Antony goes to the vet

Poor Antony stopped singing. Sort of. He got very hoarse and you could barely hear him which is why I thought he had stopped singing. But he was still singing, just not audibly. So I went on the internet and found out about airsac mites. They can make finches hoarse and if they aren't treated the little birdies die :(. So Antony and his girlfriend and roommates all went to the vet today. All the birds got medicine and after three weeks of once a week treatments Antony should be singing again :).

Vampire kitty

Jimmie and I took Siri to the vet. Siri was not happy about going to the vet. Not at all. It was just a vaccine but they had to break out the hood and she was just viciously disgruntled. Then during the excitement she pooed in her box. So I took some paper to pick it up. She shouldn't sit in poo all the way home. And when I was almost done she reared back and bit me! Not sure if it shows on the picture but I had three teeth marks surrounded by a huge bruise :(.

I know its in here!

Bananas! Grapes! Goodies! There must have been something good in this guy's backpack. There were two cute little monkeys on it and they just refused to leave! So now I have a plan for next time. Backpack stocked with monkey candy. Then they cuddle with me :).

More cuteness :)

Here is Gittan feeding the lemurs. I think they are so fun. And when they saw it was food time three of them jumped on Jens shoulders and then on to Gittan when they saw she had the bowl. So fun! Later when we went back through I got one to sit on my shoulder and he tried to eat some of my hair :).

Cute monkeys :)

Gittan got to feed the animals today at Tropikariet in Helsingborg. It was her birthday present from Jens and Ebba. And Jens and I got to go with :). So much fun and so many cute monkeys!

Attention all Swedes!

Ok this has been pissing me off for years. The Swedish word "älg" means "moose" not "elk" "MOOSE"!!!!!!! A moose is a moose. An elk is like a really big deer. They don't even look the same! So here in the first picture we have a MOOSE or in Swedish, ÄLG. In the second picture we have an ELK or HJORT. But don't worry Swedes, it is the Brits who have fucked it up, as usual. They say elk when they talk about moose. There is probably a logical explanation, but, being American and all, I don't have to care about that :).

My little princesses :)

My little babies are comfy at home again. Here they are each on their own little princess pillow :).

Hand job anyone?

At the airport in Dallas we saw this...sculpture...work of art...pile of crap...? It was made of lots of sculpted hands, but I'll be darned if the end result didn't look like a giant penis. And as my shy, withdrawn mother pointed out, most of the hands look like they are cupping something. We had a giggle :).

For the discerning little customers

Mom took me to get my nails done and it was really nice :). And they had these special pedicure chairs for kids that were really cute!

Stuff for my walls!

Mom and I were at Hobby Lobby and we saw that metal works were on sale for 50% off! I have been planning one day to get some metal works for the walls in my apartment. I want to paint them white and have them against the green walls in the living room. So mom bought some for me, wasn't that super nice? I got two butterflies and three big flowers and a pretty cross. That should take care of a large chunk of wall space that I was worried about :). And you have to picture them in white, against the green I have, otherwise it won't look very nice :(. But that is why god made spray paint! And later when I have more money I will send mom on a Hobby Lobby mission for again to get more metal pieces that I can paint white and use on my pretty pretty walls :).

Even more Swedish goodies in America!!

I was at IHOP (International House of Pancakes) with Emily and I noticed that they had Swedish crepes on the menu. Served with lingonberry butter and lingonberries. I was so very tempted to order it and see if they used actual lingonberries but I can't eat whole portions anymore so I had to pass :(. But still fun to see that it was on the menu!

Boo!

Maggie is so cute with the chairs in the kitchen. She has one that is hers in particular. And god forbid anyone is sitting on it when she wants to! And the chair is also a jungle gym for her and I think it is so cute when she stands up like this and puts her little paws over the chair and peeks over the top to talk to you. So very very cute :).

More Swedish goodies in America!

Today's contribution is from my dad who found this pancake mix in Michigan. So I guess Swedish pancakes are popular enough there for it to be available in a mix at the store. And it is even called Lund's pancake mix, and I live in Lund. Good job Dad!

Christmas tree wrangling!

My mom took down the tree today and since it is not technically a "real" tree, it gets to go back into the box until it is once again the tree's turn to fulfill its Christmas destiny (bonus points for guessing the show that is from!). So she got it all into the box fine. The tree wrangling started when it came time to spider-proof the damn thing. Mom hates spiders. I do too, but this was impressive ya'll. She held that box down and taped every inch of the opening shut with packing tape. Twice. It was suer cute :).

Kitty in the bath tub!

Maggie was happy to jump into the bathtub whenever she had a chance. She would sniff a bit and then she plonks her ass down and start licking her butt :)

Best pizza ever!

