sveedish

Yes We Can

2009-01-31T00:01:00.001-08:00

Tagged! Ow! (Just kidding, it only hurt a little.)

2009-01-19T21:10:00.000-08:00

A couple of tags that I've ignored long enough...the first is from the lovely Nebraska Girl, who, like me, also belongs to the Single Mommy Club. She's awesome and always has such great posts; heartfelt and honest. (Should I have used a colon there instead of a semi-colon? I was an Accounting major. Help me out, English majors!)

Anyhoo, here was the list of rules from her tag:
1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on the computer
2) Select the 4th picture in the folder
3) Explain the picture
4) Tag 4 people to do the same

My fourth folder only contained three pictures. The fourth item in the folder was a little video from my old Canon camera. It captured Boog at the height of his fattitude in all his pudgy glory. I was blowing bubbles at him in our old apartment and my ex-husband is filming Boog's reaction.

.

Don't you just want to take a bite out of those Michelin Man arms??? Maybe slice a tiny bit off, saute lightly in a pan and serve with drawn butter?

For that one, I hereby tag
1. Sharilyn
2. Sari
3. Meleah
4. Michael

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next tag was from my old neighbor Sharilyn. I miss her. Hi Sharilyn! How's life over there?

The rules for this one are as follows: list six random or weird facts about yourself, and then tag six others. If memory serves, I think I've done a similar tag once before, so forgive me if I repeat myself. I'm too lazy to find the old post and make sure I don't duplicate. So here goes:

1. I hate whipped cream. My family constantly harasses me about it, like it's sacrilege to the Scandinavian way of life or something.

2. In my pubescent youth, I used to be able to stuff an entire pack of Bubble Yum in my mouth and blow bubbles bigger than my head. I have a picture to prove it.

3. I think Danny Glover is the worst actor in the world. I get physically ill just seeing his name in a preview for a movie.

4. I can write upside down very well. This stems from my years as a math and reading tutor, where we sat across a desk with our student and instructed them from the other side of the worksheet or whatever we were working on.

5. I have bowled a "turkey" (3 strikes in a row) six times in my life. Two of those times were in the tenth frame!

6. I can make my eyes move around independently of each other. This either enthralls my audience or completely grosses them out to the point that they have to look away. I try not to take it personally.

Okay, so I'll tag some o' youse, but I completely understand if you opt out. How about...

1. Sari SockMonkey
2. Nebraska NoLongerAGirl NotYetAWoman
3. TroyBoy (now that you're back from the dead)
4. Sasha ButtonNose
5. Linda Lovelylegs
6. Meleah LotsOfTimeOnMyHands

P.S. Hey! We have a new president!!! w00t!!!

Has It Really Been a Whole Month?!?!?

2008-12-12T23:11:00.000-08:00

So over here at Sveedish HQ, there is much going on. The President and VP went on a trip to the Land Of The Disney, they saw two Christmas Parades, made it through Thanksgiving unscathed, and secured a new location for a larger, improved HQ, which they will be moving into in a little over a week. There is obviously much to share. But first, we dance!

And finally, Blogging Sin #7: Exploiting Your Children For Blog Fodder

2008-11-13T22:10:00.000-08:00

Bonus points for being WAY LATE with said post (i.e. Halloween pictures in the middle of November).

More bonus points if the pictures you post have already been sent to practically every reader of your blog two weeks ago via Picasa. Enjoy! Again!

Blogging Sin #6: Getting All Political on Your Ass

2008-11-03T21:29:00.000-08:00

Actually, there is nothing wrong with political blogs. I'm just not the type to jump on that bandwagon. Mostly because I like to keep my political opinions to myself. My brother and my dad argue EVERY FREAKIN' SUNDAY NIGHT at dinner about how dad should be more Democratic in his political views, and how my brother needs to CALM THE HELL DOWN, DAD IS NEVER GOING TO STOP BEING A REPUBLICAN SO JUST GIVE IT A REST.

