Thanksgiving was a very pleasant holiday if you don’t eat too much. And I feel like I’ve missed something being Swedish. I had two dinners to go to, so I had to be smart. First I ate a little with my hostfamily and everything was so delicious!! I especially liked the sweet potato thing. They didn’t have any marshmallows on it, but with the brown sugar it was like eating heaven. I also loved the stuffing and of course the turkey. I can’t really say that the turkey was super special. It tasted like chiken. So, from my experience I now know that on a Thanksgiving table there is a turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato thing, stuffing, gravy and some kind of bread. Everything so good. My life would be so much easier if I didn’t love food so much…

After ten minutes of dinner I had to leave for the next one, at Chad’s parent’s house in Vista. When we got there I got greeted by five (FIVE!) chihuahuas. And when we waited for the deep fried turkey to cool down, one of them (that I’ve never met before) lie in my lap while watching football. Sadie and Logan, Chad’s brother’s dogs where there and wanted to sit in my lap too. I don’t understand why all dogs here love me so.

The food at the second place were also delicious but I managed to stop myself when I was “lagom” full. So I didn’t have any troubles at all eating a piece of pumpkin pie with some cool whip on. Yummy!

In the evening when we both were super tired of eating most of the day we rented Pacific Rim from a Redbox and watched it. It was good, but I still have some troubles understanding some actors when they are talking.

Thanksgiving was really nice and I hope this wasn’t my last one.

My cold is better today, I am up and running. But I’m not healthy yet, I have to catch my breath just walking up the stairs. And I am very dizzy all the time, but I am able to breath, my nose isn’t too runny anymore which is good. I didn’t really feel like working this morning, it’s just now in the afternoon that I’m feeling better.

The boy had a playdate at our house. That was exhausting. But I managed and tonight I will go to bed early again and hope I will be able to fall asleep before 1am like last night…

Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving and I am so excited!

This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

I know it’s seven weeks until I leave for Hawaii, but Kohl’s had an amazing sale that I couldn’t ignore. Samsonite suitcases for 50% off! I needed a new suitcase, I might as well have it already. The one I brought from Sweden is a 28 inch and it was too big. I couldn’t fill the whole thing before it reached the maximum weight of 50lbs, so now I bought a 24 inch which will be much easier to handle when I go to Hawaii. I bought it in a very nice teal color and I really like it. I can’t believe it was only $160 with tax. And that’s not all, I also got a check with $45 on it (for every $50 spent I got $15). I can buy whatever I want in a Kohl’s store.
I guess I have to start packing in late December, in about a month. If everything doesn’t fit I have to have time to send some of it home. This time I’m not gonna start packing as late as the day before departure, I will start early.

So my trip to Kohl’s was my big thing today. I’m still feeling really crappy, but that sale wouldn’t go on for many more days so I had to get out of the house. On my way home I tried a Caramel Brulée Latte and it was pretty good. If I have a few extra calories to consume one day I think I actually might choose that one over the Chai Latte. But the Chai one is still my favorite though.

In the morning today I talked to Johan, the guy I will write my thesis with. We have to find a company so we made a deadline for tomorrow morning when we would have a letter ready to send out. I finished my draft after one hour. It’s very nice that when I decide to do something, I do it well and fast. I was actually pretty satisfied with what I wrote.

Now I think I actually want to go to bed. It took all my energy to drive to Oceanside, well first to Encinitas, but they didn’t have the one I wanted there, so I had to drive up north again for another store. I really hope I feel better tomorrow when I have to work.

It’s been very nice with a four-day weekend, I just wish I weren’t sick and had to stay in bed most of that time… I get a new chance on Thursday with a new four-day weekend!

This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

In exactly ten weeks I will almost be home in Sweden. I will probably be waiting for my flight in Frankfurt to Gothenburg. Ten weeks sounds both like a lot and nothing at all. Ten weeks is one fifth of a whole year! But in ten weeks it will be beginning of February which is so soon. It’s just December and January in between. I’ve accepted that I’m going home and I’m not as upset about it as I was on Thursday. But I’m not happy about it either. I totally understand what past au pairs meant by mixed feelings.

