En Kjempe Fin Tur (A Really Great Hike!)

Today is a national holiday because it’s Ascension Day – otherwise known in Norwegian as Himmelfartsdag – it means “Heaven Speed Day.” I guess they assume when Jesus ascended into Heaven, he went quickly. It’s a funny word to say, and hear in Norwegian.




The weather took a major turn for the better this morning and it was just too nice to stay indoors and organize a single thing. Kory called his cousin Odd (pronounced “Ode”) and asked if he and his wife, Turid (Turr-ree) and daughter Hege (Hey-gah) wanted to come with us. They thought it was a fine idea, so we all headed out to a nearby island and hiked along the beach then up to the highest mountain, which fortunately for me, wasn’t TOO high. It was an incredibly warm and beautiful day, even being right down by the ocean. We also ran into another cousin (the one whose daughter had her Confirmation last weekend). So many people were out enjoying their sunny day off that it felt like NOW we are really in Norway. Staying inside a condo all day unpacking boxes felt like I could have been anywhere, but today was pure Norsk.



We all wrote our names in the book at the top of the mountain. Each peak has a book and pen tucked inside a weatherproof box at the summit and everyone who makes it must write their name, the date and time, and how many times they’ve made the trip. They use those books as a way to keep track of how much certain trails are used to help allocate money for their upkeep. It was all of our first time to the top, but the guy right before us, it was his 90th time. I can’t believe people can remember those kinds of things. But they also remember the exact time it takes them to make it up. Just as we were descending, some guy was heading up the trail. He looked down at his watch (a familiar sight at the trail head) to see the current time. Everyone always try to beat their best time. These Norwegians are a hardy lot, that’s for sure.



I called Kaleb this morning to see if he wanted to go on the hike with us. He didn’t, so he stayed over at his friend’s house all day. Come to find out, the entire neighborhood where he was at knew about some events happening at the State Church right next to our condo, but not Andre, where he stayed. When Kaleb and Andre went outside to play with all their pals, they were all gone to the church, but they didn’t know it. Kaleb cried buckets when he told me about it later as there were all kinds of competitions and the kids got to use the climbing tower we see from our front door (they attached climbing holds to the bell tower and for special events, they hook up the safety harness and let the kids climb to the top.) Kaleb was so jealous all his friends were doing that while he was just waiting for them to come home so he could play. When I went to pick him up at seven tonight, he just cried. He wasn’t ready to come home, he was sleep deprived, and he was sorely disappointed in how his day turned out. Poor thing.



Odd and Turid invited us over for dinner tonight so I zoomed home after the hike (we were gone nearly six hours), and made some pecan squares with ingredients I brought with me from America. That dessert is the total bomb here and everyone loves it, especially Turid. We ate a late dinner out on their deck and after dessert, headed home to watch “Alt For Norge,” (Everything for Norway) a TV show that Tobias highly recommended to us. It’s like a Norwegian version of “Survivor” only it’s all American people with Norwegian ancestry. They compete in real Norwegian experiences and the winner will get to meet some of their relatives that still live in Norway. It was very funny. There is one guy from Seattle on the show but the bulk of them are from Minnesota. They filmed it last summer and it’s a big hit here in Norway as everyone enjoys laughing at the American buffoons who can’t even light a fire to save their lives. At least I made it to the top of a mountain today, and no one voted me off the island.

Real Life Begins

It definitely feels like we’ve turned a corner. We still have dozens of things to do to be fully settled in our condo, but they will sit lower on the priority scale. Our social life is now in the lead as we wait for Kory’s old bosses to come build Kaleb a bedroom wall.




Kory and I both sorted through boxes of Aunt Ruth’s things and there are still some sitting down in our car, but at least it’s manageable. I don’t feel overwhelmed with anything right now, which is a good thing. The house is orderly enough, it’s clean enough, it’s cute enough – I’m game for anything. I still have closets and shelves and drawers to organize, but I’m in no rush. I spent two hours at the library today trying to figure out what type of shelving system we should buy to attach to Kaleb’s new wall so he has a place to put things. With our current plan, his room will just have space for a bed and chair and shelves against the new wall. It’s a pretty tight space. I thought some kind of cubicle system from IKEA would be great but I had the worst time figuring out which types of shelves to buy just by using the internet. Cousin Kari offered her brother-in-law’s truck if we bought something – he could swing by the store in Oslo and pick up what we wanted and bring them here this weekend when he comes for a visit. It would save us IKEA’s $300 delivery fee. It put a little pressure on me to figure out what we wanted and the IKEA website wasn’t cooperating too well, so I finally gave up and figured we just might need to drive to IKEA ourselves (there is a store in Trondheim – only six hours away!) So much for making progress on Kaleb’s room. I guess until he has a wall, it’s useless to buy shelving to attach to it, but also, if the wall dimensions need to be altered a bit to fit the shelving, that’s a good thing to know ahead of time. I feel like it’s a Catch 22 in some ways. He still needs a bed, but as little as he sleeps here, it probably doesn’t matter anyway. He’s gone again tonight, spending the night with Andre (he’s the one on the right in the photo of Kaleb and friends, which I took today as I dropped him off.) Tomorrow is a national holiday here (Ascension Day), so the kids are out of school and nothing will be open. Kory and I made a mad dash to the grocery store so we could stock up on a few food items so we didn’t starve over the holiday. We have just been buying what we need each day as we haven’t had time to meal plan or leisurely shop for anything, so it was good we had time for that today.



We drove Kaleb over to his old school so he could greet his old teacher (actually, she’s pretty young), and ask if he can join his former classmates in the 17th of May parade on Monday. School is out until Tuesday now so this was his only chance to get permission. She was so excited to see him and said “Of course” he can join the parade. She also invited him back to school if he wants to go every day. I told her we are heading to Spain on the 24th so maybe he could start going daily for the last three weeks of school, since they mostly do special things those days anyway. He just beamed when she was talking to him and saying how exciting it would be to have him back in school. I was thinking she would probably do that. So, I think, that’s a done deal. She suggested I have him bring some of his home school material with him.



Kory did some repairs around the house today – replacing and repairing light fixtures and the shower nozzle (we have very low water pressure so something more may need to be done with that.) We planned a simple salmon BBQ dinner tonight without Kaleb around and since we had enough food we invited Tante Kari to come up and eat with us when we ran in to her in the elevator. She was overjoyed at the invitation. I made a blueberry cobbler and ran next door when it was fresh out of the oven and invited Tante Aslaug for coffee and dessert, because we had plenty. They both loved it, and they gushed over how “festive” our place was, all decorated and ready for the 17th of the May.

Tante Kari was going to throw out some cool old aprons from the 1950s that she got from Aunt Ruth’s things, so I asked her if I could have them. I’ve decided to hang them on the kitchen wall for decorations, as they are totally stylin’. I also got two hand embroidered dish towels I was going to hang up and when Tante Kari saw I was using them for decorations also, she offered to give me the three that she got, also. They each have one day of the week embroidered on them with the picture of a woman doing different household chores. I got “Friday and Saturday,” she got “Sunday, Monday and Wednesday.” (Tante Aslaug got the others, but she wants to keep everything she got.) The towels are totally cool and Kory said he’d build me a display rack for them, so now my kitchen walls won’t be so bare. Lord knows I can’t deal with too much empty space.

A Friend Filled Day

FINALLY I was able to have a little social time today. Kory continued the division of his Aunt Ruth’s property with her two sisters that live in the same building as us, so he was pretty much wiped out by day’s end. I didn’t want to be anywhere near that event as it exhausts me and there wasn’t much Aunt Ruth owns that impresses me more than the treasures I find in the second-hand stores. Kory feels a little differently about it all, of course, as there are several things that have meaning and bring back good memories for him, so it all worked out as it should.



