Coordination.

Leia's most favorite song and video!

Morning fun.

More angry than sad.

I found out today that I have no classes.

I talked to my "boss" and she said that 'no one' signed up for the classes. I find it hard to believe that no one signed up - but maybe just not enough. I am more angry than sad I believe. I was sorta expecting to not have the classes in Åmål, but I thought the one in Säffle was a definite. I am still "employed" by them, but I don't get paid until I have classes of course.

So I am a bit depressed; Fredrik brought me home some Ben and Jerry's (chocolate chip cookie dough, of course).

Not sure if or when I will actually have a class now, but I do know that I am tired of the job hunting and job searching. I'm finished. I'm tired of applying for jobs (including this one) that I am overqualified for. I'm going to have to settle for a part time stay-at-home-mom position.

With the money from the job, I was going to save up to get my Swedish driver's license. Looks like that isn't going to happen now.

Go back to school?
Ehh.. I'm tired of school.

I have a very I-don't-care-about-life attitude right now. Which I suppose is to be expected.

10 random things about today.

01. Leia now says "nana," which we think means "Anna" for her daycare teacher. Or maybe "banana."

02. I finally received my grade for my SPCS computer class: MVG (highest grade).

03. Fredrik thinks they are leaning towards the new employee that he is hoping for.

04. Fredrik realized said-employee was a previous workmate at Sykes!

05. I've found another native English speaker in Åmål.

06. The family a few houses down has their baby at Leia's daycare.

07. Leia tried to say her name today for the first time. It came out as "eia." (She has trouble with Ls).

08. We have realized "pumpa" means "lampa" (lamp). Again, it is the Ls.

09. Today I luckily discovered Leia's shirt with green paint on the sleeve before throwing it in with the rest of the white laundry in the washing machine.

10. 3 more days until Friday.

Picking up Leia from daycare.

November pictures.

Pictures from the month of November.

Photo mishap 06.

12 teeth.

Yes, Leia has 12 teeth now. :) Not bad considering it took forever for the first ones to show up. She has her top front 4, and then 2 back ones on the front. She has her 4 bottom front, and then 2 in the back on the bottom. There are 2 still moving upwards, but she is taking it like a champ. :) Since the first 4-6 teeth or so, she hasn't complained at all.

We have Comedy Central in Sweden now. :) Fredrik and I were pretty excited, until we realized the show line-up. They don't show Comedy Central's productions, but bad Network sitcoms. Everynow and then they will show a comedian or SouthPark, but it is mostly bad sitcoms that should never have been produced in the first place.

We did some grocery shopping this morning. Bulk shopping.
Swedes aren't bulk shoppers. Fredrik doesn't understand it. But I think he is starting to get the concept (I hope). Especially since we have a huge freezer in the cellar and a large cellar pantry.

I would give anything for a Sam's in Sweden. :((
Or even Girl Scout Cookies. :P

Hmmm.. It snowed all day but it was too warm, slightly above freezing, so none of it stuck to the ground. But it is slushy and nasty. :/ If it is going to snow all day - I would rather it stick to the ground!

Hmm...
Today I worked a lot on my classes. I have decided that for the children's class, I will stick to one theme per class. The classes are only 1 hour, so there is only so much we can do. The children are supposed to learn through songs, drawing and activities. So.. I am centering a major craft around every theme. For the first class, we will do the English alphabet, and I will have a premade alphabet book for all the children that they will be able to sit and color after we've gone through the pronunciation.

I am wanting to do a craft that they can take home and keep, to look at with their parents and continue practising. The 2nd class would be on the 14th, Valentine's Day. So I am going to have them do a cute crepe-paper heart craft. No real connection with this craft - but they can write something in English on it and give it to their moms or something like that. Then for the 3rd class they are going to make cut-out ice cream cones. Each scoop will be a different color and they will glue them together.

I've already made my ice cream cone and I'm almost done coloring my alphabet book.. :D And I made some number flashcards. I just need to laminate them so that I can get plenty of use out of them. I will make my crepe-paper heart tomorrow. :P

I figure a plan for 3 classes is good for now - until I know if I am going to be having the class or not. :P Depending on how many sign up. There will be 8 class meetings total.

Tomorrow I hope to work more and maybe finish up the starting stuff for the children's class and then do plenty of work for the adult classes. But since the classes will be about the same thing: conversation. I just need to make one lesson plan for both classes, so that will be nice.

