X and I met her mom and her aunt on Friday to shop. We did! Or, rather, they did. X found a pair of very nice shoes that she adores and even though her mum tried to shirk her way out of it by entering a store and seconds later stand outside it - of course smoking - she ended up with a few picks of clothes that I strongly think X was involved in picking out.
We went to TGI Friday's at Kungsträdgården and ate a bunch of quesadillas, which was very nice; combined with Kilkenny's, I felt like a king afterwards! We laughed throughout the dinner and then made way to go and shop more, after which we all travelled to Flen, where X's mum and aunt live. I haven't laughed that hard on a train since gawd-knows-when, and to say I loved it would be a massive understatement.
The day after we celebrated X's mom's birthday! Yay, Ullis! Relatives dropped by, gave presents and we had delicious foods that Ullis had made. In the evening, Ullis, Tomas (her boyfriend), X and I went to Trubadurkväll 2008, which is an event in Flen, where local talents turn up, play an instrument and sing. One female used a synthesizer. The rest were men and used acoustic guitars. Horrid. Listen for yourselves:
Never mind the video, just listen, and if you're Swedish you'll quickly hear one troubadour sing about feminism, being a fuckhead hater in the process. Another one slaughters Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors". Wah! We left quite early. I just wanted to grab a guitar, play and sing something that mattered. That's how I felt anyway, narcissistic me.
We went home and watched "Bad Santa". If you haven't seen it - do! It's a brilliant comedy that makes fun of a lot of "tabu" subjects in the right way, just by being straightforward. No dodging here. The script was excellent and the actors great; the direction was supreme, holding the film together. I actually don't know when I've last seen a film that's been this coherent, in lack of a better word.
We read on through Gitta Sereny's "Unheard Cries", the book on Mary Bell; it's a slow read, but highly interesting and thoroughly recommendable so far.
On Sunday X and I had promised to join her mother's parents on a little walk where you answer multiple-answer questions nailed to trees - this is common in Sweden, and is called tipspromenad - but we screwed up the time and ended up at the place where we'd all meet up, just in time to meet the grands who were just finishing up. Oh well, no love lost; instead, X and I walked to their place for cake and sandwiches. Walking in sunshine on the way there, wind blowing slowly, people all around, talking with X. Supreme. That feeling will stay with me for a long time.
Having left X's grandparents we left for Stockholm, where we crashed silently. Slowly. Everything ground to a halt, in a very calm and nice way. Perfect. I love weekends like these, as well as weekends that are completely calm, reserved for doing nothing. Bliss.