Kitty’s Place

It is another hot day today. Too hot to have windows open even. The kidlet and I went shopping. First we went to Märsta Centrum, where we stopped into the old post office and saw LL’s “friend”. She is one of the women who used to work here in the Valsta post office and he really likes her. Then we went to ÖoB and got some sparkling water and some Dietorelle chocolate. Then we took the bus to Eurostop where I took my black shoes to have the heels repaired. Then we went to ICA Maxi to shop. The kidlet has been asking for a while to be allowed to go to the playroom there. So I left him there and went in and shopped. An hour later I had finished shopping and picked up my repaired shoes. The kidlet had a wonderful time in the playroom. I had it in my head that it cost 30 SEK but I was quite wrong. It is a free service for ICA Maxi shoppers. My fellow picked us up there and we came home where I got dinner ready and now am trying to catch up online.

So this is day 3 of doing Atkins. I read the book first and started following the plan on Monday. What I have discovered about me is that I am 1) a finger licker and 2) a major sugar addict. *laugh* Preparing meals I am constantly getting stuff on my finger tips and then the first response is to lick it off. Of course I don’t since it would defeat the purpose of doing this if I am licking off sweet stuff from my fingers. I knew I used a lot of sugar in coffee and tea but I didn’t realize how much other sugar I ate in a day, in the form of sweets, ice cream, toppings on things etc. I actually got the Dietorelle for the psychological reassurance of having something chocolate here that I actually can eat if I want it. *laugh* I seem to be getting the hang of it now and am looking forward to seeing some positive results like Heather, whose success inspired me to look into the plan. *smile*

Wow, I can’t believe it is 9 days since I journaled anything. Vacation has been keeping me busy. *laugh*

Last Monday I did laundry and all the usual stuff, dishes, vacuuming etc. Tuesday the kidlet and I went shopping for a gift for Kim, since we were going to a birthday party at her place on Wednesday. However when I got up next morning I had a horrid tummy, which I thought might be a bug of some sort, so I sent off an email to Kim with our regrets. In the afternoon we went to a lumber store and got wood to start replacing frames around the doors. My fellow replaced the badly broken (by a ‘tricycle riding in the bedroom’ child) one in our bedroom first. It looks great. The bug was a 24 hour thing and I felt better on Thursday but my fellow woke with it that day. The kidlet was too funny on the phone explaining to his grandmother why we hadn’t gone to the party. He gave a long drawn out story about how there was a really little baby at Kim’s house and babies can get sick really easily so we had to stay here because mom was sick and we did not want to make the little baby sick too, cause they get sick easy. *laugh* His grandparents picked him up on Thursday afternoon and went off to the cottage. We talked about going out to dinner but my fellow was still feeling bad, so we got pizza on our way home from grocery shopping and spent a quiet evening at home. Friday we went out to the cottage and it was a nice weekend there. It is still hot but not unbearable, mid to high 20’s . So we spent some time in the pool, went to a couple flea markets and the lumber yard. My fellow and his dad worked on the bathroom there off and on. Sunday we shopped in Uppsala on our way back home. We got part of the kidlet’s birthday gifts, the remote control Brio train. It was on sale for almost half price and since it was on our list, we picked it up and it is now hiding away high up in the closet until September. I got new shoes, they are sandals with a 3 inch heel and really cute.

Yesterday the kidlet and I went and bought some more groceries. We ran into farfar at the mall and he said we could come out to the cottage anytime this week. My fellow replaced the broken doorframe in the hall (he found money, a lollpop and one of my measuring spoons that had been poked into the hole in the panel by little fingers *laugh*), I did laundry, made dinner and did dishes and that kind of sums up Monday. We watched ER, CSI Miami, Third Watch, Frasier and The Tonight Show. I cried watching Third Watch, it can be so sad sometimes. Star Trek V was on after Leno but we were whipped so passed on it. This morning we had a man come in and fix the blinds. The one in the kitchen had one string broken so that it could not be drawn up and one of the really big ones in the living room had one broken string, but it was inside one (there are 4 in that blind) so it didn’t affect drawing up the blind. He was here less than an hour and it cost 230 SEK, a lot better than paying way over a thousand for new ones. It is part of the ongoing repair of apartment in preparation for selling. If the weather stays nice I am hoping to get back out to the cottage for a few days.

Thursday the kidlet went to his grandparents for the afternoon. I did laundry and grocery shopping. We decided to go to the cottage Friday so I started packing for that as well.

