OK, I take back what I said yesterday about not feeling any older. We just got back from climbing up a mountain and I feel every muscle and bone in my body -- and they feel pretty old! It was such a gorgeous Saturday afternoon that we couldn’t help but go find a peak that we had not yet conquered (there are many to choose from around here). When in Norway, do as the Norwegians do. Odd and Hege came along with us as we ascended Sukkertoppen (The Sugar Top) right next to downtown Aalesund… fantastic views from there of the city and surrounding islands. The picture today was taken about half way up, with Aalesund “sentrum” (the center of town) in the background. Lovely, lovely day. It still feels like summer here, but I know fall is on its way.
After a nice Norwegian waffle breakfast this morning Kaleb and I did homework while Kory helped cousin Odd with some carpentry work. At noon we all went to a rare event here in town – a loppemarket (flea market). A local soccer club organized a big garage sale held in their arena to raise money for their club. After our major scores at the loppemarket last weekend in Trondheim, we were all set to look for more treasures today, but were sorely disappointed, as the prices were anything but cheap. I did manage to buy a few tablecloths and doilies, and we got a few nice paintings for the wall and a lamp for the living room. None of them were screaming deals, but we really like everything we bought. One watercolor painting is of the mountain top we can see out our living room window here at The Sinking Houses, so we’ll take that back with us to the States as a good reminder of our time here. The best thing about going there was that I ran into a woman I met when we first moved here and she gave me her number and asked if we can get together for coffee. I’ll call her next week. It’s exciting to think I might have a new friend in the works.
Odd and Hege came over for dinner tonight but Turid had to work so she missed all the fun. It was so nice to be able to treat them to a meal, as we’ve eaten plenty at their house (all made by Turid, though). Afterwards we played cards (Golf) and Sabina and her mom came over too – lots of screaming and laughter ensued as that game stirs much emotion. We had a very fun evening as we watched the sky change colors all around our mountain peak view as the sun slowly set in the west.
And we’ve now had our first taste of what it’s like to own rental property without Kory being available to fix the problems that arise himself. We have friends in Seattle that have been doing a great job managing our apartment building there, and we have a wonderful on-site manager as well, so we’ve been without care or worry so far, but last night we got a call from our on-site manager to tell us about a leaky pipe going to the bathtub of one of the units. Our friends that are managing it got a quote to fix the problem and the plumber wanted over five thousand dollars to replace the tub and pipes, etc. Kory could have flown home and done it himself for much less than that, so Kory called up a guy he knows in Seattle and he went and looked at it and said just the pipes need replacing and he’d do it for a hundred bucks. Whew. I was praying about that one all night as it’s an urgent situation that needed attention because the water was dripping down into the unit below, but the problem is now getting resolved. I sometimes take for granted just how handy Kory is and how he fixes absolutely everything that breaks every time, and just how much money he saves us by his resourcefulness. Even half a world away he was able to solve the problem in a thrifty manner. I so appreciate that. I was ready to buy him a plane ticket home. (To fix the problem - not to get rid of him - Kaleb said I needed clarification there.)
After a nice Norwegian waffle breakfast this morning Kaleb and I did homework while Kory helped cousin Odd with some carpentry work. At noon we all went to a rare event here in town – a loppemarket (flea market). A local soccer club organized a big garage sale held in their arena to raise money for their club. After our major scores at the loppemarket last weekend in Trondheim, we were all set to look for more treasures today, but were sorely disappointed, as the prices were anything but cheap. I did manage to buy a few tablecloths and doilies, and we got a few nice paintings for the wall and a lamp for the living room. None of them were screaming deals, but we really like everything we bought. One watercolor painting is of the mountain top we can see out our living room window here at The Sinking Houses, so we’ll take that back with us to the States as a good reminder of our time here. The best thing about going there was that I ran into a woman I met when we first moved here and she gave me her number and asked if we can get together for coffee. I’ll call her next week. It’s exciting to think I might have a new friend in the works.
Odd and Hege came over for dinner tonight but Turid had to work so she missed all the fun. It was so nice to be able to treat them to a meal, as we’ve eaten plenty at their house (all made by Turid, though). Afterwards we played cards (Golf) and Sabina and her mom came over too – lots of screaming and laughter ensued as that game stirs much emotion. We had a very fun evening as we watched the sky change colors all around our mountain peak view as the sun slowly set in the west.
And we’ve now had our first taste of what it’s like to own rental property without Kory being available to fix the problems that arise himself. We have friends in Seattle that have been doing a great job managing our apartment building there, and we have a wonderful on-site manager as well, so we’ve been without care or worry so far, but last night we got a call from our on-site manager to tell us about a leaky pipe going to the bathtub of one of the units. Our friends that are managing it got a quote to fix the problem and the plumber wanted over five thousand dollars to replace the tub and pipes, etc. Kory could have flown home and done it himself for much less than that, so Kory called up a guy he knows in Seattle and he went and looked at it and said just the pipes need replacing and he’d do it for a hundred bucks. Whew. I was praying about that one all night as it’s an urgent situation that needed attention because the water was dripping down into the unit below, but the problem is now getting resolved. I sometimes take for granted just how handy Kory is and how he fixes absolutely everything that breaks every time, and just how much money he saves us by his resourcefulness. Even half a world away he was able to solve the problem in a thrifty manner. I so appreciate that. I was ready to buy him a plane ticket home. (To fix the problem - not to get rid of him - Kaleb said I needed clarification there.)
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