Kitty’s Place

I am home today with a feverish little boy. When I woke him for school he was lethargic and burning up, I would estimate his temperature was pushing 40C. So I popped him in to the shower and we got it down some, to 38.7C. Now he is bundled up warm on the couch drinking juice. He has a nasty cough as well and says his tummy hurts. I left messages at my school and at his and now I am going to do the rest of my homework for the week.

Haven’t updated in a bit here. Last Wednesday I picked the two boys up and brought them home. On the bus they had a conversation only 6 year olds could have, they discussed poop and trolls and how they spin when you flush. An elderly woman on the bus was disgusted and kept throwing daggers with her eyes, but I thought it was too funny. *laugh*

Thursday was a good day, with swedish all day. Friday however was another story. I was feeling crampy when I left for school and it just got worse. I picked up a stomach flu somewhere and by Friday evening was running a fever along with the other not so lovely symptoms. It continued on into Saturday, so there was not much done here that day. *laugh* We did get LL’s room cleaned and then he went off to spend the night with his grandparents.

Yesterday I felt fine again, so we grocery shopped and went out for coffee. The kidlet came home from farmor and farfar’s after dinner. He just could not settle to sleep and it was after 10 pm before he fell asleep. Then around 11 pm he started coughing, so I guess the restlessness was this virus taking hold.

This morning I was up early with my fellow, he headed down to Göteborg for a couple of days. LL is still rather lethargic but making up for the lack of energy in the whine department, so I think this will be a long day for us both. *laugh*

We had a nice weekend. I got all my homework done on Friday, except for my math, which I got half finished. I finished that over the weekend and went to school Monday morning sick with worry about presenting it. I went to study hall first since that is what was circled on my schedule. I thought it was odd the other two were not there but everyone is a bit casual at this school. Well, they were not there because we had math first, not study hall. *laugh* So I have to do my math presentation next Monday instead and I have fixed my schedule. *laugh* Unfortunately I now have to inform them I will be late to school on Monday because my fellow is going down south. I hope my classmates and teacher have more patience for me. *laugh*

Yesterday was religion class and while it is an interesting review, it makes me very tired because it is so swedish intense, even more so than swedish class because in swedish class we stop and discuss words we don’t understand but in religion we are one big group, swedes and immigrants, so the class goes on while I struggle to keep up with the swedish.

Today I was up at 0445 to see my fellow off to Copenhagen. He is just gone for the day. I have no school today because it is a PD day, so we are doing self study again. I will be picking up LL after his english class and will also be picking up his friend Viktor, who is coming home to play with LL for the afternoon. Llywellyn is so excited because Viktor is from a two language (english/swedish) home too, so they can watch english movies and play english games, something he can’t do with his swedish friends.

I have been emotional since I woke up. This is always a hard day for me. Hard as it is to fathom, it is 13 years today since my mom passed away. Of course time has eased the pain, but there is not one day even now that goes by without my thinking about her or talking about her. I still miss her very much and will do so until I myself die I am sure. Often I wonder what she would think of my life as it is today. Back then I was married to someone else, was never going to have a child, was working fulltime in a hospital. Now I am on the other side of the world with a different man, a son and am going to high school again. *smile*

This morning when the kidlet was getting ready for school I told him not to drag his clothes on the floor and of course he did. I said “I might just as well talk to this table” and he said “talk till mine hand!” as he held it up palm outwards. I had to actually sit down I laughed so hard. I have never used that expression and can only guess that Ibo has said it when LL was around. I told his father what he said as we were going to the car and he soaked in the correct english, so tonight when I said “you need to pick up after yourself and not leave your clothes lying on the floor”, he said “talk to the hand mom!”. So I repeated it to his hand and then he laughed and said ok. *laugh*

The week is moving along. *laugh* Yesterday I had math class first. The other two students (yes there are only 3 of us) did their presentations. One of them spoke about the Pythagorean Theorem and the other spoke about Triangles. Both were really interesting and well done. It was a really interesting review for me. On Monday it is my turn and I had been dreading it. I kept looking in the math book and being daunted by long complex equations. So I spoke with the teacher and he reminded me that it is not the math that is the focus, it is the swedish. We are doing these presentations for the practice of speaking swedish and learning the terminology. So I am starting at the basics and on Monday I am going to do a presentation on natural numbers. *laugh* Once I am done if I find it is too short (we need to talk for 10 to 15 minutes I think) I will continue with prime numbers. Now doesn’t that sound exciting? *laugh*

