Laleh

I went to the Laleh (www.laleh.se) concert last night in Göteborg. Like her alot and finally got a chance to catch her in concert. It definitely wasn´t like any other concert I´ve been to, not your typical concert. She´s very spontaneous and she doesn´t follow any of the "rules". She writes and produces all of her songs, plays the piano, guitar among just to name a few. She was dancing, singing, talking, and playing instruments, well not in the order and not all at the same time but almost. Very real, very spontaneous, kind of like me but with musical talent! After seeing her in concert I like her even more.

Day off and it´s Friday!

Today is a teacher´s work day (studiedag) for my children. Just realized the translation difference....in English they´re working and in Swedish they´re studying. Interesting..but back to my day, so I´ve taken the day off, I freelance so I can do that...I´m my own boss, nobody tells me what I can or can´t do! YEAH! No I´m just talking trash what all that really means is I didn´t book any meetings today. So getting off my high horse and back to my story....the sun was shining through the kitchen windows casting a shadow on everything that crossed it´s path. Reading the morning paper, sun in my eyes, the day off and it´s Friday! Sometimes you just have to be happy about the small things in life. A day off in this household with the children is a day filled with Swedish bulle (cinnamon buns for all you non Swedish speaking citizens) coffee for me and hot chocolate for them. Lots of snuggling and a hike in the forest. Later we plan on ending our day with a big family pizza for dinner. These kind of days are not so good for your figure but good for the heart and soul. Hope your day is lovely too!

Thought for the Day

"You miss 100% of the shots you don´t take"

-Wayne Gretsky

A minute too late

Last Saturday I went to this second hand store close to my house. They had lots of good stuff and I didn´t know which way to go first. I was going in circles I was so excited, which was too bad since I just missed these cool chairs that I would have loved to have had. Just as I laid my eyes on them and started heading in that direction there was another lady paying the man 80 kr (10 dollars) for both of them!!

Art Therapy

Last week when I picked up one of my sons from school, the teacher said he had a headache. I picked him up just before lunch and I must admit that it seemed to me that his headache had already gone over. I didn´t see any symtoms of a headache as we were walking to the car and he was talking my head off. I did sense a little feeling of vulnerability.  He was perhaps not in complete harmony with himself for whatever reason. Perhaps it was these feelings that were causing the headaches or was it the feelings alone that he couldn´t quite describe, so he labeled it as a headache. 

Whatever it was I took it seriously and tried to get to the bottom of it. We talked and just took it easy. I gave him my undivided attention. Maybe this was what he needed. 

I decided a good way to help with his relaxation was to do some art. We had the kitchen table full of paint, colored pencils, magazines, you name it. We were drawing, painting and cutting and pasting and getting fully carried away in the present. Frank Sinatra was playing in the background and within 15 minutes he stopped and gave me a hug and kiss and said "mommy, I feel much better now!"  Case rested. Cure for everyday modern stress....a little art therapy. :)

Things That Make You Smile.....

Sleeping babies

Chocolate

Sunsets

And....

Unexpected Gifts

Thought for the Day

There IS no secret ingredient!!

-Kung Fu Panda

There are no shortcuts.....believe in yourself....you hold the key to your happiness...however you say it there IS no secret ingredient. I love that movie....

Royal Wedding

A week ago today all the newspapers and TV stations were busy announcing the exciting news that Crown Princess Victoria is engaged to be married early summer 2010. Only if you´ve been living in a cave during the past week has this news gone unnoticed as it has graced the front page of almost all of the local newspapers, and magazines all over Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. Even though I am not so into all the Royal hype, I do think it is a nice break from all the financial crisis talks and write-ups, as one on-line paper put it "the perfect antidote for recession blues". In these tough times with a big gray cloud hanging over the economy, watching the saga of a real-life princess marrying her prince restores my faith in happy endings. And for a moment takes me away from the realities and current events that are going on in the world.