kseenaa: (Me Night time glitter)
2017-12-31 02:34 am

The year 2017 and journaling/blogging...

A month later and here I am again. Guess I can't stay away. :-) End of 2017. I guess a little reflection of the year is in order.

Don't know really where to start. :-) It's been a pretty good year, most of it. Apart from the autumn this year. Less good that one.

Early 2017 was good. The winter-part and the spring-part. I do work a lot, and I do enjoy it.

I feel like I started to grow into my professional role a lot this year over all. And it started this year, pretty much. I feel more confident. And I know what to do, how to do it.

One thing I do know though, and I am working on it, is that I want to do to much. I have a lot of ideas. Things I want to do at work. But there's never enough time, you know? I did get more time this year. Before I worked only 30 hours a week at the school and 10 hours at a neighboring library. This year I got 40 hours to work only in the school, so that's good. More time. But there's never enough time when you are the sole responsible for EVERYTHING at a workplace, is it? :-)

So this autumn it just got a bit to much with work, family and everything. Usually the autumn blues does not effect me. I've never suffered from it. But this year... This year it hit. Hard. Hard as fuck. Depressed friends told me I showed signs of depression, and that might be true. I had no energy for anything. And I pulled back from socializing with anyone at all, even my best friend. And I stopped logging into my chat programs. Which I used to do a lot before. I just didn't have the energy. I didn't have any energy left at all when I came home from work, and I constantly felt like I lacked there to, despite my boss and colleagues telling me otherwise. The teachers and other staff at school think I do a great job to, but at that time I couldn't take that in. So that was not a fun part of 2017.

And lets not start on the political climate in the world these days. That's a depressing state for sure. Fuck Trump. And that's all I'll say on that, or this post will be even more of a downer.

The Swedish political climate isn't to much fun either, since Sverige Demokraterna, which is the alt-right here in Sweden has far to much power. And is gaining it. And there's far to many areas in Sweden where crime is running rampant (and the school I'm working in is in one of them areas...), but trying to beat it with racism is not the answer. Racism and hate never is.

*sigh* So that was the less than good part about this post, but it's reality, so that's that.

But despite how I've felt about my job, I do like it! Even though I struggle with my hooligans, when I'm alone with them, they're so nice to talk to! It's when they come in a group, things get crazy. And the other kids/teens at the school are WONDERFUL! There's about 700 kids/teens at the school now, and the hooligans are around... 10-15 kids/teens. Soooo many refugee kids though, or children of refugees. Hence why I work my ass off to make sure they get the best possible help to make it here in Sweden. To do that, you need to know how to read...

As you can see much of my life is... work...

Then there's Alexandra, of course. The best thing in my life. :-) She grows SO FAST! It's crazy! And she's growing up to be a really good kid. :-) Spoiled, yes. Both grandma's really do love to spoil her rotten. *lol* No wonder my MIL wants to, since Alexandra is her only grandkid. :-)

She cares a lot of her friends and her cousins. She really loves them. So I hope when she starts school she'll have her friends in the same class. Fingers crossed. Her big cousin Tilda, who is 10 years old, is Alexandras big idol. She follows her like a little puppy when we're at the same spot, and she learns a lot from her.

One thing she's really gotten from Tilda is the love off horses. Alexandra started riding this year, and she has really taken to it! She's always been very shy, but not when she's at the stable. She's really outgoing there, and not afraid of the horses at all. :-D At this riding school you don't only learn how to ride on the horse, but also how to take care of the horse. The whole thing. And she's not afraid to get her hands dirty. Not at all. So that's really impressive! And she's getting really good at riding to, for her age. :-D So I'm totally happy with driving her to the stable once a week. Eventually there'll be more than once a week, I know. But I'm fine with it, since it seems to be good for her, not only physically but mentally to! And she loves it! Win-win!

Her teachers/caregivers at daycare says she is doing really well at daycare to, she's popular with the other kids. She likes to learn new things. To try new things and to explore. And to help her friends when needed. Only time she ends up cranky is when she can't run the games she does with her friends. I think that comes from her being an only child and always deciding the games herself at home.

Another bad thing is that she's inherited two bad qualities from me and Peting... My tendency to 'disappear' in my fantasies, to the point I dream while being awake and not hear or see what's going on around me. So people have to touch me or call out for me to snap me out of it. Alexandra does this to, especially when tired, morning or evening.

Another thing, that she got from Peting, is her absolutely HORRID morning-temper! Now, I don't expect anyone to be cheerful at 6am in the morning which is the time I wake her up, but my GAWD! There's some serious fights quite often when she just refuses to do anything at all, and fights and hits me to get out of it. I've been brought to tears some mornings because I've been so frustrated and this autumn and winter I've been late for work nearly every morning. :-/ Peting is like that to. Well, he is not fighting, but I do avoid going into the kitchen until he's taken a seat and started on his breakfast. Just saying.

Right, so... This last month or two, I've started doing a lot better. I even start feeling an urge to go back to the vampire-LARP, which we stopped doing as well this year. We took a break, but now I'm started to feel energy and urge to go back to that to. They've done a restart this year, so instead of vampires in the modern age, the LARP is now set in the medieval times. Medieval vampires... We'll see if I can figure something out for it. I've noticed that many of the LARPers that moved away from this city for work and education has started to move back again. It would be fun to play against them again. :-)

So as you can see, even though this year has been tougher than previous years, I'm still going out on top. At least that's how it feels like to me. :-) I do have hopes for 2018. Alexandra is starting school! So that's going to be interesting! Onward to 2018!

Books, movies, tv-shows... I'll just have to make a separate post for that! Kudos if anyone had the energy to read through all that!

I made a deal with [profile] hexenhasel today to be better at posting, and I'll try to do that. I'm not sure I can jump back so far to catch up, so if there's any post you want me to read specificlly, link to it in a comment or just tell me whatever you want me to know. :-) I'll jump back until December 1'st, and then keep up from that.

This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (GoT Jon Snow)
2017-11-20 11:12 pm

Current state of me...

You know… Sometimes I wonder what is wrong with me. Or if it’s not something wrong with me. Not sure. I just know the only thing I have energy for is watching TV-shows on Netflix and playing World of Warcraft.

And hey ho, with that comes guilt. Because before I was online chatting with friends to. And now I have no energy for that. :-/ So I’ve lost touch with [personal profile] snowstormskies and Duodeathstar. They both probably hate me right now, since I never log in. And if I do log in, I’d have to explain why I’ve been absent. And I have no explanation. More than lack of energy, and how does that sound?

Maybe I should write emails with them instead? Hmm… I’ll think on that for a bit.

It’s been a lot of fun to go back to WoW though! So relaxing! Started a new character to be a support to Alexandra's worgen druid. Yeah, she’s playing to. Although not on her own, Peting is doing the actual playing, but Alexandra is in charge of what her character should do. He is reading, translating, the quests and asks her if they should help the quest-giver or not. And where to go and so on and so forth. So it’s a feral druid, since she likes her character to be a cat as much as possible and that her character can claw the butt on her enemies. *LOL* So I made a priest so when she ends up in higher levels (far, FAR in the future), she’ll have a pocket-healer to keep her alive. :-)

The family that WoW’s together *cough*

Apart from playing WoW, I’ve also started to go through my long list I’ve made on Netflix with interesting TV-shows. And I also have a couple of YouTube channels that I follow.

And when I game, I listen to a couple of various podcasts, mostly in swedish, but also in english.

I really should make a list of this, shouldn’t I? I’ve listened to a few books as well. I’ve not really done that before, but there were two books that A LOT of the teens/kids at my school wanted to read, so I wanted to know what the hell it was all about, you know? But being too stressed out to sit down and read a book, I listened to them instead. And now I’m getting into listening to books that way. I’ve missed reading books, reading stories, so it’s nice to get into that again.

