grrr!

all my favorite sites are having server issues this morning. flickr, blogger, del.icio.us. triple grrr. i gmail turns into its alter ego, grrrmail, i'm really going to lose it.

recent packages

i'm totally spoiled and i love it. during my less than 24-hour stint in slo town this week i was able to pick up my mail and what did i find but a fabulous (and surprising) package from sweden. it was my name day. and what does name day mean? it means you get CHOCOLATE. chocolate from sweden.

my other package was such a treat, as well. music and a book on CD from a truly kooky flickr pal. the book: cloud atlas. he knew i was going to read it and he said, "no no no, you gotta hear it. so i put the book down and patiently waited for the recorded version. can't wait to listen to it! and the music -- very good mix....

march 17
today is my mom and bill's anniversary and it is also janet's birthday. celebrations are in order. :)

my sentiments exactly

"When it's over, I want to say:
all my life
I was a bride married
to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking
the world into my arms..."

— Mary Oliver

As read on Andrea Scher's blog. I don't think I've read a Mary Oliver poem that has not reached out and tugged at my soul yet.

what is name day?

Seriously? You gotta love the Swedes. They have lots of holidays and every year you get two personal celebrations: your birthday and your name day (which is similar to a saint's day). Each day of the Swedish calendar celebrates a specific name -- usually a male and a female name. When your name day comes up you get presents -- chocolates and what nots.

As I have a hybrid name (Mary? Maria?) perhaps I get to celebrate two name days? Maria falls on February 28. Mary falls on March 25 (and is also a holiday -- for the ascension of Mary). I'm tell you... the Swedes are good.

Why Sweden and not Sverige?

Do you know what bugs me? That we change country names in our language. Why do we do that? Sweden is not really Sweden by Sverige, which is a beautiful sounding word (pron. svair-ee-yah ... which almost rhymes with Marya). Anyway... why did we have to change it to Sweden?