Viking Conquest

The Benefits of Jetlag

2008-07-08T13:28:00.005+02:00

As of 7:30 this morning, I had:

- completed two loads of laundry
- run 6 km
- finished an entire day's worth of work
- weeded the front garden
- emptied the dish washer
- tidied up the house.

Whatever will I do for the rest of the day?

...

...

zzz...zzz...zzz

Boy Stories

2008-06-26T14:56:00.005+02:00

It's been difficult to keep up with my blogging following our re-entry into Canadian life (love that word - re-entry. Like a spaceship coming in for landing). In addition to the usual time constraints of a hectic household with two adults working and kids in elementary school, we've had to hammer out renovation plans, not to mention catch up on our social life after a year of hermit-like existence.

Progress has been made, however. In addition to the kitchen being ordered, we've started dealing with the mess that was the outside of the house. We still have major demolition to do on the inside, but this won't start until the second half of August. I'm dreading it, but happy to have a few weeks of reprieve in July.

Today is the last day of school for the boys. It's a half day only, after which we are going to a local Italian restaurant for a buffet lunch. Do all kids love buffets, or is it just mine? The empowerment of having a choice, I suppose.

Christopher's developed this incredibly irritating habit of saying 'what' all day long. In the vein of:

"Christopher, it's time to go to bed."
"What?!"

"Christopher, come eat please."
"What?!"

"Chistopher, don't talk like that to your brother."
"What?!?"

All said in that tone of annoyed incredulity. Like he is so hard done by, and the rest of us are out to get him.

Ugh.

So this morning I implemented the "A dollar for every 'what' out of your mouth" strategy. In fairness, it was implemented across the board, we will all pay when the word is used improperly. After 10 minutes of eating breakfast, Christopher is already 4 dollars poorer.

I'm optimistic the message will get through this way - if there is anything Christopher is fond of, it's his cash.

This is in stark contrast to Benjamin, who freely gives away his money to anyone who asks.

Sounds cute, doesn't he?

I used to think so, but not anymore. It's a problem that Benjamin is willing to give anything he owns to anyone who asks. Some of his friends have started to take advantage of this opportunity to score freebies. One friend in particular is always asking for toys, candy, anything he can get his hands on. Just last week, Mike caught him red-handed, as he tried to leave with 10 of B boy's dollars after a play date.

We're trying to teach Benjamin that it is not appropriate to give your things or your money to friends. And of course, it is not appropriate for friends to be asking, but if they do, it is OK to say 'no'.

All while striking the right balance and maintaining Benjamin's natural sense of generosity.

My fear is that Benjamin feels he needs to buy his playmates' friendship. Where does he get that from, and how can I make him see that this is not the right way to make friends? Any words of wisdom from you, my internets?

We are jetting off again today. A week somewhere warm. I will be online for most of the time, and I plan on finding a little time for bloghopping.

Hope everyone's having a good week!

Look What The Mail Man Brought!

2008-06-21T19:44:00.004+02:00

My bloggy friend Jen on the Edge is one of the coolest ladies I know. Not only is she incredibly witty in her writings about Jenworld and its inhabitants, she is also a superhero when it comes to conservation and the environment, currently in the process of building her very own, eco-friendly house. A visit to any of Jen's blogs never disappoints, which is why I am one of her many avid fans.

So imagine my excitement when Jen hosted a bloggy giveaway and I actually WON it. You have to understand that I never win anything. This is the first time I have ever won anything, ever! After many Canada Post-related delays (don't ask), I am now the proud owner of

With my very own message from Jen herself:

Fortunately, today is rainy here in Toronto, allowing the boys and me to bake without feeling guilty about how we 'ought to be outside'. Here's what's just gone into the oven:

(Sorry. Blogger is acting up, and insisting on showing this picture sideways).

I can't wait until it's ready, so I can sit back with a cup of tea, a slice of this yumminess and a good book.

Thanks, Jen! You rock!

Outrage!

2008-06-20T14:46:00.003+02:00

Did you read this?

Obviously, this report is too short and one-sided to tell the entire story. But if there is even an ounce of truth to it - well, colour me shocked and appalled. As a mother of a child who doesn't always fit the norm, this is truly my worst nightmare.

Holy smokes, people!

And The Winner Is...

2008-06-13T16:31:00.003+02:00

I love it. We've ordered it. Now we have to wait 12 - TWELVE - weeks for it to ship from Italy. In the meantime, we have floors to fix, plumbing to organize, walls to repair, bulkheads to remove, appliances to buy...

Can you see the dollar signs floating out of our front door? It's a little stressful, but really, the leak gave us no choice but to renovate the kitchen. So instead of worrying too much about the massive dent in our savings account, I am going to focus on the fact that I am getting a BRAND NEW kitchen. Woo-hoo!

This weekend has been designated 'family only weekend', meaning we are going to hang out with the boys and do as little socializing as possible. We've been on the go pretty much 24/7 ever since we left Norway at the end of April. A little bit of downtime is definitely what the doctor ordered. Maybe we'll catch the new Indy movie. Or perhaps just lounge by the pool. Nothing's planned, anything's possible. Including, I hope, a bit of time for blog hopping. I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone out there in blogland.

Happy Weekend!

And Now For Something Completely Different

2008-06-06T02:38:00.004+02:00

Thanks again for your lovely comments on my last post. I know that the next adventure is just around the corner...and that it doesn't need to involve air travel or even leaving my house. It's all about perspective...and sometimes mine just isn't where it should be.

Speaking of perspective, I'd love to hear yours on the following:

Dark brown and white...

Lighter brown and glossy white...

All white (yes, please throw in the view)...

We are leaning towards dark brown accents/bottom cabinets, with glossy white uppers, but I am stumped as to the flooring. I can't do wood (though it would look lovely), and I don't want to spend a fortune on natural stone (that fortune is already being spent on cabinets, thankyouverymuch).

Help? Anyone?

Wherein The Author Whines...

2008-06-04T12:49:00.007+02:00

They keep telling me it's like we never left. That we've all just slipped right back into Canadian life again.

And for two weeks that's been great.

I've been on the go pretty much since we returned to Canada, trying to nail down our reno plans, getting the kids settled in school, looking at new cars, organizing play dates and sleepovers, fixing things around the house.

It's kept me occupied and darker thoughts away.

But I didn't sleep well last night. I didn't really sleep at all. The reality of the situation could no longer be pushed aside by fatigue after a busy day:

It's all done. The adventure of a lifetime. Our big gift to our children. It's over.

We planned for it and looked forward to it for years. I even dreamed about it, imagining how idyllic it would be. And now it's come and gone. 10 months of my life that just flew by in the blink of an eye.

I know we took full advantage of the time we had, and I don't feel like we left anything undone. But it's still difficult to accept that it's done. Finished. The End.

The air is not the same here. It is hectic. It involves a lot of driving and shopping. Everything is large, the roads, the stores, the portions. It's a little overwhelming after the small-ness of Europe.

My children's lives are different now. Less independent, more organized by adults. Their school is much more academic, for sure. But I'm not sure it's as much fun, and it certainly doesn't involve as much outdoorsy, physical activity.

Mike's life has taken a busy turn, as he's been inundated with requests and offers of new and exciting challenges at the university. He's got important decisions to make over the course of the next few weeks, some of which could seriously impact the amount of time he is able to spend at home.

My work hasn't changed, but my social agenda has. I've had fun catching up with my friends, but I already miss those quiet days, where Mike and I could work for a few hours, then go for a walk. We'd pick the boys up early from school and either invite their cousins over for dinner, or walk up to my parents' house for a glass of wine. Or pack the car and head for the mountains.

Oh, those mountains. They are still there. Waiting. What I wouldn't give to head up into the mountains this weekend. Breathe in the fresh mountain air, and maybe hike that one peak the weather prevented us from reaching last time.

Instead, I'll probably spend some time looking through the photos from the past year. Maybe I'll get some printed out and framed for display around the house. And reminisce about the year we conquered the Vikings.

Good To Be Back?

2008-06-03T13:30:00.005+02:00

1. Sending the car to service for $ 1000 of work, and then getting a clean bill of health. Driving it for a week and a half, and suddenly have it not start. Now must call a tow truck to tow it back to the dealership for another look. Any chance the service department will admit to this being their fault?

2. Opening the pool, only to find that the suction line isn't sucking at all, indicating a potential third leak in five years. Appointment scheduled for Thursday to diagnose. The prospect of having another massive hole dug through the concrete to fix a leak is not a pretty picture.

3. Spending hours calling people regarding our renovations, only to be repeatedly told that they are booked through the summer. All that talk of a recession must be just hot air. But how long do I have to stare at dry walls and missing floor boards?

Welcome home, baby!

I'll Be Back!

2008-05-31T14:46:00.003+02:00

Between car options, birthday parties, countertop issues, camp planning, flooring choices, field trips and kitchen cabinet selections - not to mention catching up with friends here in Canada - I've been running around like a mad woman. I've had no time to gather my thoughts, let alone write about them here in my lovely, peaceful corner of the bloggy world.

Until school's out and the renovation plans have been nailed down, I suspect life will continue at breakneck speed. I'll try to post every now and then, but please bear with me if I'm unusually silent during the next few weeks.

Just In Case You Wondered...

2008-05-28T13:02:00.004+02:00

Christopher, please clean up your room. Your friends are coming over and this place is a pigsty!

Mamma, all boys' rooms look like this. Trust me. I know.

Fueling Fires

2008-05-27T04:15:00.004+02:00

I'm looking to get a new car at the end of the summer, and after a long mini-van career, I really want to get a smaller car this time around. I'm not talking "Smart car"-ish, because that would be too small with two young boys, but something on par with the VW Golf we had in Norway, which I adored. I also want the car to have a diesel engine.

