Little by little, Kory is literally, taking steps toward recovery. Today he took a few steps without crutches. It gives me the creeps to watch him because I still think he should be flat on his back, but he insists on pushing himself a little just to see what is possible. I know he’s bored, but his healing requires time and he must be patient. I’m sure glad it’s not me that’s having to stay in bed all day as surely I’d be in a home for crazy people by now. Poor Kory. I’m not even a very good nurse, but I do bring him food. At least I don’t have to help him in the bathroom anymore. Love has its limits.I went to a prayer meeting this morning with The Praying Ladies. It was so good to be with them again. They swear they don’t know what to do when I leave, but really, I don’t know what I’ll do without getting a regular dose of prayer from them. It’s so incredible for me to be with so many women that know how to talk to God Almighty in such a powerful way. What a gift. And each week Kristen hosts this event, makes lunch for us all, sets the table in the most artful and fashionable way and makes us all feel special with her gift of hospitality. I love it that they are all “soaking” now before we pray and then we share what happened while we basked in the presence of God. I fell asleep today while we were soaking (as I sometimes do), but then the answer to something comes to me the minute I wake up – it’s a strange phenomenon. I hope that God loves it that I fall asleep in His presence, just like I love it when Kaleb sits in my lap and leans back in my arms and falls asleep. Time with God is never wasted and I sure needed the nap!
Kaleb spent the entire day up at his friend Toben’s house. As promised, his dad put them to work. Today they moved a big pile of wood from their current house down the street to their new house. Kaleb said it took three hours and they each earned a hundred kroner ($18). He’s rolling in it now and between him and Toben, they have enough money pooled to buy the Nintendo game they have been wanting. It’s been a good experience for him. He’s been gone for at least nine hours a day, which I’m sure he needed after spending five solid weeks with us on the road trip, but I do wish I could be a mouse in the corner and watch him at work. That’s a kid I don’t yet know.
Turid was gone all afternoon so I worked on the photo album of our road trip I hope to get ordered and delivered before we leave. I also made dinner tonight for everyone but Hege and Odd weren’t too thrilled I put beans in with the taco meat. Neither of them have ever eaten a bean in their life and they actually acted afraid of them. I think it makes the tacos healthy and better tasting but they didn’t see it that way. They liked the other ingredients though so they were able to make their own tacos after picking out all the beans. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before but Norwegians put canned corn on EVERYTHING. The corn is different here – much better than the canned corn I grew up with. There is very little water in the can and the corn is actually quite crisp and tender, not mushy at all. They never heat it, they eat it out of the can at room temperature and they put it on salads, baked potatoes, pizzas, tacos, pasta and about every other thing that needs a little yellow on its top. I’ve gotten hooked on it myself and wonder what I’ll do when I get home and can’t get that need met.
Another quirky Norwegian eating habit that I won’t miss, however, is that they put catsup on any and all pasta. When they serve spaghetti, they put the catsup bottle on the table and everyone squirts it over the top of the sauce. Pasta and catsup go together like salt and pepper in America. Weird. I also think it’s weird they don’t put sugar or vanilla in their whipped cream. The first time we were here visiting Norway we were served something with whipped cream on top. I was in a bit of shock over how unsweet it was, so when our hosts weren’t looking I scooped a few spoonfuls of sugar on it from the container on the table. Little did I know the container (with spoon!) was salt. Norwegians really like salty food and apparently a salt shaker doesn’t deliver the goods fast enough so they need a spoon to get a good dose of it quickly. Once I realized the error of my ways, I was wishing I’d just stuck with the unsweetened whipped cream, rather than having to deal with salty version. To this day, I avoid the whipped cream whenever I’m in Norway.
