Rain, Rain Go Away!

The weather report showed we’d have 2 drops of rain and a little sun today.  We had about 2 minutes of sun, and the rest of the day it rained HARD - so much for that prediction.  At least the rug I’ve been washing out on the deck got a good rinsing today.  I went out several times and used a squeegee on it as the rain just kept on comin’.  I finally brought it inside and let it drip dry in our bathroom (the biggest room in our condo, by the way), because I’m not sure we’ll see much sunshine for awhile.  The rug isn’t perfect, but it looks better than it did.  I wish I could say the same for myself.

As I was at the grocery store buying a few things for another dinner party on Sunday, I ran into someone we know from church, so I invited them over for tomorrow night for dinner, so now I’ve got a full calendar again – just the way I like it.  We were supposed to have a cousin here from Bergen right now for a few days, but she had to cancel because she got sick, so our calendar was noticeably empty and I started pacing the floor with nothing to look forward to.  Now I feel better.

I put some vacation money in a CD in a bank here last year and it matured today, so I had to go to the bank and renew the CD.  I was thrilled last year to get 3.3% interest and today I was even happier to get 3.8%.  The rates in Norway are certainly better than in the US, but it should be that way since the prices are higher here, too.  We got the bill for our car tabs today and they said it would be around $500 (2805 kroner), but the bill was for 3360 kroner – over $600.  Pretty pricy for only driving the car for three months, but it is what it is.  Without a car, we’d spend way more than that on public transportation, so I’m not complaining.  I just get numb after a while toward the prices of things here.  If I thought about it, I wouldn’t enjoy myself so much, so I just let it go, but our menus are planned around what’s on sale, because I’m still a cheap-skate when it’s with things I can control.

Kaleb went to school today and then home with Henrik after school.  He was able to ride home in time for dinner, during the few minutes it didn’t rain, so he didn’t get drenched.  I was prepared to go pick him up, but it was a good thing I didn’t have to because Roar Bjerknes unexpectedly stopped by for a visit just before dinnertime.  He was going to see a movie at the theatre next door, but they were all sold out, so he was killing time until the next movie.  I invited him to stay for dinner, even though it wasn’t anything special, but he didn’t seem to mind. 

He stayed on and visited for several hours and decided against going to the movie, so it was fun to hear more about the life he has lived as a journalist, traveling the world and reporting on all kinds of things.  He said he once followed the circus all over Norway and wrote about life outside the big tents.  Another time he wrote about a guy who was cheated on a fishing boat purchase and was in court and in danger of losing the boat.  He wrote the story quite favorably toward the guy and his published story turned the situation around quite a bit for the fisherman.  That fisherman is now the richest man in Norway.  He told Roar at the time that if he never needs anything, he would help him.  Roar has been wondering for the last 30 years later, when to cash in on that favor. 

Kory drew a few more faces today and then built some shelves in our storage unit.   We both spent time going through the mail that came today in a package sent by our house sitters.  It was totally God’s timing because I use a debit card to pull food money out of our bank in America, and it stopped working after we got back from Turkey.  I wrote to the bank and they told me the card expired.  There was no expiration written on it so I had no clue as to why I couldn’t access our money.  We’re going to Israel next week and I needed it then, too, so I was in a bit of a panic.  But today, the new card arrived, just in the nick of time, so we were shouting Hallelujah this afternoon.  I’m so thankful God’s got my back.

I didn’t take any photos today as it was so cold and wet outside I stayed indoors the whole day.  There is fresh snow in the mountains and I was tempted for the first time, to turn on the heat, but we bundled up and kept warm.  We’re just thankful we have a roof over our head and food in our bellies.  Life is good.

A Day He Won't Soon Forget

Stakkars Kaleb (Poor Kaleb!) He was invited to attend a day of school with Sabina today. We was to meet Sabina on the #618 bus at the main bus terminal, right here next to our condo, at 7:30 this morning. He woke up at six o’clock, he was so excited. He sat around and waited to leave until about twelve past seven. He didn’t even eat breakfast because Sabina told him they have food at school. So off he goes down the sidewalk to catch the bus, as grown up as ever. I waited out on the balcony until the 7:30 bus passed by, knowing he was going to have a great day.




