Kitty’s Place

I feel like such a bad mother some days. This morning I let the kidlet sleep in a bit because there wasn’t so much that needed to be done before school. When I woke him he said he was so tired he couldn’t move but I went ahead out and got his clothes picked for the day. I heard him get up and go downstairs. When I came down he was sitting on the bottom step and said he wasn’t strong enough to go any further. I said there were only 2 weeks of school left and he could sleep in for the whole summer after that.

So he sat down and had breakfast and then went in for his shower. I heard him come out of the shower after I reminded him that there were others who needed to do so and then I heard him throwing up. He threw up his breakfast and was so pale when I went in to him. So he didn’t go to school. I should have listened when he said he couldn’t go any further but he is terrible to get up every morning, he always says he is too tired and asks to sleep longer. He had no fever in the morning but his temperature spiked up a couple hours later and then came right back down. So it was some little bug he was battling. He had a couple more incidents of retching but no more vomiting and he had some toast that stayed down.

When I called my school to say I was home with a sick child the first response was “on the last week!”. *laugh* We have fun things planned all week and I really don’t want to miss them, but that is what you do when you are a mom.  As for me, I had a sleep in the middle of the day while the kidlet was watching a show. It is raining and so the pollen count is down and I feel a bit better but am so tired I can barely function either.

Just one more week and I am done at Sigtuna Folkhögskolan. I am glad that I have applied to university but I am sad to be leaving SFH, it has been a really rich 2 1/2 years there.

So Wednesday we had the rest of the project presentations in civics. Lots of interesting information. LL and I stopped and had fika on our way home and I picked up some pastries for Ibo and I to have with tea, he was home for the entire evening!

Thursday I woke up and knew I had to go back to bed. There is some pollen that has been wreaking havoc on my respiratory system for two weeks now and I had reached the point I just could not function. So I went back to bed and slept the day out.

Friday was swedish class and then we had a class lunch with Romanian soup and pizza. The bread that our Romanian scholarship student baked to go with the soup she made, was divine. I picked the kidlet up after english class and we went to the centrum and picked up my fellow’s big birthday gift from us. Then we headed home, had some dinner and I packed for the cottage as well as doing a couple loads of laundry. My fellow got home about 2000 and we left for the cottage at 2130.

It was nice there, yesterday we made a trip into Uppsala to Biltema for safety glasses so the kidlet could us the weedeater. I cleaned up in the sauna and the outhouse and then my fellow’s mom and her friend came out. We had dinner together, she cleared out stuff from the closets so there is room for all of us to bring out clothes and such for the summer. LL played lots with the boy next door.

Today is Mother’s Day in Sweden. The kidlet made me breakfast and then when he and his dad made a trip to the service station to put air in the bike tires, he bought me Dr. Pepper, my favourited soft drink. My fellow got the bike sorted and took Rusty out to run alongside. It went well as far as Rusty running beside but he tired out much more quickly than he does when we run with him.

While Ibo was out with Rusty, I made roasted veggie and couscous salad to take to farmor’s and got lunch ready. LL set up Monopoly and we were just ready to play when pappa came home. So we played for an hour while I got the food done and dishes washed. Then we ate, closed up the cottage and headed back home where we dropped off the clothes and then we went to farfars for mother’s day (location changed) …. or so my fellow was told. Actually it was a surprise party for him since he is turning 30 on Tuesday. It was just family and it was fun. He got lots of nice gifts and seems to like the Ray Ban’s we got for him. The kidlet took pictures:

When we left farfars we went to farmors and picked up the kidlet who had gone home with her. Then it was home to unpack from the weekend, do some laundry and finally sit and relax some. My fellow got come cognac for his birthday and a cigar so we sat on the balcony and tried both after the kidlet was asleep. It was nice to have some time with just we two. *smile*

Another busy week has come and gone. We are all well here, but busy as beavers.

