08.11.09
Today…
Today he bought us pizza. I guess late is better than never…. however, it was mainly since he did not feel like cooking (and do I ever feel like cooking? No, but I do it anyways….)
We are back in the world of skating again, sort of. I’ll explain it more later.
I do need music for the new season though, probably 4 different songs (I know, four! Usually it’s only two!). I need two short, one long and one artistic. I have the two short ones, and a possible artistic (Hey big spender, maybe?), but I don’t know what to do for the long. I’m thinking something Latin maybe? I’ve never done Latin, and it might be fun. I just don’t know where to start or where to look. Suggestions, anyone? If I don’t come up with something, I’ll revert back to Celtic.
I am going to involve our delightfully crazy Russian as my choreographer. We will drive each other nuts, but it will be fun. I’ll be doing slow and pretty this time for BOTH of my shorts, which is something I’ve never done either. Spirals and stretching, here I come. *Pain*
06.25.09
Varied long mess…
Yesterday D threw a hissy fit because I wouldn’t let her borrow my glitter eyeshadow and dark lip-gloss to wear to practice. The kid is 10. If she was having a performance in something like dance, gymnastic or figure skating, it would be acceptable. But for regular Wednesday night Tae Kwon Do practice? No. I am against small children wearing makeup in general, and I know her dad and mother is too. I still managed to look like the evil bi*** though.
I am so excited about moving. I really can’t stand the house we are living in right now. It feels like a dark prison compared to the the bright open floor plan of the new place, with its excellent location (meaning we can actually keep our windows uncovered without people seeing our every move). I am also excited, since I am positive that our electricity bill will go down. It is currently ridiculously high, seeing as it is hard to get air to circulate in our two-story town house. It is also not very well insulated, and there are small cracks everywhere by the windows and doors, letting the air out. I am telling you, I can’t wait for the 18th of July. Sure, we get the keys on the 16th, but I am in school both the 16th and the 17th, and hubby is going to need my help moving, as we don’t have a lot of friends to help us. Hubby will start driving “stuff” in the car though, for the first two days, and on the Saturday, we’ll get the truck and do the big and heavy stuff.
I start my second mini semester tomorrow. I am finishing up Mini A today. Seems as if my 4.0 is sticking around for now. There’s a wall in the main building in school which I’d like to get onto, which is for people with great grades, pictures and all. Don’t know how long you have to keep a 4.0, but hey, I can still hope, can’t I? Anyways, tomorrow I start American Sign Language and Critical Thinking. It is going to be really nice to get out of the house for almost 6 hours every day (seeing as I will leave home at like 8.30 and be home at about 2.30), REALLY nice. D is an energetic, sassy handful and hubby is very very bored (he just graduated with his MA in technical writing), since he is out of school until the end of August (he’s getting a second MA, this one in information technology). This house is small, and I need some time to breathe and some personal space, and if that personal space have to be in a classroom with like 20 others, than so be it.
I have my piano lesson today. This week’s homework has been tough, and I felt like an idiot much of the time working on it. Goodness, I’m terrified of what she will give me for next week’s homework.
Hubby was looking at me yesterday and said “You are getting skinny” which initially felt like a compliment, but his voice wasn’t terribly complimentary. Then he went onto say that “You’ve lost muscle mass…” which definitely wasn’t a compliment. No shit honey! I went from being on the ice 7 days a week to going to the gym maybe once a week. You thought it would just stick around? It’s been over a year since I stepped off the ice, I’m surprised it hasn’t disappeared faster! I am also surprised (and I know you are as well) that I haven’t gained more weight (you and 90 % of the people I met in Sweden….). Men can say the stupidest things, thinking they are not insulting, when really, they are.
It’s going to hit over 94 degrees today (about 35 Celsius) if you believe the local news, and they are usually very correct, and the worst humidity yet to be seen this year. Yay. I will have to prepare for melting today then. Oh joy. And apparently it is only going to get worse as July comes around. I hate the South.
06.12.09
CSM-pride and piano lessons
I promised my little girl not to tell her dad, but I just had to share, which is why I am telling you people. Last night, D worked up the courage to tell me she wanted a bra. Apparently she had told her mother, who hadn’t answered and just ignored it. So she told me. We had been beginning to start talking about the whole puberty thing, and had bought the great book “The Care and Keeping of You,” so we were right at that point. So I said yes. This morning, we went to Kohls to go shopping for D’s very first bra.
I wanted to let her have a nice and normal first-bra-experience, without too much embarrassment or humiliation. My very first-bra-experience was much more traumatic. It was Christmas, and me, my sister, and my two cousins (one the same age as Cathy, the other a year older than me) all received bras and matching thongs from our grandmother. Now, three of us were MILES away from actually needing said bras, and opening them up in front of a lot of people was terribly embarrassing. Normal grandmothers don’t give their grandchildren bras and thongs for Christmas, but my grandmother has always been one for giving odd gifts.
So we went and while D was fairly embarrassed, we did surprisingly good. We ended up getting her two different ones, one white for general use and one cool hot pink one with orange straps. I am very proud of getting to experience this with her, and that she chose me as the one to take her, instead of just dropping the subject when her mother decided to ignore her. Very nice CSM-moment.
