Sandriux

Finally after a long wait, we get snow. They said there would be a storm on Saturday on the news.  Well, this is not the first time this winter that there are warnings without any results.  But yesterday it finally came at night. 

I actually went to play tennis a MATCH. My first match in two years, I brought Annika with me since it was scheduled at a difficult time, I had a Nanny watching her while I played.  It was an important match since the result decided if we went up a division or stayed where we are. I said I couldn't play singles since I haven't played in a year an a half, and my first court time was just last week. Even though I wasn't specially sore I thought it would be best not to push it.  But I did offer myself to play doubles with Maria.  Maria is a Swedish/Spaniard girl from my generation who played at a similar level as I did. So for us, when we get on the court its like old times.  I must say that its not easy to find a good doubles partner, but 2 years ago we played together a match and I felt great on the court with her. She is a very good doubles player and its like we speak the same "unspoken" language. I know that if we had met before, when we were both just playing tennis we would have been among the best in the world.  And I'm not exaggerating, we are both very stubborn and we move well. Jajaja, Anyway, "WOULD HAVE, COULD HAVE…." the time that doesn't exist, but now in the present we will pick it up after a couple of kids and enjoy ourselves on the court. I hope my children can watch me enjoy tennis and learn that sports are meant to be "PLAYED" "ENJOYED" in the PRESENT MOMENT. Just like the game of LIFE.

You would think that after this feeling on the court we won easy… but the truth is that we LOST!! IN 2 F… SETS! And I can say that yesterday the girls we played were better.  Hopefully we will meet them again once I can play a bit more and make those key points over the net and change the result to a win. It was actually a very close match. And sometimes luck is a good ally, but this time Luck was on the other side.  But I still came out with a smile on my face.  

However the last 10 minutes of the match I heard Annika and her lovely hysteric scream from across the hall…. It  was her time to go to bed. I still played my best  but we lost. I noticed that my eyes were not so great with the artificial light.  they start crying and I have to blink at key moments, like when I'm about to hit a volley.  I need to get used to that again.  But anyway, it was still fun.  Annika kept screaming and Rita (my nanny) was not able to go outside because the storm had started. 

I hate driving with a Snow Storm, cause I'm not so used to it, but sometimes you just do what needs to be done.  Plus the fact that (and this is a secret) "I DON'T HAVE A F… LICENSE", not Mexican, or Swedish. since I lost my wallet last year I haven't been to Mexico to replace my license, and getting a license here is a big project.  But I'm already beginning with this tedious project. 

It was a real storm and Daniel my other son came out with his snow racer as soon as it looked liked a snow might come over. yes, I am sure that Hakan and Daniel were the first ones out in the slope, when there was still no snow to go down to.  And when I got home, they were still out. It was so difficult to get Daniel back inside, he just wanted to play in the snow.  We had to promise that first thing in the morning he would be out with Daddy. And sure enough at 7am he was ready to go OUTSIDE!!!  they made it out around 9am which is still amazing. And now I'm quitting cause I want to get out there too… did I mention that I am just a kid inside as well????? I can't wait to get on the Snow Racer with Danny.

Today was my first day on the court.  It has been over a year, so I was so excited to get on the court that only putting on my tennis clothes was enough to get me in a good mood.   Yes, tennis is like riding a bike, once you've played it well, its there for the rest or your life.  It's so much mental, I know its all about attitude. If I'm thinking how lucky I am to be on the court once again, then I enjoy every second of it and life is good! If I start thinking that I need to play good, then the fun is gone.  So I've decided to enjoy every ball I get to hit. 

I step on the court, my knees are remembering that they can hurt too.  My inner thighs all of a sudden start jumping.  I now realize how much I get to use these muscles.  And the truth is after five months of giving birth for the second time, that's still the weakest part in my body. A big change from once having them very strong to feeling them shake after a light work out.  I've been to the gym now consistently, and I know that every time I work on my inner thighs I cry. I do some extra stretching, but not even that is enough against the "BIG BIRTH" It's getting better but I'm still far from being in the shape I once was.

Lupita is my mom, she has finally arrived.  She’s been here for almost two weeks and it has been great help.  Specially the first week, since I had quite bad contractions. I ended up in the hospital twice since she’s been here, first because we thought that the water had broken and they had to check.  The second time because I noticed that the baby was moving a lot less. But both times seemed to be OK.  So everything seems to be on track.  Now we have only two weeks left, and hopefully less.

My mom got here two weeks ago and at the beginning I must say it was very nice to see that Daniel remembers her like she was here yesterday.  They share such a nice relationship.  They sleep in the same room, because we think it’s best since later on when the next one comes she will sleep in our bedroom at the beginning. 

I think that pregnancy is such a big mental journey. Its to hard to describe, it has tested my patience. I’m so used to having lots of energy left and right, that when I try to do my life as usual I find myself dying of exhaustion and heat that I normally love is killing me.  I never thought I would complain about some heat in Sweden, I most say that this summer, I’ve been very happy those days that the wind blows nicely.  

