Merry Christmas!

I would just like to wish everyone a very merry christmas, since I am hopeless at the whole christmas card thing. To all of you who sent me something - thank you so much! I love getting mail :) Maybe next year I'll actually get around to sending something myself...

And tomorrow we're off. After a very odd christmas, that hasn't really felt much like christmas at all - we're off to the Carribbean. Mmmm... Just wish we could take Pasco along, because it is eating away at my conscience having to leave him... But I know he'll be ok. Have to stop being so touchy. And on that note I'm off to bed. Christmas eve already over. Dominican Republic - here I come!!! :) See you in 2008. Hopefully with a tan, although knowing me, that may sadly not be one of my souviniers... I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I'm sure you're all dying of suspense. hehe. MERRY CHRISTMAS, GOD JUL, and a very happy new year.

Very Loooong Fall...

Long time no blogging...
That can really only be explained by my state of stress extreme for the past month or two. Ugh. As usual everything always descends at once, and this time it was just a little bit too much. But now it's better. Theoretically. If I don't think too much of the reality of it.

Yesterday I finished off my sister in law's homepage for her jewellery business. Quite proud of it myself - not perfect, but good for now. It's been a lot of work and learning along the way - but now it is done. Hopefully up for viewing soon. Just waiting for her photo guy to get me the last few things for her gallery pages.

So now, all that remains is the final project for my web editing course, which is done at the end of January. I haven't started. Was supposed to have done that a week and a half ago... running a little behind schedule... In addition to that, we head for the Dominican Republic in a little over a week. I see now, that I will end up working on our holiday. Poop. Not at all what I was hoping for. I haven't had a proper day off in weeks. I only just started sleeping a few nights ago. This after about two and a half months of way too much sleeplessness.

So then there is the issue of a job. Went to two interviews last week. One I turned down all on my own (not that I know if I had gone into the second round) but the job was horrifyingly boring. The other job I'm still waiting to hear from. They said they wanted to finish off during this week. Still not heard. Slowly losing hope. The crappy thing is that I would do really well in that job. And I thought the interview went really well too. I basically had experience in everything they wanted. But with my luck it'll be back to the CV and letter writing this week end. Why does it have to be so difficult? And my christmas spirit is completely gone. Actually - this year, I just don't have one. Doesn't feel like a bit of christmas at all. No fun. Have to stop with the short sentences. Really need to get going on that final project. *big fat sigh* Toodles.

The Good, Bad and the Ugly...

I'll start with the good. Which is, that I may just have found myself the best guy on the planet. Nicklas turned up at school this morning with a beautiful rose for me. His reason was to apologize for being a grumpy sod, which he had been... But I would have been perfeclty happy for him to just stop being grumpy. Not that I'm complaining! I love getting flowers. Don't think that'll ever get boring. :)
Isn't it pretty? Yay! :)

Also on the good side, is that I think my cold is finally giving up! I'm starting to feel myself again. Took long enough!

Now to the bad and the ugly. Just had a call from the mechnic who is servicing my car today. A few weeks ago, we noticed that the hood on the car wouldn't close properly - or open for that matter. This can't be fixed other than, as I understand it, rebending the metal of the entire front of the car. This would be the bad.

The ugly would be the bastard who must have hit us while we were parked. We are quite sure that we are entirely innocent on this part. I have the nasty feeling that the insurance company aren't going to be all too fothcoming either. But it's worth a try. Don't even want to know how much this is going to cost! :(

Never mind... concentrate on the good for now :)

Flu season is here...

I am now on day seven of my cold. Yesterday I was all happy about feeling better... and then this morning my throat had once again swollen up like a balloon. Turns out half of our class is now in the same boat. Sorry!

And poor Pasco is still wearing the cone. Went to the vet to have the stitches taken out on Friday, but due to his chewing incident, the cone has to stay on for another six to ten days. Seeing as how I'm getting royally fed up with it, I can only imagine how he feels! Poor bastard.

Due to my illness very little has been happening I'm afraid. My internship starts on Monday. Woohoo! Scarry, but so looking forward to it. I really feel like I want to start working now... Being a student is great in some ways, but I find myself actually missing working life. Bet I'll regret saying that in, oh, a year's time or so. But for now - up, up and away!

Friday

Good day. Tired after severe lack of sleep, but otherwise good. Odd when you just can't sleep for no good reason. My poor Nicklas is home in bed with serious achy throat and stuffy head. Think I may have something of it in my system, but as usual it refuses to break out.

After the last few weeks' severe lack of stuff to do in school, we were delegated a little project for today and Monday. Terese and I have managed to finish it off very effectively and are now done for the week. Really quite proud of our result too.

Somewhat worried about the weather... Tomorrow I'm off with my dad for a day of sailing Briggen Tre Kronor. A huge rebuild of an old ship that's been doing the Tall Ship Race all Summer. Weather forecast says very strong winds and quite possibly rain. Not my favourite kind of weather, but at least there will be enough to keep us occupied.

So now I'm off home to try and find my cold and wet weather gear before picking my dad up to go to my brother's for the evening. Tomorrow is my nephew's birthday party, which we can't attend, so we thought we'd pop in for a pre-party visit. Happy, happy weekend :)

My Dog and His Cone

This weekend I sent my sweet little mutt to have his spurs removed. These are leftover toes used for nothing, hanging on by just a little skin and remnants of a former useful body part I'm sure. Removal, was done purely out of concern on my part. You see, I figure that it is better that they are cut off in a sterile enovironment, rather than that they were to get stuck in something and ripped off by accident. Ouch! Exactly.

So, the past few days have been fine. He is in no pain and happy as usual. He has however refused to wear his cone, and persist in taking it off as soon as it is put on. This lead to resignation on our part, and we let him lead his cone free life. However, this morning he took advantage. Just when he had arrived at day care, he was left unsupervised for a few minutes (no blame, mind you!). It did not take him long to realise his chance, and he chewed off the bandage on one foot, and persisted in also ripping out the three stitches. This left a nice open wound.

So instead of going to class today, I had to take Pasco back to the vet and pay once again to have them put another stich in him.

Now he is stuck with the darn cone, which gets stuck around every corner and in every bush, for another two weeks. All I can do really is give one big, heavy sigh, and put his picture out here. He does looks somewhat pathetic huh?

I Finally Know What's Wrong With Me!

