A lot has happened...

In the few weeks since I last blogged...

SO's parents came for a visit - it was wonderful to see them (the last time was about 14 months ago) and even though it was only for a long weekend (they're travelling around and Stockholm was a late and somewhat unexpected addition) it was wonderful to have a touch of home right here with us.  We did some sightseeing, and SO and his dad played handymen to stop the new toilet from leaking all over the floor.  We drank a lot of tea (they're English - they drink a LOT of tea!) and had a lovely, if far too short catch up.

And yes, you heard right - the new toilet was installed - badly, but the landlord...  He seems to be the absolute king of "near enough is good enough".  The toilet was installed and this time attached to both the water and the floor (although it's still a little unstable) but the seat and the lid were not attached to the toilet...  I'm sorry - what the..?  So, SO called the landlord back and pleaded "elderly mother coming to visit" and the landlord came back and attached them while we went off to the airport to pick up the parents - again, badly!  The greater problem came from the fact that something wasn't attached to the water pipes properly and so the floor was soaking wet for 2 days.

Now, I love SO and can't imagine life without him - but he is (even he will admit) about the least 'handy' man you could meet.  His dad on the other hand is very handy - and so they spent some 'boy' time together fixing the leaking, then balanced the washing machine, and replaced the tube connecting the shower head to the taps as that was splurting water all over the show...  Fantastic for me - I now have a bathroom that's working much better than it was before - and for both of them I think, being able to just grab some 'boy' time together.

I had another 'interesting' experience with a Swedish hairdresser...  But that's probably a whole post on it's own...

We had a lovely day yesterday at an 'Aussie' bbq (well with a bunch of Aussies as well as a Canadian, a Spaniard and a couple of Swedes - at the Swedish home of an Aussie)...  A beautiful day out on the balcony of his apartment - with a lovely view, marred only by the fact that the wind was up and it was ABSOLUTELY FREEZING!!  Still, it was a brilliant day and we were there from lunch time until 11pm.

Oh, and there's been some scrapping going on - again, probably another post...

And now, we're counting down the days until we have a trip home to Oz...  Already by this time next month we'll be there - we've been trying to schedule in all the catch ups with people we need, as well as the appointments for the things we need - doc and dentist appointments (bleh)...  But, I'm so looking forward to having a good dose of family and friends for a few weeks.  A fabulous girlfriend of mine is even hosting an all day scrapping day - I can't wait to be back in the company of a room full of women, talking, laughing and catching up while sharing ideas and crafting together - it's one of the things I really miss about home, about once a month or so - getting together and scrapping.  In a country where you don't speak the language, even if there was a scrapping shop to compare to the ones at home (there isn't by the way - the best shop I've found is fabulous for shopping in, but the scrapping room is literally carved out of the bedrock and looks like a cave - a very small cave!) then I would feel like an invader (as I often do in conversations involving only Swedes) which is not really the point of scrapping with others...  So - all in all, I simply can't wait...