This Just In!

It's springtime in Midsomer! Remember last year?

If I Were Three Years Old

I'd wear this dress every day.

Fellow Leo-nians

Last night we watched that episode in season 6 where Josh and Toby get into a fist fight. I almost couldn't breathe (though I've seen it at least twice before). And Congressman Santos ('cause he won't be the Candidate for another two episodes) does that live tv-thing where he says "And you'd better believe I approved this ad."

Oh boy. William Shakespeare, eat your heart out.

Lady Day Waffles

We surprised the kids with waffles for breakfast on Marie Bebådelsedag/Lady Day/Annunciation. Waffles are a big deal over here, and for breakfast? Let's just say that my little heathens were very happy to hail Mary this way. Wilhelm and I had a great discussion about why we celebrate this day and where the waffles come in and how about the sperm, Mom? Does it take a lot or just a little? An educational breakfast if ever there was one.

Have a happy Friday night. Thanks for reading.

At Last

They've been standing in the window for three weeks now.
No sign of life.
Nothing.
And finally today.
Green.
In your face green.
Brussel sprouty, loud as ever green.
Crunchy green.
Grissy grassy green.
How I needed you.

My Prrreciousss

Did I ever tell you that I have a thing for old children's books? I do. And this Saturday I found this Peter Rabbit colouring book in my favourite book store in town . See how pretty this is! No dirty hands will ever touch this, much less colour it. Sorry, my lovelies. This is Mommy's book.

Meet The Palin's

Sometimes I fear that we are raising two Republicans.

Our kids are so conservative, they make Sarah Palin look like the Tooth Fairy. They like everything to be just the way it's always been, or was last Monday, or the first time they ever did it. If we have pancakes for breakfast one weekend, they turn into Sunday Pancakes in a second. If I need to throw out something old and broken (and I'm not talking beloved teddybears here), it immediately transforms into Beloved And Important Artefact. Not big on change, these two.

And I like traditions. I like rituals. So why I sometimes have a hard time enjoying that my children are the same is a whole other post. Let's just say that as of today I've decided to embrace their need for rituals and traditions and just roll with it. Insecure no more! I will be Conservative and proud. (I most certainly won't, but you get the picture.)

So our Friday Night Popcorn will stay Friday Night Popcorn and I will not try to turn them into Friday Night Body Paint. And on Thursday we will make waffles and celebrate Marie Bebådelsedag (the Annunciation in English, I believe), just like we did last year and the year before that.

But how about you? Do you have things in your family that you just do, always have and always will? Traditions you picked up from your parents, rituals that were important to you as a child, or new ones that you've created because you felt a need or wanted to celebrate something in a new way? Or are you reluctant traditionalist?

Thanks for reading.

(Photos above: Jesper surprised us with hidden candy for Valentine's Day, long strings attached to every piece, in criss cross all over the house. A new tradition I'd be very happy to embrace,)

Twenty Something

The BFF is swimming with sharks in South Africa. I miss her. So today, with her blessing, I'm sharing an e-mail she wrote me a while ago:

"There was a time when you and I would call in sick and spend the day in our respective apartments (studios!), watching daytime tv, while commenting the shows over the phone. Those days are long since gone. But days like this, average halfboring January days, I wish I could go back. Live at Slipers and Grevgatan again, if only for a couple of hours.

If I call in sick today there's laundry to fold, rugs to clean, sheets to change, kids to pick up, food to cook, homework to supervise. From my old 20-something life, all I really miss are those tv-phone calls."

As love letters go, this is one of the best I've ever had. And I couldn't agree more.

Though I really miss smoking too.

What do you miss?

It's All Good

This morning we slowly came to realize that Someone was going to have to cancel Someone's meeting and stay home, because Someone's child had a temperature. Was there drama? Nooo. Was there whining? Nooo. Did anyone utter the words "Whose job is more important, yours or mine?!" Nooooo. See, this is a New Day and miss Drama had her Happy Capitals out!

In the best of spirits we agreed on splitting the caretaking and businessmaking in two, and so here I am. At home in broad daylight with my baby sleeping upstairs, reaching for the coffee, important meeting over and done with. And there's homemade salmon burgers waiting in the fridge, courtesy of Husband of the Year. Tallyho, am luckiest girl in the world.

Have A Bite

I went to school today with Wilhelm. And I was bored. Maybe it wasn't the best day to visit, they had a fire drill and things were pretty much planned around that. But still. The first class was about What Did You Do This Weekend and What Day Is It Today? With a room full of sixyearolds, minds bursting with creativity, stories to tell, things to learn, how can that possibly be boring? It could.

