This morning, I swear, if my head hadn’t been attached, I would probably have accidently left it at home. I managed to remember that Martin has utedag* today, it being Wednesday, but I still managed to leave the house without his plastic cushion, which we turned around to retrieve and then, after getting to the school to drop him off remembered that he was also supposed to have a lunchbag with him, in addition to his fruit (the only thing I DID remember). Because it’s the end of the school year and schedules seem to be warping and shifting faster...

I found the aftertaste of the Diet Coke. It crawls in my mouth and dies there each evening. ICK. It’s fine when I’m drinking it, I hardly notice any taste difference at all, but by evening my mouth tastes totally nasty and I have to go scrub with cool mint gel and even then I still taste it. Does anyone who has made the switch know if this goes away after awhile? I’ve only been drinking Diet Coke for 3 weeks. The stress is lapping at my knees. It was down to my ankles after the weekend, but it’s slowly...

Welcome to the wind’s ball. Among the ladies dressed in green, who stand and gently wave their arms, dancing in place is all the fashion. Everything is moving in the breeze. It rushes and wooshes quietly like ocean waves through the greenery. Blackbirds burble and trill unseen from above and crows squawk and yell in the distance. The hedges and trees rustle and tremble. A linden tree creaks, a beech hedge rattles at me as I walk by. A low stone wall is netted with tiny green crinkly leaves and miniature heartsease so small I had to stop and peer...

Signpost We Passed on the Road that Made Me Laugh Out Loud: Nibble (arrow pointing left) and Gryt (arrow pointing right) This week is a bit of a crazy one, and I’m not at all sure how much computer time I’ll have. Tonight and tomorrow are the only nights I’m at home and I really have to get the AWC website and newsletter finished, since I’m only about a third of the way done and they are due next week. Aagh! Plus grocery shopping must be done ASAP. I finished two books during the long weekend and can highly recommend...

You know how when you’ve been corresponding with someone and then you meet them and they’re just really weird and you can’t wait to get away?* I’m happy to report that that was NOT the case this weekend. 🙂 We had a super time with ozswede and tallefjant who could not have been more gracious hosts if they’d tucked us into bed personally each night. They gave up their apartment to us and slept on their boat for 2 nights, they fed us royally, they took us out sailing in the beautiful waters of the archipelago and they were every...

Is my mind on work? Nope, it’s at home packing and thinking about what we need to bring with us tomorrow for the 4-day weekend of zoo tramping at Kolmården and TLC and sailing with ozswede and tallefjant in Nynäshamn! I dropped the catalog off at the printer at 4 p.m. yesterday and this morning before 10 a.m. I have already had to deal with FOUR emails of changes from one company who apparently didn’t proofread their own text carefully enough. argh. Good thing they got the changes to me now though, instead of coming with them next week when...

One thing I really hate when reading is getting to the end of a book only to discover that the author has chosen not to bring the story to an end, but rather to continue it in a new volume. Which I don’t have. Which probably isn’t even published yet. Or if it is, is only available in an expensive hardcover version. It’s most aggravating when it seems that the only reason the author (or the publishing house) made the decision to do so was based solely on the desire to sell more books. I once threw an Anne Rice...

Tired. Wiped out. Exhausted. Drained. Sleepy. Fatigued. Zoning. Driving with half-lights.* That’s me after this long long long busy busy busy day. Too busy to surf the web, too busy to post in my journal, too busy to do anything but all the million things that need to be done. Our giant print piece is nearly ready to go to the printer tomorrow and I’ll be SO GLAD when it’s gone. Final changes and final proofreading in the morning and then it’s off my desk and (nearly) out of my hands for this round. My Day: up shower dress, get...

Blommande sköna dalar, hem för mitt hjärtas ro! Lummiga gröna salar, där vår och kärlek bo! Soliga barn av luft och ljus, o jag förstår ert tysta sus. Blommande sköna dalar, hem för mitt hjärtas ro. Kom, du, min vän, i skogen, kom vid min sida sjung. Skogen är evrigt trogen, våren är evrigt ung. Livet förgår som kvällens fläkt, evig är vårens andedräkt. Kom, du, min vän, i skogen, kom vid min sida sjung.