Christmas 2019
It’s the first of December. After a very grey and rainy November it is suddenly sunny and frosty here in Göteborg, but – mon dieu – so many days until Christmas! What could I fill all of them with? Well being Sunday and all I think sitting in my grandparents old sofa thinking about life, the universe, Christmas and everything is a good option.
Second December – still Christmas is an amazing number of hours away. I have some different strategies to kill time. One of them is thinking about different things. A couple of years ago there was a tragic incident with one of my teeth.
Of some reason it got stressed. Could have been that I was chewing too much or it just wasn’t comfortable with its neigbours – who knows? But anyway – in order to defent it self the tooth build a kind of stone. Like a mussle it made a tooth pearl that was later found inside it. Inspite of all its efforts, the pearl and everything the sad ending was that the tooth died. After the funural I decided to pay more attention to my body parts and started to give them names.
This is a time consuming process – perfect when you are waiting for Christmas. Today I’m working on naming the bones of my feet. This is my list so far:
Fibula – Sigvard (left), Sigbritt (right)
Tibia – Torgny (left), Tore (right
Talus – Veronika (left), Vilgot (right)
Navicular – Skutty (left), Stampe (right)
Calcaneus – Morgan (left), Glenn (right)
3rd of December and one more day closer… Letting creativity get some space can definitely get the hours to move quicker. Sometimes I write songs. I write about things that occupy my heart, my soul and my mind. Quite often the theme is Christmas. This one is in Swedish but if you would like to translate it here is the text:
Oh denna mat denna högtidens mat som vi kallar julebordet
Se vilken syn alla tunnbröd i skyn
Dopp i grytan – det är ordet!
Allt det som vi älskar fyller fat på fat på fat
Och i dess dofter sveps vi in – korv och sill gör magen stinn
Oh-oh denna mat denna ljuvliga mat som vi kallar julebordet!
4th of december! 3 days are already behind me and I’m ready to attack the fourth. Craft is something I enjoy A LOT! When I get into it times just flies. It is also often appreciated by my family and friends. My father loves rice – normally he eats it as porridge but this year I’m going to make him a rice necklace. Here is a DIY-video!
December 5: Another thing I sometimes do to make time pass is to hide things from myself, or put them in places where they are hard to get out
For example:
Placing a your favourite lipstick in the inner pocket of a jacket you seldom use
Placing things like needles or hairpins between the planks in the floor
Dropping for example an earring in in the vinegar bottle
Constantly changing the spot where you hide your extra keys
Store a lot of clothes in a tight wardrobe, put your underwear and socks in the back together with a lot of uncomfortable ones and ones with holes. Remember it is much better if most of the clothes has the same colour.
December 6 and funky Friday! What would be better than to celebrate it with a song!? This one is about Virgin Mary and you are more than welcome to sing along!
Marias fittage var aldrig rört
Men hon blev på smällen – det är helt stört
Gud fader med sin långa arm
Satte han jesus i jungfruns barm?
Smög han in till Maria då, hon låg där så sött och sov?
Glömde Gud att be om lov?
Maria fick tacka och ta emot
Frälsarn i henne slagit rot
Gud fader med sin långa arm
Planterade Jesus i jungfruns barm
En liten knopp, i hennes kropp
Från vår allsmäktige herre
Det hade kunnat va värre
December 7. Drinking ”glögg” (a sweet, spicy, warm and absolutely wonderful liquid) is something I can spend hours
doing. I also put some effort preparing the almonds and raisins that are traditionally served with this drink. A sharp knife, a steady hand and voila – you have some almond shaped owls to go with your glögg!
December 8th – I love Christmas music! One of my absolute favourite songs is Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas”. It lasts for 4 minutes and 1 second. If you put it on repeat you can listen to it 358 times (+ one extra half) during a 24hrs period.
December 9th. As I mentioned before, I work a lot with art and craft. This helps me not to think about all the slow moving seconds and hours. This is a piece that I call “Revelation”.
December 10!
“Don’t play with your food” – that’s just total bullshit! Play as much as you can with your food I say! It will make your eating breaks last longer and I’m quite sure it also makes your food healthier.
December 11… Spending time with family is a well-known trick to make time pass quicker. I sometimes go to visit my sister, my two lovely nieces and my brother in law. Like me they are constantly dreaming about Christmas. This is a video that we did together. Don’t be scared of the demonic characters – there’s a perfectly normal underlying Christmas theme!
December 12. My family lives far away but I’m very lucky to have good friends nearby. While waiting for Christmas I often spend time with them. With Lucia coming up I thought some grooming could be a suiting activity. I really have a hand with beards. I know how important it is to use the right oils, combs and knifes, and my treatment sometimes really makes magic – look at this for example – before and after!
December 13 and finally finally LUCIA!!
