Arrrggh!

Sometimes I just wonder how mens brains work...

This morning Ken was going to get some coffee, and he said he would go by the grocery store to get some ready made subs for our picnic, we are planning on visiting Fort Desoto Park for some hiking and swimming today.

I was in bed reading, and he was getting dressed in his swim shorts. He said he wanted to save time later (he was going to work some before we leave). I just rolled my eyes and told him I was glad I didn't have to go with him to the store with him wearing that...

Then he gets home. He announced they did not have any ready made subs yet (but they will probably later on, so we could just have waited until we were ready to leave and get some...)

NO. He decides he is going to make his own sandwiches. And that is fine absolutely! BUT the stuff he gets for making his sandwiches are roast beef (LOTS of roast beef), mustard and onion, with a side dish of baked beans. WTF??? So I am not exactly happy. Not the kind of sandwich a normal person would like to eat... And then he goes ballistic, screaming I am an ungrateful bitch and that had done nothing but complained all morning (???), about his shorts and now the food.

So he can go and buy crap like that, and I am just suppose to be happy about it? That is not how life works, man. I am so pissed.
I know he always get cranky when he is stressed about work, and I am usually the one who gets to hear it, but this really pisses me off BIG time.

He can take his PMS and show it.

How is your weekend going? ;-)

Some people should not have pets...

On my way to pick up Sarah from school I have to drive down a smaller road that is pretty heavily trafficked.

To my surprise I almost ran over a little puppy that was running around on the street. There were no people around.

I immediately stopped, hopped out of the car and grabbed the puppy, since there was probably just a matter of minutes before the little thing was going to be flatten on that street.

He was very cute and friendly, some kind of mix between mini wiener dog and chihuahua or something like that.

The house right in front of where I found the puppy seemed to be the most likely place he could have come from, a small duplex. So I went up there and knocked on the door that seemed to have sounds coming out from behind it.

A man and his two little kids opened and I asked if it was his puppy. I also made sure to tell him that I almost ran it over...

He replied that yes, it was his. He grabbed the little guy and I gave him a little friendly reprimand that he might want to keep a better eye on him, but I don't think the guy heard me much. He was already on his way to the back of the house, where he locked the little guy behind a fenced off area...

Is that a life for a very young little puppy? Out in the open in a backyard, with all those bugs and other animals, not to mention the weather? And it seemed like if he had gotten out once, I doubt it will be the last time.

I felt so sad for the little dog, that is just not a way to treat a pet...

Friday

I was awaken a few times early this morning by heavy rain, and the rain clouds seem to hover over us still.

We just came back from a long (dry) walk, but it looks very dark out there. Would not be surprised if we get a thunder storm here soon.

I had a very effective morning and finished off three work projects right off the bat. I had planned on spending at least half the day on them, so that was a nice surprise.

Sarah gets off school early today, and I am not sure what else to do today except perhaps cleaning. I did get a little cleaning done before breakfast this morning, but there is a lot that needs to be fixed. Just don't feel like it when it is so dark...

I just bought two new books for my Sony Reader, and I downloaded two from the Swedish library yesterday (you get to keep them for 45 days, but you can re-borrow any time you want).

The Swedish books are by Anna Jansson (Silverkronan and Inte ens det förflutna). She is from Gotland originally and both books are set on Gotland. We will see if they are any good, I just thought it would be fun to read something that takes place on my beloved island...

Freebee (almost) vacationing

Since we won't be able to go away on any longer mini vacation like we had planned, we decided to do a couple of smaller once here in Florida.

But we are trying to save money and don't want to splurge. The daughter wants theme parks! We want... to pay as little as possible... What to do?

Orlando is a tourism Mecca like few other places in the world. But visiting all those theme parks can get expensive, even though we as Florida residents get a discount... Sea World is like $75 for adults and Disney close to that as well! And if you want to stay overnight, well that is yet another expense.

So what to do if you are on a budget? Well, behold the world of timeshare freebies!. Not as in actually buying a timeshare (a fractional ownership in a vacation resort), but attending a timeshare presentation. (This is common in other vacation hot spots all over the world as well). To qualify you usually have to attend as a couple and have a combined annual income of at least $40,000.

