A couple of days ago Lydia invited her friend Sandra to come over today to bake and have a little Valentine’s Day party. When Sandra got here just before eleven this morning, Lydia wasn’t yet home from her overnight at another friend’s house but Sandra had come prepared with her apron in hand, so the two of us set about making a batch of cupcakes.

After Lydia was home and the cupcakes had cooled, the girls and Tage sat around the table, each with a bowl of pink frosting and a butter knife, and set about the business of decorating. While Lydia and Sandra spread their cupcakes diligently with frosting, Tage dispensed immediately with the butter knife, going instead to the silverware drawer and returning to the table with a spoon. All the better to eat frosting with, you know. I tried to help him, showing him how to spread frosting on a cupcake, but when I was finished he just licked the cupcake clean and returned his attention to the bowl and spoon.

When Tage’s bowl was licked clean and the girls had frosted and decorated their cupcakes with candy hearts direct from the good ol’ U.S. of A., we set the table and waited for our guests to arrive. Olof’s parents were first, and they stayed for an hour or so, chatting, drinking coffee, and gamely eating the unbearably sweet cupcakes. Not long after they left, Helena made her appearance, and the two of us spent the rest of the afternoon eating what was left of the fika and catching up on the latest goings on.

In addition to it being Valentine’s Day, it’s Asbjørn’s second birthday today. He and Lucy were treated to beef-flavored rawhide bones to mark the occasion, though I’m sure the birthday boy would rather have been given a cupcake. Unfortunately, however, he’s been getting a bit portly and has been placed on a strict diet, so it’s just dry dog food and rawhide chews for him until further notice.

In unrelated news, the orthopedist’s office called earlier and wanted to reschedule my appointment from next Monday to tomorrow morning. Once I figured out what the woman was saying (she had a thick dialect and was very difficult for me to understand) I jumped at the chance to get an earlier time. Now I just hope that I can get some useful information about my knees tomorrow — I’ve been pinning my hopes on this appointment for so long that I don’t know what I’ll do if nothing good comes from it.