Blog

Yes.

I never read the context of these articles. I pretend they are direct questions posted to me and then I answer them. On to the next headline…

Dress Code

In my old hometown newspaper from Texas, there is an article this week about a sophomore student in high school asking the School Board to remove the ban on boys wearing earrings in school. I have tried to explain to my Swedish husband that when I went to school in Texas, you could not dye … Read more

One step removed celebrity recipes

A family member posted a recipe today for a Pinapple pie. The recipe was listed as being “Johnny Cash’s Mother’s Recipe.” Why would this make the pie any better? As far as I know, Johnny Cash’s mother was not a famous cook. Also, Johnny Cash did not always look the picture of great health or … Read more

Just because I SOUND like a caveman…

This past weekend, I took a shortcut past a brand new tram stop that had not yet opened. A very confused looking woman asked me in Swedish when the next tram was coming. I explained to her, also in Swedish, that the stop would not open until the next day, as it was a new … Read more

Modern orienteering

Orienteering has been the theme for my son’s gym class the past few weeks. Today he had an assignment to find his way from his school to a place about 2 and a half miles away. So of course, we showed him how to use the Uber app on his phone.

Tourist activities

Another trip to Italy coming up this fall. What do you think of my itinerary? We can start at the Egizio Museum, have a coffee at the Piazza, swing by the GATES OF HELL and maybe round up the day at the cinema?  

Toothbrush thoughts

My son had a good dentist appointment this week and the dentist gave him a new toothbrush when he left. He took it out of the wrapper and slowly ran his fingers up and down, over the top. “This is so soft. It’s like when I touch your toothbrush. It’s soft under my fingers. My … Read more

Unintentionally fashionable

When I fell off my moped this weekend and ripped up my jeans, both of my sons said, “Well, now you’ll be in fashion.” I saw this ad today on our neighborhood sale group for someone selling jeans. It translates to “Jeans with tears, completely NEW” I guess you would have to emphasize that they … Read more

Bicycles and mopeds are a conspiracy to sell more bandages

I haven’t been writing much lately as I don’t have time between having accidents, putting on bandages and bleeding everywhere. Also, wearing a bandage on your face really brings your self-confidence down.  Speaking of that, why did all my appointments and meetings have to be scheduled last week when I was forced to wear a … Read more

And THAT’s why you always wear a helmet!

Today I learned that you can’t jump a curb full speed with your bicycle if you’re a 42-year old with bad coordination and a history of extreme clumsiness. In my head, I thought, if you just believe in yourself, you can do anything you put your mind to. Nope. So now I have a busted … Read more

Overheard conversation between my kids

Boy 1: Are you ok with guacamole on your tacos? Boy 2: You don’t seem to understand the meaning of tacos. With tacos, you can add what you want – meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato… Boy 1: Yeah, but would you eat guacamole? Boy 2: I could do it if necessary, but I just don’t see … Read more

Fancy dishwasher

Our new dishwasher is too complicated for me. We had our old dishwasher replaced after it finally refused to wash the top level of dishes. It had been hanging on for a few years, through duct tape on the outside handle to superglue on the spinning arm, but it just couldn't take the barrage of … Read more

Bathroom decoration

My son ran out of a restaurant bathroom in Italy very frightened. “I can’t go! This man with a huge head keeps staring at me!” So of course I had to check it out. He was right.

Air raid / get to know your neighbors

We’ve just arrived home after 3 weeks vacation to a city that is mostly empty, as Swedes generally take the month of July off. I was wondering how many people were left in our apartment building yesterday and happened to get my questioned answered about 10pm last night when the city’s air raid sirens suddenly … Read more

Swedish ant bed

I know they say everything is bigger in Texas, but when it comes to ant beds, I think Sweden is in the lead. These are what ant beds look like in Sweden. They are all over the forest. Mainly made with pine needles. If you go up close, you can hear all the ants moving … Read more

Ducks climbing up a tree

These are 2 ducks climbing up a tree. It’s hard to see, but the tree goes pretty high. It goes at an angle, which is partly why they jumped on (not to mention little kids trying to chase them on the ground), but they also like some sort of berries they can only reach by … Read more

Hamburgers of Stockholm

I’m actually on vacation for a few weeks, so this is a scheduled post, as are any appearing the next few weeks. To keep up the blog and entertain while I’m offline, I present “Hamburgers of Stockholm.” We’ve had a burger revolution here in Stockholm over the past 5 years and I think it’s going … Read more