About me

Some of you might not want to know who I am, but for those who do, here are some facts and other boring stuff...

Like it says on the first page, my name is Christina and I'm 38 years old. I live in the south of Sweden, in a harbor town called Trelleborg. I was raised about 15 km north of Trelleborg, but I had to go through high school in Trelleborg. At that time I found Trelleborg so boring that I swore I would never live there! Oh well, that was then...

After high school I got a great job in a big company, but after almost two years I decided that I wanted to see the world. I went to Greece for almost four months. I did the dishes in a Swedish/Danish/Greek restaurant on Crete in the evenings and I had the days off to do whatever I wanted. I got to see a lot during those four months. Things a "regular" tourist doesn't get to see... It was a great experiense!

After Greece I stayed home for about a month, but there were no jobs to be found so I packed my bags again and went to the United States. I ended up in Florida and I stayed there a whole year. I started out as an au-pair in a family, but there was almost nothing for me to do so I left... Shared a house with an American girlfriend and a guy originally from Italy. It was tough days, but we had fun! We cleaned houses, did laundry, baby sitting, ironing and a lot more that people hired us to do. One thing that I will never forget is when I was asked to baby sit a newborn little girl from Brasil... They wanted to name her Kristina (after me!) and wanted me to be her first baby sitter. She was the cutest little baby I had ever seen! After I got back home to Sweden I received photos of her every Christmas until she was about five - I think... That was one really funfilled year!

When the year in Florida was over, I went back home to Sweden and right after I got home my mother got sick. If she hadn't, I think I would have just taken a job, earned enough money to buy a new ticket back to Florida and who knows what I would be doing today if I had gone back...

After a few months I did get a new job, as a receptionist in a small company in Trelleborg (!). I ended up staying there almost nine years doing a little of everything. The last couple of years I was an indoor sales person and I loved it! After about two years I decided to move to Trelleborg... Yes, I know what I had said when I went to high school... My mother died shortly after I moved into my apartment and I got all her plants. Her Hoya carnosa was among these and that is the reason why I started collecting hoyas. More about that in how it all started.

My family is not big. My last grand parent (a grand mother) died around Christmas when I was 13 years old. On new years eve the year after, my father died, only 55 years old. My mother right after new year a litte more than 14 years ago, only 62 years old. Last year one of my brothers died, only 43 years old. My oldest big brother (52 last year) and my youngest big brother (41 last year) are what's left of our family if you don't count uncles and their families...

I became really good friends with one of my neighbors and she introduced me to dogs. She had a dog and I never thought I would like dogs, but it was actually fun... Not the same as having a cat, but still... She took me to a kennel and they had the cutest little Shetland Sheepdog puppies! One in particular... and this little dog came home with me for a trial period to see if she would get along with my cat. They got along just fine and my dog turned eleven years old on July 18th 2007.

I wrote that my cat enjoyed his last years here and that might need some explanation. In 2004 I spent one month (January) in Germany to study German and when I got home I thought my boyfriend had given him too much food so we put him on a diet... It worked some, but he still looked a little fat. He was fine otherwise, and when we took both animals to the vet in September 2004 we found out that my cat had cancer in both his kidneys and that there was nothing we could do about it. We decided to let him live as a "king" whatever time he had left. He lost some weight, but other than that he was in no pain or anything. He had lots of fun during the spring! He ate whipped cream, tuna fish and other "forbidden" stuff whenever he wanted... He even chased birds in the garden! Saturday May 14th 2004 his back legs suddenly got a little unsteady. That weekend I spent with him, taking care of him, spoiled him, walked with him, he slept his two last nights in my arms... Monday May 16th 2004 we took him to the vet and by then he was tired... Really tired and didn't seem to "blaim" us for what we were about to do. It was the toughest decision I've had to make (so far) but I know it was for his own best. He had a wonderful life and I'll never forget him. I'm glad I've taken so many photos of him the last couple of years... More photos of him will be added on his page. We still have my dog, but it's not the same as having a cat. We picked our new little kitten up on Monday July 18th last year... What a birthday present for my dog! My dog didn't quite like him at first, but now they have so much fun together. Photos of my new cat have been uploaded on his page, but more will follow!

So, what do I do today? The company I worked for was sold and I was one of those who had to leave. However, I did find a new job here in Trelleborg and I've spent the last five years there, working with indoor sales/marketing and having contact with more or less the whole world. This was a big advantage with this job. I also studied German at the University, but that turned out to be tougher and more time consuming than I thought...

In December 2006 I decided to take my drivers license. Yes, at "old" age... Said and done, I bought a package with 23 lessons and after the 8th lesson I was tired of it... I felt I needed a "carrot" and bought ny own car. It is a really cool car, a Renault Megane (3-doors) in an orientblue metallic colour and it was used, but fairly new... Having my own car really helped me get my license and I got it on my first try at the end om May last year. Since then my car and I (oh, and passengers) been around a lot at hoya meetings and so on... Getting my drivers license is probably one of the best things I've ever done!

My drivers license also helped me get a job. I'm working as a consultant (a company hires me out to other companies) and I really liked my first assignment and at the moment I'm at my third one which might lead to a permanent job... We'll see what happens after the summer!

At the moment it feels like my drivers license also might mean the beginning of something really nice in my life, but more about that later...

I think I'd better stop here, so you don't fall asleep... Thanks for the visit!

Trelleborg, beginning of March 2008