Kitty’s Place

Wow, I can’t believe it is Thursday already. LL has had a week of school and enjoyed every day. He gets lunch there and that is cool. Ibo has dropped him every morning at the bus and then I meet him after school and we take a city bus home. Monday we went to Märsta centrum and he was so excited because we saw one of the teachers there. Tuesday we went to Eurostop and got him a new snowsuit (they had a sale and we got the last one in his size on day 2 of the sale *laugh*) and he was so excited because we saw one of his classmates there. Wednesday we were to Valsta centrum and saw the grandma of one of his friends and he thought that was cool. He is one gregarious little boy. *laugh* Today we got a ride home from one of the other moms and he had a friend over to play. So it has been a full week.

I have had a migraine for 3 days, likely a direct result of the nasty stormy weather we are having. So I have done the basics here and a lot of resting and sleeping.

Today we phoned and talked to my gram. She sounds weak but good. She is going to a seniors residence on Monday and they are working to get my grandpa there as well. She is not convinced that she will stay there for good but is content to do so for now. She told me that one of her nurses was a woman I used to work with and that she told gram how much they missed me and how they didn’t want me to leave. I was glad someone remembers me fondly. *laugh* Apparently a couple of the nurses at the home where my grandfather is, know me as well. He is going to a bbq tonight with my younger brother Bryan and Bryan has been to the home every day to see him. When I talked to my gram she said I should come home and take care of her so they can go back to their house. I said I have a family here to take care of and she said they can move in too. *laugh*

Thursday was the official first day of school for the kidlet. We followed the bus in to the school and he thought that was cool. They had a little opening day speech, the kids all met in groups and then we had a little party. There was an abundance of goodies. I made blueberry muffins and they went over well. There were buns, brownies, cookies and even cheesecake to go with our coffee. The kids ran about and had lots of fun. Then at 1030 they got onto the bus and went back to St. Gertruds school, which is the pick up/drop off point. I got pictures of the kidlet getting onto the school bus for the first time. He said it was great and they have seat belts on this bus! I was glad to hear that, I think that the road in to the school could be rather treacherous in the winter.

Friday there is no school for the kidlet. He asked Thursday evening if we could go and see the Garfield movie, which was opening here in Sweden on Friday. His dad said it was up to me, since he would be at work. So of course we took the train in to Stockholm Friday morning and saw “Gustav”. *laugh* We could have gone to the english showing in the afternoon but we saw the swedish version. It was so funny and the kidlet just loved it. He really enjoys this sitting in the big theatre, munching on popcorn and drinking Coke. *smile* After the movie we took the subway and went to Gray’s American Food Store. They now sell sugarfree jello, sugarfree jello pudding and splenda! Of course I didn’t need any since I just got a lovely trade parcel from Monica, but it is good to know they have those things in stock. I did buy some tea, a bag of Nestle chocolate chips, a couple cans of pumpkin, Quaker Oats instant oatmeal and some candy for my fellow and the kidlet. When we got back to T-centralen, an old blue subway train pulled up on the opposite platform, so we took it and went out to Danderyd and then back on an old green train. Llywellyn kept telling me that this was his lucky day! He saw Garfield, had popcorn, got “Jonas goodies” (Ibo’s uncle had a tin of Altoids citrus sours the last time we saw him and we found them for sale at Grays) and got to go on TWO old subway trains. All the way home on the train he talked about what a great day he had. It made me smile.

Saturday we went and picked up pictures that I had taken in for developing, then we stopped at my fellow’s job for a couple of minutes and went from there to Arlandastad for coffee and cake. After he was done with his carrot cake and cola, the kidlet went and played in the playground. We sat and chatted some and then went out to join him. It was a nice morning. When we got home I called my brother for a Grandma update. I had not been able to get through to anyone on the phone for a couple days. Luckily Deb kept me updated on MSN. *smile* Later in the day Aunt Maud called with an update as well. Farmor and farfar invited the kidlet to spend the night with them so he went off at 1730 and we had a quiet evening here. I even had a glass of wine! *laugh* I was a bit worried how it would taste, since we got it as a christmas gift from my fellow’s job in 2002, but it was really nice. I will have to find some recipes that use red wine so I can use the rest of the bottle.