Friday morning I made a big pasta salad and finished packing to go to Månkarbo. My fellows’ sister was going with, so we picked her up about 1330 and headed to Uppsala. We were looking for a pool, since the little kiddie pool that was at farmor & farfar’s for the last 2 summers, sprung a leak. The fact we are in a heatwave made a pool high on the list of vacation needs. *laugh* We started at Rusta but they didn’t have one and were actually cutting down the only pool they had left, from it’s display spot hanging from the ceiling, for another customer. From there we went to Lekia, a kids toy store and bought this. It is 5000 litres and 3 meters across and just under 1 meter deep. Of course we did get the ok from his parents first, since it is their cottage. *laugh* Friday we filled it partially from the well, but we knew we would need to do it slowly that way, so farfar talked to the nieghbour who is hooked up to town water and they filled the pool the rest of the way from his tap. (they have the same pool and had some tips as well). My fellow and I went into Tierp on Saturday to look for pool chemicals but the hardware store we went to only had huge 25 kilo tubs of chlorine and that was overkill since we only need to use about 20 grams at a time. *laugh* When we got back to the cottage, Jonas and Tina were there and we had a lovely afternoon in the pool. The temperature was showing 40+ C (in the sun of course) but I would guess from the feel it was about 35 C and very humid. About 1730 the sky got dark and a wicked wind blew over. We put the cover on the pool and gathered everything up in a hurry. It didn’t rain but the wind blew fiercely for about 20 minutes and cooled things down. Unfortunately the temperature in the cottage was never under 28 C all weekend, so it was not so nice for sleeping. Today was another outside in the yard and the pool all day, kind of day. I am getting a nice tan and so is the kidlet. Even my fellow is getting one! We got home about 2000 and tried to settle the kidlet into bed about 2030, but he had napped in the car for about 15 minutes and was still fighting sleep until 2230 or so. Now that he is settled I am going to read a bit here and perhaps have a cup of tea.

We are having a heatwave here. It has been 30+ C for the past 3 days. Monday we just lazed about and did nothing but watch tv, read and play games. I slept until after 1100 (after getting up and giving the kidlet some breakfast at 0800). I did do laundry and vacuumed and such but otherwise it was total relaxation. It was so hot we didn’t even make dinner, just picked at foodstuffs. *laugh*

Tuesday we went and shopped a bit after another sleep in until 1100. I had run out of Tums and needed to find something here to use for heartburn. The kidlet and I bussed it to Märsta Centrum and I got Gaviscon (I hate the taste of it, but it does work *laugh*). We shopped a bit at ÖoB and got fresh veggies for a salad for dinner. When we got home I threw together a vegetable quiche and it was the best one I have ever made. We had salad with it and survived another scorcher day.

Today we were up early, but my fellow took his turn sleeping in. He got breakfast in bed about 1130. It was so warm that I actually had a cold shower about 1330, just to cool off some. *laugh* After lunch the kidlet and I went out for an hour and he played in the sand box and rode around on his new sparkcykel. This afternoon we headed out to Kista Centrum. I use Joico hair produts and have for the past 15 years or so. I have tried to find something over here that is as good for my hair but so far nothing has been really close, so I stock up on trips home and have had family send over shampoo and conditioner in the past. So imagine how sad I was when I heard from Meaghan recently that Joico was cutting their entire line across the board and my beloved Kerapro and Integrity were likely to be discontinued soon. I had seen both at Kista the last time we were there, the first time I had found them in Sweden. So I wanted to shop for them while they were still available. I picked up 2 bottles of Kerapro there. Then we went to Burger King and got the kidlet chicken nuggets (which he really disliked), fries and pop. We got subs at Sandys, my fellow had seafood (skaldjursblandning) and I had reindeer and horseradish ( pepparrot och ren). After eating we shopped some more. My fellow picked up a cable he needed for something or other (I didn’t ask *laugh*). We got two new playstation games, one for the kidlet called Herdy Gerdy and one for my fellow, F1 2002. We also got the kidlet the 3 dvd’s of Fem Myror är fler än Fyra Elefanter (5 ants are more than 4 elephants), a swedish kids show that teaches letters, numbers etc. We peeked in a couple more stores then stopped for cappuccinos (and coke for the kidlet). Got home about 1930 and then the kidlet played his new game for a bit before bedtime. I finished reading ‘boo hoo’. Now my fellow is playing his new game and I am going to make tea and settle down to a new book, not sure yet which one though. *laugh*

We are on vacation! Yay!

