I’m working through my stupid cold. I took my last two Tylenol Night-time tablets and hit the hay at 8 p.m. last night. Hit the hay. Who says that? Who sleeps on a bag of hay anymore? Did you know that used to be literal? Going to bed was hitting the hay, or hitting the sack. Much more colorful than …going to bed. I felt like crap this morning when I got up but I have 2 short weeks now and I have too much to do to just fritter my working hours away, in the hay sack bed. Plus...
It’s that time of year again: book voting time! I just checked and it was actually all the way back in November 2014 that we lasted voted on a “year’s worth” of books for the AWC book group. And we’re not actually done with those books…we still have two to read and discuss, one in early March and one in mid-April (stupid Satanic Verses, which I didn’t vote for and hated and was really aggravated that it got voted in and guess what, I am hosting that one. And I refuse to read it again. So there). Once again we...
I don’t know if every company in Sweden offers their employees health check-ups, but ours does. They’re every other year, fully covered by insurance. You can opt to take a stress test, in addition to the regular tests, and you get to see a doctor to consult about your results afterward. My follow-up was today, and according to my results, I’m a very healthy horse. They checked hearing and sight, lung function, did an EKG, checked pulse, cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, kidney function, liver, metabolism and hemoglobin. Of course, they measure your weight and height, too. The last time...
Trying to find a dinner date that works for 6 people is like herding cats. Of all suggested dates, there is always at least one person who can’t do it that night. We’re kid-free tonight…both Martin and Karin are staying over with (different) friends in Lund. Anders is watching a movie (I might go join him) and I am working on my recipe book, listening to my Spotify playlist, and eating a small portion of chips and dip. Saturday night multi-tasking! I was pretty much a slug all day. I didn’t do a damn thing except shower, play iPad games,...
I was sad at the beginning of the week and I’m even sadder now, after hearing about first David Bowie, and then today, Alan Rickman passing. Both at 69, far too young, and both from cancer. Fuck cancer. It seems everyone loved them, these two very different men. They touched many lives in many ways, for many, many years. A friend of mine from college introduced me to Bowie’s music, along with plenty of other great artists who I had never listened to up to that point. I fell immediately in love with the passion and color of his lyrics...
Warning: when you’re working on healthy eating and attending WeightWatchers, maybe working on a recipe book of your family favorites is not the best idea. Holy smokes, I’m ravenous now. I’ve been formatting and cutting and pasting recipes all day into the template I’m using for our family recipe book. What a fun and drooly way to spend my very last day of holiday vacation! I was actually a bit worried before I started that I wouldn’t be able to find enough recipes to make a substantial book. Ha. HAHAHA! Turns out, we have a LOT of family favorites. Years...
I had made a comment to Anders some time ago, that my VW Jetta seems to want to go around 140 k/h, and he agreed…his VW feels the same. He said it was because that is approximately the speed you drive on the autobahn and the cars seem to be engineered to that comfort zone. 🙂 During our road trip through Germany, I got to drive a couple of times on the autobahn, and I’ll tell you what: I loved it. Drivers in Germany drive like you’re SUPPOSED TO DRIVE. They go fast, they stay to the right except when...
hristmas Day is here and I have a pocket of time in between all the items on the to-do list, so I thought I would sit down and fire off my yearly retrospective. I know it’s a little early, but we are leaving super early tomorrow morning and I won’t be back until after the new year, and I don’t want to post my retrospective for 2015 in 2016! We’ve had a lovely Christmas, with much time spent with Anders’ family, celebrating his mom’s birthday (and her return home), Christmas Eve with her yesterday and the whole family tonight for...
1 day until the light starts returning. 3 days until vacation starts. 5 days until Christmas (4 if you’re a Swede). 5 days until the very last episode of Downton Abbey. 6 days until we leave for Germany! 11 days until the end of 2015. 25 days until Martin stops annoying me with detailed playback of AHS Hotel episodes. 39 days until choir starts. 48 days until the first Melodifestival competition. 82 days until Pie Night! 164 days until our 20th wedding anniversary. 171 days until Martin graduates high school. 194 days until our summer celebration trip to the US....
Liz: *sitting on couch, holds up iPad with something funny on it* Hey Martin! Look! Martin: *leans over and looks out the doorway of the computer room on the other side of the house* I’m not a hawk. Today, Martin turns 18. ADULTHOOD! Woot! Do I get a prize for successfully steering my firstborn through to adulthood? Oh wait, I already got one… when he was born. *rimshot* The first email I got this morning was one from the school system officially locking us out of his information. Since he’s now officially an adult, we no longer get to know...