Author: lizardek

23
May
2021

YOU HAD TO BE THERE

We watched the entire Eurovision 2021 final last night and in the last half of it, during the voting, the four of us were texting madly in a group chat. Martin, in Detroit, wasn’t able to watch it as he, my mom, and my sister, were in the midst of taking boxes and furniture to my mom’s storage unit an hour away. So he was very engaged in us keeping him up-to-date in real-time on how the voting was going. Karin was watching it at a friend’s place. The following conversation took place AFTER the final results were announced (much...

22
May
2021

SHOTS, SHOOTS & SONGS

Yesterday, Anders saw on the news that hospitalizations of patients with COVID, who have received their first vaccination shot (here in Sweden, at least), were on the rise. Maybe no one told them that 1) it takes 3 weeks for the first shot to reach full effectiveness and 2) it takes TWO SHOTS (for most of us) and a couple more weeks after that to be fully covered. I get that people are increasingly willing to take risks because they are so tired of the restrictions of the past year and a half, but HOLD OUT. Anders got his first...

16
May
2021

NO ESCAPE FROM REALITY

It’s forecast to rain all day and this coming week but the sun has been doing its best to stay out and I went for a walk around the village, enjoying the sunshine (had to remove my jacket!) and the greenery. The cherry trees and magnolias and spirea are blooming. The magnolias, especially the bright pink ones, are such ridiculously pretty pink popsicles of trees. Columbine and forget-me-nots and pansies are everywhere and every field looks carpet-bombed by bright yellow dandelions. Out in the fields, the rapeseed is reaching its neon-yellow heights. And I saw a pied wagtail! The first...

13
May
2021

MOMENT WITH A MAGPIE

Yesterday, we had lunch out on the deck, in the sunshine. Karin was here for a quick lunch for 30 minutes. It was lovely. Later in the afternoon, after I was done working, Anders and I sat out in the sun for awhile again. I had my book and the sun umbrella up and I just sat and enjoyed the green of our yard, our hedge, the trees, the newly planted seedlings in the vegetable garden, the pansies in their pots. I had filled up the birdbath earlier, and while I was sitting there, I saw a magpie alight on...

11
May
2021

HEARTBEATS & BIRDSONG

It’s the prettiest time of the year. All the flowering trees are in bloom: yellow, white, pink, and all the trees that don’t have flowers look like they’re blooming too: bright neon green. I went for a walk around the village and had to restrain myself from taking photo after photo of trees. Trees are so pleasing in their new spring finery. I walked through the pear allé and admired all the white blossoms overhead. Tulips and daffodils and pearl hyacinth are blooming and our yard, along with everyone else’s, is polka-dotted with sunny circles of dandelions. Out back, a...

09
May
2021

SUDDENLY, SUMMER

Sometimes, when it’s been a while, and I keep forgetting to write something here, I feel like I’m coming to confession: Forgive me, LJ, for I have sinned. It’s been 8 days since my last post. Last week was all work and crappy weather and nothing much on the news front, until Friday, when I got a letter in the mail from our local healthcare clinic with an appointment time for my first vaccine shot. WOO HOO! FINALLY! It’s scheduled for May 19, so I am going to be super careful between now and then. Imagine getting COVID the week...

01
May
2021

ON HOLD

Happy first of May! It’s a beautiful day here, sunny with blue skies and a little breeze, but definitely still on the chilly side. We still have some 0 temps in the forecast but I’m really hoping that slightly warmer weather is on the way. On Wednesday night Anders had an accident in the garage and took a fall. He was astride the motorcycle he is rebuilding and the whole thing tipped sideways, throwing him into the wall, as well as everything in front of it, including a grill and a metal bike stand. End result: his motorcycle is fine...

24
Apr
2021

THE SOUND OF SILENCE

About a week ago, I started a post with this sentence: Man, it’s *crickets* around here. It never even occurred to me how very specific that particular phrase is. To English-speakers, of a certain age, and a certain kind. And also how recent its use is. yourdictionary.com gives this definition: (US slang, humorous or derisive) Absolute silence; no communication. Derived from the cinematic metaphor of chirping crickets at night, signaling (otherwise) complete quiet. May be used alone or in metaphorically descriptive phrases. Merriam-Webster has a whole page in their “Words we’re watching” site dedicated to it…because it’s a word that...

20
Apr
2021

NEW CHAPTERS

I threw my back out this weekend, moving furniture around in the kids’ rooms and then made it worse by continuing to work, and then cleaning out the fridge. By Sunday I could barely walk. Getting up from a sitting position or from bed was torture, walking hurt, sitting hurt. Everything hurt. Thank all the gods for ibuprofen and heating pads. I had a massage scheduled yesterday after work as well and Emily spent extra time on my lower back, getting at the place where the muscles were protesting. I had a couple of bad nights, but this morning, despite...

16
Apr
2021

ALL THE THINGS

I made it through another work week, and this one without crying in front of my manager on a Teams meeting, so I call that a win. Work is still crazy but I am proud of my team for managing to keep our task queue at a reasonable level, despite the fact that we were 2 men down this past week as our freelancer wasn’t able to help us at all. Next week I have a massage scheduled and a hair appointment so I will actually be getting out of my house (more than just to the grocery store) for...

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