One Good Week

C.E., A.J., and Baby H.

This was one good week.

The weather turned nice and stayed nice.  No early morning snow showers.

D.H. spontaneously decided to take the baby and me to the driving range.   He is a patient teacher.  He said he is excited to have a new golf partner. (I have never played golf, ever, although I lived on a golf course for four years in California.  It cost $20,000 a year for a membership.)

Also, this week:  C.E. spontaneously decided to let me read the book she's been writing for over a year.    I love when she lets me into her world.   Her book, so far, is interesting, imaginative and articulate --and she is thirteen!  I would tell you more, but I have to guard her secrets.

My friend, J., whose book I've been editing, had given me a $100 gift certificate to the outlet mall, which was a thrill because I haven't shopped for clothes -for myself- in a while.  The baby and I went shopping Friday, and he was content to stare at himself in the mirror, hold shiny bracelets or random objects found in my purse, and get nursed in the fitting rooms.  I found some beautiful clothes at Downeast Outfitters, and a few things at Old Navy, before I ran out of money.  C.E. and I will both wear them, except the capris.


I drove C.E. and A.J. the hour and twenty minute ride to their father's for the weekend.  Since Ikea's on the way, I stopped in for Swedish bread.  They now have fresh limpa (heavenly, soft rye bread, slightly flavored with anis and orange peel) and mjukt tunnbrod (soft, thin, rectangular bread that you use like a wrap, also slightly sweet and flavored with fennel) and cardomom skorpor and ragbrod-mix in addition to hard bread.  Heaven.

Today I did my first pick-up at Bountiful Baskets, the local co-op.  In the $15 basic basket, I got:  a pineapple, 3 mangoes, a canteloupe, a bag of apples, a pint of blackberries, three artichokes, 7 giant onions, 1 lettuce,  9 tomatoes, 3 cucumbers, 7 ears of corn and 2 green peppers--and I spent $10 more for five yummy loaves of no-preservative 9-grain bread, and $3 for the new member fee.  It's a good deal. 


A.J. and Baby outside





The baby held his feet up to avoid the grass.





I have begun giving A.J. piano lessons, myself.





This is the song A.J. is learning how to play on the piano.



D.H. melted chocolate chips and dipped these for me for Mother's Day.

A.J. doing one of his inventions



A.J. at scouts.  They made shields and got foam swords to play with.



D.H. mowing the lawn

Meanwhile, my book is inching along.  It is hard to write a book while caring for an 8-month old who is so cute that I want to play with him, or watch him play, all day.  He also prefers nursing to eating and eats a lot-- he's as big as an 18-month-old, or bigger.  Plus there's driving to and from A.J.'s track team twice a week, C.E.'s swim team 4 days a week, laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc...  so my plan is just to inch along, and if the book takes me two years, it takes me two years.  It's okay.

Saturday

We tore down our living room wall this week. 

 We turned a small, barely used front room and a very used, small t.v. area into one great room.  It isn't finished yet, but I still wanted to show you what it looks like so far.

Saturday, we went to Ikea to get an area rug, (rather than recarpeting the whole area, which is very pricey.) According to our carpet-professional friend, carpet prices are about to rise, because petroleum prices are rising. 

A trip to Ikea, is more than a trip to any old store (OF COURSE!!!) because it's a little slice of Sweden in America.  Yippee! 

 Of course, I had my camera along:

 Yes, Swedes eat caviar out of a toothpaste tube.  Yum, yum!  :)

 Cardamom Bulla.  The ultimate comfort food.

 Marzipan and cream-- Princesstarta.  The best of all possible birthday cakes.

Mazariner.

                              And my favorite:  all the sylt.  (Sylt = jam.)  Hjortronsylt = cloudberry jam.  Fladersylt = elderberry jam.  Krusbarssylt = gooseberry jam.  Blabarssylt = blueberry jam.  Hallonsylt = raspberry jam.

                               

 Baby H. and me at the cafe.

 We were there early enough for breakfast --Swedish pancakes and lingonsylt.

 Baby H. is used to getting mauled by all of us.  Here is a double smoocher by A.J. and me.

 A.J. and C.E. at the Ikea cafe for lunch... yes!  It took us most of the day and two meals to escape the wonderful vats of lingonsaft and so many cute little lamps.

So, Sunday:  as usual, we got together with the entire family-- my brother's whole family, my older sister's whole family, (including her husband's parents), and my whole family.  This is a monthly tradition of birthday celebrations.  We celebrated three of our tribe's birthdays for January, last night.  We have intermarried with Americans and Czechs, so when we are all together, we all speak English.  However, the majority of this tribe is made up of the Swedish-American delegation, so often, there is the sound of Swedish happening among the cousins.  This photo is one of Baby H. and his oldest male Swedish-speaking cousin.