We moved the clocks back to winter time over the weekend and between that and Olof’s unemployment and the kids being out of school, I am completely disoriented. All week long I’ve thought it was Saturday, and with it getting dark long before dinnertime now, I’m having a hard time keeping hold of the fact… Read More Off-kilter

Earlier tonight Petra rode out with me to pick Lydia up from her boyfriend’s house, and one of the very many things she said to me on the trip out was this gem: “I do three things like you: I talk a lot, I watch TV a lot, and I sleep a lot.” Huh.

Olof went to town before I got up this morning and was gone for the better part of the day. Because the kids are home from school this week for fall break, and Tage and Lydia each had a friend over, I was home alone with six kids. Six! By the time that man of… Read More Overstimulation

You wouldn’t think it to look at her, but this kid is an absolute menace. She screams, she bites, she kicks, she hits. She throws tantrums and full dinner plates with equal vigor. She is totally that kid in every public place we ever go. But sometimes, thanks be to all that is holy, sometimes… Read More Pause

I’m not much for celebrating Halloween, partly because it’s not an especially big deal here in Sweden, but mostly because it’s never been a particular favorite of mine. When I was a kid, sure, I was as game as anyone for going door-to-door and coming home with a bagful of candy (well, except for that… Read More Festive!

Olof’s spent the past few days updating and polishing his résumé and, at least to my untrained eye, he looks pretty darned hire-able (the interwebs tell me that “hirable” is in fact a word, but I can’t bring myself to use it). It wouldn’t be entirely truthful, however, to say that I’m hoping he’ll find… Read More Looking ahead

I’ve really gotten out of the habit of cooking in the past, oh, six months or so. I’ve never been a particularly avid cook — I’ll bake, gladly, any and every day of the week, but cooking actual food? Meh. — but the kids’ crappy eating habits have totally done me in on meal preparation.… Read More Food stuff

We had an appointment this afternoon for a quick ultrasound to check on the baby’s growth, and everything looks just the way it should in there. We tried to get see if we could get a glimpse of boy parts or girl parts, but the baby was not at all cooperative, keeping his/her legs firmly… Read More Baby stuff

Earlier this week, I finally caved and went in for that accursed glucose tolerance test that I had been avoiding. I did it partly to get them off my back about the whole business, and partly because I really do like my midwife and it seemed to matter to her more than it did to… Read More Sheesh

I just heard a nasty rumor that snow is on its way, so I thought I’d better hurry and post this picture I took yesterday afternoon while it’s still an accurate representation of what things look like around here lately.