The Öbergs

Peaches...

2011-07-12T10:52:00.006+02:00

*We interrupt this blog for a post about peaches*

Aw, peaches. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood include stopping on the side of the road in East Texas to buy peaches. I have never had a Georgia peach, but I can tell you that East Texas peaches are delicious. Sweet, juicy - I remember loving these and looking forward to traveling down that 2 lane road near the lake house, eager to pick some up.

After moving to Sweden, I had to get used to the lack of fruits and vegetables year round. I found this change acceptable since who really wants strawberries in the middle of winter when you know good and well they grow in the spring, summer. But that first summer, when the peaches started showing up at the grocery store and later at my favorite crush, my vegetable guy, I was utterly disappointed. They were, in a word, tasteless. Fuzzy, soft round nothings. I couldn't believe it but soon moved on to other fruits, all the while harboring my inner envy to all my Texas friends and family who had immediate access to my beloved fruit.

Last summer, I put together a picnic for the office before everyone went on vacation. It was a great spread, with all sorts of delicious meats, cheeses, fruits and wait for it....peaches. But these weren't the regular crappy peaches, these were flat peaches. They were amazing - sweet and delicious. They also came at a higher price and sold at an exclusive fruit and vegetable stall in a very exclusive food hall (östermalmshallen, for the locals). I enjoyed this brief appearance of my beloved peach in my life and moved on. Until yesterday....

photo courtesy of London Evening Standard

Imagine my joy when I saw these bad boys for sale at my fruit and vegetable guy! I mean, the guy provides me with okra, multi colored carrots, white zucchini but now this?!?!? Amazing to see this gem in my hood. Naturally I bought some and have been one happy camper. Later today I will introduce Leah to them as well, hoping her 1/2 Texan will appreciate them as much as I do.

Enjoy the peach season, my fellow Texans!! You don't know what you've got until it's gone :-)

*We now return to your regularly scheduled blog about the "Öbergs" (or more specifically, Leah)*

2011-06-20T21:27:00.002+02:00

working hard

hanging with farfar

silly, silly

cool baby

Leah is growing and growing. She now is eating all sorts of fruits, vegetables, oatmeal, pasta - and of course her usual feeding of breast milk too. All that adds up to 15lbs today - just in time to celebrate her 6 month birthay on Sunday. *sigh* Going all too fast :-(

Sneak Peeks

2011-04-26T16:22:00.004+02:00

So when we were in Dallas, I had professional pictures (www.angiekosaphotography.com) taken of Leah. This morning, I received a few of them as a teaser of what is to come - so proud of my little girl for busting out some serious smiles and even more grateful that my sister was with me as SHE is the reason Leah is cracking up in these shots. Thanks Mandy!!

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T20:02:00.004+02:00

Happy Easter weekend everyone! We have spent the last few days at the summer home - yes, it is that season again and I am very excited to spend some more time outdoors without all the extra clothing. It was so nice to get a taste of it (albeit a bit warm) in Dallas and coming home to the perfect spring weather was wonderful. We spent most of Saturday cleaning up the fruit bushes and shrubs around the barn - rhubarb, gooseberries, raspberries and dark wine berries grow naturally in the yard but had been overtaken by weedes and tall grass over the years. For the last few summers I have observed where these things were growing and how I would tackle the mess in order to get to the raspberries and rhubarb specifically - without having to wear high boots to fend of the grass snakes and ticks :-) Mission accomplished and I look forward to parading my loot in the coming months.

Easter is typically celebrated on the day before, like Christmas, but this is not how my family celebrates this holiday. You also tend to have the exact same meal - perhaps with more vegetables that during December - as Christmas so nothing too exciting to report. The weather, however, was amazing and in true Myers family tradition, I hid little easter eggs for Leah via Pappa (Anders) to find. She did very well and found all of them without any trouble - Anders, on the other hand, had some difficulty with the last one but luckily Leah pointed it out to him. Here are some pictures from day (quiet down, peanut gallery - I know you are seeing pigs fly right now as I am posting picture from the SAME DAY :-)

Leah in her Easter Ballerina outfit

Pappa helping Leah with her egg hunting

Another egg

Leah carrying her 'basket' (yes, it is a crayfish bucket, he he) and pointing out where the last egg is.

Anders is off tomorrow as well so we are looking forward to relaxing at the apartment and enjoying the warm, sunny weather.

Back to Normal

2011-04-20T13:34:00.004+02:00

Wow - what a crazy couple of months. A whirlwind of visits and trips - my sister, my mom, my dad and then the surprise visit to Dallas. All the while, Leah has been growing, changing and becoming more and more a personality.

My parents visit to Sweden was great! Mom treated me like a celebrity - fresh coffee in the morning and changing dirty diapers all the time. Today marks the first day I am on my own again - bittersweet to say the least. Naturally, having your mommy with you 24/7 is not normal and, while I enjoy my time alone, having someone around me constantly has been the norm for so long that it feels a bit lonely today. Leah and I are adjusting to the time change again. Coming home is always harder than going to Dallas and yesterday we were both exhausted. Luckily Leah was a ROCKSTAR on the flights home and strangers took pity on this single mother/sherpa traveling alone :-) Next week begins sleep bootcamp however I have to admit that just letting her fuss for longer than 30 seconds seems to be working already. It is amazing how long a minute feels when your baby is fussing.

Unfortunately, I did not whip out my camera very often in my visit home but when I did I managed to catch some pretty cute pics.

HA!!! Seriously funny picture.

Leah with her great grandma, Granny

Dru, my niece and some of her favorite things - a wet wipe and yogurt :-) Adorable

Need to gear up for my first walk with the dogs AND Leah. As you know they stopped going to daycare last week since it is an unneeded expense - girlfriend here is going to get some exercise!

Laters!

3 Months Old!

2011-03-29T20:59:00.002+02:00

Leah turned 3 months old yesterday and is now over 13lbs. Growing and growing - such a happy girl!!

Happy Baby

2011-03-24T21:12:00.003+01:00

Here is a sample of what we have been enjoying all week - Leah smiling and laughing at her mom and Grams.

Mom made me do it.

2011-03-21T12:13:00.003+01:00

No need to talk about all the things we have been doing - you can only imagine it has been lots of snuggles, laughs, food and talk. Leah has changed looks within the last week, is holding her head up for longer and longer periods of time, and now 'talks' all the time to us as well as her toys. She laughs, giggles and smiles when you come into the room or approach her...bliss. Girlfriend is at least pushing 13lbs and burps like a frat boy at a college party.It is quick as is my mom's time here :-(. Here are a few pictures from Mandy's trip in February as well as a couple from Mom's visit so far. We are having some computer issues and one of the cameras is refusing to talk to the other computer so there are plenty more to post.

Have a great week!Me, Mandy and Leah at Häringe Slott having afternoon tea

Snow Mountain 2011 - Mandy and Anders competed to see who could climb the snow pile the fastest, the Swede won

The Öbergs

Leah Bear and her Grams - touchdown!!!

She is changing looks AGAIN and really enjoys sitting like a big girl already.

For my Aunt Wanda...

2011-03-05T10:21:00.002+01:00

...and all those others out there who would rather see pictures of Leah than pictures of my dirty dogs and dead cat ;-)

Oy, wow...

2011-03-01T20:50:00.006+01:00

it has been over a month - oops. Time is flying for me! Leah just celebrated 2 months yesterday and she is growing, smiling, laughing and 'talking' all the time. I am feeling tons more comfortable with her and as of about 2 weeks ago the babysitting feeling went away and was replaced by 100% mommyhood - bliss.

My mother has blackmailed me and said she will not come and visit unless I update the blog, so here is a quick update with more to come. These pictures are all from my phone - I moved over around 100 pictures and realized that I had taken some pretty funny ones in the last 1 1/2 years (since I got this phone), so I thought I would post them as I see fit.

at the end of the road, around Thanksgiving

My baby boy Kissel, who died in June. A good, bad ass cat that gave everyone somthing to talk about.

We took Reagan and Clinton to a HUGE dog park way back in September 2009. The dog park was enclosed with water...

...which did not stop them from jumping in, chasing ducks, jumping out and shaking off next to an elderly lady. We got them in the car and literally sat in silent shock at what happened.

Until next time (and when I finally get the pics uploaded from our two cameras!), we will be getting ready for Grams' (my mom) arrival. We are so excited!!!!!

One week and counting...

2011-01-27T09:56:00.005+01:00

One week from today my sister arrives and we are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!! Aunt Mandy is making the trip, sans children, and this is because Chase, my family and Chase's family are relatives disguised as angels. OK, maybe that is stretching (especially when it comes to Chase) but I couldn't be more grateful or appreciative for their help while Mandy is here. THANK YOU!

Leah, meanwhile, is gearing up for her Aunt to arrive. She has been working out and packing on more weight - up to 4600g/10lbs!!! My baby loves her some breastmilk. :-) She has also started taking the bottle once a night. We decided to introduce it so 1) Anders could help me with that horrible first feeding and 2) I could have the possibility of going out for dinner or something (which I did last night). She took it like a champ and I am thrilled. She is also starting to make some decisions on her daily schedule. Just like everyone says (yet is a bit hard to believe at the beginning), slowly but surely there is a pattern starting to form. She is getting better about taking her naps in her crib and continues to sleep well in the crib at night. As cozy as it is to have her sleeping next to me (which we sometimes do after the first early morning feeding for a quick cat nap), I am happy we didn't really get into this habit and she is peaceful in her bed. Besides, our bed is too small and Anders sleeps like he is in a cage fight so it really wasn't a possibility anyway.

This weekend Leah, Reagan and I are off to Nyköping. Project renovation has ramped back up and Anders will be tackling the other bathroom as well as the floor and ceiling molding. Needless to say, the bathroom is going to involve heavy duty chemicals, dust and painting so a decision was made for the girls to leave. Clinton gets to stay behind with his daddy because, well he was uninvited. Poor boy - he is still very much puppy sometimes (only turns 2 in February) and last weekend he lost his mind and was way too hyper. He needs some proper training and attention which I do plan on giving him soon, because no one wants to be around a dog that gets THAT excited. We did it with Reagan so I know Clinton will be fine - he alreadys is a better dog in so many ways but going to doggy daycare, while it is a blessing for exercise, doesn't help him with leash skills or social skills. Awww, the life of a dog owner - que sera, sera.

Now, on to why you are really here -pictures of Leah.

In the car this past weekend on the way to Nyköping
4 week picture - she was very opposed to being photographed in this incredibly girly outfit (purple bows, lace cuffs). Can't say I blame her.

3 Weeks Old

2011-01-18T11:45:00.005+01:00

It is hard to believe that only 3 short weeks ago (and 3 long 'feeding' weeks ago) Leah Caroline arrived! Her conception and birth has been a long, long awaited process and to say we are happy and in love are mere expressions of a stronger emotion. We honestly felt that a biological child of our own was impossible so she is a very much wanted and loved child. We couldn't be happier and want to thank everyone for all their warm wishes.

Since she is only 3 weeks today. a 'routine' has not quite been established. I will say, however, she is definitely on a feeding schedule which is evident in these pictures as well as the scale - girlfriend gained 1lb in 1 week. We go back on Wednesday so it will be interesting to see if she is keeping pace. She is every bit the nightowl like her father, but settles into (2) 4 hour sleeps just past midnight. I have to say that first feeding around midnight/1am is the toughest - I am so confused everytime about what is going on and it takes me a few seconds to get it together, get her out of her crib and into bed. But we are getting there - all of us. Reagan and Clinton continue to be happy and curious big siblings who run around the apartment looking for her when they get home from doggy daycare. They will continue to go to doggy daycare until at least April/May. The weather is just too nasty right now for me to take care of all three of them and they enjoy daycare anyway.

Here are some pics I took within the last week - it is so fun to see her growing and growing, of course at this point it seems to be about filling out her cheeks and not in length. :-)

2 weeks

3 weeks

Introducing...

2011-01-07T16:48:00.003+01:00

A little something for your eyes!

2011-01-02T08:58:00.001+01:00

'Little' Miss Öberg, born 12/28/2010 at 12.10pm - 4055grams/9lbs and 51cm/20.1" long

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!!!

2010-12-20T18:20:00.002+01:00

Back to Domesticness!

2010-12-14T14:45:00.003+01:00

So, every other week we get a box of organic fruit, vegetables delivered to our door in our desperate attempt to increase our fruit and vegetable intake. It also includes a couple of random items - sometimes carrot cake (Reagan's favorite) whole buckwheat (cook it like oatmeal), sparkling juices, organic marinara sauce and coconut milk to name a few. I realized the other day when going through my pantry that I had collected 3 cans of coconunt milk. In a house where only one person likes coconut, and only a little, I realized I needed to start looking for some ways to use it up. I found a couple of different recipes and since I was restricted to breakfast, dessert or smoothies, I decided to try this one first.

Indian Spiced Oatmeal with Coconut Milk
2 cups water
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 tspn salt
1 tspn cinnamon
1/2 tspn ground ginger
1/4 tspn ground cloves
1/ tspn vanilla extract
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup sliced or chopped almonds
1 cup coconut milk

Bring the water to a boil and add the oatmeal and salt. Cook until done. Take off heat and add all the spices, sugar, raisins and vanilla. Portion out (about 4 servings) and top with almonds and 1/4 cup coconut milk.

I used quick cooking oatmeal and this recipe was adjusted to that. I also would probably use a little less sugar next time, as it is just a touch too sweet. I also used around 1/4 cup of raisins - my choice. Overall, this recipe is amazing and a great use of the coconut milk. Now I only have two more cans to go....

Today I set off into the city for a little beauty treatment before the big day. Where I live it is mostly snowy but in the city, it is more icy and a real treat to walk around on. You already know I am not the best or fastest walker on this kind of crap, but add a few (ok, more than A FEW) pounds and the really, really true desire not to fall - lord help me. Shuffling around like a 100 year old woman. HA! Oh well, soon I will have a baby stroller to hold on to.

Tomorrow I am off to the chiropractor and then meeting my mother-in-law for lunch. Need to stop at the local baby store to buy some winter gear for the little one - you have to purchase pretty special type clothing for winters here - all wind, snow proof, thermal things. I think I have done enough research to know what I need, but this particular store is incredibly helpful and I love their gender neutral attitude. It is not that my girl WON'T wear pink, it is just that I think there are plenty of adorable girl clothes that don't have to be dripping with pink and purple. Never was my color anyway. I remember telling people in middle school that black was my favorite color. Anders likes to remind me that black is not a color but the absence of color. Smart ass....

Laters!

Happy Lucia!

2010-12-13T13:47:00.004+01:00

Happy Lucia everyone. Click back to this time 4 years ago and I was busy making lussekattor - or saffron cats, buns. Today, not so much as today marks the beginning of my very generous maternity leave from the great country of Sweden. 13 months to be exact - so strange to be away for that long. When we moved from Dallas to Sweden, I had no immediate plans but to take life as it came. Now, I have a small term and long term goal. Small term - birth a wonderful, highly anticipated, much loved already baby girl. Long term - raise a wonderful, highly anticipated, much loved already baby girl. Longer term - go back to work....ha!

That being said, I think baby girl will arrive prior to her due date of December 27th. All signs point to me actually having a child, so I think I should accept the reality of it all. Anders took the picture over the weekend - big belly girl, all hanging low. Swelling has made it's arrival too - so my poor little ankles no longer exist and my face looks like I had one too many margaritas from the night before. But it is all good - and makes for a nice reason to prop my feet up on the couch and chillax.

The holidays will be spent at our apartment. We have been so busy with the renovation and it still continues - the devil is in the details, no? But we make progress...everyday.... My goal today, after watering the plants and making date nut bread, is to empty two boxes - or at least sort through them. Tedious, boring and quite honestly feels like I could trash the entire pile - but needs to be done.

Not much else on the home front - I find it interesting that being pregnant at the end of your term is about the same as waiting to find out if you are pregnant. Just a big, old waiting game - but one that I am so happy and honored to have been a part of.

