It's the last day of a 4-day weekend and Mors Dag here in Sweden. We had Thursday and Friday off for Ascension day and a bridge day, and it's been a relatively quiet, very relaxing weekend for the most part...except for some major bummer stuff that happened on Friday ( Read more... )

No rain at all for our last full day in Rome: 26C and sunny. We headed out and walked down the Via Nazionale to the beautiful Palazzo delle Esposizione where they were holding an exhibition of the world press photo of the year plus installations on many of the contenders and past winners. Sobering and disturbing to see and read about as so many of ( Read more... )

A big day and a big attraction: the Vatican! We were up at 8, breakfasted by 9 and it was another gorgeous sunny day. We took the Metro almost all the way to the Vatican and then stood in several lines: for entrance, for security, to exchange our vouchers for tickets, to pick up audio guides. We got in just after 11, which was almost an hour ( Read more... )

On Saturday, we went to the Pantheon, after a later wake up time and breakfast at 9 (as if we were on vacation, haha!). We had tickets for a guided tour at 11 and decided to walk (36 minutes) as the forecast said rain at 11, continuing all day. Instead, the sun came out and the forecast kept moving the rain back all day. We got there early and sat ( Read more... )

We left for Rome on Wednesday, May 4, getting up at 4:30 am in order to drive to Copenhagen and make our 7:30 flight...nowadays the airport recommends 2 hours early for all flights, not just international ones. We didn't have to wear facemasks on the plane but they were required in the Rome airport after we arrived. Living in a country that has ( Read more... )

There's COVID in the house, but even so, it's hard to tell. Last week, after Anders got back from his ski trip with Karin (she stayed up north at a different ski resort with her girlfriend), his friend & colleague who had been skiing with him called on Wednesday morning to tell Anders that he wasn't feeling well, had gone to get a PCR fast-result ( Read more... )

It's the day after Christmas, at the end of 2021. It was a good Christmas in many ways...the four of us back together and everything ready in plenty of time so no one was stressed. I had most of my shopping done by the end of November, almost all of it done online, and the last of the things I ordered arrived well in advance. Karin helped Anders ( Read more... )

This year started as the last one ended, with the pandemic still in full swing. Liz worked from home full-time all the way from October 2020 until the end of the summer this year, when she started back in the office 50%. She’s now up to 70% but is actually hoping to still be able to continue to work from home part-time ( Read more... )

We're now in the end run, counting down through the last month of the year. The clock on 2021 is running out. Thankfully, the clock to the winter solstice is counting up and it's only a month, give or take, until the darkest day, and then the slow return of the light. We've had snow on the ground for a week, and extremely cold temperatures. Here in ( Read more... )

Yesterday was our annual Friendsgiving. We were looking forward to it SO much and it didn't disappoint. It was the first time Martin has been included in 4 years (he DID have family Thanksgivings in Michigan with my mom, and occasionally my sister so he wasn't totally deprived ( Read more... )