The grill

Can't beat $88 at Lowe's, right Dad? A couple of tuna steaks doesn't hurt either.

Abandoned

My children does not want to spend tonight at home. I am heartbroken and excited at the same time. Let me explain.

Marta and the kids went to grandma and grandpa's to do some craft stuff, most likely holiday stuff and yes, I did listen very carefully when they told me ( I called and said where are you and apparently they all ready told me) what they where doing. Anyhow, after me freaking out coming home at 7.00pm finding the house empty, my children, I repeat MY children, has the nerve to tell mom; Adiosch. (Fia's saying if you didn't get it).

Well, taking up on the opportunity, I pack the bag with clothes and pj's thinking that it will be a Honey I love you night. Wrong!

Marta calls after dropping off the necessities at grandma's, Can I meet my friend? Yes I said, off course. She goes: We're going shopping!

Yippee Kyiee! All I needed. This is what I get for reading stories and being a good husband.

I am a bit hairy, I admit to that, and that by the way is the only reason my oldest child looks like a warewolf 24/7 full moon or not.

100

Post # 100. Only took me 4 months. As I reread my past blogs I at times smile, laugh and what the hell was I thinking. I'm sure you feel the same.

The best so far has been the positive input from my family and friends at home, in Spain and Sweden. I will see if I can make it to 200,300 and so on for you. That is the reason I started for you to be able to keep up with our daily lives , and yes I color it the way I see it.

It is a hell of a lot more work than I imagined it to be, the most frustrating is to come up with a great blog only to realize that a computer is no where to be found. You have missed out on a few good ones.

I'm working on Marta to guest blog, I have shared my log in with her and the one that waits for something good....

In the meantime I will drive her and the kids nuts as usual.

Beaner

Walmart parking lot, 7.00pm. 5 Mexicans standing next to Betty, one of them leaning on her.

Jonas: You scratch it you buy it.

Mexican: Oh no, very expensive car, no.

Jonas: Not really, but I would appreciate if you didn't lean on it.

Mexican: So how much?

Jonas: $6000.00

Mexican: So 6000.00, you mean pesos, aye, esse?

Jonas: He, he, pal , don't call me esse, I don't call you beaner do I?

Mexican: Sorry esse, no you don't.

Jonas: Alright then, you buy it or what, seats 6 legally.

Mexican: I don't see any scratches.

Jonas: Your lucky day. Feliz Navidad!

The 5 Mexicans are laughing hard. One of them shouts:

Yuh, esse! You're funny for being a gringo! Feliz Navidad!

I give them a thumbs up and drive away.

Swan

Marta hates the boat, every body knows that and she is not shy to tell you so. How ever, if we had a Swan she be all over it (she does have two more "modest" boats as alternatives, Grand Soleil and Sweden Yacht). So when we passed this beautiful Swan 77 all I could think of is how good we would look on it, and how we could discover the seven seas together.

Hockey

To satisfy Joseph, here you go.Turn up the volume and enjoy Chucktown The Hockeytown! In the end of the second clip you can hear Fia say; Yeaaah!

Cheche

I cheche!

That we hear a few times a day. The word is Sofia's for leche or milk as they say in the US. She is a little talker Sofia, the one that understands her the best is Alex and he at times is our translator. She is funny Fia, she mixes Spanish, Swedish and English, but is always very polite and thanks you for what she gets with a classic;

Tack, tack.

Long weekend

I had a nice 4 days off due to Thanksgiving this past week. It always sucks Sunday night knowing you have a work week up ahead. Not this Sunday, next weekend I have 4 days as well. Marta will be in N.Y. and I will stay home with the kids. I need to plan some fun stuff for us to do.

This week we bought a gas grill, decorated the house for Christmas inside and outside, went sailing twice, saw a hockey game and of course ate turkey.

I did get my shelves up but they need a little more work, didn't turn out as I anticipated them to look. I will meed to fix that pronto.

Quiet time

Winds are out of the North, 20-25 knots, upper 50,s and sunny. Location of boat, the cockpit faces due south. There is no better place to spend a lazy Friday, the kids still prefer the v-berth, it's their little get away with blankets, pillows and more.

