Yes, that note slipped in the pocket idea seems just right, thank you. Flowers or anything 'real' delivered over there would be too heavy duty. Would a post card sent to her hotel there be appropriate if I can't do the note? (It may be difficult to know what clothes she takes, and what luggage...) I don't know the hotel's address, but could ask her.
We have a movie to watch here at home sometime now, maybe that can be our one mini-date before leaving next weekend. I have to probably go the States just after she gets back, for maybe 10 days. Following that the various real date plans can finally happen. (We also have various parties planned - for my son's violin group, for my wife's ballet group, and for our friends in general - busy all the way to Christmas).
W is out printing all day again - producing for the show in Japan (wonder how she plans to carry all the stuff?).
Endlessly gray, cool, and rainy, heading into November, Sweden's toughest month,
Luke
M58, xW54 S22, D18 M 1984, D 2016 Living a new life.
No postcard. How about a telegram sent when you know she has finished the presentation? Say something like:
Congrats! (stop) I know all your hard work paid off (stop) I'm very proud of you (stop)
Or, after the presentation, have room service deliver her breakfast: croissants, coffee, juice, flower etc. But of course you need mucho information, like where she is staying, for how long, and verify it with the hotel. Of course, you will have to arrange it with the concierge. You give them a credit card number, so it won't appear on her bill.
Thanks for the ideas. I sent her a telegram which was, in the best old fashioned way, hand delivered by a messenger to her in the hotel. She called this morning with some other questions, but said that she got the telegram and liked it (and the joke at the end "have a yen to see you soon stop" - haha - appropriate when in Japan), so that seems good.
The weather here is temporarily warm today and tomorrow so we will plant the tulip bulbs while the soil is still soft - hopefully it will freeze hard before she gets back, so that she is not tempted to do some late season garden work and dig around. Luckily we flew to Istanbul via Holland, where they had a great selection of flowers. My D will help plant, so we all are in on the secret (the kids are sworn to secrecy on a couple of things like this).
They had neat translucent shadow puppets (Karagoz) in Istanbul, made of camel skin and prettily painted, of which we bought a couple; will hang these up in her window as a welcome home thing and maybe do something else beyond simply cleaning the house for her return.
I need to go to the States this coming weekend, so any dates are probably off until I return on Thanksgiving weekend. I then need to go back a week later again, so one or at most two opportunities are available, but something is better than nothing...
Need to come up with romance at a distance ideas now, given all this away time, hmm... but light things...
Time to weightlift (she hasn't noticed yet, but did wonder the other day where I was so long)...
Blue lake, light golden reeds in the sun just now, lively breeze from the west,
Luke
M58, xW54 S22, D18 M 1984, D 2016 Living a new life.
Great to hear from you!!! You have such visual articulation when you describe where you are... lovely.
I'm glad that she liked the telegram...small things put together with thoughts, always have a greater impact than something large and expensive.
So...you're coming over here...let's see what we can come up with.
How about sending her a sweet Hallmark card, one that when she opens it up, it plays a song relevant to the theme of the card? You can also go to a Hallmark Gold Crown card shop and buy one; plus you can go online and order one. Something sweet, not too mushy, etc.
If she collects anything, small, pick one up. Maybe, if you have time, find a new bulb for her garden next spring. Don't go overboard - nothing pricey, just small and thoughtful.
Will she be home, while you are away? If so, then "plant" a sweet card in her lingerie drawer. Or make a great thing in your kitchen, then put it in the freezer for her to find; like the chocolate mint ice cream.
Also, if there is something that you can't find in your country, that she likes, it might be over here, so pick it up. Remember, the key is to make it something small but with thought.......
Good luck...have a safe flight...let me know how things are progressing...
Those are great suggestions - thank you - for romance at a distance. The mint ice cream in the freezer idea is wonderful - travelling in Japan can be challenging tastebudwise - so she will probably appreciate some favorite comfort foods. We have a bunch of swiss chard in the garden that needs to be used up, so I'll make and freeze a spinach/chard lasagna, which she also likes, for her to use when I am gone (the chard bed might become the secret tulip bed then...) We'll put fresh flowers in her office to say welcome back. Other small items - perhaps a neat book for her to find - will be planted also, as well as having cleaned the house.
