Yearly Archive: 2015

13
Jan
2015

THERE’S NO NEED TO FEEL DOWN

This past weekend was my 18th anniversary of moving to Sweden. 18 years! Every year I am equally boggled by how long I have lived here. If you add on the 6 years I lived abroad as a child, that makes 24 years total I have lived abroad. Considering my age, which no one should be considering, that means only 2 more years and I’ll have lived half my life overseas (note to skeptics, I checked the math with my husband). Half my life! Martin: Why are you using Firefox and not Chrome? Liz: Um, I don’t know Martin: *under...

10
Jan
2015

THE INFAMOUS CANOE TRIP

True story, Freshman year, Michigan State University, 1982-1983, originally written summer 1983 Jim planned it. That, right there, was an inauspicious beginning. But at first everything seemed fine. We were told the Pine River was one of the best rivers for canoeing, but we were neglected to be told that meant people who knew what they were doing. So, we all trooped out cheerfully with no real idea of what we were getting into. The first foreshadowing of what was going to happen came right at the very beginning of the trip. Julie and I rode with Link and Burgeā€”not...

07
Jan
2015

CAPTIVE

We are ruining Karin’s life. RUINING it. How, you might ask? By living where we do (and by not letting her do ANYTHING, EVER but that’s another post). How COULD we choose to live in Flyinge? What in god’s name possessed us? WHAT WERE WE THINKING? That’s the gist of the text conversation I had with her this afternoon, while I was trying to get through the afternoon of my first day back at work after 2.5 weeks off. Good thing she wasn’t in arm’s reach or she might no longer have arms herself or at least thumbs to text...

05
Jan
2015

COMING DOWN

One more day of freedom and possibility. One more day to do whatever I want. One more day to fill up on relaxing, reading and lying about. The trees are bare but for the lights. Anders is in charge of the lights, so I will nag him to do them tomorrow. All you have to do is look hard at the tree and needles shower to the floor. Several branches are completely bare where the pull to remove an ornament left only the stick in its wake. Sad trees. The dining room table is COVERED in ornaments. It always take...

04
Jan
2015

I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY

I think, because I’m on vacation and I mean REALLY on vacation, not doing a damn thing, pretty much, except turning my nights into day and vice versa, what with the staying up until all hours and sleeping in late, that it’s causing me problems on the writing front. When you barely leave the house (except that I DID leave the house, multiple times, today) for days on end, it means you don’t have all that much to write about, except the inner workings of your weird brain, and good god, who wants to hear about that? I mean, I...

02
Jan
2015

THINGS I WANT TO WRITE ABOUT

How great my husband is How great my kids are How much I miss my family What I do for a living Why I write here This wonderful world Things I like Things I dislike Things I think about a lot Funny things said in my hearing Pictures from my past and what they mean to me Books I’m reading Stuff I have to get done Friends and what they mean to me All the things I’m looking forward to Lists that are meaningless to anyone but me … Oh, wait… I’m already writing about all these things. What do...

01
Jan
2015

WHAT A WAY TO START THE YEAR

I know some people believe that you will spend your year basically the way you spend the first day of it, but if that’s the case, I might be in big trouble. My day, so far, has consisted of: sleeping late, playing games, reading, listening to music, eating, watching DVDs with Martin, talking on the phone with my brother and calling emergency services to send an ambulance because I thought I might be, maybe, having a heart attack. Yeah. So not fun. I’ve been having really stabby chest pains for the past couple of days. They’re intermittent…they come on when...