I made it

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Tucked in my corner with a glass of wine relaxing after a very hectic last week before the holidays.  I feel good though about everything I’ve accomplished and looking forward to the time off. No more work before January 7th.

I received a very nice Christmas gift from work which I will enjoy as soon as possible…

Two more

Two more days – then this semester is over. Christmas and new year around the corner. My youngest is going in to the old town in the city today to enjoy the Christmas fair.  I remember when my class did this a lifetime ago. Very special.

The kitchen is back in order againimage
after our baking marathon last night. Our cookies turned out great. I haven’t tried the prettiest ones yet but I’m sure they are delicious.
Thank you ladies for good team work – as always!

Julgran

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Our Christmas tree is here! A bit early this year but it is lovely to enjoy it and it smells soooo good. It is decorated with ornaments from my grandparents, things from when my father grew up and things collected ever since. A lot of memories and precious things. A real treasure.

Good deed

I donated blood last week and today I received a text message with a thank you and that someone just received the blood I donated and that my gift made a difference for that person.

I got a warm feeling and felt good about my sacrifice.  Doesn’t matter now that it took two hours, several jabs and a huge bruise before I was done. I will do it again next time they need me. Cause I hope that one day when I need a donation of blood – there will be blood available in the bank for me too.

Mmmm…

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Monday. Rainy dark and no fun. A lovely thick delicious ovenbaked pancake did the trick to cheer us up. Served with caster sugar and/ or amazing raspberry/blackberry jam. Yum.

3rd of Advent

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What a Sunday – it’s raining and not cold at all. No snow or Christmas spirit yet. But, I’ve put up the Christmas curtains in the kitchen and the house is getting ready for the holidays even though the weather isn’t.  We’ve done some serious grocery shopping to last us a while and now I’m rewarding myself with some time in my corner cheering on our Swedish skiers both downhill and cross country.  Happy 3rd Advent!

Catching fire

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After doing a lot of chores we met up with my sister w/ family and went to see the second episode of the Hunger Games. Mixed reviews afterwards from the group but I enjoyed it. Next time we might see the Hobbit. Now corner time and relaxing a bit.

Those of you who is visiting this site – please let me know by leaving a comment! Thank you!

Lucia

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Guess who sang for her grandparents over 40 years ago? I love this old picture – brings back so many good memories.  Today is the day we celebrate Lucia in Sweden – or Saint Lucy as she’s called in English. There is a lot of information to be found about this tradition on Wikipedia for instance.
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We eat saffron buns and gingerbread cookies, enjoying the carols for Advent and Lucia and have family time together. All the daycare centers and schools have Lucia parades and parents are welcome too. It’s a good day!

A day at the end of the week

IMG_20121202_183314Thursday.. I did some serious brain gymnastics this morning and I managed to figure it out. Felt pretty good. I love a good challenge!

Then I met up with a friend after work for some catching up (which we definitely need to more often) and when I came home dinner was on the table. I even managed to get some Christmas-shopping done today.. It turned out to be a really good day!

Lucia parade

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What a great day I’ve had – first work, then a very nice lunch at Sturekatten – the oldest coffeehouse in Stockholm – and after some chores and time with my boys – a Lucia parade with my niece’s class in a church near by. They were really good and it was a true feel-good experience.  God how I miss singing with a choir. Maybe I should do something about that.