Baby on the Brain

2010-11-08T19:52:00.005+01:00

Oy, oy, oy - I can't believe that I am 33 weeks now. This pregnancy has gone by so fast and as my mother will tell you, I still have a hard time remembering that I am pregnant. It has been such a wonderful experience thus far and I am looking forward to meeting our baby girl. We have been busy renovating our apartment - a long overdue project that only could be realized with a second income and the impending arrival of a newborn.

Back in April, May we decided we wanted to renovate our kitchen. Pretty much everything in our apartment is original (from the 60s) so you can imagine with a child on the way that a new kitchen would be a nice addition as well. Besides, I couldn't even remotely convince my sister or my mom to come over during the winter without the lure of a freshly remodeled kitchen including a new dishwasher. Well, one thing led to another and we ended up adding a few more projects. Mostly cosmetic touch ups here and there, but anyone who has done renovation knows that the devil really is in the details. We are in the home stretch, sort of, and have finally made it to the baby's room. My dad is the constant reminder that this child will show up no matter if we are ready or not, so luckily this is the last piece and does not involve too much...we hope. Anders has been a total rock star with his Dad and friend, Johan, as his faithfull roadies. He has pretty much done the entire project on his own. I have been so impressed with his deligence and seemingly tireless energy. Everyday I get more and more tired and he plugs along - even replacing pipes on our sinks in the bathrooms so they are more aesthetically pleasing. God love him! We will post pictures soon - because our apartment is so...uh cozy...we have to move boxes and things around when we work on other rooms. But soon, I promise! And definitely BEFORE the baby arrives...we hope. :-)

Guess who's back?

2010-10-23T10:25:00.002+02:00

I know I must write this very often but in judging from my last post, it really does ring true.

Yes, I am back from a very long hiatus. Lots of things have happened since May 2009. My sister had another baby, Clinton is now a dog, Kissel passed away, I started working, we started renovating and I am FINALLY pregnant. Yep, life is one big roller coaster huh? In the build up to the arrival of our first child (late December) and my maternity leave (did I mention you can take up to 18 months?) I thought I would start posting here again. Mostly for my family to keep updated as not so many are really into Facebook. Quite honestly, I am not that into Facebook especially when it comes to posting pictures about me and my family.

So here goes - a return to the good old blog. It is so mid-2000 but I love it. :-)

Clinton and the Kid

2009-05-28T23:51:00.003+02:00

Yesterday I went to a beautiful garden, Rosendals Trädgård, with some of my American friends and their kids. I forgot my camera, mostly because I was too worried I would forget something for Clinton as he made the trip with me. He did pretty terrific on all the public transportation, although you could tell it was a bit stressful for him on the way home. I lost track of time (the day was gorgeous) and we ended up on the subway smack dab in the middle of rush hour. It's difficult enough by yourself, let alone with a small dog and a back pack. Luckily I was able to get a seat within a few stops and Clinton cuddled up and snoozed the rest of the way home. Here are a couple of pics from yesterday, taken by my friend Heather.

Leo (whom I adore!!) wanted to help me walk Clinton.

He also fed him rocks!! Just kidding - although Clinton does like to eat them.

All the kids, including Adrienne who just turned one year, were pretty skeptical about him in the beginning but warmed up right away. By the end of the day, no one was screaming or crying at the sight of him. He also got a lot of swooning from all the teenage girls on the walk to the subway - you would have thought he was one of the Jonas Brothers!!!

Have a great weekend. It is going to be really warm and sunny so I promise to take more pictures of the 'kids'!!

Our New Baby Boy!!

2009-05-17T17:46:00.005+02:00

Allow me to introduce you to Clinton, our new baby boy:

He's a handful - has a definite personality, but Reagan makes sure to keep him in check. She's been a real helper in times of need (i.e. taking the laundry to the laundry room with a small puppy attached to a dangling sock!). Kissel, well, is Kissel. He keeps thinking Clinton is going to behave like Reagan and leave him alone. Unfortunately, that's not happening any time soon so I have put Kissel in the guest bedroom for comfort and relaxation.

I also just returned from a quick, unexpected, short visit to Dallas. Naturally it was to see my adorable nephew and spend some real quality time with him. I had a blast and it was tough to leave - especially since he's learning so many new things every day. I was, however, lucky enough to be around with he first 'showed me his teeth'. I even video'd it so when my sister and BNL got home they would believe me.

Now that I am on more of a schedule with our new baby, I'll try and take more pictures. He (as well as Reagan & I) really benefits from a long walk per day. Good exercise for me and keeps him from totally redecorating the bottom half of our apartment. I will say that he has been a tremendous help in taking off the wallpaper - something I've been meaning to do since we moved in. Too bad he can't reach the top 2/3's of it!!

Life Just Keeps Getting Better

2009-04-05T10:32:00.003+02:00

Yesterday, Anders and I got up bright and early (OK, bright and early for these two sleep lovers) and ventured to our nearest mall to pick up some things. Well, we got a little distracted and ended up touring the entire first floor. However, it was a good thing because we picked up this baby!!

A high powered converter for my Kitchen Aid mixer. It's taken me over 2 years to get this and A LOT of harassment by my sister threatening to take it back (it was a gift from her) but I have it now and that mixer is coming out of retirement. I think I might just cream some butter and sugar for the hell of it!!! :-)

Oh, and in case you forgot how adorable little Clinton is, here is another picture:

But we all know who the King of Adorability is. Feast your eyes on this cutie.I have GOT to get home to see this kid.

We're Having a Boy!!

2009-04-01T21:09:00.003+02:00

A boy puppy, that is!!! ;-) Yep, you read it correctly. We've decided we don't have enough chaos in our life and have chosen to become first time puppy parents to an adorable boy golden retriever mix. Meet Clinton!!!
He is only around 6 weeks so he won't be coming home to us for another 4-6 weeks. For now, we will have to make do with visits to his current home along with his other siblings. Isn't he just the cutest?!? Sorry for the blurry pictures, but puppies don't sit still when they are awake!!!

Happy Birthday Mandy Eve!!!

2009-03-27T01:00:00.001+01:00

Happy Birthday Caden!

2009-01-31T10:59:00.004+01:00

My adorable nephew turns one year old today!! I miss him so much, but luckily I have some pretty darn cute photos and videos to remember my last trip.

He really liked Uncle Suga's new house shoes!!

So, Caden received this Radio Flyer car for Christmas. Uncle Suga took him on a ride around the neighborhood. The story goes that he was talking and pointing to all sorts of things the entire trip, but as Anders was rounding the last corner to go home he suddenly heard the "horn" honking. He looked down to see Caden with his head on the steering wheel, completely passed out. Anders had to wake him up for the last leg of the trip!!! :-)

Happy Birthday Caden. We love you very, VERY much and wish you a wonderful birthday!!
~Aunt Mo and Uncle Suga

Put a Smile on Your Face

2009-01-17T10:36:00.002+01:00

My mom thinks my post are too serious sometimes, so this one is for her!!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-14T22:13:00.006+01:00

As most people do this time of year, I am trying to bring back a little more health into our diet. Now, minus the taco night we will be having with friends tomorrow (per Anders request), we have been eating pretty healthy. My local fruit and vegetable guy supplies me with lots and lots of fresh produce. If he doesn't have it, I don't eat it. I've gone to the grocery store around the corner to pick up produce before but I've since learned my lesson - it all tastes the same from them. So I stick to my veg guy - he knows what is in season and even carries hard to find items like okra and PURPLE CARROTS. Have you ever seen these before? Now that I think of it, I'm sure Whole Foods are Central Market probably carry them but I was more of a Walmart grocery store kind of girl when I was in Dallas. Anyway, the veg guy had these purple carrots from Gotland (a Swedish island) on sale the other day and I picked some up. I did a little research and apparently they are even better for you than the orange ones - more beta carotene and anti-oxidants. Yay Me!! There just beautiful and originate from Africa. I feel so worldy now - ha!

I also decided the other night, around 9:30pm actually, that I HAD to have chocolate chip cookies. The only problem was no white flour. So I used this white flour with wheat instead. I don't think it was 100% wheat flour but a mix. I was a little skeptical, so I only made 1/2 the recipe that way if it was bad I wouldn't have wasted my precious chocolate chips. I also put in baking powder instead of soda. The results - delicious! I think I actually like these better because it gives them a little more salty, earthy flavor. That's why I like these cookies so much to begin with - the combo of salt and sweet. And they weren't dry either. Of course, I made them old school style with...dare I say...crisco. But that's because I didn't have the patience to get the butter to room temperature and I also found a store nearby that sales crisco. Happy Days!! Aw, get over it - they don't make it with transfats anymore!! ;-)

Now I am off to walk Reagan in the sunny but bitterly cold weather. Have a good one!!

Our World

2008-11-18T22:31:00.004+01:00

I don't normally watch these kind of things. Not because I don't believe them or I am not interested, but because I can't watch it without crying. I couldn't even watch the Planet Earth series - I wound up bawling my eyes out every time. But tonight, I forced myself to watch this video. It wasn't easy, but it reminded me that we all have to start changing the way we think. How we consume. What we consume. And what we do with it all when it's finished. I have a niece and nephew now - I want them to see polar bears in the wild and not at the zoo.

If I Had a Dime...

2008-11-10T19:10:00.002+01:00

for everytime a Swede told me about one of these:

Top Ten Swedish Inventions
1. The pacemaker
In 1958, Rune Elmqvist developed a small battery-driven pacemaker. The first operation was carried out later that year, but the device only lasted for a few hours and further adjustments were made. The patient, Arne Larsson, survived the tests and lived until 2001.

2. The three-point seat belt
Nils Bohlin’s great invention from 1959 is reputed to save one life every six minutes. It is thereby considered to be one of the most important safety innovations of all time.

3. The Global Positioning System
Håkan Lans is the great mind behind the satellite-guided GPS system that ensures many car drivers reach their destinations on time and without hassle.

4. Tetra-Pak
Through the ideas of Erik Wallenberg and his dedicated team, the solution to packaging, storing and distributing liquids such as juice and dairy items was developed in 1951 and has since spread to fridges all over the world.

5. The telephone handset
As early as 1885, Lars Magnus Ericsson created the telephone handset, which was just one of his many improvements to contemporary telephones.

6. The flat screen monitor
The building of the flat-screen monitor was made possible by Sven Torbjörn Lagervall’s discovery of ferroelectric liquid crystals in 1979. The technology was developed and in 1994 mass production was begun.

7. The ultra sound
In 1950, Hellmuth Hertz started his pioneering work with ultrasound for medical diagnosis. Together with cardiologist Inge Edler the technique was successfully developed for the analysis of heart diseases.

8. The safety match
In 1844, Gustaf Erik Pasch patented the safety match when he replaced the poisonous yellow phosphorus with non-poisonous red phosphorus.

9. Dynamite
Alfred Nobel invented dynamite in 1866, which earned him one of the 355 patents he had managed to assemble before his death in 1896. Through his life he founded 90 companies and made a huge fortune. In his will he set up the Nobel Prizes for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace.

10. The zipper
The method still used today, based on interlocking teeth, was invented in 1913 by Gideon Sundbäck. Initially it was called the “hookless fastener” and was later redesigned to become more reliable.

(List published on TheLocal.se)

It's Getting Closer...

2008-11-01T14:34:00.001+01:00

5 More Friends

Just for Fun

2008-10-30T17:42:00.006+01:00

Now Showing in Dallas!!!!

2008-10-18T12:37:00.000+02:00

The Evans Visit Sweden

2008-10-03T23:14:00.004+02:00

So Mandy, Caden and Chase came to Sweden to visit us the past couple of weeks and we had an absolute blast. I went to bed every night completely exhausted but so excited to wake up the next day and see my smiling nephew's face. He is so much fun, very expressive and a generally a good natured baby. We went on long walks with Reagan, went into town for lunch and chocolate with my American friends and relaxed a lot at our apartment. Lucky for me, my sister and I share the same idea about vacation - sitting around, drinking coffee in the morning and planning what we will cook for the day. I was so sad to see them leave but it was eased a bit with our plans to go to Dallas for Christmas and the knowledge that they WILL return next year. Caden was a "rock star" on all the plane rides - which was a huge relief to me and Mandy. We tried to take lots of pictures, but when you're just sitting around, drinking coffee - well, you're not too inspired. We did manage to capture this fantastic picture:
Quite possibly the funniest picture...ever! So glad to see Caden is just as happy about the Veuve as I was!!! :-)

Have a great weekend!
~Monica

CALL+RESPONSE

2008-10-02T18:53:00.011+02:00

The Film CALL+RESPONSE is a feature length documentary film that reveals the world’s 27 million dirtiest secrets: there are more slaves today than ever before in human history. CALL+RESPONSE takes viewers deep undercover where slavery is thriving -- from the child brothels of Cambodia to the slave brick kilns of rural India -- and reveals that in 2007, Slave Traders made more money than Google, Nike and Starbucks combined.

Luminaries on the issue such as Madeleine Albright, Julia Ormond, Ashley Judd, Nicholas Kristof, and many other prominent political and cultural figures offer first hand accounts of this 21st century trade. Performances from Grammy-winning and critically acclaimed artists including Moby, Natasha Bedingfield, Cold War Kids, Matisyahu, Imogen Heap, Talib Kweli, Five For Fighting, Switchfoot, members of Nickel Creek and Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers and Rocco Deluca move this disturbing information into inspiration for stopping it. Former child soldier and current African hip hop celebrity, Emanuel Jal, gives a chilling performance recounting his experiences and calling for help for others experiencing destruction in Uganda and Sudan. Dr. Cornel West connects the music of the American slave fields to the popular music we listen to today, and offers this connection as a rallying cry for the modern abolitionist movement currently brewing. To see the trailer visit: www.callandresponse.com

The New Model
Human slavery represents one of the most atrocious human rights violations in history. The CALL+RESPONSE film acts as a call to action. Awareness without action has limited impact. CALL+RESPONSE doesn’t just raise awareness, but goes on to inspire people to ask the question: “What can we do to help?”

Human rights activism is changing. The world’s issues cannot be solved alone by governments and non-profits. Solutions require community-based participation. We promote the concept of OPEN-SOURCE ACTIVISM whereby all individuals possess unique and valuable tools to fight slavery. We also provide a robust and exciting interactive platform for viewers to go after watching the film. There they will find ways to effectively respond, and to share their response with the community at large. We are currently in the process of developing a portfolio of both high impact field projects for viewers to fund as a community as well as important actions they
can take for each aspect of human slavery: sex slavery, labor slavery, child soldiers. These are all based on expert insight and advice from those working on the front lines of the issue.

The real impact of this endeavor, then, lies in what we the standing army does after they have been mobilized. We hope to not only help them answer the question of how to help, but to also connect them with the most appropriate programs. We want them to truly make a difference. We invite them to become part of the story of change and that story involves them in
exponential impact. Furthermore, because this film was funded completely through donations, CALL+RESPONSE also gives 100% of its profits to fund these global field projects.

The Movement
In addition to the stars and luminaries in the film, the CALL+RESPONSE movement has attracted a vast team: Tribeca, Myspace, MTV, The UN, US State Department, Warner Brothers, Sony Records, Salvation Army, YouthAids, International Justice Mission, Wordpress, Working Assets and Paste Magazine.

The film acts as a powerful Call. Millions around the world are Responding. Modern abolitionism must be a bottom-up movement wherein all talents, interests and skills are utilized. CallandResponse.com is a ground-breaking online interactive platform which combines the passion of justice and scope of a Presidential Campaign with the swagger of Rock & Roll.

CALL+RESPONSE’s chilling undercover footage, stunning performances and life-changing interviews expose the audience to the world’s 27 million most terrifying secrets and culminates in a single question: “What Will Your Response Be?”