Most new cars for sale in Norway and the UK run on diesel, and yet I'm finding the selection of diesel cars in North America to be extremely limited. Diesel is vastly more efficient than gas, so how can it be that a car model is available with a diesel engine in little Norway with its limited population, but not here?

Furthermore, the selection of small-ish cars in North America is tiny (no pun intended) compared to Europe. It seems to me that while we've been away, the SUVs and trucks surrounding us have actually gotten bigger. Granted, the roads here are built to accommodate them, but why on earth do we need such gigantic vehicles on the best highways found anywhere in the world? There are no crater-like potholes to cross over, or dirt roads to traverse. The roads here are in such good shape, a normal car will do just fine.

It's almost as if we refuse to acknowledge the on-going oil crisis, and the need to conserve. A car sold in both Europe and North America will invariably have a bigger engine here. I know that bigger has always been better, but this is getting ridiculous. We cannot deny the fact that the oil price has cracked $ 130 a barrel. It will have consequences for all of us, whether we like it or not.

In the meantime, I will wait until the fall, since rumour has it that there more diesel cars are on their way to the North American market. Do you think I'll be disappointed?

Settling In

2008-05-25T15:44:00.005+02:00

The house looked great when we returned.

There were a few oddities - like every single frying pan I own being completely burnt. Apparently the friends who stayed in our house while we were away are serious about avoiding under-cooked foods.

Another funny thing was that our house plants - all five of them - had been gathered in one place, apparently to die a slow death.

Which is fine, because I wanted to get new ones anyway - and now I can do so without feeling guilty. A win-win!

Therefore, the only thing we've really had to deal with upon our return has been the garden. And truly - it is a holy mess of crumbling brick patios, dandelions and peeling decks. We couldn't stand looking at it, so yesterday Mike sanded the decks while I proceeded to fill 4 bags with garden waste. I wouldn't be surprised if another 2 or 3 bags will be added to that number before pickup tomorrow. Flowers have been purchased, and more will be bought today to liven things up.

The grass really needs to be redone, but we'll have to wait until the fall or next spring to do that - there's just too many other projects on the go this spring.

Tomorrow, we are going to start contacting contractors to get to work on fixing up the mess caused by the leak last fall. This includes the kitchen, the dining room, the downstairs rec room and guest room, the boys' bathroom.

While we're at it, I'm planning to get the white tile in the main floor hallway replaced by something more dirt friendly. I am not a clean freak by any stretch of the imagination, but I have a hard time ignoring muddy footprints throughout the house. So what better solution than to hide them with a darker flooring? If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears!

Our boys had a sleepover at a friend's house last night, and I am crossing fingers they slept for more than 5 hours. Mike's mother (my second mother-in-law - as Mike's parents divorced a long time ago) is spending the afternoon with us, after which we're going to our friends' house for dinner.

I'm pondering going away more often - I've yet to cook a meal in our house, seeing as how all our lovely friends are taking such good care of us. We are being incredibly spoiled.

Hope everyone's having a lovely weekend! I've been a bad bloggy friend, but next week will be better.

Arrival

2008-05-22T15:18:00.006+02:00

When we finally unlocked the door to our house mid-evening local time on Tuesday, we did so to balloons and "welcome home" signs made by the daughter of one of my closest friends.

The fridge had been stocked with milk, bread and butter, as well as cheese, strawberries, grapes and other luxuries. There were flower baskets by the front door, and inside a huge bouquet decorated the kitchen island.

A big box of Twinings Earl Grey tea had also been purchased, in anticipation of the many afternoons to come, sitting around the kitchen table with a cup of tea, while the kids play downstairs.

Another friend had left a tray full of home-baked delicious cookies. Needless to say, they didn't last long.

Everything looked amazing. I was so touched.

Then yesterday noon-time, a third friend stopped by to pick me up for lunch. 7 of us chatted for 3 hours over the most amazing dim sum I've ever had. Some of the girls had even rearranged their work schedule to be able to join us.

How can you possibly express your gratitude for something like that?

The girls all looked wonderful. Better than wonderful, in fact. And it was easy to slip right back into the conversation - almost like I hadn't been gone at all.

Except that the dim sum tasted so incredibly good. Oh.My.Goodness. I'd forgotten how much I missed it.

My re-introduction to food groups other than meat and potatoes continues today, as a sushi lunch has been scheduled for noon. Then tomorrow, we hit Asian Legend.

Being of stoic Viking stock, I could never adequately verbalize how much my friends mean to me, but I am immensely grateful to have them.

And though I'm filled with conflicting feelings about being so far away from Norway, one thing is crystal clear: The best friends in the world - they are all right here!

Plane Pain

2008-05-21T13:43:00.003+02:00

We got up at a decent hour yesterday morning, ate breakfast and drove to the local airport to catch the commuter plane to Heathrow. The airport was quiet, no line-ups while checking in, and we didn't have to pay any overweight fees!

Our flight landed ahead of schedule in Heathrow, we picked up our luggage and rechecked it onto our scheduled flight to Toronto. Again, no hiccups. Then we sat down to a final fish and chips lunch, spent our last few pounds on duty-free wine and made our way to the gate.

Judging from the line-up at the gate, the flight was full - primarily of families returning to Canada. Cute little toddlers were running around everywhere. We happily took advantage of the pre-boarding option for families and got settled into our seats.

People seemed to be boarding at a good pace, and when the captain came on and informed us that the winds were favourable and we'd actually be landing an hour ahead of schedule, it put a big smile on my face and made up for the fact that we hadn't lucked out with one of the planes with upgraded personal entertainment systems. The boys could make do with their GameBoys and movies on the computer for the next 7.5 (as opposed to 8.5) hours.

As the plane started taxiing out, I looked at my watch and registered with utter disbelief that it was doing so 10 minutes ahead of schedule. I mean, when does that happen? And at Heathrow, to boot?

I've travelled via Heathrow countless times, and I know that "Never" is the answer to those retorical questions.

Which is why, mere seconds after the purser had expressed his utter delight at the shortened flight schedule, the plane screeched to an abrupt halt.

Words like "...a bit of concrete flew into engine upon start-up..." and "...damaged engine blades..." started coming out over the speaker system, combined with lines such as "...need to call maintenance..." and "...unfortunately the paperwork will take at another 45 minutes to an hour..."

And so it was that we ended up standing on the tarmac for 2.5 hours, waiting for the plane to be fixed and re-cleared for take-off.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate Air Canada making sure the plane is fit to fly, but it is beyond me why the paperwork should take longer than the actual work done on the plane.

Bottom line, our precious one hour of saved time turned into an added 1.5 hours of total travel time, even with those helpful winds. Ugh!

And those lovely families with happy toddlers running around during boarding? Not so happy after a while. Let's just say it was the longest shriek-fest I've ever experienced! Double ugh!

But we're here now. In our own house after 10 months away. It feels strange and familiar at the same time. But more on that later. For now, I must focus my attention on the piles of luggage that are literally blocking our front door.

It's Time To Celebrate...

2008-05-18T18:04:00.008+02:00

Saturday's big Par-Tay went off without a hitch. 90 people gathered at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate to celebrate my parents-in-law. In return, we were treated to great food, good wine, and fantastic entertainment in the form of 'The Three Waiters' - three opera singers pretending to be a French, Italian and British waiter, respectively. It was a hilarious battle of the silly, much to the amusement of everyone present.

My boys were the only children at the party, and I am proud to say they were very well behaved (though I must admit to a little confusion -- I mean, how come they don't behave like that around the house?). They did get to sneak their DSes into the dining room, but played very little, preferring to socialize (another source of confusion...).

Family and friends drove from all over the country, and some flew in from as far away as Germany, Switzerland and even the US for the weekend. Most of the family spent last night at the hotel, which is how we were able to put the boys to bed nice and early (eh...11:30 pm), and still continue partying until the hotel closed us down at 1 am.

Sadly, some of us (cough 'Mike' cough) thought we could continue partying like we were 21 all night, so he decided to join his much younger sister and brother on the town for another few hours. He finally made it back into the hotel room at 4 am, making quite a lot of noise and annoying me to no end with his utter lack of consideration for me and the fact that I was trying.to.sleep.

It was only this morning I realized the extent of his..ehem...inebriation, as he suffered through the worst hang-over in years. Even his 25-year-old brother was in pain, and had to spend most of the day sleeping it off. Only Katherine stood proud, proving once again that women really are the stronger sex.

Today was spent at the house in Ripon, where my mother-in-law hosted those out-of-town guests who had not yet left at a casual garden lunch. I even had the opportunity to meet a childhood friend of Mike's, a guy he's known since he was 4. It was a pleasant and relaxed day, with everyone being tired and slightly run down after yesterday's festivities.

I'm thinking tonight will be an early night.

Tomorrow is the big packing day. We have to squeeze everything we brought to England back into the suitcases we came with AND add to that pile the things we've acquired during our three weeks here. Thankfully, we've limited our purchases here to necessities only (football shirts for the boys, name plates for their doors (very important, that), cooking chocolate to make delicious toffee shortbread, that sort of thing), so it should not be an impossible task.

What will be an impossible task, I fear, is getting through check-in on Tuesday without having to pay for the extra weight we'll be begging the airline to take home with us.

At least they can't charge me for the extra weight I've piled on around my waist this year.

We began our adventure with a big family birthday party for my mother in Norway last July, so it is only fitting that we ended it with another big family celebration this weekend. I feel as if we've come full circle.

Our sabbatical has been all about family, both immediate and extended. We've made fantastic memories, for our children, and also for ourselves. I can't wait to immerse myself in the wealth of photos we've amassed during our time away, to relive some of the experiences of the past 10 months.

