Yearly Archive: 2012

27
May
2012

PLASTIC RAINBOW

Phase 1: Sorting by Color is done, though I’m already beginning to wonder if should we have sorted by FORM/SIZE instead as it’s nearly impossible to find the small pieces in a giant bowl full of one color. We’ve started to build things according to the instruction booklets & sheets we have…it takes forever when you have to find the pieces first. Martin has complete a small car, and I’m halfway through a little turkey. Both the kids, who haven’t touched the stuff in over a year, are sitting at the table playing with Lego and building. 🙂

24
May
2012

SUDDENLY, SUMMER

Suddenly, it’s summer. Nearly a week of it so far and no end in sight that I’ve heard…and don’t tell me if so; I’m loving this seemingly endless sunshine. Suddenly, the grass is long and rippling along the roadsides, the white flat wheels of Queen’s Anne Lace have bloomed and every other bush and tree sports lilacs in every shade of ecstasy: white, lavender, pink, purple. The chestnut candles are glowing, white and pearly pink. The starry lupine leaves have sprouted and the flowering stalks are rising and calling: summer, summer, summer! If I could slow it down, I would....

20
May
2012

PERFECT REFRESHMENT

The last time I had a 4-day weekend I was super-productive. This time, I’ve been a total slug. A super slug! I HAVE done laundry, because you pretty much can’t NOT do laundry when you’re a family of four, but otherwise? I’ve read and read and read and slept in and watched all of season 3 of The Big Bang Theory and gone for walks and sat on the porch and sat on the trampoline and done nothing much of note. Sometimes the slug just beats the bee. It seems to be harder and harder to find things to write...

13
May
2012

SPARKS DROPPED BY THE SUN*

It’s another short work week for us, made even shorter for me by the fact that I’m leaving tomorrow at the end of the working day for the UK, an overnight trip to visit a big security tradeshow that our company is participating with 2 huge booths at. It’s the first time at this job, in over 7 years, that I’ve had a chance to go to one of our tradeshows and I’m thrilled that I will be able to go as a guest, so that I can see firsthand how all the materials that I/we create are put to...

09
May
2012

MILLIONS, MEANDERING, MEMORABLES

I wonder if anyone has ever counted how many greens there are in spring? 20? a hundred? MILLIONS? Every tree that CAN flower, is. Fields of grass are blowing in the wind, like wavy green oceans. Even the grasses alongside the roads are long enough to dance in the breeze. Anders ripped up and re-did the “vegetable garden” which, most years, grows an untidy tangle of weeds for us, and re-planted 2 of the raspberry bushes, 2 wild strawberries and EIGHTEEN baby strawberry plants from our neighbor. If they all fruit and the cherry tree does well, I will be...

08
May
2012

XO

It’s Anders’ birthday today. As far as I can tell, he really liked his presents, which makes me glad because I worked really hard to get good ones that he would be happy about. I’m the luckiest woman in the world to have this man in my life. I hope you know that, honey. And I hope you had a good day, despite having to work 🙂 XOXO

01
May
2012

SPRING FLING

It’s the first of May! Here in Europe and in a large part of the world, that means Labor Day. However, since it’s a day off, and yesterday, being a “pinch day” was also a day off, in fact for us it was a NON-labor day. It’s been a nice long weekend, with lots of sunshine and walking the loaner-dog. I had a to-do list of about 20 things that I divided up over the 4 days, which meant nothing was stressful and it included things that I’ve been meaning to do for ages, like iron those 3 tablecloths from...

28
Apr
2012

APRIL IS A PROMISE THAT MAY IS BOUND TO KEEP*

Another long weekend; April is replete with them! I’m both glad about it, because aaaaah: long weekend! And stressed because we have so much to do at work and aaah! short week! Ah well, it’s not like I’d get done with the work. It just keeps coming in, anyway. It was raining this morning so I made a long list of household chores and things to get done and have been steadily whacking away at the list, while watching episodes of The Big Bang Theory on DVD inbetween. The sun came out a couple of hours ago, and I just...

22
Apr
2012

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE

What happens to a place like Venice when there is no one left but the tourists? Anders read an article about Venice recently that said people were moving out of the city in droves; that they couldn’t afford the price of groceries and that there is no business left there except tourism. I wonder how many of the buildings along the canals are empty; abandoned. There are only 60,000 people residing in the city, though the total population including all 118 islands that make up Venice is 272,000. That’s not very many considering the amount of tourists averages 50,000 A...

17
Apr
2012

A PIEDI

I started walking again, officially yesterday, even though I walked all weekend because we were in ITALY. I mean: going for a walk. One of the really great things about Martin, who is pretty great in lots of ways, is that he always says yes if I ask him to go for a walk. And then we get to talk and laugh and have really great discussions to boot. Honestly, it’s crazy that I don’t do it every day; that’s how rewarding it is. In the midst of all our talk, Martin was telling me Things His Classmates Don’t Know...

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