I got a message from My Pal Vestina yesterday, asking me if I would volunteer to be her “model” today. She is still in hair styling school and she had yet to cut long, curly hair. I trusted her completely and I needed something done with this mop on my head, so I drove into the city first thing this morning to be her guinea pig. It was so GREAT to see her again! It wasn’t like being in Norwegian class or anything, as she was all professional and had to be on her best behavior with her boss standing over her most of the time, but still, we got in a few giggles. She took my coat and hung it in a closet, offered me a cappuccino, and while I was sipping it, she began discussing the plan for my hair with her boss (see “before” photo). She moved me to the “wash” room, where I sat in a massage chair with my head leaning back into the sink. My back was getting the royal treatment all the while Vestina was running her fingers through my hair. It felt luxurious, but not so much so that I would have paid $110 for the experience, which is what everyone else pays for a basic cut that is not a model for Vestina. Boy did I make out on that deal, and my hair now looks great. She thinned it quite a bit and used some expensive product on it so I no longer look like Bozo the Clown.


Vestina was the top student in her class. Twenty women began the classroom portion of this training last Fall. Only six made it to the “hands-on” portion of learning how to cut and style hair. Of those six, only one landed this intern job, and it was My Pal Vestina. She’s a clever one, that girl. I’m so proud of her.


I would have liked to stay on in downtown Aalesund until Vestina took her lunch break so we could have chatted a bit more, but I got text message from Sandra, another friend from Norwegian class, and she was heading to Moa (where we live) and wanted to stop by. I had to hurry back home to meet her and she showed up just as I walked in the door. She brought along her little miracle baby, Karl Alexander, who has got to be one of the cutest babies I’ve ever seen (and I’m not a baby person.) I prayed for that baby more than any other, so I’m particularly fond of him anyway, but in no way prejudice.


Sandra tried earnestly to have a baby for over ten years. The last several years she’s flown many times a year to Latvia to have in-vitro fertilization, because Norway considers anyone over 40 to be too old to be a mother and they won’t pay for the procedure here. Many of the procedures didn’t “take” or if they did, she miscarried in the first few months. But then, after I and some of my friends in America began to pray for her, she got pregnant. When she was two month’s along she started bleeding and they told her she lost the baby, but miraculously, she had twins, and she only lost one. I prayed the other baby would hold on, and he did. Her water broke 13 weeks before her due date, and I prayed again every day that the baby would hang on and be fully developed. She was in the hospital for three weeks until they finally decided to give her a c-section. Karl Alexander was born ten weeks premature, but it was as if he were full term. The nurses said they’d never seen anything like it. And now, being the cutest little nine month old, he’s right on schedule with what other nine month old babies do and his mom (now age 46) and dad, couldn’t be more pleased. Sandra was surprised with how well he reacted to me – not fussing a bit when I held him or she left the room and left me with him. I was so pleased he’s comfortable with me. It’s as if he knows…. Sandra said he won’t be left alone for a minute with her mother-in-law, and he never stops fussing when she’s around – so I even trumped the grandma. Ha!


While Sandra was still here, Kory got a call from our ex-neighbor Tone, and she was at the mall and heard we were in town, so she wanted to come up and see us. Sandra left as Tone came in, so then we sat and drank tea with her and caught up on all that’s new in her life. It was great to see her again, too. So now the word is out we are back, and just as I got the house totally looking good and all boxes out of here, Kory came home tonight with boxes and boxes of junk he got in the final division of Aunt Ruth’s property and now I have to figure out what to do with all of that. It feels like I took two steps back in the process of being settled, but it hopefully won’t be for long.


Kaleb was able to spend the afternoon with his buddies after he completed his school work this morning so we didn’t see much of him today, and THAT he says, is why he likes living here so much. I didn’t want to ask if it was the part that he gets to spend so much time with his friends, or the part that he gets to be away from us. Better not to know.

All the Boxes Are Finally Gone!

Unfortunately, we now have a TV. When we heard that the cost of cable was included in our condo dues, both Kory and Kaleb’s face lit up. Our friend, Tobias, loaned us his “not so big” TV (or so he says) out of his bedroom until we find one that fits our space. It’s bigger than any TV we’ve ever had in the U.S. and now dominates our living room landscape. We thought we knew how all the furniture should sit, but there was much discussion today about all new possible venues for maximizing the viewing of the TV. It made me crazy. I hate that television has invaded our home. All afternoon Kaleb was asking to watch it, then not turning it off when requested. It’s one more battle I wish I didn’t have, but I was outvoted. We don’t have TV reception in America in our house, but now we do here. Ugh.



The photo today is of our stylin’ 1940s bedroom set we got for $215 – including dresser, art deco mirror, two beds and mattresses and two night stands. We brought the wall decorations from home. Don’t miss Aunt Ruth’s elephant lamp in the corner. I bought the hand crocheted bed cover last year at a second-hand store for about $60 – a big splurge – but it reminds me of one my grandma made.


Today I was exhausting on more than one level. Besides the whole TV situation, we hauled out all the boxes of Aunt Ruth’s things from Kaleb’s room and took them over to Philadelphia Church (right next door). Cousin Kari had the great idea to unpack everything, group the like items together and set it up like a flea market so the aunts and Kory could see what was there. It filled an entire room in the basement of the church. I can’t believe she had all that stuff in our condo!


Cousin Kari and Kory hauled the boxes over, and Kari and I emptied them. By day’s end all that had been divided up were the linens, towels, sheets, curtains, doilies and table clothes. Most of what Kory got in his third will just be thrown out, but there were a few treasures and useful items I’m glad he got. He still needs to divide his share into fourths and give them to his brothers, but it’s not clear if they will pay for postage to have them sent over to the U.S. or not so we don’t know the “stuff’s” fate just yet.


I had a chance to buy my own STUFF today at another second-hand store in the city. Kory had to go to the “Alien office” (immigration) to see if he could get permission to work for his old boss, who is desperate need of carpenters right now. Kory wants to trade labor on the wall we are going to build for Kaleb’s room. The immigration office said he needed to apply for permission to work and it would take about two months for an answer on whether he could, or not. With that bit of news, I’m not sure how he is going to orchestrate building Kaleb’s bedroom wall, but something tells me he’s sorry he asked.


While he was waiting at the immigration office, I went shopping and found a few more treasures to call my own. I’m getting this place cluttered up fast, which is important for me to feel at home. I can’t believe how cheaply some things sell for as they are genuine antiques and it’s like they are garbage to people here. I’m thankful for that.


Kaleb did some schoolwork today and was responsible enough to do most of it himself. I so need him to be more self-sufficient as there is just too much to do here for me to look over his shoulder every minute. He didn’t fuss at all about not going to play with his friends today, and because of that, I let his PE class be an hour of swimming at the swimming pool just next door. He was thrilled.


My biggest thrill today came about ten o’clock tonight. We bought a used washer and dryer from one of Kory’s cousin’s sons – and he delivered it. They had loaned us that very set when we lived here last year. When we saw them at the Confirmation party on Saturday, we jokingly asked if they wanted to sell it to us – and to our surprise – they agreed. Oh happy day. I now have a load of clothes going and I’m feeling much more settled. It’s been way more work, and taken way more time than I thought to get to this point, but hopefully we are soon at the place where we can relax a bit. If not, I may need the kind of artificial relaxation that only comes in a wine bottle.

It's Snowing!

It’s been a mix of snow and rain all day but now, at 10pm, we have full on snow that’s sticking to the ground. I imagine we’ll wake to quite the winter wonderland scene around here. The weather in Aalesund is so exciting, you never know what you’re going to get. What amazes me most is we haven’t had to turn on the heat all day, even though it’s been bitter cold outside. This place is well insulated, as we haven’t even needed to put on a sweater to be comfortable inside.




We cleaned up the place a bit this morning before we headed off to Agape Church, which was a good thing. We were given a warm welcome back at church, but two teenagers there were being Confirmed right after the service, so they didn’t have the usual coffee and cake hour. We were hoping to visit a little with some of our friends so we invited them over to our place instead (because it was fairly presentable). It was our first time officially entertaining in our new home, so it was pretty exciting. I pulled off a genuine Norsk “coffee” event almost without a hitch.



I made waffles (a common food eaten in Norway when someone comes a calling). Tobias (our old neighbor kid) and his parents came by to see our place before our friends from church came by.  They will be visiting us this summer in Mount Vernon so we had to talk a little about the plans we had made already and what they want to do when they come for a visit.



