Tagged: beinglizardek

06
Aug
2018

HOT POTATO

I’m normally about as far from being a gardener as you can get. I don’t like being outside all that much. I loathe having dirt under my fingernails. Bending over is hard these days thanks to back issues and kneeling is out completely. That said, I like gardens. I like flowers. And I like eating things. This year has been a banner year in the Ek family backyard, where we’ve managed to grow several…crops. Thanks to getting net on the cherry tree, we enjoyed a month-long bonanza of delicious sweet cherries. It’s hard to believe I had practically never even...

28
Jul
2018

PLUMBING THE DEPTHS

I just realized what is wrong with me. I’m in a rut. You know the one, maybe…where life is moving smoothly along and nothing much is happening; certainly nothing worth writing about, and you don’t feel particularly sad or happy or really, anything. You just get up in the morning and do the things you have to do: shower, dress, brush your teeth, etc. You go to work, you eat the meals that keep you going, you do some of the things that you like doing: reading, watching a movie or a show, making phone calls, checking email, but there...

18
Jul
2018

COOLING DOWN A BIT

It was cloudy today, an even gray cover, misting us in rain but not enough to actually WATER the thirsty earth. I went out with the hose after dinner and gave the potatoes and the tomatoes a good soaking, stopping to pluck another little red cherry tomato. The plants are so heavy they are pulling away from the house and leaning the slatted sticks that were supposed to support them over so far that I’m pretty sure it’s just a matter of time before they hit the ground. There are tons of tiny green tomato balls growing and still the...

14
May
2018

IF EVERYTHING SEEMS UNDER CONTROL, YOU’RE NOT GOING FAST ENOUGH*

My whole brain, my whole life is being eaten alive by work. We’ve been working at such a speeded-up pace for so long that even if we wanted to, I’m not sure we could decelerate to a more reasonable level. It’s go go go all the time. I’ve worked most of the last weekends including both the ones that were long weekend holidays. It feels more stressful to NOT work than to try and relax over the days off knowing how much work there is and how much more will be waiting for me when I return on the next...

29
Mar
2018

THINKING ABOUT THINGS

All afternoon I’ve been watching the snowflakes whirling madly in a spiral wind dance around the house. We had a half-day today, the start of the Easter holidays here in Sweden, and I’m quite pleased with the result of my day as I got a ton of things done in the 4.5 hours I worked, plus 2 loads of laundry and some other small chores once I got home. Despite the fact that it’s a week past the vernal equinox, we’re still experiencing snow squalls every other day as the temperatures dip below zero and back up again in a...

28
Jan
2018

I NEED ANOTHER WEEKEND

I didn’t even go outside today, not even to take trash out, and I don’t regret it one bit. This month has been hell on wheels work-wise, and yesterday was busy and long, so I took today as a much-needed down day: sleeping in late, reading, lazing about, watching a movie, doing a few small things about the house, and bird-watching from the couch. I even took a late nap, and now I just have Bron to look forward to in about an hour, and then it’s back to bed for me. Hopefully that will go some way toward recharging...

24
Jan
2018

ADULT POINTS

My teammate brought in a half-eaten box of Aladdin chocolates today, one of the chocolate box staples that Swedes tend to grab off the grocery store shelves and give as a hostess gift. She brought it in because her family only eats the milk chocolate candies, which is approximately half of the box of 50 chocolates. “Oh yum!” I said, and made a beeline for my two favorites: dark chocolate with strawberry cream and dark chocolate with lime cream. “I love dark chocolate! Don’t you guys eat it at all?” She said she’s never learned to like it and neither...

23
Jan
2018

BITS AND KIBBLES

Still buried at work, but at least can see the light at the end of the tunnel, as one of my teammates is done with her monster project and back to normal workload. The other one is still out of the office, but we are hoping she’ll be back by the end of the week. I got my printed blog book for 2017 and I was right: it was the skinniest yet. OY! It’s, like, just over a quarter of an inch thick. Considering that most years it’s closer to double that if not more, it was a lean year...

16
Jan
2018

THE BAD WITH THE GOOD WITH THE BAD WITH THE GOOD

No let-up at work so far…in fact, just the opposite as one of my team members has had a bit of a breakdown due to several factors and is taking time off for mental health. Apparently the fact that doing so will contribute to giving the rest of us a breakdown wasn’t enough of a deterrent. Augh. Yesterday was horrible as I was already stressed about everything at work before I even got there, and when I drove up to work and parked, I realized that my parking permit was missing from the little holder on the windshield. AUGH! Anders...

13
Jan
2018

OOPS I DID IT AGAIN

I have such good intentions about posting more regularly here, but it seems that as soon as work gets crazy, which…when is work not crazy nowadays? it all goes out the window. I get home (late) from work and I can’t bear the thought of turning on another computer or sitting in front of the screen, even to write something here. Work has been EXTRA crazy this whole past week, and there is no end in sight. We’re short-staffed, too, which doesn’t help at all. My shoulder has been hurting all week as well, which… AUGH. I did go get...