1. As soon as I see the pendant with the funny owl, I know I need to buy it for Jay.
2. The salesman at the bookstore says: You will manage yourself, won’t you. It’s more of a statement than a question, because I am regular.
3. While Em and I watch our favorite TV episode together I hear Jay and her friend laughing outside, on the trampoline.

1. Finding out that the pharmacy, 15-minutes’ drive away, is open on Sunday mornings.
2. Sunday lunch with lots of veggies and grilled cheese. Jay enjoys the meal a lot.
3. Jay has added new exercises to her routine. Today she starts with high jumps over the rope my Mom and I hold for her.

Our day at the sea didn’t start nor end too well: Em got badly burnt by a medusa on the back of her leg, just below her knee, as soon as she got in the water, and I got badly sun-burnt and lost my sunhat which I realized when we got home. But all the in-betweens were very fine:

1. Jay’s perfect dead man’s float
2. Em’s medusa burns in the shape of a heart
3. swimming, splashing and laughing hard with the girls.

1. The appointment goes well and I am glad so far.
2. A get together with a friend who’s been laid off recently. I feel like it is a good exchange of information, ideas and support.
3. Em and I watch a TV series from the second season that we both like.

1. I find it out it is pouring rain outside and I don’t have an umbrella to walk back to the office. Then I turn around and my colleague from work is in line, right behind me. And she has a car.
2. I print out my story and now it is ready to be sent out to my swap partners.
3. By the time I am done washing their hair and piling the laundry I don't feel tired anymore.

1. I love summer evenings in Ljubljana: the sounds, the scents, the light.
2. Meeting Barbara, my friend.
3. The only and best flamenco I have ever seen.

1. After the tour of the office Em says she thinks it’s nice to work in a place like this, where you know everybody. I like her perspective.
2. At the mall we run into relatives from Ljubno that I hadn’t seen in decades. For a moment I am 12 years old and spending summer at my Mom’s aunt, running all over green pastures with my playmates.
3. Just as we stop the car by the side of the road my auntie and my cousin with her little girl sitting comfortably in her seat, come cycling by.

1. Talking over the phone at 1 a.m. with my friend D. who couldn’t sleep either.
2. The girls got cross with one another, but then Em gives Jay a hug and agrees to walk to the library with us.
3. Jay reads her book in bed and urges me to do the same, but I am too tired and I just lay next to her. It feels like we have changed roles.

1. They walk through the door just as I am finished cooking lunch.
2. My friend I. comes visit. We have a long talk. A good quote about dignity and self-respect comes up.
3. When Jays sees I am giving Em a back massage at bedtime, she wants one, too.

1. Driving to the farm Flis to buy yoghurts is always a nice experience for Jay and me.
2. Em has so much to share about her time at the mountaineering camp: she has met so many great people and enjoyed all the activities… Suddenly our family life is back to being so much fuller.
3. My cousin’s little girl’s baby talk during our stroll in the rain.



1. Jay got a new diary today and I got a pile of to do lists.



2. Em's card from the camp.

3. This is Jay's favorite finger with red nail polish, and these are my favorite toes.

1. My good night sleep does wonders to my psyche.
2. Em’s call, finally. She wants to stay at the camp despite the miserable weather.
3. Jay joins me upstairs, with her new notebook and pen in her hands. She starts writing a story.

1. Jay wakes up early, just before we leave, and decides to repeat some of the English words for the course she is attending this week. It is funny to see her sitting up in her bed, with books in her lap at 6.30 a.m., so grown up, as if she were studying for an exam.
2. With a lottery ticket in my purse everything is possible.
3. We have a good laugh together every time I come to his parlor.

1. A rainbow on the horizon, far away, in the morning and summer rain as I walk to the mall during my lunch break.
2. Seeing Jay’s smiling face when I come to the picnic place.
3. It is nearly midnight and I can’t call anyone. That’s a good thing. I have to deal with this on my own, but I need a support system so I text T.

1. Jay gives me a call to tell me she had found the last two bags of jelly beans at the store, left from the promotion of American products that had already ended.
2. Em's cheerful voice on the other side of the line.
3. A movie about the Bergmanns. I like Swedish movies.

1. I am doing certain things that I don’t want to do and others expect me and want me to. The good thing about it is that I am aware of it and know the reasons that subconsciously led me to it.
2. Em texts us from a mountain summit of more than 1.500 m alt.
3. I make a to-do list for the coming week. It’s challenging.

1. I run into an old friend that I haven’t seen for years, one of the most cheerful people I had known. She has gone through great challenges in life, but carries on with a smile on her face.
2. I give Em a big hug before she mounts the bus for the mountaineering camp. I miss her already, but I am happy she has decided to spend a week with a group in the Alps.
3. After a long day of housework I bring a chair out of the garage and sit outside.

1. I am grateful for her support. My day didn’t start well, and her comfort hasn’t helped because I needed time to deal with the situation, but I am grateful.
2. Em prepared most of her stuff for the trip, so we are done packing quite soon.
3. In the evening we are all invited to Jay’s room to listen to the girls’ singing and playing the piano. Jay has written down a list of songs for the visitors, and the texts for Em to read before every song.

1. No solid ground to walk on. This is how change feels. Or standing on a magic carpet.
2. My cousin and her baby playing on the picnic blanket in the sun.
3. We turn on the music really load and play badminton outside our house at 9 p.m. A mini party with just the three of us, me and the girls.

1. I find the to-do list I made for Jay on her pillow at bedtime, with all tasks ticked off.
2. The moment I find the photo I know this is what I had been looking for every time I googled up her name.
3. At the end of the day I make peace with myself knowing there is nothing more I can do but to kiss them goodnight and wish for another day with them.

1. A good morning paper owl in the bathroom that Em has created.
2. Grateful to have lunch cooked, and to be able to lay down for a while.
3. Jay and I play seeking and sinking ships, each one of us has drawn on the map, and we get so involved we fail to notice how late it is.