Before Tobias arrived, Tante Kari came up to say hello and ask why we didn’t go to Philadelphia Church today (we split our time between the two churches when we lived here). She was looking for us and missed us sitting with her. She was more than impressed with how cozy the house was (I even had candles burning on the coffee table and all my 17th of May decorations out.) If ever I need to feel good about myself, I can just spend a little time with Tante Kari. She is one of the most uplifting, positive people I’ve ever been around. When we told her about the idea I had to partition off Kaleb’s room with a stair step down partial wall, she was sure I missed my calling as an architect or interior decorator. I hope she drops by daily – she just lives downstairs.



When our friend’s from church came for coffee (see photo), they brought their two boys with them, so they sat in the kitchen with Kaleb and Tobias playing a card nearly the entire time we had coffee and ate waffles with our fingers, and talked in the living room. It felt so real, so settled, so Norsk. I loved every minute of it, until that is, Kaleb decided he was bored, and frustrated that he didn’t have a playdate today with his ex-school chums, and became ever so disrespectful and nasty. I’m sure it was his lack of sleep the last two nights more than anything, but he was downright embarrassing in front of company – acting up in such a way. He will now suffer the consequences and have to stay home tomorrow from playing with his pals. I almost dread having him home all day when he’s in such a sour mood, but I’m hoping he wakes up normal. I know he was disappointed in many things today, including not being able to go to the movies. We live right next to an indoor swimming pool and movie theatre (under the same roof), so all the boys left to go see if any good movies were playing. Both the swimming hall and movie theatre were closed. The fact everything but church is closed on Sunday really takes some getting used to. So does Kaleb’s mood when things don’t work out as he had hoped.

Losing Track of Time

Kory and I enjoyed a much needed leisurely morning today, drinking coffee and taking our time to attend to the day’s agenda. The house was quiet with Kaleb gone. It was raining a little too, so all the more reason to stay cozy warm inside and relax a bit.




I finally decided I was tired of stepping over messes and boxes and piles of things so I unpacked every last box and just threw things in cupboards and closets. If any door is open now, an avalanche is assured, but at least from the outside, our little home is starting to feel wonderful. I’m ready for company now. Kaleb’s room is still a disaster zone but I can overlook that as it’s not in my flight path as I zoom from one room to another.



A little after noon today I realized if I didn’t get to the store soon, there would be no bread to buy, as they only make enough for one day at a time and by late afternoon there isn’t a loaf to be had (as we found out Friday). With all the stores closed tomorrow, I needed two day’s worth, so I had to stop my incessant putting-things-away mode, and go shopping for a few food items. I saw two people I know at the mall, which has been my average each time I’ve gone. It’s a small town, so there always needs to be enough time factored in for a short visit to be polite. No one is ever in such a hurry that a quick “hello” will do.



Later, Kory decided to join me in my daily run to the second-hand store to see if I could find some plant stands and shades for some light fixtures. We are also now in the market for some kind of art work to go above the couch, so he wanted to be sure we were in agreement on that one. We got there at 2:05, and it closed at two o’clock, so we just missed it. We drove into downtown Aalesund to visit a few more second-hand stores and we got to one by 2:25 and had five minutes to shop before they closed. We managed to buy a light fixture for the hallway, a beautifully wooden carved spoon to hang on the wall, and a small copper bucket for a kitchen decoration. I waste no time. We then headed to the stores that sell new things, in search of a bunk bed set for Kaleb’s room. We found one we like but were unable to buy it because I forgot the code for my Norwegian bank card, so I have to wait until I get that, or enough cash to pay for it. Hopefully by Monday we can start clearing out Kaleb’s room and get that in order.



We didn’t hear from Kaleb all day, so we knew he was having fun. We were invited to a Confirmation at noon today – the daughter of one of Kory’s cousins – and we were so engrossed in what we were doing at the time, the time just slipped by and we missed it. Major faux pa in the Norsk world. We were also invited to the coffee/cake hour at six o’clock tonight – the party that follows a Confirmation, so we were sure to get to that on time. We almost didn’t make it because we had to dig for proper clothes and shoes to wear, find the ironing board and iron, and get ourselves somewhat presentable. Confirmation parties are as formal as they get around here so we couldn’t go looking like our usual grungy Northwest native selves.



As I was sitting at the party, someone wheeled in this ancient looking old woman and I was trying to figure out whose great-grandmother she must be. It took me several minutes, but then I realized it was Tante Ruth! She’s changed so much in the months since I last saw her, I didn’t recognize her AT ALL. She’s gotten way too thin (she used to be rather plump), and she’s aged dramatically. I went over to give her a hug and say “Hi” and she just kept moving her head closer and farther away trying to see who was standing in front of her. She couldn’t see me at all, and I kept yelling in her ear that it was Mickey, but she just shook her head and said she didn’t know who was there. It broke my heart. (See photo of Kory and I with her – she didn’t even know she was having her photo taken.) This was a big outing for her – to go to a Confirmation party, as she’s been invited to many of them, but would never venture out of her apartment. She’s been a recluse for many years, so it was really something that she was there tonight. It almost didn’t matter where she was, her world is about the same wherever she goes if she can’t see or hear a thing. Tough stuff.



Kaleb finally called me about 8:00 to ask if I’d drive him to his next sleepover. I left the party to go pick him up and he was so exhausted from lack of sleep last night, he nearly fell asleep in the car during the five minute car ride. He asked if it was OK to not do two sleepovers in a row because he was so beat, so we drove up to his friend’s house to explain the situation, and as it turned out, it was fine with him because he had to unexpectedly babysit his younger siblings – so he got a rain check on the sleepover with Haavard. Good thing.



I took Kaleb back to the party and had to explain the situation to everyone, as he was dressed like a rag-a-muffin with dirty sweats, one sock on and one sock off (it got muddy), dirty shirt and hair sticking out all over the place. All he cared about was the cake and pop as he hadn’t eaten dinner. He started falling asleep in my lap before finishing the first piece of cake, so we headed home soon thereafter. Otherwise, it was a nice party as we got to see lots of relatives that live in other parts of Norway.



Today was the first day no one stopped by our home. Most relatives were busy with the Confirmation festivities. Kaleb has decided he wants to come back and live in Norway when he’s 14 so he can be Confirmed here. It’s quite the motherload of gifts and cash, but I’m sure the cost of the party far exceeds anything the kid’s get. Confirmation parties are more like a “coming of age” party in Norway – where they formally celebrate the life of the child. Not long ago, the 15 year old Confirmant, was considered an adult and free to do as they pleased. I think Kaleb is already there.

Tough Decisions

Kaleb had a big problem to face today. Three of his best friends each asked him if he could have a sleepover this weekend, and there are only two available nights in which to do it. He pondered all day how to solve that problem. I suggested he take them in the order they asked, but his absolute best friend, Toban, asked last, and that’s where he wanted to go first. Next weekend is a four day weekend because of the 17th of May (Independence Day), so I wasn’t sure if people were going out of town or not. I e-mailed the mom of Andre and asked if they were available next weekend instead, and they were, so that got him off the hook with Andre, so then it was down to just Haavard and Toban. Whew.



Kaleb flew through his school work and did very well in all of it (he played piano at Tante Kari’s, and she was more than impressed). He worked hard to get it all done so he could catch the one o’clock bus over to his friend’s neighborhood. I told him I’d drive his overnight things to him later. He called about four o’clock and told me his fourth best friend, Henrik, also wanted him to have a sleepover but Henrik’s mom solved his problem by inviting Andre and Toban as well, so he is having one big reunion sleepover tonight with three of his friends and tomorrow he’ll be one-on-one with Haavard. He’s on cloud nine. When I took his PJs, toothbrush and clean undies over to him, all the boys were outside playing on a neighborhood swingset and Kaleb’s face was just glowing. I couldn’t have been more pleased to see how happy he is. It makes me sad for all the time he spends with just us, and nothing to do.


