the FALL days of August....and quotin' my favourite FILMER!!

there are few phrases better than Mammy's line in Gone With the Wind: 

"It ain't fittin', it just ain't fittin'.." 

(..now this was when she was making a comment about another of Scarlett's notorious liasons or something like that...)

but that line came out of my mouth ( and out loud too!) this morning as I was standing on the BALKONG- feeling the 58F teperature on the 29th of August here - looking at the trees trying to determine if that slight yellowish tinge that I am starting to see on the trees REALLY IS WHAT I HOPE it ISN'T-

"It ain't fittin', it just ain't fittin' !"

Yes, in Polar Ice Cap country here- it is FIRCKIN' FRACKIn' Mudder F@&^$' --------TIME FOR-----

 FALL!!!!!  aghhhhh....

Hiding back inside-as I look out, my big huge heavy as hell balcony umbrella just blew over....

o GAWD- the gig is soooooo up.....

depression knows no depths like a woman who was raised on the Gulf Coast of Texas to have to endure a SUMMER as short as this.....

I am and will always be "a summer child". I will always and forever think that it is perfectly normal to be wearing shorts and running around outside on my birthday ( which is the 28th of December.) -to those of you Down Under people that's "winter" on this top of the Planet.....In my heart, I always want that....

yes, I admit it- a year round summer- is just fine by me....never you mind that I've actually spent very few years of my life actually in that type of climate- but I sure do like the idea of it......

the other problem is is that I LOVE summer clothes: I love light flippy dresses, tan skin showing, bikinis and sexy footwear that shows nicely tended toe-nails.....( okay never you mind that I am a closeted foot-fetishist) 

(oh-and the shoe thing - well , that's a whole other post for another day around here -being as Swedes have an aversion to wearing shoes one nanno-second longer than they have to upon walking into a door way.....)

.....fat chance I can even wear HALF of my summer wardrobe around here. I "joke" to my husband that I have to change clothes every 3 hours here in the summer just to wear all of my summer clothes at least once in a season.....but it's true....

....and I don't know if that says more about the size of my summer wardrobe vs. what it says about the SHORT duration of "summer"- ( and i use that term loosely)- around here. Suffice it to say- I think it says quite a bit about both......

So as I sit INSIDE today- looking at the SUNNY FRICKIN' FRACKIN' CHILLY EARLY FALL day out there 

-and as I glance around thinking about what to rearrange here or there and noticing the slightest Dust Bunny Accumulation in the corner....

.....( and as I seem to be in a movie quotin' mood today....).... I am reminded of another favourite line of mine from another favourite movie of mine-

That Former Texas Girl's Cult Classic: 

URBAN COWBOY!.....

" Shit , Bill, y'all live like pigs!...."

( as Bill's Aunt surveyed the interior of his too filthy trailer....)

I just LOVE that line ! It makes me LOL every single time it comes into my head....

now- I'm goin' on record here to say- NO- we don't live like pigs- not at all- but - i could dust a bit- and I'm quite sure the hubbie is just ITCHIN' to vacuum attack those Dust Bunnies here on the weekend again.....

suddenly --I've got  a hankerin' to do what you are supposed to do when FALL hits suddenly and you realize the gig is so totally up:

it's TIME to NEST! ( and ok- clean up - a bit.)

Besides- damn! I just really like that line!.....giggle giggle....

so Lesson for the Soul today: Learn to accept the fact that you live on the Polar Ice Cap- learn to accept with grace when the "gig is up"- instead of walking around the house screechin' - "I'm so frickin' COLD " all day long, in that divinely passive-aggressive way I have of reminding my dear husband that he really did drag me off  to a Semi-Unfit Place for Habitation.....And learn to enjoy and savour whatever it is that you have to do for the next 9 months til this season begins to come around again.....

NEST, NEST, NEST - and be happy.....

Swedish word for the DAY-

Heck let's do a few here: 

• HÖST- yep! that's Autumn in these' here parts. Weird  word, huh? just weird- ya gotta wonder how they came up with that one....
  

and because it's just really gonna tickle my funny bone to figure this out:

• Fan, Bill, levande ni som svin!!      <<<<< that's the "Shit, Bill... " line- in case you didn't figure it out!
  

(Now..... I knew the word  "FAN" -but I didn't know how to SPELL it!!!! FAN!?!?? FAN!?!?! )

ok.....