It only took six years to get there, but I finally have it. My diagnosis. I know what's wrong with me! And for better or worse it's not IBS. Turns out what I have is Micorscopic Colitis. May heal or not, but now I'm on meds, which I'm hoping will be my magical cure. Otherwise I go on to a rather uncomfortable dose of cortisone. Watch me blow up! So, let's just hope that doesn't happen. Most extreme they chop out my insides, but I'm thinking that won't happen. It's not like I haven't survived with it for the past quarter of my life...

Doggy Daycare and Party Preparations

I had forgotten how much work it is to throw a party. Especially when you're not 100% moved in yet. But now at least we have enough boose and chips to feed an army (and potentially get it pretty drunk too). First things first, right?! Glad we've had the past week "off" to get everything done. And yet, there are still two boxes that need to get thrown out/go inot storage, and cleaning of course... again! I just cleanened. Well, maybe not just, since it's probably been about a week. Ugh. I HATE cleaning! Especially when you know that you're gonna have to do it all over again after the party is over.

Pasco has some pretty exciting news too. He is now a big boy and has started going to doggy daycare. It seems he likes his days better now... he gets all kinds of excited in the morning when we're off. Thankfully he's just about as excited when we come pick him up. :) See his new home away from home - pretty cute I think!
Kära Tassar

Three weeks of unaldulterated fun

So, we are now back home, complete with dog and several extra pounds... Eating out in the US every day for three weeks does nothing for your figure, I'll tell you that much! Other than that, I have had an absolute blast. I'm also glad to say that Pasco seems to share the sentiment, even if he was left at home. Reports have it that he has been doing a lot of chasing cows and running away from my parents...

Three weeks of constant doing stuff is hard to recap in something that won't take hours to read, so I'll focus on the best bits.

We started our trip off in San Francisco. Just as cool as we had hoped. We managed to get through most of the big stuff, like taking the cable car, seeing a baseball game, crossing the golden gate and taking a proper tour of Alcatraz. We started off by taking a full day wine tour of Napa Valley. Drinking started around 11am... some really nice wines, and some that were less so. Most hilarious part was probably the two ladies 50-something that seemed to have made it their goal to get trashed. Buying a bottle for the bus at every stop (there were four of them) and having another one for lunch, one of the two actually passed out on the last strech of the ride taking us to the ferry back to SF. Great start to the trip though!

Next stop Seattle. Here we took it pretty easy, walked around the city and had a nice long dinner in the revolving Space Needle restaurant. Great food, and an absolutedly breath-taking view.

After two days, we went on to take the bus North to Vancouver. Here we met up with our paddling gang. Great with friends in stressful jobs requiring constant travelling giving them lots of points at nice hotels. Especially when they use these to put their friends up in great rooms :) Hehe. After a nice chat with a glass of wine on the hotel patio, we all headed off to bed.

Next morning we started our journey to Vancouver Island... turned out it was a national holiday and long week end, so we had to wait for two ferries, before we finally got on the third to take us across. Ended up on Quadra Island, where our Kayaking adventure was to start, around 11 pm. By then we had missed the welcome meeting and apparently som pretty great partying at the only bar on the island...

The following day we met up with the rest of our group. Some pretty great people, making for a good and bumpy 3-hour ride in a water taxi out to our remote cliff-side camp. Felt pretty good, seeing as how we managed to get our first Orca siting on the way!

During the next few days we paddled, saw more Orca, hump-backs, dolphins, river otters, huge star fish and more. We had four beautiful days hanging out with some of our best friends, that we rarely see, and some new great people, who turned out to be an absolute blast.

When four days were up, it was back to Vancouver. Here we ended up in the construction zone preparing the city for the winter Oplympics 2010. Somewhat tired after several nights in a tent, we took it easy, walked around lots, and managed to catch another super duper highlight of the trip. We got tickets to Nickelback's concert. Woohoo! Pretty darn cool I say!

The last two days in San Francisco we were beat. Managed to catch our first hour at a pool all vacation, and prepared for the gruelling trip home. After our red-eye from SF to Philadelphia we had an eleven hour lay-over before our next flight home. Already exhausted, we made our way into the city to see the Liberty Bell and take a bus tour of the city.

We've now been home for going on five days, and we're still jet lagged! Insane! Never had it this bad before... but we're getting there. We've kept busy trying to put the finishing touches on the apartment in view of our flat warming next week. Woohoo! Really looking forward to seeing everyone again. :)

Off to See the World!

The time has come! We are off on our super duper trip! Tomorrow at 10.20 AM the plane leaves Stockholm to take us across the great ocean and drop us off in San Francisco... with a little stop off in Philly that is...

I am mighty proud of myself, having fit everything for a three week trip into one 50L bag... no suitcases allowed due to the part where we live in tents and paddle around with Orcas and things... Not that I really mind. Quite looking forward to that part :) I would also like to add, that this luggage includes a sleeping bag! Tried it all in the bag last night and it fit. Not that there is room for anything I may want to buy along the way, but at least for once I haven't over-packed... and I did manage to fit an extra bag for the trip home, should I need it! hehe. Now of course there is hoping that the hotels actually have laundry service or at least know of a good laundromat, or I'm dirty girl come day 10 or so...

Rightyho, have some last minute stuff to do - like clean this filthy apartment! Must get on...

Did I Muss Summer??

I'm on vacation, which is great. Then again, we're in the country off on the farm, and it's been raining since we got here a week ago. The dams that we used to have holding fish and crayfish burst and flooded fields etc. last Monday. So, I am of the definite oppinion that it is time for the rain to STOP! I want Summer! I've made myself go swimming all of twice, to get it over with - but I still want to go in the sun and because I'm hot at some point... Well, we have another week here, so let's hope it gets better. At this point I'm just going to keep my hopes up for California. If it rains then too, I am going to be sooooo upset! Then again we're going cayacking with wales so I'm thinking my mind will be less on the fact that I'm still pale as in winter, and more on the wales :)

Rain

I am sick of this rain! Whatever happened to Summer?? Only three more days left of work until I get my vacation. Bless vacation! Sometimes I really would love a fast forward button on some things... Can I go home now?

A Good Day Today

Relaxing is the game... Because - today I finally got my internship sorted. Unless something unforeseen happens, I will be at Svensk Fastighetsförmedling for four weeks. Woohoo! It's even something I'm happy with!

