Tagged: holidaze

01
May
2019

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS

Just now, under the bird feeder, pecking up dropped sunflower seeds: a big, well-fed ring-necked pheasant strutting and bobbing his head, and a tiny-in-comparison golden-beige Eurasian collared dove. I had to look up the dove as I wasn’t sure exactly which breed it was; we don’t see them very often. We get pheasants almost daily, both the big male and a full harem of smaller, browner females that scuttle over to sweep up seeds and then dart back to the safety of the hedge. I’ve only got sunflower seeds left and not that many of them; the season for feeding...

20
Apr
2019

SPRINGY WEEKEND WITH EXTRA TISSUES

If I did internet quizzes, which I don’t and neither should you, the one I would be providing right now, for your pleasure and edification, is “Which one of the Seven Dwarves is Liz?” Hint: I do not have a medical degree, and while I DO like to sleep in, Sleepy is not the correct answer either. I thought, after the interminable 3 weeks in March where I would have preferred to actually remove my eyeballs from my head rather than endure one more minute of unbearable itching, that I was done, HA HA HA, with allergy symptoms for the...

13
Jan
2019

MEMORIES, PART THE THIRD

I don’t take as many photos as I should…these days I tend to spend more time in the moment, and whipping out my phone to stop the action in its tracks and document it rarely foremost in my mind. So it’s a good thing that I have friends and family who manage to step up and take photos so I have them to remember the good times by! Down in Detroit by the big tree, enjoying the lights and the sights Grandma Linda with Martin and Karin Cousins at Christmas! Happy mom reunited with a kid who is too far...

09
Jan
2019

HOLIDAYS, PART THE SECOND

It was kind of a weird Christmas, gift-wise, since we waited until the last minute to do all our shopping, and we were with each other while we were shopping and so everyone knew pretty much everything we were getting, even though things still got wrapped and put under the tree. But it meant that we were getting things we really needed and wanted, so that worked out well, and both the kids were thrilled with their “big” presents: Karin got a gimbal stabilizer for her phone and Martin got a tripod, at which he exclaimed, “Now I’m a real...

08
Jan
2019

TRAVELS, PART THE FIRST

I’ve been clubbed by the hard hand of jetlag. I’ve been meaning to write a post since Saturday, when we arrived but due to countless factors, this is the first time I’ve actually gotten started. Reasons for not posting, besides jetlag: too many other things to do, sleeping, working, constant computer crashes, reading, catching up on other more important stuff, procrastination, and also, feeling as if the amount of things I have to write about is overwhelming. Despite all my good intentions, my road to posting is paved with excuses. It’s crazy how fast a 3-week vacation can go, but...

28
Dec
2018

RETROSPECTIVE

here is something crazy about how fast time goes…it flies, it swoops, it zooms and I am left gasping again by the fact that it is once again the end of a year that sped by. It’s been a good year for all of us, and we only see good things for the year to come. Family & Personal Highlights of 2018 Keeping myself diabetes-free and my weight down Singing with Karin in a huge 1000 participant Gospelfest concert Anders participating in the year-long X-Cup mountain biking tournaments and Cykel Wasa My oldest best friend visiting for a week Martin...

28
Dec
2018

EK FAMILY CHRISTMAS LETTER 2018

The beginning of 2018 was pretty calm and we hosted a New Year’s Eve dinner with friends here in Flyinge. Liz was recovering from gall bladder removal surgery, so she was taking it pretty easy. Anders went skiing again with colleagues, now an annual tradition. Martin returned to college in Detroit for the second half of his freahman year, even though his flight was cancelled and rerouted, and he ended up getting to spend a couple of nights with Liz’s sister in Connecticut. Karin and Liz participated in a gospel fest choir festival together, Karin’s first big choir event. In...

11
Dec
2018

SOON THE BELLS WILL START*

I don’t feel very Christmassy. Even though my cards were all signed, sealed and mailed over a week ago, and I’ve been to a Christmas market and bought and shipped several presents, I am just not in the Christmas spirit. I suspect part of the reason is that we are not decorating for the holidays. Normally by now, we’d have a tree (even if it wasn’t yet all the way decorated) and the smell of fresh pine would have filled the house. There are no cheerful Santas or tomtes or reindeer or angels peering at me from various nooks and...

02
Dec
2018

TRADITION, REPETITION OR RUT?

I wrote my first Christmas letter in 2002. We had just built and moved into this house, Martin turned 5 and Karin was 3.5. Anders had turned 40 earlier in the year, I was working at Ericsson, and he had just returned to Tetra Pak after a 2-year stint at ABB. I wrote in MUCH more detail about the things that we did each month than I do now…where did I find the time and energy to gather all that information? My Christmas card now seems to have settled into a rut. I wrote this year’s Christmas letter this weekend,...

23
Nov
2018

GATHERING, GIVING AND THANKING

The whole house smells delicious. Anders is taking turkey 1 out of the oven right now. Tomorrow he’ll cook turkeys 2 & 3 in the final preparation for our annual Thanksgiving (or Friendsgiving as everyone refers to it nowadays) potluck dinner. It’s our 20th anniversary of having Friendsgiving with our best friends. 20 years! Some of them are the same friends that came to the first one. Some of them have joined along the way, and some are fairly new to the celebration. As we have done every year, Anders and I provide the turkey(s), mashed potatoes, stuffing (in the...

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