The weather report showed we’d have 2 drops of rain and a little sun today. We had about 2 minutes of sun, and the rest of the day it rained HARD - so much for that prediction. At least the rug I’ve been washing out on the deck got a good rinsing today. I went out several times and used a squeegee on it as the rain just kept on comin’. I finally brought it inside and let it drip dry in our bathroom (the biggest room in our condo, by the way), because I’m not sure we’ll see much sunshine for awhile. The rug isn’t perfect, but it looks better than it did. I wish I could say the same for myself.
As I was at the grocery store buying a few things for another dinner party on Sunday, I ran into someone we know from church, so I invited them over for tomorrow night for dinner, so now I’ve got a full calendar again – just the way I like it. We were supposed to have a cousin here from Bergen right now for a few days, but she had to cancel because she got sick, so our calendar was noticeably empty and I started pacing the floor with nothing to look forward to. Now I feel better.
I put some vacation money in a CD in a bank here last year and it matured today, so I had to go to the bank and renew the CD. I was thrilled last year to get 3.3% interest and today I was even happier to get 3.8%. The rates in Norway are certainly better than in the US, but it should be that way since the prices are higher here, too. We got the bill for our car tabs today and they said it would be around $500 (2805 kroner), but the bill was for 3360 kroner – over $600. Pretty pricy for only driving the car for three months, but it is what it is. Without a car, we’d spend way more than that on public transportation, so I’m not complaining. I just get numb after a while toward the prices of things here. If I thought about it, I wouldn’t enjoy myself so much, so I just let it go, but our menus are planned around what’s on sale, because I’m still a cheap-skate when it’s with things I can control.
Kaleb went to school today and then home with Henrik after school. He was able to ride home in time for dinner, during the few minutes it didn’t rain, so he didn’t get drenched. I was prepared to go pick him up, but it was a good thing I didn’t have to because Roar Bjerknes unexpectedly stopped by for a visit just before dinnertime. He was going to see a movie at the theatre next door, but they were all sold out, so he was killing time until the next movie. I invited him to stay for dinner, even though it wasn’t anything special, but he didn’t seem to mind.
He stayed on and visited for several hours and decided against going to the movie, so it was fun to hear more about the life he has lived as a journalist, traveling the world and reporting on all kinds of things. He said he once followed the circus all over Norway and wrote about life outside the big tents. Another time he wrote about a guy who was cheated on a fishing boat purchase and was in court and in danger of losing the boat. He wrote the story quite favorably toward the guy and his published story turned the situation around quite a bit for the fisherman. That fisherman is now the richest man in Norway. He told Roar at the time that if he never needs anything, he would help him. Roar has been wondering for the last 30 years later, when to cash in on that favor.
Kory drew a few more faces today and then built some shelves in our storage unit. We both spent time going through the mail that came today in a package sent by our house sitters. It was totally God’s timing because I use a debit card to pull food money out of our bank in America, and it stopped working after we got back from Turkey. I wrote to the bank and they told me the card expired. There was no expiration written on it so I had no clue as to why I couldn’t access our money. We’re going to Israel next week and I needed it then, too, so I was in a bit of a panic. But today, the new card arrived, just in the nick of time, so we were shouting Hallelujah this afternoon. I’m so thankful God’s got my back.
I didn’t take any photos today as it was so cold and wet outside I stayed indoors the whole day. There is fresh snow in the mountains and I was tempted for the first time, to turn on the heat, but we bundled up and kept warm. We’re just thankful we have a roof over our head and food in our bellies. Life is good.
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