From All Of Us…

…to all of you:

Merry Christmas!

Here’s my sister, telling us all to gather around the table. We’ve been cooking, slicing, dicing and carrying on all day – and I’m famished!

Mixed Bag

Another cold and clear day. Ostersund is situated on the shores of a rather large lake surrounded by low mountains. This was the view this morning around 10 AM just as the sun reached over the crest of the mountains…

Still a few odds and end to do before we go into full celebration-mode tomorrow on Christmas Eve when we’ll have dinner together…

This from where my niece goes to take care of someone’s horse (and gets to ride it “for free”). The idea was that I would take a bunch of pictures in that area, but my car got the hiccups and had to be towed from there. Luckily, my brother-in-law could help me out and will also fix the (omitted) beast once it has thawed out.

Winter Solstice

This is what it looked like at noon yesterday on the shortest day of the year. The trip down here was OK -but I miss my own PC!It took me too much time to get this picture in place!

Happy Birthday

31 years ago today, I gave birth to my son.  It doesn’t at all feel that long ago – but I guess I have to accept it since the truth is staring me in the face. This is one of my favourite pictures from his childhood. I can still hear his giggles – he was a very happy little guy.

Flowers!

Hey! Who can say I don’t have a green thumb!

This is the second year in a row my cactus has been in bloom. It never happened in the 10 years I lived with my ex…

Also – today I was asked by a student “Didn’t you have cancer a few years ago?”                           Which is when I realised that the 2-year anniversary of my rather major lung operation has come and gone. If memory serves me right, I was operated on the 10th of December and by today 2 years ago, I was at home – weak and sore all over. What a difference to today! This afternoon I went for a long walk with Loki along some snowmobil trails on the outskirts of town. I found a whole new area where I can take him for runs without having to deal with half a dozen other dogs and their owners. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t mind Loki meeting other dogs but I do prefer letting him romp around in the snow on his own.

In any event – two years ago today getting to the bathroom was a majoir undertaking – today I trudge along in 5 cm of powder on a skidoo track and am not even winded.

I am blessed.

‘Twas the Week Before…

… Christmas week – and I’m going batty, nuts, squirley – take your pick!

A last batch of tests with my Grade 9’s and some student papers submitted late to grade before I need to submit my on USB with the grades for 50+ students. That has to be done no later than Friday – which is the same day as I have to be finished with a major report to be sent to The National Statistics Center. I’ve been working on that blasted thing for the last month but the due date sort of snuck up on me…

Oh yes – and then there’s that other small matter:

Christmas!

Good thing I’m not in charge of the Christmas tree this year, or it might have ended up looking like this. I’m leaving all of that to my sister and her family, as I’ll be spending the holidays with them as well as my brother and his family. That is – provided I make it there… The Weather Services are talking about snowstorms and the like for the coming weekend and I have 500 km to drive…

Christmas Meme

My blogger friend KC  over here has saved me a few times earlier with a meme…

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

Egg Nog – any time. The non-alcoholic one is OK any time , one laced with a wee bit of Rum is just right as a night cap.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
As long as there are children around all presents have to be wrapped.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
When I was a child, we lit the candles on the tree after supper on Christmas Eve while waiting for Santa to arrive. I can still see how the lights reflected in the little brass holders that were fastened on the branches… The candles were allowed to burn until my parents had drank their coffee and then lit again on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.  So, white lights on the tree and a strand of little LED-lights around the living room window. Generally, I’m not much for decking the house from one end to the other with lights (call me cheap) but what I’d like is to once again have a tree with real candles.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No, it’s not a part of our traditions.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
The Christmas Star goes up in the window on the first Sunday of Advent, as does the 5-armed candle holder.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
Smoked Salmon.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
When I got my first pair of new skis – not hand-me-downs from older cousins. What joy!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I was poking around in the attic for something when I found the mask, a gunny sack and an old coat in a dresser drawer. That happened the spring I turned 6 and I felt totally cheated by my parents – but I didn’t tell them about my “find”… Not until shortly before Christmas that year, when Mom admonished me to be good, if I wanted any presents. That’s when I told her I knew Santa was just a  big fat lie.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yes, all of them.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
White lights, some brass ornaments from Denmark, shiny baubles in different colours and some angels that have been around for a long time.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Can’t do much about it – but a Christmas without snow would feel really strange.

12. Can you ice skate?
I prefer not to. I was never any good at it and the ice seems to be further away now than when I was younger… It’s as if I’ve grown taller, or…

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Those skis I wrote about earlier.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Spending time with family.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
By the time dessert is on the table, I’m too stuffed. I’m not big on sweets at any time – even less so at Christmas.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Good food shared with family and friends.