And then there’s some of my friends. First off, this can be a little bit triggering. And definitely very important note… I AM NOT BLAMING ANYONE!!! NOT AT ALL!!!

But I have a couple of friends on Twitter that are suicidal. And I’ve always been supportive. Always, always. It’s what I do. It’s who I am. It’s the core of who I am. A helper, a supporter, a rock, a steady tree with my roots deep in the soil where others can find shade and support. That’s me.

But lately I’ve been tiring. And I’m feeling so guilty about that to, it’s like I turn my back on who I am. But I just… can’t give the support I used to anymore. It’s why I’ve pulled back more, you could say. Here on LJ it’s easier, somehow. Somewhat on Twitter to, and Instagram. In chatt? Nope. I look at my chat program, and I just… can’t logg in right now.

So I’m sorry if I’m not a good supporter right now, everyone. I really and honestly am.

This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (Me Birthday Icon)
2017-11-12 01:01 am

Birthday party and best friend talks...

So, Peting had his birthday party. It was actually a lot of fun!

Mom wasn't here, but she'll come over tomorrow. I can't wait. My little brother was here and I gave him a great big hug, because I've missed him. I've missed both my brother and mother lately, because life and especially work has been just a little bit crazy. And still is, to be fair, even if it does feel like I'm more in control now then I was before.

Anyway back to the birthday party!

Peting's relatives and mom came over, obviously, which was a lot of fun! I love my MIL, I really do. I do know she reads here at times though, and I found out later that she was worried I was mad at her about all the carb-talk, but I'm not MAD. I was IRRITATED about it, but you know. Big difference. And that comes and goes to. There was not much carb-talk today though, maybe a mention. And I did give her a grand big hug telling her I do really love and she is a great MIL. WHICH IS TRUE! And not just something I say. I've written that more than once during all the years I've written here. It's funny really how much like my mom she is, even though my mom is loud and boisterous and my MIL is more subdued. They're still very much alike in a very good way.

There was a lot of gifts for my dear Peting. He got a Yoda bobble head that Alexandra had picked out. Well, to be fair, she'd said that 'dad needs a Star Wars doll'. Said and done, we went to find one. We did, in a game-store. But she wanted to buy the big Yoda softie, which was... a bit big and also a bit more expensive... *LOL* So we went with he smaller bobble head one. :-) He got a gift card to buy something there to, and a thermometer that tells you the temperature both inside and outside at the same time. So he was very happy. Especially when he got a even bigger gift card from his aunt, so he'll be buying A LOT of games in the future, I'm sure. *LOL*

What with how stressed I'd been lately, I didn't bake that much. I made a classic swedish birthday cake with a marzipan cover and swedish farm cookies (on Peting's request), and my dear best friend made salmiak macrons as a surprise! Oh, and I'd bought chocolate chip cookies from a teen at the school I work, since his class collected money to go on a trip together. :-) So there was plenty to eat for FIKA!

Before FIKA we had lasagna that Peting had made. He's REALLY good at that, and it tasted DIVINE!

To say everyone was stuffed after that would be an understatement. *LOL* So the little birthday party was a HUGE success!

My best friend lingered though, and we had a loooong talk before she left. It felt really good. We've both felt a bit exhausted and down lately, so just to sit and talk for hours was JUST what we both needed, I think. We've known each other for so long now 25 or 26 years, I think. So we know each other inside and out by now. And we know that sometimes we have to push a little to get each other to talk. This time I needed a little pushing. And she knows just how to. She didn't leave until a bit after 8pm, way after Alexandras bedtime. But she got to stay up a little longer today since it was a special day and all.

Thank anything holy for my best friend. Seriously. I don't know what I'd do without her. She's so good at getting my head straight when I mess myself up. She claims I do the same to her, even though I don't know how. Maybe I don't have to? Safe to say we help each other out when we need to. :-)

Now it's defiantly bedtime, and I'll get to hang out with mom tomorrow. Awesomeness!

This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (Cupcake pink stars)
2017-11-07 11:41 pm

The elephant in the room - Sugar...

We had a little birthday party for Peting's aunt's husband. And, of course, his cousin was there. She's gotten diabetes not that long ago, and of course has had to stop eat anything sweet. And she has done really well with that, she’s even stopped eating nearly all carbohydrates! So, she’s being good, which keeps her diabetes under control! So yay!

But, and this is what bothers me somewhat. As soon as we meet up with Peting’s relatives it’s all talk about sugar and carbs and how bad it is, but still there’s carb and sugar in the birthday food. So I eat it, but feel scrutinized and commented on the whole time, even if they don’t say it to me. They just discuss how bad it is with carbs and sugar.

It just makes me feel quite uncomfortable. And when I hinted at it, my MIL just said that I’m the healthy one since I can eat it without being sick. Really? I don’t feel healthy or even comfortable when they talk about it every time we meet up all of us. :-/

I hope it won’t be like that on Saturday when we celebrate Peting's birthday. It’ll be my brother there to and his kids, so I hope that will distract from this constant subject. *sigh*

This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (TH Bill fluffy hair 1)
2017-10-29 12:07 am
Entry tags:

Autumn stress, family and haunting libraries...

So.... I had a bit of a breakdown this week. There's just so much going on right before Christmas... And then there's Christmas right after that. :-P

And then there's the fact with our working hours... I work, officially, from 8am to 4:30pm. Peting works from 6am to 15pm (and sneaks off a bit earlier on Fridays...).

Add to that, that I have two bussrides that takes 30-40 mins what with waiting times when I change busses...

All in all it makes sure I feel constant guilt for coming home so late, around 5pm or a little bit after. Alexandra goes to bed at 7pm... So I see her for two hours every afternoon during workdays. If I'm lucky. So it's no wonder I feel constantly guilty over it. :-/

Work? Oh yeah, work... So so so much to do. It's crazy how short the school term is during the autumn. From August to December. Sounds long? It's not. It's really really not. :-P

Next week it's the one week the school is off for the kids and teens during the autumn. I had planned to get more done at work before next week, but alas. I did the minimum of what I needed to get done though. *shrug*

I will though have A LOT of fun next week! Because while the kids and teens relax or make mischief, I will go on a ghost-tour!

Last year I turned one of the rooms in the basement in the closest library in to a haunted room. And was in there... haunting. X-D As a ghost, using the theatre makeup I use when LARPing and crazy contacts. It was a SUCCESS!

So this year I got asked by more libraries to do the same thing with them!

Meaning the whole next week... I'll get to dress up and scare kids... During working hours! WIN-WIN!!!


This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (I think I can)
2017-10-23 12:34 am

A little update just for the hell of it...

This is just going to be a quick little note. :-)

I've just got caugth up on all my f-lists, but am a bit behind on Twitter and Instagram. So, yeah... Getting there with social media.

Family is doing pretty good.

Well, Peting has been feverish and have had a HORRID cough lately, but he is SLOWLY healing. He got NO patience though.

Alexandra had a fever for a little while to, but it passed quickly. I think she had the germs Peting is struggling with now.

I'm stressed as per normal, but I feel like I have things moderately in control at work now. At home though... Well, since Peting been sick, he doesn't want to do ANYTHING! And when we usually split things, and now we haven't... Well, that means I've had to do the majority of the household work as well. So yeah, not happy. I don't get it how my brother does it that is a single dad with two kids. o.O

Anyhow, we'll see if I can keep it up with LJ/DW this time. I do feel so much better when I write here. It's strange, isn't it, how just getting your life down in words makes things better?

This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (TH Bill fluffy hair 1)
2017-09-28 11:59 pm

Visit to brother, riding and my damn ears!!!

Onwards to some real life updates and stuff, because well... why not? It's what I do, what I use this journal for. To get stuff off my chest, good or bad. And if anyone reads, than that's fine to. :-)

Last weekend not so much happened, but the weekend before that me and Alexandra went by TRAIN to visit my brother and his kids.

