A Sunny Day

10 June 2013

More than half our storage unit downstairs is full and it’s full of stuff we don’t really need.  How sad is that?  It’s all decorations and extra stuff, as I’ve now whittled the condo down to just the bare essentials for the next few weeks so it will “show” well.  But to think we had so much stuff in here is crazy.  I have an “over decorating” problem, but it must be the ADD in me that likes to look at so many different things that bring me comfort.  I know now, with just white walls and nothing to look at, I’m going a little stir crazy, so all the do-dads bring peace, if not excessive dust.

Such is life.  I spent the whole day packing up 10 banana boxes I got from the store at the mall and tonight I went back to get eight more.  They stack so nice and are so sturdy, it’s the best thing going, even if they don’t hold that much. 

As I packed up things today I started to wonder when I’d see all that stuff again.  Two years out seems like a long time from now and there will be so many changes between now and then as we all grow a little older.  I wonder who, here in Norway will be gone when we come back, as two of our remaining aunts are in their late 80s.  It’s already so different without Tante Kari around.  The only upside to all this is that we’ll have a little extra money to spend if we get rent for the next two years.  We’ve never made a dime on our place – only lost money month after month, but now, to think of having a positive cash flow is kind of exciting.  Kory’s already talking about buying a different car, but I totally disagree.  I’d rather use the money to buy our airplane tickets to come here for a few years, but there’s no point in counting our chickens before they hatch.

I’ve already filled up our six suitcases we are bringing home and they are maxed out on weight.  I have another three suitcases filled and hoping someone in the next few years that’s coming to visit us, will bring them.  I also have two big boxes of smaller boxes that can slip into someone’s luggage if they have room.  Trying to get things home is not an easy task, but I’m determined to make the most of those airplane tickets since each traveler gets two 50 pound bags and that’s free shipping, if you ask me.  Just to send a letter to America is two bucks, so sending even one small item from here is cost prohibitive. We’ll see how my plan pans out. 

Kaleb spent his day doing more schoolwork.  He’s nearing the end of his Honors Algebra class and only has one more day to go before he takes the last chapter test and then studies for his final.  He’s hoping to be done by Friday so he has all next week off to hang with friends.  It’s also his last week for a Coursera class on Nutrition he’s taking from Vanderbilt University.  This new website is a dream come true for homeschool moms – every subject imaginable taught by the finest college professors in the country – all free for the taking.  They don’t give college credit, but the point is to learn something and that serves me just fine.  The six-week class is all about diet and nutrition so I’m using it as part of Kaleb’s health requirements for high school, and I’m glad it’s wrapping up this week.

Kory spent his first full day at the Miracle House in downtown Aalesund.  He’s starting on making an external wall between the house and the building next door but he mostly spent the day prepping the site and unpacking the building materials.  It was a sunny day so he was happy to be outside.  I’ll join him in a day or two, once our condo is fit for showing.

I ran into one of the residents of our building today and she told me she’s having to sell her house.  I asked if she meant her condo here and she said she has a house in Speilkavik (about a five minute walk away) that they use in the summer, but they stay in the condo here in the winter.  Her husband got sick and now she can’t keep up the yard work, so they are selling their house and moving fulltime into the condo.  That just cracked me up, that someone would have a summer and winter place five minutes apart, but that goes to show just how convenient our place is in the wintertime.

Tonight after dinner we took a long walk down by the edge of the sea (where today’s photos are from).  It’s only about a ten minute walk from our condo, but we’d never ventured down there before so it was nice to explore a new neighborhood.  Wildflowers are just starting to bloom and wild berries are everywhere.  Lots of nature to enjoy around here, whether it’s up in the mountains or down by the seaside.  It’s not a bad life.