My fellow came home Tuesday morning and was in a meeting all day. Then he had a meeting in the evening as well. He did get home at some point to leave his suitcase at least. *laugh* I had an evening meeting as well and took LL along with me. We were home about 2130 and my fellow was home a bit after that. Wednesday was the presentation of our social studies group project. Then I picked up the kidlet and came home and got things ready to go to the cottage since we had a long weekend. When my fellow was done we headed to the cottage. Thursday we took it easy out there, the only thing we did was go and get a few groceries to stock up the freezer and cupboard. Friday I did cleaning, so now everything inside has been freshened up after being closed up for the winter. We came home in the evening because we had plans here for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday we went on a bus trip to Skansen with BRF Tallen. It was lots of fun, we all had fun. It was really windy in the morning but sunny. At lunch time it began to rain but at that point we went to the restaurant and then to the aquarium so we missed the rain. Both of my fellows took a lot of pictures. I think the kidlet took about 150 total. *laugh* We came home and decided to have the leftover tacos. I had no shells left so we picked up taco tubs on our way home. I was in a hurry trying to get dinner ready, dogs fed and some laundry in to dry so I just put them in the oven on the same temperature and shelf as I had the shells the night before. But of course they were 3 times the height and it was only a short time before I smelled that something was burning and of course it was the tubs, that were much too close to the element in the oven. I didn’t panic, I took a cutting board and smothered out the flames and actually only the top one was burnt, so dinner was still edible. *laugh*

Sunday the kidlet had a birthday party to attend and I had a meeting to attend. But first he came and woke me to ask what I wanted for breakfast and made it for me. I did point out that he was a week early for Mother’s Day. *grin* He set the table with all the usual breakfast things, made me a cappucino (I poured the water though) and tea for pappa. He is a good kid. Then it was off to shop for a gift and look at cars. We dropped him at his party, went and looked at a few more cars and then went to my meeting. My fellow went and picked him up post party, then came back and got me and we went and grocery shopped. It was a lovely weekend all around!

Yesterday there was school in the morning, then I picked up the kidlet, we went shopping for his aunt’s birthday gift and then met up with Cyndi and Halima for fika before Cyndi goes to the US for the summer. Stefan and Ruth joined us a bit later and it was a nice hour and a half. Then we came home, took out the dogs and then headed out for dinner with farmor and the birthday girl, who turned 20. My fellow joined us, we ordered for him, he arrived in time to eat and then left before dessert because he had a meeting. It was a lovely dinner at a turkish restaurant I hadn’t been to before.

This morning we drove out to Rävsta and dropped off the kidlet. I looked for his phone but with no luck, it disappeared out of his knapsack last week sometime between when I packed it in the closed pocket in the morning and when I checked for it after school to recharge it. There is going to be a note about it in the weekly school letter asking parents to check and see if one of the kids took it home by chance. Then Rusty and I walked home from there, a lovely walk through woods that took an hour. He was so happy when he recognized our neighbourhood that he pranced the last few hundred metres. *laugh*  I worked on my final paper for school and then went to pick up the kidlet. We met up with Rose for fika, she is moving to southern Sweden this week so we wanted to see her once more before they left. Then it was home to make dinner, shower and wait for my fellow to pick me up and take me out to Rosersberg to my meeting. We took the dogs with and they had a run out there as well, so it was an active day for them both. The meeting was done by 2130 and then my fellow picked me up and we had a tea and ice cream when we got home. Now I am thinking it is almost time for bed. My fellow has to go to Amsterdam again on Friday so I am trying to figure out the logistics of that day, I know I have to pass on the class fika in Upplands Väsby but I can manage the lunch beforehand. Then I have been informed that there is going to be an informal meeting of the Canadian Club planning committee for Canada Day. I would like to go to it since I have made the committment to help but there is talk of heading out to the cottage as well. The only set in stone plan is that we are going to Ibo’s moms on Sunday at 1500, because it is mother’s day.

My fellow was in Amsterdam from Wedenesday till Friday. He flew out Wednesday evening and left his car with his mom so she could drive me out to Rävsta on Thursday. Thursday I had to go to a parents meeting at LL’s school. I didn’t really feel up to it but since I wrote a letter of complaint to the head of the school board, I felt I had to go. *laugh* It was interesting, my complaint and the negative replies to a survey sent out to the parents a couple weeks ago seem to have finally gotten through and there was a lot of talk of how things will change for the better. I am glad, I really love his school and don’t want to have to move him.

Friday I had dinner with Ibo’s mom and a friend of hers I had met a while back at a tupperware party. But before I went there, I packed the car up so we could go to the cottage for the weekend. My fellow got home about 2000, had to fix something at work and then we headed to the cottage. We got there about 2230, it was not too cold or stuffy but very damp. He lit a fire in the stove in the kitchen while I unpacked. I just have to say here that queasy stomach and outhouses are not a good combo. *laugh* We settled the kidlet into one of the bunk beds, my fellow had something to eat and then we called it a night and cuddled up under two blankets and a sleeping bag.