Fredrik still doesn't know who his new workmate will be. He thought he would have known by Tuesday, but I guess they haven't decided yet. He has been very, very busy. Lots to do. :/

He did get a call from one of his ex-workmates from Nyköping! The guy, who had his own firm and was a consultant, is going to be in the area next week. He told Fredrik that his old company, Skanska, is in a lot of trouble in Nyköping. If they don't get one of the projects that they are up for - then they are going to be in a lot of trouble. They can't keep a measurer since Fredrik left. They've gone through 3 different people in the last 20 months since Fredrik left. So.. probably a good idea that Fredrik switched jobs.

Winter fun.

Dancing Queen.

Sweden to allow gay marriage in May

Published: 21 Jan 09 11:23 CET

Three of the parties in the four-party governing coalition have tabled a motion that is expected to pave the way for gay marriage in Sweden from May 1st this year.

The Alliance government has been split on the issue, with the junior partner Christian Democrats opposed to the use of the word "marriage" for homosexual unions.

However the three other parties, the conservative Moderates, the Liberals and the Centre Party, are in favour of a gender neutral law that eliminates the current reference to marriage as something between a man and a woman.

"Regardless of sexual orientation, people in stable couple relationships have a need to manifest their feelings and their desire to live together," the motion reads.

While heterosexuals in Sweden can choose to marry in either a civil ceremony or a church ceremony, homosexuals are only allowed to register their partnerships in a civil ceremony. But this could all change, with parliament likely to pass new legislation on the matter.

Civil unions granting gays and lesbians the same legal status as married couples have been allowed in Sweden since 1995.

If the new legislation is adopted, Sweden, already a pioneer in giving same-sex couples the right to adopt children, would become the first country in the world to allow gays to marry within a major church.

AFP/The Local

A proud day.

Today is a proud day for all Americans and possibly for everyone the World over. Today our 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, was sworn into power. With hopes and promises for a better future, we can only trust that he will prove to be worthy of his title. Today I am a proud American. For having a President that I stand behind and believe in. But also pride for my fellow Americans for (finally) electing the first non-white male to the White House. What a day for history.

Work bench.

It ended up snowing even more last night. :P But it has already started melting away. Very difficult to push a stroller in slush. :/ I would much rather have rain or snow.

Leia wasn't too happy to be left at daycare today. The first day back after the weekends are always worse. By the end of the week, then, she is running around as if she owns the place. :P

Her BVC appointment went well last week! There was a very kind student pediatrician there as well as Leia's pediatrician and her BVC nurse. We weighed her and she was 11,6 kg (25½ lbs). She's lost weight?? I guess she moves around enough to make up for her eating.

Fredrik wanted me to share a picture of the work bench I got him for Christmas:


He really likes it. :)

Some of our pellet stash. About 1½ tons worth.

The 2500 sek (450$) fire-proof door that I bought. We had to have it installed. One of those things where.. you want to get your money's worth.. but that would mean the pellet burner would have to either catch on fire or explode...... So, then you really hope you don't have to get your money's worth..

Another ton of pellets.

Another angle for dramatic effect.

Leia carrying her then-empty large toy basket into the dining room.


Leia has been so good lately. (She is always good, but she's been.. more grown up.) She sits SO well and plays by herself. She pays more attention to her toys and how she is supposed to play with them. She has picked up a bad habit, though... and we are trying to break her from it. She enjoys throwing things. :/ She will take her heavy, hard blocks and throw them at anything or anyone. :/ We know it is a phase and the fun and newness will eventually wear off, but we are trying to break her from it so she doesn't hurt another child at daycare.

The chimney sweep showed up this morning at the ungodly hour of 7. Not sure why he really needs to come THAT early..... :T His.. pipe.. cleaning.. thing got stuck. So he thinks there was a dead bird in there, and/or a tile is loose or something of the sort. Maybe something the fireplace-fixer-people can look at?

Leia does NOT like for the TV to be on. So we go all day without it on. Even when Pappa is trying to watch the news, she goes over and pushes the button to turn it off. She doesn't stand and turn it off and on and off and on... she just goes to it and turns it off. Whatever. :)

I think that is all. My pants and socks are hanging in the bathroom drying. Time to put some things together for my class. Have some lunch, maybe play the Sims, clean up the house, wash dishes, put away laundry, vacuum and then go pick up Leia. :P

Snow.

Of course it snowed more last night....

Jinx.

Argh. I just said yesterday that it wouldn't snow again -- we wake up this morning to snow..... :T It isn't much, but it is covering the ground. It isn't too much below freezing so it will probably melt away today.

