Today I had what is called in Swedish my P U samtal with my boss. It stands for Personlig Utveckling and translates literally as Personal Development Discussion. What it boiled down to was she’s happy, I’m happy, go forth and prosper. We have these conversations twice a year, and that is in addition to the salary discussions that take place every December. I have been at this job for just under 2 years and I love it more than ever. In the entire time, there has been only 1 day that I did not want to get out of bed and go to work, and for someone who values and prioritizes sleeping in to ridiculous levels, getting up (relatively) cheerfully at 6:45 a.m. 5 days a week is nothing short of miraculous.
Because I think that I am exceptionally good at what I do, and have yea verily discovered my niche in life in regards to my working career, it has always been hard for me to come up with goals and improvements during these conversations. I don’t say that out of conceit, honestly, regardless of how it sounds. I know that I’ve been incredibly lucky here in Sweden, not only that I was able to find work in my field, but to have found it TWICE and to be doing what I love most and do best. It’s something that I wish everyone could have and experience, because I think it gives such a sense of self-esteem and fulfillment.
So, when I’m beating myself up about a veritable plethora of other things like not being able to get motivated about exercise, about my tendency to let my tastebuds and stomach rule instead of my brain, my pathetic inability to do any but the most simple math, and my constant struggle with budgeting issues (sung in a gravelly Bob Dylan voice: where does all the money go? Long time spending…), I at least have the consolation of knowing that I am damn good at what I do for a living.
***
3 weeks of swimming lessons have done wonders for the kids, in addition to bronzing them a pale gold. Today, after changing into their swim gear, they played in the pool for 10 minutes before their class started. I walked back to the car to get my book, and when I returned, Karin was walking slowly around in the crowded junior pool, her eyes squinched up against the glare, turning round and round as she obviously looked for her brother…who was behind her, ducking underwater and holding his breath every time she turned in his direction. 🙂
***
I’ve been thinking about my dad a lot lately, and just now felt the impulse to google his name. Not surprisingly, since he died before the internet phenomenon really took off, there wasn’t anything out there but a link to our online family tree (which is actually my mom’s side), but it led me to google my brother (who shares all but his middle name with my dad) and then my grandfather, whose first name is my brother’s middle name. Are you following this so far? If not, I don’t blame you one bit. ANYWAY, I found quite a lot of links to my grandfather, Dr. SLAUGHTER (isn’t that great?!) despite his having been deceased since 1970, including this list of newspaper article headlines (alas, no links to the actual articles) and numerous references to a continuing lecture series in his name, various medical papers he wrote and other associated medical links with his name on them. Neat!
***
I just received an e-mail from one of the poetry contributors to Mosaic Minds, mentioning that she shared one my recent poems, Time Well Spent, with her book group, and passing along the compliments that they gave it. That totally made my day. People can be so nice!
Pretty, Pretty, Multi-Petaled Birthday Cheers to idahoswede!