Last Thursday in November

• I found out today that I have a secretary at work. Just three months after I started haha :)  I of course knew that we have a few secretaries/assistants in the unit and I recall now that at some point I received an email with list of responsibilities for these colleagues and that one of them is working mainly for me and a couple of other colleagues.  But I had assumed that they were more working on administrative tasks given to them directly by the Head and the Deputy Head of Unit, and hadn't realised I could actually give them tasks or ask for help.  I'm so used to having to do everything myself from my previous job.  So for example, "my" (i.e. not just mine, I share him with several colleagues) secretary will book my flights for the business trip I'm doing next week and take care of all the related admin.
• I have lots of work at the moment.  Many briefings to write and also many conference and seminars to attend this time of the year.  And a fair share of training courses as well (though some sessions are perhaps only two hours long).  Luckily I haven't had to work that many extra hours (and I have flexitime so if I work longer one day I can leave earlier the next day, or accumulate and take half or a full day the following month) but it is hectic when I'm at work, and I also feel quite tired, especially this week. 
• Next week I'll be going on a business trip to Malmö and Lund in Southern Sweden for a day of meetings and study visits.  One of the briefings I've been working on is for this visit actually.  Luckily it is only for a day as my mum arrives that very evening.  
• Yesterday I went to my first after work drink since I got here. Well, that's not completely true as I've been out after work when a friend from Sweden was here for work, but this was the first proper AW with colleagues from the training course I went on in October.  I was home by 9om today as I felt a bit bad for Peter who's had a couple weeks of sick kids to take care of and has hardly been out of the house.
• And this week Peter has had both kids at home yet again, as Isolde came down with fever on Monday. It was really high, 40.7 at some point, which is probably a record for her, but Tuesday it was all gone. She stayed home Wednesday too though since it's a half-day anyway and she hadn't slept very well Tuesday night. Today was a school day and she was excited about going back. Harald is still coughing quite a lot at night and his node gets blocked but during the days he's fine and his appetite and good mood are back. 
• When Isolde had that high fever we gave her some paracetamol I bought here.  My that was some strong stuff!  I bought the kind appropriate or her weight (she weighs almost 12 kg), for 10-20 kg, which is 200 mg of paracetamol here, but in Sweden the strength for 10-15 kg is 125 mg.  We gave it to her just before bedtime, and it started working right away with the result that she didn't want to go to sleep.  After having been up for a while with us she fell asleep in our bed.  An hour or so later when we were going to bed we realised she was all wet because she had peed so much (fortunately she's still wearing nappies at night) and it had leaked in the front to her nightgown and onto our covers.  And when we took her temperature she only had 36.5.  It's like she peed the fever away instead of cold sweating.  Maybe it would have happened anyway but it feels like it was the paracetamol that did it.  Next morning she had normal temperature and the fever didn't return so I guess it was just some quick thing (or those paracetamol really scared whatever it was away for good!).
• My friend H. visited last weekend from Saturday to Sunday evening.  Saturday, after lunch she and I took a stroll around our neighbour and town centre (Stockel - Place Dumon).  It was fun for me to check out the shops, as I have hardly had the chance to do so since we moved here.  Afterwards all of us headed over to our friends Chris & Jacqui for fika (they know H. as well) and in the evening H. and I went out for dinner at one of the neighbourhood brasseries.  Actually my first evening meal out since we moved here.  On Sunday H. and I attempted to do some more shopping at a members-only outlet that P. invited me to.  We each bought one Christmas present, but then later when we were going to buy some more, the queues were so long (popular shop, especially since otherwise shops are closed on Sundays in Belgium) and we had to be back at a certain time in order to go and visit a friend of H.'s.  So I will have to go back this weekend to buy what I had picked out - hopefully I can still find the right sizes.  It was nice - mysigt - to have H. over and I hope she comes back soon (but before that we'll see each other in Sweden at Christmas), both on her own and with her family.
• In terms of other visits, I'm looking forward to my mum visiting next weekend, and we're also planning for my friend Jenny's visit together with her family in mid-end January.  Jenny normally lives in Brazil with her Brazilian fiancé and their daughter but she has just arrived in Sweden to spend three months there (so I will see her at Christmas too I hope).  Will be great to have them here next year!
• Isolde and I made some advent preparations earlier in the week and I will put up our advent lights tomorrow night or Saturday so we're ready for Sunday.  Last Friday we also bought a wreath for the door and an old-fashioned advent calendar at the Christmas bazar at the Swedish church. 
• By the way, before we went to the bazar last Friday we met my cousin Fredrik who's was in town on a very brief visit after a business trip to other parts of Belgium.  After a short tour of Grand Place and Mannekin Pis, we went to a very classic Brussels place, Le Cirio, for some food and drink.  This place was actually very child-friendly and we had no problems taking the pram inside and there was even a changing station in the toilets.  It was fun to catch up with Fredrik and we hope to see him too here again in the near future, hopefully with his family.