Kitty’s Place

Thursday we did make it into Stockholm. I looked up how to get to Tegelbacken on the www.sl.se website. It said to go to Central Station, go up to the street and get on bus 65 heading towards Skeppsholmen. So we did just that. The bus was late and we waited over 10 minutes past the time it was supposed to get there. So finally it arrived and we got on, I said to the driver that we needed to get off at Tegelbacken and he replied “it is the next stop”. *laugh* Not only was it the next stop, but we had to go around and cross 3 roads to get to the building that houses the Canadian Embassy here. We could have walked it in much less the time. I took in our forms and pictures and as seems to be the norm with Canadian passport photos, they were unacceptable. (the ones we had done 5 years ago in Canada had to be redone 3 times … so it isn’t just an out of country renewal problem). So we walked back to Central Station and had new photos done, went back to the embassy and those were acceptable. She also checked over the forms and they are fine, so we just need our guarantor to sign the pictures and the applications and we will have new Canadian passports in week. Then we headed back to Central Station and met Jennifer for coffee. She was heading off south for the weekend. It was fun having a visit and coffee with her. Then we caught the train home and the kidlet went to school. Thursday night we watched The Two Towers. It was an excellent movie, with great scenes and the attention to detail was as painstaking as in the first one. But the thing I found distracting in this one was that there was more poetic license used than in the first, so I would be watching and expecting something to happen and it was different from the book. *laugh* None of the changes were bad, I just was not expecting them.

Friday I emptied out the bathroom. 2 weeks ago I put my back out. It was on a Friday morning and I was up making breakfast about 0700. The kidlet came out and he was as half awake as I was. He wanted to be picked up and instead of turning to face him and picking him up properly (I really do know better), I lifted him while I was half turned. The moment his feet were off the ground, I felt the disc pop out of place. As has happened the last 2 times my back went out, my chiropractor was away on vacation. *laugh* So I have been waiting and getting progressively more pain as the time has passed. Friday it was really bad, spasming and pain extending to both legs. So the bathroom job was an all day thing. I knew I couldn’t lift boxes, so I carried everything bit by bit to the boxes in the living room. I cannot believe how much stuff was in those two cupboards! Anyway, by the time it was done, it was time to pick the kidlet up from school. My fellow was a sweetheart and picked up pizza for dinner (I got a roast beef salad). His dad came over and had dinner and then the two of them started removing the fixtures and the old wallpaper. They also repaired the hole in the wall.

Saturday we didn’t do much of anything. My fellow and dad got the walls ready for papering and the kidlet and I stayed out of the way. We had dinner here and my fellow’s sister came over as well. She brought a friend with her. I have no clue what his name is, in typical teenage fashion, neither felt it necessary to introduce him. *laugh* I spent a lot of time with a hot pack on my back and my fellow took me shopping, so I did not have to carry bags home. I did do laundry, but only because I wanted to get the damp towels I removed from bathroom, washed and dried, so they would not get musty. We headed to bed fairly early.

Today I was up at 0700. My fellow was a sweetie and got up and took me to work. So I was there in half an hour, instead of the 90 minutes it takes by public transportation. I was done in good time, since I did so much last week. We got to the subway platform just as our train was pulling away. Then we got to the train platform at Central Station, just as that train was pulling away as well. *laugh* We got home about 1245, so it was a nice quick
day. The bathroom wallpaper looks lovely. It is about 3/4’s done now. When they are done, we are going to go to my fellow’s parents. I will make tacos for dinner over there and then we will shower before we come home, since it will take between 2 and 7 days for the paper to be completely dried. After 2 days though, we will be able to bath in there at least, but none of the stuff can be put back up for a week.

Tomorrow morning the kidlet has a dental check up and I will phone Lisa and see when I can book an appointment with her. She will be back at work on Thursday, thank goodness. *laugh*

Can’t believe it is Wednesday already.

Yesterday was a wash of a day. I had planned on going in to Stockholm to the Canadian Embassy, have lunch with Jennifer, go to a healthfood store and spend some time in the park. Instead my little boy got up with a fever and complaining about feeling as if he was going to throw up. He did complain on Sunday on the subway train and we actually got off the train but he didn’t get sick. Then on Monday he complained about a tummy ache but was fine otherwise. But he sure wasn’t yesterday morning. He never did vomit but he has terrible diarrhea. By about 1100 his fever was gone and he had some juice and toast. That seemed to do the trick and he was fine in the afternoon. But by then I had the same bug and spent the afternoon and evening visiting the bathroom frequently. Today though I feel fine, so it must have been some 12 hour thing.

