Yesterday was an all-around horrible day. I bailed out on work togetherness (bleah) after a couple of hours of trying to put on a smiley face, and later, after dinner with some friends where I felt increasingly uncomfortable and out-of-place*, we ended up not being able to see Mona Lisa’s Smile as it turned out the movies changed yesterday at the theater and they hadn’t posted the new ones on the website, so we had a choice between Secret Window and “Angelina Jolie playing an FBI agent” movie, whereupon the other 3 girls chose Angelina because the theme of the...

The courtyard of the school looks like a ticker tape parade hit it, but it turns out it’s the cherry blossoms blown asunder by the wind. Skåne is windy, as usual, and the trees are winking silver and green, silver and green. The tulips and daffodils are bleached of color and bowing under their own weight, and the dandelions are closed up tight waiting for the sun. It’s a 3-pheasant day, must be a lucky one. 3 proud (but stupid) gentlemen pheasants ambling in various places along the edges of the road, the grove, the fields. 1 of them struts...

After the bath, while I’m brushing his hair: Liz: (brushing Martin’s wet bangs straight up) There! Go check that out! Martin: (goes to look in mirror, comes back rolling eyes at me) Farmor: Vilken tuffing!* Martin: (makes another face) Jag vill inte vara en tuffing, jag vill vara en snygging* Me: (laughing too hard to brush)

Fighting with my daughter seems to be becoming an integral part of our lives. 🙁 We just butt heads constantly. I know that I have control issues, but I also find the stubbornness and tenacity of my daughter completely over-the-top. She finds it necessary to fight EVERY request, every order, everything. I’m so tired of it I could scream. Last night was horrible and this morning wasn’t much better. After doing a LOT of thinking about it, trying to figure out what to do to change my attitude and my reactions, which, let me tell ya, ain’t easy, I had...

Baby ferns are uncurling in the roadside ditches. The sun has touched the tops of the rapeseed with gold, they’re glinting at the top. The rapeseed, after a mere two weeks, is already waist-high and blooming. With the rape and the dandelions, and the daffodils still gamely hanging in there, the world is highlighted yellow everywhere you look. Up the long empty slope of Odarslövsvägen a novice learns how to drive a motorcycle, his instructor standing hands on hips, watching as he rockets slowly away. Marda loved the design for her flyers and we’re getting together soon, probably tonight, so...

Why am I sad and mad and bad? I do not know, go ask your dad. Reasons For Bailing Out of the 5K Walk Last Night: 1) bruised knee, 2) allergies from hell, 3) pouring rain. Okay, it probably wouldn’t have stopped dbrus but I freely admit I’m a wimp. Happy Birthday Wishes to same_sky and montfort! Things That Might Help Stop the Grumpiness Before It Gets So Thick I Have to Chip it Off With a Fork: Eating all 10 of the fun-size 3 Musketeers bars my boss gave me this morning Keep thinking: The sun is out! It’s...

In the courtyard outside the daycare, blossoms are peeking pinkly among the unfolding new leaves of the twisty apple and pear trees. Spirea bushes shoot lacy arms out and daffodils cluster, talking amongst themselves. A tiny tabby cat runs purposefully across the street and disappears under the red currant bushes. Forsythia bonfires are roaring soundlessly over garden gates. Spring is burning down the house. It’s also burning me down. I can’t remember the last time my allergies were so bad. All this beauty is pure torture because the longer I’m out in it, the more my eyes itch, and the...

The fields and trees are swelling with life, you can almost see them expanding as you watch. Trees flame with green candled tops and chestnut blossom stalks are wearing long green skirts. Dandelions polkadot the pastures and gather in the ditches, round trees and all along the roads like they’re watching a parade or cheering on the passing cars. 2 riders on glowing brown chestnut horses cause vehicles to slow, swooping out widely as they pass to avoid startling them. There are numberless, countless, infinite shades of green everywhere you look. One of the slopes behind our neighborhood is packed...