This morning I didn’t sleep well at all, I had a very annoying headache but I was too tired to get out of bed and get an aspirin. And I thought that if I just lay still it would go away. It did partly, but I still woke up several times per hour and decided to get up at 10:30. I’ve been feeling pretty crappy the whole day, feverish and my nose has been runny. So I stayed home, sorting through all my ebooks. I wanted to go and look at a new suitcase for my trip to Hawaii and home, but didn’t feel good enough. Maybe I will do it tomorrow. I know I have plenty of time to buy one, but Kohls have a really awesome sale on Samsonite suitcases ($200 instead of $400) and I don’t know for how long.

After my super relaxed day I went to German class. When everyone was struggling making up answers to the teachers questions I just sat there and smiled for myself because I thought it was so easy. I have such a big advantage compared to the Americans that I feel bad for them and I am mostly quiet in class. Today we read some texts out loud and I translated two out of three. That was actually really hard and many words I accidently translated into Swedish!

On my way home I stopped to do some grocery shopping and found a Coke bottle in the form of a ball. It was so cute I couldn’t resist buying it even if I’m not much of a soda drinker anymore.

It has been very nice with a day off and I look forward to another lazy day tomorrow. The family is coming home tomorrow evening.

This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

That was one of the best movies I ever saw! I went to Edwards in Mira Mesa tonight with Lovisa to see the sequel to The Hunger Games. I’m very often disappointed in the movies because they are nothing at all like the books. Like for example Under the Dome. I finished that book like a week ago and started watching the new TV series a few days after. 20 minutes into the first episode I was so disappointed. They changed everything! In the book “Barbie” is a good guy who has been in Chester’s Mill forever, but in the series he is an outsider and a murderer, but is still supposed to be the hero. They changed all the relationships, all the people’s work, and added husbands where there weren’t supposed to be any. It was a pretty simple story to begin with, why change everything except the Dome?? But these movies are exactly like the books and I recognized and understood everything. I want to see it again!!

Before the movie we went to Islands. They have amazing hamburgers, especially the Hawaiian one with pineapple and teriyaki sauce. Way too many calories, but today that was okay, because today was my goodbye to that place. If I am gonna leave this place in peace I have to say goodbye to everything and not go back wishing I would have gone to that particular place once more. I think I have to start to mentally prepare myself. It’s just 53 days until I leave for Hawaii!

My day before that was really nice. I stayed in bed while Chad went to the Sheriff shooting range to practice early in the morning. When he got home and woke me up we drove to Ponto and played a lot of beachvolley. It wasn’t very warm, but playing in shorts and a tank top was no problem at all. And I played really well today, even if it was a little bit windy. In the beginning could the tiniest of winds get into my head and totally disturb my playing. But today I didn’t think about it. I was just enjoying one of my last Saturdays playing beachvolley at the beach. Depending on the weather, I should have like 4-5 Saturdays left. But the weather is rather unpredictable this time of year. But today was nice, and I saw dolphins and I really hope that wasn’t the last time!

My hostfamily is in San Francisco now so I have the house all to myself until Tuesday evening. That also means that I have a four-day weekend now! It’s gonna be unbelievably nice to be home and just relax. No trips, just being home, reading, working out and sleeping. On Wednesday I have to work again, and then comes Thanksgiving. Another four-day weekend. Awesome! 🙂

My Steve Madden boots I ordered recently. They fit perfectly and I JUST LOVE THEM! Rainbow Loom is totally addicting! I made a “Starburst” for the boy and it took almost an hour. There were many tiny steps and a lot of rubber bands to keep track on. But I did it!

