Phase 1 our of 3 is finished

Just as we thought we had our hands full for the coming week, we received a note from our landlord (who, we've been told never EVER sets his foot in this town, because he lives abroad and has even become a citizen of his new country, but against all odds, or should I say in line with all other luck we have, he has now decided to honor us and his property for an informal visit.

We, still not settled in our new home, have been thanking our lucky star for at least getting the IKEA bit sorted last week, so we have some sort or storage to hide most of our stuff in (well, I just realized we don't have the actual doors to the wardrobes, but at least we can hang or clothes where they are supposed to be instead of doorways... He is coming on Monday and we have now finished phase 1 of our 3phased organizational operation.

To really make the day worth remembering, my stubborn cold decided to place itself in my airways, so anything dusty has sent me into a frenzy of coughing, so O placed me in front of the computer (no, he actually told me to go to bed, but I refused, thinking I could at least work while coughing) and the rest of the family have been busy with their screw drivers.

Julkalendern, SVT

The highlight of the day was Julkalendern (the Swedish Christmas (Yule) Calendar), which is a children's program that runs throughout December with start 1st and up to Christmas and started today on svt. J wasn't that interested, but C liked it a lot and I was also happy, because Santa Clause himself was played by no one else but my favorite "dad from Svensson, Svensson", which I told you about the other day.

The biggest sigh of relief this week: When sending C to school yesterday morning, I just had a hunch to check the school bag over and am I lucky I did! J had helped me packing Cs homework the evening before and she must have continued when I considered us finished and in Cs plastic homework sheet, was a piece of paper, a Parking Penalty..

Dream on..

For years I have been dreaming about beautiful chunky furniture. At first for our dining area in our house 4years ago, then my dreams have spread to include bedroom furniture. We have some old furniture, which O's parents bought at auction before we met and these are still my all time favorite. But we always end up not having enough money or time and go to IKEA.

So after 4months of having all our clothes in vinyl bags lined against the wall, I threw in the towel once again and we set off for IKEA on Monday evening. For less than one really nice piece of furniture, we will now be kitting out our bedroom with wardrobes and 2 chest of drawers and bedside tables. In the new Hemnes collection:

I felt a bit defeated at first, but now I am more excited about it, mostly the part where we will get organized, once and for all!

However, shopping at IKEA is not exactly as straight forward as one would hope (although being a Swedish fan, I realize it has it's flaws.. :) ). The wardrobe doors were out of stock, so we are only getting the frames this week, the wider hemnes chest of drawers were out as well, or actually. While O and the children tried out the carousels outside I did some shopping indoors and when I came to isle 8 location 18 and realized there was only one box left, that's when I, out of pure desperation, went Hulk. I managed somehow to get this monstrously heavy box onto the shopping trolley only to realize at checkout that it was only 1 out of 2 boxes that was left.. *grrr*

Bedside tables were sold out as well, so we have to go back next week. But, we did get the wardrobes and the chest of drawers above. It is now standing flat packed in our hallway waiting to get unpacked as soon as O comes home (I am trying to strain myself from doing it on my own!)

Comment of the day: C was amazed by the City Christmas Lights while we drove past them. He said: "Now it's Christmas, all the lights in the world is shining. They are saying: Trust me".

Vad e väl en bal på slottet...

Obviously someone else's picture..

After a completely crap day, I am sitting here listening to the sounds of the City's Light Night. I had planned all autumn to go there tonight, to see the ice rink Winter Wonderland and to see the Christmas Lights being switched on. To see the anticipation in Cs eyes.

Instead I have had a terrible day, screaming at the children, spending 2hours to please a customer who decided to change her mind after all that work (lesson learned: Anyone calling 5times and sending 7 emails before even placing order probably won't place an order with you, they just want attention!). Cs temperature is down, but he can hardly speak and I had just about 2h sleep last night from trying to help him with his coughing.

Oh, well "vad e väl en bal på slottet"..

(for any non-Swedish speaker, this is what Cinderella says when she realizes she has missed the big ball dance at the castle and thinking to herself that it probably wasn't that fun after all..)

Food Box Delivery

We have started a new trend in our family. Whenever someone is about to get a seriously high temperature, we always wait until O has left for the Big City. Only to give my own life a little extra twist..

2w ago it was J with her MMR jab, last week I had the honor of driving back and forth to school with a high temperature myself, not to mention getting dinner on table and children in bed.

This week it was Cs turn. O was to leave at 5am yesterday and a couple of hours before that a very sad little boy came to our bed. He had really high temperature yesterday, only easing a little bit with Calpol, so now, day 2 I am completely drained. *anyone heard that before?*

The only hope for a bit of excitement was the luxurious food box O bought at the School Christmas Fair this weekend.

When O received the phone call regarding the delivery yesterday, he phoned them back and asked if they could come another day. On their answering machine. They had given us a slot between 5 and 6pm and at 7 I realized that no one would probably come, so I jumped in my PJ and put my hair in a very non-flattering ponytail *not that I am bragging about my hairstyle to begin with..*

At 8 the "delivery man" arrived. And off course it wasn't the delivery man, but the owner of the company, which O had bought the box from in the first place at the School Christmas Fair. He was very friendly and I realized, standing there in my PJ, trying to keep the door from flinging up *J was pulling it* and expose our collection of boxes still present in our hallway *which also are serving the purpose of coat hanger, mail collection and things we don't want J to reach in a hurry..*

I seriously think that the sight of me with our hallway mess as a backdrop would have been more than this guy could bare!

Anyway, then and there I realized that this was actually one of the parents of the kids at Cs school. *gaaah* He looked as if he wanted some ooohs and aaaahs of the content of the box, but I quickly wrote him a cheque and closed the door on him.

Afterwards I've been in agony. I just want to send him a note saying:

"Thank you for the lovely food box, we are very happy with all the products and will definitely use your service again."

PS. We apologize for our ugly old mannerless aunt, who was present at time of delivery.