I find myself reminding my little brother that the most awesome thing about this country is that people are allowed to have an opinion. And they are allowed to express it as loudly as they'd like. Without fear of imprisonment or death or anything. Isn't that great?

So go out tomorrow and make your voice heard. Vote.

Blogging Sin #5: Dear Diary Dullness

2008-10-23T21:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Diary,

Last night I dreamt that Rainn Wilson came on to me. And because of the Gobi Desert that is my love life, I responded with the fervor of a sexual zealot. Rainn Wilson, though? Couldn't my subconscious pick someone with a nicer ass?

The dream was a nice break from the dreary days that have swept over October like a black cloud, though. October 5th was the anniversary of me leaving my ex-husband. Don't get me wrong, Diary. The anniversary wasn't really a day of sorrow and regret. It was more of a reflection of the last year of my life and a kind of "course adjustment" of where I'm heading.

Work could really not suck any more that it is sucking this month. It got so bad last week that I actually considered restarting my smoking habit. I have been smoke-free for six years, Diary! And I gaze longingly at the smokers outside the office building, chatting away with others that are on the same nicotine-dispensing schedule as they are. I recall the delicious rush through my limbs to my fingertips and toes after that first drag on the cigarette, and the deep breathing and the relaxation of being away from the office for ten minutes. And then I recall the coughing. The constant coughing. And the smell and the bad breath and the smell and the coughing and the smell. And the addiction that makes you smoke even when you are sick. And then I don't miss smoking anymore. Yay, me!

Then, to stay consistent with the suckiness of October 2008, Boog came down with pneumonia a week ago and has been recovering since then. Thank goodness for my mom - she agreed to watch him during the day so that I can go to work and earn a living. I am so glad that I took him to urgent care last Sunday - otherwise I might have let this go undetected for who knows how long. He's doing fine now, but the side-effects from his antibiotics are preventing him from returning to preschool anytime soon. Poor little man.

Is it November yet?

Blogging Sin #4: Shameless Self-Promotion

2008-10-02T21:57:00.001-07:00

On this day, 39 years ago, Eva was born! Happy Birthday to me! In lieu of presents, feel free to send cash.

Blogging Sin #3: Plagiarism

2008-09-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

I got this email from a co-worker of mine today and wanted to share it with all of you fine people. Because I'm geeky like that.

"The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid term.

The answer by one student was so 'profound' that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well :

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.

Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting 'Oh my God.'

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+."

Blogging Sin #2: Procrastination

2008-09-26T01:02:00.000-07:00

Basically, more sloth. In disguise! And cuter, don't you think?

Last weekend, I went to Santa Barbara with my brother's fiancee and three other lovely women for a bachelorette party. It is now late Thursday night (technically, I guess it's Friday morning - yes I have insomnia tonight and I have no more bank statements to reconcile, so I must blog! I also don't have cable, which explains why I've been reconciling my bank statements instead of watching the tube. Although Conan is on right now in the background, but never you mind about that. This is now much too long to be parenthetical anymore so I'm going to resume my original sentence. I'll wait while you go find the beginning. Okay? Okay.) and I'm just getting around to organizing my thoughts about the weekend into blog form. How am I doing so far? Wait, don't answer that.

So Santa Barbara: what a beautiful weekend for a trip out of town. Warm, but not hot. Blue skies. Fun company. We went wine tasting, picnicked on a vineyard, and had a driver so that we could taste to our heart's content. Not the driver. The wine. Ha! Wow, I'm amusing at 1:15am. I should blog in the wee hours more often!

Two of the ladies on the trip had the foresight to bring some silly bachelorette accoutrements, which provided endless giggles on the drive back to Santa Barbara after four hours of wine tasting. For example, someone produced a deck of cards that had 52 different images of naked men on them. And yes, we all agreed that naked men are gross. At least naked men that live on the backs of playing cards from 1984.