Alexandra had never been on a train before that. To say she was existed would be... a bit of an understatement. To say the least. She did great though, and it ended up being a great experience. Now though she keeps nagging us that she wants to do it again. X-D

We also went to the big public pool and spa and sporting arean called... Arenan. Yeah, well. The public pool part of the house is AMAZING!!! Seriously amazing! :-D It was smaller and not that much to call home about when I was a kid, but since they renovated that place, it has ended up really amazing. So we had a really good time there me and my brother with our kids. Alexandra was extatic since she loves going to public pools AND hanging around with her cousins.

After that we went home to my brother and made his specialty for supper... Meatball pizza. X-D Kids loved it, and after that they just hang around watching TV, since they were so tired, so it was easy getting them IN bed. Harder to get them to sleep since they were so happy to have a sleepover together... Cousins... *LOL*

Once they fell asleep, me and my brother tried some strong liquer and baked a cake, cookies, muffins and spongecake... Because the day after that my brother had his birthday party!

YES! My little brother turned 36 years old! YAY!!!!

And Peting came as well, of course, and after the birthday party we just went home and collapsed.

It was a GREAT weekend, and I have to agree with Alexandra there... We HAVE to do that again! :-D

After that it's been work, work, work... daycare, daycare, daycare... Split up with visits to the stable.

Yes, I haven't mentioned that, have I? Alexandra, my dear darling daughter, who has nagged us about horses and wanting to start riding has finally started to do just that. I think she started to beg about it when she was around 3 years old. Thanks to her cousin being a seriously horsecrazy girl, and still is.

So every Saturday we go to the riding school, and she has about a 45 mins riding lesson. Alexandra is VERY shy around new people that she doesn't know, to the point of it being almost annoying. But at the riding school, I guess there's HORSES!!! So who has time to be shy then? *lol*

Last weekend and this week though has been less fun. Night between Thursday and Friday Alexandra started coughing. And coughing and coughing and coughing and coughing... All night long. So I stayed home with her during Friday. While she kept coughing. Alexandra had croup as a baby, so as soon as she starts coughing... she is REALLY COUGHING!!! So we spent Friday in the cough watching weird cartoons. Moderately enjoyable, until...

My ear started to hurt and feel weird... And as soon as something effect my ears, my tinnitus goes high wire and is getting REALLY NOISY!!! I usually don't notice it, but yeah...

Alexandra stopped coughing during the weekend, but my ear and also the other other ear just kept getting worse. The noise going louder, and I started to be hard of hearing. Worse and worse...

Worked Monday, since my schedule was SMACKED FULL! Managed being bought supper in the evening by my workmates since I'd had my 40th birthday this year. And, during my workday, looking good while being photographed for the yearly school catalog where there's photos of all the classes in the school and all the staff. :-)

And I managed a visit to the nurses office/care center as well! Where I got medication that you drop directly into your ear, so I started doing that right away!

Tuesday, worked my gruling ten hour day, and felt worse and worse, my hearing got worse and worse, and it was a pain in the ass to try to hear what the patrons in the regular library was saying...

So, Wednesday onwards I've been at home. I rarely call in sick, since I'm the only librarian at the school, and they rarely very rarely take in substitutes for me, since it's not easy being a sub for me since I have everything in my head... :-P

Unfortunally though my ears haven't improved. Instead it feels like they've gotten worse. :-/ And of course Alexandra got sick as well Tuesday running a high fever. Today though she was perfectly fine, so she's going back to daycare tomorrow. Today she's pulled me down and talked straight into my ear. And I had a hard time hearing her despite that. :-( I feel horrible about it.

Plan for tomorrow is to someone get to the nurses office/care centre to get more help, because I can't be on sick leave any longer!!! Besides, I'D LIKE TO BE ABLE TO HEAR WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING TO ME, THANKS!!!!


This entry is cross posted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (Cupcakes flowers)
2017-08-13 11:57 pm
kseenaa: (GoT Daenerys)
2017-07-17 12:02 am

Game of Thrones, vacation, work and LARP...

Oh hum... I just finished off my rewatch of Game of Thrones. And my goodness, this show. I just can't even. It's so amazing. I've changed favorite characters more than once, even if one of them is quite constant. And I keep nagging on one, because FUCK HE IS SO DULL!!! Anyhow, I can't wait to see the beginning of season 7 tomorrow after work!

Yes, tomorrow I start work again. I've been on my summer vacation for four weeks now, and it's been great. It really has. On one hand it'll be good going back to work. On the other hand I wouldn't mind staying home more. Peting is staying home for three more weeks (envy!) so at least I don't have to concern myself with daycare and such things... Lazier mornings. Yes please!

I've packed everything tonight, so I should be good tomorrow. I also have the car, so that would make my morning even lazier. YAY!

Not much else to tell really. These last days before going back to work we took one day where we went to Borås Zoo for full day. And we ate out twice that day to, both lunch and dinner. Which was really great! Not sure what it is with that zoo though... but I think they're doing something right, because those animals spurt babies EVERYWHERE! X-D Even the orangutans that are supposedly really hard to breed have two babies, I think? Good match there, I'd say! *lol*

The other two days, Saturday and Sunday, we just stayed at home being lazy. Which was pretty much what I wanted. I took the time to clear out a bit of stuff to give to charity. And also I got a TON of stuff up on Tradera (swedish Ebay) so I hope I'll make some money on that. Mostly kid-clothes.

The stuff to charity is in the trunk in the car, so I'll be dropping that off tomorrow. And shop a bit for the post-apocalyptic LARP that is going to take place in two weeks. I need weird stuff that I can sell in the store my character will run. ;-)

The vampire-LARP however is on hiatus. Since there'll be a restart with it, and I wasn't to keen on joining in. Peting talked me into it though with a really cool character idea, so... we just might see what will happen there. :-)

So I'm moderately busy. It'll be worse soon, I'm sure. *LOL* At least there won't be any kids in the school for quite a couple of weeks yet. BLISS!!! ;-D

My mother is doing fairly well. She cries sometimes over Ozzy, of course. But she is doing quite well, and is doing her exercise for her arm. So I'm positive she'll recover on both accounts.

This entry is crossposted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (Me Fae Pink)
2017-07-12 01:31 am

Vacation time... Part two: A short trip to Astrid Lindgrens World!

Let's continue from where we left off, shall we?

After I'd dropped [personal profile] snowstormskies off at the airport, I went straight home. We had dinner, and... we packed.

Because the day after that, we went on a little trip with my brother. To Astrid Lindgrens World. It's a park built around the worlds and characters from the books written by Astrid Lindgren.

We were going together with my brother and his two kids, which had Alexandra totally excited! We'd rented a cabin and my brother brought his caravan. :-D We didn't get access to our spots in the camping ground until after we'd been at the park, but it didn't matter. It was the park we were aiming for, after all. :-D

First day we walked around the most. We aimed to see a few shows/plays they have around the park. It's split up in various areas, each for a book and their characters.

That first day we saw most of the park and the various themed areas. And of course caught a few shows as well.

Thing is, each area has seatings around the main building of the area. And there's shows and an actor playing the character is there during certain times. So we caught a couple of those shows/plays. About 20 mins long each.

We caught Brothers Lionheart, Pippi Longstocking and Karlsson-on-the-roof that first day. It was lovely! The actors were great, and clearly cared about their characters! Even the kid-actors!

But the best part about this park is, I have to say, how damn well made the place is! There was no plastic, no cheating, nothing like that. The whole place is built with pure craftsmanship, and a skilled one at that! If it was a wooden house, it WAS a wooden house built from the ground up, even the miniature once! A stone wall, WAS a damn stone wall even if it might not be a big one, but it was built as if it could have been! There was no cheating going on.

Even in the restaurants and FIKA places, you had real plates, real glasses, real mugs. No paper or plastic. The food, sweets and FIKA-snacks? All produced, baked etc locally. Everything tasted damn homemade, and was DELICIOUS!!!