And on top of that I managed to sell my old bed for 2500, and it's being picked up today. The apartment is just about sorted and emptied of unnecessary crap. Everything is booked for our trip in a few weeks AND I only have 3 more days at my job that I still despise... Had started pretending that it might be better than I remembered, but no. I still want out. And I WILL get another job after school is done. That's all there is to it. Happy happy days! :)

A really long week

We have moved... and finally gotten working internet. Took over a week - no thanks to comhem. But now it works, and our business with them is done in a month.

Moving has been quite an ordeal. On top of it all I had to start preparing for today - possibly one of the worst days of my life. As most are aware my stomach is one of those things that generally works badly in my life. So today I was in for some testing. Starting with a quick gastroscopy, and moving on to an extremely painful endoscopy. Mmmm... now there's something I never ever want to go through again in my entire life, unless possibl if it's a matter of life and death.

It all started yesterday, when lunch was my last meal... went home to start drinking four - yes FOUR litres of laxatives... My friends - dont't do it. I have never tasted anything as vile in my life - and the following eight hours weren't exactly anything to wish for either. So today, I went in for my appointment at 12.45 without having eaten anything for over 24 hours and having had little to drink since last night.

Now, everyone has always told me that the gastroscopy is the worst. I beg to differ. Yes, it is very uncomfortable, and gag reflexes were definitely being triggered - but it was over withing 5 minutes. My throat maybe hurt for another half hour. Now the edoscopy - a completely different story. They give you laughing gas as part of the standard procedure and stronger stuff if you need it. Well, they gave me the shot when I started crying and hyperventilating in the gas mask... After it was all over, my butt feels extremely violated, and on top of it, they blew so much air up my ass I'm not even going to go in to the rest...

Now, on pain killers I'm feeling a little less miserable. And I get to eat. Yippee! Although now I'm not feeling even half as much up for it as this morning. At least they didn't find anything. I seem all "healthy" - just have to wait for the the testing of the samples they grabbed to know for sure. It seems I am getting closer to the definitive diagnosi of IBS. Woohoo... or not as it may be.

Well, over the week end we are off to a lovely bout of family reunion on my dad's side of the family. Should be fun - get to go back to where we used to have our old summer house when I was a kid. And in true family tradition, I'm sure it will rain all week end.

Toodles.

Approaching Old Age??

So today I started the day by mailing my travel card together with the letter I had in the same hand. Was very impressed by that. Was very pleased when I realised that today was the last day of it's validity, so I didn't make a huge loss in the process. When I following this tried to tell Nicklas about my rather idiotic blooper, I realised that I had left my phone at home.

Wonder what the rest of this day will bring...?

I really do never learn!

Another wonderful week end has passed. Friday ended with a great tapas dinner with Annika and Ida - with a little too much wine. Saturday was stiflingly hot, and was spent doing laundry and watching the Stockholm Marathon. Nicklas' cousins were running and came in on a whopping 3 hours and 19 minutes I think. Pretty darn good!


Saturday night we spent picnicking in the park. Great company and yet more wine. Sunday I paid for all the good times, with a good old hangover... and my tummy is still making itself known. At least we got some packing done.
By the way - anyone other than me wonder what Linnea has to say to my dog? Is there a hidden talent I don't know about?



Here is Nicklas looking his coolest. Sadly he now has a cold, and has taken to his bed. And I am hungry again... why? It seems like we just ate! Just in case anyone was interested...

School's (almost) out for Summer!

Ah, freedom is near. The sun is shining, and global warming is giving us a fantastic Summer so far... can't really say that I've ever been in the situation of mid June with 30 degrees before. At least not in Sweden! But I am liking it. Very much!
Other than that we finished off our last project yesterday. Woohoo! That too was mainly a success even if it wasn't perfect. Now the only real problem that remains is the fact that I still don't have anywhere to do my internship. I just keep getting no's from everyone. But I shall keep trying. Next week it'll happen. I'm sure... I hope!

On a very happy note - we move next week!!! In one week at this very point of the day, most of the stuff should be out of this apartment and into the new one. YIPPEE!!! Then we start repainting etc etc, but that'll hopefully be done within a week. Then I start work. I'm starting to think it might even be fun to work for a bit. It's nt impossible that I will change my mind on that rather quickly, but it's worth a go.

And after that the real Summer starts. A few weeks in Gränna, then we're off for three glorious weeks to the US of A. Hotels are booked, and we've booked som stuff to do too, like we have tickets to a base ball game in San Francisco. Since one of the web pages cocked up when we were buying, we actually ended up with four tickets. Anyone up for base ball?? Hoping we can sell the extra tickets on ebay... We've also booked a wine tour of the Napa Valley and a table at the Sears Tower restaurant in Seattle.

In preparation of our paddling tour off Vancouver Island, my brother was kind enough to give me the book The Swarm. In it global warming somehow (haven't gotten that far yet) drives all sorts of creatures crazy... among them whales who start capsizing ships, and leaving the people to be eaten by rogue orcas... I have been told that orcas otherwise don't eat people... So this could be somewhat interesting. Let's hope the book is more fiction than truth, and that we may have a peaceful whale encounter!

The Passing of Time

Long time no write... After finishing off the project last week - which got some pretty great reviews :), there was a night slightly excessive drinking. Really nice to get all the stress out of my system. The idea was to take the weekend off - which I did - and then come back full of energy for the next project. But somewhere, something went wrong. Monday morning I wasn't really feeling it, and I can't say that I am yet. Not that it doesn't seem like fun, but somehow I feel like I've had the wind knocked out of me.

I suppose the fact that our move is coming ever closer plays in a little. Last night the guy buying my apartment came by to measure and have a bit of a look. I'm actually not too sure he was quite as impressed as he had probably hoped he would be... not that I blame him. He's paying a bloody fortune for the place! So tonight after a pretty much awful day, we went to have a look at our new home. It's frightening what a few months will let your brain do to images left lying around in your brainfolds. Somehow the place had done some serious growing in my mind... Turns out it's not a mansion after all! But it's still a really nice apartment, and after some puzzling I think we've figured out how we'll get all the furniture in. Phew! We actually had me a little worried there for a bit.

As apposed to last weekend, which I dedicated to myself, this coming weekend is being dedicated to my beautiful neice and nephew. Nicklas and I are babysitting from Saturday afternoon until some time Sunday morning. Scarry! Never babysat in the morning before... and I can't say I have breakfast with the little ones very often when we're all in the country together. It will be an experience, I'm sure. And besides - Anton is very good at helping out when there are things we don't know. I'm sure he'll let me know what he's supposed to be having... and Alexandra too for that matter. Just have to remember to not let him trick me... hmmm...

