Monthly Archive: July 2019

30
Jul
2019

SUMMER STUFF

It’s been borderline unbearably hot and humid here, for me, anyway. Anything over 25C and I’m wanting to move further north…though, according to one friend who lives VERY far north, it was just as hot and humid there, so maybe there is no escaping it. Today, however, though it was hot and humid throughout the first part of the day, cooled off considerably and it’s now a lovely chill temperature. Especially since I opened the front door to create a draft and now the house is under 20C for the first time in ages. It’s quite cloudy out and I...

23
Jul
2019

ANGELS AT THE IRS

Yesterday, I got an official-looking envelope in the mail. The return address was the IRS. “Uh oh,” I thought, as I opened it, and I was right. I’ve been filing my US tax returns the exact same way for 20 years and for 2018 they changed everything. All the forms (bar one) were completely different, what they asked for was different, how they asked for it was different, and I struggled really hard to figure things out. I read all the instructions. I read them several times, but most of the time I couldn’t figure out what exactly I was...

16
Jul
2019

IT’S NOT WHAT WE HAVE IN LIFE, BUT WHO WE HAVE IN IT THAT MATTERS*

How many friends do you have? How do you count them? Do you count the ones you went to school with? The ones you work with? Or the ones you used to work with? The ones you live near? The ones that are related to you? The ones that you used to hang out with but haven’t seen in years? The ones that have friended you on Facebook…or the ones you have friended? What about friends at the gym, or in the club, or at church, or at the pub? And if you’ve never actually met them in real life…but...

12
Jul
2019

I WRITE BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW WHAT I THINK UNTIL I READ WHAT I SAY*

When I get a little miffed that reading through my friends list and RSS feed takes me about 10 minutes these days, I have to stop and remember that I am part of the problem. It’s July 12 and I’ve posted only twice this month so far. This post, if it makes it up, will be third. Granted, it’s summer and and the weekend now, and everything slows down when it gets hot out, but really, that’s no excuse. If you want to read what’s out there, maybe you should be setting an example and encouraging others by writing something...

09
Jul
2019

IF THAT’S ALL THERE IS, IT’S ENOUGH

This morning, when I got into work, one of my colleagues commented, “Another day, eh?” and I responded, “Yeah. Sleeping, eating, showering, working…is that all there is?” “Pooping,” he responded. HA. True. Work’s been nicely slow the last couple of weeks, giving us some time to catch up and work on some of the projects we never have time to do. July is the month when most Swedes go on vacation, but almost my entire team is working right now, which is a little weird. I’ve been doing some of what is essentially döstädning lately. Just a little bit…a drawer...

04
Jul
2019

HONEY AND HOTDOGS AND HOLIDAYS

Two people, both complete strangers, that I’ve talked to recently on the phone, have referred to me with what I thought were rather strangely inappropriate endearments. One called me “honey” and the other repeatedly called me both “momma” and “baby girl” during our conversation. These are women who I am betting are younger than me, and even if they are American, doing this kind of thing strikes me as weirdly off. The only people I would refer to as “honey”, first of all, are my husband or my children. The only other time I would call someone “honey” is if...

July 2019
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