Tired Tamale

First of all, Congratulations to Jon Garrey for the cutest letter ever! I will attempt to reciprocate. I keep writing postcards to people and then not sending them for weeks because buying stamps is such a challenge. In reality it is very easy to find and purchase stamps, but its something I struggle with personally.

Next, my lunch.
Today I bought some things that I will eat for lunch all week. I bought knäcka bröd, some kind of soft mild cheese, and a whole mess of olives. I am very pleased with this food, even though the olives cost almost 50 kroner, which is a lot for lunch groceries. I also saw a butternut squash and bought it on the spot, I was so happy to see it! I could bake it and eat it with butter, I could make curried squash soup, or who knows? The possibilities are almost endless.

Mental health: I have a desperate need for control in some areas of my life. This is not new information, but I was reminded of it today when I learned the the "Hippie" themed party at my favorite Gulla Vilan (humanities house on campus with loads of lovely people) was on Thursday and not Friday and it almost ruined my evening. I had planned out in my mind what the week was going to look like, and everything fit perfectly from going to the Opera on Wednesday, to Steve Gadd (famous drummer) on Thursday, to hippie party (I thought) on Friday, and Dave Weckl (another famous drummer) on Saturday. Now I have to think how I will make it to both the hippie party and the jazz club and whether I should change or go downtown with flowers in my hair and a peasant skirt. I guess the reason I am upset besides having control issues is that I enjoy the hippie persona, and I consider myself fairly qualified to do a good job representing it. Besides, in such a modern and style-conscious city as Stockholm, its a rare opportunity to feel in my clothing element, so to speak. What can I say? I can't wear a pair of stylish black jeans meant for a very thin/fit population of swedes the same way I can wear a nice long hippie skirt. It's just the way that I'm shaped.

Lastly, I have a cold - from not sleeping .... from drinking coffee late at night. Clearly, this is my fault. So let me say this now, in public: No more coffee after 6pm for me. Either that, or I might have to (gasp!) start drink decaf. "But decaf is for chumps, Brita!" you say. And I can't say that I didn't hold this viewpoint at one point. I used to secretly laugh at customers who ordered decaf cappuccinos from me. "Why even drink coffee if you're going to drink it like that?" I used to sneer, in my head, because if I so much as sneezed at them Terri Jo (my boss, notoriously scary lady) would have bit my head off in so many words in one of her famous passive-aggressive mailbox notes. But everything has changed now. Now I can see the world from the bleary eyes of one who put the end of a banana on their nose tonight at dinner - the eyes of one who has spent a night without sleep because of coffee.