That night we went out for margaritas and Mexican food. And salsa dancing! My dance partner that evening, Juan, was a great dancer and very patient with White Girl Eva. After a few songs, I picked up some steps and he even spun me around a bit. I am SO going to go salsa dancing again sometime. It was a blast. Ms. Bachelorette had to be dragged off the dance floor at 1 a.m. so that we could get back to our home base.

I don't remember much more. Not because I was drunk, but it was 1:00 a.m. and I'm a mom and I just don't last that long anymore. As soon as we got back to the house we were staying at, I set up my sleeping bag and collapsed into a deep sleep.

Remember in college when it was a weekly occurrence, staying up until 2am or later? Good times.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Blogging Sin #1: Sloth

2008-09-15T21:23:00.000-07:00

Here is how lazy I am.

I am so lazy that I can't even re-post an old post to keep my readers from abandoning me. Instead, I'm just posting about how lazy I am by not posting.

Have I lost you yet? Because I think I just lost myself with that last part. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, please explain it to me.

No autographs, please.

2008-09-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

I'm very busy and important. And I'm in a hurry. If I was behind you on the road right now, I would tailgate you and honk impatiently, indicating my desire for you to move out of my way so that I could pass you. Once you obeyed my non-verbal request, I would speed up and as I passed you I would glance over with an irritated look while simultaneously gunning the engine. Then I would cut you off, and immediately slam on the brakes in front of you to pull into a parking lot just ahead. I wouldn't use my turn signal. I would then park in a Compact Only parking space. Backwards. Unevenly.

Grrrr...

2008-09-09T11:45:00.001-07:00

I strongly dislike my ex-husband today. He is being a dick.

Ok, I feel better now. Thanks for reading!

Genetics

2008-09-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

This is me and my brother back in the day. I have this picture hanging in my bathroom with other photos of Boog in the tub, or wrapped in a towel, or in his robe. I'm the one on the left. I'm not quite sure what I'm looking at in this photo, but if memory serves, my brother probably farted in the tub again.

Since Boog was born, I've been told he looks just like me. I can definitely see some similarities. But when he looks at the picture above and I ask him who that is on the left, he says, "Boog!" So I thought I would show you a side-by-side comparison.

What do YOU think?

Is it Just Me?

2008-08-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

...or does everyone call him M. Night Shamalamadingdong?

Just wondering.

Happiness Revisited

2008-08-24T14:51:00.001-07:00

First of all, thanks to those of you who shared your happiness lists for me! And for those of you who didn't, well I know who you are, and you shall be formally reprimanded in triplicate come Monday morning.

The picture in that post has an accompanying song, but it took me FOREVER to find it online. But I am nothing if not persistent. Enjoy!

Spreadin' the Love

2008-08-24T09:38:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite bloggers, Skeeter, says I'm his favorite accountant! Aww, thanks! He also says he loves my blog. See?

So keeping with tradition, I am paying it forward, passing this award to my favorite bloggers:

1. Sari - the second person I befriended in the blogging world, Sari somehow manages to raise three boys AND find time to write everyday! Her observations about the world are always fun or thought provoking. And she loves music, which makes her tops in my book!

2. Michael C. - does this guy really need an introduction? Michael's writing makes me laugh on a daily basis, and I am so grateful for that. Hi 9-volt!

3. Meleah - this hot tamale is a recent blogger discovery of mine. I think she's fantastic. And she apparently shares my love for Macs, although she's a bit more obsessive about it.

4. Sharilyn - my neighbor! Seriously, we share a wall in our apartment building. One evening, I shared with her that I have a blog, and within 24 hours the wonder woman over there had set up one of her own, with photos and her first post! Since then, she has posted every day, often adding beautiful photos she has taken. Her posts remind you of the beauty that this world has to offer if you just stop and look.

5. Employee #3699 - I can't help but appreciate this woman's sense of humor. Plus, she's on the same bandwagon as me: The "Exploit Our Children on our Blog" bandwagon. Hers are grandchildren, but same difference. They're all minors.

You guys are just so awesome. Thanks for making my life that much better.

