The countdown of the year

Advent means 'waiting for an arrival' (crappy translation), a.k.a. waiting for Jesus to be born. Or plainly - in crude terms - waiting for christmas eve so we can fill ourselves full with ham and herring sallad, eat the last layer from the Aladdinbox, watch Kalle Anka (NOT Anna Anka), drink julmust, glögg.. and open all our presents! But really, the best thing is just to be together.

That's why, this year, advent has a double meaning for me. It's actually a countdown. Every sunday I get closer to home, and the fourth sunday - I'll all ready be there!  In 19 days I'm off to Norrbotten again. In 24 days it's christmas eve. In 31 days I'll see my friends in Luleå again, and in 34 days, I'm back here again (but let's not think so far ahead!)

Until I'll see you again, I wish you a joyful and pleasant december. And just to remind you all of the true meaning of christmas, here's the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl!

In preparations for the holiday of holidays!

With some sleep I managed to fight the fever, and now I'm somewhat restless. Maybe I'll tidy up this place a bit, after all - tomorrow is the first advent!

But first I'm going to decorate the blog for Christmas and answer a few christmas questions!

Would you consider working christmas eve? No, ney, never

Do you bake something for christmas? Last christmas I made luciabuns, and sometimes I make gingerbread cookies. I would like to make some fudge (knäck) sometime.

Which do you prefer? Lucia buns with or without raisins? With

Which do you prefer? Home made cookies or bought cookies? I love all kinds of candy and cookies, made or bought.

Fudge or ice chocolate? Both

What does your advent candlestick looks like?  Like a red, long pig. It's very cute!

Which do you prefer? Electric candlestick or hanging christmas star? I like them both, but for the time being, I don't have anything to hang the christmas stars in, since we never put up the curtains... And now we don't feel like it, since we're planning on moving... But it does make the place somewhat cold, unfortunately...

Would you like to get christmas cards, by mail or email? By what ever that suits the giver, it's the thought that counts. But I save every christmas card I get by mail, and the emails are discarded after a time... 

What colours do you decorate with in christmas times? Classic red/green/white? Ice blue? Gold? I'm pretty classic. I focus on red green and white, with a touch of gold.

When do you start decorating at home? As early as possible! But at the start of december of first advent sounds about right.

Does the decoration have it's designated place? No, I have only decorated this apartment one time, since I've lived here only one christmas

What just HAS TO be in the christmas tree? Baubles, glitter, small santas, angels, the star in the top, electric light.

Does your christmas tree has a colourtheme? Red, green, white, gold.

A real tree or plastic tree? Since we don't have a lot of space and don't plan to stay at home for christmas eve, a plastic tree will suffice.

What do you eat for breakfast at christmas eve morning? Brewer's wort with christmas ham and mustard, and a nordic thing called Dopp i grytan (Dip in the pot).

Do you have an annual thing you usually do on christmas eve? After breakfast I spend time with the family, then I usually get a visit from Erika and Linnea, my childhood friends. We exchange a small gift and say hello, then they go home to their family. Me and my family have a cozy day, sipping julmust, listening to christmas songs, looking at holiday shows (Donald Ducks and company) then we eat a huuuge dinner and then we open our presents.

Do you drink mulled wine (glögg) that is bought or made? Usually we don't make that on our own, but last year my mother in law made some, it tasted delicious.

Which glögg do you drink on christmas, if you buy it? Blossa, of course!

What do you put in the glögg? Raisins and almond.

Are there any fruits that are a-must-have? Clementines, apples, oranges

What is your favourite christmas CD? I love Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald. Christmas classics of all kinds...

What is your favourite christmas song? Winder wonderland

What is your favourite thing on the dinner table at christmas eve? The herring sallad, the christmas ham, the christmas meatballs, the sausages

Name three christmas courses you cook all by yourself? I don't cook anything by myself, but I usually
help mother with herring sallad, ham and some times the meatballs too.

Do you prefer Brewer's wort (vörtbröd) with or without raisins? With raisins, but without is good too!

Porridge or Ris à la malta? Ris à la malta.

Do you want Dopp i Grytan as a course at the christmas dinner? No, that's breakfast.

Do you drink julmust or something else to dinner? Julmust, of course!

Which is the best christmas recipe you've got from your mom or mother in law? My mother made me a book full of recipes when I moved away from home, I usually make brownies but that's not really a christmas recipe...

Do you watch Donald Duck every year? Without it I'd be lost!

What is your favourite piece of the show? Santas Work Shop

Have you seen Karl-Bertil Jonssons Christmas? "Have I nurtured a communist by my bossom?" It's a fun thing but not as good as Donald Duck. I try not to watch to much TV for Christmas, it's a time to enjoy family and friends.

Do you have a santa claus at home? No, he lives at the North Pole

Do you buy christmas presents for many people? No, only the ones I care about. Most of the time I was studying I was a poor student, I didn't have that much money, but then I bought small presents instad.

Do you think everybody should get christmas presents or just the children? Everybody should get presents! We are all little children inside...

Do you wrap your own gifts or let the store wrap them up for you? My family has made it a sort of "thing" to wrap the presents up together (for those who are not in the room at the time). We have sealing wax and lots of rime cards, and strings in all colours.