But now it's time to return to our life and our friends in Canada.

I'm curious to see how Canada will seem to us after a year away. Have we changed as much as I think we have, or not at all? Will there be a period of re-adjustment, or will we be back in the old swing of things within days?

Liverpool and York

2008-05-14T23:37:00.012+02:00

I've been a bad blogger lately.

I'd forgotten how hard it is living out of a suitcase, especially with kids in tow. I've also had quite a bit of work to do while we've been in England, meaning late nights and early mornings of work, plus daytime exploration/hang out time with the family.

In other words, no time for blogging.

Despite my distaste for suitcase living, I am so glad we've had this time with our British family. Not only has it made for a smoother transition from dreamland in Norway back to reality in Canada, but the boys and I have also had the opportunity to see many new sights in the UK.

Over the past week, we've basically travelled from coast to coast here in northern UK. I've already blogged about our trip to Whitby on the eastern coast, and last Tuesday we made the drive to the opposite coast, with a visit to Liverpool.

An added bonus in Liverpool was the service of a personal tour guide in the form of my lovely sister-in-law, Katherine. She's living the young and single life with a funky flat smack in the middle of town, and was more than happy to give us the grand tour.

The highlight of our visit to the birthplace of the Beatles, at least for the boys, was the voyage on the Yellow Duckmarine, an amphibian vehicle that tours both the city streets and the docks of Liverpool.

Sure, I may have noticed more than one Liverpudlian shaking heads as we passed them by in our duckmarine, but what the heck - the kids loved it, and we did get to see more of Liverpool than we'd have managed on foot.

In keeping with what seems to be a recurring theme on our English tour, we managed to squeeze in not one but two Cathedral visits during our day in Liverpool, both new - as in 20th century creations - which presented a change from previous Cathedral visits.

We saw the following Catholic Cathedral created by an Anglican architect:

And then we stopped at the Anglican Cathedral designed by a Catholic architect:

These cathedrals are within a stone's throw of each other, and I found their starkly different appearances and the fact that they were conceived by architects of the other faith hilarious. Any subliminal messages here, I wonder?

Today was spent in beautiful York, which is not a new city for me, but one I love coming back to. To entice the boys, we stopped by the Jorvik exhibit, taking us back to the time when the Vikings ruled much of England. The boys were more than proud to reveal their Scandinavian heritage to anyone who'd listen, and were fascinated by the extensive display of weaponry, skulls and bones dug up from an excavation site in central York.

Before dinner, we found time for a walk along the wall that circles York city centre, stopping for tea in a garden cafe along the way, before making it over to the fantastically beautiful York Minster.

For the first time ever, I was able to see the front of the Minster without scaffolding, as they have completed the repairs on that part of the building. It never ceases to amaze me how it was possible to create such intricate buildings on this enormous scale so long ago. The details are just astonishing.

Tomorrow is the day before The Party. And by The Party, I mean the big do planned for Saturday to celebrate the trifecta of my in-laws' 65th and 60th birthdays this year, plus their 30th wedding anniversary.

The weekend will no doubt be fun but hectic. And before we know it, Monday will be here, which is the day before the day we return to Canada.

The countdown continues...

Meanwhile, In Norway...

2008-05-14T08:40:00.003+02:00

My crazy viking dad enjoying the spring in the Norwegian mountains

Coastin'

2008-05-11T08:15:00.010+02:00

The last two nights were spent here:

In a traditional cottage in the tiny village of Cropton. The cottage is a funny contrast in mod-con and old-style housing. You have a brand spanking new kitchen and ditto bathroom, but you must remember to bend down to get from one room to another, lest you fancy close contact with a several foot wide plaster wall.

The local village pub provided two delicious dinners for us. And I don't mean fish wrapped in newspaper - apparently the Gordon Ramsey wave of fancy pub food has reached the upper north-east, as we had fantastic meals both nights. My only complaint was the North American size servings, which I felt compelled to finish.

Day one was spent looking for dinosaur fossils at Sandsend Beach:

And fish in the tidepools at Robin Hood's Bay:

Neither endeavour was crowned with success, though we did find several fossils of shellfish and a hermit crab for our troubles.

Lunch time was spent in and around the beautiful seaside town of Whitby, an old whaling town that is experiencing a big boost in tourism.

The town has a large and sandy beach, framed by small colourful shacks used by townspeople as their cottage on the water.

Day two was yet more exploration, much to the chagrin of the boys who seem to have a one-day-limit, before they need a day off to recuperate from sightseeing with their beloved DSes and perhaps a game or two of goof tennis.

Still, we persevered, visiting the white chalk cliffs by Flamborough Head, which are nesting grounds to millions of birds. This was quite a sight, even for cranky and hot kids, who were tired of walking.

Final stop on our way back to Ripon was Sutton Bank, which is the site of a massive white horse cut out of the chalky limestone cliff and visible from as far away as Thirsk in clear weather. Not realizing we could park directly underneath the horse, we parked some distance away, leaving ourselves a good hour long walk. The boys were not impressed, especially since as we finally got there, we couldn't really see the horse at all from our vantage point:

Fortunately, we had to walk past the grassy runway of a tiny cliff top airport, where glider planes were taking off, assisted by an equally tiny propeller plane. It was fun watching the gliders circle the hillsides in the beautiful weather, though the boys' excitement has me more than slightly worried about their future endeavours.

Today is the mandatory day of rest, as implemented by the kids, and tomorrow's plan is to pin Christopher down to get some of his shaggy do trimmed. This could be ugly - wish me luck!

Postcard from Yorkshire

2008-05-07T18:32:00.006+02:00

We've climbed Harrogate trees...

...and Brimham rocks...

We've admired Ripon Cathedral in the sunshine...

...but decided we like the Fountain Abbey ruins better...

We've mini putted...

'

...and pitched the real thing...

Tomorrow we're off to the coast. Fingers crossed that the rain stays AWAY.

How Norsemen Conquered England

2008-05-04T18:00:00.009+02:00

It takes more...

than a bit...

of rain...

to stop true Vikings...

from flexing their muscles...

Sadly, the same cannot be said for Englishmen...

Lincoln

2008-05-04T08:42:00.008+02:00

We arrived in Lincoln just before lunch to see Mike's brother, Alistair, and get a quick tour of his renovated house. He's done a great job with it, making me wonder how we can come up with a way to entice him to Canada. You see, there's a certain house in desperate need of some fixing up in Ontario somewhere...

We'd planned to visit Lincoln Cathedral, grab a quick lunch and then leave the boys with Alistair for a special sleepover, while Mike and I joined my in-laws at a concert near Leeds.

The boys could hardly contain themselves - Uncle Alistair is one of their all-time heroes - but they were not very interested in seeing yet another old church, wanting to hit the park instead. I guess they've reached their fill of sightseeing for a while.

I can't say I blame them, but I wish we'd shown them Lincoln Cathedral first, before they lost interest in all things antiquarian. It is truly a sight to behold.

Interestingly, the Cathedral was used instead of Westminster Abbey during the filming of 'The Da Vinci Code' a few years ago.

After saying goodbye to the boys, we set our sights on Ripon, a little under 2 hours north. We arrived with plenty of time before the evening's concert, so Mike and I took the opportunity to go for a walk.

We were only just returning to the house when I saw my mother-in-law running towards us. As she caught up with us she prefaced her news by "Let me just start by saying the boys are all right."

Not what you want to hear when you've left your children in a town two hours away.

It turns out that Alistair had injured his knee while playing soccer with the boys and was now at the emergency room, while the boys were being looked after by a couple of Alistair's friends. He didn't think he'd be able to take care of them overnight, seeing as he wasn't able to walk on his injured leg or drive a car.

There was really no other option but for Mike and his dad to get into the car and drive back to Lincoln. Getting results from the hospital took a while, so it was closer to midnight by the time they returned, with sleepy boys and - as it turned out - a hobbling Alistair.

Alistair's knee is not as bad as originally feared, though he is still in a lot of pain. He'll be seeing a specialist within the next few days and hopefully will be able to recover without surgery.

My mother-in-law and I were obviously concerned about the guys, but that didn't stop us from going to the concert as originally planned. We spent the evening seeing a performance of Elijah at the recently renovated Royal Hall in Harrogate. It was a great distraction from wondering what was going on in Lincoln.

Today is a lazy day around the house. We all need to chill out for a little bit, and that's exactly what we're planning to do.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Cambridge

2008-05-02T21:49:00.009+02:00

My father-in-law is an Old Boy from Cambridge, meaning he is a graduate of Cambridge University (Trinity College to be specific). Today he took us on a tour of his old stomping grounds.

I tried to imagine myself studying in a place as beautiful as this:

And I'm honestly not sure I would have gotten a lot done, if I were surrounded by views such as these:

Or these:

But then again, if I started to feel guilty about putting all that tuition money to waste, I'd just send up a quick prayer to the powers-that-be, either here:

Or in this 'modest' student chapel attached to the college:

After admiring the old buildings of the various colleges, we finished our afternoon visit with an attempt at 'punting' on the river Cam (vaguely reminiscent of the gondolas in Venice, but really an art-form all of its own, as Mike quickly realized):

Having seen enormous abbeys, churches and chapels in both London and here in Cambridge, it is hard to believe there are bigger ones still to come, but that is just what we'll see as we hit the town of Lincoln this morning. The boys are stopping for a night there with their uncle, before they join us in Ripon tomorrow.

And so the adventure continues...

48 Hours In London

2008-05-01T17:31:00.008+02:00

I was overly optimistic when I mentioned the sun peeking out yesterday morning. It did peek out - for about 2 minutes. Then it promptly disappeared, not to be seen again. It was also awfully cold - the bone-chilling cold that cuts through however many layers of clothing you've managed to put on.