After math class we have a spare and since I don’t take english and am doing my extra swedish on Mondays, I was done for the day. Normally I would stay at school since I can’t pick up LL until 1330 (after his english class) but I had a number of errands to run, so I headed back home after coffee break. I managed to miss my bus, it was driving away as I got to the street. So I walked to the bus station, came home, sorted laundry, made beds, headed out and did errands which included going to the bank with the cheque I got from CSN, picking up packages at the postal outlet and taking clothes to the dry cleaners. Then I went back to Sigtuna, retrieved my son and came home again. I put the first two loads of laundry in, started preparing dinner and then took LL to swimming lessons. I decided I am never doing that again! *laugh* From now on I will stay at school on Wednesdays and study, it is much less stressful.

Today we had swedish all day but I got a one lecture reprieve. During our second lesson of the day, myself, the two students from the USA and the new student from Romania all went to the “Intensive English” group and talked with them. We started out introducing ourselves and then we broke into 4 groups and had discussions where the others had to ask us questions and have conversations with us in english. We four rotated through the groups and it was great fun. I met a lot of new people and got to speak english with no-one saying “Kitty, you have to speak swedish, that is what you are here for”. *laugh* We were informed this morning that the teacher we have on Fridays is ill and she sent word that we are to stay home tomorrow and can study there. So I have the whole day tomorrow to do homework and then I can have the weekend free of schoolwork.

I haven’t journaled much about the other students but I am getting to know them all and I have decided that the big difference at this school is that most everyone is there because they actually want to learn. *laugh* Our group range in age from teenagers to people in their 40’s and everyone takes the time to talk to each other and to listen. In just two weeks I feel more comfortable with them than I did with the group at SFI after 5 months together. Then of course we have contact with the other groups on Tuesdays and during breaks and lunch. I think I have met at least one new person every day and all of them have been interesting and just plain nice. Today I spoke with one of the other women and was saying that I was very stressed trying to get a routine in place that would accommodate home and school. She said that she went through that last term and was actually thinking of leaving school but over the holidays she realized it was not worth stressing over. I thought a lot about that and she is right. As long as things are picked up and we have clean clothes to wear and food to eat then that is enough. Also, if I finish this course in 3 terms that is great, but I don’t have to. The usual time is two years and that is ok too. So I actually feel very much more relaxed tonight. *smile*

I was reading Metro on the train and when I got to the Elvis strip I laughed so hard I had tears. So I just looked it up online and found the url for the daily comic: http://www.metro.se/elvis_archive.phtml/ . Now I can read it even when I don’t manage to get my hands on the paper. *laugh*

This morning our entire group went in to Stockholm. Most of us took the train from Märsta and chatted on the way. I had never gone to Stockholm S before so that was cool. We walked from there to the mosque. There we had a 2 hour lesson on islamic faith. It was very interesting and the man that spoke to us was very interesting. He was however very intractable. *laugh*

After we were done there we went for lunch here and had great kebab. Then it was back towards Söderhallarna where we went to a church nearby. There we used a room and presented our various projects. I was so nervous I thought I would throw up and I know I butchered my swedish but at least it is over with. I felt a bit like it was a trial by fire, I have been in school a whole week, so of course I should be able to participate in a group project. *laugh*

We took the train home and Ibo picked me up at the station so we could go and get LL a bit earlier than it would have been if I had waited to take the bus. I am totally exhausted and cried at dinnertime again. I hope this is not going to be the norm every Tuesday after religion class. *laugh*