17. What tops your tree?
A star.

18. Which do you prefer: Giving or Receiving?
Giving – nothing beats finding that special gift for someone – something they never thought they’d receive as a gift. It doesn’t have to be expensive because it’s the thought behind that people will remember for years.

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?
Not my favourite.

20 Favorite Christmas Show?
Swedish National TV always shows an hour-long program with excerpts from Walt Disney movies. Mickey Mouse, Chip & Dale, Donald Duck and Cinderella are a must for young and old while waiting for dinner to be served.

21. Saddest Christmas Song?
Don’t think I have one…

22. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Silent Night. I’ve heard it sung in many languages and the version that still sends shivers down my spine is sung by a choir from Greenland.

Reader Questions

My post from the other day gave rise to a few more questions, which I will endeavour to answer as fully as possible.

KC- I’ve been trying to figure out how the authorities were thinking when they decided there was “no armed conflict” going on in Iraq. I have friends deployed there right now and I know their tour in Iraq is no holiday. Some of them may not make it back Stateside alive – but Swedish Migratory Authorities still maintain that it’s safe to send back minors to the country. I can’t make these two pictures come together – but maybe I’m just stupid.

Given a choice, I’m sure most of these kids wouldn’t leave their homes and families behind and embark on a dangerous journey through strange countries. Most often they are in the hands of smugglers who see them as commodities to be freighted from point A to B at a price (average cost is reportedly $7,000 and up) – with no gurantees what so ever that they will actually make it to their destination. I can’t even begin to imagine how their families feel when they have made the decision to send their 14 year-old to another country under those circumstances.

Laurie – Once they arrive in Sweden they are initially housed in so called Transit Centers until they can be placed in a home run by a county somewhere. The Transit Centers are supposed to be a short-term and temporary solution, but that doesn’t always work. Of 290 counties more than a hundred are not accepting refugees (some of their reasons NOT to makes my blood boil!!!) so some of these children end up living in TC’s for months on end. Once they have been assigned to a county they are housed along with other refugee children in a home with staff present around the clock. Ours, Pangea, used to be dormitory for children who lived too far from town to go by bus (in the 50’s and 60’s) – then used as daycare during a number of years before it was renovated to become home for 20 youths.  In other places they have converted apartments and other buildings, owned by the counties, for the same use.  After they have received permanent status and turned 18, they are allowed to move out on their own. They still get some assistance from the county, but nothing much more than what a Swedish youth will get when moving from their parents.

Good News – Maybe

Here’s something to be thankful for – I think the lawyer assigned to –W- must be one of the better ones in the Migration racket. Yes, I’m calling the handling of refugees and asylum seekers a racket, but not for the reasons you may think. More about that later.

We had a lengthy talk with the lawyer over the phone yesterday (an interpreter was present in his office) and today I received a copy of the preliminary appeal. When I read the decision by the Migration Board, I literally drowned in their rather convoluted explanations as to on what grounds they had made their decision to deport –W-.

Once the lawyer had peeled off all of that, there wasn’t a whole lot of substance to the 9 pages of officialese. Instead, it became painfully obvious how weak their arguments were, especially since later reports from various agencies clearly refute some of the “findings” they based their decision on.

A stateless person is under no circumstances welcome back to the country where –W- lost his parents and spent 5 years in an orphanage, and most certainly NOT someone of Palestinian ethnicity.

Although this country has ratified various agreements forbidding torture and racial persecution that is by no means a guarantee that these agreements are enforced by national authorities.

They have even ratified the UN children’s convention – but that does in no way guarantee that it is being honoured on any level of society. (indeed, Sweden is also a signatory to that convention, but we deport children to countries like Iraq, Yemen and Libya.)

Our hope now is that the Migration Court will see things differently than what the Board did. They do review cases from a different point of view than what the Migration Board does. Their mandate is to follow the letter of the law and the decisions are taken by persons trained in law.

Why do I think Migration is a racket? Well, I still can’t shake this nagging suspicion that –W- was denied permanent status as part of a drive to fulfill some quota or other… Much like there is a whole lot of sobriety controls along the roads when the police need to up their numbers of drunk drivers caught…

Bad Friday

… or maybe I should call it a bad week.

Yesterday I was given the official word that my job in administration is no longer. The county is going through a major re-organisation of the entire administration and my 50% is one of the positions that will be cut. I’ve sort of expected it for some time – but it still hurts, and I really question the wisdom in making it effective as of year-end. You’d think we’d be given the chance to at least finish the fiscal year before this change in staffing is made, but no.

This doesn’t mean that I’m out of a job as I still am employed by the county – just that I’ll be moved to something else. I have already talked to the principal and there is a possibility that I’ll be working with special needs students – at least during the coming semester.

Can’t quite decide if I should be happy or not…