Tagged: thisisjusttosay

30
Jun
2016

OVER AND OUT

I just finished a really good book, The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry. It was excellent and had a (sad) twist that I did not see coming, which I always appreciate in a book (even if it is sad). I’ve been reading a lot lately, after what felt like a very long streak of not reading much at all, or at least reading so slowly as to be the same thing. I read a new Bill Bryson book, which was both interesting and ho-hum at the same time. I’ve downloaded 2 more books to my Kindle so I’ll have more...

22
Jun
2016

ALL THE THINGS

Had a meeting with my boss yesterday and was informed about my raise: higher than the average and lots of praise to accompany it, which was nice. Wish it was hitting with tomorrow’s paycheck instead of next month’s. Would have been nice to have that extra money in the States. Got my FBARs done, finally. Figuring out our plans for the US trip: what to see in NYC and Boston on the day each we have allotted for them. Planning a couple of days at a relative’s in Traverse City and my college roommates lake cottage. And a real American...

19
Jun
2016

GETTING THINGS DONE

I’m procrastinating right now. I need to be doing my FBARs but I hate doing my FBARs and so I’m doing just about anything else instead. I can’t put it off forever, though. Yesterday, I talked to our neighbor and found out that the vet diagnosed Morris with acute kidney failure…nothing to be done but end her suffering. Jessika and I were both crying during the entire conversation. The vet said the problem with such things is that the symptoms are so diffuse and gradual, in cats at least, that you often don’t realize there is anything wrong until it’s...

03
Apr
2016

THINGS PEOPLE SAY

A young girl, in a book that I am reading, uses the phrase “sprung clent” and then explained it like this, when her listeners don’t understand her, “They washed the floor and they dried and polished…” and one of her aunts exclaims, “Oh! they spring cleaned!” That’s what I’ve started doing and by the time I’m done (probably in time for next spring), I want to be able to say that I have sprung clent. I told the kids that we are starting Operation Deep Clean and they have to help, as they live here too and contribute to the...

31
Jan
2016

THE BUSY LIFE

It’s the last day of January and I’ve made it through the first month of the year and last week’s crazy. More ahead, however…the fun never ends! Our first choir practice was last Thursday and I came out of it positively bouncing. I knew I had missed singing but hadn’t really realized how much until I was there. It was SO FUN! There are 2 choir leaders, a young woman who sings and leads and a young man who plays accompaniment on the guitar. They handed out printed sheets of lyrics, not sheet music, which was a little weird for...

21
Jan
2016

SEASONAL BLING

Oh hi there! Here I am with nothing to say. Okay, I have something to say…let’s see if I can dig it out of the inner recesses of my brain. It’s beautiful here today, but OMG so cold. It was -9C when I left for work this morning and despite the fact that sun was shining and the entire sky was this pale, translucent pinky lavender blue all day long it was FREEZING. With a capital BRRRR. The fog was laying low over the fields all last night which meant that this morning everything was covered in inches-long hoarfrost. And...

17
Jan
2016

BUSY BEE BEATS SUPER SLUG

Aren’t you glad for weekends? I am. It’s so necessary to have a couple of days of downtime, where I can do what I need to do, whether that is relaxing and being a total slug or getting all kinds of things done and being a busy bee or some sort of mixture of the two. That is often the case, actually. Today was beautiful, sunny and blue, but very cold. I was productive all weekend; the last load of laundry is in the dryer, the house is clean, the advent lights are down and put away, the plants are...

13
Dec
2015

JINGLE ALL THE WAY

I am steaming through the Christmas to-do list! Tree is up and decorated, house is decorated, Christmas letter is written and ready to be printed, photos are cut and sorted, and the vast majority of my shopping is done. DONE! So late this year, but at least I’m nearly done. I still have a couple of things to get for Karin, stocking stuffers and a present for Anders’ mom, and that’s it! Next week I have to bake cookies for a work fika (I am avoiding baking cookies otherwise…if they’re not in the house, I can’t eat them, see?) and...

10
Nov
2015

THIS JUST IN

I only have a minute to write…we’re going to watch the last but one episode of Downton Abbey tonight. It’s already nearly 9 and I’m ready to go to bed right after. In fact, if we weren’t going to watch it, I’d probably go to bed now. How lame. All day today I kept thinking it was Wednesday and tomorrow is going to be such a let-down since I have to live through it AGAIN. Stupid brain. Anders’ mom was moved to a short-term care facility (assisted) this morning and she’s perked up so much the change is remarkable. She...

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...

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