KSena's Journal

Note: This post was written a few weeks ago, but I didn't get the photos uploaded until now...

And then there was the visit from New York. I still have a hard time believing they’ve really been here! o.O

I was a bit panicked before they came here, since I was supposed to work both days they were here, Friday and Saturday. Friday was no problem to take off, but the three hours for Saturday was a bit worse. Eventually we found someone that could help out, thank gawd… So I was off and available for both days! WOHOO!!

And I was SO NERVOUS! I mean, I’ve known ruchirahni almost since I started to use my LJ, and man… that is a LONG TIME AGO! I didn’t remember how we’d meet, but Ruchi did, so she told me. :-) Apparently she’d ended up in an idiotic drama in a Xena community and I’d stood up for her and also gone to her LJ to say hi. Eventually we ended up friending each other and that’s how the story goes. I don’t remember this, but I’ll take her word for it. ;-)

Anyway, ruchirahni is a vegetarian, so the Friday she and her best friend was to arrive, me and Alexandra started with a slow morning and then we went grocery shopping for vegetarian food. Once that was done, we went to the train station to pick them up.

See, they’d explored Sweden quite a bit before arriving to me. They’d been in Stockholm, the island Utö, Gothenburg and then me. For a history geek Stockholm is perfect. There are SO MANY museums there! You can learn quite a bit of swedish history in Stockholm alone.

Then they’d been to Utö which is a gorgeous island in Stockholms archipelago. And then they’d been to Gothenburg, which is the neighbouring city to Borås. So it was a short trip to Borås. And me. :-D

I was so nervous while we shopped me and Alexandra I had a belly ache. X-D Stupid, really. Like ruchirahni says, we’ve known each other so crazy long we shouldn’t be nervous about meeting!

Alexandra thought it was fun to be at the train station and just wanted to go on the trains! Eventually they showed up though, and I gave ruchirahni a great big hug. And it felt JUST RIGHT! Nerves just flew off of me.

And Alexandra started whining right away. Great… Figuring she was hungry we went home to my apartment first, where I cooked Alexandra food (definitely hungry at that point…) and ruchirahni could explore my little home and I could get the groceries away. And we talked. Talked and talked and talked. Sara, ruchirahni’s friend was very nice and waxed poetically about the swedish coffee!

We had a lovely time watching Disney Junior with Alexandra and making sure she got some food in her (and feeding Sara a swedish meatball).

Done with Disney and food, we went to the hotel where ruchirahni and Sara were staying, and Alexandra fell asleep and took a nap. GOOD!

Then we figured we could go downtown for a FIKA! Which we did, even going to mine and Alexandra’s favorite fika-place. You think Alexandra behaved? Alas no. She was IN A CRANKY MOOD! And was going to make sure everyone knew about it.

( Cranky Alexandra is cranky... )

I’d thought we’d go exploring the Textile Museum after our fika, but Alexandra was having none of it. At that point, peting73 was off from work and halfway home, so we went to pick him up and dumped Alexandra on him. (Sorry dear!)

Finally we could go to the Textile Museum, which was great! Even if we could only stay for a short time, since they were closing and all that, we still made the most of it. They have old clothes in a part of the museum that you can try on, which had ruchirahni and Sara go a bit nuts! Pulling me into the crazy we had a bit of a dress up session. *lol* Was a lot of fun! The exhibit they had going of a famous swedish designer was nice to, so I’d call that a successful visit.

( Being silly in the Textile Museum! )

I think it was on the way back to the car that we checked out the University Library which is right next to the museum. ruchirahni loved it and wondered loudly why they didn’t have libraries this nice at the universities in New York? Uhu… I wouldn’t know. X-D I thought New York University was a good one? *lol* And hey, you got New York City Library which is out of this world if I’ve done my research right. ;-)

( Interior of the University Library in town )

Then we went home to my home again for dinner, which peting73 had cooked and it was DELICIOUS! Such a nice vegetarian stew! Alexandra was cranky again though (sigh) so she got the leftover meatballs from lunch.

