On "GIFT" idness......what gives with THAT!?

on weekends away and swedish families....

well, you know you're somewhere for a while , when you run away for the weekend and it's not off to the Berkshires or New England , but off to LISLIK to see  your "new " swedish family that isn't even so new anymore! 

I say that with all due respect ,they've seen me more than a few times ,too... and we all really do enjoy each other, whew!.....

but, god bless these people- they've put up with speaking english to me- as they reminded me for damn near two years now- and are just about to give up.

Entire dinners are now advertised to moi ( ?huh?) as:" this dinner will be entirely held in swedish".....

and after they haven't heard from me for 5 minutes except an occasional "ja"-or a grunt or a smile..... and my plate is empty because I can hardly ennunciate that I'd like some more LAMB ( uhh, what is THAT!?) someone good-naturedly breaks down and asks me a question in english - and quelle surprise! off I go!....

at any rate, i get encouraged to talk in swedish as much as possible, by just about everyone anymore, so I describe inanely simple stories of SFI horrors and other equally inane  and MUNDANE stories.

However, I have worked up a "SCHWEDISH SCHTICK" on our mushroom picking episode this weekend which i will try to recount now-

ENTIRELY UNAIDED BY GOOGLE TRANSLATOR- 

JUST SO YOU CAN ALL SEE HOW DAMN LOUSY MY SWEDISH IS.- AND I CAN PROVE OT ONCE AND FOR ALL!

Now mind you, I've practiced this several times now on every family member ( and been summarily corrected)  and a couple of people at SFI, so you'd think I'd be good at it.

IN ADVANCE:

forgive the lack of dots here- I'm NOT going to GOOGLE TRANSLATOR remember?! -and my WORLD is a HAPPY DOTLESS WORLD!- so DEAL,OK!?!?

I hellan, Roy och Ilyssa och jag, gick till skogen och plockade svamp.Det var en bra dag for svamp plocker darfor det var reignar mycket och det var kalt ocksa! Sa BRA dag! Roy och Ilyssa tittade och plockade gul kanterelle. Jag vet jag musta titta for gul kanterelle, men jag ser inte.Ocksa, vi kan plockade host( FALL) kanterlle. De ar brun. Sa, jag plocade mycket/manga svampor av mycket olika sortir. Jag tittade en stor AREA(  whatever!) av host /brun kanterllar sa jag plockade mycket manga av dem. Jag plokade svampor darfor dem ar snygg och jag tycker om dem! OKAY!?!? Jag hade stor pase om svampor. ROy och Ilyssa har inte sa manga av dem. De hade bara gul kantereller i deras pasor.

Vi tag alla tillbacka hemet och Ilyssa bakade mycket bra smorgas med gula kantereller.MUMS!!!!!

 Jag liggade min svampor ut pa bricken. Jag maste hade 7 eller 8 typ /SORTIR?! De var so mycket snygg och sot- (with the dots,ok)! Jag lasa Min ForstaSvamp Boken som Alfie loanade mig! OBS! Jag hade en problem: maste av min svampor were GIFT. ! eller 2 var inte GIFT, men maste dem var! Sa,jag  ta mycket manga bilder om de. De var so mycket snygg och gjorde min gladje. Sa dar!! Men,i sluttat, vi kastade alla min utta darfor alla dem var i pase tillsammans och det ar inte so bra!

SO THERE! that only took 15 minutes to write! SO EASY! 

I must also ask you to forgive my rather repetitive use of the words "mycket manga"- You see, I could never remember which to use when, and am not so sure I even remember now unless I think on it really hard- but I have been saying "mycket manga" for over a year now ,so muchso ,  that even my hubbie uses it occassionally. It is a phrase I will undoubtedly always use in the future- so there!

To the ENGLISH SPEAKERS and to those of you that even read SWEDISH but i know without DOTS and the fact that the swedish is so bad you can't really read it anyway.....here in less than a MINUTE is what I said:

This weekend, Roy and Ilyssa and i went mushroom picking in the woods. It was raining a ton and very cold- so it was determined to be a perfect day for going out into the woods with all sorts of rain clothes on and pick mushrooms. ( for the record: it actually didn't suck, ok?) Now see, we were really just supposed to pick yellow chanterelles or the fall brown ones. There are a few other varieties one can pick, but those were not specified in advance, nor what we were after.....problem was, I quickly lost patience as I didn't see any yellow ones, so I picked anything I liked and especially anything that was CUTE- becau se many were absolutely adorable!

