Life in the Land of the Ice and Snow
Infiltrating Sweden one cinnamon bun at a time
Sometimes at work, I like to listen to nature sounds. I made a few lists before with rain sounds, ocean sounds, forest sounds, and more. There is no music with these, just background nature sounds. Today I started up my forest sounds list. Apparently some of my sounds are marked as “Explicit” on the Spotify … Read more
I have to read a lot of online magazines for my job. So many of them are the same. Then I start thinking about writing my own online magazine. Much like a blog I guess. What would I call it to get people’s attention? The Awesome Gossip Report. Top stories: Just awesome stuff, like how … Read more
While pre-publishing a post for next week (I’ll be on vacation) about politics and Europe, I was suggested certain tags for my post in order to publicize it. I’m still trying to figure out why the tagging suggestions were America, beer and cheese. Not that I’m complaining, I’m just not sure what that has to … Read more
Here are the reasons the kids wouldn’t go to sleep just for last night: 1. Thirsty 2. Thought they heard someone playing a computer game. 3. Had an idea for a plasma ball invention. 4. Panicking because they can’t play a Mozart piece on the piano. 5. Thought of a way to stop missiles in … Read more
My oldest son has twins in his class. I said, “Are they identical twins or fraternal?” He replied, “There are twins in my class?” I guess that answers my question.
So our family got an Amazon Echo yesterday. Amazon Echo is a voice command device that can answer questions and play music. Echo offers weather and news and can also play music from streaming services. Echo maintains voice-controlled alarms, timers, shopping and to-do lists and can access Wikipedia articles. You address the system as “Alexa” … Read more
Swedes like to get right to the point. The electronic store is called OnOff, grocery store is Konsum (consume) and now this ad for toilet paper is at our subway station. It says “perfect for your butt.”
You know what we all must do…. Here’s my contribution.
I have to read food news for my job. The headline for one said, “Make your own cheese with only 2 ingredients!” I do that all the time. Milk and laziness. Done.
Today is everyone’s first day back to school after Easter break. I had to haul depressed kids to the kitchen table for breakfast. Then, in typical Monday fashion, we all missed the bus so we had to walk 10 minutes to the subway. Or, as my 7-yr old said, “It’s a mile to the subway and … Read more
This weekend I watched both “The Imitation Game” (nominated for 8 Oscars) and “Sharknado 2″(nominated for 0 Oscars). I will now write an comparison essay on these two films: “Alan Turing overcame many obstacles to solve the Enigma code and therefore contributed to ending WW2. In Sharknado 2, Finn’s wife overcame her struggle of losing … Read more
There’s a parent at my kid’s school that is ….. hm…. how shall we say….. not a nice person. I am doing my best to always be nice and polite but I really don’t want to deal with this person. That’s why I’ve come up with a great idea. Let me know what you think … Read more
My son does not agree with my decision to throw his shoes away. “They’re my secret pocket shoes!”
My children were complaining this week that the weekends should be longer. I slammed my fist on the table and said, “I shall make it so that this weekend is 4 days long!” The kids stared at me in amazement. Then they stared at my husband who simply nodded in agreement. I said, “Who decides?!” … Read more
It’s that day again. The day that Easter witches come to my door asking for candy. The Swedish children dress up as witches on this day because Easter Thursday is the day that the witches fly to Blåkulla to dance with the devil, of course. Yep. very Easter-y. (Honestly, this is why I have so … Read more
These are always my favorite stories around here. But I still have never seen a beaver! I’m always looking for them. Everyone says they’re around. I go to the nature reserve and look in the small lakes, I go to parts of the city near the water where they’ve been spotted. Still never seen one! … Read more
I’ve had two jobs now where I’m supposed to encourage others to eat healthy. Then this turns up. Why do I bother? (Ok, if offered…. I’m still gonna try it.)
My children had no clue the time changed this weekend. I got up before them and switched all the clocks. I wonder if I can apply this same strategy to early bedtimes.
In my food research, I’ve come across something called “The National Restaurant Association’s Show & International Wine, Spirits, & Beer Event.” Sounds nice. So what’s the problem? Well, the problem (and the thing that caught my eye) is that they are marketing this event as the NRA Show. I hate to see what happens when … Read more
On our recent trip to Germany, we bought our kids a Furby. This is a talking animal that interacts with you. Apparently there are things you can do to change it’s mood. I’m not sure what happened, but the mood changed to bad and the kids wanted to change it back, so I handed them the … Read more