Swedish version of “Green Eggs and Ham”

One of my favorite books as a child was “Green Eggs and Ham.”  In fact, I think I can still recite most of it by memory still today, so when I came across this Swedish parody of it, I had to put it here for all of you to enjoy!   (And with Christmas coming up, there is absolutely NO way I’m going to eat any Lutefisk, and if anyone thinks they’re going to make me, remember that it takes a MONTH for your house to get rid of the stinky smell of the fish- if you can even call it fish, MOM!!!)

Lutefisk and Yams

by Ulf Gunnarsson

Hark and ware, oh Warrior!, Weird of Sven now hear you.
How good Lars he harried, pestered him with questions.

Late at meadhall light burned; Lars did strive to largen
belly with a bowl of boiled fish his mission.

And some chunks of chicken, cheese and bread and peasoup,
finally pounds of pancakes paired with lingon berries.

Smallish snack he snuck while woozy wife lay snoozing.
When inside there wandered forth a fellow northman.

Lars did greet him greatly for he knew the gruesome
tales of host who hasten travellers forth from doorstep.

Lars did ask his name then. “I am Sven,” he mentioned.
“Sven I am,” he stated. “Do you like lutefisk and yams?”

“Nay.” said Lars, “though largely like I food most goodly, but
I do not like lutefisk and yams, I do not like them Sven I am.”

“Ah,” said Sven most sagely. “Would you eat them on a trip?
Would you eat them on your ship?”

“Nay,” said Lars, “though largely like I food most goodly, but
I would not eat them on a trip.
I would not eat them on my ship.
I do not like lutefisk and yams,
I do not like them, Sven I am.”
“Ah,” said Sven. “Then maybe might you eat them on a raid?
Might you eat them with a maid?”

“Nay,” said Lars most strongly. “Like I food most goodly, but
I would not eat them on a raid,
I would not eat them with a maid,
I would not eat them on a trip,
I would not eat them on my ship.
I do not like lutefisk and yams.
I do not like them, Sven I am.”

“Hmmm,” said Sven, “Good fellow,
would you eat them on the field?
Would you eat them off your shield?”

“Nay!” cried Lars most wrothly,
“Like I food most goodly, but
I would not eat them on the field,
I would not eat them off my shield,
I would not eat them on a raid,
I would not eat them with a maid,
I would not eat them on a trip,
I would not eat them on my ship.
I do not like lutefisk and yams.
I do not like them, Sven I am.”

Sven then looked most crafty. He then slyly stated:
“Would you eat them served up cold?
Would you eat them if I paid you gold?”

“Well,” said Lars, “since largely, Like I food most goodly…
I might like lutefisk and yams. I might like them, Sven I am.”

Sven produced this Swedish yam and lutefisk sample.
Lars did test this tasty treat then longly pondered.

Stoutly Lars then stated:
“I despise lutefisk and yams.
I despise them, Sven I am.
I will not eat them served up cold,
I will not eat them if you pay me gold.
I will not eat them on the field,
I will not eat them off my shield,
I will not eat them on a raid,
I will not eat them with a maid,
I will not eat them on a trip,
And I will NOT eat them on MY ship!
I do not like lutefisk and yams,
I do not like them, Sven I am.”
And he slew Sven.

October, 1982, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Do you know where you were in October 26 years ago?  I know where I was.  I was at the old County Stadium in the great city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin cheering on the Milwaukee Brewers the last time they were in the playoffs (and the World Series against St. Louis.)  My family had tickets to the playoffs and the World Series, which was absolutely unbelievable!!!  My dad grew up a die hard Boston Red Sox fan (at that time, the Sox hadn’t won the World Series since 1918) and loved baseball.  And my dad taught my brother and me to love baseball too.  When I was growing up, the Milwaukee Brewers had a great program for families, where for a really low price, you could buy something like 6 or 8 tickets a year for children under 13 and the parents would get a reduced price as well.  So going to the baseball games was the big entertainment for our family.  We didn’t take vacations, with my dad working full time and my mom being a full time student getting her Ph.d, and them both doing full time parenting, so being together at Brewer games is really what I remember most.  And then as a teenager, my friends and I would go to a couple of games together.  (Q. and I had some crushes on players as I remember ?!?!)

Back to 1982.  Because my dad had lived his entire life watching the Red Sox lose, when the Brewers made it to the playoffs, my dad told my mom and I quote “if we have to mortgage the house to get tickets, we’ll do it.”  Wow!  Well, they didn’t have to do any refinancing, because when mom went down to County Stadium to see if tickets were available, they had just released the tickets that other baseball clubs didn’t want, so we had tickets for both series BEHIND HOME PLATE.  It really was a dream for all of us (except for the Brewers losing the World Series to St. Louis.)  I think my photos from that time are at my folks, so I’ll post them when I find them.

