Kitty’s Place

Yesterday we went to the centrum to pick up my new glasses, a five minute bus trip. Less than half an hour after leaving the house, the kidlet said he felt bad and sure enough, his fever was back up. We came home and he had some medicine and a little sleep. So I spoke too darn soon about his going back to school. *laugh* We did go to his grandparents for dinner, farmor had phoned and invited us in the morning, LL took the call while I was in the shower, went online to the IRC window that is always open to my fellow and asked his father if we could go, then called his grandmother to say we would be there between 1730 and 1800. A social secretary in the making. Because he did not want to cancel, he did not tell me right away when he felt worse, he was afraid I would say we had to stay home. I said if he rested and his fever came down, we could go over for dinner but not stay long after. That worked for him. He is such a social creature that it is hard for him to be home with no contact with anyone other than us. He had a great chat with Meaghan a couple days on msn and has asked a number of times since if we can see if she is there again. So I know he wants to talk to someone other than me. *laugh* Ibo’s mom and sister made shish kabobs for dinner. The last time I cooked them was the day I had Llywellyn. I did them on the bbq and then before we actually ate, I had spotting, called the hospital, went in and had LL. So the kebobs sat in the fridge until I came home a few days later and then hit the garbage. *laugh*

It is still gloomy and rainy but every day there is less snow and ice and more ground and old grass showing. That is a good thing! Our shorn dog is not getting too muddy yet, since there are lots of puddles to rinse off in, but I know that soon she is going to have little black paws every day.

So the kidlet had no fever when he woke. Here’s hoping it doesn’t resurface today, he is just obnoxious after being home ill for a few days. This morning I said he needed to go shower, he cried. He asked if he had to wash his hair too and I said yes. He sobbed. So I said fine, stay stinky like a little piglet and then he yelled that fine, he would have a shower, but only a short one. Of course once he was in there he sang and played and had fun. *laugh* Then I said that we could go pick up my glasses and fika if he wanted. He was appalled. He had to come with me to pick up my glasses???? So I said no, I will pick them up another time. Then he got upset again because he really wanted to go, he just is in an obstinate mood and has to challenge everything. I am sure I am the same after I have been cooped up and sick. I do want to get him out for a bit of fresh air today and a 30 minute trip to get glasses, have a juice and come home sounds like it would be perfect.

We are going to Canada this summer. I have one more phone call to make before I book our trip. At this point it looks like we will go June 12 - July 7. Besides seeing family the purpose is to go to the storage facility where the contents of our 3 bedroom apartment have been since we moved here 6 years ago. We have decided that we are not moving back to Canada and we don’t need to ship over furniture and small appliances that have a different power supply. So I plan on removing everything that won’t be shipped over and if any of my neices and nephews need things they are welcome. If not we will donate/garage sale the stuff. I plan on shipping over books, photos, china, as in my teacup collection, teapot collection and the 4 place setting set of Royal Albert china that was my moms. I am sure there will be more sentimental stuff when I actually look but things like my good dishes and such are just not needed here, since we have a home with everything we need.

The ice and snow are melting, there is a fine mist rain falling off and on and it looks deliciously foggy out my window. I keep waiting to hear the foghorn sound. *laugh*

My fellow worked late yesterday, got home just in time for CSI at 2100. Today he had a politics meeting that started at 1230 and will go late into the evening. I am glad he had the weekend to recharge. As for me, I was out for a bit of a walk this morning with the dog and realized that this wet air isn’t any easier on the lungs than the cold was but I know it is a short term thing and I did smell spring in that wet air. *laugh*

We had a close to perfect weekend. The sun shone, it was above freezing, it melted enough that we have pavement again in the courtyard. My fellow relaxed, no work, no politics. We went shopping on Saturday and got him some new clothes, we had fika at our second favourite cafe and had waffles for dinner at his parents.

The only downside of the weekend was that LL is still sick. He felt a bit perkier on Saturday and even did some trampoline jumping but by the evening his cough was really bad. Sunday he was fever free but he coughed till he gagged. This morning the fever was back so we saw a doctor at 0930 and the kidlet is now on penicillin for his lung congestion and is to continue the cough medicine he was already taking. It is obviously something that is going around because when I called for the appointment this morning the nurse pretty much described his symptoms before I could and it was the same with the doctor. LL’s throat looked ok (it was really red last week but looked fine over the weekend) but his lymph nodes were swollen, he still had a fever and he was quite congested. I told the doctor I don’t usually go to the clinic for a cold but he just seemed to be getting worse, he said it was good we came now. As an indication of just how bad a year this has been for the kidlet healthwise, we have spent over 1300 crowns on medicine for him since October 2005. Prior to that he had been on prescription medication once in his life, back in 2000. So here’s hoping that with the onset of spring, all of us will be healthy again and for many years to come. *laugh*

The kidlet was still feverish, hoarse and coughing this morning so we were home again. He played quietly in his room with his trains, I did housework. Stripped beds, did laundry, cleaned bathrooms. vaccuumed, washed floors, remade beds, carried winter sports stuff down to the storage room, did dishes and took out the dog for a long walk. Then I had a nice long shower. *laugh*

My fellow left work at 1400 and took me to Upplands Väsby to pick up my crockpot. Thank you Lisa! It actually arrived at Bussgods a week and a half ago but it was just not possible for me to get there to pick up since their open hours were while I was in school. It is just as well because the box was bulky enough that it would have been a challenge getting it home on two buses and a train. *laugh* From there we went and had coffee at the library cafe and then I took the kidlet to the dentist office to get a flouride treatment while his dad made a quick trip to party headquarters to pick up some papers. On our way out of the library I saw some National Geopgraphics in english on the sale cart, for 1 crown each. I got all 19 of them. *laugh*

After we got home LL played a bit on the computer, my fellow worked some from home since he left early and I opened the crockpot and drooled over it, thinking of all the things I can use it for, then I made dinner. I made fruit salad again for dessert and it really feels like spring must be coming when we eat that. *laugh* Now it is time to tuck in the kidlet and we are going to have a quiet evening and a quiet family weekend.