We had plenty to do today so Kory and I just kept plodding along. It was another beautiful, sunny day, but with both front and back doors open, the condo kept nice and cool, while we scurried to and fro. Kory got the last of the boxes out of storage. Tante Kari suggested using a grocery cart to assist in moving. I guess everyone that lives here does it, since the grocery store is basically attached to this building. They don’t have homeless people pushing grocery carts up and down the sidewalks in Norway, so no one really appreciated how silly Kory looked doing it, but it did help preserve his back, as the last of the boxes had books in them. He also spent a great deal of time assembling shelving and storage units we bought for our other house when we first moved here in 2008. I’m completely impressed and amazed that everything we bought new back then, fits exactly to the centimeter in the places we wanted to put them now. In the kitchen there was a space between the end of the cabinets and the wall, and two shelving units fit there, snug as a bug. In our bedroom closet, there was one space that fit perfectly a set of wire drawers, floor to ceiling, without impeding any other things. Even Tante Kari was impressed. She said it was as if God knew way back then that we would be using those things here. I agree it was pretty close to miraculous. It’s so great to have a place to put things!


I was able to get through all the boxes (except things for Kaleb’s room, since he has no space to put stuff since it’s currently filled up with all of Tante Ruth’s boxes.) Our bedroom is finally in order, the kitchen is done and presentable. The bathroom is about half way there and the hallway (which contains my office) just needs a bit more tidying up. We couldn’t hang all the things on the wall just yet because the two walls we share with neighboring condo owners are made of concrete and Kory has to borrow a jack hammer from Rune in order to hang photos and wall mounted light fixtures. We found out from Tante Aslaug that the two wall sconces we got in the division of property, belonged to Kory’s great-grandparents and are very old (from the first days electricity came to Norway.) Who knew.


I returned to my favorite second-hand store today looking for more light fixtures. They all greeted me like an old friend when I walked in. I’m sure I’m their best customer as of late. I found the most comfortable, beautiful, seemingly brand new overstuffed chair there for $35. It has the same color of slate/gray blue that our couches have in them and I nearly peed my pants I was so excited. I thought we needed just one more chair and this one certainly fits the bill. Kory has basically taken possession of the Stressless recliner I bought, so I wanted a “comfy chair” as well. (See photo of me writing this blog, sitting in said chair in front of our new sheer, navy blue curtains.)


Tonight Kory and I were so tired we didn’t want to cook so we thought we’d splurge and go out to dinner (nothing fancy, just a cafeteria style café in the mall.) It was a little after seven o’clock when we walked over there, and they were closed – on a Friday night! It is so hard to get used to the opening hours of places in Norway, when in the US we are used to so many things being open 24 hours. The banks here are open only from ten until three. Restaurants will close between five and seven. Most of the mall shuts down at six, but some grocery stores stay open until eight. We walked over to the grocery store (the mall our condo is attached to has absolutely everything in it – banks, grocery and hardware stores, bakeries, travel agencies, gardening and electric stores, you name it.) We bought some ready made food to take home and put on the BBQ. They sell shish-kebabs in the frozen food section, and also tin foil packages of mixed vegetables, salmon and the seasoning, so all that’s needed is to set them on the grill. It was the fastest food we could find. About twenty minutes later we were sitting down to a yummy BBQ dinner out on the deck. Kory had to buy a beer to go along with it, and he shouted HALLELUJAH more than once while drinking it. It was another great day in paradise.

Over the Hump

We are more settled than NOT right now so that feels good. We’ve had such fantastic weather these past few days, I’ve hated that I needed to be inside all the time packing up Ruth’s things, cleaning and unpacking our stuff, but such is life. We woke up on Tuesday morning to winter, with an inch of snow on the ground, but by afternoon it was mid-summer around here and I had to change into a short sleeved shirt and shorts, it was so hot. Weird. Today I even managed to sun myself out on our deck for a few minutes when I needed a little break, but it was so hot I had to go back inside. I can’t stand how much I love being here. The view from our deck is inspiring (see photo taken at 10:30pm tonight with the sun still shining on the mountain peaks – it trumped the photo I was going to post of our new curtains – that will come later.)



Today was the first day I tried to get Kaleb back on some kind of school schedule. Boy does that kid know how to drag his feet. He did pretty well on his grammar assignments, he skipped piano altogether and he nearly flunked out of his on-line science course. We had to go to the library so he could use their computer (it is so close I really could hit it with a rock from our balcony). The headphones on the computer didn’t work so he couldn’t hear the lecture. He tried to read the words at the bottom of every screen, but he just couldn’t concentrate enough for that. The library has a one hour time limit and it wasn’t until he’d used up 33 minutes that he let me know he wasn’t learning anything. I wasn’t too happy about that. He switched to a different computer, which worked, so he finished up the lecture then had to take the quiz using my laptop because his minutes had run out. He was over two hours late to go play with his friends after they got out of school because I told him he couldn’t go until he passed his science quiz. He decided to listen to the lecture a second time to be on the safe side and he got 88%, so that wasn’t too bad – considering the subject matter was pretty foreign to him (it was on heredity and genomes, etc. I never would have passed it no matter how many times I watched the lecture.)


We didn’t bring up a single box from the basement today as we decided to just keep unpacking the boxes we had in the condo. I got the kitchen totally clean, decorated and things organized. I didn’t realized until I was done that I had used every single cupboard for dishes and kitchen things and didn’t have any place to put food. Since we had only purchased things we ate right away, we didn’t have any food inventory around for me to even think of it, until Kory brought it up. I had a little reorganizing to do after that. Aunt Ruth had a lot of different kinds of dishes, and Kory didn’t want to get rid of any of them. He used a very cool plate to set his lunch on, and he accidentally bumped it off the bread board, so it went crashing to the floor along with his slice of bread and stack of sardines on top. I told him I liked that plate a lot so I was sorry it broke. He told me, “I liked that plate too, but what I liked best about it was that it had food on it!” He was pretty hungry so he had to make his lunch all over again. Kaleb thought that was pretty funny.


I love setting up house and decorating things to make our place feel homey. After having done it in the recent past here, and now doing it again, I feel like those people who have affairs just because they like the newness in relationships – I somehow feel like I’m cheating on our house back home.


There’s been a non-stop parade of relatives coming through our condo since we got here. I totally love that. Once the word got out we put up new curtains, everyone had to come see them. They all agreed they let in more light and they love them. When we moved the furniture around from the way Aunt Ruth had it – they all had to come take a look at that, too. There isn’t a thing we do that they don’t gush over. Tante Kari even asked me today if I’d come over to her place when I have time to help her redecorate – she thinks I have a gift. Not really, but it’s nice she thinks so.


I’ve debated heavily about what to do with the toaster cover Tante Ruth left behind. It’s sort of a white plastic fabric with the silhouette of two dancing black poodles on the side. It’s so out, I’m sure it’s in. I’m keeping it for the time being, but it’s certainly not my style. But either is the elephant lamp that we ended up with because no one else wanted it (it was the last choice on the lamp selecting process the other day). I like the shade on the lamp, but the black elephant figurine is just too much. I can’t imagine where it came from, but I’ll be sure to ask. Lord only knows it’s probably worth a fortune in the US antique market.



I haven’t even touched the bathroom, so that’s tomorrow’s focus, as well as putting away the rest of our clothes and getting the bedroom and "my office" (i.e., desk) finished. We haven’t unpacked the boxes with all our wall decorations yet so by the end of tomorrow we should be looking rather complete, once we finish up with those things. We retrieved out BBQ tonight from a cousin that babysat it for us while we were gone – can’t wait to enjoy our deck with a little shrimp and salmon on the “barbie.”


I got a great night’s sleep last night – good bed and totally over jet lag. My camera is back in action now that I found the battery charger for it (the battery went dead on the flight over here). My computer can now get charged up since I found the power converter, and there is clean underwear in my drawer. All is pretty great in my world right now. It’s amazing how good a simple life can be.

Unpacking

I finally reached the stage today I could start unpacking our things. With help from some of the cousins we were able to box up all of Tante Ruth’s stuff and stash it in “Kaleb’s room” (which isn’t there yet because we haven’t built the wall). At least it’s all out of my way so I could clean and start opening the boxes we had in the basement. Oh, how I needed to find a few things, like the coffee grinder, our clothes and bedding and the power converters I use for my computer. Now, life feels less pressured and I’m sure I’ll get a good night’s sleep. There’s still plenty to do but at least I can see light at the end of the tunnel. (The photo was taken a few years ago while standing in the living room, facing the area which will become Kaleb’s bedroom.)