Having said that, we still managed to have an excellent day of touring the city. We hopped on the double-decker, which was a stroke of genius in the cold and wet weather. Some of the buses have partially covered top decks, and much to their delight, the boys managed to secure front row seating.

We whizzed by the Parliament buildings, Big Ben looking awfully wet much to Little Ben's delight. We also saw Buckingham Palace (the Queen apparently in residence, but not available to wave to us), Westminster Abbey, Trafalger Square, Downing Street and Tower Bridge, before we stopped at Tower of London for a closer look.

(Yeah, it was cold!)

The Tower of London was a huge hit with the boys, for very different reasons. Christopher was enthralled with the collection of Crown Jewels, in particular the world's largest diamond. True to himself, he kept asking and speculating about how much money various crowns, ornamental swords, maces and staffs would be worth if sold. Here's a boy who likes his money! Sadly, the museum did not allow photography, but Christopher made sure to stack up on postcards before we left.

B boy, on the other hand, could not get enough of the Royal Armouries and its extensive weaponry displays. We spent a good hour just looking at swords, guns, cannons and armour, and by the end of it, he told me the museum was the best ever! Big words from a boy who wants nothing to do with museums of any kind.

(Rather anatomically correct body armour)

After a quick stop at the hotel, we made our way to the West End for a pizza dinner before hitting the theatre to see Joseph. The musical didn't disappoint. The stage production was fairly simple, but very funny, and we all loved it. The boys sang along to every song, and were thrilled to see Elvis perform twice. We even had a bit of drama when the production ran into technical problems part-way through the first half, but the issues were quickly resolved and the show continued without another hitch.

**********************************************************

Today, in contrast, has been much warmer and - dare I say it - sunny! We began our morning with a lovely walk along the river Thames, where street artists provided much amusement for the boys, especially B boy who couldn't decide which entertainer to support with his single coin.

(The chameleon was the lucky winner)

After a delicious lunch by the side of the river, we slowly made our way towards the London Eye, the massive ferris wheel assembled for the Millenium celebrations in London 8 years ago.

Despite Christopher's fear of heights, even he enjoyed the trip up in the capsule, with the most amazing views of the city of London.

Enticing the boys with promises of ice cream, we then proceeded to walk through St. James's Park towards Buckingham Palace. The tulips were out in full bloom and the floral displays everywhere lulled us into thinking that spring had finally arrived.

That is, until we were hit by a freak hail storm. Only in London will you find tourists sporting sunglasses AND umbrellas, all while taking refuge under trees because of massive and painful hail.

The hail storm only lasted about a minute, and shortly thereafter the sun was out in full force again. Odd, but I'm not complaining.

As I write this, we are getting ready to meet up with Mike's dad at Covent Garden for dinner. We have yet to have a bad meal in London, and I'm sure tonight won't disappoint, either. Not great for the diet, but oh-so-good for the soul.

Tomorrow we are off to Cambridge, before we slowly make our way up towards the Yorkshire dales. Keeping busy is the name of the game!

You Say Goodbye I Say Hello

2008-04-30T07:35:00.009+02:00

Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my post yesterday. I felt much better after reading them. You are all so right - this is just the start of a new adventure, not the end of anything. Norway will still be there.

Following a manic last-minute packing session, we flew off yesterday afternoon after a slightly teary, but all in all fairly stoic goodbye with my family.

The boys were quiet and more subdued than usual in the airport, though their moods were livened somewhat by being told they could buy 'whatever they wanted' from the duty-free candy store (with higher prices than the local supermarkets - gah!).

B boy had taken one of the anti-sickness pills he so hates, and promptly fell asleep as the flight taxied out to the runway. He didn't wake up again until we were taxiing into our gate at London's Heathrow airport. Now that's the way to travel.

We had left a gloriously sunny spring day in Norway and arrived in England to -- rain. Probably the perfect reflection of my somber mood, but still...

On the upside, we were out of the airport in record speed - fortunately we did not have to deal with the luggage mess in the new terminal 5 - and the taxicab driver was jolly and friendly, and made us all laugh with his comments on London weather. The drive into town seemed to go much faster than we'd feared.

The boys were in awe of the hotel Mike's family has booked, and I have to admit - it is pretty swanky. We are staying close to Kensington, in a business hotel with apartments. Our apartment must be one of the biggest ones there, with three large bedrooms and attached washrooms, a new and well equipped kitchen, LCD TVs everywhere. Everything very nice looking and with high-end furnishings. Christopher went around in awe for a few minutes, commenting on this and that, and finally said "This is a suite!" I think my boy will be disappointed next time we check into a Holiday Inn :)

The boys were pretty tired after an emotional couple of days, so we decided to order food in, after which they hit the sack.

Today we are doing what Jen suggested, hopping on the double-decker bus to sightsee without listening to 'tired legs' stories from short people. Then we are off to the Tower of London, before ending the day with the boys' favourite musical of all times - Joseph and the Amazing Technicoloured Dreamcoat.

And guess what - despite the forecast - I am actully seeing sunshine peeking through the clouds as I write this. Cross fingers!

Top 5 Reasons It's Time To Leave Norway

2008-04-29T15:20:00.001+02:00

The day has finally arrived. It's moving day. Leaving day. Goodbye day. We are off to England for three weeks with Mike's family. We fly out at 3 pm, and we are going to have a great time. First we are 'doing' London for about a week. Then we'll make a stopover in Cambridge, before we return to Ripon near Leeds in Yorkshire for a couple of weeks of family time.

I know it's going to be lots of fun.

But right now, nothing feels great. It's 5 am, and I'm wide awake. In between goodbye parties, packing, quality family time, farewell dinners and shopping, I've been handling this whole leaving business with aplomb. But this morning I woke up with a big, aching hole in my stomach. I feel so torn right now, between desperately wanting to stay and recognizing that our life is back in Canada - and that it is really a very good life.

A nagging voice at the back of my head keeps asking me how I can have a good life so far away from my family. Isn't family what life is all about? But I KNOW that once I come back to my old life, I will be happy to see all my wonderful friends, my house and the lovely weather that is Ontario in the summer.

Mike is being very good about this whole thing. During times where I've been excessively whiny about going back, he's even suggested that we could consider moving here permanently if, after spending some time back in Canada, we find life really is better for us here. But, in all seriousness, I couldn't do that to him. There's nothing for him here, except language barriers. He'd give it a try if I asked him to, but I am not that selfish (I hope).

So I know these next few hours are the last of 'living' in Norway, at least for the foreseeable future.

The boys and their cousins had a final sleepover last night. My nephews are skipping school today, and all four boys are currently snoozing away. I'm going to miss these weekend campouts as much as anything else. I've gotten used to have three or four boys, not just two. And this morning, these four boys are going to 'save' me from totally breaking down. They will keep me busy making breakfast and doling out washing and clothing instructions. Then we'll drop off the nephews at home, while we pack two cars with our luggage and head towards the airport.

In closing, and in a pathetic attempt to lighten the mood somewhat, I give you:

The Top 5 Reasons It's Time To Leave Norway

5. When your child complains that he's had a long school day after finishing at 1 pm.

How is he going to re-adjust to school ending at 3:30 pm every single day if we don't take him back now?

4. When you can no longer button your pants due to an overindulgence of rich and creamy Norwegian chocolate.

Although that's not really a good reason to leave -- why not just chuck your old pants and pick up new ones, with friendlier sizing and elastic waistband?

3. When your oldest child just received a cell phone, but isn't happy with the GPS-less model.

Seriously - kids in Norway are way too technologically endowed.

2. When you realize you just paid 6 dollars for 7 strawberries.

Or $20 for a glass of wine, $15 for a movie ticket, not to mention $200 dollars for a pizza dinner. And you didn't bat an eyelid.

1. When you know that if you stay here one more month, or even just one more day, you will never, ever agree to leave, and your husband will have to carry you, kicking and screaming, onto that airplane.

And that's all.

Christopher's Last Day

2008-04-28T12:31:00.005+02:00

How To Plan A Goodbye Party for Grade 5 Students

In advance:
Buy cups, plates and napkins - check
Buy fruit and drinks - check
Buy present and flowers for teacher - check
Beg sister to bake famous chocolate cake for the second time in four days - check
Order pizzas for pickup at 10:45 am - check

Morning of:
Pop popcorn - check
Cut up fruit - check
Carry drinks, present, flowers and snacks to car - check
Pick up pizza - check

During:
Feverishly replenish drinks while marvelling at the amount of pop children can consume in 5 seconds flat - check
Make sure everyone has access to pizza and kick yourself because you ordered too many 'nacho' pizzas and not enough of the plain pepperoni pizzas - check
Prepare slices of chocolate cake without accidentally eating too much for the yummy frosting - check
Take tens of pictures of your boy wonder with his friends, amazed at how seamlessly and easily he fits in after only a few months in the class - check
Try hard not to cry when the class presents your son with an album of personal messages, photos and mementos for him to bring back home to Canada - check

After:
Shed a tear as you walk home again, relieved at how well everything has worked out, but sad that it is coming to an end - check
Wonder how come your son never mentioned any of the cute girls in the class, when they all seemed very taken with him - check

Change Is In The Air

2008-04-26T07:05:00.007+02:00

For the last few weeks, I do not think I've slept past 6 am once. The sun wakes me up each morning by flooding the room with sunlight well before the alarm clock considers jumping into action.

It's a glorious way to wake up - in every sense of the word. I do not have to rush out of bed to prepare for the day. I have plenty of time to lie and think about everything and nothing, before I turn to the task of dragging two groggy boys to the breakfast table.

