Life is just so damn busy all the time! Even when I have days to do “nothing”, I have to wrap it in apostrophes because it’s never nothing, is it? There is always something. And if not for me, then for someone that I have to deal with, help, find time for, whatever. I’m not complaining, actually, it’s just how things are, and I know that autumn is always crazy season. Work is especially crazy right now, and we’re short-staffed this week which isn’t helping. I spent much of my day running around, feeling like a chicken with my head cut off, and left work feeling that I hadn’t really gotten anything done when that is not actually the case. I got things done! I was just constantly on the move, constantly interrupted and constantly multi-tasking, which always makes me feel less empowered and more manic.
I was going to write through what I did this past week or so, since I last caught my breath and sat down to post, and then I sat here for a second staring blankly at the screen. What HAVE I been doing?
Let’s see. Monday was WW. No real change; even if I went down it was so little as to be negligible.
Tuesday last week was the Annual AWC meeting and board elections and I’m back on the board of the AWC. As Editor. I am hoping to find another person to help out as part of the webteam, but it’s much easier now than it used to be thanks to all the improvements that Russell & Kathey made last year to our website. There are lots of activities coming up, as always in the end of the year, and I’m looking forward to them: wreathmaking, julbord, cookie exchange, glögg fest. And I was going to have to miss the November book group because I have tickets to see Elton John that night, but while we were at book group last week, the subject came up and it got moved without me even asking, since the hostess for that month had a hindrance come up. Yay!
On Thursday we had an after-work goodbye party for one of the illustrators on my team. I’m really bummed that he’s left because he was SO good, so quick and so creative. Even though there are now three illustrators, two of which are brand new, I think his particular skill set is one that is not easy to find and he fit in really well with the team. And yesterday it was announced that another person in our group is leaving, too. The times, changing, etc. I just hope none of the other three people on my immediate team ever leave, because they are all completely awesome.
I left the work gang at the restaurant at 6:30 and headed to book group. We had a nice discussion that started with the book and then veered all over the place. The best kind of book group!
On Friday, I met up with 3 of the Wonders for dinner. I picked up Emily on the way and we drove to the restaurant, only to find Debbie sitting outside it, on the phone, trying to find another place with an open time slot because the one we had picked was closed for the season. Drrr! No luck, as it was the Friday after payday, every place in town was booked solid. Angie arrived while we were still calling around and we left her and Debbie’s bikes and tried one other nearby restaurant (also seasonal, also closed) before ending up at what used to be a rundown pizza dump before and is not a little more upscale. It turned out to be fantastic! They still have a fast-food kiosk-type menu with pizza, kebabs, schnitzel, etc., but I got a burger and it was to die for. With a pretzel bun, even! DELICIOUS. However, after I talked the waiter into giving me a make-my-own burger with mozzarella and mushrooms (not on the menu), I asked if he could give me a side of mayo. “Mayo?” he said blankly. “I don’t think we have mayo.”
What? It’s not a cheese and mushroom burger without mayo! Then Angie said, “I can call Kaisa to bring you our Hellman’s, if you want.” Kaisa is her teenage daughter, and they live right across the street from this place. So I did, and she did and Kaisa did, and it was the best burger ever! Score!
It was a hard evening conversation-wise as one friend is going through a horrible divorce, one friend recently was bullied out of her job and ended up quitting and one friend’s mother died this past year. We are getting together again, minus Angie, but plus Kelly, in a few weeks…I think it will be the most we’ve seen each other in ages.
Saturday was busy and fun. Karin had 2 friends sleep over on Friday night, so I rousted them all out of bed early Saturday morning, because Martin had to work, and Karin and I were picking up Camilla on the way to dropping him off and going to the Stångby Arts & Crafts Fair. We got there just after 12 and had a lovely hour poking around looking at all the beautiful stuff on offer. It was pretty expensive, I thought, so I was restrained. I bought a pair of earrings for Karin from a friend that does jewelry, 2 original watercolor cards, and then I saw this picture frame and had to have it:
It goes around a corner! How cool is that?? He had one more that was even prettier, made from an old window, that went around an “outside” corner (the one I bought goes around an “inside” corner) but we don’t really have any good place for it in the house. I have the PERFECT place for the one I got, now I just have to figure out what I want to put in it. *happy dance* What do you think? Should I paint the frame or leave it natural?
Karin and I dropped off Camilla, and went home for a couple of hours, then I went back to Lund, picked up sushi and Martin and got home in time for Debbie’s arrival. We had an absolutely lovely evening talking and talking and talking. I am so lucky to have such good friends. 🙂
Sunday was a bust, however. I woke up at 7:30 with a terrible migraine. Blinding, shooting pains and pressure. Got up, drank water, took Advil, laid back down with the wooden massager under my neck. Thankfully, Martin didn’t have to be at work until 12, so I was able to doze off a bit, but the headache persisted and I ended up taking more tablets a few hours later and using the electric neck massager, all to no real avail. I had the headache all day. I went back to bed in the early afternoon, hoping that would help, but it didn’t, and even more medicine before I went to bed that night. Was VERY grateful to wake up headache-free on Monday, as I’m sure you can imagine.
Yesterday, my friend & colleague Suzanne and I took a visiting US colleague out to dinner. We haven’t seen her in forever, since I don’t get to go to the US for work every year any more and Suzanne doesn’t travel for her job at all, and Donna-Sue hasn’t been to Sweden in ages either. It was a nice evening full of work gossip and laughter.
And that brings us to today. I left work early and went to Malmö to have my hair done. I’m reserving my opinion until I see how it is after showing tomorrow, but I am a little worried that the color is too orange. 🙁 Barky is flaunting autumn colors with the rest of the world, wooooo!
Tomorrow is my “night off” with no plans, haha, and Thursday is choir. Friday, Anders comes home from his 2-week trip to Italy. He was at my brother’s over the weekend, helping them on their new house renovations: laying wood floors apparently and playing with the little boys. 🙂
Whew! Can you believe it’s already October? I can’t. I mean, I can, it does the same damn thing every year, but it feels ever faster now. Okay, that’s enough of me, what about you?