The rest of the afternoon evening was spent talking. Talking, talking, talking. Both me and peting73 are some serious history nerds, movie nerds and book nerds, so the swedish part of those subjects were definitely covered. (I’m still amazed how little you learn in the US about WWI and WWII…) Alexandra eventually went to bed, and we made MUDCAKE! And had an evening FIKA! (You can never have too much fika…)

( New Yorkers in my couch! )

At one point during our discussions we discovered it was 1am in the morning! O.o OOPS! So I drove ruchirahni and Sara to the hotel making a plan for the morning.

And that concludes day 1!

Next morning we took a slow morning for Alexandra’s sake, but we still managed to head out at around 10am. First stop was the big city library where I used to work. Again, ruchirahni waxed poetically about how nice it was. *lol* I loved seeing her walking around in the library among all the books. If ever there was a book nerd, it’s her. For serious. *grin*

Alexandra loves the library, so she was (for once!) in a good mood in the kid section checking out all the picture books. We found the book I bought for my brothers kids, the POP BOOK! X-D So I had a little story time there for Sara and ruchirahni. It’s a kid book and kids LOVE to talk about pop! X-D

( Exploring the city library and being booknerds of all sizes! )

After that visit we got in our little car and drove to my brothers. Which takes 1½ hours. And it’s a bit cramped in the car… But we made do, and we had some lovely discussions in the car to which made the car-ride feel shorter.

Once at my brothers, we found that he was enjoying the sun on the backside of his house, listening to music after he’d baked a cake. A MUDCAKE OF COURSE! This seems to be a running theme during their visit… I have to send them the recipe… *lol*

And as soon as ruchirahni and Sarah saw the cows grazing on the fields around my brother’s house, they got all excited and got in the field (past the barbed wire) to say hi to the cows. My brother, who works on a farm on a daily basis was a bit flabbergasted at this, but went with it. So we showed them a good way to get to the cows and my brother started talking swedish farming with ruchirahni and Sara since ruchirahni is a vegetarian, so she was really interested. Swedish farmers have a TON of rules they have to follow, more so than many other countries apparently, which she found very interesting. :-)

Also, my brother had been an idiot and ruchirahni went into Doc-mood and checked his eye since it was hurting him and got quite red and irritated. If you are doing any welding, people. Use protection. And don’t do like my brother who just closed his eyes. IDIOT!

After we’d eaten mudcake and said hi to cows and tried to get Alexandra to eat anything (impossible since she was still grumpy), we left my brothers and went to moms instead. My brother came with in his big huge car, a Ford Galaxy from the 1960’s, which ruchirahni and Sara rode in with him. On the way to mom’s we saw some elks/moose which got the New Yorkers all excited.

( New Yorkers on the swedish countryside! )

At mom’s, Alexandra perked up a bit. She’d had a nap in the car, and hey… Grandma is always popular. :-)

More vegetarian food at mom’s, she’d made a full on dinner with some vegetarian beefs she’d found. ‘It looked interesting, I had to try!’ was mom’s reasoning behind picking that. They were made out of quorn and DAMN they were tasty! Even Alexandra ate quite a bit! So we were all stuffed after that dinner!

After that we walked around and explored my mom’s yard and grounds. The garage which still looks like when my dad lived. The playhouse dad built for use when where kids from scratch. The view. The woods where we used to play. Our neighbours, closest one where the daughter in the house was the one who started off my bullying. Basically I told and showed all the things that had meant something to me when I grew up. Mom walked around with us as well, and even though she’s not that good in english (she understands it well, but can’t speak it), she managed to throw in a small comment here and there anyway.

Since it started to rain when we’d walked around for a bit, we went inside again looking at all of mom’s pretty things (she likes to collect pretty things and decorate her home). Checking out where my room used to be and all that stuff while mom prepared a…. FIKA! :-D We also took the chance to say hello to all of mom’s four cats, including HUGE Ozzy that ruchirahni fell in love with, I think… He’s a Maine Coon… and a BIG one! Currently weighing around 11-12 kilos, and he’s not fully grown yet… Insane!

Then we had FIKA downstairs. And talked. And talked and talked and talked. :-D Both mom and I agreed and told ruchirahni she would be a WONDERFUL doctor one day, since she got her heart right where it should be. Mom should know. She’s 62 and has worked as an assistant nurse ever since she started working.

Alexandra just played with mine and brothers old toys while we were talking that mom has pulled down from the attic. We didn’t even notice how the time flew until it was 9pm or so in the evening, and we had a 2 hour drive to get back to Borås.