I was invited to a prayer meeting this morning, held by “The Praying Women” as I call them. It was so great to be back together with them and pray and pray and pray. They are a powerful group and they see many answers to prayers – one of them being my return – so that was nice to hear.

While I was at the prayer meeting, Kory and his cousin Rune (pronounced Roo-na) were doing some repairs to things that had broken over the years in our condo. They also set up our kitchen table and put the anti-scratch pads on the bottom of all the furniture. The hardwood floors have taken a beating over the years as furniture got pushed around without them. So much prep work to be done before we get this place nice and cozy, but we have time, so it’s OK.

Jonathan, Kory’s ex-boss, came over this evening to give a bid on how much it would cost to build a wall for Kaleb’s room. We were all set on a full sized wall with a pocket door to partition off part of the living room for him, but when we sat on the couch and looked out at the mountains, we realized we’d lose that view through his bedroom window if we built such a wall. I was awake for many hours last night (like from 2:00 am until 5:30am), thinking about that wall (and writing my blog for yesterday). We decided a stair step partition would be better, so the light can still come through to the living room and it can easily be removed if we someday don’t need an extra bedroom anymore. Jonathan will trade labor with Kory so we don’t have to pay the $100 an hour labor charge, but I was surprised when he said it would only be about $300 in materials to build it. That is WAY under my estimate, so now I might splurge and buy a NEW dishwasher, rather than a used one. I certainly can’t live much longer without one. The sink is so small, just one plate and a cup fill it up and it’s impossible to get a pitcher under the faucet, so there must soon be a solution to that problem. I think I might splurge and ask for a new sink and faucet as well.

I hung up our new curtains today that had I bought before we left town last year. They were originally priced at $40 for a meter wide section, but I scored big time when I bought them from a store that was going out of business for $1.50 each. I put up new curtains in the entire apartment for under $20. Even the locals were impressed with that kind of bargain. No one envies the bargains I get on used items because used things are so undesirable to everyone, but finding something NEW for a good price was a major find. Kory doesn’t like the curtains however, but he’s just NOT thinking about how much money I saved. He’ll come around. I like them just fine. (See photo of the BEFORE curtains – they were dark and blocked too much of the light – tomorrow I’ll post the AFTER shot.)

Kory went to visit Aunt Ruth today. He said it was as if he weren’t even in the room. Her hearing aid isn’t working properly so she couldn’t hear him, and she is now nearly totally blind so she had no idea he was there. Poor thing. He said she isn’t complaining, but she was too distracted by her condition to enjoy his company much. She’s supposed to get a new hearing aid tomorrow, so we’ll all go see her after that happens.

Kaleb continues to enjoy his freedom today so we haven’t seen much of him since we got here. He has been helpful when he’s around though, bringing up things from the basement and running things out to the trash. He came home from his playtime this afternoon with one of his best friends, Andre. Andre brought some kind of Scrabble like game and they sat for a few hours quietly in our bedroom, playing the game while we worked. They helped out a little, when asked. Andre stayed on for the dinner Kory made of fishballs, boiled potatoes and carrots – Andre just ate the potatoes. I’m not too fond of fish balls myself, so I was sure to put bread and cheese on the table so I wouldn’t go hungry. It was our first meal in our very own kitchen, eaten among boxes stacked higher than our chairs, but it couldn’t have been any better, unless of course, we’d eaten something other than fish balls.

Getting Settled

It was a full day today and I had only one thing in mind – to buy a bed so I could get a decent night’s sleep. Last night I got the couch, Kaleb was on the floor and Kory was in Aunt Ruth’s single bed. I hardly slept, both due to jet lag and the fact the couch wasn’t long enough for me to fit head to toe. I woke up pretty crabby.


Kory’s only task for the day was to meet with his two neighboring aunts and go through at least the furniture and kitchen things and divide up what has been left behind. That was not at all an easy thing for anyone but at least by the end of the day most of the big stuff was out of the condo so we had room to start settling in. There is still about thirty boxes of things yet to go through – mainly books, linens, photos and some decorative items, and that may well take the entire time we are here to complete.

The process they use to divide things up is very time consuming. Each item must be talked about and analyzed and written on a list. They had several methods for dividing up things, depending on whether someone else was interested in it or not. I finally couldn’t stand the painstakingly slow methods and left to go buy a bed, a desk, a few lamps and some decorative items at the local Salvation Army. That was way more fun. Nothing in our condo has any sentimental value to me (nor was it attractive enough to keep) so it was fine with me if they just tossed it all out, but others didn’t feel the same. At one point I just said that all I needed was for everything to be gone, one way or another. Later I was pulled aside by a cousin who told me that was a hurtful thing to say because the two sisters to Aunt Ruth were having a hard time cleaning out her place and it was as if I just wanted her gone. They weren’t in quite the hurry I was as it’s taken some getting used to, that she is no longer their neighbor. I had to apologize for my crassness, but the aunt’s said they took no offense, so that’s good. I think they were just being polite, but the good thing about being in Norway is, people are VERY tolerant and forgiving so it’s not like I have a strike against me for opening my big mouth and saying something about it. I blamed it all on lack of sleep and only thinking about my own needs.

I took Kaleb to buy a bus pass today so he has begun his life of freedom. He took the bus over to his old school and waited outside for all the kids to come out. He was loaded down with a backpack of American candy (at least 10 pounds of it, I’m sure), which I guess he literally tossed at them like a parade or something. The excitement over the candy was secondary to them seeing him again. He said they were all squealing and gushing over him being there and several of them skipped soccer practice so they could play with him. He couldn’t have been more pleased. I let him stay there until dinner time and told him to catch the five o’clock bus home. He missed that one, so he ended up walking, which took him nearly an hour. In America, I get nervous if he walks down our driveway to get mail by himself, but here, he can walk for miles from home with no worries. That’s gotta be one of the best things about living in Norway.

The cousins were all here tonight helping us move furniture in and out and to bring up some of the boxes of our things in the storage unit in the basement. It was like a bee-hive of activity for several hours. While the rooms were empty I was able to wash down the walls and floors, which was a good thing as it was pretty dusty in some places. We still have several days of work before we are going to be living any kind of normal life around here, but today felt fairly accomplished and wonderful. I really like our new bedroom set – it’s high quality furniture from the 1940s, in very good condition. We had to buy two twin beds and attach them together because double beds are pretty rare. We got the entire bedroom set (2 beds with headboards and mattresses), a dresser with a cool art-deco style mirror, and two bedside tables for about $215. I also bought a leather “Stressless” recliner chair with ottoman for $21. They sell new ones for about a thousand dollars. The economy of things here is so weird because no one likes old or used things. Now, if I could just find a “used” food store, we could stretch the dollar even further.

We're Baaack... (photos to follow)

Just as the plane touched down in Aalesund, Kaleb yelled out, “We’re home! We’re home!” He couldn’t be more excited and I find myself a little giddy as well. I wish I knew what it was, but there is certainly a sense of belonging here unlike any place I’ve ever lived. Hallelujah, we made it back!


We had an easy flight to Iceland, without a hitch. The seats were comfy and extra wide and the video on demand made the time literally fly by. We had a quick stop in Iceland to catch the flight to Oslo. Kaleb managed to sleep about an hour, so I was thankful for that. I think I closed my eyes for about five minutes and Kory was awake the whole time. We are all a little rummy right now as it’s 9:30 Monday morning Seattle time, which means we’ve pulled an all-nighter and we still have a few hours before we can go to bed in Norway, hoping to adjust to the time zone quickly.

We also have to stay awake to await the arrival of our luggage. Our flight to Oslo got in a little late so we had to run to catch our connection to Aalesund. The ticket agent at the airport said not to wait for our luggage, just get on the plane and file a missing luggage report when we land in Aalesund. We did that, so now we are waiting for it to arrive. It’s all just gifts and household decorations anyway so it’s no big deal, but we really can’t fall asleep until they deliver it. We love that we actually get to sleep in our condo tonight – for the first time since we bought it in 1999.

Most of Aunt Ruth’s things have been moved out with her to her new room at the assisted living home, but there’s still quite a bit to sort through and figure out who wants what. I’d just as soon toss it all out so I can start unpacking tomorrow and getting settled, but I doubt it will happen that fast, so patience is a must.

