Thursday 31 May 2007

Tackle it Tuesday

A friend of mine,Linda, told me I should visit this site and I did. *lol* It's called 5 minutes for mom and it seems to be the perfect place for me! They actually have a Section on organizing and getting your home company ready. Boy, do need that? Oooh YES! So on Tuesday I'll try to tackle one of my problem areas and I'll let you know how I did. *lol*

tuesday/">Tackle <span class=It Tuesday Meme" title="Tackle It Tuesday Meme">

*** Updated: Why isn't that code working???? It looks soooo weird! Hilfe please! I just did some copy & paste so it should be ok,but obviously it's not---And I'm too tired now to try to do something about it.

So much in love...

Looking back at my posts these past days I can see there is a lot of love here and there. *lol* No, I'm not going crazy. I guess it's just because I got YouTube back so I listen to Mikas "Love Today" all the time. Oh gosh, I really really like this guy!!!!



I just love his voice. It's so powerful. I wish I could sing like that..... Actually I used to sing in different choirs and I did pretty well, until I became a punk rocker and screamed at the top of my voice all the time and just destroyed my vocal chords.:-( I wish i could take up singing again, and maybe start a band.... Oh yes, sure. Probably when I'm a granny because my life is way to hectic at the moment. Granny and her wild kids - that could be a great band, don't you think? Like Tina Turner but without the high heels. *rotflao*

In love with Firefox

Oh yes, I'm so much in love with Firefox! I've been a stubborn IE-surfer for years. My first computer connected to the net was a Mothers Day-present from my hubby back in 1998. At that moment Netscape was still the biggest navigator and when I started making web pages I used both IE and Netscape in at least 2 different versions each so I could see what my pages looked like in different browsers.

Now I use Firefox most of the time. I still have IE and I use it from time to time, but I prefer to use FF for many reasons. One is the automatic spelling checker. It's a great feature, especially for someone like me, who's a fast typer and sometimes makes really weird typos. I just wish there was a grammar checker as well. *lol*

What browser do YOU use and why?

Monday 28 May 2007

Contrasts

I'm deeply in love with the place where I live. Morocco really is something unique, it's like a world in its own, a whole different planet.... It's the country of contrasts.

Take a look at this photo. It's from a former palace in the old town (called "medina") in Tetouan. Nowadays it's a restaurant and a place you can rent for parties and weddings. It was built centuries ago in a style you don't see these days. A big central patio, a fountain, huge lamps, mosaic tiles on the floor and walls. And a Coke machine! That is so Moroccan - a mix of old and new, rich and poor, city and village, tradition and modern life.....

Cards, cards, cards...

Lately I haven't had any time whatsoever to scrap. I've been busy with my job as a volunteer teacher, my studies, the kids, decluttering at home, my blogs and so on.... I hope things will slow down soon, because I really miss working on a page and watching it all come together. I've been scrapping on and off for several years now and besides yoga, it's my favourite "waste of time".

But I haven't been totally non creative. I've done some cards. Well, actually I've done over 50 cards these past weeks. Whenever I have a bunch of cards I send them to my mother and then she sells them to her friends. That way I earn a bit of money so I can buy more scrap/card stuff.*lol* I don't think I ever will become rich making cards because every euro I earn goes back into my hobby. But I'm having fun and that's the most important thing, don't you think?

Hopefully I'll be able to post some of my cards here in a few days time.

Sunday 27 May 2007

Do you want candy?

The kids in Morocco eat candy, lots of candy. Most kids eat candy every day, several times a day.... Candy is usually cheap and is sold just about everywhere. Especially in front of schools, bus stops, taxi stops and other places where you usually find kids of all ages. In some places there are candy shops like the one on the photo, but most of the time it's just a man with an old stroller walking around in the streets or a table in the street.

Moroccans are not aware of the health problems that come with child obesity and there still isn´t a program for annual dentist check ups for the kids. I hope this will change in time because candy is okey, every once in a while, but not every day...

Saturday 26 May 2007

What has happened to YouTube?

Can you open YouTube? Well, I can´t. Not since yesterday. I don´t know if my ISP has blocked YouTube or it´s my firewall or maybe it´s a problem with YouTubes server.... Anyway, it´s really frustrating - I want to listen to some good music while I´m preparing my classes in HTML-programming.

Friday 25 May 2007

Another quiz

I´m a bit bored.... I have hundreds of things to do and somehow I just can´t make myself start doing them. It´s almost midnight and I have to get up around 6.30 tomorrow morning so I really should get going so I can go to bed at an almost decent hour. Well well, instead I took this quiz:

Your Power Color Is Orange

You live in the fast lane. You love action, risk, and competition.
You're spontaneous, enthusiastic, and persuasive.
But you're also easily bored - and love to rebel against structures.
You resent rules ... as well as people's attempts to control you!

