet.

In my afternoon I went to the gym with Lizzie. I ran on the treadmill even though my calves still hurt. They are hard like rocks now and are really sore. But I’m not doing as usual and give up. I will try and see if the pain eventually will fade if I just keep this up!

We focused on core and upper body today and it felt good to walk around looking like question marks together instead of alone. Many machines are the same as in Sweden, but it’s a little werid with pounds instead of kg. But I don’t think it will take long until I understand it!

After I picked up the kids I’ve been sitting in the couch with A watching DisneyChannel. I have had stomach pains like I don’t know this week and I hope it will go away soon, when I have adjusted to the bacterial flora or something. Maybe I’m allergic to something? Horrible thought…Rainy day #1 It wasn’t puring down, but it was definitely raining, and 70F (20C).