To say I read a lot is a bit of an understatement, but I don’t read as much as I could. There are always things to do, and sometimes, too, I find I can’t seem to sit still for long periods, so I read in bursts. I read when I go to bed, for half an hour, or an hour, or sometimes more, depending on how good the book is. But I’m always in the middle of a book. Half my head is always in a book, and even when I don’t actually have the book open in front of...
Usually when I write a journal post, I write it first and THEN title it, but tonight, because I have nothing to say, I started with that. Things Martin and I have looked up as direct result of watching The West Wing, usually WHILE watching The West Wing: 1. When Israel was created 2. What boondoggle means 3. Who was the first and who was the last President to have facial hair (Lincoln/Taft) 4. Whether Hans is really a Swedish last name 5. Where, exactly, the White House is, in Washington D.C. 6. What’s across the street from the White...
Tonight feels like a harbinger, of sorts. It’s not the first time that Karin has been away overnight, but Martin is out, too. He doesn’t go out often or socialize nearly as much as his sister, mostly because the majority of his friends live much farther away. She can bike to the next village or get one of us to drive her over since we’re in that town nearly every day for something: groceries, gas, soccer practice pick-up and drop-off, etc. But tonight they’re both gone, and while it’s not the first time that Karin has been away overnight or...
It seems to take a gargantuan effort to get here and then when I do, meh. I am lame, admittedly. I have been blogging/journaling online/writing here since August of 2003. Dude! that is TEN YEARS!! I used to write 1-2 times a DAY in the beginning and once a day for years and years. Big, long, looping posts full of wishes and dreams and memories and happenings and what not. Now? I seem to have trouble conjuring up a simple paragraph describing my day, much less anything of actual importance. I know that bloggers and writers go through sterile periods...
I am so glad to be home! I had a great 2 weeks, chilling with my mom and my sister, getting to see my favorite aunts and uncles and my grandmother, and some of my cousins, and driving with my mom through Canada to New York and stopping at Niagara, and eating all my favorite American foods and at all my favorite American restaurants, and shopping my suitcase full to the brim with new clothes, new books, and stuff stuff stuff… My mom wants me to make a list of all the things we’ve done on our Boston trips each...
I just looked out the window as I saw movement from the corner of my eye and the little black and white cat next door was doing that just-before-pouncing butt-wiggle thing at the little grey cat from next door. Cute! It’s the first day of vacation again (3rd time round) and my brain woke me up at 6:30 a.m. for what I thought was a quick trip to the bathroom and then gave me a panic attack of thinking I might have to be at the airport in two hours which sent me scrambling to check my flight info and...
When I was young I LOVED roller coasters, with a white-hot heat. Standing in line for 2 hours to ride a 5-minute loop-de-loop? No problem, let’s go again! Which was kind of strange, considering that I’ve suffered from motion sickness since I was an infant. I’ve never been able to read in the car, and I always offer to drive because riding in the backseat? Not an option. Up until I was in my twenties I was a roller coaster fiend. Bring ’em on Cedar Point! What’cha got, Great America? I’ll see your Space Mountain and raise you one Demon...
I cannot WAIT until the kids go back to school. Back to regular routine. Back to real life. We have had a super summer and I am kind of sad, despite that first sentence, that it is drawing to a close. The fields are bare, or full of hay bales and the clouds have started rolling in. The temperature dropped drastically recently (coooool) and we’ve had thunderstorms and sudden downpours. After this summer of nearly perfect weather, it’s quite the dramatic change. It’s been on my mind to sit down and write a post for…um. WEEKS. Eeek. It wasn’t intentional,...
I’ve never had so much fun cleaning the bathroom as I did this weekend. I clean the bathroom pretty regularly on the surface, but I’m not always so good about deep-cleaning…and I can’t remember the last time I did a COMPLETE clean. It was past time. I know there will be people totally judging me because my bathroom isn’t disinfectant-clean but give me a break. It works for us. Our house is HUGE and just keeping it TIDY is a full-time job and I already HAVE a full-time job. The kids had to help, and Karin had to help most...
The lawn is crispy crunchy underfoot, every grass blade seared and sun-brittle. No one here wastes water on lawns so the whole neighborhood has a sere look to it. In the fields around our village, wheat and oats and grasses are tawny beige as well; harvest-time is nearly here. The only thing still blooming outside of pots around our house are the roses which are still going strong. The pots add dashes of color: pelargoniums, flowering succulents, begonias and some sad blasted pansies that weren’t quite done when I was repotting summer flowers some time ago. Tomorrow is 7 weeks...