WAYS YOU CAN HELP RIGHT NOW:
1. Submit to us your ideas and advice for effective & appropriate action responses.
2. Apply for project funding. Allow us to help enable your successful work.
3. Build the movement.
a. Place a trailer and/or web banner on your blog or website. You can find it at www.callandresponse.com/trailer
b. Join the film’s Facebook “causes” and MySpace page. Invite your friends to do the same.
c. Post 10 flyers at your work, school, cafe and gathering place.
4. Watch CALL+RESPONSE in the theater on opening weekend. Invite 5 friends.

FAIR TRADE PICTURES
0 510.465.2290 | F 510.465.2294
INFO@CALLANDRESPONSE.COM

Spread the Word...

2008-09-30T09:05:00.005+02:00

Please visit www.callandresponse.com for more information.

Something to make you smile

2008-09-15T16:20:00.000+02:00

The Daily Show

2008-09-05T13:21:00.005+02:00

I don't care what side you are on, this is really funny!

Best Damn Breakfast

2008-08-05T11:30:00.000+02:00

So, while I may travel a lot and move around WAY TOO MUCH, I am a bit of a creature of habit. Every morning during the week I eat the same thing for breakfast (that is, when I've run out of my favorite cereal that I force my family and friends to bring me) - Vanilla Yogurt with Granola. Nothing special, right? WRONG!! I make that granola and in my humble opinion it's damn good. I could wait for the next family cookbook to come out, but then only a few of you would get the recipe, so I'm willing to part with it here on the world wide web. I actually got it from another food blog who created it based on a restaurant in Chicago.

Homemade Granola
Preheat oven to 375F
Mix Together:
3 1/2 cups oats
1/2 cup coconut (unsweetened)
3 tblspn flax seeds
3 tblspn sesame seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup toasted nuts (I think pecans taste best)
2 tspn cinnamon
1 tspn salt
1/4 cup brown sugar

In a separate small bowl whisk together:
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tblspn honey
1 tblspn maple syrup
2 tspn vanilla extract

Add this to the dry ingredients, stir well and spread out on a parchment or foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 minutes, stirring every 5 mintues, until golden brown. Once done, add:
2 cups dried fruit.
Enjoy!!

In the summer, I've stopped adding dried fruit since there is so much available. But in the winter I usually add dried blueberries, cranberries and raisins. Put this granola on vanilla or plain yogurt with fresh fruit and you'll be satisfied for at least a few hours!

Another thing that I miss terribly is vanilla lattes. Oh yes, I can get them here but the closest coffee shop is not within walking distance like at my sister's house nor are they on every corner here in suburbia. So I decided to try my hand at vanilla syrup. I'm not sure why I waited so long to do this as it's really just a simple syrup with vanilla but most of the recipes I saw wanted me to use vanilla beans and while yes I can buy those - I have TWO very large bottles of vanilla I need to get through (one of many purchases I made at Sams before moving!). Anywho, I understand now why they suggest the vanilla bean as the extract causes the syrup to be a little off in color. But I don't care about that - it's going into my coffee anyway! So here's that recipe too, in case you live in the boonies (or foreign country) and can't get your vanilla latte fix.

Vanilla Syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Bring water and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat, add vanilla - enjoy!

So that's it - until next time!!
~Monica

My Sweet Girl

2008-06-18T21:04:00.003+02:00

So I recently discovered Windows Movie Maker on my new computer and while it is in Swedish, I've managed to fumble around in it enough to put together a couple of different things. I'm going to really work on this and perfect it, but for now you'll have to enjoy my really sappy video to my girl Reagan. Enjoy!!!

Tell me what you think - too many effects?

What My Dog Taught Me Today

2008-05-28T16:57:00.001+02:00

Enjoy the simple things in life

Happy Memorial Day!

2008-05-26T17:09:00.007+02:00

Hope everyone is enjoying their day off and relaxing just a bit. I thought I'd give you something to look at in the event you have crappy weather and are indoors!First off, fresh rhubarb and strawberries. Now, to some this is very boring but to me, it means spring/summer is here!! The strawberries are from SWEDEN (not Spain or somewhere a little more hot) and the rhubarb is from my mother-in-laws summer home. As you may recall it grows wild there but I discovered another patch in the soccer/skateboard park on my way to the grocery store today. Who knew?! I'll be making some kind of cobbler, I'm sure, in the coming days - who knows, maybe I'll try my hand at Aunt Polly's delicious Strawberry/Rhubarb cobbler. She gave me the recipe when I was home along with a box of yellow cake mix since I can't buy that here.

A picture of our balcony with the newly planted flowers! I'm loving our outdoor space and will continue to focus on this part of the home until my parents arrive. I was thinking of ripping out the plastic green/white flooring but in the pictures it looks nice. It's gray concrete underneath and I was just going to clean that and maybe buy a couple of outdoor rugs instead. Hmmm - what do you think?
A close up picture of one of the planters - our herb 'garden'. Right now we have rosemary, flat leaf parsley, sage and lavender. Unfortunately the sage doesn't seem to like it outdoors (or indoors for that matter) and may have to move out and make room for basil. We use basil a lot more than sage anyway.
A close up of Mr. Cat with the fern. I REALLY wanted to hang a couple of ferns from the ceiling, kind of Southern Living style. Unfornately we get direct sun from 12noon until 8pm/9pm. I'm not sure if these types of ferns could handle this kind of sun - does anyone know? Granny? I read that Australian ferns do well in direct sun, but I'm not finding any of those...yet.

Tonight I'm making hamburgers, french fries and cucumber salad served with an ice cold Coca Cola. I may ditch that idea and go for a glass of wine though - it's so beautiful today we'll be sitting outside and soaking in the last rays of sunshine before it gets dark.

Have a great day!!
Monica

Back in a Flash

2008-04-30T11:02:00.003+02:00

Back in Sweden, packing this week, moving Saturday - does it ever stop? I guess only when you're dead, right?! ;-)

I have a bunch of photos from my trip, but I'll post my favorite for now

Isn't he adorable? Does he look slightly bored with the photo shoot, though? ;-)

Ok, I lied - one more from that day
Just to prove he does open his eyes every once in a while now!!

A Little Bit of Heaven

2008-04-14T17:57:00.003+02:00

Me, Indy and Tee at the Evans Ranch

I think I start out every post with an apology - I know it's been a while but I do have a few valid, good excuses!! Traveling a lot, working a lot and hanging with my new baby nephew in Dallas. Lucky for me, I was able to go out to the Evans Ranch and ride Tee. It's been while since I've riden and even longer since I rode western, but it was wonderful and I now have a new best friend. Isn't he handsome?

I'll post lots of pictures and things later - like mid-May since I was clever enough NOT to bring my camera cord to upload pictures and we're moving as soon as I get home. Sorry!!

Take care,

~Monica

Vitamin Cheese

2008-02-18T19:41:00.005+01:00

Look what I found in the grocery store? Bulgarian sheep's cheese!!! Very exciting for the 1/4 bulgarian! So I just HAD to buy it and I just HAD to photograph it and taste it. It has the texture of a feta cheese but the taste is a bit different. At first, you think it's similar to feta, but as you continue to chew, it becomes stronger in flavor - almost spicy. A little research on the internet a few seconds later, and I discover that the consider this 'brined' sheep's cheese. And that defines this cheese perfectly. It's milder cousin, the feta, doesn't hold a candle to this cheese. I ran across a few recipes with this cheese so I'll be defnitely making these this week and posting them for you to try.

In the meantime, say cheese!!!

Sorry, I couldn't resist....

Home Sweet Home

2008-02-10T12:30:00.000+01:00

Well, well, well - what do we have here? Another post!!! Yes indeed!!!

Just wanted to fill you in on some exciting news for Anders and I. We are now, proud home owners as we just bought our first apartment! It is around 900 sq. ft. which by American standards, is small. But by Swedish standards, is a nice size. While I certainly loved our house in Dallas, I didn't enjoy cleaning the entire thing of which we probably only used 900 sq ft - you know? Plus, this goes along with the idea of living smaller and making do with less therefore creating a smaller 'footprint' in the environment. Ok, now everyone get together and let's hug - or at least hug a tree!!! ;-) No, but seriously, we couldn't be happier. The layout is great, and while there are certainly some things that need to be done to improve the place, it is extremely liveable as is so we can take our time. Our move in date is in April some time - most likely the end of April as I will be traveling the entire month of March and going to Dallas in April to see my adorable nephew. Did I mention him yet? Oh yeah, his name is Caden!!!

So now my days are spent day dreaming about paint colors and furniture layout. I have promised myself to take my time (as you know, I like to build rome in a day!) and will tackle the balcony first. I'm thinking Texas meets Japanese zen garden - what do you think? I want to get one of those iron stars or some kind of funky texas art. I'll have to drag Mandy and Caden to a antique store while I'm home. Then onto the guest room as I hope to have my parents stay with us a few days (until we get on eachother's nerves) when they visit in July. Of course, painting over the wallpaper will happen rather quickly too. I HATE TO PAINT but unfortunately it cost too much to fly my cousin Carl over to paint!! HA! We'll tackle the BIG projects (bathroom, kitchen, floors) later on.

So, that's it on the home front. The next couple of weeks will be spent starting to pack (since I won't be around much soon) and getting ready for my work trips to Switzerland, Netherlands and Australia. WOOOHOOO!!

Have a great Sunday!
Monica

Baby, baby, baby!!!

2008-02-05T10:21:00.001+01:00

More absolutely adorable pictures of my nephew. I am so not biased, am I?!
Is he not all boy or what?!?! He's the perfect combo of my sister and her husband, I think. Maybe a little Aunt Mo thrown in for good measure!!! ;-)
Caden sleeping in the cradle. Apparently (family, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) our great grandfather built this for his children and it has since been used by two generations. Very cool and VERY heavy.

Life for me...well, things are good but I don't want to jinx anything so I'm going to keep my mouth shut for a couple more days. I'M NOT PREGNANT, however.

Later!
Monica

And now introducing, the most beautiful baby EVER!

2008-02-01T10:57:00.003+01:00

Caden Myers Evans
6lb, 15 oz.
19"
born on 1/31/2008 at 9:06pm

Mom and baby are doing fine - isn't he just perfect?

Happy January!

2008-01-31T17:35:00.000+01:00

So, it's been a while...I know. I could give you a whole bunch of excuses, but they would be just that - excuses. But, my cousin Derek posted a message yesterday that made me remember that people do read this blog, every once in a while, so I should try and update every once in a while, right?

I don't have any pictures other than this one because 'someone' in my family has taken the memory card out of the big camera and hidden the small one...Reagan!! ;-)

This picture is of our dinner from Celebrating Italian Cuisine Night which was on January 17th. I mistakenly thought it was Pasta Cabornara only, so that's what I made. This is the true, Italian version, with like 4 ingredients. Yes, that is a raw egg yolk - and the meal was so good!!!

Life is good too. I'm still contract working for the hotel and will be traveling a bit in March. Right now, the only confirmed trip is Switzerland and the Netherlands, but I may get to go to S. Korea and Australia (again) too. We'll see. But the trip I am most looking forward to this year is Dallas to visit my nephew, Caden. While at this very moment, he is not born yet, he is certainly on his way. Mandy went to the hospital earlier today but she may have stalled out a bit as she is not dialating past a 3. We'll see - in any event, she'll be popping that baby boy out soon and I can't wait to meet him. These are definitely the hardest times for me, though. Everyone's at the hospital and I'm over here wondering what is going on. It would be the same in Boston, or Cayman - but the option of catching a weekend flight is kind of out of the question. These are the compromises one makes....

The rest of the family is doing well. Reagan and I have been exercising a bit more lately. We keep waiting for winter to arrive, but mostly it's been in the high 30s/low 40s and dreary. No snow at all this year. We are only in January, however, and if I remember correctly we received some snow in April last year on Easter. Plenty of time, plenty of time. I discovered a new trail really close to our apartment that goes right by the water. Really peaceful and not too hilly. I took Anders out on a run last weekend (his first in two year) and I thought we both were going to die. I hadn't run that trail since BEFORE I went home for Thanksgiving, so it kicked my butt too. Need to get in shape if I'm going to attempt the Stockholm marathon in June. I'm also working out at the local gym. It's like a YMCA - funny little aerobic classes that you can't really make fun of when you end up being the one gasping for air and getting dizzy...what a wimp I am. But it makes for good cross training (?).

Now, I'm off to walk the dog before I head out to meet Anders for some tapas. We have found a great little tapas place near where he works that is pretty reasonable. We always have a good meal there and their house wine is delicious. We attempted to have a alcohol free January (they call is a 'white month') but it was more like a beige month. As you can see from the picture, I just HAD to have a glass of wine w/ my italian meal. Anders claimed that the Italian/Swedish mafia would come after us if we DIDN'T have wine with dinner. Anyway, at least our livers were given a mini-holiday and since tomorrow is February, will...might as well celebrate!!!

Here's to Mandy, Chase and baby Caden!!!!! I love you all very much and can't wait to see you soon!!!!
Monica xo

Easy Hors D'oeuvres Idea

2007-11-18T12:04:00.002+01:00

Check this out - I think you will enjoy it!!

Stockholm City Webcam

2007-11-14T15:16:00.000+01:00

This is just fantastic!! I got this link from one of my friends (thanks Mans!!!):
http://www.bacoll.se/webbkamerademo/gondolen/webbkamera-alla_stor.html

Now you can check in on Stockholm anytime!!!

Me and My Shadow

2007-11-03T10:06:00.000+01:00

Well, as expected I woke up today to a light dusting of snow. Unfortunately, it wasn't at all like last year's first snow - a little more mushy and not too much. But, because Reagan and I were up early we were able to make some of the first footsteps in the snow. I think this should satisfy my urge to walk in fresh cross country tracks later - ha!
At least now I know winter is coming - I do love it even if less than two weeks ago I was walking around in my shorts and flip flops. Plus, I get a little break as I will be in Dallas for Thanksgiving and my...gulp...36th birthday. I'm sure it'll either be 1) nice & sunny or 2) icy. Either way, I'm prepared.

Have a great weekend!

Long Black and Flat White

2007-10-26T09:40:00.000+02:00

You say something like that in the States, and you might be hit with a lawsuit. Say that in Australia and you're simply ordering a coffee. And that, my family and friends, is the first thing I learned about Australia, it's culture, people and most importantly it's animals.

Just back from my two week work trip to Sydney and Adelaide and all I can say is - WOW. Strangely familiar in an American way, I saw and experienced some pretty cool things. While my days were filled with meetings, presentations and interviews, there certainly was never any shortage of time to partake in local culture. I arrived Saturday night, with my co-worker arriving Sunday morning. We immediately grabbed a coffee and began touring the area where our hotel (not the Hyatt, by the way) was located - Kings Cross. This area combines the artsy, eccentric group with the drunks, druggies and prostitutes. For example, after walking just a block from our hotel we immediately saw:
1. A man, dressed in a nice business suit, passed out on the sidewalk in a busy intersection
2. Prostitutes roaming the streets
3. At least 50 people STILL in the bar drinking
This all at 8am - incredible! And I thought the Swedes liked to party. But just one more block down, we were in the poshes area leading down to the harbor and botanical gardens.

People wise, I'd say they are just as friendly if not more than Americans yet totally oblivious to the fact that anyone who visits their 'island' has to travel a minimum of 7 hours to get there. I guess that just goes to show that they get a lot of tourists so it's old hat to them. Or maybe I've gotten to use to being the odd man out in Sweden. The animals were what you expected - except for the bats (or, as I later found out - flying foxes...yeah right). However, every animal we asked about or encounter always came with some kind of evil footnote. For example, if you hit a kangaroo with your car you better be sure it's dead before getting out of your car otherwise be prepared to fight for YOUR life. Luckily I left others to the driving but was a bit anxious once I did finally encounter these evil yet cuddly looking creatures at the local zoo.

