The photo today was taken about 3:30 in the afternoon. It wasn’t completely dark, but very close. The lights of the town across the fjord (Sykkelven) are visible. The brightest lights are those of ferries crossing over to our side. Even in the “night,” it’s beautiful here.
So, the wait is on. I delivered the bid to the attorney this morning for us to buy The Sinking Houses. He seemed a little bit excited we placed a bid and he said he’d call as soon as he heard anything – and that it would be “soon.” We were hoping “soon” meant today, but alas, it did not. We have no idea how this will play out but we are at peace with whatever happens.
The attorney’s eleven year old son sent Kaleb a photo of his dog and wrote up a few lines in English for Kaleb’s dog newspaper. We had given the attorney a copy of The Weakly Puppy a while ago because he has a dog. He showed his son and I asked the attorney today if his son had gotten the copy we sent of the latest issue with their dog in it. He said he had gotten it and it really inspired his son to make his own newspaper. Unfortunately, he said, the content was all about their extended family members and it was too embarrassing to share with anyone because his son wrote about how much each member of their family makes per year. He got all his information off the website here that makes public everyone’s income. As it happens, the attorney’s father is one of the most famous (and richest) artists in Norway so I’m sure that boy had much to say. I just think it’s funny that Kaleb has now inspired two kids here to make newspapers (the other kid did one on parrots).
Kory worked today out in his old hometown of Langevåg. He got to work indoors so he was pretty happy about that. I couldn’t figure out why his paycheck last month was so much bigger than usual, especially since he took a week off for his birthday. Turns out he gets vacation pay! He only works two days a week, and he gets paid for days off. Go figure. And when using vacation pay, the government doesn’t hold out any taxes, so he got way more than we expected. Hallelujah. I guess full time employees get an automatic five weeks of vacation a year, no matter how long they have been with a company, and once they are over sixty years old, they get another week added to that. And vacation time accrues immediately – no waiting for one year to take it. A much better system than we have in the U.S.! “I’m likin’ this life,” as Kaleb would say.
Kaleb spent this evening making Christmas presents. He just sewing closed a stocking that we filled with rice so it’s super easy to do but a very fun gift. The rice bags are so nice in the wintertime. We put them in the microwave for a few minutes and then we set them in our bed down by our feet and off to sleep we go with toasty warm tootsies. Sometimes I drape one behind my neck to relax my muscles a little. Sometimes when I’m cold to the bone I put one on my chest in order to fall asleep, as it’s so cozy warm. (I hope everyone getting one has a microwave.) They are a great gift idea as everyone can use more than one.
Kaleb was anxious to finish up his homework and gift making so he could play his new Nintendogs game he just bought today. I’m not sure it was a good investment however as he’s supposed to train the cyberspace dog by talking to it and he sat for a good 15 minutes yelling at the top of his lungs at this electronic hand-held mini-computer and he couldn’t get the dog to do a thing. He finally just melted in a pool of tears he was so frustrated. I’m thinking they programmed it that way for a reason, and if so, I’m thanking God. Puppies aren’t easy to train. It’s good Kaleb learns that. I like things that emulate real life. Children aren’t easy to train either and I’ve had the same kind of meltdown after yelling at Kaleb repeatedly. But someone is a marketing genius when they can call that a “game” and charge $50 for it.
So, the wait is on. I delivered the bid to the attorney this morning for us to buy The Sinking Houses. He seemed a little bit excited we placed a bid and he said he’d call as soon as he heard anything – and that it would be “soon.” We were hoping “soon” meant today, but alas, it did not. We have no idea how this will play out but we are at peace with whatever happens.
The attorney’s eleven year old son sent Kaleb a photo of his dog and wrote up a few lines in English for Kaleb’s dog newspaper. We had given the attorney a copy of The Weakly Puppy a while ago because he has a dog. He showed his son and I asked the attorney today if his son had gotten the copy we sent of the latest issue with their dog in it. He said he had gotten it and it really inspired his son to make his own newspaper. Unfortunately, he said, the content was all about their extended family members and it was too embarrassing to share with anyone because his son wrote about how much each member of their family makes per year. He got all his information off the website here that makes public everyone’s income. As it happens, the attorney’s father is one of the most famous (and richest) artists in Norway so I’m sure that boy had much to say. I just think it’s funny that Kaleb has now inspired two kids here to make newspapers (the other kid did one on parrots).
Kory worked today out in his old hometown of Langevåg. He got to work indoors so he was pretty happy about that. I couldn’t figure out why his paycheck last month was so much bigger than usual, especially since he took a week off for his birthday. Turns out he gets vacation pay! He only works two days a week, and he gets paid for days off. Go figure. And when using vacation pay, the government doesn’t hold out any taxes, so he got way more than we expected. Hallelujah. I guess full time employees get an automatic five weeks of vacation a year, no matter how long they have been with a company, and once they are over sixty years old, they get another week added to that. And vacation time accrues immediately – no waiting for one year to take it. A much better system than we have in the U.S.! “I’m likin’ this life,” as Kaleb would say.
Kaleb spent this evening making Christmas presents. He just sewing closed a stocking that we filled with rice so it’s super easy to do but a very fun gift. The rice bags are so nice in the wintertime. We put them in the microwave for a few minutes and then we set them in our bed down by our feet and off to sleep we go with toasty warm tootsies. Sometimes I drape one behind my neck to relax my muscles a little. Sometimes when I’m cold to the bone I put one on my chest in order to fall asleep, as it’s so cozy warm. (I hope everyone getting one has a microwave.) They are a great gift idea as everyone can use more than one.
Kaleb was anxious to finish up his homework and gift making so he could play his new Nintendogs game he just bought today. I’m not sure it was a good investment however as he’s supposed to train the cyberspace dog by talking to it and he sat for a good 15 minutes yelling at the top of his lungs at this electronic hand-held mini-computer and he couldn’t get the dog to do a thing. He finally just melted in a pool of tears he was so frustrated. I’m thinking they programmed it that way for a reason, and if so, I’m thanking God. Puppies aren’t easy to train. It’s good Kaleb learns that. I like things that emulate real life. Children aren’t easy to train either and I’ve had the same kind of meltdown after yelling at Kaleb repeatedly. But someone is a marketing genius when they can call that a “game” and charge $50 for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment