Tagged: holidaze

23
Nov
2024

BACK FROM THE DEAD

Yowza, three weeks flies by when you are having fun! I’ve been full up with all kinds of things. Mom and Sarah arrived on November 4 and we had about 3 days before Sarah left for Ireland, into which we crammed pottery painting, thrifting for night stands, and various other activities. I worked half days that week, and then we had the weekend, where we took mom to brunch at Torna Hällestads lanthandel (with Karin and Anders), and the following week, I worked from home every day, so that mom wouldn’t be by herself. We had massages, and met up...

28
Oct
2024

HOLIDAY PREP

It’s nearly Halloween. I have the big bowl of candy ready and the kids are coming home tomorrow night to carve the pumpkins and decorate. Anders is gone this week but will be home on Thursday at some point, though I don’t know if he’ll make it for the trick-or-treat hours. Kirstin hosted the annual (3x makes it a yearly event, right) AIC adult party on Friday. I didn’t really dress up at all, since I don’t really like dressing up. I stuck my bat deelybobbers on and wore a bright orange shirt. That’s as dressed up as I like...

22
Aug
2024

SUMMER SOLILOQUY

Tomorrow is my last full vacation day, if you don’t count the weekend. It’s been lovely having 3 weeks nearly completely free from shoulder pain and stress and office politic aggravation. I’ve done my absolute best to actually rest, relax, and recharge, and I really, really hope that one day back at work won’t undo it all. This week has been marvelously sluggy: I’ve slept in nearly every day, or at least woken at my own pace, and stayed abed with my book or iPad until I felt like getting motivated. I had a to-do list for the week (because...

18
Aug
2024

ERIN GO BRAGH (NORTH) – BELFAST

We arrived quite late in Belfast, after spending most of the day traveling both by train and bus, and then walking about 15 minutes to our AirBnB, the only one that was ground floor with NO stairs. The next morning, we got up early, found a café for breakfast and then met our bus for the day’s excursion. Ériu (today more commonly known as Éire) is the Irish name for Ireland – named after this powerful female goddess. Skinny building along the canal in Belfast Waiting for the bus Our guide was named Harry and despite his magnificent mustache, he...

17
Aug
2024

ERIN GO BRAGH – GALWAY

Waking up in Galway on your birthday is a good way to do it. Or rather, being awakened, as per the usual Swedish style. We had to get up early to catch our daytrip bus, so of course the kids and Anders woke me up even earlier with singing, hugs, and a new iPad (yay!). The next morning we walked through Eyre Square on our way to the hotel where we were meeting the bus. And Karin ran into someone she knows! Because of course she did! She knows everyone! Someone she went to school with, who had actually been...

16
Aug
2024

ERIN GO BRAGH – DUBLIN

We were only in Ireland for a week, but we did a LOT of things and saw a lot, and ate a lot, and I took a bajillion photos. If you are going to turn 60, Ireland’s a fun place to do it in. It’s as green as promised, and the people are lovely. We stayed in AirBnBs, all of which but one had a million stairs, which was a bummer, since I am still in a knee brace, but I managed. We flew to Dublin on Wednesday, August 7 and stayed right down in the city center near to...

22
Jun
2024

MIDSUMMER MEALS & MORBIDITY

Another midsummer eve in the books and contrary to CNN’s strange idea of how Swedes celebrate, we only did the drinking part. And actually only 2 of us did the drinking part, since one was driving, one doesn’t drink, and the other can only drink limited liquids due to a heart condition. We had an absolutely lovely day, weatherwise, which was extra appreciated, because today is rainy, cloudy, and humid. Anders was out in the yard for most of the day: mowing, weeding, trimming the hedges, and putting down slug-killing pellets. I cleaned inside and outside, tidying up the deck,...

13
May
2024

TRAVELER

I’m back! 3 weeks in the US went at the speed of light. It was, as always, great to spend time with my sister and my mom, but a bit disheartening to see my mom’s memory issues up close and personal. Karin was the perfect traveling companion. Thankfully, I was recovered from the stomach bug and traveling wasn’t an issue. Our plane from Copenhagen was delayed and then delayed again, which was fine with us, as it meant we could sleep a bit longer before leaving for the airport and it also meant our long layover in Toronto was shorter...

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...

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...

December 2025
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