New Blog!

Hiya!
So due to me changing my email I have a new Google account which means I have to re-log in every time I want to post here (hence why I haven't posted in forever)  To solve this I made a shiny new blog on my new google acount!

Check outhttp://mangokittyofdoom.blogspot.se/
Mango Kitty

Bad days exist

Yeah,  so the last couple of days have been pretty rough.  Lots of head stuff plus fibromyalgia pain and fibro-fog to boot.  But I endure!  

Changed my hair again...

Today I'm heading to Vtown to hang out with some friends.  A pluss side of not having a dog here is that I can leave and not know when I am coming back.  Freedom!!!  

The snow is pretty, and I'm not going to say ANYTHING about the temperature sense my friends and family stateside are really the ones who should get to complain!

Now it's time to put on eyebrows...

Love,

Mango Kitty

On my feet

Hello!  Bet you have all been wondering what happened to me. Here's the short version of the story.

I'm devorced.  I have my own little apartment in the town I have my internship in.  My friends are amazing.

  I had a Leonberger named Laban living with me while I rehabilitated him. 

(When he came to me he was over 10lbs underweight, completioly matted, with a large infected sore on his backside that required penacilin and stitches) the good news is he is doing wonderfully in his new home, when he came to me he was very sick. And when he left he was healthy and happy.  I'm proud of that.

I found a band, in Limmared.  So now I get to growl to my hearts content and write lyrics and enjoy metal Sundays again! There is also a much less serious garage band in the town I live in that may be intersted in me aswell! Which is fun.  

Also I'm joining a "multicultural choir" .  So much music in my life can only be a good thing!  And give me the proper motivation to work on my pitch controle.  Cuz it needs work.

All in all I'm landing on my feet.  I've learned so much about myself these past months.  I've learned how to do things I never knew I could do. I've learned not to be afraid and to open my heart.  

I'm proud of myself.

Love,

Mango Kitty

Still kicking

Hi there, Yes I'm still alive and kicking.  I spent like, 3 weeks coughing up green stuff with a nasty virus.  Only to almost recover from that and then get a stomach virus.  Wohoo. (not)

So I've been hanging out at home a lot, nursing my sick body and drinking lots of water.  I was supposed to start my new internship at ICA (a grocery store) yesterday, but obviously that didn't happen, so I'll start next week instead.   I will continue to have my internship at the grooming salon, ICA will be in addition to that.  I decided to pursue this second internship for two reasons:  

1.) I am spending WAY too much time home alone, staring at the wall and feeling like crap.
2.) At ICA there is the possibility of future employment.  Something Jyckelyckan doesn't have the means to offer me.

So now I'll have more to do, get out of the apartment more, and hopefully will find an actual PAYING job in the future.

Today is Halloween and I don't have a pumpkin.  I think this is the first time... ever... that I don't have a pumpkin for Halloween.  :(  But I don't dare go to the store to get one when I've been paying homage to the porcelain goddess like I have been.  Though I haven't puked sense last night, it wouldn't be very nice if someone went to the store to get milk, and came home with the pukey disease.  So me and my puke bucket, we're going to chill and be bored tonight, like the loosers we are.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Love,
Mango Kitty

Setting up

So I'm almost done setting up the apartment.  Here are some pictures of how it looks,  there is still some stuff to hang, and then another good deep clean and it should be good to go.

Here's the Kitchen:

The Bathroom:

Two shots of the Livingroom/Bedroom:

 

And my very ugly Hall:

It's cozy but lonely. 

I'm going to bed.

Love,
Mango Kitty

Life changed

Sorry I haven't posted in so long, life's been changing a lot.  I've (singular) moved away from the Smålandsstenar apartment to a little place in the same town as my internship.  It's hard but necessary.  Mi-Go will stay with the Viking,  and Indi is not doing well at Ammi's so she is most likely going to heaven where she won't feel badly anymore.  As for me, I find myself living alone for the first time in probably a decade.  It's weird, and I don't have Internet yet, so it's been very quiet.  I've been listening to a lot of music and have been reading a bit.  My friends have stepped up like crazy and have been amazingly kind and supportive.  I'm lucky to have this kind of support.  

Tomorrow I work, and then Smulan is going to help me hang some pictures and a mirror and such. I'll try to get some pictures up when everything is out together.  For now it's Nirvana by candlelight and trying to finely get some sleep.