Today is all about relaxing. We slept in and then lazed about till noon. My fellow just went off to a meeting and I will finally go make our bed when I am done updating. The height of laziness, an unmade bed at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. *laugh*

My gram is recovering well. She had a clot that obstructed blood flow to a section of her bowel, which subsequently died. So they had to do a resection and remove the ischemic part of the bowel, but luckily she did not require a colostomy. She is still in ICU but everyone is amazed at how well she is recovering considering her age and other health issues. On Friday they placed my Grandpa in a long term care facility. On the way there, they had the ambulance stop at the hospital and took him in to see gram, I am told that both of them just glowed when they saw each other. He is adjusting ok there but of course it is hard. He has been living in the house in Port for 60 some years and suddenly not only is his wife of 70 years in hospital but he is uprooted and placed in a nursing home in another city. I so wish that Gram had not been so adamatly opposed to moving into a senior apartment when Grandpa reached the point where he could no longer walk. Instead she insisted on remaining at home and having home care and family help her take care of Grandpa. But now the family is looking at options available to them and it is pretty much a given that they will be moving someplace in the near future. I hope they can find somewhere suitable where both of them can be together.

On an up note, we came across a seat sale on KLM that will save us half the cost of normal airfare to Canada. So we are looking at finances and I am hoping that we can actually get there this year!

Yesterday school was from 09 - 1130. The kids all met together in their circle and the teacher read them a long story. Parents congregated on the porch of the little house with the kitchen in it. We all chatted and got to know each other and it was fun. Ibo picked us up after school and brought us home. I had a raging headache and nausea at that point and it fast became a full blown migraine. He teased and said it was because I am so stressed that my baby is starting school. *laugh* I slept part of the afternoon and LL played quietly in my room, drawing pictures and singing. Then I got up and let him go out and play while I cleaned up some. It was an early night to bed and I slept so soundly that I missed a big thunderstorm, I love thunderstorms. The headache had backed off some this morning and we headed out to school for the last day of inskolning, from 0900 - 1200. The parents stayed at the little house all morning and let the kids have their classtime without us. Instead we helped move furniture and set things up for tomorrow. One of the moms brought a big thermos of coffee and rolls and we had fika after we were done the work. *laugh* Again we all chatted and it felt good to have whole conversations in swedish with very little fumbling for words. We had lunch there, hot dogs grilled outdoors and then it was time to come home. We discussed tomorrow’s upprop and the party following rollcall and what we each would be baking. I had been thinking brownies but one of the other mom’s had already done kladdkaka and it is so close that I decided to do blueberry muffins instead. So I will be baking up a storm tonight. *laugh* I really like the feel of family at this school. We met more of the teachers today and they all went round and chatted with the kids and the parents. The final count for class size for the kindergarten group is 10 kids, a nice size class. I think I heard somewhere in all the talking that there will be 50 kids total this year, from kindergarten to sixth grade. So it is a cosy group.

After school we went and did some shopping. I missed a phone call from my brother while we were out. Apparently my grandma is in hospital and he was calling to give me the details. I was so upset to hear that, since I know she was really looking forward to Friday, when she and my grandpa will be celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary. It is sucky that she will be spending it in hospital.

I need to clear up more dishes here but first I am going to rest a bit and try to lose this headache completely. *smile*

Today was LL’s first day at Rävsta. There is inskolning (orientation) for the 6 year olds Monday to Wednesday this week and then on Thursday there is upprop (roll call) and fika (coffee time) from 0830 - 1030 for all students and their parents. This is the first year that they will be having upprop in the new school, so it is a special day.

We got to school at 0900 and were greeted by Micke who directed us out back of the little house. There we found other parents, kids and Birgitta. The kids were playing between the sandbox and the swings or clinging to a parent. *laugh* There were 8 kids there but she did say some kids had not showed up, so the class will be bigger. I saw 14 names on the list. After the kids had played a bit and it was obvious no one else was coming, we all moved down to an open area near the lake. The kids sat in a circle with the two teachers and Birgitta passed around a stuffed räv (fox), obviously the school mascot and had each child tell the fox their name. A plane flew overhead and there was a discussion about where each child had flown on an airplane. Most of them had been somewhere by plane, I heard Spain and Italy mentioned. One of the kids said he had been to Santaworld and when he was asked where that was, he said it was near where his grandparents live. *laugh* Then they all moved to another clearing and had a lively game of tag, where they used colours to determine who was “it”. It was interesting to watch how the teachers evaluated just how much these kids know without it being obvious at all. They had them pick out a mat to sit on, each one was numbered and the kids said which number they wanted and then went and got it.

Next we went to the porch of the little house and the kids each drew a picture of themselves and signed it, so now the teachers know who can write their names and who can’t. *laugh* Then the pictures where put in the old leather bag with the toy fox, so he would be able to look at them and remember which kid went with which name.

