Yesterday afternoon we had an unexpected reprieve from the rain and gloom, so I wasted no time in rounding up the kids and taking them off to the schoolyard to play.  After a couple of hours I did manage to drag them away to eat dinner, but I think they would happily have set up… Read More Playhouse

These early mornings are really taking it out of me.  It’s just past seven o’clock and I’ve been ready for bed for at least an hour now.  I’m definitely going to need some help staying awake until it gets to be the kids’ bedtime.

Tage is officially a kindergartener now, having completed his first day of “real” school.  He’s looking forward to going back tomorrow, so it must have gone well.

God, what shit weather.  It has been pouring down torrents since the middle of last night, and I don’t know when it’ll let up.  That, combined with gusts of blowing-the-trash-cans-over-strength wind, made me drive the 500 or so yards (or meters, same difference mostly) to Petra’s pre-school this morning, and even though we weren’t outside… Read More Soaked

When I was fourteen or so, aerobic high-top shoes were all the rage and I wanted a pair so bad I can’t tell you.  My best friend, Monica, had a pair just like these, and my jealousy knew no bounds.  I hinted and nagged and pleaded and cajoled until my mom could take it no… Read More Everything old is new again

This afternoon we took the family to town where we did a bit of second-hand shopping, browsed around a farmer’s market, and took the kids to the park. On our way home we stopped off at our favorite local hamburger joint and had a bite to eat. About halfway through our meal, a group of… Read More The Ugly American

It’s hard for me not to feel, sometimes, that I’ve done a very bad thing in making my life so far away from where I started.  Times like now–when my mom is a mere two days from leaving and I know we won’t see her again for a year or more–it’s really difficult for me… Read More *Sigh*

One of Tage’s birthday presents from Onock was a pair of binoculars.  Petra wasted no time in trying them out, but I think the magnification was more than she bargained for.  (Don’t worry, she recovered soon enough.)

My boy is six years old today, and he’s the proud new owner of his very own Nintendo DS Lite (among many other wonderful things too numerous to mention — my kids are very spoiled, I’ll be the first to admit).