Last evening Llywellyn went to his very first kids stamp club meeting. We went to see what happened at these meetings and didn’t plan on staying for the entire 90 minutes. There were 10 kids total, 2 girls looked about 13 and they worked in another room with one of the adults, the other kids ranged from 7 to 11. First they opened their stamp albums and showed their favourite stamp, then they looked through stamp catalogues for that stamp and then the fellow running the meeting opened 4 boxes of stamps and the kids looked through and picked out stamps they liked and put them into their albums. LL did not take his album with so he got to chose out of one of the boxes at the start and show what stamp he liked. It was great fun for him to learn how to read the catalogue and he got right into the swing of things looking through the stamps, remembering which kid collected horses, which collected flowers etc. and handing over any finds they might want. After an hour I looked at him and his cheeks were bright red. A touch on his forehead confirmed he had a fever, so we headed home, but not before he told them he would back in 2 weeks. *laugh* He did say when he was there that he was “hes”. I thought he said “häst” but it wasn’t until we got home that I asked him why he said he was a horse. He gave me a short swedish lesson, hes is hoarse, häst is horse. *laugh* Before, during and after the meeting, Meaghan and I talked online and she booked her ticket to come and visit us. It was a wonderful evening, the only downside being my fellow worked till 2200. I waited and had dinner with him and I was actually hungry by then. *laugh* This morning LL still had quite a fever, a nasty hacking cough and he was still hoarse. He had Tylenol at 0700 and I told him he needed to be quiet and rest his throat. Of course that is impossible and about 0830 his voice disappeared. He was really scared and whispered that he should have listened to me and now his voice was gone. So it has been a quiet morning here, he is still coughing, still has a fever but his little hoarse voice is back. I just gave him more Tylenol and am trying to convince him we should go have a nap. Nap is a bad word to a 7 year old. *laugh*

Yesterday I had a bit of time to try and catch up on my livejournal reading. I clicked on Meaghans journal and discovered that life was somewhat sucky for her just now. A short exchange of comments and one invitation later she decided to come for a visit. She sms’d some dates while I was LL’s stamp club meeting and when I got home I checked and found her online. So she will be flying here April 10th (my birthday), will spend her birthday (April 14th) here and Easter, flying back to Amsterdam on the 20th.

I can’t even begin to say how thrilled I am about this. I have been so homesick for Canada lately and spending time with another Canadian and one who feels like part of my family, is like someone just handed me the greatest gift ever.

A couple weeks ago LL’s aunt was here for dinner. He had gotten a Tom and Jerry comic book from his dad and there was a contest coupon inside the front cover. I never let him send them in, I point out that it will ruin the book if we cut it. Well he and his aunt filled in the contest form and we mailed it the following day. He has been counting down every day since and talks all the time about when he gets his iPod. I have often come upon him sitting on the floor in his bedroom reading the contest questions and rules. I think the funniest part is that he did not actually want the iPod, he wanted the second prize, an electronic hockey game. I guess his aunt thought the iPod was cooler. So come the 12th of April, I will have either a very happy child or a very sad one. *laugh*

Today I was reading Marie’s journal and she had a meme, one of those google an image to match the word in your answer things. One of the questions was the first name of a past love. Of course the obvious choice would be my ex but instead I thought of the first boy I was in love with when I was 8. That prompted me to do a goodle search and there he was in the newspaper receiving an award. *laugh* Apparently he started running 10 years ago because he was getting a bit overweight and this spring he will be running the Boston marathon for the fifth time. It was funny to see him now, in my memory he is a kid with long dark hair, today he is middle aged and balding. *laugh*

LL has a cough, runny nose and a fever. He is working away here on a gift for Alexandra. I know he isn’t feeling well because he asked if he really has to go to swimming lessons tonight and he isn’t hungry! I just made hot chocolate and that felt good on his sore throat.

So I was at school this morning a bit after 0800. I put on the kettle, made a coffee and settled in to do some math. That is when I realized my calculator must have fallen out of my bag when it fell on the floor in the back seat of the car. An sms from Ibo let me know he had found it. But it rather took the wind out of my “get ahead in math” sails. 0830 rolles around and we discover a sign in list in the classroom instead of the teacher for study hall. So I could have stayed at home and slept instead of being at school in pain with nothing to do. I did do some math, had fika and then finished my Finland project. Which brought me to math class. I am at least two classes ahead of the rest and it is frustrating because I don’t want to move on to the next chapter until we have written the test for this one. I know my brain only holds so much info and I don’t my math for chapter 4 falling out to make room for chapter 5.

My fellow did not come home, he headed straight to a meeting after work and said he will be late home. So I spent time with the kidlet, looked longingly at airfares to Canada in the summer and thought I would update before I settle in to watch CSI. Tomorrow LL has no school and I unfortunately will be missing a full day of swedish class, the class I need the most. *laugh*