Gerry and I went to Hideaway to have dinner and she got Bjorn to come! He interviewed me when I first went to Sweden as an exchange student in 2001. So he and his wife came to dinner as well, it was very nice! And he said I was speaking "almost" Swedish, teasing a bit for my Scania accent. He is from Umea, in the way up north part of Sweden. It was very fun to see them all :).

Alma mater

I got to visit my old university today. I went to campus to visit my old Study Abroad Office boss, Gerry :). We got to talk a lot and then we had dinner at Hideaway with special guest :).

American breakfast!

I got to have breakfast today at IHOP while using thier free internet :) I miss American breakfast sometimes :(

My new tattoo!

I got my new tattoo today :). My mom's boyfriend has a son that is a tattoo artist in Tulsa, so I got to visit him for my new tattoo. It always feels nicer to go with someone you know, or at least someone that is known by someone close :). I was thinking of putting the web site for the tattoo place here as well so lots of people can visit him, but I have to ask if it's ok first of course :)

Chips!!!

I so miss the Mexican restaurants where you get tons of chips and salsa! Damn you, gastric bypass, and your limiting my chips and salsa intake!

Coolest book ever!

My Grandma Marion gave me this record book that belonged, I think, to her grandfather. It is a record of expenses and income for the farm. They recorded everything from eggs, to cords of wood, to building projects. And it was all recorded in Swedish! That is the cool part. The records start in 1893 and go on into the first part of the 1900's. It is such a great piece of family history to have, thanks Grandma!

Kitty is family too :)

Grandma and Grandpa don't usually let the kitties inside, but I begged and pleaded and got to bring in the kitty for a few hours :). Here Grandpa is turning around to tell me that the kitty has to go out again! Soon. Maybe. I think he he spoils them when no one is watching....

Uff da!!!

Mom was so happy to get Uff da! coasters for Christmas. I can't remember if it comes from Norwegion or Swedish, but all Minnesota people say it. A lot. The Swedish it could have come from I guess is "usch då".

He's a mean one...

....Mr. Grinch!!! I was happy when I found Grinch pajamas to wear for Christmas! I love the Grinch :). And I got some cool Santa socks to complete the outfit for next year too!

Cuddles!!!

After being on the snow cat I got to bring in the kitty for play and cuddle time :).

Ralphie, I can't get up!

Billy and I are all bundled to go out and play on the snow cat mom rented for us up in Minnesota. We are never going to tell how fast we ended up going on that lake....I am glad we never fell over, cause then I might not have been able to get up! So many layers of clothes! But I was so happy cause not only did I fit in that snow suit, I could even buckle the belt on it!

O.C.D. M&M's

All of us O.C.D. victims out there can breathe easy now. Instead of having to sort the packages of M&M's into separate piles, you can now just buy one color at a time :). For some reason I have always liked the brown ones, so this was fun to see!

Stuck much?

We were driving back from the shooting range and saw this guy stuck in the mud at the bottom of an empty lake. The whole jeep was covered in mud and I don't think he was getting out of there any time soon!

I hit the target!

Not the bull's eye, of course, but I still hit the target! I was very proud :).

Redneck ear plugs :)

Billy only had two sets of ear plugs so sometimes one of us didn't have any. And shooting the 22 rifles was ok without. But Lori thought the 22 hand gun was too loud and gave Billy some ear plugs, just in case :). I had a picture of Lori with the big gun too, but it was blurry :(.

Billy with guns

Billy, of course, shot all the guns. Even the big one! But they are all his, so he knows what he can shoot and can't shoot. Craig tried to get me to shoot the shotgun with the green shells in it, but I knew it had to be bad cause Craig was smiling a bit too much. So Billy showed me the difference between the red shells and the green ones. THe green ones knocked his shoulder back a lot more!!! Not for me, no siree bob!

Melinda with guns

Here is me with three of the guns :). I got to shoot all but one of them. I was very proud that I managed to shoot the one that looks very scary, the top picture. But it didn't kick back nearly as much as I thought it would. I was too chicken to fire the big shot gun one. It made Billy's shoulder move a lot, so I wussed out :(. The only bad part was when I was shooting the hand gun and one of the bullet casings hopped down my shirt. It burned my boobies! Poor me :(.

It's shootin' time!!!

You really get a sense of safety when you enter the shooting range and the sign listing the rules and safety tips is full of bullet holes. Welcome to the land of the red neck! And here we also have our shooting arsenal, courtesy of my brother :). One hand gun, two 22 rifle things, one big loud shotgun, and an AR15.

I caught him on a corn dog!

I finally got to eat a corn dog! Yummy :). There is nothing quite like it. I want to make some for all my Swedish friends, but I am not sure how....I did see a corn dog maker but it had US power cord :(.

And bonus points for anyone who knows where the title line for this post came from! (Hint, dorkfish!)

Maggie

This is my mom's cat Maggie :). She is super cute and she sleeps with me at night now :). And we think she might be knocked up. Baby kitties!!!