One thing I have learned from my nieces is that a good make-up can (and should) take hours to put on. Me and their other aunt Andrea Mannberg (my sister aka Ass. Prof. Mannberg) agree that we should listen to the younger generation and for this year’s Lucia performance this new knowledge became very useful.
Det är Lucia som kommer till er
Ja – jag är ett helgon som ni ser
Jag kommer till er genom mörka natt
Jag kommer med ljus och lussekatt
För jag är Lucia, jag är Lussebrud, jag är Lucia – i en schysst vit skrud
Midvinternattens köld är hård. Mörket är becksvart oh my lord
Då skrider jag in som en surpris och ylar i skyn som en stucken gris att:
Jag är Lucia, jag är Lussebrud, Jag är Lucia – i en schysst vit skrud
Jag kommer till er genom mörka natt
Jag kommer med ljus och lussekatt
Jag kommer jag kommer som Lussebrud
Jag kommer i en schysst vit skrud
December 14 and the day after Lucia. It’s a day for contemplation and I can recommend everyone to use my mindfulness exercise to get back to find your inner balance. All you need is a bottle of Julmust (Christmas root beer) and a glass. Sit down in a calm place, look at the bottle. Try to imagine the sound when you open it and pour the liquid into the glass. Then take the bottle in your hands, touch it with your finger tips, touch it with the palm of your hands. If it’s a plastic bottle you can also try to squeeze it. Then open the bottle, listen to the sound, whas it what you expected? Slowly pour the Julmust into the glass, lean close to it and feel the smell and the small bubbles that will hit your face if you are close enough. Imagine how it will feel to drink it. How your tongue will swim around in all this brown fizzy sweet loveliness. Then drink as much as you can as fast as you can and let all the bubbles go right down to your stomach, make a U-turn and go right back up your throat again! If this doesn’t get you back on track I don’t know what will.
December 15. When it comes to cooking a very important part of it is mental preparation. I spend hours and days thinking about the Christmas food. What dishes will be on the table? Which of the old favourites can’t be forgotten? Maybe some new recipes? And most important who will make it all?
December 16. Monday. Mondays are always so long, I wonder if the seconds are a bit sleepy after the weekend… To get the hours rolling, carefully preparing your breakfast is a good start and you will easily get a diverse and healthy meal by making sandwiches with a variation of spreads!
December 17. Travelling is a great way to spend time. Earlier this year I visited an absolutely fantastic place far far away. Coming home I had gotten not only fantastic memories and friends, but also a magic carpet and a new favourite song. The original is not about a goat – but my (and my sister’s) version is:
Julebocken med din gula halm, med din gula halm, med din gula halm
Julebocken med din gula halm, här kommer nu en liten julepsalm
Julebocken vi älskar dig, och jule bocken vi älskar dig
Julebocken vi älskar dig, och jule bocken vi älskar dig
När du kommer och knackar på våran port. När du kommer och knackar på våran port
Då springer vi och öppnar – fort så fort
Då springer vi och öppnar – fort så fort
För nu så händer något stort
För nu så händer något stort
För nu så händer något stort
Julebocken du kommer med gåvoor
Julebocken du kommer med gåvoor
Mjuka paket och hårda klappar
Mjuka paket och hårda klappar
Vi älskar dig så – för det du bär på
Vi älskar dig så – vart enda gult strå
December 18. Saying I like white cabbage is an understatement. I LOVE it! Take a bite and boom – ten minutes has passed without you even notice it. Sadly it hasn’t yet got the place it deserves at the classic Christmas table. I am doing my best to make a change by trying out some different recipes. Maybe something like this?
December 19. It’s still a long long time until The Day, but I’m a bit worried that once it’s here it will all be over all too quick…
Jag drömmer om en jul hemma
Där jag får va i lugn och ro
Inte jobba hela natten
Knappt ens hinna kasta vatten
Inga barn som inte på mig tror
Jag drömmer om en jul hemma
Med pyntad gran och tända ljus
Inte ränna runt med säcken
Ingen värk i rygg och bäcken
Ba få va här hemma i mitt hus
Jag drömmer om en jul hemma
Kanske med glögg och nån pastej
Kanske gröt och ischoklad
Ja då skulle jag bli glad
Och tänk om en tomte kom till mig
December 20. Making all the gifts is something I have been working on all year. To be honest I’m quite happy with the result. When I think about it I’m more than happy – many of the gifts are (if I may say so) masterpieces! It’s sort of sad to have to give them all away ?
December 21. My work is very demanding. Both physically and mentally. To stay in shape I work out. I really enjoy doing it with my sister and here are two of our favourite exercises.
As I mentioned my work is also quite tough mentally. To be honest I’m a bit nervous for the upcoming event but I use different methods to prepare myself. Visualizing possible scenarios is one of them.
December 23. I have gotten some comments about my belly. I know it is quite impressive! But it hasn’t come to me without efforts – getting a belly like this certainly takes some training.
December 24. It’s time – merry Christmas everyone!
