Monthly Archive: August 2003

09
Aug
2003

RAINBOW OF FRUIT FLAVORS

Been musing about house-color trends and meanings lately. Our neighborhood is brand new, and the 40 houses in it are all nearing a sort of completion on the outside as their owners frantically use the remaining Swedish summer to paint, pave and landscape. What has been particularly striking, to my American eye, has been the choices of colors used for the exterior of the homes. In the States, it seems that the overwhelming trend, starting maybe some 10 or more years ago, was that houses would look more stately and elegant if they were done in natural earth tones. So...

09
Aug
2003

NOT A CLOUD IN THE SKY

Got the sun in my eyes…! Can’t beat The Carpenter’s for making me feel like a relic of the 70’s. It’s another blueskycloudless scorcher of a day here in Flyinge. We have nearly nothing on the agenda except, since tomorrow I inch closer to 40 by a year, the following: Anders: buy Liz presents Liz: bake a cake and frost it Anders: buy Liz more presents, preferably sparkly ones I have other miscellaneous housecleaning things to do, and Martin’s room still needs to be organized but no stress about any of it. I’m trying to figure out why I really...

08
Aug
2003

THE MOOSE IS LOOSE!

WHAT a gorgeous evening, and what fun! The sushi was, as usual, delicious and the company was great. The bill was a bit of a shocker, however, but hey it was my early-birthday celebration. And I got all kinds of unexpected birthday presents, including a future date for a sushi lunch (!) and a…are you sitting down? … moose mobile phone holder. Anders and I have relegated it to my office where it will have a happy and useful existence. I’m not sure this even falls into the “so ugly it’s cute” category, but Angie was so proud of herself...

08
Aug
2003

ADDICTED OR A DICKHEAD?

CNN had a recent article on their website about addiction to the internet. They put a handy reference guide for figuring out if you are addicted: M More than intended time spent online O Other responsibilities neglected U Unsuccessful attempts to cut down S Significant relationship discord because of use E Excessive thoughts or anxiety when not online I think I’m borderline. 2.5 out of 5. I have the excuse that I use the computer to fulfill my many functions as editor, webwoman and web designer, and I never considered myself much of web surfer, but the whole online journal/blog...

07
Aug
2003

COMPETITIVE SPIRIT

My sister’s sambo was quoted in an article on dailypress.com, and is being photographed and interviewed for another article next week. One thing he said struck me: “In the U.S., we just assume that everyone’s a high competitor.” Ain’t that the truth? I was lucky, when I worked at my last job in Chicago, to be in a position where I didn’t have to be competitive, despite being surrounded by a sales force of extremely competitive people. I was the one they all came to whenever they needed anything. I liked that. I should put that in my resume as...

07
Aug
2003

RISE & SHINE

Morning minus = the smell of very burnt toast waking me up Morning plus = my daughter’s big brown eyes peering brightly at me over the edge of my pillow Back in the day when I was firmly in the never-having-children camp, I had a big long list of reasons Why Not To Have Kids. And when things would come up, I would label them: seeing someone’s kid acting up in public: Reason #121 Why Not To Have Kids, crying baby: Reason #42 Why Not to Have Kids. I used to joke that until my list of reasons FOR having...

06
Aug
2003

Sigh of contentment

Just got home from an evening out with “the girls,” and had a very nice time. Good conversation, good company, and good food. Dessert was dark chocolate cups (!) filled with a goo of mixed fresh raspberries and blueberries in whipped cream and red currents. Delish! Anders was in the garage with his motorcycle in pieces, lovingly polishing and cleaning each piece as he has a track day or ride or something all day tomorrow. He explained that he had adjusted the front wheel’s angle so that it would be more fun to ride. ahem. He’s taking Friday off to...

06
Aug
2003

Dipping my toes

Okay, I’m taking the plunge. Expect the look to change wildly over the next few days as I play with the LJ settings 🙂 Thanks to Galestorm for getting me started and giving me the inspiration to try it, to begin with. Like I need anything else in my life that keeps me tied to the computer! I can see that this can be extremely addictive, and to judge from the astonishing number of blogs out there, that suspicion is a pretty safe one to bank on.