OKAYYYY!!!...now that's REALLY LOL funny!!!!!!- 

FAN for SHIT- huh? FAN for SHIT!?!? .....it makes HÖST seem kinda normal ,huh!?!?.....

man-o-man.....it's gonna be a LONGGGGG ASSSSS WINTER at this rate......(and.... i'll save THAT translation for another day!)

BABY STEPS....BABY ATGARDER ( now thats got a dot on the first A and two dots on the 2nd!)

making a life.....

hmmmm.....

I keep telling Sixten while he is busy plotting out Phase 1 of his life, I am trying to plot out phase 2.....from here 

LITE bit at a time.....

but I have to confront a lot of challenges- for one---this bloody painful language-

..... although I have to say my little "enterprise" with Sixten teaching me Sveska is going along rather well....

it was the perfect combination---he wants money at the end of the week ....and I want  ( now WANT may be a very gracious term for it...) correction: I  HAVE to learn swedish.....

that  was a win-win....i have to say!!....

then, I have my thang goin' with Olivia back home- now, that's blended nicely, but we are trying to take it to " the next level"- this baby's ready to FLY - if you will-.

...if you aren't aware- it's a furniture line we designed in sore need of an aggressive manufacturer. We did THAT to try to get out of......

what I am apparently aiming on going back into! -( apparel, that is....)-with my "little project " that I announced last week on here.....( the project of the 4 stacks of Swedish business plan layouts!) -

 that one- 

yeah......

at any rate, there seems to be the loveliest gang of smart girls around here in my new PLATZ- Goteborg, that are smart and eager and willing to talk and help .....all of us- ex-pats a bit stuck if you will, in a land and a life that we are all trying to mold into, around, fit in, make a success, you get it.....

it's at least a bit of a  struggle for all of us, I think....

I happen to love the photo I posted here today, taken at our wedding last year....the pathway in front of us....

.... for my round TWO here, I may not have a town , a country or a society that I'm familiar with, but at least ( this go 'round)- I have the support of a really great guy....my "gentle swede"- my husband Roy!

I'm re-building for Part 2 - as I've taken to calling it,slowly , but surely....

I'm forced to face new challenges in everything I do here- even how to get to places,what's the protocol, etc, etc...

Lesson for the soul: as a baby, I was WALKING at 10 months. I skipped crawling.  

entirely. 

For part 2 here- I need to remember that crawling is OK- and even a good thing to do , as long as it gets me where I need to go and ultimately I begin to take some steps....

Swedish word for the Day: BABY ATGARDER-( with one dot over the first A and 2 over the 2nd!)- that means  BABY STEPS.

and sometimes even though you've done just fine before in DITT HEMLAND- because it was DITT HEMLAND- 

.....sometimes you have to start all over again, crawling before you walk .....

truly, I feel like I am beginning to take some steps now at least- even stride out - just a bit . At least  I'm beginning to feel I'm starting to walk well enough to take my hand off the coffee table every now and then!.....

BONK! OWWW!!!!!

thoughts of home.....the HEM LAND

thoughts of the way things were..... of how my life traveled to this spot......

wow.....so many things, so many senses are barraged,the Empire State building that we all walk under, the heat of the streets on a hot August day, the smell of the subways!, the noise of the taxi cabs, and so many people that float through my mind daily......and in my dreams, as they did last night...

as I sit on my balcony in the gorgeous weather (wow! again!) - I miss home .....the echoes of my friends and family.....I  still feel connected as if I'm an astronaut on a Very Long Tether, over Here-breathing and existing, yet still drawing my air and sustenance from Home through this Very Long Tether over that Very Big Pond.....

my dear friends back home that keep me going- 

Olivia, who i skype with daily just about - she that often keeps me gratefully tethered to home- 

Carole-my first boss in NYC and always my Beacon Buddha, even  with all her troubles now - the economy and how to survive....

Peers and Titou- the "fearless" duo!- so poetic and magical both of them!....struggling but always finding a bit of fluff of Magic Fairy Dust to make it to the next day....(oh yes, that's Titou in Bergdorf's window there-long story for another day perhaps-but, see what I mean about the Fairy Dust?!...)

my own little sister- Baby HeHe- having traded a life in LaLa Land to live now in New York City-and doing quite well, even though she announces how "miserable" she is in her Rat Race there--- while skyping me from her boyfriend's house out in the Hamptons - a bored Golf Widow......ahhh,little sis - "you are indeed a New Yorker now!.."

always and forever.....New York City..... which save a fateful drink at a bar in a certain hotel in Gurgaon ,India on May 3rd, 2007,with a certain Swedish gentleman, is probably where I would still be-...