Mind you, attending a timeshare presentation might not be for the very easily persuaded, but if you think you can sit through a 1½ to 2 hour sales pitch for buying a timeshare (sometimes they drag out a bit longer), there are a lot of freebies to be had! (After all, all you really need to do is say NO.)

The resorts knows the majority of the people who attend these presentations are just there for the freebies, but there is about 1 % of the attendees who actually DO buy, and that is all they need to turn a profit (never mind you could actually buy a timeshare as resale from a private individual and save a few thousand dollars).

So what incentives do they offer to sit through this? Well, first of all, there are TONS of people trying to sell similar timeshares in Orlando; in fact, you will find them pretty much everywhere you go there. But not all are of course recommended.

Stick with a resort affiliated with one of the major vacation property owners, these chains are usually accredited by the Better Business Bureau, and they thrive on their good reputation, which means, even if you don't buy a timeshare, they want you to like what you see so much so you will tell your friends...

If you ever go to Orlando you can recognize these timeshare vendors by their advertisements; "Get your discounted theme park tickets here!", "Get free dinner tickets here!" and so on...

But these are not the really good offers you should go for. After all, if you are going to have to endure sitting down and listen to a sales spiel for 2 hours, the freebie better be good.

The best offers can most often be found on places like eBay. Again, verify that the agency and the resort you choose are reputable, but the eBay feedback is also a good clue.

So what can you get? Well, what about a 2 night stay at a 5 star luxury 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1200 square foot resort condominium, and 2 free adult Disney tickets for $69?!?! That is an approximate value of $700. That is what I call a bargain.

Some eBay vendors even start out at 99 cents and offer free hotel nights plus tickets, but these are usually the most popular and go fast. Other areas you can find similar deals for are the Caribbean and Mexico (but you would have to fly there yourself).

Did you ever wonder how your neighbors seem to be able to afford fancy vacations every year? This might be why. I know I was a bit surprised when our friends told us, I always thought they must be loaded since they always seemed to be heading off on some kind of vacation. Glad they let us in on their secret!

Most resorts limits you to one presentation once a year, since there are people who actually makes a sport out of going to as many presentations they can. But since there are so many timeshare properties, there is always lots of opportunities to get more freebies, of course.

And all you need to do is attend a presentation for a couple of hours on your second day at the hotel (free breakfast or lunch buffet included), say thanks-but-no-thanks and enjoy your third day at the theme park!

I got the tip about the online deals from the above mentioned friend who has gone several times, twice to the above mentioned property in Orlando, and we are going to try this our selves. I checked reviews from other people that have been at this particular resort too, and apart from being kind of boring to attend the presentation, none of them felt pressured to buy and they really enjoyed their stay. Hey, so why not?

Did I mention this is a 5 start vacation resort, with their own tropical island water park and other fun stuff? Condos with fully equipped kitchen, three plasma TVs, Jacuzzi, private balcony....?

I will sacrifice a couple of hours of my time for that... We will see how it goes!

Secret stash

We have a lot of fleece blankets all over the house. Mostly the dogs use them, but we do too. I wash them every week, so they stay fresh.

But it is one thing about these fleece blankets that are a bit peculiar. Bob seems to think they are the perfect hideaway for food! He will stash away a few kibbles here and there (if the blanket is on a dog bed), and when I grab the blanket to put it in the wash, kibbles fall out all over.

Why does he feel the need to hide food? The dogs' bowls are usually always full, they hardly ever eat their daily ration of food. And it is not like Stan steals his food, he really could care less about food, all he wants is love.

And it is not just in the blankets. Sometimes I will find food in one of our laundry basket, which is one of those lower kinds. And it is just not kibble sometimes. I have found melon rinds that he has stolen and hidden away for later snacking! Ewww!

So Bob and Stan might be of the same breed. But their personalities are two of a kind. Stan only cares about being pet and loved, and Bob really only cares about... food.

Grass meter

As a general rule; if you can still see your dog's head sticking up from the grass, you don't have to mow the grass just yet.

Besides, he really love pretending being a jungle dog...

Bob the Jungle Dog

No power but lots of fun in the sun

Just around 8:20 PM last night a storm rolled in over Bradenton, and I was a bit worried we might have a tornado on our hands; the trees were almost bending over in the neighbor''s yard!

It sounded very scary out there, and barely had the storm started until the power went out. This is not something entirely unusual in Florida during the summer months, but it will normally come back on after a short time. Not so this time. We were 7 hours without any electricity!

