Hurly in Sweden

Odensbacken and Nävekvarn

2006-04-22T15:13:00.000+02:00

Man held after Nyköping murder

2006-04-22T15:10:00.000+02:00

Published: 22nd April 2006 09:47 CET

A 47 year old man suspected of shooting dead a 32 year old woman in Nyköping on Friday evening was arrested in the town at around 5am on Saturday.

He was remanded in custody by the duty prosecutor after a short interview. He is suspected of murder.

"There's a lot indicating that it was this man," said Owe Andersson at Sörmland police.

The police are due to search the man's house on Saturday in the hunt for the murder weapon.

The woman was shot in her home in central Nyköping. According to police she was shot in the chest, and her young child could have witnessed her death.

After the shooting the child is said to have run out into the garden and alerted neighbours.

Both the arrested man and the dead woman are of Vietnamese origin.

"But as far as we know there was no relationship between them," said police spokesman Kristina Holm to TT.

The child is being taken care of by doctors.

Happy Easter!

2006-04-18T07:38:00.000+02:00

Happy Easter!

A little belated, I know. :)

We had a nice, long weekend together. :) We worked on the bathroom a little and started on some Spring cleaning.
Fredrik bought me the Sims 2 game. :) And we played that all weekend and had lots of fun. :) And we watched plenty of movies and had yummy food. :)

Nothing much has specificially happened.. :) It has been pretty quiet. On Saturday we took a nice walk around by the harbor.

The weather has gotten a little warmer and our Spring rain has started. Raining a little almost every day.

I'm planning on doing a lot of Spring cleaning this week off.

So, now I think I'm gonna get started on that. :)

Vacation.

2006-04-13T13:46:00.000+02:00

Ahhh yes.. this is the beginning of my Spring vacation. :) I don't have school next week..!

On Tuesday, I had a math test and I only missed 2 points on that, 2 points that I knew I would miss and something that shouldn't have been on the test.. but.. oh well.. :)

And then today I had a test in my Swedish class. I'm sure I did well on most of it, but there was one part that I had lots of trouble with.. as I knew I would.

Fredrik had to go work with the other project today. :( His normal work site.. they were only going to work half a day, have a smörgastårta and go home.. But after that, Fredrik had to go to the other work site.. :( So, not fun for him.. he was really tired this morning.

But tomorrow is Good Friday. :) And since neither of us like lamb, and Fredrik doesn't like ham, we are having Swedish meatballs for Easter dinner. Which we are having tomorrow. And then there will be plenty of leftovers for Easter Sunday. :)

I think that he and I will have a very nice break. :) Lots of cleaning up around the house, working on the bathroom, and if the weather gets nice enough, start working outside in the yard.

But I think that is all for now. :) I'm sure I'll write more soon.

Our First Spring Flowers!

2006-04-09T08:10:00.000+02:00

On Friday, when we came home, we realized we had our first Spring flowers growing out front. :) They are very common Swedish Spring flowers. :)

We had a nice time yesterday. :)

On Friday, Fredrik left work really early, since he had worked such a long week already, and we met in town. And then we went and bought lots of stuff. :) I bought some pillows for the tiny bedroom and we got a set of curtains for the entrance. And some other stuff, too. :)

On Saturday, we left early and we and recycled lots of paper and glass stuff.
And then on our way to grandpa's (we decided we would stop by and visit with him before we would go to the house).. we were there so early we stopped and looked at (my favorite) furniture/house store. And we saw a couch that we like but not sure if it is what we want.. :T

And then we got to grampa's apartment around 12.30. And Fredrik's parents were going to meet us there at 13.30, but they didn't show up until 14.10.. :P And then we left around 15.00 to go to grandpa's house (he was actually born there). But Fredrik's mom is determined to get rid of the house, no one wants it or can do anything with it, and just keeping it is being a burden on grandpa. So, we went to pick out stuff we might want from the house and take it.

We ended up leaving around 17.00 with a carful. :/ :)) And there is still one thing that we couldn't take that will have to come later. We took a big.. cabinet thing that can be used as a nightstand or something next to a bed.. and we also took a tiny, little secretary. Stripping them and repainting them white, I think they will look very nice. And we also took.. a bench.. that is actually made from a tree stump. Pretty cool. :) And we took a few other little things here and there.

We had a nice time, though. :) It was fun to see grandpa. :)

But this morning we have a.. year-end financial meeting for our little community here. It is required to go, but we figured we should. It should only last about an hour so.. But then I have to work on Swedish stuff and my math stuff, I have a math test this week, my third, and I'm going to try to take that on Tuesday.

And no school on Wednesdays, and I have a test in Swedish class on Thursday.. and no school on Friday because it is Good Friday.

And no Easter trip for us. :( But I think we might at least take a day trip and go to Norrköping or do something like that. And at the end of the month, Fredrik has to go to the Swedish island of Gotland for work. It is a two day trip, a Thursday and Friday.

But I think that is our schedule for awhile. ;) We hope to work on the bathroom a little today. I'll make Fredrik work on it while I am doing my school stuff. :))

But that is all for now. :P

So tired.

2006-04-06T13:28:00.000+02:00

I hate having to get up so early.. :/ but nothing I can do about it.. :/

The cat is doing well but he still won't go outside. And Fredrik is doing well. And I am doing okay, too, I suppose. :)

It snowed most all of yesterday but it didn't stick. I woke up this morning and there was snow stuck to the ground and it snowed for a good part of the day.. :(((
And it was pretty cold today.. :/ Even though now the sky is blue, it is still a bit windy.

Tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!! The weekends have so much more meaning now. :))

And now ads are coming out with Spring gardening stuff and that is nice to look through. :) The first chance we have of buying outdoor stuff. :)
Anxious to get a little grill and some outdoor furniture and plant some flowers. :) Become a real Swede.. ;)

Noo... :( Now it is snowing again.. :(
I should go and do something and take my mind off this horrible weather.. :/

Maybe.. just.. one more...

2006-04-05T21:57:00.000+02:00

A couple more...

2006-04-05T08:48:00.000+02:00

Random Pictures - April 2006

2006-04-04T14:34:00.000+02:00

Random Pictures - April 2006

Doing well.

2006-04-04T14:05:00.000+02:00

We are doing well. :) Just busy and tired. :)

A fish died the other day.. :/ Or rather we committed homicide and killed it.. :/ It was rather sickly, and so we decided to flush it. And now another one, one of our favorites.. it is a bigger one, isn't doing too well.. :/ So, now we are just waiting for them to all die off before we continue with our plans of cleaning the entire tank.

Hmmm.. and the cat is doing well. He has a little problem with his walk, and he still gets annoyed if you try to look at his paw, but he is doing much better.

I am uploading pictures now, so I hope to get those shared by today.

Work is going well for Fredrik. Yesterday he had to work a little longer and figure out some stuff for the other project he is working on. And then today he had to go work on that other project. :) He isn't really happy about having to work on it, but he is the only person to do it.. so he is pretty stressed. So, they are thinking about hiring someone else, even if only for a little while, to help get stuff done. You can't have one person in two places at once.. :/ :)

And school is going well for me. :)
I made a very, very good friend yesterday. :) She is from Singapore. We met before class (it was her first day) and we clicked instantly and now inseperable. :))
I'm really pushing myself to learn lots of vocabulary.. and I think it will all work out okay. :)

The snow is slowly melting away. The weather has been pretty nice, a bit warmer, but today it got cold again. :/ On Saturday and Sunday morning we woke up to snow.. :/ But luckily it melted pretty fast.

But I think Fredrik and I have decided that this Spring we are going to repaint the house and shed and get a new porch, and fix up the inside of the shed. We plan possibly insulating it, and fixing nice shelves, etc..

The bathroom is almost finished, though. :) Fredrik's dad couldn't come over on Saturday, but he came over on Sunday. I think he is almost more interested in getting it done than we are.. ;) But it looks great! We finished the floor and then he started a little on finishing up the lowest wall tile to the floor. Everything looks fantastic. And I'll have plenty of pictures of that to share.

And I only missed 2 points on my last math test because of a language confusion. :)

Hmmm..
Fredrik's dad isn't coming over this weekend. They instead asked us to go to his grandparent's house, that they are cleaning up to sell. They want us to go through the house and take stuff if we want it and help them clean and sort and get rid of stuff. And then they are going on to the summerhouse for next week and Easter, so he won't be able to come over the next weekend, either.. :( But hopefully Fredrik and I can get plenty of stuff done the next 2-3 weeks. :)

Not much more than that, though.. :/ I've been bad at writing. I'll try to keep up with it, even though I really don't do anything now except working on my Swedish.

Oooh..! And a woman called last night from our....... little community here. And asked if Fredrik would like to... be a fill-in for the committee. Like if someone can't show up (treasurer), he goes to the meeting and takes their place. Because there has to be a certain number of people at each meeting. And I think that we are going to have him do it. It was a little strange to be asked because we've only lived here for 7 months or so and there are plenty of other people to do it.. but we figure it is because we are so young, probably the youngest couple by 10 years ... so that they can get some young blood into the organization. So.. :) we think it wouldn't hurt to be involved.

Okay.. :) That is all for now. :)
Men, nu måste Fredde o jag prata på svenska.. :/ :)

Things about me.

2006-04-03T18:49:00.000+02:00

Four jobs you have had in your life.
1. Babysitter.
2. Barnflicka.
3. Sales.
4. Lots of volunteer stuff that I never got paid for.

Four movies you would watch over and over.
(Just 4??)
1. Rosemary's Baby.
2. Rocky Horror Picture Show.
3. Lord of the Rings.
4. Any clip of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies.

Four places you have lived.
1. Ohio, USA. (Amherst & Athens)
2. Nössemark, Sweden.
3. Nynäshamn, Sweden.
4. Nävekvarn, Sweden.

Four TV shows you love to watch.
1. Six Feet Under.
2. South Park.
3. Simpsons.
4. CSI Las Vegas.

Four places you have been on vacation.
1. USA.
2. Prague, Czech Republic.
3. Tallinn, Estonia.
4. Many places in Norway.

Four websites I visit daily.
1. My blog.
2. Swedish & American news sites (CNN & Aftonbladet).
3. TV.nu (tells what is going to be on TV each day).
4. IMDB (Internet Movie Database).

Four of my favorite foods.
1. Anything spicy and hot.
2. Pizza.
3. Kebab.
4. Tacos.

I would rather be right now.
1. Summerhouse.
2. USA.
3. Höglekardalen, Sweden. (Where we rent a house and go camping in the mountains.)
4. Russia. (A change from my e-mail version.)

Last movies you saw and was it bootleg, at the Theater, rented.
1. The Boondock Saints (DVD).
2. Saw II (DVD).
3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (bootleg).
4. I Spit on Your Grave (DVD - Collector's Edition!!!!).

Nothing horrible!

2006-03-31T05:55:00.000+02:00

Got to the vet yesterday evening and she couldn't find anything horribly wrong with him.. Which is also nice because then it was cheaper.. ;)

She checked him over and he was definately in a fight. She found a bite in his mouth, or a scratch or something. And she checked his back leg, and while he complained a lot, she couldn't find anything wrong with the bone. And with his paw, he lost part of his nail, or most of his claw, and that is why it bled so much. But even with all 3 of us holding him, we couldn't get him to hold still long enough for her to get a good look at it, so.. what she could see she said it didn't look like it needed any help, that it should get better on its own. But if it doesn't, then of course to bring it back and they can help make it better.

He seems to be doing fine, though. Not complaining and walking better. I think he will be fine. :)

I am going to be so busy with school. :/ The test for the class is in December.. and most of the students have been in the class for awhile and will be very prepared.. but a few of us that are new have to play catch-up. And that is why we have those 2 extra classes earlier in the mornings on Thursdays and Fridays. And we are doubling up on the work to catch up with the others. :/ So, the class is going to keep me very busy.

Hmmm.. I'll stay after school an extra hour and a half and Fredrik will pick me up on his way home from work. Will be nice to go home with him instead of taking the bus.. :/

Not much else I don't think.. :/ I think his dad is coming over tomorrow to work on the bathroom.. but not sure.. :/ :) I have lots of cleaning and vacuuming to do when I get home this evening. This week, being the first in the Swedish class, has really been stressful, especially with having a math test and having to work lots on that. But I'm hoping that it will slow down just a little and things will go very well. This week has been dragging, though.. :/ I dunno.. sometimes it feels like it is going by really fast and sometimes it feels like it is taking forever.. :/ Is that possible..?

Yesterday really felt like the first day of Spring. :) A lot of the snow is now gone and the sun was shining and it was actually a little warm! But then I woke up this morning and there is a dust of snow on the ground....... :/

Oohhh yeah.. :/ And I had a dream about Draco Malfoy last night.. :/ A kid from Harry Potter.. :/ It was rather odd.. and .. different.. :/ And sorta.. scary.. (Not like... AHHHHH! scary but.. weird scary..)

Ehhh.. Uhmm.. I think I should finish getting ready.. :) Since I have finished breakfast now. :)
More soon!

Awful night last night.. :/

2006-03-30T15:32:00.000+02:00

We had an awful night last night. :/
It wasn't bad enough that I had to get up at 5AM this morning...

I went to go turn my laptop off at like.. 10 till 10 last night and then.. I heard a cat.. a very, very angry cat..
And I knew that it was our cat. You know how you hear a child cry and you know it is yours.. I think it is the same thing..

Well.. a couple minutes later a very unhappy, wet kitty showed up at our backdoor..

And.. he came inside and he was bleeding.. a lot.. :/
His front, left paw was losing a lot of blood and of course he walked around everywhere until we could get him cornered and confined to the kitchen. There was blood on all his paws, but he was only bleeding from one paw.

