Thursday, 28 January 2010

Getting fit for summer

I'm soooo fed up with the way I look. It's not just the weight, which actually is bad enough, it's the feeling I get every time I look at myself in the mirror. I really really do need a huge makeover!

My DS2, G aged 10, looooves my belly! He says it's like a pillow... Hrmmm.... I don't want to have a belly like a pillow.... It's time to stop crying about the way I look and DO SOMETHING about it!!!

Well, this is my plan. Since I'm still unemployed and get really bored and lazy at home I need to do some cardiac stuff to get my blood running and my energy back on high. I wish I could go to a gym, that would be fab, but I don't have any money so that is totally out of question. Doing crunches and abs is great excercise, but I know myself, I would only do that for a few days and then get bored and drop out. So this is what I will do: at least 3 days a week I'll take a power walk along the beach for one hour. That will give me enough fresh air to keep me running for a whole day. The second part of my plan is to get back into the habit of dancing at home. Last year I lost several kilos just dancing cumbias at home. I'll try to do at least 30 min every night after my kids go to sleep (otherwise they probably would roll on the floor laughing watching their mom imagine she's Shakira...) and if the weather is ugly in the morning another half an hour dancing instead of going down to the beach.

I found this place to keep track on your excecise: Feel Fit. So far I like it a lot. It's an easy way to keep track.

Any one else who wants to get fit for summer 2010?

Tuesday, 26 January 2010

An energy boost

I LOOVE Peruvian music, especially cumbias, but every now and then I like to listen to Peruvian folk music. I recently came across this video and I wanted to share it with you. I've heard the song hundreds of times before, lots of people put it on their videos from Peru on Youtube, but I never knew the name of the group, until now. So here it is, "Ananau" by Alborada.



BTW, they sing in Qechua, the language of the Incas.

I think this song would be just PERFECT for my powerwalks, specially for climbing stairs. It gives me such an energy boost. :-D

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

Just thinking....


Saturday, 16 January 2010

I need a car


Friday, 15 January 2010

I do miss Morocco..

I spent the past 4 years living in Morocco, in the province of Tetuán, in the north part of the country. It was a very gratifying experience that has taught me a lot about life in general and specially, about myself.


A taxi driver washing his cab. The tower is an old water tower, from the time when you could go by train between the different parts of Spanish Morocco. Tetuan was the capital city of Spanish Morocco. Unfortunately you can't find much signs of its' glorious (??) past anymore...


More cabs in the modern part of the city. In Tetuan the long distance cabs ("grand taxis") are blue while the city cabs ("petit taxis") are yellow.


A market place in the street. This is one of the many markets in Tetuan. In this particular one things are sold directly off the street. It's situated in the outskirts of the modern city, where the taxis to some of the villages stop.

Some days I really really do miss Morocco... But I certainly do not want to move back. Maybe some day, when things get better there...

Wednesday, 13 January 2010

Walking in Malaga

Monday, 11 January 2010

Happiness is... a beach of your own

Sunday, 10 January 2010

My goals for 2010

New year, new resolutions... I haven't really had time to write down my goals for this year, I usually do that every 1st of January. Oh well, it's still not too late so here we go...

1) My first and most important goal is to get a job. I don't really care about what I do, as long as I get payed by the end of month and I can pay my bills. But if I get to chose, I'd like to work in an office or go back to teaching, I really enjoy working with people and watch them grow as persons.

2) Get back to serious blogging. I used to have blogs with hundreds of visitors a day and then when my life got turned upside down I completely quit writing and just focused on surviving.... Now I really long for getting back on track and be a part of the blogger community once again.

3) Loose some weight and get rid of my awful pillow looking belly... Just hate it!!!!

4) Get back to do yoga on a regular basis, really really miss that!

5) NOT start smoking again!!! I quit smoking 10 days ago and I'm still not smoking. HOORAY!!!

6) Get back to doing translations as a freelance translator. I really don't want to have that as my main income, it's too risky. I want to have a regular income and be able to live without too much worries.

7) Start studying French again.

Well, I guess everything will turn out well if I just get a job.... That's my major concern right now....

Midnight Mass


 
 Our Church during/after Midnight Mass

Still looking for a job...

We've been living in Spain since September and I started to look for a job on day 1 and I'm still unemployed.... It is really getting on my nerves because so much time worrying about money is not good for the health... And now we've really hit rock bottom. In a few weeks we're down to 0 Euros and unless I find a job really quick there won't be any more money either... Oh my God, life is really really hard sometomes... What can I do?

I've answered to hundreds of job opportunities but no luck so far.... Something is definitely not working... Unemployment is a HUUUGE problem here in Spain right now. And when you come from abroad things are even harder, because you lack the most important thing - connections. The best way to get a job is to know someone who knows someone who knows someone who's looking for someone....

My biggest wish right now is to find a job... I don't even care about what kind of job, as long as I can buy food and pay my bills... Wish me luck, ok?

Saturday, 9 January 2010

A Blog Design Giveaway

I just came across a great Giveaway and I just couldn't resist the temptation. *lol* You can win a sparkling blog design. Oh boy, don't you love those personal blog designs that really go perfectly with the bloggers personality? Well, I'd love to have one of those, no doubth about it...