This morning I woke up and saw that I had 5 new emails on my phone. I thought that one of them has to be from FO Peterson about my thesis. I was excited and saw myself working there next spring, with my old co-workers. But no. Two of them (did they want to make sure that I got the same horrible information twice or what?!) were from Cultural Care telling me I got my flight itinerary for my flight home to Sweden… I hadn’t expected that information for at least another month and it came like a punch in the stomach. When you request a flight with Cultural Care you choose an interval of three days. I choose Feb 3^rd-5^th (the absolute latest available) and was hoping for the 4^th or 5^th or at least late on the 3^rd so I would have some time to say goodbye and mentally prepare for the departure. I will be back from Hawaii on Sunday Feb 2^nd at 8:20pm and I will leave for Sweden Monday Feb 3^rd at 6:15am. 10 hours between the flights. That’s gonna be tough, but I think it’s better to rip the bandaid of quickly instead of doing it slowly. So if I just pack all my stuff before Hawaii I will be fine. I will say goodbye to the family and Chad and skip sleep that night. I will have almost 14h in the air when I can sleep. It will take 17h and 35min in total with two layovers in Chicago and Frankfurt and will arrive in Gothenburg on Tuesday morning.

I knew I was leaving in the first week of February, but I was hoping I would have some time after Hawaii here in SD. So now I have to say goodbye to all my friends before Hawaii. And that is really soon! And I have a feeling I will panic, even if I feel that I’ve done almost everything I want to do already. But there are tiny things I didn’t think of before, like going to my favorite restaurants for the last time.

Me and Lovisa decided yesterday that we will go to Disneyland on Saturday Dec 21^st. I have a feeling Christmas as Disneyland will be slightly better than Christmas at Liseberg. I have to find someone who wants to go to San Diego Zoo Safari Park with me and ask Chad if he could take me to a shooting range. Maybe even this weekend? Then I have a beach volleyball tournament, my last LCC meeting, the Run or Dye 5k run and IKEA’s julbord. Not much time left after that. And since I have so much to do before I leave, I will be home before I know it. So even if eight weeks sounds like a lot, it’s really not… 😦

That also means only 8 more weeks here in San Diego. I feel ready to go home, because I’ve done everything I could that was in my budget and timeframe (except Hawaii). But I don’t wanna go home. Well, I do, but San Diego is so much more pleasant than cold and raw Sweden. But Sweden is home… Mixed feelings, oh yes! I know 8 weeks sounds like plenty of time, but it’s really not. In just 10 days December will be here.

Today was pretty normal. In my freetime I went to the gym and did one hour of spinning. I love  Wednesdays. The instructor has good music and a lagom tempo. But I think I need to have at least one more gear than he says, because it was pretty easy today.

For lunch I had my hostmom’s meatsauce leftovers from the weekend (when I wasn’t here). Words can’t describe what I feel about that dish, it’s my favorite food, maybe of all times! I love it!!

I picked up the boy and then the girl right after at one of her friends’ house. We went to Starbucks, we haven’t really been there lately because of weird schedules. Since I would go to Starbucks again tonight to study I just had a tea. I had no idea what they had so I just took something she recommended. It was just normal tea. Next time I take normal tea I will have the Passion Brewed Tea with hibiscus, lemongrass, rose hips, mango and passion fruit. It sounds really good. And zero calories. The girl tried Caramel Brulée Frapuccino. It was really good, so I have to try the Latte sometime soon. Starbucks has a lot of Holiday specials right now and of course I feel that I have to try them all. They have Gingerbread Latte, Eggnog Latte (I’ve never tried eggnog, so that will be interesting), Caramel Brulée Latte and Peppermint Latte. I’ve tried the later tonight when I went there to do my German homework. It was not good. It was okay, but I wouldn’t take it again, the Pumpkin Spice Latte was way way better.

In the afternoon I did a lot of homework with the boy and when he after that went to the neighbor for a playdate I read some while the girl was away on soccer practice.

Half the week is already gone and Thursday and Friday always goes faster than the first three days. Soon I will have a long weekend while the family is in San Francisco. I think I’m only working on Wednesday, maybe Tuesday too, next week. But I’m not complaining. It will be very nice with a little time off, just being here in San Diego, chilling :).

