Kitty’s Place

Horrid day today, rainy, cold and gray. But we have had some fun in spite of that. *smile*

Yesterday Susan got sick. She was ok in the day but seemed a bit out of sorts, then around dinner time she started breathing heavy and seemed to have no energy and her eyes looked bulgy. She laid behind Ibo’s chair and looked so sad. When I took her out for her last walk of the day she could barely make it back up the stairs and then when she wanted to get up on the sofa she did not have the strength to even try to jump. I was really worried about her and waited for Ibo to come home so I could get his opinion on what we should do with her, especially when it got to the point I could feel her fever through her fur. I finally sent him an sms and he came home shortly after. He felt she was ill as well and feverish and said we could take to the vet today if she wasn’t better. I woke every hour in the night to check on her and her fever went down about 0500. This morning she was perkier and she had diarrhea, so I think she caught some kind of bug. We did take her to the vets this afternoon though, since she does hide illness so well. The vet was not really concerned as she was better by the time we went but she said to keep a close eye on her and check her temperature for a couple days. We are to take her back if she get worse.

While we were there we got Rusty started on his pet passport. I weighed him since they have more accurate scales there and he is 17.6 kg. When I weighed him here less than 2 weeks ago he was 15 kg. So either my scales are not great or he is really growing fast. *laugh*

Llywellyn and I have had some fun today and battle of wills. He just doesn’t get the concept that if we correct the puppy for some behaviour and he laughs, Rusty thinks it is ok. The other thing is he insists on playing with Rusty inside while we are trying to teach him that you play outside and are calm inside. I have told LL it is ok to roll a ball for Rusty or give him his toys but not to run with him inside or play tug. Today LL ran into our room with Rusty on his heels and then played tug of war with Rusty, with his sweater. I sent him to his room. He slammed the door so hard the whole apartment shook. So that earned him an hour in his room. I know he really loves Rusty and wants to play with him but there have to be boundaries because Rusty is going to be a big dog and he is a little boy still.

I did laundry today, did dishes and picked up a bit but I didn’t really accomplish much. I guess that is ok, one lazy day on vacation is allowed. *laugh*

Time really does fly along. It was a quiet week, Wednesday LL had stampclub and then from there we went to a meeting for nominations for different positions in the local government. LL came along and then I took him home on the bus and Ibo stayed for the rest of the meeting.

I went back to school on Thursday. Ibo was at a press conference before the municipal council meeting and he was home a bit late. I waited dinner and we had it together, which was nice.

Friday he went away to a conference and LL and I went to RC Chocolat in Sigtuna to fika after I picked him up from school. He wanted to stay up and watch Spiderman at 2100 so I said he could. He was asleep on the couch by 2030. *laugh*

Saturday was laundry, floor washing and assorted other household chores. Ibo’s uncle called and said they were coming to Märsta and would stop in to visit. We had a visit here and then they and us went to dinner to a lebanese restaurant here. It was really good and we all enjoyed it very much. In the evening I made popcorn and Ibo and LL watched a movie while I took both dogs out for a long walk.

Sunday we made a trip to http://applegrove.se/ with Rusty. Susan stayed home and LL went to spend time with farfar. It was great to be out there and see Lena and Olof and Rusty’s family. It was especially great to see Molly, I think she is adorable and think of her often when I look at Rusty. Rusty played with his mom and his sisters and had a wonderful time. Lena showed us how to have Rusty stand properly for showing and how to make him run alongside for showing also. She thought he could use a couple more kilos on him and I was glad to hear that because I was thinking the same thing. Both Lena and Olof seemed to think that Rusty was growing well and had no complaints about his upbringing. I guess the dog course lady was wrong, we do have time for a dog. *smile* I so appreciated Lena taking the time to work with us before the show next month. The best was that we made the trip to Uppsala and back without Rusty throwing up. So here’s hoping he is outgrowing his carsickness.