I was back in M’waukee a year and a half ago and stocked up on Brewer gear for my family (they changed the logo a couple of years ago.)  So I’m set to watch the Brewers.

And my beloved Red Sox made it as the wild card in the American league, so they’ll be playing too.  I don’t know what I’m going to do, with all of this baseball going on!  Luckily I have enough Brewer and Red Sox gear to be able to go a couple of days without doing laundry, I’ll just switch hats and shirts (and even socks!) when I need to!  Thank goodness hockey season doesn’t start until later in the month, otherwise, I’d be really confused!

Prayer Shawl

After a horrible day yesterday.  (In addition to having one of my back teeth break in two (I think I swallowed the half that broke off! And of course it’s a holiday weekend so I can’t see a dentist until Tuesday) I cut my left thumb while cutting up a tomato for a sandwich and it still hurts!)  I decided that making it to church had to be a top priority today.  We started on our summer schedule, which is one service at 9am, which I absolutely love.  I can get up for 9am.  8 not so much, and the 10 service goes on and on and I sometimes don’t leave until noon, so this 9am is great.

Unfortunately the father of our Associate Pastor/Minister of Music had a stroke this week and Pastor Pat is with her family (prayers for the Potter family please.)  So we got a treat today.  Our regular Pastor, Pastor Julie played the organ and her husband, also a Pastor, Pastor Hans filled in as the presiding minister.  Pastor Hans delivered a great sermon on God always being there for us and that we don’t need to worry so much.  I almost started to cry a couple of times, especially when he talked about being sick and worrying about getting better.

After the service, Pastor Julie said that she had something for me.  My mom (who also goes to the same church as I do) and I went to Pastor Julie’s office and Pastor Julie gave me this absolutely beautiful handmade knitted shawl.  We have this wonderful ministry at Immanuel.  Many people get together and knit these prayer shawls for people in the church and the community who are going through tough (and also good like marriage) times.  The church has been praying for me and they wanted to give me something tangible to remind me that I am not alone.  I was so overwhelmed that I started to cry and was at a loss for words (which for me is a shocker!)  Pastor Julie said that each shawl ends up having some special meaning between the knitters and the recipient.  When I unfolded the shawl, I immediately noticed the colors, the two outer panels are gray and the middle panel is red.  The colors of my hometown in Wisconsin.  In high school we were the gray hounds and our colors were red and gray.  I said this to Pastor Julie, and she said she was getting goosebumps, and one of the knitters who had joined us, heard this as well and Sandy got goosebumps.  It’s an incredible link.  No one here in Massachusetts could know the importance of red and gray in my life… except God. 

For those of you who have doubts about the existence of God, this could not be a cosmic coincidence.  Or luck of the draw.  It is God and I am so thankful.

Here is a picture of my prayer shawl.

Here is the prayer that came with it.  By Sandy Mann May 2006

“Prayer for Healing

Guided by God’s love for us, this shawl is knit for you.

Healing, strength and peace, to bless upon your spirit true.

Wrap yourself in warmth and love, entwined in every stitch.

Prayers said to God above, please heal, mend and enrich.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit, intoned throughout the shawl.

Triune blessings knit within it, best wishes from us all.”

Allergic Reaction

I woke up this morning not really being able to swallow, thinking that we’ve had such weird weather- from 70’s and sunny to 40’s and rain- that my allergies were acting up, or that the pneumonia infection is acting up, until I looked in the mirror.  Nope, I was having a full blown allergic reaction to something.  My face was huge and swollen like a balloon.  In fact it was so swollen, you couldn’t even see my ears!  My eyes wouldn’t open and I had no neck.  In addition, my fingers looked like I was wearing plastic gloves with air in them and my feet were twice the size as normal.  I called my doctor, who said there was nothing really that could be done, because I was already on the steroids to treat the pneumonia.  I would just have to wait it out (with a little help from Benedryl.)  If things got worse, I was to use my Epipen and call 911.  I called my mom to let her know what was going on, and we tried to figure out what caused the allergic reaction, and you’ll never guess.  Last night I made those pop open biscuits from the refrigerator case.  I’m allergic to the yeast that’s in them (which makes sense, since I have a really severe mold allergy.)  Mom has the same allergy to this yeast, so she identified it right away.  Well, I’m going to have to watch what I eat even more closely now

Hooked on Reality TV (ok Reality Internet)

I don’t really like reality TV (okay, I’m lying, I love reality TV.  I’m a huge Big Brother fan, and Dancing With the Stars, and Top Chef, but not really American Idol.)  Anyway, for the third season, I’m hooked on the Internet reality show produced by the soap opera As The World Turns, InTurn.  The premise is that 10 wanna be soap actors compete in acting competitions for a 13 week contract role on As The World Turns.  It’s really interesting.  This past week the “contestants” had to memorize a monologue and as they performed for the judges distractions like silly string, itching powder, dance music and fog were thrown at them to see how 1) they memorize 2) they take the direction of “be prepared” and 3) perform under difficult situations.  This is acting at its best I think.  (I’m also biased, I’ve been watching As The World Turns since I was in utero.  My Great-Grandmother Parrish began watching the show when it FIRST began, and got my mom hooked as a teenager.  Then when my grandmother retired, she began watching the show too, so that makes me a 4th generation ATWT fan.  So now that ATWT has moved into cyberspace, I go too!  