She gets in Friday evening at the airport, where we will meet her, ideally both the kids and I (to lighten things up on the drive home). Hopefully the 36 hours we then spend together until I leave will be short and sweet, a sort of reversed familiarity breeds contempt thing. She has lots to clean up here and I'll need to pack, so that short interlude will be mostly a hopefully comforting, homebody experience for all.
I am then back here for maybe 10 days after Thanksgiving before having to go back again to the States. Those ten days will likely be very busy, as we would like to have a Christmas party, which will probably have to be jammed into then, and possibly combined with my birthday (which is the day after I need to leave again); hopefully a date can be fitted into the whole business. Do you have any feelings for how to shape that time? Home should be a place she likes; not one she is bored by (she once told my D that, reversing a Swedish saying, "home is good, but away is best").
Christmas is then not too far off - and I have been accumulating gifts for a while for her. She loves tempura, so we have a mix and sauce to make that, I have an expensive two volume set on Japanese book design, maybe too heavy (in both senses of the word) a gift? and have been playing with the idea of giving her a clothing shopping spree at a fancy department store in Stockholm. Do you have any suggestions on what sort of gifts might be good for Chistmas? My instincts say to keep it light, not too expensive, and funny if possible. Do you think it would be good to have people over during the holidays?
Anyway, thanks again for all your ideas - you are a real champion coach in teaching me how to roll with the punches - Luke
M58, xW54 S22, D18 M 1984, D 2016 Living a new life.
When she comes home and starts to unpack - ask her for more details about how her presentation went. Ask some questions; let her see that you are genuinely interested in how it went.
Make sure your office desk is really clean, do all the laundry, the house in perfect condition when she arrives. The flowers on her window is excellent - might you also spritz a little house scent in the rooms - be it pine, lavender or apple spice.
The Japanese books could be given as a Christmas present, not now...does she have a Christmas stocking?
Definitely plan a party for the holidays. Those are always quite festive.
I would, however, let her and your children, plan for your birthday - don't mention it. This will be a prime time to see her participation and how much emphasis she has towards it. When is your birthday? It will also be interesting to see how much thought she puts into it...her response to all of your attention.
When you come back:
1. Take her to see Christmas lights around town 2. Take her skiing, ice skating, an ice show 3. Go together to get an Xmas tree 4. Decorate the house with lights, inside and out - good family project 5. Buy a wreath together for the front door 6. Go for cider, cocoa together 7. Decide on gifts together for the kids 8. Take her out shopping, see what she likes and looks at for a while - make a mental note - then go back and buy it when she's not with you. 9. Invite lots of friends and family over for the holidays 10. Make a Christmas stollen - with fruit
Play Christmas music in the house - ask her to dance.
I'll think of more, when you're away - so these are just a few things.
Well, the ice cream is made, her bed is freshly sheeted, there is a flower in the window, colorful turkish karagoz puppets are hanging in her workroom window, a construction scaffolding that stood for years in front of the house is disassembled and put away, the place is vacuumed, my office is clean, etc. I'll make her favorite food (colcannon) for dinner tomorrow, as well as the spinach lasagne for when I am gone.
The kids don't want to come to the airport, so it'll be just me there, but they have cleaned their rooms and the house is a welcoming place. I'll put on the finishing touches after this.
My birthday is on the 4th of December but I expect to have to leave again on the 3rd, back to the States, for work. That makes the 2nd the probable birthday party day, possibly combined with an early Christmas party. Yes, it will be interesting to see how much effort and love go into any party then.
I will be offline for a bit while travelling the next few days, hopefully back on Wednesday.
Thank you so much for all the suggestions - they are a wonderful compendium on building togetherness.
How are you doing?
Luke
M58, xW54 S22, D18 M 1984, D 2016 Living a new life.