I managed to read an entire magazine in the light of a flashlight and some candles, before going to bed at 10 PM. It was actually not too hot to sleep like it otherwise can get with no AC.

At 3:30 AM Ken had to get up and turn off a light we had missed when going to bed (it is a bit hard remembering which lights were on before the power went out...).

At 9 AM this morning I went over to Sarah's school where I was volunteering to help out during their Fun in the Sun Party.

There was a cookie decorating station, an ice pop station, a watermelon station, drinks and lots of fun things to do, including a disco with some really fun music.

And then there was the face painting station.

I ended up helping out there, since there was only one poor mom doing it and LOTS of kids wanting their faces painted (we are talking ALL the Kindergarten classes at the same time!).

Lets face it, I have no painting talent what so ever, plus imagine painting sweaty little faces in 30C degree heat with water soluble runny paint; not easy! But the kids were super impressed and thought I was the coolest face painter ever. Very good ego boost! I guess their standards are not that high, ha, ha!!! ;-)

Sarah was so proud I was her mommy and you could tell she really liked having me there. After 1½ hour of non-stop face painting outside in the heat I finally packed up and left, but then everyone had gotten their face painted twice and then some, so I think that was OK.

This afternoon I am going to pick up my very last share at the veggie farm. Last week was suppose to be the last, but they said they had so much still coming, so they gave us all a bonus week.

Other then that, I am planning on having a pretty relaxed day; picking Sarah up at 1:15 PM, going grocery shopping, picking up veggies and perhaps cleaning a bit.

***CRAP! I just spilled a glass of Diet Coke on my keyboard and mouse! Luckily I have a spill proof keyboard, but the mouse seems to not want to cooperate any more. Lucky Sarah's computer have the exact same mouse, so I took hers... And I guess I should be glad it was not regular Coke, that would have been a sugary, sticky mess!

Memorial Day Weekend

Friday night we went out for dinner and tried to come up with what we would do this weekend - after all, our beach plans were out the window, since more rain and thunder was to suspect.

We have 3 books called "One Tank Trips". They are written by a local guy who has come up with a list of fun things to do and places to visit, all within an area of Tampa Bay that you should be able to reach on One Tank of Gas. We often use these books when we need something new to do.

We decided we wanted to go horseback riding, I mean really go out for at least 3 hours and enjoy the nature trails. Late Friday night we had reservation to visit Sun City Stables 8 in the morning Saturday.

We got up early, but wanted to check the weather news just to be sure, it had looked clear the night before, but you never know. Sure enough! A large storm was sitting just off the coast, nearing our area slow but steady. Expect heavy thunder storms within a couple of hours, the news said.

So we had to call and cancel, but we will go in a few weeks I am sure.

So what to do? Gatorland in Orlando! We took off on the 2 hour drive to Gatorland (hey, we were up early anyway). Our first stop was at Dunking Donuts for some coffee and ice tea, and while we were in line to pay Sarah lost her first tooth! Awesome! It just plopped out of her mouth, so it was lucky we were indoors so she didn't loose it... Gotta save it for the Tooth Fairy!!!

Sarah's first tooth fell out!!!

We ended up spending almost 6 hours there! It was 3 years since last time we visited, and they had made a lot of changes and added new things. This is a park that has been around since 1949, so a real classic. They boast to be the "gator capital of the world". And lots of gators was what we got to see...

Sarah even got to "wrestle" a HUGE real gator all by herself! A great day!

Sunday we went down to Anna Maria Island for breakfast at the beach, and then we went on a hunt for a secret cove that we had gotten a tip for. We found it and had a nice walk along the cove. We also managed to squeeze in some shopping and other things on the way home.

The afternoon was spent mostly cleaning and then we had a Mexican BBQ with some very yummy chicken!

Today we are just planning on hanging out at home for the most part, with a nice BBQ in the afternoon. Here are some pictures from our weekend:

Sarah and I at the entrance to Gatorland

Lots and lots of gators everywhere!

Hmmm... I guess this Great White Egret can't read...

The gator "wrestling" show was interesting and actually very educational. They treated the gators very nicely

This guy sure had no fear...

The gator was not that big, so...

Sarah decided to try out this "gator wrestling" thing herself...

ALL by herself!