Outdoorsy Outdoorserson

2008-08-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

This summer, we've been attending weekly outdoor concerts here in Long Beach. It's a popular event, with the Long Beach Municipal Band performing for the crowd.

Hundreds of people come out, toting blankets, chairs and picnic dinners to share a warm evening out in the fresh air. The City of Long Beach turns a blind eye to the fact that wine and beer are consumed, which is probably for the best since our prison system is rather crowded as it is.

It's such a popular community event that people come out at 9am that morning to stake their claim to a primo spot near the band. My mom, the trooper, gets our tarp down at 9:30, so we have a nice position a ways back from the band's speakers. The band is over by the palm trees on the right side of the picture:

Each week was a different musical "theme": big band swing night, western theme (remember the William Tell Overture, anyone?), International Music night (French, Norwegian, Italian, German). One night, they even had a local singer come out and sing some standards for us, including lots of Sinatra and the like.

Having little faith in Boog's tolerance for remaining in the vicinity of our tarp for more than an hour, I was a bit nervous during our first evening out. But guess what? He was perfectly content to nibble on the food we had set out on our little "table", and people-watch with the rest of us:

Alas, their concert series came to a close two weeks ago. But another band, The Elm Street Band, passed out fliers at the last performance, letting us know that they would be holding an outdoor concert too. So after work, as usual, Boog and I headed over to my parents' house and we all walked over to the park with our picnic accoutrement. As always, I think Boog felt quite at home:

I highly recommend these types of events, as they involve music, family and food. And they're outside! And for those of you, like me, that are air-conditionally challenged (read: only have fans at home), this is a plus. I'm already looking forward to next summer!

Happiness

2008-08-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

Michael C and I were having an email conversation about happiness today. That it is a great thing to have! Duh, right? So then I asked him to list three sources of happiness for him this morning. His list was this:

1. My twins- they make everything brighter, just like the Brady Bunch sang about.

2. I finally had a good day at work where I didn’t spend all day giving my cubicle walls the evil eye, which they ignored anyway. Those fools!

3. Waking up with a new blog idea this morning.

He asked me the same question. Here's mine:

1. Boog’s smile when I woke him up this morning singing “Good Morning” from the movie Singin’ in the Rain.

2. Seeing a fire engine AND an ambulance down the street from Boog’s daycare and having enough time to stop and watch them for a while. Boog went totally BONKERS when I pointed them out.

3. Listening to my favorite retro-80s radio channel on iTunes all morning on my computer.

(And my bonus happiness: I’m wearing my red shoes today.)

So what are three sources of happiness for you today? Recounting them will make you happy all over again, I promise!

Meleah and Her Main Squeeze

2008-08-11T22:01:00.000-07:00

Macs Rule! And so do their owners. Behold, a genius at work:

You should pay her a visit over at her blog. She's a good read!

TMI

2008-08-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

Nothing says "Good Morning Monday!" quite like finding two flies copulating on your windshield as you depart for work in your car.

Question

2008-08-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

I met him online. He's funny. He seems to think I'm funny. We share stories and we get to know each other.

Have any of you ever developed an Internet crush on someone? I would love to hear some anecdotes about this phenomenon, because it's a first for me. Unless you call Ryan Reynolds an Internet crush. In which case, this is my second.

Just Another Day in Paradise

2008-07-29T22:47:00.000-07:00

In case you don't see/read/hear (feel?/smell? I don't want to make any of the senses feel left out) the news, we had an earthquake today! Wheeee!

Actually, not so wheee, since this was the first one for me as a mommy. There I was, ~~working~~ sitting at my desk when the shaking began. And if you live in California, you know what happens then. You think to yourself, "Ummmm...is a huge truck driving into our building or is this an earthquake?" And then you wait for it to be over in a second and a half.

When it continues, your brain shifts gears. "Ok. Earthquake. Let's do this!" And your years of early training in elementary school pay off as you robotically walk to the nearest doorjam. Doorjamb? Door jam. And you ride it out.