The kidlet and I went out and spent the afternoon at the airport on Friday. We had McDonalds for lunch and then I got a Moccachino and the kidlet got a milkshake and we watched more planes. He saw a number of planes arriving and being offloaded as well as a couple being loaded and taxiing out to the runway. We did not see any taking off though. I suppose the runway we could see was not being used at that time for whatever reason. It was still great fun for him though. He really loves planes. We got home about 1630 and half an hour later my fellow arrived home from work with his sister in tow. She had stopped in to visit him and came home with him. I did Tortilla Bake for dinner and it was good, although it was definitely missing something. For dessert I made blueberry pie with the fresh blueberries I bought Thursday. It was delicious.

Saturday I was up early with the kidlet, who woke me to say he was hungry and what he was hungry for was blueberry pie. *laugh* After I gave him some with juice, I went back to bed. He woke me an hour later so we could get ready to go to the cottage. By that point I had a major migraine. It had been brewing since the night before, again it showed up with the rain. So I packed up quickly and took some Tylenol while he and the kidlet picked up his sister, then we headed out to Månkarbo. We stopped at Biltema in Uppsala and got the kidlet a new spark cykel and a couple more track pieces for his train set. It was about 1430 when we got to farmor & farfar’s cottage. It was cold and rainy but we had a nice relaxing time. We drove to a local flea market, a really big one. It was fun to wander from room to room and we laughed at things we have not seen in years. I got 3 books, 2 of them are old nursing handbooks in swedish from 1965. I thought they were cool and would help me learn medical words here. They were 15 SEK each (all hardcover books were that price). I also got an old Arthur Conan Doyle book in english, hardcover as well. The kidlet had discovered a little toy hammer that he carried about the entire time we were there. So when we went to pay, she looked at the 4 things and said “35 SEK”. So it was a bargain. *laugh* My head just got worse and worse but then we ate dinner and it seemed to ease off the headache. I had not packed any more Tylenol (fool that I am) and no one there had any. About 2000 we headed out to the sauna. It was nice as always, I really do love the sauna. But by the time we were done I had a full blown migraine. I was seeing flashing lights and was terribly nauseated. I said to my fellow that when his mom got back from her sauna I was going to get a seasick pill from her. George of the Jungle was on tv and I was trying to watch it. The couch was pulled out for us to sleep on and I lay down about 20 minutes into the movie. I woke somewhere around midnight, still in my clothes, to a dark cottage. My fellow was still awake reading but everyone else was sleeping. I still had a splitting headache but it was better, so I got out of my clothes and back to bed. I slept until about 0930 and woke to sunshine and no headache. I had also forgotten to pack any pj’s for the kidlet, so he got to sleep in shorts and t shirt, which was cool in his eyes.

Today after breakfast we headed out into the sun and spent the whole day outside. My fellow and his dad got a new water pump set up and we put out the kiddie pool for the kidlet. He had the best time, well, next to the dog, who loves being out in the country where she can run and be outside leash free all day. I slathered him in sunscreen every couple of hours and he never got red. I put the same on me (kids 30) 3 times but I looked like boiled lobster tonight. *laugh* It doesn’t really hurt though, I am just really red on my shoulders and forehead. I looked at my new books and spent some time reading Cosmopolitan. It was a fun relaxing day in the sun, the way vacations should be. We headed home about 1830. I have laundry time tomorrow and want to do the vaccuming and such, so we have the rest of the week t
o do whatever strikes us as the fun thing for that day.

The time has really flown by lately.

Friday morning we called to my fellow’s parents looking for his uncle. The kidlet opened his eyes at 7 am and asked “is Jonas coming over now?”, so I wanted to make sure we did get to see him. He had left there but had a visit here on his agenda. About 10 minutes after that call, I heard someone calling through the mail slot and the kidlet raced to the door to let him in. He was so happy to see Jonas, he would like to have everyone who is family or friends all living in a commune somewhere so he could see everyone he loves whenever he wanted. *laugh* We had a bit of a visit here and then we went to Eurostop. Thursday night LL was talking about how wanted the “shoowa” to go with his policeman and car, I thought he was saying “skjuta” (shoot) and wanted a gun. But he said no that was not what he wanted. His dad thought he was saying that too and the kidlet got frustrated. Then he said no and mimed something around his eyes and his dad thought he meant sunglasses. That was not right either, so he said “no, they have black around their eyes and their face and it ties in the back” …. then we got it, “tjuva”! (thief) Being a naive mom, I said there was no Brio thief and showed him in the little book we have. But he was sure there was and so, foolishly, I said “if we can find a thief, you can have it”. So Friday morning we went to the toy store and there, in a package with a police station and another police car and policeman, was a thief. *laugh* So my money for the new Harry Potter went for a Brio police station, with thief. *laugh* We shopped a bit more, then went to McDonalds for lunch. When we got home I put the police station up until his dad got home and the kidlet and I picked up in here.