Love,

Mango Kitty

Leonberger Love

Yesterday was a great Leonberger filled day in Helsingborg and Halmstad.  First there was a dog show at a palace in Helsingborg.  It rained the whole freaking day, and I ended up in a wrestling match with Honney that got me covered in mud and tore my pants, but it was still fun.  We met some very nice people and the palace gardens were unbelievably beautiful.  In the way back from the dog show we stopped by the kennel on Halmstad so I got to hang out with my boy Cesar.  We were gone for over 12 hours but it was totally worth it!

Today it's been the couch dealing with lots if pain and stiffness, but it was expected.  

Also, I have started hanging flyers looking for a band! 

Love,

Mango Kitty

Analyzing

Ever hear of a "Hair Mineral Analysis?"  It's this neat thing that lab technicians do where they take a sample of your hair, and use it to find out what vitamins and minerals you need more of, or have too much of.  Why is this relevant you may ask?  Because I'm waiting for the results of one, that's why!

My viking and I have been meeting with a nutritionist, who has been wonderful.  She is the one who told me about hair mineral analysis.  You see, she has Fibromyalgia.  She suffered with it for 30something years, then did a hair mineral analysis.  She adjusted how she ate, following the guidelines from the test, and started taking supplements to balance out her system.  She has been PAIN FREE SENSE 2006!!!!!!

I cant tell you how hopeful this has made me about my OWN pain.  The idea that I could wake up and not be in pain, that I could go to bed and not be in pain, that I could EXIST AND NOT BE IN PAIN!  It's beyond exciting.  This is something that could literally change my life.... How often do you get to say that? In a few weeks the results will be in, and I'll sit down with the woman who took the test and go threw my results, she advise me on how to eat differently based on my profile, and we'll see about getting me some supplements. Miss Mango is excited!!!  Yay!!!

Now I'm off to nom some dinner.

Love,

Mango Kitty

Pukey McGee

So I've caught a stomach bug and it SUCKS X(  Woke up at 1am to puke, and have been puking ever sense.  I was going to post a picture of my puke bucket, but then I decided that it was too gross, so you guys are spared.  You're welcome.  So far my Viking has been spared, thankfully.  Hopefully this will pass soon!

On a much lighter note, looks like me and said Viking will be heading home stateside for Thanksgiving this year!  Woohoo!  We're super excited to see everyone, and it should be fun for my Viking to experience an "authentic American thanksgiving".  (Because the one we throw every year in Sweden is only half authentic, apparently)  Anyway its going to be great :)

If you'll excuse me, I have to wrap this up because I need to vomit.  Again.

Love,
Mango Kitty

Learning experience

Today I met a professional dog trainer/dog psychologist with some Leonberger friends of mine.  She was amazing.  So fascinating to watch her work and I learned a lot, both about dog and human nature, and how we influence reactions in each other.  She was also incredibly nice, and gave me her number saying if I need help with my own dog training journey I can call her any time and she'll be happy to talk me threw whatever I'm having trouble with.  SCORE!  These are the kind of contacts I need in my arsenal.  Super psyched after a great day!

I've ordered my first book for my dog training course,  the first class is first response/first aid for dogs, which is going to be really interesting and so valuable.  I was going to go with a Kindle book but then Dad reminded me of the importance of having the actual book so that I can make notes, book mark pages, and have it as permanent reference material, so I went with the real deal and will go with the real deal for the rest of the courses.  I start on Monday and could not be any more excited!!!

In other news, I'm coming home for Thanksgiving!  w00t!!!

Love,
Mango Kitty

new hair

I had a bad day yesterday. A real bad day.  So what did I do?  I cut my hair!

  

Pretty pleased with how it came out actually, and it kept me from being stupid and doing stupid things.  So yay.  

 

Our grumpy old neighbor is at it again.  Complaining about where my Vikings bicycle  is parked (even though we've gotten confirmation from our landlord that it's prefectly fine to have it there.) and that we're "trashing up" the apartment complex.  Whatever old man, if anyone is trashing up the apartment complex it's your half naked drunken ass.  (No mom, I didn't actually say that to him)

Alright I'm getting all worked up again, time to round this off.  Go to your happy place Miss Mango, happy happy... happy happy...

Love,

Mango Kitty

Into the woods...

...to GROWL!!!

