Yearly Archive: 2012

26
Sep
2012

FOILED, TOILED, COILED

I’m beginning to think the fates are moving against us in the matter of going home to the States for Christmas. First we had to wait forever to get approval on Anders’ vacation time, then we tried 3x to buy tickets online that were apparently NOT EVEN AVAILABLE, then we had to wait another week to get permission to take the kids out of school a couple of days and NOW I discover that Karin’s American passport expired in February! AAUGH. Anders is in Italy for 2 weeks and every single day has got something scheduled. I had to write...

18
Sep
2012

HIT ME WITH TECHNOLOGY

Another sign I’m getting old…oh hell, who am I kidding…just one of many in the seemingly endless rank of signs that I am getting old: When we arrived in Boston and took the shuttle over to the car rental place, after completing the paperwork, I was handed my contract and told that my car was in space B18 with the keys in it. We found the car, a compact little Ford Fiesta in bright blue and threw our suitcases into the truck. But upon getting into the car, we discovered the “keys”, which it took us a moment to find,...

15
Sep
2012

WAYS TO MAKE YOUR SATURDAY BETTER

Sleep in like a giant slug: take that, jetlag! Pow! Open the porch door and windows to let the fresh air and sunshine in Enjoy the smell of fresh cinnamon buns that your husband is baking (to sell at the soccer game later) Finish a really good book that you didn’t expect to like (Room by Emma Donoghue) Catch up on your magazine reading (1 issue of Intelligent Life, 2 issues of Martha Stewart Living) Eat a yummy lunch of Cream of Potato soup (imported from the USA) with bacon Get the kids to pick up their rooms Do laundry...

12
Sep
2012

BRAIN DRAIN

There is something about the autumn light that just gets me buzzing. Driving home, the sky was such a clear blue and the lowering sun was beginning to tint the bottom of the clouds pink and coral. Everything looked extra-3D somehow; more real, brighter, ALIVE. The leaves haven’t begun to change yet, as we haven’t had any real frosts to speak of but the foliage looks thinner somehow.The trees are dark, dark green and the edges of the roadsides are tawny gold. Years ago, I was a mad fiend for Trivial Pursuit. Of course, back then EVERYONE was. It was...

09
Sep
2012

UP & OVER & BACK AGAIN

There that pesky rascal Tme and his buddy Real-Life went, skipping along hand in hand and dragging me with them willy-nilly! So much for my good intentions. I flew back over the Atlantic last night, landing in darkened, quiet Reykjavik for a midnight layover and then soaring into Copenhagen just ahead of the rising sun at 6 a.m. this morning. My flights went perfectly smoothly which is always a plus and I read until my eyes blurred, dozed for a couple of hours and listened to my Spotify playlist all the way home. My key was nowhere to be found...

21
Aug
2012

ROAD TO HELL

I haven’t written about the hay bales and how they glow like giant golden random bocce balls in the fields. Or how the fields themselves have gone from rippling oceans of thigh-high grasses to overturned, churned chocolate earth. I haven’t written about how time has speeded up again and thrown me full-speed into autumn even though the trees have yet to turn. I haven’t written about the rosy color across Karin’s cheeks from days spent on the soccer field and the funny conversations Martin and I keep having. I haven’t written about how upset I was over the hackity haircut...

19
Aug
2012

I’M MELTING! I’M MELTING!

It’s SO hot here. I swear, I’m swooning with heat. Not to mention sweltering, swelling, and just plain swearing. I hate being this hot, though I know that I shouldn’t complain that it’s nice weather and the sun is shining, and honestly I’m not complaining about that part, but the humidity: AUGH. I remember when we moved back to the States after 6 years in Europe, in the summer of 1982. We came from Germany, where there was NO humidity to speak of, to Maryland, where the humidity was over 100%. I literally thought I was going to die every...

12
Aug
2012

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

OMG halfway through August and where have I been? Busy busy busy and obviously not writing. I haven’t even been online that much though I have tried to keep up with reading as much as I can. Kicking back into work routine has consumed most of my mental energy and what hasn’t been occupied with that has been eaten by Lego. No, still not done. I will never be done. Last night, Martin and I went out with sweatshirts and mittens and blankets to lie on the trampoline and watch for shooting stars. It was super clear as I drove...

30
Jul
2012

BACK TO THE GRIND-ISH

I’m the only one that has to smack the alarm clock beeping in the early a.m. and get out of bed and get moving…Anders is still of vacation the rest of this week and the kids don’t go back to school until August 20th (crazy!). I went back to work last week but there are so many colleagues still on vacation that it doesn’t really feel like normal yet. People are slowly starting to come back; there were more in the office today than last week, but even so, most of Sweden’s companies are still on half-strength and ours is...

24
Jul
2012

JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE PARANOID DOESN’T MEAN THEY’RE NOT OUT TO GET YOU

When we were in northern Germany, we stayed in a 2-bedroom apartment up a steep flight of stairs. There was no living room, just a small dining area, a long skinny kitchen and a dinky bathroom. Anders and I got the big master bedroom, while Mom had a twin bed in the kids’ room: they shared a bunkbed, Martin on top. I don’t know if the room was actually ever a child’s room but there were mice & mushrooms painted on the window in that special translucent paint for glass and a small bookshelf with some careworn and obviously discarded...

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