Should the christmas paper be colourful or single colour? Colourful or traditional single colour doesn't matter.

What kind of present do you like? I like to get different things from different people, something that has a meaning. Maybe a gift that represents your friendship, or something that reminded the giver of you.

What would the ultimate christmas present be this year? I would like a cosy turtleneck sweater and cardigan. Maybe with some nice christmas pattern? And of course, a book is always a success! And if you want to know what book NOT to buy for me, you can always search by author in the window to the top left in my book blog or check my reading list which holds the books I've read for the past two years. I have a library of what books I own, it's not fully upgrated but I'm working on that.

Since I'm a huge nerd, I like http://www.thinkgeek.com/ and since I'm a movie buff, I love to get movies and television series. Maybe some old classic, similar too It's a wonderful life? I've seen most of Jane Austen's movies, but something similar to that would be nice too. All things romantic is good.

Or maybe something sci-fi? I'm interested in Battle Star Galactica or Star Gate (SG-1 and Atlantis).

Feverish

I took the vaccine yesterday and this morning I thought I'd be spared of the sideeffects, but nooo. Today at work I started freezing and my teeth where hacking, my head was cloudy and I started weeping (as I always do when I got fever). I couldn't work! Unfortunately, I had an appointment with the audionom at three o'clock so I could not leave. I got to lay down on a bed in a restingroom and sleet until it was time to go, and afterwards I had made arrangements with my boyfriend to come pick me up. And when he did, I slept the whole way home...

Now it's weekend and I'm not going to do anything else than rest. Have a lovely weekend!

I'm back!

Home from the wonderland Älvsbyn. It has been a really good weekend, filled with family and friends, Alfapet and cozy children. I loved it! My mother and father drove me to the airport on the sunday, and after I boarded the plane I fell unconcious, slept through the start and all the way to Stockholm, and then the same thing on the plane to Malmö.

This time I got to meet our new scottish friends and their children. I feel like we got along really well, and we've decided upon meeting again before they travel to Scotland for christmas. And next time I'm bringing a certain Skåne-item I think they'll like.. ;)

I can't wait to go back again! It's amazing how quickly I settle at home, it takes about five seconds and then I'm talking norrländska like I never left, and kidding around with my brothers and the cats. And when I leave it always feels so hard. I wish I lived closer to them, but maybe I wouldn't apprechiate them as much if I did. I know I didn't come home that often when I went to LTU in Luleå, perhaps every quarter or so.

And strangely enough, I enjoy it here as well. The people are nice, the closeness to the continent is always nice to think of. I could go to Germany or Denmark just for the day or weekend. And perhaps I will do so, very soon... 

Stay tuned for more!

Surprise, surprise

My mother is celebrating her fiftieth birthday today (saturday), and for that special occasion I have travelled up for the weekend. It was a big secret, so of course only dad, my brothers and an aunt knew. And some more people, because dad has a problem with keeping secrets... ;)

It was really fun to see the look on moms face when she saw me. She couldn't believe it actually was me! And then we cried a little, and all was good... :)

Tomorrow it's a big party for family and friends. I look forward to meeting our scottish friends and their young ones, and all my relatives too.

I wish you all a good weekend!
Happy birthday mom!!

Weekend fun

Today I have been to Malmö with boyfriend and boyfriends friend. We have been to Hornbach, where I bought to sofa cushions, and two catnip toys. Then to Mediamarkt, where I bought nothing, and then to Jägersro. I've been trying to find a certain drawer that Jysk has, only problem is they don't have it any more. (Oh what a shame, where shall I put all my make up stuff in the bathroom?) Also, in Jägersro Centre, I found another knitted cardigan. It's from KappAhl and is black with cool details, kind of "boyish" but that's more my style anyway. Tonight we're going to see Angels and Demons, and I've also rented The Proposal and Star Trek (have already seen it, want to see it again... and again!).

I've had some time to lie down under a blanket and I've read a really nice book, Jane Green's In your clothes. It's about a single woman (a lá Sex and the City) and a married woman (a lá Desperate House wife) who switches lifes for a month, because both of them believe the grass is greener on the other side. (Well, is it?) Find out if you read the book! :)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Today I've seen a teeeny weeny slowflake, falling down from the sky. And then multiply by a hundred. And then I got really excited and started to jump up and down. But it all melted away before it hit ground. Oh, what a dissapointment... how I long for snow!! (But soon I shall be home again, in my winter wonderland!) And a funny thing it, this morning I told my colleague that I smelled snow in the air. It's my good ol' Norrbottnian Nose!

And what else, then?
If you look over here you can see some lovely presents I've got. The candles and light I got as a present from my boyfriend, who also gave me a lovely dinner with a tasty red wine (Trio) last friday (I didn't forget to mention it, I just didnt have the time to ;).

The books and the other stuff comes from a "secret bookfriend" in a nationwide game called Pocket och Prassel (Pocketbook and crunchy stuff). It's a thing me and my fellow book bloggers do (we're about fifty in this game at present), all in the spirit of friendship, we love to try and to figure out the perfect gift for each other. Once a month we get a secret package from another book blogger - but who it is, that's for us on the receiving end to figure out. And of course, we give one away at the same time. But now it was the last package - at least for this Pocket and Prassel, which is the third installment.