Kitty’s Place

We have been vacationing for the past two weeks. The first week started off a little rocky because the 12th would have been my mom’s 66th birthday. I miss her every day but it is always worse on her birthday, christmas and the date she died. So I was grumpy and weepy but luckily I have two great fellow’s who let me work through the day and the rest of the week went well.*smile*

We did little, relaxed, did some work around the apartment, shopped. We had dinner pretty much every evening with my fellow’s parents. His sister was away to the Arvikafestivalen, so we didn’t see her. One day my fellow, his dad and the kidlet took the car to the garage to do some work on it. The kidlet loved that. *laugh* What is it about men and grease? We went in to Sollentuna one morning and applied for swedish passports. It is so much easier than the Canadian ones. We went to the police station, handed over ID card, passport photos and cash. The clerk typed our person numbers into the computer, printed out a form, I signed it and that was it. No finding someone from a list of obscure occupations to vouch that we are us, no filling in pages of information. *laugh*

Week two we went to Lysekil. The cottage was booked from Sunday to Sunday but my fellow’s sister didn’t get home until Sunday evening, so we went on Monday. We had a different cottage this time, but it was the same layout. Sadly the pool was broken the entire week and we only had one day of sun, so we never got to swim at all. We did have lots of fun though and a sauna every evening. We went to Uddevalla one day and shopped. We made 4 trips on the ferry and every time we got the same one we had the last time we were there two years ago, the Gullmaj. I wanted to go on the Gullbritt, just to say I had taken both. *laugh* We went in to Lysekil one day and took the kidlet on the train tour and then to Havets Hus, an aquarium. It was one of those perfect timing days. We parked the car and sauntered to the town centre, arriving just as the train did. Then when we got to the aquarium they announced it was feeding time and we walked along and got a little tour with the man feeding the fish. It was cool, he took things out and talked about them. We got to hold a live sea urchin and touch a live starfish. My fellow bought me a kaleidoscope. *smile* The kidlet got a little camera with 3 different cassettes each containing pictures of the different fish.

One afternoon my fellow and I went off on our own and stopped at the church ruins so I could take pictures. At one point in the afternoon he was looking at the hills and asked “are there enough stones here?”. I replied with “Stones? You call these stones?”, but he didn’t get the Roots reference at all, although any one of my siblings would have. *laugh*

We came home on Sunday, stopping in Sköldinge to see my fellow’s uncle. He had his 30th birthday the day before so we had some cake and a visit. I have to say I really miss seeing him. Moving 2 hours away really cuts down on the amount of visiting we do. We got home around 7 pm and by 9 pm we were totally unpacked and relaxing here. *laugh* We called and talked to Aunt Maud, LL spoke lots of english. He is too funny when he stops mid sentence and asks me to translate something to english, so he can say it properly.

Today I did laundry and we picked up our swedish passports at the post office. We had a parcel to pick up as well, from a swap I am doing with Monica. She sent low carb stuff for me and Snoopy stuff for the kidlet. He watched the movies and had a cry during “Snoopy Come Home”. When I asked what was wrong he said he misses Canada and wants to go home soon and see everyone. Poor little guy, he was so looking forward to going in the spring, never fussed when we postponed until the fall and now we have to wait longer.

Now it is 2 am and we are watching tv and enjoying vacation. *smile*

Since it has been sadly lacking lately, we have taken things into our own hands and booked a November vacation in Egypt where we will definitely have sun. *laugh*

We are going to spend a week at a resort on the Red Sea, in this hotel. But there is a downside to this, we have to postpone a trip home to Canada yet again.

My fellow’s family were planning a vacation in Sharm El Sheikh and asked if we were interested in going at the same time. Since my fellow would be going along, we decided to do Egypt and then he could have a vacation with us, rather than staying home and working while the kidlet and I went to Canada (as has happened the last two times we went). I am really excited about it and the kidlet is too, although he was very tentative when we first spoke about it, because we don’t speak arabic. Once we assured him that people there would speak english as well as arabic and that farfar was going to be there and he can speak arabic, the kidlet decided we would be ok to go. *laugh*

This morning I finished my coffee and got up and headed towards the bedroom. My fellow asked where I was going. I said “I am going to make the bed.” He asked why. I said “because it doesn’t make itself.” To which he replied “Really, my side does every day”. *laugh*

Then there was the Wheel of Fortune discussion. I said that Vanna White would go on strike if she had to turn all those vowels in finnish words. He said “I’ll take an R” sorry no R’s “I’ll take an S” sorry no S’s “beep beep beep, there are only vowels remaining” How ever did we get to that discussion from his observation that it was lame to have products descriptions in 3 languages simultaneously, that silly DK/S/N thing. We really are goofy in the mornings. *laugh*

Yesterday we lazed about, did very little and then went to my fellow’s parents for dinner. Andreas’ mom came over in the morning and we disassembled the big waterway, since he was home with a fever and couldn’t come over to play. She liked our kitchen, especially the new appliances. She said we are the 4th family to live in this place since they moved in. I thought she said they moved here in ‘88, my fellow thought she said 8 years. I will defer to him, it is his mother tongue. *laugh*

Today we did little again. I moved boxes into the spare room and my fellow moved the range hood in there as well. I do hope it gets installed soon, it has been sitting in the hall for 6 weeks now. *laugh* It rained again (what a surprise *smile*) so the kidlet and I went shopping while my fellow watched the F1 racing. Then his parents came here for dinner. Andreas was here early this morning but LL was just heading to shower so he couldn’t come in. He came back about 4 pm, they played for an hour, then he went home for dinner. He came back just as we sat down to dinner and he played with LL’s toys until we were done eating. Then the two of them went to his place for an hour. He is a really nice kid and I am glad they get along so well.

