Kitty’s Place

Well one thing about my family, we know how to take turns being ill. *smile* My fellow is ill. He has a bad tooth and I am sure that it is abscessed. Not a chance he will go to a dentist … yet.

It was a quiet weekend. He is on call so we did not go anywhere Saturday, which was fine with me. I am still easily tuckered out. I slept a lot of the day away, woke up at 1230, had breakfast and went back to bed at 2 pm with the kidlet so he would nap. I fell back to sleep and slept till almost 7:30. Woke to hear the fellows making dinner. Of course the kidlet then did not want to sleep at bedtime and even though he went to bed at his normal 8:30, he stalled and played until almost 11 pm. I watched Halloween and She-Devil. Had not seen Halloween in many years and had never seen She-Devil. Then I went back to bed and surprisingly, I slept again.

Sunday morning I woke just after 8 am (did remember the time change). I could hear paper rustling and asked my fellow what the noise was. He looked and saw that it was the kidlet, sitting on the bedroom floor trying to remove the wrapper from an ice cream bar. He was told to put it away. I got up then to see what the scamp was doing. Well that ice cream bar was #3. He had already eaten 2 of them and helped himself to a cinnamon bun too. He sneaks out of the bedroom on weekend mornings. I thought he must because I so often do not hear him get up. But it was confirmed a couple weeks ago when his father was awake early and caught the kidlet crawling out of his bed and across the floor.Once he is out of the door he quietly closes it behind him. I can’t imagine where he learned to do something like that. I certainly don’t crawl around like that. *laugh*

Kidlet went off with farmor after breakfast. They went to the flea market and grocery shopping and then back to her place. He helped her put up new curtains and put out new scatter rugs. We went over for dinner with them. This week is school break week in Sweden, so their daughter went up north to spend the week with her uncle’s family. So farmor and farfar are childless for a week. Dinner was waffles with jam, ice cream and whipped cream. It was just before dinner that my fellow complained his mouth was sore and that his stomach was upset. By the time we finished our coffee and chocolate pudding, he was pale and shaky, so we came home. Kidlet settled off to sleep a bit after 8 pm and I tried home remedies for toothache. By the time we went to bed, he was at least able to settle off to sleep. But at 3 am he was in pain and snuggled up, which woke me. I made him tea and gave him more Tylenol. We went back to bed but were not really sleepy so we were chatting. It was that free association type of talk that people do when they are tired. We were talking something about airlines and that led to George W. Bush, which led to Jed Clampett and the Beverly Hillbillies and then we took to giggling over the “fancy eatin table” and the “cement pond”. At that point the kidlet woke up. He has learned to talk in this really growly voice from farmor. So at 4 am this little growly voice in the dark said “Mamma, vad gör du?” (mom, what are you doing?) Well of course his father then said it sounded like the Exorcist here and if the kidlet started throwing up, I should get worried, which made me laugh harder. Finally we all drifted back to sleep.

The fellow did go off to work for the day. I went to the drugstore in hopes of finding something like Orajel or good old Jiffy drops. But they don’t exist in Sweden. So I rummaged out an old tube of Anbesol and will dose my fellow up with Tylenol and Anbesol for the night. I surely hope if this is not better tomorrow he will go to the dentist. Not really hopeful though. So with any luck we will sleep tonight and no more pain in the morning.

Well this has a been a sucky couple of weeks. *smile* But I am finally feeling as if I am ahead of game.

My fellow went to work today. Except for the weekend that his parents kept the kidlet, since he absolutely had to be at work to do a server move, he has been home for 2 weeks being Mr Mom. The viral infection that I had got worse instead of better so I went back to the doctor (after hearing the big sigh of the receptionist when I said I wanted another appointment since I was not getting better). Imagine my surprise when the doctor took a listen to my lungs and was almost in a panic. I am not used to physicians who let their patients know how concerned they are. It seems that the infection actually was clearing up but my asthma had gotten so bad that my lungs sounded like an accordion. She had the nurse and the RT person drop everything and they set me up in an office with a treatment, a dose of Theophylline and some oxygen. I was there for 90 minutes and the doctor came in 6 times to check on me. She also sent me for a chest xray and bloodwork. The medication helped some and I went home on steroids and an increase dose of inhalers. Those of you who have been this route, know how thrilled I was to be on Prednisone (not). Actually, she put me on a lower loading dose than my respiroligist in Canada would have. Also here they use something called Betapred and you drop the pills in water and let them dissolve then drink it, a nicer way than trying to swallow 8 or so of those little bitter things. It took until yesterday for the medications to have had their maximum effect and today I am tired but feel well.