Breakfast

When I make breakfast it is a bit different than when Marta makes it. First of all the poor kids had chicken tenders that were supposed to be for a pick nick lunch.



Jonas; Fia is it good?



Fia; Jaaa!



Jonas; Are you scared for your breakfast?



Fia; Jaaa!



Jonas; That's thereason for wearing saftey goggles?



Fia; Jaaa!

Professional detailers

Alex and Fia sure are professionals, look at this, the boat is almost back to it's former glory when it was just purchased. One has to wear sun glasses not to be blinded in this mirror shine

November 21st

The beauty with living in the Lowcountry is the fact that in November one can enjoy the beach, in this case Isle of Palms. It is in the upper 70's and just perfect.

Pram

No, we are not getting dressed up. But a new era in my professional carer has started as of yesterday. We built our first Opti/Pram mast.

Alex has a Pram in the backyard that is on it's way back down to the marina for us to play with. I always take it home during hurricane season, have enough stuff to deal with should a hurricane arrive.

Marta is the next victim

Learning

Katie

Katie Too is our lovely Intrepid 9 Meter. Today she got her oil changed and a little rub a dub down. She enjoyed a Alex massage with Maquier's all in one polish and wax.

I used to detail cars and boats on the side, Alex is following in his dad's footsteps. Except that Katie looks like a Dalmatian when he is done. Shiny spot/dull spot. You get the picture.

Oatmeal

Marta made oatmeal for breakfast. I ate that every morning as a kid. Marta made it a bit different, she had pumpkin, brown sugar and other healthy things in it.

It tasted great, my belly is very satisfied and I can feel my cholesterol falling rapidly.

She did have great help in the kitchen though.

Bad day

Rubber boots

Fia loves Alex's old boots, it is impossible to take them away from her. They are green froggie ones and the fact that mom finds her adorable and won't let her go doesn't help.

Dinner

Marta made some healthy food for dinner.

Jonas; What the hell is this?

Marta; Rice meatballs.

Jonas; Rice meat balls? What?

Marta; They have whole grain rice,sweet potatoes,spinach and chicken.

Jonas; This is dinner?

Marta; We also have pizza.

Jonas; Alright!

Marta; It consist of whole grain pita bread with home made organic tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Jonas; Lucky me.

Marta; Let me know if you like it, maybe the kids will eat it.

Jonas; It tastes like crap, good luck feeding this to the kids.

Marta; You are mean, I will not be nice to you anymore!

Jonas; Honey, can I please have seconds?

In all honesty, the pizza was all right, the riceballs so,so. I did have seconds and thirds, I do not whish for my wife's spells. I have been there to many a time.

Good boy

Alex's teacher had nothing but good to say. He is very polite and helps out in class. He does need to stand up for himself a little bit more we all agreed upon. She showed us the best of his paintings and what he can count to and he knows all his colors and the alphabet.

She said that during a circle time when they practiced their Spanish, they said; Hola! Alex raised his hand and said; Miss Ixxx, I know how to say it in my Dad's language, Hallå! She thought it was the cutest.

She also said that he at times just comes up and gives her a hug. That is Alex for you. He does that to people he likes and trusts. Just randomly comes and gives you a hug. He can be playing in a different room, walk out and hug, tell you he loves you and then walk back to play some more.

Marta and I were very proud when we left school last night. We were almost floating in the air, the one that will get us back on the ground is Fia, we are pretty convinced that her reviews will be the opposite.

PT meeting

Tonight is our first PT meeting at Alex's new school. We are anxious to hear what his teachers has to say about him. So far they have mentioned that he is super sweet and a very good friend. The other day he came home with a bloody noose after being hit with a baseball bat. Marta threw a fit and found out who did it.

Well, they apparently have 2 boys in Alex's class that are terrible. All they do is fight with the other kids. The issue has been brought up to their parents numerous times and I guess the parents don't care. We are to bring this up tonight and have the school take necessary actions to have it stop. Kick them out for crying out loud. Yesterday Marta was told that Alex is just to good hearted to fight back.

Well, last night we told him to warn them first and then kick the shit out off them. Maybe not exactly the pep talk I like to have but rather that than him being bullied. I'm done dealing with ignorant parents.