And last night I dreamt that I had Daniel Craig's (the new James Bond) love child.. not just one child. We had two children. It was a very strange dream. He was of course James Bond, and I was a scientist working on medicines for him.

Pumpa.

Swedish entry word
pumpa [²p'um:pa] pumpan pumpor noun
stor grönsak ur gurkfamiljen

English translation
pumpkin, vegetable marrow

___________________________________

Leia's favorite new word to say: pumpa (poom-pA)
:)
Sometimes it comes out as "bumpa."
:)
No idea why this word is so special, but she really likes it. :)


It has been awhile since I've written something with context, so I thought that I would try to do that.

It stayed pretty warm for awhile, around 7 degC (45 degF), but yesterday it stayed at -10 degC (14 degF). No snow, and we don't think we will be getting any more snow this Winter.

For starters: Fredrik FINALLY got in good contact with the fireplace-fixer-people. They MIGHT come by this weekend just to take a look at it, we aren't sure. But they did call yesterday and they said that: they will call 1-2 weeks before they will show up. The job will take 1 week to do, and then it has to dry 3 months before we can use it. They will show up to work on it in the Spring. So we will get to use it for next Winter. Yay! Now we just need to start storing wood from the summer house, so we will have a good supply built up.

Fredrik's work:
They interviewed 2 people on Thursday, and 2 on Friday.
3 Swedish men, and 1 Eastern European woman. Fredrik wasn't in on the interviews, but he did get to meet all but the woman. He did hear, however, that her Swedish was NOT very good. Fredrik knows who the two are that are mostly competing for the job, and he definitely has his favorite. So we are holding our thumbs that that will be the one they will pick.

The guy he is hoping for lives nearby and he loves fishing as well. So it would be a good workmate for Fredrik, and maybe a personal friend as well.

A few pictures:







Leia loves her cats. She has two of them. They are exactly the same, but different sizes. She likes to lay them (both) on her wagon and pull it around the house. Right now it is one of her favorite things to do. :)

She also loves to dance. LOVES to dance. She will dance to anything, but she has a few favorite videos on MTV. :/ :) There are a few songs that she just goes crazy dancing. She even "sings" along. Yesterday in the car, while we were listening to her favorite, Metallica, of course ... she started dancing in her car seat and singing along while we were driving. :))

Daycare is still going well. They said she is very "busig" (rowdy, unruly, mischievous) and a charmer. :) Even if she doesn't nap for them, she is still in a great mood all day.

I've been taking a few easy days. Making up for all those horribly rushed days of babies and studying. It is nice to have a few days to myself.

After the new person starts working, and after the sanitation project finally comes to an end, Fredrik hopes to take some more pappa-leave from work. Maybe take Mondays again or something like that..

We've started figuring out when Mormor and Morfar will come back for a visit. Probably for all of October, so they can be here for all of our birthdays. This year I turn 30!

I've had the chance of getting in contact with ooold friends, from elementary school - and it has been a lot of fun talking to them and seeing what they've been up to for the past 10+ years.

Fredrik and I both have to renew our passports this year. (His Swedish and my American.) Shouldn't be too much work for those I don't think. I finally received my American driver's license. Renewed for 4 years, and with my married name.

Okay.. that is enough for now.. :P :)

Thank you! Finally!!

I have been complaining to Fredrik about this since I've known him: The lack of proper classes for advanced students. Finally. *sigh of relief*

Swedish schools to offer 'elite' courses
Published: 15 Jan 09 17:23 CET

Sweden’s National Agency for Education (Skolverket) on Thursday named 10 high schools to participate in a new initiative designed to give top performing students a chance to take university-level courses.

The ground-breaking programme comes following a government decision last autumn giving the agency the power to grant exemptions to traditional high school recruitment and admissions practices.

The exemptions allow chosen high schools to recruit students from around the country and implement more stringent admissions requirements to ensure that the classes are made up of top-quality students.

The agency plans to accept another 10 schools interested in joining the programme for the 2010 academic year.

The ten schools named on Thursday, which will admit students for the 2009 academic year, include Katedral school and Polhem school in Lund in southern Sweden; Danderyds gymnasium and Globala gymnasiet in Stockholm; Europa school in Strängnas in central Sweden; Ehrensvärdska gymnasiet in Karlskrona in southern Sweden; Fässbergsgymnasiet in Mölndal in western Sweden; and Härnösands gymnasium, Luleå gymnasieby and Gävle’s Vasaskolan in northern Sweden.

