Earlier this week my friend Leslie and I made plans for and her son to come up and spend Thanksgiving with us here in the Far North. I usually get down to Stockholm once or twice a year, but she hasn’t been up here since just a few months after we made the move, when Tage was only a few weeks old. I’m so excited for her to see all the changes we’ve made to the house and to meet Petra and to get a chance to spend some time with my friends here. I talk about her so much that I’m sure they feel a little like they know her already, so it will be very cool for them to meet her in person. Lydia was very excited when I told her they’d be coming to see us, but she wasn’t so happy when I told her that it was 2½ months away. I think she and I are both going to be very impatient this fall.

While she was over for the past couple of days, Helena and I were talking a little bit about what we’ll do for Thanksgiving this year. I know we have plenty of time, but it’s always nice to get some of the details ironed out in advance. We’ve really been wanting to rent this little 17th-century house that’s in the park nextdoor to my house, but Thanksgiving weekend almost always falls the same weekend as first advent, when they have a Christmas market there and the house isn’t available. Debbie will be in the last few weeks of her pregnancy then, so she may not feel like hosting a big dinner, and I don’t think either Helena or Melanie has enough room for a ton of people and a huge dinner. We could have it here, of course, but it seems like I’m always forcing everyone to come to me instead of us gonig anywhere. I guess we’ll figure it out.