Day 220: Workplace Wonderland

This evening I paid a visit to a most enchanting workplace in Stockholm. From the looks of it, you'd never guess what type of work they do here...or would you? Give it a try from the series of photos below, before you get to the last one which sort of gives it away.

It is such a wonderful example of thinking outside the box and daring to combine business with a bit fun. Imagine coming here to work every morning instead of the tradition office spaces of most corporations!

Day 219: Music to my ears

First rehearsal with the band today...what a joy! Musicians, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, astound me. And it's so much fun to listen to them rehearse. Naturally, I love the music they make. Equally interesting, however, is listening to their shop talk. I'm fascinated by how they communicate in a language of their own and in very few words that seem so vague to me but so exact to them.

As some of my current landsmen once put it, "Thank you for the music..."

Day 218: Bonus

Imagine my delight when one of our cast members showed up for rehearsal this morning with his toddler in tow! Before long, she and I were best buddies and hung out together until her grandmother picked her up at around lunchtime. We spent part of the morning on stage enjoying the singing rehearsal and dancing to the music, and most of the time engaged in the little one's absolute favorite pastime...climbing up and down the stairs. My own favorite pastime was sitting on the floor with her in my lap during rehearsal, as she often bent her head backwards and rewarded me with the sweetest smile.

And I just found out that I get her for two whole hours tomorrow too! :-D

Day 217: Spontaneity

So I'm in my PJs, under the covers, playing cards and surfing the internet when PLING signals an incoming text message: "The boys are out playing and I'm bored. Can I come visit you?" YES!

In a country where people's calendars are filled weeks in advance, this is a rare event. Even if you get the urge to call a friend on a moment's notice and suggest an outing or a visit, you often give up before you even make the call because you assume that the answer will be some variation of "I would have loved to but..."

I'm glad I still have friends who throw all caution to the wind and make the call anyway. Sure picked up my day...up and out of bed, dressed, shopped, cleaned, cooked and still have a smile on my face. Let's hear it for spontaneity!

Day 216: Things to do on Christmas day

Sleep in. Three loads of wash. Grocery shopping. Clean out the fridge. Throw out the trash. Change bed linens. Empty the dishwasher, fill it again, run it and empty it. Continue reading Dickens. A game or two of Rummikub. See what folks are up to on FB. Eat some clementines, an egg, homemade bread with butter. Take a nap. Write a blog. Miss my friends who live afar.

And it's only 3:15 PM.
Feel so efficient.

:-)

Day 215: Peaceful

A city covered in a blanket of snow. Fire roaring in the tiled stove. Pleasant aroma of food wafting in the air. Puppini Sisters on the stereo. Good friends hanging in the kitchen. Julmust. Glögg. Janssons. Home baked bread. Chatting and laughing. A good video. Calm subway ride home.

My kind of day.

Day 214: Entertained and informed

Spending the day with two of my favorite Web sites, Wikipedia and YouTube. Plus a movie and some Rummikub in between. And Charles Dickens when I need a break.

Happy! 

Day 213: Try, try again

Out I went into the neighborhood, the picture of calm in the midst of throngs of holiday shoppers. While people all around me were rushing around making their last minute purchases, I lingered at store windows and strolled along aisles of wares, fully content in knowing that I was there only to take a walk.

I did stop by Muffinsfabriken (the muffin factory, which isn't a factory at all but rather a cozy café that specializes in muffins) where I picked up two muffins, one cardamom and one saffron, for my working afternoon tea. Assassins program editor, and my good friend, Örjan was coming over. We would proofread the latest PDF while he runs his plastic containers through my dishwasher. All in a day's work ;-)

Although I proofread for a living for many years, I am still astounded at how many times you can read and reread a text (and this one is equivalent to only about five full pages) and still find errors. Just when you think, NOW it's all correct, you see a misplaced comma or a missing period or a misspelled word.

Oh well, as my hero always says, "God is in the details."

Day 212: Mayan Oreo

I'm off to a party momentarily...I'm so psyched. It's important to celebrate things. I like creating celebrations. And participating in them. The latest was Amy's Ph.D. day. What an amazing moment to share that was. And, of course, Chanukkah.

But tonight it's a completely Swedish tradition...glöggfest. This is a time of year here where people take the time to visit one another. Or it should be. Anyway, it's fun to be dragged out of my man cave and explore the world every once in a while.


So, trevlig kväll änglar (you know who you are).
See you on the other side. Amen.

And remember:

Day 211: The unexpected

I love surprises. Pleasant ones of course. Like today, when I opened my front door to go check on a neighbor, there was a small brown bag by my door that contained a large blooming plant and a handwritten note that said: "I leave on a trip today and thought it would be a shame to let this go to waste."

Not to worry, it now sits proudly on top of my CD cabinet livening up the living room. What a thoughtful neighbor I have.

And that, folks, is today's happy.

Day 210: Lussekatter

There are lussekatter (seasonal saffron pastry) and then there are lussekatter. Today, I had one of the latter and let me tell you, what a difference! Of course, it still didn't hold a candle to my Swedish brother's baking but still...YUMMO!

Good thing the really good ones are not inexpensive or I would soon be turning into one :-)

What's your favorite holiday pastry?

Day 209: T for tired today

Up since 3:30 AM. Why? Good question!

Did, however, manage to get some things done. The brainless stuff that I pretty much can do on automatic. So down came the Chanukkah decorations which are now safely stowed away for next year. Updated all my Excel files (and I've got plenty of those...just ask anyone who's ever worked on a project with me ;-)). And baked a loaf of rosemary bread. Yum.