On our way home we picked up subs at Subway and then after we were done eating here it was Susan’s turn for an outing. We went and picked up food for the dogs and then decided to go to Kista centrum to look for shoes for Ibo. The problem we had though was that we had forgotten Susan’s leash at home. So we bought her a new one. Now she has 4, 2 of them acquired in the past week. *laugh*

Rusty was so tired he slept like a baby all night. Because today was the first day of autumn break, we got to sleep in till 0700 and LL slept in till 0730. I took LL to get his hair cut this morning and then we went to the library where he got some new books. I love that he has my love of reading, well except when I send him to get dressed and find him sitting on the floor in his pj’s reading, 20 minutes later. *laugh*

After lunch he went off with farfar for an arabic lesson, something they have started doing every Monday. I took Rusty out and worked with him some and played lots. Then it was off to get a perm. Farmor brought the kidlet home and we made some plans for her and farfar to look after him next month because we have a few things booked already. One is a Tupperware party that I will be going to with Seija. That sounds like fun, it has been many years since I was at one of those.

Tonight I took Rusty out while LL was watching a movie and we ran a bit in the middle of our walk. I need to get into better shape so when I go to the gym on Wednesday I will add some leg strengthening exercises.

On the health front, I am feeling so much better since I started these new pills. We also have started a daily regime of multivitamins and omega 3 capsules. I am hoping it will help us through the long winter. *smile*

It amazes me how much laundry three people can generate. I did laundry on Friday, 6 loads in total, bedding, towels, clothes. Last evening I did 4 loads. *laugh* To be fair part of that was my new clothes I picked up yesterday. I broke down and ordered some new skirts since the denim ones I have now are so big they fall off without a belt and they look really bunched up with the belt. So there are 4 new skirts, 3 tops and 2 gorgeous knitted sweaters washed and ready for the winter weather and it was only 500 crowns for the lot ($75).  

I started my new medication yesterday and I am so tired I wonder how I can function. He did say that would only last a couple of days though. I did get up and do all the morning stuff but in the middle I crawled in with Ibo for a few minutes to reenergize. Now I am going to go and sleep a bit.

So if rainy days and Mondays get you down, what happens on a rainy Monday? *laugh*

Thursday I picked up LL after english and we went to my school. There was nothing more to add to our powerpoint presentation, so we went home. I called the local clinic and got an appointment for Monday, requested the doctor I had last time because I really liked her and was told that Monday was the earliest I could see her.

Friday I went in to school and we did our group presentation in the morning before coffee break. Only half of the group was there, we only had info for Sergels torg and only two of us spoke, but it went well regardless. After it was done, I went home. One of my teachers told me to go home and another told me I looked ill, which I was. So I went home, stopping at the centrum on the way to pick up dry cleaning and few groceries. Then I picked up LL and took him to fika so we didn’t have to wait in the rain for a bus for half an hour.

Saturday we got up early and went to Sköldinge. It was Ibo’s grandmother’s 70th birthday and they were at their son’s house. Rusty rode in the front at my feet this time and it went better. We were an hour and 20 or so minutes into the trip when I said to Ibo he had to stop. I opened the door and got out with Rusty who threw up and then we got him resettled and went the rest of the way. We had a really nice time there. Went to Katrineholm to fika and gave mormor her gift, then we 4 women went clothes shopping while the male half of the group relaxed a bit over their coffee/tea, walked the dogs and met Eva’s parents at the train station. We all arrived back to the house about 1400, where we had a little party and Ibo’s grandma modelled the new clothes she had bought. Then it was time to head home, Rusty rode in front again and while he was a bit drooly, he did not throw up. I am hoping he will grow out of this carsickness, because he is a bit big to be sitting on my feet for long car rides. *laugh* I know that I still get carsick if I sit in the back of a car so I can understand that front is better for him.

Sunday was a quieter day. Ibo had a meeting in the morning and while he was gone we showered and then LL went out to play and I took Rusty to the dog run to work with him a bit. Ibo saw us there as he was driving by on his way home so he came and played some with Rusty. We had him go up a ramp to a platform and walk on it, which he did, but he still can’t walk down the ramp. I had him stand and did the head and tail straight thing but as usual he only does it for a short time then sits down. *laugh*  I also put out treats for him to search for. This time I put them where he could see them if he got to the spot they were, eventually I will hide them. We have been doing this at home a bit but I am worried he will start to pull things down from window ledges etc in a hunt for treats, so we will do this outside now. He did well, found every treat except one and that one he was stepping on. *laugh*

After we got home, Ibo changed and went for run with Rusty. He said that Rusty would gladly have gone round the track 3 more times, he really likes running. I have been training with a cycle at the gym so that I can go out with him on a bike, since that is a good way for him to get the type of exercise he needs. Then I had nap and we headed to Ibo’s parents for fika. After we got home I made a late dinner and the guys watched a Lucky Luke video. Then it was bedtime for LL and Ibo sorted out a computer for me to use.

