Yearly Archive: 2015

24
Mar
2015

SMACKERELS OF SOMETHINGS

I opened my can of Hearts of Palm. It’s been calling me for a couple of days. I bought it in the States when I was there for work, so it’s not very old, but still: now it’s open and half-gone and by the end of the week, there will be no more Hearts of Palm. They don’t have canned Hearts of Palm in Swedish grocery stores. I could probably find it if I went to some of the import food stores at Möllevångstorget in Malmö but how often do I get there? Other things I would like to eat...

22
Mar
2015

WHERE’D THE WEEKEND GO?

Anders made dinner tonight and it was so delicious that I’m sharing the recipe. He has been using an app he found called Kokaihop (there is a website too, but it’s all in Swedish) which is chock full of fantastic recipes and this is just the latest. Pasta with Garlic & Crayfish Tail Sauce 1 package of crayfish tails in brine 3 dl creme fraiche 1 bunch parsley 4 cloves garlic 1 cube vegetable bouillon 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 400 gram tagliatelle noodles 1 TB olive oil 0.5 dl water Cook pasta according to directions while making the sauce. Peel...

19
Mar
2015

HERE THERE AND EVERYWHERE

It was sunny today, and warm(ish) and spring is here. I can tell by my eyes. Red, itchy and sore. I spent most of the day trying not to rub them because I forgot to take allergy meds yesterday and egad, the agony. We don’t use egad nearly enough. I’m going to try and add that into my vocabulary at least once a day. Egad! This has been a long and crazy busy week at work, and there’s still another day to go. I am really looking forward to the weekend and to a couple of short weeks (thank you...

14
Mar
2015

CONFIRMATION

I am apparently old now. I can’t seem to sleep in, or go back to sleep when I wake up early. Unlike my teenage children and my former self, who could sleep half the day away, I am no longer able to doze of a morning. I can still stay slugabed for hours with a book but the sleeping part seems to be a thing of the past. My intentioned plans for this weekend were pretty nil, though I did have some spring-cleaning on the menu. It’s the melodifestivalen final tonight so we invited Anders’ mom over to watch it...

12
Mar
2015

POETRY THURSDAY

It’s been a long time since I posted any poetry and that’s a sad thing. It’s been even longer since I wrote any, which is sadder. I read this poem online tonight and it was also because of a sad thing…one of the bloggers I read had posted it in tribute to her brother-in-law who recently passed away from cancer. It really struck me, and while I know most of my friends are fans of Mary Oliver’s work and are probably familiar with it, I thought I’d share it anyway. Mysteries, Yes by Mary Oliver Truly, we live with mysteries...

08
Mar
2015

SECOND VERSE SAME AS THE FIRST

Why do I get the feeling March is going to be one of those barely-manage-to-post-once-a-week months? I could write more, but I’d have to spend more energy wresting the computer away from the clutches of my World-of-Warcraft-obsessed offspring and frankly, I just can’t be orked. Plus I am busy alternating between reading a really good, fascinating book and working my way up through endless levels of Tap Titans, so as you can tell, my life is SUPER EXTRA IMPORTANTLY BUSY right now. Someone who lives nearby and whom I have ended up behind on the highway more than once, has...

02
Mar
2015

NOTHING, REALLY

I’ve been meaning to write for days, DAYS, but I keep getting thwarted. Thwarted by children, by distractions, by headaches, by work, by laziness, by sleep. There are pussywillows blossoming and snowdrops. Pansies just went on sale at the nursery. It’s light out when I leave for work, and light out when I leave to go home (depending on the cloud cover, of course). Despite the crap weather (grey, rain, cold), the harbingers are everywhere, if you just keep your eyes open and your optimism on high: spring IS coming. It IS. We went to look at a car this...

25
Feb
2015

LIFE WITH TEENAGERS

To get any computer time in this house currently, I have to a) forcibly shove my son/daughter off the chair and turn off World of Warcraft while he/she’s struggling to get on her/his feet b) threaten death and destruction if I don’t get five minutes to, like, pay bills c) say I need the computer. say it again. say it several times. in a determined tone of voice that brooks no argument. rinse, repeat. d) wait until my children have gone to bed, which is starting to be past MY bedtime e) wait until my children have grown up and...

18
Feb
2015

MILLION-DOLLAR IDEA (emphasis on the ILL)

Still haven’t been feeling up to snuff this week and yesterday I woke with a bad headache on top of the sort-of head cold that won’t go away, and an earache that had started the night before and caused me to sleep poorly, so I stayed home from work. I worked today but I definitely still feel sub-par. How many times can you blow your nose before there’s nothing left but a large seeping hole in your face? Honestly. One of my colleagues said, when she saw me in the office, “You don’t look sick at all!” “Ha!” I groused....

16
Feb
2015

WORDS, MORE WORDS, SOME MARTIN, AND MEMORY

It’s so quiet round these here parts, with half our family gone for the week. I’m sure Martin is loving it: getting to sleep in and play WoW as long as he likes without having to wrestle his sister for the computer. He doesn’t get to wrestle me for it, because if I say I want it, I get it. Snap. Last Friday I bought season 5 of Downton Abbey (which I’m pretty sure I have typed as DownTOWN Abbey every single first attempt at typing it, ever) and we are already done, plus we found the Christmas special online...