My fellow picked up the Two Towers for me yesterday afternoon. I still haven’t seen it but will rectify that very soon. He also picked up the wallpaper for the bathroom so I assume that will be this weekend’s project. Speaking of projects, has anyone here ever gone to a grocery store and asked them for boxes? I am trying to pack up things but it is not easy to find boxes and when I mentioned the grocery store, my fellow looked at me like a had 3 heads. *laugh* I got him a gift too. A puzzle mat. We used to do puzzles a lot but my cat has this habit of stealing a piece or two off the table. Then when the kidlet got old enough to be out of a crib, he would get up in the morning and take apart anything we had done the night before. I remembered seeing those puzzle mats at home, where you roll them up and put them in a tube, but I never found one here. Last week I saw one in a magazine and decided to check if Clas Ohlsen might have them. They did so I got one for him. It will nice with winter heading our way, to be able to sit together with a hot tea and work at a puzzle again.

It is raining today so no trip to the city. If the weather is better, we will try for tomorrow morning.

It has been a month since I started Atkins now. I seem to have stalled in the actual weight loss after the first 20 lbs, but am still seeing inches come off. So I am happy with the results. The same day I started Atkins, I stopped biting my nails. I have been a nail biter since I had teeth (really, my mom said I bit them before I was 3 *laugh*). They are growing really well and look ever so nice. I have one deformed finger nail and even it is growing longer than it has ever been in all my years. So it is a “go me” day here. *laugh*

Yesterday I went here and signed up for an distance course in swedish. This one is rather basic but it was free. If it goes well, I will go for the more advanced one, which has a fee attached. I really want to improve my grammar and spelling so that when the kidlet goes to kindergarten in the fall, I can go to SFI for half days and test out finally.

We had a busy weekend, with the crayfish party Saturday and then going to work on Sunday. I had hoped to get to Jennifer’s on Sunday but there was just no way I could manage it.

I picked up my parcel on Friday. It was from a swap I am doing. It contained Splenda and diet Jello in assorted flavours. There is more to come, one of the things is a surprise for my fellow. *smile*

Saturday we were up fairly early and I worked here non stop until we left for my fellow’s parents place. We got there at 1700 and had dinner. His cousin has moved down here from way up north and is going to high school in a city nearby, so he was there on Saturday. After dinner we had coffee and cake and visited. Then when we were getting ready to go, Seija said she had a book for me and went upstairs. She brought down a Bonniers Läkarbok! She bought it because she knew it would interest me. I was so excited and have been reading away at it ever since. It starts right at the cell and goes through all the common illnesses. There are lots of labelled pictures and I have been poring over them, learning the swedish words for things that have been a huge part of my life for years.

Sunday we were up early again and I went in to work. We stopped and got McDonalds at Brommaplan and took it with us. I was there close to 4 hours, since last week I was there for less than 90 minutes and did not get the “small things” done. So now I am all caught up and everything looks really good there. The funniest thing happened there. I was cleaning the windows and LL was sitting on the floor playing with cars. He started chatting with the full sized skeleton in the front entranceway. He asked it a question in swedish and then he answered “yes”. Then in a totally shocked voice he said to the skeleton, “you speak english!”. I was shaking with silent laughter. Then he said “do you speak much english, I can teach you more”. He said most of it in english as well. Sometimes kids are just a hoot.

Today we got my fellow off to work and I made breakfast and puttered about. Then it was bathtime for LL and after some lunch, he was off to school. I had full intentions of scrubbing the bathroom down, since we will be wallpapering it soon. I even changed into cleaning clothes. I had a headache that seemed to be getting worse as the morning wore on, but after I dropped him off, I came home and threw up from the pain. So I relaxed here in total silence until it was time to pick up the kidlet. I think it was weather related, it is not so nice even now. It kept clouding over and getting dark, but never rained much at all. I still feel really off, a bit nauseated, my right eye is twitching and my head is throbbing. The weather is supposed to be better tomorrow so I am sure it will get better soon.

Tomorrow is the release day for The Two Towers. Yay! I never did get to see it in a theatre so am really looking forward to getting the dvd.

