Yearly Archive: 2005

22
May
2005

PUPPY UPPERS

We drove through the afternoon sunshine up a green and wooded way, a gravel road leading to an old brick farmhouse. The lane narrowed and slid between two rickety gateposts. As the car crunched forward, a beautiful black dog suddenly came galloping toward us, roo roo roo roo she barked, clearly telling us to stand down and state our business. 2 flaxen-haired toddlers appeared behind her and advanced on the car as well, forcing us to shift down from crawl to stop. I got out to shepherd everyone away from the car, and ended up leading the procession into the...

21
May
2005

DOGGED BY DOUBTS

In an hour or so we’re leaving to visit Moonstruck Kennel and meet some dogs. What if they don’t think we’d be good owners? What if they don’t like us? What if the DOGS don’t like us?! What if we start sneezing violently? What if we come home with a puppy??* Eek! Am I really ready for this? It’s pouring rain. I didn’t order this weather, although it’s nice not to have to remember to water the garden. The kids have been collecting snails. We’re leaving the them (the kids, not the snails) overnight with Farmor and Farfar and going...

20
May
2005

MISS-MARY-POPPINS-SPOONFUL-OF-SUGAR-SACCHARINE-SWEET-LIZARDEK-LIVING-MY-PERFECT-LIFE*

I love this country. I just found out that my company is bringing in an on-site massage therapist every other week for 3 occurences before summer vacation. If it goes well, they’ll continue in the fall. AND the company provides 1500 kronor in friskvårdsbidrag, healthcare subsidy, per year per employee, which can be used to pay for them. (It can also be used to pay for most any other sport or exercise costs) How cool is that?? Mmmmmmmmmmmm…massage! I really do love this country. 🙂 My Favorite Tongue Twister of All Time: A tree toad loved a she-toad Who lived...

19
May
2005

CAR-THARSIS

If I post my pretty dahlia photo one more time, will you lovely people still comment? hahaha! just kidding! We had a bad car day today (not like e11en‘s, though) but then it turned out to be a good car day after all, although because of a different car. We have trouble with the brakes on our cars year after year, they get rusty faster than stickshifts (all our cars are automatic because I can’t be bothered with a manual), for whatever reason. Anders has explained it to me but as usual with car explanations it went in one ear...

17
May
2005

WHEN EVERY LUSTY HEART BEGINNETH TO BLOSSOM

This actually happened a couple of weeks ago, but I keep forgetting to write about it. One weeknight at dinner, after work/school/daycare, when Anders and Martin and I were a bit flat from a busy day, Karin was completely full of beans. The jumping kind. She bounced around in her chair, interrupted repeatedly, broke into song, made wild grimaces and generally behaved as if she had ants in her pants. I kept threatening to throw her outside to burn off some energy. Finally, after a particularly prolonged oingy-boingy-fit, I pointed at the door and said in no uncertain terms, “OUT!...

16
May
2005

OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD

Rapeseed sounds so wrong. Which is probably why, in America, the product it provides us with is most often referred to as Canola. Canola is only one kind of rapeseed, however, and the name is made up. Canola was developed in Canada and its name is a contraction of “Canadian oil, low acid.” Rapeseed is the third most important source of vegetable oil in the world, after soybean and palm oil. During the past twenty years, it has passed peanut, cottonseed, and most recently, sunflower, in worldwide production. But it’s used in lots of other products, many of them non-food-based....

15
May
2005

SENSATIONAL SUNDAY

Something sunny, something blue, something happy, something new! What a lovely day! Warm enough to wear a tshirt, chill enough to be comfortable. I was out gardening this afternoon, removing the weeds and grasses that have snuck over the borders to the figure-8 garden, and filling 2 raised beds at the front of playhouse, and planting a Japanese dwarf cypress in the front corner, lining its little circle with round eggy rocks from Gotland. I am NOT a gardener. I dislike greatly having dirt under my fingernails. I can’t sit on my knees very long and it’s way too much...

14
May
2005

WHAT I DID IS WHAT I DID

We took the kids to see Robots tonight, in Swedish. It was good. I bet it would have been better in English, though, if only because, despite the fact that Robert Gustafsson did the voice of one of the major characters and did an excellent job, ROBIN WILLIAMS did the original. I’m halfway through Christopher Moore’s Lamb. It is not good. In fact, I’m having a rather hard time not putting it down and into the pile of books that not only won’t be re-read but won’t be kept. Bleah. I’ll give it a couple more chapters before I give...

13
May
2005

BOW WOW!

Two of the most nerve-wracking things in the world are finding a new dentist and trying a new hairdresser. When I find one I like, whether for the top of my head or the inside of it, I tend to stick with them through hell and high water. In Chicago, when I lived 1 block from the lake and had essentially given my car away to a friend because I never drove it, and it was too much bother in the city, I had to borrow it back from her at regular intervals to go to my dentist (1 hour...

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