Naturally Optimistic

Josh: Hannah: George: My sister taking all three for a stroll:

On Friday morning we slept in and got ready to head back to Östersund. We had to strip the beds & clean the cabins (because if you have them do it it costs as MUCH as the cabin dones to rent - also bring your own linens (which Maud did) because otherwise they charge you an arm and a leg for them too). I had a leisurely morning with my book while my crazy husband decided to hike up ANOTHER mountain. (he only was gone for about 45 minutes or so....after 20 mins up he realized his folly & his sore feet and returned to sanity). Bertil & Maud picked us up and we were back on the road to Östersund. We made a few stops on the way back - one was this really cool organic cafe which I can't remember the name of. Part of it was a store with all natural products in it and the other part was this green house/cafe. We had coffee (!) (well, I had water) and some cakes. Yum. It was sort of rainy & icky so we sat inside but I would've loved to enjoy the garden on a sunny day. ...

There have been a few "flutterings" around these parts lately. I think since my doctor's appointment last week I've been more 'in tune" with things going on within.... I've kept it to myself for a few days because, well, it was sort of just a special thing between me, Chick Pea and Steve - although Steve hasn't felt anything yet (he keeps trying!). Some times there is a lot of 'flutters' (which at first I thought was a twitch in a stomach muscle) and sometimes it's so fast I only realize it after it's over. It's been fun and I can't wait to feel more and for Steve to feel it too. It becomes more and more real with each passing "milestone." However, I am in the fat & gross phase of my wardrobe....my regular clothes don't really fit, per se, my maternity clothes (some new but yay for hand-me-downs!) are too big and just make me look, well, fat. I know this is the hardest part but I'm sick of it already!!

The original plan was to head up to the Arctic Circle and do some "camping" (ie: in a cabin) up there...but after we found out that it was another 10 or so hours by car north of Östersund, and the unenthusiasm of our hosts, we decided to scrap that idea in favor of heading west. There are mountains in the western portion of Sweden to the Norway border...and that would do just fine. We "researched" a hiking trail (well, sort of) that we thought looked fun - from Graftvällen to Höglekardalen which appeared to be about 6 miles over the top of a mountain...um, okay. That should be fine. (what was I thinking?). By time we got to the mountains (about a 45 min to 1 hour drive from Östersund, and found where we were going it was about 2:30pm. And we then found out that the trail was 10+ miles, not the 6 that we had estimated. I decided immediately that we needed more food and purchased a few more snacks. 10+ miles is a long hike for me. It is especially long the more pregna...

On Tuesday we got up and decided that we would explore the area a bit. Well, actually Bertil and Maud decided that this was a good day for doing that. We drove through the countryside...our first stop the town of BOBERG! There is not much there....a couple houses, some horses and that is about it. But we did get to have our photo taken by the town sign many many times. Next was a small bakery in Selet where we purchased some lovely & fresh Swedish flatbread. Yummy. After that we headed to Selsålandet which is where the house is where Steve's Great Grandmother Martha was born!!!! Very cool and very old and full of lots of historical family importance. Next stop was Köttsjön. Here is the house where Martha & August (Steve's Great Grandfather) lived when they were first married, before immigrating (or is it emigrating?) to the US. There were beautiful wildflowers all around and my sweetie picked me some. Maud said - maybe a hundred years ago August picked some for Marth...

On our 2nd official day in Sweden we slept in. We were pooped especially after being up for 32+ hours. Blech. I don't handle no sleep well. When we got up it was raining (this became a theme through our trip). Bertil & Maud asked if we'd just as soon "go north" that day (Monday) instead of Tuesday. We said sure and packed up the car. Our plan was to go to Ostersund where Bertil & Maud used to live. They still have a house there which Maud's mother lives in so we would stay there. Our subsequent plan was to head up to the Arctic Circle on Wednesday or so. The drive was lovely, but long. We saw a lot of the countryside and stopped many many times for coffee (not being a coffee drinker it was a bit...well...long). We stopped at Avesta - home of the world's biggest Dala Horse Nusnäs - where they build the Dala Horses, Leksand, where they make hard tack and have these large "church boats" on display, numerous other small villages and towns and tr...

Okay - so here we go.... Me at 11 weeks...and me last week 17 weeks 4 days.....And I'm expanding (it seems like...) daily. But I kind of like it. It makes it all that much more real to me. I'm sure that trend will continue as well!