On that note, and very much looking forward to Saturday, toodleoo.

Relief

Tomorrow is D-day. The project we've been working on for 6 long weeks, is due tomorrow... and we are actually done. I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that, but i think it actually might be true. We need a picture of Terese, and then we're done.

I can quite happily say that I'm proud of myself and the rest of the class for that matter for pulling it together. I thought we'd be sitting with last minute, but it seems we won't be needing to. Now all I have to do is fiuter out what I'm going to do about presenting the site... never quite know what to say - Tada!...?

Here's the address for our site: Communicate this (all in Swedish I'm afraid...)

So tomorrow is Friday. And for once i think I'm actually going to celebrate it in true Friday style. Starting at 10:00 AM when we all congregate to fix any last necessary fixings, and start the day off with a nice glass of wine, and some strawberries... hihi.

Unpleasant surprises

The plumber is finally here. It's taken until now to get the leak fixed that started night before the aparmtent was being showed. Turns out that the guy who renovated my apartment before I moved in, did a somewhat questionable job. All sorts of safety measures are missing, which means anything that happens with the dishwashing machine for example, will probably not be covered by the insurance. Since we're moving - not such a problem for me - but the guy that moves in may well be less impressed. And for the moral dilemma of the day- do I tell him? Or do I let him find out when a leak has finally ruined the floor, which will probably be the only way he will notice?

I believe I have decided to skip a little more class today. Realised that the testing center at the hospital will probably be much less crowded now than this afternoon. So I think I'll go sit around there for however long it takes. Hopefully not too long. Then let them poke around my arm for a while to find a vein, which for some reason always seems to be very difficult. Now there's something to look forward to.

Hope the plumber is done soon. And especially hope the leak will be done with. Another point ticked off my list for the move. Woohoo!

Ballooning / No Ballooning

It is just past one o'clock on Saturday morning. Thinking we were off on a really cool balloonig trip around 3, and having slept incredibly badly last night, I happily fell asleep around 8. Was supposed to watch a movie first, but eventually gave up and drifted in to sweet sleep. Pasco is with his day mom over night, so that he would be safely cared for while we were away. About half an hour ago, Nicklas's alarm went off to wake him up to call the answering phone that would tell us if we have lift off or no. A few miutes after Nicklas turned the alarm off, I realised that he had simply gone back to sleep... Since I don't have that talent when I know things are going on, I woke him up for the number and called.
Now, after all this planning our flight has been cancelled. Too much risk for fog apparently. This is the problem with ballooning. So much preparation, and so little chance of actually lifting off. At least in this country. So now, since I can't sleep having totally screwed up my clock, I'm left watchin late night tv. Thought it would be worse, but found Third Watch on. I guess it's not late enough yet for the real crap to come on. I used to know what was on when... I guess it just goes to show I've gotten old. I mean I am turning 27 in just over a week. Odd, odd feeling. Although not half as bad as I have been anticipating. Think I actually felt worse turning 26. Now I'm already over that hump, so I guess i might as well just enjoy it. Hehe.
Well, a little while of tv will hopefully lull me back to sleep. Have to pick our little doggy poo around 9 am. Very odd not having the dog around when we're home... Very empty and quiet. Funny how quickly you get used to having the little hair ball around. He was on his day care interview today, and passed with flying colours. Hopefully she'll have a space for him in August. Would be a pretty sweet place for him to be. Lots of other Spaniards for him to party with all day long. Hehe.
As for our ballooning, I guess we'll just have to rebook, and hope for better luck next time.

Ode To My Couch

Aah. What better feeling, than sitting down on the couch after a long day of hard work. At least a hard day of a lot of running around, trying to fit everything in.

Last night we realised that our doggy planning ran into some problems when Nicklas found an extra math class in the morning. His exams are coming up the stakes are mounting. Expecting a useless lecture I thought skipping half the day would be fine. Then it turns out that this was the one lecture that was really important and even fun. So at lunch, off I went to hurry home, have a quick chow down and take Pasco out for a proper walk. Then back to class for another few hours, during which I was also supposed to have fit in a couple of interviews. Luckily these I can get in tomorrow morning, so I'll have some fun stuff to do over the week end.

The project at school is taking a lot of time out of my life at the moment. Especially the part where I try to get a hold of people and interview them. Many can't be found, or are sick, or just plain old busy. I'm pretty sure being a reporter is nothing that I'll ever strive for. We'll see what happens, but I'm hoping I'll get three interviews in tomorrow. I'm wondering if I may be a little over ambitious, but I'm willing to take the chance. Since my name is going to be on everything I write, and as chief editor on top of that, I'm choosing to take it potentially a little too seriously. Now all I have to do is find somwhere to do the internship part of my course. Anyone want a web editor for a few weeks in October??

Pasco is going for his first interview tomorrow. We're taking him to a doggy day care center close to where we'll be living come mid June. If he fits the bill, he'll hopefully have a nice cosy place to spend the days while we're off at school. I'm hoping he'll be on his best charming behaviour. Knowing we had that checked off our list, would take another little bit of stress off. So longing for June to come, and the move to be over. I love school - who'd've thought, but right now everything is getting a little much at times. My brain is not rarely on fried, and things keep slipping. I've taken to using my calandar slaveishly. If it's not in there, it isn't happening. Just sucks when I forget to write things down... oops.

Well, CSI Miami is on i a few so I'm going to prepare with some nice tea, and a blanket to settle properly into my couch. I really do love it. Best investement I ever made. Ciao

Change of plans

I was going to write this whole long thing, but then I realised that writing is all I've done all day. And now I'm writing some more. Come to think of it, I am really tired. I lay awake from 5 this morning thinking about what i was going to write. I think I may be coming down with some odd illness. Although I'm also quite sure I've had it all along. It's just making itself known again. It's called control freak. Me no likey, and yet, I can't seem to stop myself. It all started with being named cheif editor of our current project. Ugh, responsibility. Now, I know it's just school, but all the same. It's not like I would ever be ok with failing... so off I go on long rants in my head when I should be sleeping.
On that note, I am going to go to be with my book, that I haven't had a chance to read for days. And then I'm going to sleep. Because today I've been so sickeningly effective, that there should really be nothing for me to obsess about. Or at least that's what I think... Night night.

