Christmas holiday

I worked Monday and Tuesday, and there were a few things to do, mainly shelving. Wednesday I went by train to Göteborg early in the morning. I didn't have a seat reservation, so I had to move to another seat four times. Christmas Eve with my sister, her family and in-laws and my mother traditionally starts with kale soup (it's a green vegetable) for lunch. At 3 PM there are Disney cartoons on TV that for some mysterious reason have become traditional. It's mainly the same cartoons every year (some relating to Christmas and some not) and they have been shown on Swedish Television every Christmas for decades. Later in the afternoon someone in the family had to go and put more firewood in the furnace in the basement, and after a while Jultomten (Santa) appeared outside the window. (As far as I know there is no furnace). Jultomten brought gifts both to the kids and adults. Like every year the number of presents was enormous. My nephew John was ecstatic about the harvesting machine and the forest machine he got. I actually got everything on my wish-list: a large suitcase, body lotion and a knitted scarf. I also got some things my father had bought on his trip to India: a silver ring and a shawl made of wool and silk. In addition, I received the gift of books to a school in Ethiopia (great idea), a nightgown, two mugs and candy. For dinner we had the traditional food, for example meatballs, roasted ham, several kinds of herring and Jansson's Temptation. When the kids had gone to bed the adults amused themselves with charades on movie titles.

Christmas Day we went for a walk to a nearby park with a playground and then we had lutfisk for lunch. (Everybody except me). In the afternoon we drove to my sister's place in Borås. The next day the women (my mother, sister and I) went shopping at the after-Christmas sales. We did some minor shopping, I got two tops rather cheaply. In the afternoon I got to see my mother's apartment in Borås for the first time. She has just purchased a small apartment five minutes walk from my sister's place. She intends on staying there during the winter months. We have spent this weekend painting the walls there. Hard work but it turned out pretty good. I returned to Kävlinge this afternoon by traveling on three different trains.