This one lasted like five hours. No, that's not right. Two? No. Probably about 10 seconds, but with an earthquake safe building, this means you roll around and sway from side to side for an extra minute. My sweet co-worker from Turkey looked like she was either going to barf or need assistance with her journey to the nearest loony bin. There is always a "first timer" in the bunch.

When the building stopped swaying, I hugged my freaked-out Turkish co-worker, went to my desk, grabbed my purse, keys and phone and left with a quick "I'm going to get my son," which I said over my shoulder as the door was closing behind me. I heard my boss shout, "Don't just check on him - take him with you!" Boog is in daycare about 0.8 miles from the office, so in my car it takes me under five minutes from the office door to the daycare's door. I was the first parent "on the scene." Wow, that sounds so dramatic! Like I'm a paramedic responding to a distress call or something! Cool. I'm using that more often.

I walk in and the caregivers are pacing around with phones to their ears. The head woman (we'll call her MarshaMarshaMarsha) mouths a "hello" to me and I scan the room for Boog. All the kids are preparing for nap time, laying on their respective mats, some already asleep and the rest in various states of consciousness. I spot Boog in the middle of the room, hunched over what appears to be dirt that had been tracked in on someone's shoe from outside. He's pushing a clump of dirt back and forth with his little finger, completely engrossed.

So basically, aside from the flurry of phone calls, everyone seems unfazed. Un-fazed? I'm having spelling issues today.

Boog sees me and jumps up with a delighted squeal and "Mommy!" and runs over to let me wrap him in a tight hug. MarshaMarshaMarsha gives me the lowdown on what happened: everyone is fine, nothing fell off shelves or whatever, the news says there might be more, and Boog was laughing the whole time it was happening.

Like he's Mr. Adrenaline Rush or something. Thoughts of a future Boog bungee-jumping off some remote New Zealand bridge flood my mind. Then he's off to Colorado to shoot the rapids in a kayak, stopping only to base jump off Half Dome in Yosemite.

We left in my car and headed back to the office. Here's my reasoning for this:
(a) there is a very small chance that there will be another one today;
(b) it's air conditioned;
(c) it's safer in that building than my apartment building (I'm quite certain);
and (d) it's air conditioned. Oh did I use that one already?

I park the car and we head inside. He is greeted with the happy excitement that usually ensues when we visit Mommy's office. He makes a beeline for Brad's office, which is the place where the slinky, stress ball, orange fish and tiny globe live. I make sure he isn't bothering Brad and settle back at my desk to make some calls and update Rob on where we are/how we are doing.

So that's basically it, I guess. Just another day in paradise, as the title says. We all had In-n-Out Burger for lunch, Boog included, and I was able to actually get Boog down for a nap in my office for two and a half hours! He snored loudly in the corner, with a cozy towel wrapped around him like a burrito. I got some work done, and managed to fit in lots of personal emailing without anyone noticing. Looking back on the day, I would have to say it was pretty great. Is that odd? I think it's because having Boog within arm's reach for the afternoon made me extremely happy. And if you knew about the crazy night I had prior to this day, you would understand.

But that's another post altogether.

Fun with the Internet

2008-07-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

Beaniesue had this on her blog and I thought it was so cute! Hi beaniesue! I don't know about the rest of the country, but these things are on practically EVERY CAR around these parts.

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

With Tongue

2008-07-20T22:15:00.000-07:00

Last night I dreamt that I kissed Seal. He was a REALLY good kisser. And Heidi Klum was totally okay with it.

Boys

2008-07-19T18:08:00.000-07:00

My mom and I sat and watched Boog playing quietly with his little school bus and bus riders...

Mom: "Aww...look how cute he is, playing so sweetly with those little people."

Me: "Awww."

Boog was removing all the passengers from the school bus, including the driver, and placing them gently on the carpet.

Then he lifted up the bus and SLAMMED IT DOWN ONTO THE LITTLE PEOPLE. Over and over again.