The weather was amazing - sunny and hot until the last two days of my trip. It was a nice change for me knowing that back home it was getting darker and cooler by the minute. It was such a fun trip too - the hotel guys that work in Australia are amazingly funny and gracious. There is still quite a bit of chivalry down in Oz with all the men opening the door for me and letting me go through first - something you don't encounter very often at all!

And now, for some pictures:

Above the Blue Mountains - the only way to see Australia is in your business suit, by the way!The flying foxes - whatever, they look like bats to me!The gratuitous Opera House view - did you know the acoustics in there apparently stink?A kangaroo - we went to a open zoo in Adelaide but I was too scared to pet anything for fear of deathThe koalas - the haze is from the eucalyptus trees that surround this area. You can hold them as well when it isn't too hot, but apparently their so lazy that they pee on themselves so it's not necessarily the most pleasant experience.

See what I mean - everything comes with some kind of footnote. Funny, huh? The Opera House story was the best one by far. We found this out from talking to one of the cellist from the Sydney Symphony. Actually, it wasn't me who found this out but my co-worker and if you know him, then you most likely are rolling on the floor laughing imagining the conversation between these two. It was just as funny as you think!

Now, I'm off to be a little nosier in the house. I've been up since 4:30am and really REALLY want Anders to wake up and fix me breakfast - eggs benedict!!!

G'day!
Monica ;-)

MY FOOTNOTE - all evil and horrible statements were made in jest and in no way do I find Aussie's to be negative. Well, except for the Opera House statement - but that's just damn funny!

Happy Thursday!

2007-10-04T14:32:00.001+02:00

For your viewing pleasure:

PS - Ignore the 'meters' reference - apparently I HAVE been here a year! :-)

Me and My Little Surstromming

2007-08-20T14:40:00.000+02:00

I have a rule that I tend to live by - I'll try anything ONCE. Even if it involves my greatest fear - heights - I'll give it a shot. I might not be the most comfortable (just ask my dad to reenact my first and only hot air balloon trip with him), but at least I can say "I've done that, thankyouverymuch". So this weekend was no exception.

Early in the summer my mother-in-law had told me of this very VERY typical Swedish 'dish' called surstromming. Now, most swedes who are reading this right now are probably curling their toes as they know exactly what I am talking about. Basically, surstromming is rotten fish. Literally, can bulging, bad smelling, rotten fish. I had just recently learned that the word 'sur' is sour in Swedish and knowing this certainly did not add any additional interest into me trying it. Now, my husband is not a fish eater so when he said he had never tried it, I didn't take much notice. But then, when he insist that he NOT be around when I do try it, I started to wonder. A few others had described it to me as well, but the one that really caught my ear was the description from Jan, my mother-in-laws' boyfriend. I won't tell you what he said about it, but what I will tell you is that Jan is the ultimate Swede (and a true American lover too) and the fact that he doesn't even really like this dish began to make me nervous.

But, alas, I had promised her that I would at least TRY it. So Saturday afternoon, I loaded Reagan into the car and drove to the summer home, alone. Knowing that I might not have much else to eat that day, I stopped at McDonald's for their Quarter Pounder Meal. Once we arrived at the home, I set Reagan up on her leash and began reading my book. Around 7pm Gunilla and Jan arrived. She immediately began to prepare the ingredients for our dinner and I slammed a campari and OJ (along with two glasses of red wine prior to their arrival). Once the additional ingredients were ready we were summoned into the little house for the opening of the surstromming. Now, Gunilla claims that she has a secret weapon - she opens the ROTTEN fish under water so the smell doesn't overwhelm you, the house, the neighbors, etc.. At first, it worked. I didn't smell anything. Then suddenly - WHAM!!! Not only did the smell cause a slight gag but it literally over took all of my nasal passages, leading into my throat. You know that lingering, burning sensation you get when you smell ammonia? Well, that's kind of how this fish lingered in my head. But, I was determined not to be deterred. I've watched enough Fear Factor to know there is a lot worse out there that can be eaten. So we sat down to begin the assembly of the surstromming sandwich. It basically consists of crisp thin bread, sauteed onions, almond potatoes (similar to fingerling potatoes, but are found in the Nordic region), tons of butter and the surstromming. Now, the stromming fish alone is a smelly one. This is not a fish for the faint of heart, but to make it rotten - you gotta be kidding me. But, I was persistent. I wasn't going to let my name go down in shame. I wanted to represent all of America!!! (cue "Proud to be an American" by Lee Greenwood). So, I took a bite. I mean really, how bad could it be. I had loaded the sandwich down with so much potatoes, onion and butter you could barely even see the stromming. But my oh my - you could taste it. At first, I pushed through - helped with a couple of shots of aquavit - but then, I came to a bigger stromming bite. And with that, I was done. I had managed to eat 1/2 of the sandwich - more than most Swedes could probably claim doing - but, in Jan's own words, I was a true Viking now!!!! HA!!

If you curious about surstromming at all, here's the link.

Now I can say I tried it and I don't like it! :-)

No excuses!

2007-08-06T13:16:00.000+02:00

I'm back, I'm not house sitting anymore, my computer works and I have no more excuses. I promise to write more later, but I wanted you to know that I haven't forgotten how to long into this blog. I'm just a little uninspired, for some reason. Despite the fact that so many of my family members and friends tell me they check the blog quite often. I think I'm suffering from writers block - ha!!!

Maybe I'll start on Kissel's memoirs...
Later!
M

And now, for some pictures

2007-06-18T13:04:00.000+02:00

YEAH - YIPEE!!!! Anders fixed our computer motor and we now are fully operational on our PC and internet. And just in time - we start our 2 week vacation on Friday and will be traveling around the Swedish country side with limited access to internet. HA. Poetic justice, I believe. Anyway, I've uploaded some pictures we took over the past few months and will post more soon. This Friday is Midsummer's Eve and is a HUGE tradition in Sweden. I would say this day is even bigger than Christmas or any other holiday. Think 4th of July but on a much longer, drunker scale. Did that make sense? It is the longest day of the year here with the sun "setting" around 10pm and "rising" around 3am. I quote those two terms as the sun really just dips below the horizon so it is basically just dusk for 5 or less hours. But I have to tell you a secret - the last weather report I looked at predicted rain showers on Friday. Could be a catastrophe here in Sweden - so much so it will probably headline the nightly news. I guess that's better than Paris Hilton (who, by the way, gets ZERO news time here - thank gawd!). Enough gibberish, on to the pictures:

The walk along the water not more than 3 minutes from our apartment - so nice!!!

Recognize this dork? Loving her tennis ball at Daniel's (Anders best friend since he was very little!) summer home in the Archipelago.Sunset on Horse Pink (Daniel's summer home in the Archipelago)

Notice Reagan is without leash in the last two pictures? For those of you who fell asleep in Geography or never took it (like me!), an Archipelago is a large group of small islands. Daniel's family owns one of the many islands off the coast of Sweden so it is an ideal place for Reagan to wander around off leash. Unless she gets a whiff of the sheep that are grazing there or worse yet, runs off chasing a goose and literally retrieves a baby goose for you (in exchange for another tennis mind you). If you've ever seen pictures of golden retrievers with a goose hanging from their mouths then you know exactly what we saw! Let's just say when I screamed"DROP IT!", the entire east coast of Sweden heard me!! HA!

Well, off to have coffee with a friend from my Swedish classes - later!

IIIIIIIIII'MMMMMMMMMM BBBBBBBAAACCCCCCKKKKK!!!!!!

2007-06-07T13:21:00.000+02:00

Missed me?!?! I bet! We're all moved and getting settled in. Our new apartment is so nice and in a really great area. We are a 4 minute walk to the subway in one direction and a 4 minute walk to the water and nature in the other. While it is much smaller we are learning to live small and neat. HA!

Unfortunately, in true moving fashion, it took almost a month to get internet service and once we had that, our computer's motor is broken. Needless to say I won't be able to post pictures until it's fixed but Anders' company was kind enough to let us borrow a laptop so we can at least have access to the internet.

The weather in Sweden is warming up every day with the temperatures reaching the low 80s. The sun is 'setting' around midnight and rising only a few hours later...and we still have a couple more weeks to go before we hit the longest day of the year. No wonder Swedes complain about the winter - the summer light is endless!! It is certainly amazing and I am so happy to be experiencing it finally. But I have realized that I may need to invest in some curtains for the summer - ha!!!

Even more fun is that I have found someone to run with. One of the girls from my Swedish class is into running and wants to run the Stockholm Womens 10k at the end of August. We've been doing all our runs in the trails near our old apartment (remember the cross country tracks?!). It is so beautiful and the trails are laid out in 1k, 3k, 5k and 10k. There are the occasional red chipmunk that we see but yesterday morning we literally ran into something a bit larger - a moose!!! We had just rounded the corner to start the second half of our run on a smaller trail. The trail just fit the both of us and Reagan, with brush, flowers and little trees growing on each side about 6-7 feet tall. All of a sudden this very VERY large head pops out from the brush and sets into the trail, no more than 20-30 feet away. This thing was HUGE besides the fact I've never, ever seen a moose up close and personal before in my life!!! Amazing! Reagan was estatic and all to eager to meet her new friend. I, on the other hand, was not too thrilled since only the night before I had learned on the Animal Planet that captive deer (yes, I know they are different, but still) cause more deaths than any other captive animal (including lions, tigers, etc.). Now that I've done some research, I can't really find anything negative about moose (they are called elk here) except when you hit them with your car it can cause extreme damage if not death. Since they are friendly, if we ever see this moose again I think we will just run past. The funny thing was it wouldn't budge for us. It just stood in our path, staring at us. In fact, when we tried to approach, thinking it would turn around, it actually started walking towards us. Maybe it was use to humans, was curious about Reagan, or had babies to protect. Either way, we decided yesterday morning wasn't the day to find out. And to think, it was the same running trail as my cross country track and snake experience - who knew Sweden's nature could be so exciting!!! HA!

We're running again tonight but in the more popular section of the forest so we shouldn't see anything wilder than another human. And we all know those are more dangerous than moose!!!! :-)

Funny Video

2007-04-24T14:47:00.000+02:00

So it may not be as funny as Will Ferrell, but it's close:

Today I have spent my time packing...again...ugh! Luckily it is not NEARY as bad as the first round in September but it is a bit lonelier since this time I am doing it solo. No mommy for support, encouragement - ahhhh, pooooooorrrrr meeeee! Thank GAWD I had the foresight not to unpack all 42 boxes and I am so happy I now just have to repack what little I did unpack (what the hell was that sentence - say it aloud). But it still seems like a lot as we have, naturally, aquired more 'stuff' since our move.

The apartment is absolutely gorgeous - we got to see it again this past Sunday. I can't wait to move in and cook my first meal with my OWN pots & pans!!! And sit on our new couch - we haven't owned a new couch since Boston, Summer 2000 - he, he, he!

Anyway, the big camera is acting like it feels better so I uploaded some videos from that camera too. More to follow - albeit old, but funny!

The Landlord

2007-04-18T15:31:00.000+02:00

If you haven't seen this yet, you must - it is hilarious!
Click on the picture below:

Reagan's Birthday and Other Pictures

2007-04-17T11:20:00.000+02:00

So this past Friday was Reagan's birthday. She turned four years old and was spoiled rotten all day long. But, as per the Dog Whisperer, she had to 'work' a little before she could play. As I've mentioned before, there is a huge nature reserve behind our current apartment with trails leading everywhere. So we filled Reagan's backpack with food and water and took off into the hills. After walking for a little bit, we decided to have our picnic in the sun. Of course, Reagan enjoys lots of things she shouldn't including people food, so rather than fight with her on who gets who's sandwich, we leashed her up to a nearby tree in the shade. Let's just say she had some words for us while we were eating! After lunch, we proceeded on the trail and found an open area for Reagan to play ball. I had bought her brand new tennis balls the day before and had kept them in their box in her bag all day. Since she hadn't seen them yet, she didn't know they were there. What's so amazing about her (and her obsession with tennis balls) is that as soon as Anders had taken them out of the box and put them in his pockets, she wouldn't take her eye off his jacket the ENTIRE TIME. Anyway, after playing ball for a bit, we proceeded home. Of course, being my mother's daughter, I had to talk to a man about a horse so I decided to walk just a bit into the woods to do so. As I am walking I hear the pine needles rustling around me, but this isn't an animal taking steps rustling. No siree, this is a constant rustling, like something SLITHERING across them. Just at that moment, realizing I could be hearing what I think I am hearing, I look down and see a gray snake slithering away from me. I decided I didn't want that horse and quickly turned around and made my way back to Anders and Reagan. I thought that would be the end of my Swedish snake tail, er tale, but of course it couldn't be. Just about 5 minutes later we all three came across another snake - sunning himself and waiting for Mrs. Right to come along. Ugg - no one seems to know if these gray snakes are poisonous or not but I have a feeling they are most likely related to the grass snake family as they were quite smooth with no additional markings.

After our very eventful afternoon, we spent the evening in making pizza and watching Casino Royale. Reagan was exhausted, finally!! Sunday was just as gorgeous and warm and we enjoyed our first (and last) brunch on the patio. Unfortunately, our new apartment does not have a patio and from the sounds of my whining on Sunday, you would have thought I was NEVER going to be outside again. Did someone say I was a little dramatic?! HA!

Here are a few videos I took during the day. The first one is of Reagan trying to get our attention while we ate and the second is of her playing tennis ball with Anders. Enjoy!

IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED, SKIP THIS POST

2007-04-11T10:02:00.000+02:00

Anders and I saw this in the grocery store over the weekend:

What brainiac in the marketing department thought "yes, this is an excellent catch phrase for our cat food!"?!?!?

Beautiful Saturday

2007-03-24T16:24:00.000+01:00

AWWW, it is starting to feel like spring again after a pretty cloudy and cold week. I almost had to break out my dad's parka - ugh! That thing is so warm, but did I tell you it weighs like 10lbs?!? Anyway, today we decided to enjoy the sun and warmer temperatures and play with Reagan outside. We ventured over to the daycare and played ball with her there. Then, I decided it would be fun to go for a long walk in the forest. Since the snow has been gone for a while now and there hasn't been too much rain, I knew the grounds wouldn't be too wet. As we started to walk through the forest on the little trails (not the one they maintain for runners and cross country skiers, uhhum), Anders and I decided we would try and let Reagan run around off leash. We had brought THREE tennis balls to lure her back, if she decided to run away. And would you believe - it worked?!?!? Unbelievable, but then not really if you know my dog at all. She LURVES her some tennis ball - absolutely obsessed about them. She is a total nut and at her happiest when she gets to play. So we through the ball for her a little, just to wear her down a bit more, and proceeded to walk through the forest with her being able to run around. It was sooooo much fun and I am really happy we did it. We even were able to keep her off leash when another dog came up because - you guessed it - she had her tennis ball and could have cared less.If you look real close, in the center of the picture is Reagan standing behind the tree. I have to say, that all three of us had a little bounce in our step on the way home. It felt good for her and for us that she was able to run around and be off leash!!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!!
Monica

The Kids

2007-03-21T20:22:00.000+01:00

Poor babies, they "almost" starved to death tonight....

Pringles and Swedish

2007-03-16T14:26:00.000+01:00

Have you seen these in your grocery store? I just discovered these yesterday when I went to mine. They are GOURMET pringles. Isn't that an oxymoron? Anywho, they are pretty good. They have 4 flavors, but my store only carried the sea salt/black pepper and sweet Thai chili/lemongrass flavor. I am not much into sweet like potato chips, so I opted for the sea salt/black pepper version. And yes, I did pair it with a nice Merlot just like this ad suggests!! HA! I am dying to try the steak and grilled onion version - man, that's a meal right there. They should make a version with smoke salmon and cream cheese too - I could serve those as appetizers. Delicious!! (Click on the picture if you want to read about them)

I also wanted to let you all know that I no longer need to attend my Swedish classes as I managed to talk to two whole strangers in Swedish yesterday. Albeit, it was ordering a grill hot dog (grilled korv) and telling someone "yes, I live here too" (ja, jag bor har ocksa - please forgive me, my fellow swedes, as I do not have a Swedish keyboard and I am too lazy to figure out the character shortcuts). I was feeling pretty good about myself because for once, when I said something in Swedish, the person on the receiving end UNDERSTOOD me. Huge accomplishment - so yep, that's it. I'm done. (cue, Rocky soundtrack).