We got the bleeding to slow down and he started to clean himself. And Fredrik and I cleaned the blood off the floor (thank god for hardwood floors). And then we tried to keep him calm.. :/ And we decided to take him to the vet this morning.

But right before we went to bed, Fredrik decided to call them this morning and set up an appointment for this afternoon. Since the bleeding had stopped and he wasn't complaining too much.

He is sleeping now. He isn't complaining at all. Only if you pick him up and press on one of his back legs, so I think he might have hurt his hip. So, it is his paw and who knows what else.

But he didn't hurt his pride, though. He was very friendly, and still is, and has been purring like mad. So, we think that he definately won this time. :)

Last fight he had bites on his back leg, and now he had bloody paws, so.. I'm sure the other cat is much, much worse. :)

But Fredrik called this morning and we have an appointment for 6PM. So, that should be fun.. :/

But everything else is going okay I suppose. :)

What Kind of Food Are You?

2006-03-29T17:26:00.000+02:00

You Are Mexican Food

Spicy yet dependable.
You pull punches, but people still love you.

What Kind of Food Are You?

How Evil Are You?

2006-03-29T17:23:00.000+02:00

You Are 70% Evil

You are very evil. And you're too evil to care.
Those who love you probably also fear you. A lot.

How Evil Are You?

I think I will like it. :)

2006-03-29T11:36:00.000+02:00

Class went pretty well yesterday. :)
I think that I am really going to enjoy it. :)

The students are from all over the place.
3-4 from Iraq, 3-4 from Thailand, several from Latvia, Croatia, Kosovo, one from Somalia, one from Poland, one from Vietnam. I might be the only Westerner in the class, though, still a few I'm not sure where they are from. Maybe one from Germany, but not sure.. :/ I really like the teacher. I got a chance to chat with her a couple of minutes after class yesterday. All of the students have been in the class for awhile. I just hope it doesn't take me so long to learn enough to go onto the next level.

And I took my 2nd math test yesterday and it went just fine. :) Not sure when I'll get the grade for that.

I start early tomorrow.. :/ Not going to be so much fun.. :/
Blah blah blah.. back to school work and washing clothes.. :)

Not too bad.

2006-03-28T07:44:00.000+02:00

First class wasn't too bad ... we didn't do anything.. :/ :)
We had a little test, probably just so she can see our different levels. And that was dragged out to last the whole 1½ hours of classtime.
So, today is the real first day of class, when we are actually going to do something, and I'm still nervous. :// :) I get a little shaky when I have to read Swedish text aloud in class.

And then I'll wait around until afternoon and take my second math test. And then hopefully I'll catch the 14.50 bus, cause if not, the next bus isn't until 16.10, and then I might as well let Fredrik take me home.. :/ :)

Snow is slowly melting. The weather people say it is supposed to start raining, causing more snow to melt, and lots and lots of flooding.
Very foggy, too.. :/ In the south of Sweden, there was a 50 car accident yesterday because of the fog.

But my school schedule is nothing what it said on my paper.. :/ I don't have class on Wednesday.. and I can go to some extra classes early on Thursday and Friday.. which I am going to go to, and they start at 08.45.. :/ :)

Not that much else going on.. :/ Fredrik has to go help out on another project either Thursday or Friday.

Not sure if I mentioned this.. :/ But on Saturday, we got most of the bathroom floor tiled. And it looks super great! This evening we are moving the washing machine in so we can wash clothes ... haven't washed clothes in like.. at least 3 weeks.. :/ So, we are getting desperate now.. :/ :) And hopefully this Saturday, we can finish up the floor, and get some other stuff done, too.

But I think that that is all for now, want to finish getting ready. :P

My first day of school.

2006-03-27T07:58:00.000+02:00

I'm so nervous. :/ Of so many things.
Mostly that I have to be late to class, and fine if I have to be every day ... but I hate being late on the first day that I start. :/

The bus gets into town at about 10 after 10 and class starts at 15 after ... and it takes about 10 minutes to walk from the bus terminal to the building where the school is located. So... nothing I can do about it. The bus before that that leaves, would get me there at like 8 in the morning..... so, that is not an option.

Class lasts 1½ hours. And then I get to get on the bus and come home. :)

So, wish me luck! I'll write about it when I come home and hopefully it won't be an absolutely awful day. :/ :)

Ooohhh.. and it is snowing.....

Change of plans.

2006-03-24T06:41:00.000+01:00

It is snowing right now ...and it snowed yesterday...
Spring will never full arrive. :((
And I was gonna walk to the grocery store today.. :/ Always snows whenever I plan on leaving the house.. :/

But we have a change of plans.. :/
We were going to fix our trip to go to the zoo and stay in the Bed and Breakfast, but we realized that only certain parts of the zoo are open for Easter, the entire park isn't open yet.. :/ So, it feels sorta silly to go. :/

So, we decided to do something else, but we couldn't think of anything. And we decided that Fredrik will ask his work mates if they know of anything else around here that is fun to do or a fun town to go to.

But Fredrik and I came up on our own that maybe we can just fly somewhere and spend the weekend. And we checked to Glasgow, Budapest, and Amsterdam, and.. for some reason there weren't any flights or they were extremely expensive.. I guess Easter is a popular time to travel...???

But then Fredrik came up with the idea.. "Why don't we go to Åland..?" So, I think that is what we are going to be doing instead. So, that is the plan for now, but we'll see if that will change or not, too... :/

The zoo is so close, and we plan on buying Season Passes to go to the zoo, especially since we plan on spending a weekend there when my parents come over this Fall. So, Fredrik and I can go there any time.

But Åland is a Finnish island btwn Sweden and Finland. I've never been there, Fredrik has plenty of times of course. I've only changed cruise boats there, I've never actually walked on the island.

So, the plan is to drive up a bit north of Stockholm, take the car on a 2 hour ferry.. And rent a cabin and stay there from like.. Wednesday night/Thursday morning until Sunday afternoon.

It would be lots of fun I think. :) Even though it isn't the mainland, and I would still like to visit other parts of Finland, it would be a new country for me.

So, we'll see what happens. We did think about going to Prague again ... we love it there! But, we wanna go somewhere that at least one of us hasn't been to before.

I start school on Monday.. :/ I'm a bit nervous about that. :/ Nervous that all the other students in my class will be so much better at Swedish than I am, and that I will feel too far behind. And I also have to take my 2nd math test next week. Which of course shouldn't be a problem.

Fredrik's dad is coming over on Saturday, tomorrow. Fredrik and I tried the tile cutting saw thingie and it was loud and sprayed water everywhere.. :/ :)) So, we're leaving that up to his dad to deal with. :/ :) I'm very anxious to see what gets accomplished tomorrow, though. I want to permanently get the toilet and washingmachine out of my dining room.. ://

But I think that that is all for now. :) Transylvania 6-5000 is on the movie channel starting in a couple of minutes.. so.. :) Going to watch that until I finish waking up.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

2006-03-23T11:21:00.000+01:00

You Should Get a PhD in Liberal Arts (like political science, literature, or philosophy)

You're a great thinker and a true philosopher.
You'd make a talented professor or writer.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

How Open Minded Are You?

2006-03-23T11:02:00.000+01:00

You Are 56% Open Minded

You are a very open minded person, but you're also well grounded.
Tolerant and flexible, you appreciate most lifestyles and viewpoints.
But you also know where you stand firm, and you can draw that line.
You're open to considering every possibility - but in the end, you stand true to yourself.

How Open Minded Are You?

How Are You In Love?

2006-03-23T10:49:00.000+01:00

How You Are In Love

You take a while to fall in love with someone. Trust takes time.

You tend to give more than take in relationships.

You tend to get very attached when you're with someone. You want to see your love all the time.

You love your partner unconditionally and don't try to make them change.

You stay in love for a long time, even if you aren't loved back. When you fall, you fall hard.

How Are You In Love?

What Language Should You Learn?

2006-03-23T08:05:00.000+01:00

You Should Learn Swedish

Fantastisk! You're laid back about learning a language - and about life in general.
Peaceful, beautiful Sweden is ideal for you... And you won't even have to speak perfect Swedish to get around!

What Language Should You Learn?

Now.. what are the odds of this..?

How Machiavellian Are You?

2006-03-23T07:41:00.000+01:00

You Are Somewhat Machiavellian

You're not going to mow over everyone to get ahead...
But you're also powerful enough to make things happen for yourself.
You understand how the world works, even when it's an ugly place.
You just don't get ugly yourself - unless you have to!

How Machiavellian Are You?

What Should You Major In?

2006-03-23T07:38:00.000+01:00

Your Scholastic Strength Is Deep Thinking

You aren't afraid to delve head first into a difficult subject, with mastery as your goal.
You are talented at adapting, motivating others, managing resources, and analyzing risk.

You should major in:

Philosophy
Music
Theology
Art
History
Foreign language

What Should You Major In?

What Kind of Soda Are You?

2006-03-23T07:36:00.000+01:00

You Are Dr. Pepper

You're very unique and funky, yet you still have a bit of traditionalism to you.
People who like you think they have great taste... and they usually do.

Your best soda match: Root Beer

Stay away from: 7 Up

What Kind of Soda Are You?

Spring.

2006-03-21T07:10:00.000+01:00

Well, Spring is officially here. And you can tell, too. :)
It was very, very bright this morning, the sun woke me up at 05.40. :/ So, I have been up for awhile.
We still have lots of snow, but it is melting away slowly. Still a big chance that it will still snow, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm having a horrible time typing this morning. :/ Fingers just don't want to hit the right keys.

But besides my stiff fingers, all is going well. :)

My fingers are sore because I've been working on the bathroom lots. On Sunday, we mixed the stuff to fill inbtwn the tiles ... and I ended up working on that for like 6 hours on Sunday. But, I got one whole wall done! (A long one.) And a tiny bit of a short wall. So, not too bad. It looks really nice, too. :) But not so good on the wrist and fingers. :/ A bit tiring. :) I think this evening we are going to work on a little more.

So, Fredrik's dad will be coming next Saturday. And he will be thrilled, because now he can put up the wall cabinet! Which will be awesome, cause then we will have more light in the bathroom (since there are lights on the cabinet).

And his dad bought a mechanical tile cutter, so we have that here now, but we still have to try it out. So, hopefully on Saturday, they can finish the electrical stuff, put up the cabinet, and tile the floor! *crossing fingers* That is the plan.

Then, after that, Fredrik and I will fill in the floor.
And all that will have to be done after that is.. the lower cabinet, redoing all the piping, and installing the shower. And then last detailed stuff, like shower door, one more new light, touch up painting for the ceiling, and fixtures.. ohhh... and a new door.. :/ :)
But it is slowly getting finished. :)

We had a nice time on Saturday, at his grandmother's (farmors) birthday lunch.
It wasn't spectacular, but it was okay. :)
There were 14 of us there. Everyone we expected, and then also the boyfriend of Fredrik's female cousin.
The place where we ate was made up of very, very old buildings, and it was a very lovely place. :) Lots of cute shops there, including the most expensive candy store I've ever seen. We went in a private art gallery, and almost bought something, but didn't. :T :)
After lunch at the little restuarant place, we went back to his grandparents apartment and had some cake and cookies and coffee or juice.

We left around 16.30 ... We were the last to leave of those who weren't staying longer or going onto somewhere else in town. It was a two hour drive, so we wanted to get back before it was dark.

Hmmm.. *think*

Fredrik's work car is finally working ... We tried the jumper-cables and nothing happened. So, a guy from work came home with Fredrik yesterday, Jonas, and it worked the first time they tried it...... I think we had the negative (grounded) cable in a bad place. We had it on some thin pipes, but I don't think they were good enough.
So, the car is working find now. No problems. :)
So it must have been the battery. Because... if you don't turn the radio off before you turn the car off ... then the radio keeps going and burns out the battery...! So, Fredrik forgot to turn the radio off and that is why the car was dead. His boss has now refused him to ever use the radio again.. :D hehe..

After dinner last night we took the car out for a little drive just to make sure it was doing okay, and we went down one of the only roads that exist here ... and it was completely ice, and not too far down the road, was a car in a ditch, another car stopped to help, and three women standing outside. So, I made Fredrik stop ... how could we not..? :/ :) You pass by in a car like that and you're male, I think they would expect you to stop.. :/ :) But there wasn't much we could do ... if we had had a cable to attach to their car then we could have maybe pulled them out, but no one had one so.. nothing we could do to help.

Caesar is doing well... he goes out everynow and then ... usually once every evening .. but he will run outside and then run back to the door and sit on the step until we decide to let him inside.

Oh yeah.. :/ In the car on the way home on Saturday I was talking to Fredrik and I made a statement and he said, "What did you say..?" And I repeated, "The price of meat..." (referring to how the price of meat was supposed to rise since they found a case of Mad Cow here). And I had actually said the first time "The pris of meat.." So, without even knowing or realizing.. a Swedish word just blurted out of my mouth.. :/ It doesn't happen so completely often, but it feels so weird when it does.. :/

Hmmm.. maybe not that exciting ...
*think*

Ah yes.. in June we were planning on taking a road trip through Sweden, Norway, and Finland, since we have to go part way up North for a wedding ... and now I don't know if we are going to be able to.. :((
The time when we would have to go, is when they are finishing up the project they are working on.. :/ And he might not be able to take any work off then.. :/ So, I'm afraid that we won't be able to take the couple of weeks we wanted.. we might have to fly up there and rent a car and then fly back within the weekend.. :/ So.. :( A little annoying, but not really anything we can do about it.. :/

Annoying because none of our travel plans are working out as we wanted them to.. :/ Not our Spring trip plans and now not our June trip plans.. :/ Hopefully we can make our August plans work out.. :/

But we are still planning a trip for Easter.. :/ And now I am determined to make those work out.. :/ There is a zoo near here, near a town called Norrköping and we plan to go there for Easter. I found some Bed and Breakfasts, and we plan on staying 2 nights and three days and visit the zoo, aquarium, and safari there and then see what else the town has to offer. (I ordered some tourist info books.)
This is the animal park's website: Kolmården (You can click the British flag for English at the top right hand corner.)
But here are the B & Bs that I found last night:

Soliden:
This is the main one that we are considering. It is about 100$ a night for a room with a full bathroom. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything on the site in English. If you click on "Galleri" then you can see some pictures (and then click on the arrows below the picture). Clicking on any of the options will show some pictures, though.