Oh no! It got her! Nah, this one was not real...

There is a large bird sanctuary in the middle of Gatorland, and you can walk right through it. Here are some unusual tri-colored herons

These guys seemed to be in some sort of meeting...

Tri-colored heron babies...


The bird sanctuary.

At the end of the day Sarah really enjoyed the splash park at Gatorland; here she is spraying other kids with a water cannon

Not much going on here

Just made it in the door after picking Sarah up from school when the sky opened up and some really crazy rain started, plus thunder, right over us.

It is during moments like this I am very happy we have both surge protectors and battery back ups for all our more sensitive (and expensive!) electronic equipment.

We had a lightning strike in the phone lines to our house a few years back, and it was lucky it was just a few electrical outlets that melted... If it was not for the surge protectors I am sure the computers would have been fried too...

Sorry for the lack off activity here, I am on the 4th and the last book in the Twilight saga, and hopefully I will be done tomorrow so I can get my life back :-)! I just can't put a book down after started (if it is good). I just have to see how it ends!

Stiff

OK, I do like the rain, but this joint pain got to go! I am so stiff and in pain!!! I feel like I am more 85 than 35 today, hands, wrists, arms, legs, knees, heck even my back are all stiff and in pain.

Thanks lupus...

Well, I guess it gives me an excuse to continue reading today. The Twilight movie was interesting, and I want to see what will happen next, so instead of waiting for the next movie to come out, I am going to read the books. I happened to have all the books on my Sony Reader, so it is easy enough to get started.

On Monday it is Memorial Day here. Besides being a day to remember and honor the veterans who have fought for this country, the Memorial Day weekend is also the unofficial start of summer. This 3-day weekend is usually full of hanging on the beach and having backyard barbecues.

We had plans to visit Caladesi Island for the day Saturday, but it looks like the rain is going to last over the weekend too, so we might have to think of something else to do.

But a BBQ is for sure, rain or shine... How are you spending your Memorial Day Weekend?

More rain

Today we have a 90 % chance of rain. Translation: It will rain all day.

OK by me, we need the rain badly, and I don't have any plans to be out and about much anyway. The only bad thing is that I have very bad joint pain in my wrists, almost feels like I have some broken bones or something, but I know it is just the weather messing up the joints.

I was super tired last night, so much in fact, that I was sleeping by 8:45PM! I guess I needed soem extra sleep...

It is only 9 in the morning, but I have already managed to get Sarah off to school, eat breakfast, clean the kitchen, start the dishwasher up, water all the plants, start a load in the washing machine, do two jobs.

So now I am going to watch the movie Twilight. I missed all the hoopla about it when it first came out, but I am looking forward to see if it was worth any of the (teenage mostly) hysteria. What the heck, it is rainy and gray outside, I have a Diet Coke and some mixed nuts for snacking, sounds like the perfect thing to do right now!

IKEA and lots of rain

Well, we finally got the rain we so well needed. It has been raining a lot the last week, but usually not until the afternoons. But today it has been gray and rainy all day. Great for Florida!

Saturday we visited IKEA Tampa for the first time. I stocked up on mostly kitchen stuff, and we also got a lot of food at the marketplace. All topped off with lunch at the IKEA restaurant. Loved it!

Saturday afternoon was mostly spent playing a new Wii game called Kororinpa: Marble Saga since it was so rainy. On Sunday we actually managed to squeeze in a visit to the pool before the rain got going.

Today have been slow so far, rain and rain and more rain. I did have a guy over to replace my car windshield; it got a small crack last week, which quickly escalated into a very large crack across half the windshield in the heat. Florida law make sure you can get your windshield replaced at no cost, and they even come to your house and do it! Great!

I watched the movie Bride Wars and pretty much have done nothing else so far... Just feeling sluggish and not in the mood for anything, probably because of all the rain.

Going to get Sarah in 3 hours, and then I am sure she will want to play some more Wii. So not much going on at all today. Oh, I am making Swedish Bruna Bönor (brown beans) tonight, I have had the beans soaking over night. Yum!

Turtle nesting season

This morning I am watching the neighbor's little girl, the almost 4 year old Rosie. She is such a sweet little girl and she is really enjoying playing with Sarah's toys.

Sarah knew she was coming over, so she just smiled and said to me: "Mommy, just make sure she doesn't play with my lip gloss, OK?" Such a little big girl!

