Two weeks in Khao Lak

I've now been home from Khao Lak for about two weeks and I'm starting to accept the snow and the chilly weather.

This trip was to Khao Lak. We went to one of our Blue Village, the Khao Lak Seaview. This was the first Blue Village Exotic, and I had not previously understood the difference, even if I'm an employee of TUI Nordic. More of the entertainment and food was local and you could feel the difference.

Here are some highlights from our vacation:
Private pool at our bungalow. Since we travelled with my mother inlaw, having her separate bedroom and bathroom was a hit. The private pool was wonderful in the morning for the first dip. I run in the mornings, so taking a dip before breakfast was just great.

The pool area by the beach. Here we could also eat our dinners, take a drink during the day and see the entertainment.

The beach by the hotel. It was wonderful to have such a nice beach just by the hotel. I love running on the beach and prefer beaches over swimming pools. But since the pool was so near the beach we didn't have to choose.

Some of the days it was lots of fun waves for the guys!

If you're up for some really nice beaches, you have White Sand Beach quite near (15 km north of Khao Lak) and tours to Similian Islands. Here is one of the beaches:

So, what is the verdict? Well, we felt that this was the perfect winter holiday for a worked out family with a child. We had quite different needs for our holiday, but we found an alternative which suited us. This summer, we'll be heading for Crete and a classic Blue Village concept. Keep you posted!

Winter outfit into the deepest corners of the closet and into the bin

Yesterday, I finally took all the winter running gear and placed this in the deepest corners of my closet. Out came the gear for spring and summer. I usually don't have problems discarding with clothes, but when it comes to running gear, I cannot just throw them away. Like the pants who just had to go. But I wore them both on Vätternrundan and Vasaloppet. Yes, that was in 2001 and they look their age. And the top which I wore during my first marathon. I don't have to look like a homeless runner, so why is this? Yes, there are emotions in these clothes worn during races which meant a lot. But also a false notion that I know these clothes and that they "work".

But the truth is that so much has happened when it comes to runner's gear since 2001. The clothes are so much better. Especially compared to stuff which has been in use a couple of times every week during half the year since 2001.

But now I've let go of those pants, and the marathon top. I hope I've got even better nerve when the autumn comes and throw away the rest of the stuff which I shouldn't use anymore. But who wants to think about autumn now?

Extra christmas

Tomorrow, the books I ordered last week will arrive. 10 kg of new stuff I don't know where to put and which I really don't have time to read. But not all of them are for me. The husband ordered two and I've bought some scientific books for kids to the little guy. But that leaves eight new babies for me. The Dawkins'es I haven't read, some books on research about traveller's behaviour, Mythical Man Month, an Umberto Eco and a Kotter. And of course, the book I needed for my class.

The smell of spring

Now, we cannot disregard it any more. The garden needs some fixing. People living in apartments often say that it's so nice to hang around in a garden. They think so because they don't have to see all the stuff that needs to be done when you'd rather just take it slow in the sun. And then there's the smell. When you start lifting the stuff which needs moving you can smell spring. Nice. And no, having a summer home is not the same because the summer home is not what meet you every day coming home from work. You cannot forget it or ignore it because it's in your face.

Well, these are problems I've selected myself, and really: I love being in the garden. So, today I'll do some work with the sun and then celebrate with the first garden beer for the spring.

Finally, spring is really here

It's been luring me for some time. But now spring is finally here. This is the best time of the year for me as a runner. Not too cold and not to hot. Just crisp air. Not that I really mind running when it's warm, it's more that when it's warm outside people tend to be more on the streets and you have the problem passing them when you run. Because not all understand that they are the fastest ones on the street and seem to be amazed that someone can actually move faster then them. So, when you signal for them to not take up the complete width of the path, they freeze.

This is an increasing problem during the spring season, but really, what do I care. It's just fabulous not to have to fill the backpack completely when you run to work.

Also, spring means new shoes. Each spring, except when I'd just given birth to Pete and hadn't started running properly, I buy brand new shoes. It's a real luxury but a good one. It's really a small investment which can mean the difference between being in pain and enjoying the run. I'm not a heavy person, but the shoes get worn out. I realized this during the year when I didn't switch. The next year the shoes were really dead.

Tomorrow, I'll finally get to saw the tomato seeds for this year. Or to be more precise, Peter is going to do it and I'm going to assist him. Also, since the snow is gone it's probably time for the first session in the garden. And not to forget one of the key pleasures of spring: the spring classics. Having switched jobs, I've found some other professional cycling fans and I have others who appreciate and enjoy spending hours watching guys on bikes. And the rest is just amazed that we actually like that stuff.

Books

I'm completing the final course of the spring semester, and I found that I needed to purchase a book. We have too many books in our home: you could say I'm a recovering bookoholic and I try to stay out from book stores. I tend to get out with too many books. It's not that I don't read them: I'm a fast reader and have read many of my books many times, but we don't have the space. The book shelves are packed and beyond.

Using a e-com site takes away a little bit of the pleasure of buying books since I don't get to stroll between the shelves, feel the paper and build an interest. The problem is that you can scroll many more books on a web site. And you find books you never knew you didn't knew that they existed. There is the season for book sales in Sweden, so since I was already buying a book, I just happened to scroll all the titles in the categories which I'm interested in. And some other categories too. Yes, I am a bookoholic. Give me a break. Just reading about them does not mean that I buy them... Not all of them, anyway. But I do recommend anyone to scroll the titles under Finance and law. How about these book titles:

• Private Rights in Public Resources: Equity and Property Allocation in Market-Based Environmental Policy
• The International Sugar Agreements: Promise and Reality
• Start Your Own Pet-Sitting Business
• Behind the Veneer: The South Shoreditch Furniture Trade and Its Buildings
• The Security-Development Nexus: Expressions of Sovereignty and Securitization in Southern Africa
  
• Micro-Regionalism in West Africa: Evidence from Two Case Studies
  

I could just go on. If I click the titles, there is not much details, but isn't it fascinating that there are all these books out there that someone found interesting enough to write and publish. And what is more interesting,, there are at least one bookoholic who was really tempted to buy one or two of these just to see what they were all about. But I controlled myself. So, besides the book for my class and two books which my husband wanted, I just picked up two Richard Dawkins, the latest Umberto Eco, a couple of technical books for little Pete and two books on e-com in the leisure travel business. So, I'm not fully recovered. But I didn't pick up the book on international suger trade.

What the... Snow again

It is soon the middle of March. Yes, we live in Sweden, but this morning when I looked out the window it was winter again. The afternoon run home was like running in a march. Two decimetres of snow in about 0C temperature makes is soggy and icy.

I really long for spring and the summer. Everything is so much easier when you don't have to worry about all the clothes and stuff. But then again I have something else to complain about.

At work, the new projects are starting up and they are really challenging and interesting. It's kind of funny because yesterday I finished an exam on my project management class. One of the question was how I selected resources. Like one get to select that. I guess most project managers don't get to see a menu.

I hope I've finished most of the work for all but one of the classes. I have a serious problem getting into the writing mode for classes. I've spent 15 years to learn how to write short and concise and now the volume counts most. One of my teachers commented on one of my exam that I'd answered the question but that I could have written more. A responded by asking if I hadn't answered the question. Well, yes, but I could have written more. Would the answer become more right then? The idea that adding more words to an answer makes it more right does not play with me. Of course if the teacher had felt that my answer was too short to answer the question, but this is hard for me to accept.