Author: lizardek

18
Aug
2024

ERIN GO BRAGH (NORTH) – BELFAST

We arrived quite late in Belfast, after spending most of the day traveling both by train and bus, and then walking about 15 minutes to our AirBnB, the only one that was ground floor with NO stairs. The next morning, we got up early, found a café for breakfast and then met our bus for the day’s excursion. Ériu (today more commonly known as Éire) is the Irish name for Ireland – named after this powerful female goddess. Skinny building along the canal in Belfast Waiting for the bus Our guide was named Harry and despite his magnificent mustache, he...

17
Aug
2024

ERIN GO BRAGH – GALWAY

Waking up in Galway on your birthday is a good way to do it. Or rather, being awakened, as per the usual Swedish style. We had to get up early to catch our daytrip bus, so of course the kids and Anders woke me up even earlier with singing, hugs, and a new iPad (yay!). The next morning we walked through Eyre Square on our way to the hotel where we were meeting the bus. And Karin ran into someone she knows! Because of course she did! She knows everyone! Someone she went to school with, who had actually been...

16
Aug
2024

ERIN GO BRAGH – DUBLIN

We were only in Ireland for a week, but we did a LOT of things and saw a lot, and ate a lot, and I took a bajillion photos. If you are going to turn 60, Ireland’s a fun place to do it in. It’s as green as promised, and the people are lovely. We stayed in AirBnBs, all of which but one had a million stairs, which was a bummer, since I am still in a knee brace, but I managed. We flew to Dublin on Wednesday, August 7 and stayed right down in the city center near to...

02
Aug
2024

AGING IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR LIVING*

Ermahgerd, it’s August! Yesterday, Debbie and Camilla took me out for the afternoon for an early birthday celebration because I’ll be gone over the weekend of my actual birthday. I left work at 12 and picked up Camilla, and then we drove out to Slättarps Gård, which was a lovely location out in the middle of absolute nowhere. There was a café/restaurant, outdoor seating in a garden bower, an art gallery, a florist, and a little boutique. We had a delicious lunch, sitting in the shade of the trees, with beautiful weather, blue skies, warm and breezy summer weather. They...

24
Jul
2024

I UNDERSTAND THE ASSIGNMENT

Just 23 days ago, I wrote a post about how deeply ashamed I was of so many people in America. I was at the point of despair, which I haven’t felt since 2016. During the 4 LONGER THAN NORMAL years of Frump’s presidency, I stopped reading the news, I stopped watching it, I stopped watching late night shows, I barely kept up with the headlines, because everything about the US and the pandemic sucked so bad. It was a relentless horror show of awful, and I could not keep my chin up. I wasn’t thrilled about Biden but he was...

23
Jul
2024

I AM SWEET ENOUGH ALREADY, AM I NOT?

I can’t seem to quit sugar. I have no self-control whatsoever. UGH. Back in 2013 I stopped drinking soda cold turkey. I’d been a Coke addict since I was really young, often drinking multiple cokes a day. Coke was my THING. All our Swedish friends learned fairly quickly to have Coke AND ice on hand when we were over, neither of which is really Swedish. I stopped drinking soda because I had read somewhere that the amount of sugar in soda if you drank one can a day was equivalent to 20 pounds a year. So it was WEIGHT LOSS...

14
Jul
2024

QUARTER OF A CENTURY

Yesterday, Karin turned 25 years old. She’s an amazing young lady and it’s a pleasure to watch her make her way through the world, with the spirit and influence and drive that she has. For some reason it’s not as weird to have my youngest turn 25 as it is when my little brother hits milestone birthdays. I am already sufficiently boggled at my own age; my daughter’s doesn’t seem to make it worse, which is nice. She’s barely been home for 2 weeks, first working a week at the music festival in Roskilde, Denmark and then working every single...

11
Jul
2024

FEELING FISHY

For someone who eats so much salmon, it’s weird that I don’t really otherwise care that much for fish. I like tuna sandwiches, and I’ll eat tuna steaks or pretty much any kind of breaded fish with remoulade if it’s served to me, but fish isn’t really a go-to item on my menu of choice. Unless it’s salmon. Then it’s #1. In the last 7 days, I have eaten oven-baked salmon (with lemon zest, olive oil, and salt and pepper), pan-fried salmon (chili pepper and saffron seasoning), gravlax, cold smoked salmon, warm smoked salmon, and sushi (salmon nigiri and sashimi,...

09
Jul
2024

PARTIES AND POMOLOGY

I actually really enjoyed the AIC BBQ party on Saturday despite being completely wiped out afterwards. It felt like a real return to the 4th of July parties of the early days of the club. We were 55 people total, with about 14 smaller kids (no babies though). The bouncy castle was a huge hit, and the kids pretty much stayed on it the entire time, when they weren’t eating, throwing a beach ball around as well. Nice because I didn’t have to get Martin to take them over to the playground, or come up with other games or activities....

03
Jul
2024

SORRY, HAVE MOOD POISONING. MUST HAVE BEEN SOMETHING I HATE*

So far, it’s been one of those weeks. Monday was a complete shit show with one frustrating, aggravating, and upsetting thing after another. I hadn’t slept well, and my knee was hurting to boot. The only good thing was talking to my manager and knowing that I have her support, no matter what. But the residual feelings about everything that happened 3 days ago is still bugging me. Why is that I just can’t let things like this go? They sit and spin about in my head, on repeat, for DAYS. Last night I slept poorly again. I woke up...

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