Entries by TATIANA

As a child I grew up with ABBA, Pippi Långstrump, Bamse, Fem myror är fler än fyra elefanter, Trazan och Banarne, Vi på Saltkråkan, Pojken med guldbyxorna and also Mumintrollen.
I love Pippi, she is my heroine. So on my trip to Sweden I got some Pippi stuff that I will show later but also for the first time some Mumintrollen stuff.....or Mumin like you can also say. Mumintrollen is about a troll family created by Tove Jansson. I remember thinking that Mumintrollen were kind of sad and a bit scary to watch when I was little, there was a character called Mårran and I was scared of her. Besides that Swedish children's TV when I was growing up was great and very pedagogic and educational, I learned a lot from watching Fem myror är fler än fyra elefanter and Pippi Långstrump is a wonderful role model for girls I think. When I arrived to Sweden from Poland as a child I spoke no Swedish and I got teased a lot and from that I became shy and very insecure. I was the only foreign born child in first grade and that was not fun I quickly learned. In second grade we moved from Tumba to Handen and I got to know new friends like Carmen that I am still friends with today. I quickly learned Swedish from reading a lot and in the end I got mostly high grades on everything that had to do with writing and reading Swedish. And later I studies other languages like most kids in Sweden do. School went on and I grew out of being insecure, thank goodness. Now I feel super confident and strong.
Well, here is my Mumin stuff. A tray that I will keep on the kitchen counter so I can put car keys and sun glasses on it. Some postcards, coasters and Mumin on key chains. I think I will attach those to one of my purses.

I must be bored since this will be my third blog entry of the day. It's impossible to walk through the forest I found out this afternoon due to the large amounts of starving mosquitoes that are waiting to attack. Poor Chhaya had at least 20 attached to her when she came out of the forest, I had a towel with me on our walk and swatted her with it. She loves it when I swat her with the towel and jumps around and acts all crazy. I noticed that they are especially fond of her butt. When I look under her tail there are several of mosquitoes there sucking blood. Again, very GROSS.
This is today's pretty food plate. Salad. It was yummy. I am now full and tired. Don't know if I will make it to work tonight, I am still jetlagged. What should I do instead? Another load of laundry perhaps? The fun life in Kenai is back in full swing. Yeay....! Not.



That is my new table cloth from Sweden with Midsommar motif and a hot plate holder made from juniper wood, also from Sweden that I will use to put candles on because it is too pretty to hide under a pot. And a super cute rock shaped like a heart that Mandy sent me. The fun coincidence here is that I have a rock shaped like a heart that I was going to send her.
She beat me to it.

I'm back at the office, Coffee Roasters that is. The two baristas that work here must be two of the prettiest girls in town, I like both of them.
Anyhow, I am still not back to normal. It will take a couple of days to get back into the rhythm of things. But life has slowed down significantly, from going non stop, doing stuff and being around my family and my friends every day, I am now back to solitude and Chhaya. I'm not complaining, I love Chhaya of course. And my house (gorgeous). If it wasn't so complicated to bring dogs into Sweden (the long quarantine and the long time it takes to travel there) I would probably be in Sweden at least three or four months out of the year. It would be good for me and my family, plus I would be able to spend time with people the way I am accustomed to. I could have a lot of "friends" here too, if I liked to socialize by getting drunk, acting stupid, talking shit and being fake. And since that is not who I am, things are the way they are. But at least I have REAL friends, you know the kind that are hard to find. It's easy to rack up acquaintances, having the gift of real friendship is something totally different.
I checked the mail yesterday......besides bills I got something from Mandy. Too bad she lives in Michigan because I think I would enjoy her company. Not only did she send me something really cute, she also spent time drawing on the envelope, full of details. She even drew a dog on it, I'm guessing it's Chhaya. I keep certain things forever and I am going to keep this envelope. Thank You Mandy! ❤
Well, I want to go to the gym and I have to take Chhaya on a long walk today......the mosquitoes are plenty this year. Again. Last year it was so bad the stores were sold out of mosquito repellant and they were talking about the annoying little blood suckers on TV and in the local newspapers, it seems like it's just as bad this year. And I am not exagerrating they swarm you as soon as you step outside. I already got bit a few times since I have been back. And every time Chhaya comes back inside from going out to pee I have to swat her with a towel to get all the blood suckers off her. Gross!



OK......I am getting serious Sweden withdrawals right now, have to fight back the tears.
Jag saknar alla så mycket!!!!

Hi! It's 5 20 am, I have been up for about an hour. I woke up when Chhaya snuggled up body to body with me in bed. Now she is sleeping, letting out the occasional quiet snore. My baby! ❤
I am jetlagged and my bedroom is a mess full of suitcases that need to be emptied with the contents hung up and put away, dirty laundry in piles that need to be washed, the insides from Chhaya's toys that she played with earlier all over the place, empty shopping bags and plastic bags (I put anything liquid and lotion inside a plastic bag when I travel, I have learned from previous spillages and I put all my shoes in plastic bags before I put them inside the suitcase also). This mess will all be taken care of today, the suitcases will be put away, my clothes hung in my closet and I can slowly resume my life here in Kenai. I am kind of hungry, Coffee Roasters opens at 6 am, I don't know if maybe I should get there early today or try to go back to sleep. Work might be on the schedule tonight. I have not worn fake lashes in about three weeks, my real lashes got a break too.
Or maybe I should go downstairs into the kitchen and chop up some veggies and make myself a nice Greek salad for breakfast? I'll talk to ya'll later, until then.....have a nice Friday!

Well.....I'm back in the US now. Not quite in Kenai yet though....I have a four hour long wait for the first airplane to leave to Kenai from Anchorage....so until then I'm going to wait here at the airport. Yeay! More like sigh.....but whatever, I can handle it.
Four airplanes total between Stockholm and Kenai....the longest one is the one across the Atlantic and the shortest is across the bay to Kenai......that only takes 20 minutes. I'm very tired, slightly delirious, a bit sad and feel a bit weird too. It's not fun to leave family and friends.....My friend Carmen that took me to the airport asked me where I feel home is, Sweden or the US? And I can't answer that, I'm torn. But I do know that I have to go to Sweden more often.
I made sure I had some reading material for the first flight and Carmen got me some stuff that she knows that I like....my last bite of prinsesstårta for a while. Tack Carmen!



Goodbye Sweden.....until next time! I do love Sweden.



And good morning Alaska!

I dragged my brother into City for some late evening fika......why sit at home when you can do stuff, right? Went to Gamla Stan (Old Town) and sat down at Kaffekoppen.



My fika.



Then we walked by another cafe and had to stop and get a chokladboll each.





While slowly walking back to the train I took pictures of stuff and myself.









Now I am full and tired, my eyes are closing down.....I think I need a quick shower and then it's bed time!