Look to Norway

Dinner's over

2011-06-17T18:48:00.005+02:00

It's Friday, 6:49 pm, and we just finished dinner. Pizza tonight, just like most every Friday night. Benjamin was here for dinner, as he's spending the night. Johan loves having friends sleep over, and Benjamin is one of his very best friends, so they are pretty happy. Anders has a lot of fun with Johan and Benjamin, too.

Espen wasn't here. He and the rest of his class are on a bus on there way home from Skånevik, south of Bergen, where their teacher has a summer house. They are done with all of their finals, but school isn't officially out yet, so his teacher and her husband offered to take the whole class(28 sixteen-or-soon-to-be-sixteen-year-olds) to their house on the west coast. His teacher just turned 60, and she's been a teacher for a long time, but this is the first time she's done this with a class. I think the class is pretty great. They're a pretty good group of teenagers. Espen has been gone since Tuesday morning. It'll be good to get him back home again.

It's been raining a lot here, and there's been lots of flooding along some of the big rivers in Norway, although luckily nothing in Oslo. It was pretty nice this weekend, with lots of sun, but the rain started again today. The bonus is that we never need to water, and everything is very green. While I was sitting at the dinner table tonight, this was my view:

Here are a few pics I took yesterday, too, while the boys were outside fixing a flat tire on Anders' bike:

Off to Gothenburg

2011-04-23T08:07:00.002+02:00

Gaute, Anders, Johan and I are headed to Gothenburg, Sweden today. A little mini-springbreak. The big amusement park downtown, Liseberg, opens for the season today. The kids have never been there, so we thought we'd check it out. They open at 12, and it's about a 3-hour drive, so we'll drive down there this morning. They don't close until 10, and we want to make a little vacation out of this, so we booked a room at the hotel across the street. Then we can do some sightseeing and shopping tomorrow. Unlike Norway, Sweden lets stores stay open on Sundays and holidays.

The boys are super excited. You would have thought we were going on an African safari. I think we'll have a good time, though. It's supposed to be sunny and warm, and it's hard not to have fun when it's sunny and warm in April!

I'll take pictures...

Sure sign of spring

2011-04-19T19:54:00.006+02:00

Today is not quite as sunny and warm as yesterday, which was gorgeous. But, all of the snow has melted and there's no school tomorrow, so the tents are out. Anders and Johan have their tent set up on our lawn, and the neighbors have theirs all ready to go next door. Rain is in the air, and I'm happy I can sleep in my own bed, but they're excited!

Espen is leaving tonight to visit his girlfriend at her family's cabin. Both of Malene's parents come from the west coast of Norway, not far from where Gaute's mom is from. They have a really nice cabin (house?) up there where they spend most vacations. They invited Espen up to stay for a few days this Easter. They have 3 kids and no room for him in their car, so he's taking the night bus up there tonight (it's about a 10-hour drive). I think he's looking forward to sitting on the bus with his computer and iPhone. And I know he's looking forward to hanging out with Malene :-). The cabin is on an island out in the Norwegian Sea which is well-known for the huge numbers of seabirds that inhabit the cliffs. I've been there a couple of times and it's gorgeous.

View Larger Map

UPDATE: I just got back from getting Espen all settled in on the bus. He was pretty excited. I think he'll have a fun few days. When I got back, I found these two little guys all settled into their tent. Good night, everyone!

Crash

2011-04-06T19:55:00.002+02:00

My hard drive crashed. It's one of those things you hear about happening to other people, and you think "Thank God that didn't happen to me".

Back up your hard drive - right now, before you read any more!

I backed up mine last time in December, and I am so glad that I didn't lose all of the pictures and music and other fun stuff that I have on my computer. Luckily, I have most of the good pictures I've taken since then on my Facebook page, which makes me oh, so happy.

I've only had my computer for a year and a half, so the hard drive was still under warranty, but I haven't been able to use it for almost 3 weeks. I live on my computer, and I have sorely missed it. I love my iPhone, too, but it's just not the same thing. I was VERY happy to get my good little computer back again yesterday!

No pics today, but I am posting my new favorite song, Lost Together. It's by Frazey Ford, and as she says in the intro, it's about being the product of dysfunctional hippie parents. I can kind of relate to it. (BTW, my parents are extremely functional these days!)

Coffee

2011-03-13T13:39:00.004+01:00

I got paid on Friday, and I did what I vowed I would do when I got my next paycheck. I bought a Nespresso machine. I'm the only one in our family who drinks coffee, so it seemed like an unnecessary luxury. I managed to rationalize it, though. Even though the coffee pods cost a bit, I was using a lot of coffee in my french press each day. And although the first cup out of the french press was delicious, the second cup wasn't quite so good. Now, each cup is hot and delicious. And no clean up. Aaahh, the joys of technology...

Music and a bit more...

2011-02-26T17:08:00.006+01:00

This past week has been winter break here in wintery Oslo. Gaute had to work the first part of the week (including a mini business trip to Bergen on Tuesday). Our plan was to be here until Wednesday or maybe Thursday and then head up to our cabin. But, you know, it just didn't work out quite like we'd planned. I discovered last week that Anders and Johan needed to renew their Norwegian passports, and that Espen and Johan needed to renew their American passports. The Norwegian ones aren't such a big deal, but to renew the American passports, we have to make an appointment at the American Embassy (only on weekdays before 12), and both Gaute and I have to appear in person with the kids. So, I managed to get an appointment for Wednesday (not really, but we got in regardless), and set about getting everything we needed in order. It is such a hassle! You have to go a special place downtown to get special pictures taken (at $40 a pop). Then when you finally show up at the embassy, they make you wait outside the gate until they finally walk over to see what you want. Then one adult and one child are allowed into the little guard booth, where you go through security control that is - literally - worse than anything you experience at the airport. They check your hands for any residue explosives, every little piece of anything you have in your pockets has to come out, before you walk through the metal detector. Then you have to leave your purse at the guard booth when you go inside. Everytime I'm there I consider giving up my American citizenship!

But, I never will do that, despite the fact that I need to go to the police station every 2 years and wait in line for at least 2 hours to get a visa stamped into my passport. And this year, when I went down to do it, they said that I didn't have enough pages left in my passport. It costs $80 to get more pages put in my passport, and $100 to get a new passport, so I decided to go for it. Since I'm over 16, I don't have to show up at the embassy in person, but I had to go get a cashier's check and a $40 picture before I sent my application in.

And - the Nordic Skiing World Championships started here in Oslo on Thursday. I realize that it is probably not primetime programming in the U.S., but it is here. And it's in Oslo this year! The last time the World Championships were in Oslo was in 1982. So, we kind of felt like it was stupid to leave Oslo right when the excitement was starting...

I've been on my computer a lot this week, and I've been listening to a lot of music. I decided to make a playlist of stuff that I've been listening to most lately. Because I'm SURE everyone is dying to know. So, here it is:

We Used to Wait - Arcade Fire (I love this whole album, and I've been listening to it a lot ever since I bought it in September. I love the fact that it won a Grammy for Best Album of the Year.)
Rambling Man - Laura Marling (A great folk singer from England. She used to date one of the guys from Mumford and Sons and has played with them a lot.)
Hull i Himmelen - John Olav Nilsen og Gjengen - (Trying to get some great Norwegian music out to an American audience. This isn't their newest song, but I think it's their best.)
Howlin' for You - The Black Keys (Another great album with lots of good songs.)
Devil Town - Bright Eyes (I first heard this song, with Tony Lucca singing, on Friday Night Lights, my new favorite show. I love this version, and I love Bright Eyes.)
San Jose - Joe Purdy (This is so good...)
Save Yourself - Sharon Van Etten (Another great female singer, American this time.)
Crash Years - The New Pornographers (This song makes me happy.)
The Girl and the Robot - Røyksopp (This is a Norwegian electronic band. Robyn, a Swede, is singing on this song. She has become very popular with her latest albums, but I love this song best. Listening to her music a lot lately, because Gaute, Espen and I are going to see her in concert in March. Her live shows are supposed to be incredible, so I'm excited!)
Monster - Kanye West (I don't listen to a lot of hip-hop, but I love Kanye West's music. He acts like a complete idiot (his tweets are very entertaining...), but I think he makes consistently great music, and this album is really, really good.)

I made this playlist on iTunes, too, so you can head over there and here a bit of these songs. Just open this link in iTunes and you're good to go.

There is one more song I would have loved to have put on this playlist, but it's not available on iTunes. Here it is on my blog, though! It's called Warrior Song, and the artist is Ingrid Olava (another Norwegian). It's lovely.

Warsaw

2011-02-05T11:01:00.004+01:00

Our hotel room on the 33rd floor

The view from our room

Lots of apartment buildings built during the Communist time with modern high rises popping up here and there

Warsaw Uprising monument

Warsaw was completely destroyed during WWII, just a pile of rubble. Everything was built up again after the war, including Old Town.

Off tomorrow

2011-01-27T22:44:00.002+01:00

Finished packing, more or less, and we're headed to Poland tomorrow. Our plane doesn't leave until 2, but I have the whole day off, which is so nice. It'll be good to be able to be home until the kids leave for school and be able to take it easy in the morning before we leave.

I'm charging the batteries on our good camera, so hopefully I'll have some cool pictures to post here when I get back. In the meantime, here's a silly iPhone pic to tide you over...

Tuesday evening

2011-01-25T18:31:00.005+01:00

Polska

2011-01-15T19:51:00.004+01:00

So, Gaute and I are headed to Warsaw in a couple of weeks. Just a short weekend break from Friday to Sunday. We basically chose Warsaw because we got cheap plane tickets, but I'm pretty excited about the trip. I love travelling - and especially when I get to stay at nice hotels. And Poland is cheap compared to Norway, so we are staying at the Intercontinental. Nothing like a 5 star hotel to make me smile...

Mmmm, Sunday evening

2011-01-09T16:36:00.003+01:00

Another weekend is winding down. It's been a nice one. We were all pretty worn out on Friday - it's hard starting back to school after a two week vacation.

Yesterday Gaute went skiing for the 4th day in a row. Espen had two indoor soccer games (the first game was a tie, and they won the 2nd one). Anders, Johan and I headed to the mall to get some errands done. We delivered Espen's ski jacket to get the zipper repaired, took my 20 year old winter boots to the shoemaker to glue the heel back in place, returned a shirt Anders got for x-mas that he didn't like, and returned a lamp which wasn't working. And, bought some pencils and erasers for the kids. Lots of little things that I've been putting off doing, which I was very happy that I finally got done.

After that, we headed to the grocery store to do "big shopping". I always used to plan a week's menu in advance and buy all of the groceries I needed for the whole week. Since I've started working, I haven't been doing that, and our dinners have been suffering. When I get off work at 4 or 5 and I'm hungry, I often end up buying a frozen pizza at the store on my way home. But, if I know what we're going to eat and the food and the recipe are waiting for me at home, we actually end up eating a healthy, well-rounded meal. So far, so good in 2011...

Anders and Gaute went on a big cross-country ski trip today (I think they skied 43 km all together). Espen, Johan and I stayed around home. Espen's girlfriend came over for a while, and then he watched the big game between Manchester United and Liverpool (Liverpool lost...). Johan made a fort in the snow - it's been snowing like crazy yesterday and today. I've been enjoying having a day at home. Got lots of laundry done, cleaned up the house, made dinner for tonight, and got a start on tomorrow night's dinner. And for dessert I made a treacle pie. Haven't tried it before, but it looks good!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T21:27:00.010+01:00

I feel like I was just writing about how vacation was just starting and now tomorrow is the last day. It's been a nice vacation, though. I feel like I've had enough time to relax, and we've been relatively social, too.

Christmas Eve was spent at Kari and Grim's house, as usual. Kari made a nice traditional Norwegian Christmas dinner and Grim dressed up as Julenissen and came to the door with presents for the kids. It was a nice evening.

Later we went home and hung up the stockings. Anders and Johan each wrote notes for Santa which they left with the cookies. They don't really believe in Santa anymore, but they're not quite ready to take any chances.

Christmas day started bright and early. Everyone was thrilled with their gifts, but Anders and Espen didn't sleep much at all the night before, so they were pretty out of it by early afternoon. We had Kari and Grim over for a Christmas brunch, and after they left, we all pretty much passed out :-)

The next day, Sindre and his kids were in town. Sindre turned 50 on January 1st, and since he wasn't going to be in town on his actual birthday, he took us all out to a nice celebration dinner on the 26th.

I don't have photographic documentation of the rest of my vacation, but that doesn't mean we didn't have fun. On the 28th, my friend Sandra from Salt Lake came for dinner with her Norwegian husband and kids. They just moved to southern France from Salt Lake at the end of summer, and were in Norway spending Christmas with Bjorn's (her husband's) family. I haven't seen Sandra for 8 years, and it was really fun to have them over.

