Fredrik returned to work today and tomorrow Leia will return to daycare (for her few hours a week). So things are quieter and getting back to normal. I hope that (and I’m certain they did) my parents had a nice visit with us. :) It was very, very sad for them to leave us. We had a fantastic 5 weeks with them here. A couple of trips to IKEA, a couple of trips to Töcksfors, a trip to Havets Hus (aquarium on the coast), and a stop at the mall in Uddevalla. And lots of shopping. :) Fun evenings with games and movies and lots of yummy holiday food.

And I’ve had Fredrik home for 3 weeks, so I miss him lots. The house is very quiet now with just me and Leia. And it will be even quieter after she returns to daycare. The house has been full of people for the last 6 weeks, and now it is empty and quiet. (Did I say that it was quiet?) Which is nice, too, I suppose.. I’d rather have quiet than a screaming child… ;)

New Year’s Resolutions?

Fredrik had one: Cut the Coke addiction.

Mine:

- Post on the blog more. Try to keep up with it better, and try to backtrack and post things that I’ve missed over the past 3-4 months. Including the remainder of the beautiful pictures from Norway. A big reason why I haven’t posted much is because I haven’t opened my old computer since Fredrik gave me the new one for my birthday. I’ve procrastinated with cleaning it off and transferring everything to the new one. And of course all of my pictures are on the old one. (Still haven’t put my Canon picture program on the new computer.) Starting in October I started going through all the pictures on the computer, to make back-ups on an external harddrive that we trust, but I haven’t looked at the computer since Fredrik got me the new one.

- Continue fighting, hopefully with success, my life-long battle with my illness (PCOS). Ever since I gave birth, the symptoms have been worse and worse, and I really want to fight my illness with all my might because I know it will make me happier, healthier and give me my life back. Fredrik bought us a Wii for Christmas, so I want to get the Wii Fitness now and start with that to help. Unfortunately I don’t have the time anymore to workout or prepare food like I did before Leia showed up, but I’m hoping to get things back on track like things were before I got pregnant.. and if my illness fights me all the way and doesn’t give in — at least I know that I tried.

- And finally, to keep in better contact with friends and family. We are lucky to have some fantastic people that care about us and we need to make sure we take the time to keep in contact with everyone. It can be difficult at times, because everyone has their own busy life to tend to, but it is definitely something that I need to commit more time to.

And I did get Leia her Lussekatt shirt.. ;)

My parent’s luggage did eventually show up. :)
3 bags showed up 2 days late. The 4th bag showed up 5 days late!
By the time they received them they had already sent in claims to their travel insurance and to the airlines. So they should hopefully receive a little something for their troubles.

A pain to be without luggage, especially in a foreign country.

I hope my parents have been enjoying their stay with us. :)
We play games in the evenings and watch good movies.
We made a trip to Töcksfors and a couple of trips to IKEA in karlstad.

Fredrik has given in and we are opening the majority of Christmas presents on Christmas morning. :))

And we had Leia’s Lucia pagent for daycare.
She was a bit scared and unsure of everything. So she clung onto her teacher for dear life.. :/ :) And at the little party afterwards, she just stood around looking at everyone, very sceptical and observant. But there were so many people crammed into a little space, so I can’t really blame her. :)

Leia and Fredrik both had their Julbord (Christmas dinner) on Tuesday at daycare and work. Santa visited daycare and gave the children candy. :) Leia went on and on about it when I showed up, she was so excited to tell me about it. :)

On the way home from Töcksfors a couple of weeks ago, Fredrik admitted that we need new couches. Yay! :) So the next day we went to Mio and decided on them. :) I wish I could put a picture up of them, but they aren’t in Mio’s collection, it must be from a private company. They usually have their own catalogue at the store, but of course not this time.

And we are going to get a new bed. Our matress is on the floor, Leia is an acrobat and jumps while I shower. So we have the matress on the floor, but we need to get a new bed. So we are going to get one from IKEA that has storage units built into it underneath. We really, really need the storage room. So we will order those after the new year.

So we are getting excited about all our new furniture. :)) Hopefully the couches won’t take too long. And by Spring we should have new couches, a new bed and the balcony will be finished! We accepted the contract with the construction company. He said they will start in early Spring and he’ll have 3-4 guys and it will take 3-4 days. We’re so excited! :)

I have the hiccups. :( Very annoying. :/

Christmas Eve tomorrow and a very yummy dinner planned. :)
We made our homemade meatballs today. And we bought some yummy ham, sausages, raw salmon and lots of yummy mustards. :) And lots of yummy cheeses. :)

Leia took up right away with her Mormor and Morfar. :) And she is really enjoying spending time with them.

It is late and I want to go to bed, but Fredrik will kick me out if I come to bed with the hiccups.. :D So I’m waiting. :P

Might make another trip to Töcksfors right after Christmas. It is a good time to go.. usually isn’t crowded at all. A few nice strolls around the oval mall, a lunch at Burger King after all the holiday food, and maybe a few good deals at the stores.

Leia gets more and more anxious every day about opening presents. :) She carries around some of her presents and asks when she can open her “många presenterna” (the many presents). :) I’m a little afraid of how quickly she is going to make us all open our presents. :) Should be fun! :)

Now it seems the hiccups have disappeared and I need to get to bed!

I really wanted to get this shirt for Leia, but Fredrik wouldn’t let me. So if someone wants to get something for Leia.. this is it! (size 110)

They had a horrible trip with delayed flights (really bad winds on the US east coast), and all of their luggage was missing when they arrived.  Found out that it is in Stockholm and hopefully on its way to Gothenburg, so with any luck we might even get it this evening.

They will arrive in a couple of hours, then pizza and lots of chatting!  Hopefully a good night’s sleep for everyone and then a trip to Töcksfors tomorrow!

We plan on keeping Leia home from daycare a lot in December because of my parents being here, but I will most likely keep her home because I don’t think I can make the 2 hours of walking in this cold temperature.  Someone will find me frozen in my tracks somewhere along the way.  And Leia too for that matter.. I know Nordic children are used to the cold weather, even thrive in it, but this weather seems a bit much to get out in (for walking back and forth to daycare).

We were supposed to have more snow last night/today, but I’ve not seen one snowflake.  We’re hoping that the weather stays clear so that my parents have no delays or cancelled flights for their trip.  On the way here they fly from Cleveland to Newark, NJ, to Stockholm, to Gothenburg.  (What a long trip!)  And then on the way home they fly from Gothenburg to Copenhagen to Newark to Cleveland.  And I believe they are ready for their trip.  :)  Everything packed, even Christmas presents, someone to look after their cat, and someone to drive them and pick them up from the airport.  The temperature there is going back and forth between 30-50 degF (10 to -1 degC).  So I do think they are going to be in for a weather shock after feeling this bitter cold weather.  They have only been here one other time during the winter, and that was… 6 years ago!  They came and stayed 1½-2 weeks, right before Christmas until right after New Years.  So I’m curious to see how the cold and darkness affect them. :)

But that is all for now, I want to go start on dinner!

And the guilty plow.