We took them home, Ilyssa made delicious OPEN-FACED SANDWICHES( no! I am sorry , but a sandwich has a TOP and a BOTTOM) and they were very YUMMY!

I put all of my 7-8 varieties of mushrooms out and proceeded to look in Alfie's Beginners guide to mushroom picking and discovered that while I had the brown chanterelles and maybe another good shroom or two, most of mine were poisonous. And since even the LEAST little bit of a POISON shroom can put you on kidney dialysis for the rest of your days- or KILL you straight away, we threw ALL of mine out, since the good ones had touched the bad ones. But I took many photographs of all my SUPER CUTE SHROOMS and had a very good if not VERY WET DAY! So there!!!

well , that's kinda what it said- or what I wanted it to kinda say!

Lesson for the soul today: when life gives you POISONOUS 'SHROOMS: You can either cook them really well,because some types are NOT poisonous AFTER they are cooked( right-y-o with THAT little tidbit of information!) OR you can take pictures, enjoy a pouring down rainy wet day in the woods anyway and PITCH your efforts in the trash, because sometimes it's just for the best!

swedish word for the day; Ok- I KNOW it by now- but it's been a bitch to learn through pounding it into my head at SFI and this experiment truly brought it home- JUST GET THIS ONE!

"GIFT" means two VERY DIFFERENT things here-

it either means POISONOUS - as in many of my too cute 'shrooms

or GET THIS: it means  to be MARRIED ( to someone)! YEP! 

that was , of course, how I first came to know the word- nthat being when I brolloped and got gifted ( mig) !!!,

 so when someone told me about it also meaning POISONOUS, it was a bit much to deal with , really!

.....sometimes , with a word that you'd really better USE in the RIGHT context at the right time-it just leaves me to believe that COMPLETE COMPETENCY in the Swedish language is a LONG LONG way off! ( if not exampled very well above! HAHA!)

and once again, we have arrived at a "cultural note" here that just defies description. 

or , am I just crazy- ah gain!?

who can resist this?....Oceans Eleven Day in Stockholm last week....

In a stellar shining example of why Hollywood should not just export it's movies to "everybody"

 this is just all kinds of charming.......

Look what happened last Wednesday in Stockholm after Sven Svensson and Lars Larsson (Sven's  sidekick) studied Oceans Eleven really well.......

and Swedish Law Enforcement who really excels at setting up surprise roadside checks everywhere and administering alcohol level breath tests,seemingly finds situations more challenging than that to be ,well, just a bit beyond their capabilities......

Here's how it happened, according to a report in the tabloid daily Aftonbladet:

5.15am - A helicopter is witnessed above the roof of the G4S cash depot in Västberga in Stockholm by staff at the National Rail Administration (Banverket) offices directly opposite.

Lars Larsson and Sven Svensson go for it, after studying the film enough times....and stealing a helicopter ( that alone didn't alert anyone----- )It's the Oceans Eleven Show - and they're OFF!!!!!

5.19am - Police receive a call about the robbery. Witnesses watch as the stolen white Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopter lets out three or four passengers on the roof. Explosions are heard as the robbers enter the building while the helicopter hovers above the building.

Several sacks of what is presumed to be money are then seen raised into the helicopter on a rope.

Bleary eyed Swedish residents train hastily grabbed binoculars onto the roof of the buidling trying desperately to spot George Clooney and Matt Damon. They're hoping for an autograph and a few pictures.

5.25am - The first police patrol arrives at the scene in Västberga but are ordered not to act as the robbers continue to load sacks of money into the helicopter. They have been ordered to await the arrival of the National Task Force.

The policemen that arrived on the scene were basically stopping by  to study the moves of the robbers hoping to become Big Movie Stars themselves one day. Meanwhile , the National Task Force had been "gently notified" via Facebook , a few text messages and  an e-mail or two.....They'll be there ,after they shower and have had breakfast.......

5.35am - With the police looking on the helicopter lifts off from the roof of the building and heads north. The robbers had lain caltrops on the road routes out away from the building in order to hinder the police.

but, as they continued to stand there watching with their jaws wide open, it's not like it really even occurred to them to even try to get in their cars to chase them anyway.....unneccessary cover-up on the Criminals' part,really....

5.35am - The National Task Force enters the building.

my guess is that  the NTF that arrived,were the "off-duty" bunch that were found still out at the bars from the night before.....

5.49am - The police helicopter station at Myttingen on Värmdö is notified but pilots can not lift off as a suspected bomb is found in front of the helicopter hanger.

Well that got at least a few people upset inciting this comment in the OpEd section of the Dagens Nyheter the next day:

Swedish police must "be able to use the equipment that has been acquired for large amounts," the Dagens Nyheter daily wrote in an opinion piece. "Helicopters, cars, boats and other equipment must be kept in a way so that criminals cannot sabotage them."

duh.......ya think!??!

7am - The police confirm that none of the 21 G4S staff were hurt in the attack.

after conducting a breathalyzer check of all the buildings staff, it was determined that none of them had been "driven to drink" over the whole situation.......and therefore no one was hurt..... no thanks to the Police now mind you....

7.37am - Explosives are found in the building and police extend the cordon around the depot. 

Oops! Now,this was a shocking turn of events indeed. The cordon selected was a bright Swedish Blue shade and was arranged so that it looked nice for the TV crews later that day.......

8.15am - The helicopter is found in woodland near Skavlöten in Arninge north of Stockholm.

Initially they weren't sure for a while whether it was a helicoptoer or just a large dead moose, but blood tests did reveal it to be ....indeed.........a HELICOPTER......

8.42am - The police escort the G4S staff out from the cash depot.

Now being as "explosives were reported to be found in the building" at kl.7:37....... it is logical that 1 hour and 5 minutes later they decide to THEN get the staff out of the building.....right?!

1pm - police dispose of the suspected bomb at the helicopter station on Värmdö with the help of a water cannon.

Like I've stated before in previous blogs. The swedes like things to be clean. Floors and all,especially bombs that could actually be  "dirtied up" by criminal evidence. Water cannons aid enormously in cleaning up suspected bombs of any DNA, or "filth" ( aka:EVIDENCE) that might have been accidentally left by the Perps.....let's hear it for CLEAN evidence.....

3pm - Police hold a press conference where they classify the crime as an "extraordinary event" and are thus able to call on the resources of police forces from across the country.

It was obvious that short of Princess Victoria's wedding next year, that this was as close as Stockholm was going to see of Hollywood and "Extraordinary Events" for quite some time. Only natural to want to call your buddies about it.....

By 6pm in the evening the police had arrested two men in connection with the robbery as they combed the Stockholm underworld for clues to what is described as a well-organised professional heist.

And it turns out that their names were as reported above: Lars Larsson and Sven Svensson......

Criminology professor Leif G W Persson said on Wednesday that the cash depot could have housed up to a billion kronor ($146 million) in cash.

Nothing like checking the Depot 's ACTUAL records ,huh? When in doubt, best to call up a college prof to make a decent guess to report in the papers right?

Media reports on Thursday indicate that a mafia boss from the Balkans could be the brains behind the robbery. 

You thought that Lars and Sven could have thought on this all on their own?! Come on!!!!!!! But to their credit, Lars and Sven had been the ones to actually send  the DVD of Oceans Eleven to the Dude in the Balkans......AHHH!!!!! -the advantages of GLOBALIZATION!

It is also reported that Stockholm police had previously received information that a helicopter heist was being planned in the area but that the National Task Force had been conducting surveillance at the wrong depot, in Bromma in the north-west of the city.

Well,now you see, this is just the saddest bit of information of all. Now see if the Perps had ONLY tried to rob the Cash Depot that they were SUPPOSED to rob-this might have actually turned out differently.....

LESSON FOR THE SOUL: I have to say, it's a nice thing to live in a country where this kind of stuff happens so seldom, that policemen are at a loss as to how to deal with it. I can see it happening also quite easily in the UK, where the Cops would be busy waving their billy clubs in the air at the helicopter......

and at least it gives me a jolly good laugh for the day......

Swedish word for the day: överraskning- (Roy thought this one up for me)- that's: SURPRISE!!!!!!!

Time to quit trying to monitor the society by roadside checkpoints, sometimes it could all be flying right over your head!......

All I have to say- I find myself actually rooting for the robbers on this one! They deserve to keep their heist,I'm sorry!

TV for the Nordic( Armchair ) FIsherman

now mind you , I don't watch tv very often.
at all. 

especially here.

-there are a multitude of problems connected with me and the TV.

and, no, it's not because most of it is in Swedish, because it isn't even. There's a lot of it in english with swedish sub-titles

i know, i know, which would be good for me to watch. if i cared to. 

i don't.

see- first problem is-  I can't turn it on. 

that's real simple. 