I guess it was  Ted Kennedy who died yesterday- that really made me miss home- that really made me realize that -in the words of the song:"Life goes on without me!" ......

as I sit and drink my long KOPP KAFFE- ( thankfully this morning the coffee issue is resolved!)-on my BALKONG-Teddy- the standard bearer of the Health Care Debate  back home- God bless him....Godspeed to his causes that in his death may help all Americans.....

so much happening back home and here I sit...but,.....if I listen closely I can almost here the beat, beat beat of the City and the Country that I left.....

not that I may not go Home again- draw up the Very Long Tether and land again on that side of the Very Big Pond-(lest anyone panic,now!)- but Here and Now is my reality..here in my little Swedish Bubble, where i sit and try ot mastermind the Second Half of My Days.....

I have a recently made a very dear friend from the U.S., that is living over here. She is returning on a jet plane back to the Hem Land tomorrow to begin again over there...returning with her Swedish husband, and two children that she had over here.....All my good wishes and hopes go with her as she returns....She is understandably full of trepidation about returning back to a land where the Health Care issues and the Obama bashing seems to be the word on everyone's lips......I know she'll be fine....but she, like I would be, is nervous about leaving our little Swedish Bubble over here....- back to the land where things go Bang! Bang! so fast and furious back home and yet go sooooovery slooowwwly over here.....i can understand her anxiety....She'll be fine- and do fabulously ,in fact....returning to the "Land of Opportunity" .......Her little boy has announced  that he "only wants to speak Swedish "  when he lands in the US to make his life.....(Good luck ,Little Guy!)......asides from dramas like that- I know she'll be JUST FINE!!....

still....

to my dear friend-bring just a bit of my Heart  back there with you, to keep an eye on things,will ya? and in turn..... I' ll watch this little Swedish Bubble for ya over here, OK?...

Lesson for the Soul Today-those things, people and places that created me and made me what I am now,are part of the Sum Total of Little Old Me that sits here today....may they continue to bring me solace and comfort and laughs and joy and just that touch of longing inside for the rest of my days.....

Swedish Word of the Day- that's really simple: HEM LAND- the Home Land - a place that we all have , not only geographically, but in our hearts and in our blood, and is that funny mix of all the things that make us "tick"....

meanwhile.....Would ya check the Air Pressure gauge  on that Very Long Tether for me? and while your at it - shoot  me over a big old huge New York bagel with lox and cream cheese,capers and onions on it- I sure would like one right about now... 

TACK !....TACK SÅ MYCKET!

all I wanted was en KOPP KAFFE- SWEDES and COFFEE!!!

grrrrrr....

double GRRRRRRRR....

triple GRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

i woke up  this morning  to go fix my cup o' joe, which i have to do when hubbie is out of town.....

there was ...NO.....coffee......at all......

oh GAWD.......

there was evidence of coffee having been drunk last night......but no note: "gee! sorry we're out of coffee."

no warning when I took off to the store yesterday...."uh, I think we're about OUT of COFFEE..."

nothing...until this morning when i found INGENTING! ( DENADA! NOTHING!)

except for me in a bad mood growling in the kitchen because there was no coffee......

OK- i'm naming him- this is WAR!

 SIXTEN DAH-LINGGG! 

You drink coffee like it's going out of style - like it's growing on trees( ok - so it does grow on trees- ) but you get my point! You'll drink up the GDP of the USA in two days if given the opportunity!

Once again- he knows not what sins he commits-poor Sixten!- He is genetically pre-disposed to it.

see.... Swedes drink coffee  like  most of the rest of world drinks water out of bottles. 

Intravenously almost. 

They even have a word for it:

FIKA- the COFFEE BREAK ( by the way- they are very PROUD of that word,too!) FIKA- which they must do non-stop at work , at play, constantly. FIKA- which you must do with friends ad nauseum- which is the single biggest reason why I am off ot Vikt Vaktarna!

"we need to talk"- "Shall we have some coffee"?