Much To Do About Nothing...

Long time no blogging... fact is I've thought about it lots of times, but then something else always seems to come in between. My apartment has been showed, and bought for an insane sum of money. Pretty darn pleased about that. :) And to add to the pleasure I am also now a first time car owner. Woohoo! Bought my first Volvo today. We were thinking about a Porsche, but bringing Pasco gets a little cramped in one of them.
Last week end we emptied Nicklas' apartment, and moved everything to a rented storage space close to where our new apartment is. Then we also cleaned it from top to bottom, which was not so much fun. Now it is done however, and the new owners are in. They still haven't complained, so we've decided to tick that off on our pre-moving list. Countdown is still rolling and lift-off occurs in a month and 9 days. I know I keep saying this, but I cannot wait!
So now that a lot of the moving is done for now, and we can stop car hunting, you'd think some nice relaxing was on the menu. Sadly however, Nicklas has some lovely exams to look forward to, and I've been crowned cheif editor of our current project for school, which is so-so. It's not too bad, but it does add to the stress factor, since I'm not going to have it hanging over my head that it's not a success...
And on that note I should probably get working. Have to plan out all the deadlines for the coming week, and make sure I keep mine... need to get writing.
Toodles

A little bit of clarity

Tired and slooowww today... Had the morning off so we got a little moving preparation done. Signed a contract for a storage room since we're moving all of our things out of Nicklas' apartment next week end. By then I should have sold my apartment too. Scarry!

After that little adventure where I was lucky enough to get drenched like a cat - twice - I headed off to TV4 where we had booked in a field trip with the class. We went to have a look at their web office and see what they do and all that. Some good info, including that it's pretty much impossible to get a job there without having worked for a news paper site or something like it for a few years. I was pretty glad that that direction never really was my goal with this to start with. I think I'm going to actually stick with my original thought and try to get into a marketing team somewhere with web/intranet responsibility. I think that would do me quite nicely. Have actually found a few jobs that would be perfect, but don't think they want to wait until next January to hire me...

Plans for this evening were to get my butt to the gym with Annika for a bodypump session... but I don't think that's going to happen. Much too comfy here now... bad, bad me. One of these days I will get back to working out, but today is not going to be the day.

God bless the sun!

This week end has been soooo nice! Thanks to the global warming phenomenon we have had temperatures of over 20 degrees, and LOTS of sun. Aaahh... And on top of that, I actually had a week end with nothing to do but enjoy that sun shine. :) Other than taking it very easy and going to see the show at Wallmanns on Friday night, very little has taken place. Thought we'd take advantage of the possibility of relaxing, since the next few weeks won't be quite as free. Next week end is all about showing my apartment, and therefore big time cleaning will be necessary. Week end after that is moving out our stuff from Nicklas' apartment and cleaning that for the new owners who come in on May 2nd. And then start all the birthdays... only 2 more months until the new apartment, and Summer holidays! woohoo!

Pride

Feeling quite proud today. My project group and I actually managed to finish our information web site today - and it's not due until Monday! Now, I'm sure we'll figure out some more stuff that has to be fixed and changed, but it shouldn't be too much more. All the links work, the pics are pretty darn cool, and the texts are good. Well done us! I think the site is going to be posted online for real. If/when that happens I'll be adding the link to the list. That's it. It's nice to be able to take a night off without feeling guilty. Tomorrow's another day.

Some Easter Family Pics

Nicklas and I cosy on the couch :)


The obligatory Easter fire


Anton "helping" my sister bake a cake


Anton at his most mischievous

Yet Another Easter Older

It's funny how you go around waiting for something for so long, and then it all passes so quickly. I realised while in Gränna, that I hadn't actually been back since X-mas. Kept meaning to but just didn't get around to it. Bad, bad.
Either way, it was very nice and relaxing with a few days off. As usual, the fresh air knocked me out for the first day or so, but once adjusted there was plenty to keep us all out of doors in the nice weather. Having all the kids around was a blast, and the dogs caused havock as per usual. Pasco charmed everyone once again... he sure knows when to pick his moments of perfect behaviour!
The only downer was the fact that I couldn't eat most of the candy, and the beautiful cake that my sister and Anton made... it taunted me for three days before the others had finally finished it off!
Now we're all back in Stockholm, and back to planning and plotting - along with quite a bit of school work. My apartment should be coming out for sale on the internet tomorrow. Woohoo! And it's now only just over 2 months until we move. Pretty cool! Always lots to look forward to. I think the nearest item on my list is a looong night of sleeping. Toodleoo!

Easter is upon us

Wednesday afternoon. Tomorrow we're off to the country to join the whole family. Quite looking forward to it really. Not that it's going to be quite as calm as I had initially planned. There will be 5 kids under teen age around for the first few days, so I'm sure we will be kept busy and awake a large part of the day's 24 hours. But at least the sound of screaming children will be a nice change from the constant traffic and drunken ramblings outside our window!
The sale of my apartment is becoming more real every day. Yesterday they were here to take pictures, and seemed very pleased with what they saw. Their system for setting prices is somewhat questionable though. You're not allowed to set a price that the seller wouldn't accept to sell for... but the price they're setting on mine for bidding start is way lower than I would ever sell it for. Chances are very good that I won't have to, but it seems somewhat wrong to set the prices like that all the same. Well, it's not my head in the noose if someone objects in the end.
Having some difficulty concentrating on what I'm supposed to be doing... which is work for school. And as usual anything I don't do now, I have to do over the week end... sigh. Right. That's it. Work. Have to work...

Monday Bloody Monday...

Mondays just never stop coming! So frustrating, especially Monday mornings. But as most Mondays, this too shall end I suppose. Before it does however, there is much to do... Tomorrow 10 AM is photoshoot time in my apartment... We've spent the whole week end packing and moving (although Nicklas and Andreas did most of the moving due to my back - Thank you!!!) and now there is the cleaning left. Did some last night but think the windows probably have to get a little once over with the polish cloth.
The apartment will probably be out on the internet during the week, and showing is a week or two after Easter. Eek! But so nice to finally get it over with! Once it's done, we can really start focusing on the new place. Only 2 1/2 months left now... count down is constantly running! Woohoo!

Wish I could say things would settle down once the showing is over, but I very much doubt it. School has really stepped it all up a notch and there is much to do at all times. It's fun but lots. Some things almost seem like too much fun... But it's all evened out by the other stuff, so I'm not going to worry about wasting my time and money just yet.

