I felt like such a quintessential homemaker today. After Lydia had gone off to fritids and Olof went down to work, I spent a good portion of the morning cleaning the living room and tidying up the rest of the upstairs, and in between tasks, I whipped up a loaf of banana bread to use up the four overripe bananas I had in my fruit basket. Around noon, just as I was putting the vacuum cleaner away, Helena called and said that she and Fredrik and Debbie were “in the neighborhood” and asked if it would be okay if they dropped by. I would have said yes regardless of the state of the house, but it was nice to have a clean house and warm banana bread ready. Miracle of miracles, Tage was relatively clean, even, and had been changed from his pajamas to “real” clothes. In short, if ever there was a day tailor-made for unexpected guests, this was it.

It was really good to see all of them, even if they couldn’t stay for very long. I totally need to make more of an effort to get together with Helena and Debbie because I really enjoy their company and we always have such a good time whenever we get together. I suggested today that the three of us should go down to Stockholm sometime this summer for a “girls only” mini-vacation. They thought it was a good idea too, and I think we would have so much fun. I’m excited just thinking about it!

Speaking of things friend-related, I ran into Melanie (the “new” American in Skellefteå) downtown yesterday. We stood and chatted for a few minutes, then she pulled a birthday gift for me from her shopping bag! My birthday isn’t until Monday, but she said she knew she wouldn’t see me again before then so it was lucky (especially lucky for me) that we bumped into each other. What a nice surprise! I’d been going to save it until Monday, but when Helena and Debbie were here I just couldn’t resist opening it. It was one of those colorful, patterend “glow candles” where the candle is like a big ball, and the center burns down so that it lights up from inside. It’s really gorgeous and I can’t wait to burn it. Thanks so much, Melanie!

In other news, this is the big day that Olof leaves to go to Cancún. His flight leaves in just over three hours. In a strange way I’ve started to look forward to this upcoming week. I’ll miss him, of course, and I’ll be glad when he gets home, but I think I’ll have plenty of things to keep me busy. I’ve been planning a big spring clean plus maybe a bit of redecorating, and I’m excited about that. I’ve gotten on a cleaning kick lately, and I hope it lasts for a while. My house is certainly a better place to live for it!