Lemback Blog

Posted By Marlene on March 12, 2010

The week has been sorrowful for everyone at my job because one of our colleagues passed away after being rushed to the hospital on Monday.  We were having our usual meeting with our respective rectors that day when the incident occurred.  Since my job has a large group of language teachers in the entire region, the meetings are conducted in five groups, with each group having a rector.  My group was not actually aware of the incident, though my intimate colleague and I saw an ambulance parked outside the building when we went out for lunch.  Not until we got an email from our organization head informing us that one of our colleagues was taken to the hospital.  Everybody was hoping it wasn’t something serious.  But the next day we were shocked by the news of her demise.  It happened so fast!  One day she was treated, the next day she was gone.

I have never had a colleague who died in my entire working life, until now.  Even though I didn’t know her personally nor knew her name (gracious, how could I get all 150 names of my colleagues in my head!)  I got goose flesh when I recognized her by the picture.  I often bumped into her in the corridor or on the stairs of the building.  She wasn’t that old and didn’t look sick either.  I heard that she had a blood clot in the brain but the truth remains to be known on Monday next week when we gather for a short memorial for her.  I hope she did not die of over-stress at work.  Yay!  Is this job or any job worth dying for?

 In memory of our Bosnian language teacher.  RIP.  Our thoughts are with her bereaved family.

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Tags: teaching job

Posted By Marlene on March 9, 2010

photo credit: http://oscars.movies.yahoo.com

I was ecstatic when I read that Sandra Bullock won the Best Actress in a Leading Role for the 82nd Academy Awards.  Her brilliant performance in the movie, “The Blind Side” has given her the best of years in her career.  The day before the Oscar’s night she claimed her trophé at the Razzie Awards as the Worst Best Actress for the movie, “All About Steve”.  It was hilarious when she came up with a cart of DVD copies of the film for those (in the audience) who haven’t watched it.  As for the Best and Worst awards she simply implied, “You can’t enjoy one without the other”. 

I knew it was Oscar’s night last Sunday but I didn’t watch it because the airtime was at 12 midnight.  Furthermore, I don’t follow this annual show diligently (every year) and I can’t remember anymore the last time I watched it.  But I was eager to know the winners this time because one of my favorite Hollywood stars, Sandra Bullock was nominated.  And I couldn’t be more delighted when she finally won her first Oscar statuette.  I should have watched the show.  She dazzled the night not only with her statuette but her gown and simple look were admiring, too.

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Tags: dvd films

Posted By Marlene on March 6, 2010

I was thinking of some places to get away this summer and since we haven’t planned to take a long trip across Asia, chances are either we’ll travel within Europe or visit some places here in Sweden that I haven’t been to yet.  Since hubby and me are working full time, travelling is our definite choice for rest and relaxation.  Anyhow, the place that occurred to me and only if I were to decide I would have a second trip to San Marino.  There are places where one visit enough but there are also those which I like to see again and again.  And the Republic of San Marino is one country I want to visit once more.

Overlooking Italy from San Marino

Honestly, I didn’t know anything about this country until hubby drove me to Italy quite a few years ago.  The plan was not even to drive to San Marino but he was supposed to show me the city of Verona (Italy), where Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was played.  Unfortunately, the heavy rains caused us to change route though we were almost there.  We reached Rimini, the other city in Italy, late at night.  The next day, we drove to San Marino instead of driving back to Verona.  I learned the moment we were there that it is a country surrounded by Italy. The reason why I want to visit San Marino again is the feeling of being on high land is like I am on top of the world. And on top of it I can see Italy in all directions. Not only that but the country’s structures and architectures reveal its historical foundation.

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Tags: Europe, San Marino, Travel

Posted By Marlene on March 2, 2010

Tell me about it!  Do you like to shell peanuts?  I do like to shell boiled peanuts but only to throw them straight into my mouth.  It’s shell and eat, shell and eat way of enjoying peanuts boiled or roasted unshelled.  The peanuts I have now are raw, unshelled but not no longer fresh because I brought them with me from Davao last year.  I thought they were dry and rotten already but I was surprised I could still eat them.  I noticed that the older it gets, the tastier it becomes, lol!  It seemed to taste like a roasted peanut in a sense.

shelled and unshelled peanuts

I have something to thank for for the peanuts because it gives me an idea to bake brownies perhaps this weekend to complement my failed chocolate cake.  I firmly believe that the key to success is try and try.  Hahaa!  Back to the peanuts, I started to shell them so they’d be ready in case I would need to roast them before using.  I couldn’t help but to eat some while I was shelling but I tried to resist the temptation or I would end up baking brownies without nuts.  You would have noticed that not all peanuts were shelled yet.  I like to shell peanuts but it’s not a job I would recommend.  Not even as a hobby or past time activity.  It was tiring and tedious and the intention not to eat them was a bore.  The job was almost done but I had to stop cos I got bored and sleepy.  Or is it long way to get done?  Anyhow, I won’t need all these peanuts for a mixture of brownies. I don’t think so…

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Tags: baking, peanut allergy

Posted By Marlene on February 28, 2010

There are times when I feel like baking though these times do not come so often as I want it.  I am a poor hand at baking and cooking, however I’ve been trying to learn since I got married.  Whenever I try to bake something and it will turn out the way it should be feels like heaven to me.  Fortunately, nothing I baked that turned out to be “uneatable”.  Though at times I get a result that disappoints anyone’s palate.

A chocolate cake cookie?

This chocolate cake I baked on my break looked good but not the way I would want it to be.  It should be soft and spongy but this seemed to be like a cookie.  I didn’t seem to miss something from the recipe, in fact, I liked blending all the ingredients cos it looked like I was doing a chocolate fondue.  I got this recipe from my cook book but it doesn’t have an image of how it should turn out to be.  I should find a better recipe for chocolate cake.  Baking is not a piece of cake to me and I always need a recipe in front of me even if I had baked the same thing before.

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Tags: baking