But maybe it's me. Maybe it's like that time that I never told you about, when we were looking at schools for Wilhelm, and I had to lock myself in the bathroom so the other parents wouldn't see me crying? (We decided that that was not the school for us.)

Maybe I'm too naïve. Maybe I want too much. Maybe it's my own school years playing tricks with me again, wanting Wilhelm's experience to be so much better. I don't know. But it felt like such a waste, all these bright minds and no energy, no oxygen, no inspiration.

Oh, well. Maybe it was the fire drill. Maybe I have no clue. Maybe I was just being Miss Drama again.

Primeval Medieval Whatever Tyresta National Forest

We're not people who do this kind of thing. We are the people who say "Oh, the kids are just gonna be whining the whole way, why bother, let's wait another fifteen years or so." And lately I've been a little fed up with being those people. So today, drumroll please, we made an Outdoor Excursion.


And it was lovely. It was brilliant and beautiful and I smiled for three hours straight.


We are no amateurs, so the food was a-plenty. Cinnamon rolls, pancakes, coffee and carrots. And more coffee.


And we wandered through a forest so old it's difficult to understand. We saw trees that have been standing since the 17th century. And we laughed and played and whined a little, but mostly we were just a family on an Outdoor Excursion. Then J started giving me long looks when I stopped to photograph every third meter, so you'll just have to take my word for it. It was magnificent, beautiful and it made me very happy. Maybe we are people like this. Or maybe we could be.

Thanks for reading.

Hello Friday

It's getting close to five o'clock and the office is winding down. There's wine and fruit salad in the kitchen and noone's really working.
I'm going home.
I've been homesick this week. It's been a good one, but still.
I miss my guys.
But tonight will bring Friday Night Dinner. Jesper started making it last night and from the looks of the leek&beans, it has every chance of being a Significant Meal.
And there will be ice cream and popcorn.
Wilhelm and I will continue the book we started making yesterday. Or not. It's called The Water Iguana and the Dolphins. It's very good.
Blanka will be tired.
So will I.
I will put her to bed and fall asleep as she gently strokes my arm. "Mommy, arm, please."
And then I'll wake up when Jesper and Wilhelm come up the stairs, and we'll lie in a big pile in Wilhelm's bed and talk about today and tomorrow.
I'm going home now, because all the things I long for are waiting for me there.
But I wanted to stop here first.
I get blog sick too. I've missed being here this week.
I hope to see more of both homes next week.
Have a good weekend.
And thanks for reading.

The gorgeous boy above is my friend Lena's Frans. I took this picture of him when we made apple cider in October and stumbled over it today. He looks full of Friday to me.

What I Served The Kids

A clever woman once wrote a post about keeping it real. To honour her commitment I'm sharing tonights dinner menu with you:

• Four leftover meatballs, not homemade
• A bowl of leftover rice (four days old)
• Two tortilla breads (semi-thawed)
• Two fishfingers (so very not homemade)
• Peas (she ate them with her hands, straight from the bowl)
• Carrots (he didn't give them as much as an eye)

Frozen and re-heated food, peas packed in Belgium, fish on the verge of being extinct, "meat"balls full of E-this and E-that. Sharing this with you is a milestone of sorts. It doesn't qualify as inspiration. Or entertainment. Or anything else I usually aim for. But it's real.

And the kids loved it.

This Is What I Need

I'm currently working on two campaigns that are giving me heartache as well as the usual creative angst. One with the purpose of getting more Swedish families to open their homes to child refugees. The other for a humanitarian organization trying to get more sponsors for their children in Tchad and Belarus. The research for both is, as you can imagine, not light reading. It's great work, don't get me wrong. It's important, it makes sense, it's challenging and rewarding.

But since you know me pretty well by now, and since we've decided that honesty is part of making the world a better place and all that, can I just please say that DEAR LORD, how I long for something shallow and superficial!

I long for a pretty dress. Or two. I long to be 60 pounds and holding a golden pretzel. I long for spring and dancing shoes and daffodils and curly hair and purple faux ostrich loveliness all over.

Having said that, can I now please take it all back, since I remember very well what happened the last time I made a wish.

Thanks for listening. And all of you wonderfulians who commented on my last post, Thank You. You make me happy every day.

All pictures Kate Spade. Please don't sue.