The last big event was New Year's Eve. We invited quite a few people over, but it was pretty last minute, and most people had other plans. We did end up having two people over, though, and it was a nice evening. Almost everyone in Norway makes a turkey for New Year's Eve, and since we didn't celebrate Thanksgiving this year, we made a Thanksgiving dinner for New Year's. Tasted delicious!

And now there's only one day left. The nice thing is that we start back to school on Tuesday, so this Sunday night isn't like a real Sunday night. It feels like we get a bonus day.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T09:44:00.008+01:00

Well, we made it to Christmas Eve, and I think everything is under control. Going to make some fudge today and make sure the house is picked up and clean. The kids have a few small presents that they are going to deliver to their friends, and we have an azalea that we're going to give to our neighbor next door. I realized that we don't have any Rice Krispies to make Rice Krispie treats, and they only sell them at one or two stores in Oslo, so I'm sending Gaute out on a Rice Krispie run.

It's sunny and cold today, just like it has been pretty much every day since the beginning of November. Snow on the ground, and it feels like Christmas.

Christmas vacation

2010-12-21T16:32:00.004+01:00

Yippeee! Today was the last day of school, so Christmas vacation has officially started. No work until Tuesday, January 4th. I was really ready for a vacation now. Not a day too soon...

Last night we put up the Christmas tree. Late by American standards, but in Norway, the tree doesn't go up until the 23rd. So basically, we didn't get it right according to any standards :-)

Anders and Johan have been counting and sorting the presents under the tree today. Brings back good memories from my youth...

By the way, the iPhone 4 I'm getting for Christmas arrived today.

Snow storm

2010-12-18T10:50:00.002+01:00

Well, not a storm exactly, but it is snowing outside, and it has been on and off since yesterday. It will definitely be a white Christmas here this year. We've had snow on the ground since the middle of November, and that is not the norm here in Oslo. The white snow makes it seem less dark, so everyone's pretty happy about it.

Slowly but surely, I feel like I'm getting ready for Christmas. I long for the days when December was a fun, festive month. The last few years, it's felt incredibly stressful. I had a slight meltdown last night, when I found out that Gaute put off buying my Christmas present (iPhone 4) too long, and that it won't be here until after Christmas. I think I will survive, though :-).

Tonight we're all going to see a movie (not sure which one yet) and then out to dinner afterwards (probably at TGI Fridays or Hard Rock Cafe). Espen's girlfriend is coming with us, too, so Espen is pretty happy. Espen and Malene celebrated their 10 month anniversary a few weeks ago.

Well, time to go blowdry my hair and put on some makeup. Busy day today!

Johan's Birthday

2010-12-15T07:13:00.005+01:00

Yesterday was Johan's 10th birthday. True to tradition, we woke him up with the Happy Birthday song and a cinnamon roll with a candle on top.

Johan finally got what he has been waiting for for a long time - a "one-piece", a kind of jumpsuit made out of fleece with a zipper that goes all the way up the hood. He has been waiting for one of these since before summer vacation, and he was VERY happy when he finally got it yesterday :-).

After his birthday dinner of cheese tortellini, Bestemor and Bestefar came over for chocolate cake. Johan declared it one of his best birthdays ever!

2 days in a row

2010-12-13T19:34:00.004+01:00

Not much going on tonight. Tomorrow is Johan's birthday, and he is very excited. He didn't fall asleep until after 11 last night, and both he and Anders are pretty wired this evening.

But, now the birthday cake is in the oven, and things have calmed down a bit. Espen is at football practice, and Anders is working on his math homework.

Johan and Gaute are watching the Discovery channel. Soon time for Johan to take a shower and wash his hair. And then Anders, Johan and I are going to watch the final episode of our favorite outdoor reality show, 71 Degrees North. Should be an exciting finale...

I'm back...

2010-12-12T18:56:00.005+01:00

...at least for now. I haven't blogged for almost a year, and I've kind of missed it lately, so here goes - again.

Last night was our work Christmas party. It was at a restaurant downtown, and it was pretty fun, despite the fact they were about an hour and a half late serving us our food. I had my camera with me, and we took lots of pictures, but I promised everyone that I wouldn't post any pics online, so all you get to see is a cropped picture of me :-)

This being Norway, the party didn't break up until the wee hours of the morning. My friend Linda and I made a 3 am stop at McDonalds to get some grease in our systems before we went and waited in line for a taxi. Waiting in line outside for a taxi when it's freezing cold, the middle of the night and you're wearing party clothes is not the funnest thing in the world, but we finally got a ride home. I got home at about 4 in the morning, so most of today has been spent on the sofa.

We just finished dinner a little while ago, but it was just Gaute, Johan and me tonight. Espen is eating at his girlfriend's house and Anders is at a birthday party.

One more full week of school, and then school on Monday and Tuesday of next week, and THEN it's Christmas vacation! Can't wait!

It's the 3rd Sunday in Advent today, and just like everyone else in Norway, we have 3 purple candles lit tonight (purple is the color of Advent, according to Norwegian tradition).

Taking a break

2010-02-16T19:40:00.003+01:00

Not really sure if anyone checks this blog anymore, since I haven't posted anything for a really long time. I want to keep in touch with everyone and let everyone know what's going on around here, but Facebook is a much funner way to do it. Sooo - if you want to know what's going on, then you'd better friend me on Facebook :-)

Diesel, baby

2010-01-08T19:59:00.002+01:00

A little note to my post yesterday. I've been googling Jettas this evening, and I see that there are many reviews of the 2009 Jetta TDI, which is what I am buying. And the reviews of it are pretty great. It's a turbo diesel, which they claim gets as much as 40 mpg, performing great at the same time. Oh, yes...

In Norway, Jettas aren't popular at all. Volkswagens are super popular, but sedans are totally out. Everyone around here wants either a station wagon or a hatchback, and anything else is uninteresting. Kind of lame, but, on the other hand, it means that I got a really good deal on this Jetta, which I like!

New car

2010-01-07T21:43:00.005+01:00

So, I bought a new car today. Excitement, excitement... Actually it's not a brand new car, but a 1-year-old VW Jetta (I've always loved Jettas...). We've been thinking about buying a new car for a while now. Gaute's 15-year-old Volvo is falling apart and didn't pass its last inspection, so it is pretty much done for after February, when the registration expires. My car is 5-years-old, and still runs and looks great, but it's starting to run into those 5-year-old car problems which have a tendency to show up (at the moment, my parking brake isn't working, for example). So, first we thought we would buy a new car for Gaute, something about 4-5 years old, in fairly decent shape. He was actually all set to buy a car, and the deal fell through, and the his motivation was gone. Then we started thinking that maybe we could get by with one car for a while, and get a new family car instead. So we started looking at Volvo V70s, which are really nice, but not so cheap. We found one that we liked, and had the dealership give us a trade-in price for my car, which was ridiculously low. And the car we wanted was really pushing our limits.

So, then Gaute came up with a great idea. We could buy a new "commuter car" for me, and my Renault could be our 2nd car, which he can use. My car is pretty big, with lots of room for when we go to our cabin and stuff, and runs fine (just have to get that pesky brake fixed). And I really wanted a car with an automatic transmission for when I sit in traffic on my way to work. I'm pretty happy - I think this was a good compromise. Now I get a new car, and Gaute gets a car, too. If we would have bought the Volvo, we would have spent more money, and Gaute wouldn't have had a car. Plus, the Volvo was smaller than the Renault. Now we have a big car with room for 7 people (as long as two of them are midgets) plus a mid-size car with room for 5 people.

Anyway, this has been a rambling post, but hopefully you get the gist of things. I don't have my car yet, they're going to give it a service checkup and stuff, but I have been promised the car by the end of next week. Here are some pics of the car from the online ad:

Twenty-ten (otherwise known as two thousand and ten)

2010-01-06T20:09:00.004+01:00

2010...It's kind of hard to believe I'm still alive. When I was a kid, 2010 sounded like it was sooo far in the future, that I couldn't really imagine what life would be like. Was pretty sure that we would be riding in hover cars and that robots would be cleaning our house. But here I am with a car with 4 tires and a Polish cleaning lady...

Christmas vacation is over, and I started back to work this week. I was actually kind of looking forward to getting back to work. And I have had a nice week at work. What hasn't been so great is the feeling of total exhaustion that I have had every evening when I get home. We were staying up really late every night during vacation, and sleeping in really late. My body has gone into shock this week, getting up at 6 every morning. I'm hoping that my sleep habits will adjust themselves soon, so that life feels a bit more normal.

It's been super cold here this week. Today it was -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit) pretty much all day. Makes me happy that I got a new down jacket for Christmas!

Off to the cabin

2009-12-28T10:44:00.002+01:00

Christmas is over. It was, as usual, a high-technological Christmas for the Langaas family. Two iPhones, two mini-laptops and a Wii. No one has any reason to complain, at least. And thankfully, they're not.

Unfortunately for them, we have a low-tech cabin, where no laptops or game consoles are allowed. (Actually, iPhones are allowed, though. And we do have a TV and DVD player there.) The plan for the next few days is to do lots of skiing and relaxing. Everyone got new books, too, so there will be reading.

We are going to celebrate New Year's the same way we have since we got the cabin. A yummy dinner of cheese fondue followed by bottle rockets and other cool fireworks in the snow. It's almost always super cold up there this week after Christmas, and it's supposed to be just as cold this year. And sunny and nice. With lots of snow. Should be a good week.

We'll be back on Saturday - and then back to work/school on Monday. Two weeks vacation isn't that much, actually.

Christmas eve

2009-12-24T12:39:00.002+01:00

It's been snowing hard since I woke up this morning. Very Christmas-like in Oslo this Christmas Eve. I got the rest of the baking done this morning, now I just have some presents to wrap and then I can relax. I recorded Christmas Vacation last night, so I think I'm going to force the kids to watch it with me. It's important that they're familiar with all of Chevy Chase's greatest works.

Yesterday, while Gaute was "working", I took the kids to see A Christmas Carol. I really liked it a lot, but Anders and Johan thought it was pretty scary. Johan held my hand through most of the film, and Anders had his eyes closed a lot of the time. We saw the 3D version, but what I didn't think about until we got there, was that 3D is not easy for Espen. His eyes can't focus well enough to be able to get the 3D effect. The movie actually looked better without the glasses on than with them. And if you've ever watched a 3D movie without the glasses on, then you can imagine how much fun it was for Espen.

The plan is to go see Avatar on the 26th, and I think we'll see the 2D version.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-22T16:07:00.002+01:00

Wasn't really sure if I was going to pull it off this year, but it looks like we might have Christmas after all. We got the tree up and decorated last night, the gingerbread house is all set, and I even made some Christmas cookies today. Yesterday, I did had a marathon shopping trip, and I think I have everything now. I'm trying to convince myself that what I have is enough, and not rush out tomorrow to pick up a few more gifts. The kids' stockings are big, though...

Tomorrow, I'm taking the kids to see A Christmas Carol. The last few years, we've had tickets to see the Nutcracker on the 23rd, but this year, I didn't get my butt in gear early enough, and it was sold out. So, we'll be seeing a movie this year instead of a ballet. The kids are probably happier, but I know they think it's fun to get all dressed up and go to the opera house. I know that I like it, at least.

Merry, merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas vacation

2009-12-18T17:44:00.002+01:00

Today was the last day of school before Christmas vacation started. It feels weird to think that I have 2 whole weeks of vacation ahead of me. Probably won't really sink in until Sunday night when I realize I don't have to turn on my alarm...

I still have A LOT of Christmas presents left to buy, and we don't have our tree yet, but I think Christmas will come, regardless. And I'm starting to think that homemade Christmas cookies are overrated.

Thank God for vacations!

Home alone weekend

2009-12-06T17:02:00.003+01:00

It's Sunday evening and I'm just waiting for the potatoes to finish up so that we can eat dinner. Swedish meatballs, boiled potatoes and broccoli for dinner. With a bit of lingonberry relish on the side. Very Scandinavian (think IKEA).

Gaute and the boys were up at our cabin this weekend. They got back a few hours ago, and it seems like they had a good time. There's a lot of snow up there right now, so they had a nice x-country ski trip yesterday. That is, everyone except Espen, who claimed that his arm was still bothering him after he got the swine flu vaccine. He kind of lucked out on this trip, because he had a semi-legitimate excuse for not going skiing.

I stayed home, because we had our work Christmas party on Saturday. Since Gaute and the kids left Friday afternoon, I had the whole weekend to myself. Heaven! It's not often that I get to be alone these days.

