I was up early and unwilling in the -20°C (-4°F) morning to take Lydia to town for a haircut and our monthly lunch-and-shopping date. She had her allowance to blow and I didn’t feel like tagging along while she tried on every t-shirt in a one-mile radius, so after our Subway sandwiches we split [...]

When I was ten years old and in the fifth grade, I started playing in the school band. My mom and I went to the information meeting and I had a look at all the available instruments, but from the word go my heart was set on the trombone. At that point I [...]

For the past couple of winters, Lydia has been asking to “do what normal people do” and learn to ski or snowboard. Neither Olof nor I being particularly normal in that way, we finally got around to signing her up to take snowboard lessons at the local ski hill. She starts next Wednesday, [...]

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Melanie wrote about the Smooth Away, a hair-removal device that touts itself as “easy, safe, and painless.” Ordinarily I wouldn’t be taken in by such a claim, but given that someone I know and trust had found it to be true, I decided to give it a [...]

Just when I thought I’d finally decided, really and truly, not to go back on interferon treatment, I get my first flare-up in I can’t remember how long. It’s not a bad one, by any means, and I doubt it’s really noticeable to anyone except me, but it’s undeniably there. It started a [...]

Nine years ago today, Lydia and I and most of our worldly possessions arrived in Sweden, yet to return whence we came. It’s crazy how time flies; it doesn’t feel at all as though so many years have passed. I can’t believe how tiny Lydia was then, littler even than Petra is [...]

We decided to go ahead and put off making the drive down to the neurologist, a decision that felt doubly good when we woke up this morning to -20°C (-4°F). Over the weekend and into the beginning of the week the temperatures had been up near freezing, but yesterday — just in time for [...]

The kids start back to school tomorrow, something that is bound to be a painful affair for all of us. This three weeks of vacation has left our sleep schedules completely out of whack and I don’t guess 7:30 am will find any of us feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I’d be lying, however, [...]

Olof’s birthday was Tuesday, and I was charged with the task of baking the “tastiest cake ever.” I don’t know that I succeeded, but this cake should surely make the short list for any tasty-cake prize.

It’s not the prettiest cake ever, I grant you, but man, did that thing go down easy. It [...]