He's On the Mend!

Today was a big day for Kory. He didn’t take any pain medicine all day and he was able to get up on his own (using crutches) and walk around a little. He looks like an orangutan with extra legs as he has to walk leaning so far forward, but at least he wasn’t in pain. He even sat with us at dinner for a while before the grimaces in his face told me it was time for him to go back to his bed and lay down. There are so many people praying for him, I do believe he might be healed in half the time the doctor said. Many friends and family have been calling and stopping by to see how Kory is doing. It feels good to be so cared for.

Kaleb had a good day, spent entirely up at Skaathaugen, a neighborhood near here where all his buddies from school live. He just bops around from one house to the next playing with the kids. Often they all hang out together and he was pretty pleased to tell me wherever he is during lunchtime, he gets fed. He said the parents all just feed whoever is in the house and he likes that system a lot. (I had suggested I pack a lunch for him but he told me it’s not necessary.) Today he was at Toben’s house when his father was doing some yard work and Kaleb came up with the idea of helping him pick up all the cut grass on the hillside. It turned into quite the work party with several other kids joining in. Kaleb set up a type of conveyor system involving one kid picking up the clumps of grass and another putting them in the bucket, another kid emptied the bucket and another kid did something else but I forgot already. When one girl from his class showed up, they decided to set up a bar so she could bring them all glasses of water. They worked for about 90 minutes, rotating positions every five dumps of the bucket. The dad surprised all the kids by paying them 50 kroner each for their help (about $8) so then the boys decided to pool their money and see if they have enough to buy a game they can all share for their Nintendos. I love hearing about stuff like that so I am glad we’ll be here the rest of the summer. (School starts two days after we fly home on the 17th.)

I too had a somewhat productive day, but it wasn’t nearly as much fun. Ever since I drove those three longs days back to Norway (under a bit of stress), I’ve had a terrible numbness in my right shoulder, below my neck. Today I decided it wasn’t getting any better and a massage was in order. (I guess that might be an understatement.) My whole body has been one big tense muscle and I was nearing the breaking point. I was able to get a very effective Thai massage today that totally repaired the numbness, but now my neck is stiff from all the pressure she used to break up my muscles. I’m sure tomorrow all will be well and in the meantime the rest of my body is whistling Dixie, but she told me I might need another massage soon because I was pretty stiff (no kidding). After my massage I went to talk to the Aalesund Kommune about some nasty collection notices they’ve sent us recently about unpaid rent. They had their billing system all messed up so I had to go point out the error of their ways and after much explanation, the woman understood what they did wrong and apologized. Check that off my list. Then I had to order a new bank card, and a few other cards that were in my wallet that was stolen. Then I had to go fill out a form with the “folktelling” (people counters) to inform them of our plans to move out of the country. So many formalities and details to be tended to around here.

I made dinner tonight for everyone, trying to minimize our impact, but it’s pretty hard when Kory’s bed is set up in the living room and Kaleb and I are sleeping in their TV room. Turid and I went for a walk tonight over to our old neighborhood and she told me, “It’s easier for us to have you here, than for you to be here.” I appreciate that sentiment but I still feel like we are putting a crimp in their style. I guess this is a good way for us to transition back home because if we flew home this Friday, we’d leave here feeling like we didn’t have enough time to say good-bye to everyone and it might be a very sad day when we left. Now that we have a few more weeks, and we aren’t in a house of our own, it will make our own house feel all the more welcoming. I’ve long given up second guessing what God has in mind when things happen outside the ordinary because I’ve learned time and time again, there is a very good reason. I just don’t know it yet.

(The photo today is “classic Odd” – sitting out on his deck, drinking a beer….)

Oh, The Difference a Prayer Can Make

I wish I could say I was as thrilled as Kory about all this, but it seems God has provided us with a place to live. Yes, it’s a miracle, but it’s also sinking. If you read the blog from a few days ago you know what I’m talking about.

I’ll spare the details for now, but this is how it came about: Kory’s cousin Odd (who we are staying with) is a doctor. One of his patients is the attorney handling the settlement for the owners of the duplexes where the ground is sinking not far from where Odd lives. (The houses are sturdy, but the ground is not.) Kory’s other cousin, Axel, knew about these places because he lives just down the street and he is a surveyor for the Aalesund Kommune (who is one of the parties involved in this disaster), so he told us about them.

All of the owners of these buildings (there are actually three duplexes all next to each other), just moved. There has been about three million dollars paid out so far in buying the home owners out, putting them up in temporary housing until they found suitable replacement housing, and various reports done for insurance purposes. There is still a chance there is some value to these properties but it’s uncertain at this point, as the ground keeps sinking around them.

Odd called the attorney last week to inquire about the property because Kory thought it would be a good investment to buy them. They aren’t ready to be sold yet and they can’t rent them out, but the attorney called back today to talk with Odd. Odd told him the situation with us and explained Kory and his construction background and the attorney said he would LOVE to have us live there – for FREE no less, if Kory could just keep an eye on the place. They are worried rocks may go through windows and trash may get dumped there. Also, the attorney has to pay big bucks for an inspector to come out every week or month or so to check how much the ground has sank, so if Kory were there, he could just measure it himself and send a report to the attorney.

I can’t even describe how deliriously happy Kory is about all this. It’s like getting a job that takes an hour a month, at most, and getting paid $1,500 for it (which is what they would rent for… maybe more.) Plus, I think it also includes utilities and electricity (which is another $700 a month), and, we don’t have to buy appliances, heaters, window coverings, closets, lights or a vacuum (there is one built in). I don’t think either of us would need to get a job now, and if we did, we’d have more than enough money to live here, so that’s the up-side. The down side is it’s so far to walk to the school or store; we’ll need to keep adding steps to get in and out of the doors, and I’m sure we’ll be the laughing stock of the neighborhood. No respectable Norwegian would live there (although they are cute places inside and extremely high quality). The yard needs a lot of work. It is on the bus line. It’s in the neighborhood where Odd and Axel live (so there are relatives nearby) but it isn’t Solevaag. I’m a bit distressed today thinking about not living at Solevaag, when my heart was so set on it. Plus, the other five units there will be empty – so no neighbors, which could be good or bad. Kory will be the “manager” of the place so we’ll have all the keys and Kaleb can certainly play in the empty units, which might be handy in the long dark winter ahead of us… and the car can’t make it into the garage (unless it spouts wings). I’m just rambling here. (The unit we’d live in is the middle building and in the photo, the unit on the right.) You can see the skirting that was added to the foundation of the buildings – the ground used to be there instead, so it has sank a good three feet in the last two years. Uff da. And if they do manage to sell them in the next year, we’d have to move right away (another down-side.)

The attorney Kory talked to owns other properties and he was excited to hear that Kory is a “fix-it” kind of guy so he said he might have some jobs for him over the next year, so that’s a bonus, too. I’m sure once I’m living there, I’ll stop complaining. It really is a blessing beyond words that we can live in Norway for “FREE” as the cost of housing is right up there with the cost of food as far as big monthly expenses go. And Kaleb would attend the Blindheim Skole – the very same school he attended with his cousin, Hege, for a week, two years ago, when we were visiting in May. At least it’s someplace familiar. Kaleb did give two thumbs up to this place (he’s way more flexible than I thought he’d be), so I’m obviously outnumbered. I think we move in on Friday.