Kitty’s Place

Here we are at the end of another week. It went quickly. Tuesday the kidlet had a dentist appointment, he has cavities but they are in teeth he will be losing soon. The dentist showed him how much stuff he is leaving behind because he is lazy about brushing. She told him the same thing Ibo and I tell him every evening, who knows if it will sink in. I usually inspect his teeth and send him back to brush better but Tuesday I let him brush his way just so the dentist could see and talk to him about it. I went to class and left him home on his own. He had his phone and knew he could call if necessary but all went well. Once I was home farfar came over and took us to do a big grocery shop. What a treat that was. Those big once every 4 or 6 weeks grocery shops are a horror. The kidlet and my fellow follow along, kidlet scanning and commenting on prices, fellow saying every 5 minutes “are we done now?”, “ok now we are done, lets go”, “ask your mother if she is done yet”. *laugh* Tuesday farfar took the kidlet and they window shppped in the mall, I shopped, scanned, packed my bags and met them just as I was getting the final item on my list. It was like a holiday. Then we came home, unloaded the groceries and farfar took the kidlet over to farmor. I put away groceries, fed the animals and walked the dogs then I went to my meeting. It was political and interesting.

Wednesday I stopped in to farmors office after getting an sms from her. The kidlet had forgotten his glasses in the morning but it was not a big deal, he will stop wearing them in 3 weeks and he was going to be at the public pool with school so it was likely better he didn’t have them with. Then she told me that my fellow was home. I was shocked. He neglected to tell me that even though he was away for 10 days, he was flying home Wednesday afternoon for a political function and then flying back down to Amsterdam later that day. So I called him and he was on his way to his function and we arranged for him to call when he was done. We ended up picking the kidlet up together, he was really happy to see pappa and I was thrilled. I miss him so much when he is away. We had dinner together and then took the kitten to the vets for his vaccinations and had time to cuddle up with my fellow before he left.

Thursday morning I was up early to take the kidlet to school on the bus. I woke with sore ears and a scratchy throat. We faxed off an application for the kidlet to go to dance classes at the culture school and then I came home to take out the dogs. By the time I was done I was hoarse and had a fever along with the sore ears. So I spent the bulk of the day in bed. I did go over and hand off some books that I had promised to a former  classmate from SFH and then I went back for 1800 for civics class because it was the first class of a distance course and it doesn’t do to miss any class when it is a distance course. That said, I will have to miss the next one, because I have a board meeting. Luckily the rest of the classes don’t take place on the evenings I have to put aside for politics. The teacher said we will sort out something to do as far as this missed class, so that is a good thing.

I haven’t spoken much about the teachers this term. I have 5 classes and 3 teachers. One of them I have for 3 of the classes. The science teacher is young and cute and did cancer research in Uppsala in the past. I had heard about him before from a former classmate, he is a good teacher, clarifies things in a way that is easy to grasp but doesn’t simplify things so you feel like you are a child.

The math teacher is really good, he also clarifies things well. I actually was able to take a word problem and figure it out, a real problem for me. I have no problem with the numbers, that is very straightforward, but give me a problem where I have to take a problem and think of it in a mathematical way and I get lost. The one we had involved a theatre with x number of seats, adult tickets one price, children tickets another and a sold out night where they took in x amount of money. We had to figure out how many of each type of ticket was sold. Now for people who think mathematically that is easy, for me it isn’t. My first thought is “well kids need a adult with so there has to be an even number of each” *laugh*

Then there is the teacher I have for swedish, religion and civics(social studies). Poor man who is going to have to read all those assorted assignments. *laugh* I really like this fellow. He is an older man and you can tell when he talks that he loves what he is teaching and enjoys his job. He reminds me of Arne. I am a bit sad I couldn’t study history as well, I am sure he would make it really interesting and I love history. Sometimes I wonder how I ended up in nursing when my best and favourite studies were english and history. The math and science I needed for my job were both things I struggled with. But so goes it in life. *laugh* After class I phoned and said goodnight to my son, who was picked up by farfar and spent the night at farmors. Then I came home and took Rusty out to run, he really needed it since I had slept in the day and he didn’t get his usual between classes exercise. My fellow worked till the wee hours of the morning and I stayed awake here talking to him online. It is next to impossible to sleep without him, I will be so glad when this new head office is completed and he doesn’t have to fly out of country so often.

Today I have been catching up on housework, have done dishes and laundry and gathered up throw rugs so I can vacuum and wash floors. I still have a fever and a sore throat and am taking Tylenol to battle the cold. I did sleep in till 0900, what a treat that was. *laugh* I need to pick up some books at the library, reading for swedish class. We had a long list to chose from and it was hard to pick out just 4 but I know that it will be difficult to manage those 4 even between the course load and personal responsibilities.

