Tuesday night
Oct. 16th, 2002 12:45 amTimewasters--
I've been reading Caleyna's diary (there ya go, Carrie, doing my part to spread your ramblings to a larger audience). She linked to this game, Bookworm. So anyway, that's what Magnus and I have been doing for the last two days. Argh! I was sure I was safe, because I never get into games like this, but it turned out to be incredibly addictive. Hmm, guess I mentioned it in the last entry. But now you can all go play it too. :) I told Lisa about it and I think she's gotten the bug. hehe. I made myself close the window and stop playing so I could actually get something else done.
Daily news--
I made nonmicrowave popcorn tonight! For the first time ever! And it turned out all good and stuff! I was under the impression that it was hard to do, but it wasn't. My grandfather was at the ER this morning, but turned out to feel fine as the day went on and they tests came back okay, so that was definitely a good thing. More tests scheduled just as a precaution. Brad (15 year old cousin) came down to play Delta Force with Magnus, and I went to the parents for a few minutes and played with Krista (who was very happy to see me) and went to the grocery. Had dinner and Casey (other cousin, 10 or 11, I think) came and watched the game. Was afraid that would turn out troublesome.. there IS a third computer that theoretically he could have used, but it's mine, and I really really hate it when people other than Magnus touch it, and besides, I was planning on using it, and it's not installed here anyway. But he seemed content with just watching.
Musings--
Seems that people like to read about feelings. So tonight, as mentioned previously, I'll write about kids, and the interruption of any plans to move to Sweden.
I don't want to have children in Sweden. I don't particularly want to raise my children there. It's not that I don't like the country, or that I think that living there would deprive them of basic living necessities or anything. Lots of people raise normal human beings there, I just don't want to be one of them. People always think I'm off my rocker if I suggest this. Everyone knows that Sweden is the place for kids. "We treat them like small adults, with their own wants and needs!" they say. Personally, I don't really buy that, but it's not even the major problem I have.
I want to raise my kids near my family, for one thing. Yes, I realize that's selfish, considering the location of Magnus in relation to his family. No further rationale.
Secondly, I'm more than a little apprehensive about the actual childbirth proceedings in Sweden as compared to the US. From what I've been hearing--from pregnant ladies in Sweden--prenatal health care sucks, for the most part, compared to here. Less emphasis on precautions and tests, less emphasis on what the immigrant mother might want, and too much emphasis on whether or not they'll actually have a bed for you when you arrive. And furthermore, when I'm in significant amounts of pain, I want someone who'll speak my language.. literally.
The crime rates aren't even a factor to be considered. I live in a town of 20,000 (counting the entire county). Of course, there's crime.. but less than Stockholm, which is where we'd be living. Pollution.. less. Stress.. less. Water purity.. okay, not as good here, but they do sell filters. ;)
My county was recently named one of the top 100 school districts in the country. If something bad happens to someone, other people try to help. I know my neighbors.. or if I don't, my parents do. Or my aunt, or uncle, or grandparents. The cost of living is low. It's a nice place. I'm not a great fan of large cities (though I'm not completely against them or anything either.)
Anyway, that's a brief explanation of why the childbearing years will (if all goes as planned) be spent in the US. And of course, if possible you don't want to move them to another country while they're in school.. etcetera. That just leaves now. I'm 23. Our original plan was to have kids in around five more years. I think we'll be ready before that now, but not this year or anything. So essentially, if we move to Sweden, it needs to be now. Only right now, we don't have a job, a place to live, and nor do we have the spare cash to ship our stuff in the hopes that everything turns out the way we want. And assuming that we DID move to Sweden. What then? When the rabbit dies, we quit our jobs and run back here, with no income?
We're too practical to want to make such a change for the fun of it. I think it'd be great to live abroad for a year or two.. but then I'd want to come home. I had a great time when I was there for two and a half months. But I'm prone to homesickness, and Magnus is not. This is his home, in all the ways that matter.
So that's the gist of it. I found it very interesting that only one person asked us what our kidplans were while we were in Sweden in May. I figured that there would be more--we'd been married for nearly two years and Magnus is approaching 30. (I don't think most of his friends and such realize that I'm five years younger than him.) Maybe they were just being less nosy than my family. Maybe it's a cultural thing. Maybe no one cares. I don't know.
