Speech and Debate

Coco has been getting herself into a little bit of trouble at home lately.  I think that she is a little bored in our tiny apartment when she is often left alone for hours on end.  Yesterday, she jumped up on the kitchen counter and ate part of our gingerbread houses!  Admittedly, I had left them on a lower part of the counter but this is still unusual behavior for our little perfect dog.  So, this morning, I made sure to take her on an extra long walk before I left for the day to try to make her too tired to get into trouble.  It seems to have worked as she was very good today (at least as far as I can tell).  My walking route was along Brunnsviken lake today, in Bellevue park, at the end our street.

After settling Coco back at home, I headed out to my friend, Meg's, apartment.  Meg was hosting a big Christmas lunch for her friends.  It was fantastic and the perfect time to see many of these new friends one last time before we leave for the Holidays.  I had to say a real good-bye to one friend who is moving back to the States next week.  Fortunately, she is moving to Columbus, OH of all places so I am quite sure that I will see her again.

After a wonderfully, leisurely afternoon, I hopped on the bus and headed home to greet Max and Tabitha before walking to school to see Calvin's performance.  Tonight, Calvin was doing a small demonstration debate to illustrate what his speech and debate club have been working on.  He did a very nice job without any ands, or ums, or uhs!

Walking back home from school gave me the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful moonlit night!

I almost walked right past our building however, because they finally took down the scaffolding which has been covering our entrance since we moved here!  We have never seen the front of the building before so it is quite exciting!

We can really check it out in the day light tomorrow!

Swedes are big into personal responsibility which is why we don't have to sign waivers for everything, stores and restaurants can use open flames for decoration, etc.  So, one little thing that we noticed is that if you use an automatic candle lighter, you just push a button and the flame comes out!  It's not like American versions where you have to hold down one button while sliding another button while pushing another, all in the name of safety!  Very exciting!