Not the greatest of days today but ...

Woke up with a clear case of steroid withdrawals again. It is really hard to wean off of it, finding the balance. I hate the stuff and really want to stop taking it as soon as I can. It makes me gain puffy weight, and it makes me feel bad all around. But I have been weaning off of it too fast, so the adrenal glands haven't had a chance to start producing their own cortisol hence the withdrawals symptoms. Just achy and pain all over, no energy and blah. Headache too!

The day hasn't been very productive, but I did manage to do a few needed loads of laundry. Just ordered pizza for dionner, just one of those days. Things wasn't helped by Ken being in a stressed, pissy mood about work either (went in to work half the day, worked the rest from home.) He is like a PMSing bitch on wheels when he get cranky over too much work stress. He will get over it, and I have learned not to take it personal, but it is a real mood killer for sure! Yesterday was such a fun day, and today not so much.

But that is life for you, up and down. Still love it!

Now I am going to take a long shower and then watch a Swedish DVD that my sister gave me this summer, haven't had a chance to see it yet (well, it is Danish with Swedish subtitles) Riket.

Have a great Sunday evening everyone!

Nighttime frog hunting...

Something we like to do on our nightly walks with the dogs are to hunt for frogs. This time we brought the camera to show you what we found!

We went out just after dark last night, around 7:30 PM. It was still nice and warm at around 85 degrees, nice and humid, a perfect night for finding frogs (we got 4)! We also found a beautiful legless glass lizards in the grass!

Stan, Sarah and Bob getting ready to look for frogs!

OK, where are they hiding?

Aha! There is one!

Found one!

Cute fellow!


Got another one!

We also found this beautiful, shiny coppery-brown legless glass lizard. It looks like a snake!

Kanelbullar?

Kom precis hem från en svettigt varm dag på Busch Gardens, det var lite väl varmt idag, långt över 90 F. Jag var nog inte riktigt redo för ett så stort steg som att gå omkring en hel dag i en supervarm park så där, jag kände mig jättesvag efter ett par timmar! Men kul hade vi! Nu blir det slappareftermiddag för resten av slanten...

Jag har en förfrågan, jag har ALDRIG bakat svenska kanelbullar, men skulle gära vilja prova. Så om nu någon har några bra recept skulle jag gärna vilja ha dem, men med ett krav: det måste vara med torrjäst, eftersom jag inte kan få tag på annan jäst här. Jag har svensk sirap, kardemumma och pärlsocker om det skulle behövas!

Ska bli spännande att se hur jag lyckas med det... Monica gav mig en ide, vi kanske ska ha en liten fest för några av våra vänner till jul, med tema svenskt! Bara svenska rätter, kansk lite glögg eller svensk cider, julmust osv. Skulle vara kul!

Finished smörgåstårta

Well, until we actually eat it I won't know if it turned out OK or not... I made a goo out of tuna, lemon, mayo, dill, a little sambal oelek, fresh ground black pepper and a tiny bit of salt. The second layer had a goo I made by pulsing together liver wurst and mayo. The topping is half mayo, half whipped cream, and the decorations you can see for yourself.

Looks OK, but we will see when I actually eat it if it is!

UPDATE: It was good, but I didn't like the American liver wurst, it has a too strong flavor, and is not at all like Swedish creamy "leverpastej" (which is more like a pate). Next time I will probably do the tuna filling in both layers, it came out really good, or maybe a ham filling instead.

Ken asked if we maybe could have this as an early lunch on Thanksgiving, and then eat the turkey dinner much later instead, so he must have really liked it! It is pretty easy to make, but it looks very festive, so it brightens up a Friday dinner for sure!

Smörgåstårta

Today I have decided to try and make a Swedish smörgåstårta. It literally means sandwich cake, and is delicious! It all depends on if I can find the ingredients I need, especially the bread. It really is suppose to stand overnight with the filling to get really juicy, but I have a feeling I won't be able to wait that long... A few hours should be sufficient I think!

How a smörgåstårta looks like is all up to you. Here are a few examples:

Layers of yummy filling!

If I manage to make one tonight I will take some pictures!

GRATTIS kusin!

Happy Birthday cousin Magnus! Hope you will have a great day today!

Making weekend plans

It looks like we will spend either Saturday or Sunday at Busch Gardens in Tampa this weekend. We have annual passes to the park, so we better make sure we use them! Busch Gardens is one of my favorite parks, it is a combination of zoo and amusement park, very lush and green. A nice feel to it! I usually have a hard time with zoos, feeling bad for the animals. They seem to do an effort in helping preserving endangered species here, and the habitats are very nice.

Too bad Ken is such a wimp when it comes to rides, but to be fair, he gets really sick from too much motion. Sarah is just tall enough to go on the Scorpion, and last time we stayed on it for 5 times... She and I will have a lot of fun when she gets older, I love rides, but have definitely gotten more cautious with age...

The Scorpion

Pig butts?

Today I got my newest issue of Smithsonian Magazine, an always interesting read. Sarah happened to see it and the cover caught her eye. The October issue features an article named "Denizens of the deep", with newly discovered weird deep sea creatures. We spent quite a long time reading about these off looking things and looking at their pictures. So cool!

Sarah's favorite? Well, of course, the "Pigbutt Worm"... It is some kind of worm, also called "flying buttocks", and its Latin name literally means "resembling a pig's rear."

It was discovered by some scientist down in Monterey. Maybe they smoked something special that day, or they just felt like having some fun...
It does look like a pig's behind... Sorta... Or what do you think?

The Pigbutt Worm

Oh my

I just found out through SWEA that IKEA is coming to Tampa in 2009!!! That is so awesome! Just 40 minutes away from me... Yes!

I better get back to work now. I am so freaking happy about that!

Doctor's appointment

Everything seems to be A OK, and I don't need to see the surgeon again unless there is a problem. It is pretty common to get pouchitis, an inflammation of the pouch, and obstructions, of course, which I already experienced a little bit of twice...

If I have an obstruction that is not clearing up in a few days I can call Dr S's office and they will put me directly in the hospital, so I don't need to go to the ER, that is good to know.

I am going to watch s Swedish Beck movie now. I only have one more, then I have watched all three seasons!