Lunch with Anna

_MAL8409.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

After dancing, I took the subway down to Södermalm and met Anna for lunch. She's almost eight months pregnant, and she looks it! We had pizza at an excellent restaurant on Bondegatan, just a block from Nytorget. It's called Primo Ciao Ciao and they have the best thin pizza I've tasted in Sweden. They make it with fresh ingredients and bake it in a woodfired brick oven. I had the pizza salsicia and a Krusovice dark beer. it was delicious. After lunch, we bought ice cream and ate it on the square. The place was packed with people, due no doubt to the warm sunshine.

Lunch with Karin

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Friday I took the subway out to Alvik to join Karin for lunch. We walked to the sushi place. I have to admit that in wintertime, I enjoy the miso soup even more than the sushi.

Lunch in Kista with PO and Daniel

_MAL3819.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

Thursday at midday I joined PO and Daniel for lunch at Kista Galleria. I had brought some goodies from the U.S. for the gentlemen, so that was the first order of business. We had Indian food, and by the time I finished my food I was stuffed. Because I'd had glögg and gingerbread cookies in the morning, the big lunch was a bit too much.

After lunch I went by the bank to take care of some problems with my credit card account. I recently opened a private account that earns 3.25% annually. When I opened this account, I moved most of the money from my old savings account to the new account. The bank told me they'd take care of setting up automatic payment of the credit card and loans so that these payments were made from the new account instead of the old one, but apparently they didn't do this. This oversight caused me a big headache when the payments were not paid. The bank has now fixed everything and waived the late fees that had been levied.

Lunch at Catfish Parlor

_MAL0036.jpg, originally uploaded by Michael A. Lowry.

I had lunch the other day with Ethan, Kelly, and a few other friends. Mike Kiser came, as did Dave Hill and a colleague of his named Brian. If you like fried catfish, it’s hard to find a place that makes it better than Catfish Parlor. I had the spicy fried catfish along with fried okra and yellow corn. As is my custom, I washed it all down with a frosty mug of root beer.

One sunny Monday in October

Whew! I feel like I have finally — alomst — caught my breath.

After a marathon weekend I managed to get a solid eight hours of sleep. I awoke to glorious sunshine, brushed my teeth, and sat down at my computer with a tall cup of coffee. Email and paperwork were the first order of business, as well as preparing for my upcoming trips. I'll spend next week in Amsterdam taking more training for work. Then I'll return to Stockholm for just a day to do laundry and repack for my two-month trip to Austin. I'm planning to take it a bit easy this week so that I am well-rested before these trips.

I met Sara and Katy for lunch near Rådmansgatan today, at a nice vegetarian restaurant called Organic Green. I had apricot-walnut stew with cauliflower and beans, served with Quinoa and a nice salad. It was really delicious, and I left the restaurant totally full! My friend Eva is a vegan, so I'll have to remember to tell her about this place. I'm not a vegetarian, but I know I'll return to Organic Green soon. If every vegetarian dish were as tasty as the one I had today, I could almost imagine sticking to a vegetarian diet. Almost.

I'm back at the Kista Entre office now, preparing to dive into another mountain of paperwork. Even though I'm still suffering a bit from a cold, and my head feels a bit heavy, I find that I'm still in a great mood. I think the weather might have something to do with that. Outside, the sky is clear and the sun is shining. After a week of gray skies, seeing the sun again brings a smile to my face. It's amazing that a little sunshine can effect such a lift in my spirits.