My mom does lots of things with Daniel, she bonds with him so well.  I’m definitely very much like her.  When we are in the park I’m not the kind of mom that sits on the bench and watch her son from far.  Sometimes its true I like to observe, but since I take him to daycare during the mornings I don’t see the point of just sitting back and watching from far when its my big chance to play with him. Rolling over the sand and getting all wet is not a problem for me.  And of course I count with dirty pants every day.  I do have to do laundry every day.  But I think it’s so much fun.  I never thought I would enjoy being a mom so much.  Unfortunately my big belly is not always allowing me to do too much.  But soon I will be back on the sandbox and running all over Daniel. I can’t wait.  

Anyway, I’ve been observing my mom, and she is the same as me.  When she’s watching Daniel she’s actually playing with him wherever he is, no matter what he’s doing.  She’s on a bike, she’s running after the ball, she’s on the train…. etc, whatever…. of course she’s not 20 years old, and we take turns with Daniel, but even if its 20 minutes that I can rest and she can take over it makes the difference in the world.  Plus the fact that we get along so great that words are not needed in our relationship, all we need to do look at each other and we almost read our minds.  

So we went to Grönalund this weekend, which is a very well known park with rides in Stockholm.  Even though Daniel is a bit too small for it, we gave it a try.  There were only a couple of rides that he could do, but we did those a hundred times.  We did a couple of scary ones too, which I think they went ok, he didn't cry at least….

Hakan took him on his first Roller Coaster ride, yes I know… this is usually my department cause my husband doesn't like these things. But since I'm a bit fat, I don't think it's a good idea for me to go on one of those. He seemed to have a lot of fun and we had a good day all together.

We got to see Bob the builder, who seems to be very well known around here. All the kids were all over him. I actually think that is a good character to follow. I've seen one of his DVD'S  and I think its one of the few good cartoons for small kids.

I went with Daniel in the Veteran's Car, which an old car that he feels like he's driving.  Of course it's funny that the whole time I was talking to him, here is bla, bla bla… and all the pictures Håkan took are useless cause my mouth is always moving.  And when it's not moving.. guess what I'm doing? yes, fixing Daniel's hat or his jacket or something… can't a just shut up and let my son enjoy the ride?????jajaja, I guess I can't stop being a MOM!! 

Sorry for not writting too much lately but I guess it all has to do with two things. Number 1 I've been feeling so good lately that I've tried to be as active as possible. I've been working out and swimming. Also I've tried to keep Daniel one day a week at home. So I plan a long nice day with him, I've taken him to the Zoo, or to a different part of town to a new park etc.. I've been so excited about this weather, that I always think that if its a nice day I will try to keep Daniel with me at home. And this is what brings me to Number 2……The weather has been GREAT… SUMMER IS HERE!!! IN SWEDEN IN EARLY MAY!!! Hard to believe for an early May summer…. but yes, it's been beautiful everyday. So I've had no excuse to pick Daniel up late from daycare or not taking him to different places.

I've made a couple of really good friends around where we live, and we usually meet after daycare so that the kids can play. Here is Madeleine and her two daughters, Lizabella and Geraldine. She is from Panama, and is one of our very good friends. We have taken them to different parks so that they don't get too bored. Anyway, I must say that having friends is a blessing. And the best part is that even the husbands are getting along very good as well. They are scandinavian and they are married to latin american girls, so needless to say there is a lot in common among them. Even though us girls are personally very different. I guess that's what makes it interesting. We are getting to be a big family. I predict a wonderful summer, full of fun activities.

Last year we spent summer here and it seemed like we were left alone in Stockholm. All Swedes leave Stockholm during the summer, they all go to their summer houses or away somewhere. We normally take our vacations during the winter so summer we are left alone here. but now that we met two other families in the same spot as we are, well its great to know that we won't be the only ones.

Like I said already we are doing lots of stuff with the kids. Here is Camilla and Daniel on the bus, we are on our way to a fun park. They are obviously having fun even before we get there. Camilla is a year older than Daniel but they can still get along very well, she's almost like his big sister.

I first thought we should drive through Acapulco, but then my brother told me about this new road from Morelia to Ixtapa, so we decided to try it.  Apparently it’s supposed to take about the same time to drive, so it was just a matter of choice.  We drove first from Mexico City to Toluca, and from there we took a toll road to Morelia.  First I started driving but since I was supposed to have a stress free trip I asked my mom to give me a hand with the driving.  Håkan doesn’t like to drive in Mexico so I knew that option was out of the question.  My mom took the wheel in what is probably the worse part, which means a two lane road.  The road was very nice but it’s been a long time since she last drove one of these roads so she was driving very slow. 

My stress free trip started to get a bit more stressful by the minute.  I think even Håkan thought it was a bit ridiculous, so when I asked him if he would be willing to drive, he said YES!! Sure enough immediately we made up for some driving time, and things went smoothly.  We stayed in the very center of the city, it’s a beautiful city. The cathedral is a typical building found in the center of every city in Mexico.