Kitty’s Place

Back in November I was doing my christmas shopping and I checked out http://www.discshop.se where I ordered a couple movies for my fellow. One was “Best in Show”, a movie I saw on my last trip to Canada that I thought was just too funny. My fellow didn’t quite appreciate it as much as I did. *laugh* I guess he needed to have spent more time watching SCTV when he was living over there. He did however like “Ali G Indahouse - The Movie”. *laugh* While I was checking out the site I typed in a number of movie titles just to look at prices etc. On a whim I typed in “Blow Out”, that old B movie with John Travolta that still makes me cry every time I see it. Imagine my surprise to see they had it in stock. Of course the 249 SEK price tag was too steep for me, but I went ahead and bookmarked the page anyway. Last week I was cleaning out my bookmarks and clicked on that old link. This week I am the proud owner of my very own copy of “Blow Out” on dvd for a cool 79 SEK. I haven’t watched it yet, am saving it for an evening when I am alone and can start sobbing when Nancy Allen is babbling away into her wire. *smile*

We went to Eurostop and got the kidlet a dvd yesterday. He had seen Beyblade videos there the last time we went and he had been talking about them. I mentioned it to my fellow and he said to get him one. So we bundled up and headed out. It was a 10 minute trip by bus to the mall and we were in the store all of 15 minutes. The kidlet was pale as a ghost by the time we checked out and kept saying how tired he was. Poor little guy, this bug took a lot out of him. We got the dvd version because with a dvd you don’t have to remember to rewind. *laugh* We came back home and he curled up under a blanket and watched his dvd twice.

Today we made a trip out to Märsta Centrum since I had to go pay for my dvd order and it had to be at Svensk Kassaservice. I rather depleted my bank account when I shopped for new clothes for my fellow last week, so I couldn’t pay it online. *laugh* The kidlet had much more energy today and enjoyed the trip out and played some in the snow.

We have a conditional (they have to sell their apartment) sale on this apartment. So things are moving along. I was talking to a neighbour tonight and she was very sad that we will be moving away. She said I have to come and have coffee with her before we move. *laugh* I hope the people in the new building are as nice as the people here have been. Speaking of people, the new ones on the third floor are moving in. The people who lived up there had a bunch of friends here last weekend with a couple of hired trucks and assorted cars. I assumed they were moved. Then they were back mid week with the rented moving truck again. Again I thought they were gone. However today the were back again with two trucks and a car and were rushing about like crazy. I was thinking it was the longest ever move. *laugh* When we got back from the centrum they had the two trucks up at the garage and were still packing in things. As we got to the building we saw people unloading things from a trailer. So I guess they left things right to the end. I almost wish I would have done more than glance out and see the trucks, I can’t imagine how they could have filled so many vehicles from one apartment. *laugh*

I am really beat tonight. It was all I could do to drag out of bed this morning and I have had a very busy day. I think it is time for tea. The brownies I baked are calling to me. *smile*

The kidlet seems to have kicked the flu bug at last. Hooray *laugh* Yesterday we stayed home and played all day. He ate real food, had no tummy ache and slept the night without waking.

I am really tired, since I sleep poorly when my fellow is away and I have also had this darn flu bug. But as with the kidlet, I am feeling better. I slept in this morning and that was nice. The kidlet did also, he got up about 0900. I peeked and saw he had gotten out bread and peanut butter and made himself a sandwich. He also poured himself apple juice. So I crawled back in bed and stayed there 1000. At that point LL came in and said “are you staying in bed the whole day?” *laugh*

Today I booked an appointment with the bank. I spoke only swedish and had no problems at all. Yay! It is these small things that are such a boost to a person’s confidence. I have dealt with other agencies just in swedish of course, but usually I have to ask for clarification of what the other person is saying a couple of times in a call and often the person I am speaking to will ask if I speak english, obviously because they are having problems understanding my swedish. But today it all went smoothly, no repeating of info necessary on either side of the conversation and we even chatted about sportlov and kids while waiting for her computer to get to the screen she needed. *grin*

My fellow will be home tonight and we are all looking forward to having him home. Susan thinks that she must be extra vigilant in her job of protecting us, when Ibo is away. So she barks at every little sound. Tuesday she was barking at the snow that was falling even.

