Celebrate, a Little

22 June 2013

Packing up all day.  Rain all day.  The only exciting thing to happen was that Kory and I celebrated our 22^nd anniversary a week early by going out to Chinese food in Norway!  We’d actually planned to celebrate with Tina and Are, but Are had to go help his son move home from college this weekend, so it was just Tina.

When Tina and Are came to America to visit us last year, all she wanted to do was to go a David Phelps concert.  I’d never even heard of the guy, but she loved his voice.  I checked on this website daily, looking for any possible dates near Seattle, but had no luck.  Then, wouldn’t you know, he comes to Aalesund!  I told Tina that’s how much God loves her – that He sent the guy right to her town, of all things!  So we bought tickets together and planned a big night out, which it was, but we sure missed Are.

David Phelps has a STRONG voice and the performance hall just couldn’t contain it.  He can belt out those notes like no one I’ve heard so it was good for Kory because he didn’t need his hearing aids.  He sang a lot of Christian songs he’s written and a few old favorites that we joined in on.  It was an uplifting evening, which I kind of needed in the midst of all the sadness around packing up and heading out.  Sniff sniff.

Big Progress on Waldehuset

21 June 2013

I planned to spend the day packing and cleaning, but life got in the way.  I was invited to a prayer meeting first thing this morning (below), so I was there for a couple of hours, then I spent the afternoon with My Pal Vestina.  I dropped Kory off at the Miracle House (above) so I could have the car to pick her up and take her back to the mall next to us. 

Vestina was so funny – she called me up and had a very serious tone in her voice when she said, “Mickey, I have a big problem.”  I asked her what it was.  “I got invited to a party for Saturday and I don’t have anything to wear!”  She needed my help, apparently, to find just the right dress for such an occasion.  She obviously hasn’t taken a good look at me in a while or she’d know I’m no fashion queen, but I was happy to help just the same.  I found her the perfect dress (below), on sale for half price, and shoes to go with it that were also on sale.  I emphasized the importance of finding things she likes on sale and she appreciated that bit of advice.  Ha.

We had a wonderful time shopping, then headed back to our place for a cup of tea and svela (Norwegian pancakes folded over with brown cheese inside – yum!).  Just as I put the tea kettle on, Kaleb and Daniel came back from the sleepover at Daniel’s.  Tina had to work late tonight so Daniel stayed at our house.  I promptly sent them off to the swimming hall for an hour’s worth of exercise so Vestina and I could have a quiet chat.  I ended up praying for her wrist because it needs healing that even doctor’s can’t give and she was very touched by my offer to pray for her.  She’s such a sweetie.

I took Vestina home then picked up Kory and saw all the work he’s done the last two weeks on Waldehuset (The Miracle House) and felt pretty proud of him for making such a big contribution to the efforts there.  (Room above is where the angle appeared!) He installed the second floor deck today (below).   Hallelujah for that.  He was tired though, he’s been working hard.  He even cracked a rib while working there and his back is looking a bit sore tonight, but God has held him together like never before, as working two solid weeks in a row is the most he’s done in many years.  Usually after a few days, things in his body start breaking down and he can’t continue, but he’s been strong and steady the whole time.  Hallelujah!

We had a quiet evening in, dinner with the boys and a few rounds of Rummikub.  I got some things done that were on my list for today, but not much, but I gotta say, the day turned out just fine, rain and all.

Last Day of School

20 June 2013

Kory left early for “work” today down at the Miracle House and didn’t come home until he’d put in a full day’s labor.  He was alone today, as Kaleb and I stayed behind to have a little chat about his Algebra scores.  It took me two hours to talk him out of his funk, and to help him see the good that came from doing so poorly (78%) on the test.  He admitted he made mistakes in studying and he saw how his attitude about some of the lessons affected his final outcome.  They were teaching several different ways to come to the same conclusion but he refused to learn the other ways because they took so much time… but in the end, that’s what bit him in the butt because he was supposed to show his work through those lengthy processes he didn’t want to learn.  Now he knows that following instructions is for his own benefit.  But I told him if he did the best he could, he should just be proud of the fact he got a final grade of a B on a university level math class when he was only 14 years old.  Not many can pull that off so I tried to get him to focus on the positive a bit more.  Eventually, the tension broke and he agreed to get out of bed!  Whew.

We went for a long walk together after he got up, as he had hoped to spend time at school today saying farewell to his old classmates, but since he wouldn’t get out of bed, he sort of missed that chance.  He did go to his friend Toban’s house though and for the first time since we arrived, was able to spend some time with him.  He was sure glad for that.  I walked on a little further and went to a luncheon held by my friend, Bente, and enjoyed just a little stress free peace and quiet with friends, as Kaleb’s attitude was very draining.