Tomorrow will be a stressfull day: first I´m off to my MIL to leave the kids there, then I´m off to class - as a student. After that, back to my MIL`s to get the kids and rush home for lunch. Hopefully my MIL will invite us to have lunch with them. In the evening I have to prepare my next class - as a teacher. I´m a volunteer teacher and as such I take a course every year to become a better and more experienced teacher. I only work a few hours a week so I really shouldn´t complain, I´m still att SAHM, so I really shouldn´t be stressed out. So why am I and why on Earth am I sitting here instead of folding laundry and doing a "5 minute room rescue" in the living room? Oh well, I´d better get my act together and start with Mount Washmore.....

See you tomorrow!

Thursday 24 May 2007

My favourite song at the moment

I really, really like this song at the moment. First I thought it was really annoying but after listening to it on the TV for about 100 times I've finally fallen and I walk around all day humming...

Why dont you like me

Why dont you like yourself?

Should I bend over?

Should I look older just to be put on the shelf?

I try to be like Grace Kelly

But all her looks were too sad

So I try a little Freddie

Ive gone identity mad!

I could be brown

I could be blue

I could be violet sky

I could be hurtful

I could be purple

I could be anything you like

Gotta be green

Gotta be mean

Gotta be everything more

Why dont you like me?

Why dont you like me?

Why dont you walk out the door!

Say what you want to satisfy yourself

But you only want what everybody else says you should want

I could be brown

I could be blue

I could be violet sky

I could be hurtful

I could be purple

I could be anything you like

Gotta be green

Gotta be mean

Gotta be everything more

Why dont you like me?

Why dont you like me?

Why dont you walk out the door!

Wednesday 23 May 2007

What season are YOU?

I found this cute test at Cafegirl and Mommy. Check it out and see what season you are.

You Are Fall!

Thoughtful
Expressive
Creative
Poetic
Smart


I LOVE fall! It really is my favourite season so I´m glad to see that it´s my season.*lol*

Raising a multi-lingual child

I read some very interesting posts about bringing up children with more than one language at Don´t eat my Buchela and wanted to share my 2 cents about it.

My husband and I are multilingual. I speak Spanish, Swedish and English and my dear hubby speaks Moroccan Arabic, Spanish, French and Swedish. Long before we had kids we decided we would give them all our cultures and languages so when oldest son, B, was born I spoke to him in Spanish only and hubby in Moroccan Arabic. My parents spoke Swedish with him. We did the the same with youngest son, G,when he arrived 2 years later. I was a SAHM for 4 years so B was 4 years old when he started nursery school and G was 2. Until then they had mostly comunicated in Spanish. It took them a few months to switch to using Swedish at school and Spanish at home. My hubby worked long hours so he didn´t get to spend so much time with the boys and therefor their Moroccan arabic was almost non existing, but they understod a few words here and there.

By the time the boys started school (at age 5 and 6) in Sweden they spoke better Swedish than Spanish but still used only Spanish with me and Spanish most of the time with their dad. When we moved to Morocco, in June 2005, the boys were almost 6 and almost 8. Their Moroccan Arabic was a disaster but their Spanish was still acceptable. They go to a Spanish school and they play most of the time in Spanish. Their Spanish is now just as good as that of any other Spanish child, born and raised in Spain or maybe even better. Their Moroccan Arabic is getting better and they also study Classic Arabic one hour a day. Their Swedish is still more than okey, almost like a kid in Sweden, in spite of not using it at all here. They read quite a lot in Swedish and watch Swedish movies and of course, they chat with their grandparents in Sweden. So my children use 4 languages on a regular basis. And on top of that they study English and French at school and watch TV in Portuguese and German as well. Yup, lots of languages!!! *lol*

Sunday 20 May 2007

A new yoga routine

First of all I have to confess that I'm mad about yoga! I rush to the shop every month to buy "Yoga Journal, the Spanish edition" and I read every artice over and over again. I am a true yogaaddict - but unfortunatelly I have too many things going on in my life so I don't yoga very often. Here where I live not many people ever heard of yoga, so finding a yoga teacher is imposible. I have a series of 3 DVD:s (Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga) and they are really great. But I seldom find time to do 90 miunutes of yoga...

