You would think that having a sugar factory in the vicinity would lead to lovely smells wafting through the air and giving you the feeling that you’re living in Candyland, wouldn’t you? Nope. Uh uh. There were a couple of chocolate factories on the south side of Chicago that did that. They made everything smell ambrosial if the wind was just right. Sugar beet processing just releases the nastiest rotten boiled rancid smell that hangs over everything like the sickly sweet sister of street tar. There’s a Danisco mini-Gary, Indiana-factory just over the highway and while it’s up and running...

It’s snowing! Blizzarding, even! SNOW!! Finally!! woo hoo! 🙂 I just called Anders and before I could say anything he said, “I know. Winter tires.” LOL Everything is already totally covered in white! I don’t have boots with me. I love the first snow! Snow drifts, snow angels, snowball fights, catching snowflakes on my tongue! Sledding, frosty coated mittens, picture postcard snow! Edited to say 1 hour later the sun is shining. If you don’t like the weather in Skåne, just wait 5 minutes!! heh

Random memories: This morning, for some reason, I was thinking of the year we lived in Montgomery, Alabama, when I was 12, right before we moved overseas for 6 years. I was in 6th grade. My sister and I were alternately best friends with Jackie, the girl next door, as each of us fell in and out of favor. We lived in community housing, and had a POOL in the back, but it was the same year that Jaws came out, so none of us would swim in the deep end when everyone was playing in the pool in the...

Our tree is resting in the garage, in shock, I’m sure. We’ll put it up tomorrow after work and start the job of decorating it, which usually takes a couple of days. We have to get as much as possible done tomorrow though because I have a work thing on Tuesday evening and concert and MOM on Wednesday! Tick, tock, goes the clock toward Christmas! Martin woke us up around 7 a.m. this morning all excited because the tooth fairy had replaced his tooth with a shiny 10-kronor coin. 🙂 Last night, Anders suggested that we save the tooth, but...

So, what can you do when rain sabotages all your plans for Christmas tree hunting? Take your kids to the movies, of course! We went to the early showing of Finding Nemo, which was excellent, and although it was a little on the long side for Karin, she made it through without getting too restless and they both loved it. Karin pronounced it good and scary and Martin loved the part about speaking whale. On the way out of the parking lot, our brakes squealed long and low because it was wet and Martin said, “Mom! The car is speaking...

It’s pouring rain. The kind of sullen, grey, relentless rain that keeps you inside no matter how much you have to do. Which means, unless it clears up in the next 3 hours, which is doubtful considering the depth and quality of the mass of clouds above us, we won’t be out in the wood finding the perfect Christmas tree to grace our home. 🙁 And if we don’t get our tree today, I don’t know when we can get it!! I have 2 concerts tomorrow afternoon, and by the time I get home, it will already be getting dark....

I met the coolest people today. It’s so fun meeting cool people that know how to effortlessly keep a conversation going. She’s an 80-year old painter that loves to play pool and throw parties and her husband is a hilarious Tolkien look-a-like (minus the pipe). Total sweethearts the both of them. I can’t wait to see them again. And I sure hope I’m that cool when I’m that old!! The weirdness that is LJ: I write about my life and what I’m doing and I get a few fun responses from my friends, or nothing and wonder if I accidently...

MAN, I’m bored. Talk to me!

Anders is home from Italy! He got in around 1 a.m. due to delays, poor thing. Did you know that “Anders” is from the Greek, meaning “man?” Which means my man is really my MAN. No rest for the weary, however, we didn’t sleep well and Karin arrived in our bedroom with blanket, pillow, comfort rag, stuffed animal and 3 pacifiers around 3 a.m. And we had to be up at 6 a.m. to get our butts out the door on time for Karin’s Lucia show. I’m at work today, however, since the kids were fine this morning. Martin went...

Two song lyric bits I’ve had stuck in my head today, that I’m writing down here in the hopes they will go away or at least go bother someone ELSE for awhile: I’m looking over my dead dog Rover that I overran with the mower! and I don’t know why she swallowed a flyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, perhaps she’ll die! So much for lying around the house like a luxury housewife with two small servants. Forgot I had an ad to send in today, so had to zoom into work at 11:30 to deal with it. Afterwards the kids and I picked up...