Last spring, education minister Jan Björklund expressed his wish to see a programme that gave more opportunities to high achieving students.

“Even exceptional students have the right to develop at their own pace. They shouldn’t have to sit and twiddle their thumbs and wait for their colleagues,” he told the Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper at the time.

The Local

When mommies dress little girls...

Photo mishap 05.

New favorite "hiding" place.

In-love.

I am so in-love with my family. :) Not something that I have discovered today, but days like today are when you realize just how lucky you are. :)

We had a lovely weekend. Just the 3 of us.. 4 of us, can't forget Caesar. :) Yesterday we did some shopping around town and today we had a very lazy day. Doing things around the house and watched some Twin Peaks episodes.

Work will get more back to normal for Fredrik tomorrow and Leia and I will have a day to ourselves. This week I will start putting together lesson plans for my classes. Should be fun to figure out. :) Like I said, I am more anxious for the children's class. To teach them everything from the beginning. I think I'll be a great teacher! Let's hope the students think the same (and the children's parents as well)!! :)))

Leia has a check-up on Tuesday, from her pooping. But that has been much better now. Fredrik has a meeting in Trollhättan for work on Wednesday, but that is the middle of the day. So far I don't think I have anything special planned this week.

So nothing too special in this post. :)
But some pictures, of course.

Pictures from October.

A bit late, but here are the pictures from October.

Feels like Spring.

The weather was very beautiful today. Unbelievably nice. :) It has been so cold lately that it was nice to have a little Spring weather. It has been a completely mild Winter though.. not very typical Swedish weather.

Leia has been doing great at daycare. :) She hasn't been taking naps for them, but they say she is very happy and content. She walks around laughing all the time and she eats very, very well. :)

At night now, she goes to bed easily. Just give her a kiss and hold her a few seconds in the dark in her room. Lay her in bed, put her kitty beside her and cover her up - and that is that. She goes to sleep on her own, without complaining or making a peep. :) I don't think we could have it better than that. She has been sleeping 12 hours at night (at least). So she is sleeping usually from at least 7-7.

Fredrik was alone at work this week, for the 3 days he was there. Wednesday it was completely empty, and the last 2 days, his workmate that recently had a baby, Owe, actually showed up for awhile. Fredrik does enjoy having it empty at work, though, because he gets much more accomplished when it is quiet. He probably wouldn't have worked the rest of the week, but he had plenty to do for the sanitation project that he is still working on. At least Fredrik got to chat plenty with the Owe, and they (he, his girlfriend and baby) hope to stop by the house some time in the near future.

I had my meeting last night in Säffle. It started at 17.30 and was supposed to end at 21.00. Which was okay because the only evening/night bus showed up at 21.25. Well, the class ended up finishing around 19.40, but luckily we talked for awhile and we were done at 20.00. It was a 10 minute walk to the bus/train stop, and then I had to wait outside for the bus to show up. I was FREEZING by the time the bus came. :/ :) I tried to move around but it wasn't a very exciting place to be.

The trip from Säffle to Åmål only took 20 minutes but the bus only stops at the train station, which is a very cold 30 minute walk home. :/ There is a train that I could take, but it goes infrequently. The train trip only takes 10 minutes.

To waste time, I took pictures around the bus/train station. :)














The "class" was fun last night! It was an informational meeting about different stuff and just some tips with teaching and some history about the school. She also went over some administrational things. There were two other girls there with me, also in the "class." One was 15½ and the other 17.. :D I felt so OLD!! One will have a dance class and the other an art class, but with children. The "teacher" was very excited to be expanding the classes into Åmål. :) We are also able to continue our education education.. hmm.. We can continue getting training for teaching, a formal education. They offer it in a few cities in the country, and it lasts for a weekend. They pay for transportation, hotel and all food. So that is something that I am going to look into! Since I have a language class, I will get special instruction for languages, while others have a general course they take together. Definitely something to look into for the future.

I did find out that there are a few children already signed up for the Åmål class. :) The children's class is the one I am most looking forward to. Hopefully I'll have all 3 classes. :) (Just depends on if enough people sign up for them.)

So I ended up getting home at 22.30 last night and I was pretty tired and very, very cold.

Today I spent the day cleaning. This week I've made lots of quiche and bread for the freezer. Today I made some banana-nut bread, did lots of laundry and scrubed the kitchen. I did miss Leia a lot today though. :/ :(