School Daze

My friends back home (and in Texas) are all complaining about the hot, dry weather they are having, and here I sit, day after day, not at all pleased with the incessant rain (above).  It seems moderation in all things, is the key.  The weather report showed partial sunshine today, and it came in fits and spurts, but if I went out to enjoy it even for a minute, I got rained on, so that’s not exactly what I’d call a sunny day.  Oi.

We were up early and at Blindheim ungdomskole to meet with the principal to see if Kaleb has additional permission to continue going there, now that his “parole” period is over. He’s not thrilled about going to school everyday, or doing the whole school routine, plus he says it’s boring, but I told him he could write it on his resume that he was an international exchange student, and it would help him stand out a bit in the college application process, so he instantly warmed up to the idea and agreed to go.  Whew.

The principal had no problem with Kaleb continuing.  He said he was an “exemplary student” which made both Kory and I very proud.  Kaleb just smirked.  I’m thrilled he’ll be going, plus he gets to use his laptop so he can write the book he’s been itching to write and actually do some of his other school work while he’s there.  The principal gave him permission to use his computer in the classroom as long as there is “no gaming.”  No problem there. (Photo above is of a house on the way to Kaleb's school - done with the traditional dragon rooftops.  Love that style.)

So Kory and I were home most of the day, working on the to-do list again.  It’s amazing how many little things go wrong over the course of time.  We’ve had this condo for 13 years and never really done any repairs on it, so this is the year to spiff it up and get all those parts working again.  Kory repaired several doors and latches and tried to fix a light fixture, and after searching but not finding the right parts, decided he needs to just replace the whole light fixture.  He’s amazing in his ability to take things apart to their most minute level and actually find the one little part that quit working.  He’s often frustrated he can’t find only the part that broke, as things often come packaged in larger units, and he just wants the one tiny little thing.  Modern technology doesn’t work well for him.  He’s kinda old fashioned that way and I swear should have had a “fix-it shop” on Main Street USA somewhere.  It would have been easier on his body and he would have been in heaven everyday, tearing stuff apart and fixing it.  I so wish Kaleb had that gift, but it comes more readily with the dyslexic brain.  At least Kory’s back in his game, as handyman around the house anyway, but he’s still very hesitant to use his hands too much, so worried he’ll have pain the next day. Ugh.

(Photo below is of my favorite rug - 100% wool - handwoven on a loom with a cute tulip pattern!  It's like brand new and I paid $30 for it.  Sorry it's sideways... and also that I don't have many photos to share but we haven't been getting out much because of the weather!)

I took a walk all through the mall this morning before anything opened up.   I felt like those senior citizen mall walkers, except there is no easy path through our mall.  It has funny dead ends everywhere and little hidden nooks around weird corners.  It’s not an easy flow kind of place, but at least I got in a good 30-minute walk while exploring the whole thing.  They are building a whole new section and expanding it even more, so there will be more to see next year when we return. 

Kaleb had another “okay” time at school, and was able to write three pages of his novel, so he was excited about that when he got home.  He’s struggling a little with the lectures in the classes as the vocabulary is now above his knowledge base, but that’s good for him.   He doesn’t agree with me on that one.  We went and bought him a bus pass for the next month so we don’t have to drive him back and forth.  If the weather wasn’t so terrible, he could ride his bike, but we are not such hardy Norwegians in that arena.

Tonight Agape Church had a boys home fellowship group meeting – at the swimming hall next door to us.  So Kaleb went over and swam with some kids from Agape and a few of the leaders.  He had a great time, going off the high dive and playing on a floating trampoline (that's Kaleb on it, above).  I went and watched for a few minutes to get some photos.  Turns out one of the kids there is one of the three kids that lived in our condo for five months this past year, but neither of them made that connection.

Kory and I attended another “Hour of Power” prayer meeting at Agape tonight – praise and worship and lots of prayer for this "Unites" seminar that’s coming up next weekend.  Oh man, was it powerful.  I so long for those kinds of prayer meetings back home.  Can’t imagine a better time spent than just gathering together with others who are seeking more of whatever God wants to pour out.   We were blessed.