Christmas holiday

The Christmas holiday was very nice, despite the lack of snow. Christmas Eve I took the train to Göteborg, where my sister's in-laws host the festivities. It was the usual buffet with lots of good food (herring, meatballs, salmon, sausages, cheese and much else) and a fair amount of presents were handed out by Santa. I got some gift certificates, a necklace and a ring my mother had made herself by fusing colored pieces of glass, a knitted scarf, a pocket book and both muffin and petit four cases plus a book in which to write my own cookie recipes.

The rest of the holiday was spent in Borås with my mother and sister & her family. We made some purchases at the after-Christmas sales in town (I got a knitted top and a pair of boots). My sister suggested that the family women should visit Sweden's largest discount store, and the women agreed. It's a huge place about an hour and a half away by car, and the prices there are sometimes ridiculously low. Of course you buy more than you really need, but it's practical things like hygiene products, toys, clothes and household items. I found a top and some small things.

Monday I returned home again, after a pretty relaxing week. I celebrated New Year's Eve by eating pizza in front of the TV. I had a nice view of the fireworks from my balcony. Today was the first workday of the new year, and it was incredibly hard to get out of bed at 6 AM after such a long vacation. But I made it, and we have been busy at the library, since there were requests from several days waiting to be processed.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the Christmas letters and holiday greetings! Remarkable how many of you suggested that I should visit the US again soon...