Tuesday Randomness

Tuesday mornings are hard after being home and away from the office Friday through Monday. Add in cold air temps and darkness – and I wonder why I live here and why I can't win a lottery that equals early retirement. Ugh.

Of course, seeing that my Swedish Chef Mafia fantasy football team won again to remain the only undefeated status in our two Marketing Department leagues gives me reason to smile. I've got injuries and a very shallowly qualified bench so this status could change any week. Still it's kind of a fun as a "girl" to be kicking ass!

This Tuesday in particular also meant it was Veterans Day, so thank you to all of you who have served! Something I don't take for granted because I know I am too selfish to ever consider putting my life on the line for anything other than my hubby, kids and family. God bless you all!

This Tuesday in particular was also our monthly Girls' Night Out. We had 8 of us tonight at Ida's. So nice to catch up. And no, we're not girls anymore. Our conversations are around health issues and grand-babies and challenging Millennials at work (ha). As always, though, good food and great company!

I'm excited that this Tuesday also calls for a great chance to see the Northern Lights! 

Unfortunately, we have a cloud cover here in Wood County, Wisconsin. As of 8 p.m. failed photo shoot. I'll try again later. Or tomorrow night. 

Happy Tuesday to you all – and let's hit Hump Day with some attitude (and energy, please!).

Hail to the Chef

Well the Minnesota Vikings might not have a GM or coach as of today, but thank god the Swedish Chef Mafia do. That's right, you're not only looking at the GM and coach of this stellar fantasy football team, but the new Superbowl Champion!

Boom! I knew I had to have a bit of good news eventually in 2022. And here it is on Day 10. Finally.

Actually, after losing in the championship game last season, I didn't have high hopes of returning. But this time, through weird flukes of backup players picked up after injuries, I somehow kept plowing through. I even had a 7-game winning streak at one point.

So with an 11-3 record and playoff victories, I will claim the coveted traveling trophy. Just as soon as I get back to the office. Which may be awhile yet. Still, I look forward to taking it from the guy who beat me last year and who I beat in round one of the playoffs this year. 

Not that I have a competitive bone in my body.

So there's my good news for the day. Hopefully not for the whole week. Still waiting for God to answer prayers for the two loved ones in serious conditions. Good things come to those who wait.

She says as she hoists the invisible trophy over her head!

#SwedishChefMafiaRules

It's in my DNA

One sure way to distract hubby and me is offering free access to a genealogy website. It's one of those hobbies you can ignore for months at a time, then suddenly you get back into it for a night. And 3 hours later wonder what where the evening went.

If you do family tree work, the site is https://www.americanancestors.org/. Free access until Nov. 19. However, it is a site hosted by some New England group, so this Midwest girl hasn't had any luck with matching searches. Even immigration records. So...

Here I am with nothing to show for it. After 3 hours. EXCEPT I also got an email from Ancestry.com, who I did my DNA test through a few years back, and they said my DNA results are updated. I was a bit suspicious since I hadn't sent in a new spit sample. Turns out their methods for interpreting results have improved and so my results have an updated interpretation.

No real changes other than that small 6% or 11% or whatever that was "possibly other European" is now gone. I am 100% Scandinavian! Which, based on my family tree work is a fact.

Interesting that the new interpretation has me more Norwegian than Swede, but in real life I am 75% Swede and 25% Norwegian. Also... the new possibility that I am 7% Finnish will have my dad rolling in his grave.

I honest to god (or Valhalla), heard him talk about "those goofy Finlanders" once when I was growing up. Ha. My dad had opinions.

I guess that's in my DNA, too! No need for some expensive DNA kit to tell you that.

Just Bork It

Sorry to offend anyone, but really, really just had to share this. I know there is serious division out there over a certain athletic shoe advertisement. But this made me giggle.

As the Swedish Chef always does! Bork Bork!

And I might have to make this my new logo for my fantasy football team – the undefeated Swedish Chef Mafia! Hey, a 1-0 record still counts as undefeated. But I will say that my matchup this past week probably yielded the lowest scores. I don't know who else the SCM can beat this year, but everyone has a hot week once in awhile.

I'll hold onto that hope. And when all else fails, I'll just Bork Bork Bork it!

Yah, hey.

Under the Weather

God afton! That's "good evening" in Swedish. Jag skulle vija ha Shamrock Shake. "I'd like a Shamrock Shake."

No, I am not really learning Swedish. I just ordered a dictionary to potentially help me translate a few words on some family tree documents. It came in the mail today and I suspect it will be well worth what I paid for it (2 cents + $3.99 shipping on Amazon) in no time.

I was thinking it might be easiest to have another native language and learn English second. However, I'm coming to realize the English language (as we use it) has soooo many words and phrases that mean the same thing, that it would very, very challenging.

The other night we were on our way to the basketball game and some announcer on the radio mentioned someone wasn't appearing somewhere because they were "under the weather." Carter asks, "What does that mean?" Hubby and I look at each other and both ask, "You've never heard that?" Nope, he says.

We explain that it simply means someone isn't feeling well, they're not 100%, sort of like Carter was Monday when he stayed home from school. Good explanation, but, asks the inquiring mind, "Why do we say that?"

Good question. I had to look it up since I wasn't completely sure and didn't want to pull a LeRoy and make something up. Turns out it stems from back in the days when sailors would feel seasick and would go below deck -- away from and under the weather -- to settle their stomachs and feel better. It made sense on land, too, since the weather can affect some people with certain ailments like arthritis.

Wow, you've learned so much already. Shall I go on?

Actually, that's all I know about that. But it is funny when we stop and listen to ourselves. How many phrases did we use this week without thought to their origin? I was talking with a friend about old wives' tales. Anyone mention March coming in like a lamb? Does anyone have cabin fever? Spring fever?

No wonder English can be a "foreign" language even to our kids. I'm sure Carter will figure it out eventually. After all, he's smarter than the average bear.

... But I have no idea how he stacks up against the above-average ones.

TGIF .... or M or R

Did you know July 18-24 is Fruntimmersveckan (Week of Women) in Sweden? Fruntimmer is an old Swedish word for woman so they are celebrating wonderful Scandinavian women like me!

Six women have name days during the week and that is why the week is called fruntimmersveckan. The name days for the week begin with Fredrik on July 18th followed by Sara, Margareta, Johanna, Magdalena, Emma and Kristina.

I think if my mother, a full-blooded Swede, knew about Fruntimmersveckan she would have chosen those names instead of our R names: Rayna, Romey, Renell, RoAnn, Rachel, Robyn and Raylene. So instead of Margareta day today it would be Renell day (then do we say TGIR?).

I do like the name Johanna. I have learned through my family tree work over the years that that is the name of my great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother on my mother's side.

The other days of Fruntimmersveckan are pretty names, too. I noticed they didn't use the names of some of my other great-grandmothers -- Augusta and Gunhild. Those sound more like names for sturdy, hard-working farm women -- and they were.

I'm proud to say there were no delicate flowers blooming from my family tree. Until me that is. I don't work a farm. I don't work a garden. Beyond knowing how to operate a push mower, there's nothing sturdy about me. At least I can live up to my "flighty" name!

Happy Fruntimmersveckan, everyone!