Later!
Monica

Students, Spring has Sprung

2007-03-14T20:00:00.000+01:00

In the words my favorite school principal, it truly has started to blossom here in Sweden. Of course, I'd love to show you pictures but our damn camera is still broken. Actually, there isn't much to look at...yet...mostly just city crews cleaning up the mess they made earlier when it snowed. Right now, they are cleaning the streets and sidewalks of all the gravel (usually with one of those leaf blowers pointed directly at slow moving children, elderly and Texans), wood chipping all the branches they cut down um, at the beginning of the year (has anyone heard of snakes!?!?!) and planting the usual seasonal flower. Do I sound a bit pessimistic? Perhaps, but that's because anyone who even has met Ms. Mother Nature knows she'll slap our hands a couple of times more before she lets us enjoy ourselves.

Naturally, I've been a bit MIA. I realize that a lot of it has to do with that damn camera. I just fill uninspired to write anything without some type of picture to go along with it. But then, I sit my butt in front of this computer and the brilliance just flows!! HA! But seriously, I did do a bit of work last week so I am going to use that as my excuse for not posting for 3 weeks! What's that you say? You have a question about my work? Oh, I thought you'd never ask. ;-)

Last week I went to Switzerland and Holland to recruit international graduate students from hospitality schools to work in the USA as international interns for none other than the good old Hyatt Hotels Corporation! Yes, that's right (my fellow co-workers reading this) - despite your attempts to mark "Not Eligible for Rehire", I slipped through the cracks and they actually allowed me to be the face of their organization (along with a few other poor souls). No, but seriously, all kidding aside. I had an amazing time. I felt so blessed and proud to be asked to help out and it felt REALLY good to work again. Recruiting and interviewing is something that comes naturally for me and I enjoyed the trip immensely. I saw the southern part of Switzerland (who knew there were so many vineyards) as well as the Amsterdam airport (we were there less than 24 hours and the majority of my time, other than recruiting, was spent there)! It was just a one time deal, but maybe with so many other properties opening up, they will be able to utilize me in both the domestic and international side. Keep your fingers crossed.

Aside from that, life just keeps puttering along. I'll update you more in the coming days but I've got to get dinner on the table ASAP. Anders is late, starving and ready to eat!!!

Words to Live By

2007-02-23T13:52:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine sent this to me recently and I thought it would be nice to post this for others to read. These kinds of things remind you what it is to be human and humane to others. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
When in doubt, just take the next small step.
Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
Pay off your credit cards every month.
You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
It's OK to let your children see you cry.
Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, and wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion.
Over prepare, and then go with the flow.
Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
The most important sex organ is the brain.
No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
Always choose life.
Forgive everyone everything.
What other people think of you is none of your business.
Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
Believe in miracles.
God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyfu l.
All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
The best is yet to come.
No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
If you don't ask, you don't get.
Yield.
Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Walking on Water (and other things Texans are good at!)

2007-02-15T15:47:00.000+01:00

LOL - man, do I crack myself up. That's good, since I am by myself 1/2 the day on Thursdays and Fridays.

Yes, ladies and gentleman, today I walked on water. Granted, the damn lake was frozen but it still doesn't mean I didn't WALK on it. It was, by far, the strangest, creepiest thing I have EVER done. Reagan and I both weren't too sure what to make of standing in the middle of a lake we were just at in December with Mya. Incredible!!! What's cool about this community (and it probably exists elsewhere, I just have never been to a frozen lake before) is they measure how thick the ice is as well as plough a path for ice skating and skiing. This particular lake's ice is 18cm thick (go ahead, do the math - I just call my husband who said "yes, it's thick enough to walk on"). There were a few people out there with us - some skiing, some skating, some walking. It takes about 20 minutes to get there and I'd say about an hour to go around the lake so tomorrow I will be a little more prepared and walk the whole thing.

Tomorrow marks the end of two weeks in my Swedish class. It is going really well and some students even look to moi for help. Of course, at the beginning it didn't seem to be going so good. At one point, I had to look at my paper to say the alphabet and count. That's pretty pathetic since the alphabet is composed of all the same letters as the English alphabet (minus the W) plus the 3 extra letters (which I will not include here as I still have an English keyboard, thank gawd, and do not know the shortcut keys to make them). My brain was having a hard time understanding what I was subjecting it to at first, but by last Thursday it had located the "learning a new language" section and it was full speed ahead.

The class, naturally, is filled with people from around the world. I am the only American and there is only one other English speaking person in the class (from England). Of course, most of the other students do know a little to a lot of English so I can communicate just fine. I think sometimes it would be more helpful and easier for me to start learning Swedish if I didn't know English. The students from Iraq only speak Arabic so their grasp tends to be better. However, that being said, Arabic is so far from Swedish it is quite difficult for them to even hear the sounds in addition to writing. I can't imagine how overloaded their brains must be at the end of class each day. At least with English, there are quite a few similar words so it is easy to figure out what things are. Writing in Arabic looks like a doctor's signature and has nothing even closely related to Swedish. Plus, they read right to left so they are literally learning from scratch. I get exhausted just thinking of what their minds must be going through. Kudos to them for attending these classes - I think it is important for people to know the language of the country they live in so they can be a part of society. I won't get on any kind of rant, but I do wish the US offered something like that to our immigrants. Unfortunately, I think the situation is so far gone it wouldn't really help.

Moving on (geesh, where did that come from?!) - to follow up on the mystery night Anders had planned for us back in January of 1977 (no, it hasn't been than long - give me a break). He ended up taking me to the restaurant, Pontus by the Sea, which hosted an English comic troupe which acted out quite a few and very funny scenes. The food was a "choice of" menu and was incredible. In addition to an awesome venue, I also got to enjoy it with Marie and Freddie - two of my most favorite people. For those of you who don't know them, Freddie and Marie were two of the first people I met when I came to Sweden in 1999. I enjoy hanging out with both of them so much and it was such a surprise to see them (especially Marie, as I hadn't seen her since we moved back - silly, I know!).

My mom said that quite a few people (including one of my Aunts - you know who you are) said I must be busy since I haven't been posting lately. Well, let's just say I am getting use to having only 3-6 hours of free time during the week instead of all day. It's a struggle, but I think I will persevere!!!! Ha, ha, ha!!

Have a great Thursday, Friday and weekend everyone!!! Wish me luck in that Reagan and I don't fall through the lake tomorrow!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

2007-02-12T13:48:00.000+01:00

Walking in Cross Country Tracks

2007-01-23T12:05:00.000+01:00

So yesterday turned out a bit differently than I expected. My tutor cancelled and I ended up having the entire afternoon to myself. It was such a beautiful day that I couldn't pass on taking Reagan for a nice long walk through the forest trails. Plus, I realized today would be impossible as I had a bank appointment in the city this morning, my tutoring later this afternoon and then a return trip into the city for the Anders Suprise (sounds like a fancy dessert, huh?).

So, at 2pm Reagan and I took off on our forest walk. Like I said, the day was amazing - sunny and crisp with not a cloud in the sky! We took our usual 2KM route through the forest. Now, the only other true winter I have ever experienced was in Boston. That's Boston city - not a suburb or anything like that. I lived in the North End - a very city place to live. So we didn't have a lot of opportunities to get out in the snow and walk through the trails. The only time I even experienced that was in New Hampshire and it was on trails set aside specifically for cross country sking. To walk through the forest with all this snow on the trees and on the ground is an unbelievably calming experience. You hear the crush of the snow underfoot, see the snow falling from the trees as a bird flies off - really, really peaceful. So here we are, walking down the path. I notice on the path that there is one side that isn't being used as much and has what appears to be motorcycle tracks in it. So, being the novice snow/ice walker, I choose this side. Besides, the other side is really "spy ice" - ice covered with snow, trying to be snow but really it's ice and you slip and slide A LOT! As we are walking through the snow, observing nature's beauty, I hear some huffing and puffing coming up behind me. I turn around and see an older gentleman approaching me on cross country skis. Reagan and I step aside to let him go pass and as he gets closer he says something like "bork, bork, bork". I say, in my strongest AMERICAN accent (if you say it with a British accent, they still might misinterpret you and think you speak Swedish), "Sorry?". Without missing a beat, he looks me straight in the eyes, all the while sking, and says "Don't walk in the ski tracks". I immediately respond, "oh, Ok" and keep walking...for a few more seconds...until...OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!! I've been walking for the last 10 freaking mintues through those tracks. In my big ass snow boots my sister bought me specifically for these types of walks. They're like huge, er mostly because I am tall and therefore need big shoes. And here I am, with my freakin' dog, 'clomp, clomp, clomp' all through their precious ski tracks. I wanted to crawl under a rock. Better yet, cover myself with snow. It was horrible. I then also remembered the words in Swedish for "sorry" and "I didn't know" - but the man was far gone and I was too embarassed.

Well, anyone who knows me knows that my karma is not far behind. Now because this was certainly not intentional (although, thinking back I am not sure how I thought those were motorcycle tracks - I mean, there were two tracks, side by side and it was smooth - not jagged like a tire) my karma only punished me a little. You see, as we continued with our walk on the WALKING side of the trail, another man approached us coming the opposite way. I big thing for the older folks (75 year+) is to use cross country ski poles to walk with and this was exactly what this man was doing. Again, Reagan and I go to the side to let him pass, which just happened to be on "spy ice". Actually, this was like "Russian spy ice" because it was a mini pond underfoot that began to crack immediately upon us stepping on it. As he passes us, he says to us something like "bork, bork, bork...". I immediately say "sorry" but he continues with the Swedish. I finally say, in Swedish, "I don't understand. I don't speak Swedish" and then in Engish "I speak English". UH, WRONG!!!!! When, WHEN will I learn to say "Lo siento, yo hablo espanol". The probability of them speaking spanish is way lower than english and then I wouldn't get stuck for 20 MINUTES on RUSSIAN SPY ICE listening to this sweet old man, who probably is just lonely, go on and on about his accordian playing!!! Poor Reagan, at one point I feel something between my legs and look down to see her face sticking out looking at me like "Mom, can you shut this guy up". The whole time he is talking, whistling, etc. about his accordian he is also swing his poles around coming dangerously close to knocking me or Reagan out. Meanwhile, the Russian spy ice is crackling up with laughter under foot. Ah, alas...karma.

After finally pulling away from him, it was pretty uneventful...thank gawd. We did see two deer run in front of us - Reagan wasn't quite sure what they were or what to do but she did pick up on their scent when we got closer to their crossing. When Dad and I would run at White Rock, there is a section near the sailing club that has a ton of squirrels. Reagan loves her some squirrel. One morning, we started running through this area and I swear (Dad will back me up), there had to have been over 30 squirrels running all over the place. I had to stop running, tighten Reg's leash, and WALK through this section. From that point forward it was named "Squirrel Alley". Something tells me that she would be frightened of the deer if we got very close - she generally doesn't like to pick on anything bigger than her (unlike her mom! HA!).

Today is a lot busier (I can all hear your collective sighs - I know, I know but I swear days go by faster when you DON'T work). I've already been into town to add myself to our account. The "funny" bank guy kept joking with Anders and saying that I was going to spend HIS money and did he really want to add me to HIS account. Excuse me JACK A$$?!?!?! Let me straighten you out, for a second, K? Don't worry, Mom - I didn't say any of that. I just politely laughed because I am pretty sure deep down, he knew I could whoop his butt in 2 seconds flat - ha!!!

Hope everyone has a great day and remember - DON'T WALK IN THE SKI TRACKS!!!!!!
Later~
Monica

Monday Morning

2007-01-22T12:28:00.000+01:00

Ah, Monday morning and it is still snowing. I forgot how much I really, REALLY like the snow. Today is is lightly snowing and the sun is shining. It's like tiny crystals are falling from the sky - just beautiful.

This week marks the beginning of the end for me - ha! Now, but seriously, I begin my English tuturing today which happens Monday through Friday from 4pm-5pm. Not bad except that I have recently become addicted to Las Vegas (we just started Season 3 here) and that is on at 4:30-5:30, boooooo hisssss!! Hey, give me a break - at least it is not Oprah.

In two weeks I also begin my Swedish classes. Anders and I tried the other night to only speak Swedish to each other. Needless to say it was a very quiet night. It got to the point that I made a new rule that during the ENGLISH moving Shark Tale, I was allowed to speak English. HA!

This past weekend we got together with the other American/Swedish couples for another game night. Always a good time and it is nice to get to know them a little bit more each time. Sunday, as you saw, was spent enjoying the snow. It is so deep and beautiful - I have to say even better than in Boston mostly because we live outside the city, so it doesn't get as "dirty" as fast. I'll take Reagan out to the forest tomorrow, as it is still snowing today.

As for the rest of the week, not much else going on. Anders has some kind of surprise set up for me tomorrow night - I think this was suppose to happen last Wednesday but something didn't work out. I love surprises and just hope champagne is involved somehow!! HA!

Later~
Monica

A Snowy Sunday

2007-01-21T20:34:00.000+01:00

Winter has arrived and brought with it almost a foot of snow - LOVE IT. Today we went out with Reagan to the daycare behind our complex and let her off leash. It has a ton of playground area and a fence surrounding the perimeter. I made sure to close and latch all the gates, but Reagan didn't seem to want to run away. She had a fantastic time and wore herself out (as well as Mommy & Daddy). Of course, our camera has now died on us, so until it's fixed you will have to put up with cell phone pictures. Blogger is also acting up and is still only allowing me to post one picture. AAAAHHHH, le sigh.

Hope everyone had a great weekend - I'll update more tomorrow!

What do you do when you wake up and it is below freezing?!

2007-01-20T14:52:00.000+01:00

You make Aunt Willie's Homemade Biscuits!!! And they were damn good too - hope everyone is having a great weekend.

(note to reader: this will not be appearing or be even mentioned on my "healthy" blog, the running gourmande!! ;-)

I might not know a lot

2007-01-15T13:05:00.000+01:00

but I do know that this piece of paper is telling me I start my Swedish classes on Monday February 5th. WWWOOOOOOHHHOOOOOOO!!! This is cause for celebration!!!!

*mental note to self: you now only have 3 weeks left of complete and total freedom...ah, bittersweet.*

Could Winter Finally be HERE?!

2007-01-15T11:19:00.000+01:00

So yesterday afternoon mother nature decided to pay a little visit in the form of major, hurricane type winds (in the southwest part of Sweden) as well as rain and snow. I remember when I first moved to Boston and one of the girls told me it was snowing outside, and it was dry snow. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. I remember clearly saying "isn't all snow wet?!?! I mean, it's a form of water, right?!?!" It was only after a few snowfalls that I realized there is a difference in the types of snow. Dry snow is usually made up of those big, fluffy flakes that look like the snowflakes we use to cut out in elementary school. The wet stuff, while good for making snow balls and snow men, is just gross and never coats the ground like a carpet. Last night, it was wet snow. This was accompanied by wind gusts. The gusts must of been at least 30MPHs because at times I thought I was going to be pushed over. This morning, I was really hoping to wake up and see a nice fluffy layer of snow covering the ground like a big shag carpet - nope, not goin' happen. Instead, it's that crappy thin layered berber style carpet and it is sleeting. UH, gross!!!! Guess I don't have any execuses to avoid cleaning the apartment.

