working...

Well, it turned out to be same old same old...
I hardly noticed I had been away, as far as chores goes at least. The computer stuff not so much, but that's mainly because it was such a mess when I left, an honestly hasn't gotten any better...

We believe that pup's rocking daycare, but can't know for sure since he's been picked up by grandpa today and yesterday. Tomorrow will be his first full day.

last Friday...

Monday morning I start working again.
It feels unreal, like some sort of weird dream.
Today pup is "alone" at the daycare between 9-15
I think he's doing great, as long as there's people around and someone feeds him he's usually a happy puppy. I feel good about leaving him there. Though I wish there was a way that it wasn't needed, that he'd only need to go part time or something. Because that would mean I wouldn't have to work as much.

And that's what it comes down to really. I don't like my work. I've missed the social life while at home, but not even that can make me look forward to coming back, not even a little.
I'm pondering my future. Hubs have said that when he's done with school and has a job (his intended profession pays really well) then it's my turn to go to school, if I want to.
And schooling-in pup really made me think. I feel so comfortable at the daycare center. I've worked as a temp at a few places, and always liked it a lot. These days that I've stayed with him, I stayed in the background a lot, because he's not there to get to know me. And since I'm not the one to hover over him when he's doing something, and not disposed to just standing on the other side the room/playground and observe him, I engaged in the other children, helping them, pushing swings, keeping an extra eye out and so on.
Oh well, I have a few (or 10) years to ponder these thoughts before there's any chance of them becoming reality.

the first day...

today we begin daycare, me and pup.
I say we because this week I'll be there with him. 9-15 Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and then he'll be there alone Thursday 9-11:30 and finally Friday he'll be there the whole day alone, 9-15.
I think he'll love it, but I'm not just a little bit sad that from now on, someone else will most likely be the one to witness the first's. So is hubs. Well, it can't be helped.

fun and games with the nuffy-puffy

The nuffy-puffy knows a new trick...

he grabs the shower hose while I was him, and then he holds on with all his might. Which is considerable.

I'm not kidding, I'm really trying to pull him loose!

Only way to separate the two is to pry up his fingers, which leaves you with holding a very squirming baby on one arm...

Sometimes the gnuffer gets a bit sad, like when granny tries to make him crawl when all he wanna do is play with her face.

Luckily, he gets the smile on as soon as he realizes the camera is up.
He's a total lens louse!

No, I don't feed my baby (strawberry) ice cream. My mom did.

The rest speaks for itself...

sigh...

I'm ending this post with the gnuffer watching granny moving the lawn. Very interesting. We also tried the grass. It was mighty icky. Feet had to be lifted, no matter how low one was over said green ickyness...

is it really so appalling?

So, the tattoo parlor in Stockholm gave me the transfer (the one they use when tattooing)  and told me to place it and "feel" it.

The lower of the previous flakes apparently need to be filled in, I didn't know that. Obviously I do not see my flakes, and I don't really need to. But I don't want them fading just because of that.

I just don't see why nobody wants to do it.


I LOVE IT!

 Because from the front, you can't even see it...

I am also prepared to do only the flake, but the plan has been for a few years to to some stuff around them, when I have a couple more. Now I found the perfect pattern and wants it. This theme of swirls and sparkles would surround the rest of the snowfall as well, though probably it will be done every third one or so, to get a good flow, to tie them all together nicely.

If you wanna see the placing in person, find me tomorrow or the next day, the color seems reluctant to leave (I tried scrubbing because it got smeared). However the pattern isn't really that good looking anymore, but you get the general idea.


So, tell me your honest opinion about this tattoo-to-be;  
What do you think about it?

Mr and Mrs Geek

OK, so he got a good deal on it.
Still don't excuse the fact that it's totally geeky to buy the 10 disc "final frontier" remastered movies. Especially since we already have 6 or 7 of them.
Admittedly, some in quite poor condition, probably being the first releases on DVD, and non except the one released last year in remastered/high resolution.


Visited the local tattoo parlor today, to get a hunch of what price he would take. Well, he said he'd have to think about it, but that if he'd have to give an answer straight up, it would be "No, he wouldn't do it." Which is fair enough. I don't mind it when it's said up straight like that. He said he's call me tonight to let me know, but it's 7pm and he hasn't called, so I don't have high hopes. Also, I didn't quite "feel" the guy, or rather, my first impression was that I didn't like him, he appeared snotty and "on his high horses".