We hadn’t been on Norwegian soil more than five minutes when Kaleb started whining about wanting to be with his friends. As Kory sat and had cake and coffee with Tante Kari (it’s her 82nd birthday today), I drove Kaleb over to his best friend Toban’s house. Now there was a happy reunion. I left him there a few hours while I went and got some money out of the bank to fill the tank on our van (at $8 a gallon – so it was nearly $150 to fill it), and pick up a few things for breakfast tomorrow (another $70 gone in an instant.) It’s a good thing we love it here so much, otherwise the prices would make me crazy, as I’m back in “sticker shock” mode.

A snow storm just blew through town. It hailed earlier today, but we’ve also seen the sun quite a bit. All the ground is white though because it’s pretty darn cold right now. I even love the ever changing weather.

Kory stopped by to ask his old boss if he’d give us a bid to put up a wall in our condo to make a bedroom out of part of the living room (as it was originally designed.) He said he’d try to come by tomorrow, but he’s pretty busy and he asked Kory if he’d go back to work for him. Maybe Kory will trade some labor to help offset the cost of the wall, as we do need to get Kaleb his own bedroom.

The “house” is so quite now that everyone is gone. We were greeted by all the cousins earlier today as most of them gathered for Tante Kari’s birthday. Now it’s just us – Kaleb lying on the floor in what will soon be his bedroom, reading books he’s already checked out of the library, Kory in the kitchen making room in some cupboards for our food, and me sitting in the living room on the computer. Life is simpler here, even with a big to-do list because we don’t do anything alone. All the cousins have already offered to help build the wall, move furniture, get us settled. It takes a village to settle down a Norwegian.

The Weekly Blog begins!

I'm Baaaack.... but changed the name and created a new address:

Postcards From the Ridge

http://www.postcardsfromtheridge.blogspot.com/

It's Not Over, til it's Over....

Okay, Okay... I'll do a WEEKLY blog! So many wrote in saying how much they enjoyed the blog, I guess I shouldn't quit - and just be thankful there are those who find our lives interesting.

I might start with a new blog address, but I'll post it here. Look for weekly "articles" to come out on Saturdays....

I've always wanted to have a weekly column, so maybe this is IT. Erma Bombeck has yet to be replaced. I loved her stuff. But maybe I won't be so funny.... we'll see.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Time to Call it Quits

Now, I think, life is getting too boring to even write about. I’m thinking it’s time to quit the blog on a daily basis. I may update it if something spectacular happens but I can’t see that our lives in America are all that interesting. Today, for example, included things like, taking the car in for repair, getting one of our vacant apartments rented (woo hoo), taking Kory to get a laser treatment on his back, cleaning house and dropping Kaleb off for a sleepover. It’s not much to work with to make an interesting read. Life is going to get so routine and FULL after Labor Day, I think now will be a good time to call it quits.

I know there are several people still reading the blog everyday, and I love that – but I also hate to be a bore. Maybe I’ll post stories I’ve written from time to time, who knows…. But all good things must come to an end. Thanks for being so supportive, faithful and interested. I promise, if I publish a book from this blog, to give everyone one of my dedicated readers an autographed first edition copy, along with a big hug and a kiss. Honestly, if I didn’t know people were reading it, I wouldn’t have kept it going the whole year. So a big heartfelt thanks from me to you.

When Kaleb was three month’s old, I started hand writing in a journal for him. I wrote down all that he had done in his first three months, and then I wrote everyday after that, all he did and said that day. I only quit doing it last year when we moved to Norway when it took so much time writing the blog, that I couldn’t keep up with the hand writing in the journal, too. I’ve filled sixteen of those books about Kaleb’s life so far, and I still have a few blank ones in inventory that are waiting for me to fill, so now is a good time to get back to that routine.

I’m going to print out all the pages I’ve written for the blog and put those in a book for Kaleb, as well. I’m not even sure he will be interested in reading all the documentation on his life, but maybe one day his kids or wife might (assuming they materialize). I wrote things down about his life for several reasons. I had a lot of questions about my childhood and my parents as I was growing up, and the only answer I ever got was, “I don’t know.” Whether that was the truth, or whether the truth was not to be repeated, I really don’t know, but I do know I hated that answer and I never want to give it to Kaleb. Because I was 41 when I gave birth to him, I was worried by the time he was old enough to ask questions, old age might have set in enough that I really wouldn’t remember the answers to things, so if all his days were written down, then he could read all about it himself. That was the main reason. But also, as I’ve come to realize, there are two sides to every story. Kaleb might remember things one way, but at least the way I saw situations will be represented by my writings in his journals. And lastly, maybe there will be forgiveness in my writing. If he sees that he wasn’t always such a peach, and he reads about the struggles I had with him, he might just be more forgiving of me as he ages, if indeed he harbors any bitterness or resentment by then. (Often I ask him if I’ve done anything that he needs to forgive me for, and he claims just as often, there is nothing, so I hope that is the case. But it doesn’t hurt to cover all bases.) So my writing is self serving, on all sides. I do love to write, and I especially love it when I know people enjoy reading what I write. But now I’m thinking there’s not that much happening that would compel anyone to want to read all about it anymore.

This weekend we have company coming; next week school starts. Kory is getting better every day and able to stand for longer periods of time. I’ve got the scheduler out and our days are filling up with commitments, appointments, schooling and normal life stuff. If I were a better writer, I might be able to make something of all that, but I’m not very creative that way. So for now, this is good-bye. I’m not sure what I will fill my late nights with, but I’m sure I’ll find something. I have closets to clean, photos to sort, e-mails to purge and prayers to pray. Thanks for being there.

(The photo today is a picture of me that a friend took for my college graduation from Pomona College in 1982. I love it more than any others I’ve taken. A woman in my Norwegian class asked me to post “old” photos of me on Facebook because she said she suspected I “used to be HOT.” That’s just how I feel about my writing now.)

Takin' Care o' Business

I was up before the sun this morning so I had time for a cup of coffee before we headed down to Seattle for the day. I had an appointment with our accountant to turn over all the numbers so he can file our tax return for 2008. Now I just wait until he waves his magic wand and tells me the outcome. I used to be able to file our taxes, but they just get more and more complicated every year and I finally gave up. I hate that I’m not smart enough to do them anymore, or perhaps, not motivated enough to try and make sense out of all the rules. Either way, I don’t like it. Thank God I’m done with it for now anyway.

Kory needed to come along today because his front tooth came loose again and the dentist that made that tooth is in Seattle. He rearranged some other appointments to fit Kory in once I explained he can’t drive himself down there and today was the only day that worked for me. I so appreciate good customer service. He didn’t even charge to refit the tooth. I hate the thought of living with a toothless Hillbilly, even though all my father’s family were from the Ozarks in southern Missouri. Just cuz I’m half Hillbilly doesn’t mean I want to be married to one.

For the first time since we’ve been back in Seattle, we stopped by our apartment building on Greenwood Ave. (see photo). We had friends managing it for us while we were gone and it seems they did a better job than we did at maintaining things. The place looks incredible. We also have an on-site manager and the one we had when we left town moved to Texas so we asked another tenant if she’d be our new caretaker and thankfully she agreed. We discovered today she has an obsessive compulsive cleaning disorder because all she does each and every day is sweep and vacuum and dust and pick up things and trim bushes and make that property sparkle. Both Kory and I were in awe of the condition of everything when we got there. We’ve never kept it so nice. What a HUGE blessing that is to have her in charge. All we expect is the hallways and stairs to be vacuumed once a week, and litter picked up outside, but we got way more than that. Hallelujah!

Kory and I went to Home Depot to buy a few hot water tanks while we were there. Some retired plumber neighbor guy Kory knows will replace them for us, so that takes a load off Kory and saved us a little money. Kory’s now got his own to-do list to tackle once he gets back on his feet, but he thinks of it all as his hobby. Fixing things is what he loves to do so I guess owning an 11-unit apartment building is just the ticket. I still think we should sell it, especially since we have plenty “to do” at our house. (We’ve lived here ten years now and there are still things not done that should have been done before we moved in.) Kory believes in the ancient Chinese proverb that says, “House done when man die.”