Last week was insane for us!!! We spent the majority of it in the house sitting home getting our stuff gathered up and cleaning up as well. We were finally moved back and settled by Friday afternoon. On Saturday, my mother in law closed her clothing store in exchange for retirement. We decided to go down and surprise her and Jan, showing up with additional food and wine. They were so appreciative and completely surprised. I really thought I could remember the code to their apartment but when we got there, it just didn't work. We ended up throwing pebbles at the kitchen window to get Jan's attention but instead he thought it was rain pelting the window and gave an evil, whathafa look out into the parking area. Finally, they saw us and realized what was going on. Funny enough, the code to enter the apartment was the 4th of July!!! What kind of person, especially an American, can't remember that?!?! I kept telling Anders to try 0415 - tax day!!! HA!

Well, I've got to get moving and pack these decorations AWAY!!! What a mess - oh well, I've got nothing but time. Later!

Sweet Tooth

2007-01-07T16:33:00.000+01:00

Blogger is still acting up again with picture posting so sorry again for the formatting of this post. Just wanted to share with you, though, a couple pictures of the sugar cookies and sand tarts I made for Christmas. Much to my surprise and amazement, shortening is sold here and I was able to make my Aunt Polly's cookies. They were the biggest hit and I credit this to the insane amount of butter and shortening involved in this recipe.

This weekend has flown by and soon we will be back in our apartment. We took a load of stuff home today, just to ease our pain when we officialy move back on Thursday. I'll spend the week picking up the house, making sure we don't leave anything behind. I hope everyone had a nice weekend and is geared up for your first long week again. I remember always dreading this week after the Christmas, New Year's holidays. Speaking of work, still no word from the Täby kommun on when I can start my Swedish classes, so Anders will be giving them a call tomorrow.

Have a great week!!

Who is RG?

2007-01-05T11:56:00.000+01:00

Curious? Click here to find out more!

Coming Up Roses

2007-01-05T11:32:00.000+01:00

Aren't they beautiful? What can I say, my husband is a romantic. Now most of you may be saying - "so he sent flowers, big deal? I send/get flowers all the time on special occasions". But that is just it - Anders has NEVER sent me flowers in all of our 7 1/2 years together. Not even once. Sure, he's brought home the occasional red rose, tulips but he has never had anything delivered to me. And that is just what makes this even more special and unexpected. Top this off with the fact that he actually picked out these four flowers and you've got a seriously romantic night ahead (swimming in enough sugar, yet?).

After I made my way towards Stockholm, we first went to this restaurant/bar called Gondolen. It is an amazing restaurant as it overlooks all of Stockholm and during this time of year you can really see the lights of the city. After having a couple of glasses of champagne, we headed over to one of our two nostalgic places. The first is a bar we originally went to when I visited Sweden for the first time in 1999. It's changed design, style and crowds quite a bit since then, but it still brings back memories of us sitting down, drinking a beer and trying to find a hotel in Stockholm. After having another glass of champagne there, we headed over to the other memory lane place - the italian restaurant we ate at in 1999. It is still as delicious and authentic as it was in 1999 and we enjoyed ever bite of food. We had such an enjoyable evening filled with really good food, drink, tons of laughter and a lot of ease dropping. Poor Anders, he kept trying to talk to me and all I could do was try and figure out what the italian family next to us was saying. They sit people REALLY close together in restaurants here, especially if you are only 2-4, so it is really hard to concentrate sometimes. What can I say?!?! I am nosey!!

This weekend is our last weekend in the house so I will start gathering up some of our stuff and take it back home. I am sure Kissel is ready for us to come home - yeah, right! Not much else is going on, for the moment. Blogger is really giving me a hard time about posting pictures so until it's resolved, there will be a lot of single picture entries. Sorry!

Happy 4th Anniversary to Us!

2007-01-04T14:55:00.000+01:00

It's hard to believe that 4 years ago on this date Anders and I were married. So much has happened and it still feels like just yesterday when we were saying our "I dos".

Here's to another year and another adventure. We love you ALL!!!
Monica & Anders

Happy New Year!

2007-01-03T15:30:00.000+01:00

Yes, yes - I know, I know. Do I have to start every post by saying that?!?! No, not this year - I am going to live life to it's fullest and not care what other people think. What? What's that? You think I do that anyway? Well you haven't seen nothing yet!!!

But seriously, there are a tons of things to look back on and reflect on in 2006...I know you all can agree with me on that. But why should I? Just to prove I have zero memory left?! No thanks! But what I can say is that Anders and I were super blessed in 2006 and are thankful to all of our friends and family for support. Cheers to you all for getting us through one of the most difficult but rewarding years of our lives.

Life continues to be idylic and peaceful here in the countryside. I say country, because the other night we took the bus into Stockholm and waived it down at least 200 feet from it's stop. When we got on and thanked her for picking us up, she said no worries and that is how they do it in the countryside. HA! I've become a little more adventurous with my daily afternoon walks with Reagan and Allan (the dog I am currently dog/house sitting for). Yesterday we ventured down towards the water and through the most amazing cluster of lake side houses. Today we walked away from the water and through another patch of beautiful homes. We even came across what appears to be a pretty long, FLAT, running trail so Reagan and I will check that out tomorrow.

New Years Eve and weekend we spent lounging around, shopping and just enjoying ourselves with Anders' best friend, Daniel, and his girlfriend, Carina. We cooked a lot, drank a lot and slept a lot. New Years Eve night was incredible. Describing it or even posting pictures (which I have none, by the way - and don't ask why!) would do it absolutely zero justice. Let's just say they sell fireworks here (mostly roman candle type things) in the mall and you can fire them off ANYWHERE. Even in Stockholm!!! The sky/horizon is filled completely with exploding fireworks for as far as your eye can see. The sound of all those going off is a bit overwhelming. Reagan could have cared less and didn't seemed frighten at all. Allan, on the other hand, who has grown up with these things around, spent the evening shaking in the corner of the bathroom. We all felt so bad for him, but there was nothing we could do. Right before midnight we went out to the balcony and just watched. An amazing site that one really should experience!!!

And the reason for the pictures on top? Well, either blogger hates me or this computer at the house sitting house hates me. Anyway, I think you can figure out what is what, but the last picture was taken on our long walk yesterday and I just think it is plain cool.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Merry Christmas!!

2006-12-25T13:50:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas!!!

In Sweden, Christmas Eve is actually the bigger holiday and is filled with drinking, eating, gift giving and cartoons. Yes, you heard it correctly. If anyone wants to invade or take over this country, you only need to wait until December 24th at 3pm. You could literally walk through immigration without so much as a peep from the officers because most likely they are away watching these cartoons. I think what is so interesting (at least with my Swedish family) is that the cartoon clips they show are from the old Walt Disney classics such as Cinderella, Snow White, Lady and the Tramp and sprinkled with other Walt Disney classic cartoons such as the one where Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck lose their jetstream trailer on the mountain. Oddly enough, the clips of these classic movies are all that the Swedes see. Most of them have never seen any of the movies in their entirety.

Today has been spent relaxing by the fire and taking a nice walk through the neighborhood with Reagan, Gunilla and Jan. It was nice and warm yesterday, around 45F. Today, it is below freezing so burning the fireplace is very welcome. Normally, Anders and I fight about when it is OK to have a fire - in Dallas it had to dip below 50F. This rule was established after Anders built a fire and it was in the 60s. I had to turn the AC on just to survive it. HA!!!

Gunilla and Jan will stay the night and I plan on using my new Les Creuset dutch oven ti make dinner (thanks Mom & Dad)!!! I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday. It may be a few days before I can post some pictures. Since we are housesitting, I can't really upload anything onto their computer and our computer was infected with a few viruses, so I need to pretty much reload all the windows applications. OH JOY...oh well, I've got some time.

Much love to all my friends and family!!

Monica

Santa Lucia Day

2006-12-14T12:23:00.000+01:00

So yesterday was Santa Lucia Day. Huh? Swedes celebrating an Italian saint? Go figure. The way I look at it, it was just another day to drink.

Apparently, there is no clear understanding of why Sweden celebrates this day except that at one time December 13th was consired the shortest day of the year. In order to ward off the darkness, I guess the Swedes decided to bring in a little help. And of course, just like Mid-summer, the longest day of the year, you have to have some good food and drink.

I am definitely NOT opposed to any of this and decided to get in on the fun. Since we don't have children, we didn't get to participate in any of the children's lucia processions, but from what I understand it is really beautiful. I've provided a link HERE, so you can read about Lucia and all that goes with it. I did, however, end up making the saffron "cats" or lussekatter, Anders picked up the mulled wine or glogg (still no swedish keyboard - there are suppose to be two dots over the O) and we celebrated. Our friends, Helena & Calle, stopped by on their way home as well.

As some of you may know, Reagan loves bread. Any kind of bread - waffles, toast, biscuits, birthday cakes. I had caught her earlier licking the counter to remove the extra flour (what a big help she is, huh?) so I knew she was really wanting to try the end product. As our guests were leaving, I noticed that Reagan had decided to go back into the living room and in two quick bites, she polished off one of the buns. How do I know it was only two bites? Well, let's just say this morning's walk confirmed it. ;-)

Mom, can't I please just have ONE more?!?!

Love, Monica

The Weekend in Review

2006-12-12T10:36:00.000+01:00

Whew - what a fun, exciting and busy weekend we had. Let's just get right to it, shall we?

On Saturday, we drove (yes, I said drove - more on that in a second) out to Ekero, which is west of Stockholm and about an hour by car, for game night with the American/Swedish couples I have met. To most people's horror, we did a lot of SingStar (a PS2 karoke game) and a music trivia and general trivia game called Buzz (again, played through PS2). We had a ton of fun and ate lots of good American junk food like hot artichoke dip, chili with cornbread, hello dollies, rotel, etc.. It was fun to get together and just act stupid. Here the girls are after batteling it out all night. Unfortunately, I am not as good of a singer as I thought - I lost everytime EXCEPT when Leslie's 9 year old son challenged me to the Run DMC song, Tricky. I won that (barely!).
Sunday, was big errand day. One of the guys that Anders' works with let us borrow his car over the weekend so we seized the opportunity to go to IKEA and pick up some things. After spending 1 1/2 hours in IKEA, we had a quick lunch at McDonalds (shocked, I am sure) and then headed over to El Giganten - a electronics store. We'd been talking about getting a new TV for a while, so we thought we'd check out the merchandise. Well, we walked out of there with a Christmas gift to eachother - a new flat screen TV. We really didn't want a flat screen originally, but they just don't make anything else anymore. There was a small corner filled with regular TVs, but they just looked so old compared to all the new flat screen ones. And there were so many choices, it made it even easier to find a good deal.

With our car fully loaded, we headed back home. The funny thing is that this outlet/shopping area is only about 20 minutes from our house, but when I originally went it took me almost 2 hours to get there! It felt so good to have a car - like we really live here. I even drove Saturday night and Sunday morning. At first glance, the traffic signs seem really confusing but once you are behind the wheel, they really make a lot more sense.

After unloading everything, Anders brought up the Christmas tree for me to decorate. It definitely feels more like Christmas now that I have that up especially since Kissel still thinks - after 13 years!!! - that he can eat it. Every morning I wake up to a new pile of Christmas tree puke because obviously you can't eat plastic!!!

Monday was spent indoors. It was really rainy, cold and windy - not a good combination - and I had two dogs again. Here they are both staring at Kissel who is in the box - don't you wonder what they are thinking?!
We were only able to go on one long walk and the girls were pretty much stir crazy the entire day. I can't say that I blame them - I was sick of being inside too. When Anders got home from work, I made him take me to dinner at the hotel nearby. I just had to get out!!! Plus I needed an excuse to wear my Dad's parka he gave me. Let me tell you - it's so thick and heavy (must weigh at least 8 lbs) you don't even feel the wind against you - it's like wearing concrete and I loved it!! I was so warm and comfortable that I am looking forward to the winter again knowing that I will be just fine in this thing.

Today I have the puppy again, but it is sunny so we have already been on a long walk! They wrestled a little this morning and are currently sleeping *sigh*. We'll go on lots of walks today because you just never know when it is going to turn nasty again.

Have a great day, everyone!

Love, Monica

Two Are Better than One?!

2006-12-07T15:32:00.000+01:00

I knew yesterday morning when I went for the morning dog walk it was going to be a beautiful day. You know how I knew? Well, for one thing I saw some people at the daycare all standing outside, sipping their hot coffee and looking towards the sunrise. I am not sure what they were saying but I am sure it was something like "damn, isn't that just the most amazing sunrise?". It was really beautiful and what seemed to me, unusually bright. It was more like a spring time sunrise (in my humble, never lived this far north opinion) than a fall/winter one. In any event, the sun shined all day long. This was the second day in a row with sunshine so I just had to go on another exploration walk - and yes, this time it was with TWO dogs.

After looking at the Taby map and consulting a more reliable one (the street map), I came to realize that there was a lake in what seemed to be much closer proximity to our apartment. I leashed up the dogs, loaded my bag w/ water, a scarf & the camera and away we went. The walk took us through a very nice green space area between two neighborhoods. Tons of little paths jutting here and there, but I kept on the major path until I saw this:

What's that, you say? Just a stupid stream? Oh contraire mo frare (or however you spell it). It's actually run off that has been manipulated "a bit" as on the other side of this picture is a big, concrete pipe. Not too photogenic, so I only captured it from this angle. BUT, what this drain off does tell me (and my Father would tell you too!) is that cities typically direct drain offs to bodies of water sooooooo I knew I was headed in the right direction!!!

OK, moving right along - the afternoon really wasn't that suspenseful but it was a peaceful and idyllic area nonetheless. Just a few minutes from the babbling brook (me or the stream?!) we came to the lake. It's actually a really nice lake that appears to have trails along it's perimeter. We didn't continue along the path because it was going to get dark soon and I wanted to get back so the girls (all 3 of us) could rest a little. Plus, I could see there was another dog on down the path that was playing with the ducks, leash free, and I wasn't really up for being dragged across the dirt by two excited goldens. Speaking of two excited goldens, here they are "posing" for me:

And here is Miss Mya watching the birds very closely. She loves birds like Reagan loves squirrels. She is really good on the leash, hardly pulls and has that cute golden retriever skip in her step. However she is a MAJOR "counter surfer" right now, bringing me all sorts of goodies from the kitchen.

Thursday was a total change from Wednesday - they pretty muched just chilled all day long, with a few wrestling matches here and there. This morning, they both slept in with me (I usually let Reagan out of her crate after Anders leaves for work) and were really good. Another thing about a puppy like her is you can tell how important the first few months are in shaping the way they behave. Now I am even more happy with Reagan's progress but realize that some of the things I wish she could do (go off leash at my mother-in-laws unfenced summer home) simply will never be because she is too old. When they are puppies, it seems they want to be with you every moment outside and are scared to go anywhere without you - I could probably let Mya off leash and she would be fine. Reagan is old enough not to be scared (but not trained enough to know CARS KILL!) so it will never work. Boo, hiss - we can always dream! I think the best part of having two dogs is when Reagan wants to play tug of war with her toys - Mya is all too quick and excited to be part of that game, even though it means she will be dragged around the apartment!!

This weekend we are laying low - we have a game night over at the American/Swedish couples house on Saturday but that is about it. Of course, that's how last weekend started out and we ended up having three things to go to!!! HA! Apparently, our landlord has a small, artificial Christmas tree in the basement, so Anders promised me we could put that up after Mya leaves. I think that will round out the decorations and I won't have to go buy more. OK, maybe a tablecloth, but I NEED that!!!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Love, Monica

Puppy Sitting

2006-12-07T09:28:00.000+01:00

So yesterday we welcomed a (temporarily) new addition to our family. Another golden retriever named Mya. Mya is only 4 months old and probably 1/2 the size of Reagan. Interestingly enough, judging by the size of her head and paws, she probably won't get that much bigger. We have friends who own golden puppies and their heads and paws are HUGE. Of course, in true puppy form Mya, despite her small stature, has zero coordination and trips on just about everything.