Apart from that I'm spending my evening curing my running nose and soar throat by eating chocolate. It might not help the issues at hand (come to think of it, I've read somewhere that chocolate makes a soar throat worse) but it makes the rest of me feel better =)

the nephew's communion/confirmation

The nephew is the second candle carrier on the right, but I got no good pictures due to the lighting and the camera being an #¤%& about it. I miss my big camera *sob*

I was happy I left pup at home with his father when I heard the echo of several babies crying every now and then durring the hour the ceremony lasted.

We were up on the balcony, and the lower part of the church was slam-packed. We were pretty comfy, there was a small cross-draft through the loft and nice chairs.
I felt the lack of oxygen in the air below when I partook in the communion. Also very tight in the benches.

Speaking of with, the boys were a wonder of matching attires.
Pup mainly because he's too chubby for the shirt to be able to button up =)

When everyone had gone home he spent some time butt naked on the deck, chasing the kitty's tail =)

shopping without pup

Pup's been living the sweet life with his grandparents today, probably been so spoiled rotten he'll refuse to come home, and me and hubs went to Stockholm to shop. As we were childless, and had time to kill, I figured I'd check what tattoo parlors had drop-in. Turned out, one I've heard so much great stuff about, East Street Tattoo, had Fridays as drop-in day, when one or two guys were doing smaller projects.
Perfect for me who knows exactly what I want, and just wanna change artist.
We went there as soon as we came of the bus, it took a while but then we were there. The line inside reached the door, so we stayed outside. A car stopped, asking if it wasn't opened, and when we said "No, but it was a line right up to the door so we're waiting outside" he started almost bouncing. Turned out it was the owner =)

I got my time after a bit of discussion about the image, and the went to do the rest of our shopping since the appointment was at half past three, and this happened before 11. We found kids tattoos (rub-ons) that you could write the parents phone-numbers on, after visiting 2 stores we found a Teutonia all-weather protection, the last one in the city. Hubs found himself two pairs of jeans and a pair of Ecco shoes. We also had lunch at a chines/mongolian place that served one of the best sushi's I've ever had.

We went back to the studio in good time, chatted with the desk manager and waited. While waiting I borrowed their bathroom. GORGEOUS!  Seriously, it was one of the nicest bathrooms I've ever been in, and I am including people's homes here...

But... then comes the artist taking care/tattooing todays drop-in's and asks where the flake should go. I show him, and he places the rub-off papper somewhere, I'm trying to show and explain and hub's helps him get it right.
The guy say it's like on the neck (it's partially in my hairline) and I say I know, that the plan is to eventually let it "ripple" down my shoulder, like a snowfall. He goes to the back room, again.
Then the desk manager calls me up, asking about the placement. D comes to help, and we show him, and the owner who's also at the front desk all of a sudden, where it's intended to go, they agree it's much more "back of the neck" than neck (we have to separate words for these in Swedish) and then tha manager say that they talked to the artist, and he's agreed to do it but the price is upped from 1200-1400 sek (with is costly but acceptable) to 1800 sek (this is what I payed for my green dragon. No way I'm putting that much money into a simple snowflake) and when this does not make me run away, there comes a weak explanation about not being able to do a good enough job because it's drop-in... Here I got a bit pissed, since when does how I get my appointment affect his tattooing skill...

All in all, he refused to tattoo me. I'm gonna wear it for life, and would prefer an artist that can't even tell a customer "I don't feel comfortable giving you a neck tattoo" but has to have another employee do it, he wins no points in my world. No matter if I go back there, that boy is never touching my skin with a needle

the little traitor said his first word

and it was PAPPA (~daddy in Swedish)...
I'm not sure I'll ever forgive this injustice *HMPF* here I care for the little rascal 24/7, talk to him, feed him, change him, wash him, play with him, everything. And then daddy comes home, and after one, one lousy day, he just blurts out PAP-PA (two syllable, but not as pa pa)

tattoo

I found this picture while googling, and it really appeals to me. I would ditch the upper flake, so instead, imagine the lower of the two I already have in it's place.
It might have to be tilted a little to work, but that's OK.
I like how it would tie them all together.
I'm thinking of doing a drop-in if we go to Stockholm this Friday, East Street Tattoo apparently had Friday as their drop-in day. Problem is you need to be there and get a queue number between 9 am and 10 am, which I can't since the boat-buss arrives in the city just before 10, and it would take some time to get there as well =( Maybe, maybe if we go by car. but then it's the problem of not getting lost...

paper doll blogg

I just found this amazing blogg, filled with FREE paper doll dresses, just to print. I am stunned by this girls skill, she creates wonders!