We discovered today that the bees are still here. I was told by the neighbour they left but we saw them when we went off to the store this afternoon. They have covered part of the trunk of the tree and also are hanging in a ball of bees. It is a bit scary. So imagine my reaction when we came home and discovered 4 boys (they looked about 10, 11 years old) who don’t live here, standing and throwing rocks at the bees trying to get a reaction from them. The bees were getting upset and a number were flying at the boys. I told them to stop, that it was a really stupid thing they were doing. LL told them to leave the bees in peace, they were not hurting anything. The boys just laughed at us and as soon as we were a few feet away they started again. It was only about 15 minutes later that I heard one of them yelling and then crying. Then I watched the 4 of them leave. I assume one of them got stung, idiot kids. Personally I am a bit concerned about the bees being there. I would hate to have one of the little kids accidently disturb them and get stung. I think if they are still there tomorrow I will ask my fellow to call and talk to that nice old caretaker fellow.

We have no plans for tomorrow except dinner at my fellow’s parents again. At the moment both we and them are on vacation so I think we will all be taking it easy for a few days. *smile* The weather report says we can expect rain all week again, so it is good we can amuse ourselves indoors. *laugh*

Reason #462 I love this new place. This afternoon Andreas, the little boy next door (he is 6) looked over onto our balcony and saw LL’s Brio Waterway. He said he had one too but his was red and then he wondered if they would fit together. So after they played in the playground for a while, he came over and they got his waterway and built a huge one. They are on the balcony having the best time. This never would have happened in our old place because there just were not any kids this age living there.

There was a bit of excitement in the courtyard this afternoon. A swarm of bees settled on a tree beside the volleyball net for an hour or so before they decided to move on. It scared the kids and was really a very awesome sight. I wish I would have thought to get my camera out, but it never entered my mind until after they were gone.

Yesterday and today have been putter about days, we have done just the necessary stuff and relaxed lots. My fellow has vacation starting this weekend and will be off for 4 weeks. I am very much looking forward to that!

We saw a number of cows in Stockholm yesterday. LL was quite taken with them and wants to look for more of them. I had totally forgotten about the cow parade so I am glad we went in when we did. He was especially enamoured of the Tre Kronor cow and wants to buy it. *laugh*

17 days ago, at summer solstice we had 22 hours of visible light. Today we have 21 hours 5 minutes. It always make me sad when the days start to get shorter again, I love these long days where you can go out at midnight and it is still light enough to read a book on the balcony.

It has been a really laid back week so far. Monday I did some laundry, dishes, vacuumed and then we went and grocery shopped. The kidlet got to go to the playhut at ICA Maxi, I got an hour to shop in peace. *laugh* My fellow picked us up there on his way home from work. LL friend Tova was sleeping over at Emma’s so the kids played outside until I called him in for bed.

Tuesday the doorbell rang about 0830. It was Tova and Emma seeing if LL could come out to play. He was just going in for a shower so I said he would be out later. They were back a few minutes later to see if he was done yet. *laugh* Needless to say it was a day of kids running in and out and lots of “plinging” at each other’s doors. I had planned on going to Upplands Väsby to tea shop but the kids were having such fun I postponed.

Yesterday we went into the city. I was meeting Kim at 4 pm at Fridhemsplan to get some books. We left here at 1200, missed our train because the kidlet had to go and get an ice cream and a cookie at the store at the train station. Then we strolled a bit in Central Station since they have made some changes and we were checking out just what had moved. The stroll was followed by lunch at McDonalds. That took an hour because the kidlet has to have a special order burger and here they never call you to say your food is ready, you have to watch and when you think it might be your order sliding down the food ramp, you have to get back in line and beg them to give you the food you have paid for. *laugh* Then he played and sang and did his usual kid stuff. From there we headed to the bus and went to Norrmalmstorg where we caught the streetcar. We went all the way to the end of the run and then switched to a different car to come back. These are vintage street cars that only run in the summer months and on special weekends the rest of the year. At that point we were running late and I decided to catch a bus to Fridhemsplan rather than try to find the subway station. It was about 1615 when we found Kim. She had a game for LL as well as two bags of books for me. It is a little golf game and he has been playing it for hours. It was nice to see her even though it was a quick visit. We headed back home and then had a nice evening. Well relatively nice. *laugh* LL is going through an argumentative phase. So at 8 pm, his actual bedtime I went out and got him from the playground. He got upset and wanted to stay out longer. Then he argued about getting his pj’s on. So he was sent to bed by his father. We were having ice cream and he got his in bed. He was some angry with us and said that tonight if we are dumb with him we would have to eat in bed. *laugh* I think part of it is his age and part is that he is hearing from the other kids what they get away with. He stalls every night so he actually does not get to sleep until 9 pm but if he is any later than that, he is cranky the next day from not enough sleep, so we are pretty strict about bedtime here.

