Tagged: martinbean

27
Apr
2009

SO HELP ME COD, IT’S THE TROUT!

At book group the other night, we got on the subject of jokes and how they spread. Some of the joke trends that I remember most fondly from my own childhood are not a part of the Swedish culture at all, and introducing them to my children, especially to Martin who has the same sense of humor as I do and loves puns, has been fun for me. Elephant jokes and Why did the chicken cross the road jokes and the cannibal jokes we made up a few weeks ago: all very entertaining to the both of us. I get...

02
Apr
2009

LONG PIG, ANYONE?

Counting down at work and getting a bit stressed out because there is always so much to do before you take vacation, and I will not, WILL NOT, work evenings if I can avoid it, even though I know I would get at least a bit more caught up. It’s a river in flood, and sometimes it’s all I can do just to not get swept downstream. One of the women in our department recently left and the majority of her workload descended upon the two of us who work with the marketing implementation work…mostly datasheets for our products, and...

04
Jan
2009

TO EAT OR NOT TO EAT

We’ve been at our wit’s end with Martin’s eating habits lately. Karin’s no walk in the park either, for that matter. She doesn’t like chocolate, cheese, bread or sauces. Martin eats his meals with tiny mouse bites and gags easily and won’t eat anything that has the slightest discoloration or oddness to it: if it’s too hard or too dry or too anything, he just won’t eat it. Both of them are very decided about what edibles they “don’t like” or “won’t eat” but strangely, they’re both usually pretty good about at least trying new things. Yesterday, we were trying...

07
Dec
2008

THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW

I can’t remember him so small, he’s so big now. It’s hard to believe I could hold all of him cradled in my arms when he’s almost as tall now as I am. His feet were so small and so perfect, they fit in the palm of my hand. Now his shoes are nearly longer than mine. But he still has the same smile, the same dimple, the same twinkle in his eye, and the same infectious laugh. 11 years old and growing, going, but not yet gone, thank god.

25
Oct
2008

ONE-UPMANSHIP

Liz: Your hemspråk teacher told me she gave you homework; to google Halloween but you told her you couldn’t because our computer wasn’t working. Martin: yeah Liz: You can do it on my work laptop. You can’t play games on it, but you can google for your homework. Martin: What if we google “games” or “play games”? Liz: What if I google “kill kid”? Martin: Then you’ll probably come into a murder site. Liz: Actually, I’ll probably come into a parenting site. Martin: Ha ha, very funny! Liz: *giggles madly*

08
Sep
2008

IT GETS SO LATE AROUND HERE

The days just whiz by. Sometimes at the ends of them, I suddenly stop what I’m doing, and give a little shake of my head, blinking a bit, wondering, “What just happened? What have I been doing all day?” when the truth is life keeps motoring along whether I’m consciously partaking or not. Living on autopilot is a bad habit. Some things I have listed quickly so I wouldn’t forget to talk about them: Dirty Jobs, election ballot, rotating CDs, spider season, weird mom. Then I look at the list, a list of things that I kind of mentally wrote...

15
Feb
2008

LIGHTENING UP

Amazing how Friday comes along all bouncy and sunny and nonchalant; all “what cryck in the neck? what? where? hey! vanilla hearts for Friday fika! Awesome, dude!” and then I got a lot done at work and I left on time and the sun was shining and we went out for sushi and it was gooood and then we went and bought a bunch of junk food and there might have been melty brie and crackers involved and then we…I mean I…oogled Viggo for an hour and a half while simultaneously fending off questions from concerned fellow watchers: “Does he...

12
Jan
2008

AS USUAL: WALKING, WRITING, WORKING, READING, LAUGHING

This was today’s Treasure Hunt Walk list: someone smiling a 4-legged animal (not a dog) a man in a hat something purple flowers a truck a bicycle the letter X 2 triangles Martin made me laugh before we’d even left the neighborhood by quickly drawing an X and 2 triangles on the page and then he grinned up at me and said “You’re smiling!” but I called him a Cheater Peter and squashed him good. He used house roofs for the triangles and the man in the hat was eventually supplied by a garden gnome with a bright red hood....

01
Jan
2008

WALKING AND TALKING

Best way to end a year: enjoying the first sunny day in WEEKS, then driving under a clear crystal-studded sky to spend an evening with good friends, including some not met in far too long. Handing lit sparklers to a wide-eyed child as champagne glasses clinked and kisses were exchanged with dragon breath and chilled cheeks. Cheering as fireworks exploded overhead and all around you in the distance. Sitting around the table telling your most vivid memory moments from the past year. Loving your mate in the wee hours of the morning. Best way to start a year: sleeping in...

18
Sep
2007

EATING OF THE FRUIT (AND VEGETABLE) OF KNOWLEDGE

The best way to say the word ‘vegetable’ is like this: veggie-wobble. It’s addictive, beware. Not one but TWO sugar beets were sighted today, outside of Gårdstånga on E22 heading toward Lund. Fall is officially here. It’s the annual I-Saw-a-Sugar-Beet-on-the-Side-of-the-Road-so-it-Must-be-Autum journal post! Yay! New favorite veggie-wobble: KOHLRABI. Like George Martin, this one is all my brother’s fault. Have you ever had a kohlrabi? I bet you have, but you didn’t know it. Sometimes they’re the mysterious white crispy veggies in frozen wok mixes or the pale thin strips of veggies mixed in with the red peppers and julienned carrots in...

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