Saturday we all slept in, then had a leisurely breakfast. The dogs love it there because they can go free so there was lots of running and playing. We headed to Tierp because of a packing accident. While I was packing our clothes, Rusty stole Ibo’s socks and after I got them back I somehow forgot to pack socks and underwear for LL. *laugh* So we went to Tierp to get him some. Our first stop was a sports store that has clothes as well, but the clothes were all adult clothes. Instead of getting socks and underwear Ibo and I got shoes. He got trail shoes, Columbia goretex Puma XCR:

so that he doesn’t have to wear his good running shoes for anything other than running.  I got good running shoes, the womens version of Ibo’s runners: . They are Asics gel duomax GT 2120 and wow, how wonderful they feel when I run in them.

We walked about a bit more and got LL his socks and underwear. Then headed back to the cottage where I cleaned some inside and Ibo and LL mowed the lawn outside and weeded some in the strawberry patch. I threw out food with expiry dates going back to 2002 and made a list of the basics we need to stock up on there. Since there is no room for us to leave clothes out there, I am going to buy a large plastic container with a snap on lid to leave some clothes and such, so we don’t have to take with everything every time we go out. I am hoping we can go out again over the long weekend, it really is relaxing for my fellow, LL enjoys it, the dogs love to run free and I like the quietness.

Sunday we went to Österbybruk to the dog show. We got a late start because we of course slept in and relaxed over breakfast. Susan was not feeling well, she is constipated, so we gave her prunes while we were on the road. By the time we got there, the irish setter competition was over, so we didn’t get to see Lena and Rusty’s siblings. They all did very well, Applegrove was well represented! We bought some stuff for the dogs and then went back to the cottage, stopping to pick up dinner. I packed up and cleaned up while the kidlet played next door and my fellow napped and then it was time to come home. Once here I did laundry, ironed and then got some clothes packed for my fellow who headed out to Amsterdam again this morning. It was late to bed but early to rise and now I am off yet again.

No class trip for me today. It just didn’t work as far as picking up LL and getiting him to the last stamp club meeting before the summer break. His dad has a meeting tonight and fritids closes at 1600 and I would not be back from Stockholm till 1800. So I am home, working on school work instead.

Yesterday I worked out in the morning. I have been neglecting gym time because I have been using that time to work on written assignments instead and I have been walking and running with Rusty. But I knew I needed to get back to my regulary training routine, so that was yesterdays task. It went well and after I went and got dog food and other assorted bits we needed here. Met up with Anna and we had fika late afternoon. We had arranged this date last month, it was the first time we both had free the same time. I hope we get to do this again, it was fun to meet with her in a different setting, just two women chatting (and no, I didn’t complain about my fellow … really I didn’t *laugh* ok, maybe a little *grin*)

I had Rusty out a couple of times to play and walk but no running with me yesterday, he did run with Ibo in the morning and I was tuckered from the gym. I am working on a routine where he has to stand properly for showing before he eats, before we play, before we go out. It seems to be working and is easier each time. Lena also suggested standing with him 5 minutes every day in his show position and we did that yesterday and will do it again later today. At the moment though the big red dog is napping after a long walk, a run and playtime. we were out for an hour and a bit, played hide and seek which he loves and thanks to the weekend course I now can walk him with no pulling at all. Who knew “energy” was what I needed to use. *laugh* It may not have worked out precisely as I hoped since Rusty packed it in early, but I learned a lot in those two days and it has already made a difference in our life here. He still is stubborn about some things …… the åsna part maybe? But it is better these days. *laugh*

LL found a new game to play, Bookworm Adventures. I am thinking of buying it for him, it is a great way to increase his english vocabulary. When I was in London I got the whole family a board game called Egyptians and he really likes it. I hope we get to sit down and play it on the weekend.

We were up bright and early and headed back to Vallby, arriving 30 minutes early because surprisingly (not) there was no traffic this morning. The instructor set up a ring and we learned how to present our dogs for judging. It was really interesting and informative. I did learn a lot today. I also got a real sunburn and Rusty hit the wall when we reached the final hour where we did a mock show. He dragged himself out of the ring, sat down and refused to go back in. So I sat out for the end. This is supposed to be fun for him and I didn’t want to force him back in so that he would hate the idea of it in the future. We have a lot of work to do but I have started already since we got home.