I was going to walk the hour walk back home again, as it was a nice day, but about 15 minutes into it, I walked past a friend’s house and she was just getting in her car to go to work, so she gave me a ride home.  Lucky me.  I actually needed that extra time for packing today as I’m starting to feel a little pressured to get more things done than are done, and I’m wondering when I’m going to say goodbye to everyone if I’m packing and cleaning the last few days. 

All my bags needed to be repacked and reweighed so I could fit in the things I bought for Kory’s 70^th birthday party.  At least now that’s over and done with and I got four more boxes filled with stuff I won’t be using between now and Monday. 

Tina stopped by with Daniel this afternoon as Daniel wanted Kaleb to come over for the night, so we visited with them for a little while before Kaleb was ready to go.  Another friend called to say we are welcome to use the apartment in their basement anytime we want to come back to Norway, so we don’t have to wait two years until our tenant moves out to return. I thought that was nice, and who knows, we may pop back over here for a week or two sometime, if the ticket price and timing are right.

I’ve been holding back tears all day as I’ve been packing up and thinking about how long two years seems before we return.  I know time goes by quickly, but two years seems like an eternity right now.  I’m sure going to miss this place.

Downtown!

19 June 2013

We were all up and out the door earlier than normal this morning to work again at the Miracle House.  The sun was shining and that’s all the motivation we needed.  I had cleaning to do on the second floor and Kory wanted to finish putting up siding on the wall he built.  He was also able to start on the second floor terrace which will be a nice outside eating area when the café is open and the sun is shining like it was today!

I actually didn’t work the first hour we were in town.  I took a long walk around as I haven’t spent much time downtown this year and I wanted one last nostalgic walk through my old path to school, down by the dock and over by the bus station and library.  It was a sweet time, remembering the year we lived here.  I also stopped in at Vestina’s office to greet her, since she told me where she worked and I found it. 

Today was a record number of tourists in town because the Queen Mary 2 was here along with 3 other large cruise ships, so the town was packed solid with people.  I took a few photos and just felt thankful for so many things.  I stopped at a few thrift stores on my way back to the Miracle House, as my initial goal was to get some lunch food for Kaleb and I, which I almost forgot to do, I was so distracted.  I found a few small treasures to take home and once I got food, I headed back.  Kory and Kaleb were hard at work sawing and hammering  and making a nice mess for me to clean up.

Several times today people stopped by to see the house.  The neighbors are all curious how the progress is coming, so some of them peeked their head in the door for a quick look.  But the best deal was when the tourists stopped by. 

I was upstairs cleaning when I heard someone hollering downstairs.  It was a Norwegian taxi driver asking if his passengers could take a look around.  They were British, so I was able to give them my first complete tour!  It was so exciting.  I made them take their shoes off though, since I’d just cleaned the floors upstairs, but I took them to the room where the angel had appeared and one of the old crotchety guys said, “And you believe that happened?”  He wasn’t nice when he said it and I just responded with “I’m just telling you the history of this house,” and on I went.  When I showed them the photo of the house amidst the rubble taken the next day, he wanted a photo of it and then he piped down a bit.  It’s hard to argue with a genuine miracle.

I encouraged them all to go back to their ship and read Psalm 91 and think about the man sitting in that room watching the city burn around him as he read the words in the Bible.  They said they would do it, too, and I prayed for them after they left.  It was pretty cool and they felt rather honored to have a private tour.  I told them they had bragging rights at dinner tonight, telling everyone what they saw and heard, and they agreed.  Shortly thereafter, another couple stopped by as they had a walking tour guide book and they asked if they could look around so I did the same with them.  It was pretty fun.

Later this afternoon The Good Teacher Inga and her husband came by, too, as they are very curious how the house looks inside since they’d heard about it all their lives but never been inside.  I’m so glad the church will have it open free to the public when it’s ready, but many people can’t wait that long as it’s big news around here that the house is being fixed up and open to the public, so woo hoo for that.  I’m so going to love being back in Norway and volunteering there. 

Kory and Kaleb took their lunch break down at the docks in the middle of town, at my insistence.  One of Kaleb’s favorite memories of Norway is sitting with Kory on the dock, eating fresh shrimp right off the boat and throwing the heads to the seagulls.  He was lamenting that they couldn’t do that now that Kory was a vegan, but I told them they needed to do that today since I saw the shrimp boat was in the harbor.  Kory went easy on the shrimp, but Kaleb sure enjoyed himself.  I love that they share moments like that, just the two of them.  Personally, I hate cleaning the shrimp, so it’s not something I’d like to do anyway.

Kaleb was anxious to go spend a few hours with Daniel tonight, so he rode his bike over there and Kory went visiting in our old neighborhood.  I was beat and needed to get a few things done so I had a wonderful night in, all by myself, until Kaleb came home.  He’d just gotten back the score for his final test in Algebra II and he wasn’t pleased.  He was spit-fire mad and there wasn’t a thing that could console him.  I just decided it best we all go to bed and talk about it in the morning after a good night’s sleep.