Bummer note!

Yesterday John was meant to be here but unfortunately due to a serious accident on the highway to the airport, John was unable to get to the airport and missed his flight! Looks like we'll have to have him over another weekend but how crappy is that and you can't even get your flight refunded as it is not a fault of the airport! Shame!!

http://www.dn.se/sthlm/en-omkom-i-olycka-pa-e4-1.851945

John is coming to town

Tomorrow my brother John is coming to visit for the weekend! Will definitely be fun to see him, especially since I missed him last time I was in Stockholm. John has requested a cold pint in a pub tomorrow evening so I guess we’ll swing by the local for a few drinks and some banter. Think we have to dig out the old Guitar Hero from the closet as well. I’ll be sure to post a few pictures after the weekend.

A date with Arnie

Shaena is hanging out with the girls tonight so I am home alone. Today was one of those really busy but really good days at work. I have had quite a few of those lately, but some days are just plain busy as well. I managed to finish off a couple of small projects that I've been working on with my clients for a few weeks, and today it all went live. Funny enough, two clients completely separate from each other went live with their new Facebook campaigns seconds after each other. Exciting times! (If you are a complete nerd like me.)

Anyway, there are a few half decent movies on the telly tonight so let that be the plan for the evening. One can never go wrong with "Terminator 2: Judgment Day".

"I need your boots, your clothes and your motorcycle."

Ha!

http://www.deezer.com/track/2583004

Dear esteemed family and friends all around the pond:

Today we have done something extraordinary for all of you to prepare you for your upcoming visit to Edinburgh this summer. We have literally gone the extra mile for you. We mustered all our strengths and took a long stroll around the city with our video camera to show you a few of the sights in our bonnie capital. That’s alright, you can thank us later! :)

Featured in the video: The Princes street garden, Edinburgh castle, old town and the Royal Mile, Greyfriars kirkyard and The Elephant House café... and a renegade muffin. We also found some really nice photos from around Scotland that we bought.

Check it out!

It is Wednesday the 15th of April and I have just returned home from another visit at the doctors to hopefully diagnose my mystery ailment. We are still at a loss and I have been referred to the ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) department at another hospital to see if they can help figure out what is wrong with me. This is not fun! So tomorrow I will go see them. Yippee!! Good news is that baby H is still kicking like a mule! He is crazy down there!! :) That makes me feel so much better knowing that he is healthy. He'll have a good laugh at me though if he saw what I looked like right now.

And to think I only have 2 months left until family starts pouring in and then we get to meet the little guy!!! He's gonna be spoiled ROTTEN!

At home on my own

I am on day 5 of this mystery ailment which is not fun! From what the doctors have said and what the internet is telling me is that I should be over this in another few days *Cross your fingers* and that baby is doing just fine. I figure that Baby H has learned how to jump in a star position as I am getting jabs in all directions at the same time. Maybe he'll be a cheerleader :P

So I am trying to keep myself busy so I don't go insane while sitting here. I figured I'll start watching Smallville from Season 1 onwards and I really like it! Oh oh Peter...another addictive series you'll have to sit through!!

I also like to read wikipedia. Normally I read about famous people and see how interconnected everyone in Hollywood is. I couldn't imagine living as a movie star. It is like a big high school and everyone wants to be prom king/queen. Enough of high school! It was enough for the 4 years I had to endure it.

I was also going to try and be creative and put some of my photos up on the blog but right now I can't be arsed! I think I'll just keep doing what I am doing and eventually it will be time for another nap.

Love to you all.

Shae

Another blast from the past

Today I was going through one of our ‘evidence boxes’, boxes we used to use for storing proof of Shaena and me living together, mostly for visa purposes. Now they are mainly used to store other important stuff we want to save for the future, along with memorabilia and birthday cards etc.

I came across a little photo album from my dad that once again brought me back a bit but this trip down memory lane was a little bit more emotional and closer to heart than the last ‘history lesson’.

First, here is another picture of Thores Trio that I mentioned in my story about Båtskärsnäs taken during the traditional midsummer’s celebrations. I remember their songs and the ambience in the park clearly and somehow they always seemed to play their songs like it was their first and most important gig ever and they were always very close to their audience. Very inspiring! I know, I was only like 8-9 years old but those memories are the kind that sticks.

Next is a picture of a couple of blond boys (guess who!) in their Speedo’s. Think this one is from Frevisören, a beach resort close to my grandparents house outside Båtskärsnäs. We used to go there in the summers whenever we had a weekend at my dad’s – divorce kids as we were – and the weather was good. My grandpa used to come with us and swim in the ocean or rent paddle boats. Good times!