LL seemed to enjoy the day, Ibo looked bored much of the time since he wasn’t actively involved. Rusty is exhausted. He slept all the way home and has slept a fair bit of the evening. He did wake up to eat and to sit hopefully while we had dinner though. *laugh* As for me, I am sunburnt and tired. I have laundry to do but it will have to wait. I did make dinner and empty the dishwasher, that will have to do for tonight. *grin*

Today was the first day of the handlers course in Enköping. We left home early because we had to stop and get Rusty a new collar and lead, his collar was too small and the clasp on his lead broke last week. We got him a body harness as well, since that is needed if we are going to do seek and tracking with him. Then we headed off to the course. You would think after 10 years Ibo would have it in his head that I can’t read a map, no matter how hard I have tried to learn and figure it out, I just can’t. He has one of those portable gps tracking systems and uses it a lot, but of course today when we had no idea how to get to where we were going, he hadn’t preprogrammed it. Which led to him losing his temper and letting me know how very stupid I am. It really put a damper on my day and I have had a number of little cries because I am so tired of hearing how stupid I am.

But we did arrive at the place we were heading for and found a wealth of big red dogs and even a little one. I had thought that Ibo would take LL and go to Enköping so they could have some fun father and son time together, but he was in a mood at that point so he just hung about, watching. The instructor was great, an irishman who used a lot of english in his instructions and descriptions, a bonus for me. He had a lot of really good explanations for why we should do things in such a way and I like to know the why so that was great. Rusty had fun, was not so co operative at first but as we worked away it got better. I think his favourite part of the day was when it was done and he got to run with the other dogs for a half hour or so.

We stopped and got sushi on our way home and had dinner about 1900. LL chose what we would eat. Rusty is one tired little guy and has slept lots, Ibo fell asleep on the couch after dinner and has just now woken up and says he is going to bed. LL played on the computer a bit before I tucked him in, telling him we needed to be up fairly early tomorrow. I am updating and trying to get myself back to a better mood. Tomorrow we will have a simulated ring and pretend we are really showing the dogs. I hope it goes well. I have always thought the idea of this was so Rusty would have fun, but I think I should be able to have some too.

I did take some pictures of all the pretty red dogs:

I am home with a sick child. He complained yesterday morning of feeling nauseas but it passed and he went to school. But then as we were coming home from my meeting he kept saying he needed fresh air and he was pale as a ghost with bright red cheeks. He didn’t throw up then, just hung over the toilet to retch. This morning he was still queasy, had a fever and was still very pale. So something is brewing and I left him in bed. When he got up just before 0900, he had some toast and tea and said his tummy felt better after.

So my meeting. It was crazy yesterday. When I got back here from Midgårdsvallen I had a massive headache. It was totally sinus and I finally had to sleep some to ease it off, after taking medication for it. I woke up about 1720, we were to be at farmors for 1730. My fellow was just leaving work, so I fed the dogs, penned Rusty, got the kidlet moving as far as getting ready to go and got myself ready. Then I called my fellow, 3 times, he didn’t answer. Finally we went out and as I was on my way where he waits with the car, I got an sms saying he was there but on the other phone. So we drove over to Balder and then had to go to the office to leave in some papers. It was closer to 1800 by the time we got to his mom’s. She was on her way out when we came in, over to the office with his sister, who also lives in that complex. We ate and then the kidlet went over with farmor to the office (she came back to get something) and my fellow drove me to my course (study circle) on meeting technique. I was feeling really guilty because I was 8 minutes late, not a good way to start off. But when I went in and met the fellow who was doing the course, it turned out I was the first to arrive. 45 minutes later, we went home, since no one else showed up and there is a minimum limit of 3 in order to do the study circle/course. I had a great chat with the fellow from AFB and when he said it was time to go and enjoy the rest of the lovely warm evening, I was in agreement. So I called my fellow and he was just on his way to the car to go home from his moms. They detoured and picked me up, although I was informed there would be a high charge for this taxi service. *laugh* I think the funniest was when the AFB fellow asked me if I was british or american and I said “Canadian!”. Later he called Anna and said he was there with only one person …. from Canada. *laugh*

I took Rusty out in the woods about 2000 last evening while my fellow tucked in and read to the kidlet. We were gone for 40 minutes and he enjoyed it, he likes the climbing about part. Then a couple hours later my fellow took both out for a long walk before we headed to bed. Rusty just crashed on the floor beside the bed.  This morning after checking the kidlet and deciding he was staying in bed, I crawled back in with my fellow for an hour. Rusty was in my spot, on his back, sound asleep. *laugh* Ibo took them out again this morning before his shower. He has started using a pedometer. I suggested a contest, I could find mine and whoever walks the most in a week, wins. That suggestion was not met with jubilation though. *laugh* Maybe he is worried I would win and want more new shoes? *grin*
My fellow has to go away 3 days next week and 2 days the week after. I hate when he is away, miss him terribly much. But that is part of his job so I have to deal. *laugh* Saturday and Sunday we are going to Enköping to a handlers course for Rusty. That should be interesting and informative.