The evenings are equally light. Yesterday, Mike and I went out for a walk at 8:30 pm, and when we returned from an hour-long stroll around our neighbourhood, the sun was still high and bright in the sky.

These long days are one of the biggest benefits of being this far north. Sure, we pay for it during the winter, but it's a trade-off I'm happy to make.

Though there's still frost on the ground each morning, the sun quickly heats up the day and the trees, shrubs and plants are bursting to explode into full spring foliage. It won't be long now, until the last remnants of snow in the sun-deprived areas behind the garage are gone forever.

Posters made by the kids to Benjamin

Transition is in the cards everywhere, as B boy said goodbye to his Norwegian school class yesterday.

After a party day at school, with yummy food, speeches and presents, he came home with letters and drawings from every child in his class, a photo album of his months at the school, not to mention lots and lots of good memories.

The level of success Benjamin's had this year is more gratifying to me than almost anything else we've done, as he was my biggest concern when we embarked on this adventure.

Unlike his big brother who charmed his way through childhood with an easy smile and friendly demeanor, Benjamin can be a bit socially awkward.

While he is the most generous and caring boy I know, when he gets into a group setting, or feels insecure, he starts acting silly and goofy, forgetting any and all manners he may have picked up along the way.

To the uninitiated, he probably seems wild, restless and out of control, when the fact of the matter is that he's shy and unsure about how to handle those feelings of insecurity.

I was worried that coming to a different school, learning another language and having to make new friends would be too much for him. Mike and I had an 'emergency' plan of withdrawing him from school if things didn't work out for him, and simply home-schooling him instead.

But children are so resilient, aren't they? Not only has Benjamin done an excellent job learning a new language, he's also made more friends here than he made in three years of school in Canada.

These last few weeks have been chock-full of playdates for my B boy, eager to squeeze in every last minute of social time with his little buddies. Plans have been made to meet up next time we're in Norway. Email and MSN addresses have been exchanged.

While B boy still suffers from awkwardness and over-excitability in new settings, he really has come such a long way in learning to manage those feelings. He's changed a lot these last 10 months, and I couldn't be prouder of my baby boy.

Benjamin's Last Day

2008-04-24T19:02:00.005+02:00

I guess progress is being made, packing-wise. Benjamin's closet is pretty empty at this point, and this morning he only had a couple of jeans and three or four shirts to last him until we leave on Tuesday. The rest had been packed in suitcases ready to go.

So don't ask me why I picked up more clothes for him today on my shopping quest.

The shorts were just too darn cute to pass up. And of course he needed a matching shirt to go with them. And a hat. And belt.

Of course he did.

Or maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment, and I don't feel like I've really packed until I'm jumping up and down on the suitcases to get them to close.

Yeah, that must be it.

Tomorrow is B boy's last day in the Norwegian school. His teacher has cancelled all lessons tomorrow, and they are having a party day in his honour. Today they decorated the classroom with posters and balloons in preparation for tomorrow.

It's touching to see how much effort they're putting into making his last day a good one. We are bringing in pizzas, fruit and drinks, and my sister has baked her famous chocolate cake for the big party.

It'll be difficult to say goodbye to the class, as Benjamin's had such a good time there. We always knew he'd only be there for a little while, but still...

Moving sucks.

Stuck

2008-04-23T06:44:00.002+02:00

Paris, April, 2008

Of Exercise and Exploration

2008-04-21T13:31:00.018+02:00

I was thrilled to wake up at 5:30 am this morning, since what woke me up was sunlight pouring in through the curtains. Spring has arrived in Norway at last! Mother Nature has forgiven me.

Which is why, after sending the boys off to school and putting out a few work-related fires, I put on my shoes and went for a run.

Oh.My.Gawd.

Six months of chocolatey sedatedness have done more damage than I imagined. There was jiggling of body parts I didn't even know could jiggle. And in this country of mountains, even the slightest incline seemed like a Mt. Everest climb.

I eventually managed to run for 25 minutes - with a couple of life-saving breaks thrown in - and I suppose that's OK for the second run this year.

But I clearly have my work cut out for me, and I was so disappointed because my first run - just three days ago - had been much more enjoyable.

Of course, that may have been because it was on a flat surface. Or, more likely, because I got to run past this:

I mean, who wouldn't be able to manage a few minutes of leisurely activity if you got to do it along the Seine, past the Notre Dame in Paris?

Jiggling notwithstanding, Mike and I spent a fabulous 3 days in Paris, as part of my Christmas present. I'd been to Paris a long time ago, and frankly wasn't very impressed with the city, as I found it dirty, crowded and the Parisians rude.

But no more. I now officially 'aime' Paris.

First of all, the buildings look like they've all had major facelifts, or at least undergone serious sandblasting. In addition to the sparkling clean Notre Dame, both the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay were in impeccable condition, as were the gilded statues that abound in Paris. Perhaps they'd been cleaned in the hopes of being awarded the 2012 Olympics.

What's certain is that Paris is now one of the cleanest European capitals I've been to. Every morning, the garbage receptacles were lined with new, empty bags, and beautiful floral displays could be found on almost every corner.

Furthermore, while Paris is still a huge and busy city, its people couldn't have been friendlier, or more gracious when silly foreigners try to test out their tenous grasp of the French language. You know, like responding with a resounding 'si' instead of a 'oui'. Not that I'd know anything about that!

The weather was variable on our weekend away, but we still managed to make the most of it, visiting all the usual tourist traps...

Sacré-Coeur

Arc de Triomphe

Moulin Rouge

Versailles and its Hall of Mirrors

And of course...

But now it's back to reality, which for me means facing suitcases bursting at the seams. We have one week left in Norway, and I'm not sure there's enough hours in the day to get everything done.

Plus squeeze in a run each day.

I guess I'll be jiggling a little longer...

Ode To Canada

2008-04-15T11:10:00.002+02:00

Note: It's still snowing today, but I thought I'd spare you more weather whine. Instead, I'm going a bit preachy on y'all, as I've been psyching myself up to leave Norway and return to Canada. So without further ado...I give you my "Ode To Canada."

Babies are born colourblind. They do not distinguish between blue or brown eyes. A white face or a black one.

Babies love whoever loves them back.

As they grow, children begin to look for more than just baby lovin', but they're still making friendships based on personality traits. They remain unmoved by externals such as skin colour, gender, size or grooming for a long time. Two kids who like to talk will naturally gravitate towards each other, as will those who prefer to run and jump.

Oh, to be wise like a child again!

Children's International Summer Villages (CISV) is an organization that sends children at age 11 to camps all over the world for a month. The organization, which celebrated 50 years in 2007, was conceived by a child psychologist after the devastations of World War II.

The intent behind CISV is building peace through friendship, and its central idea is that this must begin with the younger generation.

While they are still colourblind.

I was lucky enough to go to a CISV camp in Brazil as an 11 year old girl, along with three other kids from my country. The impact this experience had on me cannot be exaggerated, as it allowed me to make friends with children whose backgrounds couldn’t have been more different from my own.

And the single most important lesson I learnt that summer was that behind those external differences, we were really all the same.

But my children are even luckier than I am. They don’t need to go to a camp half around the world – they live this reality every day in their very own community in Canada.

My boys have grown up with friends and neighbours who have different traditions, religions (occasionally wearing different clothing in deference to these religions) and skin colour, often speaking more than one language at home.

Mike and I like to refer to the children’s school as a "mini UN", filled by kids who hail from countries all around the planet. Lunchtime is a sight to see. Out come the naan and curries, the rice and the noodles, the burgers and fries, the croissants and cheese. It is a veritable feast of world cuisine.

Through school and play dates, our children and their friends take bits and pieces from their individual backgrounds, and create a brand new value system that is much more international than anything I had a chance to experience in just one month in Brazil.

We now celebrate holidays I had never heard of before, we eat foods my parents would gawk at, and we have fun doing it!

Imagine how the world would look if today's world leaders had gone to a CISV camp or grown up in a community such as ours in Canada. Would we still have all these conflicts based on either religion or a fight for wealth?

Perhaps I am naïve, but it seems to me that many of the problems in the world today are caused by fear. Fear of the unknown and fear of having things taken away (sadly, we don’t become better at sharing as we age – quite the contrary).

And as we grow older, the instinct to surround ourselves with what is familiar - and therefore less challenging - appears to become more ingrained.

We gradually become less open, less colourblind.

That's why CISV has it right – it is important to start with the younger generation.

Or better yet, grow up in a place where everyone is different. Because if different is what you are used to, what’s familiar to you – then it’s not really different at all. Or scary.

As great as Norway is - for us it has been absolutely wonderful this year – I think the future of the world relies on inter-marriage, figuratively and literally. And in that respect, Canada is light-years ahead.

"I'll Take Weekend for $1000, Alex"

2008-04-13T13:13:00.006+02:00

A: What you eat when you're stuck indoors for the third weekend in a row, thanks to inclement weather.

Q: What are brownies, muffins, banana bread and scones?

Because, frankly, focusing excessive boy energy on this:

is better than giving them free reign:

But I'm not taking any responsibility for not fitting into my shorts if spring and/or summer ever does decide to arrive.

You know who's to blame!

Are You Kidding Me?

2008-04-12T12:14:00.005+02:00

Thursday:

Saturday:

I guess Mother Nature didn't appreciate my little joke. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to appease her, I'd be much obliged.

Because all this white stuff - it's getting old...

When you were young, was it the old days?

2008-04-09T20:35:00.011+02:00

I didn't physically hurt him or anything. I just stared at him hard and long:

Of course not!

Me thinks that little monkey known as B boy won't be repeating that question any time soon.

Although he's not the only one causing trouble at the moment. The Universe appears to be conspiring against me, since I also had to endure my just-born-yesterday eldest son going to a disco last night.