When my fellow was done work he picked us up and we went to his parents for a visit. We took over the joystick for his sister to try, since she doesn’t have one and ours is rarely used. We had dinner with them and then farfar brought out the bags with the things he brought back from Egypt. The kidlet got so many cool things. A mask and snorkel, (something he has been asking for, so I assume he pointed it out to farfar at some point) a blow up riding Dragon for the beach, a battery operated horn for his bike that has 8 different sounds, swedish goggles for swimming, a huge jar of lollipops with gum in the centre, 3 packages of mints, the cutest M&M dispenser with the M&M chocolate guy in a chef hat with a cup in one hand and a big spoon in the other (you pull down the spoon and the candy drops out of the cup into it), 2 pairs of cotton shorts, a short and shirt set with Tigger on it and 3 t shirts, one is white with LL’s picture on it, one is blue with his picture and Llywellyn under the picture and the 3rd is white with his picture and his name under in arabic. They are really cute. We got towels and bedding, which is wonderful, because the stuff from Egypt is really good quality. There are 2 large yellow towels, a set with 2 large towels and a bath towel in peach with a flower design embroidered on it and the bedding is peach also with a sheet and 4 pillow cases. They have satin roses in peach, blue and white appliqued to them. I can’t wait to shop for duvet covers to go with. When we got home, the kidlet and his dad added the police station to his train set that was set up in the living room. We were up until 0230 and watched “Fight Club”, the strangest movie I have seen in years.

Saturday morning we were up early (as in kidlet and I). He played trains for a while, then had a bath. His grandparents picked him up at 11 am and he want to the cottage with them. He took his birdhouse to put up in a tree there. My fellow woke up at 1030 so he was up to say bye. After breakfast, I read and my fellow played computer games. He has a couple new ones that kept his attention all day. I took my book and went to lay in bed about 2 pm and promptly fell asleep until 5:30. I got up and put on the oven but my fellow offered dinner out and I jumped on that offer. We ended up at Märsta Sushi again and had the buffet this time. It was really nice. We saw a woman who used to work with my fellow there. She is a really nice lady and I always enjoyed when the bunch from work got together and we could chat. It was a bit after 8 pm when we finished dinner and on our way home I asked my fellow where the street we are thinking of buying a house on, is located. I had a vague idea but had not been there. So we took a drive and he showed me that street and where the bus stops and the path leading to the beach from there. We passed a house with a couple outside and he turned around and we stopped there. They were the parents of one of his good friends from school. I have met Andreas a couple of times so it was nice to meet his parents. We had a little chat and I had no problem following the conversation and spoke swedish passably. They asked about the kidlet, who has been to their home before with his dad. Then we came home and relaxed. There was nothing on tv worth watching so we watched Star Trek: Generations tape I bought last spring. We were in bed about 0030 and I slept straight through until 1300! After making brunch and taking out the dog I decided to update here. As soon as my fellow’s race is over (Formula One), we are going to go and do a bit of food shopping. This has been the nicest, most relaxing weekend. My fellow has one more week of work and then is off for vacation for 4 weeks. We are looking forward to that. *smile*

The kidlet is brewing something, likely a bit of a summer cold. He did not want to go out today, he did not want to get dressed even. He just played around all day, going from tv to computer to toys over and over. Then about 1430 he asked if he could go and get his blanket off his bed because Susan was sleeping on the couch and she was cold. The next thing I knew, he was sleeping under the blanket on the couch with the dog. *laugh* That is very unusual, he never sleeps in the day anymore. When he was getting ready for bed tonight he had a bit of a fever as well, so I am glad we did stay home (David’s mom called this morning and asked us to come over but I declined because I was going to tackle the toy corner).