On an up note, I ordered some new clothes when Mary’s had a 70% off sale a couple weeks ago and they are now waiting for me to pick up at the postal outlet. Also the first installment of my study grant arrived today. Which reminds me, yesterday I got the first bill for LL’s fritids. It was not very much since it was only a partial month. But what I found odd was that “I” got the bill. It says right on the paper that I have no income and Ibo has xxx income (we pay a percentage of our combined monthly income), but it is me who is responsible to pay it. *laugh* I said to Ibo, “yeah, we’ve come a long way baby”. Even though he is son to both of us, as the mother it is my job to take care of him and if I choose to work or go to school, it is my job to pay for that. Yes, we are so lucky to be considered equals in these enlightened times. *laugh* When I mentioned this at school they said it was so because it is always the mom that arranges dagis and fritids, since they are the ones who usually are home with babies or children, which does make sense. *laugh*

We had a nice weekend, even though it seemed to pass by too quickly as I tried to get organized with housework.

Saturday we grocery shopped, did some housework and had a quiet day.

Sunday I did laundry, ironed two weeks worth of clothes for us and we did other assorted home things. We went and visited Ibo’s family and had coffee and a nice visit with them. Farfar brought home a remote control car for LL that is as big as the one Ibo has. Llywellyn is thrilled with it.

Today there was no school for us. LL had an appointment with the logoped (speech therapist) at Löwenströmska. She said there is a definite improvement since she last saw him in June and she will arrange for a talpedagog (speech teacher) to work with him at school.

My fellow was not feeling up to par when he got home from work, so he did not go to his meeting. Hopefully he will feel better soon.

I have worked on homework today, finished my section of the livsfråger project and the grammar homework for swedish class. Now I am relaxing and thinking about a shower and then a cup of tea.

The school week is over and I am still alive. *laugh*

Thursday I had swedish class. The day started out one a wonderful note, Cyndi came back to school! We went to SFI together and I have been really looking forward to seeing her again. She had been on vacation in the US (she is american) and got snowbound in Reno. Our class is small, I think there are a dozen of us, but some were away yesterday. We started out doing a little exercise where we wrote down 6 things about ourselves and then we discussed one with the whole class. It was fun. Then we read about August Strindberg (a well known swedish author) and a short story by him that we discussed. It was not nearly as stressful as I thought it would be. *laugh* I picked LL up from fritids and we hurried home to start dinner. I made a beef stew and he whined and cried. This has been a long week for him as well, with fritids starting and the longer days at “school”.

I spoke with the course co-ordinator and we worked out a way for me to study extra swedish and get the required hours needed to fulfill the requirements for my study grant. I then went to the school secretary and let her know I was now studying 100% so she can report it as so when she sends her report to CSN saying I have started school. Then I came home and made the necessary notifications to CSN.

Today was swedish all day again, but with a different instructor. The class had read a book last term (Comedia Infantil by Henning Mankell) and today they discussed it. After that discussion we three new students got our textbooks for this class and then we all painted (drew) pictures. The returning students worked in groups drawing a scene from the book and we new students drew a picture of how it was when we were growing up. That was fun even though I cannot draw. *laugh* Then after we showed our pictures and told what they meant, the other students told us a bit about themselves. After lunch we planted flowers in pots to spruce up the new classroom and then had a grammar lesson using the words used when planting and growing. It was a good day.

I picked LL up from fritids and then we did errands. I stopped by the bank and arranged for my study grant to be direct deposited to my account. We picked up some containers for Ibo. We went to the optical store and had LL’s glasses repaired since they broke at school today. We stopped at the library and then we stopped and had something to drink (LL had juice and I had coffee *laugh*). While we were sitting at the cafe downstairs from the library we were spotted by LL’s teacher as she came down the stairs. She stopped and had a little chat with us. She said that she can hear an improvement in my spoken swedish already. While my vocabulary has not improved, I feel more confident already and I have been consciously trying to improve pronunciation, so it was nice to hear positive feedback. *smile* Then we came home and I tried to get a bit of the piling up housework done. Ibo picked us up and we went out for pizza, so I did not have to cook. That is a good thing because I am exhausted. *laugh* I don’t go back to school until Wednesday since I have to take LL to the speech therapist Monday and we are going on a school outing to Stockholm on Tuesday. I am so looking forward to the weekend. *laugh*

It doesn’t matter that I know this means midweek, I always get another thought flitting through my head when I say it. *laugh*