( At my mothers to see where I grew up! And to be spoiled... )

While driving we continued talking and talking and talking… So the ride back to Borås didn’t feel that long as it usually does. We also made a plan for the next day so I could drive them to the airport. I insisted. It’s only a 30-40 min drive, so why shouldn’t I? And their flight didn’t leave until midday, so it was no problem really.

Dropping ruchirahni and Sarah off at their hotel we then drove home and once we’d gotten Alexandra to sleep in her bed instead of the car, we both collapsed in our bed.

Next morning was good and nice (with a kiddo not to cranky, wohoo!). Once I was ready I went to pick up ruchirahni and Sarah so we’d be at the airport at a good time before their plane left. Once at the airport we had a FIKA, of course. ;-) And talked some more. During the whole weekend I felt quite comfortable talking to ruchirahni friend Sarah, since I’ve learned so much about her from ruchirahni’s entries. And apparently ruchirahni had talked to Sarah a lot about me to, so it went both ways. (It appeared as if it was only good things to! I hope at least…)

As it got closer to them leaving, we hugged a lot. Both me and ruchirahni assured each other that we were very happy about finally getting to meet. And that YES! Apparently I was just what ruchirahni had expected. And ruchirahni? Well… She was just what I had expected. Just a 1000 times more so! :-) Such an awesome woman. Whoever ends up with her as a psychiatric doctor is going to be really fucking lucky! :-D

Once I’d dropped them off, I felt empty and sad. Already missing them. We talked and laughed so much my jaw was a bit sore. :-)

Such amazing women. Just… amazing. It still blows my mind that she’s been here. It really does. All the way from Brooklyn, New York City, USA to little Borås, Sweden. Amazing.

So happy to be able to call you a dear friend, ruchirahni.

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

Yeah, I just have to get this shit off my chest...

My worry levels spiked this winter, let me tell you... My brother... My beloved brother... He and his wife has had some serious troubles in their marriage since before Christmas... and longer then that... And then, when he called me before Christmas all falling to pieces? He told me she'd gotten an apartment of her own. Behind his back. *sigh*

Not to get into to it much, but safe to say it has brewed this. For a while. I mean, my brother is by no way innocent in all this. But he recognizes that. And he has gotten help through therapy and he also fixed family counseling that they both went to for a while and still do. He has REALLY worked on himself.

But to no avail. And now they've divorced. :-/ So. Damn. Sad.

I am not angry with my brothers ex-wife. Not at all. I just find the whole thing very sad. And I worry about their kids to. They'll live every other week with my brother and then with their mom.

I am worried about her to. There is so much... things that she is doing strangely. She ain't fucking my brother over, don't worry. But there are other things that she does that ain't making sense. Sometimes I think she has... kinda lost herself, if you get what I mean? *shakes head*

My brother is absolutely heartbroken. They meet at school when they were both 16, and she is the love of my brothers life. Still is. And he loves his kids more then anything. He's a wonderful father all around. So this has really broken him down.

He is slowly dealing with everything that comes with a divorce, and we call each other several times a week.

The strange thing is, before all this? Me and my brother called each other about once a month. We talked about an hour when we did, but that was about it. So despite all the sad, I am... in a way... happy we've grown closer to each other again. He says I am his big support right now, despite living 2 hours away from him. I am happy I can be there for him, I really am. He is my baby brother, and I do hope he'll live through this and come out stronger on the other side.

Tough times indeed. At moments like these I am glad I got my fathers patience and steady temper and my mothers stubbornness and strength and both their bluntness and honesty. Seriously. My parents rocked/rocks.

Just had to get that off my chest... :-P

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

Had a blast during Midsummer! :-D

Trip there on Thursday was a bore though. :-P First we went on a buss for one hour, which is usually not a problem, but the road this one was going was really curvy and it was quite crowded. Plus, peting73 don't like going on long-distance busses... :-P So he was a bit grumpy about it... It is at those moments one is very VERY grateful for smart-phones since that kept us occupied that hour... For the next track we went with a much more comfortable train for yet another hour.

Then we got picked up at the train station by mom (even though we missed each other there for about 10mins! *lol*). And off we went to my aunt and her huge Midsummer party!

