The new house is Bohemian

Is that the right word for eating and sleeping on the floor?

Our new place was ready and we moved in even though our "stuff" has not arrived (it is on its way from Germany where it took a short travel-break). Of course without furniture we have become very bohemian (meaning we are eating and sleeping on the floor).

Elizabeth found us some blow-up beds that we are using for the next few days. She is also going to IKEA today (where else would you go in Sweden?) to pick up some other items that will help us get more comfortable until Tuesday when the boat arrives.

However, even without furniture we are still very happy to be out of the Solna apartment. For sure that was a convenient place to live for work, but managing the kids and the dog on the 5th floor of a small apartment with bad accoustics is no fun.

Elizabeth's parents, brother (Thomas) and sister-in-law Milena are coming next week, so we are all looking forward to that. The new house has plenty of room to say the least. A better way to say would be that we have too much room. So for all you that are thinking about visiting - take a hint and book your tickets!

"Is Daddy still on the airplane?"

That is what William asked today after Dwight had been gone for 2 1/2 days traveling back to the US of all places. I just got a kick out of William's lack of sense of time. I guess he gets that honestly from him mom or "mum" as is written in all his English books from school.

All is well here but we miss Dwight terribly. I went to the grocery just before Dwight left to stock up on easy-to-fix food items. It was a Monday evening which I have now found out is the worst time to shop if you are looking for anything in particular. I went to one of the largest grocery stores and they were out of bananas and whole milk and only had 2 single cans of coke (which is my only form of caffeine and very important to me).

I had my first taste of socialised medicine yesterday which I have to say is not all that bad. The hardest part was making it through the automated phone service. It took me several times and when I finally was able to leave a message and someone called me back, she said it was too late in the day to make an appointment. I said, fine, what about tomorrow? And she said yes, good, you can call back tomorrow morning before 9:00. I got a lady in HR at Ericsson to help me make the call the next morning and sure enough, I was seen within the hour. I am fine - just have a chest cold that won't go away. I got a stronger cough medicine which tastes like all medicine here - liquorish - YUCK. Who ever thought that would be a good flavor for medicine????

I am in the process of buying up electrical appliances from families moving back to the states or anywhere that does not use the 120 W European system. As we are getting ready to move into our house, I am realizing that we need an iron, vacuum cleaner, TV, alarm clock, toaster, blender, lamps, baby monitor, etc. Thank goodness there is an ex-pat community that sells off stuff before leaving the country.

Davis on the slide

Beautiful day in Stockholm yesterday. Went for a long walk with the kids and the dog. Davis is fearless when it comes to climbing, sliding, running, etc. Here he is sliding backwards. He did it 10 times!

A different perspective

OK, I will be honest, I almost titled this blog, "More things I miss..." as a sequence to my last blog. With the honeymoon over, I guess I felt my days of mistake-making should have been over and yet every day I am reminded that I am a stranger in this country. Dwight is so good at helping me focus on what I have learned. He was very impressed that I now knew the way to several places without the GPS, that I have could explain (a little) the mysterious parking regulations and that I had found the place to pay our congestion tax or the equivalent to GA 400 tolls.

I know it is OK for me to miss my family, friends and various kitchen appliances (disposal, ice maker, gas cook top) and salad dressing, but I won't blog about those feelings this time. I am finally getting well and was able to go for a run around a beautiful lake near our flat. It is amazing to me to find such pretty water settings with dense and rugged forrests so close by. Two weeks ago everyone except me was sick and Dwight complimented me that I was a hearty soul. Then I got a stomach bug with a vengence. I am not sure I will ever again be able to eat several of the menu items I had just before I got sick. I felt like Seinfeld on the black and white cookie episode. But that is enough on that subject...I am better now.

Last night I took the train downtown to the Grand Hotel which has just renovated one of its bars to have an amazing view of the harbor. A large group of moms from William's school met there for drinks and adult convervation. It is funny how somethings never change. I am sitting a 200 year old hotel with ladies from Britain, Netherlands, Germany, France and Argentina and we are still talking about our children's teachers next year, the swim instructor that seems to do wonders for kids afraid of the water and different suggestions on what to pack for your child's snack. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my night out tremendously and was very proud that I made both ways by myself on the train.

