Money, money, money.

So, we are trying to figure out what to do with the leftover money from selling our radhus (townhouse). Almost half of the money went straight away to pay off the rest of the loan for the BMW.

Here are our ideas for the money:

- Pay off some of the house loan. (Take a big chunk of the money and pay off some of the loan and then get a fixed interest rate before the rate skyrockets (which is what is going to happen soon). It will slightly lessen our monthly cost.)

- Install new windows in the small dining room (breakfast room). (Possibly the best investment we can put into the house - is to install new windows. There are 4 narrow windows. And we've looked online to get an estimate on cost, but not many places have prices, and the window size is a little strange, so we've had trouble getting an estimate. But we figure that the installation will be at least double the amount of the cost of the windows themselves. Getting new windows (that open) will help cool the house in the summer, and since they are only single pained windows, getting double or triple pained will keep the house well insulated during winter, and help cut down on heating costs. And plus it will add to the house price when we (ever) sell it. Setback: Very expensive. But we've thought about having some open and others not - to help lessen the cost. Depending on price difference will depend on how many we will buy that open!)

- Renovate the baby's room. (Definitely doing this for fun, but the room looks a little tacky. The colors are awful and we hate the texture of the walls. We want to replace the floor with real wood flooring, it will last longer, look nicer, and be a good investment. The ceiling needs to be painted anyways as well as the window frame, along with the door molding that needs to be replaced. Will be next to impossible to do after the baby is born and it would be nice to have a bit nicer looking room for when the baby is born. Not very expensive, especially depending on materials used, and a small investment into the house.)

- Install a hot water heater. (This will be a good investment. The pellet burner takes care of heating the house and heating the water for the house. If we get a separate water heater, heated by electricity, then it will cut down on the amount of pellets we have to buy - but also it will then increase our electricity bill. But! If we leave the house and want to turn off the hot water (so it isn't constantly heating hot water while we aren't here), especially for our 4 week visit to the US; we can turn the pellet burner off in the summer because we don't need to heat the house. But in the winter, while we are away, we need to keep the house slightly heated, but we don't want to keep the hot water warm ... So if we get a separate hot water heater, we can turn it off and keep the pellet burner going and keep the house warm. It will separate the two, it really isn't very expensive, and definitely will save us money in the end.)

Whether we can do all of it - I don't know... :/ :)
But I think we might try.. :/ :)
But at least everything is an investment for the house - at least we aren't contemplating a 3 month cruise around the World.. although that is a very tempting idea.... ;)

I think we have most everything (big things) that we need for the baby. :)
We have a crib, a changing table, a dresser (going to use the one that we have always used in our room), a stroller ... I think those are the large essentials. We have been going back and forth on getting a carseat.. They are expensive in Sweden (compared to the US, at least). And I just get annoyed that we could get a cheaper carseat in the US that will cover ages 0-6 years for under the cost of a carseat that covers ages 0-1 year in Sweden. So, I think we might rent a carseat from the commune, if they offer that service here in our tiny town, and then buy a carseat in the US and bring it over as check-in luggage on the airplane. We've already found one that we really like, so we'll just have to see what happens while we are over there.

My parents were out travelling (which is the norm now - they are hardly ever home).. :))) and on the way home they stopped at some stores, and they found a store that sells my favorite brand of baby clothes (Carter's) on sale for about 70% off or something like that.. :/ :) So they bought a lot of baby clothes. Which is good because we have hardly any newborn stuff. So, very excited to receive all the baby stuff. :))

Haven't washed any of the baby stuff yet, I think we are waiting to see if we are going to redo the room, because everything will have to be moved out of the room and be displaced for awhile. And we still have plenty of time. :)

Almost into the 3rd trimester! Chinese Pregnancy Calendar/Chart says that we are having a girl. http://www.baby-talk.co.uk/chinese_calendar.htm (27 and conceived in January)
Whatever "flavor" it is (as my American friend Sandy (in Ed) likes to say), it definitely starts its exercise regime when I get in bed and am trying to fall asleep. Fredrik gets a kick out of it and is very curious as to how it feels on the inside. But it is very, very difficult to describe.. :/

Talking about Sandy, she is the one hosting our BBQ party. Very excited for that! Asked her for a head count and she said about 30+ were already signed up! Wow! Going to be a few Americans and some Swedes, plenty of ppl from the area.
We'll head to the summerhouse on Thursday evening and Sandy invited us out for dinner on Friday evening, so we have that to look forward to as well! :)

My leg is doing great! It hardly itches at all now, if ever. The redness/pinkness is almost all gone. Fredrik is going to have to go to Gävle for a few days in the beginning of September, for a company introduction type thing. Caesar is doing much better. He has been acting more himself than he has the entire time we've been here! No more peeing in our bed, which we found out that cats do when they go through a big change, like: moving, family splitting up, etc.. So, at least we have an explanation for that. (Which Fredrik found out on his cat forum.) He (Caesar, not Fredrik) only has about a day of so left for his antibiotic and he is steadily eating his new food.

My mom will be calling me soon and give me all the fun details about their last couple of weeks. They've been having summer vacation with 3 of their grandchildren, and they just got back from returning the twins to their father.

Now I will check the mail, empty the dish washer and try to straighten up the house a little.