So what has gone on here in the past couple of weeks? The kidlet has spent two weekends with his grandparents. After my foray to the dentist and the mall on the 13th I was basically off my feet again. The kidlet spent lots of time with his dad, they dropped in at work at least once a day. Last weekend he went to the cottage with his grandparents. He came home being able to say Mankarbo. *laugh* I did get my halloween cards out. I was limited to sending the stuff I had picked up before I got really ill but they were fun postcards and I put halloween confetti in the envelopes. Also managed to keep basically caught up on postcards. Those I could fill in and stamp and let someone else mail.

My grandpa had his 91st birthday and I called and talked to him. Grandma has her 86th coming up in a few days and I will call home again then. We card shopped for them a while ago. There were of course no cards for 86 or 91. So I let the kidlet pick whatever he wanted. He picked out a card with a computer on it and on the screen of the computer was 16, for grandpa. First I said no and then I thought why not, turn the card over and it would be right. *laugh* Then he picked a happy 8th birthday for grandma and I said ok, we could add a 6 to it. He did that picking with no prompting from me other than “pick out a card for …” and he stood and studied the selection with such concentration. The clerk at the card store was in stitches listening to us. She even dug through the drawer looking for a gold glitter pen so we could use it to put the 6 on the card for gram. We spend a lot of time there and the kidlet is a favourite. Besides buying postcards there, I also go once a month and buy all the cards for that month for birthdays etc. so I can send out early enough, since they all go to Canada. When I bought my halloween cards she even gave me a discount. *smile* Too bad they don’t do that at the post office when I buy the stamps. *laugh*

We got a parcel from Canada. Aunt Maud sent gifts for the kidlet for his 3rd birthday. There were lots of new socks, the non slip sole kind, a really great red beret, a Winnie the Pooh nightlight and a little wallhanging of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. She also included Skittles for his da
d and a salt & pepper shaker set for his mom. *smile* They match the creamer, sugar bowl and napkin holder she gave me for Easter. I had an email from one of my nephews. He works at Tim Hortons and he emailed to say that he would send a can of the coffee I miss, if I would like him to. I would almost kill for a Tim Hortons English Toffee Coffee. So it looks like I will be making it right here, sometime in the near future. *smile*

Today we went to playgroup. We went yesterday, but just for half an hour. Today we were there for the morning. The kidlet was so thrilled to see his friends again. We went from there to the post office and I sent off cards and parcel for Lori. When we got home, one of the kidlets’ friends was playing in the sandbox. So I left him out playing with Jakob and they played for almost 2 hours. He sobbed when I said he had to come in and eat. He was just covered in sand, even though he had his hat and mitts on. *laugh*

I was nervous letting him play outside by himself, but his father said that now he is 3, so he is old enough. *laugh* Of course, the sandbox (with slide and playhouse) is right outside our apartment and I just opened the balcony door and could hear them as well as see them from where I was doing the dishes and making lunch. Jakob is also 3 and his grandmother is in the apartment above ours, so not only was I watching them from here, his mom was doing the same from one floor up. A couple of times both of us spoke to the boys at the same time. *laugh* It still surprises me how natural it is to leave kids outside here. Babies are left in carriages outside all the time and little kids go out and play in the play areas in the complexes with little supervision. I know we had that type of freedom when I was a kid but it has been a long while since parents felt that secure in Canada. I can’t say I would let him go out on his own though. I know that he and Jakob get on well and have never had a fight over anything, also that they are both good about not wandering. But I would be afraid if he was by himself he would want to go looking for someone to play with. So I guess he won’t get to play outside alone until he is 4 or 5. *smile*

Have not been to work of course since I got sick. Today I had a get well card from there. I was going to go in this weekend but they called to say that next week is fall break week and there won’t be any kids coming, so if I wanted to take off one more week and get well rested, I could come back to work next weekend. So that is what I am going to do.