My friend got me in contact with a guitar player here in Salamanderland who is interested in jamming and hopefully putting together a band!  Suuuuuper exciting!  But sense we have the worlds most ridiculous neighbor, it's not like I can really practice growling at home.  Because we're 98% sure he will complain.  And I just don't feel like dealing with him.  So I will be going out into the woods to practice.  I haven't sung seriously for quite some time, so I need to train the old jaw trap before I meet this guy in a few weeks!

In other news I'm going to a dog show tomorrow with Marina and two of her Leonbergers in a town called Ronneby.  We'll be leaving at 06.30, and how well the dogs show will determine when we'll get home.  If they show poorly, we'll be home sooner.  If they show well, it will be later.  We're hoping for later ;)

We visited Indi today, she really likes it at Ammi's.  It's easy to see how much more confident and comfortable she is there, and she loves loves loves Ammi, so we're hopeful that this will become a permanent arrangement for her sake.  (and for ours) but we miss our Flufferella.  Mi-Go is doing well, he doesn't really look for her anymore, he's also grown more confident, and is claiming his space more and more.  Also, he wants to be in my lap ALL THE TIME.  Which is cute, except for when I'm actually trying to get something accomplished.  Then it's annoying.  Which means it's way more fun for him!  Speaking of cats, a neighborhood cat was very kind and left me a present in my garden, a nice fat dead mouse.  Thanks anonymous kitty!

Time to take my lyric book into the woods to practice.  Happy weekend everyone!

Love,
Mango Kitty

Almost August

Indi continues to do well at Ammi's, I saw her today, and she seemed to be quite happy to see me, very cuddly and vocal.  Apparently she made it threw her first night unscathed, and continues to investigate and claim her new space.  Good news indeed!  But we miss her, a lot.  Mi-Go still goes around looking for her... Such is the way of things.

Tomorrow it is August.  Holy hell July has gone fast!  August will be a good month, I've decided.  I start work at the grooming salon again Friday, which will be great to start having more things to do again.  I'll start training Hubba again next week most likely, and will hopefully start training that Tibetan Terrier again soon as well.  This month will be full of being healthy and active.  (But not TOO active, I haven't forgotten about the balance :P )  Doing the things I love and preparing for a future full of awesome.  I'm rather optimistic about most things in my life right now.  It's pretty great :)

Hope you're all having a great day!

Love,
Mango Kitty

Re-homing Indi

So his morning Indi moved in with my Viking's mother for a trial period.  Hopefully everything will work out great so it will become a permanent arrangement.  It's really depressing not having her here, but it is the right thing to do.  She wasn't happy sharing a home with another cat, she was constantly hissing, growling, and swatting at Mi-Go,  she stopped playing and cuddling as much, and was generally very stressed.  So this morning we moved all of her things over to Ammi's, including a cat tree, her special pillow, litter box, food and water bowls, scratching pad and toys.  Then it was a quick drive with her (Those of you who know how close we live to Ammi know it was a VERY quick drive!) and then she was thrown into her new environment.  We expected her to hiss a bit, and probably hide, but that wasn't the case at all!

She was out of the box in a shot, but didn't go and hide, instead she thoroughly inspected all of the rooms available to her, jumped up on things, rubbed against things, sniffed things.  She was very very brave!  She was skittish and stressed, but her tale was up and she kept coming back to us for cuddles in between her exploring her new surroundings.  After about 15 minutes we left, so that she could get a bit more acclimated without us there.  So far she's peed in her litter box, eaten, laid down to rest, and done some more exploring.  We're very proud of our Flufferella!

Mi-Go is confused by the change.  What amazes me is that no matter how mean Indi was to him, he still adored her, and just wanted to be friends.  He's been walking around the apartment looking for her, and meowing sadly.  It will take time, hopefully he won't become too depressed.  Lots of cuddles and play and it should be fine.

Sure does feel empty around here without her though...

Love,
Mango Kitty

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

birthday song!
It's been a good day, I woke up to this ^
Had epic cake,

 That was significantly more epic in real life, (and yuuuuuummy!)
Got some great gifts, had some good friends over, and got Pizza for dinner.  Sweet!

I can't believe I'm 28... I feel like such an old fart!  Ah well, such is the progression of life.

To everyone who has made these 28 years possible/enjoyable/worth it I LOVE YOU!!!

Love,
Mango Kitty

Lion-Dogs

Last week I went to a dog show with my friend Marina who I work with.  She has three Leonbergers, and she showed 2 of them, Hunney and Bobbo.  I went with her as "crew".  This is what a Leonberger looks like. They are NOT little dogs!