I happened to look out the window to the backyard, and I saw a mama Cooter trying to lay some eggs. It might even be the same turtle we saw back there around this time last year! Of course Rosie and I had to go out there and check it out:

South American Art & Music Festival

Last night we attended the annual Art & Music Festival in Sarah's school. They have been learning about South America this semester, and that was the theme of the evening.

The art teacher had even arranged for llamas to be there, and the kids were really excited about all the activities. The main feature was the 5th grade choir, and they entertained us with music from South America. One of the songs was a number where the audience got to participate, and Sarah sure tried hard to keep up with the dance moves:

Here are some of the llamas, I think there were 6 in all, both adults and babies. They have all been shaved, and the silky soft hair was used to demonstrate old fashioned South American knitting, weaving and other clothes making techniques.

There was also an exhibit with artifacts from South America to view. Very impressive festival!

Whoa these guys are huge!

Maybe not so scary after all...

And the baby llamas were adorable!

Shorts-mania!!!

I have had real problems trying to find a pair of great shorts, you know, the kind that fits like a glove, don't ride up in your butt and are just really, really comfy.

Last week I happened upon a pair at Macy's that seemed to fit good, so I cautiously bought them. They were from Calvin Klein, which I have had good luck with before regarding the fit.

After wearing these shorts several times I can now say these are the best shorts I have ever had! Oh my, they are just perfect for my body type! Fits like they were custom made! What I love the most is that they are convertible, that is, you can make them shorter or longer (I prefer mine longer).

So naturally I wanted to get a few more, they were after all not that expensive, but after a quick look at Macy's web site I could see they were out of stock at all the Macy's in Tampa Bay. Not good! But they did still have a few colors in my size online, and they were on sale too! But paying $17 in shipping? A bit to zaftig for me...

BUT if I got $50 worth of beauty products I would get FREE shipping! And I have been wanting to try some self tanning products from Clarins... Oh, and they had a special, so I got a free beach bag too with the Clarins products...

So now I am eagerly awaiting 2 pairs of shorts, in dark brown and in white (already got the light khaki) and 2 self tanners... A little Christmas on the way!

Calvin Klein's Covertible shorts in Espresso

And in Rattlesnake (a bit darker then the once I already have)

The face version

The body version

Feeding the cows

Yesterday we went to Gamble Creek Farm as usual to pick up veggies, and as always, we took some time to feed the cows. They looove the attention and of course, all the veggies!

What is in my fridge/pantry?

I was inspired by a few other bloggers who showed what they have in their fridges and pantries, so here is a little video from my kitchen.

Please don't mind the mess around the dogs food bowls you can see in the video, they couldn't keep their food area clean even if they tried, they are very messy eaters!

I forgot to show the freezer, but it is kind of hard to see what is in there anyway. And I guess the outside "garden" is part of the pantry too, it is great to have fresh peppers, tomatoes, green onions and herbs at the ready!

Warm, hot and ... and hot!

I have been out and about since 11 this morning, just got back (4 PM). It sure is HOT out there! The temperature kept at 36 C, and it is steamy out there!

I was hunting for a swimsuit for Sarah, a plain, cute suit that does not look like it belong on a stripper. Apparently that is the trend among 6 year olds this summer: "Swim dressed like a stripper!" Blah! Finally found a simple one that cover the bits and pieces it should and with normal colors and cute butterflies on it... THAT was not an easy task!

In other news, today we are celebrating! Ken just landed a new HUGE ongoing client, this is really going to give us a boost financially, so we are both very thrilled about this. Woohoo! Perfect timing now when Ken is moving into a larger office in mid July.

So tonight I think we will order in and just enjoy a nice glass of wine together...

Intruder in our house!

THAT sounds chocking, right? And I almost crapped my pants when I was working this morning, when all of a sudden someone came up from behind and touch me on my shoulder!!!

It took me only a second to realize it was Sarah's birthday balloon that had wandered over and bumped into me, but did I ever get scared!!! :-)!

The balloon that snuck up on me...

Surreal experience

Seeing Wallander last night was very odd.

Here it was, on a regular US TV channel. It was filmed in Sweden, every detail was Swedish. And it was like they had just plucked the Swedish actors out and replaced them with British actors! So WEIRD!