Which brings me to the sad part of my weekend. Friday evening I had the laptop on the kitchen table and had been drinking a cup of tea while I was looking at some pictures online. I came into the living room and Rusty decided that he should see what was in that exciting looking cup on the table. He has figured out if he pushes cups/glasses etc over, stuff comes out that he can lick up. So he knocked over my tea and some of the liquid got under the computer and few drops on the keyboard. I picked it up, dried what was on the bottom, checked the top and nothing seemed to have seeped inside. But a couple minutes later it started making a crackle sound and I turned it off immediately. I left it till the next afternoon and tried to start it up but it isn’t working. We took it all apart and left all the components to dry more but no luck. So I moved the hard drive to a different laptop and it won’t boot up even in safe mode. The hard drive that is functional from the other computer, doesn’t work in mine. So I am computerless. I wouldn’t care so much if I could access the hard drive, I have two papers that I am going to have to rewrite now and all my pictures are on that drive.

Today the kidlet is at fritids all day. I was supposed to have school but it was decided late last week to have Monday as a holiday since it is Eid ul-fitr, the high feast day following the month of Ramadan fasting. We have a number of muslim students and in Sigtuna kommun it is a holiday in the public schools, so no school for us today. I went to the doctor appointment and it was not the doctor I asked for that I saw, what a surprise. *laugh* The one I saw gave me a prescrption and said give it a couple days to work. Apparently this medication will make me tired for the first couple days as well, but since I am feeling exhausted, that may be a good thing. *laugh*

I am home sick. Yesterday I slept for most of the day, got up to take tylenol and gravol a couple of times and of course I had to feed and walk the dogs through the day. When I woke after lunch the left side of my face was swollen. It looks like I have a toothache, but I don’t. My ear on that side is a bit sore but not anything really bad. So I have an abcess in my jaw, that doesn’t hurt but it is draining into my throat and making me feel very ill. I am taking antiinflammatories and gravol now and the swelling is slowly receeding. The nausea however is still front and centre.

I did go to the pta meeting (for lack of better translation). It was interesting, we talked about a number of things, set our focus for the remainder of the term and scheduled our next meeting. I have to say I enjoyed this, it was interesting and I like the feeling of doing something that isn’t directly related to home or my school. Sadly I had to miss the nominations meeting. Ibo took LL with and I asked him who got nominated and he said no one. *laugh* Maybe they were not as productive as we were? I asked him what did happen there and he said they just talked and he won 40 crowns. So it was an exciting meeting for him. I got home first and took out the dogs and we three met them at the car.

This morning I am still feeling really horrid. I am thinking about having a nap soon, but I can’t sleep like I did yesterday, I have to pick up LL today and need to stop at my school first. We have a presentation to give on Friday and I am the one doing the powerpoint. I have only the pictures from Sergels torg and my own text at this point. I uploaded what I have done so far so the rest of the group can see it but I have no pictures from St: Eriksplan and am hoping they will be loaded onto the school network by this afternoon. I am also hoping some of their text will appear today because tomorrow is my day at komvux so there won’t be time to do more after this evening.

