So many subjects, so little time

We have lists of subjects that deserve our attention, but even though we have plenty of downtime, we haven't been able to catch up on the blog.

First of all, we need to thank our good friend Ben for the blog title. Without his wit you'd be reading "Miranda and Scott's Adventures in Sweden", or something even dorkier and less original.

Second, I just asked a professional (my brother) to take on the task of making this blog look cool...on a pro bono basis of course. Hopefully he accepts.

Third, a look at future blog posts, in no particular order:

• Melodifestivalen/Eurovision
• Swedish food (Scott's perspective)
• Swedish food (Miranda's perspective)
• IKEA
• The Swedish workplace
• Easter traditions that we've read about but haven't experienced
• Gamla Stan
• Exploring via public transit
• Skansen
• American Women's Club of Stockholm
• The Swedish alphabet
• Systembolaget

Couple quick stories though. Yesterday we made the trip to IKEA (pronounced EKEA here) as we wanted some lamps. Most of the story can wait until later, but Miranda requested that I blog about our meal at IKEA tonight. We ate in the IKEA cafeteria and Miranda was having a very hard time deciding between the kottbuller (meatballs) and the viltfarbiff (wild beef). Both words need some umlauts, but I'm using the American keyboard, so I guess they'll remain umlautless. The viltfarbiff was half price, making it extremely attractive. I had enjoyed a meal of a similar name a few weeks before, but wasn't exactly sure what it was, so I asked when we worked our way up to the server. If you have a child that's reading this, send them away and do not tell them about this meal. I've heard it is especially unpopular with American children around Christmas. Viltfarbiff is made up of reindeer and moose. The first time I had it, the meat was served in a stroganoff type dish. This time it was served in ground steak medallions, similar to Salisbury steak. Both were delicious. Add a bit of lingdonberry and a few potatoes on the side, and you've got one heck of a meal.

As promised, I'll talk more about the food later. I've avoided the fish options, but I have loved everything I have been served. I have traditionally been a picky eater, so my conclusion is that I was born with Swedish taste buds.

Despite having cleaned every plate that has been set in front of me, I've still managed to lose weight at an incredible rate of speed. Three weeks in and I've already lost ten pounds. The change in weight is obviously due to lifestyle changes. I walked a lot in Minneapolis compared to most people, but I walk even more here. I have also gotten back into running, but haven't logged enough miles to make a difference in my weight. The drop is most likely due to the fact that I don't get free soda at work and that I don't have fast food for lunch every day. My diet is fairly well balanced and for the first time since college, the majority of my beverage intake is water. Yeah, I miss Chipotle, but I don't miss loosening my belt after each meal there. Moral of the story: If you want to go on a crash diet, you might as well come to Europe, eat well, and enjoy yourself. The weight will take care of itself.

There is one problem though, my pants don't fit. Even if my clothing was tight enough to pass for normal, now I have no choice but to wear "baggy American clothing." Oh well, I guess I prefer being out of style to the alternative.

That's enough about my weight. I promise to stop blogging on the subject.

Cheers.