ON THE ROAD
Not dead, traveling! We were in Paris for 3 days and are now in Germany visiting my brother. More soon when I get a chance. 🙂
31
Jul
2008
Monthly Archive: July 2008
23
Jul
2008
EVERY DAY IS A JOURNEY AND THE JOURNEY ITSELF IS HOME*
Bring up moving in conversation and it jump-starts things. People either love to do it or hate it with a passion, it seems. Even talking about packing and/or unpacking in conjunction with a trip raises all sorts of sympathetic flutters and groans of compassion. I’ve always liked packing and unpacking. There’s something very Christmassy about it. When it’s for a trip, packing is like wrapping up presents to give to yourself during vacation or traveling. And when it’s for moving, unpacking is all about opening great big boxes of presents you haven’t seen in awhile, and giving yourself the gift...
20
Jul
2008
ONCE REMOVED
Today made me miss my family terribly. We hosted a sort of mini family reunion with a couple of Anders’ cousins and their kids…cousins that he hasn’t seen for 25 years (despite the fact that they only live about 1.5 hours away), and that I’ve never met either, despite having lived here for 11.5 years. They had another get-together some years ago, but we were out of town and couldn’t make it. Anders’ mom was the youngest of 12 siblings (she was 25 years younger than her oldest sibling…I’ll just pause for a moment while you contemplate the horror there)...
17
Jul
2008
STUPID HUMAN TRICKS
I’ve talked about my freaky kids before. They’ve got quite a bag of stupid human tricks between them. Karin can splay her toes abnormally wide and pinch with them. They can both roll their tongues, and Karin can turn hers over to the left or right or from the front down under. Martin can vibrate his eyes (I used to be able to do that, too, but found it started hurting to do it as I got older). Karin recently discovered she can also do the tongue flower! I shudder to think what effect she’ll have on the boys when...
15
Jul
2008
REMINDING MYSELF THAT ATTITUDE IS ALL IN WHAT YOU FOCUS ON
Things I am loving right now: ♥ A thought-provoking and challenging book by a favorite author ♥ Being able to find things when I want them ♥ The sound of crickets in the evening ♥ The way the air cools down at night and breezes gently through the house ♥ Nearing the climax, chapter by chapter, in a gripping story that I’m reading aloud to the kids at bedtime ♥ The way they both groan and say “Keep reading, mommy!” when I reach the end of the chapter and put the book down ♥ Open-faced mini pavés with ham &...
14
Jul
2008
CRABSTICK & GRUMPBUCKET
Perilously close to being a complete snark monster. Have so far managed to restrain myself but HONESTLY. Some people just beg for it. *** Anders is on vacation this week, while I am working. It’s my last week of work before a month-long vacation. I had thought I wouldn’t have enough to do this week, as so many people are already on vacation (Sweden basically shuts down in July) that no new projects are coming in, but I was busy all day today and expect I will be the rest of the week, which is nice. It’s nice to have...
13
Jul
2008
NINE BY THE NUMBERS
25 invitations printed, address, delivered and mailed 19 phone calls and messages responding in the affirmative 2 weeks of anticipation 2 trips to the grocery store 2 cakes baked, frosted and decorated 1 early morning birthday wake-up with presents and hugs and bed-head 19 bags filled with candy 1 sick kid calling with regrets 18 children swirling around the house and yard 17 presents opened and exclaimed over 28 hamburgers grilled and eaten 1 role-playing game involving 6 teams, over-sized dice, strength & wisdom cards, 2 manned stations, 4 unmanned stations, a final battle and prizes for the winners 1...
10
Jul
2008
SOMETHING SINISTER
For the past I-don’t-know-how-long, I have left the office every day with a sharp pain in my right shoulder/neck, caused, most likely, by my habit of sitting with my left leg tucked under me. Despite the fact that I use a Mousetrapper at work to keep my hands in front of me, this is still throwing me lopsidedly to the left just enough to cause strain on my right side. It isn’t helped by the fact that I invariably sit at the computer a lot while at home as well (frequently with the same leg tucked). In general, I lean...
09
Jul
2008
OH HECK! IT’S UP TO MY NECK!
Someone, please, scrape this giant pile of sludgey LETHARGY off of me. I seem to be unable to crawl out from under it myself, at the moment. Gaaah
06
Jul
2008
WATER BABIES
3-day weekend: hot summer days and cool summer evenings, blazing sunshine and electric blue skies with fat, white puffclouds. A green grasshopper clinging to the side of the house. Wilting roses, sun-struck geraniums, though no one here calls them geraniums any longer. Giant slices of watermelon, potato salad, rice krispie treats with red, white & blue sprinkles, steak on the grill. Hours in the pool, towel-wrapped kids with blue lips and red shoulders. Clover in the grass, butterflies on the wing. Photos by Anders Ek Super Summer Belated Birthday Wishes to idahoswede!