That's right, baby Christopher even showered, picked out a cool shirt, fixed up his hair with gel AND chose a leather necklace to wear, before he ran out the door on his way to the school to party all school night long.

I'm pretty sure there were no grade 5 discos in the olden days. Not that I'd know anything about that...

(Not Quite) Wordless Wednesday

2008-04-09T07:37:00.005+02:00

Continuing the recap of the year's excursions, we saw this in September:

...a better look from the side:

Do you think the poor driver got two tickets?

And just in case you're wondering where to avoid breaking traffic rules, here's a hint:

If that made your mouth water in anticipation, hop on the first plane to beautiful Prague in the Czech Republic:

Attached

2008-04-07T09:39:00.006+02:00

I looked at the computer clock as I clicked Enter to see that it was 9:03 pm on Friday evening. Then I plonked myself on the couch to continue watching 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' (yes, the last person in the Universe to see it - and how come no one told me not to bother?).

10 minutes later, the first text message came in. Followed by another, and another and yet another. I checked my emails an hour later, and there were 5 replies. The landline rang at 10:30 pm.

Clearly we'd seriously underpriced the trampoline in the online ad.

The text messages, emails and calls kept coming all weekend long.

Using the 'first come first serve' principle, the trampoline will be picked up this evening. I'm planning on keeping Christopher inside and safely ensconced in the basement, in front of his beloved computer.

The less he knows, the better for him. Judging from the teary drama he put on when I tried to get him to throw out the holey socks he was wearing the other day ("But these are my favourite socks"), I don't know how he'll react if he finds out his trampoline is gone.

Better to just leave him believing it's still safely stored in the garage. It's not like we'll be able to put it up before we leave anyway, what with all the snow that fell yesterday, and more in the forecast for this upcoming week.

But that knot in my tummy? It just grew another few centimeters.

Moving sucks.

Weekend Report

2008-04-06T18:36:00.008+02:00

We walked down to town yesterday, which is a good 6 km walk. It was a sunny day, and the boys did pretty well. Only minor whining about tired legs and a few 'are we there yet' disturbed an otherwise perfectly family oriented, healthy outdoor weekend activity.

Giddy with our parental awesomeness and ability to ensure our children's physical well-being and plenty of fresh air and exercise, we promptly treated the boys to McDonald's for lunch.

We wouldn't want to overdo the healthy lifestyle.

Or risk a major culture shock when the boys return to Canada in just a few short weeks.

Old habits die hard, fortunately, and I'm happy to report that the Norwegian chicken nuggets and fries are up to Canadian standards.

Good thing, that - considering the $60 we paid for four combos.

Today, my sister and four of our boys went to see Horton Saves a Who. The young'uns enjoyed it, the older ones gave it a 2.5 out of 10.

My sister and I just watched the minutes tick by. Veeeeeeery slowly.

It was raining and miserable as we came out of the theatre. While driving up towards the house again, we noticed that the cars heading down towards town were covered in white stuff. And sure enough, it was snowing like crazy as we arrived home.

Which pretty much confirms my suspicion that Mother Nature didn't get my memo last week.

So in lieu of something sunny and spring-like to show off, I give you the following:

Is there anything cuter than a baby bum in jeans?

The chip off the old block doesn't fall far from the tree

2008-04-04T14:28:00.006+02:00

I went to a parent-teacher conference today, for the B boy.

The news were surprisingly good.

He is where he should be in Norwegian, and not really behind the others. Pretty awesome, considering he didn't speak more than a couple of words of Norwegian 8 months ago, let alone read or wrote the language.

Thrilled to bits by the feedback, I offered to get the boy a reward for working so hard at school.

I figured he'd want a new game for the DS or the PlayStation, or perhaps a night out to the local playland, or maybe even go see a movie.

I was wrong.

As a reward, my boy wants chocolate.

I'm now thinking the B in "B boy" stands for Brilliant.

Cranky

2008-04-03T15:26:00.005+02:00

So I cracked open the first bag bright and early this morning, to get started on the monumental task of packing.

The bag's now sitting on the living room floor with one winter coat in it, two toques and four belts.

It took me six hours to get that far.

B boy is downstairs with a couple of buddies making lots of noise. Christopher is there, too, on MSN with some girl from class. They seem happy.

I'm not.

I loathe packing. And I've already pointed out to my husband the injustice of me doing all this work (above mentioned coat, toques and belts), and him doing nothing and being absolutely useless. Twice.

Good times...

Wordless Wednesday

2008-04-02T01:35:00.001+02:00

I'm going use the next few WWs as an opportunity to review some of the amazing vistas from the past year. This is a shot of Aurlandsdalen in Norway from last August.

To My Husband

2008-04-01T21:08:00.004+02:00

12 years of foolishness and still going strong!

Happy Anniversary!

I Have A Knot In My Tummy

2008-03-31T07:36:00.019+02:00

....and it's growing bigger every day.

Tomorrow marks four weeks until we leave Norway and start our journey back to Canada, with a three week stopover in the UK.

The countdown has definitely begun.

Holy Moly, I am not ready for my gap year to end.

When we started this adventure, I knew there'd be ups and downs. I expected things to not always go as planned, and for there to be days when I'd wish we'd never set out to do this year abroad.

But y'all - there's not been enough downs! We've enjoyed this time much too much for me to want it to end.

And by enjoyed I don't just mean our trips to Copenhagen, Kiel, Cyprus, Prague, Berlin, Manchester or the Alps. Although they were wonderful, and served as great reminders of all the things Europe has to offer.

But as awesome as those trips were, they are not first and foremost in my mind, when I reflect on the past 8 months. Instead, it is clear to me that the most valuable lesson I will take with me from this trip is learning to appreciate the gift of time.

Time to just be. Either by myself, or with my boys. On a Cypriot beach or at the kitchen table.

Time to really look at the child, as he tells the same joke for the 10th time, and, instead of getting annoyed that he's not done eating yet so I can go do laundry, focus on the cheekiness that emanates from his eyes, watch the eyebrows bop up and down as he excitedly waits for his brother to collapse on the floor with laughter.

I belong to the school of living life in a mad scramble, always trying to squeeze as many things into the day as possible. Every moment is an opportunity to do. Whether it be host an extra dinner party or wash another load of laundry, no time should be left unused.

This transition to life in the slow lane has been quite the eye-opener to me, and I've come to the conclusion that I like it! I don't have a lot of patience to begin with, so anything that makes me more patient is really a benefit, especially for the boys. And slowing things down a notch or two does make me more patient.

As an extra bonus, Mike and I have survived 8 months together. And by together I mean every.single.day. And not only have we survived, we've thrived, rediscovering each other's quirks (well, his quirks, anyway - I am perfect of course. Except for the patience thing), going for walks when the boys are at school, watching movies.

Heck, we even grocery shop together now, and [voice gushing with pride] Mike has become a Champion Grocery Bagger! I'm sure he'd beat any Loblaws cashier blindfolded with an arm tied behind his back.

Of course one of the real highlights of this trip has been spending so much time with our family, both Mike's in the UK (whom we'll see more of shortly), and mine here in Scandinavia. All those trips to the cottage have rarely been unaccompanied, and the few weekends spent in the lowlands have usually included visiting cousins, parents or siblings.

So it's with very mixed feelings that we now start packing up our belongings to take with us back to North America.

But of course, it is not all bad. We are all excited to catch up with our friends, many of whom have done an exceptional job of keeping in touch with us while we've been away.

We are also looking forward to living in our own house again (despite B boy's claim that he doesn't remember it), and finally getting the much anticipated kitchen and floor reno completed. The boys can't wait to swim in the pool again, although I don't know if they realize they'll still have to wait a few weeks after our return for that to happen!

Personally, I am also looking forward to once again living in a country where you can actually go out to eat meals without bankrupting yourself. Daily cooking for the last 8 months has been a hard thing to get used to, Beck and Katie's awesome recipe blogs notwithstanding, and I'm ready for a bit of a break. Not to mention food slightly more exotic than Mexican. Dim sum, anyone?

I realize we've been living in a bit of a time-warp, with minimal external pressures or stresses, and while I fully expect us to slip back into the Autobahn of fast living, if we are able to maintain just a little bit of the zen-like calm of these past months, then we're already ahead of the game.

Many of you have expressed a wish to do a similar trip with your family. To those of you with such dreams, I can only in the strongest words possible encourage you to DO IT!

If you can swing the expenses (and I will not kid you - it is a very expensive investment in your quality of life) and are willing to risk the potential career hit, then I can almost guarantee that you will not regret it. It really is mind-altering to watch the rat race from the sidelines for a few months.

So much so, that I'm already planning our next break a few years down the line. How does six months to a year on the beaches of Hawaii sound to you?

Dear Mother Nature,

2008-03-30T14:27:00.007+02:00

I guess it's that time again. You know, time to wave bye-bye to winter and hello to spring!

It's been a long, white winter, and we're ready for a bit of warmth and sunshine. But this year, I would be ever so appreciative if you'd please arrange the transition from this:

...to this:

...without a whole lot of that:

Because after a weekend cooped up inside due to a torrential downpour of the wet stuff, boys develop a rather nasty case of cabin fever.

Thank you in advance for your swift attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

One Frazzled Parent

Bestest of Brothers

2008-03-29T21:16:00.009+01:00

Christopher is having a sleepover tonight. In Benjamin's room. They are allowed to sleep over in each other's rooms on weekends, when we're not quite as strict about their bedtime.

They have actually had sleepovers with each other for years now. When Benjamin went through his 'I-don't-want-to-sleep-alone' period two years ago, he spent the better part of a year sleeping on a mattress on the floor in Christopher's room. Not once did Christopher complain about his younger brother camping out in his space.

