Yearly Archive: 2012

06
Feb
2012

THE STORY OF THE FROG LAMP

Once upon a time, during the years I lived in Chicago, my parents became completely obsessed with antiquing. They went to auctions and collected things and bought some really beautiful stuff. And because there are approximately a million antique dealers and architectural salvage companies, and flea markets and 2nd hand stores in and around Chicago, when they came to visit me, I went with them, too. And caught the bug. However, since I had champagne tastes on a beer budget (like how I throw around those alcohol references as if I know what I’m talking about?) I never bought much....

30
Jan
2012

STANDING FIRM

When I came home, Karin climbed all over me and demanded to make muffins. “Muffins?” I said. “We don’t need no stinkin’ muffins.” “Yes, we do,” she insisted, OVER AND OVER AND OVER, like 12.5 year olds do, and god help me when she’s an actual teenager. She had SMS’d her father and asked if she could make muffins and of course he said yes because he is ON HIS WAY TO CHINA. I fobbed her off with the first we have to get the laundry in and then I have to get dinner ready and then you have to...

26
Jan
2012

FAST, THEN SLOW, THEN PIE!

If the days made a noise as they flew by, what would it be? Mine zing with a high-pitched ziiiiii. I finally finished re-reading The Clan of the Cave Bear books again, along with the latest one which Martin got me for Christmas. I think the first 3 books are really good, but man, do they go downhill after that. The 4th book is titled The Plains of Passage but should be called The Sex of Sex Sex Sex and the fifth one is basically repetition and filler, and the last one made me want to smack both of the...

22
Jan
2012

GO GO GO GRABOTE!

Whoa! Where did the week go? Why does this always happen to me? 😀 As glad as I am to be back to regular routine, I think I’d managed to forget how it grabs you and speeds you along without giving you any time to get your arms and legs inside the ride. What with the crazy busy at work all day and some activity/errand/to-do every evening, 7 days fly by before I can take a breath and realize it’s the weekend again. And too soon, another new week. No wonder Christmas seems to be constant…it’s already the end of...

16
Jan
2012

IF NOT NOW, WHEN?

For some people, a to-do list gets the job done: just seeing their projects or errands laid out in black and white is enough to get them buzzing. But for other things, the ones that sit and percolate in the back of your mind, but never seem to get bumped to the top of the priority list, it might take something a bit more drastic. One way to get motivated when you have things to get done is to set yourself a deadline. Another way is to dare yourself…or better yet, have someone else dare you. People procrastinate for all...

12
Jan
2012

THE WEEK OF GOOD IDEAS

I don’t know if it’s the mental stimulation of getting back to regular routine after what seems AGES of being discombobulated by first major illness and then seemingly endless holidays, but I have been a font of great ideas this week. It’s a fun feeling, I have to say…especially when they come all in a bunch. Every year at work, we publish our Strategic Outlook for the year. I’ve been doing the creative layout for several years, getting the content from the CEO and CTO and various other management team VPs and putting it together into an 8-page brochure that...

11
Jan
2012

15 YEARS IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE

15 years ago I landed in Sweden, on January 11th, the day after Anders’ sister’s second child was born. We went straight from the airport to the patient hotel to see her and the baby. Last night, after we toasted Henrik’s birthday, talk turned, as it does every year, to the fact that it was an anniversary for me, too. I wonder if Henrik gets sick of hearing about my moving to Sweden every year on HIS birthday. Anders and I had been married 6 months. I had been to Sweden 3 times: a visit during Christmastime while we were...

09
Jan
2012

STARTING LINE

I’m motivated to do some things, but not others. I have a long mental list of things I want to get done, resolutions to get started on, overdue and neglected projects to start back up. Instead, I find myself reading. Big surprise! I haven’t even made a real to-do list for much of it because I …can’t figure out where to start. If I send myself email reminders about urgent or semi-urgent things, I get them done, but though it seems smart to send myself emails that say: Call the immigration board about residence card or Schedule appointment with new...

05
Jan
2012

SOFT START

The Swedes have a saying about getting a “soft start” on something (mjukstart), which means to ease in gradually. Right now we are having a mjukstart to the year, which we have every year here due to the fact that January 6 is a National Holiday. It’s Epiphany, which is a religious holiday in a very non-religious country. In fact, the calendar year is full of national holidays based on the old religious celebrations, though they did take away Whitsun a few years ago, or rather traded it for Sweden’s National Day (June 6). Last year, after January 6 we...

04
Jan
2012

DISBELIEF

I’m so sad and upset…one of my favorite people on LJ, someone I’ve been reading practically since I started writing this journal, just passed away. She was the most lovely person, full of wonderful, hilarious observations and stories and a quirky fantastic writer. I’m thankful that I ordered a book of her short stories a few years back so that I can read her words whenever I want to, but O!!! How can the place where her voice was be silenced? My heart goes out to her daughter and the rest of her family. jackiejj, you will be SO missed....

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