Dinner

I am so looking forward to go home and have dinner. Marta is making a super dinner. We will have tuna steaks with her potato salad that is delicious. She uses red potatoes, avocado, red onion and some sort of home made dressing that is fantastic.

I've got to go, I'm hungry.

Good night

Your blogger is tired after a long day of work. I read a story for my 3 little ones. Mom overheard and snapped a picture. I will now call it a day and I wish you all a good night.

Guess what we did last weekend?

As always, out on the boat. No wind but we did learn that dolphins love to eat pretzels according to Alex and Fia. So does seagulls and otters. We also saw a pirate ship!

Recognition

Marta at times claim that I don't ever do/finish projects around the house. That is at times true, I do eventually get to them, it might take some time. Years she says.

Yesterday Marta, Fia and I went to Lowe's, a large hardware store and bought some MDF board and some trim for my next project. There will eventually be two shelves above the TV in the living room.

When we got to the register the cashier said;

Hi Jonas, yet another project?

So much for never doing projects. He couldn't have timed that better, didn't even have to pay the dude extra for saying that. The fact that he has worked there for at least 8 years might have something to do with it. Marta still claims I am just talk and no show when it comes to projects.

Jeans

Today we went to the outlet mall and I bought 2 pairs of Levis 501. I haven't had a pair of Levis since high school, been a true Diesel jeans guy until today. Well these days we are budgeting a little more than before. A pair of Diesel is around 150$. That amount we only spend on the kids these days.

So how much are 2 pairs of Levis at the outlet one might wonder. Just about as much as to fill my car with gas. Not bad at all, and we didn't buy anything for the kids, a first for us.

First mate

Fia is my little sailor. She can't wait for me to cast off for us to get out on the water. Now when she is 18 months she gets around pretty well. I step of on the dock and before you know it, both my girls are up on fore deck.

Thought he was dead

One of the electricians managed to electrocute himself pretty badly yesterday. There was a loud explosion and sparks flew all the way up in the ceiling, there is about 20 feet (6 meters) to the ceiling. The guy flew backwards and I thought here we go, time to call the fire department. He laid on the floor where he landed, 10 feet from the junction box, not moving. The ambulance came and loaded him up and carted him off. The guy was clearly in shock.

After that the other electricians found out that the wire he pulled caught a sharp edge on the conduit and simply shorted out. He got about 240 volt through him. It blew a big hole in the conduit and one guy is making a trophy out of it.

The guy came back in the afternoon, alive but very sore. He will be out for awhile, I can't imagine the pain in his muscles.

Electric day

Today started with a jump start. The battery in the Caddie was dead, took Marta's trustworthy Volvo out to jump it. Both our vehicles has the batteries in weird spots, The Volvo in the trunk, the Caddie under the backseat. An other jump at work and off I went to replace it. 140$ later, off course only one special model fits. Has to be of some sort of hydro yata yata as well.

Then we had a few light issues at work. A few rows of light didn't work properly. The electrician came and the panel is fried. The wires were so warm they were glowing red. Needless to say we are lucky that it never caught on fire. So it will be a week until they have replaced the wiring, until then we work in the dark.

And our pick truck broke down as well, the hydraulic motor won't engage, probably an electrical switch.

It comes in threes.

Language barrier

Last night at Publix I had a hard time at the Deli counter. All I tried to do was to buy a pound of ham and cheese. The lady behind the counter might as well have been Greek, we could not understand each other.

Lady; Yeah?

Jonas; A pound of black forest ham and a pound of provolone, please.

Lady; Black?

Jonas; Black forest ham.

Lady; We don't got no ham.

Jonas; It's that one, Right there, next one over, yap that's it.

Lady; Do you want it sliced?

(since I am standing at the deli, yes, that's kind of what I expect)

Jonas; Thin, please. ( she shaves it in to a pile of meat)

Lady; Cheese with that?

Jonas; A pound of provolone, please.

I only get 1/2 a pound of each but that's OK, I just go back in a couple of days and maybe then I get someone that doesn't speak Gullah. Looking around the deli I think I am out of luck.