As I mentioned, yesterday was the first day Mya was in our home. Despite peeing on the floor 3 times (2 I caught, 1 I didn't - ugh) and wrestling with Reagan until she snapped (quite literally, I might add) it was a good day. I can honestly say I never realized how good of a dog Reagan was until this comparison. Don't get me wrong - Mya is a sweetheart of a dog, she just has a lot of energy and will need lots of training in the future. To see me walk these two is a miracle in of itself. Thank goodness for Reagan's patience - I couldn't do it without her!

In other exciting news - well there is just nothing to report. Two dogs in a small apartment is a bit like daycare - you can never really take your eyes off of them. Thank goodness yesterday and today are both partly sunny days so we can go on LONG walks. Since I have been so boring, I will leave you with some other boring pictures - our living room (before Mya! ;-)

Clementine Cake

2006-12-04T21:24:00.000+01:00

And now, for the long awaited Nigella Lawson's clementine cake post - ha! It is finally done and you can cast your eyes upon it's beauty...Doesn't it look yummy? Well it is. Especially considering how easy it is to make and how few ingredients you really need (I was even short one egg). I used 1-2 more clementines than the recipe calls for, but that was because I was trying to make up the difference for the lack of egg. The smell of the clementines boiling was unbelievable. It wasn't as orangy as I thought it would be and instead almost had a cinnamon, buttery smell. I would suggest covering the pot while you are boiling the clementines because mine boiled dry an hour into the process. It would taste really good with a dollip of whipped cream too.

What a perfect winter dessert - now you know what you can do with those crates of clementines they sell!!! Click HERE for the recipe.

Focus, woman, Focus

2006-12-04T15:15:00.000+01:00

How does an unemployed woman manage to get so off track?!?! Just throw a beautiful day into the mix and everything is delayed.

I didn’t get the decorations up on Thursday because all of a sudden, at 1PM the sun came barreling out and lit up what was a very overcast and dreary day. Knowing that these types of days are going to become fewer and fewer, I decided it was time for Reagan and I to venture out on a long, exploring walk and see if we could find the ocean and castle (that are nearby). You know, map makers are a hilarious bunch of people (said sarcastically). Some maps you read make an area look like it is miles and miles apart, however, in actuality, you are within minutes of your destination (i.e. the Stockholm subway map & streets). While others, make a distance look quite close and it is actually further away (the Taby map of the area). Reagan and I took off on our adventure walk with a bounce in our step only to realize ONE HOUR IN that we were no where near the ocean and would not arrive anytime soon (or at least before the sun started setting at 3:30pm). We were both pretty disappointed (OK, me more than her) especially since I have a reputation for being really good with direction. However, I did manage to figure out there is an actual bus from outside our apartment that goes to the water so next time I am ditching the exercise and traveling in style (?).

This is a picture of some bush (duh, right?) but it looks like yogurt covered raisins are growing on it – I took this on our walk, but Reagan wouldn’t be still hence the blurriness

Since we explored the afternoon away, I didn’t get to the Christmas decorations until Friday. I had a fantastic time, however, putting them up (even though there were only two boxes of decorations). I popped in my KVIL 1998 Christmas CD and sang my way through the afternoon. I didn’t get to take Clementine cake either, but will be making it later this afternoon.

Funny enough, we started into the weekend with absolutely no plans and ended the weekend with two very eventful days. On Saturday, I had decided that we needed to check out Stockholm’s Christmas Markets. All the pictures and articles I read made them sound pretty good – specialty meats, cheese, toffee almonds and glogg. As we were getting ready for the day, one of Anders’ friends called to see what we were up to. We hadn’t actually even thought of torturing anyone else with my market venture, but decided to offer it to him and his girlfriend. Miraculously, they said yes and off we went to Stockholm. It was such a beautiful day – drizzly, cold and tons of people – but the company made it a lot better. We actually had a great time just hanging with Calle and Helena and I got my toffee almonds. We even got to see the NK (Sweden’s Neimans) Christmas windows which are decorated every year in a particular theme. After cruising through the markets, we ended up going back to their house in Vaxholm (which is close to Taby), eating dinner and watching Bad Santa. What a classic!! We had a ton of fun with both of them – they even let us bring Reagan over while we ate dinner and watched the movie (even though Reagan had eaten Helena’s gloves the last time they were here…).

Helena, Calle and Anders at the Market

One of the NK Christmas windows – they are hot air balloons taking gingerbread cookies to the people of the world…or at least Paris & New York!!! ;-)!

My toffee almonds – they were really good and the only thing I found to buy at the market

Sunday we went to meet Anders’ co-workers family whom we will be house-sitting/dog sitting for 3 weeks during Christmas/New Year. They have a very nice house overlooking the water so it will be the perfect setting (pray for snow) to celebrate our first Christmas together in Sweden. After that, we went to visit another one of Anders’ friends and his girlfriend for glogg. Apparently, being invited over for glogg during this time of year is very typical and happens almost on a daily/weekend basis. Glogg is similar to mulled wine – very sweet and flavored with cinnamon, cloves and served with raisins and almonds. It was good to see Per & Rosie and their sons Isaac and newborn Joel. We had a very relaxing time and I even was able to try saffron buns (they are not savory, like you would think).

Today, Reagan had to get a manicure/pedicure. It was quite an adventure to the vet b/c the bus we took there stopped running after our appointment and didn’t start up again until this afternoon. Luckily, Anders was available at work to help me figure out how to get home and we made it back. It’s was a pretty funny site – Reagan and I sitting at the bus stop for almost 30 minutes. About 5 minutes before the bus arrived, she started barking at me. She must have been as bored and ready to get home as I was.

This afternoon I WILL BE making that damn Clementine cake – in fact, the house is filled with the smell of Clementine’s as they are boiling right now…see….

I also will be dog sitting a golden retriever puppy starting tomorrow through the end of the week. HOLY DOG HAIR - I'll probably have to sweep the floors everyday. But according to one of my aunts, I apparently have a lot of time on my hands so this shouldn't interfere with anything. ;-)

Hope everyone has a great week!!! I’ll let you know how the cake goes – I am one egg short so I hope it doesn’t make a BIG difference…he, he, he!!!

Love,

Monica

Christmas is Coming Around the Corner!

2006-11-30T12:07:00.000+01:00

WOW - what an awesome birthday I had!!! Anders suprised me with dinner and a concert on Tuesday night and then continued to suprise me on Wednesday by taking the day off! We had an awesome day that ended with some Veuve Clicquot and my mom's brownie recipe - yummy! I also received a webcam and the NEW Barefoot Contessa Cookbook - YIPEE!!!! My parents stayed up past midnight (their time) to call me first thing in the morning and wish me a Happy Birthday! Thank you! I also received all sorts of calls, emails and text messages from all my friends and family wishing me a happy day. It really made turning 25 easier - he, he!! I am always so impressed by the number of people who are so thoughtful to me. I am the absolute WORSE at remembering people's birthdays (ask my mom - I've even forgotten hers!) and just wish I had an ounce of the thoughtfulness that some of my friends have. Then, their are the "other" ones - the ones like me. You could hit me over the head with a birthday book and I still wouldn't catch on. What makes this all the funnier is my best friend is the same! It drives her fiance and my husband crazy that we are so "thoughtless" when it comes to eachother, but the fact is that is so far from the truth! I guess we just don't get hung up on those silly "celebration" days and instead celebrate our life everyday...good grief, what the hell was that sentence about?!?! I think I have had too much sleep and coffee. Maybe I should start listening to rap music or something and get a little more grounded. HA!

Anywho, I didn't take too many pictures but there are a few I want to share with you:
First the boots I wore out on Tuesday night. Can you believe I walked on these things through the city and on public transporation? I mean, come on. These boots are great going from car to home or car to work or car to restaurant - but mastering the art of walking on your tip toes so your heel doesn't get caught in the subway grates is a entirely different thing. Now I know why the thick heeled boots are so popular here. I'll have to buy a pair but will wait until the end of the season since I already have TWO new pairs of boots.The bar at the restaurant/concert venue we went to on Tuesday night. No, we didn't see ABBA but we did see one of my favorite, current bands - Bo Kaspers Orkester. They sing some pretty amazing stuff, are incredible live and would you believe almost every member of the band plays at least two other instruments? At one point Anders and I couldn't remember who played what because they had changed so many times.AW, the virgin Reagan!! HA! Isn't she just the sweetest? We have so many pictures of her but this one (taken yesterday morning) is just hilarious. She's all wrapped up and snuggled in. She is such a momma's girl now since we hang out all the time.My breakfast this morning. I know, I know - it's a food shot (boring) - but I am really getting into this food styling/photography thing. Maybe I will create another blog just for this so I don't bore you all to death. Anyway, breakfast this morning consisted of corn museli and vanilla yogurt. One thing I have noticed that is a bit different in Sweden than the US (ok, there are LOTS of things, but this is more subtle) is the way they "protect" their food. In the US, there would not only be a plastic ring you would have to break or unwrap, there would also be a plastic piece on the spout you would have to remove (by the way - this particular yogurt comes in a cardboard container here - it's thinner so it pours out like milk). When I opened it this morning, I was a little scared. I even called Anders to see if he had some because it felt like someone had tampered with the yogurt. He assured me that yogurt is packaged this way and no one had put cyanide in it (Mom, are you rolling your eyes yet?).

Today will be spent putting out the Christmas decorations, putting away laundry (because I already did ALL of it this morning) and cleaning the house . I am also going to use up the leftover clementines (that I used as a centerpiece for Thanksgiving) and make a cake. I'll let you know how it tastes, tomorrow.

Thanks again to everyone for thinking of me yesterday - it meant A LOT!!!

Love,
Monica

Phood and Photography

2006-11-28T12:09:00.000+01:00

So, many of you know that I enjoyed a long life in catering before I went to the "dark" side of HR. Well, while I was quite relieved not to have to answer to customers anymore (as they are ALWAYS right), I didn't loose my passion for food. Luckily, Anders enjoys cooking as much as I do but with recent changes in our work dynamics (i.e. I don't work and he does...) I have become the primary chef again. It's been really fun getting back into cooking and discovering new recipes. I also have discovered a love for photographing food. Now, I am sure there are food stylist around the world cringing at my latest attempts below, but hey - I am an amatuer and when it is a cloudy, foggy day in Sweden, the lighting in my house is crap too.

Anyway, I took the poached egg picture this morning and the crackers with cream cheese & lingonberry jam last Tuesday. I think it is fun to document some of what you eat (one of the food blogs I read documented ALL of the things she consumed for an entire week - that'd be tough) so I will try and do it a little more often if anything just to have pictures to post (especially since the weather in Sweden is just overcast and cool - BORING). Here's to photography and food!!! Have a Great Day!!!

Happy Monday!

2006-11-27T11:46:00.000+01:00

I am such a loser - I didn't take ONE picture of the Thanksgiving meal but I can tell you it turned out really well. The Champagne cocktails were DELICIOUS - you must serve these at your next party. The cinnamon, sugar, orange mixture you put on the rim of the glasses is so good that I am using the leftovers in my coffee - ha! The rosemary cashews (from Barefoot Contessa) were so yummy too. I am always amazed and pleased that her recipes NEVER let me down. The turkey turned out perfect, the gravy just as delicious, the cranberry conserve - well, I think my Dad would like THIS recipe (another BC one). I also served green bean casserole (no fresh green beans here so this was an excellent substitute), mashed potatoes, deviled eggs (Mom, I swear you usually serve these), stuffed celery (you should have seen me making these - my family knows the pain these cause me every year) and individual stuffing. I made the stuffing and put it in ramekins for everyone. I didn't want to waste it and I also had heard from my American friends that Swedes really don't like stuffing. Well, not my Swedes. They loved it and everything else. Even the pumpkin pie turned out awesome. I had to bake my own crust (this time I used Martha Stewart) and learned that evaporated milk does exist here, just in the milk aisle. I was so pleased with everything and so happy it turned out good. Of course, we have leftovers and I have already made turkey tetrazzini last night and will be making turkey pot pies tonight.

The rest of the weekend was spent lounging around. Because Johan and Johanna spent the night, we made a typical American breakfast the next day (fried eggs, bacon, toast and hash browns - unfortunately they were not "scattered, smothered" or "covered"). I then spent the ENTIRE afternoon (it was a rainy day and maybe I was a touch hungover) watching seaon 2 of Project Runway. It's a show I didn't get into when I lived in the US but for some reason it was really interesting (maybe b/c it was the only english speaking program on?!? HA!).

Saturday night we went out to eat in Stockholm and had a very typical Swedish meal. I started out with pumpkin soup (not so typical, except they served it w/ salad greens as a garnish?!) and then had deer with a chanterelle sauce. I've had reindeer in the past but never deer. It was so delicious and nothing like I thought it would be. In fact, it is a lot milder than beef and really tender and lean. Anders' had this thing called gubbröra which is basically an egg salad with lots of anchovies - not too impressed and I think it was one of those moments for him where he thought he liked it and missed it, but once he got it he realized it wasn't as good as he remembered. For dinner he had elk meatballs. Now, I know what you are thinking - gross - but they were really, REALLY good. Again, a milder taste than beef and really tender and lean. I was so impressed.

Sunday was another lazy day and I finished watching Project Runway. Gunilla and Jan stopped by for a quick breakfast and to drop off some things. Again, another typical American breakfast but this time with scrambled eggs. I also got Gunilla and Jan to try salsa with their eggs instead of ketchup which they seemed to really enjoy.

This morning has been an active one already. I decided to go run on the trail again near our apartment and take the 5k route this time. It is even more beautiful but also more hilly. I started a little fast (of course, Reagan was with me and she pretty much drags my butt for the first 10 minutes or so) and got a little competitive with some of the other runners on the trail (i.e. I can't let THAT lady beat ME!) but I managed to finish it without hurting myself. What's that...you want to know the time? Well, let's just say it was subpar and I need to get out there a little more than once a month! HA!

I hope everyone had as relaxing a weekend as I did. Tomorrow I am meeting the American girls for lunch and a walk around a new shopping center near Stockholm. Wednesday I will start looking for gray hairs since I will be 1/2 way to 70 and Thursday I will spend putting up Christmas decorations and trying to figure out where to buy an artificial tree.

Love,

Monica

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

2006-11-23T10:23:00.000+01:00

Just wanted to wish all my friends and family a very, very Happy Thanksgiving! I know the holidays can be tough when we are away from each other, but I love you all very much and will be thinking about you enjoying your wonderful meal.

As I mentioned before, we are celebrating tomorrow night. Luckily we were able to get the company car last night so I spent 2 1/2 hours picking up all sorts of things. The Taby mall is so funny - just like the picture I posted of Anders pushing the grocery cart through the mall, I too had to do the same thing. It's was loaded down with groceries, wine, dry cleaning and pet supplies!! Classic moment only to be capped off with me almost sliding down the the "flat" escalator. I didn't expect the cart to start sliding back when I got on, but it did!! Thank goodness it finally caught on the ridges - the poor man behind me would have been in big trouble. Today, I will spend cleaning the apartment, finishing laundry, giving Reagan a bath (oh joy - you should see the size of this shower - one of those Home Depot corner types) and prepping a few items.

And now, the children have something to say:

Good grief, the way Reagan looks in that picture you would have thought I had just kicked her. She is the WORST picture taker in all of doggie land. Her hopes as a model have been dashed. Kissel, as usual, looks like he is about to tear my heart out. What love!!!

Have a great Thanksgiving - and Mom, tell Uncle Carl he isn't allowed to say anything that will make you cry!! I love you!!!

Love, Monica

Hello Again!

2006-11-21T12:31:00.000+01:00

Hello Again! Can you tell I am happy to have internet at home?!?! Now I really have something to distract me from housework, etc. (he, he, he).