Price? Not to bad. The entrance fee was the highest, but once you were in there everything but food and souvenirs was for free. And not even the souvenirs were hugely expensive! But those for later. :-)

Anyway, we enjoyed ourselfs. The kids ran around and played and explored everywhere. At Ronia the Robbers area, Matt's Fort, Alexandra fell and scratched the palm of her hand and was very upset. It was just a small scratch, but she did walk around begging for bandaids all day. She get it, and then after a while she pulled it off and wanted a new one... Thank heavens the staff at Astrid Lindgren's World was both kind and patient! :-D

Less than an hour before the park closed, we left and went to get my brothers caravan set up and get to our cabin. Which we did. And the cabin was GREAT! Very beautiful and comfy. And my brother could set his cabel up, so he got electricty in his caravan. :-D All good! And he also invited us over for a mini-barbecue, since he had his mini-grill with him. So we had hotdogs as a late dinner before we all collapsed in our respective beds. :-)

Photos from Day One at Astrid Lindgren's World (multiple on each!): One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six

The next day it was RAINING!!! Pouring down when we all woke up. But at the point where we'd emptied our cabin and all kids had eaten, been to the bathroom and you know... all that. It had stopped raining, but the sky was still grey, so we made sure to have the proper equipment with umbrellas for us adults and for the big kids, and Alexandra had rubberboots and half her rainsuit, just the rainpants since she wanted her normal jacket and an umbrella like everyone else. Deal!

Said and done and we went to the park with the goal to see as many shows/plays as we could possibly figure out! The park had an app and, of course, a brochure where all the shows during the day is listed.

We aimed for Matt's Fort, area with Ronia the Robbers Daughter, and to let the kids have fun on the way. But, on the way we stumbled upon Madicken's area as well! So we stopped to check their show before we moved on... And suddenly someone started talking and singing close to us again when we continued! We'd stumbled upon Rasmus and the Tramp as well! *LOL* Amazing! So we watched them as well. :-D

Then, finally, we arrived at Matt's Fort to watch Ronia, her robber father and all his robbers! IT WAS SO GOOD! For those not knowing, Ronia the Robbers daughter is my favorite book! I ADORE IT!!! So to see it on a tiny stage, part of the story, that was AMAZING! So good! Also, they sang the songs from the movie, which I loved, and it was just all around great! The kids loved it to, since the robbers sang good and were some funny characters to. :-D ALL GOOD!

After that we focused on the kids favorites... First off Emil of Lönneberga! So we continued on to that area to watch a show play there. It was great! So funny! And the songs written for that story and movie are so so so good! Probably some of the best written for Astrid Lindgren's stories, to be honest. So that was great! And the kids loved it!

We'd forgotten to eat, so we took a break for food, then we went to watch Pippi Longstocking again, because she's Alexandra's favorite and she's the youngest. ;-) The other two kids loves her to, so that was an easy decision! So went there, the kids played around with a ton of other kids in Pippi's house and then we watched Pippi. Just as good and funny as the day before. Best part was to see how Alexandra got all into it as we watched Pippi. *grin*

Then we had some FIKA, because dads need coffee... *lol* Then we went back to Emil of Lönneberga and watched another play there... Again, very funny and the songs are WONDERFUL!!! Emil is not my favorite of Astrid Lindgren's character, but the songs are some of my favorites. :-D

And then... it was time to leave. In between the shows, the kids walked around and explored. Checked out things. Tried things. And we bought homemade candy. And they just enjoyed being together as cousins. My brotehrs kids, Tilda and Theo are 10 and 8 years old. And Alexandra is just 5 years old. But Tilda and Theo are WONDERFUL with Alexandra, really loves her! Makes sure she's OK, they don't run away from her, they help her climb around in all the fun houses, explore things, explain things to her... It's just... They are just SO GOOD with her! I LOVE seeing it!

Anyway, we finished our day with Alexandra getting a toy there. Since she's learned to use the toilette properly instead of the potty. *lol* Positive reinforsment. ;-) And I figured she'd pick a Pippi doll or an Emil doll, since those are her favorites. But no. OF COURSE she picked a softie toy... a softie horse. Pippi's horse. *SIGH!* We have so many softie-horses at this point... Not surprised though.

And then we packed up, and started our journey home. After about an hour we split up, my brotehr and his kids going one way and we the other for another hour and a half. Then we were home, and all of us collapsed in the bed after getting our bags up to the apartment.

It was a great, great, great trip though! I had SUCH a good time! And us adults decided that we have to do something together next year to, because we all had such a great time. :-D

Photos from Day Two at Astrid Lindgren's World (multiple on nearly each!): One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven

And that concludes my vacation adventures! We were supposed to go to the coast to, but the weather there was supposed to suck during the time we were there. And who wants to be at the coast and not be able to swim, eh? So no. We'll do that at another time.

This entry is crossposted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (Me Rainbow)
2017-07-11 02:48 am

Vacation time... Part one: Visit from dear darling british friend!

And so, nearly all my vacation is done and over with... This last week I'll do nothing but laze around and not do shit. Well, apart from the necessary, of course. :-P

So, as you saw on my previous post, the midsummer trip and following week staying with my mom went really well! Better and more awesome than I had expected! So grateful for that! I love my mom to bits, and just to get to stay with her and be around her was bliss.

Anyway, we came home and we had just a few days and then my DEAREST [personal profile] snowstormskies came over! Which was AWESOME!

She didn't stay as long as she did last year, arrived late on Sunday and left midday on Thursday. So, effectively we had three days we could do something fun and hang out. And that we did!

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen photos of what we've been up to already. :-) (I'm very active on Instagram...)

We spent one day at Karlsborg Fortress, which is totally cool! If you want the history of the fortress either go there or check out the wiki-page I linked to there. :-D It's an incredible place. Biggest fortress in Sweden! And the short story is that it was built to protect Sweden's gold reserve, government and royal family in case Russia attacked. Historically Russia has been a very real threat to Sweden.

And the guided tour sure reflects that! It's called A Historic Adventure Tour! And an adventure it was. You get to see a movie about how life was like in the fort when it was active. And parts of the tour you get to experience loud fake bombardments and talking dolls as if russians are attacking the fort. So it was a bit hectic and.... quite exciting there for a while! I wouldn't recommend it for anyone with PTSD or any other mental illness!

Alexandra joined us to, and she might have been a bit to young. She was very frightened. The tour guide was great though, said she was a brave princess and feed her and the other kids 'gold coins', aka chocolate coins. :-) And both during and afterward we talked to Alexandra about it very clearly and properly and it seems as if she understood. She keeps saying since that loud bangs are bad. But that she's a brave princess. I couldn't agree more!

Pictures from Karlsborg: One, Two, Three, Four, Five

The day after that me and [personal profile] snowstormskies decided to take a shopping and having a SPA afternoon. And that we did! I usually don't shop much, but I got inspired by [personal profile] snowstormskies and do a fair bit of shopping as well. :-P Mostly useful stuff or things that have broken that I replaced. All good though! I did end up buying scented candles just like last year and the year before that. I guess that's tradition to do now when she visits. X-D

And of course that meant Alexandra got to have a calm day at home with dad, which I think she needed. :-)

So the spa was lovely and the shopping was nice and we ended up having a great dinner in the evening with Alexandra and Peting as well, so that was wonderful. :-)

Spa picture: One

Last day we got to do something together, we decided to go to Torpa Stonehouse. It's a pretty cool medieval mansion/castle that has been in the same family since it was built... and still is. No joke. :-) I took [personal profile] snowstormskies there the first time she visited, and she liked it so much she wanted to go again. So we did! The tour guide was really great, and did the whole tour in english even though she was very insecure in the language. She did great though! She even assured Alexandra there'd be no loud bangs! :-)

After we'd explored the house and all it's crooks, crannies, secret passages and all that, we went to a moderately small house outside where they sold a TON of handmade stuff! Like household items, knitted things, sewn things, leather work, metal work... You name it. :-D All handmade from people around the area. [personal profile] snowstormskies LOVES that sort of thing, and so do I, so that was awesome! Aaaand... we spent some money there, no surprise. X-D

We also went to a neighboring farm/mansion that was a bit younger, I think they started out there during the 1500's... There to they sold a lot of handmade stuff and things, so... we spent some more money. X-D Alexandra got a giant handmade softie snake that she fell head over heels for!