When we first had children, I wasn't one of those brave mothers who planned to have children close in age so they could grow up together. Not that I didn't want that - I just didn't really consider it. My own siblings are three and six years younger than me, respectively, and I always felt very much like the 'eldest' of us three. My brother and sister had more to do with each other socially, but I was older and had another group of friends. Thus, I never entertained the idea of having a sibling as a best friend.

Despite the three-and-a-half years between my boys, they have become very close, and the year in Norway has strengthened that bond tremendously. Benjamin worships his brother, and although Christopher can be frustratingly overbearing with his baby bro at times, he is generally happy to have Benjamin as company. They are very goofy when left to their own devices, but is there a lovelier sound than your children laughing and playing together?

Though the boys are as different as night and day, I catch myself imagining them as best friends even as adults, setting up house in the same town. In fact, in my vision, they live down the street from each other. And here's the kicker - in my dream, my house is on that street, too! Right in between theirs.

A mother can hope, right?

Why Do You Always Have A Headache?

2008-03-27T15:56:00.011+01:00

...he asked.

Surprisingly, it isn't because of the way he teaches fractions (though that does make me want to smack his head against something very hard).

No, my headache is caused by spending days on end, trying to translate gibberish such as:

The software aids in the assessment of human brain scans enabling automated analysis through quantification of mean pixel values located within standard regions of interest facilitating comparison with existing scans derived from FDG-PET and SPECT studies.

Ugh!

[Aside to Mr. Technical Writer: Did you really think those fancy words would hide the fact that you don't understand how the machine works?]

Breathe in...breathe out...

After a few weekends of outdoor fun, this will be a working one. The boys will no doubt be thrilled to be left alone with their electronic loves, while Mike and I try to make headway in the piles of work screaming for attention.

If the weather gods are amenable (read: stop the snow already!), we may find time for a brisk walk, but other than that, I will be a slave to my computer.

I trust everyone else has much more exciting weekend plans, and look forward to reading all about them.

Happy Weekend!

Advanced Curriculum

2008-03-27T11:26:00.005+01:00

Wednesday, 4 pm, somewhere in Norway

After a few tense and teary moments (tense = me, teary = the boy), we finally figured out exactly what needed to be studied for today's math test.

Fractions!

The assigned study sheet was procured through yet another trek back to school, whereafter we discussed the basics of denominators and adding and subtracting. The practice questions - courtesy of the study sheet - were in the vein of:

1/4 + 2/4 = ?

The boy was doing fine, but I was getting frazzled, trying to get him to study and finish my own work, when Mike offered to step in as homework monitor.

And promptly discarded the study sheet in favour of his own practice questions:

1/2 + 2/5 – 4/7 +1/7 = ?

Forget about learning to walk before you run, because, you know, his boy is soooo beyond that.

And never mind the boy looking more bewildered and confused than ever...

Not So Wordless In the Mountains

2008-03-26T08:49:00.003+01:00

Since when did 4 adults + 3 children = 6 cell phones?

An Easter To Remember

2008-03-25T15:06:00.014+01:00

Yes, it was COOOOLD.... Fortunately, our cottage is equipped with both heated floors and a highly efficient wood burning stove. Once we'd crawled out of bed and put on a fire, we were toasty warm in no time.

And truthfully, the cold was a blessing in disguise, because it meant a stop to the raging snowstorm that had kept us cooped up inside for most of the previous day, while the cottage slowly disappeared in the masses of snow coming down from the heavens:

Of course, a little snow didn't stop the kids from having a blast:

But the adults got noticeably more active once the sun peaked out and heated things. Fabulously long skiing trips ensued, with and without children:

We also managed some outdoor lunches, barbecuing hotdogs and sandwiches, and even a bit of suntanning. That's viking blood for ya!

The kids, meanwhile, continued their frolicking with slides down the mountain side:

And the cottage roof:

However, Easter in Scandinavia is really all about food and aquavit (however did you know, Rima?), and even far away from civilization in the mountains we enjoyed excellent meals:

Thus, despite vigorous skiing, I am certain not an ounce of weight was shed. Which may have been a problem had spring been around the corner, but with the forecast calling for snow, snow, and more snow, I'm not worrying just yet.

Though I am considering putting in a call to Al Gore. He may need to revise his inconvenient truth a little bit, as the Norwegian weather gods clearly aren't playing on his team...

(I usually have to crane my neck and look waaaaay up to read this sign).

Waning Winter?

2008-03-24T19:58:00.005+01:00

Saturday morning at the cottage:

(US translation: -11.2°F outdoors and 53.6°F indoors).

2008-03-18T12:20:00.003+01:00

Happy Easter Everyone!

I'll be back to regale (bore?) you with one final snowfilled cottage trip when we return on Sunday.

Until then, may your Easter be filled with chocolate.

Is Singularity Overrated?

2008-03-17T10:05:00.018+01:00

Norway is extremely homogenous, with fewer than 5% of Norwegian citizens having a non-Germanic ethnic background. For us, coming from 10+ years in Canada, of which the last 6 were spent in the Toronto area - home of multiculturalism - it's been interesting to once again experience such homogeneity up close.

I knew, coming in, that this would be a transition, but it still amuses me just how similar people are here.

By similar...

...I don't just mean physically - although the vast majority of our community is white and fair. Benjamin's class has two students who are of a visibly different ethnicity (they are both from India), but Christopher's class does not have a single child whom I would suspect originally hailed from another country.

...or how we all dress our kids the same - although on any given day, one of my children will bring home a friend wearing the exact same sweater, shoes, gloves or bag. Apparently everyone in Norway shops for their boys at H&M.

...or how we all drive the same (silver) car, even though I on more than one occasion have gotten mad at the car key for refusing to open someone else's Golf.

What really makes me laugh is how we all do the same thing for the holidays. Such as the Easter holidays, where every man, woman and child head to the mountains for one last ski fest before spring can be welcomed with open arms.

The entire country shuts down. Try to schedule a work meeting with a Norwegian colleague during Easter. It's not going to happen. A broken down furnace? You're cold out of luck.

Nothing gets done in Norway during Easter, because there's no one around to do it. Walk into downtown Oslo, and it's like being in a ghost town.

There's no point in fighting it.

So go on, join the traffic on the single-lane highways heading up into the mountains for some sunny skiing in shorts. That's where the rest of Norway will be. And tomorrow afternoon, that's where we're planning to go, too.

Because in Norway, apparently, we're like everyone else.

Sunny Sunday

2008-03-16T17:58:00.002+01:00

It's a beautiful day in Norway!

We spent a few hours at a new playground park with my favourite boys, enjoying the sunshine and the taste of spring.

A good thing, too, because the weather forecast calls for snow for the rest of the week.

I'm choosing not to believe it until I see it.

Ich Bin Ein Berliner

2008-03-15T08:25:00.030+01:00

As you clever internets figured out, we hopped on a flight to Berlin. For those of you who guessed Prague - that was our destination of choice back in October, when we spent a 3-day-weekend in that beautiful city.

Back to Berlin.

Sadly, we had bad weather, so you'll have to use your imagination when viewing the pictures below. Grey and rainy skies do not make for good photography. In addition, the bus and U-bahn drivers were on strike, making it slightly more of an effort to get around. Good for the old leg muscles, though walking in stormy weather wasn't the funnest thing ever. Still, without whiny boys, we were pretty much game for anything.

We flew into Schoenefeld airport, in former East-Berlin, and hopped on the train into town. On Mike's suggestion, I had booked a hotel near the Kurfurstendamm, the premier shopping street of former West-Berlin.

The very first thing that caught my eye as we stepped out of Zoo Station was the ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm church:

Clearly this was once a building of monumental dimensions, but following a British RAF air strike in 1943, all that was left was the burned out remains of the belfry. At first, I was amazed that the city had kept these ruins, because it seemed to be such a harsh reminder of the war, but I soon realized that this was only one of numerous such mementos of the city's violent past.

We started our tour of the city by catching the train - the only public transportation still running - to the brand new Berlin Hauptbahnhof, the largest Central Station in Europe.

It is a sight to behold, all wrapped in wavy glass and steel, spanning several concourses and with the requisite shopping and free wi/fi making it a highlight of modern Berlin.

The Central Station is situated straight across for the German Reichstag building, which I posted a yummy chocolate version of yesterday. Although the external walls of the building date back to the 1800s, the building was completely gutted and renovated after German unification, and the dome was added as a nod to the cupola of the original building.

Entrance to the dome is free, provided you have the patience to line up in the rain and undergo an airport-like security screening. It offers a 360 degree view of Berlin, and directly below it, through a glass floor, the German parliament may be observed when in session. Sadly, the rain and wind were at their worst when we made it to the top of the dome, so we could only imagine the spectacular views you'd have on a sunny day. Still, the construction of the dome and the circular pathway to its top alone made it a worthwhile visit.