The LeapPad arrived today. I am so excited about this and hope that LL is just as excited when his birthday rolls around next late. I talked to my aunt last night and there was to be a meeting today with the doctor about whether or not my grandpa will be coming home. No one has told me what the gastroscopy showed, so I am assuming they don’t know yet.

My eye is twitching like crazy so I think I need to stop typing. *laugh*

Thursday was a fun day. In the morning after breakfast I stripped beds and such, did tidying up and tried to catch up on some of my email backlog. The kidlet played with his cars for a bit and watched cartoons. I took him to school at 1300 and came back and watched a bit of tv and had lunch. Because this is the first week, a lot of the kids have only been staying a couple hours, so I went back about 1530 and he was ready to come home as only two kids were left and one of them was leaving with his mom. So we brought the sparkcykel home and headed out to the centrum.

We walked to the flooring store for our handles. The man had phoned in the morning just to remind me that they had found them. Like I might have forgotten overnight? *laugh* When we got in there was a woman at the cash register. She was just giving change to the single customer in the store. I thought it would go quickly but boy was I wrong. It was another 15 minutes before she got to us. She wrapped every single article in tissue paper and taped them, (this was not breakable items, it was metal candle sticks and things like that). Then the man in the wheelchair from yesterday came out and handed the customer a piece of paper. It was one of those of the picture that you stare at and then close your eyes and you see a different image. He and the female clerk spent a good 5 minutes trying to get the customer to see the woman in the picture. At this point I thought I was in some alternate universe, where nothing is as it should be. *laugh* Finally the woman asked me what I wanted. I said I was there to pick up two fridge handles and they were under my fellow’s name. The box was on the counter with the invoice on top, at her right elbow. I had seen it when I came in. Well she began to search for it. I pointed to it and said “that one” and she just ignored me and pulled out this single handle that the man showed me yesterday. I kept telling her as she was trying to get it off the shelf that it was “fel” but she didn’t listen. Then she saw it had a different customer name on it and began searching about again, asking me “what kind of handles?”. Again I pointed at the box and said “those ones” and again she wandered about looking. In the meantime, the man who had phoned twice in a 24 hour period to say they had the handles, kept doing the picture thing with the other customer. Finally the woman actually looked at the invoice and box I kept pointing at and said “oh! here they are”. I paid and got out of there double quick. It was like some bad movie. *laugh* I told me fellow I don’t ever want to deal with that store again, they are bizarre. *grin* The new handles are not the ones on the fridge now, we couldn’t get a straightforward replacement, since they don’t make those anymore, but the ones we got fit great and look really nice. My fellow did installation duty last night after the kidlet went to bed.

Once we left the “twilight zone”, we went to Märsta Centrum and had our passport photos taken. Then we went to Eurostop and McDonalds for dinner. You would think kids would get sick of it, but the kidlet actually begged me to go there for dinner. I figured since I made him a good lunch, we would go for it. I am such a pushover of a mom. *laugh* We got home here about 1900 and my fellow arrived home about 15 minutes later. It was so nice to see him. I can’t believe how much I miss him when he is away. His good news was that he won’t be away overnight tonight. Yay! He said he will be late, but that I can handle. He came back with newspapers for me to read and candy for the kidlet. We had a really nice evening.

This morning I am still waking up, even though we went to bed at a decent time. I think I am always a bit stressed when he is away and never sleep well. I have laundry time at 1030 and the kidlet will be off to school at 1300. I have a package to pick up at the post office and am really hoping that the other clothes I ordered will get here today. I have to take the kräftor (crayfish) out of the freezer today and let them thaw overnight in the fridge. We are go
ing to my fellow’s parents for a crayfish party tomorrow night!

We had a nice dinner last night. After the kidlet went to bed (he slept in our bed on his dad’s side, because he missed pappa), I did up dishes and tidied up. I stayed up to watch Third Watch and set the vcr to tape “Little Women”, the June Allyson version. Was in bed about 1230 but was back up at 0430 with a horrid headache and a really queasy tummy. I finally resettled about 0600 and cursed the alarm when it rang at 0700. *laugh*