Kaleb came along for the ride today, armed with a pile of books. He didn’t make a peep all day. I took him shopping while Kory was at the dentist, but he didn’t find anything he wanted to buy, surprisingly enough (probably because he was going to spend his own money.) It was also weird to see that he’s moved beyond toys now and passed up all the toy aisles to head straight for electronics. (I do hope this means we can now purge a few toys in the basement.) We also stopped off at the library and got more books. It’s not uncommon to check out a hundred books a week for this kid. He can read about 700 words a minute (maybe more). He read one of the Harry Potter books that had over 700 pages, in just a day. He said that’s what he liked least about living in Norway – not having access to so many books.

On the way home we stopped by our beloved Grammy J’s to have dinner with her. (She used to be my Bible study teacher many years ago and she adopted us as her family and has taken on the role of Grandmother to Kaleb.) She just got out of rehab with a broken leg so we brought Chinese food over and waited out rush traffic. It was good to see her again but she’s not her perky self, so that was hard to take. I don’t do well seeing people I love in pain. I’ve had my share of it for a while. But God is faithful and He promises in the Bible, He will work ALL things together for the good. Sometimes it just takes a while to recognize the good.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

I was still sipping my morning cup of coffee when our (almost) neighbor and friend, Willie Schaub called. He said he was going to the dump and wondered if we had anything he could take for us. Unbelievable. That was one item on my to-do list I wasn’t too sure I’d get around to doing anytime soon. Kory always goes to the dump and I don’t even really know the process. I told Willie we had six full cans of garbage and he said he had room for them all (we don't have garbage service). What an incredible blessing that was! I got to cross something off my list and I didn’t even have to do it. Hallelujah! The to-do list dominates my time these days but I’m now down to the final TEN things. Woo-hoo! The whole list has had to do with “resettling.” I do have a new to-do list started, but that’s just normal life for me and I’m now free enough to do things that aren’t even on my list. That's such a good feeling.

Kory got the new pump working and installed in the pond today, so that’s a load off his mind. He also hooked up the new BBQ regulator so that’s now off the disabled list and we had Bar-b-qued chicken for dinner tonight. Life is returning to normal. He watched several movies today too so he's still taking it easy.

When we were at the library yesterday, Kaleb saw a sign for the “reading to dogs” program I believe someone here in Washington State started. Basically anyone with a mild mannered dog can get them certified to be part of the program. The owner takes their dog to the local library and kids sit for ten or fifteen minutes and read out loud to the dog. There is no judgment, no correction, no snickers. (Our local library even scheduled the times when the library is officially closed so there are no distractions.) The dog just sits patiently and listens to the kids reading. It’s a great way to improve their out loud reading skills and even though Kaleb doesn’t really need help in that department, he couldn’t resist signing up – especially since he knows the dog. (He had been a “Dog of the Week” in Kaleb’s “Weekly Puppy” newspaper.) So this morning I took him to the LaConner Library and he sat with Lucas and read him the first chapter of "McGrowl" – one of Kaleb’s favorite dog books. Kaleb owns that entire "McGrowl" series and has read it five times. He sat on the floor with Lucas and scratched his head as he read. It was pretty sweet. Then later Lucas laid down behind him and put his paw up on Kaleb’s back (see photo – it looks like he either fell over laughing or is just giving Kaleb a little back support – either way – I thought it was pretty cute.) I was watching and listening the whole time. Kaleb read a few sentences then he’d look at the dog and keep on “reading” word for word – several of the next sentences. It wasn’t like he was reading ahead and just finishing up the sentence, he was quoting the book word for word without even looking – like an entire paragraph’s worth. I asked him about it later and he said he’s read the book so many times he has it memorized. That kind of stuff just freaks me out, but the dog didn’t seem to mind. (It’s been a long while since he’s read that book, too. Weird.)

I had my share of freak-outs with technology today. The wireless network I installed bites. I had the modem downstairs where it got the best signal, but about every hour I’d have to go down and reboot it because the signal would drop. I finally got fed up and moved it upstairs where I can see if it’s working or not and then I just hardwired it to my office computer as the wireless system isn’t going to cut it. The signal is obviously affected by the weather, too, as the fog was pretty thick this morning and I couldn’t get on the internet until the fog lifted around noon. I hate my dependency on computers. And the repair shop called today to say the only way to get my laptop back up and running is to format the hard drive. Lovely. Just lovely.

Our dear neighbor Priscilla had surgery yesterday so I made enough dinner to take some over to her and her husband and son. It felt good to be out from under all the pressure so I could do something to help someone other than Kory or Kaleb. I still haven’t unpacked all my clothes or brought up all of Kory’s clothes from the basement (item #2 on the list), but I’m working on it. Each day is full of new possibilities and I’m just thankful I’m alive and well and able to still get stuff done. Hallelujah!

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.

A Sunny Sunday

We made it to the second service at church today. Good thing we had two services to choose from. The relaxed lifestyle we enjoyed previously in America is swiftly returning. No more alarm clocks or schedules, we are back to our wonderfully uncontrolled (but somewhat hectic) life. We wake up when we wake up, have a cup of coffee and wonder what the day will bring. Today it brought a few challenges.

Kory’s back pain continues to diminish but the shooting pains in his legs are getting worse. I think he’s decided to go see an orthopedic doctor soon just to find out if there’s something he should be doing differently. I’m praying there is no nerve damage as that might mean back surgery and he’d rather live with the pain than have that. I do hope it’s nothing serious as he really needs to be back on his feet soon. We’ve had one call after another today about problems down at our apartment building in Seattle and he’s helpless to do anything about them. One water heater went out and he can buy a new one for under two hundred dollars and install it himself, if he were able. Since he is not, it will cost nearly a thousand dollars to have a plumbing company do it. So that’s the worst part about him being laid up. We both HATE to spend money like that. We also had a flood in the laundry room down there today but our on-site manager was able to clean up the mess and diagnose why it happened and stop the water flow. Ugh. I so want to sell that building, but Kory’s dad built it in 1968 and he’s very sentimentally attached to it. (They say it’s never a good idea to be married to your investments, and this is why.) We have two vacancies now too which makes the building not at all profitable for us, but God provides what we need, when we need it so I have faith the right tenants will come along in due time. We are pretty picky about who we let in there so the building doesn’t get trashed. The rental market is incredibly tough right now though. If we allowed pets or smokers, we wouldn’t have any problems keeping them full, but then we’d have other problems when they moved out. Did I mention how much I want to sell that building?

Kaleb and I spent the afternoon putting his clothes back in his closet and drawers. I had to check to see which ones he’s outgrown and which ones he still hasn’t grown into. I like to buy clothes on clearance, even if they are too big for him because one thing I’m certain of – he’s going to grow. I always have a full wardrobe just waiting in the wings and never have to go shopping after a growth spurt. It helps that he could care less what he wears (he prefers to wear nothing at all). I showed him how to properly fold all his clothes and pointed out all the labels I put on his drawers and which clothes get hung up in his closet. He will soon start doing all his own laundry, including folding and putting his clothes away. We are working on a lot of “life skills” this year for school. He may be a little behind in this area but he made me fried eggs this morning for breakfast, so I was impressed. He didn’t clean up the mess however, so there are still some things he needs to learn. He set his own school schedule for the Fall and he very much wants to move upstairs for a time and be completely in charge of himself (our upstairs has its own kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom). I’m all for that, as long as he doesn’t take any electronics with him. He didn’t like that restriction so we still have some negotiating to do before we turn him loose.

Our church had a baptismal service and pot-luck out at Big Lake later this afternoon. Five kids got baptized, so that was cool. It was even hot and sunny and not a bad day to be dunked. It gave us another chance to visit a few more friends from church and catch up on things that have happened while we were gone. Many have asked if I am going to give a “Powerpoint” presentation (a speech, complete with photos) on our year in Norway. I hadn’t planned on doing it, but it wouldn’t hurt to put something together, so I’ll add that to my to-do list after October first when Kory is back on his feet, literally. (I forgot to take pictures today so the photo is of my favorite saltwater beach very near our house.)

