HOT HOT H.E.A.T

Today I have been working, as usual, and then home. It was freezing cold when I went to work this morning and frost on the ground. We reall have to change tires now to studded tires because there can be snow any day now. As I told you before I didn't manage to go to Norrköping so a nice quiet evening at home I thought...but no. What happened you might ask? Well, a rumor on Facebook made my mail, Facebook and phone to explode. What did it say? That Jona had his last concert with H.E.A.T tonight and then would play with another band from Monday. This is totally wrong and a lie (it was really a joke but not a very good one) but the people, fans, friends and family didn't know that and started asking me if this was true. NO, NO, NO AND NO I HAD TO SAY TO EVERYONE. THIS IS NOT TRUE!! JONA PLAYS AND WILL KEEP ON PLAYING WITH H.E.A.T and anyone saying anything else is lying. So, now we have cleared that up. Feels good and now I hope everyone knows how it is. Tomorrow it's Melodikr...

I'm so sad because I won't be going to Norrköping and see H.E.A.T and the Poodles after all. I would have loved to see those two band together and now I don't know if I will. Maybe this was once and no more but who am I to know? I will go to the Opera on Saturday though and see Händel's opera Xerxes and that should be very interesting. I'm going with my two friends as usual and hopefully we will have a wonderful time. I know some of you might think that hardrock and opera is two contrasts and funny that I like both but I don't think they're so far apart as you might think on a first glance. I mean there is passion, great music and they tell a story in both genres. There have been rock mixed with symphony before you know. Just listen to this - Barcelona - with Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballet. Pure magic! Otherwise the week has been more quiet than last week. I took my swineflushot yesterday so hopefully I won't get it. Today we had planning meeti...

Last night I went out to Arlanda airport to pick up Jonas and Mandy who returned with the rest of the gang (almost everyone) from Firefest and Nottingham. They had had a wonderful time and their concert was great. Here's a video with samples from their gig . Great stuff at least I like it. When they landed it was almost midnight and before they came out and I was home again it was 1 AM and I had to go up at 5.40AM but I did sleep in until 6AM. Can you imagine :-) I have been kind of tired today but still it went well. I suppose it will be an early night for me tonight. Tomorrow I'm going to take the swineflushot since I'm in the riskgroup. Then I have boardmeeting with the Rheumatic assocation on Wednesday, then going to take all kinds of bloodtests on Thursday morning and maybe I will go down to Norrköping on Friday to H.E.A.T and the Poodles concert there. I will decide on Wednesday. On Saturday it's Opera-time with my friends again. This time Xerxes by Händel. That s...

Yesterday we had our friends over for dinner. We had a wonderful time and chat and laughter was hear loud and clear :-) We started off on 1st floor in Hasse's newly decorated bar and computerroom where we served champagne with salami, cheese and "tunnbrödrullar"thin flat unleavened bread filled with deermeat and cheese or garliccheese and ham. Very good. Then we headed down for the starter which was shrimpcocktail consisting of different kinds of sallat, avocado, lots of shrimps and a sauce of yoghurt, sour cream, dill, lemonjuice, curry, salt and pepper. Very good. The main course was a bouf bourgonion which I had made already on Friday. I served pototaos, baby carrots and haricot verts to go with it. (See photo) I didn't made any special dessert but during the week I had baked a lot for the students and some were left so with the coffee I served two different kinds of cookies as well as Swedish whisky, Mackmyra and liqueur 43. Many laughter later we finished the eve...

I just have to share this review with you. It's from H.E.A.T's performance at Firefest VI in Nottingham yesterday and by melodicrock.com ....H.E.A.T also did "1,000 miles" and a new song. Now I know this will disapoint many regular posters on the board as it was absolutely fantastic and if all the other new songs are a thousandth as good, there will be endless threads about HEAT next year all gushing over it! Melodic rock ain't quite dead just yet.. these guys are great performers and put on an amazing show - highly recommend seeing these guys live even if you're not fussed on the album.

Suzan, Jonas, Crash and Kenny eating Japanes style. This week really started off well. Our students arrived on Monday and then my boss said: Do you want to take your class now? I wasn't prepared at all so I said I'll do it tomorrow. I had done all the powerpoint pictures, I just needed to collect myself I suppose. I don't know why I was nervous but I suppose we all are in a situation like that. Take in consideration also that I have never taught Economy or Marketing before although it is my line of work but that's not the same thing. But it did went well. In the morning when the students came I was in my apron making sandwiches for the morning coffebreak when I just said: Now it's time for some Economy and I throw my apron and went into the classroom :-) Quite funny actually. As I said it went well. How do I know that? Well, they asked a lot of questions, noone fell asleep and those are good signs :-) As I think I told you before Jonas and H.E.A.T arrived safely hom...

