I’m still basking in the glow of yesterday’s big day (the photo today is from my party last night). Fortunately, I don’t feel any older, so all is well in my world. School was all review today so it was a bit boring (and Vestina was gone and she makes me laugh a lot.) Kaleb didn’t have school today because it was a teacher’s planning day, so his little American girlfriend, Victoria, came over. I think they spent the bulk of their time honing their “breaking and entering” skills. All the internal doors in our house use a skeleton key to lock them from either side. We’ve long since had to hide the key from Kaleb because he has just too much fun locking us in or out of rooms, but today, Kaleb and Victoria discovered the many uses for a paperclip and they were able to work it like a pro. I’m not sure why it was such great fun for them, but it kept them entertained during the few drizzles we had off and on. Otherwise they played games, drew pictures and made each other laugh. We all sat and ate lunch together and Victoria and Kaleb got these dreamy lilts to their voices as they discussed what they missed the most about America. Kaleb misses his favorite dogs and being able to talk to everyone in English; Victoria misses Sub-Way sandwiches. I asked her what she missed the most about Sub-way and she said, “the whole concept” – she loves picking out what she gets to put on her sandwich, but mostly it seemed, she misses black olives (you can’t get the same kind of olives here). Then she said she misses Starbucks (she’s 8, soon 9 years old), as she thinks their hot chocolate is the best. Kaleb said he missed the pastry items at Starbucks and he was quick to try and impress her with the fact he’s been to Store #1 at Pike’s Place Market in Seattle. They went back and forth trying to top each other on what they missed the most (she is from Atlanta.) So then I had to ask, when they go back to the States, what will they miss the most about Norway. Victoria said, “We’re never going back,” and “there’s nothing I’ll miss.” Kaleb said he’ll miss, “cheap fiskeboller.” (It’s a special treat to eat fish balls in America, but here – it’s about the cheapest food you can buy so he eats it a lot. I’m glad he likes it. I personally think it’s one of the more disgusting foods available here - think “fish pudding” -so I find it convenient to “fast” on the nights it’s on the menu… our teacher even took a poll one day in our class and not a single person said they liked it. I guess it’s an “acquired” taste. Good thing we started bringing Kaleb to Norway at an early age.)
Kory spent the day piddling – his absolute favorite thing to do. He discovered some joint or some spring or something somewhere under the car that was making noise. Turns out it was a broken stabilizer bar so he had to take it off. He had to order a new part and can’t fix it yet, so he went on to project number two and now we finally have light in our bedroom! He connected a light fixture we bought to the hot wires dangling from the ceiling (but not without blowing a circuit breaker in the process). He also waxed all our “new” skis and adjusted the bindings, and shined up Kaleb’s new ice skates (if only I could get him that interested in the condition of the house…). Fall is in the air, but winter won’t be far behind.
After Victoria left today, Kaleb and I worked on the next edition of “The Weakly Puppy” (his dog newspaper). He’s a funny boy, and he always makes me laugh when he dictates things to me. His head is so full of so many facts it actually takes him a long time to form a sentence. I just imagine a tornado of thoughts swirling around inside his brain, waiting for one of them to touch down and come out his mouth. Sometimes they are doozies. He came into the living room one night a few weeks ago with just his bathrobe on (think “smoking jacket”). He was carrying a large book under his arm, and as he set some cushions on the floor by the fireplace, he said “I’m going to retire for the evening,” and he sat down to read. And now, I shall too.
Kory spent the day piddling – his absolute favorite thing to do. He discovered some joint or some spring or something somewhere under the car that was making noise. Turns out it was a broken stabilizer bar so he had to take it off. He had to order a new part and can’t fix it yet, so he went on to project number two and now we finally have light in our bedroom! He connected a light fixture we bought to the hot wires dangling from the ceiling (but not without blowing a circuit breaker in the process). He also waxed all our “new” skis and adjusted the bindings, and shined up Kaleb’s new ice skates (if only I could get him that interested in the condition of the house…). Fall is in the air, but winter won’t be far behind.
After Victoria left today, Kaleb and I worked on the next edition of “The Weakly Puppy” (his dog newspaper). He’s a funny boy, and he always makes me laugh when he dictates things to me. His head is so full of so many facts it actually takes him a long time to form a sentence. I just imagine a tornado of thoughts swirling around inside his brain, waiting for one of them to touch down and come out his mouth. Sometimes they are doozies. He came into the living room one night a few weeks ago with just his bathrobe on (think “smoking jacket”). He was carrying a large book under his arm, and as he set some cushions on the floor by the fireplace, he said “I’m going to retire for the evening,” and he sat down to read. And now, I shall too.
