Christmas Time is SO BUSY!
Tuesday 22nd - ROAD TRIP began!! Pam and I drove up to Jokkmokk (about a 6 hour drive) and spent a lovely evening with Miriam and her family. Miriam is a friend I met at church. Her father is American so it was fun to speak some USA talk!! It started with some home-made pecan pie and then american pancakes for breakfast! So nice!!
ROAD TRIP 09!!
Wednesday 23rd - Pam got to see her first reindeer ever when we walked over to Miriam's neighbors and spotted some! Then from there it was a 3 hour drive up to Jukkasjärvi to the ICE HOTEL!! Fun times for sure and something really spectacular to see!! So pretty but let me tell you...IT WAS COLD!
ABOVE THE ARTIC CIRCLE (220 km above)
SO MUCH ICE!!
Everything made of ice...inside.
Our room we slept in...-5 degrees. (23 F)
That night we went to a Suami traditional event...got to eat some typical Lapplandish food (including reindeer tongue), Joking (singing) and see the current Suami clothing. It was a fun experience!
Ice hotel in the day time...a little light for a little while.
Thursday 24th - 7 hour drive back to Umeå. We left the ice hotel around 10.00 and made it back by 5pm. I was soooooo exhausted from driving and not really sleeping so well the night before, I fell asleep about 8 and woke up around 10 the next day, over 12 hours. Haha, well I was finally rested up anyway!
Friday 25th - CHRISTMAS DAY!! Pam and I back in the car again, but not as far. We traveled down to Övik for fika with Sophia and her Övik friends. And then to Christian Hjort's house for some lunch. Came back to Umeå and continued with the tradition of dinner at the Hamre household...but no Julia this year. Kerstin made a wonderful dinner and we spent the evening relaxing, laughing, and having a great time!! Even talked to the family some while I was there! Then the night was spent with Jonas and some friends just hanging out.
Saturday 26th - Annandagen Pam and I made a Thanksgiving dinner for some of our Swedish friends. Sophia, Ann, Jonas, Mattias, Josefine, Oscar, Simon...made 9 of us total, came over for dinner! Pam and I spent most the day preparing the food, then finally in the evening we got to eat it. Afterwards we went out to Invito. Overall a great night...when we finally got in ;)
The classic pic!
Sunday-Wednesday 27-30th Christmas Basketball Camp - So now the past 3 days I have been coaching at our KFUM Christmas Basketball Camp with Pam and Tony. We have about 30 boys and girls participating in the camp ages 12-15. It's keeping me pretty busy 9am until 3.30pm. It's pretty fun to see all these kids having a fun time at the camp!! That's the best part!!
AND LASTLY!!! THE BEST FOR LAST!!
I went to the doctor today and she said I can FINALLY practice again!! So I'm back on the court and it feels great. My hand is a little stiff and sore, but it gets better each day!! So I have already participated in 2 practices and everything went okay so far! I'm looking forward to tonight's practice as well!! YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
WOAH that was a lot. I gotta run now...I HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GREAT CHRISTMAS!!
KRAM!
ICE HOTEL Here We Come!
This journey is going to a cold one I think...
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! I am really missing all my friends and family back home right now. Love you all!!
Time for bed...god natt!
More Time...More Waiting...
UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! It was such a great day yesterday with my hand...and then I got to the doctor today and she puts my hand in a cast. But hopefully this makes my hand heal faster now.
Good news...All the stitches are out of my hand.
Bad news...by my knuckle area, my incision has not healed right, and continues to produce an orange liquid. So the doc has put a cast over my fingers so I will not move that area and maybe that area can heal faster now. OH this is so frustrating. I went into this operation thinking I would only be out 2 weeks and miss one game. Now it has been 3 weeks...and another week of rest, and 3 games I have missed. This is one of the hardest things for me to do is sit out and watch. I WANT TO PLAY!
Tomorrow we have a match against Sundsvall. They have had a pretty great year so far, so they will be a tough team to beat. You never know in this league anymore though...so we will see! It's our last game before break.
SOOO much planned the next week during Christmas break...
Monday 21- Sophia and the swiss clan arrive to Umeå!! Airport and then SHOPPING!!