The Christmas party last night was a lot of fun. But, in true Norwegian style, everyone drank way too much and the party didn't break up until the early morning hours, so today I've been lying on the sofa watching back to back episodes of Big Love and eating frozen pizza. Ah, yes, quite the Sunday!

Back to work tomorrow. Only this week and next week and then it's 2 weeks of Christmas vacation. Yea!! These next two weeks are pretty low maintenance, too. Not much planning that needs to be done from my side. Lots of Christmassy events, which should be a lot of fun!

Christmas play

2009-12-02T21:23:00.002+01:00

Just got home after a 12-hour day at school. Whew - I'm pretty worn out. Not feeling good today, either, which makes a long day that much worse.

But - my class had their Christmas play today, and it went really well. They did a great job - I was really proud of them. I think they had a lot of fun, too! The parents had cake and coffee with them, so we hung around and chatted for about an hour afterwards while the kids ran around, and it was nice getting to know people a bit better. It seems like they're pretty happy with me and with how things are going in the class, which is always nice to hear :-). I got a very nice gift from everyone, too. On evenings like this, it's fun to be a teacher!!

Things weren't going quite as well when I got home. All of the kids have now gotten the swine flu vaccine at school, Anders and Johan yesterday, and Espen today. And they're all feeling pretty bad because of it. Both Anders and Johan woke up crying early this morning because the arm that got the shot was hurting so much, and Espen was also in pain this evening. They're vaccinated for the greater good of the community, though!

Back...

2009-12-01T18:10:00.006+01:00

I know - this is not the first time I write a blog post in which I apologize for not writing for so long and vow to get back in the saddle. But, who knows, maybe I'll keep it up this time. Just like I might start going to the gym to work out again...

It's December 1st. The kids opened the first window on their advent calendars today. They have the kind with a little chocolate for each day, as they have every year. Cheap and easy, and they're happy to get a little chocolate before school every morning.

This year, I had to get some advent stuff ready for my class, too. Advent is a big thing in Norway, and in elementary school, at least in the lower grades, December mornings usually start with an advent gathering. We sit in a circle, light some candles and sing Christmas songs and read Christmas books (it's pretty dark out still at 8:30 in the morning). I also got an advent calendar for my class where they get a little miniature book for each day. There are 23 kids in my class, so they each get one book, and then I get the book for the 24th. Perfect! We started today, and it was pretty nice.

I was home sick from work yesterday, for the first time in a really long time. I have a pretty bad cold, and yesterday I pretty much lost my voice. Not a good idea to try and teach with no voice. I was back at school today, feeling a bit better. I might have stayed home one more day, though, if it weren't for the fact that I feel like I've got too much to do to be able to stay home.

Because, tomorrow night, my class is performing a Christmas play for their parents. I think it will turn out pretty well - we've practiced a lot - but I'm still nervous. This is the first time I've been responsible for something like this. I'll be happy when it's over.

And now for some pictures from a hike we went on last weekend (these have already made the rounds on Facebook, but still...). The teenager you don't recognize is Espen's friend Harald.

Ryan

2009-10-01T22:09:00.002+02:00

I feel like I need to write something here, I hope no one is upset by the fact that I'm doing it...

This evening, just as we were on our way out to T.F.I. Friday's to celebrate Espen's birthday, Josh called. He asked if I'd heard the news, and my heart dropped. Ryan, Tess's husband (the one you see in all of the wedding pictures I posted a few days ago), had an aneurysm in his aorta burst late Sunday night, and he died immediately.

I couldn't/can't believe it...Ryan wasn't even 30 years old. Strong and healthy.

When I got back from dinner, I got a hold of Tessy and talked to her. She sounded amazingly calm and collected. As she said, she may be in shock, but that's probably a good thing as it's helping her get through this week. It was really good to talk to her, and to hear that she was making it okay. My mom is up there, Keith has been there, and Bubba and Amanda have been there, too, in addition to Ryan's family and friends. It seems like she's getting a lot of support, which is great.

I feel really far away from everyone, and a bit sad that I didn't know anything about this until several days later. I realize that everyone has had more than enough to think about, but I've had this week off of work, and really think that I might have flown out. Not necessarily because I think anyone needed me to be there, but because I think I need to be there...

There will be a memorial service on the beach at sunset tomorrow evening. We will be thinking of you, Ryan, with love.

Zion, July 2009

2009-10-01T09:48:00.026+02:00

And moving right along, we have now made it to Zion National Park in southern Utah.

Lots of red rocks...

And scary drop-offs

Nothing like an evening swim after a day out and about.

Josh, Melanie and the kids came down to join us. And we hiked The Narrows (of course).

And the next day Josh and Gaute hiked Angel's Landing, while us scaredy cats hung out with the kids.

They saw some California condors on their way up...

And later we all relaxed at the hotel pool.

Salt Lake City, July 2009

2009-09-30T11:21:00.020+02:00

Still making my way through our summer vacation pics. It was a long vacation, and many pictures were taken. And here are some more of them.

On our way to Salt Lake, we stayed overnight in Elko.

And drove the rest of the way the next day.

We saw a box car on fire.

And stopped at the Bonneville salt flats.

The next day we watched Tae-Kwan-Do-Taige get a new belt.

Later, Espen and Tia watched TV together...

...before we celebrated Josh's 37th birthday.

The next day, we went on a hike up at Alta in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

On the way home, we stopped at East High - now famous around the world as the alma mater of the High School Musical gang.

The next day was spent slippin' and slidin' in the backyard.

Foresthill, post-wedding

2009-09-29T09:28:00.026+02:00

Still attempting to get through with posting pictures from our summer vacation, and I've moved on to some shots from northern California after Tess's wedding. (Beware, there are a lot of pictures here!)

Two of the cousins getting things organized at the Cousin's Club Hole.

Nano-nano

Josh was worn out after the big festivities the day before.

The next day was the big film shoot. Picking the appropriate costume was fun..

And we're ready to roll...lights, camera, ACTION!

The next day was boys day out - climbing, of course.

Grunky came up for lunch one day.

And after he left, we broke out Catch Phrase - the best game ever!

Anders made sure to get in some quality time with Jenny before we left.

Sad goodbyes the day we left.

Tess's wedding

2009-09-28T18:51:00.024+02:00

Back from the cabin. Had a great weekend - we went on two long hikes, one of which was in a national park in the area that we'd never been to before. I took some pictures, but they're still on the memory card and not on my computer - soooo - here are some pictures from Tess's wedding. Only about 3 months after the date...

Espen took most of the pictures, and he took a lot, but this is a little selection.

Melanie waiting for the big event to start.

Seth with Uncle Denny and Aunt Joan

Jerry and Barbara

Jack and Donna and Marcy and Normand

Three very good-looking boys - two ushers and a ring-bearer

A beautiful maid of honor

The beautiful bride and her dads

The ring-bearers, Johan and Taige

The proud groom

Tess, Ryan and Maddie, Ryan's daughter

Gaute and the boys rocking out into the wee hours of the night...

Getting them all set to leave for their honeymoon.

Seth caught the garter - and the next thing you know he's in love!

Some people were dancing like crazy...

And some weren't....

Everyone had a great time, though!

Autumn break

2009-09-25T18:07:00.005+02:00

I'm not dead! I've just been busy, and updating my blog has not been my top priority. But, it's vacation here in the north. The school's have a week off next week, and the teachers do, too. Yea!!

We're headed up to our cabin in a short while. Just waiting for the Friday night pizza to finish up in the oven. Then, when we're done with dinner we'll head up. The weather looks gorgeous up there right now, so it should be fun. We'll head back down again on Tuesday, since Gaute can't take too much time off work (he already had a 5 week vacation this summer!), and Espen wants to be home for his birthday on Thursday.

Here are a few pictures from a trip Anders, Johan and I took with Anders' class and their families. It was up in the mountains, but different mountains than the ones at our cabin. We had a fun time, and the weather was gorgeous on that trip, too. Nothing like the mountains in the fall!

The view from the cabin we stayed at.

A view of the cabin we stayed at.

Anders and Johan by the lake below the cabin.

On our way back down the mountain.

Almost Friday

2009-08-20T21:50:00.003+02:00

It's Thursday - almost done with the first back-to-school week. Things have gone pretty well. I love having my own class this year. And what a great class I have! They have been so good - it's been really fun having them. They can talk a little bit too much sometimes, but they're all really sweet and polite and nice to each other.

And my days at school are so much more calm. It's so nice to have just one class to concentrate on. If I don't get something done one hour, I can get it done the next hour, or the next day. Everything seems so much easier. It's probably a bit because I've been working at the school for a year already and know the ropes a bit better, too.

The kids are back to their football games and orienteering practice. This week, Espen has football training 3 days, games 2 days and he's going away for a tournament this weekend. Seven days of football!

Everything would actually be going quite well, except for the fact that I decided to have a 40th birthday party after all. We were at a friend's 40th birthday party last weekend, and I got inspired. It is fun to have an excuse to get friends together. Gaute and I are not very good at having people over, so we kind of need a push to do it. So - I sent out invitations and invited about 40 people for next Saturday, the 29th. And it seems like most people are coming. It's kind of a mixture of friends from work, friends from our neighborhood, and friends who I've known for a while. Should be fun - except WHAT THE HELL! I'm going to have 30-35 people here next Saturday, I've been busy every day and night this week, meaning that I have nothing done for the party. I'm going to cater the food - just have a buffet which doesn't need to be kept warm - otherwise I would lose my mind. And, I'm asking some people to bring cakes so I don't have to worry about that. But still, there's a lot that needs to be organized. I think we'll need to rent tables and chairs and I need to get some kind of tableclothes and decorations. Not to mention enough plates and napkins and silverware for everyone. And, around here, you can't have a party without coffee, so I need to figure out how to do the whole coffee thing. And the alcohol, got to have enough alcohol. I'm sure it will work out somehow, but I really need to get pretty much everything done this weekend. I kind of wonder what I was thinking - but I'm sure it will be a lot of fun! I'm glad so many can come!

Working again

2009-08-13T22:37:00.002+02:00

I started back to work on Tuesday. It was kind of an easy slide back into work - sort of a "working vacation". All of the teachers at Ekeberg went to an overnight retreat at a hotel about an hour north of Oslo. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday doing some "team-building" exercises, which were somewhat okay. The fun part of the retreat was the social aspect, though. The food was very good (and free) and we had a fun time hanging out Tuesday night. I really like everyone I work with! This is Norway, though, so of course I got to bed way too late Tuesday night (actually 3 o'clock Wednesday morning). Breakfast at 7:30 the next morning was tough.

And today was back to reality again. Work - at work. Today was a full day (from 8 until 4) of planning for the upcoming school year and all of that kind of stuff. The hard part is the fact that there are six of us in my 3rd grade team who have to come to a consensus. By about 2 o'clock, I'd had more than enough. But, I made it all the way to the end...And tomorrow we have pretty much the whole day to get our classrooms ready for the first day of school, which is on Monday.

I saw some of my students today. Although school hasn't started yet, the afterschool/vacation program is open. It was really good to see them - they were excited, and so was I. I wrote a letter to each of my students (actually, they all got the same letter) telling them that I hoped they had had a fun summer and that I was excited to see them again when school started. I sent it to them in the mail on Monday, and the one's I saw today were pretty happy about that letter. I ran into one mom who also commented on it. Nothing like kissing up to the kids and their parents before the start of a new school year!!

Birthday weekend in Prague

2009-08-10T21:02:00.012+02:00

Still haven't managed to post the rest of my pictures from our trip to the states, but I want to write a bit about the trip to Prague while it's still fresh in my memory. What can I say - it was wonderful! Tripadvisor.com didn't let me down. I picked the top-rated hotel for Prague on their website, a place which had gotten glowing reviews. It was so wonderful - it was a beautiful hotel and they treated us like visiting royalty. After being picked up at the airport by a driver holding a card with our name, we were driven to our hotel in a Mercedes. Then, after checking in we were given a personal tour of the hotel, ending in the rooftop restaurant with views over the whole city. There we were given complimentary drinks and appetizers while the concierge showed us on a map where the highlights of the city were. The room was gorgeous, big with fabulous views. That evening they showed up to turn down our beds, and the concierge had a birthday cake for me!

That night we ate at the hotel restaurant, which must have the best view in all of Prague. It's a very nice restaurant, and we got all dressed up for dinner (I wore the dress I wore to Tess's wedding, and Gaute wore the clothes he WANTED to wear to Tess's wedding). We had a wonderful meal sitting outside on the terrace, watching the lights of Prague slowly come on as it got dark. There were even fireworks - not sure why, but I felt like they were for my birthday :-).