I could barely turn on a TV in the US and now that all I get out is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo swedish menu pages everytime I punch a button - that also says something I can't read....

all to watch what- a show in swedish or a horribel American import?( one of SIxten's favourite shows: Jerry Springer.....uhhh.I'll skip that,thanks.....)
So ,you see, I find it very easy to justify the fact that I think excessive TV watching is meant for people that can't figure out what to do meaningful with their lives -("real meaning" like I have indeed, such as these here endless hours on FaceBook and blogging!)

Finally, I firmly believe that TV is not worth much of a crap beyond re-runs of Seinfeld or Sex and the City- ( despite the fact that  I have been told there are things that came AFTER those series ended .....)

Not to say that the men in this house never watch it. becuase they do, while both vehemnetly denying that they watch "alot of it"- ( i know my hubbie is downstairs at this moment watching America's Got Talent- a show this American wouldn't be caught dead watching) but he'd deny it, I'm sure....

However, it is  when total and utter silence descends on the TV ranks( dudes) in this house -

you can bet that winner of all shows - 

"Deadliest Catch" is on.

......and like the Two Great Nordic (Armchair) Fisherman that they are, Hubbie and Sixten are glued to the set with every single crab cage that is pulled out of the icy Alaskan depths, as if they're out there themselves.

 
If you've missed this stellar example of reality series TV( legitimazed somewhat only by the fact that the "educational" Discovery Channel puts it on)- it is a show that week in, week out -

 is exactly the same as.....

 the week before that...

and the week to come after....

...there are a bunch of king crab macho dude fishermen that head out onto the rough seas( for the proper effect -they ONLY go out when the seas are ReAlly RoUgH-) of the Alaskan archipaelago and haul in Alaskan King Crab to sell to hungry gourmands all over.

It's COLD as HELL. 

It's ICY WET EVERYWHERE.

and that is .....apprently both appealing and fun.....

the fishermen and thier grizzled half crazed captain are all men that look like they'd eat the arm off of a ( live)Grizzly Bear for a snack. 

this is TESTOSTERONE ON CRACK.

And my "TOUGH GUYS " here are 1,000% mesmerized by this.

They hang on the word of every captain....... they listen excitedly to the yells and cursing from the guys on the wind-swept deck of the boat- as they pull up yet another huge crab cage. Seriously, I've tried to sit down and watch what this is that keeps them so raptly excited every single time it is on- 

and I truly just don't get it. 

I swear everytime one of these cages is pulled up, it's just replaying the exact same haul that they played 5 minutes earlier. Yet, these guys remain hooked, as if there are IV tubes shooting Magical Armchair Testosterone to them straight from the TV set. They are in a NORDIC SEA DUDE TRANCE. 

Now you can ask them both, isn't this just what happened last week- didn't they go out into the eye of a storm nearly,wasn't the Boat's Captain yelling "take Cover! Big Wave a-comin'!!! ," 

...a-swearing to the cameraman that  he really didn't think any of them would survive it- THIS TIME,really........ 

Wasn't the head Deck Captain sayin',' hell yeah, we got it tough this haul!! 

We haven't found the crabs, 

we gotta find the crabs!! 

and if we don't, man, there's gonna be hell to pay! 

Some of these guys just won't have jobs anymore." 

 Then there's always Rookie Guy ( aka- the pathetic comic relief sucker) , that goes out and makes some major screw -ups and nearly costs the whole damn haul for everyone-

he's usually seen out on deck all by himself, with a wave crashing over his head as he holds on for dear life to some pole, trying to figure out that everyone else went under for cover).

Now both my guys agree- yeah,yeah,....the story is the same every week. 

Right. No, nothing ever really happens.....

but.....

and they trail off.... not able to spit out any further comments than this....

 while the same cage I swear is pulled out of the icy depths AH-Gain and AH-GAIn and AH GAIN.....

THIS time - THIS CATCH- WOAH!- is SOOOO exciting -how could they possibly miss it?!

after it's over life returns to normal-right, until it's time for a Sports Event( track and field seems to suffice for rapt attention that department here.shot putt anyone? WOAH!)