I found out last week that I am qualified enough (because of my internship last fall at the construction company) to do my thesis before I finish my last year at Chalmers. That made me so happy because that means that I don’t have to wait forever and ever with writing it (I’m not gonna be able to write it if I do the exchange program here in USA). So I have a partner and now we just have to do all the preparations via FB and e-mail, first of all find a company (cross my fingers for the one I worked at last year). If we do that we are good to go right when I get back to Sweden. I’m not sure how much time of the week that would take, or if I have to get a part time job at the same time so I can earn some money. Or if the thesis and that class I’ve failed twice and need to retake, will be enough credits for CSN to give me allowance and loans. CSN is so confusing, but I need all the money I can get when I get back so I have to figure it out somehow. I sent a new e-mail to the program director asking how much time per week this thesis thing will take. If I have time over I probably need to get a job, which I should apply for pretty soon.

Why is everything so complicated?? If I get accepted to this exchange program thingy I will have a lot of work with that next spring too. I will never be able to rest.

Today was a hectic day. I thought it was gonna be pretty much like a normal Tuesday. But no. The boy have early release day every day this week, so instead of picking up the girl first I have to pick him up first, and the girl really doesn’t like it when I have to pick her up with her brother by my side for some stupid reason. Today was fine though, hopefully she realizes that it’s only two more days of that. Because tomorrow they get out of school at exactly the same time and since I can’t be at two places at one time (which btw, would be awesome if I could) a friend of the girl’s mom have to pick her up. Anyway, then the soccer coach of the girl changed the practice from yesterday to today and I had to pick up another girl for carpooling and then drive to a completely new place. And then there was dinner. I had dinner with the boy, the girl had already eaten at practice, and at the end came the dad and after us came the mom and ate some. For dinner I made a chicken/bacon stew with apple cubes served with rice. It was really good and I hope I will remember this recipe for later occasions!

It was a crazy day and my guess is that the rest of the week will be pretty much the same.

After dinner I wrote an e-mail to my former employer at the construction company asking if they have something for me to do. My partner will read it through before I actually send it. I really hope we can do the thesis there. It would simplify my life so much!

Now I will go to bed and finish the last (there’s gonna be three more before the end of the year) novella I have in the Bane Chronicles and then start reading The Infernal Devices, a prequel to The Mortal Instruments. Reading is awesome!!

Today was very long. The kids were off from school for some reason. The morning was pretty mellow and after lunch both of the kids had playdates over. That meant while keeping an eye and ear on the kids I could read. So I finished two of the Bane novellas and I will probably finish a third now in bed.

My German class was pretty hard in the beginning and there was one time that I was asked a question and I couldn’t remember how to change a question from simple to more complex. Spielst du gern Volleyball? -> Gefällt es dir, Volleyball zu spielen? Now my head is tuned to German again and I am excited about the two tests coming up in two and three weeks. Feels wrong to say it, but I am.

I started my third week of 5:2 today with one of the 500 calorie days today. No problem! Last week I didn’t lose any weight because I had some serious troubles with my stomach, but now it’s working again and I hope to lose some more lbs this week.

This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

This has been a very calm day. I stayed in bed until like 4pm reading while Chad was studying. I finished the first Bane Chronicle novella, started and finished the second, and started on the third. I will probably finish that one when I go to bed later.

Last night we watched The Croods. I just love that movie, it’s so funny. And the night before that we saw Monsters University.

After my reading spree I went to Cheesecake Factory with Lovisa and Christin. I had my favorite, Farfalle with Chicken and Roasted Garlic. It’s so delicious!! For dessert I wanted to take the Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake but they didn’t have that one tonight so I took the normal Carrot Cake. Nothing special, just carrot cake.

Number 13 at Cheesecake Factory (even if it wasn’t a cheesecake it still counts), Carrot Cake.