Tuesday 22 - Pam and I begin our travels North to Jokkmokk and stay with Miriam a night.
Wednesday 23 - ICE HOTEL (staying the night)
Thursday 24 - Travel back to Umeå
Friday 25 - Christmasfika in Övik with the Molins
Saturday 26 - Thanksgiving dinner with the Swedes
Sunday-Wednesday - BASKETBALL CAMP
Monday 28 - Practice begins and I better be practicing!!
Pretty busy schedule so far, the time is going to go by fast! Well I'm out for now. l hope everyone has a great weekend and GOOD LUCK in all your last matches before the break!
PEACE
Comet's Lucia!
Tonight was our annual JULFEST (xmas party) with the KFUM Umeå Comets!! Which included our annual LUCIA performed by the Damligan team! It was a lot of fun and once again we put on a good show I think!!!!
Pam, the selected Lucia this year!
Coach Tony in his little Star Boy outfit!!
Santa Claus!
Mila the Russian gingerbread man!
Me with the rest of the _________??? (forgot the name).
It turned out pretty great!! Good singing, a nice performance, great xmas fika, a parents vs. young girls team match, a competition of MJ Says, and godis fishing!! A great party with all the teams in the club (probably over 400 people) and a nice way to celebrate Christmas!!
AND now it is SNOWING...It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!!!
KRAM
It's Not a Tumor!
I had a doctor's appointment this morning and the results came back on the tissue....IT'S NOT A TUMOR! So they have now concluded that the infected fat tissue they removed from my hand came from repeated impact from an outside source (aka...basketball). So good news there! But unfortunately I am out another week and it isn't looking that great right now to play before the xmas break. SUCKS! The operation was a bigger procedure than they orginally planned, so that means longer recovery. They also believed to of removed all the "bad stuff" so I will NOT HAVE to operate again on my hand! But now I must continue to wait as my hand heals. Today they took out half of the stitches and the rest will be removed next week. It's still ozing some orange fluid but the doctor says that is normal. Once the swelling goes away, then it should stop. Here are some pictures of my hand 2 weeks after the surgery...
Tomorrow I am traveling with the team down to Stockholm. We play against 08 at 1pm. Then Pam, Julia and mysef will hangout and spend the evening with Jonas. Go out to dinner and just have a calm evening. It will be fun to spend some time Stockholm. We will then return Sunday around 1.30.
Tonight is the Idol final!! I will be rooting for Erik to win!! Kom igen Erik!!
I hope everyone has a great weekend!!
TGIF!
Julbord With the Team & KFUM
Tonight was julbord with the team at KFUM. Everyone associated with KFUM got together to celebrate Christmas time and eat julbord...swedish christmas table food.
Umeå Comets!! The team!
Julbord dinner...the team!
Americano Pam!
Lisa, Emma, Anna-Klara
Carro and Erika
Jo, Mila, and Pam
Sofia, Julia and Me
The food...
Great night with the team!!!
Yeah Comets!!
Update
For those of you that don't know by now, I under-went an operation on my hand almost a week and a half ago. I am still recovering but hopefully soon everything will be back to normal. They told me I would be out 2 weeks but it really depends on how my hand heals. I had an operation on the back of my right hand to take out some bad fat tissue that has been causing my hand to swell and bruise during the course of the year. They are also testing the tissue just to make sure it isn't anything serious, but the doctor is convinced the bad fat tissue came from playing basketball and a result from trauma (continual hitting of the hand while playing). The operation included a pretty long incession (spelling?) and 21 stitches total. I got some pretty nasty bruising also as a result but it's healing and that's the most important. So on Friday I am scheduled to remove the stitches and we will see from there. Hopefully I can start to workout some now, maybe ride the bike...so I won't be so extremely out of shape when I finally get to play again!! And hopefully this weekend I can get into the game!!