I love that party. She arranges it every singly year and has done so since my brother was newly born... that would mean 31 years this year... o.O Quite impressive!

Was a lot of people there, as usual. Checking we figured we were about 25-30 people... All relatives, significant others and kids. SO MUCH FUN! There was plenty belly-patting on me since everyone thought we didn't want kids (FOOLED YA'!) and congrats and such... There were a lot of stories told, a lot of checking up on each other what they were doing nowadays... Just so much love all over the place! :-) I do so adore my huge extended family. There is nothing like them, nowhere at all. :-D And they have truly taken peting73 to their bosom... *lol* Should have after 9 years... ;-)

I think we stayed at my aunts until 1am... Last to leave, we were! I was driving, since I figured I can't drink anyway! It was a sober party but I drove anyway. Mom's car is fun to drive, since the gear is an automatic, not a gear shift. :-) She's the only one I know who has such a car. :-)

Next day, Midsummer Eve, we went on a graveyard tour.. Sounds boring? I'd say not. :-) I always want to check up on my dads grave when I'm visiting mom. She'd planted some really pretty flowers there and there were plenty flowers left by my dads brothers and my brother and well, mom also puts fresh flowers there every weekend. Constantly. It was beautiful. :-) Of course I still miss my father, I probably always will. But these last years it feels really really good visiting his grave. It really does. So we put nice and pretty Midsummer flowers on his grave.

Then we went to my great grandmothers grave to. Mom don't check up on that one quite as often, but now she wanted to. Also a very pretty grave, I'd say. Even though I never meet her, I am used to visiting said grave. And it is very peaceful there, so that was nice.

Once home we had a light lunch and then took a long nap instead of checking the raising of the Maypole/Midsummerpole in the little village. For some reason we all felt quite lazy. :-P After that though we went to visit my fathers brother, my uncle and his wife for some more midsummer food. :-) And she is a good cook... A VERY GOOD COOK! So we ate until we almost burst! And she offered beer and Baileys, so I promptly took the car-keys from mom and peting73 and told them to enjoy it and that I'd be the designated driver! *lol* Mom and my uncles wife can be quite lethal after some alcohol so I just sat back and enjoyed the show... ;-) Was fun!

I think we left around 11pm and then promptly went to bed and slept until next day, Friday and Midsummer Day.

Got up around 9am and had breakfast with mom, talked and just hung out... Listened to the so called "Musik-krysset" on the radio. (A radio-show where they play various music and then ask you questions about said music and you fill in the answers in a crossword in the news-paper.) Mom and me worked together to figure out the answers, so that was fun! (Thanx to peting73 I am quite familiar with Kraftwerk! *lol*)

After that we went into the neighboring city and checked out stores and just hung out before it was time to go to the train station so we wouldn't miss the train.

And the trip home was much MUCH more comfortable! :-) First trip on quite a new train, and the second part, well... an older train, but still damn comfortable. Read books and talked the whole way home. :-)

So all in I'd say I had one hell of a Midsummer celebration this year! :-D I am very happy about it!

Once we got home, we knew it was a LARP-night, and we hmmmed and haaaed about going there or not... Since we'd been on said Midsummer-trip and all... But after taking a nap, we decided to go. And man am I happy we did! :-D We had so SO much fun! And my LARP-friends are beyond cute with my belly, they pat it, listen to it, try to make out if Nerd Jr are making any sounds or moving around in there... So excited about the fact a little mini-LARPer is about to be born soon! :-D I've promised to come visit with Nerd Jr often as soon as we are all settled and all... :-) I plan to keep said promise.

The LARP was a blast to! So much intrigue and plotting... My goodness! X-D But that is normal by now, isn't it? ;-) My servent is writing one HELL of a letter for her mistress, let me tell you...

Also, since I can't be a part of the apocalyptic LARP this summer (the LARP based on the Fallout games) as I've been these last years, I was asked by the GM's to write some IC-letters to explain why my character will not be in the village this year. :-) I'll be GLAD to! I love that character and I do plan on joining in on said LARP again whenever Nerd Jr is big enough. And I hope I can play the same character then. :-)

Hopefully everyone else has had a really REALLY good weekend! :-D I sure have!