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mothers out there.  To you new mothers, happy first mother’s day (this is for Patti and Jillian, mommys to little Madaelein; Sarah, mommy to cute little Kaitlyn; Happy day to Krista, the mommy of big boy Torsten.)  I also want to wish a happy day to all of you who have kids already and are an old hat at this celebration thing.  I say this to Jen, the mom of two adorable babies, Veronica and Natalie.  And to my friends LaQuisha and Kristi who are soon to give birth, happy mother’s day early!!

But to all you moms, people that act like moms in our lives, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, friends, godmothers and in general just special friends.  This day is made for you too!

Ben’s HOME!!!

Ben came home to Massachusetts last Friday night.  There was a huge crowd at Providence’s (RI) T.F. Green Airport to welcome our hero home!  (My mom Ellen is holding the yellow sign and I am in the center with my head cut off.  Ben’s mom Mary is kneeling in front of me, Ben’s girlfriend Lindsey is on the floor holding the red “Ben”sign and Ben’s daughter Hailey at age 6 1/2 is also on the floor next to Lindsey and Mary. )

 It was such an emotional homecoming.  We all got to hug and kiss Ben individually and then take pictures with him.  As soon as I saw him, I couldn’t stop crying.  Therefore, I am only showing happy pictures.   My sign read that Ben had been away for 221 days, 12 hours, 56 minutes and too many seconds to count.  It was great to see my parents be able to greet Ben too.  So here’s Ben and his “other” parents and his sister Karen Marie.

Ben, you are our hero, and we are all so proud of you and your fellow soldiers!  It’s so good to have you home!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

It’s also my mom’s birthday.  So happy birthday mom! 

She was lucky and got to celebrate her birthday early a couple of weekends ago in Orlando with my brother Dave and my cousins, and even my uncle.  It sounded like they all had a good time.  Except for my cousin Staci and her family who now live in Utah and my dad and me, the whole family was together for the first time in decades!  Stace and I commiserated over the phone though   Dad was swamped at work and I couldn’t travel due to the pneumonia I was getting over.  Bummer.  But at least my mom and my brother were together to celebrate mom’s birthday (and the fact that Gail is now cancer free- yeah.)

But I digress.  Happy Birthday mom!

Christmas 2007

I had a great Christmas this year.  This was the first Christmas in many, many years that I didn’t sing in the choir for Christmas eve (I also skipped singing at the 11pm service too.)  And guess what?  I actually got to enjoy the service at Immanuel and being there with my family and then seeing all of my friends after the service.  I think that having not to rush around and be at church at certain times and rehearse made life a lot easier.  I thoroughly enjoyed the church service of lessons and carols.  Then I went to my parents house for a traditional Swedish dinner of meatballs, lingonberries (the equivalent to cranberries,) creamed potatoes, carrots, Swedish Bundost (a kind of cheese) and then cookies.  I was so good.  I skipped the cookies (and ended up losing 3 pounds this week yeah!)

On Christmas morning, my parents came over to my house (after we all slept in !!)  And had Swedish pancakes and sausage, opened our presents.  Hey, Santa found my new house even!  One of the sweetest gifts I received was from my Godparents and I’ve know about it since April.  My godparents are in their 80’s and they had formal pictures taken at Easter and there’s a lovely picture of my Godmother Darlene and my Godfather Jim.  My godmother had a 5×8 picture made for me and she found a beautiful frame to put the picture in.  It’s something that I’ll treasure forever.  Especially since the tag read “To Karen, from your loving Godparents.”  That’s definitely what they are, my loving Godparents.

I hope you all have had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all a very wonderful 2008!

Love that Chinese food

Tonight my parents come over and brought me some very yummy Chinese food from the Golden Panda restaurant in North Attleboro.  It ’s an awesome restaurant, and no msg in their food.  You can even get the basic menu items steamed (like chicken and broccoli) to make it healthier for you.  (So if you’re ever in North Attleboro, try the Golden Panda- it has both an all you can eat buffet AND a chef makes it for you Mongolian Barbecue!)  Thanks mom and dad!

My folks brought the food over because somehow I came in contact with something this week that I became highly allergic to, to the point of having hives.  The itching was driving me crazy, so the doctors put me on Prednisone, much to my dismay.  So I’m a little sleepy because of the drugs.  After all it is fall in New England and with all of the leaves changing, anything could have triggered these stupid allergies.

As of today, my brother B. has been deployed for 12 days now.