I got up and ironed clothes, fed the kidlet and the pets, walked the dogs and got out of here about 0900. Since they closed the Svenska Kassaservice at Valsta Centrum, we no longer have a bank machine here, so we had to go to Märsta Centrum and take out money. Then we walked over to the flooring store where my fellow had ordered new handles for the fridge and freezer doors. We rang the bell a couple time and it took close to 10 minutes before anyone came out to see what we wanted. I said that I was there to pick up an order and the man went away for eons then came back with the orderform. He started searching and could not find them. He went round and round the store, talking to all the other employees. Then he asked if the store had actually called to say they were in, because he couldn’t find them. I said I didn’t know, but I was sure my fellow would not have sent me there without a call. He went off again looking and I called my fellow and checked, the store called him last week. Finally, after 45 minutes, the man said he would call me when they found them. Then he asked if the number was right and I said I would give him my number, he got all upset that the other was wrong, so I explained that it was my fellow’s cell phone and he was away on business, so it was best to call me. We left there and headed for the train. Fifteen minutes later, as we were travelling on the train to Stockholm, he called to say they had found them.

We got into the city about 1130 and went to McDonalds for lunch. Then we walked to Gray’s where I got some more herbal tea and a new kind of root beer for my fellow to try. We headed over to Junibacken then. I called Jennifer from McDonalds, but her little charge was still ill, so they passed on Junibacken. I thought it would take about an hour there, but the kidlet decided this trip that since he will soon be 5, he was no longer afraid of the dragon and could go on the storytrain. So we did the train ride, this time in swedish. From there he played some in Pippi’s house and then we went to the activity area. He sawed, he hammered, he coloured, he got on tv and generally he had a ball. When he was done playing, we went and had fika and called Jennifer again. She came and met us outside Junibacken. Her little fellow is just too cute. I can see how it must be hard to give him back to his parents at the end of the day. He really was not feeling very chipper though, poor little guy. It was nice seeing Jennifer, it has been much too long since we met up. I got one of her pins and it is just lovely. We really didn’t have much time to talk so I hope we can get together again soon.

We headed home on the 1550 train and the kidlet feel asleep two stops before home. He was still sleepy on the bus so we skipped stopping for the handles. That can be tomorrow morning’s project. We played Simpsons Road Rage on the playstation once we were home and as usual, I sucked badly and he beat my butt. *laugh*

Pictures from Junibacken and our trip to Lådbilslandet are here. Now I am off to play more Simpsons and lose a few more times. *grin*

I have never forgotten that commercial (K-Mart, Zellers, CTC?) where the parents are ecstatically buying school supplies for the not so very happy kids. *laugh*

Llywellyn went back to school yesterday. There are 7 kids in his preschool class this term, 6 boys and 1 lone little girl. 4 are from last term, 2 are friends of the kidlet from playgroup and one little boy I don’t remember seeing before. It was a short information day, just an hour. The kids had a great time and LL cried when it was time to leave, until he realized that everyone was going home, I was not just being a spoil sport mom. *laugh* He will go every afternoon from 1300 to 1600. Well except for tomorrow when we are going into the city to go to Junibacken. Hopefully Jennifer will be joining us there. It will be so nice to see her again.

Today I got a notice from the company that did the kidlet’s picture in the spring. It said I hadn’t paid for them but I knew we had. So I checked the date I wrote on the original bill and then the bank statement and it had come out on the date I had paid it. So I phoned and talked to a woman at the company. It seems they have had problems with internet payments and not getting the order number itself transmitted with the payments. So she took my info, which bank, which day, how much and said ok, throw out this bill. But I will file it with her name and a synopsis of our conversation. What was really great though was that I spoke only swedish and even spelled things with no effort at all. I never give myself credit for knowing as much as I do, so it is always an ego boost to do something like this and realize I do speak the language, even if not fluently. *smile*

My fellow went to Göteborg this morning for 3 days(the 0500 wake ups on these days really sucks *laugh*). I miss him already. He will be back Thursday night and then goes away Friday and will be back Saturday. That is some politics thing. So we will be “just mom and LL” for a few days. Tonight we have my fellow’s mom and sister coming for dinner, since his dad is also away this week. It will be nice to have company and I always enjoy time with his family.

