I will stop beginning my post with it has been a long time since I have updated. I know this already. And so do you, the few committed readers who read my journal 🙂

Suffice it to say that it has been a crazy time since I returned from my holiday in the USA. It was a nice time with family, and a nice time hanging out with Steve.

I arrived on Wednesday in Stockholm, just had enough time to get a shower, and then I had to go to Copenhagen to meet with my manager. Things changed at work in the since that they announced a new organisation, but so far I am not affected. If anything the role I play is strenghtened and that is a good thing. I can now work more directly with the people that I think I can add the most benefit to.

I have been in Copenhagen every week since I got back. I was supposed to travel less in the summer, but fate will have none of that. Last week I was in Copenhagen was nice because I got to meet Joachim before he went traveling to do orchestra concerts, and I got to meet Casper which was nice. And Evelyn made me cookies. Over the weekend I hung out with Sait and Fredrick as Markus was away. And I got to meet up with Nikolaj before we went on his concert in Croatia.

This week in Copenhagen I focused on work, and there was a lot of it. And there is even more work to come. I need a vacation to recover from these 2 crazy weeks since I have been back 🙂

Came back from Copenhagen after a very nice 2 days there. Stayed in last night to relax. WOke up early today and now I am in the mood to dance and party all day! Woo Hoo!

And I love this remix of Check On It I am listening to.

Thanks sjneedham for the awesome CDs

I am delayed in Atlanta today.  After a nice and relaxing weekend without stress, my return trip to Boston is filled with stress.  They cancelled my flight due to weather and then didn’t bother to try and re-book me on any later flight.  If I hadn’t asked about my arrival time I would have never even known.  I am not so concerned about myself getting to Boston as I am about my bags.  If Delta couldn’t be bothered to understand that I was a paying full-fare passenger on their plane, why would they bother to give a shit about my bags?

Today was the pride parade.  I’ve had a few drinks 😉

It was a really good time out and a great experience.  It was nice to share it with Steve and his friends.  Here are some teaser pictures, and of course, the complete listing of pictures can be found on my fotki website dedicated to Atlanta Pride 2006! 🙂

Baton Bob…he’s a local legend

Mike riding Gracie.  Apparently us humans were not hot enough 😉

The other Mike and Patrick.  Mike is in a towel.  Well, it was wet outside 😉

Jim.  Super Cute 😉

Tonight we are going to stop by a friend’s place for pre-party drinks and then go to the Tea Dance.  A good time should be had by all 😉

I promised a more detailed posting on the dogs in the apartment.  There were three dogs in the apartment, but not all are Steve’s because he was dog-sitting for a neighbor who went on holiday.

Steve actually has only one dog, her name is Gracie.  Gracie is a lot of fun and she actually makes me want to have a dog, but only if the dog were as cute and well-behaved as her.

Gracie is very energetic and playful.  She’s a pretty smart dog, but when compared to the other dogs, she ranks right in the middle.  She likes attention a lot.  One of the other dogs likes attention more, so she upstages Gracie at every opportunity.  But I love me some Gracie. 🙂

The next pooch is Ariel.  Ariel is quite simply crazy.  She eats anything on the floor that she things might make it through her digestive track.  Including rocks.  Her and Gracie are friends and rivals at the same time, and they play with each other a lot.

Yes the picture is not that great, but Ariel won’t sit still.  And Ariel likes giving kisses, all over your face. And arms.  And everywhere.  She’s a very affectionate dog.  She also barfs a lot (due to eating things that were not meant to be eaten).  But she is so nice and friendly.

Finally, there is Daphne.  She is way too sophisiticated to play and be bothered with Gracie and Ariel.  And she likes giving kisses as well.  Only her kisses are directed right on the lips.  Daphne has more strength than it looks likes.  She managed to pin my down and give me kisses for 5 minutes.  She coordinated the kissing attack with Ariel, who sat on my legs as I was lying down so that I could not easily move.

She is adorable.  But runs in traffic when approached by humans until she gets to know them.  But she is smart.

Oh well, just wanted to make a quick post.  Steve is bitching we have to get to Pride Park.  Before the world ends 🙂

Yeah, so it’s 11.19 in Central Europe and 05.19 where I am in Atlanta.  I am so wired for sound that I can sleep. That and the dogs have taken over the couches.

I arrived into Atlanta today and met Steve at the airport.  It is always good to see Steve, and a very fun weekend has been organised from what I can tell.  Tonight Manny Lehrman played at WetBar and it was a great night.  The music was terrific and the crowd was mostly okay.  Got a bit too crowded and drunk in the end, but when you live in Sweden you are used to these things.

But still, we decided to call it a night at 02.30 and then we came back and chatted for awhile and now I am still awake.  Steve is trying to sleep and is watching some tele.  Steve’s flat is really nice.  If I were to live in Atlanta, I would live in midtown.

Steve has a dog, Gracie, but he is dog-sitting two other dogs as well..Daphne and Ariel.  I will save you the long stories until I take some pics of them.