Marmorbruket bed and breakfast:
This one is a big option, too. But there are only 4 rooms.. :/ So, don't know if it is booked or not.. Prices ranging from 100-200$ a night. Again, nothing in English. But on the first page, you can click on the arrows where it says "bild" and look at everything. And then click where it says "mer info" to see more of everything...

Västra Station Bed and Breakfast:
This one you can get in English, click the British flag at the bottom left. But there are only 2 rooms here.. :/ So again, it all depends on how things are booked. This one is cheaper, only about 80$ a night for a room. But through them you can buy a package price, for 2 nights and 2 days in the park for 260$. Which, depending on the prices to get into the park, I dunno if that is a deal or not, but I would think so.

Hmmm.. *think*
A 2 day pass to the zoo and one trip through the safari with your own car is 51$ a person ... so that would be.. 101$ for the two of us ... and then.. 160$ for two nights with that last one, and it would be.. about 260$ .. so.. the same price if we buy the tickets through them or for ourselves. :) Good to know. :)

Blah blah blah.. okay.. now for some breakfast. :P

Farmor's 80th Birthday Party.

2006-03-19T09:57:00.000+01:00

Farmor's 80th Birthday Party.

Stupid, stupid Swedes.

2006-03-18T21:57:00.000+01:00

What are you doing sending Carola to the Eurovision contest?!?!?!?!?

You do remember that you have to go through the qualification this year, right?? Because of the horror you sent last year.
And I don't mind that you all love Carola, even though I don't really understand that either, but that is besides the point ... but don't you realize that no one outside of Sweden even remotely cares about who she is..?!?!
Just because you all love her, doesn't mean this bad song is going raise an eyebrow in the final.....
You can't send someone to the final just because she is popular in her own country. She has to contain something that other countries are going to find remotely interesting.. And I just don't see it.

You had a chance with BWO to actually do very, very well this year ...

Now I hope that you don't even make it through the qualification round for the final.

Bah humbug..

For Fredrik...

2006-03-18T08:06:00.000+01:00

Since Fredrik made the comment of "you didn't put on any Snape pictures" yesterday ... these are for Fredrik. :P :)

St. Patrick's Day.

2006-03-17T09:51:00.000+01:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day. :)

Fredrik's isn't at all any part Irish, but I'm hoping he'll have a little bit of Irish luck this afternoon when he has his salary meeting with the district boss. :)
They will meet at 2PM, so he has to stay an hour after he would get off work and have the meeting. His project boss gave him an estimate on what he should expect for a raise, so if that happens, we'll be happy with that. :)

It hasn't snowed for the last 2 days!! Maybe the first break we've had the last 3 months. And it has gotten a little above freezing, so a tiny bit of it has melted away. Fredrik says to not get my hopes up because it will probably snow again and bring it all back. :(

Anxious for Spring.. :/

Fredrik's grandma isn't doing too well. :/ She is.. 92.. 93..? years old.. maybe 92. But she has been doing much, much worse the last couple of days. Not eating at all. I think Fredrik's mom would just rather that she die, because it would be better than what is happening to her now. Even though of course it still won't be easy for all of us when that happens. (Just like with my grandmother that also has alzheimers.) Unlike my grandmother, who still retains some of her previous personality, and smiles and laughs everynow and then, Fredrik's grandmother is just.. a shell sorta.. :/ There really isn't much of anything left inside.. :/ I know that isn't very kind to say, but it is pretty much the truth. :/ Her and her husband hid the illness from the entire family for such a long time, that if anyone had known sooner.. it might not be so bad now. :/

But enough about that.. :/

We are doing well!
I'm still annoyed about the test grade, but I doubt there is anything I can do about it. Fredrik complained that it is a very bad grading system, but maybe better than the previous one they had. (Where there was a quota of grades, so many students had to get A's, so many B's ... so the teacher would just give grades to some students...) Blah.. blah.. blah...

Hmm.. tomorrow we are going to Fredrik's other grandma's 80th birthday lunch. We are meeting Fredrik's parents at a gasstation in the town, and then we'll follow them to the place where everyone is meeting for lunch.
It should be fun I think. :) I'm hoping at least. :D Try to make myself talk to people and not be so quiet.

We tried jumper cables on Fredrik's work car, and that did absolutely nothing. So, I think someone from his work will probably come down and try it, and then if nothing happens, they'll have to tow it somewhere. Which makes no sense that the car is behaving like this ... it is a brand new car.. :/ :) But not our problem. :)

Swedish pancakes for dinner. :) Supposed to have them on Thursday, but not this week for us. :)

*think*

I guess that is all for now. :)

Maybe just a few more...

2006-03-15T19:44:00.000+01:00

Almost forgot...

2006-03-15T13:43:00.000+01:00

Me.

2006-03-15T13:34:00.000+01:00

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7AM.

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Hostel..? (Yuck! What a horrible movie!)

4. What's your favorite TV show? Only one?? Six Feet Under.

5. What did you have for breakfast this morning? Risifrutti. (A yoghurt with rice in it. Sounds nasty but it is rather tasty.)

6. What's your favorite cuisine? Anything spicy and hot, and Italian.

7. What foods do you dislike? Anything raw/under cooked.

8. What is your favorite chip flavor? Regular chips with dill dip.

9. What's your favorite CD at the moment? The Darkness (both CDs), James Blunt, and of course anything Bocelli.

10. What kind of car do you drive? I can't drive. :P I don't have a Swedish drivers license! (But we have a Nissan.)

11. Favorite sandwich? Turkey.

12. What characteristics do you despise? People with no sense of humor.

13. What is your favorite type of clothing? Socks, and accessories: PURSES.

14. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Azores, Mauritius, Venice, Vienna, Russia, Hawaii, All of Eastern Europe, Malaysia, Eygpt, New Zealand, and probably many, many more.

15. What color is your bathroom? One is green, the other is blue.

16. Favorite brand of clothing? Lane Bryant.

17. Where would you retire to? Somewhere warm.

18. Favorite time of the day? Evening and night.

19. What was your most memorable birthday? I have lots of those.

20. Where were you born? Lorain, Ohio, USA.

21. Favorite sport to watch? Handball, curling, and icehockey.

22. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? A lot of people.

23. Person you expect to send it back first? Ehhh...

24. What fabric detergent do you use? Hmm... right now.. the kind we have is: "Skona." :)

25. Were you named after anyone? My father.

26. Do you wish on stars? Most definately.

27. When did you last cry? Last night, when I watched a Swedish documentary about death-row inmates in Texas waiting for execution.

28. Do you like your handwriting? Yes.

29. If you were another person, would you be friends with you? Absolutely. ;)

30. Are you a daredevil? I can be.

31. Do looks matter? To me, never; in society, always.

32. How do you release anger? Exercise, go on a walk, or write poetry.

33. Where is your second home? Summerhouse (in Nössemark, Sweden).

34. What was your favorite toy as a child? Probably all my stuffed animals.

35. What class in High School was totally useless? Health class.

36. Favorite Movies? Two many to name, but just a few: Rosemary's Baby, Much Ado about Nothing, Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Secret of NIMH, Rodgers and Hammersteins Cinderella.

38. What are your nicknames? Hurly.

39. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Depends on the pair.

40. Do you think that you are strong? Mentally, physically, but not always emotionally.

41. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Vanilla.

42. What are your favorite colors? Navy blue, natural colors, and other dark colors like: forest green, maroon, etc..

43. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? I don't trust people.

44. Who do you miss the most? My parents, I wish I was able to see them more often.

45. Do you want everyone you sent this to, to send it back? I know the odds of that happening.. ;)

46. What color pants are you wearing? Jeans.

47. What are you listening to right now? The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, ticking clock, and Fredrik mumbling things every now and then, or Fredrik yelling at the cat trying to get him to stop running around so fast.

48. Last thing you ate? A mexican (hot and spicy!) flavored Swedish pizza. (Really yummy!)

49. If you were a CRAYON what color would you be? Blue.

50. Last person you talked to on the phone? Fredrik.

51. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Hair, disposition, and sense of humor.

52. Favorite Drink? Tea, hot chocolate, Coke, Vichy Nouveau or LOKA (water with bubbles, or "water with gas" as they say in Prague) and cider ... and probably some others, too.

53. Do you wear contacts? Everynow and then, but mostly glasses.

54. Favorite Day of the Year? Halloween.

55. Scary Movies or Happy Endings? Scary movies.

56. Summer or winter? Fall.

57. Hugs OR Kisses? Hugs AND kisses.

58. What is Your Favorite Dessert? Ice cream, or chips and dip.

59. What Book(s) are you reading? Petals on the Wind (V.C. Andrews), Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolken), Harry Potter series (again) (J.K. Rowling), Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens), and probably some other things, too.

60. What's On Your Mouse Pad? No mouse pad.

61. What Did You Watch Last night on TV? CSI Las Vegas, 45 Minuter (Swedish documentary show).

62. Favorite Smells? Vanilla, and cinnamon.

63. Rolling Stones or Beatles? Both.

64. What's the furthest you've been from home? Previous home: Estonia; present home: USA.

Very, very annoyed.

2006-03-14T22:38:00.000+01:00

I received a message from my teacher on our school site, and she gave me my grade from the test that I talked about in the previous message. And I received 16 out of the 17 points (94%), which is really good, right?

Well, she only gave me a grade of VG, which I think is totally unfair. :/
The highest grade is an MVG, and the second highest grade is a VG.

To get a VG, you had to get 14 out of 17 points. Which for American standards would be an 82.4%, which is a B.. or from my highschool would be a C.
So, I get the same grade as someone who got an 82%?
That isn't fair. :/
I think I deserve an MVG.

*complain*whine*
I know it might be petty for me to whine and complain about something like this, but I think she is being completely unfair. Makes me even wonder if I really didn't get a 17/17 ......

First test.

2006-03-14T19:41:00.000+01:00

I had my first test today. Not even been "in the class" for one week yet. :) It was.. annoyingly easy.. :/ It was only 7 questions worth 17 points and I finished it in literally 10 minutes. And then I wasted another 10 minutes checking my answers over a couple of times, also wasting time so she didn't think anything odd about how fast I finished.
I'm good for over studying and worrying about stuff like this. :/ But I usually do until I've had the first test and see what they look like. Next test is 2 weeks away.

Fredrik talked me into taking an earlier bus, so I got to the school at 13.30 (her office hours - when I could take the test was btwn 13.30 and 15.30), and I wanted to show up around 14.30 and take the test. Fredrik talked me into going earlier, "just incase I needed the extra time." *rolling eyes* So, started the test at 13.50, I was completely finished by 14.10 ... *sigh* And then I had to wait for Fredrik to get off work so we could go home. It wasn't going to be much time, so I thought it better to wait for him to get off work then to pay to go home on the bus. So, I had awhile to wait. And in the meantime, I went through the complete next chapter of material for my next test in 2 weeks... :/
*joy*

After he picked me up, we went and had dinner, though. To make up for our days. :) He had a horrible, horrible day at work.
And his work car isn't starting, so he's been having to take our car to work. We're sure it is the battery, and he is charging it, but nothing is happening. So, not sure what to do about that.

Still snowing every day. :/
The experts here think that we will have snow on the ground well into April. (I think it will be longer than that - we have 3-4 feet high piles in our yard.)

*think*
Nope.. :/ Nothing more I guess.. :)

I'm not...

2006-03-13T20:48:00.000+01:00

I swear...

Goblet of Fire.

2006-03-13T13:24:00.000+01:00

When was it... on Saturday..? Yes, it was Saturday. We had the *ehm* chance of seeing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire again. And, I only have one thing to say: Snape.
Alan Rickman just does a perfect job of portraying the character. My definate favorite in the series. If you have seen the previous movies, I do recommend seeing this one, even though it is skimpy from the book.
I can't wait to see the extended version/deleted scenes, which I've heard has a great scene btwn Karkaroff and Snape.

I'm not obsessed. :P

Fourth year Exam (Harry Potter)

2006-03-12T22:37:00.000+01:00

Want to take Exam 4, from "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire?" Take the test HERE.

A wasted day.

2006-03-11T15:33:00.000+01:00

Today was very, very wasted.. :/ Fredrik's dad was very annoyed. :/ :)

He got here (Fredrik's dad) around 10AM or so, and they started working on the floor. Laying the tiles where they should go, to figure out spacing and such, and how big some tiles needed to be for cutting, etc...
And then they tried to cut the tile, with a tile cutter, of course .... and the tile wouldn't cut.. :/ The tile is so thick and sturdy, that a tile cutter did nothing to the tile.. :/ And then they tried a saw.. and tried to saw through each side as much as possible, and then tried to hit it so that it would break apart, and then it would crack, but not properly, and not straight ...

So, then he and his dad went into town and they were going to buy a mechanical tile cutter .... But they were out..... but there was one you could rent, but it was booked and gone for the day.... :))
So, they couldn't do anything with the floor tile. :(
So, instead they worked some on the electricity, and pulled some wires, etc..

And we chatted for a long time.