The baby & I had an appointment yesterday - 18 weeks. I waited for a good 45 mins and saw the doc for about 5 so I guess the ratio I'm used to still holds true. The baby is now about 5 1/2 inches long and weighs about 7 ounces (according to BabyCenter.com). Also he/she's about the size of a sweet potato! Chick Pea has a healthy heart rate of 160bpm and is "VERY" active. My doctor had trouble keeping the little one on the doppler long enough to get the heart rate. I have yet to feel the little one move but my doc said if I lay in a quiet room for a little while and concentrate I should definitely be able to feel it. Eeeeek!

We left for our European adventure at the ungodly hour of 4:15am (from our house) on Saturday the 21st. Blech. At least it was getting light out so it wasn't as hard as getting up that early in the dead of winter, but still. Blech. The plane ride from Duluth to Detroit was uneventful. We had a 7 hour layover in Detroit which sucked but we kept ourselves fairly occupied by reading, snoozing, eating, walking, etc. We left Detroit around 4pm on a lovely Airbus 330. I like that plane because the coach seats are 2 - 4 - 2 so Steve & I were the only ones on our side. Much nicer than having to climb over someone. We also had personal entertainment systems which made my day! I watched a couple of movies on the flight Blades of Glory and Disturbia both were good "plane fare." Steve played with his interactive GPS locator world map the whole time. I'm not kidding - about 7 hours of playing with the map. Ah well. We landed in Amsterdam at about 5:50am. Another lovely tim...

and it's wonderful. Many trip updates to follow...as soon as I figure out what timezone I'm in. ... My heart goes out to the folks in Minneapolis. What an unreal tragedy. Some amazing photos here .

I have to get up in 4 hours so this'll be quick. We're off to Sweden! Yay! Vacation. I'll be thinking of you all as I am hiking north of the arctic circle on Wednesday - whohooo! Not sure if I'll be able to post from the road but if I can I will. Ta Ta!

I either usually pack my lunch and bring it to work or go home for lunch - when I pack it and bring it - I use my reusable lunch sack. This has gotten me through almost 10 years of work lunches! Think of all the paper bags that would be. Wow.

We "freecycled" our old couch yesterday! Whohoooooo!

THAT'S RIGHT - ME!!!!!!! My passport came today! My passport came today!! I didn't want to write about it much because I was sure I would jinx it. I talked to the passport call center on Sunday and they were able to tell me that my passport was in "the beginning stages" of being processed (WTH?) When I called back on Tuesday morning they were able to tell me that it was in the middle of being processed (!) and that things were "looking good" for me to get it by the weekend. Thanks to anonymous's suggestion, my MIL's suggestion and Sarah's second of said suggestion, I called my congressman. Jim Oberstar is head of the transportation committee and I am a constituent and I thought at the very least I would let them know what is going on and that people like me, are very frustrated. The woman I spoke to yesterday was SUPER nice and understanding and helpful and told me she would call the processing center (not the call center! whooot!) and see what s...

At our house we compost all of our food waste. This has saved us so much space in our garbage and it goes into making some really great gardening supplies. Currently we have to take our food waste to our "sanitary district" where they compost HUGE mounds of steaming black...well, compost...that you can purchase for a pittance. We're on a waiting list for an "Earth Machine" so we can skip hauling in buckets of food scraps and combine them with our yard waste in our own back yard.

We recycle everything at our house - everything that we can anyway. Junk mail, cardboard, plastic milk jugs, tin cans, aluminum (which we actually take in and sell), newspapers, etc. Today was garbage & recycling pick up day (good timing!). Even Beavis has been helping out. Since he spends a lot of his summer days out doors, he uses the litter box less and we go through WAY less kitty litter. Thanks, Beavis!

Steve bought me a new water bottle yesterday (early b-day present) as he doesn't want me drinking out of plastic so much while I'm pregnant (usually I use a Nalgene). This SIGG water bottle was so cute, I couldn't resist! And a perfect start to Kelli's "Green Week" . Have any Green habits you'd like to share?

I guess I could leave this entry blank as there is no update. One week from now we *should* be just getting on a plane in Detroit for our 7 1/2 hour trip to Amsterdam. However, I am not optimistic. I talked to the passport place yesterday morning (at 6am! whohoo!) and they said that it is still being "processed" and basically they don't have any other info for me. The guy suggested that I go to Chicago (!) for an appointment at the regional passport center there - That's only a $650 plane ticket (from Duluth), prayers that planes will be on time and that there even IS an appointment available on say, Thursday, oh and the government already has my old passport & my marriage certificate so how can I even prove who I am? Yes, I am depressed. Thoroughly. :(