It’s been so long since I’ve done this that I hardly know where to start. As seems always to be the case, both quite a lot and nothing much has happened since I last posted. I’m getting ready to head down to Uppsala this afternoon for what will be my last trip before the long… Read More The week ahead

I am having a hard time right now not feeling like an utter failure at my life. Without going into details that aren’t really mine to share, I will say that one of our kids is struggling rather a lot with a variety of things, and the situation is taking a toll on the entire… Read More Report

Today is a day I’ve been dreading for a while now, the day that I’ll say my final farewell to Asbjørn. He’s two weeks shy of his fourteenth birthday, he’s got what are almost assuredly cancerous tumors in his mouth, and he’s just tired. He’s ready, and I’m as ready as I’ll ever be (which… Read More Go gentle

When I was younger, say from my early teens to my late twenties, the dawning of a new year gave me intense anxiety. I wasn’t worried about the coming year, but I was incredibly bothered by the loss of the year that was. Even at the time I would have had difficulty articulating exactly what… Read More A New Year

Yeah, I know it doesn’t look like it’s supposed to here. We had some issues with our hosting and whatnot, and though Olof was able to restore my posts, I wasn’t so lucky with my theme. The stock theme you’re currently seeing is fine enough, but I’m no especial fan. One of these days, hopefully… Read More New look

It happens very rarely that I’m in Uppsala over a weekend, but I had a full week last week as well as meetings on Monday and Tuesday, so I’m in the middle of a longer trip. I came down last Tuesday morning, and I won’t go home until this coming Tuesday evening. Though I do… Read More Sunday

I see that I’d better get something posted today if I don’t want the entire month of November to be blank. I suppose I should address the subject of my last post, from mid-October and say that Asbjørn is doing great some six weeks after his most recent mouth surgery. He ended up having to… Read More Perfunctory

It’s been kind of a rough week for the Tjerngrens, with every single one of us felled by miserable cold. All four of the kids at home missed school the first four days of the week, and even Lydia was home feeling poorly for a couple of days. I went down to Uppsala on Monday… Read More Sick house

Yeah, I’ve really fallen down on this whole blogging thing. I mean to post every day, but either I’m working or running one or more kids around to some activity or other, and I think to myself, “I’ll write something later”. Then Olof comes home and we deal with dinner and all that stuff, then… Read More Resurfacing

It occurs to me that if I don’t want an empty month in my archives I’d better get at least a few words up with a quickness. Lots has been happening here, but none of it is inspiring me to put down more than a line or two on Facebook every now and then. Last… Read More Drive-by