I always miss my fellow greatly when we are apart and I never sleep well. Which is why I am awake at 3 am looking at old pictures. *laugh*

While looking at the pictures I uploaded to my old website I realized I had some cute then and now pics of my two favourite fellows and decided I would post them.

Male bonding when the kidlet was about 2 months old

Male bonding when the kidlet turned 5.

Surfing at 2 months old.

Sledding at 5 years old.

Fun when the kidlet was 14 months old

Fun when the kidlet was 5 years old.

The kidlet lobbied like crazy to get to stay up late. He explained that there is no school tomorrow so he really is allowed. But his pale little face with the dark spots under his eyes said he needed sleep. I read ‘Are you my Mother’ twice and he fell asleep as his head hit the pillow. I picked up toys, started the second spread in the AB and was just thinking about sleep when a little voice could be heard sobbing. I took him into the bathroom thinking he just had to pee, but he kept crying and hurried himself back to bed, complaining of a sore tummy the entire time. He fell back to sleep before I could get him covered up, then about 2 minutes later, sat straight up, yelled for me and threw up. Now he feels much better and has gone back to sleep. He is however running a fever so I will have to keep an eye on him overnight. I think it is definitely bedtime for mom now. *laugh*

Yesterday we did little. Well, the kidlet did little. *laugh* I did laundry, dishes, cleaned the bathroom, dusted. All the fun stuff. The kidlet didn’t throw up but he still complained off and on throughout the day about a sore tummy. A bit before bedtime he was really sobbing and said he thought he would throw up, but he didn’t. I feel so bad for little ones when they are ill.

We had an appointment at the new bank yesterday but I didn’t go since the kidlet felt blah still and we had no one to watch him. Farmor, farfar and faster planned a skiing trip for the day. My fellow did go to the bank and opened an account with them, arranged for bridge financing if we need it and talked to them about a few other financial things. I have to phone and make an appointment to go in and sign the paperwork for my account with them and then I can close out the Föreningsparbanken one. Ever since the loans officer commented on how small my income was and asked if I was looking for another job, I have been a bit ticked at them. *laugh*

This morning I was up at 0430 and saw my fellow off at 0530. He is gone to Göteborg until Thursday night, for work. I stayed up and worked some on an RR altered book that I have been trying to get to for days and days. About 0630 the kidlet got up, so I made him breakfast. I thought I would spend a quiet day at home, working on the book and puttering at a few other projects. Just before 0800 my fellow came online from work and said he had lost his phone. He figured it had fallen out of his pocket and was in the car under his seat. So I took the extra set of car keys, got the kidlet and myself dressed and headed out for Arlanda. We found the car and the phone was where he said. I popped online from the internet cafe there and emailed him to let him know I found it. Then we watched some planes, I had a coffee and the kidlet had a huge chocolate chip cookie. From there we headed to Eurostop. The kidlet has been asking to go the play place at ICA Maxi, one of those little “drop your kids off here while you shop” places. So I left him there and went to the book sale. I got ‘Norstedts Svenska Ordbok’ for myself since we had no actual swedish dictionary, only the swedish/english english/swedish type. For the kidlet I got ‘Här Kommer Flygplanet’(Here comes the airplane), since he has the ‘Här kommer Polisbilen’ and loves it. I also got him ‘Min Stora Sagoskatt’ (My Big Story Treasury?), which has all the kids classics in it .. The Elves and the Shoemaker, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Cinderella, The Ugly Duckling etc. There are 17 stories in all. I looked at two other books and may go back later in the week (as in after payday *laugh*) One was ‘Vem är vem i svensk historia från år 1000 till 1900′ (Who’s who in Swedish history from the years 1000 to 1900) and ‘Historien om Sverige från istid till framtid: så blev de första 14 000 åren’ which apparently is a condensed version of a 9 book series on the history of Sweden from the ice ages to the 2000’s, covering a period of 14000 years. I so love reading history and am feeling more confident in my abilities to wade through more than a novel in swedish. *smile*

After I finished shopping my fellow called and talked me through redirecting his calls from his phone to one he is using down there. Then the kidlet and I went to McDonalds where he actually ate his cheeseburger and fries, a big improvement from the small portions of food he has consumed over the past few days. We also sent Huggy off on his journey, a bit late but safely away by registered mail.