Anyhoo, the dogs showed great,  I was in charge of keeping them, (and Marina) calm and happy and cool (it was very warm) by providing shade, cold water blanket soaks, and a bit of love.  Marina said I did so well that she is "claiming" me as crew for all of her future dogshows forever!  She even bought me a gift because I did so good!

I love dogs.  I love their attitudes, their personalities, I love observing them, interacting with them, I even love the way they stink!  The make me calm, happy, and confident.  They are what my future career will be.  I am going to be a professional dog trainer.  It's decided.  End of story!
I'm investigating getting an on-line degree in dog training.  The course includes book learning, tests, and lectures, but also hands on work with dogs, which you video record and send into the teachers so they see what you are doing and can advise you based on that.  I have about 15 dogs available for me to train on threw my friends and work.  I'm really excited about this, and am pretty sure I'm going to do it!  Yay!  I'm going to end up with an education after all! :P

Now I'm going to go spend some quality time with Indi while I can...  She's gotten so aggressive toward Mi-Go that it's come to the point where we have to re-home her. We don't know where yet, but once we find a good home for her, she's going to move.  We are all very very sad about this, but we have to do what is right for her and she is incredibly unhappy sharing a home with another cat :(

Love,
Mango Kitty

Garden!

So our back patio I really coming to life!  We have a rosebush

Raspberries, peas, and Wilma the tomato plant

Some flowers including three sunflowers and some herbs, I'm growing my own catnip, and today I planted some pumpkin seeds as well. 

I love it out there, it's so calm and wonderful.  It's so much fun to grow your own things!  Right now we have a bench, three chairs and a little table as well, so we can have people over to sit out there, which makes me happy.   

And out front we have some more flowers and some wild strawberries! 

My thumb, it be green :)

Love,

Mango Kitty

Visit from the Moms!

We had a GREAT visit from my Moms this week!

They built us a screen door which is full of awesome 

We had fika with Anna and Molly, and they came with me to meet Hubba and family.  We went out to dinner and took some nice walks.  Ima was extra brave and even held one of my Vikings sisters giant snails! 

It was a perfect visit,  I couldn't ask for better Mom's... the only thing I would change next time is I would make them stay longer!  They left early this morning and I miss them already 

Love,

Mango Kitty

Brain Cake!

For Midsommar this year my Vikings sister made a brain cake!

It was full of gluten so I didn't get to try it, but the verdict was an overwhelming "yum!"

In other news, I have a new dog training client!  It's a Tibetan Terrier, the breed looks like this and comes in many different colors.

He was supposed to come with his owner for his first session today, but she canceled, blaming it on "disgusting weather"  I really don't know what she's talking about because it isn't raining, blowing hard, or thundering.  It is ultimately her dog and her decision however it's MY time and I am slightly annoyed and very disappointed.  Ah well, she said she would come tomorrow if it isn't raining.  So hold your thumbs for sunshine!  (If it is still her version of "disgusting weather" then I may tell the cats to suck it up and have the training session inside.  But we'll see)
    Tibetan Terriers are really neat,  they aren't true terriers, they only have the name.  They were bred by Tibetan Monks 2000 years ago and have remained purebred for the entirety of the breed.  Traditionally they were never sold, but given as gifts of gratitude and good fortune.  To sell a Tibetan Terrier was considered extremely bad luck not only for the individual selling it but for the entire village!  It should be fun getting to work with this one, as he's only 9 months and completely untrained...

Wish me luck!

Love,
Mango Kitty

P.S.  In a week, my Moms will be here in Sweden!!!!

Sunny Sweden

I'd like to start todays post out with a greeting from Hubba.  He says "woof".

 It's beautiful here in Sweden.  The sun in shining and there are babies EVERYWHERE!  

Friday is Midsommar,  a time to eat potatoes and pickled haring, (which I will in fact NOT be eating, because it's gross) and to gorge ones self on Swedish Strawberries, which are just about the most delicious things on this planet.  Don't believe me?  Come to Sweden.  I'll show you what's what.

I'm counting down the days until my Moms come... 1 week 6 days!  Holy fun!!!!!!!!  I can't wait can't wait CAN'T WAIT!  Shall be full of the awesome :D

Also, I'm joining a gym.  

Love,

Mango Kitty