Expat Jon takes on the world (well... Sweden)

I do a lot of reflecting throughout each day.  A lot of it happens in the shower and ends with me shaking my head in disbelief.        -How could I have done something so stupid? Most of these shower moments are related to social situations.  I think back on them and wonder how someone with my social skills could embarrass myself like that.  I'm surprised that I don't reflect on situations that could have been really life altering.  Mistaking someone for pregnant isn't nearly as big of a deal as accompanying a home invasion/assault with a pistol, but somehow I get more chills thinking about the former. There are things I've done in the past that could have gotten me in huge trouble.  Each time it's something easily avoidable.  But like most young men, I thought I was invincible.  I'm lucky that premise wasn't tested.  Now I'm older and wiser and less inclined to go on an adventure.  There's one instance in the past t...

I look at Bash these days and I see him go through many memorable moments.  For instance, he JUST crawled under an armchair and got stuck.  Swedie pulled him out before he started crying or anything, but if that happened to me now I would remember it.  The feeling of being trapped inside of a chair and the helplessness that goes along with it would be something that I would remember and then put into my blog.  But Bash is the tender age of one.  He won't remember that.  As a matter of fact he won't remember anything for the next couple of years. This is kind of a comforting fact for me as a new parent.  I can literally be mean as hell to him for a good year and a half longer and then be super nice to him from the age of three and he'll love me more than anything! I'm not suggesting that I'll do this, but it is possible. Thinking about this made me reflect on some of my earliest memories.  Most of them take place when I was between three and four ...

I'd like to start off by offering my condolences to you and yours if you lost someone in 2014.  My family here was hit with the devastating loss of two beautiful people that we will never forget.  I can only hope that the memories of those lost can live on in your heart and mind forever. ---------- It's 2015.  I know.  New Year's Day was on a Thursday and I was supposed to release a blog entry that day.  Well I didn't.  So technically the first thing I did in 2015 to my readers is lie to them.  I would say disappoint, but I don't think it was that disappointing.  Bright side: at least the standard for me is low for the rest of the year! I would love to say that I didn't write because I was too hungover.  Because I partied so hard.  Or that I had to work all day and it was too hectic.  But truth is, I was home before 2:30am (early for me on New Year's) and I was off both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.  So it boils down...

I've always envied the characters on TV shows that get to come home to the house they grew up in.  I will never have that luxury.  We moved around too much.  At a very young age, my father was still in the Army.  Then we moved to Chicago.  Then my father enlisted again.  Then he got out again.  Then my parents split up.  Then money issues and different circumstances had us on the move for years.  Then my mom began traveling with work. Miami is definitely home, but I've lived all over the city.  And it's a pretty big city.  We lived in Miami Gardens, North Miami Beach, Liberty City, Carol City, Pompano, Fort Lauderdale, Oakland Park and probably some more areas, but you get my point.  We moved around a lot.  Now my mother lives in Maryland, so when I go "home" it's not like on TV when the kids go to that room they grew up in and it's just like they left it.  I can't rummage through a garage and find old pictures th...