William and Davis are doing great. William's teacher says he is starting to talk and laugh in class so I know he is getting more comfortable with his surroundings. Everyone is highly impressed with his manners. Over here "yes mam" is pretty much unheard of. Davis goes 100 miles an hour all the time. Climbing, running and falling...eating everything and chasing after Chapel or William. His all-time favorite food is bananas. Dwight called him a banana crack head because when he sees a banana he goes crazy until you give it to him and when he has it in his hand he lets out this creepy giggle as he starts to inhale it. He will try to bite through the peeling and if I try and cut it up so it will take him longer than 1 minute to eat the whole thing, he gets very impatient.

William has found a Swedish friend names Beck that also has a light saber and the two of them meet at the park to battle it out. Watching them play is such fun - it does not matter that they do not speak the same language - they talk "Star Wars" and understand perfectly.

I am on Davis duty tonight as Dwight let me sleep last night so I better get to bed.

Adjö! (means farewell and is prounouced heydo)

Davis is smiling now, but you just know he won't think this is funny when we show it at his high school graduation!

Chapel

posted by Dwight -

Everyone is asking about Chapel...well, he is doing fine. He made the trip over in very good shape. Who would have thought that 12 years after he was picked up in Auburn, Alabama that he would be living in Sweden? Certainly not me.

His schedule is somewhat different than it was in Atlanta. Apartment living means more time inside, but it also means more long walks. He probably gets anywhere from 3-4 trips outside per day during the work week. On weekends we all go to the park or for long walks and he enjoys that.

What he doesn't enjoy is Davis which is too bad because Davis adores him. Davis tries to ride Chapel like a horse, he pulls on his ears, pets him, chases him, etc. Chapel hates all of it. That being said it seems like Chapel is getting a little more tolerant. We noticed Davis riding him the other day and Chapel seemed to be taking it in stride.

At any rate I know C-boy is ready to move into the house...we all are. Four people and a dog is a lot for a small apartment. It will be nice to have a little more space and easy access to outdoors. Just a few more weeks!

Rode the bus...

Things I miss...

After being here for 2 and 1\2 weeks, there are several things I miss and American music is one. Internet radio is not an option on our lap top so I was excited when I found 107.2 FM which plays all songs in English. I enjoyed the nostalgic songs for a while but it seems this radio only had a few songs by the Monkey's, Elvis and Neil Diamond. Who ever thought you could hear Crackling Rose on two morning drives in a row.

I am also missing several food items...soft wheat bread, chunky Jiff peanut butter and milk or meat that lasts more that 3 days. Two of the most missed items for a housewife is a disposal and a normal dryer that circulates warm air to dry your clothes. Sink disposals are (I think) not allowed in Sweden although I have not confirmed that or find out the reasoning behind the restriction. And the Swedish have only allowed "environmentally friendly" dryers which means they are not "mommy friendly". IF you have a dryer here, it is machine that supposedly sucks the water out...which means it takes two hours to get your clothes to a still damp stage and that you have to empty the container that fills up with water or else you end up with really wet clothes and a mess to clean up. The other option is the drying rooms but since I have not bought Swedish fabric softener yet, our clothes end up VERY STIFF!

Finally, we are missing several hours of peace and quiet since Davis is still not completely comfortable with his little Swedish crib. He is sleeping now and we walk on pins and needles to not wake him.

Despite these little inconveniences, I am very much liking our new home!

William started futbol today with several class mates. His coach is a German expat who also works for Ericsson. I need to ask him how he got off to coach at 4:30 because Dwight is working some long hours. One of the benefits of our location is now that when Dwight goes to France next week, he will only be gone one night!

Check out the phto above...guess what color William's new jersey is! It matches the new European push chair we bought - a stroller with big wheels for outdoor...especially in the snow and ice. Oh, I forgot to mention about William's 250 SEK or $40 haircut. The photo also shows Davis eating his first Nutella (sp?) sandwich - white bread with chocolate spread.

Below Davis finds something what looks peculiarly familiar...only where is Dad to take his for a ride. Dwight will have a blast when his mini bike arrives. Thank goodness it passed customs on the US side.

Take that...Swedish DVD

It is the little things that annoy you sometimes....like not being able to play your American DVDs on your new Swedish DVD player. That despite the fact that the nice electronics salesman, Magnus PROMISED me that an easy hack was available online. I knew better but purchased the device anyway...

After 6 frustrating days, 2 CD ROMS, 50 internet advice articles and 3 PCs, I finally hacked the code and can now play any DVD in the world on my LG 286. Take that Consumer Electronics companies!

I may not be smart...but I am persistant.

Posted by Dwight -

Here is a video of William helping our friend Jesper make a yummy dessert.