Tagged: thisisjusttosay

16
Sep
2015

MAYBES

Photos of starving polar bears and dead, starved polar bears are making my heart hurt. What the hell, humans?? I am feeling discouraged about certain things and certain people. I don’t (yet) know exactly what to do about them. One of the people is me. Some days I feel like the last blogger. Facebook killed blogging. Snapchat has nailed its coffin shut. Thank goodness for June. Maybe I need to take a class. An art class or something. Maybe I just need to get over myself (which is what I can hear my brother saying). I would think that what...

12
Sep
2015

HERE YOU GO

I/We have survived two weeks of Anders’ being gone. Even the yard, which he mowed the evening before he left and again, this morning the day after he returned. Huzzah for not having to break down and mow it myself! Martin and I had an argument yesterday over how many times I cooked last week while Anders was away. I stood fast at 5 times; he was certain it was only 4 (we won’t talk about the week before). In my defense, two of the weeknights last week were given over to parent/teacher meetings at their respective schools. Or rather...

06
Sep
2015

CRAYFISH, QUESTIONS & SEASONAL SWINGS

We are falling into fall. The cold, the rain, the grey, the dark, the falling leaves. The fields are all stripped and plowed; haybales dot the hills. Geese and swans are flying fast; it’s coming. Because we had nearly no summer, it feels as if it’s been fall for some time. It’s not that I’m ready, exactly, but resigned, at least. Yesterday was the annual crayfish party that rotates among Anders’ old Scout friends. He wasn’t here, unfortunately, as he’s still in Italy, but the kids and I went and had a nice time despite that and the weather. Yesterday...

09
Aug
2015

GOOD DAYS

There is only one week left of summer vacation for the kids and oh my god I can’t wait until they’re back into regular routines again. No more sleeping until noon, no more playing games all damn day, back to real life! Is it evil of me to be glad that school is starting? I really wish both kids had gotten summer jobs this summer, I feel like it would have made a big difference. Pretty soon we have to start getting serious about Martin’s future: college applications, scholarship searches, financial aid research…aagh! I can’t believe he’s going to be...

04
Aug
2015

OMG SO SCINTILLATING

I am scintillating. Read on and see for yourself. I had so little to do at work today that I went through and cleaned out our two cabinets full of archived marketing materials. Then I came home, put the laundry in the dryer and fell asleep on the couch. I woke up only because the dryer was beeping, just as Anders came home from getting his hair cut. I sat at the kitchen table with my chin in my hands and bemoaned the fact that I didn’t have any ideas for making dinner until Anders caved in and made macaroni...

01
Aug
2015

RENEWALS

It was a purely lovely day today, filled with nothing much to do. I realized not so long ago that there are more and more of these “no plans” evenings and weekends happening. I used to be so busy! I remember feeling overwhelmed sometimes with how much I had going on and now there are whole weeks where I have no plans at all. Of course, there are still plenty of weeks where there is something every night, but I think it’s evened out quite a lot. And, after all, it IS still summer…the kids have nothing much going on,...

28
Jul
2015

SLIDING

I went to the mall this afternoon to check out a couple of opticians…I need to get new glasses, not necessarily because they are no longer good, though they’re no longer perfect, but because the frames aren’t holding together anymore and the film has worn off the glass in spots on both sides. It’s not noticeable when I’m wearing them but I’m sure it’s time to consider new ones. The problem is that I really like the style of my eyeglass frames and now I have to find new ones that I like enough to spend a fortune on, because...

10
Jun
2015

WHIRRRRRRR

Martin: (from the other room) What’s a “more”? Liz: How do you spell it? Martin: M-O-R-E Liz: Oh. It’s the values or ethical standards of society. Martin: Like a norm? Liz: More or less. Liz: *giggles madly* Liz: See what I did there? Martin: *sigh* It’s the last week of school. Both Martin and Karin are done on Friday and summer vacation begins. Remember that feeling? The whole sunny summer stretching out in front of you? Days at the pool, evenings playing blindman’s bluff and statues on the lawn, visits to grandparents, freezers full of Fla-Vor-Ice popsicles. Mmmmmm yummy grape...

25
Apr
2015

SEASONALITIES

I don’t remember this so clearly from my years in Chicago, but here in Sweden, one really lives after and by the seasons. I find myself looking out for the annual marker of the start of each season and feeling such satisfaction when it’s noted. Spring: pied wagtails Summer: clouds of gnats hovering in the summer evening air Fall: sugar beets on the side of the road (fallen off trucks) Winter: Advent candelabra Yesterday, I saw my first pied wagtail, so now it’s OFFICIALLY spring. The lacy tracery of bright green leaves wasn’t enough. The lush pad of fresh grass...

07
Apr
2015

UNSCINTILLATING

I feel rather boring these days. Cleaning the bathroom, inventorying my library and working do not make for scintillating blog fodder. And yet, here it is, into the second week of April, and I had been trying to write more. What happened to that? We have had very changeable weather lately. All possibilities within the space of an hour: sun, warmth, wind, rain, snow, hail, you name it. As we say, if you don’t like the weather in Sweden, just wait five minutes. But it IS warming. Despite the frost on the ground overnight, the trend is definitely upwards. Martin...

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