When I was 19 years old I was looking at college in Toronto and took the bus one day to go for an interview. On the bus I met a man, well lets be honest, I saw him and thought he was cute so (since it was 1977 and everyone smoked then) I pretended I couldn’t find a lighter and he came to my rescue. We went out that evening and then began to date. A year later we married. That marriage lasted 18 years but then it fell apart and during the process of falling apart I met Ibo online. We talked for a long while before I even knew he was male, to me he was a person way over in Sweden who seemed to have had the same upbringing and mirrored my own outlook on many things. Eventually I told him about my marriage being on the rocks and my attempt to save it by opening a business that my ex could work at since he had been unemployed for 6 years. Ibo offered to come and help since it was an internet business I was looking into and he had the expertise and a desire for a little adventure in his life. Sadly by the time he got to Canada, my marriage was done, my ex had taken his share of the money for the business and moved it to his own bank account, our attempt at marriage counselling had failed and there was nothing left between us. Into this mess stepped Ibo. The  moment I saw him across the airport terminal in Toronto I fell in love with him. 3 weeks later we moved into an apartment together but it was only after a lot of talking and soul searching that we decided we wanted a relationship. I was concerned with our age difference and was looking to a time down the road when he would grow tired of a woman 19 years older than him. But I always hoped that wouldn’t happen because I loved him with an intensity I had never loved with before.

So here I am in Sweden 10 years later. I still love Ibo as much as I loved him that very first day I saw him. We have a son together and that day I dreaded did come. But we are still living together, we are friends and we are a family still. I hope one day we will be more than that again.

But in the meantime, I seem to have started giving off some kind of secret vibe. Men are taking notice of me, on the train, in restaurants and today, on the bus. Now understand that I got up this morning and felt so awful I went in to Ibo and woke him in tears looking for a massage and a hug. I did go to school but by 1130 I had thrown up 3 times and called him to see if he could take me home. He wasn’t able to call back until I was on the bus half an hour later. I came home, fed Rusty, took out the dogs, took some medication and had a little sleep. I got up at 1450, took Rusty out again and then took the bus to pick up Llywellyn because Ibo wasn’t sure he could get there before 1700. It was while I was on the bus to the station that I had a man move from his seat to the one beside me and comment that it wasn’t often he got to see a lovely lady enjoying music (I was listening to my mp3 player). We talked for a few minutes and he asked for my phone number. I didn’t give it to him but I did thank him for his compliment. I still felt awful but part of me felt really good too. *laugh* I will not however repeat the experience of picking up a fellow on the bus, even if the occasion does arise. *smile*

Sheesh I can’t believe it has been almost a week since I updated.

Tuesday I went in to Stockholm after we dropped off LL and was at Sergels torg by 0930. I took pictures, stopped at the Academic Forum in Kulturhuset, went to Tourist information and then headed to Slussen for my 1100 appointment with David. That went well, we didn’t talk about what we had planned, instead we talked about this sadness I have been feeling and ways to help see things from a different perspective so that I am not so sad. I have to say I am really lucky to have found someone I am so comfortable with as a psychologist. After the appointment I headed to Gamla Stan and we had a history lesson in Stortorget with Arne. That was fun. Then I had a hot chocolate and headed home.

Wednesday I had planned on going in early again, since Ibo had headed down to Gothenburg and I had to take LL on the bus to school. But I had already done all the things I had planned on doing at Sergels torg and the others in my group were planning on meeting at 1100 and I had to be back here to take out Rusty at lunch and to pick up LL from school early, so I called and talked to my groupmate and we agreed it was just as well I stay home. I had a very sour stomach all day, not sure what that was from but I made it a day of soup and toast only. I baked banana muffins and banana brownies for LL to take with to stamp club and they were a big hit. I sat in the kitchen there and did homework, I always get lots done in that 90 minutes. As always I had the worst time sleeping without Ibo, I miss him when he is not here.

Thursday I took LL to school again and then met one of my groupmates at the station and we headed into the city again. We were supposed to meet up with the other half of our group, who were at St. Eriksplan for the 3 days. But none of them showed up, we 3 were done as far as legwork there so we all went our separate ways. I went back to the Academic Forum and talked to them some more, but at that point my stomach was protesting bigtime, it was 1120 and there were 6 hours to put in before our class was to meet at Dramaten. So I came home. It was a good thing since by the time I got here I actually was past just upset stomach and was at vomiting stage. LL had been picked up by his grandfather and was to spend the night there, but we were going to have to pick him up very early Friday since Ibo was heading away to a conference at 0800. So it was decided after consultation with the kidlet, that he would spend the evening with his grandparents and then come home to sleep. I was disappointed to have missed the backstage tour of Dramaten and the play but it would not have been a pleasant evening feeling as I did.