I forgot to tell you that H.E.A.T made a huge success in Tokyo when playing at Loud Park 09. There were around 10 000 people watching them and everyone sang and knew the lyrics to the songs. From the sound of it they have had a great time there and will return home tomorrow evening. Just to stay for a few days before leaving for Nottingham and Firefest. Then they will play in Norrköping October 30th and I'm hoping I can go there and see them. I haven't seen them now for a while and that should be nice. The photos are the official photos from Loud Park.

I have had a great weekend in Örebro with Champions of Rock, hotel, dinner and the company of my lovely sister. We started from Upplands Väsby midday and after a 2 1/2 hour drive we approached Örebro. We saw this big sign saying Conventum, Söder (south) in a mile, and that's where we should go off the highway. But no more sign saying Conventum or south so we continued driving but after a while we realized we were getting out of town again so first exit we went off and tried to turn around but almost ended up in another highway. Finally we were on the way again and when we now came from the south there was a big sign saying Conventum, city south so off we went. Those of you in Örebro that does the signs, please alter the one where it just say West not south!!! Anyway we reached the hotel and wanted to go out on town. It was now around 3.15PM and they said the shops were closed. Closed? on a Saturday afternoon? One mall might be opened, the receptionist said, but only until 4PM?! We...

I will soon be on the way to Örebro with my sister Helen to see Champions of Rock with Peter Johansson (who played Galileo in We will rock you in London for 2 years), Nina Söderquist (who I first met on a cruiseship to Helsinki in 2005 and where I said she is a star to be) and Kerry Ellis (who also starred in the London production of We will rock you). So a great cast and of course enormously gifted musicians to accompanie them. The reviews has been great and people I know who have seen the show is extatic. So we are in for a treat I think. I will also meet with Nina after the show since we have been writing to each other for a couple of years but never met irl. That should be fun. I will write more tomorrow and hopefully I will have some photos to show you. I can add that the place is sold out. I'm also very excited for the guys in Tokyo and I certainly hope there is some friendly soul out there that can record their performance and place it on youtube. Please, I would be very gre...

Yes, I can surely underline that expression TGIF. I am very tired after this week that has been hectic to say the least. Monday and Tuesday just flew away and on Wednesday I saw my coach. Yesterday I went to a very nice lunch with 2 girlfriends. One of them, Eva, had invited me and Gun-Britt for lunch in her beautiful flat overlooking lake Norrviken. She had made this wonderful chantarellesoup which was served with fresh bread and Västerbotten cheese (my favourite). Afterwards we had coffee and she had baked a deliciuos applecake with vanillacustard. Yummie! So a very nice afternoon. Then home and I didn't feel like cooking again so I just had yoghurt and Hasse had leftovers. But for today I had made homemade meatballs and mashedpotatoe (of course homemade as well) and with that I served broccoli and lingonberry. One of Hasse's favourite dishes. This afternoon I went to see my very good friend Inger whose birthday was October 4 and her daughter Tracy who had birthday this Monda...

After a very hectic weekend I had a meeting with my coach which was very good. She breaks down to pieces my questions and makes me answer them altough I didn't know I could before we started. I had written my CV for this session and she had some comments so back home and write again :-) One thing I'm happy for is that I don't work in Stockholm no more. So hectic and as soon as I touch down in the city I start running as fast as everyone else although I don't need to. Why is this? For the rest of the day I have actually rested (!) yes I know this is kind of hard but the only thing I did was book a new flight ticket for Jonas going home from London in a week. Now I'm so relaxed that I don't want to write more so I'll talk to you tomorrow. By the way does anyone know why our silent Hilma (the dog) suddenly at the age of almost 10 starts to whine all the time. She whines at night as well as daytime and when she comes out she starts to dig and wants to dig hersel...

I got an sms early this morning (or maybe it was night) from Jonas telling me that they had arrived safely in Tokyo. I did ask him before he left to let me know that they had arrived. It's quite a long trip but as I looked at the schedule I think it's the same flighttime as it is from London to Los Angeles so not too bad IF you have good seats. I mailed him asking him to post photos but he can't because he didn't have the cable with him so instead he sent me a photo of the area where they live. He said it's so big like 10 times Times Square. I'm so happy for him to be able to experience this. He will have memories for life to treasure. I can just see them at the home for elder sitting and talking to each other: Do you remember the time we went to Japan? Or the time we played in Long Beach, California? Those were the days. Otherwise nothing much. Work and home, doing the last of the task for tomorrow when I'm seeing my coach again. This weekend me and Helen ...

I'm home again after a very rewarding weekend at Bommersvik in Sörmland. We were all in all around 60 people incl. children but in different languages so our Swedish group consisted of 8 wonderful people. In fact 4 of us was from our own Rheumatic association in Sollentuna-Upplands Väsby-Sigtuna and it was really good to experience and be given the same education. Our leader, Janne, was just great and set the tone by doing a new thing, for me, at the presentation. We had to, with our "wrong" hand, draw a picture of the person in front of us - called a blindsketch. That is we went up to someone, presented us with our name and then started drawing but only allowed to look at the other person, not on the paper. Boy was this difficult and boy did that break the ice. We then sat in a ring and we had to choose two drawing - one that represented what we thought other saw us and one how we saw ourselves. Then tell the others why and also tell something about ourselves. Very good ...