The day we got there, we just took a short walk around the castle, which was adjacent to our hotel. The next day, we decided to go for a guided tour of the city. It was so-so - the guide was a bit strange, but it was nice to get some background information on what we were seeing. It's a beautiful city, with a lot of history!

That night, we ventured out to try to find a restaurant. We ended up at a place with a great location, right on the big river which runs through Prague, but the food was pretty bad. After walking around the city after dinner, we decided to have dessert (and Amaretto) at our hotel restaurant, which was a good choice!

All in all, an absolutely wonderful birthday weekend (had a bit of a cold, but I didn't let it put a damper on anything!)

Birthday celebrations

2009-08-06T22:32:00.002+02:00

Tomorrow is my birthday - 40! I've been dreading it, but I'm over that now. I'm actually thinking that it's not such a bad thing after all.

Gaute and I just dropped his mom and our kids off at the bus station. They're taking a night bus up to the west coast where Gaute's parents have their cabin (Gaute's dad is already up there). They'll be there a week - they were pretty excited. They really like it up there. It's right on a lake and really pretty. They like to go out fishing with Grim in the little row boat, and sometimes they get to go fishing out on the ocean in a real boat which one of Gaute's cousins has.

Since the kids were leaving this evening, I celebrated my birthday with them today. I got new headphones for my iPhone from Espen, a shoe horn from Johan and a barbecue scrubber from Anders. Good, practical gifts ;-). From Gaute I got diamond earrings - they're beautiful (he forgot that he gave me diamond earrings for our 15th wedding anniversary last year, but, oh, well...). And I will be getting the one thing I really wanted for my birthday, which was a new staircase down to our basement. The one we have is literally falling apart and looks terrible. We had a carpenter here the other day, so that will be under way before too long.

On my actual birthday tomorrow, Gaute and I are headed to Prague. I'm so excited!! Neither of us have been there, but everyone says it's a gorgeous city. We'll just be there for the weekend, but it's only a 2 hour flight, so we should have time to take in the main sights. We're staying at a super nice luxury hotel, too, which I'm excited about. The list of amenities is long...

Foresthill, pre-wedding

2009-08-04T15:48:00.020+02:00

Our vacation was long and fun this year, and because we bought our fancy new digital SLR camera, I uploaded 1400 pictures to my computer when I got home. Needless to say, only a small portion of those pictures will be making into onto this blog. I've decided to break the trip up into different time periods and post pictures from those periods. (Those of you who are my Facebook friends have seen some of these pictures before, but you'll just have to deal!)

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

2009-08-03T06:30:00.002+02:00

We made it back in one piece. We left L.A. Friday evening, about 9 o'clock. It was strange leaving so late at night. We usually fly out of San Francisco around 4 in the afternoon. I think I prefer the afternoon flights. Johan was so little that he managed to sleep during virtually the entire flight. The rest of us had a harder time. And, if you're like me and have restless legs when you're tired and can't stretch out and sleep, 9 and a half hours on a plane can be excruciating. I had a very hard time sitting still, and made MANY trips to the bathroom just to have an excuse to get up and stretch my legs. I finally dozed off for a while, but I think I will pay closer attention to departure times next time I book a transatlantic flight!

We got back to Oslo late Saturday night, and we all pretty much dove into our beds and slept soundly. Up and at 'em early yesterday morning, though. The kids were so excited to be home and have all of their toys, that they didn't know what to do with themselves. Anders and Johan started the day by going on a bike ride around the neighborhood at 5:30 in the morning! I think they managed to play with pretty much everything during the course of the day. Anders capped off his fun day by putting up the tent in the yard and sleeping out there last night. When I woke up (way too early) this morning, it was raining, and I thought I might see him, but he's still in the tent sleeping soundly...

I'm in the process of uploading the 1200 pictures we took during our vacation. I'm not quite sure how to share them yet, but I'll let everyone know when I come up with a good plan!

Wedding day

2009-07-05T15:57:00.002+02:00

Well, I've been in California for 12 days - quite a while, actually. These 12 days have been pretty crazy, though. Tessy's wedding was originally going to be at the end of September, but for various reasons, she and Ryan decided to get married earlier and have a smaller wedding than they'd originally planned (no, she's not pregnant). They also decided to have the wedding here at Mom and Jim's house.

Since I got here it's been a whirlwind of trying to get everything and everyone ready for the wedding. I've been in on shopping for the wedding dress, the maid of honors's dress, the mother of the bride's dress the flower girl's dresses, the food and booze, the flowers, the decorations and a whole lot more. I've been to the mall in Roseville at least 6 or 7 times since I've been here. I'm happy I was here to be a part of everything, but I must say that it hasn't been stress free. Emotions have been running high....

But, the wedding is today. The weather is gorgeous, although perhaps a bit warmer than we would have preferred (infintely better than the 100 degree weather we had last weekend, though). Preparations are under control. We're a ways away from being totally ready, but we still have 10 hours until the guests arrive. But it will be a beautiful wedding in a fantastic location with a gorgeous bride and groom!

To those of you coming directly from Lupinehillfarm...

2009-06-22T19:19:00.000+02:00

There are more new posts on Look to Norway than the one showing up on Mom's blog. Click on Look to Norway at the top of this page to see all of the excitement.

Poppies in the morning sun

2009-06-22T07:55:00.001+02:00

I woke up this morning and looked out the kitchen window and saw these. They looked so gorgeous that I just had to take a picture!

Lyn game last night

2009-06-22T07:46:00.005+02:00

Lyn is not doing well this year. They are currently the worst team in the series, and they're about to go bankrupt as well. But - we've gotta stick with them. Last night we went to a game. The sun was shining bright an hot, and we had a good time. Lyn scored a goal after about 15 minutes and held their lead all through the game, but the other team managed to score during the last minute of the game - really lame!

Johan's football team was asked to escort the players onto the field, so for them it was extra fun last night! (Johan is the one with the red cap)

And after the game, they had had a fun time standing over a fan ;-)

Johan's summer program

2009-06-22T07:31:00.003+02:00

This is a video I took at Johan's summer program on Thursday...

A short one...

2009-06-21T23:34:00.003+02:00

I have no time - this weekend has rushed by with stuff going on all day long - and all evening. And we're leaving for California the day after tomorrow - super early in the morning! But - I wanted to post this link. Anders played in a football tournament all day yesterday and today. They played against kids a year older than them - and won 1 of 3 games yesterday and 3 of 3 games today. They're so good! Anyway, here's a pic of the team that played this weekend! (See if you can figure out which blond kid is Anders ;-))

It's the final countdown...

2009-06-14T10:47:00.003+02:00

We have started counting down to vacation - this has been hanging on the fridge for the past week:

Needless to say, we're a bit excited. And now even more excited since Tess and Ryan decided to bump up their wedding. Now they'll be getting married at Mom's house on July 5th. Yippee!! I can't wait to get there and get in on the planning...

Pictures from last weekend

2009-06-07T09:55:00.007+02:00

Doing a little barbecuing on the newly stained deck.

Wild river...

He was wearing sunscreen, I swear!

Home alone

2009-06-06T11:37:00.003+02:00

I have the house to myself today...luxury! Espen left yesterday afternoon for a friend's cabin south of Oslo. Anders, Johan and Gaute also headed down south. Anders is staying overnight in a cabin with the other members of his orienteering team. And Gaute and Johan are going to a climate festival with some friends, where, among other artists, Alexander Rybak of Eurovision Song Contest fame will be playing. I was debating whether or not I should go with them, but the prospect of having the house to myself was too tempting, so here I am.

Not much exciting stuff I'm doing, but doing some cleaning and organizing in the house, which is a great feeling. So far, I've changed the sheets on all the beds, cleaned out and gotten rid of old hats and gloves, folded the HUGE pile of clean clothes, cleaned and tidied the entry hall. Just found some good recipes I'm going to try for dinner, too. Chili-Lime Mango Chicken Grill Skewers and Coconut Rice. Sounds really good! I am addicted to mango these days and eat at least one a day.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Weekend in the mountains

2009-06-01T21:28:00.004+02:00

This weekend was another long weekend (I'm sure everyone in the U.S. celebrated the pentecost as well...), and the weather was supposed to be gorgeous. About 85 here in Oslo - and about 75 in the mountains. We decided to go for the mountains - and weren't disappointed. It was sunny and beautiful all weekend long. We left after dinner on Friday and got up there about 10 pm. It's LIGHT in Norway this time of year, and the sun was still shining when we got there, so the boys ran around outside for a while before it was time for bed.

On Saturday, we took a trip down into the valley to pick up supplies - one of our goals for the trip was to put in stairs down from our deck and stain the deck. We picked up what we needed and headed back up the hill. Then the whole family got to work. It's so nice having such big kids now who actually help out when we're doing things. Espen and Anders did at least half of the staining work and Johan helped Gaute with the stairs. The sun was bright and we were pretty worn out that evening, but Johan had arranged a little family relay race that we did after dinner. Jill and Anders against Espen and Gaute. I really let Anders down on the part where we had to run uphill, but I was fairly good at throwing rocks up and catching them in a net and at skipping stones. And I was super good at saying the American alphabet as fast as possible (Gaute wasn't quite so good on that one...). It was tied for a long time, but then Espen pulled through for his team and got some good skips in with his rocks. None of us really wanted to do this relay that Johan had planned, but it ended up being really fun! And Johan was very happy!

On Sunday, we put another coat of stain down on the deck, packed our backpacks and headed out. We climbed a peak near our cabin - Spåtind. We've done it before, but the weather has always been crappy, and we've had to take rain clothes and boots with us. This time, the weather was beautiful the whole way. We were in shorts and I had on a tank top - fun walking across the patches of snow in summer clothes. It was pretty windy at the top, so we had to put on some warmer clothes up there, but it was a great trip - 6 km each way.

Today, we ate breakfast, cleaned up the cabin and took off, but stopped at all of scenic spots along the way, so it was a nice trip.

The house was about 500 degrees when we got home, so the first thing we had to do was open all of the doors and windows and get some air in! Dinner was to be barbecued chicken, Greek salad and garlic bread, but halfway through the barbecuing, we ran out of propane, so it ended up being roasted chicken. Good regardless!

I took my camera with me on our hike up to Spåtind, but I forgot to put in the newly charged batteries, so I just took a few pics with my iPhone. Here they are: (I did take some pictures other days with my camera. I'll upload them when I feel motivated to go down and find my camera.)

On the way up...

Jill at the top

It's windy at the top

Home with a sick kid...

2009-05-19T10:40:00.004+02:00

Not too sick anymore, actually, but I'm home nevertheless. When I got home from work yesterday afternoon, Johan was complaining that he had a headache and then about five minutes later he started throwing up. He was sick most of the afternoon and evening, so we decided that it was best that he stayed home today. I'm here with him until about 1:00, then I have to go in to work for planning meetings that last all afternoon and into the evening, so Gaute will come home and take over for me.

I took a picture of Johan this morning in front of our plum tree which is in full bloom. Granny, this is the tree you bought for us when you were here in 1994. Believe it or not, this huge thing started life in a flower pot on our balcony! I love it - love having fruit trees that bloom! And produce actual fruit that we can eat. Didn't have many fruit trees in Ketchum...

I'm also posting a picture of Anders from last week. They had "English Day" at school. The 5th graders had a whole day in which they spoke English all day and did English-type things. They had to wear something resembling a British school uniform to school, they played badminton, listened to the Beatles, and other cool stuff. I think they had a really good time, and Anders was excited about it, despite the fact that he looks seriously depressed in this picture.

Tomorrow afternoon, Espen's leaving for a football tournament in Denmark. He's really excited! There are 5 parents going with the team, but Gaute and I are not among them, which I think is an added bonus for Espen. They're taking a ferry to Denmark, and staying in an apartment hotel down there. I think they'll have a blast!!

He Won!

2009-05-18T15:45:00.002+02:00

Saturday night we all stayed up until 12:30 to see the final tally of the Eurovision Song Contest - and Alexander Rybak won with a record amount of votes! Big excitement!

And oh so much fun to have to get up a few hours later, get our party clothes on and hurry up to the kids' school by 7:45. Luckily, the weather was gorgeous yesterday, and we had a nice day. We were all really worn out last night, though...

May

2009-05-16T17:17:00.002+02:00

Tomorrow is the 17th of May...Duh...But the reason that is important is that it is Norway's national holiday. So tomorrow we break out the Norwegian flags, get dressed up and celebrate! Should be fun - the day starts with a parade from the kids' school and then brunch at Gaute's parents' house. Gaute's brother, Sindre, and his kids are visiting, so it will be a bigger event than usual. I hope the weather is okay, we just had a big rain shower, but hopefully all of the clouds will be gone by tomorrow. I'm pretty sure the weather will be better than last year, regardless, since it was SNOWING on the 17th of May last year.