So, the other day when I was doing some crisis cleaning I found a yoga routine I printed off http://www.yogabasics.com/ some years ago. It's easy to do, doesn't take long and seams easy to learn. Tomorrow morning I will start this routine and i'll try to do it every morning, before waking my kids up. I really could need a nice start of the day. So tomorrow, Monday, I will start my "new healthier life". *lol*

Friday 18 May 2007

Thursday 17 May 2007

Grand opening: Mama's Coffee Corner

A friend om mine, Linda, has created a new blog called Mama's Coffee Corner. It's a nice blog and she's a talented writer so I'm glad her blog is finally official so I can give you the link: http://mamascoffeecorner.blogspot.com/

Do you like Linda's header? Revka did that one for her. I think it's a great header and I wish my blog had such a goodlooking header instead of the boring Blogger one. Actually, Linda and Revka have a contest going on this week and one of the prizes is a header made by Revka. I hope I win! *lol* Take a look at Revkas blog: http://rsdesigns.wordpress.com/

Which book are YOU????

I am:




You're Compassion Fatigue!

by Susan Moeller

You used to care, but now it's just getting too difficult. You cared about the plight of people in lands near and far, but now the media has bombarded you
with images of suffering to the point that you just don't have the energy to go on. You've become cold and heartless, as though you'd lived in New York City for a year or so. But you stand as a serious example to all others that they should turn off their TV sets and start caring again.

Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

I have never heard of this book, but I will try to find it. It seems interesting so hopefully it's translated to Spanish so I can find it at the Instituto Cervantes library. It's really dificult to find books in English where I live. :-(

Wednesday 16 May 2007

Think about Morocco...

What do you think about when you think about Morocco? Sand, camels, palm trees, spicy food and women covered in veils? Well, this is what Morocco is to me, among other things:

The Mediterranean, a green landscape...

Mountains...


Big statues and modern squares...


Narrow streets in the medina (old town)...


Beautiful doors....

Shopping in the medina....

Moroccan green tea...

Eating "pinchitos" and sardines....

On the other side of the border

I live in a small town in the north of Morocco, quite close to the Spanish border. I think this is a great place to live in, because we have the best of both worlds. Morocco is really something different, it has nothing to do with life in Europe. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing, because life in Morocco is much more spiritual, less stressful, easygoing... I really enjoy living here and this is my home now.

Today I crossed the border and went to Spain for a few hours. I'm totally exhausted! Most people don't know that Spain has two cities in the north of Africa (Ceuta and Melilla), so I don't have to go to the mainland to enjoy the European way of life. I usually go to Ceuta a few times a month, just for the joy of being among "my people" again, speaking Spanish, eating Spanish food, looking and dressing like "everybody else". I really do need my "Spanish days", to get new energy and go back home to Morocco tired but happy. When you live abroad you realize that what you miss the most are those small little details you never thought about before. Things like being able to speak to anyone, understanding the "secret social codes", having a beer with my friends, going to the movies, being able to read the headlines on the newspapers... But life in Spain is so much more stressful, so it feels great to come back home, take off my shoes and say "Wherever I lay my hat, that's my home".

Monday 14 May 2007

Building my new blog

I have just created a Technocraty account. I've seen Tecnocraty on lots of blogs so it seems to be a nice feature. In a couple of days - I hope - I'll know for myself. Meanwhile, this is my Technorati Profile

Family Fun

I've been a FLY Baby for almost 2 years now and I'm finally beginning to see my wings. For the first year and a half I was fluttering on and off, but I think I'm actually FLYing now. Ok, I do fall off the wagon every now and then, but I don't worry about that anymore. I know i can always get back on track, one babystep after another.

One thing that works really well for me now is Family Fun Day. Usually my kids do their homework in the morning and in the evening it's Movie Time! We prepare the living room - lots of blankets and pillows on the carpet, some snacks and then one of us gets to pick a movie from the huge pile of movies we have at home. It's great fun! And the kids don't mind watching the same movie 20 or 30 times, so it doesn't get too expensive. They love watching a movie with me, because they know it's their time and that I won't let anything spoil our movie time - so no cell phones, no computer, nothing.... I hope we can continue with our Movie Nights even as the kids get older, because it's a great way to share a common interest and I think it's really important to have common interests when the kids become teenagers.

Who's Mayogi?

After blogging for about 2 years now I thought it was about time I got myself a blog in English, so here it is! *lol* I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I'll enjoy writing it.So, I guess you wonder who's this Mayogi and why does she blog? Well, Mayogi is:

  • a European woman
  • mother of 2 boys
  • living in Morocco
  • Stay At Home Mom
  • FLY Baby
  • yogi
  • scrapper
  • volunteer teacher

Stay tuned and you will probably find out a lot more!

Friday 4 May 2007

I just start all over again!

Welcome to my new blog! I just decided I had to start a new one, 'cause everything got so mixed up with my old blog. In the next couple of days I will move my old posts to this blog instead, so keep coming back, things will get better! *lol*