Rain Rain Go Away!

I was awake until after two o’clock this morning because I drank a cup of coffee last night at our home fellowship group. What was I thinking? Then I woke up at four and couldn’t get back to sleep. Needless to stay, I stayed home from school so I could try and sleep in, but it was nearly impossible. Kory got Kaleb off to school while I tossed and turned in bed.

Today was the day for Kaleb’s class party at a beach near our house. The invitation said if it was bad weather, it would be indoors at the school instead. It was raining hard all last night and this morning. All the boys were to bring a pot of coffee and the girls were to bring cake (weird). Kaleb apparently forgot what time the party started (5:30pm) and he assumed it was during the school hour so he asked Kory to make a pot of coffee to take with him to school. (Like that’s what he was going to drink?) Kory didn’t remember the details of the party either so he just did what Kaleb asked. This is why mothers are so important because we remember this kind of stuff, or at least write it on the calendar (which no one checked). I felt terrible that Kaleb was already loaded down with his school books in his backpack then Kory needlessly added a big thermos of hot coffee to the load. I could only laugh when I got out of bed and Kory told me what happened. Kaleb didn’t complain much when he came home still lugging the pot of coffee because it was his own doing. I’m thankful for that. It was a good “teachable moment” to check the calendar for details, rather than relying on memory alone if I’m not around to keep them on track.

Kory and I went to the mall at Moa this morning so I could buy the groceries needed for the things I’m making for the Confirmation on Saturday. Kory went and visited Tante Ruth and Tante Kari while I went shopping (they live right next door). Tante Ruth is doing great, so that was good to hear. She’s even offered to help Tante Kari as she’s recovering from her surgery. Tante Kari is finally smiling a real smile and is getting better every day, for which I’m thankful. I hated that she hurt so much. Both Tantes said they are devastated we are moving back to America. The only upside is that someday when we come back, we might be living next door to Tante Kari, which put a smile on her face.

Kaleb was in sour mood to match the weather this afternoon because he lost one of his Nintendo games. The game chips aren’t much bigger than a quarter and they cost over $70 so it’s a big loss. We kept telling him to be careful and to keep all the games in a safe place. This is how he learns. He was borderline mean and didn’t even want to go to the school picnic because of it, but we insisted he go. I couldn’t believe they didn’t move the party to the school, but they consider light rain tolerable. Only if it would have been an all-out downpour would they have moved it indoors. So all the parents and kids were in full rain gear, some had umbrellas, standing out in a park by the water’s edge, roasting their hot dogs on the “one-time grills,” drinking coffee and eating cake (see photo – the gorgeous mountains in the background aren’t even visible because of all the rain! ). The rain never let up and yet the party went on for hours. Too funny. Kory brought some firewood so at least we had a real fire going instead of just the line up of the one-time grills. Our Christmas tree was sitting out the garage all these months and Kory cut it up but never disposed of it because we weren’t sure where to put it – so he brought it along today. It was a big hit as all the branches were so dry the boys loved throwing them on the fire and watching the explosion of flames that came soon after. It was about the only entertainment there was, so it was a good idea.

The parents of Kaleb’s friends came up and talked to us about how sad it is we are leaving and how upset their kids are to be losing Kaleb as a friend. That was sort of nice to hear. We invited them all over to America to come for a visit so hopefully some with do that. I talked with one of Kaleb’s teachers and she said Kaleb was a "brave" student – that most students won’t read out loud but Kaleb always volunteers to do everything and she likes that he’s “out there” in terms of participating in everything. I’m thankful for that. I really wanted to know if he had any problem areas or if he was a challenge in any way, but it’s not “Norwegian” to say anything bad so I guess I’ll never know. She did say, with great delight, that she has watched him blossom in the socializing department, and for Norwegians, that’s by far more important than doing well academically. So I guess our mission is accomplished – we brought him here for socializing and to learn the language and he’s done both quite well. I just didn’t think leaving would be so hard.