Tonight is the finale of the European Song Contest (see this blog post). Big excitement...Sindre and family are coming over tonight. We're going to barbecue (apparently in the rain...) and then settle down to watch the big event.

I came across this article and this article, and I have to say that I'm happy I live in the first place. I just wish the rest of my family did, too.

Looking forward to the weekend!

2009-05-07T20:10:00.002+02:00

Woohhh...another week almost over. It's been a busy week, filled with football. Gaute has, thankfully, been home this week, otherwise I think I might have gone crazy. I've had busy days at work, and the kids have had lots of football games and practices (as well as one orienteering training for Anders). Last night, Anders and Espen were playing games at the same time, on fields right next to each other. Both of their teams won, and they did really well. Anders was named man of the match by his coach, and Espen was given one star by his coach (for each game, the best player gets 3 stars, next best two stars, and third best one star). He got one star for his last game, and was named man of the match for the game before that. Anders and Espen are playing very good football these days, and it's really fun to watch their games!

There has been some very exciting football on TV these days, too. Espen and I have been glued to the TV watching the Champions League quarter finals and semi-finals. So much fun!!! Soccer mom...

The last few days

2009-05-02T17:08:00.005+02:00

I dumped the pictures on my camera onto my computer, and this is what turned up...

A lovely self-portrait...

The boys (+ Johan's best friend) at the Fram museum (Fridtjof Nansen's boat which was frozen in the Artic ice for 3 years) last Sunday

Espen and his friend last night on their way to spending the night at his friend's house. Espen had an "eccentric" outfit on...

Two guys on their way to an orienteering race this morning. The cute kid is my son. Not sure who the tall one with the goofy smile is...

Labor Day

2009-05-01T18:13:00.002+02:00

Yes, today is Labor Day in Norway. No school or work (although those go hand in hand for me), and the sun is shining brightly. It's a beautiful day - the first shorts day we've had this year. It's a fantastic day - and I would love it even more if I didn't have really bad hay fever. I never had allergies in the good old days, but they started in about 3 or 4 years ago and keep getting worse every year. Today there is pollen everywhere, and I can't stay out for many minutes without my eyes and nose going crazy. My whole face feels swollen. I took a Clarityn, but it's not doing much for me...

Gaute was in Stockholm again this week. He got back yesterday afternoon, just in time to pick up the keys to the new apartment we bought. It's done from their side - now it's our turn to finish it up. We need to paint it, put in hardwood flooring and the kitchen. All stuff we've done many times before...We might pay to get some help this time, though. Gaute doesn't have quite as much free time as he did before, and neither do I!

It's Friday, so I have a pizza dough rising on the counter. Should be ready in a few minutes, then it's time to roll out the dough, cover it with lots of good stuff and stick it in the oven. I LOVE pizza - luckily, everyone else in the family does, too!

Busy weekend ahead

2009-04-23T19:05:00.002+02:00

Something very unusual has happened to me this evening - I've been bored! It feels like forever since that has happened. I usually never find time to sit down for more than a few seconds before bedtime. After dinner, I was begging Anders to go on a bike ride with me so that I would have something to do. The weather is warm and lovely, although it's quite windy. Too windy really to sit outside and read a book, which is what I really wanted to do. We had a nice little big ride, the two of us.

Tomorrow night, I've been invited to a colleague's house for a little get-together. She has been renovating her house for a while, and things are finally settling down, so she invited about 15 of us over tomorrow night for shrimp and wine. Luckily for me, I've started eating shrimp since I moved to Norway, as it's a fairly party-time fair (still not something I would choose as my birthday meal, though).

Then, on Saturday night, Gaute and I are going to a Bollywood party. All of the parents of 3rd graders at Korsvoll school are invited, and I think about 80-90 people will be there. They're serving Indian food (which I LOVE) and I'm going to try to find some Indian-looking party clothes. Last year, we went to a similar party (without the Bollywood theme) and it was really fun...

Finally, Sunday evening we got free tickets to a Lyn game. It will be the first game we're going to this season. Should be fun - and I'm sure I'll be exhausted on Monday...

Wishy-washy

2009-04-22T21:13:00.002+02:00

I've been going on and on for the past few months about how I can't wait until next year when I can work part-time (80%). And, then today, I went in to my principal and told him that I changed my mind and that I want to work full-time after all! The reason I decided to do it, was that I find out yesterday that I will definitely have my own 3rd grade class next year, and I decided that if I am going to have my own class, then I want to be the one teaching them all the time. I talked to my colleagues about it, and they said that it's much easier when you have them all the time, rather than trying to work around what another teacher has done with them on your day off. The teaching position I will have next year will be very different from the one I have this year, where I'm teaching 6 different classes and constantly moving from one classroom to the next. I decided that I wanted to try out working full-time in this new kind of position next year and see how that works out. Nice not to go down in salary, too...

The weather has been gorgeous today - it feels so nice to be outside. The house had been closed up all day, so when I got home it felt really stuffy inside. It's been a while since it's felt too hot to be inside!

Not too much longer until I will be feeling that all the time, though...Only about 2 months until we're in California!!

2009-04-20T21:10:00.002+02:00

Another day, come and gone... Today was actually quite a nice day, a relatively relaxing evening, considering. Gaute is in Stockholm this week. He left at about 7 this morning and will be back again Friday evening. Last week while he was in Germany, everything was pretty crazy, but so far, things seem to be going better here now. Hopefully, I'll be saying the same thing on Thursday.

Grim is still in the hospital. They checked his MRI scans today and discovered that he has another artery which is on its way to getting clogged, so it looks like he'll be there a few more days while they get that cleared out. It sucks that he will have to stay in the hospital (I think it's incredibly boring), but good that everything is A-OK before they check him out.

I spent a lot of time this evening making sure that Espen is getting his homework done. I had a parent-teacher conference with his homeroom teacher on Wednesday which I think was one of the reasons I was so stressed last week. According to her, all of his teachers complain that he does not concentrate and goofs around too much in class and needs to work much harder. So, strict rules and intense follow-up are the things around here when it comes to Espen. Hopefully this will pay off!!

Anders had his first day of orienteering practice for the season. It seems like he had a fun time. Lots of his friends are doing orienteering, too, which makes it even quite appealing. I joked around last night and said that he might be the new generation Langaas boy making a name for himself in the orienteering world (both Gaute and his brother were really good), but Anders didn't think that would would happen. He was much more interested in football...

Johan is pouring over a golf sales catalog that came in the mail today. He is making some big decisions about what kind of equipment he needs to buy. I asked him if he was interested in taking golf lessons, but he said that he'd rather just practice on his own. I wonder if he realizes that not every golfer has their own golf cart...

Better than a trip to the dentist

2009-04-19T21:43:00.004+02:00

Gaute's dad had a heart attack, but he's doing fine now. I tried several different introductions to this entry, but they either sounded too serious or too flippant, so I decided to go for the direct approach.

Grim had a mild heart attack at about 11 AM on Thursday, and he has been in the hospital since then. We freaked out a bit when we heard that he'd had a heart attack, but after we visited him on Friday, I'm not scared anymore. He was lucky that he was home, and the ambulance showed up within about 6-7 minutes. They were ready for him when he got to the hospital and put a shent (?) in to open up his clogged artery. We visited him Friday afternoon and he was up walking around and looked and seemed liked he was feeling pretty good. According to him, going to the dentist was worse than this heart attack, because he barely felt any pain at all (I think that might actually say more about his dentist than about the severity of his heart attack, actually...). Anyway, it was a bit of a scare, but according the results of the MRI, he will most likely be headed home in time for his birthday on Tuesday. Yea!!! Grim is such a great guy, liked by everyone.

No pictures of Grim in his hospital gown, but I do have a few pics of the kids. The first is of Johan with the big purchase he made at the big garage sale they have twice a year at his school. He came home with a ... golf bag and one golf club! He couldn't have been more pleased, he has big plans for playing golf with Granny this summer :-).

This one is of Espen working on his bike. Espen isn't really known around the house as one who likes to get his hands dirty (strange, as I love to get my hands dirty...). Gaute forced him out to change the tires on his bike today, though. He's had studded tires all winter, and now that the snow is FINALLY gone, it's time for the other tires to get back on there. Gaute had him put on the "handyman jumpsuit" that Gaute uses when doing various jobs around the house.

The Monday after Easter

2009-04-13T11:58:00.003+02:00

Yes, still vacation here - although this is the last day. It's cloudy and raining on and off, so it's not a day for sunbathing on the deck, which is what I was hoping for. Still, it could be worse. It could be snowing! Or I could be at work!

I just got back from an aerobics class. I try to go at least twice a week, but that doesn't always work out the way I want. Today I had no excuses, though! Gaute leaves for Germany tomorrow afternoon, and he will be gone until Thursday afternoon, so I doubt if there will be much working out for me while he's gone.

Tonight I'm taking our family, plus Gaute's parents, to the local pizza restaurant for dinner. Gaute's parents watched the kids while we were in Gothenburg, and Grim's birthday is coming up, so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone and take them out now. Added bonus - I don't have to make dinner tonight!

Gaute just put up the trampoline - a sure sign of spring! The kids will no doubt be out jumping in the rain all day. My goal now is to get everything under control here at home, so that I'm ready to face a new week tomorrow. We'll see how that goes...

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T19:58:00.007+02:00

It seems kind of strange to say Happy Easter today, since it kind of feels like Easter is over for me. I think I've written about this before, but Easter is not a one day event in Norway, it's 10 days long. Spring break always equals Easter break in Norway, and all school kids have the whole week off (including the Monday after Easter). Thursday through (and including) Monday are official holidays in Norway. Which means that nothing is open - no newspapers are delivered, no nothing! It feels like everyone heads up to the mountains to their cabins to go skiing, although I just read recently that only about 300,000 actually do that (in a country of 4.5 million). We, of course, headed up to the mountains.

As Gaute had to work Monday-Wednesday, we were thinking that we would head up Thursday morning. Wednesday he was only going to work a half day, but we decided to wait anyway as there was an important football game on TV. I was trying to pass it off as being something that was very important to Espen, but the truth is that I really wanted to watch it to. Liverpool vs. Chelsea in the quarter finals of the Champions League!! Surely you can understand that this was not something to miss. But, then Wednesday came around, and I started feeling pretty impatient to get going...(not the first time this has happened - see our trip to Gothenburg last weekend). So, I called the cable company to find out how much it would cost to get the channel with the football game for just a month. It was possible, and we paid the money, and I would rather not divulge the cost of it, because it was way too much money. But - whatever! We got to the cabin about an hour before the game started, and managed to finish dinner right on time. AND THEN LIVERPOOL LOST!! They have one more chance when they play Chelsea again this week, so we'll see...I'll keep you posted.

We debated whether or not we should take cross country equipment, downhill equipment, or both to the cabin. We finally decided on just downhill stuff. Despite the forecast of rain and sleet for the whole week, we got some really nice weather. We went skiing two days - Friday and Saturday. Friday was okay - we went to a resort about 45 minutes away that we hadn't been to before. It was okay, but not the best I've been to. Yesterday, we went to the little hill about 5 minutes from our cabin - and it was great. It was spring skiing at its best. Sunny and warm and wonderful. We had such a good time. This place has just one little J-bar and when you get to the top, there are only two different runs to pick from, but there's never a line and you can just keep going up and down as much as you want.

Anders and Johan did a bit of jumping, as you can see in the videos below:

We did, of course, have the obligatory Easter egg hunt in the snow, too. Espen decided to pass on it this year, but Anders and Johan ran like maniacs trying to find the eggs :-)

Just another day

2009-04-07T15:16:00.002+02:00

Not much going on today. Johan spent the night at a friend's house last night, and so far we've seen hide nor hair of him today. Espen is out on the football field with his friends - they usually bring a ball with them as an alibi, but it's actually the place to hang out and meet friends. Always someone up at Korsvollbanen. Anders had me drive him to the store earlier today so that he could spend some of his money. He's been saving for a while, and he finally decided to use it to buy a new football and jersey. He was pretty happy with his purchases - and headed right up to the football field, of course. He ran into a friend up there, and the two of them headed over to his friend's house.

Gaute is working today, but from his home office in the basement, so he's been popping his head up every now and then to say hi. Like he said, traffic was light on the way to work this morning ;-)

I've been spending the day trying to get various things organized around the house. Sorted out my sweaters and got rid of many that I don't use anymore. Now and I can actually see the ones I do use!

I just put a carrot cake in the oven. We have about a million carrots, since we've been subscribing to this organic fruit and vegetables thing and never use up all of the carrots. I actually cancelled the subscription this week, since the fun has sort of worn off, and I feel like I'm spending a lot of money on stuff that's not getting used. What on Earth shall I do with all of the money I save??