I have no real plans for today, except vaccuming and getting things ready for dinner. It will be a quiet day. *smile*

We had a great, stormy Friday. We went in to Stockholm in the morning, armed with umbrellas, stopped at McDonalds for lunch and went to Hässelby to work. Keep in mind it is a 90 minute trip one way to get there. As we were walking up the stairs, I reached into my purse and discovered I had no keys for the building with me. We rang the bell and Karin opened the door to let us in. I told her about my lack of keys and asked how long she would be there. She said an hour or so. So I worked like a fiend and got the cleaning done in just a bit over an hour. This is a job that takes 2 1/2 to 3 hours usually. *laugh* We were done in time for her to leave and catch her train on time. Of course I missed doing the things like dusting lights and pictures, sweeping and mopping in the areas behind the stages and such. But I will get those things caught up next week. Yes, I put my keys in my purse the minute I got home. *laugh*

We headed home and I sent an sms to my fellow telling him we were going to be home early. So he called just as we got into Märsta and we arranged to meet at the flooring store. We picked out the new wallpaper for the bathroom and ordered it. Then we went back to my fellow’s job for an hour or so while he finished up for the day. From there we went and got pizza for dinner. I got kebab med bröd (thin sliced lamb meat in pita bread with lettuce, tomatos, hot peppers and garlic sauce). Of course I had to pick it apart a bit but it was great. On that note, it is coming up on 3 weeks since I started Atkins (as a side note, I stopped biting my nails that same day). I have done ok, but I can’t say I am going strictly by the book. If I crave something I look for a substitute and if there isn’t one, I do the “just a bite” thing. I have learned through the years that if I have to deny myself things I really enjoy, I won’t stick with a diet, so I am trying to be smart this time. That said, I figured out today that from the day I started to now, I have lost 9 kg and a few inches around waist, hips, bustline (not from my height thank goodness, I am already vertically challenged *laugh*). So it seems to be working for me and I am not feeling as if I have had to give up everything I love food wise. *smile*

I talked to my gram yesterday. She said that Port Colborne didn’t lose power, but everywhere around them did. My grampa had his gastroscopy on Thursday but no results from that yet. She said that he is not walking well and they have mentioned to her that he might need to go to long term care. She says not without a fight from her. In 11 days they will be celebrating their 69th wedding anniversary. I am having a hard time with this. Grampa is 92 and is failing, grama is 87 and also failing, although not as visibly. Part of me wants to go home and be there for them, like they were there for me all of my life. The sensible part says I can’t do that to my fellow and the kidlet and economically it is not the time either. But I fear I won’t ever see my grampa again and that is so hard to deal with.

Today I talked to my brother. He said that they had no power where he is in St Catharines, but part of the city did have it. They were without power for about 24 hours and managed fine. He got the LeapPad system for us to give to the kidlet for his birthday. I really want him to have more english learning resources at home and this one is great. The other benefit is it makes shopping for him easier for people at home, since the books are easy to package to send and under $20.

Speaking of the kidlet, he is gone away for the weekend. *laugh* He went to Sköldinge with his grandparents. So we are having a quiet evening at home. *smile*

Yes, I am a Thursday child, but I don’t think this is so very true (most days *laugh*. It was a busy day yesterday. We headed out early to the centrum to do some errands and then to ICA to grocery shop. We were back here in time for laundry. It was rug washing day here. I love these large scatter rugs but they are a pain to wash because they are so darn heavy to hang up when they are wet (and they don’t lack in the heaviness department when you lug them over to the laundry room either *laugh*). Also you have to do one at a time so it meant many trips over to wash another and another, but now they are all clean and ready to go back down on the floors. First though I want to do a really thorough scrubbing of each. Yesterday was bathroom day. I scrubbed into the corners and way under sink etc. All the places that get missed when you mop. Did some general cleaning as well.

In the afternoon I called and had a chat with Heather. It was nice, we haven’t talked on the phone in a long while now. I love hearing her Buffalo accent, it reminds me of home. Thanks Heather! *smile* We had baked salmon fillets, fried zucchini with mozzarella cheese, mandel
potatoes and a tossed salad for dinner. While I was cleaning up in the kitchen after dinner, the kidlet got out ice cream for him and his dad. Then I had to come and play Simpsons Road Rage with the kidlet. I rarely play anything on the Playstation, so I really suck. *laugh* He kept stopping and waiting for me to catch up, so the game would last longer, after the first game where he won in about 5 minutes.

