WHERE THE HEART IS
The only thing better than having an entire week to yourself with no husband and kids to look after is the moment when you hear the key in the door and know that they’ve come home.
05
Feb
2006
Tagged: goodthings
29
Jan
2006
(UN)COMMON DENOMINATORS
The people that descended on my home last night were all women, all living in Scandinavia for various reasons, and all writers of online journals that I read. We came in different shapes and colors and sizes. We were in our 20s, our 30s, our 40s, and our 50s. We were pregnant, child-free, trying to conceive, and mothers, of children both school-age and grown. We were single, girlfriends, sambos, wives, divorcing, divorced, engaged, re-married, in love. We were newly employed, self-employed, freelancing, working, studying, and jobhunting. We were photographers, singers, readers, crafty chicas, vegetarians, dog owners, flirts, green thumbs, snorers,...
26
Jan
2006
THE SOURCE OF YOUR SMILE
♥ A package full of goodies in the mail from a dear friend, including your birthday watch that she kindly took with her to the States and got fixed for you. ♥ The knowledge that someone loves you. ♥ A blindingly sunny day and a walk that takes you through snow fields, under underpasses, along the highway, behind the industrial park, and up the long road back to the office leaving you breathless and pink-cheeked. ♥ Crossing things off your to-do list at work with wavy lines made by a fat red marker. ♥ 2 little seedless perfect juicy sweet...
24
Jan
2006
THESE ARE THE GOOD OLD DAYS
Anders is packing right now. He’s leaving me and taking the kids. WOOT! Yes, the annual father-kid ski trip is approaching rapidly. They’re leaving on Friday and will be gone for a week. And yes, I will miss them. But first? I’m filling my home with a bunch of internet psychopaths good friends, many of whom I’ve never met, and having a slumber party on Saturday night. WHEEE! So many good things going on, I hardly know where to start, although I have to say, it sure is hard to keep up with you people when I miss one evening...
22
Jan
2006
WHEN IT HITS YOU, YOU FEEL NO PAIN*
Martin and I discovered today that the snow isn’t really white. It’s blue and violet and grey and silver and white. Where the lowering sun paused behind the trees and shone, the shadows melted along the sloping sides of every drift. It only sparkled on the sunny side, but we agreed both sides were beautiful. We’ve got a good half hour walk mapped out now, and we march along, arms swinging free, talking about whatever subject strikes our (mostly his) fancy. One of his Christmas presents was a little suitcase full of illustrated boardbooks about the different countries of the...
19
Jan
2006
TOOTH DELAY
A long time ago, I learned my lesson the hard way when it comes to regularly scheduled dentist visits, when a years-long hiatus resulted in the most intense stabbing pain I’ve ever experienced, aside from labor. So bad that on the way to the emergency dentist for some painkillers to get me through until my regular toothman could see me, I literally stopped the car and smacked my jaw into the driver’s side window for a minute because I couldn’t focus and it wouldn’t stop and I needed to give my mind something ELSE to think about so I could...
16
Jan
2006
CAREER PATHS
When I was 17 I thought a career in childcare was a definite possibility. I was good with kids and they liked me, and I could round them up, sit them down and get them to be quiet within minutes. I remember flooring a couple of teachers that I worked with as an aide my first few days at the daycare on the outskirts of Michigan State, when they came into a room that a few minutes earlier had been expanding like a JiffyPop, to find the 5-year-olds and I seated in a large bunched circle on the floor, quiet...
11
Dec
2005
ROCKING AROUND
The surface of the desk is strewn, STREWN I TELL YOU, with the detritus of Christmas: cards, postcards, envelopes, pens, lists, address books, newsletters, photo pages, school photos, a stapler. There is a small stack, slowly growing, of sealed and addressed cards. There are no less than 3 address books. Underneath it all somewhere are the final shopping lists of gifts yet to be bought: a niece, a nephew, my husband, my soon-to-be-sister-in-law, my own. The mailing date for cards overseas is the 16th, I’ve been told, and I still have a package to mail after those final gifts are...
10
Dec
2005
ALL IN ALL, A GOOD DAY
When you have children, birthday parties come with the territory, and birthday parties for children usually mean having your house invaded by 10-20 hyperactive, sugar-buzzed maniacs who trash the place, snub the food, and forget to say thank you until prompted by their parents, who look remarkably relaxed, which really should come as no surprise considering THEY’VE just had a 2-hour break from their offspring. muahahaha! Not this year! We took the hyperactive maniacs to Andy’s Playland instead and let them sweat their little hearts out running like lab rats mad through the labyrinth, bouncy castles, trampolines, ball pit, etc....
28
Nov
2005
THE RIGHT WAY TO START OFF YOUR WEEK
1) Watch the sunshine sparkle off the snow 2) Find out in a salary discussion with your boss that you are getting a very respectable raise! 3) Eat an excellent sushi dinner 4) Be given a gift at the monthly meeting from the board and members of your women’s club for your dedication and service over the past 7 years. I should give up my board position more often! 😀 5) Bring home 12 bags of different kinds of Christmas cookies from the cookie exchange 6) Go to bed at a decent hour and get a good night’s sleep