For dinner, I'm making a stir-fry so that I can use up some of the other veggies in the fridge. Sounds yummy - and easy!

Great trip

2009-04-06T20:39:00.002+02:00

Gaute and I had a really great time in Gothenburg. It was the perfect little getaway for us. We were going to head down Saturday morning, but on Friday we decided there was no reason to wait, so we called the hotel to check that they had a room available for that night, dropped off the kids at Gaute's parents and headed out.

The hotel was super nice and in a great location. We parked the car on Friday night when we got there, and we didn't take it out again until we left on Sunday. Everything was right next to our hotel, more or less. I've been to Gothenburg two times before, but I appreciate it much more after this trip. Lots of really great restaurants (we at at this one on Saturday night) and great shopping. Did a lot of shopping on Saturday, and Gaute was the perfect shopping husband - stood quietly outside waiting for me (listening to music on his headphones), and then carried my bags for me when I came out. And no complaints!! Because of the exchange rate, things are about 20 % cheaper in Sweden than they are in Norway, and they have different stores and stuff, so it was pretty fun. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, too. A real warm and sunny spring day. There were people walking all over downtown and it was just really fun! I'm sure it won't be the last time we take a trip to Gothenburg. Only a 3 hour drive, and it feels like we're in a different country (oh, wait, we are...).

Today Gaute, who is not a teacher, had to work. The kids and I had the day off, though, and it was sooo nice. The nice weather in Gothenburg has made it up to Oslo, and the kids were out riding bikes and playing football today. And we got out the patio furniture and the barbecue this afternoon. Hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner - the first barbecue of the season!

Ekeberg forever

2009-04-01T19:09:00.002+02:00

Yippee - today my principal came and told me that they are going to give me a permanent position at my school. And he didn't say April Fool's! I am very happy about it. Nice to know that I have a job there as long as I want. Things are going really well these days. I'm finally over the hump and can truly say that I love being a teacher.

I'm celebrating this good news watching Norway's national football team play against Finland. And drinking a Corona.

It's light out

2009-03-31T18:58:00.003+02:00

Our daylight savings time started on Sunday, and I have to say that I'm really likin' it a lot. I have a mom (Hi, Mom!) who complained every spring over daylight savings time and wished it was standard time all year long, so I've been semi-skeptical of it, too. But this year, I really realized that I love this - I love the fact that it's 7 at night and the sun hasn't gone down yet. I feel like I have so much time to get things done when it stays light so much later. Not so much fun at 6 in the morning, though, I have to admit...

Not much going on today. I had a meeting with my boss (not the principal, but one of the assistant principals) this morning to discuss how everything was going with me at school. She was very happy and thought I was doing a great job, which made me quite happy, of course. I really like her a lot - I feel like I can go to her with any problems I have, and she does whatever she can to help. That's the way it should be!

Tuesdays are the days the boys go to Gaute's parents after school, so there was no real rush to head home after work. I stopped in at a bookstore to pick up a few office supplies I needed (you have to go to a bookstore to get that kind of stuff in Norway - they don't sell it at the grocery store). Then, I decided to give in to the craving I've been having for a while. I went to the drive-thru at McDonald's and bought myself a Chicken Premiere burger, fries and an orange Fanta. And it tasted really good! And the kids don't even know I was there....

Speaking of kids, here are a few pictures...

This one was taken last week. Anders and Johan pick out there own clothes each morning, and one day they came down wearing almost exactly the same thing. I don't think Anders thought that was so cool...

This shot is from our front hallway on Sunday. We had a few kids over - our kids shoes were in the basket, all of the ones on the floor belong to guests...

Sun

2009-03-29T15:07:00.004+02:00

This morning we woke up to bright sunlight. Yes!! I am in such a better mood when the sun is out. Espen left at 8:30 to play a football game, and Anders headed off to a friend's house, but Gaute and Johan and I decided to take a walk along the river close to our house. Johan brought along a friend, and they had a fun time walking and talking. It felt so good to be out in the sunshine!

Yesterday I made reservations at a hotel in Gothenburg, Sweden for Gaute and I next weekend. We haven't gone away alone for a long time, and we want to take a little mini-break. We were first thinking that we would fly somewhere, but we decided that it would be easier and cheaper to drive down to Gothenburg. It's only about 3 hours away. I looked up on my handy Trip Advisor website the best hotels in town, and discovered that a new, really cool-looking design hotel just opened there last summer, and it's ranked as the best. So, we will be staying at the Avalon Hotel next Saturday night. I'm really, really excited. I love staying at cool hotels, and this one looks really cool. I booked a deluxe room since we, ahem, saved so much money by not buying a plane ticket. Plus, we're only staying for the one night. Gothenburg has been getting a lot of press lately as the cool place to go, so it should be fun. Plus, we can stock up on cheap Swedish food on our way home!

Earth Hour

2009-03-28T20:24:00.002+01:00

I just have a few minutes until it's 8:30 at night here, and I turn off the lights for Earth Hour. But I wanted to check in and say hi to everyone.

I was supposed to go to with a group of colleagues to another colleague's cabin in the mountains this weekend. We got a huge snowstorm yesterday, though, and the roads were chaos, so we decided not to go after all. I had kind of mixed feelings about it - I'm sure it would have been fun, but I wasn't sad to stay home, either.

Instead, a whole group of us from work went out last night to a bar to see a concert with another teacher at our school. It was a great concert and we had a fun time.

And now it's 8:30, so bye....

Double double

2009-03-25T20:41:00.004+01:00

Ahhh, the neverending saga of Espen's eyes...Today Espen had an appointment with the surgeon who did his the last 2 (or was it 3) surgeries on his eyes. As I mentioned a while ago, Espen has started seeing double again, so we're making the rounds of the hospital again, trying to figure out what's going on. I was at a seminar this afternoon, so Gaute took Espen to the doctors. He didn't go into the details of what the surgeon said, but the gist of it is that she's thinking she'd like to operate again. According to Gaute, everything she explained to him made a lot of sense. She was not the one who did the first operation (or that is to say, she was not the one who decided what kind of operation it should be), and she thinks that they made the wrong decision then, and that that is why things aren't going like they should. So, we'll see what happens, but he's going back in in the middle of April for another consultation and to have some pictures taken of his eyes. I talked to Espen this evening, and he is positive to another operation, because he really thinks it's pretty annoying the way it is right now - which I can definitely understand. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, here are some pics of the big guy, fresh from football practice:

And one that Johan took of me...

A bit more...

2009-03-22T21:21:00.002+01:00

As long as I'm posting links to music videos, I thought I would show you Norway's entry this year to the Eurovision Song Contest. This is kind of like an American Idol type contest which has been held every year for the last 54 years. All of the European countries choose one song to be there entry, and then people from all over Europe can call up to cast their votes (but you're not allowed to vote for the country you're calling from). Since I've been living in Norway, I have just not understand the interest in this contest - the songs were cheesy and it just did not appeal to me at all. I don't know if the songs are better now, or if I'm just really turning into a European, but I like this song a lot. It's super popular, and Anders and Johan know the lyrics by heart. Hopefully Alexander Rybak will win!! And Jim - you need to learn to play this song on your fiddle ;-)

This song is one that I really think is great. This is from the kids' version of the Eurovision Song Contest. The kids singing and playing are 13 and 14, and they wrote the song, too. I just think it's such a cool song!

I know, I know, I'm a total nerd!

Sunday skiing

2009-03-22T21:08:00.002+01:00

Skiing once again this weekend. The weather was gorgeous - sunny, but still lots of snow in the forest where the ski tracks are. It felt so nice to be out there - a great way to be outside in the early spring.

When we got home, there was a Liverpool game on. They have been playing so well lately - and today was an incredible game. They won 5-0 against Aston Villa, which is also a good team. We were cheering pretty loudly!!

Here's one for Molly - the video for Oh My God, by Ida Maria, who we saw live at the Øya Festival when she was here. Still love Ida Maria - and happy to see that she's been selling lots of albums in England

Random

2009-03-21T18:10:00.003+01:00

Some random shots I had on my camera...

Anders doing homework at the kitchen table.

Looks like Johan got a hold of the camera at some point, too.

Long live Google Maps!

2009-03-21T17:55:00.003+01:00

I was playing around on Google maps today, and I saw that they have street views for Ketchum now. And I found our old house. Pretty fun to see it - and if you move the shot around, you can see the hill across the street, and the house that good old John is STILL working on!

View Larger Map

The money will be coming in next year, too

2009-03-17T21:29:00.003+01:00

Good news - I found out that my one-year contract at Ekeberg school will be renewed, and possibly made into a permanent position. I was pretty sure that that would be the case, but it was good to get an official confirmation. In the public school system, everything has to go very by the book, so I had to send in a new resume and cover letter and stuff. I really like my job and the people I work with, so I'm very happy that they want me to stick around!

I haven't posted any pics for a while, so I just went in and took some pictures of Anders and Johan who are already in bed with their jammies on...

Lice

2009-03-15T12:38:00.002+01:00

When I checked my e-mail this morning, there was a message from a mom in Johan's class informing everyone that her son had lice, and that we should check our kids. And, guess what - Johan had lice, too. His class has been plagued by lice all year, but so far it's only been the girls, and Johan has escaped...I was planning on going skiing today and getting out, but now I've spent the last 2 hours going over Johan's hair with a fine tooth comb and picking out nits. An ideal Sunday!! And of course all of his sheets and pillows are being washed in hot water, while his hats are in the freezer.

So far it looks like Anders and Espen are lice-free. I'll have to get Gaute to check me, though. I'm a bit nervous, because I often lie in bed next to Johan and read for him....LICE SUCKS!!!

I see that the sun just came out - I think we'll have to head out skiing after all. Much too nice of a day to sit inside!

A few minutes on the couch

2009-03-09T20:19:00.001+01:00

One of the things I really like about my new fancy schmancy iPhone is that I can go online whenever I want and check my email or go on Facebook or update my blog. Like right now for example, just sitting on the sofa waiting for Johan to get out of the bath and - BOOM, a new blog entry.

Today was a pretty crazy day. First I went to work and had teaching until 12, then I went to a course until 6. Gaute is on a business trip in Haugesund in western Norway, so I sent the kids up to his parents after school to do homework and eat dinner. Very good plan, because when I came to get them we could come home an relax and not have to stress with getting dinner made and homework done. So happy they live close by...

80%

2009-03-08T19:45:00.001+01:00

As my faithful readers can most likely deduce by the relative infrequency of my blogposts, things have gotten a bit crazy around here again. It's time for parent teacher conferences and written evaluations at school. Gaute has been travelling a lot, too. There just aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish everything, which means that I'm going around feeling worn out with a bad conscience for everything I'm not getting done.

This is where the 80% comes in. In Norway you can (at most jobs) decide what percentage of a full-time position you want to have. I have been working 100%, but on Friday I went in and told my boss that I would like to work 80% next year. That means one day off every week. There are quite a few teachers at my school who work 80% and he said that he couldn't promise me Fridays off because that's what everyone wants. I said that I'd actually be more interested in Mondays off or starting later every day. We'll see what happpens, but it seems like it should work out fine. I feel such a huge relief!

I don't officially have a job there next year, but I gave my boss my application letter last week. There are 4 positions for next year and my boss has said that he really wants to keep me there, so I'm not too worried. Will be nice to know for sure, though!

Late night workout

2009-03-02T20:09:00.002+01:00

Anders has decided that he really wants to get in good shape (he's not exactly in bad shape, but, whatever...). So at about 8:00 this evening he put on some "workout clothes aka Liverpool uniform" and did some situps and pullups, lifted some weights and ate an apple. He's going to be an Olympic athlete in no time at all!! Of course, Johan had to get in on the fun, so he also put on his work out clothes and got at it (no apple for him, though...). I caught a picture of them after they were done, in front of Anders' door (they want everyone to be sure everyone notices the poster of Torres and Gerrard!)

Other than that, I have spent a good part of this evening preparing a slide show for the parent-teacher meeting at Ekeberg tomorrow night. Actually I made a little film in Windows Movie Maker - it lasts about 7 minutes and shows pictures from various activities the 2nd grade has been working on this winter. It turned out really cute, with great music - wish I could show it to you all, but I think my code of ethics prohibits me posting pics of my students online!

Skiing, skiing and more skiing

2009-03-01T18:14:00.003+01:00

Today was a ski weekend for everyone, although we didn't actually go skiing together. Anders and Gaute are the big skiers in our family, and they were the only ones who headed out yesterday. First Gaute headed out for a long ski trip (30 km back and forth), and then Anders decided that he wanted to go skiing, too. He decided to head out on his own and went about 13-14 km by himself. On his way back, he met two of his best friends who were also out skiing on their own, and they all headed back here to play Little Big Planet on the Playstation 3. Which they were allowed to do since they had been out skiing...