Ode To My Chiropractor

I think my chiropractor takes first place on my list of health care professionals. It's pretty close between him and Christer, my tummy-doc but Martin (the chiroproctor) is great because he gets such immediate results. My appointment was at 8.30 am, now an hour later I am sitting at my desk in only very mild pain - a HUGE improvement. I love it. And he thought I should get well after just this visit. Woohoo!!! No more old lady!!!
I have started thinking though... since there always seems to be something wrong with me - should I really procreate? I mean granted, none of my ailments are technically hereditary, but it does seem that I was not put together quite right. Or maybe I should just not let my kids snowboard their back into disalignment... or eat too much dairy... not that I know if that's gonna help.
Anywho, back to work. I have a text on what is being done about human trafficking in Sweden to write... very uplifting subject!

I'm all alone...

Weird feeling. We have the afternoon for independent study, and I'm the only one still in school. Very empty and quite lonely really. Only reason I'm here is that I've thrown out my back again, and the chairs here are so much better than the ones around my kitchen table at home... Since Friday night when it happened (not 100% sure what actually did happen...)I've been thinking that however fun Friday night may have been, it was not worth this much pain. The hang-over maybe, but not the back. So I'm back to the chiropractor - soon hopefully!
It's already wednesday again! Time flies. Getting old again... But at least this week end we get to start packing up the apartment to store all the stuff that shouldn't be there for the showing. They'll be taking pictures for the web next week, and showing just after Easter. Scarry, but very very exciting! :) We're both getting rather impatient now to get moving. Especially now that the drunks are becoming ever more attracted to the park down the street, and walk past our window yelling every night. I thought 4 flights would have made that not such a problem, but was I ever wrong!
And now I think I will go home after all. Hopefully I'll get there after the dog walking lady has dropped Pasco off again. She gets ever so annoyed when she sees that we came home earlier unplanned - again. Strikes me that she really shouldn't care seeing as how we do pay her... anywho - more next time...

Politics

Politics is a funny thing. So many people get so worked up about whichever party they belong to, which I just can't help but find somewhat amusing. I, like everyone else (or at least it should be everyone else!) vote, and have my oppinions of right and wrong. I however have also accepted that I vote for the party that has the ideas and ambitions that I agree with most. I don't agree with any of them one hundred percent, and I also accept that everything they say in the campaign is not going to happen. But that's the same for any party. None of them are perfect - that would be utopia - and none of them are going to make this country into the perfect state. Since people are involved - there will never be such a thing. But some people don't seem to want to see this, or they just ignore the fact that everyone has faults. I can happily acknowledge that "my party" isn't perfect, but at least they prioritise what I prioritise. I guess it has to do with me being rather disillusioned with the Swedish state of mind too... Not that I don't like it here, but some of the attitudes here drive me nuts. I think you have to have grown up here to accept them up front. I've lived here for a few years now, and have voted in two elections. But I still can't say that I feel like a real Swede. My passport is Swedish, and I love Swedish nature, and the fact that we build proper houses - but other than that, I just don't feel it. The love I mean. Maybe it will come.
Funny - in writing this I find that, despite all the above, I am quite passionate about my views. I won't go into them here - don't like discussing politics with people, it always gets ugly - but most of you know where my loyalties lie... Maybe I am, even if it is reluctantly, becoming a Swede. What a very odd thought. Just as well I suppose, since with Nicklas in school I won't be leaving any time soon... even if it does tempt me at times...

Another Day, Another Project

Friday. Finally. Although this week has gone incredibly quickly. We now have a new project to work on. My first web page is done - for what it's worth, and we're moving on to doing an information website about human trafficking. Pretty cool although not completely uplifting... We'll see how it goes.
The first web page went alright. Hadn't made any huge bloopers, although looking at some of the other pages that were presented I felt like I had missed quite a bit. Ok, so most of the ones that I was jealous of were made by people who have a) been doing this for some time, and b) are doing the graphic design variation of my course. There was a point to not choosing that one in my case, namely that design isn't my strongest point. I don't think I suck at it but I'm not quite a creative as some of them, that's for sure.
Anyway, tonight Nicklas has invited some friends over. Should be fun even though the apartment is still so full of boxes and stuff, that I'm not quite sure how they're all going to fit!

Some Days...

are just crap from beginning to end. You know when you wake up that something is just a little bit off, and it doesn't seem to go away. Well that day is today. Saturdays are usually a favourite with me, but I suppose knowing it was Saturday and I had a trip to Ikea to look forward to kind of bummed it from the start. Ikea wasn't a complete waste though. We managed to get there before most of the families who bring all the kids and grandma along for the ride. Why do they do that?? Anyway, we managed to find a few things that will be good for the new apartment. Among other things a bed that will in total be about the same that just the frame that we were considering before would have cost... and we came home with the moving boxes that were the reason for our trip in the first place - along with a few toys for Pasco. I swear that dog got on a plane and came to heaven. Spoiled little brat is what he is. But cute - which some days really is the only reason we keep him around! :)
To add to the joy of the day, the apartment is a mess. We have boxes and things EVERYWHERE, since we have no storage room left. At least we can start moving stuff out for the showing at the turn of the month. I cannot wait for a bigger apartment! At which point I have decided that a lot of stuff is going to have been thrown out as well. I just can't be bothered with it at the moment... so I suppose I'll have to blame myself for the mess. And now it is time for me to do some well needed studying. Have a website due Wednesday.

