Work Work Work!

I volunteered to help cousin Kari (above with baby in one hand and mixer in the other!) make food for the Jesus Women event held tonight at Philadelphia Church.  I’ve done it in the past so I thought I knew what I was in for – a few hours in the kitchen prepping food and I’m done.  But today didn’t quite work out as expected.

Work started at noon, so I spent four hours chopping vegetables, as it was a summer party theme with lots of veggies and dip, fruit and dip, marzipan cakes and finger food.  I had to leave for a few hours to go home and make dinner for Kory and Kaleb so I went from one kitchen to the next.  At least I took 15 minutes to lie down and close my eyes as I was still feeling a bit under the weather and the rest did me some good.

Kaleb was busy all day doing extra school work on his Algebra class, trying to get it done before we leave Norway so he won’t have to do any school work once we are back home.  Smart boy. 

Kory spent a good deal of time in the garage trying to figure out why our brakes are squeaking so much.  He discovered it was the brake pads wearing down, so he went to the car parts store to buy new brake pads (knowing they wouldn’t cost forty dollars like they do back home), but was shocked when they wanted over three hundred dollars for them.  He decided to live with the squeak (easier for him since he’s hard of hearing) and just bring them to Norway next time we return, unless I can find them on the internet cheaper.

I headed back to Philly to attend the Jesus Women event and got sucked back into the kitchen as Kari was running a bit behind.  I never did go to the event as there was too much to do and it didn’t stop until midnight.  I was completely exhausted after six solid hours of running here and there, filling up food that was running low, making coffee, cleaning tables, prepping more food.  Sadly, there wasn’t enough food for everyone as there were far more women that showed up than she expected, so that added a bit of stress to the whole thing.  I felt like I was in one of those reality TV shows where they show all the action in the kitchen that no one sees, as Kari was frantically sending people to the store to buy more food and telling us helpers what needed to be done next.  She never lost her cool though and later said she loves that kind of stress, but it about did me in.

When I got home at midnight, everyone was in bed and the house was quiet, thankfully, as I’d had enough commotion to last me a while.  At least I got to bring home a piece of marzipan cake and now I even know how to make them!  

Day of Rest

2 June 2013

Woke up with a killer sore throat so I’ve been gargling with hydrogen peroxide, sucking on honey and taking lots of vitamin C and Echinacea all day. Yuck.  I might have a fever, too, but we don’t have a thermometer here so I can’t check.  It was a rough night.

Kory was asked to run the “grill” at the Children’s Festival at Philadelphia Church today (above - with the cool hot pink trailer Kory made), making hot dogs and burgers for the kids, so he was up and out the door early, heading across the street for more volunteer work.  I followed an hour later and didn’t know it was the same day that one of our cousins was dedicating her new baby girl, so it was a big surprise to see that whole section of the family at church when we walked through the door.  We’re related to an alarming number of people around here.

Yesterday, the guy I was assembling chairs with at Agape Church was the nephew to Kory’s cousin’s cousin… so we were related by marriage.  I’m sure I would find a string connecting me to nearly everyone I meet if I asked enough questions, but that’s what makes being here kinda cool.  There’s a sense of belonging.

I didn’t linger after the church service was over since it was raining and no one was venturing outside and it was very crowded in the church café and I didn’t feel very good. I came home and laid down on the couch and promptly fell fast asleep, as I should have.  And that’s how I spent my afternoon.

We were invited to the party that was held in honor of the baby’s dedication, but we’d already accepted an invitation to dinner with some other friends, so I was bummed about the timing of things and that we couldn’t do both.  When it rains, it pours.

We had such a wonderful time tonight though that I didn’t think twice about missing the family gathering.  After a yummy (but not fat free vegan) dinner, and wonderful chat we had a time of prayer with our hosts.  The guy is actually Kory’s 3^rd cousin and will be retiring in a few weeks.  He fell on a climb last year in the mountains and damaged his knees.  Three surgeries later and he still has too much pain, so we prayed for him and his pain disappeared!  It was a miracle happening right before our eyes, so he was shouting Hallelujah and his wife was in tears.  We were glad to be a part of God working in his life.

Work Day

1 June 2013

The rain returned today as promised by the weather forecast.  I was actually looking forward to it since I had some indoor jobs to do and I didn’t want to do them when the sun was out.  As it happened though, there was an emergency message sent on Facebook to all the core group at Agape Church, asking for more helpers for a work party happening today.  They only had 2 signed up and they needed more, so I figured it was a better use of my time to help them with their 3 million dollar remodel project than for me to clean out our storage unit. (It's hard to believe a church consisting of about 200 people can swing a 3 million dollar remodel project, but such is the affluence of the Norwegians.)

Kory came with me this morning for a little while and started putting in a floor in one of the storage rooms, but then he had to leave to go work with Odd putting up trim work in his house.  I was the only woman working at Agape so I volunteered to do a lot of cleaning.

I love to paint or pressure wash because it’s so instantly satisfying, as it’s easy to see when the job is done, and today, I vacuumed with the same sense of satisfaction.  The floors were so coated in sawdust and construction dust, that when I vacuumed, it turned the floor from beige to gray.  It was very satisfying, albeit dirty work.

