Tuesday, November 29, 2016

A Little End-of-November Update

Oh boy, you guys, I am really sorry. The blogging is bad, but life is good. Jamie is in a particularly harmonious period and it's a treat to be around him. He's smart and funny and The Swede and I find ourselves shaking our heads over how wonderful he is and how proud and lucky we are that he's ours. Speaking of The Swede, my heart still skips a beat when I see him. He still surprises me with brilliant and hilarious comments; it's no wonder his son is becoming such a clever, entertaining person. Our home is all decorated for Christmas already, so even though it's dark by three in the afternoon, paper star lanterns and candles and strings of lights are illuminating our little house. There's a dusting of snow on the ground and the ice will be forming on the lakes soon, so it's the most hopeful time of year for my husband. We had a beautiful First Advent service at church on Sunday, complete with a children's choir and singers from several other choirs in our community, including yours truly. The Swede and Jamie came and listened and I'm hoping it was a first step toward getting Jamie to sing in the children's choir when he gets older. Oh, and Jamie has enthusiastically watched The Grinch, Frosty the Snowman, and Berenstain Bears Christmas  with me! Next up: Charlie Brown, Sesame Street, GarfieldClaymation, Muppets, and best (yet hardest to sell) of all, Emmet Otter. Indeed, it is a hopeful time of your for us all.

Daily Jamie


November 22nd
November 25th
November 27th
November 17th
November 18th
November 19th
November 20th
November 21st 

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Daily Jamie

November 15th

Emelie's Salon

I had booked a trim with my hairdresser for next week, but cancelled it yesterday when I looked at my bank account and realized I'm broke as a joke. Good thing I have a brave colleague who volunteered to bring in her hair scissors and trim my split ends! She did it in five minutes during our lunch break and had so much fun that she literally giggled the whole time. Poor Andreas will never take a scissor to my head again.

Monday, November 14, 2016

One For The Books

Oh, you guys. The Swede and I just enjoyed a weekend at our favorite hotel in Dalarna and I cannot even tell you how amazing it was. But I'll try. 
We dropped Jambo off with Mama and Papa Swede and cousin Anne and took the afternoon off of work on Friday so that we would arrive before it got dark (it's about a three-hour drive and the sun is setting before three thirty these days). We checked in, threw our bags in our room, and headed to the spa. It was packed, but still amazing to just relax and go by our own schedule.
On Saturday morning, it was six degrees Fahrenheit but the sun was shining so we took a walk around Tällberg. It was the first time I'd ever seen it in winter, besides just passing through, and it took my breath away, just like it always does in the summertime. We spent the rest of the day at the spa, reading magazines and relaxing in the hot tubs and sauna. The Swede and his parents had booked a facial/full-body treatment/massage for my birthday and it was beyond words. I felt very spoiled.
The whole weekend had us both feeling spoiled, in fact. We ate really good food and held uninterrupted conversations and slept late and it was kind of one of the best things we've ever done. 
By Sunday morning we were really missing Jambo, though, so we hit the road earlier than we expected and surprised him. He hugged us so tight when he saw us that it just made the whole weekend that much better. I feel so lucky, my friends. So very, very lucky.

Daily Jamie

November 13th

Friday, November 11, 2016

Daily Jamie

November 9th
November 10th

My Life Flows On In Endless Song, Above Earth's Lamentations

On Wednesday morning when I woke up and turned on the TV (we discovered this week that we get CNN) things were looking grim. I went on with my routine and when I finally opened the curtains there was well over a foot of snow on the ground and it was still coming down. It was breathtaking in its beauty, but wildly inconvenient for traffic. My twenty-minute commute turned into an hour, at the end of which Swedish public radio announced that America's next president had been chosen. That night I had choir practice and I was remembering 9/11, when I was at Marietta College and all classes had been cancelled - except choir practice. The conductor said that this is when we need to sing most of all. I'll never forget that. The weather prevented all but a handful from attending practice on Wednesday, but I was there. I needed to sing.

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Daily Jamie

November 2nd
November 3rd
November 5th
November 6th

Grease Monkeys

One thing that's kind of a pain about Sweden is that they don't have all-weather tires and you have to, by law, change to studded tires between the first of December and end of March and up to a month longer on either end if the weather requires it. With a forecast of snow and below-freezing temperatures this past week, we had to get on top of things and change the tires on both of our cars. Thankfully we had help.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Fall At Steninge Slott

Oh my gosh, we had the best weekend! Saturday was full of Halloween fun in addition to Jamie's usual morning gymnastics class, and I also spent a few hours rehearsing with my choir in preparation for Sunday's concert.
Before the concert, though, The Swede and Jamie and I drove out to Steninge Slott, a beautiful little Baroque palace with lovely grounds made even lovelier by the fall colors and the gradually sinking sun shining through the trees. It was a perfect, crisp fall day and we were all glad to be outside, particularly after the cloudy month that was October. 
There was a lot of exploring, and we played tag, and, of course, a little Pokémon Go. 

Daily Jamie

October 30th
November 1st