Hi, I’m Rima – writer, wife, and mother.
I live in Cleveland with my husband and children. We have a Tudor style home on a tree-lined street in the suburbs. Every morning as he’s knotting his tie, my husband looks out the window at our neighbor’s perfectly manicured lawn and says, “Look at Nick’s lawn. Just look at it.”
Our lawn has a mole infestation, but it’s still pretty nice.
We have two children: a boy – Jonas (Yoh-nas), who is four, and a girl – Vija (Vee-ya), who is seven. And yes, we have a mid-size SUV. I refer to my daughter as “the V-meister” here because the pronunciation of her name is not inherently obvious in print. And I refer to my husband as “the P-Dawg” because I always have. He is a neurologist and would kindly ask you to stop Googling your symptoms on Web MD. We’ve known each other since the age of eighteen, although I did try to tangle with fate once by breaking up with him to live in France for a year.
I left my job as a technical writer and corporate curriculum designer when my oldest was born and have never looked back. (Except to worry about getting sued whenever there’s a factory explosion. What if they were using one of my manuals?) The only thing that’s missing in my stereotypical suburban existence is a dog and a white picket fence.
I’m also the daughter of immigrants. My parents fled Lithuania – a small Eastern European country on the Baltic Sea – after World War II, when it became Soviet occupied. Though I was born in America, I was taught Lithuanian as my native tongue. I’m teaching it to my kids in turn. I sing in a semi-professional Lithuanian choir, send Jonas and V-meister to Lithuanian Saturday school (they will thank me later), and every summer we pack up the SUV to go to a language immersion camp in Michigan. It’s LithuaniaMania!
I like to keep things light and entertaining here, but sometimes I do check my navel. I’m so glad you stopped by! Please come again. I am very friendly.
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Lovely.
Wonderful! I love your kids (real) names. Whenever you talk of Lithuanian school I think of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, when they had to go to Greek school and then – of course – she sends her daughter too!
Love the new site.
My sister-in-law is Lithuanian and her children go to Saturday school in Chicago..I don’t suppose you know her ….
Katybeth´s last [type] ..Odd Word Invitational!
psssst, who is your sister-in-law?
yeah … i think U R great women and keeep me as new friend OK!!!!!!!!
Labas, Rima! As ir stovyklavau Dainavoje!
As perskaiciau tavo straipsni apie LT suri…su Ruta (mano “sena” drauge…tavo “nauja” drauge)…ir labai noreciau ir pabandyti pati padaryti!!!
You had me at Lithuanian. I suppose I am one-quarter Lithuanian if I think about it, although I never think of myself that way or identify with the culture. My maternal grandfather was 100 percent Lithuanian; his parents fled to Canada in the early 1900s. He was born in Montreal but moved around frequently between Michigan and Ohio. Until he was too old to do so, he made annual treks to Montreal to spend time with his Canadian-Lithuanian family. In his final years at the nursing home, he’d often forget where he was and begin talking in Lithuanian. I’m glad I stumbled onto your site via The Smartly. I like your style.