I've been reading Caleyna's diary (there ya go, Carrie, doing my part to spread your ramblings to a larger audience). She linked to this game, Bookworm. So anyway, that's what Magnus and I have been doing for the last two days. Argh! I was sure I was safe, because I never get into games like this, but it turned out to be incredibly addictive. Hmm, guess I mentioned it in the last entry. But now you can all go play it too. :) I told Lisa about it and I think she's gotten the bug. hehe. I made myself close the window and stop playing so I could actually get something else done.
Daily news--
I made nonmicrowave popcorn tonight! For the first time ever! And it turned out all good and stuff! I was under the impression that it was hard to do, but it wasn't. My grandfather was at the ER this morning, but turned out to feel fine as the day went on and they tests came back okay, so that was definitely a good thing. More tests scheduled just as a precaution. Brad (15 year old cousin) came down to play Delta Force with Magnus, and I went to the parents for a few minutes and played with Krista (who was very happy to see me) and went to the grocery. Had dinner and Casey (other cousin, 10 or 11, I think) came and watched the game. Was afraid that would turn out troublesome.. there IS a third computer that theoretically he could have used, but it's mine, and I really really hate it when people other than Magnus touch it, and besides, I was planning on using it, and it's not installed here anyway. But he seemed content with just watching.
Musings--
Seems that people like to read about feelings. So tonight, as mentioned previously, I'll write about kids, and the interruption of any plans to move to Sweden.
I don't want to have children in Sweden. I don't particularly want to raise my children there. It's not that I don't like the country, or that I think that living there would deprive them of basic living necessities or anything. Lots of people raise normal human beings there, I just don't want to be one of them. People always think I'm off my rocker if I suggest this. Everyone knows that Sweden is the place for kids. "We treat them like small adults, with their own wants and needs!" they say. Personally, I don't really buy that, but it's not even the major problem I have.
I want to raise my kids near my family, for one thing. Yes, I realize that's selfish, considering the location of Magnus in relation to his family. No further rationale.
Secondly, I'm more than a little apprehensive about the actual childbirth proceedings in Sweden as compared to the US. From what I've been hearing--from pregnant ladies in Sweden--prenatal health care sucks, for the most part, compared to here. Less emphasis on precautions and tests, less emphasis on what the immigrant mother might want, and too much emphasis on whether or not they'll actually have a bed for you when you arrive. And furthermore, when I'm in significant amounts of pain, I want someone who'll speak my language.. literally.
The crime rates aren't even a factor to be considered. I live in a town of 20,000 (counting the entire county). Of course, there's crime.. but less than Stockholm, which is where we'd be living. Pollution.. less. Stress.. less. Water purity.. okay, not as good here, but they do sell filters. ;)
My county was recently named one of the top 100 school districts in the country. If something bad happens to someone, other people try to help. I know my neighbors.. or if I don't, my parents do. Or my aunt, or uncle, or grandparents. The cost of living is low. It's a nice place. I'm not a great fan of large cities (though I'm not completely against them or anything either.)
Anyway, that's a brief explanation of why the childbearing years will (if all goes as planned) be spent in the US. And of course, if possible you don't want to move them to another country while they're in school.. etcetera. That just leaves now. I'm 23. Our original plan was to have kids in around five more years. I think we'll be ready before that now, but not this year or anything. So essentially, if we move to Sweden, it needs to be now. Only right now, we don't have a job, a place to live, and nor do we have the spare cash to ship our stuff in the hopes that everything turns out the way we want. And assuming that we DID move to Sweden. What then? When the rabbit dies, we quit our jobs and run back here, with no income?
We're too practical to want to make such a change for the fun of it. I think it'd be great to live abroad for a year or two.. but then I'd want to come home. I had a great time when I was there for two and a half months. But I'm prone to homesickness, and Magnus is not. This is his home, in all the ways that matter.
So that's the gist of it. I found it very interesting that only one person asked us what our kidplans were while we were in Sweden in May. I figured that there would be more--we'd been married for nearly two years and Magnus is approaching 30. (I don't think most of his friends and such realize that I'm five years younger than him.) Maybe they were just being less nosy than my family. Maybe it's a cultural thing. Maybe no one cares. I don't know.