So my day of doing nothing but crafting turned into a long day away from home. *laugh* We got back here after 4 pm and the kidlet is happily watching cartoons. I am going to get dinner started, waffles instead of pancakes, at the request of one 5 year old cutie. *laugh*

That cutie scared the wits out of me yesterday and I actually swore (as in taking the Lord’s name in vain), a very rare occurence in this house. He has taken to piling up all the big cushions and perching on them. I don’t like it but he is a boy and I don’t want to baby him, so I let him do it on the floor where he doesn’t have far to fall if they topple over. Yesterday he put them all on the couch and perched on them. I said he was not to do that because he could fall off and hurt himself. He maintained that he was fine and would not fall. I was in the kitchen when I heard him yaying in here and I came into the living room just in time to see him launch himself from the glass end table onto the couch over the pile of cushions (I am guessing it was the second time, that the yay was because he did it once). The glass from the table slipped as he launched and crashed down inside the metal frame (it didn’t break though since it is that really thick glass). It scared me witless because even though I saw it happen, I didn’t process it so quickly and first I thought he had fallen through the glass. I let out an expletive and that scared the kidlet who started to cry. I was really angry with him, because we have explained to him about the glass table and why he is never to climb on it (we just recently brought it out of storage, thinking he was old enough to understand why he can’t climb on it). I told him that if it had broken under him he could have been so badly hurt, he could even have died. His response was “I am sad because you yelled and then said scary things to me”. His father arrived home shortly after and wanted to know why I looked grumpy. *laugh* He had a much calmer talk with the kidlet about the table but his talk also included the scary things mine did.

My little boy is somewhat better. He was ill all day Friday but after a 1 am rush to the bathroom, the vomiting stopped. He had some cereal for breakfast and it stayed down, he had some mashed potatoes and meatballs for lunch (his favourite) and it was a success as well. But when I put dinner on the table he said he would eat later. His aunt and his dad’s cousin came over to watch Melodifestivalen with us and I put out chips and dip, the kidlet’s favourite snack in the whole world. But when I said he could have some, he said “jag vill inte här just nu, tack”. I knew then we were not out of the woods with this stomach flu. After the show was over he brushed his teeth and while he was doing that he said his tummy hurt. I read him a story and when it was done he began to sob and hold his stomach. Pappa came in and picked him up and the kidlet said “bathroom”. A mad dash in and he threw up everything he had put into his tummy the entire day. He fell right to sleep and looked so tiny and pale. He did sleep the whole night through and has not complained about tummy at all today. He had bread with cheese for breakfast and a hot dog for lunch. We have to grocery shop today so he wants to come along, a good sign since yesterday he did not even want to get out of his pj’s.

0300. I open my eyes to see the light on, the kidlet crying at the end of his bed and my fellow gingerly removing stuffed animals from the head of the bed. I somehow missed the initial bout of vomiting but being a good mom, have been on hand for all the rest. The kidlet was fine at bedtime but in the middle of the night he started vomiting. We finally got back to sleep about 0600 and he slept till 0830. He got up, had some watered down apple juice and started throwing up again. He finally kept down some dry toast and juice in the past hour. When we called school to say he was sick, his teacher said that a number of the kids and their families are sick with the same thing. Comforting news to hear that the parents have it too. *laugh* At least having to stay home has forced me to catch up on the cleaning. I have vacuumed, washed floors and dusted while trying to entertain a very clingy child. Currently he is “trying” the 7th (or perhaps the 8th) computer game from the bunch he hasn’t looked at in months. Me, I wish I was sleeping. *laugh*

We made our way to Junibacken on Friday. It was much fun. The kidlet was looking forward to seeing the Bollibompa dragon, but he was no longer there. They have a big Mumin display at the moment. So we got to go up to the top of the Mumin house and see Muminmamma and other fun things. We had lunch there and got to see Karlsson. He was having great fun talking to kids, until he stopped and said hi to one little girl who was sitting at a table alone (her mom was getting cutlery) and she burst into tears. Poor little girl and poor Karlsson. *smile* We played in Pippi’s house and the kidlet found some friends to go down the big slide with. So it was a great day. We stopped in the bookstore on the way out and he got a little Pippi doll and then as we made our way to the cash, we found the cutest little Mumin alarm clock that has Mumin on the second hand. So we got it for the new room. If we keep buying things for his new room, there won’t be room for him in there. *laugh*

