Blog

Brothers… all the same

My youngest son was talking about how he wishes we could hurry and invent teleportation. “We’d already have it if it weren’t for the Marx Brothers.” I thought about this for a while, but could remember no scenes relating to teleportation in any Marx Brothers movies. I asked, “How did the Marx Brothers ruin our … Read more

Healthy food/Tasty food

I was telling my oldest son about an article I read in Reader’s Digest about the Best Foods for your health. He said, “Yeah, I started to read that too, but then I realized it was about healthy foods and not best tasting foods, so I skipped over to the joke section.”    

Buried news

With all the government news lately, I’m starting to feel that we might be losing focus on what’s happening in other fields. On CNN today, there was a list of stories all having to do with governmental issues, except for one buried right in the middle. Do they expect us to glance over this, because … Read more

Alexa and Google -best friends or robot revolution leaders?

Following my post last week on Alexa, or the Amazon Echo, we sensed Alexa might be lonely and added a Google Home device to the family. For those not familiar with a Google Home device, it’s Google’s version of Amazon Echo, a talking computer that can set kitchen timers, add something to your shopping list, … Read more

Alexa?! Alexa?! ALEXA?!!

I keep reading stories about how people who own an Amazon Echo device should be concerned about a loss of privacy with its constant voice monitoring system.  Anyone writing these articles obviously doesn’t own an Amazon Echo device, otherwise they’d know what my family already knows… it barely understands a word you’re saying.  Example at … Read more

Indestructible

My husband started the morning by showing our young boys the indestructible power of an old Commodore 64 joystick. Now, I could write about how we are low on money and I eat mostly crackers at the end of the month just to save while apparently my husband NEEDS to buy two old Commodore joysticks … Read more

Public Service Announcement for Parents

Heads up. My kids have been singing this since November. Apparently it’s getting even bigger. Warning: Extremely stupid…. but extremely catchy. I guess what I’m trying to say is you’ve been warned. Embrace it or buy some noise-cancelling headphones.

Models don’t go outside 

I keep buying winter hats that look great on the models in the ads, but terrible on me. Sadly, it took me this long to realize that NO ONE looks good in a winter hat in real life because no one smiles when they’re out in the cold. We all have sinuses and flu symptoms. 

Commercials in another country

Even though I’ve lived in Sweden for almost 17 years now, I still see many commercials through the eyes of an American laughing hysterically at weird “foreign” ads. But honestly, how can I not when things like this are common? This is an ad for a glassses company. And this is an ad for a … Read more

Christmas tree plundering

  Today is Knut’s Day, January 13, where many Swedes celebrate julgransplundring (‘Christmas tree plundering’), stripping the tree of its ornaments and throwing it out of the window. As that’s not very nice to the environment, most people take it to a recycling center these days. We have gone to a few Christmas plundering events. … Read more

Face/Off

I did one of those Face Swap photos on the phone the other day with my 9-yr old son. They always leave the faces looking quite distorted, so my son said, “Mamma, no offense, but I don’t want your face.” I laughed and said that was just fine, but then he continued: “So now I … Read more

My blessed child

Our family was playing a board game together on New Year’s Eve. My youngest son needed to draw a certain type of card for his next turn. He said: “Please God, let me draw the right card!” I said, “God probably has more important things to do than help you find a game card.” He … Read more

Quiet? I don’t know the word

I’ve spent the last 5 days alone with the kids and their various friends who come over to visit. My life has a running background soundtrack of Pokémon, Minecraft and Skylanders. It’s non-stop. How can they talk this long? It can’t be possible. They might not be human. Also, you know when you get a … Read more

Merry Victorian Christmas pt. 4

Who do you think Sophisticated Beet Man is bringing this Christmas greeting to? If it’s Demure Carrot Woman, then he’s out of luck because she’s spending Christmas with Distinguished Onion Fellow.  

Christmas in Sweden – Santa

In Sweden, Santa delivers gifts personally. Santa visits Swedish homes (after Donald Duck) to hand out gifts personally to the kids. Unfortunately, this usually happens after dad or another male member of the family has just stepped out to check for the newspaper and he misses Santa every year. When my husband (often the only … Read more