Daily Jamie

What Have I Been Saying?

Why is a continental European men's large just a Nordic medium? Because Vikings, that's why.

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

On Misery

I have two confessions, both of which make me the worst theatre major ever. First, I don't know Les Miserables. Never seen a production, never listened to the score, don't even know the plot. Second, I walked out of the movie. The Swede and I went to see it on our date on Saturday, got to "Master of the House" an hour in, and I had to lean over and express my dissatisfaction. The Swede took a little convincing, not because he was enjoying himself but because it was such a scandalous move, but ultimately all the singing pushed him over the edge too. I guess it I had been a decent theatre major I would have known it was an opera and would have expected them to be singing every. last. word. but I was not and it was just too much. Sure the production was magnificent and the acting phenomenal but I can't watch greasy hair for over two and a half hours when I'm on my first date in over a month, I just can't.

Daily Jamie

And Many More

Fifty*ahem*something years ago today The Swede's pappa, Jamie's farfar, and my father-in-law, Pappa  Swede, was born. Nothing else to do but celebrate! They treated us to dinner at all of our favorite restaurant, Golden Cave, and it was lovely. This is birthday season in our family so it was the first of several celebrations coming up this winter, celebrations which will surely be just as delightful as this one.

Daily Jamie

January 26th

January 27th
In case you were thinking it's all smiles and giggles.

Winter Walk

We had such a fun weekend around here, one of the highlights of which was a long walk on the ice around the lake in our neighborhood. We bundled up and strapped down the kid into his sled and joined a dozen or so skaters, skiers, and pedestrians on the well-plowed track in the snow. At only slightly below freezing, it was the warmest it's been in a few days at least, but the wind still nipped a bit at little Jambo's nose and cheeks. We were all super rosy by the time we got home, despite working up a sweat running the last few minutes just to get out of the cold.

Daily Jamie

Fun With The Folks

Daily Jamie

Brrr

It's nothing special. It's January, after all. According to Facebook it's like this everywhere. But man, I gotta put it out there: it's cold.

Daily Jamie

Here is an eighteen-month-old who has learned to be suspicious of his mom's cooking. They don't eat beans and weenies at school, you know. School, incidentally is The Best. Every morning when I drop him off he just runs in, kisses and hugs a couple friends, waves good-bye, and starts playing. He learns new things there every day and is always impressing us with his skills in the evening before bed. Whether it's new dance moves, gestures, or Swedish words, we're beside ourselves. He loves music and has favorite songs that he can't listen to without getting up on his feet, swinging his arms, and hopping around. He loves animals and can tell you what sound half a dozen farm animals make and loves cuddling with his stuffed animal friends. This kid has awesome balance and has just learned to walk up the stairs himself, big boy style. He kicks and throws balls with incredible accuracy and makes his animal toys gallop across the table, tells me which books he wants to read and then pats his seat so that I'll sit down next to him. He and his papa love splashing around in the tub and, indeed, splashing of any kind is appreciated by this guy. From the moment he wakes up and starts babbling and jumping up and down in his crib to the little wave he gives us when we say good-night, he is making us laugh. He has come so far since last year and is somehow a million times more the best thing that has ever happened to us. 

The Big Show

Major happenings at the office today. Remember when changing the ink cartridge on the new printer drew a crowd? Imagine, then, how excited everyone must have been when the tractor and the semi rolled up to pick up the fluid system assembly my colleagues have been working on for months. They were basically popping popcorn waiting for the truck to show up. Then, of course, there was the matter of documenting the whole thing for our Facebook site. That's where I came in, with the boss's camera in shivering hand, to capture the elation that didn't dissipate until hours later.

Daily Jamie

What I Am Is Friendly

Hiya, dudes. We're obviously low on excitement over here, as demonstrated by the lack of posting, but I'm still thinking of you, feeling guilty. So I'm posting a little pick-me-up (in my opinion, that is). It's a video I found for Jamie while clicking around on Sesame Street's YouTube channel. I think it's just as fun for adults as for kids. Well, this adult anyway.

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Outnumbered

Since our old men are in Liverpool for a big football match, Petra and I decided to get together with our young men today. We spent a couple of hours at the play land, during which we saw each other for about five minutes since one or the other of us was always running after one of the boys, and then had a feast at McDonalds. I thought Jamie was going to get mellow or cranky being up past his bedtime during dinner but Dylan's influence had him running all over the place, happy as a clam. Even so, I am here to tell you that the absolute highest ratio of kids to grownups to maintain one's sanity is three to two. That is, if one of the grownups is just taking pictures the whole time.

Daily Jamie

Family Dinner

Mom and Jamie and I had a Skype date this afternoon that was so much fun that it ran into Jambo's dinnertime. So I popped a kiddie dinner into the microwave and popped the actual kiddie into his highchair and we kept chatting. Jamie's grandma got to see his sweet spoon skills - both the skill he uses to feed himself and the one he uses to lob the thing across the room along with a full load of pasta. Most of the time she wants to jump through the screen to give Jamie a hug but I'm pretty sure she was appreciating the barrier when the ravioli was a'flyin'. 

Daily Jamie

Jamie's Swedish. He eats pancakes and pea soup on Thursdays.

