Tagged: offspring

24
Jun
2018

TOGETHER TIME

How do you live so far away from family? It’s not a question I get that often, because I’ve been here for so long and I’m part of an expat community who have ALL moved far away from home and family. Most of the time, you just don’t think about it. You live your life, you go to work, you clean your house, and make dinner, but you don’t think about the fact that you only see your mom once a year and your brother maybe that, and your sister less than that, and your uncles and cousins and grandmother...

04
Jan
2018

POST-HOLIDAY LIGHT BLUES

Having grown children is harder than I expected. I keep wanting them to be as cute and easy to order around as when they were young and they keep insisting on having their own way, making up their own minds and doing whatever it is THEY want to do at the moment. It’s been a little rockier than I anticipated, this holiday season, but it was still nice to have Martin home and I’m sad that he’s gone already. Two weeks is too short, eh Mom? It won’t be as long until he’s back in May, at least, and hopefully...

25
Dec
2017

HAPPY HAPPY MERRY MERRY

It’s been a very relaxing long holiday weekend here in Flyinge. Unlike most of North America, we’ve had no snow, which is a pity…it’s been the usual southern Swedish mix of rain and grey, but inside candles, advent lights and the Christmas tree area all lit. Martin arrived home on December 19 and time is already flying by. I took two days off so we could get some things done and enjoy his being home before finishing up work before the holidays. It was SO NICE to see him and give him a hug and it’s SO NICE to have...

21
Sep
2017

MOOD

Headache day. I’ve had headaches almost every day this week, waking with them early enough to sometimes medicate and fall back asleep but not always. Today’s was a doozy and I ended up staying home and seriously (!) being a slug. I slept on and off most of the day, reading a bit in between and keeping an eye on work emails, since I have a lot to do and was stressing a bit about not being in the office. I don’t know if the changes in temperature and weather are responsible, but UGH. Would like to have my head...

01
Aug
2017

TRIPPING

On summer nights, with the windows open, you can hear the frogs in the pond across the street from my mother’s house chuckling. They laugh all night long. At least it sounds that way from the distance of a driveway and a gravel road. “Heh, heh heh,” they chortle. “Heh, heh heh.” ALL NIGHT LONG. The first time I heard them, I couldn’t figure out what it was or where the noise was coming from. Karin and I were sharing the big bed in the front bedroom and I rolled over and poked her. “Are you giggling under your breath?”...

24
Sep
2016

FREE TIME, ME TIME

It’s a kid-free evening! I dropped Martin off at work at noon (late start today), where the apple orchard and cafe were already hopping, and he had plans to go to a party this evening and then spend the night at a friend’s house. Karin is also at a party, and won’t be home until around 1 a.m. though I am hoping she’ll be responsible and come home earlier, since she has to get up early to leave for a soccer game tomorrow…though she will be able to sleep in the car for 1.5 hours as it’s an away game....

23
Aug
2016

WHAT’CHA DOING

Martin actually updated his resume, printed it out and went around knocking on doors and talking to managers all over Lund, looking for another job today. Very happy about his initiative! He and his friends bought the plane tickets to Peru yesterday, so apparently this trip is really happening…EEK. Now he just has to get shots, order an international health insurance card, get blood tests, make an appointment with the driving school, get his driver’s license, figure out what he wants to study and where, write college entrance essays, apply for college, graduate with honors, get a fantastic job, meet...

09
Aug
2016

FUN WITH FAMILY

When I proposed having a party this summer to celebrate all the big events & milestones in our family, it never occurred to me how it might snowball. I persuaded my mom to let me invite the entire family, never suspecting that so many of them might actually come. I thought it would be like my plans for my 50th birthday trip with my friend Russell: all our family and friends would come…when in reality not even my brother could make it (we had a great time regardless). And we had a LOT to celebrate this year: big birthdays, graduations,...

08
Aug
2016

FUN WITH FRIENDS

It turns out, when I am selecting photos from vacation, that I tend to take all the ones with people in them. Even though I appreciate photos of the places we’ve been and the things we’ve seen, the ones that get me, that contain the things I most want to remember, are the ones with the people we were with in them. You can find fantastic photos of the Statue of Liberty and New York and Boston anywhere online, but if you want to see what I love, then here you go. Three posts coming up full of smiling faces...

May 2024
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