Is there a word for thoughts so random that they defy the category of randomness? I feel like I have butterflies in my head. Not surprising, since my brain is basically full of either work (oh god, work work work) or TwoDots. I can’t do much at home most evenings and forcing myself to sit here for 10 minutes or more is an exercise is zoning out about how it starts hurting worse immediately. Onward to randomnicity! Randomopolis (where I live)! Randomalooza.
We had 4.5 days off work for Easter. My daughter had a week off school. We had dinner on Good Friday with Anders’ family but that was the extent of our plans. The weekend was nearly pain-free for me as I didn’t go near the computer and didn’t do much of anything really, except read and some laundry. Karin was pretty much gone all weekend, and Anders disappeared into the garage full-time, working on his kayak. It’s like I live alone already.
One day I got fired up and cleaned out several kitchen cabinets, something I’ve had on my to-do list for a long time. It was very satisfying but hardly the stuff of blog posts. I also worked on the questions for Karin’s graduation game and have now come up with 10 of them, which is good enough, I think. How much can I really expect our friends and family to know about my daughter’s foibles? LOTS! That’s how much! 😀
I also did my US tax filing and my FBARs, for which I deserve a huge pat on the back. *pats self on back* …now I just have to remind the kids to check and see about doing THEIRS. Ugh.
Someone in another American club in Europe sent us a letter they are drafting to publish, addressed to Meghan Markle, on the occasion of her marriage to Prince Harry. It basically welcomes her to the expat club and warns her about all the obligations she will soon face as a US expat, including FATCA, FBARs, tax filing and the costs of renouncing citizenship for ordinary people like the rest of us expats. The letter was sent to our club, asking if we want to “sign” it, but I don’t think we will. As one of our board members stated, as soon as she marries royalty, she’ll no longer be able to speak about policy or politics, in order to not rock the boat of US-UK relations. A pity on the one hand, but I suspect she wouldn’t have been a spokesperson for the ridiculousness and awfulness of the situation everyday American expats face in regards to banking issues, anyway. I would guess, as a royal, she’ll have access to resources in regards to these issues that none of us have. Like lawyers and financial advisers and the money to pay them with.
We were asked this week to put in our requests for summer vacation and I have no idea what to put. I am planning to take the last week of May off when my brother and family are here, and 3 days around Karin’s graduation, but otherwise…we’ve talked about going home to my mom’s for Christmas this year, so I guess I will save the rest of my weeks for that. Anders had to put in HIS summer vacation plans LAST SEPTEMBER (talk about ridiculous) and ended up taking off the 4 weeks of July just because. We have no plans to travel, so I guess it doesn’t matter, and SOMEONE has to work, though if my neck/should continue to act up I might not have a choice…urgh. Maybe I’ll take a week or 2 in August or all the Fridays in July or something. I don’t know.
I had a massage yesterday and while it felt great afterward, it was actually pretty brutal, and I’m seriously wondering today if I have a cracked rib. Heh. Ouch. Will have to tell her to lay off the lower back and concentrate more on the area that is giving me such problems: neck! shoulders! upper back! FIX ME I AM BROKEN.
I saw that Deerfield, Illinois is banning the sale, possession or manufacture of assault weapons. I applaud this move wholeheartedly. I hope this trend not only continues but picks up speed and sweeps the nation. Of course, only hours later, the Illinois State Rifle Association filed a lawsuit against the city. Sigh.
We have had the most ridiculous (3x word use!) this month so far. Minus degrees and snow every other day sandwiched with 10 degrees and sunny. Or rainy, whichever. March didn’t go out like a lamb, it went out like a bipolar waffler. But! Forecasted temps are heading above 10C by the weekend and staying there, so I guess, I think, I hope, spring is actually arriving. Maybe I’ll go get pansies this weekend. Or maybe I’ll lay on the sofa and pretend my arm belongs to someone else like I’ve been doing. Whichever.
I was challenged recently to write about a trip that I’ve taken with a loved one, but I’ve dithered for too long now, and I’m not sure what to write about anyway. Our honeymoon to Sweden, Athens, Istanbul and the Greek Islands? The trip we took a couple of months after we met where we basically flew/drove around the entire US in one fell swoop? The long weekend I spent with my sister on St. Thomas, courtesy of a sales trip I won in 1992? I don’t know…we’ll see if the muse strikes (My muse is rather violent).
There, that oughta hold ya.