So we had a really good time, you could say!

Pictures from Torpa Stonehouse: One, Two, Three (Most are multiple images.)

Next day I helped [personal profile] snowstormskies clean up the little cabin she stayed in at the camping ground here, Borås Camping. She really enjoyed that little cabin, and it was really easy to clean up as well, to make it ready for the next person renting it. :-)

After that we went to have lunch, picking up Alexandra on the way. Peting choose to fix his own, since he felt his blood sugar levels had gone through the roof lately... Diabetes is such a pain, seriously! But we had a good time still, just us three girls. :-) Then we dropped Alexandra off, hugs all around!

Then I drove [personal profile] snowstormskies to the airport, waving her off. That's always the hardest part. I love, love having her here visiting! And she claims it's good for her somehow. I'm just glad she enjoys my company enough to come visit me once a year. She already plans for next year... ;-)

Saying goodbye: One

So that was the first post! Next post will deal about... adventures with my brother, our kids and Astrid Lindgrens World!

This entry is crossposted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (Tea loved)
2017-06-30 01:46 am

Midsummer 20017 - a little report.

If you remember I didn't do that good before Midsummer. And in the end, that might have been a blessing in disguise. Which sounds weird as fuck, but hear me out here.

I was still down and a bit out of it during packing in the morning, to the point I almost pissed Peting off, because he figured I could try to see something good with the trip. And I did!! I did! Meeting my huge insane extended family is GOLD! It was what kept me going, to meet them all at my aunts as she holds her annual Midsummer party the day before Midsummer Eve.

So, once we packed (which actually went surprisingly well... very surprising!), we were on our way to meet up with my aunt and her family. One of my cousins are still globetrotting, which she's done for years, but her two siblings would be there. Those three cousins are the closest to me of all my relatives. We grew up as siblings almost, since our mothers are so close.

We hung out with my aunts husband (totally awesome!) and one of my cousins until my aunt got off work. Then we just hung out, talked and helped her. Alexandra charmed everyone that saw her, as par usual, even if she was very shy at first. Also normal. Peting left early, since he had an 8 hour drive to do from my aunts to his friend further north in the country.

Which is part of what stressed me out and left me feel totally out if it. Because now we're basically dumped at my aunts. I didn't know when my mom was going to show, and I knew she just wanted us to drive her to the next party with her gentleman caller and then we'd be abandoned at her home for Midsummer Eve. Just me and Alexandra. By ourselves. During a holiday usually celebrated with family. (Unless you are a teen or of drinking age, then you just get drunk.)

Either way, it felt really depressing and stressful. My aunt hugged me lots and kept saying her sister was insane that she didn't want to hang out with me and Alexandra on Midsummer Eve when we so rarely get to go to visit her.

A bit past 8pm Alexandra was starting to whine that she was tired and wanted to leave and go to bed. She was being very good and had stayed up more than an hour past her normal bedtime, so totally understandable. I had a ton of packing, so I asked my aunt, cousin and some more relatives to help me carry my stuff to mom's car, since she'd arrived an hour or so earlier.

And then it started. How I was supposed to drive her and her gentleman caller here and there BEFORE I could go home to moms and put me and Alexandra to bed and the things there was in the fridge for us to eat, classical Midsummer food, and this and that and I just...

I lost it a bit. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I did. So mom and aunt and one of my second cousins (that I adore) saw and heard.

Everyone hugged me and helped me and all was good. I drove off, just me and Alexandra. She was sooo tired, but was doing good and even though I said she could sleep in the car, she didn't. The phone went off twice during the drive, but I couldn't answer and drive at the same time during the evening, so I figured I'd see who it was once Alexandra was in bed.

She did great, went to bed at mom's feel asleep and all, after almost an hour (!), but that was expected when not being in her own bed.

Checking my phone while unpacking the car (headphones is the shit), it was mom that had called and texted me. She was upset I was upset and all... and when I called her she said she'd cancelled her plans with her gentleman caller so she could be with me and Alexandra.

I felt bad about that, guilty that she cancelled her plans. I had her car, but some relatives drove her home. We hugged and talked and it was all good.

We ended up having a GREAT Midsummer Eve! Probably the best one I've had in a couple of years. Ever since Peting started to go visiting his friend by himself, I'd say. I kept feeling guilty about ruining mom's plans, but it faded eventually.

My aunt and her husband came over to, and we had SUCH a good time! We really really did! Mom told me she had such a great time to, and I believe her! I could tell she wasn't just saying that.

We ended up staying with mom for a whole week! :-D Midsummer Eve and Midsummer Day just me and Alexandra. Peting joined us late late Midsummer Day. The day after that my brother dropped off his kids, and they stayed there as well for the rest of the week. FULL HOUSE! *LOL* It was great. :-D It really was. Alexandra had a blast the whole time. There was much giggling to be heard every night when them three kids was going to sleep. *LOL*

And I managed to relax to! Me, who am always stressing over one thing or another managed to STOP doing that and just... relax and hanging out with the kids. It was GREAT!

We took it easy at mom's, went to the public pool, cooked and baked together... It was WONDERFUL! I could see mom had a blast to being surrounded by all three of her grandkids at the same time, which is pretty rare.

So that whole trip ended up amazing, even if it had a very rocky start. :-)

On Sunday [personal profile] snowstormskies is coming here for her, by this point, annual visit! I think it's the fourth time she visits, unless I've lost count. *lol* We don't have any huge plans. Just to hang out, visit mom and go to Karlsborg's fortress. Going to be nice, I think! :-D

This entry is crossposted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (GoT Sansa Looking Up)
2017-06-21 11:58 pm

Midsummer depression and summer-plans...

Midsummer. Again. :-/ Ever since the disastrous trip to Peting friend a couple of years ago I feel really horrible during Midsummer. Which ALSO bums me out, because Midsummer used to be one of my favorites holidays during the year. :-/

*sigh*

Thing is, it has gotten even worse. Because since my mom meet her gentleman caller, she goes to parties with him on Midsummer. So... Me and Alexandra is pretty much dumped all alone at Mom's house during Midsummer.

Peting is going to his friend in the north this year to. And mom, well. She's going to two Midsummer parties with her gentleman caller, which makes me feel even more down. I mean, we're not able to go visit her that often, but still he goes first. :-/

If I'm jealous? A little, yeah. If we're there, why doesn't she want to hang out with us? When her gentleman caller is there, it's... I don't feel as comfortable. I don't know. It's odd. :-P

And I feel horribly guilty for saying that to. Because Mom seems to genuinely care and love him. *SIGH*

As you can clearly see I am not doing quite good right now. I hope I'll feel better shortly. I do have my vacation from work right now. Which doesn't mean I'll have it slow.

Oh no.
  • 22 - 28 June, Being at mom's and celebrating (ha!) Midsummer.


  • 2 - 6 July, [personal profile] snowstormskies are here visiting, which I'm SOOOO looking forward to!!!


  • 7 - 8 July, Astrid Lindgrens World Park with brother and his kids as well.


  • 10 - 12 July, Going to the coast and staying at a luxury hotel for two nights. Hopefully the weather will be nice...


  • 17 July, going back to work. So there's a lot of things going on. Fun things! I should be happy about it! It's just.... A lot. And then Midsummer... UGH. Next year I'll be renting a car, because that would take a load of the stress for me, to be quite honest.

Wish me luck tomorrow?