Kory and I were occupied all morning – he started building the wall for Kaleb’s room, and I sat and read more farm history books to find out all I could about the Norwegian ancestors of my friend Stuart. It was a gorgeous day outside, but I couldn’t tear myself away from the amazing progress I was making finding the names of all his dead relatives. I was sitting at my computer at 10:45 when Kaleb walked in the door. Something was up, as he wasn’t supposed to be home until after 2:30. He started crying right away, as he told us that he never did find Sabina. He’d gotten on the #618 bus heading into “Sentrum” (the center of town), but she wasn’t on the bus. I had told him her school meets in the same building that my school was at, and that the bus stops right in front of that building. What I forgot was that the first three months of my school, we were at another building down by the harbor, and THAT is where Kaleb thought he was going. He never saw the stop where he was to get off, so he stayed on the bus a few more stops, then got off and walked around the center of town, looking for that school, which he never found.



He thought he was a lost a time or two, but then he’d see someplace he recognized. When he found the library, he got his bearings back, but that took over an hour of wandering around, being quite frustrated and a little bit frightened. He gave up the idea of going to school and just wanted to find a bus stop so he could get back home again. I guess this is why he needs his own cell phone.



Once he found the library, he knew the bus stopped right in front of it, but it stops there before going out of town the wrong direction. The bus heading in the right direction was across the street but it was blocked off by fencing and he didn’t know about the underground tunnel he needed to take to cross the street. He got on the #618 bus, knowing he was heading the wrong way, but he knew eventually it would have to turn around and go back toward Moa (where we live) because all of Aalesund is just a cluster of little islands, so he took one heck of a long bus ride to get back home again. All in all he was gone for three and a half hours. I couldn’t have been more distraught over the whole thing. He recovered from the experience quicker than I did, but I was pretty proud he found his way back home safe and sound.



Kaleb was a little tense when he got home so he decided to relax a little in the library next door, reading books. It was so nice outside, I hated that he was indoors, so after three hours he finally checked out a huge book and read it at home, sitting in the sunshine. He didn’t want to be gone from the house too much, nor play with any other kids, even though Sabina invited him over tonight. She and her mother, Tone, stopped by after school to find out what happened to him. As it turned out, none of us realized there was a bus that came at 7:15am and it was running a few minutes late and Kaleb even had to flag it down when he got to the bus stop as it was leaving just as he arrived. We thought there were only busses on the hour and half hour, but for the morning rush, they throw in that extra run, and that was the bus Kaleb got on by mistake because he was so early. Stakkars, Kaleb! He’s going to give it a try again tomorrow, but I’m walking out to the bus terminal with him this time, even though I’m confident he now knows his way around town, and how the bus route goes. He’ll never forget that experience, I’m sure.



A few of my friends from our old home fellowship group at Agape Church came over for lunch today so I had a wonderful time visiting with them all the while Kory was busy cutting wood for the bedroom wall.

Tante Kari also came up this afternoon for a visit. She is just back from a long weekend in Oslo visiting her granddaughter and family. Cousin Odd also stopped by, too. He was out riding his Harley motorcycle on such a fine day.



Unfortunately, I didn’t get out much today, but this evening I was invited back to a Bible study I attended last year. As a special surprise treat for all the women, the hostess took us out to the island of Vigra for a little beachside grill and coffee/dessert hour (see photo). It was beautiful (but windy) and we all huddled around the “engangrill” (one time grill) they use a lot here to cook hotdogs in remote locations. I’m not much of a hot dog eater, but it had to be the best one I’ve ever had (wrapped in bacon, no less). It was a great time spent with a lovely bunch of women, in a beautiful place, just enjoying all of God’s creation. I didn’t get home until 11pm as we all wanted to stay until sunset. It was a typically wonderful kind of Norwegian outing – where it’s all about being together with others, out in nature, and being ever so thankful for yet another sunny day. Hallelujah!