My Stomach

I believe it may just be a miracle! I went to the doc yesterday (Thank you Christer!). This is the first time that they haven't looked at me like I'm crazy, and actually confirmed my own diagnosis right away. It is most probably IBS. It actually felt even better than expected to have your constant pain and agony named and recongnised, rather than ignored and dismissed. So now I'm on more meds to help calm my system, and I'm to keep off the fat and the caffeine and all that, which I already was. He's sending me to the specialists at Ersta so I can have all the remaining tests like - colonoscopy... NOT looking forward to that, but Christer said it's not as bad as it sounds. Not so sure I believe him...
Sadly I have no hopes that all this is actually going to lead to a cure, but I feel better on the careful diet than off, so I think I'll stick to it. Maybe not to the extreme, but most of the time seems to help enough :)I'm taking bulk fibres and all sorts of calming things for my intestines... And drinking oh so much peppermint tea. Good thing I actually like the stuff, or I'd be in a really bad way!
As a little perk and a bonus going off the candy has done what I was hoping - the back fat (or camel humps as Annika calls them...)are receding. Yippee! And it's not even as hard as I was expecting. Good thing I can still eat things made with cocoa powder though, or I'd be in real trouble. I've realised that chocolate sauce is as easy as cocoa powder, sugar and a little bit of soymilk heated in the microwave and stirred. Mmmm, YUM! I really do miss kebabs though. At least pizza can be made healthily at home :)
Today is all about photoshoping my first web page for school - and waiting for the final bid on Nicklas' apartment of course. Last bid was 1,470,000 - Insane! And they're still going too! He's a really happy puppy right about now - except for his math exam this afternoon of course... Am getting rather excited about selling my aparment soon too! See the dollar signs rolling in my eyes?? ;)

Late Night Revelries

...or not so late night as it turns out. Because even if it feels like very late night, it is in fact only 10.56 pm. This makes me feel like I should feel somewhat sad and old, but it just doesn't. Some would think that at 26, I should still be living out my youth and clubbing until dawn every chance I get but fact is - I just don't have the energy. I just returned home from a wonderful dinner with friends, whereof the male half decided that venturing out into the Stockholm nightlife was a good idea, and the female half preferred to return home to bed with some sort of candy in our pockets. (Except for Ida ofcourse, who I think would have preferred a full night out ont he town but couldn't quite convince us...Sorry! :) ) My thought is - why do I feel ike I should be wanting to go out more? I don't actually feel that, just feel like I should feel that. Is this me getting "old"? Because 26 going on 27 just doensn't feel old to me. God knows I've done my fare share of far too long nights and drunken stupers, and I just feel like a nice buzz is all I need. Especially on a Friday night! Besides, I now have a cute little dog who needs someone's attention every now and then. So tonight I used him as an excuse. (but fact is he actually did need some tlc and a pee-round). Some of my friends have remarked on how much like having a child it must be, since we can leave him, but not too long. And it is quite like that I suppose, and yet I have thus far never regeretted it. On that note - I wish all well for the coming week end and look forward to a nice sleep-in tomorrow morning. As long as Pasco agrees that is...
Can I also - just as a random thought say - how very difficult it is to type correclty with a bottle of wine under your belt. I apologize for any misspelling and typing that may have occurred in the above. It seems that Pasco is wanting to send a "Squeek Squeek" out to all his dog pals out there who know the meaning of a good squirrel toy. Happy Weekend!

Good old criticism

Criticism is a funny thing. Even if someone starts off their judgement by saying - this was really good - it really makes no difference whatsoever when they add that "but" and start clanking. Even if it's constructive criticism, and it's great to move forward, it still doesn't make for a fun afternoon. Because although I mentally know that it's a necessary evil, and without it I won't be improving - emotionally it just doens't quite hit home the way it should. I'm hoping that this is another one of those things that I can get used to enough to let it not bother me. Kind of like blushing profusely while speaking in front of an audience - even if I know everyone in the room, I just can't help that involuntary reaction. So that along with once again wondering why on earth so many seem to think that it is ok to pee in subway stations, are the thoughts that have stayed with me during the day. I am just so sick of the smell of urine.

Thoughts of the Day

Just in case anyone is wondering what the pictures in my last two posts are, they're posters I had to make for my new schooling. Beautiful, huh? I'm still in awe of what photoshop can do when you have a version later than that of 1995, which is what I had the honor of dealing with at my last job.
Random thoughts of the day:
It's a little weird that people are actually reading my blog... good, since I'm not too good at the whole keeping in touch with people thing, but scarry all the same. Also, why does my dog keep getting more rowdy, when we've finally finished the course where he's supposed to have gotten the hang of behaving??
And finally, who at the Swedish student loan agency decided the rules?? Because whoever it was, has never ever been a student themselves. Seriously. Because Nicklas has to sell his apartment, which he will hopefully make a nice profit off of, this profit means that they will cancel his loans and make him pay back the loans he's taken this term toute suite. But it makes no sense because all the money he makes he's putting into the new apartment... and really needs the loans still... so this means we now have to go through quite a few extra steps to fool the bastards - which luckily the estate agent is very happy to help us with. How sick is that? (Not that we're not grateful!!) Do they not see the system is screwed up?!?!?! But at least now it's solved, we can be sure to actually move in to the apartment. Phew! A few more months to wait. Really trying hard to be patient... I want my jacuzzi!!!
End of random thoughts.

Punk Fest Poster

Dog Show Poster

Facebook

Just thought I'd let y'all know that I am also on facebook.com. Name: lundiberger80. Ciao

Possible Relief??

Sometimes I wonder what happens with my weekends. I spend all week in class in front of the computer typing away, staring at the screen, come home and do what? I could take some time off and just not do computer for a day you might think... but no. But at least today has been quite productive. I think I may have - finally - found some sort of help for my constant stomach problems.
Since doctors don't seem to help much, I have taken it upon myself to try to find a cure for my own unnamed stomach disorder. I'm quite convinced that what I have lands under the lable of IBS, which no one seems quite sure of what it is, but everyone is uninimous that it is incurable. Joy of joys! I've tried for years to control it through my diet, but seem to get it wrong no matter how hard I try. All I have is anti-spasmodic drugs that make me feel slightly naucious. Not so nice in the long run.
But according to my new favorite website, there is hope. Turns out that I've been dooped by all the wholewheat propaganda, when what I need to soothe my stomach is soluble fiber, which you get from good old white bread, rice, potatoes and pasta - the normal kind. Of course I have to eat the other stuff too, but not the way I have been religiously adhering to it! The downside is that this also excludes fat (not news to me)... but to the point of excluding all red meat and dairy. There seem to be some pretty ok alternatives though, so we'll see how this goes. Nicklas is tentatively enthusiastic, mainly because he wants me to feel better... and I also promised that he can have cheese on the pasta when I don't... and he can still eat his salami, while I simply have to drewl. Not liking that part so much... But for this I will employ a - in Sweden - well-known technique: "Jag kan flyga, jag är inte rädd!" (Translates to, "I can fly, I am not afraid!") And if this too fails - there is apparently also the possibilyt of self-hypnotherapy... Which is when I thought diet might be my firtst option...
Looking forward to finishing off my Saturday at the movies - not been there for ages! And we're having Chinese! YUMMY!!! Lots of rice! Being so good already, see??