This entry is crossposted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (Me Springtime)
2017-05-30 05:07 pm

100 questions meme: Day 72 - 80

Work is as crazy as ever. Hopefully next week it will calm down enough so I can actually breath. It’s… yeah. It’s not good this year. :-P

Have some questions instead so I won’t fall behind too much. :-) I WILL finish this one off, dammit!!!

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you'll forget it?
Yes and no. In the end, I’d have to say yes. If I don’t put down things I need to remember in writing, I’ll forget them. Without fail. It’s why my calendar is so important to me. I have all the stuff I need to remember there both for work and for family-life. I just panicked a bit when I forgot it at home one day when going to work…

73: what are some of your worst habits?
According to my boss I have a tendency to act like a teenager sometimes. *LOL* In a not good way, I suppose. Like, if there’s a bit to much going on and something just gets thrown at me that I have to deal with I can go in a total ‘nope’-mood and just refuse to do it. Which is OK privately but not professionally. :-)
I also get stressed and feel absolutely horrid if I make someone disappointed for whatever reason. I have a tendency to take things upon myself thinking it’s my fault.
So those two are the main ones.

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.
Not my best friend, just a note. ;-)

A strong tough person who's been through something that is possibly a nightmare for many. One I first meet this one things were pretty bleak for them. Hiding away from the world, only going out at night, hiding from the sun… We’ve had our fights, for sure… Disagreements and such, but I think we’ve gotten better friends because of it. We got to know each other very well after just a short while. This friendship is very dear to me, and it has definitely changed me to the better, I hope.

75: tell us about your pets!
I’ve grown up with cats my whole life, and I currently have two. Two black farm cats that we picked up from a friend to Peting’s mother. They’re both pitch black with just a hint of white on their chest. Pretty yellow eyes to. :-) They are getting old now, around 12-13 years of age. Since they are indoors cats, they’ve kept healthy their whole life, and have just a bit of overweight, but nothing to be concerned about according to our vet. We do take them on checkups and shoots once a year. :-) Even though they are sisters and look just the same, they are very different personalities. Skuld is a bit standoffish, does not like to be picked up and if she wants cuddles she comes to you, thank you ever so. Verdandi we can pick and do almost anything we want with, she likes it and goes along with it. She’s more social than Skuld. The weird thing though is… when it comes to Alexandra it’s the other way around!!!! :-D Skuld searches Alexandra out, and Alexandra can do whatever she wants with her! Verdandi though does not like Alexandra and usually goes the other way and avoids Alexandra as much as possible. She can stand her for very very short amounts of time though. Verdandi has her places in the apartment that is just hers where she goes to get away from Alexandra, which we’ve taught Alexandra to respect. :-) They are our furbabies and definitely a big part of our family!

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren't?
I’m at work and should probably fix up new books so they can be put in the shelfs, but fuck that. I’m working until 6pm and I’m not in the school-library, so I can’t be bothered today. :-)

77: pink or yellow lemonade?
Ehr… Both? :-P

78: are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub?
If you mean the minions from the Despicable Me movies, I like them. Not a fan, but they're alright and mildly amusing in the movie. :-)

79: what's one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?
Oh gawd, I can’t think of anything. o.O I mean, my kid does cute things all the time (when she doesn’t have her horrible morning temper…). So I could pick anything she does! Her hugs are the best!
My brothers support when I’m feeling down is also out of this world! He might be 35 years old, but he can be such a cutie sometimes it’s hilarious!
Conversations I have with Peting is the best, and he can say the most wonderful things to me sometimes. They’re not romantic. He doesn’t do romance or romantic things. But they’re still cute and great lift-me-uppers. :-D
When my mom, who is 63, tells me, who is 39, that I’m still her little girl… :-D That’s pretty cute, right?

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why?
One wall is black with hints of bamboo on it. And the other three are white with birds sitting on bamboo sticks. :-) And yes, we picked them wallpapers out together me and Peting. Put them up ourselves to!


All the questions! )

This entry is crossposted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (Tea dammit!)
2017-05-04 11:59 pm

Hopeful library and fucked up buses.

To refurnish a library or not to refurnish a library....

It was somewhat chaotic in the library after my substitute had tried to take care of it. Especially in the corner with the corner settee. But I have now moved it, and the hooligans with their hangarounds that had decided that corner where it started out standing was theirs... Well, they have to think again. There's no furntiture in any corner now. Because if you're in a corner, you are out of the eyes of all the adults... Not a good thing in a library.

Now though the corner settee and another couch is standing in the middle of the lbirary. I have another couch as well, but I've had to put that one away for now. Fingers crossed I get it back out at somepoint in the future.

Because now the hooligans and their hangarounds are not that much in the library as they were before. Apparently it's not as 'fun' when your teachers and other adults see you and drag you to class. *cough* ;-)

It's still a bit loud and sometimes chaotic still, but it's a lot less now. So awesome!

All this chaos and the refurnishing and stll a bit of chaos... It's tiring, so when I get home I got no energy what so ever. :-P Which is a shame.

It doesn't help that we got a new bus-company in this town and they fucking fail. I'm so pissed off.

I used to be able to take another bus to work, that went another shorter way to the school I work and passed the hospital after that. Didn't go downtown to the city centre and the main bus station, but only went that shorter route. And that bus was only during the morning and during the afternoon, that is when people went to work and when people wanted to go home.

It was PERFECT! And it only took me 8 mins to go to and from work.

Now though? The new bus company decided that ALL buses has go through the main bus station down town... which means I'll have to change bus, go a longer way and it instead takes me 20-30 mins to go to work, depending on traffic...

I'm so pissed off about this, you have no idea. This means that I am late nearly every day, which also means I have to stay longer at work which in turn means less time with Alexandra and Peting...

I've called to complain to the bus company and been told I'm not the only one to do so but that they can't do anything. (Bullshit.) And now I'm working on a letter to the newspaper hoping it'll be printed IN the newspaper... Fingers crossed. Because it all just sucks. :-/

This entry is crossposted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (Me Fruits)
2017-03-21 11:32 pm

100 questions meme: Day 3-10

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books?

Anything I can get my hand on that's flat enough. :-) Most commonly though? A random sheet of paper or toilette paper. Yes, toilette paper. I do read books in there, not only guys do. :-P

4: how do you take your coffee/tea?

I don't drink coffee, despite my country being one of the countries that drink the most coffee. :-) I drink tea. With just honey in it. Not sugar, that tastes disgusting. Just honey. And 95% of the time I drink it in my travel mug. :-)

5: are you self-conscious of your smile?

Not hugely, no. :-) I've been told it's quite a nice smile. If a little crocked. :-) I do smile alot, since I think that is a small way to make the world a happier place. As a librarian you smile a lot at your job as well. Not hard as a school-librarian though. Most of the kids are awesome. :-)

6: do you keep plants?

I do indeed! Even though I'm not that great at caring for them. I forget the water them at times and such. But for some reason orchids thrive here. I have NO IDEA way! But I have orchids EVERYWHERE here! And they bloom! A LOT! I also have a chili peper plant that Peting got as a birthday gift from Spicehobbit. :-) It has started to bloom and have fruit again! It's not the strongest chili peper there is, but it apparently has quite a bit of kick to it still.

7: do you name your plants?

Nope. :-) I do talk swear to them. X-D

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings?

Writing and talking. :-) If that counts? And of course... RPGs, roleplaying pen-paper style and... LARP!

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself?

Not so much singing/humming. I do walk around talking to myself though. Especially at work. X-D

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach?

When I go to bed I stretch out on my back for a bit, and then I turn on my side falling asleep. And, according to Peting, I move around a lot in the bed. I'll take his word for it. :-)


All the questions! )

This entry is crossposted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (Default)
2017-02-23 01:46 am

Donald Trump being fact-checked by... me???? Twitter-storm and media-storm in Sweden...