There Wallander is (or Wållendeeer as they say in English), in his Swedish apartment, reading a Swedish newspaper while watching Swedish news (but the Swedish news have British actors talking about Swedish stuff), and his mobile phone rings, showing a Swedish number and name.

Again, so WEIRD, but still fun...

Spent less than an hour in the pool, it was in the afternoon, didn't really think much about it, but I have sunburn on my shoulders and arms, Ken too. How did that happen so quickly? Definitely smearing on the sunscreen next time!

Already did the work projects for today, not much going on really. I am picking Sarah up early in school, she has her annual doctor's check up today.

It feels like summer is here, the temperatures have been reaching over 35 C every day. But I know it is not truly summer until the afternoon rains starts, and still it is dry as bone out there...

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all moms in the US! Today it is your day!

We started the day off nicely by having breakfast at the famous Beach Cafe on Manatee Beach. It was a very lovely morning, so beautiful out!

Sarah and I on Manatee Beach

Sarah playing on Manatee Beach

After breakfast we went home and just hung out for a while. Sarah decided she wanted her training wheels off of her bike, so she and Ken went out for a long bike ride, and when they came home they were almost melted away by the heat and wanted to go to the pool!

So off we went for the first dip of the year. It was actually surprisingly warm! After returning home I took a long "spa shower" using some of the new Spa Wisdom products from The Body Shop. Strongly recommended, sooo yummy, especially the Miracle Oil, mmmm...

Now we are enjoying a calm and relaxing afternoon, and I am soon to begin getting some food ready for our afternoon BBQ.

Just wanted to tip all of you Swedes in the US: tonight PBS is running the first of (I think) three Wallander movies!!! It is with British actors but filmed in Sweden. I am looking forward to seeing it!

Check your local listings for PBS, it is running as the Masterpiece Mystery series, here it is at 9 PM.

A very Happy Birthday

Sarah and I behind Cinderella's Castle

Cinderella and her Prince

Sarah's birthday was spent at Disney World yesterday, and it was a great success! We all had lots of fun, even though the temperature was high, around 37 C.

We made sure to get there when they opened at 9 AM, and we spent 11 hours walking around and having fun. We were all so tired when we finally got in the car to go home. Sarah declared that she was not at all tired, and she was going to play when she got home. 5 minutes later she was snoring away, sleeping with her mouth wide open. She didn't even flinch when I carried her inside to her bed, she was out!

I can feel all that walking today, I am sore and still a bit tired. I think the heat helps wring all the energy out of you for sure.

The day was made extra special by having lunch at one of Disney's reservations only restaurants, The Crystal Palace. We got to dine with Winnie the Pooh and his friends, and she even got a birthday card signed by them all, plus lots of birthday hugs. She was very excited about getting a special pin to wear throughout the day that declared that it was her birthday, and people kept wishing her a happy birthday all day, she felt very special.

The hardest part came at the end when I told her she could pick any toy she wanted at the big toy store on Main Street. She was almost crying because she could not make up her mind, but I think she was just very tired too. She did however come home with a remote control monorail, like the one they have at Disney World (aunt Lotte, that is one of those rail cars you like so much!).

All in all we had a great day, just hanging out the three of us and having fun.

Sarah is playing at the neighbors' now, and later we are going to the big mall in Sarasota to pick up a few things at Victoria's Secret and The Body Shop, and then we are going to have an early Mother's Day dinner with Ken at 4:30 PM. (We have our Mother's Day here in the US the second Sunday in May).

Hope you are all having a great weekend too!

Sarah and Piglet

Sarah and Tigger became buddies

She got a birthday kiss from Tigger

Sarah and Eeyore

Sarah and Pooh himself

She is trying to look into the mask, she said she figured out there are just people in there...

Her new Disney friends all signed a birthday card for her

Irrational mommy thoughts

I usually always walk Sarah over to the next doors neighbour, unless I am outside in the yard. But today I decided to let her be a big girl and walk over there by herself. I watched from the kitchen window and made sure she made it OK to their front door.

Then I started to worry. What if she never actually went inside the house? What if they weren't home? She could have started to walk back after I stopped looking, and someone could have taken her!

But the kids usually go back and forth between our houses, so I figured I would see her soon.

No sight of them. I went out in the back yard. Usually I can here them playing from back there.