So, if you have a little boy or girl, or just fancy paper dolls yourself, check out Liana's Paper Doll Blog!

Award *LOL*

So, from the Godchild's stepmom I received this award, Thanks Jessie.

The rules are as follows:
*The receiver of the reward shall copy/paste the award-image to their blogg to show they received it.
*Thank the one awarding you and back-link to them
*Give the award to 7 other bloggers
*Write 7 interesting things about yourself

I'll start with the easy bit, my awards go to:

1. Lily, who bloggs about her wedding plans
2. Korren, who bloggs about her wonderful family
3. Andréa, who bloggs about her beautiful family
4. TryggareBarn.se, since there is no bigger beauty than protecting our kids
5. Mmmm, who bloggs about this and that and then some recipes as well
6. Mia, who bloggs about her gorgeous baby boy for the most
7. Åsa, who bloggs about her little family and her dogs

An then the "interesting" things... *eye roll* don't work yourself into a frenzy, they'll all be boring any way

1. I have 4 tattoo's and are right now planning a fifth. OK, most of you knew that, but still.
2. When I'm not procrastinating everything I'm really efficient *LOL*
3. My pup is right now in his jump-swing. He has picked up the play mat that was underneath and is now jumping while holding and shaking it for all he's worth while laughing like crazy...
4. I'm planning to reorganize about half of the apartment, to fit a desk for hubs who starts school again in two weeks time.
5. I have not the slightest idea where my phone is right now
6. or my camera, well, I know where one is (at the bottom of the sea)
7. I'll need to search for said phone when pup takes his mid-morning nap because I have to call the hospital and nag them to change my medicine partly because it keeps giving me headache's and mostly 'cos I just learned that the active ingredient I need is not in the one I'm currently eating. God, I hate doctors. I asked if it was OK for me to switch since I was tipped about the other which was apparently cheaper and gave less side effects, fair enough, there's plenty of stuff here that's the same stuff just different names because they're made by different companies. But this isn't, this is a completely different med. Stupid fossil of a doctor, he had my record under his nose, I told him about the PCO to top it of.

mommy group

Today we had the final mommy group meeting.
Well, the last official at least, the next mommy date is this Tuesday =D

We were supposed to be outside, but as the clock hit 13:30 the skies opened and when it rained it poured... So we ended up all going to the leader's house and spent about 2-2,5 hours chatting there. All quite nice, pup fell asleep just as we got there, so I borrowed a babywatcher and let him stay in the car. He slept almost an hour all in all *shock* which is pretty astounding since he slept almost 3 hours in the morning and fell asleep at normal time now for the night. Tired little puppy apparently.

disappointment

The clothes swap was a major disappointment. I deposited 17 tops and 3 hats, giving me 20 coupons. OK, I know, yikes, 17 tops... Half I've been trying to sell on flea markets already, and the other half I cleared out of my wardrobe, while part of me argued why they should stay...

I had hoped to find clothes in pup's next size, but no, no one had deposited kids clothes =(
And basically all the clothes my size (or close to my size) were the ones I deposited *sigh*

I came home with 8 items, 1 raincoat that I think will fit D's mom, a cute handbag, a earband for pup, a dress that I'll see if M likes, a skirt that turned out to be an awful length but otherwise OK, a t-shirt, a shirt and a skirt that was HORRIBLE (because as much brand as it is, it's not sewn together well, the sides aren't even...)

red cross fair and clothes swap

Just before we went to the fair me and pup went to deposit our clothes for the swap, it was more than I thought and I left with 20 (!) coupons to use tonight when the "shopping" begins...

The annual Red Cross fair, from a pup's perspective. He rode the elastic wrap, since tying him to my back didn't work (he kept pushing away the "shoulder straps"). Oh well, he was content anyway.
And I was really happy that I left the pram, especially after seeing all the prams stuck in the crow

little Mr. Chubby-cheeks

FEED ME!

mom's watching the mary-go-round

 and then pup did =)

shopping, hair and re-decorating

Behold the dragon-pup ♥

 He has pretty curls, he has =)

 but why brush them when the tool is so much more fun to gnaw...