Well enough of this long winded entry. Hopefully I will be posting more often now.

1. Do you think that mental scars are more painful than physical scars? No, but just as painful.
2. Physical scars never fade entirely. Do you think that mental scars run
too deep to ever fade away? Just as physical, they fade but not away.
3. What is your worst mental scar? One I repressed for 20 some years and still don’t care to discuss.
4. If someone offered you a way to erase your most painful memory,
would you take it? Why/why not? No, it was part of forming the person I am today.
5. You’ve been offered a million dollars to bare your most shameful secret
on national television, a secret that not even your best friend, boyfriend
or parents know. You have no idea what the repercussions would be.
Would you do it? Why/why not? No, I think the whole bare your soul on tv trend is disgusting.
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1. Open up your CD player, what’s inside? Eagles.
2. Look in your VCR/DVD player, is there a movie? Animaniacs Christmas.
3. If there happens to be music playing right now, what is it? None.
4. What are you wearing? Nightgown & housecoat.
5. Look down, what’s the first thing that catches your eye? The dog.
6. Turn on your TV if it’s not on already, what network is it? TV3
7. Look out the window, what’s the weather like? Blustery.
8. If you were to hit redial on your phone right now, where would it call? Dr’s office.
9. Say “hello?” out loud, did anyone answer? Yes
10. What are you planning on doing next as soon as you get offline? Make tea.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
[full name] Kitty Sue
[nicknames] kit, kitten, kisse
[grade] Finished college
[location] Sweden
[school] Finished school
[marital status] Common law spouse
[the soundtrack to my life would include…] Total Eclipse of the Heart
[i would never become a…] Doctor
[my parents are…] Deceased
[i can’t stop listening to…] American tv shows
[every weekend i…] Spend quality time with my fellows
[i like school because…] It is finished
[i enjoy…] Reading
[i dress the way i do because…] It is comfortable
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Act or direct?: Act
Adidas, Nike, Reebok?: Reebok
Alaska or Hawaii?: Alaska
Aloha or Hola?: Hola
Any tattoos and where of what?: None
Are you a good listener?: Yes
Are you a good student?: No
Are you involved in sports: No
Bacon bits or croutons?: Croutons
Be serious or be funny?: Serious
Blonde or brunette?: Brunette
Blue eyes or brown?: Blue eyes
Bow tie or tie?: Tie
Cat or dog?: Cat
Chinese or Japanese?: Japanese
Christmas or Halloween?: Christmas
Coke or Pepsi?: Coke
Cool ranch or Nacho Cheese?: Nacho cheese
Disneyland or Universal Studios?: Disneyland
Do you have a car?: We do
Do you have a deep dark secret no one knows except you?: Yes
Do you have a job?: Yes
Do you have a lava lamp?: No
Do you have a pager?: No
Do you have a personal phone line?: Yes
Do you have a pool or hot tub?: No
Do you have a trampoline?: No
Do you have lots of friends?: No
Do you have siblings?: Yes
Do you make fun of people?: Occasionally
Do you think dreams eventually come true?: Yes
Domino’s or Pizza Hut?: Domino’s
Dream car/truck?: Morgan
Dreams or reality?: Reality
Eat an apple or an orange?: Orange
Elmo or Cookie Monster? Cookie Monster
Emerald or ruby?: Ruby
Fav song at the moment?: Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood
