Yearly Archive: 2018

18
Jul
2018

COOLING DOWN A BIT

It was cloudy today, an even gray cover, misting us in rain but not enough to actually WATER the thirsty earth. I went out with the hose after dinner and gave the potatoes and the tomatoes a good soaking, stopping to pluck another little red cherry tomato. The plants are so heavy they are pulling away from the house and leaning the slatted sticks that were supposed to support them over so far that I’m pretty sure it’s just a matter of time before they hit the ground. There are tons of tiny green tomato balls growing and still the...

16
Jul
2018

I’M MELTING, I’M MELTING

It’s official: I’m overheating. The house is hot, I’m hot. Every fan we own is on, and it’s NOT HELPING. GAH. It was 32C when I got home today. That’s 96F. In SWEDEN. Even in mid-July, that’s damn hot. Add hot flashes to that, and I am one unhappy camper. If it doesn’t cool down soon, I’m going to melt like the Wicked Witch of the West in a pool of my own sweat, swearing all the way. Yeah, yeah, there’s no humidity and it will cool down overnight, but OMG I’m hot today. I was so hot and tired...

10
Jul
2018

REAPING THE WHORLWIND

Last week at work, while making the corrections to a case study layout, one of the markups was to change a section headline about fingerprint scanners which are used for security at a school, from “Making a whorl of difference” to “Making a world of difference”. Now, I had thought that headline was quite clever when I was first copying in the content, and it made me smile. But the request to change it set me off. What?! I fired off an email to the colleague in the US office who is responsible for the case studies to ask if...

09
Jul
2018

DISTANCE MEANS SO LITTLE WHEN SOMEONE MEANS SO MUCH*

There’s a special feeling to being alone after weeks of being social. I feel like I’ve been on a whirlwind the past two and a half months. A good whirlwind, but a whirlwind nonetheless, what with Karin’s graduation, family visiting, friends visiting, and a seemingly unending round of parties and get-togethers. Now, the house is quiet and empty, and clean, and I am rather enjoying it. It’s funny how you don’t want things to change, and yet they do, and when they do, you can either rail against it or just enjoy the moment. I’ve had so many moments to...

26
Jun
2018

SCHOOL’S OUT!

Two down! At least, two high school graduations down. Karin had a fantastic day, starting with a champagne breakfast at the school and day full of activities until their “run-out” at nearly 4. I had thought Martin’s school yard was big and crowded, but I wasn’t at ALL prepared for how many people were crowded into the open areas of Karin’s school. Nearly 1000 students graduated and ALL their families and friends seemed to be there, with signs and balloons and plush necklaces and champagne bottles and big smiles. We parked at Karin’s girlfriend’s house and walked over to the...

24
Jun
2018

TOGETHER TIME

How do you live so far away from family? It’s not a question I get that often, because I’ve been here for so long and I’m part of an expat community who have ALL moved far away from home and family. Most of the time, you just don’t think about it. You live your life, you go to work, you clean your house, and make dinner, but you don’t think about the fact that you only see your mom once a year and your brother maybe that, and your sister less than that, and your uncles and cousins and grandmother...

23
Jun
2018

LIVING IN THE MOMENT

*dusts off blog* Well, hello there! I’m not sure I remember how to drive this thing. I’m not even sure I can get it in gear… I haven’t posted since a couple of days before my mom arrived and the crazy month of crazy started. My brother and his family were here for a week then we had a week of party preparations and then we had a week of graduation insanity and parties, parties, parties. Then my mom left and now I’m suddenly left with one more day ahead of me before I have to return to my REAL...

20
May
2018

A NEARLY PERFECT WEEKEND

This weekend delivered all the things that make spring in Sweden unbeatable. Pretty near perfect weather, with high blue skies, warm temps, and cooling, leaf-ruffling breezes scented with lilac. The sun shines until nearly ten, sinking slowly down through a pastel rainbow of lavender, blush and blue. The moon’s a silver sliver; the evening sky speckled with stars. A fat hedgehog trundled past the trellis yesterday evening, while we were watching ice hockey (which we’re doing again tonight, cheering on Sweden in the gold medal game of the World Championships. If they win it will be twice in a row:...

14
May
2018

IF EVERYTHING SEEMS UNDER CONTROL, YOU’RE NOT GOING FAST ENOUGH*

My whole brain, my whole life is being eaten alive by work. We’ve been working at such a speeded-up pace for so long that even if we wanted to, I’m not sure we could decelerate to a more reasonable level. It’s go go go all the time. I’ve worked most of the last weekends including both the ones that were long weekend holidays. It feels more stressful to NOT work than to try and relax over the days off knowing how much work there is and how much more will be waiting for me when I return on the next...

28
Apr
2018

WHAT’S THE BUZZ, TELL ME WHAT’S HAPPENING

Last week at work was awful. Too many things that were frustrating, rage-inducing or just plain annoying happened. I am VERY glad of this long weekend, though I am going to have to check into work emails and possibly do some work regardless because there is just so much of it. We were all freaking out over the amount of short weeks in the next two months (the first of which is this one). You’d think that we’d be THRILLED about having all this time off after the long holiday drought since the beginning of January, but 1) there are...

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