Well, today is a hugely successful day already and I am sure you are wondering why. Well, I present to you 3 reasons why I am happy:
First off, the pancakes. I tried making pancakes a few weeks ago before I found my American measuring spoons and they turned out HORRIBLY. They were so doughy and disgusting. Today, I tried again and with much better results. I even made them McGriddle/Dad style and cooked them in bacon fat - yummy!
Secondly, my food parcels from my family. My sister and mom sent me kosher salt & canned pumpkin. My granny sent me cornbread, stuffing & chili. Funny enough, I was so worried about vanilla extract, cheerios and Kraft mac & cheese I never realized that Sweden WOULD NOT HAVE kosher salt, American style cornbread OR Pepperidge Farm stuffing. Thank you soooooooo much for sending these things - it's going to make my Thanksgiving so much more authentic!
And finally some early birthday presents (that'd be the 29th for some of you who might not know - Lissa?!?! HA, HA, HA!!!). My sister sent me the pink looking (in person it's more peachy) Under Armour Hoodie. I guess all that oohing and awing at Sports Authority before I left did the trick - you got the hint!!! ;-) Now I have no excuse for not running (other than pure laziness). The other hoodie is from my Granny - LOVE IT and it will be worn often. And the styrofoam cups, you ask - well, those are special packing devices used by my father (among other things). Dad - don't you know I live in an environmentally conscience society where use of styrofoam is punishable by death?!?! HA!!!

OK, so it's actually more than three things and it is certainly not the answer to world peace BUT it is things that are currently making me happy right now! Thank you EVERYONE who put together both of these packages. When the FedEx lady delivered the second one this morning, I was in the middle of making the pancakes. She was so funny - she said she could smell them all through the apartment hallway and it smelled really good. I guess I could have shared...nah, that is SO not like me.

And now for a few other pictures that are just funny...
My sister and I at dinner before we left - I think this is such a funny picture and we almost look alike. Scary that we have to make such a weird face to see the resemblance?!?!
The forest behind our apartment when we first arrived
The same shot taken today. It's rainy and 45F this afternoon. What's nice about where we live is when I opened the window to take this shot, you could hear the rain hitting the leaves of the trees. A much better noise compared to the roar of LBJ/635. HA!
And finally, a sweet picture of Kissel. It's not often I can capture him in his sweet, loving moments but this was one of them. Usually he is rolling his eyes at the camera.

Well, I am off for today. Need to run up to the grocery store to pick up dinner and pick up our dry cleaning too. FYI - you can never complain about dry cleaning pricing again (not that any of you really do) because it is costing me US$22 to get TWO pairs of pants cleaned. Next care package, please send Dryel and Bounce Dryer Sheets (that's another story, another post).

Much Love,
Monica

Hell has frozen over...

2006-11-20T18:13:00.000+01:00

and we have internet!!! As promised, the first "from home" post will be only pictures:

The playground directly outside our apartment - this is how it looked when we first arrived

This is the same playground after the first big snowfall on November 1st.

Anders pushing the grocery cart through the mall - it was Sweden's largest shopping mall until recently and has 3 grocery stores to choose from! HA!

The trail leading to our apartment from the train station and mall - this is what it looked like when we arrived.

Anders and I (and Reagan, of course) cooking in our kitchen for Viktor and Eilish (our first house guests)

Anders with our pallets of boxes - notice what great shape they are in!

Reagan posing in the first snow - unfortunately the first day of snow, we didn't have the camera so I didn't catch her rolling around in it like it was carpet. Oh well!

The same trail to our apartment from the train station/mall - we took this just yesterday.

Reagan and Kissel "spooning" on the couch with me - those two are unbelievable sometimes.

This week I am busy preparing for Thanksgiving which will be celebrated on Friday. Johan and his girlfriend, Johanna, are coming over for some traditional American cuisine. I am really looking forward to it and will spend all week finishing up the apartment and making parts of the dinner. Once the apartment looks decent enough, I will take some pictures of it too.

Thanks for your patience, everyone, as I get caught up. It's so nice to be able to sit AT HOME and post again without having to smell cheap asian fast food or worry about how long I have. YEAH!

AACCKK, November 1st?!?!

2006-11-01T12:02:00.000+01:00

Happy November 1st! Can you believe it is already November?!? We left Chicago four weeks ago today and boy has the weather changed a lot since then. Today we saw the first snowfall (I know - just the beginning!) and Reagan's first experience with the snow. She walked out onto it, did a little hop and then proceeded to roll around in it for about 5 minutes, like it was carpet. Too funny.
The last week has been a blur, but I will try and update you as best as I can. Last Thursday, Anders received a phone call from one of his friends, Mats, letting him know there was a position in his office that had just become vacant. He suggested that Anders give his boss a call to set up an interview. This was in the morning and by Thursday afternoon Anders had been offered the job (conditionally). He started work on Friday and has been busy putting in 11-12 hour days ever since. How lucky and blessed are we? And to top it off, it looks like he will be getting a company car and cell phone. They told him last night that the job was officialy his so we are thrilled.

Over the weekend, Anders went to the south of Sweden for a boys weekend. I'll let him post about his experience, but anyone who knows my husband will be rest assured he had his fair share of fun. I ventured out on my own, while he was away. Friday night, I went to my brother in law's girlfriend's apartment for dinner with a group of people. I had a blast and really enjoyed meeting more people. On Saturday, I went out to one of the American girl's homes for a Halloween party - I wore devil horns and Prada...ha! I had a blast and ended up singing karoke (VHope, are you proud?!?!). Sunday, I went to eat brunch with one of my Swedish friends and another one of her friends. After we ate, we cruised around Stockholm looking for things to buy. It was so liberating to get out on my own. I was starting to feel a little dependent on Anders to get me around but this proved to me that I can do it on my own. Man, should I throw my hat up like Mary Tyler Moore and sing "your going to make it on your own"...ha!!

This week I have just been trying to get things settled with my Swedish classes. I go on Monday for a registration and profiency test - that should go by quickly. And today I meet with a lady about English and Spanish tutoring. Our stuff has cleared customs and will be delivered on Friday. We'll spend most of the weekend trying to figure out what to unpack and what not to touch.

And yes, still no f-ing internet so still no f-ing pictures. I am so frustrated right now and am only a few seconds away from buying a new laptop with wireless connection. GGRRRR!!!!

Take care everyone and send warm thoughts!
Monica

Another Tuesday Post

2006-10-24T14:05:00.000+02:00

Sorry it has taken so long to post again, but this 'going to the library or mall' thing gets old. As you may guess, there is still no internet at home. They now say it will be installed in a few more weeks...ugh. So here is a quick recap of the past week (for me, at least):

Wednesday - went to lunch with the Americans I met online. They are both really nice and were so helpful in answering all my dumb questions. We met at the subway and then walked over to TGI Fridays. Apparently it is one of the few places that serves a decent burger (other than McDonalds!). After that, we strolled around downtown Stockholm and into the Old Town (mom and dad should remember this area - it is were our hotel was located). It was really great just to hang out and get to know them better.

Thursday - went to the Migration Board and received my permanent resident stamp in my passport. It went so smoothly. We arrived shortly before 9am and immediately plopped ourselves in front of window #5. Anders understood the lady behind the glass (everything is like this here) that she was to sit there as she was told 2 people would be coming in to finish their appointment from Monday. Lucky us - we were the first ones! She took my mug shot (HORRIBLE) and within 10 minutes I was a legal resident of Sweden!!! YIPEE!!! Of course, that still doesn't mean I can apply for a job or start my Swedish classes. I have to have a Swedish SS# for that. And you know what that means, right???? Another freaking government building we have to go to. And of course they are no where near eachother. That evening Anders and I decided to have dinner out (a very un-Swedish thing to do...I might have to rethink my TexMex restaurant since no one eats out). We went to the local hotel in Taby (Taby Park Hotel) and had an excellent meal. It was so cozy and delicious. I was really happy to find such a nice restaurant so close (since we are car-less) that was pretty reasonable and really good. It will be an excellent place for visitors to stay too, if they so desire!

Friday - Today was take Reagan on the train day. We wanted to do a practice run together to see how she handled so many smells, people, etc.. We took the train from Taby to Stockholm Center and then from there we went into the southern part of Stockholm on subway. Reagan has an incredible desire to smell EVERYTHING and eat ANYTHING that is accesible to her and trains are filled with all sorts of goodies. We took her with us to the Tax Office so I could register in the country and receive my SS#. We also wanted to find the only dog park in the entire Stockholm area (funny, really. Dallas has a billion parks but most people live in homes with yards. Here, most people live in apartments and there is only one dog park to be found). It was a really drizzly, dreary day so the dog park was a bit too muddy to let her go in. Poor thing - she hasn't been off leash outside since Chicago. She did really good on the entire trip and even mastered the escalators (which run a light speed compared to Texas - maybe everything is slower in the south...ha!!). Once we got back, I made chili and cornbread. It was also laundry night. Anders and I felt pretty pathetic...doing laundry on a Friday night - how lame!

Saturday - today Anders worked all day. Nothing too exciting - he was a test moderator for the university - but it gave him something to do and a little pocket change. I got a haircut since the last two pictures I have taken have shown that my hair is just too long and ugly. Besides, all I kept doing was throwing in a ponytail or bun. Funny thing was, the girl spoke Swedish and Spanish perfectly, so we talked the entire time in Spanish...small world. That afternoon, Reagan and I met him in Stockholm and took the train to Nyköping (his home town). It's so nice to be able to travel ANYWHERE by train. We arrived to Reagan being showered with gifts. She received a brand new bed(s) (one for Tåby and one for Nyköping), pig ears, new food bowl and a raincoat!! She is too cute in her coat and it is even lined with shearing...it's nicer than my new coat, ha!

Sunday - hung out at the house and then went to Morton and Eva's to see there new baby girl, Sofie.

Monday - Anders' dad took us to buy some things for our apartment (coffee maker, food processor, toaster, mixer) and then we went on to Anders' mom's summer home. It was a nasty, drizzly day again, so we didn't stay long. We did however get to pick up fresh eggs from the 'happy hens*. Can wait to start eating these - they are so fresh and taste way different than grocery store eggs. Took the train home, but realized we would be arriving exactly at rush hour. We had two extra bags with our stuff in it so we knew it would be almost impossible to deal with that, Reagan and all those people on the trains. OOOHH, TAXI!!!!

So that's it in a nut shell. Anders met with another friend today about some job possibilities and is applying for a few other jobs he saw in the paper. We found out yesterday our stuff arrives in Gothenburg on Wednesday and will be trucked up to Stockholm and delivered on Monday. Thank goodness!!! Thanks to everyone who posts comments - I really appreciate you checking in on us.

Monica

Tuesday Already?!

2006-10-17T12:49:00.000+02:00

Good news - I received my resident permit paperwork in the mail yesterday. We had friends up from Gothenberg, who offered to take me to the Migration building to get my person number (the Swedish version of the SS#). We were finally called after waiting over 2 hours, 10 minutes before they closed, and multiple times to the trash can looking for a call number that was better than #154 (we ended up with #108, the last number called for the day!). Once we got up there we were told the computer system and digital camera machine were not working and they would be unable to issue my number. My Irish friend Eilish nearly went through the glass. After a few firm words and some helpless looks, they gave me a pass for Thursday that will allow me to go straight to the window and get my number issued immediately. Once I have this, I can get my actual personbevis (like the actual SS card, but in letter form) which will allow me to apply for Swedish classes, bank accounts, etc.. YEAH!

Tomorrow I am having lunch with some Americans I met via various people, blogs and Amerikanska website. It should be fun and a challenge for me to get there. I told Anders last night that I understand how the train system works, it's just figuring out what the other signs say that is frustrating.

Our computer is working and we are have our internet and landline phone installed this week. I promise to post lots of pictures as soon as it is up.

Anders is having an informative job lunch today and should hear from the other job possibility this week. Keep your fingers crossed that something will move forward this week. We both will meet with the Unemployment office this week so he can start receiving benefits as well as use that office as a job resource too (although we hear it's pretty much crap!).

Till Next Time!

Legal Alien

2006-10-12T17:00:00.000+02:00

Well, we are still getting settled and really trying to get our computer up and running. Right now I am sitting in the middle of Taby Centrum (a Galleria type mall), smelling asian fast food, and guarding the computer screen from shoppers. It's not a very private feeling so I'll keep this post short.

Good news - the Migration Board signed my resident permit paperwork today!! Once we get the letter in the mail, I will be able to sign up for Swedish classes and start looking for a job. Anders is going on another interview next week and also meets with the Government employment group (have no idea what their name is) to discuss unemployment wages while he looks.

Our container is scheduled to arrive around Oct. 24th, we will start working on plans to get our stuff and store it somewhere. Hopefully by then we will have some idea on where we want to live a little more permanently and start looking for a house.

Tomorrow we will be going to the Stockholm Open to watch tennis. Johan, my bro-n-law, was able to get tickets for us so we are really excited. I also did my first load of laundry the other day (don't laugh - it's in celsius so you don't have the usually cold/warm/hot choices) so I am starting to feel a little more like I live here and not on vacation.

Sorry for such a brief post - lots of love to everyone!
Monica

Finally, We've Arrived!

2006-10-09T11:36:00.000+02:00

Quick Update - we are here! No kidding, right? The last 4 days have been one whirlwind. First, after all my worrying about the animals, we got through customs without even a hiss from Kissel. We arrived to our apartment and after a quick trip to the grocery store and a bite to eat we crashed. My cell phone died pretty much right after we arrived. It had given me trouble on the way from Dallas to Chicago, but the TMobile people were able to fix it. This time, not so lucky. Apparently my 6 year SIM card is DEAD. Poor little thing - I guess it was what couldn't take any more moves! HA!

We've been trying to set things up ever since. Thursday was a complete waste since we lost an entire night's sleep and Friday was mostly spent unpacking and Anders' having his interview. He still doesn't know anything as they will have another group/panel interview/lunch with the office if they like him. Sweden is a bit like Cayman - everything shuts down by mid-afternoon on Saturday. Today will be spent finding the government offices Anders needs to go to register as well as contacting the Migration Board to let them know I am in the country.

Kissel, the cat, is on a hunger strike (he is so damn picky with his food, so I am mixing it with a little tuna). Reagan is getting used to the apartment (which is actually quite roomy) and LOVES the fact we have to walk everytime she has to go to the bathroom. I try and take her on at least one 30 minute walk a day. Taby is absolutely gorgeous and the back of our apartment backs ups to forest and the front overlooks a common area field with trees. There are soooooo many walking paths, trails, etc. and all the leaves are turning. It's already a bit cold (for this Texas girl) and I use my suede Timberlands every day (thanks Mom & Dad). Once we get out computer set up, I'll be able to upload pictures. Right now we are in the library using the internet here.

Thanks for everyone checking in and now that we know the library hours, we will post more frequently.

Love,

Monica

2006-10-04T22:06:00.000+02:00

Waiting to board the plane.

Sweden or Bust

2006-10-04T16:31:00.000+02:00

The day has arrived! In just 7 short hours we will be taking off for Sweden and in less than 16 hours we will be landing in Stockholm. To say I am nervous, sad, sick and excited all rolled into one is a very accurate description. If it was only me, I don't think I would be 1/2 as anxious, but we have our "children" and I want them to be OK. In hindsight, it may not have been as ideal to have almost 2 weeks of "new" homes in addition to a 15 hour car ride. But I felt this was the right thing to do. Maybe it really isn't them that is having the hard time...maybe it is me - the worry bug (as our friend Jonas calls me now). I know, I know - shocker to my family that I am worrying about our impending trip! HA!

This morning will be spent repacking everything as we have to fit it all into a set number of suitcases. Luckily my bro-n-law and father both offered to fed/ex anything we couldn't fit to us in Sweden - thanks guys!!

So now, I sign off. My next post will be after we arrive in Sweden. Hopefully I will relax a little bit once we are on the plane. At least the car ride to Chicago put me at ease that Kissel and Reagan both are excellent travels - it must be their Momma who needs to be sedated!

Love you all!!!

Monica

2006-10-02T03:12:00.000+02:00

Getting closer!