Lesson for the Soul for the day- Thank God for the invention of INANE television and the MEN that can fall comatose in front of it. It's  perfect combination- and frees me up to do all sorts of things.Women who had to keep their men amused before the advent of TV, must have had it really tough indeed.

swedish word for the day: this is how they teach it to you at school- and just because I think it's funny.....

let's just play with the word for "TV" in swedish -

this gets funny I promise you..... 

here ya go: 

en teve- that is "a tv." ....pronounced pretty much the same but more EH to it.... like EN TEH-VEH  ( still I can work with it....)

now this is the funnier part:

teven is THE TV,- huh??

tever- is TV's- .....plural, yep....... as when your go to Circuit City and ask "Where are the TEVER?"

teverna -( not to be confused with a TAVERNA- but damn close,no ,no) that's THOSE TV's"-    

as in: 

"Well, ma' am, yes TEVERNA HAR are really nice, but, unfortunately ma'am, it's TEVERNA DAR that are the ones that you saw the special ad on in the paper." 

"gee, thanks,Mister,I think I'll pass....."

winterizing.... preparing for darkness and my Mr. Fix It hero!!!

i cannot even begin to tell you how utterly delighted, thrilled and ecstatic I am that I have a fully functional husband- and by that -you can cut off the free shots at that right now- (you people who never get your minds out of the gutter....)

but my Darling Swede is fully functional, in the fact that he can actually DO HOUSE THINGS! From my past marriage to a way-too-affected City Guy( which begs to be asked why...) who's idea of home repair was to call the super, to this.

Now all of a sudden, it's:

"gee ,honey, I think I'd like this chandelier here, that one there...... well,no , maybe this one here and that one there......could we try that again?....."- all delivered with all that Swedish patience and tolerance that I got when I met the dude at the bar in India. Now I gotta tell ya this is a source of delight for me ,the depths of which I cannot even describe! 

ah,at last!!!! I found it!

-a fully functional HUSBAND!

for a girl like me , there is NO end to the delights of having a husband like that. I mean , i might modestly boast, that back home in New York City, NONE of us had one, though many of us wanted one, and NOW! yaha! I HAVE one!.....

The very first weekend of my "new life" here on the Polar Ice Cap, we had gone off to get the Darling Husband's Mothers' apartment ready for sale in LISLIK. I watched in utter amazement and delight when I discovered that my fiance knew how to wall-paper and called home to brag to all my City friends- who i think were likewise as shocked and amazed as I was. I had myself a totally functional hubbie!

(as an aside, I will say that the rest of the family seemed to know how to wallpaper , to different degrees,too. And apparently most everyone in Sweden is abundantly aware of wallpapering,etc- that most antiquated of wall preparations in the US....)This is because in Sweden, the perception is is that wall-papering is actually easier than painting and thus a close inspection of most any wall here- one will note that they're all wall-papered even if it is with just "texture wallpaper"- that which like other things makes me slightly nuts , but I digress. This is a "non-bitch' post today, at least....

So today -as one must on this part of the world, prepare for the long hard DARK winter that we know is to come,( even though the gorgeous sun outside today, seemed to attempt to deny this inevitability) we decided it was electricity day in the home. As the sun is now setting around 8 or a bit after in the evening,we know those days of infinite darkness are not too far off at all...

We needed LJUS!

There's a lot of LAMPOR around this place I detest ( typical rental place stuff) and I brought a lot of lampor over here from the States just in case.

So-up went the big old Third Reich chandelier that had been sitting on the floor in the living room for HALF a YEAR now,actually cajoling us into the false belief that  we had just "moved in". Never you mind that it had American wiring in it and it never will be functional ( hurray! je deteste over head lighting!) Sixten looked on in horror- he seems to have no problems with over head lighting at all- nor does the hubbie-but I chalk it up to a non-observant-guy thang. ( i'll show 'em! ^_-!) .

 

Up went the adorable library lamps from IKEA purchased back in April. And down went all these ultra-nasty cheapie-creepie hyra lägenhet lighting fixtures that had been making me crazy for months! I have a whole bag of crappy lighting to stick back up someday when we move out.

Up went the adorable white modern overhead light rescued from dear friend recently departed back to the States.....it looks perfect where I put it- correction: where Mr. Fix It put it.

All because my perfectly pleasant Mr. Fix-It man patiently removed and replaced and removed and replaced lighting fixtures all over the house- much to my great delight and satisfaction! THE THRILL of it all!!!

I could watch with rapt attention for hours on end as he uses all kinds of knives and screwdrivers and ladders to achieve better lighting fixtures for our home! 

What a guy! What a talent! What thrills!