I started him towards the exit at 1500, but after much prodding and some growling on my part, it was actually after 1600 when we got our bus back to Central Station. Consequently we got the busy train home at 1620 and had to stand packed like sardines from Stockholm to Upplands Väsby. He was so happy when we finally got a seat. *laugh* My fellow called just as we got on the bus home and we decided to make it a pizza night. So he picked us up about 1830 and we went and got take out pizza (I had a roast beef salad and the guys had pizza). When I put the kidlet to bed at 2030 I was so cold I thought I would just snuggle under my blankets for a few minutes. I woke up at 2300. *laugh* I really was exhausted.

Today we went to pick up a couple things at the supermarket and found a high school bake sale going on there, so we got muffins, cinnamon rolls and a heart shaped cake with pink sugar melted on top. My fellow’s family came for dinner. We had spaghetti with a choice of tomato/ground beef sauce or creme fraiche/matlägningsyogurt/philidelphia cream cheese/shrimp sauce. My fellow’s cousin came along as well and it was nice to see him again. He is from Gällivare but is going to high school in Norrtälje so it is not so far for him to come for the weekend. After dinner we had coffee and the baked things we got as well as a new kind of Viennetta, Brownie flavoured. They all headed out before 2000 since they were going to watch the last episode of Robinson and it is a 2 hour one. My fellow is watching it right now and I settled the kidlet in bed, read “Five Minutes Peace” to him and he is now sound asleep.

The only thing I need to do here tomorrow is mop floors after lunch, since we have someone coming through at 1600. We have been invited to dinner at my fellow’s parents. I have a bit of homework left for next Thursday’s class, so I will try to finish it now.

Yesterday was a good day in class, we worked hard and learned lots. The kidlet enjoyed sleeping over at his grandparents but apparently he asked farfar a million times if it was time for school yet. *laugh* He did the same to me on Tuesday so I could relate to that. *grin* My fellow had a meeting and I worked on homework. I really just wanted to sleep and at one point was in tears trying to do homework that was actually very interesting and rather easy. I guess it is the mid winters blahs setting in. *laugh*

This morning we were up early and headed into the city. I had a 1000 appointment with Lisa and as I always do, I headed out for the train before the one that would get me there in time. However a train had broken down at Upplands-Väsby and that caused a 20 minute delay, so I ended up getting into the city and to Lisa’s just on the dot of 1000. She was a bit behind so there was some to relax. *laugh* My neck was really out and I felt so much better after she adjusted it and my back (which wasn’t really bad at all, everything seems to have been neck related). When I turned my head this morning as I was getting out of bed, I could hear it cracking, so I was glad it was chiropractor day. *laugh* After the appointment we did a mad dash back to Central Station where the kidlet got a french hot dog and I got a bun with salami and brie. We ate on the train trip home and got here just a few minutes before my fellow got home to let me go to school. It was one of those “just in time” days all around.

I saw something new today. In the 4 years I have been travelling the SL system along with having to show my my card/ticket when I board busses, trains or subways, I have it checked randomly on the bus, on the train and on the subway. Today was the first time ever I was stopped while exiting a subway station. When we got to Odenplan they had a ticket checker at every turnstile and we had to show that we had paid for our trip before we could leave the station. I guess they are gearing up for the price increase next month by letting the ridership know that they are there and actively checking. The kidlet was doing his usual dash through the turnstile and I had to stop him short so I could dig out my kupong. *laugh*

School today was a bit frustrating. In our homework from last Thursday was an assignment to write an answering letter to the one that was in the worksheets. I have a real hard time with those for some reason and I agonized over how to word things for most of the week. I did get it written Tuesday, worked on making it even better yesterday and I printed it out last night, feeling good that I had done it and it was well written (in my opinion at least *laugh*). Today in class the teacher started with going over last weeks homework. When she got to the letter only 2 of us (there are 26 students in our class) had actually done it. The rest said “it was too hard!”. So she took our letters and then went over what was needed in the letter and did a little checklist of what should be included. I realize it was just an exercise and that it doesn’t get graded, but I was a bit ticked that the rest get another week to do it. (yes I am a big baby *laugh*) Then there was a political discussion that started when we read:

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn;
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight;
If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy;
If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty;
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient;
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence;
If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate;
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice;
If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith;
If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself;
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.