In my house, there is the usual COFFEE in the morning, of course. (This is a well recognized world -wide behavior anymore. I myself, would happily stop there-)

it's enough.

By lunch , I'm swinging into more edgey drinks: Coca Cola Light, etc., continuing on to eventually a glass of wine with dinner or the occasional Gin and Tonic - always Friday evening at 5 ( at least in this country!)....

but NOOOOOOOO...these guys continue on after that cup o' joe in the a.m.

to

• a mid-morning FIKA break
• a touch often after lunch
• the mid afternoon FIKA break
• then - gag me! the hubbie will often come home after work and WANT a CUP of COFFEE! ( The Archie Bunker beer doesn't fly here!0 Can you believe it.
• then there's the evening coffee
• and the late night coffee

all to say- it was that LATE NIGHT coffee of Sixten's that SCREWED me this morning....

this causes me trouble on all kinds of levels:

#1- in cases of my husband's son, I don't intervene- not my job- I turn it over to Pops- you should have seen the email I just sent the poor hubbie

#2- I'll be gosh -danged if I'M the one going to buy the next pack of coffee for this house ( I'll go without)

#3.) meanwhile- I just do without and SUFFER.....( which brings me towards the swedish word for the day...)

AND in turn  it leads me to the somewhat shallow lesson for my soul for the day:

PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR IS WRONG- but SOMETIMES there is NOTHING more enjoyable.

Therefore- in about 10 minutes I'm waking my Teacher Sixten UPP for our SVENSKA KLASS- 

and when he asks where the coffee is- 

you got it-it's gonna go like this:

"I'm sorry. We don't have any coffee this morning. Someone drank all of it yesterday. But , hey, I'm on a tight schedule today- so let's just get going- Where were we..... Chapter 13 was it?'

IN the MIDST of the PAIN and AGONY of PERSONAL SUFFERING- one can stil find the INNER STRENGTH to be PASSIVELY AGGRESSIVE! and enjoy it.

SWEDISH WORD FOR THE DAY:ATT LIDA- means: TO SUFFER- that which we will do all through swedish class this morning withOUT coffee!

But won't it feel good!?!....

in your own SHOEBOX- SKO LADA ( with a dot over the first A)

as much as I complain about sweden...in all fairness I can safely say, I'm glad  I'm not back in the US anymore....( please understand that my view of WHAT the USA is lies somewhere to the WEST of the Hudson RIver....)

Like many of us, i have some dear old friends that I've re-connected with on FaceBook- gee! who hasn't? You reconnect with High School chums- and oops! something has disconnected in the 30 years since you last saw them. Well, maybe you disconnected - or something.

(As you can tell from my happy pix here - this is going to get a bit religious and a bit political.....)

Being originally from Texas, I have a lot of my old chums back there. Texas was a land-of-the-Born-Agains.....heck, I'm even Born-Again myself. There was something that said you couldn't even walk out your door in Lubbock,Texas if you hadn't been dunked under the water there. I got dunked. yep. and that "saved" me- or so I was told back then.

I carry my God with me to this day. He and I - we got a thing goin' on.....OUR OWN THANG. Leave me alone about it. I'll leave you alone about your thang.

The viewpoints of some of my old buddies absolutely stymies me. Christians railing about wanting to have Prayer in Schools ( yes, in PUBLIC SCHOOLS) . Carrying on about how Obama is the EVIL ONE-and ANYONE who voted for him , is headed straight to HELL in a handbasket.

Railing about how Health Care reform is EVIL- the work of the devil practically. 

And my favourite FaceBook from one of my buddies back in the HEMLAND-so far:     " Healthcare wasn't in the US Constitution" - so why should we support it?!?!?

Really! 

REALLY!

And this spoken from someone that I believed to be intelligent.

....neither was MANDATORY WEARING OF  SAFETY BELTS in CARS or BABY SEATS in the Constitution.... which I suppose therefore means that we shouldn't have to use them??

All in all, it's a bit frightening- and all I have to say is- thank God , I live in Stallin's backyard now--none of this stuff flies here. And although some ( probably some of my friends if I bluntly asked them) would tell me I am living in HELL ITSELF-in a country full of UNWED PARENTS- all of us doomed to go to HELL for our evil ways- I just don't see it that way.....