Life, Death and Everything In Between

Life is moving awefully quickly. There is so much going on all over the place. I feel old saying it, because it's what my parents have always said and my reaction was always the same - you're old! But for the past few years I've started to understand what they mean.
This week something happened that reminded me of just how much is changing. Nicklas' grandfather passed away this past Monday morning. He had been very ill with cancer for the past few months, and was in considerable pain. None of us expected him to last long, but it's still a bit of a shock when they finally pass. I only ever met him twice, but he was such a sweet man. He was so kind and welcoming from the very first second, that it was impossible not to like him. Also, he reminded me of my own grandparents, the last of which passed several years ago. I miss them. They bring so much that you rarely understand until they're gone. I find myself wishing that I could go back and listen to all their stories and take on more of their knowledge that I was too young to appreciate before. It is a clear generation shift, which makes my parents and their fellows the old ones. Very odd.
I see now that I am in fact grown up. I've passed that stage where I can claim that I am not done. Not to say that I don't have a fair ways to go yet, but I have passed some big hurdles lately that I can even see myself. Looking at myself now, I really cannot say that it's something I feel a loss for. Change and growing is something we really should do. Who wants to stay and adolescent for the rest of their lives?? Speaking of them, I had a thought on the subway home today. Was I ever that obnoxious?? I really hope not, or I would retrospectively like to fall into a big black hole! I'm sure I wasn't even half as well behaved as I like to keep in my mind's eye, but please tell me I was never like that!
As a conclusion of today's revelating posts, I would just like to give a shout out to all those grandparents out there who are no longer with us. I'm pretty sure they don't have access to the internet, but I'm sure we all agree, that they are still with us in our memories. Momories that should be cherished, since they are all we have left of a generation that went through more than most of us could ever imagine.

Photoshop - a Dangerous World

Just a quick reflection - So, we've been doing photoshop in class for about two weeks now. Yesterday we started doing faces and pictures... DANGEROUS! I had never realised I have lines, and bags under my eyes and all that before. I'm young! Whatever happened - and WHEN??? So in a quick half hour session I managed to make myself look like I had spent hours at the salon and quite a bit of time with a professional make-up artist. Possibly I also involved the plastic surgeon... hehe. But I came to a decision - I am going to stick to the best version for my inner eye. Makes me feel all good about myself. The picture here is the before... stuck the "after" as my header pic.

A week of recap

I don't seem to be much good at keeping the whole blog thing going... Started in class on Tuesday, but never got to finish. So here we go again - Recap of the past week. Monday nights are doggy training nights. Turns out our little Spaniard seems quite adept at doing what we ask of him. I think it's largely because he so truly loves to be in our good books. He actually does quite a lot to avoid getting yelled at, which is really sweet. Even when we ask him to jump up in the bed he looks at us for ages with wagging tail and beggin eyes, just to make sure that we're not going to throw him down again. SO cute! He has me contantly laughing. Yes, I am in love. Completely. Getting a dog was one of the best things I've ever done in my life - even if it does mean a few sacrifices of freedom, but ever so totally and completely worth it.

Tuesday was a day of jubilation. After much trouble with sorting out Nicklas mortgage for the new apartment due to him being a student, it all worked out. So now everything is all clear for going ahead with the new place. I just cannot wait to move in... even if it is 4 months ahead in time... patience... So to celebrate Nicklas and I went to Texas Long Horn for some great steaks and a pitcher of margharitas for the two of us... thank god we did not finish the whole pitcher?! Wednesday morning was however still somewhat tough.

Wednesday was just a really bad day over all. Not quite sure why, but it just never got better, so I'm skipping that.

Thursday and Friday passed calmly with classes. It is so weird having classes where I'm supposed to think for myself, and write how I like (as long as it is gramatically correct ofcourse...) I don't find it as difficult to move away from the strict regurgitation of University as I thought it would be. Which is positive. I actually find it a lot of fun to write. Not used to having people read it however, which is something I shall have to get used to.

A very calm week end followed. It all seems to revolve around the dog really. Yesterday we took him out to Drottningholm where they have some closed off islands where dogs are allowed to run free and play to their heart's delight. That had me freezing for a good few hours after we got home. Made a lovely dinner and sat in front of the tv. Today I took Pasco around Kungsholmen ( a good two hour walk) and then spent some much needed time repeating some of the Photoshop stuff we did last week. Nicklas has left me for the university and studying, so I'm home alone waiting to go off to Ida's for dinner. I find myself actually looking forward to Monday. That is SUCH an odd feeling. Not sure if that has ever happened to me before!

So on that note I'm off. Will try to get better at this whole updating thing.

Our new life

We have today aqcuired our new apartment!
We are, as opposed to everyone else, moving out of the city. So sick and tired of the constant traffic and noise everywhere all the time. I guess I'm just not a city person. Never was, and doubt I ever will be. I'm really just grateful that Nicklas wanted to come with me!
One thing is for sure, we are moving bigger and better. We had a bit of a scare tonight. Apparently the people who are selling started having second thoughts... but they came to the right decision. We sign the papers tomorrow and move in around June some time. Cannot wait for the new bathroom, and a kitchen that actually fits more than one person at a time. Don't get me wrong - I love my apartment, but it is a bit small for two. Especially after the addition of our wonderful little Spaniard.
It's been a very quick process for us. We've been seriously looking for all of a week. That's it. We just weren't about to pass up this apartment on that little issue. I know you're supposed to live for the now and not for the future, but it is increasingly difficult... I'm guessing and hoping however, that everything else going on with new school and all will make it easier. I'm sure they'll drag me back to the present whatever my wishes!
This was the big news of the day. To add a little something I'm posting a pic of our Spaniard charmer. Will add more as time passes, I'm sure.

My first blog

So today is the beginning of my new life. I am a blogger. So as to not discriminate against any of my friends and foe, I will be keeping this in English.



I have just started my new life as a student, which so far rocks if I may say so myself. We'll see how it develops but I'm all positive and go at the moment.

Also looking at places to live with my hubby Nicklas. Big SCARRY step, but feels pretty darn good if I may say so! :) Our wonderful little doggy-woo Pasco will of course be joining us where ever it is that we may end up... going to showings most days in all sorts of places, today Hägersten in the southern suburbs is on the list for this evening... hope it's as great as it looks.



More on my life at a later date.