My mommy bought me a cow-basket for all my "kitchen" toys

What a waste of money...

she also bought new baskets for my clothes, tho old ones are on the right (the small ones) whereas the new ones are on the left, combined with a bicycle basket. Now all my clothes have room, for some reason, size 74 take much more room than, say, size 56 (which I wore half a year ago)

Mom has made a lot of (second hand) finds for me lately, today's batch being the baskets and a pair of new/unused waterproof winter boots .
There has also been some toys, such as a funny book (that came with a really scary teether that played music), a little people school bus and a apple with magot from Lego.

camera thoughts...

My first SLR (the picture is from the web, I couldn't take pictures of my only camera). I loved it, it took wonderful pictures, but it had some issues (which the seller called smear on the lenses until the warranty passed) before it finally started double exposing everything and wasn't worth repairing.

Best camera ever!

No screen on the back here, for those of you who remember it, the back would open from side to side, and here you inserted the film.

This was a easy model, no folding needed, just insert the end of the roll in the slit and the camera did the rest =)

My first DSRL (I have pictures of this one, but none good)
Did not live up to it's predecessor, but then again, the digital technique was fairly new back then, and has advanced immensely each year since.
The display could not be used as a "live view" screen to watch as you snapped the pictures.
At fairly slow targets, or fast ones that were big enough to get multiple focal points at, this one takes amazing pictures.

This is what the company providing the price calculation counted on, a Sony Alpha 290.

It has yet to reach the market and so far no reviews are up, anywhere, that isn't based solely on the manufacturers specifications and the pictures released.

This model does not have "live-view" either, but the big brother, Sony Alpha 390 does.

However, reviews made from specifications tell that the "live-view" is the only thing really that separates the cameras. That and the price.
At least that is what I've been able to dig up so far.

The insurance money will go in to a separate account and wait there until I've read enough reviews to decide whether I want this or something else.

I never really liked my Sony digital compact, but then again, I went straight from SLR to that, and I'm not sure anything could have satisfied me.

I have really enjoyed my two Minolta's (or KonicaMinolta as the later was) and Sony bought Minolta for their (D)SLR's, so it's a fair chance it will be to my liking.
My main issue with the 5D being the speed of which things could pass and still be sharp has undoubtedly been enhanced in the last 4 to 6 years (I don't know when the model hit the market, only when I bought mine)

still... everyone calls this "beginners camera", "low price", "budget" and so on, not in the positive way of the words either. Still others say, that if you compare these cameras with the competition that cost the same, this is a heck of a lot more camera. But that the cameras with the same spec's from ex Canon and Nikon are better...

ARG! *sleeping issues*

for some reason pup's stopped sleeping properly in the mornings, half an hour, 45 minutes tops. Which is a heck of a lot less than the usual 2-2,5 hours that he needs (and I say need because he's a complete pest if he doesn't get at least 2) and moreover, it F's up his afternoon nap, making it max half an hour and then the night is horrible with loads of crying.

Right now he's crying in his crib because he was tumbling too much for me to dare leave him in the balcony pram. And I decided that he stays in bed until 10:15, then at least he's been laying down for 2 hours. And no, I don't just leave him, he has his music boxes playing and moving.

when the pupster is quiet

then you know he's up to no good...

it drowned...

yup, my big camera now sleeps with the fishes, some 10 minutes outside Föglö, another treasure for the divers to find (pun on the ship wreckage just found outside Föglö with 200 year old champagne inside...)
Talked to the insurance company and lucky for us, the home insurance covers stupidity/extreme clumsiness.
So today I went to the two companies who sell SLR's to get price-verifications, one fixed it right away, the other said they'd call or text me this afternoon. Well, they haven't and it bothers me!Seriously, it's not rocket science to find an equivalent camera when you work with cameras for a profession. The other place's only problem was my zoom-lens, because I don't remember the "size" and he didn't wanna price me on a too small one.

On a more cheerful note, we went to visit pup's new daycare, and it was "all that", no exceptions. I really, really liked the yard (small, but playful with some good hiding places), the rooms (only 6-7 year old house, everything's still fresh) and the staff (they were absolutely lovely!) and also their agenda was much more to my liking.
My gut tells me this is good =)