Yearly Archive: 2017

18
Sep
2017

COMPARING A NON-SLUG DAY

Just so you can see the difference. Turned off the alarm at 6:45 am Showered Dressed Sprunched Barky Checked emails and Instagram Made and packed lunch Drove to work Fetched breakfast upstairs and ate it standing at my desk Sent 25 work emails in response to questions Closed 30 job tickets Designed and delivered 2 web banners Updated and delivered 4 print advertisements Reviewed 5 business cards Updated and delivered another business card Designed 2 flyers Had lunch with my daughter Went for a 20-minute walk in the sunshine Designed and delivered nametags for 2 different internal events Updated design...

17
Sep
2017

NEWS TO ME

Today was meant to be a slug day, too, but I woke up super early in pain (AGAIN), same as last weekend, and couldn’t get comfortable or back to sleep for several hours. I’ve already been this past week to the doctor and gotten a time booked for an ultrasound (in 2 weeks) to have my gallbladder checked, since it happened last weekend and my brother yelled at me, but now I’m just hoping I don’t have an acute episode beforehand. URGH. So, when I finally DID get up, I showered and dressed, and then, thumbing my nose at both...

16
Sep
2017

SLUG FTW

I have been badly in need of a slug day and today was it. Slept in, read, played games, sat on the porch and enjoyed the sunshine and warm temps, read some more, answered emails, started a new book, watched a terrible 70s movie after finding out it existed, based on the book I had started, ate leftovers for dinner (did 3 loads of laundry, scrubbed the bathtub, vacuumed the house) Can I do it all over again tomorrow? WHY YES! YES, I CAN! (although I’ve all but promised Karin I’ll go watch her soccer game in the afternoon…as long...

09
Sep
2017

SODDEN SATURDAY SPECULATIONS

It seems as though lately it’s always about to rain, raining, or wet from having just rained. It falls in sheets, in a steady frizzling drizzle, in bursts with the leaves turned sideways and inside-out, showing off their silver undersides. The ground is dark with water, rivulets run from every rooftop edge and corner. If waterdrops were diamonds, I’d be a rich woman…they’re hanging from every leaf and faded summer bloom. And yet, it’s a gentle (if annoying) constant patter of water against our lives. Nothing like the thundering gales that are battering other parts of the world. We have...

06
Sep
2017

H’IVE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN

In my seemingly neverendingly-growing list of things that I need to fix about myself, today I went to see an allergy specialist in Eslöv. I have been to many, many allergy doctors in my life, but it’s been years and I figured it was time to get a handle on my worsening symptoms and see if there were new possibilities that might help. I spend so much time sneezing and blowing my nose and having itchy, running eyes, etc.—finally figured enough was enough. I already know what I’m allergic to, but the nurses sat me right down and did a...

03
Sep
2017

PRESENT TENSE

Pursuing: tickets to next week’s Cirque du Soleil perfomance in Malmö Targeting: my disinclination to get out and walk Devouring: Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel Perceiving: faint calls from the cockatoo next door Dithering: whether to continue paying HBO Nordic after the first free month Continuing: never-ending laundry, even with one kid gone Consuming: Anders’ homemade Cheddar & Chantarelle quiche Recovering: from the annual crayfish party last night…fun, but SO tired today! Luxuriating: blue skies, warm temperatures, sunshine, puffy white clouds…last gasp Swedish summer? I’ll take it! Distracting: Two Dots, Instagram, iPad Cribbage Resigning: myself to 18 months in open...

28
Aug
2017

PARTY HEARTY PARTY POOPER

We knew what we were getting into, honestly, we did. Allowing our 18-year-old social butterfly daughter to invite 94 people to party at our house in celebration of her birthday. By the RSVP date, the tally stood at 71 people and was up to 74 a couple of days before. Anders and I have, of course, met many of the kids at some point, though not all of them, by any means. There were teammates from the 3 different soccer teams that Karin has played on. Classmates and school friends from junior high and high school. Theater kids from the...

27
Aug
2017

BOOKS BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS

We survived the party, but I will write about it tomorrow. For now, books! I realized that I had not posted about the book group recommendations and winners and figured I would just write a book post first, since I have been lame and not posted anything for a couple of weeks. Time just gets away from me, you know? I just finished reading The Mermaid’s Daughter by Ann Claycomb and loved it. I immediately went and searched for more books by her but alas, that is the only one so far. Before that, I read My Life With Bob...

16
Aug
2017

BOGGLING ABOUT EVERYTHING

I continue to be flabbergasted at the apparently unending depths to which the US president is sinking. When will the nightmare end? I am also boggled at how anyone who voted for him expected anything different. Honestly, this trainwreck of a presidency was obvious from the start. GAH. People keep asking me how it’s going, how it was to leave Martin in the US, how it is to be almost empty-nesting. To be honest, it’s fine. I’m fine. I mean, I miss Martin, but at this point, I’m just really glad that he’s starting school and that we aren’t driving...

05
Aug
2017

SO BORING EVEN I AM ZZZZZZZ

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of satisfaction you get from cleaning out a closet. Even if you mostly just tidy and don’t purge that much, it still feels like a big accomplishment. We have no plans this weekend…well, at least *I* don’t…Anders is still painting the window trims on the house and Karin worked 10-4 today, came home to shower and change, and left again for the evening/night. It’s like we’re already empty nesters. Anyway, since I had no plans, I have been taking it pretty easy. The weather has been so changeable: sunny one second, cloudy and raining...