Then they had to put away their drawing stuff and went back to playing. The parents chatted some but I just listened. *laugh* Ibo had said he might have to just drop us off, but he did stay the two hours, which was nice. I loved that the “meeting place” was the sandbox. Mondays are always “utedag” (outside day) for the kids and I love that concept as well. It is a lovely spot with old apple trees, berry bushes, lots of birds, ducks on the lake and the air is full of sounds of wildlife. There was a discussion first thing about yellow jackets and how to act if they came around. We have a real problem with LL because he is terrified of them. Part of it is just a normal childs fear, part is that his grandmother is terrified and screams and runs when she sees them (or most flying insects) and part is that he got in the habit of screaming and running when he was in preschool and the teacher never tried to stop the kids doing that. I have been working with him all summer, catching him and holding him still so he can see that they just fly around and carry on, that they really don’t want to eat him, they prefer wasp food. *laugh* So he who screams and runs, told the teacher today that the best way to be when they fly around is still and they will fly on, so I guess he has been listening even though it is hard for him to follow that advice. *laugh*

Tomorrow they will be there for 2 1/2 hours and then 3 hours on Wednesday. I had him up early this morning and in the shower just after 7 am. We will have to get up earlier every day this week so he will be in the habit since next week when we start bussing to school, we will have to at the busstop at 0715. It is nice that he has no school on Fridays, so there is still time to be home and do kid things. We will apply for fritids (after school daycare) for January and they have a program for Fridays.

So we decided to make this trip to Egypt and postpone Canada. I feel really bad about not going to Canada this year but we can’t afford both. Even though I haven’t said anything to my fellow, one of the reasons I agreed to this trip (besides the fun of being in a warm sunny exotic place in the middle of November *laugh*) was because of his dad. Farfar had surgery earlier this year, to repair damage to his back that was the result of a bad fall a couple years ago. He has not a good recovery period and is in a lot of pain, all the time. I thought that it would be good for him to have all his family along on the vacation, to his country of birth. He has talked a lot to LL about going to Egypt and the bond between Ibo and his dad is really strong.

I called and talked to my grandmother a few days ago and told her that we would be going to Egypt and not coming to Canada. She laid on a real big guilt trip, complete with tears. She said we can postpone Egypt, that they might be dead if we wait until next year to come to Canada. I know they are old and yes, they could die before we get back there, but I can’t live my life around that possibilty. I love them both a lot and miss all my family every day but I have a family here too and I do a balancing act all the time to ensure that we keep in touch with them and that LL loves all of them equally. So it really hurts to know that my gram is basically telling people how selfish I am because we can only make one big trip this year and unlike the last two times, when we went to Canada, we are going to Egypt. I am growling here because I don’t want to growl at her. If I ever get to be almost 90, I imagine I will be just the same. *laugh* I wish I had the money to do both but this is the downside of being a stay at home mom, it is great for LL but not so great for the bank balance. *laugh*

Yesterday we stayed home. It was a nice day but overcast and I was a bit leery that we might get storm, so no beach. I did laundry, cleaned and puttered about. LL played outside with his friends all day. We did make a trip to post off a parcel with the final altered book of the round robin I was in. After work my fellow picked us up and we got pizza for dinner. The kidlet got a little beaded bracelet from the 5 SEK toy machine. When he wore it outside after dinner his friends told him it was a girl toy but he said it was a kid toy and boys could wear them too. *smile*

This morning it poured down rain. We went to Eurostop (and I forgot to record here that we saw another Eurostop on our way home from Lysekil, which was kind of cool) and had McDonalds for lunch. Then we went and got the kidlet’s hair cut. He was so good and his hair looks cute. She asked him if he wanted colour in it and offered the choice of green or purple. It was like the best day in his life that he got to have purple hair, since that is his favourite colour. Then there was a trip to the candy store and we came home. I am currently watching a tape of Judge Judy that I made on our last trip to Canada. It is almost like being there. *laugh*

Yesterday we waited for the electrician to come and install the range hood that has been sitting on the floor here for 2 months. They were waiting for a part that didn’t get shipped with it in June. A few minutes after 1400 I mentioned to my fellow that they weren’t here and he said they had phoned to say they couldn’t make it because he got ill, but they would be here today. So the kidlet and I went off to ÖoB in search of rug shampoo and a new rain suit. The dog decided for some reason to pee on the living room rug during the height of the heat wave. I imagine she was drinking lots and then couldn’t wait for us to get home and take her out. The rug belonged to my fellow’s grandparents and is a really good quality wool one, so I want to get it clean. At the moment it is tied in a garbage bag waiting for rug shampoo to be found. *laugh*