Today I took Rusty with for a long walk in the woods, ending up at Midgårdvallen where the kidlet was having track and field day. I took him home from there instead of bussing into Sigtuna and bussing back. Rusty had a great time, he loves the woods. But by the time we got home, after his morning run with Ibo and his morning and afternoon walk with me, he was tuckered and had a long sleep. He is like a little kid, he just goes and goes and goes till he drops. *laugh*

I took a picture of him with my fellow as a comparison shot from one we took when he was about 3 months old.

Today at almost 11 months old.

And just because he is so darn cute:

Valborg was fun. We took the kidlet and Rusty but Susan stayed home. LL was in the procession that lit the bonfire, he played a ball toss game and got cotton candy. He opted not to wait for the fireworks because he managed to hold the cotton candy with his hands and they were both covered in sticky sugar. So we started for home but made a detour to ICA Statoil and got some pop, chip and popping corn. On our way back we saw the fireworks and then we went home. LL wanted to stay up until midnight so he could changed the calendar from April to May. We had chips and pop and popcorn and he fell asleep about 20 minutes before midnight. We woke him at midnight, he turned the page and then crawled into bed. He is a sweety.

Monday my fellow was up early and ran with Rusty. LL and I slept in some and then we all went to the May 1st family day celebrations at Satuna park. It was fun. LL played with some of the other kids, won a prize at the ball toss, ate cinnamon buns and hot dogs and fished at the fish dam. My fellow took lots of pictures and visited with a lot of people and Rusty and I walked about, listened to the speakers and visited too. At one point Rusty was up on his hind legs with his front paws up in the air, singing along with the International song (well he didn’t do the singing, just the actions *laugh*) It was fitting that the big red dog was there with all the red jacketed social democrats. As for me, I don’t have a red jacket so I had my new red boots that I got to go with my new red purse.

After the family day, we went and got gifts and LL went to a birthday party for the twins he goes to school with. My fellow and I went out for lunch at our favourite sushi place and had a nice couple of hours together, talking and laughing. I was telling him some of the funny things that happened in London, like going to the jewellers that had a sign in the window saying “we change watch batteries” and when I went in to see if they could put a new battery in my watch they said sorry, we just change them, we don’t sell them. *laugh* They did direct me to a store down the road that sold batteries but they of course couldn’t sell me one because we didn’t know which one I needed for my watch. It was like something you would see in a cartoon. *grin* Another thing that made me laugh because of the bizarrness of it was that when our bus stopped in Bath, we stopped outside a bookshop. I saw the book in the centre of the display in the window and said to Ludde, “they have a book called The history of Cannibalism”! He didn’t believe me at first but after we got off the bus and went to the window, he saw it too. Just who wants to know about the history of cannabalism …. Hannibal Lector? *laugh*
I have some of my pictures resized now, there aren’t a lot of them because I just had too much fun to think about taking photos …. isn’t that how it is supposed to be on holiday? *laugh* Here I am at Stonehenge, it was very windy but that didn’t matter a bit, it was magic!

Shhh, don’t tell anyone that I actually own running shoes, it will spoil my high heel image:

The architecture was what mostly caught my eye when I had camera in hand. This old wall that was the back of an old prison in Southwark called The Clink:

An old operating theatre, that I wanted to go back to but never did …. an excuse to visit London again:

This building with the cool doorways:

And this is England to me, with the vines climbing the walls of old buildings, this is part of the medical university:

Here we have the stage at the Globe Theatre:

So there is a sampling of my trip to London.

Yesterday was back to school and then I took LL to the optical store because he had managed to bend the frames on his glasses. I feel like I live in that store. My fellow had a meeting but was home a bit after 2000, so he got to say goodnight to the kidlet, who had just informed me that he was missing his dad. *smile*

Tonight I have the first of 3 lectures on “meeting techniques” but before that it is dinner with my fellow’s mom.