WHOOSH—I’M BACK!

Back from the USA, and still jetlagged. I was gone for 4 weeks and did I blog once? No. No, I did not. What a lame-o. I did think about it. At least twice. But was too busy the entire time to really be motivated to write anything here.

Sarah and I spent the first two weeks working on organizing and cleaning up the rest of her home after her move of her entire family and nearly every room. Her family played musical rooms, which eventually left my mom the space of a 2-room suite, plus bathroom, plus half-loft where her painting room is now installed. We also started the process of going through and trying to organize mom’s stuff at her house.

This did not go as smoothly as I would have liked, due to reasons. But it did go, mostly. Mom is moved in, and her house is getting emptied, albeit slowly. Once John arrived it went a little faster in some ways and up and down in others. Family is fun! :-/

We did do some things that were not related to this giant move, including a visit to the Catawba Pottery Festival, the Metrolion Antique and Estate Marketplace, and the Catawba River Antique Mall. We shopped, and we ate out, and we ate in (Tom made pizzas one night, and grilled steaks twice). The very last day, before I left, we went to Waxhaw and spent a lovely afternoon wandering around the old shops, and had dinner at Emmet’s Table. We ate at Yama several times, though never enough, I could eat there now. I want a Snow Roll. And a Magic Roll. Sigh.

I also worked every single work day while I was gone except the day (the last day) whe we went to Waxhaw. It helped me destress, actually, and it helped me feel caught up, and I think it helped me team that I was present, if remotely.

We sorted a million family photos and papers, pitching a huge amount of stuff, but I still brought home several envelopes of photos and piles of stuff to organize here, including one big box to digitize and make a photo album of. I’ll post some of the photos later, as they are hilarious. (to us, at least)

The only really bad thing was that my sister was diagnosed with a tumor the last week of my visit. It’s between her heart and lungs and they can’t tell if it’s cancerous or spread or not until they get in there to check. It’s most likely a thymoma or a lymphoma. They’re doing a ton of tests and surgery is already scheduled for May 28. UGH poor Sarah, she really can’t catch a break. I’ve told her I will go back to help if she wants, but so far, she hasn’t decided, and her family will hopefully all step up to make things easier during her recovery, plus what help mom can give. It will be shorter recuperation if the tumor/cancer hasn’t spread and they can get in and get it with a peephole operation. Fingers crossed, thumbs held.

My flights both to the US and back were super smooth, and airport assistance was awesome, as I got whisked from checkin to gate and gate to baggage claim, etc. Highly recommend, though I felt terrible about not having cash for tips, except once. On the 6-hour flight from Charlotte to London, there was a medical emergency, and the staff actually put out a call over the loudspeakers asking if there was a doctor onboard (they said physician, but same thing). I hope the guy was okay. Apparently there were several people with medical backgrounds who helped out. Nice to know that actually works.

Anders picked me up at the airport and I was so glad to be home, and glad to see I haven’t missed spring in Sweden as it’s in full sproing right now. White hawthorn trees, pink cherry trees, yellow forsythia, daffodils, purple pearl hyacinth, and green green neon green leaves coming on the trees.
Glad for our bed, my shower, my sofa, etc.

Now I’ve written a big fat to-do list with all the things that I have to get done in the near future, including filing our US taxes, our FBARs, and getting the deck furniture outside where we can enjoy it. Now if I could just get my kids home to hug, everything would be perfect.

Forgot to say, my knee operation is scheduled for this Thursday (in 2 days), which is also a peephole. They are removing a piece of floating cartilage and cleaning up the meniscus. And I need to get the doctor to refer me for an MRI on the RIGHT knee as well, which is worse and worse. They’ve said it’s an “up and go” procedure, so hopefully won’t be any issues with getting around afterwards. It’s a long weekend right after for Easter holidays, so I’ll have extra days for my own recuperation.

Borta bra men hemma bäst!

The Slutter Family waits for their order at Panera

Mood: happy
Music: The Alternate Routes—All That I see