Since I had been "sick" yesterday and hadn't been out much, I decided that I had to get out and do some skiing today. So, I headed out at about 9:30 this morning, before anyone else had really gotten up, with my iPod in my ears and went about 12 km - which is quite good for me. I like going skiing by myself - I can go at my own tempo and decide which tracks to take. Yesterday, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day, but today was overcast and not quite so nice. But, nevertheless, I had really had a great time. There's a lot of snow this year, and it's great to be able to put on my skis at home and take off on skiing for miles and miles.

When I got back, the big skiers Gaute and Anders had headed out together - they went about 20 km and had a great time. They left about an 45 minutes after me and saw tons of people they knew. I was early enough that I beat the "crowd". If we would have gone out at about 12 or so, we would have met a traffic jam. In our neighborhood, EVERYONE heads out skiing on Sundays!

Not necessarily 13-year-old boys, though. Espen's friend Nicolay spent the night last night and at 12:30 this afternoon I finally had to go up and drag them out of bed. Espen's big excuse for not going skiing this weekend was that he had a football game at 3:00 today, and he didn't want to be worn out. A fair enough excuse, except he came home early from his football game and said that the game had been cancelled. So, no more excuses! He had another friend, Harald, with him when he came home. Harald is quite a bit more active than a lot of Espen's friends, so we suggested that they could get in a little ski trip. Espen's first response was "NO", but Harald said "sure, why not?" so we decided to listen to Harald instead of Espen and sent them out into the woods. They were going to go to the same place I did (Ullevålseter, for those who have been there). It's dark now, but, this being Norway, that's not a problem since many of the tracks are lit at night.

Johan is the only one who didn't go skiing this weekend. He actually tried to call some friends to go skiing with yesterday, but everyone was out doing something else. He did play outside for a long time, though, and he ended up spending the night at his friend Alexander's house (Alexander is Espen's friend Nicolay's little brother). Today Alexander's dad took them to a climbing gym , the first time he's been to a climbing gym in Norway. I think he had a really good time! He's at a birthday party right now - never a dull moment around here!

Well, I'll leave you with a picture of Anders which I took a few minutes ago up here in the hallway by the computer. He looks good, but this hallway looks terrible. I kind of forget how bad it is, until I see pictures...try to concentrate on Anders when you look at the picture!!

Sick

2009-02-27T12:01:00.006+01:00

I woke up feeling pretty sick this morning (I got Espen's cold), and was kind of going back and forth trying to decide whether or not I should stay home. I finally decided to call in and say I wasn't going to be going in today. I feel kind of bad - I have English with my two 4th grade classes today, and I was at a seminar last time we had English. They don't get quite the same experience when they have a substitute...But, they'll probably be happy that I'm not there contaminating them!

I'v been trying to get some stuff done on the computer (as long as I'm home sick anyway...). Deleting files that aren't getting used and making backup copies of things. My computer has started crashing every now and then, and it's making me nervous.

I did take a break to watch the men's cross country ski relay. The world championships are going on right now, and the relay is a big thing in these parts! It was exciting until the very end - and Norway won!! I cried when they won, because it was such a great, exciting win!! You can watch the final sprint here. (p.s. - It seems like there's a problem with the link, but if you click on the link and then click on Norge tok gullet - se innspurten her on the left hand side there, then the video should pop up!)

I feel so proud of Norway - It almost makes me want to give up my American citizenship!

Busy week

2009-02-26T07:57:00.002+01:00

This week has been a bit on the crazy side. It started out well - I had the whole afternoon off on Monday, and then had a nice relaxing evening with friends that night. But Gaute is in Stockholm this whole week, and it doesn't take much to throw us off kilter. I had a seminar I had to go to on Tuesday which didn't get done until 6, and Espen was home sick that day. When I got home at about 6:30, I was worn out and the kids were tired and hungry, and Espen was sick and sad because he had been home by himself all day, so I was not feeling very good about the way things were going. Yesterday was a new day, though, and although was home sick again, I was home by a little after 4 and we had a nice relaxing evening, and life seems much better now.

And tomorrow is Friday! (And Gaute is coming home...)

Back to the orthoptist today

2009-02-23T14:33:00.003+01:00

I haven't written anything about Espen's eyes for a long time, mostly because everything seemed to be all better. Last year around this time, he had a final checkup with the orthoptist. At that time, everything seemed to be about as good as could be expected. He was no longer seeing double, and his eyes were close to normal.

In December, Espen told us that starting in about September or so, he had been seeing double again. Not all of the time - he usually manages to converge his vision so he only sees one image, but several times every day, he couldn't do it. He told us that he wanted us to make an appointment with the hospital again to have them check it out.

We did call them and got an appointment for today. The orthoptist who had been seeing him all along has retired within the last year, so there was a new one, but she seemed to know all about Espen and his case history. While we were there, Espen was not seeing double (of course...), but she did all of the tests and said that his eyes actually seem somewhat better than when they had done the same tests a year ago (at which time he was not seeing double either). She is not sure (surprise, surprise) why this has started up again, but wants the opthamologist who operated on him to see him and give here opinion. So, on March 25th, we have a new appointment with the opthamologist and then in 6 months we'll go back to the orthoptist. I'm very happy that he's back in the system at least so that they will keep track of him and see how things are going. I don't want him to have any more surgery, but I want to make sure that they do all they can to make his vision as good as possible!

Gaute is in Stockholm this week - he left early this morning and will be back Friday afternoon. Since I had to take Espen to the doctor, I left work early. His appointment was at 12 and we were done by 1, so I've had the whole afternoon off. So nice!! It's a nice sunny day, and Espen and I did some grocery shopping and then stopped by school to pick up Johan. Johan was so happy, because I never pick him up at school anymore...Anders just got home from school with a friend in tow, so now they're hard at "work" on the Playstation.

This evening, my friends Annika and Maria are coming over for dinner and a chat. We always have a little get together to celebrate each other's birthdays. Annika's birthday was on January 16th, and we haven't been able to get together before now. I bought some good crusty sourdough bread and I'm going to make a vegetable soup to go with it. We usually go out somewhere when we meet, but it will be fun to have them over here today.

Long weekend at the cabin

2009-02-22T19:10:00.005+01:00

Another winter vacation at the cabin - this time only for a long weekend, though, since the first part of the vacation was our cruise. We ended up heading up Thursday evening, as Johan felt better and we wanted to get up there. We've gotten a lot of snow lately, so the conditions were great, although we didn't see much sun. Still, we got in some skiing on Friday and Saturday, and otherwise relaxed and enjoyed ourselves up there.

Sunday morning cartoons

The cool structure Espen built with the blocks we have up there - he wanted to take a picture of it. He's getting pretty old - but not sooo old yet...

Stomach flu and a bit more

2009-02-19T14:03:00.016+01:00

We were supposed to leave for the cabin today, but Johan has the stomach flu, so the trip has been postponed. Poor little guy - he's asleep on the sofa right now. Hopefully this will be a short term thing, and he'll be feeling better by tomorrow. Tomorrow is Gaute's birthday, and I know that he'd like to spend it at the cabin!

This morning, Anders, Gaute and I headed down to the American embassy to get Anders' passport renewed. We got there right when they opened at 9, so everything went quite smoothly and quickly. In 3 weeks, we should be getting the new passport in the mail. While we were at the embassy, I realized that the stamp I need to get in my passport every two years to prove that I am allowed to live in Norway was going to expire in a few months. So, we decided to stop by the office where I need to get a new stamp. It's always really crazy there, but I would prefer not to take time off work to get it done. We walked in and took a number - we were number 127 and they had gotten to number 54! So, two hours later, they finally got to me, and spent 5 minutes putting a new stamp in my passport... It is the most frustrating, annoying thing!! Always a super long line of people, no matter when you go there!

After that, it was off to the next item on our agenda for the day - signing the contract for the new apartment we bought! I don't think I ever wrote about it on my blog, but last fall we bought a studio apartment nearby as an investment. We have been renting it out and making a bit on it. Gaute has now been really bitten by the real estate mogul bug, so he's been on the lookout for another apartment to invest in, and he finally found a good one. It's a one bedroom, brand new (actually not finished yet) apartment, also within walking distance of our house. It's really nice, with the living room a wall of windows. The price was reduced as we are going to have to paint it and set in the kitchen ourselves, but it will be a good money maker. And we also have in the back of our minds, that our kids might want a place to live when they move out sometime in the future. The pictures below are from the brochure - the apartment we bought isn't furnished, but it has the exact same floorplan as this one.

The apartment is in the tall building in the middle of the picture. Great location, as you can see. That's a big lake on the left hand side, and there are ski tracks starting right next to the building. We live about a 10-15 minute walk away.

This is a drawing of what it will look like - it's close but not quite done yet.

Looking from the kitchen into the entry and bathroom.

The kitchen (with a loft above it which can be used for sleeping or storage)

Looking from the living room towards the kitchen

Looking out towards the balcony. One of the windows is actually a sliding glass door.

The bedroom - it's a tight squeeze, but there are sliding doors into the living room on each side of the bed, so you don't have to climb over each other to get in and out of bed.

The bathroom

The only bad thing about this apartment, is that it is so nice compared to our house, that I wish we were moving in to it ourselves. Would be a tight squeeze for a family of 5, though!!

Cruise pictures - day two (and one from day three)

2009-02-18T22:17:00.010+01:00

The view from our cabin at 8 in the morning

Breakfast with an incredible view

Now and then it was nice to take a little break back at the cabin

The sun was in their eyes, but you get the idea...this is Kiel, Germany

The harbor area - our ship is on the right hand side

Yippee!!! They had vanilla Coke in Germany!

The weather was so nice in Kiel compared to what it had been in Oslo when we left (that's our ship, Color Magic, in the background)

Waiting to see the show the second night - this time we got the fancy drinks :^)

All settled in for the night

Back in Norway again the next day - an icy fjord...

The cruise pictures - day one

2009-02-18T21:55:00.015+01:00

We got back today from our cruise. It was great! We had such a good time!! Everything was really nice on board - and family-friendly... The boys each had their own key card and they just wandered around the boat, riding up and down the 8 glass elevators (along with all of the other kids on board). They had a different show in the lounge each night, and they were great - lots of great singing and dancing. There's was also an indoor pool with a slide and a "river" and "waterfall". The cabin was very nice, the food was very good, the tax-free shops on board were okay, and Kiel was so-so. That's the short version of our trip since I have to finish getting ready for our next venture. We're headed up to our cabin for the last part of this winter vacation week, and I still have a few things to get done. Before we leave tomorrow, we have to make a trip to the American embassy to get a new passport for Anders, too. He doesn't need it until this summer, but the Americans require both parents to be present, and the embassy is only open between 9-12. If we don't do it during vacation, we have to take time off of work and take Anders out of school to get it done!

Here are some pics from our trip:

Waiting to board the ship

Our cabin

Not the greatest weather in Oslo when we left - snowy, windy and COLD!

Not too cold to go out on deck and look around, though.

This is the TV in our cabin. We could also see a map - or watch Norwegian TV channels.

Anders' bed flipped down from the ceiling - very cool!

Dinnertime

Waiting for the show in the lounge the first night.

Cruise

2009-02-16T09:44:00.002+01:00

Today is the day - we're headed off on our cruise on Color Magic. The kids are so excited they can hardly stand it. The ship leaves Oslo at 2 pm - it's 9.45 right now and they keep asking if we can leave now. Since it only takes about an hour to get to the boat using public transportation, I'm trying to explain to them that we can probably wait here for at least another hour. No reason to get there 4 hours before it leaves, since we can't actually go onboard until an hour before it leaves.

I'm taking my camera, so I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to post when we get back. And I'm sure the boys will have a great time!!

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T15:56:00.003+01:00

Yes, it's Valentine's day. But, even more importantly, it's the first day of winter vacation. All of the schools have a week's vacation, and since I am a teacher, then I get a week's vacation, too. Not a bad deal! I feel like Christmas vacation just ended, actually, so it's hard to believe that we have another vacation already. And not so many weeks until Easter vacation, either...

The weather is absolutely gorgeous, cold and sunny with lots of snow. Anders and Gaute went out skiing, but the other boys and I have been hanging out here at the house. Espen has a football game (indoor) this afternoon, and Johan has a friend over. I've been catching up on my netsurfing and making various Valentine's treats. So nice to have some spare time. The weather is supposed to be just as nice tomorrow, so I think we'll all head out for a long cross country ski trip tomorrow. Grim and Kari have invited us to dinner, so I won't even have to think about making dinner when we get home!