What is it about stepping outside of your SAFE ZONE ( Lubbock, Texas for example?) that inspires thought- that inspires actually thinking outside-of-the-box? Is it simply THINKING outside of the Box that dooms you to hell? Or is actually believing those things that you find outside of the box that dooms you to hell?

yes, I went to school in Lubbock, Texas( look that one up on Google maps in the middle of nowhere land, will ya?) Right next to Buddy Holly's grave if you will. But they got something very special going on there- in the middle of nowhere I found some of the very FEW of us- that are apparently the lucky ones going straight to Heaven.

The thing that chased me out of Texas as fast as my little airplane ticket would carry me can be summed up in a  singular episode that occurred to me there once...

I had an Evangelical Boyfriend back then.We went to an Evangelical Church. We went to said church one fine Sunday morning along with the yes- several THOUSAND others that marched into the HUMONGOUS auditorium there every Sunday. And we listened to our PERFECT pastor with his PERFECT HAIR tell us how we were all wonderful ,saved and blessed by the Lord Almighty,etc. every week. WOW! Weren't we special?! Had me goin' for a while there ,too, until....

this one morning- After some time praising all of us- (himself included, natch!)- He began to urge us on to be the Missionaries that God had wanted us to be. And then it came- as if to drive home the point that we had all better pack our bags right then and there and go spreading the Good Word.....

He-of-the-Perfect-Hair spoke to us of China. He told us HOW MANY people lived there ( even back in 1983 ,it was quite a few !)Then, the Pastor of the Bleached Blond Shellaced Hair in the Poly Suit told us- If ALL OF THESE PEOPLE did not accept (OUR) God as their Lord and Savior -and this is the kicker- even if they had never HEARD of him- (were living in some remote section and had never HEARD of Him) that - you guessed it- They were all going to go to Hell  ( and trust me-there was no mincing of words here on this point)

UNLESS- and this was it- UNLESS- we all personally went over there and made them know and accept  ( OUR) God- and fast! ( They were losing souls over there every day!)

Now,I'd never been to China at that time- but the thought of almost a billion souls going to hell through no fault of their own- because they hadn't heard about MY GOD and accepted MY GOD -was a little too much to bear. 

As I recall I got up and walked out.

I'd had enough. Revolting.

(speaking of revolting- that Perfect Pastor of the Perfect Hair "revolted" shortly after that too- Took off with a teenage boy or two to Arizona on a private plane or something- abandoned his family- was never heard from again- just POOFED-gone. I 'm not sure who or what he was off to Arizona to save other than the teenage boy or two that he took with him...hmmmm.....)

All in all, it was philosophies like that that caused me to question how dare I assume that I was so fortunate to be one of the few that had come to know God with this perfect group of perfect people TRULY IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE that apparently were some of the few lot of us on this planet destined to go to Heaven? Something just didn't figure to me.

Needless to say, I got the HELL outta HEAVEN THERE on the fastest plane I could find.

And as you see that "fast plane" has landed me here- living somewhat happily in Stallin's backyard,- if it ain't HELL -as I am sure that some of my friends would have me believe that it is-or at least the Gateway to It.... what with all these evil bad people over here that live SAMBO and having children out of wedlock- even if they are in a committed relationship...., that have free healthcare- and use it, that are SOCIALISTIC in their voting patterns -many of them-, that have blond hair and copulate endlessly.....( or so the reputation goes..)

This is the Gateway to Hell indeed. 

Food for the Soul today: God grant me the patience to endure FaceBook somedays! Or the WISDOM to get the heck off of there- if it derails my day! Grant me the patience to understand that the only reason a lot of these people continue to believe the exact same things that their parents told them to believe 30 years ago-is because they are still in Their  Own Little Shoebox- and for them- it's safe in there.

Swedish Word of the Day- SKO LADA ( with a DOt over the 1st A)- SHOE BOX-may you enjoy your own ..and let me enjoy mine,too!

the next time I complain about HERE- my SHOE BOX for now- a.k.a.- HELL's GATEWAY- I need to remind myself, that I once lived in LUBBOCK, TEXAS

- and THAT was HEAVEN....

right?.....

in a GOOD MOOD- på gott humör!

gee! I don't know how it happened even! but I'm in a GOOD MOOD!

don't let it shock you or anything- and I'm trying to figure out why....

not in any particular order here, lest the hubbie at #5 gets pissed !

let's just REVIEW what's goin' on here.....

