Cowboys i parken

I tisdagskvall sa tog jag, Matt och Carrie med oss stolar och filt och

gick till milleniumpark mitt i downtown Chicago efter jobbet for att titta pa utomhusbiofilm. De visade en gammal westernfilm "Buth Cassidy and Sundance Kid". Superbra film och det var verkligen mysigt att sitta utomhus i en park och se en film.. Plus annu battre var ju att det var gratis. Vi tog bara med oss varaegna stolar och bredde ut oss och vantade pa att filmen skulle starta. Vissa hade med sig bade stolar, bord, mat, vin, levande ljus...etc..etc.. Vi hade bara med oss stolar och kopte en macka pa 7-eleven.. men det dog minsann at oss. Jag har borjat kolla pa en massa klassiska filmer pa sistonde och denna film kommer jag verkligen att rekommendera.. aven till dem som inte tycker om gamla westernfilmer.. denna film kanns verkligen inte som en westernfilm.. plus den har ju snygga Robert Redford och Paul Newman nar de var unga!

Kräftskiva hela helgen or "Aint no party like a crayfish party"

We ate a lot of crayfish this weekend! !!


We had some of our "Swedish girl- couple" friends over for dinner. We had a really good time with crayfish, snaps, songs ..etc. The American men were all bonding, enjoying the weird Swedish
traditions. We had my friend Jospehine and Elin come over with their men on Friday night and then Anna and Gregg came over for dinner on Saturday night. Yes, it was so much fun we had to do it twice. Also I was amazed by my cooking skills.. Everyone that knows me knows that I think popcorn and a piece of toast is a perfectly normal dinner meal.. Well, I know this might surprise you but I made both a salmon and cheese quiche. Yes, both edible and got compliments from the guests. I even made some awesome fried potatoes with parsley.

The rest of the weekend I just relaxed. I needed a weekend for relaxing and taking care of my knee. My physical therapist would have been proud of me. I did all my exercises. I even biked for 20 miles on Saturday..oh man, was I tired after that and took a long walk on Sunday. It feels good being able to move around like a normal person again.

Today I got flowers.. - Tack for blommorna

Today I got these wonderful flowers from my friends Linda, Leila, Sofia and Paula. It was so great and it really made my day. I shed a tear or two... wow, I am starting to be a softie. It was just great to get some well wishes from friends since things have not been going my way lately.
--------------------------------------------------
Idag fick jag dessa fina blommor av mina underbara vanner: Linda, Leila, Sofia och Paula. Tack sa mycket ni ar verkligen fantastiska!! Det verkligen fick mig att le och jag blev sa rord att jag fallde nagra tarar.. vet inte vad som hande med tuffa Sandra men jag har blivit en liten softies pa sistonde. Tack igen!!!!

Today I learned to walk and the in-laws stopped by

Today my physical therapist was kind of busy with another client, so he wanted me to work out with another physical therapist at the clinic in order to get a second opinion on me, because I am not meeting the rehab goals that were set... she was tough!! I was hurting so bad from some of the stretches that I was sweating. At the end of the session she took me out in the hallway and did walking drills... and yes, I got it after a while.. YES!!! YES !!!! I graduated from the knee brace... that is right.. today is the day I learned to walk again... no knee brace at all. This really made my day!!! but oh man, I am going to be sore tomorrow....

The in-laws also came by tonight. They are driving back from Iowa to South Carolina so they stopped at our house on the way. It was great seeing them. Matt is now being a real kid around them playing nintendo wii .. he created his parents as
miis so he wanted to show them to his folks.. but ended up playing now for 30 min. Kind of funny =)

Jess is getting married!!!!

Matt and I went back to Iowa over the weekend, since
one of my best friends, Jessica, got married. She is the cute bride in the photo on the right. It was a really fun wedding with lots of friends and family. I got some good stories from the wedding. Matt realized that he had forgotten his suit about 2 hours before the wedding. He only had a T-shirt and shorts packed with him. The bag with the suit was at home. We kind of panicked, but devious as I am I talked him into going to a store and buy a new suit and then return it the next day. Yes!! Innocent Matt pulled this off.. the girl at the register asked him and Matt told her he was going to a wedding that night thinking that she will probably not be there tomorrow working... but yes!!! of course she was.. Matt pulled if off by telling her he "borrowed" some clothes. Makes for
a good story....




This is how cute Matt and I looked a the wedding..











The night did not end so well for me. I fainted by the bar and apparently my forehead broke the fall. I was hauled off with an ambulance and got 10 stitches. The photo to the right is of miserable me in the ER after being stitched up. Matt was a sweetheart and held my had through most off it.. he did not enjoy watching the stitching part. I made it back to the after party and was able to tell everyone, including the couple, sorry for putting a damper on the party. This better be the last accident of the summer.... :)

Sunday after the wedding we went to Cedar Rapids and had lunch with Matt's sister, nephews and parents. It was nice, relaxed day. Today I was back at work again and we showed our apartment so keep your fingers crossed because hopefully, we will be able to sell the apartment soon.

This summer so far...

this summer did not turn out the way I wanted it. I had both surgery on my feet, and then 4 weeks ago I got a new ACL in my knee. I am doing a lot better, but it sure has been a ride..in a wheelchair, crutches, scooter etc.. but now I am walking and going to physical therapy so I will be running around in no time.. So with this said I have been watching a lot of movies and relaxed a lot this summer.

I just came back from watching the movie Sicko after work tonight. It was really an entertaining movie, but for me (being European and all..) it really did not inform me of anything that I already didn't know. I grew up with universal health care , long maternity leave, affordable daycare, free tuition to college, 6 weeks paid vacation etc etc... but I do think that it opened my husband's eyes a bit. It is always more trustworthy if you hear it from someone else than your wife =). My own experiences so far with the American health system has been great. I have gotten excellent, fast, care with lots of rehab and free physical therapy after my surgery. I think I am one of the lucky ones with health insurance that covers this, thanks to my employer. I decided to post a picture from one of the worst times this summer... a picture of my banged up feet right after the surgery... I just wanted to start with posting this to my first blog ever (!) since I really feel that things are just getting better each day and there is still at least the whole month of August to enjoy this summer.