Yes, I'm once again on a course over the weekend. This time I'm at Bommersvik in Sörmland. It's a beautiful and peaceful countryside place. I'm training to become a circle leader eventually :-). Great group and a as usual with ABF a wonderful lecturer. One of the first things we found out was that he lives in Upplands Väsby, small world isn't? It's so wonderful and beautiful here and I have taken some photos but I forgot the cable so I can't put them here right now. I have to do that tomorrow when I come home, if I have the time. For now you can enjoy this photo of the Herrgård and the lake. Talk to you tomorrow again. Sleep well :-))

Today has been a really busy day at work but oh so fun. If I were completely well and not having all these diagnoses and had the strength I would absolutely run a small inn or a small conference center. I really love the contact with the students and caring for them so that they are able to do their best and learn. I generally like to make feel people comfortable and feel good. When I came home I had a chat with Hasse over lunch. Really nice and he's feeling much better. Did I tell you he did his cataract-operation on Monday. I can't believe how fast the operation was. He was ready to go home after only 2 hours. But of course when he came home the anaesteshia had gone and his eye started to run. After a couple of hours resting in his favourite chair he was fit for fight again :-) Now he says he sees extremely well far away but it's very hard to read because it's blurry. Tomorrow it's already Friday. Time really flies when you have fun. I do have to write my CV befor...

This photo shows autumn in a Japanese garden. Today is Saint Bridget's Day. In 1999 Pope John Paul II declared her the patron saint of Europe and since then is this her day of feast. Why am I interested in her you maybe wonder? When I attended college I did a work on her and found her lifestory very interesting and I have continued to follow what is written about her, her daughter Katherine and her nuns. At work things are going great. I have been baking cookies every day for the students afternoon coffee and in the mornings I make delicious sandwiches, if I may say so myself :-) I light scented candles in the morning for a nice start (it's actually getting dark in the mornings now). I see to it that they have fruit and candy. The group is very nice and I get the feeling they feel very much at home and they discuss freely and we have fun together. I like this to be able to do a bit of everything. Today me and Jonas went to IKEA to shop the last things for his flat. When we cam...

This week we are having students at my work. We have made our conference room to a classroom and it works very well. I do fresh sandwiches each morning for their coffebreak at 9.30AM. I also bake cookies like Kärleksmums, Pepparkaksbakelser, kardemummarutor and more for the afternoon coffee. Everyone seems to enjoy them. I also see to it that they have wather, fresh fruit and candy on hand. And I oversee the toilets so there is paper, towels, handdesinfection etc. Besides that I do my ordinary job that is book-keeping, paying bills, open post and more. I really love my job because it's so varied. I don't get tired of it since it differs every day. Here's some photos from where we have coffebreaks. Before I started there were no curtains, no cloths and not cosy at all. I thinks it looks rather nice now. What do you think? I don't know if you can see it but it's a very big room. Time for me to relax a bit now. I need that I can tell you. Tomorrow afternoon I'm off...

This has been a long and fun day. I'm completely exhausted now but I have to wait until 7.15PM before dinner is served. That is way too late for me after this day. I would much rather have preferred it to be dinner at say 6PM so I could get up to my room afterwards, take off my clothes, makeup and just chill. Yesterday I was so tired as well and fell asleep already at 10PM!! We have had body knowledge, muscle knowledge, breathing excercises and more. Very good and so necessary really. Then we also had to read a poem or recap a text from a newspaper in front of the class (see photo). The woman standing beside me is one of the deaf interpreters. For tomorrow we have a task of talking about something, or our own choice, for max 3 minutes. I have thought of two things I can talk about. One is obviously H.E.A.T that I know a lot about and the other subject is how I found my sister in USA. I haven't decided yet but I weighs over to H.E.A.T because I think 3 minutes is too short to te...

I'm now in Nynäshamn and have just finished the course for tonight and I'm pretty tired now. We met and went to dinner. Very nice. We are all disabled one way or another and we have one deaf woman who has two deafinterpreters with her. It's so fascinating to watch them interpret. Their whole body is involved and it's very hard to not look. Very nice all of them. We have 3 people in wheelchairs, we have deaf and blind and one that is both deaf and blind. We have people with psychological problems and of course rheumatic people. And we are all here to learn how to speak in front of people based on each and every ones capacity. On the way down here I went to Dad's grave at Skogskyrkogården. The stone had arrived and I wanted to see it. You can see it on the photo ( the stone is so shiny that it's myh hair you can see down on the stone :-)) Yesterday Jonas and Mandy was home and had dinner. Very nice and I think it will be a while now before we see them again. Touri...