1. fabulous gorgeous morning on the BALKONG- ok so it feels like a gorgeous early FALL day - and it's only the 22nd of AUGUST, but man! I love my balcony , I LOVE my gorgeous view with HUGE trees, apple trees in the neighbors yard, BUCOLIA HEAVEN!
2. because SMHI predicted a CRAPPY CLOUDY day- and ( so far) they were SOOOOOO WRONG!
3. because SOUTHERN NIGHT last nite was fabulous- the Swedish Sector loved the Chicken Fried Steak-( thanks to Kara- one of my "readers" here for suggesting that one! ) YUMMMM!!!
4. because OLIVIA and i had a really lovely chat yesterday on SKYPE-she calls from work mid day for her from NY- usually while I'm fixing dinner or having cocktails..... WOW! we figured out we've known each other 19 YEARS!- masterminded at least 2 EMPIRES ( even if they haven't come to fruition YET), done some FUN SURPRISE B'DAY bashes together,eaten a gadbillion dinners together, done Venice togheter even!, have had a lot of general fun and good times that have given us a really FABULOUS FRIENDSHIP- and we hope yet to still conquer the world together!!!! Love ya and miss you too Olivia!!! XOXO!!
5. oh- because I have the most wonderful husband in the world- that makes living in Stallin's Backyard -aka The Dark Side of Pluto- ALL WORTHWHILE....."I LUV MY HUBBIE!!!!"
6. because it's Saturday morning and the rest of the weekend is out before us
7. because i've already made some great friends over here- even if one of them is jumping ship this week back to the US- at least there's skype!
8. a Woody Allen movie tonight to remind me of home
9. i have a PLACE that I love to live in- a BARN RED kitchen I love, a new sitting area in my bedroom that should hold me through the winter...- all my things here that I really love - things yet to "fix"- but that's just "future fun"!
10. laundry that's done for now
11. a "future business " here ahead of me!?!? t.b.d.!!

and to coin Letterman- the #1 reason I'm so damn happy : The BUG that kept kicking me off of Facebook all morning miraculously fixed itself and WHEW! I'm back in action....

..now that could have been catastrophic and caused this entire Rare Joyous Posting- to not even happen!!!

mostly-and with no number attached to it:

mostly because sometimes I like just being a SAP like this and thinkin' the world is such a groovy place!!

and.... I'm OLD ENOUGH not to give a rats' ass if anyone thinks i'm simply on drugs, got laid, sniffed glue, or won the lottery, gone off the deep end .....or not!

LESSON for the SOUL- ENJOY! ENJOY ! ENJOY! You may not have everything or even everything that you want or even think you NEED- but right now - it's ALL GOOD!!!

SWEDISH WORD/PHRASE FOR THE DAY: på gott humör-IN A GOOD MOOD- that's it- 

now,don't mind me while I hop off of here and go enjoy the moment!.....ain't no one, INGENTING( nothin'!), stopping me today!!!-except that really grey cloud over there!!!!GRRRRR!!

HEY!!!

BACK OFF!!!!!!!

the GREAT EXPERIMENT...DEN STORA EXPERIMENT

Sometimes the answer to your own problems lie right under your nose.....( or perhaps... downstairs in your own house)

it came to me one afternoon earlier in the week here as I was busy pouring through lists of swedish verbs to memorize upstairs on my BALKONG-( aka BALCONY).......

that right downstairs ..... the answers to my troubles may indeed lie.

and I mean literally- "LIE"-right there in front of the TV, multi-tasking both his Minimum Daily Requirements of Jerry Springer and Facebook.....

SIXTEN! 

It suddenly dawned on me in my frustration of cramming TALA-TALAR-TALADE-TALAT.....(aka to SPEAK, SPEAKING, SPOKE, HAVE SPOKEN)......

 that SIXTEN had something that I wanted and could desperately use:

SIXTEN has FULL MASTERY of  the SWEDISH language....

and obviously-I do........ NOT! 

hmmmmmm....i may not have been a parent before to understand the workings of a 19 year old brain, but i had been a 19 year old and recalled very clearly to negotiate HIM GIVING me WHAT I wanted- it was going to have to involve some Kroner-a.k.a.-SEK ( or..... the swedish version of this:$- that still comes up on my American keyboard! this$$$$$ !)

.......after Spousal Negotiations and all- and an Approach and Agreement by Sixten-

all were agreed: 

At Home Svenska Classes were to commence....

