Later we drove to Helsingborg so I could visit a wonderful organic (ecological) shop called GOODNESS on Drottingsgatan, owned by an English woman who used to live in California! (Thank you Wiveka for the information where to find her!) I bought my first WHEAT GRASS SHOT, mixed with a bit of apple juice. YUMMY! No kidding! She offered me some other healthy tips for my liver as well as answered all my questions about growing our own wheat grass. (It's almost ready to harvest!) I will be back to visit her shop with more money in my pocket! (She sells organic cleaning supplies as well as food products and clothes, make up, etc.) Thank you, Kelly Sue for a great kidnapping! Just my speed at this moment! 
I LOVE spring in Sweden...the flower shops spill out onto the sidewalks in all shades of green and bits of the rainbow! 
When I came home there were a few surprises waiting....My Dad was finishing up a new fence around my little herb garden! I doubt there are any rabbits or hares that can get by this fence! Soon I can plant kitchen herbs, lettuce, and a few flowers to attract the bees and butterflies! The other surprise I will show you tomorrow....Bo is making more advances on the bathroom project! 
Today was Maya's last day of swim class until the summer. She's on the left with the cute new BIKINI that she got on her birthday...it's a size 7, a little big so it didn't really cover her correctly. She was SO pleased that André the scuba suit cutie instructor noticed her pretty new suit! (André is Maya's official first crush! Perhaps it is André but it could also be the scuba suit!) 
Mormor (Polly, my mom) put on her suit to continue swimming with Maya after the class and diploma ceremony was over. Yeah, Mormor! I sat around the side of the pool and talked & talked with my friend, Maria (Jakob's mommy...he's the one with the snorkling gear on). Maria asked Jakob what he was going to look at in the pool with his goggles on...he replied "I'm going to look at Maya's Mormor underwater!" (We had a jolly chuckle over this at dinner time...told Dad that Mom was still being checked out by the boys!) Anyway, my talk with Maria was much needed...our children have been friends since babyhood and they are in the same class together at school. Talking about life's OTHER worries and wonders was excellent therapy for me! Thank you, Maria! We should do that more often like we used to...the stories you tell me about your children always make me laugh! At the end of the swim time, we practically had to drag Jakob and Maya out of the sauna...what a pair of chatter boxes! Ah....wouldn't have anything to do with their mothers, would it? I must tell you all about the evening Jakob told his parents about my illness. (Maya had told him at school that I had a "klumpen i rumpan" and the poopies couldn't get out.) Some time after he told his parents about this, they were sitting at the dinner table and Jakob had a very pensive look on his face, playing with his fork with one hand, rubbing his chin with the other...deep in thought. They asked him what he was thinking about. He answered, "There must be a way to fix Carol's problem. If only a gate could be made to let the poopies out another way!" I told Maria that Jakob has taken his first step into becoming a medical engineer! What a love! Thinking about how to solve one of my problems! Jakob is already an accomplished carpenter with his own shop! Thanks Jakob! Maybe one day you'll be 'fixing' people! I'd be so proud!****************************
One last thing, because I've been thinking about it a lot today. I'll be honest, I couldn't relax during my nap because I was crying about all the people I KNOW AND LOVE who smoke.
If you are a smoker, PLEASE STOP! I don't care if you "just smoke at parties", or "at the bus stop", or "one a night on the balcony", or "just to release stress". Because CANCER doesn't give a shit WHY you smoke or WHEN you smoke or even HOW long you've been smoking. That smoke you pull willingly into your body KILLS, DAMAGES and RUINS your health! It CREATES a MONSTER inside you...a monster that you can't touch or grab and yank back out the same way you put it in there! I used to smoke "just at parties" and "just to release stress". I quit over 10 years ago when I got serious with Bo (xo). Thank God I did because who knows what other kinds of cancer I'd have now! I'm telling you NO STRESS in your life can cause the same pain, despair and fear that cancer causes in your life! If you don't stop for yourself...STOP for the people you LOVE and the ones who LOVE YOU! Believe me....you don't want to be in the same situation I'm in right now. I don't think my cancer is smoking related but it could have something to do with why my body was weaker for the cancer to take hold. Buy yourself a package of chewing gum, life savers, whatever...start walking away the stress....ANYTHING to avoid smoking! PLEASE!
I love too many of you who still smoke....
and you know EXACTLY WHO I AM WRITING ABOUT!
