Friday, July 25, 2008

last day before New York...
... and I must say I spent it well...

I got up at 6.20 am to get the kids ready for their las day at the camp at the Pacific Science Center and I didn't go to bed again after they were out the door at 7.20 am ~ which, trust me, is a great feat.
I had breakfast, showered and got dressed ('cause that's what you do in the morning)
at 10 am Katrine picked me up and we went into Seattle. on the way to the city we stopped by the Troll under the bridge which was really cool and then we went into the city.
after a quick stop at Starbucks we went on the Monorail to the center of Seattle where we did what girls do - walk around, talking and shopping. at one point we decided that we wanted to see Mamma Mia! and I loved the first part of it. we were singing along to the songs and talking while watching ~ so much fun :D
but all fun things must come to an end and we were told - very harshly I might add - to shut up since we were disturbing a grumpy man on the row infront of us. the movie was still good but he kind of put a damper on things ~ were we still allowed to laugh?
after the movie we walked around some more and (naturally) trash-talked the grumpy man.
as much as I didn't want it to end we decided that it was time to head home. and once Katrine drove up outside my house I got all sad and weepy. the reason for this is simple - she's done working next week and I might not see her again until I get home to Sweden (she lives in Kopenhagen, which is nice and close). because she is one of my best friends here in Seattle and one of the funniest people I know I'm kind of scared that the rest of my time here will suck. which totally stinks :(
I miss you guys like crazy (just so you know) and now it will be even worse since the person I felt most connected to is leaving. being an au-pair sure sucks sometimes.
while we were sitting in the car outside my house talking, the kids who were playing outside were looking at us seemingly thinking "what the h-ll are they doing?!?"
once I was out and Katrine was on her way home Bridget and I ran through the sprinkler on the front lawn. my jeans got wet but since it cheered me up it was totally worth it :)

I packed my stuff for New York and Canada....
.... and now I'm sitting here since I promised one of you a blog-update before NY...

Monday, July 07, 2008

I got my first parking ticket. and I was stuck on the floor for 20 min.
sounds confusing? it's not.

last Thursday I decided to take the kids to the Children's Museum in Everett which I did and we had a blast. on the way out from the parkinglot I spot a pay-thingy (not sure what they're called - it's a metal box where you pay for parking - also I'm in pain right now and that's distracting me) and I'm thinking to myself "shit I didn't see that before, hope they didn't catch me" after I get out of Everett and on the I-5 I see something yellow on my windshield and yet again I go "shit, looks like they caught me after all".

the next half hour was a very nervous one, I can promise you that. when we finally reach McDonalds (K&B were craving desert) I look at the dreaded yellow envelope and realize that it could have been so much worse.

but that doesn't keep me from being annoyed...



just now I was stuck on the floor. like a bug on it's back. I could not move or get up.

last night around 7 pm my back started to ache. in the area of my shoulder blade. no biggie, maybe I had spent to much time with my jigsaw puzzle which happes at time. when I got home from Maria's house at 00.10 am it still hurt and I was starting to wonder what the heck was going on back there.
this morning nothing had changed and I realized that the right side of my upper body including my arm is, almost, completely useless since it hurts like *piiiip* every time I use or move it in a weird angle. typing on my computer is fine but that's pretty much the extent of what doesn't hurt.
I tried one of the oldest tricks in the book: lying down on my back, legs on a chair in 90°. it felt ok but no major pain reliever, so I decide to get up. only now I'm stuck. I can't move because of the pain. so I lay there on the floor trying to find a way up that wont hurt. and this takes me twenty minutes. twenty very frustrating painful minutes.

my host parents told me to take painkillers and any sane person would do that. but I'm not one of those people.
the way I see it is that if something hurts when you move it's better to feel the pain since it's your body's way of telling you that something is wrong and that you should take it easy. if you take painkillers you wont feel pain (duh) but you might end up doing something to make it worse.

sounds insane I know but remember my back really really aches and I have yet to find a position that feels confortable, maybe I'll take the kids on a field trip tomorrow to someone who can help me fix my back...