Hurry up and have a look at The Kubeczka Family Blog and the Giveaway. The winner will be announced tomorrow, so don't think about it twice. And if you don't win this time, a new Giveaway will be up next month. I'm in, are you?

Clouds but no rain


A walk along the beach... Finally an evening without rain...

Friday, 8 January 2010

Sooo COLD!!!

At last, no rain.... Yesterday morning the rain here in the Malaga province was so heavy that in a few hours it poured down the equivalent to 11 months of water consumption. That is quite a lot...

Today it very, very chilly... I still haven't got a winter jacket (long story...) so I know I'll be freezing when I walk my kids to school. Oh well, hopefully this cold weather won't last for long, or I'll have to get used to it...

My youngest son got really annoyed with the weather and refuses to put on his winter jacket. In the end he didn't have any breakfast either, because he was so angry... Oh my, his day at school will be soooo long! But the jacket it will be, because I can't afford to have him getting sick just because he feels like not wearing a jacket... After all, he's only 10. Can't say I look forward to him being a teenager... *lol*

Oh well, I'd better get ready. I have a 40 minute walk in the freezer to lok forward to... NOT... I definitely prefer days like this:


Thursday, 7 January 2010

About Blanca

So you're curious about who I am? Ok, fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride!

My nick on the internet is Blanca. I'm aged 42, but really, age is just a number, right? I actually feel a lot better now than when I was 30, so I'd say my best age definitely is now. *lol*

I was born and bred in Stockholm, Sweden, but I'm Spanish since birth. At age 20 I decided I wanted to go back "home" to Spain, so I spent 6 years studying at a Spanish university. After that I returned to Sweden for 12 years, got married, had my babies and realized I wasn't happy with my life so I needed a change of air. In 2005 I moved with my kids to Morocco in North Africa. We spent 4 years living among Moroccans in a small town. Last year I got divorced and I moved back to Spain with my kids.

I have 2 wonderful boys. A is 12 years old and G is 10.

I love studying languages and I speak Spanish, Swedish and English fluently, and I also speak some French, German, Danish, Norvegian and Moroccan Arabic...

I also love to take photos, scrap book, dance cumbias, travel, read, cook, go for long walks, meet my friends...

Well, that's me... Any questions? *lol*

So fed up with rain...

Well, enough is enough, right? I know it usually rains quite a bit this time of year, but this year it's really too much! In one single week we got more water than we usually get in six months!!!! And it hasn't stopped raining.... It's been going on for about 3 weeks now...

My part of Spain, Malaga, is quite fortunate. Not many accidents due to the heavy raining here and as far as I know, nobody died, but this raining day and night really is getting on my nerves... In the northern parts of Spain the snow and the really cold temperatures are making life quite difficult. I'm glad I decided to move back to Andalucia and not to Madrid or Cataluña... The airport of Malaga was today the only Spanish airport that worked more or less like normal, in all the other airports many flights were cancelled or delayed.

It looks like it's going to be a long winter...

A Spanish Buddha


One of the two Buddhas that welcomes you to one of the cafés on the beach.

Wednesday, 6 January 2010

A different Christmas Tree


A Christmas Tree made of cans. Such a GREAT idea!!!

Tuesday, 5 January 2010

The 3 Kings


The 3 Kings are coming to town...

Back to normal...

This is the last week of the Christmas vacations. Hooray! The weather has been really lousy -  rain, rain, rain.... In one week it rained more than it usually rains in 6 months!!!! Just imagine... It's really difficult to make two boys aged 10 and 12 happy indoors for so many days... They've been on vcation since the 22nd and are getting really fed up with doing - nothing.... And a few more days and I'll go bananas, because with the boys at home I can't really concentrate on looking for a job, clean the apartment and other really interesting (???) things I do when they are at school.

It's Tuesday today and they go back on Thursdag. Tomorrow is a HUUUGE holiday here in Spain, it's the Reyes, the day when the 3 Kings bring presents to the kids. Unfortunately, my kids won't get loads of presents, there isn't any money for that, but of course there's a little something for them. My kids are lucky, they also got presents for Christmas, on the 24th of december, according to Swedish tradition. *lol* Sometimes it's a blessing to be of many different cultures.

Anyways, tonight is the "Cabalgata de Reyes", when the Kings visit the cities and villages and throw candy at the kids. After midnight the elves will bring the gifts and the kids will find them in their shoes tomorrow morning.  At least the kids who have been nice during the last year, because the mean kids only get coal in their shoes. But nowdays the coal is a sweet and it's not a shame to get coal any more. *lol*

Monday, 4 January 2010

Malaga, dressed up for Christmas


A street in Malaga, dressed up for the Christmas holidays.

Welcome to my new blog!

I'm back on the internet with a new nick, a new blog and a new country to discover. *lol*

My old blog was Mayogi, which is to be found at: http://mayogiathome.blogspot.com/ but I haven't used it for over a year... But now I'm back on track and with loads of interesting (hopefully...) entries and photos from Spain and Morocco.

Enjoy.....

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