Not a peep. Finally I just took my irrational fears and walked over the the neighbour and checked. She was just fine, playing and having fun.

I guess it is just part of being a mom, to always worry...

All done!

I was able to finish the large project I have been working on since April 21 a bit early.

Feels good! I was not at all motivated to work, but it turned out not to be so bad after all. SO now I can go back to "normal" work tempo again...

Now I am off to our neighborhood Thai place to pick up some food, and then I am going to enjoy a nice, relaxing evening. The husband is on his way home, so he will be here soon. Just need to get Sarah from the neighbor's house, they have been playing over there since she got home from school.

And I got news that the payment for the BIG job was wired from Italy on Thursday, so it will get here in good time before our Disney World trip on Friday. Good! This means I can relax tomorrow and on Thursday, perhaps tinker a bit at home, go shopping and just enjoy having some down time, at least until the next big project lands on my desk!

Summer is almost here!

I just realized today that Sarah only have 5 more weeks of school before summer break is here! Time sure go by fast!

She will have 2 weeks off first, then she will have 6 or 7 weeks in summer camp at the YMCA, maybe with a week off in the middle, we are wait listed for that one. Then she will have 2 weeks off before school starts again. I think that will be prefect. She needs to do stuff, she gets bored very easily and wants someone to play with. So for both ours sake I think this summer camp will work out great.

And it is not just "day care", they will do all kinds of sports, swim every day, do games and have field trips. Really sounds like fun!

This way she will be happy and I will get a chance to work too. But still a few weeks (4 or 5) of just hanging out together. We are planning some family outings for the summer, but most likely just one day things. I for instance, want to go back to Egmont Key, such a nice island. Plus, there are tons of unexplored nature parks around here. I am especially looking forward to seeing the beach state park of Anclote Key and Caladesi Island state park, all just north of us.

Ken will be moving his business into a larger and nicer office building on July 15, so I bet we will be busy with that too.

So hopefully the summer will not be just work, but lots of play too...

The beach on Caladesi Island

Anclote Key

Egmont Key

Weekend Update

She is back! It was nice having some time to ourselves, but I sure am glad to have her back...

She found a new friend over there too, a girl that lives here in Bradenton, not too far away. They are the same age, but go to different schools. Hopefully they can get together and play soon!

I think Sarah had a good time, lots of swimming and playing, but she was definitely glad to be back to "civilization" and mommy's cooking... :-)

Bob and Stan were very pleased to come to the campground too, and we took a hike along the Peace River, and they both enjoyed a dip, it was super hot, almost 37 C. Bob even swam a little, he looked so funny, he was so surprised he could do it, ha ha!

He also looked very cute when he got to wear Sarah's new fairy wings. Perfect fit!

Pretty Bob

Sarah and grandma outside the camper

And this little cutie has moved into our backyard. It seems to come out every night after sunset, but I am not sure if it will be very happy with us after we mowed the grass yesterday. The backyard used to be a prefect little rabbit jungle... :-)

Flu update

H1N1, formerly known as the Swine Flu, has now reached Florida. There are so far 2 confirmed cases, and there are 17 suspected cases, some in our county.

In any way, I am starting to get very irritated with certain types of media. They hype it up and scare the shit out of people, playing on their fears. But some TV stations are very fact based and keep it real.

I much rather want an overreaction to this flu, and it turns out to be OK, or not enough being done and then it is too late, for sure. But there is no reason to try to scare people like I saw on some local TV stations last night, very tacky!

The fact is, if you compare the H1N1 flu with the regular, seasonal flu it is pretty startling: deaths in the US so far this year from the H1N1 flu: 1. Deaths in the US so far this year from regular seasonal flu: 36,000... It put things in perspective, does it not?

Now I am going back to work until about 2 PM, when I am going to go out and eat a nice steak with my husband, and then off to see a movie.

***Correction/update***
As you might seen in the comments, this was so obvious I don't know why it never occurred to me before! Of course, the normal seasonal flu kills about 65,000 on average annually. THAT is why the H1N1 is so dangerous! It is a new strain that human shave no built immunity against, and there is NO vaccine. So if the normal fly kills 65,000 people annually in the US, the potential for teh H1N1 is kind of scary. Stay safe, everyone!

Hon har åkt nu!

