Thursday, January 23, 2014

Some of my favorite things.....

When you're an expat you often leave people behind that you know and love. You also leave things that are familiar to you and that you took for granted when you lived in your home country. For some reason lately a list of things I am craving lately (mostly food) keeps rolling through my mind. I am going to endeavor to write these down with the hope that list will leave my brain.

  • Tater tots
  • In and Out Burger
  • Taco Bell
  • Dairy Queen
  • St. Hubert Chicken
  • Real Mexican Food
  • Real Maple Syrup
  • Pizza, with lots of meat.
There, we will see if that works or not.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

A New Year and a New Journey Begins

Happy New Year, dear readers. Yes, I know I had said I would make an effort to post here more often and I have failed miserably. Life tends to get in the way of sitting down and typing out your thoughts and feelings when you have a hard time sorting them out in your head as it is.

The year that was 2013 has had some major ups and downs; good for me and my husband for the most part, but a tough one for my family in general. The health of my father, who is 91 and suffers from dementia has been a major stressor to our family as a whole, and my eldest sister ended the year having to have major surgery (she is well and recovering nicely, thank you.)

The main news is that Carl and I will not be returning to Canada this summer, we are however being cross-posted to Tel Aviv, Israel. We are excited about the opportunity and look forward to our time there, but it then makes the fact that our time in Sweden is limited very real.

This morning I disassembled our Christmas Tree as it was drying out quickly and was shedding needles by the hundreds. Now for most this is a simple task that happens yearly, but for many, myself included, this can be a sad experience. The color and joy of the lights and the ornaments collected over the years must be stored away for another year, though for us this is not just another year. Those of you who read my blog (when I post) and are part of the expat community that relocates regularly will nod your heads and see where I am about to go. Go on, I know you are.

For us, this is the last year we will take down our Christmas things in this house, in this country. It's the first step in realizing that your time is ending here, or at least it is for me. As you take down the ornaments you take extra care in wrapping the very fragile ones. I had stored up bubble wrap just for this occasion, as I know I have to pack these items myself. The movers won't be touching them so they must be as well protected as they can be. They will in 6 months or so be loaded into a truck then placed into a shipping container to meet us at the place we will call home for the next few years. With each ornament, especially the ones recently purchased while we have been in Sweden a memory comes to mind. The hand-blown glass balls in gold and blue bought at Skansen, the Thor we bought in Florida on vacation, the wooden moose and Lucia ornaments too. Each of these reminds me of friends we have made here, and friends we will leave behind. Now, of course we will remain friends across the miles, but the living in close proximity to these people will be drawing to a close.

This happens to us often, and we are used to it at some level, though it doesn't make it any easier. I have often told myself that if it doesn't hurt to leave a place I have lived, then I did it wrong. I look forward to the next six months or so of being with those who are now my friends, and those who will visit us for the first time in Sweden, and those who want to make one more trip before we go. Thank you all for helping to make this our home.