Out From Under a Cloud

I only focused on completing more of my to-do list today. I don’t even feel that triumphant because most things I only did half way, or in the process of doing them, I added several more things to my list. Will it ever end? But I did take time to make a few calls to friends to see how they are doing. That’s a sure sign the pressure is off and I’m getting back to normal. (The photo today is of the black cloud I’ve been under – tee hee – it’s actually just this morning’s fog lifting over the valley as seen from our deck.)

We all packed up and went in to town today because Kory had an appointment with the chiropractor to have a laser treatment on his back. I guess the FDA approved this method of “speed healing” five years ago. It has to do with the wave length of healthy cells being one length, and injured ones being another. The doctor shoots a red laser light at the injured area, set at the same wave length as healthy cells and somehow the laser tricks the cells into thinking they are healthy, so they heal faster. It sounds a little hocus pocus to me, but people I know have used it and swear by it. The chiropractor said it’s good on broken bones, torn ligaments, injured muscles and it works incredibly well on burns. So it must be the new “wave” in healing. (ha ha.) I hope it helps Kory because September is going to be a long month if he’s just lying around asking me to bring him food everyday. At least the treatment isn’t expensive ($25), but he’ll need it three times a week to really get things moving in the right direction. He REALLY needs to get up off that couch. Today he started freaking out about teaching Kaleb art. He had so much time to think about things he started over-analyzing what he should do with the one hour of art each week. I should have video recorded him and played it back. I don’t even think he would have understood what he was saying. All Kaleb wants to do is get better at sketching, and the way Kory was carrying on it was like they were going to have to figure out how to fly to Mars. Weird. That man needs a project!

The main reason we ALL went into town was to stop and get our passports. The temporary ones we have are only good until October. We all have to be together to order Kaleb’s passport, and wouldn’t you know, I left the photos at home. I had to remember to bring so many things with me for all the stops I was going to make, and I remembered the passports, but not the photos. I hate when I do stuff like that, but it’s getting more frequent, so I better get used to it.

I actually brought up a few boxes of clothes from the basement today, but they are just sitting in our bedroom, looking for a home. I almost don’t want to fill the closets back up again as it’s so nice they are empty and don’t fight me every time I try to close the door. I need to purge. I did manage to get all my magnets back up on the refrigerator today though so that was something special (ha.) That’s my only art form – deciding which magnets should be next to each other. I hate a white refrigerator door. Now mine is cluttered once again and it’s feeling more and more like we are settling back in.

Most of the kids around here started back to school today. We aren’t starting full-time for a few weeks but we had a few trial runs today. I had Kaleb take an Algebra test just to see if he remembered anything. He didn’t. We need to back track a little so he remembers some of the basic rules. He said it’s because his “brain has been under a lot of stress lately, with the Chicken Pox and all…”. Yeah, right. I think he’ll be doing a little review every day until his brain stops stressing and the light bulb turns on again. I also took him to the library to check out some books. I wanted him to remember the “high” he used to get from reading books before the Nintendo came into his life. My plan worked. He has had his nose in a book all afternoon and evening. At least he hasn’t forgotten how to read.

I bit the bullet and bought a planning/scheduler book today. For some reason, I didn’t need one in Norway. Our lives were pretty simple and routine and there weren’t that many things to keep track of, but now I’ll go crazy without one. I can’t decide one thing without first checking the calendar. I wonder how I got so many things done when I was working full-time? Oh yeah, I was younger then.

The Three Tantes

Kaleb woke up sneezing this morning, which was soon followed by a runny nose and fever. He was down for the count and laid on the couch all day (missing out on yet another birthday party). Kory went to Filadelfia Kirke without us. Sabina came over, wanting to go to the Agape church right after Kory left. I told her Kory was gone and that Kaleb was sick, but she could ride her bike down there and go without us. She asked if it cost anything to go and I told her that it was free. She then asked if the cake afterwards cost anything and I told her it cost ten kroner (and worth every kroner I might add – best deal in Norway). She looked a little disheartened so I asked her if she would like me to give her ten kroner ($2) to buy cake and she perked right up. I gave her the money and off she went to church -- all by herself. That was easy. I wonder how many other folks would head off to church if they knew they got cake afterwards (believe me when I say even if you aren’t a church going type person, it’s worth sitting through the service just to have a piece of a Norwegian cake afterwards.) I saw Sabina later in the day and she was happy she had gone, so it seems she’ll go again, and I do hope she does.

I tended to Kaleb all day, ironed, vacuumed and made dinner. We invited the three “Tantes” (aunts – Kory’s mom’s sisters) over for mid-dag (dinner). It seems fitting they were our first dinner guests since they are such fine old ladies. (L to R in photo: Tante Aslaug, Tante Kari and Tante Ruth – she’s the one that lives in our condo.) They couldn’t have been more impressed with our place, and how “koselig” (cozy) it was. Tante Kari wondered how I knew what to bring since I didn’t know what furniture I was going to get and everything matched so perfectly. (God did that – not me.) They think our living situation is more than a miracle and they were just shy of genuine shock over the whole situation. They squealed for a very long time over every detail, (including my ability to converse with them in Norwegian) and again at dinner over all the things they tasted. Tante Kari had never eaten yams in her entire life (she’s at least 80) and she wondered if I added food coloring to them to get them that color. I’m glad they were so pleased as it was a genuine challenge to make that meal. I brought along my Cuisanart food processor so I could make some of my favorite foods like Potato-Cheese soup. It needs to be pureed and I discovered too late that it was a waste to bring that machine. The electrical converters I brought to deal with the voltage differences between America and Europe only go up to 85 watts and that food processor sucks at least 110 watts so it blew out a few fuses before I gave up trying. I served the worst looking soup in my entire life as I tried to puree it with a hand mixer but the carrots just wouldn’t mush up like the potatoes. I apologized all over the place, but it still tasted good so I was off the hook for presentation. Then I made this Lemon-Blueberry bread that is to die for but I haven’t gotten used to the difference in Celsius and Fahrenheit ovens and I cooked it too hot so that the top burned and the innards were raw. I was quite frustrated with the whole thing but thought I’d serve it anyway because I had no other options and all the stores were closed. I just served it with a little Vanilla Sauce on the side (it’s a good backup plan for any dessert you’re not sure of), and the Tantes all raved about how good it was (and yes, they all covered theirs with Vanilla Sauce.) Like I said, they are fine old ladies.