Somewhat Sick Day

It was a gorgeous Saturday today in Aalesund – it must have hit the 80s. I wish I would have felt better so I could have enjoyed it all the more, but as it was, I had a raw throat, sniffles and bad cough. Oh well. I’m sure the sun did something good for me just the same.

Kory and I got to sleep in because Kaleb was on a sleepover with a friend. We enjoyed a cup of coffee out on the deck before heading off to buy groceries for the long weekend. Everything closed early today and the next two days are holy days (Pentecost), so we had to stock up. When I got back from the store, my neighbor Lizbet was waiting for me with a strawberry cheese cake she just whipped up. She said she wanted to make me a cake because she has enjoyed riding the bus with me every morning into the city and she is going to miss me. I couldn’t believe what a masterpiece it was, but then she is a profession chef, so I shouldn’t be surprised. We are saving it to take to church with us tomorrow so we can eat it at the café afterwards and share it with others. Talk about a sweetheart.

Turid had her big art exhibition today, so we went into the city for that event without Kaleb. It was more like a graduation ceremony from art school. She’s had her own artist studio for ten years, but she decided two years ago to make it official and get an art degree. She’s finally done and today was the big display of all the projects she and her classmates have been working on. I’m not prejudice or anything, but I thought Turid’s was by far the best art in the place. She’s very talented.

Without much else on the agenda today as we waited for Kaleb to get home, I decided to cut the grass (see photo of me in our yard - way in the distance). We must have two acres of lawn around where we live (well, it seems like that anyway), and the grass was getting a bit ragged looking, so sick and all, I had to cut it. Kory tried talking me out of it but I just couldn’t stand it anymore. We headed out to the country to borrow a harvesting machine from a farmer cousin, as the lawn where we live can’t be cut with a regular lawnmower because the ground is so uneven and the huge protruding rocks would kill a lawnmower blade in an instant. So I now am the proud owner of some nasty blisters on the palms of my hands from all my hard work. Kory said I should have used gloves, but I didn’t want to overheat. I even cut the grass around the bus stop Kory repainted a few weeks ago so we now have a much more beautiful neighborhood. I am so proud.

Odd dropped in tonight to chat and have a beer with Kory. He told Kory he’s been so impressed with the way we have acclimated into Norwegian culture and have made friends and joined different groups and done so much in this year. Maybe he was worried we’d just be hanging out at his house the whole time, I’m not sure, but it was funny he would make that observation. I feel like we haven’t done enough or met enough people or joined enough things… but I did that on purpose because we had so many adjustments when we first came here. If we stayed another year we would really be on a roll. Odd thinks we should. He says Tante Ruth won’t be in our condo long because she needs so much care now. Ruth’s two sisters were helping her a lot, but with Tante Kari in the rehabilitation center recovering from her broken hip, she can’t help Ruth even when she gets home next week. Tante Aslaug has said she’s getting tired of being the sole caregiver and next week she’s taking a vacation to go see her son in southern Norway. That will leave Tante Ruth high and dry and I’m not sure what will happen to her. I know we’ll need to look in on her more, but that won’t be the solution she needs. When we were there for 17th of May, she didn’t even see Kaleb in the room. She is totally blind in one eye and losing sight in the other one quickly. Her blindness will become more of a problem for her than her cancer. But I set out a “fleece” for God and said if our condo is vacated by June 1st then we will apply to stay in Norway another year. It doesn’t look that will happen, but it may happen shortly thereafter. But a fleece is a fleece and we won’t stay if things don’t happen just as we asked. Odd wants us to go home, take care of business, and get right back here in October so Kaleb can go to school for another year. I think Odd is going through withdrawals already because he’s a little worried his bedroom won’t get completed before Kory leaves the country. But the good news is, we’ll be back. We’ll always be back. Knowing that makes leaving a little easier for us, too. (It’s now less than four weeks until we have to move out of our house!)