But he won't be coming to help out next Saturday, but hopefully he'll be coming the Saturday after that.
Not next Saturday because it is Fredrik's grandma's 80th birthday! So, they invited some family to lunch and then coffee and cake afterwards at their apartment.
We weren't sure if we were going but then we decided we both wanted to and that it would be a lot of fun.
So, it should be the grandparents, Fredrik's parents, us, Fredrik's aunt and uncle, and probably all the cousins, 5 of them.
So, that is who we are guessing will be there.
Should be fun, though, I think. :)
Fredrik's cousins are really nice, so it will be nice to see them again. Only time I've met them was at our Swedish wedding. :)
Fredrik's mom is jealous because we received a formal invitation and they didn't.. :/ :D

Right now we are watching the 2nd half of the first Lord of the Rings movie. They are our rainy-Saturday afternooon movies. :)

Trying to think if anything else has happened..
Hmmm...

Fredrik has his annual pay meeting with the district boss on the 17th. He should be getting a raise then.

I've been working on my school stuff.
On Wednesday last week I had a meeting with the teacher (there were 3 students there total), and she went over the independent study thing with all of us. I have my first test next week.. :/ :)) I'll finish the class in 2 months. It is just math, so it isn't too difficult. :) And then after summer, I'll continue with the next class.

*think*

Ah yes.. and Easter is coming up, and Fredrik will have lots of work off, so we were thinking about taking a trip somewhere. We were thinking of going to the summerhouse, but I think we might go somewhere nearby for a few nights. The only thing we can think of doing so far is going to a town near here, a few hours away, called Norrköping. Try to find a bed and breakfast or something like that, and look around in the town, and there is a zoo there, with a safari..! So, that would be lots of fun, and if we run out of things to do, we can go a little bit farther south and look in some other cute, small towns.

His dad asked us what trip(s) we had planned for summer.. We're still trying to figure all that out. :/ :)
We were going to go to Scotland (Glasgow) during the Spring ... but since we have to go up north in Sweden in June for a wedding, we are going to take a long roadtrip then, and take at least a week and drive up through Sweden, and maybe go into Finland and drive back down through Norway. So, that should be really nice. So, I think we are going to hold off on Glasgow for the time being, maybe do that a little later.
And we are thinking of going to Slovakia or Austria in August. Slovakia would be a lot cheaper, but possibly a lot more to do in Vienna.
So, we'll see what happens with all of that. :)

But I think that that is all for now. :)

Bird flu found in two Swedish towns

2006-03-08T13:49:00.000+01:00

Published: 8th March 2006 10:15 CET

The aggressive form of bird flu has been found in four birds in eastern Sweden, the Swedish Board of Agriculture has revealed. Three tufted ducks were discovered with the virus in Oxelösund, about 120 kilometres south of Stockholm. Another bird, a greater scaup, was found in Karlskrona, in the far south of Sweden.

The board said in a statement that more birds were likely to be found elsewhere in the country.

A police patrol, together with an ornithologist and representatives from the local authority, inspected the Stumholmen area of central Karlskrona on Wednesday morning, said Alexander Vujovic, duty commander at Blekinge police.

The island of Stumholmen is a mainly residential area, and contains a nursery school and the Maritime Museum. No parts of the town have been sealed off yet, Vujovic told TT.

Police say they are waiting for information from the Swedish Board of Agriculture before taking further measures.

Karlskrona town council called a staff meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss the discovery of the bird. The town's information manager, Joakim Johansson, said he had only limited information.

A press conference will be held at the Maritime Museum at 1pm on Wednesday. The Blekinge county administrative board and the Swedish Board of Agriculture were on Wednesday morning discussing the issues in a telephone conference.'

Before the discoveries in Karlskrona and Oxelösund, six birds had been found with the aggressive H5 virus in Sweden. All had been found in the Oskarshamn area, about 80 kilometres north of Karlskrona. Two of these birds are suspected to have been carrying the H5N1 virus, but confirmation is awaited from the EU reference laboratory in the UK later in the week.

Until the discovery of the greater scaup in Karlskrona, all affected birds in Sweden had been tufted ducks.

H5N1 first arrived in Europe in October, when it was diagnosed in birds in Turkey and Romania. Four children died in Turkey in January after contracting the virus. According to the World Health Organisation, 94 people have died of the virus so far, the majority in Asia.

We live near Öxelösund. :) It is a tiny town near here. We actually looked at a few apartments there, before we decided we didn't want to live there. It is probably 10 miles away? Exciting stuff. :)

Yes, I know...

2006-03-07T13:55:00.000+01:00

...it is really sad that I take those Harry Potter quizes, but I think it is worse that I do so well. :/ Not sure that is something to be proud of. :/ :) But maybe a little impressive.. Since I've only read the books once. But plan on reading them again very soon. :/ :)
But they are fun and that is all that matters. :)
They are probably pretty tough if you have only seen the movies and haven't read the books.

Not that much happening.. :/ Very, very cold here... and still snowing at least a little every day. :/ Winter is supposed to last at least this week, not sure how much further beyond that.

Fredrik's dad didn't come this past weekend, he had been a bit sick, so hopefully he will come this Saturday, and we will start on the floor!

I've been reviewing some math, the previous book, so I know where it ended and where the next one should take off. I start my class tomorrow, it is an independent study class, so it shouldn't be too bad.

Really nothing happening around here.. :/ Just quiet and really cold.. :/ And work is going well for Fredrik.
I'm sure I'll write more soon.

Third year Exam (Harry Potter)

2006-03-06T19:31:00.000+01:00

Want to take Exam 3, from "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?" Take the test HERE.

Second year Exam (Harry Potter)

2006-03-06T19:16:00.000+01:00

Want to take Exam 2, from "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets?" Take the test HERE.

First year Exam (Harry Potter)

2006-03-06T19:06:00.000+01:00

Want to take Exam 1, from "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone?" Take the test HERE.

Where do you belong? (Hogwarts House quiz)

2006-03-06T18:53:00.000+01:00

be sorted @ nimbo.net

Once again I was sorted into Slytherin house.. :/ :)

Which Harry Potter Character are you like?

2006-03-06T18:48:00.000+01:00

I guessed Herminone because I just didn't know, she likes to study, so I picked her. But I really don't think that I am anything like Harry Potter.. :/

Want to know your character?? Take the test HERE.

What's your Hogwarts House?

2006-03-06T18:28:00.000+01:00

Want to take the test? Do so HERE.

Experts 'very sure' flu is deadly strain

2006-03-04T10:29:00.000+01:00

Published: 3rd March 2006 21:25 CET

Eight dead tufted ducks found in the Oskarshamn area were all carrying the H5 virus, said officials at Sweden's National Veterinary Institute on Friday.

"We won't know until Monday whether it was the aggressive variant of H5," said the institute's Lennart Melin.

The EU reference laboratory in Weybridge, England, said on Friday afternoon that everything indicates that two tufted ducks found earlier near Oskarshamn were suffering from the deadly H5N1 virus, Melin told news agency TT.

"The British experts are very sure that they were carrying the H5N1 virus, but they will do the final analysis at the beginning of next week."

Seven wild ducks found in Västervik, south-eastern Sweden, and birds found in other areas including Västergötland, were not carrying any influenza virus, analyses from the National Veterinary Institute showed.

"We can rule these out completely," Melin said.

The institute will wait until Monday before it examines the ducks to find out whether they were carrying an aggressive form of the virus. Melin said it was most likely that they were, and likely that it would be H5N1, given that the first two ducks were almost certainly carrying H5N1. The institute is therefore not going to send the eight ducks to the UK for further analysis.

"Given that the eight tufted ducks were found in the same place as the first two, and we know that the disease is present there, it doesn't matter if they were also infected by the aggressive variant or not," said Melin.

The practical effect of knowing whether the eight ducks had the aggressive virus would be small:

"It would lead to a change neither in the current regulations nor in the way that the Swedish Board of Agriculture is acting. Nor would we learn more about the way the virus is spreading," he said.

"The good news is that the only place we have found the H5 virus is in the same small area by the nuclear power station in Oskarshamn."

Swedish mad cow case confirmed

2006-03-04T10:25:00.000+01:00

Published: 3rd March 2006 13:31 CET

The European Commission confirmed on Friday that the first case of case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, has been detected in Sweden.

The infected animal was a 12-year-old cow which had been culled because of problems with milking fever, said the EU's executive arm.

Sweden's agriculture minister Ann-Christin Nykvist told Swedish Radio that it was sad that the country now had its first case of BSE.

"We're the only [EU] country which hasn't had any cases of BSE. Now we do and that's sad. But I want to emphasise that there is no increased risk of eating Swedish meat. Now the Swedish Board of Agriculture will look into how the cow became infected."

Until now, only cows that died or were culled on account of a disease have been tested for BSE in Sweden because of its special low-risk BSE status.

"As a result of this BSE case, the (European) Commission will now reconsider the grounds for the special derogation for Sweden from the requirement to test all bovine animals intended for human consumption," said the European Commission in a statement.

Sweden conducts every year about 10,000 random tests for BSE on cows when they go to the slaughterhouse.

The commission said that there was already an investigation under way to try to discover how the cow became infected with the disease.

All offspring and other cows it had been around were being tracked down and would be culled so that no meat or products linked to the cow could enter the food or feed chain.

"It's unexpected, extremely unexpected, but not unbelievable," said Anders Engvall, the director general of the National Veterinary Institute to TT.

He did not rule out the possibility that more cows could be infected.

"But in that case it would be a very limited number. In 1994, when this cow was infected, we didn't have a completely secure system for avoiding infection through meat and bonemeal. Today that is banned."

For that reason the institute sees no immediate reason to introduce any new measures.

"Possibly there could be a requirement for increased testing of Swedish livestock in future," said Engvall.

More Swedish birds carrying bird flu virus

2006-03-04T10:21:00.000+01:00

Published: 3rd March 2006 10:54 CET

Eight of the 31 dead birds from the Oskarshamn area which were tested for bird flu have been found to be carrying the virus, according to results from the National Veterinary Institute released on Friday.

"But we won't know whether it's the mild or the aggressive variant of the H5 until later on Friday," said the institute's Lennart Melin.

The Institute said that it would confirm by the evening whether the birds had the highly pathogenic form of the H5 virus.

If the tests are positive, the samples will be sent for further analysis at the EU reference laboratory in Britain for final confirmation that the birds were carrying H5N1.

The birds being tested were herons, tufted ducks and other ducks.

Search efforts for additionally infected birds in the Oskarshamn area will be reduced on Friday and police check points will be taken away.

Supervised areas around the nuclear power plant outside of Oskarshamn will keep all restrictions regarding transport of fowl and poultry products.

On Tuesday, the aggressive bird virus was found in two dead tufted ducks in waters outside the nuclear power plant in Oskarshamn.

Swedish health officials decided yesterday to classify the virus as constituting a public danger.

As such, doctors who discover the virus in patients must now report findings to the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control.

Doctors who treat possibly infected patients are still responsible for containing the virus, and informing all who could have come into contact with the disease.

Doctors are also responsible for information on how to prevent further spreading of the virus.

In addition to the H5N1 virus, around 25 other diseases are classified in Sweden as constituting a public danger, including the diphtheria, hepatitis A-E, cholera, anthrax, rabies and tuberculosis.

How MAD are you bout Harry Potter?

2006-03-03T08:58:00.000+01:00

100% MAD!

How MAD are you bout Harry Potter? The ULTIMATE HARRY POTTER QUIZ!!!!!
brought to you by Quizilla

What Elemental Goddess Are You?

2006-03-03T08:09:00.000+01:00

Earth Goddess

What Elemental Goddess Are You? (Earth, Fire, Wind, Water) + Pictures +
brought to you by Quizilla

Which villain from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince are you?

2006-03-03T08:04:00.000+01:00

You are Severus Snape

You are a whiz at potions and skilled at working as a double agent for Dumbledore and Voldemort. But who’s side are you on? Although you may have been lead astray by the dark lord initially, you are really fighting the good fight, as a spy against the death eaters. Or is it the other way around?

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

You Know You're a 90's Kid If...

2006-03-03T07:56:00.000+01:00

You've ever ended a sentence with the word "PSYCHE!"

You can sing the rap to "The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air"

You remember when Kurt Cobain, Tu Pac, River Pheonix, and Selena died.

You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey from "Blossom" and that "How Rude!" comes from Stephanie from "Full House"

You remember when it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.

You got super excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.

You remember reading "Goosebumps"

You know the profound meaning of "Wax on, wax off"

You have pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.

You took plastic cartoon lunch boxes to school.

You danced to "wannabe" by the Spice Girls, Females: had a new motto, Males: got a whole lot gay-er. (so tell me what you want, what you really really want.)

You remember the craze then the banning of slap bracelets and slam books.

You still get the urge to say "NOT" after (almost) every sentence...Not...

Where in the world is Carmen San Diego? was both a game and a TV game show.

You knew that Kimberly, the pink ranger, and Tommy, the green* Ranger were meant to be together.

*later to be white

"I've fallen and I can't get up"

You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates

Two words... Trapper Keeper.

You ever got injured on a Slip 'n' Slide

You wore socks over leggings scrunched down.
"Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, all dressed in black, black, black, with silver buttons, buttons, buttons, all down her back, back, back" SHE ASKED HER MOTHER MOTHER MOTHER FOR FIFTY CENTS CENTS CENTS TO SEE THE ELEPHANTS PHANTS PHANTS JUMP OVER THE FENCE THE FENCE THE FENCE he jumped so high high high he touched the sky sky sky and he didn't come back back back til the forth of july ly ly he jumped so low ow ow he stubbed his toe toe toe and that's the end end end of the elephants show show show."

You remember boom boxes vs. cd players

You remember New Kids on The Block when they were cool

You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell"

You played and or collected "Pogs"

You had at least one Tamagotchi, GigaPet or Nano and brought it everywhere

You watched the original Care Bears, My Little Pony, and Ninja Turtles

Yikes pencils and erasers were it.

All your school supplies were "Lisa Frank" brand. (pencils.notebooks.binders.etc.)

You remember when the new Beanie Babies were always sold out.

You used to wear those stick on earrings, not only on your ears, but at the corners of your eyes.

You remember a time before the WB.

You've gotten creeped out by "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"

You know the Macarena by heart.

"Talk to the hand" ... enough said

You thought Brain would finally take over the world

You always said, "Then why don't you marry it!"

Bathroom, semlor, and kitties.

2006-03-01T17:54:00.000+01:00

Bathroom, semlor, and kitties.

Bird flu 'doesn't worry Swedes'

2006-03-01T07:51:00.000+01:00

Published: 28th February 2006 11:07 CET

Swedes are not worried about a widespread outbreak of bird flu despite findings of the epidemic near Sweden's border, according to a survey conducted by Swedish market-research agency Temo.

In a survey conducted in twelve countries from 13 January until 3 February, approximately 7,000 people, including 1,000 in Sweden, were asked their opinon regarding Bird Flu.

Only twelve percent of Swedes said they were concerned or really concerned about a widespread outbreak of the deadly virus in Sweden.

According to the survery, Swedes believe that the media are overplaying the risk. Only in Norway is concern less than than in Sweden.

"Swedes seem to be reluctant to heed the warning signals. The most common opinion is that the media are exaggerating," Temo spokesman Arne Modig said.

Even following the outbreak of Bird Flu on the German island of Rügen last week, an additional survey of 1,000, conducted by Temo, showed concern at 17 percent in Sweden.

In Indonesia, where several have died from the H5N1 virus, worry over a widespread outbreak was extremely high. 83 percent of Indonesians expressed concern in the survey.

Fears were also significantly higher compared to Sweden in some countries where Bird Flu has not been found, such as the US and Portugal. Around 40 percent of both Americans and Portugese expressed concern over an outbreak of the pandemic in their respective countries.

Calmest of all were the Norwegians, where only eight percent expressed concerned in the survey.

Bird flu reaches Sweden

2006-03-01T07:45:00.000+01:00

Published: 28th February 2006 11:59 CET

An aggressive bird flu virus likely to be H5N1 has reached Sweden, the government has announced. The virus was found in wild birds near Oskarshamn, in Småland in the south of the country.

The National Veterinary Institute has examined between 35 and 40 dead birds, of which two were found to have been carrying the virus.

The birds were tufted ducks, according to a press release from the Swedish Board of Agriculture. They were found in the area around Oskarshamn's nuclear power station.

The board said that it would enforce an observation zone in the area. Dead birds found in the area will be either sent for tests or destroyed. The aim is to stop the virus spreading to domestic birds.

Sweden's agriculture minister Ann-Christin Nykvist told a press conference on Tuesday that the discovery was "serious but not unexpected."

She said that the priority now was to collect dead birds and to protect domestic flocks.

Marianne Elvander of the National Veterinary Institute said that the birds were infected with "highly pathogenic H5 virus." She added that tests indicated it was indentical to virus found in birds in Russia, China and Africa, but said that it had not yet been possible to confirm that it was H5N1.

But, said Elvander, "all cases [of H5 virus] we have seen in recent times have been H5N1."

The final confirmation will come from tests at the European Reference Laboratory at Weybridge, Britain, "in a week or two".

The zone contains 'few' domestic birds, according to the board. Owners of poultry and other farmed or pet birds will be contacted during Tuesday, and will be subject to inspections and tests.

The board also said that extra security measures would be taken and restictions would be placed on trade in bird products from the area.

Ann-Christin Nykvist said she was not currently planning vaccination of Swedish birds.

"We have been doubtful with regard to vaccination, but the question could become relevant."

Leif Denneberg at the Swedish Board of Agriculture said there had been discussions with the military about any possible role they could play in searching for dead birds.

Swedish experts have been waiting for discoveries of dead birds with the aggressive strain of bird flu.

Yesterday Zsuzsanna Jakab, head of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, said to TT yesterday that H5N1 was likely to break out in more European countries, but said she didn't perceive an increased risk to human health "even if there are more and more outbreaks in Europe in the future."

Sweden is the ninth country in the European Union to be hit by the lethal bird flu strain. H5N1 first reached Europe last year, when cases were confirmed in Turkey and Romania.

Four children died in eastern Turkey in January after contracting the virus. At least twelve people have been infected with H5N1 in Turkey.

The virus has spread across Europe and has been diagnosed in birds in Bosnia, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Croatia, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary and Austria.

A number of EU countries have ordered people with domestic birds to keep them inside. demand for poultry has fallen across Europe, falling by 70 percent in Italy.

Snowing. :(

2006-03-01T07:24:00.000+01:00

I woke up and saw more snow on the ground. :/ It is already the first of March, and it is still snowing. :/ It got slightly above freezing yesterday, and even on those days a little has been melting away here and there, but now it is all back.. :/

Caesar still won't go outside. :/ But at least now we have a little reason for an explaination..
A guy Fredrik works with commented on his neighbors cat, also a Norwegian Forest cat.. and it won't go outside either. And he said that it is because of the frozen snow. That for some reason, this type of cat doesn't like to step on snow that is hard. Because they can't tell how much weight it will hold, and they are afraid they will fall through.. :/
Sorta intelligent I guess.. :/
That is why Caesar will only sit on our back step, because there is a huge mound of ice off the step from wet snow that fell off the roof.
I mean.. I push him outside, and he sits on the step and within a couple of minutes he starts shaking.. :/ He isn't cold.. his hair is waterproof.. he is scared.. :/
What a weird cat. :/ :))

Now Caesar is sitting in the stairs, with his head poking out the back, wanting me to come and play with him.. :/ :D

I have a few pictures from the get-together in Stockholm.. the crowd of people that met the icehockey teams.

My site counter is getting back to normal. :) Not more but a couple of people searching for the women's curling team.
But..! There were two new searches yesterday that are worth mentioning.. :D
Two different people searched for:
- "Bad stuff about Sweden"
- "hurly syndrome"

:/ :)

I have to put pictures on, I'll try to get to that today if I remember.. :P

Not that much else exciting happening lately.. :/
Fredrik has his icehockey game today. :) I told him to just not break a leg or something.. :/ :) Probably would be very interesting to watch.. :/ :D Hope someone takes pictures. :)

The bird flu has reached Sweden.. :/ :) Although, most people really don't care. I'll put on some articles.. :)

But I think that is all for now. :/
:)

A great game!! :)

2006-02-26T17:07:00.000+01:00

Sweden beat Finland in the icehockey final, 3-2. :) Giving Sweden their 7th Gold medal this Winter Olympics.

This final medal brings the total to:
7 Gold
2 Silver
5 Bronze
Putting Sweden in 6th place of overall medal total. (Well, counting the way it should be, with the amount of Gold medals, then Silver, etc.. unlike how the American websites are doing it at this moment with total medal sums. I'm not sure why they are doing that, but I am sure they have their reasons behind it.)

Curling, bathroom, and icehockey.

2006-02-26T07:58:00.000+01:00

I'm slightly bothered.. :/

I was getting massive hits to my blog, and I couldn't figure out why, so I added another site counter (at the very bottom of the page), and it tells you what specific people have searched for in order to have found your site .... and people are searching for the Swedish women's curling team.. :/ I had like.. 130 hits the other day (which, the typical amount is btwn 10-15), and probably 95% of that was people looking for imformation about the team, the other 5% was Fredrik and I looking at the counter number.

So, I guess the curling team is very hot in the USA right now, because that is where everyone was visiting from.

But the men's icehockey team plays their Final against Finland today. :))
I bet this is a big upset for North America. :) Neither the US or Canada even in the Semi-Final. :D
And I am glad that it is Sweden-Finland and not Sweden-Russia, because there is such a nice rivalry on the ice btwn Sweden and Finland, I think it will make for a very, very good game. :)
All the newspapers have been so mean to Finland about the game. :D Offering citizenship application papers to the Finns, so they can immigrate to Sweden so they have a chance to get a Gold.. :/ :D So mean.. :)

Fredrik's dad came over yesterday, but wasn't here for that long. He was here for maybe 4 hours, but worked on the bathroom for about 3 hours or so.. (Have to take breaks, and he stayed for awhile afterwards and chatted, etc..)

But the walls are completely tiled. :) Yay! :) (Except for the tiles that meet the floor - the floor has to be done first before those tiles can be put on.) So, next time he comes over, we'll start on the floor, which I don't think should take very long (but we say that about everything) .. :/
He is anxious to finish the walls off (filling in the filler stuff inbtwn the tiles) and putting up the cabinets and working a little more on what is left of the electrical stuff. And I think he wants to start on some of the water pipe stuff next Saturday, too. But I think what we have left to accomplish will go by fast. The tiling of the walls was a big job.
But I think we are certain of the few things that we have left to buy.. :/ We keep remembering things here and there.. Have to get the sink faucet, shower door, bathroom door, fixtures for the walls and shower (towel holders, etc), and a new fernace for the room. Even though we have a heated floor, we can't leave the wiring undone.. :/ So we are going to have to put a heater anyways. At least that is what his dad said. :)

Blah blah blah..

Don Knotts died on Friday.. :/ That is really sad. I grew up watching "The Andy Griffith Show." He was such a great actor.

We are having 'semlor' today. :)
Semlor are what the Swedish eat to celebrate Fat Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday). (Or "fettisdagen" in Swedish. Literally translated "fatty-day.") :/ :)
A semla is a.. pastry. A bread, cut out in the center, with cream in the middle. Fredrik's mom makes a massive amount of the bread, and always gives us some, so I don't have to make it myself (yay!!). And then she has a different cream filling than the normal filling, which is super, super yummy.. :/ :) whipped cream, powdered sugar (to give it sweetness), and crushed almonds, mixed together. :) Super yummy. :)
Mums. :)
Supposed to eat it on Tuesday of course, but it isn't so important to us what day. :/ :) And we will have so many, it will last until Tuesday and beyond.. :/ :)
I'll take a picture of our semlor to share. :)

Fredrik's grandma's (farmor) 80th birthday is coming up, and they want us to come over and have lunch with them (supposed to be Fredrik's parents, the grandparents and us). They only live a couple of hours away, so we might try to do that. :) I don't know why we don't see them much more often.. :/ maybe because of all the bathroom work that we have to get done on the weekends.. :/
So, we are going to try to do that, hopefully we can.

Final day for the Olympics today. Hopefully, everyone will calm down and my visitor count for my blog will get back to normal. :/ :))

But I think that is all for now. I will have bathroom pictures to put up.
Now I need to wake up Fredrik. :/ :)

A Gold for Anna Carin!

2006-02-25T12:47:00.000+01:00

Anna Carin Olofsson received a Gold medal today in the 12.5 km skiing.

6 Gold
2 Silver
5 Bronze

A suprise Bronze. :)

2006-02-24T13:43:00.000+01:00

When everyone was figuring that Anja Pärson would end up with another Gold, Anna Ottosson came in third with the Bronze!

Anna Ottosson in the giant slalom.

Anna Ottosson waiting for the last few skiers, hoping to hold onto a medal.

Gold for curling!!! :))

2006-02-23T20:50:00.000+01:00

The Swedish women's team beat Switzerland in an overtime with 7-6, in a match that lasted almost 3½ hours! :) So they will receive Gold medals. :) Very, very happy for them. They really deserve it. :)

Annette Norberg with the last stone, securing the win over Switzerland.

Bringing the medal total to:
5 Gold !!!
2 Silver
4 Bronze

Yes, more pictures... :)

2006-02-23T20:40:00.000+01:00

Björn Lind's teammates lifting him into the air.

Björn Lind and Thobias Fredriksson receiving their Gold and Bronze medals.

Björn Lind and Thobias Fredriksson.

Anja Pärson and the other medalists.

Anja Pärson and her gold medal.

Anja + Gold!!

2006-02-22T18:35:00.000+01:00

Anja Pärson finally received her Gold medal in the slalom. :)

Anja after crossing the finishline to secure her Gold medal.

Anja's traditional victory slide. :)

And the curling women won against Norway, 5-4. So they will receive either a Silver or Gold from the Final against Switzerland.

Eva Lund and Anna Svärd celebrating right after their 5-4 victory over Norway.

Eva Lund, Anna Svärd, Cathrine Lindahl, and Anette Norberg will compete on Thursday.

Cathrine Lindahl, Anette Norberg, Eva Lund, and Anna Svärd.

Another Gold and Bronze. :)

2006-02-22T14:08:00.000+01:00

In the skiing sprint, the men took the Gold (Björn Lind) and the Bronze (Thobias Fredriksson).

Björn Lind looking behind him before crossing the finishline.

Björn Lind after crossing the finishline.

Bringing the medal total to:
3 Gold
2 Silver
4 Bronze

Hello, hello!

2006-02-22T11:44:00.000+01:00

More snow today.. :/ The end of February and I don't see Winter letting up anytime soon.. :/ Very anxious for Spring.. Everyone keeps commenting how nice they think it will be here in Spring and Summer.. and I'm starting to wonder if we will ever find out. :/ I keep looking at the pictures that I took when we first moved in (middle of August). So nice and green and warm.. :)) And then I realize that we have already lived here for.. 6½ months..? :/

Lots of medal hopefuls for Sweden today. :) Lots of skiing, and some women's curling. I really hope the curling team does well.. I think they definately deserve a medal. :) They play against Norway today in the semi-final.

But even though it is still snowing and we still have feet and feet of it high on the ground ... it is getting brighter longer. :) So, even though it doesn't look like it.. Spring is coming. Spring, wild strawberries, and rhubarb. :)))

Sweden's medals are as follows (as of right now):
2 Gold
2 Silver
3 Bronze

Fredrik's dad was here on Saturday, and even though we didn't get to start on the floors, it all looks so great. :) We should definately finish the walls during the next visit. It takes a little more time with cutting the pieces, etc.. It looks so nice. :) It looks like a bathroom again. :) But Fredrik and I are going to work the next few days on precutting some tile, so we can move things along faster on Saturday. His dad really, really, really wants to start working on the floor. I'll probably wait until after this Saturday to put on some pictures. At least I believe he is coming this Saturday, we usually don't know until the night before.