We did get a new rain suit (the ones we looked at when Meaghan was here). They will go with the new rain boots we got last week and will be left at his school. Actually we went out last week to get him new running shoes and came home with new runners, new suede slip ons and rain boots for the kidlet and new F1 sneakers and black dress shoes for my fellow. They had a wonderful sale going on, sadly though, the selection of womans shoes sucked and I didn’t get any. We also got the kidlet a couple toys at ÖoB. One was a bow and arrow set we found in the clearance bin for 2 SEK. When the cashier rang it up, she didn’t look at the price tag, just scanned it, so it came up 10 SEK. I pointed it out to her and she looked at me like I had 3 heads. So I went to the end of the belt, picked it up, brought it back and showed it to her really close. *laugh* She got all huffy and changed it. Then while she was ringing through the rest of my stuff (the kidlet paid for his two toys himself), she called the other cashier over and asked really loudly why a toy that cost 10 crowns would have a 2 crown price tag, like I would have changed it. I could have told her that it was in the clearance bin and the reason it was 2 crowns was that it was a bow with 3 arrows, but this one had only one arrow, the others ones were missing. But I thought “to hell with you chicky”. *laugh* The other cashier said she had no idea, but if it was marked 2 crowns, then it should be rung up as such. I felt a bit better. I mean I spent close to 400 SEK, why would I try to cheat them out of 8 crowns on a kid toy? I think she just didn’t like being told she made a mistake. *laugh*

Today the electrician was here at 8 am and we now have a range hood, so all our appliances have been installed and are working great. It was already a scorcher by 0930, so I decided to take the kidlet to the beach. He had asked a few times to go on the “badbuss” (the shuttle bus the region provides during the summer) but it was always too late or not nice weather. So we packed up towels, blanket, food and drinks and headed out to catch the bus. It leaves the centrum here at 1120 and then returns at 1600. I had never been to the beach here although I knew where it was. It really is a nice beach and has well maintained facilities. There were two bathrooms and two large changing rooms, each with a bathroom as well. All were clean and stocked with soap and paper. There is a kiosk that sells food and drinks and there is a large grill area. We had a lovely afternoon. Many trips into the lake and lots of fun on the beach. I am sunburned on my back and upper arms because I was not as diligent with my own sunscreen as I was with the kidlets. When we got off the bus the driver said to LL, “make sure you don’t drown” and the kidlet thought that was hilarious. When we got back on the bus the driver said “hey, you didn’t drown!” and LL said nope, but I did get water in my mouth. *laugh*

We had to ride the bus all the way to the train station on the way home, instead of getting off at our stop, because it was a cool one with seatbelts. LL really does love buses a lot. We caught the city bus home and I made dinner. Then I went into the bedroom to get something to put on after my shower and woke up at 1030 pm. *laugh* My fellow had put the kidlet to bed and taken the dog out. I had my shower and now I am watching tv because of course I am not tired after my 4 hour nap. *laugh* LL thinks we should go to the beach again tomorrow but I am not sure about that. It was hard keeping him entertained after 3 hours and it is 4 1/2 till the bus comes back. But we will see in the morning what the weather is like and if we are up to it I will switch my laundry time and we can go.

My fellow went back to work this morning. It is the first day we have heard that darn alarm in a whole month. We had a very nice vacation, didn’t do anything too exciting other than the trip to Lysekil but it was relaxing and fun. *smile*

One afternoon we played Trivial Pursuit here. LL has been asking to play for ages so we picked a day. He set the game up on the kitchen table, I organized pop, chips and dip. It was LL and my fellow on one team and me on the other. I lost. *laugh* Actually I was pretty pleased with myself, I had 5 game pieces and we were tied until they got the last answer before me. I could never have done that well a year ago playing a game with swedish questions. Eventually we will buy one of the family editions to play, but not until LL can read. *laugh*

It was a rather damp, cold vacation, until the last week. Then we had a heat wave here in Sweden. On Thursday the temperature hit 30 C and where were we? The beach? An air conditioned mall? No, we were scraping paint off my fellow’s parents home, in preparation for painting. *laugh* It actually was the best time to do it, the rest of the month was not really sunny and dry enough to do it but we could have used a bit less heat. *grin* It was at least 30 C every day since Thursday. I am happy to say that while we all were feeling the effects of the heat at farmor and farfar’s, the temperature never got above 24 in our apartment. *smile*

Friday we painted and the kidlet slept over there. We came home and slept in late. Saturday we got there and discovered everyone had slept late. Whew! After lunch time there was nothing left to be painted for the day, so we went out with my fellow’s uncle and his girlfriend. We went to Sigtuna and saw the touristy sites. The kidlet had fun running between us and them. He thinks Jonas and Eva are just the cat’s meow. *laugh* The kidlet slept at home Saturday night. We got rid of the blanket and let him have just a top sheet. It was a much cooler way to sleep. *laugh*

Sunday was a nice relaxing day. We went to my fellow’s parents and the kidlet played in the kiddie pool we bought on Friday. He stayed with his grandparents while we went and did a bit of grocery shopping. We were home about 2000 and got him into bed a bit earlier than he has been going over vacation. The rest of the evening was spent quietly, staying cool and playing on the computer.

I was sad to see my fellow off to work this morning, but I am sure he was glad to go. A month of us all the time must be trying. *laugh*