The true test of him not feeling up to par was the “paket” test. He loves to get parcels at the postal outlet. Every time we go to get groceries he tells me he has a slip to pick up a package. He will even tell us at home that he needs to go to the store because there is a “paket” there for him and he will say who it is from and what it contains (candies, books, crayons etc, he has a great imagination *laugh*) I think sometime this month I will do up a small package for him and mail it to him. His dad will likely give me “the look”, the same one I got when I had him mail himself a postcard from Moominworld when he was not yet 3. I think he would be extra excited to see his own name on it. Anyway, the package from AdLibris was waiting for us today and he did not even want to go to the store for that. I picked it up after his dad got home. I did a big book order this month. For the kidlet we have:

Judith Kerr: Mog and Me
Judith Kerr: Mog the Forgetful Cat
Jill Murphy: Large Family Collection (This was 2 books and a cassette, Five Minutes’s Peace and A Quiet Night In books and the cassette has both those stories plus A Piece of Cake and All in One Piece)
Jill Murphy: Five Minutes’ Peace (I didn’t realize it was in the collection I ordered but I will keep both since this one is a board book and the other is not)
Satoshi Kitamura: Me and My Cat?
John Burningham: Mr Gumpys Outing
Ian Whybrow: Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs
Vicki Churchill: Sometimes I like to Curl up in a Ball
Werner Holzwarth: The Story of the Little Mole who Knew it was None of his Business

For myself I ordered Robin McKinley’s ‘Beauty’ and Magdalen Nabb’s ‘Some Bitter Taste’

All of these were suggested by Lori and are going to keep us reading happily for the summer. Thanks Lori. *smile*

This has been the oddest week. It has been overcast and gloomy all week. Every day it looks like we are going to get a downpour, but all we have had is some light rain and that continous mist in the air type of moisture.

Tuesday my fellow came home from work at noon. We went to ÖoB in the afternoon and got the kidlet a bike lock, a new umbrella and some odds and ends. I am going to make playdoh this week and bought some containers so he can have multiple colours. My fellow had to go back in to work at 2100 and after he left I stuffed my ears with cotton and had a 45 minute shower. It was wonderful to not be worrying who was going to come in and “visit me”. Usually I have the kidlet wanting me to get him fod or look at his latest picture etc. If not him, then his father pops in just to comment on how long I am taking. *laugh* Locking the door is worse, because then the kidlet knocks on it while jumping up and down saying he has to use the toilet. It is like magic, click the lock, he has to pee. *laugh*

Wednesday we went into Stockholm. I took back the jeans I got for my fellow for his birthday. Because of the cut, they were too long. They had none left in the length I wanted but they did alter them while I waited. Then we went to the toy store and I got the piece of train track we needed so the kidlet can use his switch and one train doesn’t roll off the end of the track. *laugh* He also got a Brio policeman and police car. We returned the broken sparkcykel. They didn’t have any more at the store and could not order any. I was content with that but my fellow wasn’t. He felt I should have forced them to supply us with a new one which made me angry because he had 3 days he could have returned the thing if he was so adamant about how he wanted it handled. But he left if for me to do and then made me feel like a wimp because I didn’t handle it to his liking. The fellow in the store said that they didn’t even have numbers to call the other stores any longer, since they are closing and the walls are literally bare in there. I am glad if it was going to break, it did before the store was closed down. Anyway, I saw them in the toy store we were in earlier in the day, so we will pick him up a new one soon. My fellow picked us up at the mall and I put on spare ribs when got home. They took a while to cook on the indoor grill and my aunt phoned while I was cooking. They weren’t half bad though. We tried the scotch I got for my fellow, “The Famous Grouse” brand. To me it tasted like any other scotch I have tried, strong and hot. *laugh* He said it didn’t and he is likely right. I don’t really care for any kind of alcohol except wine and liqueurs. The other stuff all tastes the same to me.

I got my clothes yesterday. Two short skirts, a navy and a black one. Two light blue t shirts, one with short sleeves and round neck, one sleeveless with a v neck and a light blue long sleeved sweater. Two things are going back, a pair of shorts and a long sleeved black blouse. It was fun trying things on here, much less stressful than trying to change in a small change room with a 4 year old jumping about in boredom. *laugh*

Today I am not doing much. I had great intentions of cleaning the rest of this toy mess, but by 1030 this morning I had a literally blinding headache. Slept for an hour and it eased up, but now I have a tic in my eye that looks and feels weird. I will blame it on that 1/2 ounce of whisky I had last night. *laugh* I actually think it is this weather that did it. I used to get severe migraines with any significant drop in barometric pressure. Thanks goodness those things went away. At the moment it is dark, wet and wickedly windy outside. Actually a rather cool looking day. *laugh*