And now...to sleep. Sweet dreams one and all!

Day 208: T for terrific

What to do with a million leftover carrots and a dozen leftover peeled potatoes? Cook soup, of course. I was all set and quite pleased with the prospect when I remembered that my stove is not functioning. To make matters worse, a phone call to the gas station near my house revealed that they have stopped selling liquefied petroleum gas. Yikes.

A round of phone calls to other gas stations within Stockholm city limits located said gas at a station way across town. Nothing to it but to bundle up, load the two empty gas containers onto my luggage cart and haul them through the very slushy streets to get filled. Boy am I glad I live in a town with a great public transportation system! Subway stations with elevators and kneeling buses saved the day.

The soup, btw, turned out great :-)

Day 207: Maoz tzur

House still smells like latkes. But it's quiet now. Another Chanukkah celebration. Some highlights:

Thea, 7 years old. "Auntie Bella. What was the Chanukkah story about. I didn't really understand it." Reached right into my heart...that curiosity.

Me, "Thank you for the presents...should I open them now? Do you want yours now?"
Axel and Bruno, "Nah, let's do it later. It's fun to wait."
Need I say more? And Bruno "let" me kiss him...twice.

In the middle of frying my final batch of latkes...which, for the record, reached their savory height this year...I ran out of gas. Literally: the stove died. Thank goodness for neighbors!

Nice to have traditions in my life. And people to share them with. And pictures to remember them by.

Day 206: All set

Having 24 people over for a Chanukkah celebration involves a lot of peeling. Tonight, I can go to sleep happy in the knowledge that all that peeling is behind me and that tomorrow I can spend my time cooking latkes, wrapping presents and enjoying my company.

YAY!

Day 205: Unfathomably senseless

Happy is not high up on the list right now. Hard to connect with happy in the face of the senseless killing of children. 18 die in Connecticut school shooting

 My cousin's daughter writes, "The elementary classroom is a fun, warm, and welcoming place where young children are inspired to be the very best versions of themselves and where they become excited about learning. At the end of the day these amazing and inspiring children show so much love and appreciation for the opportunities they are given. How could anyone in their right mind want to destroy such a beautiful thing."

How, indeed?

Day 204: Out and about

When it's cold outside...really, really cold...it's good to make commitments that guarantee I get out of the house. Otherwise I have a hard time motivating myself to put on all those layers of clothing. How do families with small children cope with all this winter clothing? It must take forever to get out the door.

This evening's commitment was dinner and the theater with one of my two Swedish brothers. I've been so snowed under (pardon the pun) with putting on a musical, it felt really great to go see one instead, although calling a stage production of Dirty Dancing a musical pushes the envelope a bit. Still, I enjoyed being in the audience for a change. Really must do this more often.

Day 203. Ya still gotta love the Swedes

So off I trudge in the slushy snow to get the premier invitations out on time. Not the most glamorous part of the job but, hey, someone's got to do it :-) The nearest "last minute" mailbox (last pick-up time 19.00) is at Medborgarplatsen, one t-bana stop away or about a 10 minute walk from my place. (That was yesterday's news, btw; today, I learned that in Ringen it is 18.00 and at the one outside Ringen it's 19.00.) 

But I digress. I was trudging. Jo...Medborgarplatsen is a gathering point on Söder. Great in the summer. Lots of outdoor cafés, food vendors, a library, swimming pool, food hall and multiplex. And a last minute mailbox. This is the sight that greets me as I approach.

Red for Christmas, pose side-by-side with year-rounders Yellow and Blue, the national colors.

Ya gotta love it. Only in Sweden, bless their souls. These red season guests pop up every year at around this time and then retreat soon after Christmas, only to show up again reliably a year later. They'll motivate it with all sorts of stats, and surround it by rules and processes, etc. but still...I like living in a society where things like "last minute" mailboxes and Yule Tidnings matter.

As do Chanukkah greetings. Our Chanukkah celebration at Kungsträdgården this year was covered by a number of newspapers and TV stations. That was nice. A live and let live attitude goes a long way toward maintaining peace, as long as you don't equate "live and let live" with "don't care." We need to stop being divisive and instead reach out to one another, within and beyond our core group.

A long way from "last minute" mailboxes, eh?!

Namaste.

Day 202: What's important?

Spent the day buried in a project that should have taken max two hours and wound up taking all day. Bad planning? I don't know. Some people live in a "squeaky wheel gets the oil" mode while my focus is on optimizing for efficiency. When we try to work together, we clash. Puh.

Oh, well. The final product was superb. I can't show it to you here because it requires tactile contact, but if you're curious, send me your snail-mail address and I'll post you a copy.

And I got to walk through this lovely area...so white, and still (except for the wafting voices of the choir practicing in the tiny church that is in the middle of this enclosed courtyard). All in all, a good day.

Day 201: Holiday sales

A fun way to spend an hour or two is browsing Amazon in preparation for a trip to the U.S. No use starting unless I have an hour or two on my hands, because the site is way too good at suggesting items that I might find interesting. The danger is that my impulsive self will run amok so my routine is always to load up the shopping cart and then "sleep on it."

Today's treasures include Barbara Kingsolver's new book, Flight Behavior; Anne Tyler's The Beginner's Goodbye (which I already borrowed from the library and read but have to have my bookshelf); a DVD of Sondheim's Company; Louise Erdrich's The Round House. Did I mention you can do all this shopping while listening to sample music tracks?

Better get back to it now :-)