So STOP NOW!
********* This rant was brought to you by the Cancer Research Foundation which has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that SMOKING causes Cancer! *************
One last thing, because I've been thinking about it a lot today. I'll be honest, I couldn't relax during my nap because I was crying about all the people I KNOW AND LOVE who smoke.
If you are a smoker, PLEASE STOP! I don't care if you "just smoke at parties", or "at the bus stop", or "one a night on the balcony", or "just to release stress". Because CANCER doesn't give a shit WHY you smoke or WHEN you smoke or even HOW long you've been smoking. That smoke you pull willingly into your body KILLS, DAMAGES and RUINS your health! It CREATES a MONSTER inside you...a monster that you can't touch or grab and yank back out the same way you put it in there! I used to smoke "just at parties" and "just to release stress". I quit over 10 years ago when I got serious with Bo (xo). Thank God I did because who knows what other kinds of cancer I'd have now! I'm telling you NO STRESS in your life can cause the same pain, despair and fear that cancer causes in your life! If you don't stop for yourself...STOP for the people you LOVE and the ones who LOVE YOU! Believe me....you don't want to be in the same situation I'm in right now. I don't think my cancer is smoking related but it could have something to do with why my body was weaker for the cancer to take hold. Buy yourself a package of chewing gum, life savers, whatever...start walking away the stress....ANYTHING to avoid smoking! PLEASE!
I love too many of you who still smoke....
and you know EXACTLY WHO I AM WRITING ABOUT!
So STOP NOW!
8 comments:
A belated Happy Birthday to Maya!! Sounds like a great day for her.My mother's name was Marie but her family always called her Maja....is that pronounced the same as Maya? I can envision your wonderful outing today. We were in Sweden in May and I remember all the flowers in Helsingborg and around...huge plantings of daffodils and blue pansies.
Your posts have been so inlightening about so many aspects of your type of cancer. I'm hoping anyone who has the same symptoms as you had will skidattle over to their doctor. You are doing a great service with your "tell it like it is" posts. And smoking...I've got 2 granddaughters who smoke with parties and stress also. I'm going to introduce them to your blog.
I'm curious about your wheat grass. Do you just plant wheat and when it is so many inches high cut it and blend it into a drink?
You are in my thought and prayers every day. May you feel God's loving arms around you.
Nice day...glad you had such a good one. I was very impressed with the garden fence. It did not look like an something an anthropologist could do..don't the just study how people make fences? When did your Dad become a carpenter. Tell your parents "hi" from a g'ville girl who remembers them very fondly.
Great kidnapping. You need a change in scene when you've been cooped up for a long time. And cheers to the stop smoking rant. I quit 17 years ago after smoking a pack or more a day for 8 years(I started in Peru). It was hard, but I'm so glad I did it and stuck to it.
Hi,
I wrote to Kelly Sue on facebook and reminded her of that time, not so long ago when we kidnapped her!
What a lovely day for you! Getting out and seeing the springtime and change of scenery are good therapy!
You have developed beautiful friendships all over the world and we are all supporting your every move (and due to your candidity on the blog, your bowel movements too)! How fortunate you are to have Kelly Sue and your family there when we can't be.
Love you lots,
Lor
Well Carol as Neitha reminded me, that kidnapping was the best ever so I am so glad to offer a "turnabout is fairplay" one for you. Whenever you are ready for another kidnapping, I'm your girl. Love you!
To continue on your oh-so-important rant: My wonderful father died 2 years ago in 45 days from lung cancer...my mother smoked until Christmas 1985 (the year I moved away to do my Master's degree - it was my Christmas present). I begged her for years to stop "I only smoke after a meal....". I agree, dad was probably pre-exposed to some cancer-causing factors through his work but I can't get out of my mind that mum smoked for over 50 years and dad was exposed to all that second-hand smoke (now I work to stop carcinogens from entering the airshed). Mum always said that she was only hurting herself....NOT TRUE. Now mum is 81 and alone as we live 6 hours away and she hasn't seen my kids since last July as we just can't get to her in the winter.
So happy you were kidnapped - and had such a good chat with a friend. Keep that 02 flowing!!!!
Hugs, Gail
It sounds like you had a good day. You need those.
I quit smoking August 18th, 2002. I don't miss it. and now that I don't I realize how much it stinks. Yucko.
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