Whoa, another “free” evening at home! I’ve come to treasure these weekday evenings when I have no plans to go anywhere. It’s not that I have less to do, but it’s an opportunity to plough (plow?*) through some of the items on my to-do list that can only be done at home, plus kid time, husband time, cleaning up, sitting at the computer for short stretches. It feels good to spend time like this. This evening my to-do list consist of the following: use up leftovers for dinner, pitch the rest address and stuff Christmas cards install new software copy...

I’m really pleased with my work today! The last couple of weeks have been going really well with fun and interesting projects and positive feedback from my boss, my colleagues and my “customers.” I’ve done 3 advertisement layouts and am working on a flyer today. It’s nice to feel that I made the right choice! The sun can’t seem to make up its mind. It’s very wishy-washy. If it was running for President, the media would be all over the flip-flopping. The clouds are flying by and the wind is relentless and pushy. A high white sky with a hint...

“The baby’s getting stressed…the toxicity levels are too high.” That was the gist of what the nurse said after doing a quick test involving a needle in the baby’s scalp. Within 5 minutes, I had been whisked out of the delivery ward, into the elevator, up to the operating room and was prepped and under, while Anders was left standing alone in the center of the delivery room we had been in for the last 19 hours, stunned by the speed with which the staff had reacted to the emergency. I don’t remember much after that, until coming to and...

I was going to write a nice, decent length post and include some descriptions about the season and the weather, a pithy comment or two on my day, some reflections on family life, a funny comment one of my kids said… but Long day at work, long and productive meeting afterwards with the woman I am hoping will take over as AWC Editor for me next year, dinner and another in a depressingly increasing string of trite and pathetic episodes of West Wing without Aaron Sorkin, so I got nothing, except these: Don’t Know Where to Find That Perfect Gift...

I’m stuffed to the gills on Christmas music. *burps up a little holly* Martin had his annual Lucia-slash-Christmas family service this morning where his music play group gathered with their fondly smiling parents and various siblings and relatives at the village congregation house. He opted for the stylish gingerbread man outfit, complete with floppy hat, and along with a group of mostly girls dressed in white with red ribbon sashes about their waists and plastic battery-driven candle crowns on their heads, plus a couple of boys dressed as Santa, they proceeded up the aisle singing “Sankta Lucia” and arranged themselves...

I don’t watch TV. People react very strangely to that statement. They look at me as if I’ve just said I have a contagious debilitating disease, one that they can’t relate to and hope they can’t catch. Sometimes they back away slowly. Sometimes they don’t believe me. Oh, I don’t mean that I NEVER watch TV. I watch The West Wing, and sometimes a few minutes of David Letterman or Conan, but it’s extremely rare for me to sit in front of the TV for more than 10 minutes. And this is in a country where you don’t get a...

babysitter (started at age 12) camp counselor daycare aide dorm snackshop cook & cashier, also advertising materials dorm maintenance & paint crew university laundry (worst job EVER) bagel deli counter & cashier bookstore clerk & cashier advertising agency account coordinator freelance writing and design (ongoing) marketing coordinator for a bank amnesty international boutique clerk & cashier (praktik) marketing communications coordinator for a telecommunications giant marketing coordinator for an OEM Christmas decorations are up! At least all the ones that don’t hang from a pine tree branch. All the PartyLite stuff arrived this week and I just opened the boxes and...

Christmas letter—not done. Christmas cards—not started. Christmas baking—pawned off partially on SiL. Christmas shopping—half done. Holiday calendar—completely packed. When you don’t have anything to write about and too much else to do, POST PICTURES!

After 6 weeks on the job, I just had a salary discussion with my boss and will be getting an additional small monthly raise, plus a mobile phone. My boss is very pleased with what I’ve accomplished so far, and I left the meeting with a good feeling. 🙂 I can feel the acceleration at work. It feels fast. And it feels good. We had a super turnout last night at the AWC monthly meeting, due in large part to the annual Christmas cookie exchange. We had 16 participants, and each of us baked 6 cookies for EACH of the...

There are people everywhere. I doubt there are very many places left in the world now where you can walk very far without coming across the obvious spoors of mankind. Tracks, roads, garbage washed up on the beach, cultivation, jet trails across the sky, we’re taking over. Not long ago I read an article that claimed the earth would run out of oil and gas within the next 30-50 years. I keep foreseeing a science fiction future of no grass, no trees, no animals except pets and domesticated breeds for slaughter and it’s in my lifetime. All the little villages...