Fav thing to do?: Read
Fav breakfast food?: Peanut butter
Fav Candy?: Salt licorice
Fav Color?: Yellow
Fav Day? Friday
Fav
Food? Pizza
Fav Gum?: Wrigley’s Spearmint
Fav season?: Autumn
Fav perfume/cologne?: Vanilla musk
Fav Room?: Bedroom
Fav school subject?: History
Fav Soundtrack?: Eagles, Hell Freezes Over
Fav Sport?: Hockey
Fav thing to do online?: Surf
Fav Vacation spot?: Las Vegas
Favorite Comedian?: Rita Rudner
Favorite Animal: Cat
Favorite beanie baby?: Spunky (cocker spaniel)
Favorite body part of the opposite sex?: Ears
Favorite cartoon?: Flintstones
Favorite Television show?: ER
Favorite Group/Singer?: Cranberries
Favorite Ice cream?: Orange Sherbet
Favorite shampoo or conditioner?: Joico Kerapro
Favorite spice?: Cinnamon
Flowers or angels?: Flowers
Ford or Chevy?: Ford
Future Job?: Nurse
Go to the movies or rent?: Go to.
Gold or Silver?: Gold
Got a crush on anyone?: Yes
Green beans or carrots?: Carrots
Is the glass half empty or half full?: Half full
Happy and poor or rich and sad?: Happy and poor
Hard top or convertible?: Convertible
Have you ever been convicted of a crime?: No
Have you ever done something you regret now?: Yes
Have you ever gotten a ticket for speeding?: No
Have you ever lost someone you loved?: Yes
Have you ever moved?: Yes
Have you ever stolen anything (from a store)?: No
Have you ever thought of killing yourself?: Yes
Have you ever witnessed a crime?: No
Have you met your soul mate?: Yes
height?: 5′
High school or college?: College
How’s the weather right now?: Blustery
Hugs or kisses from the opposite sex?: Hugs
Hurricane or Tornado?: Hurricane
Is it POP or SODA?: Pop
Jacket or sweater?: Jacket
Kids or no kids?: Kids
Law or anarchy?: Law
Left or right?: Right
Long hair or short?: Long
Loud or soft music?: Soft
Love or hate?: Love
Love or lust?: Love
Low fat or non fat milk?: Low fat
Lunch or gym class?: Lunch
McDonalds or Burger King?: Burger King
More romantic; baths or showers?: Baths
Mustard or ketchup?: Ketchup
Natural or bleached hair color?: Natural
Newspaper or magazine?: Magazine
Nice ass or nice chest?: Nice ass
Night or day?: Night
Non-Sport activity you enjoy?: Reading
Number of Pillows?: 2
On a scale from 1 to 100 how much self esteem do you think you have? 75
Parent(s)?: Deceased
Pet Peeves?:
Piano or guitar?: Guitar
Place you want to live?: In a house
Place you’d like to visit?: England
Rain or shine?: Rain
Rain or thunder and lighting storm?: Thunder and lightening
Rap or rock?: Rock
Read or write?: Read
Receive letter or call?: Receive letter
Regular or diet?: Regular
Rice Krispie treat or brownies?: Brownies
Roller blade or roller skate?: Roller skates
Romance or Action Movie?: Action Movie
Simple or complicated?: Simple
Singing or dancing?: Singing
Sleep w/ stuffed animals?: Yes
Snow or water?: Snow
Someone you can’t live without?: My fellows
Special Skills or talent?: I am a good mom
Spin-the-bottle or truth or dare?: Spin-the-bottle
Stay up late or wake up late?: Wake up late
Straight or curly?: Curly
Summer or Winter?: Winter
Sun or moon?: Moon
Tall guys or short guys/girls?: Tall guys
Things you collect?: Postcards
What are you doing tomorrow?: Going back to the doctor
What color pants do you have on right now?: None
What do you drink?: Tea
What’s right next to you?: My fellow
Wonder or amazement?: Wonder
Word or phrase you overuse?: Dunno