Lesson for the SOUL today; I know it existed within the realm of possibiility that I could have found an American Fix-It guy-there are plenty of shows that testify to that on TV-but- , I sure do put it happily in the "Sweden plus" column that my adorable Swedish guy can do this! Be thankful for what wonderful "gifts' you give ,even if you do have to go to the Polar Ice Cap to find them!

two swedish words for the day:

VARDE LJUS! that is " Let there be light!" 

(-or none in the case of nasty over-head lighting at least.) I like how that sounds in Swedish at least-)

VARDE LJUS! ( oh, those of you that have had no swedish at all- have no idea that LJUS - is pronounced YOOUS! - as in "You's guys!" - that favourite Jersey phrase....but  a bit gentler....at least.....)

okay- and how CUTE is this!-

your Swedish Mr. Fix-It Man is known as a "ALLT-I-ALLO MAN!" - kinda means an all-in-everything kinda guy..I think that is WAY cute...sounds a bit "gay" as in you can see a Monty Python kinda Allt-i-Allo man tripping gaily up your front steps.... but,still, way cute.....

And as I sit cozily under (my thrillingly non-functional) third reich chandelier, I am busily trying to concott the next ask for my perfectly wonderful ALLT-I-ALLO MAN.

hey, there, Mr. ALLT-I-ALLOOOOOOO, I NEEEEEEED YOOOOOUUUU!!

at long last, WHY I think Joe Cocker is really a SWEDE

and this is finally( a day late and a lot of laborious reading about me, sweden and shoes)- 

I'm finally ready to convice you as to WHY I believe that Joe Cocker is .....

really.....

a swede......

cue:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tunvwCvu2NY

( cut and paste,if you have to, but go to You Tube and 

hit it!!!!!

NOW!...)

OKAY!?!?

here we go!!!!!

Baby, take off your coat...(real slow)

Baby, take off your shoes...here, I'll take your shoes.....

(now,it's obvious to me that good Swede that Joe is , is that he WANTS the SHOES

off first, but it just doesn't work lyrically in the song.....)

Go on over there and turn on the light...no, all the lights

Now come back here and stand on this chair...thats right

Raise your arms up in to the air...shake em

You give me a reason to live

You give me a reason to live

You give me a reason to live 

( now, in this fine scadinavian party ,till example....the hostess gift just happened to be apparently a can of whipped cream.....how polite and handy, indeed!....

and if you believe everything else about Swedes and their reputation for wild crazy abandoned sex lives full of fun,insanity and frivolity,

well, you are SOOOO right.....

 Joe has gone and gotten your coat off and your shoes off,

to have some fun,becuase really now he's getting to what every Swede really wants anyway when he asks you to leave your coat at the door:

and we CUE:

the REMAINDER of the TUNE)

hit it!!!!!

Baby, take off your dress
Yes, 

yes, 

    yes......

You can leave your hat on
You can leave your hat on
You can leave your hat on

You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live!!!!!

and with THAT-

I rest my case!

JOE COCKER IS A SWEDE!

(.......btw, the too-cute and fun photos of this adorable scandinavian darling that proves thus beyond the shadow of a doubt that Joe sang that song because he really is a Swede comes from an just-as-adorable little blog I found on the internet at spongeshoe.blogspot.com in a section called: Scrape.Feel.Dig.Believe.ask.

you can find such witicisms as this on her blog:

....(it's just) so much better to post sexy pictures of my sexy hello kitty socks...

and

No more trips to Burger King, no more hanging around at Oslo S to get some free wireless internet and make new friends with the homeless... no more sneaking into toilets at McDonalds... Good bye all of that, hello freedom!

She's a doll and she proves my case! god Bless You sexy little scandinavian chick- 

(i think she's norwegian, but that's as close as I could get,ok?)

now for my job:

Lesson for the "SOLE": 

this has been a week of exploration into why I have such issues with the Swedes that have issues about shoes- which is basically the whole lot of 'em-

and I can't say that I've accomplished much for my "sole" this week-but that at least I feel I have a better understanding of why I still have issues, and why - so far- I still want to wear shoes in my own home- at least-and I'll go THIS far is all-  I will at least try harder to remmber to take my shoes off in other peoples' homes!

-okay!?

swedish words for the day:

lets' do some apparel items-okay?

en kappa, ett par skor, en klänning, och ... en hatt .....

that's a coat,a pair of shoes, a dress, and ...a hat.....

in that order.....

it's been a fun week.....

it's always good to examine ones'.....

SOLE!......