A tribute to Jan and Margareta Järnebrand

I have always looked up to the two of you. Strong and united, you have been my role models. Growing up I was trying hard to copy your ways and, in many ways, I still am. You were always consistent. You seemed to know so much and you had that special way with words, with art, and with music… In our home there was a sense of intellectual humor, of irony and of sarcasm mixed with tenderness and genuine warmth. The two of you, although very different from each other, are yet to such a great extent two parts of a whole. All I want now is for you to be proud of me. Proud of what I have become. Proud of choices I have made. As I sometimes struggle on my journey through life, again and again, you are there, rescuing me. Lifting me up. Giving me support. Offering advice. Encouraging me. For that, I will be eternally grateful. Without you, I would be nothing and nowhere. Thanks to you, I am.

I love you.

Nightswimming

I am so sorry for having been such a stranger lately. School has been pouring assignments over me, and I just recently got back to remembering how to actually breathe. I take three courses separately at the moment: English Grammar, Language Proficiency and Pronunciation. I have a lot to learn, but I have to say I am really enjoying myself while doing it. My first written assignment in Language Proficiency was to write a “Description” using 175-200 words. We could describe anything we wanted, our teacher told us. I would actually have preferred being given a picture or a topic or a keyword or something, but no, we should feel free to write about anything. Now, that is harder than it seems, let me tell you. This is not my language, I am just borrowing it. And the teacher who is grading us is an actual American – can you believe it? Not one of those fake wannabe Americans, Swedish teachers who lived a couple of years in the States, no, she’s a genuine authentic actual American. She told us to call her Susan. I almost called her “Mrs …” because I kind of felt like I was back in high school again… As I am the ambitious kind, of course I am aiming towards good grades in school. Susan will either give me an F (fail), a G (pass) or a VG (pass with distinction). My assignment was handed in yesterday and next week she’ll let me know if I passed or not. What do you guys think? I am ready for your verdict. :)

“Sometimes when I am under a lot of stress and pressure suddenly I feel an urge to retreat. On these occasions I go to my happy place. This is a place I have mentally created and therefore it exists only in my head. I close my eyes and I can see it. There is a wooden bench right next to a small lake surrounded by tall pine trees. At night the water of the lake looks pitch black and the air rising from the lake is misty. It looks as if there were elves slowly dancing across its surface. The beauty of it all is breathtaking. As I walk towards the lake my toes are softly caressed by the moist grass. There is no sound. There is no motion except for me, since I am the only one here. Descending into the water I start to feel its soothing embrace yet again. It covers me, it carries me and it comforts me. Suddenly there is air again. I can breathe. I fill my lungs and stretch out floating in the middle of the lake. Through night swimming I find peace. “

Michael Stipe (R.E.M.) kind of inspired that one really. (Nightswimming is my favorite song ever.) Well, I should get back to hitting the books. And maybe do some laundry and vacuuming while I’m at it. You guys take care. I’ll talk to you later.

/Jo.

55 - Hooked

“Please? Do it for me?”, my daughter pleaded. “At least one of them, you’ll love them”! “No”, I told her, “I won’t. I’m not into that kind of stuff”. “But just read the first one”, she insisted. So I did.

I read Twilight. And New Moon. And Eclipse. And Breaking Dawn.

And I was hooked.

Theme Thursday: Equal

I am the woman

You are the man

I do the dishes

You wash the car

I do the laundry

You change the tires

I get the groceries

You hold the TV remote firmly in you hand

and as you are relaxing on the couch

I am still in the kitchen folding laundry

If we really are equal

…maybe it’s time for me to go wash the car?

Summertime

Please enjoy a couple of snapshots from this summer...

Kids create art... I love those faces! :)

Nature creates art...

I love these...

Polka dot rose

Sun flower

We stepped out of our shoes...

... and dove into the lake

This is me actually wearing a dress... :)

Hugs/

Johanna

Back to school... and blog land

...OK, so tell me, how is this done? How do I do this? I admit I had a hard time even remembering my password to log into Blogger... I seems like it was ages ago since I was here, but now I am... back. Alive and kicking. Today is the big Back To School Day. My kids are back in school, and so am I. This semester I will be studying English. The course they start us off with is Grammar... Hopefully you will all see the results eventually as I gradually make fewer mistakes. Hopefully.

My 7 year old son is back in school and even though he looked really tired (and I'm talking reeeeally tired here, people) when I woke him up this morning he still seemed happy to go play with his  friends at school. The heavy burden of massive homework is not upon him yet so to him school is just a fun place where you hang out with your friends and maybe learn a thing or two along the way.

My 14 year old daughter starts a new school today and I am so excited for her. It is a brand new school. After she finally had figured out what to wear on the first day of school (which took her a good couple of hours), and she had straightened her hair and changed her clothes a couple of times, she, too, walked to her new school with a smile on her face, together with a friend.

Since my kids were off to school, today I started school too. I did this by getting a couple of new notebooks, pencils, pens, Post-its, and markers. I ordered a couple of books from an online bookstore, I facebooked back and forth with my study group friends, and I visited my local library chasing literature.  I am actually excited to start hitting the books. I am looking forward to lots of reading and writing. I'll be sure to catch up on your blogs now and I'll go right ahead and continue stalking some of you like I normally do... I have missed you all so much! Summer has been sweet, but I love the fall too. I can't wait for all the colors! I am feeling a lot of positive energy right now. Good stuff. This will be a great fall! See you!

Knock, knock... Who's there?

Well, I just wanted to stop by and tell you all that I am still alive. (In case you were wondering...). I'm like that parrot, you know, the Norweigan Blue (even though I am Swedish)...I'm not dead, I'm resting... When I am not working, that is. And when I'm not resting, or working, I am spending time with friends and family enjoying life and the beauty of Summer. I am looking forward to some time off from school and work, I will be enjoying strawberries, ice cream, road trips, blueberry pie, photo opportunities, hugs, good books, and maybe a glass of wine or two watching the sun set...

I will be missing you all, but have no doubts I'll come back to stalk you all when Fall is here. Until then I am sending tons of hugs and kisses your way...!

Love/

Johanna