So , my dear friends- THE GREAT EXPERIMENT - aka DEN STORA EXPERIMENT has begun......

I ask you: 

Can a cynical middle aged stubborn American( me...) learn swedish from a 19 year old Swedish male with thoughts only of conquering the world while munching on popcorn and writing on Facebook!?

Well ,least you think we would make it this far; WE are on DAY #2 already!

Works as such: 

MONDAG til FRIDAG, in the MORNING- ( which gets us both going) the UNLIKELY DUO meets for Class.

Teach comes up with game plan, Student does homework ,writes a diary every day. Teach checks all this  and simultaneously urges me on to greater knowledge of the "Language of VAD KUL".....

.....and, in turn he gets paid at the end of the month for doing so....by Hubbie,Pops, da Boss......

good news is, I think I've picked up a thing or two already.......

Right now we are working on a list of 20 BASIC but CRUCIAL VERBS that are integral in the "WATK":

to CLEAN- att  STADA( with 2 dots over the A)

to COOK- att LAGA MAT

to SAY- att  SAGA ( with 2 dots over the 1st A)

to NEED- att BEHOVA ( with 2 dots over the O)

and one a girl can never do without:

to WANT-att VILJA

So far , so good.At least I have the weekend now to do my homework! ( whew!)

Lesson for the Soul: Don't be afraid of turning over a rock. Sometimes there's something  good under it. 

Swedish WORD for the DAY- How 'bout this: I'm just going to go out whole hog on a limb here and make a sentence! ( see how much I have learned already!)

Jag laga mat, jag stada huset och jag säger det om och om igen:

Alla jag behöver och vill ha lite R-E-S-P-E-K-T!

( so I'm missing a couple of DOTS here and there- but it's the best I could do with GOOGLE Translator!OK!?)

all to say in ENGELSKA;

 I cook( the food) , I clean( the house)  and I say it over and over again:All I need and want is a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T!

.....works for me!- so far.....

however, already "at school" this morning.......Teach was asking when he was getting paid......

for that,I told him to check with the Boss...

 

Weeelllll......"that WAS good!"- to coin the SINGLE most often used  swenglish phrase that is spoken in my house-( and the one that most often makes the hair rise on the back of my neck!)- this is  usually spoken after the first bite into dinner- "That WAS good".....meaning IS, but due to some lexiconigalistical manner of the swedish language it is uttered: that WAS good....( and the subject of a whole other posting!)

LEXICONIGALISTIC!?!? COOL ,huh?!?! that's KarenSpeak!!! 

but already I DIGRESS!!!!

What I mean by "that WAS good"- was that meeting yesterday with -The Director of Creative Services.

She loved the concept of the store- she DUG it , in fact. Very encouraging but brief meeting that will leave Laney and I quite a bit of work to do! 

OH and BTW!- the Director of Creative Services- really is a Director of Creative Services- Whatcha know 'bout dat one!?She clued me in to a "whole other set " of people that I now have to speak to.....but that's great.

Now , HER idea was that once the idea is fleshed out-that we could acutally get a whole DIVISION - STORE CHAIN - in fact-"sold" to a major swedish company here and get said company to back me on it all....I would maintain Creative Directorship and have the support of a bigger company behind me....hmmmmm.....hadn't thought of that one ...yet....my first thought is how does one eventually free oneself of that once you are up and flying( cue in: a really good American contract negotiator!)

So it can be cautiously stated that Miss Director of Creative Services has a BRAIN- and a good one,too!

I'm diggin' this. I'm beginning to cautiously feel like a may have EN VINNARE on my hands here! - i mean somewhere down a very long,very SKRAMMANDE road here,but....

for today, I'll give myself this: 

I am -(in swedish)- :försiktigt optimistis.

and-HEY LOOK THERE! By literally copying that term out of Google Translator: i got the DOTS!

LESSON for the SOUL: now if I can JUST BE "cautiously optimistic" and not my usual WILDLY OPTIMISTIC- which is my true nature ....but, that's way too LAGOM for ME ,right? or is that what this "big journey" is all about!?....

so-SWEDISH WORD( s) of the DAY: försiktigt optimistis-(oops ! WOW! I did it again!)and  that means CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC- and that is what I am today- 

.....and God help my natural tendancies- that's ALL I will be.......