1. Which do you prefer; sunrise or sunset? Sunset, I love the ending of the day.2. If you were a car, what kind of car would you be? A Morgan.

3. If you could change one thing about the world, what would you change? I would eradicate hatred.

4. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My nail biting habit.

5. If you could wake up tomorrow and go to work in the occupation
of your choosing, what would you be doing? The occupation I trained for, nursing.

6. If you opened a brand new box of crayola crayons, which colour
would you take out first? (Please be more specific than “blue”) Periwinkle blue, it is a fairytale sounding colour.

7. If you could have lunch with anyone, living or dead, who would it be? My mom, cause even after 9 years, I miss her every day.

8. What would you eat for that lunch? Chateaubriand with a nice Merlot. It was one of our favourite meal choices.

9. If you were a bird, what kind of bird would you be? A nightingale. My favourite bird from fairy tales.

10. If you were any kind of animal, other than a bird, what kind of
animal would you be? And why? A cat, I love their independent demeanor.

11. Which recording artist would you most like to talk to about
their life? Phil Collins, he has had a long and varied career.

12. Which author would you most like to have coffee/cappucino with? Stephen King, fascinating man.

13. If you could get on a plane tomorrow, and go anywhere in the
world, where would you go first? England.

14. If you were a body of water, what body of water would you be? The Pacific Ocean, since it covers so much of the planet.

15. If you died tomorrow, what would be your biggest regret? That I have not made it to England yet.

16. If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, and could make one
phone call to someone other than family, who would you call? Lori.

17. What is your favorite way to spend time alone? Reading.

18. Which of the following elements best describes you: earth, air,
fire, or water? Fire.

19. Which comic strip/ cartoon character is most like you? Cathy.

20. What do you like most about yourself? My eyes.

21. What is the oldest article of clothing that you own and why do
you still have it? A red dress that I wore when I was 3 years old. I always hoped for my own little girl to wear it.

22. If your house was on fire, what is the one thing (excluding
family, pets, and photographs) that you would try to save? Raggedy Anne.

23. What is your favorite quotation? A friend is one who comes in when the whole world goes out.

24. What is your favorite fairy tale? (Not the Disney versions) Rush Cape.

25. Describe yourself with one word. Nurturing.

26. Did you enjoy taking this quiz? Definitely.

I made a foray out of the house today. The kidlet had his first dentist appointment this morning and his dad had to work today. So I got dressed and went out. He got his face painted like a cat, saw the dentist, has great clean teeth and no cavities. He got to fish in the “fishpond” for a goody bag that contained a new toothbrush, toothpaste, an apple and a cool tooth sticker. He also got a balloon. So it was a bonus day for him.

We peeked in at the flea market while waiting for the bus. He saw all kinds of things he wanted but one toy really caught his attention. It was one of those little pull toys that has the balls pop up when it rolls. Mom said no to it though. (mean old mom, or as his father would say “mamma är dum” *laugh*)

From there we went to the mall. I had to pick up my fellows’ pocket watch. The kidlet opened it too far and now it doesn’t close. I took it to the jewelers almost 5 weeks ago and they sent it away. It came back with a note saying they were unable to repair it. I bought that watch for him after our son was born and to me it is as important a symbol as a wedding ring would be. So that was extra sad news. We will see if there is somewhere else to send it and if all else fails, I will send it over to Canada and see if they can repair it at the place I bought it.

Took the cat-faced child to McDonalds for lunch. It was a zoo. While he was eating (and mom was sipping her cappuccino), farmor called and asked it she could take the kidlet for the night. She came and picked us up there and dropped me off at the centrum, then went on to visit her brother. I went back to the flea market and bought the toy the kidlet wanted earlier (mamma är inte dum) and a few little things to send off in a parcel to Lori.

As I started home, a man in his 50’s, whom I had never seen before, walked up beside me and said (in swedish of course) “I just bought some fika bread and coffee, will you come home with me for fika?”. I was totally thrown off by this. People here don’t even acknowledge each other until they have seen the same person over and over for months. So a stranger even walking up and speaking to me was a shock. I looked at him and said (in english) “you want me to come for coffee and pastry???” to which he replied in the affirmative. I said a very kind but firm “nej tack” and he said “hej då” and went on his way in a different direction. It was a bit of an ego booster, since I still feel like a wet rag.

When I got home I packed up an overnight bag for the kidlet and put the pull toy (freshly bleached and rinsed) on top, along with his new toothbrush and toothpaste. They just picked it up on their way home from his great uncles. The kidlet was sound asleep in the carseat, so he will be surprised when he sees his knapsack at his grandparents.

Have gathered up all the halloween cards for the card exchange and will address those I have addresses for tonight. Am totally wiped from going out and I plan on having a very quiet evening and an early night. *smile*

Have spent most of the past two days in bed and am beginning to feel like a person at last. Occasional forays out of the bedroom have yielded lots of fun postcards, a birthday parcel for the kidlet from Aunt Maud and an email from a friend in the US to say she has sent off a parcel with canned pumpkin!