I... don't even know where to start this post. o.O

Let's see... I took over the @sweden Monday 13th. Was a lot of active users following it, around 104'000. So there was a lot of questions and comments being thrown at me. But not more than I could keep up with. The nasty ones I just ignored. :-)

It was fun. I tweeted about my days. I tweeted about my city, Borås. I tweeted about books, since I am a librarian. Gave tips for reading about Sweden. What you can do coming to visit Sweden, and what fun there is to do in different cities.

Just what I'd expected to do on such a Twitter account. And the same thing I did, pretty much, when I was a voice for Sweden on The Swedish Number. Only this time I had to write my answers and to a lot more people then I had done then. So it was all fun and games...

Until after midnight Saturday night (swedish time). When Donald Trump held a speech where he talked about refugees and terrorist attacks. "Look at what's happening in Sweden. Last night in Sweden..."

I didn't know about this. Until suddenly A TON of people started to ask the only swede awake. On Twitter. @sweden. What is happening? Are you OK? Is ABBA fine? Have Måns Zelmerlöf been hurt? Etc, etc, etc... Et infinity...

I was left with thinking, what the FUCK is he talking about? Checking all the sources I could think off (because fact-check, people!), I came to the conclusion it was bullshit. And proceeded to tell the followers as much, mostly to reassure everyone and inform, you know?

This went on for all night until I noticed the time. 3:45am. SHIT! Kiddo usually wakes up at 7am, so I hurried to bed for a bit of sleep.

Woke up all groggy and shit and cuddled kiddo in the couch. And checked @sweden twitter. Between 800-900 mentions. HOLY HELL!!! Obviously I couldn't answer everyone, but I answered a few here and there, and kept informing and reassuring that NOTHING HAS HAPPENED!!!

And (gladly) after I had started to wake up, the media-circus started...

First a web-page/web-news page called Mashable mailed me questions about what had happened.... And then, hold your hats, BBC who I did a live-interview with right on air. And Le Monde (from France), DMed me and mailed me. After that, swedish media got in on it. And they to contacted me.

So I had the two MAIN NEWS SHOWS here in my messy home interviewing and filming me. WTF??? Both Rapport and TV4News.

After than it was the local newspaper that called and did a phone interview, Borås Tidning.

At this point I'm so flabbergasted, I had no words. To me, it was no huge deal. I'd spread information, spoke the truth and been myself. That's all. But these people seemed to see it as if I'd spoken against Donald Trump. *shrug* I suppose in a way I had, but I didn't and still don't see it like that.

Next news-site that contacted me and did a phone-interview was The Local who has swedish news in english. And the Daglige Blad from Norway.

And then... BBC contacted me AGAIN!!! X-D So I did another live-interview with them.

That was the last one I did on Sunday. I'd promised both myself, [livejournal.com profile] peting73 and Alexandra that I wouldn't do anything after 6pm at night, since... family is the most important after all.

I went to bed quite late again, since the storm had not stopped on the account. I was still the swede of the week on @sweden. And Sunday night was my last night, so I wanted to keep information coming for as long as possible before I had to logg out. So I did. There was still TONS and TONS of questions pouring in and I answered as best I could. Tweeting information and news as best I could. Until finally I was to exhausted and logged out and collapsed in bed.

You'd think since I was not the swede of the week on Monday I wouldn't have anyone calling me? Wrong! SO wrong!

I'd gotten emails during Sunday from the public radio here in Sweden about doing a couple of mornings show Monday morning. So I had to get up early, since the first one was to call me at... 6:45 am.

So at 6:45am I talked to the morning show in Stockholm. 7:15am I talked to the local radio-show Radio Sjuhärad... And at 7:30am I talked to the the morning show P3 Morgon-passet.

After that I threw myself in the shower taking a shower and after that getting makeup on, because after that...

I was to be on BBC (AGAIN!). This time it was BBC News (what??!?!). I didn't know if they wanted with my face to on Skype, so hence the makeup. Proved they didn't need that, oh well...

My mom came over that monday, THANK GAWD! Because during the day I was contacted by CNN in New York, USA.

I... had no words at this point, and more was to come... So we scheduled an interview late that evening my time. (After Alexandras bedtime.)

Mom helped me clean a bit and we hung out. Went to pick up Alexandra and we stopped at the playground, which Alexandra wanted. And when we hung out by the playground I got a phone call from one of my colleagues who jokingly called me the celebrity. Then she said that there'd been a call to them asking for my phone-number. From the swedish government. WHAT??? Of course it was fine if they called me. So they did.

And it was the Head of Staff at the Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström. Who called to give me an official thank you from the swedish government.

WHAT??!??! I was beyond happy I was sitting down at that point, let me tell you.

Mom stayed with us all day, until bedtime. I even dozzed off leaning against her at one point after dinner. It felt wonderful. I swear to anything holy, I'll always need mom. She is my piler of support when things storm around me. She, [livejournal.com profile] peting73 and my best friend [livejournal.com profile] spicehobbit.

Anyway, later that night CNN called me up on Skype, and everything got set up and all. They were very very professional and effective. The interviewer, live on air and everything, was Brooke Baldwin, apparently. I couldn't see. I only saw my screen, but apparently they had me on image on the show. They had to cut it short though, since Donald Trump announced new members of the White House staff. Which was fine, really!

You'd think that was the last of it, but no...

The day after, Tuesday, I was doing a live-thing on Facebook with a couple of people from The Swedish Institute who runs the @sweden twitter account and are responsibel for it. It was weird but also a lot of fun.

That, however, was the last of it!!!!

Today I've just stayed home and not done a damn thing. GEEZES CHRIST!

So... How was your weekend? X-D *LOL*

And here's all the links to everything I've done. Only thing I couldn't find a link for was the Norweigan newspaper. :-) In case you wanna read, listen or watch. If it's in swedish, I'll make a note for it.

All the interviews about the swedish incident aka #lastnightinsweden... )

This entry is crossposted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (Me Deergirl)
2017-02-11 12:45 am

10 things...

I totally blame [personal profile] sireesanwar for this... But since I've had a blah-I-have-no-energy-and-feel-worthless kinda day today, I figured why not.

1. When you are sad or depressed, what do you do to cheer yourself up?
Movies/tv-shows, cats and/or computer. That's my go to when I'm tired or feel sad. Also hugs from my family is a perfect remedy. We talk alot me and my hubby Peting, about everything, so when I feel down I talk about it and when he feels down he talks about it. And that helps a ton to. I talk a lot with my best friend when I feel down as well, which also helps. So I guess those are what I go to.

2. When you are studying or just hanging out, do you prefer noise (music, people, whatever) or quiet?
I'm a horrible student. I just want to put that out there. How the hell I managed to get a national masters degree is bloody miracle. (Thank you Chigrima! Couldn't have done it without you!) I need a bit of background noise, since if it's to quite my tinnitus will drive me nuts. I don't notice it if I have a little bit of background noise. If that's music or the TV or whatever, it doesn't matter. But not to much or it'll end up a distraction instead.

3. Are you superstitious? If so, how much...very, or just like the "well I don't walk under a ladder" type?
I am a bit. My paternal grandmother was a quite old fashioned farmers wife. With all the superstition that comes with it... And she taught that to me and my brother. It didnt' stick with my brother, he is more hands on and have ended up a farmhand and hobby-mechanic as an adult (and is very good at it!). On me however, it stuck. Some of it did. I still make a curtsy towards the full moon for good luck. And when I grew up she and I had a special wish-tree that we hugged every time I visited and whispered our wishes to it. Black cats, throwing salts, broken mirrors, not walking under ladders, ghosts, spirits... All of it. She believed it all. Funny enough, I grew up with black cats and now live with black cats. But I guess my curtsy to the moon outweighs it... Who knows? :-) And I firmly believe that in the vast woods and wastelands and after death.... there's probably things we can't explain with science... Science can explain sooo much! But not all... That I believe. :-)

4. You're going on a road trip across whatever country you live in. Which three fictional characters would you bring along if you could?
That was a tough one. Hmm...
For survivability in the wilderness I'd bring a couple of elfs from Elfquest. Probably my favorite Strongbow and his wife Moonshade. I'd have food and clothes with them, since she is the tanner and seamstress and he is the best archer and hunter there is. Plus I'd get warmth from their wolfs.
If I'm not traveling through wilderness, I'd go on the back of Chibs Telfords bike or on Bobby Munson's bike from Son's of Anarchy. Those are my favorites from that show, and those who does have a heart and not throw violence around just because they can. They are very very capable of it, and are dangerous men, but still... I'd feel the safest with those, I think. And I doubt anyone would mess with me when traveling with them. :-)

5. Are you vegan, vegetarian, selective ("just chicken" or fish or whatever), or ALL THE MEAT YAS?
Ugh. I hate this question. Well. I eat meat, and do try to buy meat from animals that have grown up as locally as possible. It's very VERY rare that I buy meat that is not swedish.