But when his dad came last time, he brought 2 big boxes of Fredrik's school things that they found in the attic while cleaning it out because of the rats. So, we have been going through that this week and it is a lot of fun to look at the pictures he drew when he was little. :) Postcards from his friends when he was young and some pictures. Lots of school papers and some fun coloring books from Iraq. :)

Fredrik had a fun day yesterday. :)
Some background information. At work (many company work places have these days), they have days everynow and then.. it is like a .. "wellness day." Where they get together and do something that requires some physical effort, to try to keep everyone in shape.
Well, their boss decided that on their day they would play icehockey against another Skanska office from the town of Örebro (where Fredrik's grandparents live).
So, yesterday (they went to Eskilstuna) and practised their icehockey. :)) They met there in the morning and stayed until lunch and then went to work.
Fredrik can't skate :D so he is in goal. :)))
But a guy works with them that plays Division 3 icehockey in a real league, so he is their hopeful savoir in the game. :D

But that is enough for now. :) Not that much happening besides constant snowing and Caesar refusing to go outside for weeks at a time.

And we received 2 more bills from the ER fiasco from the States, bringing the total to 7200 USD (eller 50.400,00 SEK). Yikes! And I think there are even more bills on the way.
I really liked Social health care before this.. but now I LOVE it.
I had surgery last Spring, and all I had to pay for was 100 SEK (or 14 USD) for the ambulance ride from the doctor's office to the ER.

Enough ranting! There are more Olympics to watch. :)

Silver for women's icehockey!

2006-02-21T07:21:00.000+01:00

The Swedish women's icehockey team.

The Swedish female icehockey team took the Silver medal, against Canada last night in the Final. We weren't expecting a win over Canada. :) But the girls did a great job. The goalie is only 19 (she was 15 years old 4 years ago in her first Olympics), so we are expecting great things from this young team.

Kim Martin (goalie) och Danijela Rundqvist showing off their silver medals.

Skiing bronze medalists.

2006-02-19T15:45:00.000+01:00

A very happy bunch.

Mats Larsson, Johan Olsson, Anders Södergren and Mathias Fredriksson receiving their bronze medals.

3rd Bronze!

2006-02-19T11:55:00.000+01:00

Sweden has definately exceeded any expecations for medals this Winter Olympics. :))

A skiing male relay team just won the bronze. :) Mats Larsson, Johan Olsson, Anders Södergren and Mathias Fredriksson.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures to add later.

(L to R) Germany, Sweden, and Italy.

Medal totals:
2 Gold (1 pending - women's icehockey)
1 Silver (1 pending - women's icehockey)
3 Bronze

I have lots of hope for the women's curling team, too, so we'll wish them lots of luck. :))

Another Bronze.

2006-02-19T08:24:00.000+01:00

Anja Pärson received another bronze medal yesterday. But she wasn't very happy about it. :/ She really, really wanted the Gold. :( She always comes in 2nd or 3rd, and I think that for once she would like to finish first. I feel really bad for her, as I suspect most of Sweden does.

Anja Pärson breaking her pole after she realizes that her rival Janica Kostelic, from Croatia, took first place from her.

Anja Pärson receiving her 2nd Bronze medal.

Bringing Sweden's medal total to:
2 Gold
1 Silver
2 Bronze

Even though another medal is on the way! :)
The Swedish women's icehockey team will receive at least a Silver medal, and possibly a Gold. Just have to wait and see how the final games go.

More pictures from the Olympics.

2006-02-17T08:38:00.000+01:00

Anja Pärson in the downhill skiing competition.

The gold medalists.

Anja Pärson received the bronze medal in downhill skiing.

The skiing gold medalists.

Anna-Carin Olofsson.

Anna-Carin Olofsson in the skiing-shooting competition.

Anna-Carin Olofsson received a silver medal.

Anja Pärson and her parents.

Silver!

2006-02-16T14:58:00.000+01:00

Sweden now has a silver medal. :) A female ski-shooter person. :)
I'll try to put pictures on later.

It's official....

2006-02-16T11:26:00.000+01:00

I have signed up for new Swedish classes.
How exciting, huh? :/ :))

I decided a little while ago that I need to get out and do something, and since getting a job seems next to impossible, I decided to sign up for Swedish classes.
So, I had an appointment at 9 this morning to take a test to see what level I was going to be in.

I had signed up to take the beginning level classes (SFI, for those of you who know what I am talking about), even though I passed the test after taking the class 2½ months in Dalsland, which has to be a record time. But that was back in 2002.. :/ :) I took SAS grund (a level higher class for those that have no idea what I am talking about) in Nynäshamn, but that didn't go so well for me. I was also taking some other classes, a math class that went a little too well, and a Swedish History class that went well for me but my teacher was.. a little.. let's just say that we didn't get along so well. And I ended up spraining my knee, and couldn't get around, so I stopped going to that Swedish class.

And then I did babysitting and then we moved here to Nävekvarn.

I met with one of the Swedish teachers, and she said that I'm not allowed to take SFI again. :(( And I don't see why not. :/ I mean, even though I've passed the class, if I think I need to take it again, then I think I should be able to take it. :/
But that is just me...

So, she wants me to continue on with the other level, with SAS (Svenska som Andra Språk - Swedish as a Second Language). And then she also wants me to take another class, which I don't know if I am going to or not ... I had such a bad experience with the history class I took before, that I think I wanna stay away from that same (sorta) subject for awhile. The teacher wanted me to take it because they talk a lot in the class, which is what I need to build confidence with.

But she said my Swedish is very good and that I don't have a problem speaking (my thing is just that I am WAY too shy - don't want to look like an idiot). She said that I shouldn't have a problem with the SAS class, but if I feel like it isn't working, that I can talk to the principal and we'll see what we can do to get me into SFI again.

So, we'll see how all that goes.

I talked with one of the people who helps you schedule your classes, and she thinks that it might be difficult getting into that other class (some kind of social class - not sure exactly what it includes) because they have been going at it for the whole year, and if I jump in, then I might be completely lost.
And she suggested taking something else like math, and I said that would be great, I can just continue with the next course. Even though this is high school level math, it is fun learning it in Swedish, and you really do get to learn lots of new language stuff. And it is something else to do.
They really try to fill your schedule up so that you are taking full time credits. But just with the Swedish class I'm taking - is well over full time credits.. :/ :))

But the new term doesn't start until the end of March - so I have to wait until then.

It was really, really nice going into town today. :) A bit of independence for me. Not having to depend on Fredrik. And I actually did do really well with my Swedish I think. Like the teacher person that I talked with, she thinks that I know a lot more than I want to think I do, I just have to build up my confidence and give myself credit.
And she might be right.. :/ And I hope so, cause if not, I'm going to feel like the biggest loser if I go back to SFI.. :D

So, we'll see how all that goes. :)

Now a bronze!

2006-02-15T13:33:00.000+01:00

The Swedish female skier, Anja Pärson, received a bronze a little while ago, with some downhill skiing. She is always a favorite, so her getting a medal is no surprise, but we are still happy and proud of her. :) (Probably more pictures later.)

Some more pictures, for fun.

2006-02-15T08:01:00.000+01:00

I have to put in as many pictures as possible.. ;) These could be Sweden's only medals in the whole Winter Olympics.. :D

Lina Andersson and Anna Dahlberg after receiving their gold medals.

Björn Lind and Thobias Fredriksson after receiving their gold medals.

Björn Lind and Thobias Fredriksson after receiving their gold medals.

The Swedes and Norwegians like to have a go at each other, and with this picture, the Swedes were making fun of the Norwegians. The Norwegian men's pair were the favorites to win (the Swedish men's pair were the favorites to do well). So, it was a big upset for the Norwegians.

The Gold medalists.

2006-02-14T13:35:00.000+01:00

Anna Dahlberg holding Lina Andersson.

Anna Dahlberg and Lina Andersson.

Björn Lind very happily crossing the finishline.

Lina Andersson crossing the finishline.

Björn Lind crossing the finishline.

Björn Lind and Thobias Fredriksson receiving their gold medals.

Another Gold!! :)

2006-02-14T12:20:00.000+01:00

The men's pair won the Gold, too! :)

For the men's it was:
1. Sweden
2. Norway
3. Russia
4. Germany

For the women's, it was:
1. Sweden
2. Canada
3. Finland
4. Norway

We honestly didn't think Sweden would end up with any medals at all. :) And now we have 2 right after each other. :)
A great Valentine's present. :))

GOLD!!! :D

2006-02-14T12:09:00.000+01:00

The Swedish women's pair won a Gold in skiing today!! :)
The country's first medal and a gold. :)

The men's pair are skiing now, and anxiously waiting to see how it goes. :)

It's melting!!!

2006-02-13T12:54:00.000+01:00

It is actually "warm" today!! :))

I went outside in the back, to shovel a path to the shed, and it wasn't cold! The birds are chirping and water is dripping from the trees (melted snow), and it was really, really nice. :/ :)

There is lots of snow, though. :/ It will take forever to melt. :/

It is going btwn 2-3ºC (35-37ºF). Hopefully a sign that Spring is on its way. :/ But it wouldn't surprise me if we still had 2-3 weeks of more snow. :/

Fredrik has his meeting/conference in Stockholm tomorrow. Going to be a lonely Valentine's Day for me. :(( :) He doesn't have to be there until noon, but he has to leave 2 hours before so that he can get there on time. And then it doesn't end until 6PM.. :/ So.. He'll leave around 10.00 and then I probably won't see him until after 20.00. :/ It is a meeting for all the "measuring" people that work for Skanska. So, it is very important for him to go to it. He needs to get to know these people.

I'm quite sure Fredrik's dad should be coming on Saturday. He should be at least, as far as we know (or hope). :)

I love watching the Olympics. :) Not as big in the US as it is here in Europe. No Swedish medals yet. :( :) But the men's curling team won their first match today against New Zealand. I love watching curling. Not sure why, but I think it is fun. :)

Hmmm... *think* ... oh and a picture of the silly kitty... (or two).. :)

This is him trying to get away from me.. :/ He jumps up on to the fridge, and then when I try to reach to get him down, he backs up from me and then goes in btwn the wall.. :/

And then this picture I took last night, he likes to lay on the window ledges because they are nice and warm from the heaters. And he tries to lay on it, and it works for a little while, and then he wants to get more comfortable and he tries to stretch out, and it just doesn't work... :/ He is too big.. :/ :))

But he is so cute. :)))

Hmmm... not much else happening. Anxious for some Spring cleaning, finishing the bathroom, and starting on a new house project. Still not sure what we are going to work on first. Fredrik's dad wants us to redo the kitchen, but I'm not sure we're up to doing another big project right away. :/ :)) Not sure what Fredrik wants to do.. :/ He is probably only thinking about finishing up the bathroom.. :) I am intersted in doing the little bedroom. Easy to work on it since we don't use it for anything, so it isn't a rush to finish it. And it is a "little" room, so it will be cheap, easy, and fast. But I also want to work on the outside some. :/ Get a new porch and fix that up nice in the backyard. But probably nothing will happen.. ;) We'll see.. :)

Early V-Day dinner.

2006-02-11T17:48:00.000+01:00

Since Fredrik will be in Stockholm on Valentine's Day, we had a nice, early dinner this afternoon. And Tuesday isn't exactly so much fun to have a nice dinner on anyways.. :/ :)

We are doing well, though. :)
So is Caesar. :)

Fredrik's dad didn't come over today. They are having a rat problem in their attic (yes, rats - not mice), so he had to stay home and clean out the attic and work on that. :/ But he is going to try to come some day during this week, I believe.

And we received Fredrik's bill for the ER and his admitted stay in the hospital. Almost 6,000$!! (Eller 42 000,00 SEK.) We were going to pay for it up front and then send it to our.. home insurance, which covers our medical costs while we are out of the country ... but I think we are going to see if they will just pay for it upfront. I hate being the middle-man btwn the hospital and the insurance company.. :/

We have so much snow. :/ I really need to shovel the snow behind the house, to the shed. It is probably 3 feet high.. :/ I didn't shovel it after we got home from the States, and didn't expect it to continue snowing so much. It is enough trouble keeping up with the front walk.

Watched the opening ceremonies last night for the Olympics. :) The ski-jumper thing was pretty cool. :) And we watched a bit of skiing this morning, the cross-country skiing and shooting. Norwegians came in 2nd and 3rd ... Fredrik wasn't too happy after that.. :/ :D

Caesar sleeps inbtwn the alls in the kitchen.. :/
He jumps up onto the top of the fridge, and there is a gap in the wall, where we got rid of the old fridge, and something we'll make different when we get to remodel, and he climbs up ontop of the cabinets, inbtwn the walls (btwn the kitchen and bathroom). And he gets up in there and sleeps at night. :/ And I'm so afraid he is going to get in there and get stuck.. :/

Blah, blah, blah ...

*think*

Not sure there is that much.. :/
I'm sure I've forgotten something.. :/ Oh well.. :)
More soon!

Two Swedes die in California plane crash

2006-02-10T13:08:00.000+01:00

Published: 9th February 2006 15:38 CET

Two Swedes died on Wednesday night in a mid-air collision involving two Cessna light-aircraft in California.

The crash happened to the east of San Diego, according to CNN. The nationality of the two Swedes was confirmed by the head of the flight school where they were taking lessons.

The Swedes were in one of the planes involved in the collision. The person in the other plane also died.

One of the planes fell into the roof of a house, the other onto a park, CNN reported. The crash sites were less than a kilometre from each other.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry was unable to confirm the information.