Today I am tired. I was up till about 2230, hoping my fellow would come online but he didn’t. He did call to ask me look up something for though so I got to say goodnight. About 2 a.m. the dog and cat decided it was time to chase each other and they woke me, then the alarm went off at 0530, so I really did not get well rested.

I was some stiff this morning after yesterdays 10 km, but no time to rest since I am single mom again for the next 10 days. I was up and walked the dogs, got the kidlet organized and we were out at the bus stop a bit over 7 am. Then it was off to school for me once the kidlet was settled on his bus. I had an 0815 class. Between classes I came home and took Rusty out for a 2.5 km walk. I was hurting but I figured it was best to keep moving. *laugh* I have to say that by the time I was done at 1445, it was an effort to actually move. However the bus pulled up to the bus stop as I came around the corner, so I had to run for it. Picked up the kidlet, stopped and got a few groceries and we came home. I took the dogs out after we ate and played with them. Now it is coming up on 2000 and I am totally wiped out. Sadly I have at least 2 hours worth of homework/studying to do before I can go to bed.

Tomorrow the kidlet has a dentist appointment, so we actually get to sleep a bit later. He will be sleeping over with his grandmother tomorrow night because I have a meeting to go to. First though we will be grocery shopping. I have a meeting on Wednesday as well but I will have to miss it and then there is Thursday, when I have a class till 1700 and then another at 1800. I will have to see if farmor can pick up LL. It is just a constant logistics puzzle when my fellow is away. *laugh*

I did it. I did Tjejmilen, the 10 km race in Stockholm that I set as a goal last summer when I decided to get fit. I walked it, didn’t run this year, but next year I will be jogging it. It took me 2 hours and I enjoyed every minute of it. I did not come last, but that would not have bothered me, I was not competing, I was fulfilling a goal. It was the nicest feeling when I crossed the goal line and they announced my name and I got my “gold” medal. I am very proud of myself for following through on this and for my weight loss of 35 kg! Now I will continue training, walking and jogging and do this race again in a years time. *smile*

Yesterday was the kids party at our apartment complex. Even though we moved to the house my fellow is still on the condo association board and he roped me into planning. It went well, the kids and the parents all had fun and it was nice to see old neighbours and catch up with them.  But I forgot to change my shoes after shopping for the food and prizes and spent the afternoon in heels so my legs were very tired by the time the party was done. Which was one reason I walked today instead of doing jogging/walking as I originally planned. But it was worth, everyone enjoyed themselves.

Have had my first week of classes. Went well. Lots of homework though. *laugh*

Next week will be busy, I have a couple meetings and an evening class to go to. Then next weekend we will go out to the nature reserve for a “birthday” party. Right now though I am going to pull down my books and put in another couple of hours on homework. Then it will be an early night, I am a bit tired. *laugh*

Wow, that went by quickly! I am still on the reserve lists for all three universities and won’t know for sure that I have no spot until after registration next week. If people don’t show up for registration then the reserve people will be notified by phone that a place has opened up. I called and talked with a woman at Uppsala and she had a couple suggestions. There are three ways to come in to university here. 1 is with your high school grades, 1 is with your grades from folk high school and 1 is by writing the state university entrance exam. At this point in time I have two of those covered, but my high school grades from Canada give me the equivalent of 15/20 here in Sweden and I need a minimum 18 to have any real chance with that avenue. So I am going to study at adult education and bring up my marks in math, science, civics, religion and swedish … real swedish, not the swedish as a second language I have been studying. I also will write the state entrance exam in October. If I don’t get in next week, I will apply for January and will have a better chance of getting a spot then. So last week was all about going to the high school, applying for the courses, going to all the introduction classes and meetings and making myself visible to all the teachers, since I am on reserve lists for 4 of the 5 classes (the last day to apply to them was in April so it is lucky I am even a reserve). I am high on the lists and it is pretty standard that if you are reserve and show up to the first class you will get a place.

Majong is fitting in here, no longer homesick, sleeps in our bed. That sounds cozy but Ibo is still reacting to him and my cat allergy is acting up as well, so it would be better if he slept elsewhere. The second problem is that he and Rusty play in the middle of the night and wake me up. *laugh* We had a problem the first week with him having diarrhea, a direct result of him stealing Rusty’s food. That has finally stopped, none of them are eating anything but their own food now, although last week both dogs were still snacking on the cat’s food.

It is back to school next week. I have a class at 0815 on Monday and then I am done at 1700. Not a major problem if Ibo was home to drive LL to school and pick him up. But he is off to Amsterdam tomorrow night, so LL and I will be on the bus at 0645 to take him to school and I will pick him up at 1800. Long day. At least I have two free hours in the day and since it is about 15 minutes to walk to the high school from here, I will be able to come home and take the dogs out for a walk and play during the day. Of course if I get called Monday or Tuesday that a place has opened up at uni, that will really throw a wrench into the works. *laugh*

Next Sunday is the 10 km run I am going to do. So Friday I get to pick up my number “bib” that I will wear on race day. I am really getting excited about this. Next Saturday is the kids party in our old apartment complex. Ibo is still on the board there so I have had a hand in the planning. It will be fun!. Speaking of parties, LL will be nine in a month. I guess it is soon time to start thinking about his party too.

