we're on the other side!

you guys! we're on the other side - of the solstice and of the busy blur that is christmas - well into that fallow week between christmas and the new year. the days all blur together, though i did work on tuesday. was that only yesterday? it's that time when you look back on the year that's passed and look ahead to the coming year. 

so far, i've fallen for an ad for a free year of the balance app, so i just did a 3 minute meditation. or rather, i started it and then remembered that the header of the pages i published earlier was wrong in the way it came in from translation and so i ran to the computer and fixed it and republished during the 3 minutes. so much for meditating. at least the app is free for a year! and here's to starting somewhere. 

we're all feeling a bit under the weather. i think it's the grey, dreary, rainy weather, plus excesses of food and drink, late night card games and not enough rest or time alone. sabs and i just took some nyquil and we're headed for bed early because tomorrow we've got a  a long agenda. husband's picking up a spinning bike, then we're visiting a museum and doing a bit of shopping in aarhus before sabs meets her friends from boarding school for dinner. we'll go to dinner and maybe a movie ourselves while we wait for her. 

she's headed back to her life in sunny arizona very early on the 31st. she'll make it in time to ring in the new year with friends. her visit felt short, but it doesn't seem so bad, because she's coming home again in march for spring break with a couple of friends, so it's not that far off. we're finding the impending visit motivating, as we want to have the new bathroom and a bedroom ready for them. 

i know that on sunday, i'll feel like this in-between liminal week went way too fast, but for now, i'm just taking as it comes. and watching way too much real housewives of beverly hills on hayu...speaking of other instagram ads i've fallen for in recent days (49kr for 3 months of hayu - real housewives all the time!).

100 happy days :: day 6

last night i woke up soon after falling asleep, my throat covered in those strange dry spots that feel like you've swallowed a bunch of tiny little towels and which signal the onset of a cold. a dull headache soon followed. just breathing in made the dry spots worse, so i got up and made some licorice tea. i've learned to love licorice for its soothing quality. and licorice tea is naturally sweet and doesn't even need any honey, tho' i added a spoonful for its soothing quality as well. i figured doubling up on soothing was best. i tried to go back to sleep, but husband was snoring and it proved impossible for far too long. i must have eventually fallen asleep, but when i awoke this morning, the headache was still there and so was the sore throat. all of this is making today's happinesses seem a bit hard to come by. but, even with a headache, that is usually remedied by taking a good look around me through the lens of my camera.

right now, the little bitty dining room we fixed up last autumn makes me happy. there are a few baggy bubbles in the wallpaper (we just painted, we didn't redo it) and the carpet is utter shit (but odin only knows what's under it), but still, it is a happy and comfortable space. i love our green secondhand chairs and that oh-so-80s table, which used to reside in the city hall and which we got for a song. i love the blue felt table runner and the thrifted candle holders. and the little bowl (also thrifted) filled with scraps from a quilting project that make a perfect nest and some glass easter eggs that i've had for 26 years. and a few springy bulbs in the bowl i bought years ago in nogales. photo memories in colorful frames line one wall and art and maps the others. we eat dinner here. we entertain here. we play cards and board games here. this room can be quiet and contemplative or filled with laughter and love. it is a happy room.

and then there is this cat. frieda. she expects a rather high level of service, but she's also a clown and a sweetheart and she makes me happy.

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maggie may's post on finding meaning in life was wonderful.

i feel a cold coming on

i know it's supposed to be throwback thursday, but i can't really go back any further than the weekend for a photo. it seems like it would take too much effort to dig out old photos and scan them this evening. i fear my tiredness is an impending cold. we've had gorgeous weather, the kind that lures you outside without a jacket for hours when it's just a little too nippy in the wind. it's not good if i'm getting sick, as i have big plans in london town this weekend. mostly work, but also a bit of fun.  and let's face it, even work is pretty fun.

tho' speaking of that, i realized this week that despite working in what is arguably one of the most creative companies on the planet, i have been feeling cramped by the way things are still outlook-ruled and powerpoint-driven. and i definitely feel those frames snuffing out my creativity and inspiration. but as soon as i clear out the snot forming in my head, i'm going to come up with a plan for resisting both. i suspect powerpoint will be easier to resist than the tyranny of outlook. any tips on this front are most welcome.

another reason for my absence this week has been that i'm reading scarlett thomas' popco, about a hip girl who works for a toy company. just imagine that storyline.

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what do you think of the cool little fisheye lens i got for my iPhone?

isn't it fun?

more scenes from berlin and the answer to it all

i think i'm coming down with a cold...scratchy throat, dull headache and feeling generally slow and sleepy. so before i crawl off to bed to reread a bit of murakami, i'll leave you with a few more shots of berlin goodness...

i love that this building is #42 - because as you know if you're a fan of the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, 42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything.

wine glue. fine poo. sign zoo. pine pooh.*

warding off the evil H1N1 with, well...evil eyes

on thursday, in one of those moments of bad parenting (wherein we only left the child alone in the country for under an hour, i swear), i talked to husband. he was in cambridge (england), trying to get pain relievers from what was otherwise a condom vending machine in a bathroom of a holiday inn (implications of condoms and pain relievers in the same vending machine interesting and possibly fodder for an entirely different blog post). he swore it was for a headache and not the mild fever he was running. but he sounded like hell. i think he might have oinked, but it wasn't a great connection, so i'm not sure.

and now, i feel it catching up with me. i'm beginning to feel slow, glassy-eyed and decidedly achy. i definitely have a dull headache and i think i'm running a slight temperature.  i thought it was just because i held myself like a tense and retarded monkey while i learned to crochet today (yes, you read that correctly, i learned to crochet today!), but i'm starting to have to admit, it's more than that. i think i'm coming down with a dreaded case of the swine flu. wine glue. fine poo. sign zoo. pine pooh.

i should have bought some of those beads when i was in turkey, instead of just taking their picture...i'm sure that would have worked.

* with thanks and credit to my sister for the fine title. and she seems to have lived through it, so i'm sure i will too...