It is 3 am and I am much too awake now. The downside of staying in bed. *laugh* Going to call my aunt and let her know the parcel arrived and then go back to sleep.

Have seen the doctor and am now the proud possessor of a nice bunch of antibiotics. She suggests medication and lots of rest. My fellow is going to stay home a couple days and let me sleep without worrying about what the kidlet is up to. So I should soon be back to my usual happy self. *smile*

Since desktops were being displayed this weekend, I decided to show off mine as well.

I have a fever again. It came back yesterday afternoon along with plugged up ears and an horrid cough that I thought I had kicked.

Went to class last night but I left 45 minutes early from there since I had no ability to concentrate at all. The question was (in swedish of course) “You can smoke tobacco in a pipe or you can smoke tobacco in a ________.” Even after the instructor demonstrated smoking using his pen, it took me almost 5 minutes to come up with the word cigarette. *laugh* At that point I realized I was better off at home.

Did my usual night stuff, fed pets, walked dog, settled kidlet in bed and then ate dinner while watching Third Shift. It was a bit of a bust because I really couldn’t hear it and was not really concentrating enough to follow the swedish subtitling. Had a spat with the fellow at bedtime and am still a bit ticked over it.

This morning I feel worse, if that is humanly possible. I am out of bed and dressed because regardless of anything, I have things that have to be done here at home (like walk the dog, amuse the kidlet). But if someone was here to watch my son, I would be back in bed in a flash. I was so angry and frustrated when I woke up because I know I can’t go out to dinner tonight like this. Well I could go, but I couldn’t eat and I would infect the other 15 or so people. So once again I don’t get to go to this restaurant I have been dying to go to for months.

I know this is petty, but I miss chinese food. The Djinghis Khan Mongolian BBQ sounded like it would at least be something that could come close to satisfying this craving. It isn’t as if we would ever go there as a couple … we don’t do dinner out. So I am majorly disappointed as well as sick and this is just not a good day.

This kidlet just loves trains. He is currently playing a game on his father’s computer called South Park Rally. He is getting better about keeping the car on the road and not driving up the side of trees and buildings. But his only goal in the entire game is to get to the train tracks to see the “toot toot”. I have been trying to teach him the proper word for it.

“No hunnybunny, it isn’t a toot toot, it is a train”
Big eyes look up at me and he says “ja, what does pappa say?”
“Pappa says tåg, mamma says train”
Smile appears and eyes sparkle “jag say toot toot”.

Now how can you argue with that logic? Mom and dad each have their own word for everything, so he should be able to as well. *laugh*

We went out yesterday and met D, a woman that I knew through her mailing list. It was such a nice afternoon and I lost all track of time. We took the train to Stockholm and met up with B from Uppland Väsby and her 5 year old daughter. The kidlet and “lia” (as he calls her) get along well together. The four of us took the subway and then met up with L, another friend. We went through Gamla Stan on the way and I definitely will be going back and investigating it. We sat and chatted and the kids played. I was the usual nervous mom. *laugh* The kidlet really is a good kid but he is a boy and wants to climb and jump and investigate how things are put together. So all my conversation is peppered with little reminders to him to not do things. *laugh*

Today we are going to playgroup and I have to clean and do some shopping. Swedish class this evening as well, so I need to make dinner ahead.

Thursday I am going out for dinner. It is Girls Night Out in Stockholm and this will be the first time I have been able to make it. Some of you may remember that I did try to go a couple of months ago but got cold feet. This time I have much more confidence about going to the city. Have made a few trips there now and found out that it is not so scary. *smile* The kidlet will be staying home with his dad, who actually offered to come along with me. Since I know how little he cares for socializing with strangers, I really appreciated his offer, which I turned down. It will be fun to get out on my own, sans kidlet. All of the women who were there yesterday will be going Thursday so it won’t be all strangers for me. I am told that my fellow’s uncle and family will be coming down Thursday. They live in northern Sweden. So hopefully we will get a chance to see them while they are here.

Friday I am hoping to make a trip to Sigtuna. I want to find some nice postcards of the town. It is a pretty spot and I am sure there must be more views of it than the radhuset one I see everywhere. So it is a rather full week.