In other very exciting news from Applegrove, Rusty’s parents are parents again. His dad became a father again on the 16th and his mom had puppies today. They are just too cute. Speaking of Rusty, he had a shower and a trimming today and he looks so very irish setterish. We got him a life jacket so we can take him swimming and we took it with today out to Rävsta, since LL wanted to fish and after I got his fishing rod organized I picked the spot. Sadly it was too crowded for fishing so there was no fishing and no swimming. We did however go for ice cream in Sigtuna, so the trip was not a total waste.

Finally, I have some pictures to post. I realized a few days ago that I had not posted any pictures of the house we are living in now. *laugh*

Majong on the balcony.

Rusty waiting to play with the kitten.

Finally a chance to smell that cat!

Kitchen.

Living room

LL’s room

The master bedroom that the dogs and cat allow us to share with them. *laugh*

That is a quick look, it doesn’t always look precisely so, some of the laptops pictured have returned to work, the kitchen does have a cleared off stove top most of the time. Raggedy does however always stay on the dresser, she has been with me now for 33 years and I would have a hard time feeling settled anywhere without her. *grin*

We have a long ribbon that we use to play with the kitten. LL tied it to the railing on the main floor and let it hang down to the rec room and then shook it to get the kitten to come upstairs. (Majong has spent a lot of time hiding down there but every day he spends more time up here with us). Last night about 2200 Rusty went and grabbed the ribbon and literally tore it from the railing. Then he let it hang down and when the cat took hold of it he pulled it up, let it go again and then when the kitten grabbed the other end, Rusty pulled on it again. It was just too funny and just reinforces what we already know, irish setters are very smart and good at figuring things out. *grin*

We haven’t done so much this week, took it easy for a couple of days. Ibo and the kidlet went out go carting one afternoon and I took Rusty on a really long walk, he even got to swim a bit. Friday we went to China …. ok we went to the chinese festival at Sigtunahöjden. *laugh* We enjoyed all the different artists at work and had lunch. Our vegetarian wok came with chicken, so it had to be returned. Otherwise lunch was great, really tasty and filling.

After China we went and picked up a few things for the new cat. We had called Ibo’s mom a couple of times to see if she still had our cat carrier but we didn’t get in touch with her. So I made up a box with a band around it but in the end we stopped and checked and the carrier was there. So off to Applegrove we went. We met Majong, the cutest little guy. We also got to see Rusty’s mom, who will be having puppies in a couple of weeks and of course we saw Molly, my favourite of all the Applegrove dogs. I held the kitten for all the time we talked but he was very scared about going with us, his little heart a beating and he was shaking. He made it home safe and sound and he even came out of the carrier first thing, to greet the dogs. But then he went back in and stayed put for most of the evening. I did take him and show him where the litterbox was and his food and water. Ibo had a major reaction to the kitten and had to have an antihistamine. Poor fellow, he really was feeling awful. When we went to bed I thought it was best to leave the kitten in the laundry room in his carrier, with his litterbox and food. At 0530 he woke up and started to cry for his family. So I came down and let him roam about to get accustomed to his new home. I fell asleep on the couch for a couple hours but first I let Susan come down from the bedroom and she and Majong got used to each other.

Poor little kitten was really missing his family, he went all over and meowed for them. Finally about 0800 he went to sleep, after eating some. But as the day went along and we let him roam and didn’t push him, he got more and more at home. LL played a lot with him and a long piece of ribbon and that helped. By dinner time he was right at home. Here are a series of pictures I took as I was getting dinner ready.

In other news, I did a major cleaning today. Vaccumed all 3 levels, washed all the floors, wiped down doors and appliance, cleaned both bathrooms, cleaned every mirror and cleaned the windows on the inside and wiped down everything on the balcony. I hung new curtains in the kitchen and did 4 loads of laundry. So I got a lot done. It is easier with Ibo home since he can take care of the dogs, walk them, amuse them and I can work nonstop. He watched his race qualifiers, took Rusty for a long walk and mowed the lawn. He also put a bunch of boxes in the attic. So between us we got much done. I want everything caught up before school start because I know if I do get into uni I won’t have a lot of time left over for major cleaning.

What else …. I sent in my money for Tjejmilen, the 10 km run I made my goal last year. I won’t be running it, jogging will be my speed, but I am going to do it. I am really pleased that I stuck with this and have lost 35 kg in the process. We don’t have any set plans for next week. I need to go and apply for a new ID card. Mine is expired and I will need one if I get accepted to school. I ordered new clothes for LL for school and they are in at the postal outlet, so I need to pick those up as well. Now I am going to relax a bit. *laugh*