Schlager Fest

We're nearing the end of schlager season, which means that we've heard the Melodifestivalen songs enough now to actually start liking a couple of them. It also means that our big night out for the finale, complete with visitors from London, is just around the corner. Excitement was in the air at the cabin this weekend as we prepared to watch the last semifinal and while one of us ended up literally weeping on the floor at the result (no, not The Swede for once, it was Julia) most of us were pretty satisfied and ended the evening looking forward to next weekend's show.

Daily Jamie

Dreaming

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Peebs

This morning I brought a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to work with me as my breakfast. I sat down in the kitchen with several of my colleagues and explained, when they asked, what I was eating. Now, I won't say they were disgusted, but they certainly didn't see the appeal and all agreed that peanut butter and jelly were an odd combination. This, of course, from members of a race who don't eat peanut butter and therefor don't understand its versatility. Too bad for them. At any rate, I decided to take it upon myself to open their eyes and went out at lunch to get the supplies for an afternoon PB&J fika. At ten to three I headed to the kitchen to make a bunch of sammies then cut them diagonally into triangles and arranged them cutely on a plate to make them even more appealing than only I already knew them to be. My colleagues were pleasantly surprised, I think, and several commented that they weren't nearly as sweet as they expected. I don't think I recruited any lifelong fans or anything and I'm pretty sure my boss was just being nice when he said he was going to make them at home, but hey, if I tried surströmming it's only fair.

Daily Jamie

To Every Window There Is A Season

Linda asked me a few weeks ago if I was going to switch to spring curtains. Swedes love to change their curtains with the seasons and I suppose, if you think about it, it's a pretty easy way to significantly change the ambiance of a room. At least, it was for my kitchen when I finally caved to Linda's peer pressure. I was in the market for a new set after Jamie used the old white ones as a napkin after too many spaghetti dinners, but didn't plan on getting springy ones specifically until I saw and fell in love with these. And they were on sale! Plus I had a coupon! SOLD! The kitchen was totally transformed into a springtime paradise, despite the fact that it's obviously still winter. 

Daily Jamie

February 24th

February 25th
Pardon the light, this one was obviously very last minute.

Ossian Turns One!

Today Ossian turned a year old! His folks hosted his birthday party yesterday and all three of us were thrilled to be part of the happy occasion. There were little boys running around everywhere and good food and lots of cake - even Funfetti!!! - and presents to be opened and wonderful, wonderful people to spend the afternoon with. And its amazing, you know, to get to see this little man grow and change. It really is a privilege and I look forward to seeing much, much more of it.

Daily Jamie

Just A Little Outing

Now that The Swede loves coffee, a fika at the nearest Wayne's Coffee at the outlet mall has become a regular weekend event in our family. I couldn't be more thrilled. It's been gradual. At first, we would walk around the outlets every couple of months and only I would pop in for a coffee, then we started getting a fika to go, all three of us, and walking around with our lattes and juice box. And lately, finally, we've actually been sitting down, taking our time enjoying a muffin or a scone. We hardly ever buy anything besides the fika at the outlets, but it's still a pretty fun way to kill a couple of weekend hours.

Daily Jamie

In The Morning

Sometimes Jamie wakes up before I do. He always wakes up before The Swede does. To be fair, I wake up at the crack of dawn because my morning routine rivals that of a pre-Oscars starlet. No, I'm sad to say that I don't wake up the perfect ten you see here on the pages of this weblog. At any rate, at some point during my primping, if he didn't happen to wake up before me, Jamie will make his presence known from within his room with a squawk or some good-natured chatter, depending on his mood. I'll open the door and find him standing in his crib, telling me which of his toys he wants to play with. And then he'll do just that for a few minutes while I fix my hair, sling plastic dinosours about and throw himself on top of stuffed animals and tear through books until he remembers that Papa is in the next room. That's when he flings open our bedroom door, waking The Swede with his enthusiasm and the bright light from the hallway. And in the moments that follow, which I know from experience aren't easy to appreciate, a groggy Swede plays in bed, half-asleep, with his son. And I, wide awake after an hour of preening, get to start my day with some of the dearest scenes of my life.

Daily Jamie

The Cousins

Elin and Julia have been talking for quite some time about wanted to pick Jamie up from school someday but, as you can imagine, the opportunities are few and far between. They're on their winter sport break from school this week, though, and staying with Mama and Papa Swede here in Kungsängen, so the timing was perfect for them to surprise their favorite cousin. I'm in charge of drop-offs so I didn't get to be there but The Swede told the sweet story of Jamie's double-take when he saw them and of the awesome hour of fun they had before they went back to their grandparents' for dinner. He cried hard when they left, which was hard, of course, but also makes me excited for summer cabin season when they'll get to see much more of one another. 

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Consider Me Entertained

I was home sick from work today (don't worry, Mom, it's just a cold) and slept all morning after I dropped Jamie off at school. When I woke up and slunk downstairs I had very low expectations for the daytime TV situation but was pleasantly surprised/thrilled to find that there were two episodes in a row of The Hills on. And not lame, last season, Kristin Cavallari episodes either; they were Jen-Bunny-kissed-Brody-at-her-birthday-party-and-LC-hasn't-felt-this-betrayed-by-a-best-friend-in-years, followed by Heidi-bailed-on-dinner-with-LC-to-go-to-Santa-Barbara-with-Spencer. Classics, that is. And then I discovered Downton Abbey and was whisked away by the first three episodes. So, yeah, it was a good day in television. 

Daily Jamie