Nothing much happens in Sweden. Which I’m grateful for today when reading what’s going on in California. The wildfires have destroyed an area the size of Chicago, one paper said. Chicago!? The mind boggles. Things to be grateful we don’t have here: earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires that eat entire states, gigantic mudslides, drought, famine, military juntas, Richard Simmons. I had a 2-minute intense mindcramp this morning when I was thisclose to staying in bed and blowing off EVERYTHING for the next few days. I’m pretty close to crashing and burning and am having to run a little refrain in the...

Summary of Dr. Phil’s The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom, so that you don’t have to buy it: Thank you, Witt & Wisdom for making me snort water out my nose.

The birthday party went off without any major hitches, and the kids were perfectly okay staying at Katarina’s place with her very accommodating babysitter while we were at the restaurant. They watched Cinderella, Lady & the Tramp, and Bambi while we were gone, so I’m pretty sure I overpaid the babysitter since she apparently didn’t do much. Oh well, it was last minute, and she did end up with 3 kids instead of 1. The restaurant was tapas, and they were quite good. I agitated to leave pretty early though, since it was a work night and I had the...

This morning on the way to work a bird hit the top of the windshield with a sound like the end of the world. Gone, just like that. The sky looks like an unending field of dirty cotton batting. Everything looks wet, but not washed. The meeting last night went well. I had sushi for dinner, by myself, which was actually kind of nice. We had a guest speaker, a man from India with blue eyes who told us all about the history and manufacture of persian rugs and treated us to a wonderful chicken curry. Did you know that...

while carving pumpkins yesterday…

It’s another gorgeous crispy cold day. I got to sleep in an extra hour because of daylight savings turning back the clock. But I still forgot and had a panic later in the day until I was told that the clock I was looking at was still wrong. Karin seems to be completely recovered from whatever bug she had yesterday. The kids went to Scouts this morning with Anders and they fished for bugs in the lake, but it’s been so cold they didn’t find any. They were also filmed by Finnish TV while they sat reading a story under...

We just watched number 40 and up of VH-1‘s 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders, which was absolutely hilarious. Remember these? Achy Breaky Heart, What I Am, Puttin’ On the Ritz, Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm, Maniac, The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, Funkytown, The Future’s So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades, In a Big Country, 867-5309 (Jenny), Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room, Lovin’ You, Genius of Love, I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), I Touch Myself, Lovefool, Bitch, Don’t Worry Be Happy, Rock Me Amadeus, Afternoon Delight, You Light Up My Life, Too Shy, Pop Muzak, Whip It, Take On...

I’m totally stuffed up, and worried I’m coming down with a cold. I can’t afford to be sick this week, with Anders gone for 3 days and so many things to do. Got home from Tylösand at 2:30 to find Karin in bed asleep. She had thrown up after lunch, and soon afterwards, she woke up and did it again. 🙁 Hope it’s not the killer stomach flu from Stockholm. SO, cooking club is cancelled tomorrow, but I still have to find time to carve pumpkins, which means the big question is: Scary or funny faces?

I’m at Hotel Tylösand, on the west coast of Sweden, relaxing. We had a work event during the day, a conference at which we discussed our company culture, which has come to us top down, from the management team, who has decided what our core values will be. They are passion respect responsibility No one agrees with “passion,” and we’ve suggested several alternatives: enthusiasm, motivation, engagement, commitment…but they keep insisting that passion is the right word for what they want their employees to feel for their work, their products, the company and our customers. Umm. Had an hour long massage...

Seen in an online article today: “I hope I have peaked your interest…” AAAAGH! Swenglish/Svengelska in use at our house: pricky korv Anders’ additions to the grocery list after I asked him to email me the things he wanted: meatballs rökt korv tomatoes red ducati 999R In other news, one of my very good friends here in Sweden told me today that she’s pregnant. 🙂 She was just bursting with happiness and mood swings. We were pregnant at the same time (me with Karin) in 1999, and we were both the most miserable pregnant women that ever existed on the...