Today I have a bit of shopping on the agenda and also a little laundry. Otherwise it is going to be a “take it easy” kind of day here. *smile*

I thought that once we were done school there would be more time to update my journal and keep up with mailing lists. I obviously was wrong. *laugh*

We went to my fellow’s parents cottage for midsommer. On the Thursday (June 24th) I made this lovely dinner and a blueberry pie for dessert. My fellow decided we should go to the cottage asap though, to avoid traffic. So I did a quick pack and then put the freshly baked pie into a wooden box and we headed out. We hit major traffic in Uppsala so we just went the long way, we took back roads and just wended our way along until we were back to the main highway just a few kilometers from our destination. It was a really nice little trip and I was pleased that I was able to use the map and get us to where we wanted to go. *laugh* The pie was still warm when we arrived and we had coffee and pie before our nightly sauna.

Friday my fellow, the kidlet and farfar spread the sand out in the spot where the pool is going to go. While they were doing that his mom, sister and I went into town and got a few groceries. Friends of theirs arrived about 4 pm and we had a lovely midsommar dinner of grilled salmon, grilled vegetables, salads, bread and cheese. On our way back from town we stopped at this little cafe and the woman who owns it actually talks more than my son! We bought homemade jam and homemade skorpar (they are like pieces of a baguette sliced and toasted). She told us where the midsummer celebrations would be held out there. The others went to that while we got the sauna heating up, since we did not want the kidlet to be up too late. But before we even got to go into the sauna, they were all back. It was not too appealing to party with a group of mostly teenagers, in advanced states of drunkeness. *laugh*

Saturday was a quiet day, since it rained off and on. In the evening the rest watched the fotboll game between Sweden and Holland. I wrote out recipes, since I have no interest at all in soccer.

Sunday we headed home, stopping in Uppsala to pick up Subway subs. LL was thrilled to get back to his friends. *laugh*

Once the weekend was over, LL went back to swimming lessons and I got more boxes unpacked and things organized in the guest room for Meaghan’s visit. Monday we picked up the kidlets’ glasses and he is slowly getting used to wearing them. The first night he left them on his floor when he got ready for bed. I figured they would be there and retrieved them after he was asleep. In the morning I told him that I had walked on them since he left them on the floor and they were broken. He said “the person who broke them can pay for a new pair”. I guess he didn’t get my “you need to be more careful” point. *laugh* Wednesday the kids had to wear clothes to swim in, they thought it was the coolest thing to go in the pool in long pants and long sleeved shirts. They also used life jackets and learned how to wear them properly. That was cool.

Thursday was Canada Day. Llywellyn told everyone we met that it was Canada’s birthday. *laugh* It was also the day Meaghan came to visit! We went to swimming lessons and then headed to the airport to meet Meaghan. I thought we would have time to eat at McDonalds but forgot to factor in the time the kidlet spent drying his hair (and singing) after every swimming lesson. So we arrived there just as her flight landed. We had a Canadian flag with us and the kidlet was waving it. A woman from the Copenhagen flight that had arrived a bit earlier stopped when she saw us. She was Canadian and was thrilled to see our flag on Canada Day. She asked the kidlet in english if he spoke english and he just stared, so she asked him in Danish. He didn’t answer that language either. *laugh* It was a short wait and then we got to greet “our guest” as the kidlet referred to her. It was such fun to spend time with her again. After we dropped of her luggage here, we went and did a bit of grocery shopping. We had a quiet evening Thursday and it was an early night.

Friday was the last day of swimming lessons. Meaghan came with us for the kidlet’s graduation. Parents and siblings were to swim with the kids that day. It was lots of fun and LL made sure he pointed out to his swimming instructors that Meaghan was our guest from Canada. He got a diploma and we got him his pins, he has passed Turtle level now. *laugh* After swimming we went shopping at the centrum. Meaghan got a new watch battery and we had coffee and goodies at the cafe. We also had a great wander through ÖoB and she discovered she can fit into child size 170. *laugh* We had my fellow’s parents over for dinner Friday night.

Saturday we all slept late and had a long relaxing breakfast. Then we headed to Uppsala and did the castle tour and went to the Cathedral. We were too late to be able to do the tour of the Treasury though. (next time *smile*) After touristing we went out for chinese food and then to my fellow’s parents for coffee.

Today we had planned on going to Sigtuna to the Middle Ages festival but after sleeping late I woke to a horrid sinus headache. It was an odd weather day with lots of thunder and intermittent rain, so we stayed home since the festival was an outdoor event. We took Meaghan to the ferry and saw her off. She headed to the ship at 1615 but we waited there until the boat left a bit after 1700. The kidlet wanted to see the boat leaving and wave. I am missing Meaghan already and hope that she will get back for another visit soon. *smile*