I did a lot of other small tasks too, like assemble some Ikea chairs for the café and taking the plastic coating off all the stainless steel appliances and counters for the kitchen, as I was there for nearly six hours and boy did it feel good to sit down when I got home.  But I only sat for a few minutes before we had to leave again to go have dinner with the cousin who will be visiting us this summer.  They want to get all their plans straightened out for their first time in America as they have a few jitters and we needed to calm their nerves.  I showed them the route I’d planned for our camping trip and they updated us on family members they’ve contacted they want to meet.  They are all abuzz with tension and excitement over going to America.  It’s kinda sweet, but I know how they feel, since I get that same feeling when I’m going to a new country and can’t speak the language.

Their house was doubly energized today though because their youngest son became a father today.  His girlfriend went into labor early this morning so they were on the 2am ferry to the hospital and the baby was born at 3:30, less than an hour after getting admitted.  Talk about cutting it close.  The law used to require spending seven days in the hospital but it’s now been cut down to four, but the weird thing is – no one is allowed to go to the hospital to see the mother or baby during all that time.  It’s forbidden, as the government reckons the parents need that time alone for bonding with the baby.  What a contrast to the 24 hours we get in the hospital in America and the non-stop parade of friends that came to visit us when Kaleb was born.  I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.  I think it would be nice if they let the parents decide what’s best for them, but socialist thinking makes laws they feel are good for everyone.  Such that it is.

Kaleb spent the day with Daniel.  We dropped him off before we went to Agape, and picked him up on the way home from the cousins, so he was there over 12 hours and was bummed he couldn’t spend the night.  He woke up feeling fine and peppy and full of energy this morning so I was thankful for that, but I know he wouldn’t sleep much if he stayed over. They went bowling and made pizza tonight so at least he wasn’t sitting on his computer for 12 hours straight like he normally does when they are together.  Ugh.  At least he has something in common with someone here, so I’m not complaining too much as all his other friends from the past are busy with their soccer practice and games and boy scouts, so he’s had no time with anyone else, sadly.

It was a full day and didn't provide any cool photos so I'm using some from the past week.

Sunshine on My Shoulders Makes Me Happy!

31 May 2013

The sun continued to lift my spirits today as we had a relaxing day, mostly at home.  Kory painted the wagon he built for Philadelphia Church a hot pink color, which should look nice behind the turquoise tractor that will be pulling it on Sunday.  He’s glad that job is over and he’s ready to start helping his Cousin Odd finish up some trim work in his house.  There’s never a lack of work for a carpenter who charges nothing for his services, that’s for sure.

Kaleb spent the whole day studying for a chapter test in Honors Algebra II with Johns Hopkins University.  He got very frustrated again and felt he didn’t know the material, but all it took was one ego boosting talk from me and he was ready to tackle the test. (It seems to help when I tell him how smart he is, as he doesn’t hear that from me too often.)  I set the stakes high if he got 100% and I’m glad I did because he only missed one in 20 so he got 95% and I was off the hook for paying him much since he missed the target, but he did his best and that’s what counts.  I’m so impressed with the level of math he is doing and even more impressed he understands it.  I’d just be a puddle of tears if I had to do what he’s doing.

I spent the day running errands and cleaning the condo.  We had an appointment with a guy to come look at it and it needed a bit of attention, so I washed windows and shook out rugs and put things away.  I’m thankful it’s so small and easy to clean.  We liked the guy just fine and I hope he decides to rent it, but it’s problematic for him since he and his girlfriend have their own furniture and they are in the same boat as we are since they don’t know where to store it since there are no storage units in Norway.  They both have jobs they will be starting at the mall, so it couldn’t be handier, and they don’t have a car so that is perfect since it means we can keep our car in our parking place, but we’ll see what he decides.  I guess we’ll put an ad in the paper on Monday if we haven’t heard back from him by then.  He had just come up from Bergen to look around this weekend for a place for them to live.  God knows who He wants here.

It was so beautiful outside tonight we ate dinner on the balcony then I had to rush off to church for a women’s event at Agape and Kory went over to Odd’s house to measure some trim.  We were both gone all evening.  Kaleb went to Philadelphia Church for a kid’s event for a while but then got bored and came home.  We all played Rummikub afterwards with Lars Eggehorn, as he was home alone in our condo while we were all gone to our respective events.  I won - just the way I like it and it couldn’t have been a better ending to another nice day.  I’m in such a better mood when the sun is shining.

The event at church tonight was to raise money to help women coming out of forced prostitution (human trafficking) in Greece.  Women had different classes they could attend, kind of like an evening women’s retreat.  I wanted voice lessons, but not enough signed up for a choir, so that was cancelled.  I ended up in the art class, which felt a lot like kindegarden, mixing paints and drawing flowers.  My end product was embarrassing, but I loved the process of mixing paints to get different colors and making textures on the canvas with the acrylic paint.  It was fun, but the art instructor was far too serious about “feeling” the art, etc.  I’m just not that in touch with my inner artist and I wanted results, not feelings.  It was worthwhile, however, but I’d never show anyone what I made.  The colors are nice, though.

Just before bedtime Kaleb said he didn’t feel too well and sure enough, he puked but good.  Kory was in the bathroom when he felt the urge, so it all ended up in the kitchen sink.  At least he didn’t make a mess in his bed and down the wall like on Mother’s Day, but this time he was burning hot with a fever, so I’m not sure what was going on with him.  He threw up a few more times before bed and then felt fine, but still was pretty hot.  Poor thing.