Tagged: beinglizardek

10
Jul
2025

SOMNUM OCULIS MEIS NON VIDI*

I used to be able to sleep so long in the mornings. Of course I’d stay up late, most often, as well, but I was a champion sleeper-in-er. I could easily sleep until 11, or even later. I was still a teenager, basically, well into my adulthood. Even when I had young children who got up early, sleeping in was my best reward and best treat. So, I don’t know if it’s years of getting up for work by 7 am or just aging, but I can’t sleep in anymore. I guess if you count not setting an alarm and...

09
Jul
2025

HUMDRUM DATES AND PLACES

My entire sick leave/vacation has filled up with appointments, lunches, dinners, and other events. There is something scheduled for every day of the calendar next week! And I still have to wash all the curtains! haha! It’s nice to fill my days with fun things to do. I’m even going to Copenhagen next week TWICE. On Monday, Anders and I are meeting one of my second cousins and his wife for lunch, and on Wednesday, Camilla and I are going to the Gauguin/Degas exhibits at the Glyptoteket. We’re having dinner with Barbara and Paul on Thursday, and Saturday is a...

06
Jul
2025

TO-DO BEE DO BE DO

Waking up super early has one advantage, though I could wish it was not the case since I’m HOME AND DON’T HAVE TO GET UP. Because I can’t get back to sleep, I figure I might as well get up and moving and shower and eat breakfast so I can start doing whatever it is I have on my to-do list for the day. You might think that I shouldn’t HAVE a to-do list while I’m on sick leave/vacation, but have you met me? I live for to-do lists. And oh my god, I’m getting so many things done right...

05
Jul
2025

THINGS COULD BE DIFFERENT AROUND HERE

Yesterday was the 4th of July, but I have never felt less patriotic in my life. Not even when Trump was President the first time. Not even when George W. Bush or Reagan was President. The only thing stopping me from renouncing my citizenship right now is knowing that more than half the country didn’t vote for him and is as angry, frustrated, and overwhelming boggled as me. How have we gone down so far so fast? WHY is there such a need in so many men in power to put hatred, cruelty, and power above everything else decent? I...

03
Jul
2025

DOING NOTHING AND EVERYTHING

I’ve felt a little stupid about some of the medical terms that have been flying around me for the last 2 months, and part of that has had to do with the differences in Swedish and English, and part of it was not having really thought about the differences in terms. I’ve felt that the words ‘inflammation’ and ‘infection’ seemed to be used rather interchangeably, but when I mentioned that to my doctor, he said, “Not by the medical establishment. They mean completely different things.” So I finally looked up their definitions, and like, duh, of course they are different,...

28
Jun
2025

DOING ALL THE THINGS, EXCEPT SLEEPING

Since I was in the hospital, I’ve been having trouble sleeping. Or rather, getting back to sleep after I wake up in the middle of the wee hours or middle of the night. I’ve woken at 3, 4, 5, and one particularly bad night at 2:30 am. I have to get up to go to the bathroom, and when I get back to bed, I cannot fall asleep again, no matter what I try. A few nights I manage to doze off after a couple of hours only to be awakened again to go to the bathroom. UGH. I read...

18
Jun
2025

DIAGNOSIS

I don’t know if you have ever had a medical procedure in which a camera is inserted into your body when you are awake and aware, but it is a VERY weird thing to see. I had another colonoscopy today. The last one was in October, and even though there was a screen where I could see the camera movement then as well, it was awkwardly placed and would have required me twisting my neck weirdly and because a colonoscopy is both uncomfortable and slightly painful, I mostly didn’t try to look last time, but kept my eyes closed and...

02
May
2025

FOR POSTERITY — LITTLE LIZ

When I was going through papers from my mom’s house, I found a bunch of letters she wrote to her parents a few months after I was born. She wrote to her parents every couple of weeks, and most of them are full of daily chitchat and talk about what was going on with her, my dad, and their lives. I’m copying here some of the things she wrote about me for posterity. NOTE: I was called Lisa after I was born (named Elizabeth for my dad’s mother’s middle name, or more likely, just because my mom liked the name!)....

01
May
2025

RABBITS! RABBITS!

Well, I’m writing a blog post on the first of May, which is a holiday here in Sweden, and even though I didn’t say “Rabbits! Rabbits!” first thing when I woke up, I am writing it now, and that ought to count for something. It’s been an absolute stunner of a day, quite perfectly perfect: sunny, warm but not too warm, a cool breeze, blue skies, butterflies and bees and birds singing. The neighbor’s cat came around twice but is super shy, which is a bummer. I slept in and then played games and read before doing anything of import....

26
Apr
2025

TRIP TO OREGON, JULY 1992

(When reading this, remember this is long before cell phones, Apple Pay, and baggage weight restrictions) I’m back from my first real vacation in years, 10 whole days. I had a wonderful time in Oregon visiting my best friend Becky and her husband Doug, and squashing my maternal urges with their two beautiful children: Christopher (3) and Sara (2). Lots of hanging out with kids, shopping, movies, the Oregon County Fair (quite a treat), and going to hear great live music. But the best story is about my arrival and departure from hell! I swear that everything you are about...