swedenusa

“I made a commitment to completely cut out drinking and anything that might hamper me from getting my mind and body together. And the floodgates of goodness have opened upon me - spiritually and financially. ”

Denzel Washington

I have watched them approaching all winter.The construction crew has been putting new siding on all of the buildings here at The Colony.Monday they start on ours! This is a picture from our balcony.

There’s always anxiety when you start a new job . . . you’re the one guy who doesn’t know where the ketchup is. Ultimate TV, February 2, 1999

We are getting close to the end of March. I know I am starting to repeat myself, but seriously. This is starting to get ridiculous. Spring should be here by now. I heard today that it hasn’t been this cold this late in the year since the end of the 40’s.

Enough about that. I have been apartment hunting during the week. Still nothing. I am even looking in Huskvarna, a smaller town east of Jönköping. I guess, Huskvarna is to Jönköping like St. Paul is to Minneapolis. Yeah.. but much smaller!

My sister came through Jönköping today and we walked through the shopping mall A6. Dad came by from Stockholm and met us. They took my sister’s car to Stockholm and I took dad’s car to Jönköping. I had a dinner “after work” get-together with my coworkers. It was a charming place. Very cozy and nicely decorated. We had a buffet of high standard, very tasty and sat and talked for hours. We had a great time at the restaurant “Amadeus.” I can’t wait to take Sam!

I had been pretty smug about our weather lately. I was wearing  short sleeves with a light jacket and telling my family and friends in other places how great the weather has been in MN. My wife has been battling -20 below in Sweden and I was running to the grocery store in sweatpants and a t shirt. That all changed yesterday when we were hit with a blizzard. 

 Back in Montana my brothers and my dad had an “incident” with a skunk. A quick disclaimer- the skunk had multiple opportunities to leave the garage without losing its  life. Humane steps were taken but the skunk decided it was going to make a final stand. Here is a link to the full story….

And finally, If all that bloodshead disturbed you..click HERE for a clip of  laughing babies to make you feel better….

This is the layout of the apartment where I work. The only difference is that the ‘balcony’ is by the livingroom (vardagsrum) not the kitchen (kök). The big bedroom is where we have our staff office with 2 computers and a small sitting area. The middle room is a computer room for the clients and it also has a tanning bed. Each client is welcome to use the tanning bed once a week. The first small room by the entrance is the individual therapy room. It has a small round coffee table and 4 comfy armchairs in it.

Just thought you might enjoy seeing where I work.

And what a month it’s been. I’ve been in Sweden since February 14th. I have managed to get a job, registered as a permanent resident in Sweden and started up my university studies again. However, I have not yet secured an apartment and I still feel very very tired. A lot of changes! It’s getting difficult to be so far from Sam for this long, but we manage. I guess he will keep us all updated on the condo and what the changes are there.

Sweden is cold! It’s starting to really bother me. Of course I have to come during the coldest and longest winter in 18 years. It’s usually much milder. The big deep lake “Vättern” even froze during the past week. That means that spring will have to wait a few more weeks. Argh!

I made my first New York Cheese Cake for the first time ever together with my niece Rebecka. It smells wonderful but we haven’t tried it yet!

Here’s the recipe we used:

New York Cheesecake

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted
5 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream

Mix crumbs, 3 Tbsp sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform
pan. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes.
Mix cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, flour and vanilla with electric mixer on
medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed
after each addition, just until blended. Blend in sour cream. Pour over
crust.
Bake 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until center is almost
set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool
before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Top with
cherry pie filling and garnish, if desired. Makes 12 servings

Chocolate New York Cheesecake: Substitute 1 cup chocolate wafer cookie
crumbs for graham cracker crumbs. Blend 8 squares Baker’s Semi-Sweet
Chocolate, melted and slightly cooled, into batter. Continue as directed.

  “You grow up the day you have your first real laugh, at yourself.”- Ethel Barrymore

I don’t actually know anyone on the picture…

This is a really cool story. It has been all over the news and internet this week. ESPN did a story on this as well…enjoy…