I had my very first piano lesson today. The lady is in her early 40’s and look kinda like a cross between princess Diana and Dorothy Hamill. She’s really nice, and I think it is going to be great. I’ve got homework of course, and like five songs to learn. We’ll see how it goes, but I am being cautiously optimistic. She said I did really well, but I am paying her…. As said, we’ll see.
06.11.09
Holy Grail…
I’ve managed to find one of those holy grails of music for me. The soundtrack to The Neverending Story II! I didn’t even know it existed! It totally made my day yesterday. The music itself is so superior to the first movie, although I have such sentimental ties to that one. I am so thrilled! I was squealing like crazy, and hubby thought I was insane.
Oh, on the topic of music, I have my very first piano lesson tomorrow. I’m really excited!
04.27.09
Space…
I am officially out of space. Not in my room, or my closet or even on my computer, no. I have filled up all the slots in my two enormous CD cases. I have 277 CDs on file, and there’s no more space for the around 20 or so that are still lingering on my computer. I need a new CD case!
Hubby has his comprehensive exam today. Scary. I’m sure he’ll do excellent though. He’l be leaving in an hour or so. Wish him good luck!
04.01.09
Un-Swedish
Since birth practically, Swedish children learn to be overly humble, to never think that they are better than anyone else (HUGE social faux-pas) and be muted about their own achievements. And I was this way too. Never quite proud of myself.
I just got off the phone (Skype) with my sister. I’d been admiring her fashion collection and gushing over how great she was. I mean, overkill is my sister’s fourth name (anxiety being the third, since that’s what she brings out in others…) and she’d done a spectacular job, as usual. I started thinking about my own achievements, and there was this nagging little voice in my head that I finally started listening to.
I am rather proud of myself (god that was hard to write). I mean, I really am. And you know what, rightfully so. I moved 5000 miles from home, and I am doing a pretty good job over here. I am a pretty decent step mother, and in my mind, a pretty decent partner (husband does agree). I am doing magnificently in college, I have a perfect 100 in Communication (Seriously. I have gotten a straight 100 on every single assignment so far), I have a 104 GPA in a regular English class (and English is my second language!) and I have a 100 in Math 70, which is the highest score out of all the students in the two math classes my professor teaches. I am pretty smart. I have worked hard and earned my high grades. I was terrified of college, since I hadn’t gone to a American High School (and after seeing the high school kids in my communications class, nor would I have wanted to *shudders*) and didn’t know what they knew. But I am doing well, and I am proud of myself.
I did a really good job finding and cutting music for my sister. She likes it a lot, and so does her coach. And you know what? That song took me less than 2 hours to do Monday night while waiting for Psych class. It came out great, and I am proud of it.
I think people in general are afraid to be proud over their own achievements, scared that people are going to find them cocky. Well, as long as you don’t go around telling everyone how great you are, I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. You need to be proud over yourself in order to be a truly happy person. So right now people, I AM REALLY PROUD OVER MYSELF.
That’s all.
03.30.09
3/4
I have finished 3 out of 4 songs for Becky. I ended up choosing music I hadn’t planned, things that just popped up in my head. I tried cutting a lot of other stuff, but it just didn’t want to be cut, so I gave up on them. I’m going to try to cut the last song and send them all of Wednesday or Thursday together with her birthday presents.
I am living vicariously through Becky with a some of these songs. 
03.29.09
Song
Of all the songs I could have chosen, I chose this one. It’s mine, and very beautiful. It’s the one song I wished I had had the courage to skate to. And yes darling, a powdery pink dress would work. So please, I beg you, take care of my song.
And don’t you dare butcher it!
03.15.09
Got five
Alright, so I have five CDs picked out. All pretty, but hopefully not too difficult. All except one is movie music, nothing TOO recent. One classic, one that might be a little of a risk, one that might be slightly too challenging (I wanted to skate to it myself a number of years ago), one fairly recent family movie (2007) and a complete jaw-dropper.
Becky asked me today if I was done yet with all the cutting…. Not quite. She only asked me a week ago, and five out of seven days I’ve been away in Washington! I consider the fact that I’ve weeded out all the CDs a huge accomplishment! I’m currently in the pre-cutting stage with the first one. I sit through and listen to the whole CD, making careful notes.
This is a beautiful CD, it really is. Kaczmarek is a genious.
03.08.09
Heart pounding
Today my youngest sister called me at the most inconvenient time. We were stressed like hell, and late, and still hadn’t eaten. So I couldn’t log onto Skype to talk to her, but managed to talk to her for a couple of minutes on the phone instead (although I think she was more interested in talking to my husband…..)
She asked me that one little question that makes my heart pound faster and skip a few beats. She and her coach wanted me to start looking for music for Novice A. Could I help? Of course. She continued telling me that they had decided that it should be a slow song this time, for her first short program ever. Which is fine. Slow songs are admittedly not my biggest forte’, but it’ll be a great fun challenge.
She also requested that the music should be pink. They wanted to have a pink dress this time, so the music needed to be pink. And if I had any dress ideas I could mail them ASAP. Ah….. I don’t generally descriminate based on the color of music. And I also generally get an idea on how the dress should look AFTER the music is done and cut. Well, well…
Besides, she needs to take the tests first, before they can start doing programs…..
But I’m back in business again, and is listening to music. Hubby wanted me to give her his old song, which I actually might put in the batch. It’s a good, solid piece of music. It has been done though, so I’m a little hesitant to put it there. But it is good, and soft, so why not? If they don’t like it, they don’t have to chose it.
