Yearly Archive: 2011

28
Nov
2011

STARRY STARRY NIGHT

I realized a little while ago that I had never posted about the amazing job Anders did on renovating the playroom. I don’t have photos of the whole entire room, because we still have to hang paintings, but that’s not the important thing. The playroom was the first room, after the kids’ bedrooms that really needed an overhaul. It was very much a playroom from the beginning, when we built the house and the wallpaper was very much child-focused with blue skies full of fluffy clouds and green meadows full of fluffy sheep. We had shelves filled with games, lego,...

27
Nov
2011

AFTERMATH

Yesterday was great…everything went well, despite a last-minute cancellation from one family which brought our total down by 3 but ensured more turkey leftovers all around. The food was fantastic, from the main courses all the way through to 2 perfect pumpkin pies and an out-of-this world chocolate cake with candied cranberries on top. This year, people left at a fairly early-ish reasonable hour, which just meant that we were able to get the majority of the clean-up done before we went to bed last night. Karin took photos of the tables: we had 2 set up, one for the...

26
Nov
2011

READY

It’s 2 pm, 3 hours before our guests arrive for our Thanksgiving bash. The last 2 turkeys are in the oven. The entire house is sparkling clean, thanks to the help of ALL of us (Martin windexed, Karin dusted, Anders mopped, I vacuumed). The tables are set up and decorated, and I have nothing do do for 3 hours but write this post, eat a (very) small lunch and RELAX. Aaaaaaaaaaaaah. Life is good 🙂 Happy weekend everyone!

25
Nov
2011

KICKING ASS & TAKING NAMES

I got the rhythm. I am rocking the joint. I am powering through my to-do lists like a champion productivity QUEEN. I am getting things done. As Megsie said, I AM ON FIRE. Yee-ha! In front of me on the desk are 5 little slips of paper. One is the list of people coming tomorrow and what they are bringing. One is the list of people signed up for the cookie exchange on Monday. One is a nearly done to-do list of things that needed to be taken care of this past week: 2 things are not yet crossed off...

24
Nov
2011

HOW I SPELL THANKSGIVING

T is for Typing, one of the primary ways that allows me to easily communicate with all my loved ones far away H is for our House, chosen with care, built with pride and filled with love A is for Anders, without whom I would be lost N is for Nature; this wonderful world that surrounds me with beauty and fills me with inspiration K is for the Kooky Kween of Kuteness: KARIN! S is for Sweden, my adopted homeland G is for the Good Son, my firstborn, Martin I is for the Internet and all the Information it puts...

23
Nov
2011

THOSE MOMENTS WHEN OUR HEARTS ARE CONSCIOUS OF OUR TREASURES*

As long as I’ve lived in Sweden, I’ve tried to keep my American heritage alive for my children, and for myself. I would say we celebrate certain traditions religiously throughout the year, but truth is, we’re not religious about it at all. We just think it’s fun. I’ve had to learn to compromise my expectations for some dearly-held family favorites and we’ve learned to create our own meld of Swedish & American celebrations. Christmas, for instance, is a 2-day festival here. Halloween is organized down to the minute. There is no real outside motivator for my kids when it comes...

22
Nov
2011

HOLD ON TO THE FEEEEEEEEEEELING

I can’t believe it’s the 22nd of November. I can’t believe I have posted 22 days in a row. I can’t believe how bad some of those posts were. I can’t believe that it is Thanksgiving in 2 days and First Advent in 4. I can’t believe Karin has ANOTHER sore throat. I can’t believe how dark it gets by 4 pm. I can’t believe how long my to-do list is getting, and I haven’t even put the holiday stuff on it yet. I can’t believe how funny Martin can be sometimes. I can’t believe that I only asked for...

21
Nov
2011

BULLETY

Things I Really Don’t Get The audience at NASCAR booing the First Lady…how mature ARE people, honestly? Someone going on sick leave because they just don’t want to deal with their boss anymore More poles to make the road narrower and cause cars to slow down even MORE on the road between Flyinge & Sandby Things That Made Me Smile Today Explaining the difference between its and it’s to Martin with the help of a funny grammar website A hug & kiss from Karin this morning “for the first time in 24 hours, Mom!” Getting nearly halfway through another one...

20
Nov
2011

HALF SLUG HALF BEE (the busy kind)

Anders and Karin left at 5’ohgod in the morning to drive a couple hours north for an all-day soccer tournament. They JUST called (at 9:00 pm!) and are finally done with everything, but Karin still has to shower before they jump in the car to come home. Which means they won’t be home before nearly midnight on a school night. Horrors! Their team came in second and they played great…Karin scored the only goal in the final and they were tied and into sudden death before the other team managed to score again. Martin and I started the day out...

19
Nov
2011

SEARCHING FOR SMALL THINGS

I was going to save this for Thursday, and a do a Poetry Thursday post, which I haven’t done in a million years, but I’ve already been saving it for a really long time, and Thursday feels a long way off at the moment, though I know it will zoom up, and past, before I know it. I’ve been thinking about poetry a lot lately, and how I don’t seem to write any poems anymore. I used to write poetry all the time. It used to flow out of me, especially when I was angry or sad or boggled about...

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