Two things I remember from Frevisören was that you were never allowed to swim outside the red buoys because that was where the water got really deep; the other thing I remember was that if you were really lucky you could be offered to go on the waterslides, but I was always too chicken to go. I guess I still have quite a lot of respect for waterslides and I am not really sure why.

These next few pictures are from a birthday party at my dad’s where I used to live in Haparanda. The first thing that strikes me is the ugly clothes all the kids were wearing! But that was just the fasion in the late eighties.

I remember those parties; I always have and probably always will. Those parties were always fun, everyone invited always turned up when they could – birthday gift or no birthday gift- did not matter, just like me and my brother always turned up when we got invited to other kids parties. Usually the invitations were extended outside in the sandbox where we all hung out and played a game called nurkka (corner in Finnish) and hide and go seek.

My dad and my stepmom have always been the kind of people that makes an effort to throw a good birthday party and my stepmom’s whipped cream fruit cake was to die for!

Below is another picture from the living room in Haparanda with me, my grandparents, John, Isabel and Henry. The date stamp says 11.11.90 so that was me when I was eight. Remember that picture in eight and a half years when our little boy is the same age. I am so curious to see what the similarities will be!

My grandparents have always been the kind of people that comes across as fair, calm, easygoing and very happy people with a genuine interest in their grandkids. Grandpa Eskil and grandma Linnéa will certainly be my role models for parenting when baby is born. Obviously, the way you remember your grandparents parenting style is likely to be far from what your own parents remember them as parents when they were kids, but all of the above are still traits I will do my best to mirror as a parent.

Next one is a picture from a trip to the zoo in Finland in the fox’s lair. The trips to Finland and to the Santa Land were always a hoot. It was all about us kids and we got to do whatever we wanted to do. Think Disney World but a lot colder and with a Santa-theme instead of a cartoon-theme.

I might be mistaking on who the boy in the middle in the picture below is, after all it was a while ago, but I think the last time I saw him was on my mom’s lawn in Piteå about 11-12 years ago. The blond hair was replaced with a colorful mohawk and his jeans and sweater were replaced with cut up plad trousers, a leather jacket with spruces, chains and a wife-beater. Punk rock!

Ok, this made for a very long entry. Think I'll save the rest for later.

My, oh my, it is all very exciting and nervous right now!

Remember that I mentioned that I was putting the apartment in Sweden up for sale? After that I have been in contact with a real estate agent and signed all the documents needed to get the ball rolling. This guy seems like a good agent to work with; at least if you are on our side of the fence. He is salesy, hungry and seems ambitious to get results. When I first spoke to him he gave me this whole spiel about how hard he’s working and how he is teaming up with this other real estate agent to move potential buyers between properties.
I thought: ”Yeah, yeah, you can talk the talk but can you walk the walk?”.

It actually seems like he can walk the walk. Everything he’s been telling me so far has been accurate and we are very excitied to see what the development will be in the next couple of weeks. Our apartment should be posted on their website in about 2 weeks and then the viewings will probably start the week after that if all goes well. It might actually even sell before the viewings start if we are really lucky. Cross all your fingers and toes!

Right now this same agent is selling a flat of the same size, in the same area and the building is of the same age as well. Lucky for us he posted this one with a starting price that, if all goes well, could either move a few potential buyers over to our flat or he’d sell this flat and then start our flat off on the same starting price.

To explain a little about how the property market works in Sweden:

An apartment is almost always put on the market with a starting price. This starting price is a suggested price based on the market value of properties in the same area, of the same size and also based on the state of the property. This is not the final prize for the buyer though; unless you decide to sell the property for a fixed price from the start. If not, a bidding process will start straight after the initial viewings.

Anyone who can produce a letter from their bank stating that they are good for a mortgage for the requested price or above can partake in the bidding and the bids are not binding until the actual contract is signed so you can imagine these are nerve-racking couple of days for both the seller and potential buyers!

The cool thing is that everyone can follow the bidding online and the seller has final say as to when the bidding stops and who he or she would like to sell the property to. Time will tell, but if all goes well we might be able to set up a little piggy bank for baby!

Ooh, and guess what?

My brother John is coming to visit us later this month! He will be here on the weekend of the 24th and we are really looking forward to seeing him. John came to visit a couple of times while still in Ireland but this will be his first time in Scotland. Should be a jolly good time! I am sure we will see him again this summer as well when baby arrives.