I was thinking about phoning home last night, to see how my grandfather had done with his gastroscopy yesterday. But I wasn’t sure when the test was scheduled for and that visiting hours started at an odd time. So I bit the bullet and decided to wait for my aunt to call, since she said she would call and let me know what they found. Imagine my surprise when I woke this morning and discovered that just about the time I was thinking of phoning my Grandma, she was likely being hit by the huge power outage. Now I am wondering how my family made out, since all of them live in the Niagara Region. Of course we are a resourceful bunch and have managed through many other bouts of no power, so I am sure all went well. I will definitely be calling this evening (darn this 6 hour time difference, I want to call home now *laugh*).

We are off to Stockholm in a bit. I start back to work today. After we get back, we will meet up with my fellow and go wallpaper shopping, so we can get the bathroom done. At present the kidlet is “gluing”. He has the old IKEA catalogue and is cutting out pictures of everything he is going to need when he moves to his own house and pasting them on sheets of paper. I think it is too funny that he is planning this far ahead. I guess he will be like his dad and move out as soon as he is 18. *laugh*

We were up early this morning, well I was at least. After seeing my fellow off to work and convincing the kidlet to eat his breakfast, it was bath time. It took an hour to get him to the tub, since all his favourite shows came on tv in a row. Once he was in the tub, I did up dishes, made beds, fed animals and ironed some clothes. Then it was a quick shower for me while the kidlet watched more tv. We finally got out of here just before 1100.

It was 1215 when we got to Stockholm and we headed straight for the bus. First though we had to see the birds bathing in the water fountain outside the Central Station. We took the bus to Norrmalmstorg and then got off and waited for the streetcar. We took the sparvagn (streetcar) to Grona Lund. My idea had been to get on and go around in a circle back to Norrmalmstorg but when the kidlet saw the entrance to Grona Lund he wanted so much to go that we got off the streetcar and went in. It is an amusement park in Stockholm. The kidlet loved every minute of it. I had never bothered taking him before thinking it was mostly rides he was too little for, but there were lots for kids.

We started with a merry go round, then went to the Pettson & Findus house. That was really cool since they had the games he had played online just yesterday, at the house. Then we went to a kids section where they went up and slid down big tube slides. He really wanted to go up, but once up there he was scared to slide down and came back down the stairs. With his fear of heights I was surprised he even went up in the first place. He played a game there where you used a big hammer to hit virtual flies and one where you jumped on big buttons when they lit up. Then he played one where he sprayed water at fire targets. The next fun ride was a mini ferris wheel, then he went on a car ride where they were all attached like a big train. From there we went to a vintage car ride where he drove what looked like an old Model A around a track. He really wanted to go on the bumper cars, but they were for older kids. Around the corner though were bumper cars for kids and he rode that one twice! It was to funny watching the little kids drive into each other. I wish I had taken the camera along.

On our way out of Grona Lund we got him cotton candy. We sat through two streetcars passing by before he was done and the sticky face and hands cleaned enough to get on the return streetcar. We stopped at McDonalds on the way into the station and took his happu meal onto the train home. It was a perfect day. The weather was cool and overcast but no rain and the crowds were not too bad.

We got home at 1715 and I quickly gathered up the laundry for my 1730 laundry time. Then it was dinner, dishes and now at last I am sitting down with my cup of tea.

We had the most fabulous, exciting, exhilarating storm here today. It started about 1700 and last for 2 hours. There was lightning, there was thunder, there was torrential downpouring, there was hail. It was spectacular!

One of the things I have missed since coming here was good thunderstorms. Growing up on Lake Erie they were a part of life, so were noticeable in their absence here. I really don’t know why there are so few storms here, we are on Lake Malaren so you would think there would be more. The first 2 years here there were none. Last year we had one and this year we have had a number of small thunderstorms and one rather quick but intense one. But finally we had a great one. *laugh* My fellow came in the door soaked to the skin and required a change and good drying off with a towel. He was not amused by the weather but he did say “so are you happy now?”, so he was thinking about me during it. *grin*

This morning we met up with David and Marilyn at the park and the boys spent the morning playing. They had lots of fun. The kidlet told his dad the sad news that he could not go to work with him this morning since he was going to play with David, but he said he would go another day when his father acted sad about it. *laugh*

Tomorrow I want to go into the city. It is supposed to be good weather and we still have not ridden the streetcar to Skansen, so we need to rectify that. Karin called from work this morning to say they have missed me and make sure I was coming back this week. It is nice to be missed. *smile* I said we would be there Friday so the kidlet can see everyone before he starts back to school and we have to go in on weekends again. So two days in Stockholm this week will be a nice treat.