"We have not received any information from our consulate," said Ingrid Palmklint at the ministry, "but we have asked them to look into it."

Updated bathroom pictures.

2006-02-08T11:32:00.000+01:00

Updated bathroom pictures.

Alzheimer's 'usually caused by genes' - study

2006-02-07T12:07:00.000+01:00

Published: 7th February 2006 10:06 CET

A new study of nearly 12,000 twins shows that Alzheimer's has a genetic cause in up to 80 percent of cases, researchers said on Monday.

The study, which used the unique twin registry at Stockholm's Karolinska Institute, raises doubts about the role of environmental factors in contributing to the disease, said Margaret Gatz, professor of psychology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and lead author of the report.

"In essence what we're doing is taking the folks who would have formerly been called sporadic (environmental), and testing how important genetic influences are...and we're finding genetic influences are tremendously important," Gatz said in a statement.

"It does suggest that there is an underlying genetic basis," she said.

According to the study's data, which was based on the largest sample ever under taken in research of the disease, genetic influence accounted for 79 percent of Alzheimer's risk, the report said.

The other 21 percent of risk was due to environmental causes, the study said.

The sample for the study was based on 11,884 twins in Sweden over the age of 65. The Swedish Twin Registry is the largest and most complete register of its kind in the world, and is currently being used to study diseases including osteoporosis, schizophrenia, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s, autism and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Gatz led an international team of researchers from Swedish and US universities in a project funded by grants from the National Institute of Aging and the Alzheimer's Association.

She said, however, that environmental factors could not be dismissed. "This doesn't mean that environment is not important. Environment may be relevant not only for whether but also for when one gets the disease."

More than 24 million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer's or similar conditions and the number is set to double every 20 years, said a study published last month in British medical journal The Lancet.

Harry Potter

2006-02-06T23:18:00.000+01:00

Just finished the 6th Harry Potter book.
I cried.
Yepp.. I cried.. :/
I know... I know...
But it was good.. :/

Finished the book in less than 48 hours.. :/ 610 pages.. :/ :D

Very, very anxious for the 7th book.
Fredrik made fun of me and said that I'm going to have Harry Potter book withdrawl.. :/ Since I don't have anything else to read.. :/
I think he will be right, though.. :/

But now I am going to move on to my V.C.Andrews book, "Flowers in the Attic." I wanted to read them in the 8th grade, but am finally getting around to it.. :/ :)

Just let Caesar inside. Fredrik pushed him out before he went off to bed. Caesar has slept curled up on the couch all day. :))

I was looking outside today, longing a bit for Spring, and planting berries, etc..
But it started snowing, and we've gotten a lot, and supposed to get more. I don't see Winter going away for awhile yet.. :/
Not very easy for Fredrik to do his job when there is weather like this. I think he is very anxious for Spring.

He has a.. class thing on Wednesday. Not sure where, though.. :/ Probably some town nearby. But most towns take a little while to get to, though.

While we were in the States we bought a really nice copy of Rosemary's Baby (my most favorite film), and I've been watching it non-stop.. :/ :D It is about ½ an hour longer than the version I had before, so I am really enjoying it. :)

We bought so many movies while we were there. Mostly of movies that we love, some classics, and then some Asian horror/mystery movies that we have come to love, like Memories of Murder and Old Boy. And Fredrik bought me something that I will cheerish forever.
We were in a video store (for renting), and they had movies you could buy as well. You could either rent the film, or pay the sticker price for it.

And the movie is I Spit on Your Grave (aka Day of the Woman). Which is another one of my most favorite films. They had it there for rent, but to buy, it was 25$.
We took it up to the check-out person.. the guy that probably owns the place. And I said that we wanted to buy it, and he looked at it and looked at us and said, "For that price?"
And he kept shaking his head the entire time until we left.. :/ :))
Probably one of the most misunderstood films. Roger Ebert says that it is the worst movie ever made. :/ :) But I love it.

Blah, blah, blah... :/

We are all doing well I suppose..
Today doesn't feel like Monday, though... :/ Feels like it is still the weekend, or should be later in the week.. :/

I'll try to get bathroom pictures on tomorrow!

Trip to US - Jan 2006 02

2006-02-04T20:03:00.000+01:00

Trip to US - Jan 2006 02

Trip to US - Jan 2006 01

2006-02-04T20:01:00.000+01:00

Trip to US - Jan 2006 01

Not today.

2006-02-04T19:25:00.000+01:00

Fredrik's dad didn't come over today. There was supposed to be plenty of snow btwn here and Stockholm and he wanted to give us the day to rest and get better.

We are both feeling much better, though. Fredrik had an okay week at work, and all my tummy pains were gone by Thursday.

Even though we really want to finish the bathroom, it was nice to have today.
He worked on the bathroom so much while we were away. The walls are almost completely finished. I have a feeling we can finish them in one more visit. I'll try to get some pictures of that soon, too.

I'm working on the pictures from our trip. I have half of them on, but I am finishing the rest up now. :)

Today we walked to the store and bought a little bit of stuff. Not much, but it was nice to get out. It was cold, but not too bad even though it was -10ºC. On Friday we went to the store after Fredrik got home from work to do a little grocery shopping. We needed to get some things. We hadn't really done any shopping since we got back, especially with being sick.

And then for dinner we walked to the little pizza place here and had dinner. Much colder the second time we went out. :/ :) The wind got a bit worse.

I finished the 5th Harry Potter book today. Read it in.. 5.. 6.. days?? Not too bad for an almost 800 page book. :) Already started the next one. They are really good. :) Very easy to get sucked into the story.

Not that much has really happened. :/ I haven't really been up and about until Thursday. Fredrik has been working and we have been sleeping lots.

So, I guess that that is all for now, and I'll try to get those pictures on soon.

A little better.

2006-02-01T14:47:00.000+01:00

Fredrik is doing a bit better. I think he is just really, really tired and not so happy that he has to be working. ;)

I'm feeling better, though, too. :) So, I'm happy about that.
Horrible tummy feelings are gone, for now at least. I'm feeling just about back to normal. Just no appetite, very tired, and no energy at all. But hopefully that will get back to normal soon!

Our sleeping is a bit messed up, though.. :/
I'm falling asleep around 03.00, and yesterday I got up at 14.30. But today I made myself get up at 10.00 (set the alarm for 09.30). But Fredrik is waking up at 04.00, and is dead tired before he gets home. He managed to stay up until 20.30 last night but then he had to go to bed.
Strange how we both come back and take such strange sleeping patterns.. :/

I've been spending my late nights by myself reading the 5th Harry Potter book. And I've already read 300 pages, about ½ into the book.. :/ :)
It is fantastic btw. :) The previous 4 books are pretty much just background for this book. After this one there is another one, and then I don't know when the 7th (final?) book is supposed to be released.

We saw the 4th Harry Potter movie while in the States, and I wasn't that thrilled by it. :/ I mean, it was good, the actors did a great job, and everything looked fantastic.. but the story. It was just too choppy. There really wasn't too much that was added that wasn't in the book, but there was just so much that was left out. I want to see the full version / director's version (if there is one) ... but we are going to wait before buying any of the movies until they are all out, and buy a complete set.

Hmmm...
Fredrik's dad came to work on the bathroom one Saturday while we were away, and he got a lot done! He hopes to come on this Saturday and I think they might be able to finish up the walls. There really isn't that much left at all, just the more complicated stuff that requires lots of cutting of tiles.

I'll have to take some pictures of the bathroom and put those on, along with the pictures from our trip! Took lots of pictures and they all turned out great. :) I just have to take the time to put them on and share them.

But I think that is all for now. Fredrik should be home soon.

Worst flight ever.

2006-01-30T23:09:00.000+01:00

Fredrik was sick on Wednesday, around noon, and went to the ER around 18.00. He was admitted around 23.00 and they kept him until Friday morning and released him around 10.00. When they released him, he was feeling much better, so we were happy to be on our way.

Even though we had the best 2 weeks with my parents, it ended so horribly bad. :/ :(

We got to the airport in Detroit, Michigan, and boarded our plane.
Started the flight and straight away Fredrik and I started watching Forrest Gump. We both barely touched the not-very-yummy meal provided, and with like 15-20 minutes left in the movie, I went to the rest room, and vomited.

:(

I went back and sat down, and about 2 minutes after that I had to get up again and go to the bathroom, vomited again, and stayed in the bathroom for the rest of the flight. :( For the last 5 hours of our 8 hour flight, I was in the bathroom. :(( Sick, vomiting and bad diarrhea.

Luckily it was a handicapped bathroom, so it was slightly larger than the normal sardine can bathroom on flights. And the flight attendants were great and tried to help all they could.

So, I had exactly what Fredrik had, but he was able to be sick in a normal bathroom and go to a hospital. I was sick on an airplane, and we were soon to be arriving at the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.. :/

We got off the airplane and when we got to the nearest place to sit, we sat and Fredrik went to the nearest desk and had them bring a wheelchair to take me to a transport place where we could get a handicap trandport to take me to the airport medic.
And we did all that.
First I was feeling better, while we waited for the person to show up ... I was keeping down some liquids, and the tummy pain was staying the same.
We fought with the idea of just going and getting on the plane and going home and then going to the doctor when we got to Stockholm.

But I couldn't. Even though I felt a little better (only because I couldn't throw up any more) I knew that I needed to see a doctor.

So, we went got to the medic, and they took me in right away and put me in a bed and we told them what was wrong, and that Fredrik was sick. And we are sure enough that it is what we call the "Winter Virus" here, or something like that. Probably at least a European thing, because they knew exactly what I had and how to fix it.
The closest thing it is like is the stomach flu, but only 100% worse.

So, they put in an IV, gave me fluids, and some medicine to stop the vomiting, and some pills to help stop the diarrhea. (I had ended up vomiting once more at the medic office, in the bathroom. Fredrik was able to hear it several, several rooms away ... so I am pretty glad that we didn't decide to try taking the flight without seeing a doctor.)

They let Fredrik lay and sleep in the other bed in my room, and I layed and slept, too. A nurse even came and covered me up when I had the chills.

We slept about 3 hours, before we asked the doc if it was okay for me to try to catch the flight. (We needed the rest of our time to catch the plane.) (Luckily, we had a 7 hour layover!)

I felt much better than before. No nausea, and the pains in my tummy and back (from the violent vomiting) were gone. And they gave me another pill for diarrhea.

We hurried to the right terminal and gate to catch the flight, and it ended up being full of Swedish people. The flight was supposed to land at 18.15 but we could have landed at 17.30, but were forced to circle around and around and around in the long decsent of my lift..... And finally landed at... 18.15.....

His dad was waiting for us to take us back to their house, and while I went inside to the bathroom, they switched the luggage from one car to another. Fredrik and I had decided to go home straight away, because we wanted all of Sunday to be at home, not to have to drive home on Sunday.

So, we slept all day on Sunday.
I'm feeling better today. Finally eating some things, barely have an appetite, though.. :/

It is just a waiting game now to get back to normal..
Not a very fun illness.. :/

So.. we made it home...

2006-01-30T11:08:00.000+01:00

... barely... :/

We are at home. And I will explain why, just might take awhile.. :/
We are sick and not feeling too great.

Fredrik went to work this morning, but came home around 9AM, which is when I woke up. He came home for a little while to get some sleep before going to a different project that he works at once a week. He'll leave again around noon.

Caesar was very happy to see us, though. :)
Every time I pick him up he purrs so much I think he is going to make himself vomit.. :/ :)

We arrived at the airport Saturday night (Swedish time) and his dad was there to pick us up. We got to their house and we left after a couple of minutes. We wanted to get home.. :/
We slept through most of Sunday. Awake long enough to have some toast for lunch, and go back to sleep and have some mac and cheese for dinner and watch a movie.

I'll explain more later, but now I need to get something to drink and rest.. :P

Doing better.

2006-01-27T05:14:00.000+01:00

Fredrik is doing much better! As things are going, we should catch our flight tomorrow without a problem. So, that is some good news.

They still don't know exactly what has caused him to be sick, but he is doing much better, he is keeping down everything now, even though it is only juices and jello. But he was up and walking around this evening and he isn't having any cramping or anything.

I'll probably give more details of everything after we have gotten home.
I barely got any sleep last night.. maybe 2-3 hours, and I have a horrible headache.. :/ I am finishing up the last bit of packing and then I am getting myself to bed.

Not sure I'll be able to write again before we leave, so, hopefully the next time I write, we'll be at home!

Fredrik's sick. :(

2006-01-26T07:22:00.000+01:00

Always happens to us.

If something bad can go wrong - it will - and it will happen to us.

We've both had colds for the past week, but we both started feeling better today.
And then today, while we were visiting my grandmother at the nursing home, Fredrik got sick ... and it only got worse.. :/

He couldn't keep anything down and he was very dehydrated. So, we fought with the decision of taking him to the hospital. You know you need to - but you don't want to admit your sick ... that type of thing. :/

So, he decided to go and we got to the ER at 18.00 and it was pretty empty - it pretty much was the whole time we were there. And they ran lots of tests, crossed off some possibilities. But decided to keep him over night and keep an eye on him because of all the vomiting.

So, my baby is in the hospital. :( And I miss him and want him to feel better. :(
They think they know why he is ill, but not 100% sure. So, they want to run a few more tests and see what they come up with.

Our main concern is getting him well enough to get home. :/ Even though we've had a very nice time while here, and we will miss my parents - we want to go home. :/ We were afraid that he would be too sick for us to make our flight on Friday - but the nurses and the doctor said that they should be able to make him well enough for us to get home and then we can continue any medical treatment if necessary.

So, keep him in your thoughts, or prayers, or whatever else.. :P

4 days left.

