This past winter Tomas, the kids, and I were lucky to visit some dear friends in Vermont. While we were there, we heard that there was a hibernating bear (!!) not too far away from the house. We did not go visiting (last thing i wanted to do was wake a sleeping bear!), but there was something rather exciting to know that he was jus a few hundred yards away from us while we romped in the smow and sledded.

It’s been forever since my last post here, and I feel a bit as if I’d been hibernating, too. It’s been a rocky road, to be honest. I’d been looking for work forever & then landed a job, only to lose it a few months later. Pretty hard to keep your chin up when you’ve been rejected as many times as I have.

The good news is that while I continue to look for work (and try to figure out what it is I want to be when I finally grow up), I’ve been able to spend quality time with the kids again. Typically in the role of chauffeur for Maggie and Bjørn who are 12 and 10 now, but more meaningfully with Tor (5) who had a bumpy introduction to kindergarten — reading is HARD! It’s exciting to see his progress (leaps and bounds of it!) and to know that I helped facilitate that.

I’m also excited to start planning our summer, and will share our adventures with you here — I’ve got plenty in mind!I’m so glad to be back online & to chat with you all again.

What do you have planned this summer?

{excuse the lack of photos … I forgot my camera at home!}

Figure a good place to start when you haven’t been able to write in a while is with a blog post.

I’m on a plane (LOVE airplane wifi, not so in love with this airline — my plane smells like pee) — headed to what promises to be a grand couple of days of meeting & greetiing, and re-kindling friendships, and learning about what’s new with some of my favorite web destinations like Flickr & Shine. I’ll be at the Yahoo! Mother Board Summit & it promises to be a busy/informative/great event.

Every time I take a flight I find myself with an awful case of the jitters and insomnia, last night was no exception. I think I slept all of 45 minutes, and didn’t pack my bag until around three in the morning (upon blurry reflection, I’m pretty sure I have a day’s less clothing than I need, sigh…). I also left the house in a total disaster (which always happens, and which always leaves me knotted with feelings of guilt and inadequacy).

I haven’t even gotten where I’m going yet, and already I’m missing my family something terrible.

See? I think I’ve just demonstrated the why of my writer’s block. It’s much funner to post happy fun times. Creative, vibrant, alive times. Must focus on those more. Right now I’m feeling the weight of my responsibilities a bit too heavily & need to re-focus, re-group. Maybe stepping away for a couple days will be good.

I wish I’d brought a camera.

Oy! How bad is my creative block these days? So bad that, even though the kids are ever busy with their daily creations, I don’t have it in me to take note and capture the moments here. Instead? I’m spending time over at Huset, ogling the beautiful things they have for sale that I can’t afford just now. (bust still… I’m happy to know this online store exists for when my wallet is a bit thicker).

A couple good things are going on that will certainly help. First, I’ve won a spot on Pip’s Blog Tour. Pip of Meet Me At Mikes, one of my all-time favorite blogs, will be stopping by here with a guest post in early February. Hurrah!

Secondly, I’m taking part in Ali’s Seven Days of Specialness project, and I have the best swap partner ever. You will love Kristin’s blog, Kleas.

Have any suggestions for overcoming blogger’s block? Share ‘em here! I could use all the help I can get

I can’t imagine all that ice on our windows can be a good thing, but it sure is beautiful, eh?

I’ve started making prettier food just so I could display it on this cake stand I got at Target right before Christmas. Even ugly food looks good on it.