Life on the hill

Thank you all for your well wishes, they truly came in handy when there was no hot water when I woke up on Wednesday, I had no clean pants that fit, and a storm did it's best to keep me from getting to and from Malmö.

The interview itself was good and informative and provided me with lots of information, but unfortunately I am still unemployed. My background was too IT and not medical/hardcore technical enough for the technical documentation department they are building at Epsilon. I would recommend them for anyone looking for an employer with a conscience, that plans ahead and believes in making the most of what both younger and older generations have to offer, and isn't afraid to invest during a recession.

It was so nice just for a company to want to meet me, to not feel like a leper for a little while.

So as things stand this evening, I am still looking for somewhere to do my occupational therapy. I will be surprised if my counselors at the OT program I'm in don't have any new leads for me tomorrow, though.

in Malmö, tomorrow afternoon. I don't think there will be time for socializing after, but I'll be available on cell phone and e-mail around 4 p.m.

Gotta sleep-prepare-choose-an-outfit-and-hope-it's-clean-bite-fingernails-now- BYE!

Born sometime in the late 1980s or early '90s, Missan was a part of the package when we bought our house at Berchshill. Due to an inability to get along with our other cats and a strong aversion towards our old dog, Hoshi, Missan preferred to live in our cellar, curled up near the wood-furnace at night and exiting through a cat-flap for her numerous mouse-hunts. Her unpolished appearance and stiff gait led us to believe that Missan would not be with us much longer when we first met, five years ago.

It wasn't until a couple of months prior to her passing that we noticed further signs of Missan's dimishing health. It seemed as if she could no longer jump through the cat flap anymore and waited instead for us to let her in and out during our daily visits to the cellar. When brought into the house proper due to grooming issues that needed to be remedied during the dusty renovation of our cellar, Missan was rather thin, virtually toothless, and slept over eighteen hours a day.

Missan quickly made herself at home on our top floor, banishing all other cats from that part of the house and regularly marking her territory. Although the smallest and oldest of our cats, Missan could and did kick any cat's butt. Despite her aggression towards other four-legged beings, Missan loved to cuddle and be groomed by humans, thus her middle-name Mysan (cozy). She was quick to purr and routinely demanded attention with a deep, haunting "Meow!"

Growing intestinal problems and behavioral quirks led to our decision to allow Missan to move on to her tenth life this afternoon. Let it be known that she went with a purr and smile as she left the pain of her ninth life behind . May she hunt happily in the heaven of animals and find a warm lap to lie on!

The field mice of Berchshill will sleep more soundly tonight.

3 moods I was in today: tired, chatty, ambitious

3 feelings I experienced today: dismay, amusement, irritation

3 things I'm looking forward to this weekend: It's half-over, but I was looking forward to swimming, Nurse Jackie, and guilt-free late nights

3 things I need to accomplish this weekend: financial report, fruit/vegetable order for next week, school questionnaire

3 things I keep wasting time on: On-line window-shopping, Rubik's Cube, movies I wasn't planning to watch (on tv)

3 things that have made me happy lately: Gooood lamb with red wine sauce, my daughter saying "I love you", meeting people

3 people I'm thinking of: Malin, Henrik, Mikael

3 places I wish I were: in a hot bath, in an empty, queen-sized bed, in my husband's arms

3 work-related tasks I did a lot of this week: fill out questionnaires, read want-ads, explore university classes for the spring

3 people I wish had blogs: my mom, my sister, and, oh my gosh - psykolog wrote several posts in 2006! How did I not notice that?

3 LJ'ers I'd like to meet in real life that I haven't yet: um, are there even three on my friends list that I've never met? Let's see: sandykins57  , ladyvox  

3 shamefully neglected projects: curtains, couch, bathroom fan

3 things I miss: my American family, going on vacation, the complete absence of physical pain

3 fruits I never get tired of: peaches, raspberries, wild strawberries

3 things I'm glad don't actually exist in real life: elves (my 3-year-old is currently terrified if them), dragons and predator aliens... but who can say for sure that they don't???

3 things I wish there would be an end to: cruelty, hopelessness and greed

3 ways to end this list: baby toddler screaming, pee break, zzz....

So how did I manage to miss the fact that Sweden has implemented a totally new system of putting together college degrees? They did it like two years ago :O Suddenly I understand why sealwhiskers has had such a hard time convincing US employers of the validity of her degree and getting it updated to the new standard.

I was hoping to get a bigger, better, more marketable degree by taking more classes, but the rues for combining old and new courses is so complicated that I think I'll just graduate from Stockholm University (i.e. order my diploma according to the old rules) this winter and get it over with. If I go back to college, I can always simply start on a new degree. It's not like an BA was going to do me that much good anyway :P


Okay, so maybe I should talk to a student counselor just in case.