But for now, I just need to make myself tired so that I can get some rest.  Tomorrow is another great party day out.

Hugs to everyone 🙂

So on Wednesday I went home to the family compound.  I saw my mother, my 2 sisters, my step-dad, my aunt, and 2 nieces and a nephew.  It was nice to see them all.  And of course, I saw April (one of two ofour huge dogs, King was sleeping in the bed and refused to move), and the 4 cars (two of which are super cute kittens only a week old).

We were chatting and talking and talking and chatting for so long that we lost track of time.  Finally we just decided on chinese food for dinner…hahaha…

I spent a large part of the day in my storage locker in Quincy, trying to figure out what I would move to Sweden later in the year once I had my own place.  I chatted with the loan officer on Monday to get a sense of how much money I would be able to get.  She’ll come back to me next week.  I will then spend a good part of the summer looking for a place to move into by September.  I am looking for a place where not much needs to be done in terms of renovation, but in Sweden, most apartments get renovated.  I might start out my not renovating at all and just leaving the renovation for my second flat.  At any rate, it means for trip back up here in November to organise movers and a second shipment of stuff.

I also managed to figure out what I would like to throw away from Storage, and a lot of storage is already empty in fact.  I have a box, boxes of books and other materials, and some papers and files in “long-term” storage.

Finally, I there were a bunch of things I just figured I would give to my family.  So I gave them my DVD player, expresso maker and coffee grinder, some kitchen items, portable stereo, some computer equipments and pretty much everything electronic.  I can’t use it for Sweden.  Today I will bring them a lamp…and maybe some other things.

From my personal collection, I managed to find my rolex watch I thought I lost, a car adapter for my US phone (comes in handy just now), and I think I will take back with me some expresso and coffee glasses which can be used immediately at my flat (more stylish).

Oh well, now I am tired.  And I have promised to make the family dinner tonight.  For 8 people.  Whee!

I have been back less than 24 hours, but here are some thoughts:

• Most American television still sucks in general
• PBS television rocks
• Jet lag still manages to get the best of me
• I have so many errands to get through today and tomorrow, I hope that I can complete most of them…
• I am excited to go visit my family tonight and tomorrow night
• I am also excited for the weekend

Well I figured that it was time for an in-flight update, especially as I
have not done one of these in-flight updates in a very very long time.
Going to the US I had decided to upgrade my flight from economy class to
business class, mostly because I need to use up the points before I lose
them anyway.  So from my perspective, it was a no-brainer and the number of
points to use was only 10,000. On the return trip home, when I need the
upgrade the most, it won’t be possible because I am flying Finnair from
Boston to Stockholm in a direct flight. But I am rather happy that an air
company has decided to start flying that direct route. No airport
transfers and I get the entire day in Boston as the flight leaves at 22.00
or something like this.

Now that I am in flight, I am excited to be heading back to Boston.  Of
course, I am on my third glass of champagne and about my 6th drink, so that
might also have something to do with how I feel, but I can’t really be
certain 😉

It will be nice to see family tonight if I am not too tired.  But I am
still staying at a hotel.  It is for their own sanity and mine.  I don’t
want to go into all of the reasons that a hotel is the right decision, but
it just is the best thing to do.  The primary reason being space
considerations.  I can hack 3 days in a hotel before staying with Steve and
gracie for a weekend.  And then maybe for the last couple of days I will
stay with my family.  Or actually the last night.  Maybe I will make them
dinner.  We’ll see.

At Heathrow airport I was naughty…there was a Bollinger Grand Cuvee that
just screamed to be purchased.  It even comes in a glass case.  It was
begging to be purchased and I had no choice.  So I took advantage of it.  I
also bought some batteries because you know, one can never have enough
batteries 😉  And even on the flight there are some things in duty free
that I want to buy that I can’t get in Sweden.

On the AA flight itself the airlines staff is nice enough.  The staff comes
around with loads of drinks.  And they knows I like champagne. This trip I
will try and take some more pictures of Boston and Atlanta and introduce
everyone to the cast of characters. But for now, there are 4.5 hours left
to get to Boston, and I have 3 hours to sober up so that I can drive.
Wheee! 😛

I got up at 04.20 this morning to begin the long haul to Boston. At least at the moment I am sitting in the Finnair Lounge waiting for my flight. And to make matters worse, I didn’t even get buy any champagne here in Stockholm because they no longer carry Cristal or Dom Perignon. Maybe at the airport in London if I have time…

At least I managed to buy a box of Finlandia vodka chocolates (no Steve you can’t eat 45 of them), and some Swedish t-shirts for when I am outside of Sweden. And that entitled me to a free Arlanda Airport beach towel. Hee.

Anyway, type more if I get an opportunity. I’m on vacation for the week. That means that I refuse to answer my work mobile phone immediately, e-mail is just a distant memory, and I will try and relax even though my schedule is packed!

Ciao bello!