Redemption Day

Kaleb’s fever was gone this morning, but I let him stay home from school anyway. I had so much guilt over him going yesterday that I thought he should just have a day of rest on the couch, watching movies all day. It’s the best part about being sick – unlimited movie time. He likes to go to school on Tuesdays because it’s his gym day. It seems there is one thing each day of the week that makes him not want to miss school, but he didn’t complain about staying home. He had quite the runny nose though so he went through an entire box of Kleenex. I stayed home with him, even though I really wanted to go to school myself. It’s just too boring to sit home, but I used the time to make more reservations for our road trip, and translate more of the farm history information I have found for my friend Paula, so at least the day wasn’t wasted.

I asked Kaleb today how he felt about going back to America and he said he would really like to be in Norway half the time and in America the other half. He likes both lives equally well, but they are very different. I guess I feel the same. Our life was pretty good back home, but it’s also good here, so I’m thankful we feel established enough now that we can consider this our second home.

One of the women at the meeting I attended last night asked me to compare Christians in America to Christians in Norway. That was a hard one. I told her I have met many people in Norway that say they are a “little Christian” meaning they believe in God, that Jesus is the son of God and he died on the cross and rose again, but they don’t take it “personal” and don’t do anything to develop their relationship with God. I told her I thought in America around where we live, people don’t really call themselves a Christian unless they are pretty committed. I told her Christianity is portrayed in the media in such a negative way that some non-Christians feel hostile towards Christians. Norwegians are often shocked when I explain how God has been taken out of the schools in America because that’s where most Norwegians learn about Him. There are definitely different meanings behind the word “Christian” in Norway and in America, from what I’ve seen.

Kory worked yesterday and today and had no problems with his back, so we are thankful for that. His boss gave him easy work to do, which helped. I’m sure he would be on permanent disability if he were a Norwegian citizen as no one would work with the kind of pains he endures. Between his back and the arthritis in his wrists, he’s often quite debilitated, but he still keeps working if he can. There are a lot of people on disability here and for the weirdest things – like high blood pressure or “stress.” I know two people who haven’t worked for months because their job is too stressful, so they get to stay home and collect full pay. That system just wouldn’t fly in America. The guy with high blood pressure hasn’t worked for a year. It will be interesting to see how Norway is doing 20 years from now with all these entitlement programs and this generation of kids growing up thinking that the slightest little pain is reason to stay home from work. One woman I know has been off work for years because she has fibromyalgia but she gardens, redecorates, moves furniture around and goes on vacations. I don’t know there is anything she can’t do, but she obviously doesn’t want to work and has an excuse to get full pay to not do so. It’s shocking the number of able bodied people that don’t work.

I decided to make chicken tacos for dinner tonight so I took the pack of frozen ground up chicken out of the freezer and set it on the table outside to thaw in the sun. I walked to the store to get some vegetables and left Kaleb home alone. When I got back, the pack of chicken was gone. I asked him about it but he didn’t know anything. I looked around the yard and then I found the empty package, pecked open by the birds and all the chicken was completely devoured. I told Kaleb about it and he just said, “I saw a lot of birds out there but I didn’t know what they were doing.” So apparently the crows and magpies were having a food fest on the chicken! Funny, but irritating. I don’t know how they knew what was in that package and why they’d be so bold as to come right up next to the house, but now I know better. Uff da. Norway’s crime rate is very low, but apparently no one has told that to the birds.

(The photo today was taken on Sunday when we stopped off to visit Tante Ruth. She was all dressed up for the day, even though she never ventured out of the condo. She had color in her cheeks and was looking pretty spunky, except for her finger, which got slammed in the door when the wind blew it shut on her hand. Stakkars Tante Ruth.) ((Happy 40th Joni!))