2006-01-23T13:49:00.000+01:00

We only have 4 full days left of our trip. :( The time went by fast but we have really enjoyed ourselves. I've totally forgotten about writing in here. :/ :D But I thought I would this morning when I couldn't sleep anymore.

We woke up on Thursday with a cold.. :/ So, we have been fighting that, and today we don't feel so good. It varies from day to day and even during the day on how we feel.

Today and tomorrow, we are renting a car, though, so we can do some last minute shopping. Since we don't have a car and I don't have any insurance, we were stuck having my parents drive us around ... so today we will have a little more freedom. :)

Over the weekend we went to a very nice bed and breakfast with my parents. In Amish Country. And we did some shopping in the cute little stores. And on Sunday we were at church.

We've seen the Harry Potter movie and yesterday we all went and saw the Chronicals of Narnia. I think that today, Fredrik and I might go see the Hostel movie. We are very interested in going when it will be empty (during the day while all the teens are at school). Whenever we go to the movies in Sweden it is always so crowded, and you have assigned seats.. :/ And it is so expensive.. :/ :) So, we are enjoying going to the movies while we are here.

I'm making dinner today and tomorrow. On Thursday, we'll go out to eat before we prepare to make our trip back to Detroit. This time, though, we have a 6-7 hour layover in Paris, so we don't have to worry about getting stuck there again. :)

I still haven't gotten used to the American keyboard.. :/ Takes me twice as long to type anything.. :/ :D We haven't spent any time on the computer the last 2 weeks... which has been very, very nice. Fredrik just looks every day at the news from home to see what is happening, and I check one e-mail account, where I told our neighbors to mail if there was any problem with Caesar or the house.

The weather in Sweden is pretty bad, I guess, though. It's been really cold and our neighbor mailed and said that they had a snostorm. The weather here has been jumping around a lot, which is why I think we got sick.. cold and then warm and cold and warm... :/

And Caesar is doing well.. :) Even though I miss him so much... :)

We've done lots of shopping and spent lots of money, even bought a new set of towels for the house. :) January is "White Sale" in the US ... meaning all sheets and towels, etc.. are usually about half-off. I think we are going to have to bring an extra suitcase home with us. :D

We've seen my grandma lots, which has been nice. I have a feeling we will go again on Wednesday and Thursday, too. And we've seen lots of friends at church. Fredrik and I will be meeting up with one of my highschool friends today, and see her little boy. One of my few friends that is still around in the area.

I can't even count how many movies we have bought.. :D Fredrik just walks around in the stores murmering to himself "everything is sooo cheap." Everything except computer games, really. At home they are probably cheaper.. :/

*think*
I'm sure there is lots more I could write, but now I need to go blow my nose. :P
I'll try to write again before we leave.

Jet-lag.

2006-01-17T14:28:00.000+01:00

We are suffering only a little from jet lag - it could be worse I suppose. :/ And I am having a horrible time getting used to the keyboard. :/ :)

We had a very exciting trip.
We left late from Stockholm, supposed to take off at 06.50, but didn't leave until 07.30 ... so we got to Paris late, and they told us during our flight that we were going to miss our plane, so to go to some desks and get everything sorted out.

Since only one flight leaves a day, we were stuck until the next day. So, we had to spend the night in Paris, and leave on Saturday instead. So we were supposed to arrive on Friday, but we didn't get in until Saturday.

They gave us a free lunch at the airport, and a shuttle to the hotel, a double room, dinner and breakfast.

While we were resting from running around in Charles de Gaulle and our earlier flight, we were trying to decide if we should go into Paris and see some things or just sleep and rest. I don't think we really wanted to.. well, we did .... but we were sooo tired ... but we knew we would regret it if we didn't go into the city and at least look around a little.

So, we went down to the desk and asked how much for a taxi into the city, and it was about 50-60 Euros ... (60-75$$). Which, the French woman even said that that was ridiculously expensive, so, she said we could take the shuttle back to the airport and take the train from there into the city. So, we decided to do that. Which was 32 Euros (40$) for 2 roundtrip tickets on the train. That was a bit better, so we did that instead.

So we went back to Charles de Gaulle, and took the train into Paris. We didn't want to get onto the subway or buses .. a Friday night .. not knowing where we are or where we want to go, etc.. etc.. we decided to get off at a stop, walk around in that area, and then get back on and go back to the airport and take the shuttle home.

We got off at a nice place, though. Lots of little streets to look around. Lots of food that smelled delicious.

And all of the people were so nice and polite. :) Phewy to anyone who says that French people are rude. They were much more nice than Swedes. While walking down the street they laugh and smile and talk to each other. And on the trains, too. And even though we didn't try to speak French with them, they helped as well as they could in English and smiled and were so, very, very polite.

Everything was very, very expensive, though. :/ Even worse than in Stockholm. But the people are much friendlier! And it was so nice walking around in a city and seeing different types of people. In Stockholm it is only (mostly white), anorexic, fake blonde-haired people. In Paris, they were tall and short and wide and thin and pale and dark ... it was very refreshing. :)))

But now Fredrik wants to eat breakfast ... so I'll try to write a little more later. :)

Nerves.

2006-01-12T13:24:00.000+01:00

My nerves are shot. :/ :))
Not really that much left to do, but my tummy is unhappy and I'm anxious and nervous. Fredrik has been even worse off, though. For the last couple of days or so.

Not sure why we are so nervous. :/ Neither one of us are in any way afraid to fly. Maybe just all the preparation stuff?? And leaving the cat and everything.. :/
And it is such a long trip. :/ But at least it will be shorter than we usually go. Normally we would be.. 14 hours on a plane or something..? But now it is only 11-12 hours, so at least it is a little shorter.. :/ :)

And I had a surprise today.. :/ :)
Around 10.30 or so, Fredrik showed up!
And he said that when he got up to drive his own car to work this morning (a long story about how he left his company car at the sight so others could use it if they needed it), so he had to call his boss? (I think that is who he called) and someone came and picked him up -- because his car wouldn't start. :/ So, he pluged up his car warmer thing to the electricity, with hopes that that would help by making the car warmer, but it didn't do anything. (Hasn't driven it in almost 2 weeks or so?? cause of having the other car now.)

And it isn't an old car, it is from 2000 and he bought it in 2001. And besides regular fix-ups, nothing has been wrong with it before.

So, he was picked up for work with some charger cables, etc.. to see if he could get it going. And he tried the car and it started first try with no problem! So, either the car had been sitting too long in the cooold. Or the battery had died and connecting it to the electricity charged the battery (his dad said that it was a connection that was able to do that.)
Hmmm.. any American reading this might not have ANY idea wha I am talking about... :/

I'll have to try to make this fast but easy to understand, if you are confused..
Here, many people (most all people) have engine warmers that you put in your car. And there is a plug-in in the front of your car and you connect it to the electricity, and it warms your engine, so, if you have to park your car outside, you can set a timer, and have a nice warm, uniced car in the morning.

Blah blah blah ...
So, it has been an exciting day so far. :/ :)
Always something like this has to happen when you are getting ready to leave or do something important. :/ :)

Hmmm..
And Fredrik talked to the neighbor, too, she was out. And she said that their grandchildren are really sick. They have the chicken pox and the stomach flu. And at their house, they are remodeling their kitchen, so they don't have a kitchen.. :/ :) So, they need to go and help their children with things. And they are leaving next Friday..? This Friday..? Some Friday I think.. and coming back on Monday..? I'm not sure when the dates are but they will be gone for a little while.
And she asked (or said) that she talked to Eva.. the woman who used to live in our house! Who we bought from, and said that she talked to her and she would love to come and take care of the cat and things when they can't.

So, that was really nice of her to fix someone else to come while they are away.
Strange to think, though, that it was the previous owner. :/ :)))
I'm sure she is curious to see the place, though. She was really sad about having to movie. She lived here for 15 years.
Now she lives behind us, in one of the very few apartment buildings here.

Fredrik's dad is making dinner for us tonight, his mom won't be home until later.

But, next time you hear from me, I'll be in the States!!
We hope for a quiet, uneventful trip, and good weather. :)

Random Pictures - January 2006

2006-01-11T15:08:00.000+01:00

Random Pictures - January 2006

Almost time!!

2006-01-11T12:26:00.000+01:00

I went through most of yesterday thinking that it was Wednesday.. :/ And I thought that we were leaving today to go to his parents house.....
I was so stressed and trying to do things and get things done, wondering where all the time went.....
And then I talked to my mom on the phone and made the comment that it was Wednesday, and she was like.. "No.. it is Tuesday..." So, I took a big sigh and calmed down a little.. :/ :)

But today IS Wednesday, but I'm not nearly as stressed as I was yesterday. :/ :)
I was so worried about all the clothes drying before we had to pack them, etc.. etc.. Ugh.. :/ :)

And we are definately buying a drier.. :/ I don't know how Swedes live without them in the Winter.. :/

Tomorrow when Fredrik gets home we are going to his parents house, and then we leave on Friday. The flight to Paris leaves at 06.50, so we will be at the airport at 04.50, just to be ahead of the lines. The flight to Paris is a medium sized plane, with 2 rows of 3 seats. Maybe around 200 people or so?? And then we are flying from Paris to Detroit.
We usually fly: Sthlm-Paris, Paris-Cinn., Cinn.-Cleveland.
But we decided to try something different. The layovers were horrible. Either it was about 20 minutes of layover, which is impossible to get a connecting flight (especially in Charles De Gaulle), or it was 6-7 hours in each airport. So, we have a direct flight from Paris to Detroit, which is only 2 hours from my house, so my parents will pick us up there.

I hate having to leave for Paris so early, though... :/ But it is the only flight that can get us to Paris in time for our main flight. And Fredrik's dad gets the unlucky chore of driving us to the airport. :D We usually take a taxi, but Fredrik's mom promised a long time ago that he would drive us. So, we have to leave for the airport at the latest at 04.30, and I'll probably get up around.. 03.15 or so.. :/ Wash and dry my hair the "night before." And have a quick shower in the morning. I'll probably get up first and hurry, since I don't care to be up so early, and then Fredrik has to shower, too, and then his dad. His dad will go straight to work after he drops us off.

Not like I sleep before a flight anyways, but.. having to get up so early, sorta pointless to go to bed.. :/
Maybe better if we try to not sleep, cause then we'll sleep on the Paris flight, which is annoying. It is too short to get comfortable, and too long to be short. It is about a 3 hour flight. But we need to have some rest, though, or we'll never get through CDG.. :/ Every single map in that airport says different things..... even two maps right next to each other.. :/ Most confusing place I have ever been.

*ramble*

We are pretty much packed, though... since I was going slightly insane yesterday.. :/ :)

I think Fredrik is really anxious for the two weeks off work. And we can hope a little that it is a bit warmer than it is here. :))

The neighbor came over yesterday and took a look around, and we showed him where everything was (the fish, cat food, cat box.. etc..). He is a really nice guy. He wanted to see our bathroom, though. And thought it looked great. He was very impressed that we were tiling the entire bathroom and not just the shower part, which some people do, because it is expensive to tile here. At least that is what everyone always says. :/ :) We think it is a good investment. :)

*think*
I have a few pictures to put on before we go. Empty out the camera. Have to make sure to charge the rechargeable batteries for it..

Almost finished with the Harry Potter book, only a couple more chapters left. I read inbtwn packing and fixing stuff. :/ :) Anxious to start the next one, but not anxious to take it on the flight. It is a big book!!! (The 4th one - Goblet of Fire.) I've been trying to hurry and read the books and catch up with the movies.
I doubt I will finish this one before we see it, but I wouldn't mind getting to read some of it.

Hmmm... *think*
I wrote my 200th movie review the other day! Night of the Living Dead. :)

I'm going to miss Caesar while we are away. :/ Going to be the longest we've ever been from him. Silly, I know, but I love the little animal.

It is so easy loading pictures onto the laptop, just put the memorycard in, and upload the pictures, so much easier than on our desktop. :/ :) Have a feeling we'll be taking plenty of pictures while we are away.

Hmmm...
I'm sure I'll write while we are away. I think that I will be having laptop withdrawl, though.. ;)
And have to get used to an American keyboard again.. :/ And I think hearing everyone speak English is going to be strange. :)
I have lived in Sweden for 3½ years and, I've been home once, for 1 week! And during that time we were finalizing and having a (our) wedding. So, we didn't get to see or do much. :)) My parents have come to visit us 3 times, so, we need to start making more trips to the States. Fredrik's schooling the last 2 years, just not so easy to make a trip, but now he can take time from work, so we can do a bit more travelling.

Maybe that is all for now. Still plenty to do. Need to finish vacuuming...
I'll write again tomorrow before we leave for his parents house.

SAS plane "40 seconds from collision"

2006-01-09T10:37:00.000+01:00

Published: 8th January 2006 14:30 CET

Two passenger planes were just 40 seconds away from colliding in the air over Kristiansand in Norway on Saturday. The incident will now be investigated, say the Norwegian authorities.

One of the aircraft was an SAS plane on its way from Copenhagen to Washington, while the other, operated by KLM, was flying from Trondheim to Amsterdam. In total they had 350 passengers on board, according to the Norwegian paper Dagbladet.

"On the control room's radar system the positions for the planes had merged together. The planes were dangerously close to each other and the incident was very serious," said a source at Norway's air traffic control to the paper.

Both planes were at 11,000 metres when the anti-collision TCAS-system on one of the planes sounded. The source said that this prevented a mid-air crash, as one was able to drop quickly while the other ascended.

"Someone obviously made a mistake," said Dagbladet's source. But whether the incident was caused by human or technical error is still not clear and Kristiansand air traffic control has launched an internal investigation.

Bart Koster, press officer at KLM, told Svenska Dagbladet that the matter had been reported by the pilots to the Dutch authorities.

"We're taking this very seriously. This happens to KLM's planes maybe once or twice a year. But the good news is that the warning system worked," he said.