När vi kom hem från skolan stod farmor redan och väntade på oss! Jag kände mig verkligen ledsen att behöva lämna ifrån mig min lilla snutta, men å andra sidan tror jag att både hon och vi här hemma kommer att må bra av lite frånvaro och kul på egen hand...

Hon var inte ett dugg tveksam med att åka ifrån mig, hon bara log och vinkade hejdå!

Jag förmanade farmor med att inte låta henne drunkna i poolen, se till att hon har solskydd på sig, att hon borstar tänderna och... Det går nog bra. Hoppas jag. Saknar henne redan!

Lite saker på G KODAT!

För st och främ st detat kom mer att se kons tigt ut, är tvun gen att skri va lite i ko d. Ville bara säg a att det nog blir lite svenska här den när msta veck an eller så... Det ta fö r a tt jag vet att pers onen h ar anv änt mas kin över sättning på Internet för ut fö r a tt ku nna läsa v ad jag har skriv it på svenska...

D et ä r en krångli g och in vecklad hist oria men det är ett prob lem med en psyk olo giskt väl digt os tabil männ iska som b or i trak ten som jag he lst inte vill ska lä sa denna blogg...

Person en har in get med mig att göra dire kt, utan me d mak en. En per son som för til fället arb etar för hon om (til ls nä sta fre dag) har upp trätt mi nst sa gt för bryllande. Väld igt agg ressivt och kons tigt. Efte rsom ma ken enligt kontr akt som al la anstäl da skr iver under har rät ten att överv aka deras epos t kun de han sna bbt ta reda på ge nom det enor ma flöd e av epost som den na pers on skick ade till and ra under arbe tstid, att pers onen i frå ga har allv arliga ps ykolog iska probl em och g år hos lä kare 1 gå ng i ve ckan för de tta...

Perso nen i frå ga har under de sen aste vecko rna bl ivit me r och mer agit erad. Om per sonen tex tillfrå gas var ör viktiga arbetsu ppgifte rinte har utfö rts, så får per sonen i fråga känslout brott gemt emot mak en om att han min sann ald rig gör d ssa uppgi fter, och att mak en då skulle ans e sig för "bra" för de ssa uppgifter. Mak en har minst sa gt varit för bryllad och på sin k ant, inte rikti t vetat hur han ska hant era situati onen. Det rö r sig ju dock bara om en kla ad ministrativa upp gifter som pe rsonen i fråga är ans tälld speci fikt att ut föra...

Ma ken h ar ver kligen or oat sig öv er den na p erson, han g illar per sonen i frå ga och vet ju i nte rikti gt hur han ska han tera det he la. Det började gå mot en allt mer ohållb ar situ ation. SOm "t ur" är sad e person en upp sig!

I den allt mer febri la epostakt iviteten från den na person till olika vä nner (bra läx a här, folk, anv änd inet dator n på jo bbet till per sonliga anda mål!) så verkar det som om perso nen i frå ga nylig en up ptäckt att hon är mer intre sserad av det andra kö net, och hon har tyd ligen n¨got sorts ny vunnet hat mot alla med pen isar. Kan bero på att hela detta psy ko tiska bet eende satrtade med att henn es kil le gjo rde slut med h enne...

Mak en upptä ckte dock i ett av eposten att per sonen och hennes vänn ina läs er min blogg, var för har jag ingen anin gen om.

Kän ns lite obeh agligt tycker jag. Så jag vet inte om jag bör löse nordssätta bloggen, och låta de som är intresserade eposta mig för att bli "godkä nda" läsare.

Det käns lite tar vligt, men de nna pe rson vet var vi b or, ho n är onek ligen osta bil, och jag vill inet he lst att hon vet vad vi g ör och vil ka plats er vi är på.

Så hur hant erar jag den na situati on? Komme ntera enda st på svenska, tack...

Sarah off on her own

This afternoon after school Ken's mom is picking Sarah up for their weekend together. The campground where they will be staying it is 1½ hours from here.

She is so much looking forward to hanging out with grandma! I can say I really will enjoy the freedom of not having a child for a few days, but I will MISS HER so!

She is excited to go swimming in the park's heated swimming pool, check out the playground and just have plain fun with grandma. Grandma even had a tent put up for her to play in. The plan is for us to pick her up on Sunday afternoon, bring the dogs, go for a hike and have lunch there before heading home.

I miss her already!