This Saturday we played a game vs. Luleå at home. I think the final score was 106-54 or something around there...anyway, we got beat by 50 pts. I had to sit and watch the game from the sideline and it was one of the hardest things I have had to do. We played pretty well at times, but we were really small and few. Mila also did not play because she was very sick the past week with Swineflu type symptoms. So we played with 6 players and you could tell we got tired. Pam had an amazing first half, scoring 25 pts!! She ended the game with 27. Aisling also played her butt off. It was her last game with us, she has gone back to Ireland now, and she ended it with a solid performance! I think we are right there, and with everybody...it's going to be better!!
On Sunday I traveled up to Luleå with the 95 girls to coach them in a game. We ended up winning 88-24!! That was pretty fun. Then it was back in the bus for 3 hours, home to Umeå.
Now I can honestly say I am exhausted!! I have no idea why because its not like I do a lot now...but maybe the fact that it gets dark at 2.00 might play a factor. Time for bed!!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!!
KRAM
New Hair Do!!
Today I got a new hair cutt!! What do you think?? Frida did a great job I think!! Nice to get my hair done finally!! So exciting!!
Pam's mom arrived here today. Nice to have another fellow american around, not to mention all the yummy treats she bought us! Tonight we had a fika at Julia's...some good stuff, including Julia's apple pie - MY FAVORITE!!
Tomorrow is FRIDAY!! What a fast week. I put up all the xmas decorations in my appartment, so it's starting to look a lot like Christmas!! I love it!!
Talk soon again!
Switzerland!!
I arrived in Zurich at 12.30. After getting lost in the airport for about 20 min, I finally found Sophia waiting for me!! We drove about an hour to her house and relaxed a bit to prepare ourselves for the SVENSK JULFIKA (Swedish Christmas fika) that evening. Mattias and Josefine came over for tacos before the rest of the swedish folk showed up. After dinner, we prepared the swedish fika...including glögg, julmust, saphrine buns, gingerbread cookies, gingerbread cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies, knack (caramel) and GODIS! Daniel, Linda, and Jens joined the crew. So there I was, one american with the 6 swedes. Anyway, it was a great evening and I really enjoyed the company!
Mattias, Josefine, Linda, Daniel, Jens and Sophia
Swedish fika!! Yeah we ate all that!!
SATURDAY
On Saturday, Sophia and I traveled to Solothurn, an old village just outside, about 15 min away from where Sophia lived. It was really pretty and right next to the Swiss Alps!! We went to an old church built in 1763, talk about old, and hung out for a bit just staring at the inside! Lot's of shopping there and cafes to fika. Sophia and I enjoyed a nice fika after a walk through the city.
St.-Ursen Kathedrale (1763)
Walking by the shops...
Taking a walk around the river...
What a view!
So beautiful with the mountains in the background...that's the church we were in earlier!
Me and my best!
FIKA with a glass of wine! :)
Gates to the city, anybody understand that sign, Switzerland represent!
Later that evening, Sophia made Vasterbotten paj and to enjoy with us was some more swedish folk. Cissi and Linnea ate dinner with us and then we traveled to watch Mattias play his innebandy match. They killed the team they played but it was really fun to watch Mattias play again, as well as Christoph and Mathias who are back with their old team. Wiler clearly dominated them, but I still enjoyed it!!
Mattias with Wiler!
Then after the match, it was party time at Sophia's house. The place was packed with Swedish, Czech, and Swiss innebandy players. Each country in a different room...haha!! Fun to see Patte and Alex again! I think Sophia counted about 50 people at the party! Now that's a lot!! It was a great get-together and fun to see people who I haven't seen in awhile.
I wish I would of taken more pictures but I was so focused talking to people I forgot!
SUNDAY
Sophia's friend Björn came to pick us up to take us to a fotball match. We went to a soccer match with 32,000 in the stadium. I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!! It was sooooooooooooo much fun!! I enjoyed it soo much and the atmosphere was great!! Young boys vs. Basel was a top match in the league...two teams at the top of the league. So the crowd was great....chanting and screaming the whole time!! Thanks Bjorn for the tickets!!
Later that night, Sophia and I met up with Josefine at her house for some dinner and a movie. Kebab pizza and Home Alone on tv...great night! It was a fantastic weekend with some great company!!
THANKS SOPHIA FOR A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!! I had so much fun and can't wait to come back!!
Well there it is!!!