Tonight I began some very cursory work on preparing for a class I’m going to be teaching at a home school co-op we have here in Mount Vernon at the Baptist church. Kory usually teaches woodworking but that’s not going to happen this Fall, so that leaves me. I decided to teach 4th-8th graders about money management. I’m calling the class “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” I have some pretty fun ideas on how to make an impact in their impressionable little minds. If they don’t learn young, they might not ever learn how to be good stewards with their money. It’s a subject near and dear to my heart but I’m glad it’s only an hour long and only goes for eight weeks. Working with children is NOT in my area of “giftedness.”

Perceptions

Kaleb’s Chicken Pox are on the down side now. Every spot is looking a bit old and crusty so I guess he won’t be getting any new ones. His face was spared, so with clothes on, it’s impossible to tell he even had them. At least there won’t be any scars. He got off pretty easy, but now is wishing he could be sick longer because we’ve started to restrict his Nintendo use. He’d enjoy being sick everyday if it meant unlimited Nintendo time. Ugh. He actually went over to his friend Carter’s house today for the afternoon because he was bored at home and feeling fine. I think they played Nintendos together. Carter’s mom said she has the same addiction problem with him. What’s a mother to do?

It was supposed to rain today, which was going to motivate me to head to the basement and start bringing up all the boxes of clothes we have down there, but it never rained, so the clothes are still in boxes. (We emptied all our closets so our house sitters had a place for their stuff.) Instead, I ran into town this morning to go to the Farmer’s Market for fresh produce (oh, how I missed that in Norway), and to run a few more errands. This afternoon I tried to connect all our computers up to a wireless network router, and nearly broke down in tears from the sheer frustration of it all. Fortunately the place where I bought all the equipment talked me down off the ledge, as it were, and got me hooked up and running. I can now access the internet with my office PC and both our laptops – woo hoo. Kaleb will be doing a lot of his school work on the internet and I can’t be without mine all day (talk about addictions!), so I hope this is the right solution. I can’t believe how dependant we’ve become on electronics.

Kory keeps wanting to add things to my to-do list, but I’m holding him off until I make a little more progress on my own list – which, as of tonight, has 56 things crossed off it and just 29 more to go. Several of the things yet to do are half done, but that doesn’t count. It will be a race this coming week to see if I can do them all before Kory’s cousin arrives from Norway on Saturday. I work best under pressure. Kory is quite the opposite – he needs a lot of time to do anything and shuts down totally if he has too many things on his list. He spent a lot of time being horizontal today. (The photo today is one I took last week of Kaleb’s playhouse, suspension bridge and tree fort… all built by Kory. Kaleb is dangling from a pulley swing he hooked up himself.)

Yesterday when I went to the chiropractor, I recognized the receptionist from somewhere. It took us a while to figure out where we knew each other from and finally we connected the dots. She is one of the AWANA leaders at the church where Kaleb attends that Wednesday night kid’s program. She asked who my son was and I told her his name. It didn’t ring a bell right away (he hasn’t been there for a year). We began talking about other things and then the light bulb went off and she asked, “Is your son the high achiever?” I had to laugh. That’s certainly not how I would describe him, but AWANA is a competitive program and they get points for memorizing Bible verses. He always wants to complete the most sections in the book each week, so I knew she must be referring to him. He likes to be called forward at the end of the program and be recognized for his achievements. But I don’t think of the words “high achiever” when I see the trail of destruction he leaves behind him as he moves around the house; nor do I think of those words when I see the piles of clothes on his bed waiting to be put in their drawers or him curled up on the couch with a book or any hand held electronics. Will the real Kaleb Slaatthaug please stand up?

I find it curious how different people can have different perceptions of us, depending on the task we are involved in. It made me think about how people might describe me. Other than “curly hair and glasses,” I’m not sure what adjectives would be used. I know I’ve done things that have hurt people over the years so some would use less than flattering words. I’m thankful though that God is my only judge and He has no problem with forgiving me, even if others do. I try to live each day to make Him proud, but some days, it’s not all that easy. I find comfort in these words out of the book of Revelation, “I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first…” So there is hope. I may not now be the person I wish I were, but I’m sure thankful I’m not the one I used to be. Hallelujah!

Pain Free

My right ankle has been killing me for over a month now. It started hurting when we were on our road trip, walking around all day in large cities. One night I noticed it was horribly swollen, which was appropriate for how much pain I felt. When I got back to Norway and showed Dr. Odd, he said it was from being over used and the only cure was to stay off my feet and keep it elevated. Well, that wasn’t going to happen, so I had to opt for plan B, whatever that was.

My friend Carol just had foot surgery and she told me about a miracle working chiropractor in Mt. Vernon that uses something called a “cold laser” to speed healing to injured muscles. It sounded like just the ticket, so I called today to schedule a time as I’ve been tired of hobbling around in pain everyday - plus it was making me crabby. I was able to get in to see him this afternoon and sure enough, the pain disappeared. But as it turns out, Dr. Odd was wrong in his diagnosis. I think that’s the first time he’s been wrong – he was able to diagnose Kory’s compression fracture over the telephone, and one other time he pulled off an amazing diagnosis which elevated him to saint-like status in my book.

Kory had gone in for a general check-up in Seattle about ten years ago. The doctor noticed a strange lump on his collar bone. He wouldn’t say what he thought it was (bone cancer) but we were sent to three specialists and he had several tests. After nearly a month of being stressed out wondering what all the fuss was about and imagining the worst – we learned that Kory was born with an extra rib – some weird physical anomaly that he hadn’t been aware of before. I was pretty ticked off we’d spent over four thousand dollars on doctor visits and tests, but I’ve come to the conclusion the American medical field isn’t about healing people – it’s about making money. So a few months after that whole episode, we were in Norway visiting Odd and Turid. I wanted to see how much Odd knew – since he is just a general family doctor with no particular specialty. We were in the car and he was driving us out to a nearby island for a hike. I suggested to Kory he ask Odd what the lump was on his collarbone. Kory was sitting next to Odd in the front so Odd took his right hand off the wheel, reached over and felt the lump. He got a puzzled look on his face, felt it again, and then said, “Well, I may need to use both hands, but I think that’s an extra rib. I’ve never seen one before, but I’ve read about them.” And that was that. Kory and I were amazed. We could have bought airplane tickets to visit Odd in Norway cheaper than going to see all the specialists in America to find out that diagnosis. So it was a huge shock to me today that Odd’s diagnosis of my ankle was incorrect. As it turns out - my foot was out of joint! I know spines get out of adjustment, but never have I heard of feet needing adjustments. So with one swift “pop,” by the chiropractor, my foot bone was back in the place God intended it to be, and all my pains went away. It was incredible. Hallelujah! And I really didn’t need the cold laser treatment after all, but the chiropractor did say it would help Kory’s back a lot, so he’s going in on Monday.

I continued to scratch things off my “to-do” list today, including our taxes – woo hoo! I even started cleaning up my office – double woo hoo. I’m actually looking for my car keys. It’s one thing to misplace them on a daily basis, but it’s a whole other problem when I can’t remember where I left them a year ago.

Kory was in his shop this morning tearing apart the pump for our pond and the regulator for the bar-b-que. He likes to find the exact little washer or nut that failed, but often those littlest of parts aren’t for sale so then he gets all crabby when he has to buy a complete unit of something for replacement that costs more money. That guy missed his true calling. I know he’s a good carpenter, but he’s really an incredible fix-it guy. And he’s great at fixing things with whatever is handy. If he has duct tape and bungees, he’s good to go. So I had to drive him into town today so he could buy the replacement parts to get the pond and BBQ back up and running. It’s important he feels useful but I’m worried about him moving around too much in the process. The seat in our Honda goes completely flat, so he did okay and was happy to be out of the house for a while.

Kaleb won’t be out of the house anytime soon, I’m afraid. He sprouted a few new spots, which are easy to see because he hasn’t had on any clothes all week. He walks around naked with a polar fleece blanket wrapped around him because he said, it doesn’t itch. I bought some speakers for his laptop so he was glued all day to his computer watching cartoons via the Netflix “watch now” feature over the internet. I guess if we had TV reception, it would be easier for both Kory and Kaleb, but then the rest of my to-do list might never get done.

(The photo today is the view from our yard.)