Tagged: goodthings

02
Apr
2024

APRIL?! APRIL SHOWERS AND APRIL HOURS

Holy rabbits, Batman, how can it be April already? Yesterday was a holiday here in Sweden since it was Easter Monday, which was a shame, because it meant we couldn’t pull April Fool’s pranks on our colleagues in the office. One of the big Swedish newspapers had an excellent joke article on their main page, mentioning that Ven, the island off the coast of southern Sweden, was going to have to lose 500 meters worth of land in order to accommodate NATO warships. I saw some funny ones after the fact today. One worth mentioning was Dulux Paints Instagram post...

30
Mar
2024

ABOUT TO SPROING

Since I didn’t grow up in a church-going family, and only had a few years of semi-religious interest in high school, Easter has never been about Jesus much, for me. In my family, it was all about coloring eggs, hiding eggs, finding eggs, and Easter baskets full of candy. Interesting that both Easter in the spring and Halloween in the fall have such an emphasis on sweets. We have always decorated eggs the “old-fashioned” way, both when I was growing up, and with my own children when they were small. Vinegar, boiling water, and food coloring. We never used any...

27
Mar
2024

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

My best and oldest friend, Becky, just became a grandmother. My best friend here became a grandmother last June. One of my good high school friends also became a grandmother last year. It’s a little freaky, considering I still feel about 29 inside, to think that I’m well past grandmother age. We all apparently waited much longer than the previous generation, but that makes sense considering we all had our kids much later, too. My mom was 23 when she had me. I was just 33 when I had Martin. I’m in NO hurry to become a grandmother myself, though...

10
Mar
2024

POTTERY, PINK, AND PIE

Last week was really busy, so I’m kind of looking forward to this coming week, which isn’t busy at all (at the moment). Anders leaves for a week in Italy tomorrow morning, which also means I’ll be alone every evening entertaining myself with my book, iPad, TV, crossword puzzles, and a new jigsaw puzzle. Last Thursday I organized another pottery painting evening for the AIC, but it turned out to be just Lisel, Kirstin, and I, with Lisel’s 2 daughters, Martin and Theo, and Martin’s friend Thea. I painted the outside of a bowl (cereal-bowl sized) with a bird and...

01
Jan
2024

ABOUT LAST NIGHT

I am often terrible at remembering to take photos when things are happening. Last night, New Year’s Eve, we had a lovely evening and dinner here at home, with my two best friends Debbie and Camilla, Anders, Debbie’s husband Ola, and my mom, and the only photo I took was a shot of the menu card I made for the table, because Karin wanted to know what we had for dinner. What we had for dinner: Crayfish soup — Oxfilé served with Potatoes Au Gratin Bearnaise Sauce Roasted vegetables (red onions, cauliflower, asparagus, cherry tomatoes) — Crème Brûlée it was...

31
Dec
2023

RETROSPECTIVE

he best thing about 2023 was the fact that the world was opened up for travel again. Anders and I made the most of it, though much of his was for work, of course. I went to the US for the first time since 2018 and got to see both my mom’s and my sister’s new places. We had our epic tip-to-tip trip in the Tesla during the summer from the very southernmost point of Sweden, to the very top. I’m already looking forward to some travel next year as well: back to the US in the spring, and somewhere...

31
Dec
2023

THE STORY OF THE FROG LAMP, NEXT LEVEL

The saga continues. If you have never heard the story of the frog lamp, stop what you are doing and read this first: The story of the frog lamp HIlarious, no? Definitely yes! Cut to pre-holidays 2023. The frog lamp, technically Sammy’s, has not been seen in some years. John and Simone moved to a new house 7 years ago to accommodate their growing family and at some point the frog lamp was relegated to the attic. I do not understand how anyone could bear to hide away the awesomeness that is the frog lamp, but apparently not everyone has...

30
Dec
2023

FULL UP

We drove down to Germany on December 10, staying in a little unmanned hotel outside of Hamburg. It was a long drive and good to break it up, especially since we drove down in a rain and windstorm that lasted 4 days. We had a wonderful week in Hopferau, at my brother John’s house, warmly welcomed by the entire family. The week included Jakob’s 10th birthday, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day (with Karin!), a walk into Füssen to see the town and the church and castle, a walk around Schwansee, and exploring the village on the sunny day before we left....

13
Dec
2023

VACAY!

I’m on vacation, woo hoo! Yesterday was my last week of work until nearly the new year. I started it off right by leaving work early and getting a fabulous massage from Emily, then I picked up sushi on the way home, and ended the evening by creating and publishing a crossword puzzle. Today, I have finished the last of the household chores and cleaning that was on my list, and I will leave in about 1.5 hours to pick up Martin and then head to the airport to get my mom and Danely. The holidays have begun! I thought...

09
Dec
2023

FEELING FESTIVE

Once the tree is up it really starts to feel like Christmas is coming. We went this morning out to Sjöbo and found another perfect tree at the same place Anders went last year. It’s up in the stand now and resting a bit before Anders puts the lights on. Then I can start decorating tonight, and continue tomorrow, though I’m a little worried I won’t get it done before Wednesday. Tomorrow Anders is going with his sister to his uncle’s house to bring him a Christmas flower and have fika, then he is stopping at Martin’s to help with...

April 2024
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