6. Do you prefer spicy, sweet, salty, or bland food?
Depends on the food. I have a sweet tooth from doom, so I love anything sweet. But not FOOD! I like it spicy but not to much when I eat food. There should be some taste to it, but I got sensitive taste buds, so if you go all gungho with your species I'll run off. :-P
I love FIKA though, and do that often. And I am a huge lover of anything chocolate. Not the mention I drink a lot of tea, and always have honey in it...

7. Coffee, tea, or?
Tea. Always tea. I have two Contigo West Loop thermal mugs, and I have one with me at all times with tea sweetened with honey in it, whether I am at work or at home.

8. Chocolate: milk, dark, or white? Or *gasp* none?
All the chocolates all the time! :-D When baking, I do use dark nearly eclusivly, but when eating it's milk or white or both... It all depends on what KIND of chocolate we're talking. :-)

9. Are you in a Hogwarts House? If so, which one?
I even joined Pottermore for this. :-P And I got Hufflepuff. Can totally live with that. :-)

10. What are your plans this weekend?
It's Friday today, haven't done much of use today at all. Tomorrow me and family are going on a shopping-trip to buy new phones for me and hubby. Since ours are kinda giving up on us. We got them before kiddo was born, and she is turning 5 this summer so... Plan is first, groceryshopping. Then, memorycard for phone. And then, lunch at kiddo's favorite FIKA-place. And then we go for our phones! :-)

This entry is crossposted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (Default)
2017-02-09 11:19 pm

This day I tell you...

Talk about things being a roller coaster.

Got up early, snuggled kiddo before she and hubby left for daycare and work. Then I napped a bit on the couch. Woke up, got ready to go to physical therapy. Packed up and... couldn't find my wallet...

No joke. I searched everywhere but couldn't find it. Cue panic.

So I thought to the day before where I'd been and where I could have forgotten it. Started to call around. And I called to the physical therapy place and said I couldn't make it today since I needed to find my wallet.

Post-place where I'd mailed off a package? No wallet. Store where I'd done a mini-grocery shopping? No wallet. Buss company? No wallet.

Near tears I turned continued searching the apartment. No wallet. Then I ended up in the kitchen and sees the package I'd picked up from the DHL pickup place. So I called them. THEY HAVE MY WALLET! OH MY GAWD! THE RELIEF! Told the guy I'll kiss you for this! He just laughed at me.

Struggled in clothes and got stuff that I needed to mail off today to, and went to get my wallet. And yes, he got a kiss on the cheek! :-D I keep my word, dammit!

Then I mailed off package and did a mini-grocery shopping today to. Knowing my best friend was coming over, I figured I should hurry up as much as I can. Gets text-message: "I just need to stop at big grocery store to get some lunch!" Guess what store and it's buss-stop I'm at? X-D

So that was just a bit hilarious. We had a good time together though. We had lunch and started to watch Netflix new show Frontier, since we both like Jason Momoa. :-) And man, it's GOOD! Bloody, but damn good! Totally recommend it!

Frontier trailer...  )

We did order some tea together to, which had been the original plan. Yes, more Kränku tea... No, I'm not drowning yet, but I guess I'll get there. *lol*

So that was the good part of the day.

Then [livejournal.com profile] peting73 and kiddo came home. Kiddo was in a great mood, if a bit shy with best friend. She takes a seat in the couch and wants to watch TV, grabbing a softie and a doll, so I set her up.

Hubby though is in a terrible mood. I'd done almost all the laundry, with best friends help, but he had to do the the last of it and bring the clean clothes up. Not popular. And he was hungry, and his mood is HORRIBLE when he is hungry, what with being a diabetic. AND... it's end of winter/beginning of spring, and he is really not doing that great mentally then... and his work is not that great right now either.

So that was not very fun. We've known each other for more than 25 years, me and my best friend so she's more like a sister to me. It's hard to make her feel unwelcome in my home. But even she felt a bit uncomfortable, so yeah...

And then kiddo got a sudden crying tantrum or something because she didn't get a drink of milk quick enough...

I don't even know. I'm just happy I can move around without crutches indoors now, or this day would have been a total disaster. o.O

First is day sleepy, then horrible, then great, then horrible, and now I'm just sitting her having a wtf happened today feeling...

I don't even know. :-P

This entry is crossposted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.
kseenaa: (Default)
2017-01-22 11:45 pm

A run down of this week... It's already been week? Apparently...

This week has been both ups and downs. As things go...

Monday I was at the physiotherapy at the hospital to learn how to use crutches and how to walk in stairs. And to get told I should contact one of the other physiotherapy places downtown so I can practice more there with stuff they have at place. Because at the hospital they only take those that are long stay patients AT the hospital. Which I totally get. So I've checked a list of physiotherapy places so I'll call around tomorrow morning. Meantime, doing the training practices I have at the moment. :-)

My leg is actually doing quite well! As long as I don't do certain movements when I walk with my crutches, I am doing fine. AND I CAN GO OUTSIDE! GO ON THE BUSS! DO THINGS!!! This is amazing. I'm not stuck inside at all times anymore. I love it.

Wednesday I went to the dental hygienist (at the same district health care centre that my dentist is located). And I got some kudos for how I care about my teeth, which actually surprise me, since I usually get told I'm not doing it very good. So that was nice!

And the same day I visited my job, which was really scary since it was rain AND ice that day... And I walked with crutches. o.O That... might not have been the smartest thing I've done. But I survived and did not break any more legs.

Reward was a lot of smiling faces from staff and students. Hugs all around. Even from my hooligans! :-D They clearly miss me a lot. I didn't think they would, but after being there for almost an hour, yeah... They do! It really warmed me and made me feel a bit better. My substitute / fill in / temp (whatever you wanna call it), was really nice but a bit... to nice? That school has some serious hooligans, and you have to be quite tough or they'll just walk all over you. I guess he's not had to deal with such kids that much, and was still trying to find his feet. But the staff was... a bit worried about him thanks to that, not really sure he could do it. One of them simply said: "Well, he isn't you. And we need a you here." X-D

Doing so much walking on the first day I was outdoors punished itself. Because I was achy in my arms the day after and even though I had no pain in my leg, I could feel I'd been overusing it a bit, so Thursday was rest-day.

Tuesday and Friday though I had a down days. I keep having them. I had no energy and felt absolutely worthless. Let's leave it at that. Ugh. I hate days like that. I manged to go on the bus and do a little bit of grocery shopping on Friday (yay, backpack!), but that was all. One of the reasons that I think I hve downdays is because it's so messy here. [livejournal.com profile] peting73 is doing his best, really he is. But he is a lot more... forgiven? when it comes to messes. It's like he don't see it even if it is right in front of him. And since he's had a cold this week, a REAL man cold at that, he just want to stay in bed as soon as possible, so not that much has been done really. Only the bare necessities. So much for keeping it up after mom did such a nice cleaning Monday. :-P

This entry is crossposted between LJ and DW. Comment where you are comfortable.