Friday Ibo dropped us off at at St. G’s and headed off to his conference. I took the bus to my school and we worked on our presentation for next Friday on our torg (square). I was still a bit punk so I came home early after sorting out with the group where they would put their reports and such so I can work up a powerpoint presentation for us. I picked up LL from school at 1600 and we headed to Eurostop where he had a happy meal from the birthday coupon he got from McDonalds kids club. He was so excited to eat there, mom was not. *laugh* I had another bad night sleeping since Ibo was away at the conference but I did manage to get some. One good thing that happened was that my phone came back and I am now able to use it here in Sweden. I love this little phone I got in Canada and was so disappointed that it was locked, so now it is unlocked and I am having fun looking for new ringtones and wallpaper for it.

Saturday LL and I went to the centrum early, picked up Ibo’s dry cleaning and dropped off more. We had fika and then stopped at the optical store and had them adjust LL’s glasses since they were sitting crooked on his face. We were home by 1100 so I could start laundry. LL went and played out, I cleared out my closet and dresser, filled a big garbage bag with clothes that no longer fit. I have gone down 3 sizes now so it was time to do a big clear out. LL went off to spend the night with his grandparents about 1300, it was decided on Thursday that he would sleep over Saturday since he didn’t Thursday and then he could go along with them to pick up his great grandparents Sunday morning when they arrived from Haparanda. Ibo arrived home an hour or so later, I finished laundry, ironed a lot of clothes and then we had a nice quiet evening at home. We had tacos for dinner and played Monopoly and made it an early night.

This morning we both slept in, I got up first and took out the dogs and fed them. We had a leisurely breakfast, worked some with Rusty, watched some tv. I took Rusty out to play for a bit and then it was shower time. Ibo showered Rusty then I cleaned his ears. His toenails were not in need of trimming this week, so I passed on that. Then we headed to Ibo’s parents for dinner and to celebrate his grandfather’s birthday. That was nice. Now we are home relaxing again with tea and watching tv.

One thing I did this week was drop the puppy course. As I said last week, Ibo was not impressed with the instructor at all and while I thought she was ok, there was not much new as far as teaching Rusty. We discussed it a bit and I was willing to stick with it and see if it got better, but then I discovered that Rusty had actually taken a backwards step after our time at the course. He was already sitting, staying, laying etc. before we went. She had us giving the pups treats for doing what we said, in this case sitting. Well Rusty decided that he should have treats at home as well for things we haven’t given him treats for the past couple of weeks. So we did more talking and I sent off an email telling her that we would not be coming back and were letting her know now in the hopes she had someone in reserve for our place. I figured it was better to have someone hop in after one missed class and I just did not feel that this was a course that suited us. The instructor called me and was really upset, couldn’t understand why I wanted to quit and within 10 minutes had me so angry that there was not a chance I would be going back to her. Ibo had said from the start that he felt she was not good with people or with the dogs, she was unsure in her words and her actions. I explained our reasoning and that I felt we were wasting precious weekend time, the only time we have as a family, for something with minimal benefits for us. She immediately came back with “maybe you don’t have time for a dog then”, which ticked me off because we work really hard at making time to work with Rusty and for Susan as well. But what was the most irritating to me was that every couple of minutes she said “we can take this in english”. Now I know my swedish is far from perfect, but I manage ok with it, I am holding my own with the medical courses I am studying, am doing well in school, use swedish for most conversations I have outside of home and it is rare that anyone suggests we switch. If they do and I say no, no one ever asks again. This woman said it repeatedly which said to me that she could not be bothered to listen to my awful swedish and would be willing to use her english skills because they were better than my swedish ones. I don’t get why people can’t see this is really insulting. Anyway, she said that she couldn’t understand why we would leave the course, she went on and on about the whole issue of using treats and did not get my point at all, in fact she didn’t appear to have listened to much of what I was saying because she was so busy working out her argument back. Then it came to the crux of the matter. In her course binder it says that if for some reason you are forced to drop the course after one lesson, you get half the money back and get to keep the binder. Now I never asked in my email for any refund, I just stated we were not coming back and hoped she had someone to take our place. She went on about how she didn’t feel our reason was a good enough one to warrant a refund, I said ok, it is not a good reason. I never mentioned money at all. After about 20 minutes of her arguing with me I said I would talk this over with Ibo and then I repeated back the gist of what she said to make sure I had it right. I repeated the part about no refund, the part about not having to use treats if we didn’t want to, the part about how we would get to new things for Rusty by the fourth week. At that point she again said we could take it in english and I said fine, I was tired of hearing it. Well her english was not as wonderful as she seemed to think, she had to ask for clarification of things I said a couple of times. Then she said that she was not comfortable with giving us a big refund but she could give us back 25% and a free private lesson. At that point I was fed up and pointed out to her that I had never brought up money, the point was her course was not a fit for us and I would talk to Ibo and let her know if we might be back. I was so angry at that point I was shaking. I did talk with Ibo and got an  “I told you so”. *laugh* He said he would deal with her from now on, spoke with her today and said we were not coming back. She was busy when he called so she called back and I answered, she launched once again into the same rhetoric she repeated over and over earlier in the week and in the middle of it I said to Ibo “do you want to talk her, I don’t” and handed the phone over. He spoke with her again and she was really upset, no one has ever dropped out of her course before, her email was specific about how she did things, we should have known before we started that it was not a fit for us. But in the end, we did not go back, I have no clue if she will give us a refund, never asked for it, never expected it and her reaction as far as the money tells me that it was the most important issue to her.