Tuesday was a very stressful day. We started out with religion and a lecture on what is fundamentalism. At the very beginning of the class we four new students were assigned to an existing work group and given a little blue notebook (loggbok). After the speaker was done out individual groups were to continue working on the project they were assigned last term. Apparently in the group I am in, the person who was the “leader” has finished school and half of the others were absent. Of the two who had been in the last class before christmas, only one had been able to find info on the project. So we basically started from scratch and it is to be presented in the next class. I felt very much out of place since I was the “new” person and since I had no idea what they have studied already. Our group has to do a presentation on religious terrorism (the overall subject is religion and politics and each of the groups has a specific topic). One of the other students took charge but it seemed she really did not want to be in that position and I felt as if they were all thinking “great, this new person is not going to be any help at all” (which they weren’t of course, all of them were very nice). One of the group members has her daughter going to St: Gertrud’s and recognized me since she has seen me waiting for LL. *laugh*

After lunch we met again and each of took one section of the plan we had come up with for the presentation. Then we headed to the computers to find info. My section is terrorist groups in Sweden and their religious ties. We were done at 1400 and then I headed to meet LL when his bus arrived at St: G’s. Since it was his first day of fritids I went with him and we stayed for an hour. That went well and we headed home at 1600. I rushed to get dinner started because I didn’t know if Ibo had a meeting at 1800. Well he did have a meeting but it was until 1800, so dinner was well done when he got home. *laugh* I sat and cried at the dinner table, not for any other reason than my head was just too full of swedish. Hearing, speaking, reading and writing it all day on top of the anxiety of being new was just overwhelming. *laugh* I did feel better by bedtime. *smile*

We are discussing the school trip. It is to Milano for 5 days in May and the cost would be 1000 SEK and spending money. I would love to go but I am a bit ambivalent about leaving my fellows for that time. I also am thinking that money could be used for our Canada trip instead. So between now and tomorrow I have to make a decision on this. *laugh*

Today was math. I am in a math language class, since what I need is the actual swedish. It is a small group of 3 students, all of us have had math at college/university level from our countries of origin. I keep looking in the text book and shivering, it is over 25 years since I have studied math and I have never been fond of it. *laugh* I was done early and picked up LL after his english class and then we hurried home so he could go to swimming lessons. His swimming instructor was very excited to tell me that LL has started to swim without the “water wings”!

Tomorrow we have swedish all day and then we have swedish again all day Friday. Since I am not taking english I do not have enough hours to qualify as studying fulltime for grant purposes. So I will talk with the woman in charge of the program and see if there is something I can study to make up the two hours I need to qualify as full time.

I have uploaded pics of LL’s toothless smile here.

Last but far from least, today I got my books from Colette. I am so looking forward to reading both these books that she not only wrote but designed cover art for.

Today was my first day of school. It started with LL coming in to our room 5 minutes before the alarm went off, crying and saying his tummy hurt. I sent him to the bathroom and he hung over the toilet for a few minutes and then said he felt better. He had some breakfast, we all got ready and my fellows took me to school. On the way the kidlet again complained his tummy was sore and then announced in panic he was going to throw up. So it was pull over the car time and sure enough, he did. Poor little guy. We gave him the option of going back home with pappa or going to work with pappa. He felt better so he went to work with Ibo after they dropped me at school. There are 3 new students besides me. A woman from Kurdistan, a man from Iran and a girl from Romania who is here on a scholarship for one term. We met a bunch of the other students and then had a little orientation. The schedule seems good, we have swedish class for the entire day both Thursday and Friday.

We started with study hall, then fika, followed by a welcome from the school principal. Then we went to math class where we had to write a placement test. The last time I studied math was somewhere about 27 years ago, so I am sure I will be placed in the beginner math group. *laugh* Then it was lunchtime followed by an computer class where we got out usernames and were shown how to log in to the schools’ system. I was done at 1400 and then my fellows picked me up. Tomorrow we have “livsfrågor” (life questions), Tuesdays are social studies/history and religion broken up into 3 classes. I have made my lunch, organized my books and organized everything for LL since he starts school again tomorrow. I really need to get a routine going now that I won’t be home in the day (eating bon bons and watching soap operas *laugh*).