Life in the Land of the Ice and Snow
Infiltrating Sweden one cinnamon bun at a time
One of my favorite Saturday Night Live sketches is “Theodoric of York: Medieval Barber” with Steve Martin. In this sketch, Theodoric gives his medical expertise to the people of his village, mostly involving bloodletting, which seems to be the cure for everything, including mass bleeding. But the part of the sketch that always stays with … Read more
I can’t be the only person who sees this headline on CNN and wonders if someone just really wants to promote the new Stephen King “It” movie remake. (Also, before posting this story, I had to add a category to my post. I went with “parenting,” as it’s good parental skills not to let your … Read more
I like to travel with my family to Italy twice a year, so I study at least two lessons a day on my Italian Rosetta Stone program. It’s a great program, but sometimes I get too involved in the attitudes and lives of the people in the pictures. Example in the pictures below: These people … Read more
This is why I can’t have any indoor plants. The minute I spot one bug on them, I throw them off the balcony! At least they have a chance to survive out there. But a whole apartment full of plants? I feel things crawling on me just reading about it.
Many people wonder why people in Sweden don’t get fat at the end of the summer after eating loads of ice cream, hot dogs and chips. Well, I’m here to let you in on the secret to Swedish summer weight loss. Bees. August is the time when the bees tend to swarm in our area. … Read more
I told the kids I had a Pet Rock when I was their age. They thought I made it up. Then I showed them the exact one I had, on the internet (pictured here), and they laughed so hard they actually fell on the ground. They have now collected 2 big rocks with the plan … Read more
So Delta airlines had pizza delivered to waiting passengers on a plane during the recent delays caused by their computer system. My thoughts: Can we please just do this every time instead of airline food? I will pay extra. Do the delivery guys get tips in airline tickets? And still, Pizza Hut won’t deliver to … Read more
Italy is now handing out fines to people who hog beach space by setting up umbrellas and towels overnight in order to have prime space in the morning, or people who take up way too much space with empty towels and chairs waiting on friends who may not be coming for hours. Article here: http://tinyurl.com/j6ylopj … Read more
Apparently a RyanAir passenger was late for his flight and decided to run for his plane on the tarmac. CNN may be shocked, but to me, this is basically how one normally boards RyanAir. I wrote about this airline in my book. We took it only once and decided NEVER AGAIN! To board a RyanAir … Read more
I see this phrase often, so let’s give it a try. “Once upon a time, I cut my ankle while shaving my legs in the shower. And then it happened again, and again, and again, and then I decided I should probably be slower and more careful. The end.” I don’t know. I think that … Read more
I punched my husband in the face this morning. Right in the nose! Of course, I thought he was some weirdo trying to attack me in a hotel. Yes, I was dreaming and my husband’s face was unfortunately positioned in a perfect punching position. On the positive side, I’ve never been able to punch anyone … Read more
Yesterday, I wrote about false advertising. Looking up the most famous examples took me down a wonderful rabbit hole of the worst offenders. It made me laugh, so I thought I’d share the best examples with you:
Yesterday, I got into a heated discussion with my son about how it’s possible for KFC to have so many secret spices. My son insisted the commercial he saw in the U.S. claimed Kentucky Fried Chicken had 17 secret spices in their batter (I’ve since discovered it’s 11). To him, this was blatant false advertising. … Read more
Just reminding everyone that I have a new book out – “As Long as I Have My Own Bathroom” – which is great summer reading while you’re on vacation, but most of all, IT CONTAINS ABSOLUTELY NO POLITICS! For sale in the U.S. here – https://amzn.com/1530292964 For sale at other Amazons, such as – http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1530292964 … Read more
After 2 years of longing, my husband finally got the object of his dreams – a Ninja Blender. He was sucked in 2 years ago on a trip to the U.S., where several channels seem to be required by law to run day-long advertisements about the life-changing Ninja Blender. Apparently, your life is not complete … Read more
While many of our friends were posting pictures from their beach vacations on the Mediterranean, we were on the Texas Gulf Coast where we were subjected to warnings about avoiding the beaches because they contained flesh-eating bacteria, sea lice, alligators, sharks, and snakes in the sand dunes. I wish I was making this up, but … Read more
One drawback of having children in Sweden who NEVER see t.v. commercials is that they become quite overwhelmed by them when we visit the U.S. After about a week, my youngest was saying things like, “This breakfast today is sponsored by…” and “Brushing my teeth is brought to you by …” I guess I should … Read more
As usual, when we arrived in the U.S. last month, we were subjected to a special video that re-played every three minutes while we waited in the long line at immigration/customs. At least this year there was a new video. I was really getting tired of listening to super-happy people repeating, “I am America…… I … Read more
Smithsonian Air & Space Museum trash can. Forget the Wright Brothers’ plane, Apollo 11 and the Spirit of St. Louis – where can I buy this trash can?