So we will continue training Rusty ourselves, look for another course that is less rigid and find him other puppies and dogs to socialize with. I think the fact that I had never been to a puppy course and expected it to be like I had seen on tv, was one of the problems. I thought we would teach our pups new things, not things they already knew and I thought the instructor would move through the group, spending time with each dog and owner and giving suggestions and advice. I was not expecting someone who yelled from the other side of the field to me and I was not expecting that the instructor would be so busy I would have to ask other people in the group to explain how we were supposed to do some exercise she set up for us. I suppose my expectations were too high and that is why I was willing to keep on going before I saw that Rusty was expecting treats for everything again.

I was looking at Ibo’s blog and saw there was a comment on his last post from “Sanna”. How cool it will be to see Rusty’s sister when we show him next month. She is also going to be shown there. Yay!

I have to say I love this song at the moment.

Life is going along. I am incredibly sad and lonely, especially at the moment since it was thanksgiving in Canada and I didn’t get to celebrate. Normally we go to the Canadian Club party but this year it was the same time as the puppy course started so no pumpkin pie for me. *laugh*
Appointment with David tomorrow, maybe he can help me come to terms with this sadness that is bone deep. Speaking of bones, I went back to the gym on Friday with a modified routine and while I had pain all weekend from my rib, it went well and I will go again this week and then perhaps twice next week, to get back to my regular routine.

Yesterday was Rusty’s first day at the puppy course. Ibo came with and I could tell that he was unimpressed with the instructor before we even started the introductions. Rusty had fun, played with lots of other puppies and was totally exhausted when we got home. He already knew how to sit of course and while there is still a tendency to pull on his leash, he is actually good with that as well, so there wasn’t much we learned this week but it was good for me to learn a couple new tricks. I have always said puppy courses were to train the owners.

This week is Stockholm week at school. That means we will be spending the next 3 days in the city, researching and investigating our assigned area. Last year I had Kungsträdgården, this year I have Sergels Torg. Thursday LL will sleep over at his grandparents since I will be going to the theatre with school. Ibo is going to be away Wednesday so I will have to come home to take Rusty out at lunch, but I think that I can do all I need to Tuesday and Thursday. I am hoping I can find time to fika with some of my friends who live in the city while I am there.

Today I was done school at 1100, came home and took Rusty out and we practiced what we had learned yesterday. I will take him out again after I pick up Llywellyn and we will train some for when we show him next month and then he and LL can play some in the dog area here.

It is official, the Social Democrats along with the Center Party, the Green Party and a local party, Action for Sigtuna municipality, have formed a majority government in our municipality. There is a press release at http:www.sigtuna.se .

I am so glad this is all worked out now and we will have four more years for the social democrats to continue improving our municipality.