Daily Jamie

Damara's Kitchen

I am a terrible cook. It's true and I'm not exaggerating. I can make a pretty good spaghetti with meat sauce but it's super easy and it's my husband's recipe. I'll also admit I'm a friggin' master at the panini press so it's not like I'm being humble or anything. I want to be better, but I'm far too lazy to put the time and work into learning. So when The Swede tipped me off about an iPhone app that offered randomly-selected fifteen-minute recipes, I was all over it. As long as the recipes required few ingredients, that is, which the lobster pasta I made tonight did. And you guys, it was really good. Possibly the best thing I've ever made. So today this is a cooking blog and I'm sharing the recipe with you, translated from Swedish, so bear with me. 

Lobster Pasta

4 Portions

1 3/4 cups cream (15% fat)

300 grams rigatoni (or any other pasta, really)

250 grams sugar snap peas

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

2 teaspoons lobster bullion (if it exists here it MUST exist everywhere, right?)

2 pressed garlic cloves

200-300 grams peeled shrimp

the juice of half a lemon

ground black pepper to taste

• Cook the pasta according to package directions. Sauté peas.
• Whisk the flour into 1/2 cup of cream in a saucepan. Add the rest of the cream, the bullion and the garlic. Bring to a boil then let simmer 3-5 minutes.
• Add the shrimp and let them warm up. Add the lemon juice and pepper.
• Mix the sauce with the pasta and peas.
• Enjoy, with a glass of Chablis if you're livening up hump day like we are.

Daily Jamie

Things Are Good

Snow chaos! SNOW CANNON!!! It hasn't stopped all day and it's so, so pretty. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't think so if I didn't have my new boots and a Viking to shovel the walkway and a cozy home and family to come home to, though. I'm a lucky lady.

Daily Jamie

Beware The Salad

Okay. So, I come from probably one of the most dramatic newsiest countries in the world and now I live in probably one of the most dramatic news free countries in the world so I get that it's all about perspective. News stories about clouds that look like horses are plain ridiculous, yes, but the thing that really gets me is the sensationalism over here. Every run-of-the-mill snowstorm is reported as "snow chaos" or a "snow cannon" and, like, this is Sweden. You can't scare us with snow, papers. I was faced with one of the craziest cases of headline sensationalism yet today, though, when I read the following at the grocery store: "Anette, 38: I got a BRAIN BLEED FROM A LUNCH SALAD." Brain bleeds aren't funny, obviously, but I LOL'd big time. 'Cause come on now, really? REALLY?

Daily Jamie

At Last

Ohmygoodness, Erin and her boys are FINALLY home from Canada! I couldn't wait to see them yesterday, when we had originally planned to meet, but travel and time zones got the better of them and they had to cancel. Stay calm, I told myself, one more week won't kill you. And then, today, everyone was feeling better and a play date was on! We rushed over to their place and spent the afternoon catching up, playing, laughing, and drinking Erin's awesome smoothies. It was so cool to see how Ossian had changed since the last time I saw him and how he and Jambo were actually interacting and playing together. All our best friendship dreams for these guys are starting to come true!

Daily Jamie

January 11th

January 12th

Daily Jamie

Team Work

On taco, night everyone pitches in... in their own way.

Daily Jamie

Bang Bang

Linda and I decided to get bangs on our lunch break today. It was a thought-through move on both our parts as Linda had been meaning to update hers for some time and I had been disenchanted with my appearance after growing mine out to defnitely-not-bangs-anymore length. I'm not showing a picture of mine because I think they came out too short and I look about twelve years old. But Linda, now she looks fantastic. In fact, I'd give the trip to the hairdresser a whole eight stars out of ten because Linda's bangs are so good that they very nearly cancelled my awkward ones out.

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Injustice Explained

When I was a kid, all I wanted was a juice box. My parents never got us juice boxes, not even once, as far as I can remember, and it was SO UNFAIR. It was never explained to me why we never got them and I'm pretty sure I requested them from time to time so I just assumed my folks were mean. Logically. Now I understand, though, because every time I give one to Jamie (which happens often when we are out and about because I am not mean) he squirts a third of the contents onto the front of himself before he gets the straw to his lips. It's totally not his fault and it's infuriating. Juice boxes are a disaster disguised as a convenience. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, Mom, Pop, I get you and I forgive you.

Daily Jamie

Á La Mode

This obviously isn't a fashion blog. If it was I would have significantly fewer readers, I promise you, as I am no fashionista whatsoever. I aspire, however, and love reading fashion blogs and taking inspiration from them, strangers on the street, and, as was the case with my new Sorel boots, friends. Erin (who has been in Canada ALL WINTER, feels like) messaged me a couple of weeks ago about these boots that she had purchased because "cold feet are the WORST!!!" She then went on to talk me into getting my own, something I had been considering anyway since they remind me of the classic duck shoes my mom used to sport, by reminding me that we're going to be spending winter after winter on playgrounds with out little ones and, again, cold feet are the worst. I was convinced, but decided to wait till the after-Christmas sales. Then I got a gift card to the sporting goods store, put two and two together, and these babies are finally mine! And if you want to be vogue like me you'll take my twin Erin's and my cue. 

Daily Jamie