Birthday party!

So, my daughter turned 7 today. And even though I know everyone says this, I can't believe how fast the years go by! It doesn't seem like that long ago I was watching her first steps and her first tooth, and here she is, all big and can read her own birthday cards. Happy birthday, little one!

It was quite a surprise to learn that ALL of the folks on her dad's side could come today - I don't think that has happened since she was born. There's always someone working or sick, but this time we actually got to celebrate her on the day with everyone in attendance. Lots of cake and cookies (most of it homemade) and then a huge "smörgåstårta" before everyone was so full they had to move slowly to their cars and go home. (For those not in the know, a smörgåstårta is best described as white bread sandwiches in a big cake, with whipped cream and decorated with shrimps, hard-boiled eggs, lettuce, smoked ham thinly sliced and such. The whole point is that it looks like a cake, and should have the best of everything you'd usually put on a sandwich. In layers. And lots of it.)

I'm so full I don't think I'll have to eat anything until lunch tomorrow. Nah, who am I trying to fool, of course I'll be hungry again tomorrow for breakfast, a little cake fest has never destroyed my morning appetite ;)

Lots of love!


P.s: Forgot to say that we have plenty of snow - H took her bobsleigh out yesterday and played in our garden. I have to admit, having a large parking lot at the front of the house isn't so appealing when you have to get rid of all the snow on it... I'm of course freezing, and will be seen wearing my well-used wool socks my grandma made me every chance I get. :)

Alas, I've let my blog slide

It's been too long this time - but as always, I have a great excuse. Being out in the real world, meeting real patients, really did get the best of me. But now I'm back again for a quick visit, before heading out to a psych ward for 3 weeks!

The huge amounts of snow around the house have disappeared - there is a little left, but not enough to cover the complete mess the builders left behind them. We've already spent several hours picking up nails and screws - about 6 litres so far - and there's still the snuff boxes, the bits of board everywhere, pieces of scaffolding, left over roofing tiles, plastic covers and the occasional tool knife to pick up and dispose of. Granted, there were several days of blizzards when the builders were here, so lots of this stuff was very quickly buried in snow if they didn't pick it up immediately. I'm thinking of making a warning sign: "Do not walk on the dirt - it might contain pointy stuff!"

Inside - we're almost done. Big S and his dad will be hammering all of Easter week to create a floor on the attic, and then there's a shelving thing to put shoes at the back entrance to be built. My office is complete - floss, shelves and all - and I've even managed to clutter it up a bit already. It looks great! :D

I loved almost every second of working at the hospital these 7 weeks - the only thing I wasn't too fond of, were the calici virus. It's a feisty stomach bug, once one patient had it, it took just a few hours before everyone had it. Thank G we didn't have any patients who needed critical care! Most of our patients were on top of it, even if the calici left them a lot weaker than before. Apparently, this was some new strain, because I usually don't get affected, but this time I was down and out for 5 whole days. I was so weak I could only drink blueberry soup and watch daytime tv in between my naps, but on the 5th day I woke up hungry and fit as a fiddle again. Weird...

Today is waffle day here in Sweden, and tomorrow's my birthday, so I'm having two friends over for lunch and cake before picking up H from school. I have to get her by car even now when we live so close to school, because ALL of her clothes are usually wet in the afternoon - I can't carry it all... How I long for all the snow to be gone and to have dry weather!

All my love,

Digging and filling a hole in the ground

So, it looks like it will be a house after all - I can even imagine little H running on the lawn at the back of the house... We went by the lot yesterday, because the diggers weren't sure how big the patio at the back of the house should be and wanted me to tell them. I made them make it bigger ;)

The big hole in the dirt made a few days ago has now been filled, and tomorrow they will be placing the base construction for the house on top of all the gravel and sand. It'd better not be raining, because the base doesn't tolerate the wet stuff before it's set. If it's not raining, I'll swing by on Friday to get a pic before the actual house is placed on top of the base - on Wednesday! Less than one week from now, there will be a house on our lot!
Of course, H couldn't stand still when there was ice on puddles to be smashed ;) And yes, that is how H looks when she's at school; I'd just picked her up.

On other matters, I now have a 6-year-old in the house. Little H has gained another year to her resume, and I've lost my 5 year old girlie girl. She's still very girlie, but now she wants to add the "cool" ingredient as well - black is a very wanted colour, as it seems, preferably paired with purple... All the parties went well - H celebrated with S's side of the family on Friday (The Day), she had a friend who also turned six last week, so she went to her party Saturday morning (10-12) and then had her own party with the friends from kindergarten in the afternoon (14-18). She went out like a light when she went to bed that night. Then my parents came on Sunday, and there was much fussing and hugging going on all afternoon and into the evening. Mum read H a story, and then the light was out again. I don't think a weekend has passed this fast since we moved house the last time!

I am now studying for yet another exam, this time in medicine, and more specifically pulmonary and circulatory diseases. We'll start with bowels, bones and such next week. Lazy old me probably wouldn't have begun these studies if I'd known just how MUCH studying I'd have to do, but I gather it's too late to stop now, that would just be plain silly... Lots of love!

Happy birthday...

to me! Yep, I'm turning 34 today - and I've got the powertools to prove it! Big S and little H came singing the birthday song to me, H had made me a plastic canvas bookmark with thread and needle and all, and there was this big square box, quite heavy too. I open it up, and what did I find? A Bosch cordless screw driver! It's so small and cute, now I too can screw together stuff in a jiffy :)

My parents are coming this afternoon to celebrate, and little H is all over the place with excitement - we're turning on the disco lights this evening!

I've got a ton of birthday cards this year; mainly because I've joined a birthday card and floss exchange over at Brooke's Books Interactive (yahoo group) - and the cards have been coming all month long. A month long celebration, who can resist? Here's a pic of the cards I have gotten, with the floss next to "mount cards".

Thank you SO MUCH all of you - there are some truly crafty people out there, some of the cards are handmade... It's my living room table, in case you were wondering - and yes, we have put up our easter decorations.

Other news: Our house is now up for sale, even though we're not buying any of the houses we went to see. We're thinking of building a new one instead - less hassle, great fun and perfectly customized for US. If so, we will be building in big S' home town so little H can have the family near by. Exciting times, folks!
I'm now on the next course, which is "Human learning and development in a changeable society" - in plain speak, we learn how to teach people about stuff (ie. their illness) and how to customize our information to the individual. It's all about the individuality of people, all the time, folks! Remember: You are unique in your own setting, with your own values and your own set of hopes, dreams, abilities and shortcomings. I'm supposed to understand all of them. ;)