More on that later.

Sicko today-o

When Shaena woke up this morning her face was a bit swollen on the right hand side, so we called the NHS24 helpline who recommended her to go see our doctor just to make sure, so I decided to work from home today and off to the doctor we went! When you are pregnant you can never be too careful.

The doctor ensured us that the swelling was just a gland-infection and we had nothing to worry about and that this was nothing a dose of antibiotics wouldn’t cure. The swelling was also not related to the pregnancy at all. The doctor was probably the best one we’ve met so far here in Scotland, very calm and reassuring with a soothing voice.

Other possible occupations for Mr. Doctor:

- Bedtime story-reader
- Hypnotist
- Horse whisperer
- The guy that successfully talks people out of jumping off roof tops in movies
- Librarian (however, Shaena says all librarians are evil by nature (not you dad) so that would probably not work for Mr. Doctor.)

Mr. Doctor also prescribed lollies to promote saliva production so after the appointment we went out to the shops to buy a bucket of lollies and a new videogame for sicko. You can never go wrong with a new videogame, eh! Yes, eh!

For the rest of the day Shaena’s been resting at home and I have been replying to emails and writing reports for work. I must say; working from home is so productive, probably because there are no disruptions at all. Anyway, I got loads done!

Right now we are waiting for another Tesco-delivery and once we get our hands on all that tasty food I am going to whip up some Swedish meatballs and pasta. Yum!

Tomorrow is a bank holiday here in Scotland so we are both off work. Shaena’s office is closed and I took the day off. A long-weekend at home is going to be really nice! Usually when we have time off we have plans made up and are off on some trip, but not this time.

Home sweet home!

Hi everyone! Bump here!

I have been to the midwife today and found out that I am a-ok! I am growing, my heartbeat is great and they gave mommy a shot in the behind. After the appointment they fed me ice cream and went home to cook Chicken Korma. Yummy!

Anyway, that was really it. Next check-up is in 4 weeks.

Bump's Calendar

So our family have started to book flights and our calendar of people is starting to come together. This just makes me think how close it is to baby H arriving!!! I really cannot wait to meet him and see what our genes have put together!

Bump's Calendar

"Swish" said the week!

What a week! This week just flew by, like many other weeks recently, but at least it is getting nice and warm outside now. Let’s recap:

On Monday I was back to work in the office again, and as always after being away for a few days, there are lots of things in the office that needs dealing with. I should really try to pencil down how many different things I do on a daily basis just for kicks. I am sure it’ll be a lot! We also have a couple of new and exciting products that we are selling on Facebook, so lots to learn and teach at the same time.

On Tuesday evening both Shaena and I had separate team nights out, and I must say, mine was a blast! I had a lot of fun! We had reserved a table at a Turkish BYOB restaurant in the old town called Empire Café; it was just me and the little team I work in. We had a nice Turkish grill-platter with Mediterranean delicacies like tzatziki, hummous, halloumi and falafel for main course and for desert we all tried some baklava and Turkish coffee or tea. Excellent stuff, and not expensive at all! We then rounded off the night at the famous World’s End bar just around the corner.

On Wednesday as you all know, it was Shaena’s birthday. The morning started with breakfast and her first pressie. I had bought her the book about the making of the Twilight movie. I have also pre-ordered the movie itself, but it is not released on DVD until next week. Shaena also got a surprise-chocolate delivery to work later.

We also met up with our friend Meghan for a quick drink after work. Meghan has just finished her studies and now has a Master of Medical Science. Smart cookie that one!

In the evening we went to see ”Knowing” in the cinema. It was an alright movie, interesting plot but it kind of flipped out a bit too much for my liking.

There has also been some frantic activity going on this week to find a new flat for our guests this summer, as the previous one fell through. That is now all done and dusted and mommy Michelle will still host our international guests; just a block further away from us. Very nice place though!

Today I found out that my tenant in my flat in Sweden is leaving as she got made redundant and can’t really afford the steep rates in the ”Peter Suite” anymore. I am primarily looking at selling the place and have already contacted a real estate agent to find out how the market looks like. Will keep you updated on that one.

Tonight I am all by my lonesome as Shaena is having a girl’s night and a sleepover with her League of Extraordinary Ladies and tomorrow we’ll go hang and play some Wii with Ron, Christine and little Ronnie.

Cheeky time

Happy Birthday to meeeeee! Shaena that is.