Stockholm has tropical temperature, and I like that. No winter jacket. No gloves and no hat. Time for summer. After a cold and chilly winter it is well deserved to have summer with bright evenings. I went for training this afternoon. My last training before the running course on Wednesday. This exercise has actually helped me a lot to mourn my mother. Mourning takes time. My mother devoted her life to my brother and me. She also spent a lot of time with her sister who has been abroad several years. My aunt lived in Liberia for a few years where she worked at a local hospital. She worked for a Swedish company, and they helped relatives to travel to Liberia for reunion with family. My parents visited her. A whole plane was arranged for family members. This was in 1980s.

To remember, I have seen some photos of my mother. I found the above from Liberia. I will keep this photo in my mind during this week. There are still a couple of days left til blodomloppet. These days I will recover. Have good food, and also have a lot of water. I cannot really explain why, and I wonder why: I find it difficult to have only water. After sports water is good, but otherwise I always need some kind of taste. My favourite is lemon water and water with bubbles. Talk about first world problems.

Blodomloppet, the running course I am participating in, is on Wednesday. I have bought a mini pharmacy that I have at home, just in case I would start to feel any symptoms of a cold. Washing my hands helps me to prevent having a virus, but I still need to be careful. I did my last running this Thursday. It was warm, and very nice, and since it is that hot, I have a lot of water every day. Today I will go for some spinning and core training. For change, and also to let other muscles work. My last training will be tomorrow, and after that I will just relax and have a lot of water. SMHI, weather forecast, predicts cloudy and a little chilly weather. As long as it is not rainy I am happy. But it would be nice to have a lot of sunshine. Wish me good luck!

I have written about “fika” previously. Something that is inevitable in Sweden. This evening I had fika with my auntie and her previous colleague. They have worked together as anaesthesia nurses at intensive care. I invited them for cake, a pie with rhubarb and strawberries. Rhubarbs from the countryside, an early taste of Midsummer. This spring I have noticed that it is easier to find strawberries early in the season. Fresh, and also tasty.

Fika is a part of Swedish culture. You make a cake, cookies and/or cinnamon rolls. To go with that you often have a cup of coffee. We had tea this evening. What is your favourite fika?

This evening is almost tropical. Summertime is here to stay.

Finally.

Next Wednesday I will run. I feel ok, and I know that I have to be careful so I don’t catch a virus. I definitely don’t want to cancel. Therefore, I wash my hands rather often. However, due to pollen allergy, I do have some sneezing attacks. But I know that it is allergy and not a cold. When you have allergy, you often sneeze several times in a row. I might be able to run at a time of 1h and 5 minutes. It will depend on what shape I am in that day. And I have good news. I will not run alone. A previous colleague of mine will join. I am really impressed of her. She has some pain in her foot but she will participate anyway. Running and walking. That is such a good spirit.

This running- and walking course is devoted to blood donation. It was a long time ago, but sometimes I listen to U2. There are several songs that I like such as “Where the streets have no name”, but I found this one. Terrible, and so true.

My life consists mostly of training and work. I still need some time before I can continue to write next book. Training helps me to move on in life after my mother has passed away. I miss her. Working also helps to move on in life. It is now almost a year ago since I started work at Lidingö. I like Lidingö a lot since it is a little similar to the countryside. I have been told that there are deers there too. And, in addition, I have nice colleagues, like as at the previous pharmacy I worked at.

I was at the pharmacy for a few hours today, and then I went for some exercise. No, running but other forms of training. My watch is now rather ok, and it measures my pulse. I am a little surprised because I have met a lot of people throughout life, but not so many interested in sport activities. Therefore, I have learnt to go for training alone. That is why my watch is a very good companion. Previously, I was interested in long distance running, but now 10 km is enough. “Lidingö loppet” is probably too tough for me. But I actually have a colleague who has won Lidingöloppet!

My new work at Lidingö has given me the opportunity to meet friends from the past. People I haven´t seen for 20 years. Amazing. It has been very occasional, and suddenly, I have noticed that this person is very familiar. And vice versa. We are connected on LinkedIn, where I also write some from time to time. I share this “work photo” that I have on LinkedIn. A pharmacy friend has learnt me to be active on LinkedIn, and I like that, a very nice and convenient way of staying in touch with colleagues from before. Join me on LinkedIn! And Happy Sunday, I wish you.