On Monday the boys and I are headed to Germany on the "cruise" ship. We're all pretty excited, but Anders and Johan are especially excited. Hope they're not disappointed...

Up early

2009-02-11T04:27:00.013+01:00

I woke up way too early this morning - about 4 am. Instead of just lying in bed, I decided to get up and get going. It's now 4:30 and I feel pretty good - showered and dressed and ready to meet the day. I have a lot of little projects that need to get done at home and at school, and I think that's what woke me (and kept me up) this morning, so I figured it was just as well to get going on the day.

Espen and I had a great time in London. The trip was what it hoped I would be - a bonding experience for Espen and me. The tour of Wembley on Saturday was great - 90 minutes of heaven for Espen. After that we did a bit of shopping. We stopped first at a department store, Debenhams, where we picked up 2 pair of Levis and a swimsuit for Espen. He is growing out of his clothes like crazy, and they now have swimming in gym class once a week. He told me that his swimsuit had shrunk, but I'm pretty sure that he has grown ;-) We also stopped by two of my favorite shops, Monsoon and the Gap, where I also got some jeans and a sweater. Then Espen's quest for the perfect speakers began. He has been talking constantly about getting new speakers that he can hook up to his laptop - preferrably with a subwoofer (he's very into subwoofers these days). So we searched London high and low for some good speakers that he could afford and that he could fit into his (small) suitcase. (Things like that are about 30% cheaper in London.) Finally, we found some - yippee!!

By that time we were both pretty worn out, so we headed back to the hotel. Espen tested out his new speakers with his iPod (incredibly good, sooo much better than the old ones. That subwoofer was just incredible....hehehe.) After a short rest, we walked over to the London Eye. We got our tickets and waited in line. When we got to the security check (there's always a security check...), one of the security guys saw the Liverpool hat Espen had glued to his head and gave him a high five and said something like "Liverpool, cool...". Then he said that since Espen was a Liverpool fan, we could go directly into the Fastrak lane. Espen had a pretty big smile on his face at that point.

After seeing the lights of London from up high, we walked back to the Pizza Express restaurant right behind our hotel. Yummy Italian style pizza and tiramisu for dessert.

On Sunday, we slept in a little bit more, but still got up pretty early by Espen's standards. We went downstairs and had a nice breakfast at the hotel, where Espen got a cup of the world's best hot chocolate for the second morning in a row. Then we headed out to get on the a double decker hop on/hop off sightseeing bus. I thought it would be good for him to see some of the sights, and since we didn't have too much time that would be a good way to do it. In hindsight, it wasn't such a great idea. Hop on/hop off is great if you're planning on hopping on and off, but if you just want to get a guided tour, then it's annoying to have the bus stopping all of the time. We would have been better off just picking something we wanted to do and spending some time there. But, whatever, Espen got to see the sights.

Espen was dying to get to the airport early because he had heard that the new terminal 5 there had so much great shopping. So, after the bus tour, we checked out of our hotel, took a cab to Paddington Station and took the Heathrow Express train to the airport. We got there 3 hours before our plane was to leave, and Espen realized that he wasn't actually all that interested in the stores at the airport - he rarely buys anything from Prada or Chanel or any of the designers... But, he did manage to spend his last pounds on some new headphones for his iPod and we managed to spend some money on food, so all was not lost.

We were tired when we got home, but we had a great time!

Aaahhh, Wembley Stadium...

In the English national team's dressing room, in front of Steven Gerrard's jersey (Liverpool's captain)

A cool pic Espen took of the London Eye

In London on Mom's birthday

2009-02-07T07:43:00.002+01:00

This title makes it sound like my mom is with me, but, unfortunately, she's not. Maybe next time....We're thinking about Mom, though.

Espen is with me - and I think it's so far so good as far as he is concerned. We haven't done much more than take the train and tube from the airport to the hotel, but he thinks the hotel is pretty cool. I used my favorite website TripAdvisor to find a great hotel. Relatively inexpensive by London standards, 10 minute walk to Big Ben and the London Eye, and an iMac in each room. The room is nice, new, modern and clean and perfect for Espen and me. We got to the hotel so late last night that we decided to eat at the hotel lounge instead of going out. It was this hip, modern place with low sofas and cool lighting. Espen's face really lit up when he saw that they had Bose speakers. :-D

Today we're off to Wembley Stadium for a guided tour. We have a tour reserved for 10 am, and it takes about 45 minutes to get there, so I booked a 7 am wake up call to be sure we wouldn't be rushed and had time for breakfast. I woke up this morning and looked at my iPhone and saw that it was 7:05 and got pretty annoyed with the hotel since they didn't wake us. But - I got up and took a shower and put on makeup and everything and went back into to the room to wake Espen. That's when I realized that I forgot to change the time on my iPhone. It was still on Oslo time which is an hour ahead...So, Espen gets to sleep for an extra hour, and I'm sitting here on the computer waiting for my 7 am wake up call.

London tomorrow...

2009-02-05T17:38:00.002+01:00

Tomorrow Espen and I are headed off to London...hopefully. They have been getting a lot of snow there, and I just checked the weather forecast, and it's calling for 8 inches of snow tomorrow, and they're expecting snow on Saturday, too. I have nothing against snow, but I'm not such a big fan of it in London. Lots of snow tomorrow means that there is a good chance that our flight will be cancelled or delayed tomorrow afternoon...And regardless, it's not so much fun walking around town in the snow. But - I'm sure it will work out okay. We'll have a good time regardless, right?

Snow in London

2009-02-03T07:31:00.002+01:00

Just our luck - London has been hit by a snowstorm and apparently it's chaos there - cancelled flights and slippery streets. According to the paper this morning, it's supposed to get worse before it gets better. I HOPE everything is back to normal again by Friday!

Monday evening

2009-02-02T19:15:00.003+01:00

Tonight is quite å rarity - nothing going on! No football practice or ski team or parents' meetings. Just an evening to hang out. Gaute and Johan and I are in the living room. Johan's doing his math homework, Gaute's reading the newspaper, and I'm pecking away at my iPhone. Anders and Espen are playing FIFA 09 on the Playstation 3. We had spaghetti, salad and garlic bread for dinner - a perennial favorite. Life is good right now :-)

Back in the saddle

2009-02-01T15:53:00.002+01:00

I really want to try to start updating my blog again. It's fun to keep everyone else informed about what's going on around here, but, even more important, it's nice to have as a journal of our life. It's so much fun looking back at the pictures and reading about what we've done. So - here's to a fresh start!

I've spent the last few hours online, making reservations for our trip to the states this summer. We're going to California first, then heading over to Salt Lake, then Zion's and Bryce, before we finally make it down to San Diego. It's always such a relief to finally make up my mind for which dates and which flights are best and then make the reservation! This year, the kids and I are flying into San Francisco on the 23rd of June, a few days after the last day of school. Gaute will join us in Foresthill on July 2nd (just in time for Granny's fun 3rd of July party). Then sometime around the middle of July (not quite sure of the dates) we'll head out to Utah and then down to San Diego where we'll spend about 4 days before flying back home on the July 31. Should be a fun trip - we're all so excited!! It always amazes Gaute and me how excited the kids are for our trips to California. They talk about it all year long - definitely the highlight of their year!!

I also bought tickets today for a little mini-cruise to Kiel, Germany for February 16th. They have a relatively new car ferry which is basically like a cruise ship which travels between Oslo and Kiel, and the kids (and their mom ;-)) have been wanting to take a trip. Prices were pretty low right now, so I made a reservation for the week of winter vacation. Gaute has to work, so it will just be me and the kids, which is probably just as well, as I don't think it's exactly Gaute's dream vacation. We leave on Monday at two in the afternoon and arrive in Kiel at 10 the next morning. Then we have 4 hours to wander around there before we leave for Oslo again, arriving home at 10 in the morning on Wednesday. The kids cannot wait!!

This Friday, Espen and I are headed to London (love that travelling...). Just a little weekend trip, from Friday evening until Sunday evening, but I think we'll have a fun time. I've booked a guided tour of Wembley Stadium, where the English national soccer team plays their games, and he's pretty psyched about that...

Hmmm, when I read what I've written, it's nothing more than a list of all of the trips I'm going on. But I guess that's what's on my mind right now... Still have one more reservation to make soon - tickets to California at the end of September for Tess' wedding...

Now, it's 4 o'clock on Sunday evening, and I haven't even thought about what to make for dinner...Time to get started on that! (And only an hour until an important soccer game - Liverpool vs. Chelsea...)

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-27T09:27:00.001+01:00

Christmas is over - in fact 2008 is almost over. It's hard to believe how long a year lasted when I was a kid. Now I blink my eyes and then it's over. We've had a nice Christmas. Santa was very nice to everyone (I'm writing this on my new iPhone). The kids got stuff they needed, like skis and long underwear, and stuff they wanted, like a new Playstation 3.

For the next week or so, they'll be using the outdoorsy stuff more than the electronic stuff, because we're headed up to our NO PC/NO PLAYSTATION zone - the cabin. I can't wait. we'll be up there for about a week and when we're up there we really relax. And I love our New Year's Eve tradition of eating fondue by candlelight when it's cold and snowy outside.

Some pictures I finally uploaded to the computer

2008-11-08T09:37:00.010+01:00

I haven't been taking many pictures this fall (see earlier blog entries for an explanation of this...), but I finally got around to uploading the pictures I did take. These ones are from the beginning of September, at a lake not far from our house. Every year they have what they call "Outdoor Day", where all kinds of different organizations having to do with outdoor activities show up and let kids take part in their stuff. And it's all free. So they have a free climbing wall, free kayaks and canoes to borrow, a short orienteering race, and lots of other info. and activities. Oh, and a free breakfast (bread and different kinds of spreads) as well as having bonfires set up with free hot dogs to grill as well as "cowboy coffee". It's really fun, and we've been going there ever since they started about 5 or 6 years ago. More and more people are finding out about it, and it gets more crowded every year. This year, the weather was pretty bad, and we got their early, so we had the place to our selves. We stayed for about an hour, and then we rode our bikes from there into the forest. It was a nice day - even if it was freezing cold!

Obama

2008-11-05T18:52:00.003+01:00

I don't have time to write much, but I just have to write a few lines about how happy I am that Obama won the election. I was really getting nervous the last few days, afraid that McCain would end up pulling it off in the end.

It was night here in Norway when they were tallying up the votes, and by the time they finally called a winner, it was about 4 or 5 in the morning here. I didn't stay up - but the amazing thing is that a lot of people in Norway did! I don't think most Americans really realize how interested and concerned people in other countries are about who is president of the United States. The decisions Americans make at the voting booths have huge impacts on the lives of people all over the world. People are so fed up with George Bush, that the thought that American's could actually vote for a candidate from the same party as him was unthinkable. I'm not sure if I would have been able to show my face at work today if Obama hadn't won.

But - he did win! And all day long, people have been coming up to me and congratulating me and giving me hugs. One woman I work with was going to buy a bottle of champagne on her way home from work and celebrate Obama's victory with her family. My little 2nd graders were coming up to me this morning and telling me that they knew that the U.S. was going to have a new president. This is really big stuff around here, too!!!!

Espen - the working man

2008-11-02T19:31:00.003+01:00

On Thursday, junior high and high school students in Norway got some work experience and made some money for a good cause at the same time. It was Operation Dayswork, and they were making money to help poor kids in Bangladesh. Everyone had to find a job for the day where they could make at least 200 kroner (about 30 dollars). Some kids took the easy way out and worked for their parents, but Espen and two of his friends went to a hotel not far from our house and asked if they could work there for the day. They said yes (apparently they've had students from Espen's school there before) and told them to show up at 9:30 in the morning wearing black dress pants and shoes and an "ironable" shirt. Espen was pretty excited, and we went out and bought him some new clothes to wear.

He and his friends worked hard all day, changing sheets and moving boxes around and stuff like that. They got free breakfast and lunch and made money for the project, and they couldn't have been more pleased when they got home. We were proud of them!

Organic

2008-10-29T19:59:00.002+01:00

The doorbell just rang, and when I opened the door it was the delivery man with my weekly basket of organic fruits and vegetables. About a month ago, I started subscribing and now I get a new batch of in-season fruits and vegetables every week. I love it!! I always have a good, fresh variety in the house, and plan meals based upon what they deliver each week. And sometimes they deliver stuff I wouldn't normally buy, but that's fun, too. A few weeks ago, the basket included five beets, something which I never buy. But I found a great recipe for a beet soup - and I had enough left over for my lunch the next day. It's so exciting each week to see what I get. Today it was clementines, apples, bananas, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, leeks, potatoes, cucumbers and tomatoes. Lots of yummy stuff!