Category: general

Bzzz Bzzz Bzzz that’s the sound of this busy bee. I dragged John with me to Book group tonight, but we had fun. The woman whose house we were at lives out in the absolute boonies, and when she sent the directions, she described the roads as “windy” which I read as WIND-y as in air blowing hard. Everyone else read it as WIND-y, as in WINDING. Despite all the moose crossing warning signs, we did not see any moose. Bummer. Although I’ve been told that I do not want to see a moose while I’m driving as it usually...

My mom is sitting behind me as I type this, asking me what I’m doing, and randomly tossing out crossword questions that I don’t seem to know any of the answers to. An edible fungus, blank O P. Righetti’s forté. Some penguin that starts with A. She does this quite frequently, and when you’re reading, as I usually am, or my brother is, it can be distracting to the point of crazymaking. The word for girasol. 4 letters ending in L. And what would be ceramic blue? 5 letters? I would tell her to shut up but it’s amusing me...

Anders and I went to a parent meeting at the school this evening with all the rest of the parents of soon-to-be preschool kids who are starting “nollan” or “grade 0” as it’s commonly referred to. Karin is moving on up. They informed us that her class consists of 23 children…NINETEEN of which are boys. They are counting Karin among the 4 girls. Do you think we should warn them?

No matter how many times you go through it, the death of a beloved pet never fails to rip out your heart. My mom and brother got the news tonight that their dog (originally John’s but living with my mom for nearly 2 years after he moved to Germany) died last night at the kennel in Michigan. She was nearly 11, a beautiful rust and white husky with pale blue eyes and a smartass attitude. Akela, you’ll be sorely missed by our family.

Spring springity spring, spring! Sproing! Little dandelions have jumped up out of nowhere, the grass has sun freckles. The sky is a pure, peerless turquoise, but from the window I can see wispy cirrus clouds stealing over from the west. Our little garden out front is exploding, too. The lewisia and columbine are up, the stonecrop is coming, the sedum is rounded and shining. Pink and purple flowers already standing high from the polka-dotted-leafed plant whose name I can never remember. Anders and Martin were playing frisbee earlier but it’s too windy for that, really. Mom is making humpke soup,...

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in 8 years of living in Sweden, as well as 6 years living in Europe as a teenager, not to mention all 40 of them moving around my whole life, it’s that if you get into playing the comparison game about the place you currently live, you might as well just go home already because nothing will ever measure up. I was always taught to view life as an adventure, and the places we moved and lived in were a part of that. There was never much point in comparing where we were with...

Geez louise, I’m sick. I’b so sick I habn’t wridden in 3 days. That’s pretty damn sick. *cough* “Nobody wants to read that,” says my mom. Dude. She’s right. More later. *wheeze* *snuck* Cracking Me Up: We Licked Our Hands

Uuuunnnggghhh…next time remind me to have more sympathy for my children when they’re sick with something I’m going to get. There should be a law that parents have to be sick first so that they know what they’re dealing with. Ow my head.

The next two weeks are just insane. Insane, I tell you! Look! Look at this!! Am I right or am I right? Monday: Scout outing with Martin Tuesday: Car inspection Wednesday: choir Thursday: Open house & dance recital at school Friday: Sushi night and John arrives Saturday: Emily & Martin for dinner Sunday: Brunch and Tropikariet in Helsingborg Monday: Parent-teacher conference Tuesday: whoa. nothing! can it be true?? Wednesday: choir Thursday: Book group Friday: Social circle & dinner Saturday: Potluck AWC dinner Sunday: Scout outing and then dinner with Anders’ parents Monday: Mom & John leave, AWC monthly meeting My...

I have a couple of essays or, at least, paragraphs, that I want to write about, but they seem to still be percolating. One is about the concept of sacred, and one is about the loss of a sense of proportion in the world and how that lies at the bottom of so many things I think are wrong with people nowadays. Hopefully they’ll bubble to the surface soon so I can spit them out and they can quit bothering me. The fever virus is obviously highly contagious because Karin came down with it last night and I have few...