One of the students commented that if you did not teach a child to love the world, they would become a terrorist. The response to that was that his view is not necessarily so, perhaps someone could love the world and do something radical because of that love. It turned into a discussion about was Osama Bin Laden a terrorist (original student said yes), was George Bush a terrorist (original student said no) and then people agreed or disagreed, very much along personal political lines. I hate political discussion, rarely have them in my personal life and am not about to get into one in class. Thankfully things got back to the actual lesson plan very quickly but I am still feeling out of sorts from it. *laugh*

I picked the kidlet up from school and we let his teacher know he won’t be there tomorrow. I won’t be a school tomorrow either. *laugh* I asked my fellow if he could work from home tomorrow and he couldn’t. Then we were told in class that tomorrow morning we will be sledding and those who do not wish to sled can go on a sort of scavenger hunt where they do a long walk and search for questions taped to trees and then answer them. That is not worth trying to make alternate child care plans so I decided that we will go to Junibacken tomorrow, since the kidlet asked today if we could. Huggy was with us at the chiropractor’s and at school, but my camera was acting up and I only got a couple good pictures. I will have to check out the manual tonight and make sure it is working for tomorrow, since it is time for him to head off to his next destination.

Aund Maud called last night and it was nice to chat with her. I really miss seeing her and hope it isn’t too very long before I get to go to visit. Tonight at dinner the discussion turned to “shopping for a new mom” again. The kidlet always thinks this is a good idea when I say no to him. *laugh* Tonight he and his dad decided that they would shop for a new mom that never says no and is never grumpy. Then they discussed what they would do with the old mom and the kidlet said “you can move back to Canada”. I said ok to all the suggestions. Then they discussed when they would get the new mom from the store and decided it would be a good idea to get the new one when we move. All was fine until the kidlet thought about it then he got tears in his eyes and said he would miss me. His dad said that I could stay in storage and when he missed me he could bring me upstairs and then when he was done playing with me, he could put me back, just like we do with his toys. That idea was a big hit. I feel so loved! *laugh*

My little boy is growing up and mom is far from ready. *laugh*

School went fine yesterday. I had a little visit with a friend of my fellow’s mom who works at the school. We were discussing kids and how they grow so quickly. I said I wasn’t ready for that, that I still think of LL as my baby. She suggested having a new one. *laugh*

My fellow came home at lunch and took the kidlet to school. Even though I knew he was going home to Tova’s house, I still stopped at the school at 1600, just to make sure he was still ok with that. The other mom’s thought it was funny and his teacher teased me that I was going to go home and cry without him. *laugh* So off he went, my little baby boy, to spend a few hours with a friend and no mom or dad there with him. I suppose that is a rather common thing for a 5 year old in a lot of families, but we are pretty insular and most visiting back and forth is done within the family. Monica said she would bring LL home after dinner and by 1900 I was getting a bit antsy. My fellow is at a meeting all day today so farfar is taking LL to school today. He said that LL could sleep there and he would take him to school. I was looking at the clock and thinking he would never get home and couldn’t go to his grandparents and I would be late for school (all of this as I struggled over an assignment that has been making me crazy all week *laugh*). About 1915 I saw him, Tova and her mom come around the corner. What a nice feeling to see my baby home. *laugh*

He had a great time, played Barbies and played house. Tova is the middle child of 5 and he said that her oldest brother was “too big” to play with them and her youngest sister was “too little” (but he did play cars with her for a little while). It was much fun and he can’t wait until she can come here for dinner again. After he recounted his adventures he called his grandfather and farfar came and picked him up. So I am childfree this morning. Have relaxed, took a long shower and now I am getting ready for school. I think I will not go tomorrow, since it will be a real rush to be back here in time after my chiropractor appointment and the last time I did that, I ended up falling on the subway train and making my back worse. *laugh*