The Reichstag is just a stone's throw from the famed Brandenburger Tor. Brandenburger Tor was one of only a couple of structures on Pariser Platz to survive the relentless bombing leading up to the Nazi defeat in 1945. Dating back to the 1700s, this is one of the true jewels of the city. Even on a rainy and miserable day, the building took you back to another time, when citizens were only allowed to pass through the two outermost gates, while the Emperor entered through the middle arched entry and drove up Unter den Linden boulevard to the Palace:

Brandenburger Tor was of course also the site of President Reagan's famous - and incredibly well-timed - 1987 speech: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

The most striking thing about modern day Berlin is the constant juxtaposition of venerable heritage buildings with new, modern, glass-and-steel construction. We saw several examples of this along the way, including this Frank Gehry signature inside a DZ Bank building connected to Brandenburger Tor:

What is it? I have no idea, and apparently neither does anyone else. Its sheer construction, though, is mind boggling, leaving us as puzzled and amused as when we caught sight of this entertaining addition to the German Historical Museum:

Much of new Berlin is like this - airy and fun. The Potsdamer Platz shopping mecca is a feat of engineering marvel, with the Sony roof astounding spectators as it lights up the night with the colours of the rainbow. For us, however, it proved a great place to find shelter from the biting rain and wind, as well as an opportunity to pick up an extra sweater for our trek onwards:

But as I alluded to earlier, don't be fooled by the lightness of new construction - you don't have to dig deep to find layers of Berlin's painful past. Memorials are everywhere - such as parts of the Berlin wall, still preserved by the entrance to the above-mentioned Potsdamer Platz:

Standing in front of the Sony and Daimler Chrysler Centres, it was difficult to imagine a time just 20 years ago, when neighbours could not meet and families could not visit. And yet, throughout Berlin, along the former site of the wall are memorial markings that do not allow us to forget:

For me the most heart-wrenching experience was the Holocaust memorial we visited a block south of the Brandenburger Tor:

It consists of 2711 slabs of concrete of various heights. It is stark, serious and shockingly effective.

We also visisted the Topography of Terror, an outdoor museum on the site of the headquarters of the SS and Gestapo during World War II. Having grown up in Europe, I studied the war extensively in school, but actually being on the site where so many of the atrocities took place brought it home in a much more real and personal way.

The museum displays are housed in the ruined cellars of the Gestapo headquarters, where many political prisoners were tortured and executed. Large placards with photos of victims being deported to their deaths still stun today. I don't think any visitor to the museum can help but feel horrified by the sheer evil that occurred in the 1930s and 1940s, particularly in central Europe.

Our lightening fast visit to Berlin was obviously quite the study in contrasts. I was not prepared to be so openly and brutally confronted with Europe's bloody past, but at the same time, I was also surprised by how far Berlin has come in its unification efforts. If it hadn't been for the wall markers along the streets, and the memorials, it would be impossible to tell former East Berlin from West Berlin, at least in the city centre.

It is absolutely to Berlin's credit that, while the city today is a world metropolis with great shopping, restaurants and architecture, it does not attempt to hide the atrocities of years gone by. Rather, these legacies have been incorporated into the present day, and help form a mosaic of human history that is absolutely unique to Berlin.

Moreover, Berliners are friendly, welcoming and helpful, my pathetic German notwithstanding, and the hotels are absolutely world class.

I only hope I have a chance to visit again (in better weather!) to enjoy a stroll along the beautiful Unter den Linden boulevard and perhaps go for a run around the Tiergarten park, or on the Charlottenburg Castle grounds.

Still Tired...

2008-03-14T14:00:00.008+01:00

...but I'm not anticipating getting a lot of sympathy, since it is self-inflicted.

Living far away from most of our family in Canada, we rarely have a chance to go anywhere sans les enfants. Which is why, when my parents graciously offered to babysit, we wasted no time!

Never mind that we'd just returned from a week in France. Or that tackling Mt. Laundry would be a near impossible task to manage in 24 hours.

We gladly jumped back into the rat race called 'airport-hopping-in-Europe'.

Any guesses as to where we headed?

A few hints:

- Its location is within 2 hours from Oslo by air.
- Its history is arguably among the most devastating and divisive in the twentieth century.
- Fortunately, over the past 20 years or so, it has enjoyed an amazing rejuvenation.

The parliament building looks like this in chocolate:

And here's an inside view of the actual parliament dome - just one of the city's architectural triumphs from the past couple of decades:

So come on, don't be shy...give me your BEST guess!

France + Lost + Blogger = Severe Headache

2008-03-09T18:48:00.015+01:00

Warning: If you are not in the mood for a rambling post that's all over the place, please come back and visit me another time, when I'll most likely be operating on more than 3 hours of sleep. Thank you.

There I was, trying to multitask by uploading pictures of our skiing holiday while catching up on the latest episode of Lost...only to be thwarted by Blogger's blatant refusal to accept my favourite holiday shots.

Sigh.

Blame Blogger if you like, but this was the weakest episode of Lost yet this year. Too many things just didn't add up - like why Penny's father would want to 'exploit' the island? Or why Dan and Charlotte wouldn't just tell the Losties that they were going to neutralize the gas, rather than knocking Kate unconscious and almost killing Juliette? And honestly, how come everyone's suddenly letting Locke call all the shots, including releasing Ben from capture?

Since both Lost and Blogger have let me down in my state of severe grogginess (arriving back home at 4 am will do that to you), I take comfort in knowing that as soon as my head hits the pillow tonight, I will be dreaming of this:

Don't I look like I know what I'm doing? With Mont Blanc in the background, to boot.

Despite my predictions to the contrary, we had amazing weather throughout our holiday. Although it was frequently overcast in the mornings, by the afternoon, the sun would peek out and warm up cold faces to the point that we are all sporting sunburns on noses and cheeks.

Upon our arrival last Saturday, however, I really did wonder if we'd be hiking instead of skiing. There was no snow anywhere around the airport or along the highway as we drove towards the resort. It was only as we turned up the mountain, the white stuff revealed itself. The effects of the very mild European winter this year were evident, as only the mountain tops were covered in snow:

Our boys had the best holiday! Christopher was already a competent skier, but B boy made enormous strides this week, and officially made moi the slowest skier in the family. I knew that day was coming, but I thought I had a year or so to get used to the idea. Sadly, no. Benjamin now bombs down the runs like nobody's business, leaving me in the wake of his snow spray.

Like his dad and brother before him, he doesn't read signs very well:

Though we were on the slopes for 6-7 hours a day, we didn't just ski. We did a bit of this:

And a bit of that:

A couple of evenings, the ski school that the boys attended put on events, including a lantern ski for the kids. Behold B boy with his 'lantern':

So, another great adventure under our belts in this year of grand exploration. The boys were sad to have to say goodbye to their auntie, uncle and grandparents, but we are looking forward to seeing them in the UK at the end of next month.

Look! It's a pyramide in the French Alps!

2008-03-05T16:16:00.003+01:00

French Follies

2008-02-29T13:09:00.010+01:00

In our continuing mission to make Benjamin motion sick as frequently as possible this year, we are jetting off to La Plagne in France tomorrow. Thus, we're in the midst of a packing frenzy, snowpants, jackets, hats and gloves flying this way and that, as I try to guess just how many pairs of mitts a boy can possibly soak in a single day.

Mike is downstairs stuffing the ski bags with skis, poles, helmets, boots and other goodies.

This will be my first ever real downhill ski holiday, and I am excited but also somewhat apprehensive. I mean - these are serious hills, not the little baby hills we've skied in Ontario. I've asked Mike to doublecheck our insurance, just in case I need a helicopter to take me down from the mountain.

The fear of bodily harm aside - doesn't it all look wonderful?

Of course, my concerns may be for naught, and our packing efforts may all be in vain...since the forecast for La Plagne calls for 12 degrees Celsius next week. But that's OK, I'm better at hiking than skiing anyway:

The boys are pretty excited to have yet another week of holidays, but apart from that, they are remarkably unimpressed by the whole thing. Me thinks these children have been spoiled by one too many travels lately!

Happy Weekend everyone!

Bloggers Rock!

2008-02-28T19:09:00.008+01:00

I've alluded to this before...but I had two main reasons for starting my blog back in July of last year:

1. To create a log of our year-long European adventure for future reference.
2. To keep friends and family in North America updated on our crazy doings.

Not in my wildest dreams did I expect to find this wonderful community of bloggers from all over the world.

I could wax poetically about what a revelation the blogosphere has been for me, but today I just want to ask all of you who so kindly check in with me on a regular basis to drop by my amazing bloggy friend Amy Y instead.

Amy is pregnant with twins as a surrogate mother - for the second time - and she had a bit of a scare this week. She is currently on bedrest, and I'm sure she'd appreciate lots of sticky vibes to get her babies to stay put!

Please go now and say hi, and while you're at it, check out her beautiful boys!

When The Mom Isn't Looking...

2008-02-27T07:16:00.001+01:00

What Not To Say

2008-02-26T19:56:00.012+01:00

"I'm allowed to say four bad words."
"Hmmm...I don't think so."
"Yes! I'm allowed to say shoot, darn, darn it and frigging."
"Well, I really don't want you to say any bad words at all."
"But I can say darn it, right?"
"I don't think so, B boy. It's not very nice."
"But you said I could say darn it."
"I don't remember ever saying that. I'd rather you didn't say it, to be honest."
"Okay, but I can say frigging, then."
"Really, Benjamin, it's best if you don't use any of those words. They don't sound good, and it's just not very polite use of language. Especially coming from a 7 year old."
"But I am allowed to say shoot."

[The resigned silence of a mother being worn down]

"Mamma! I'm allowed to say shoot, right?"

Sigh.

"All right, then, I guess you can say shoot."
"Yes!"

[His overly enthusiastic reaction jolts me out of my weary mommy state and I scramble into damage control mode:]

"But only in an emergency! Not all the time."

[In an emergency?! Geez...now even Benjamin realizes I am floundering:]

"Don't worry, Mamma, I won't, because shoot really means another word, right?"
"Ummm...some people use it instead of another word, I guess."
"It really means S-I-T, right?"

[A-ha! Spelling lesson opportunity here - I'll be a great mother yet:]

"Nooooo....it doesn't mean S-I-T, B boy. It means shoot. Besides, what does S-I-T spell?"
"Oh yeah, SIT. But shoot means 'sh' and 'ee' and 't', right?"

[OK, this conversation is not going anywhere good. Let's be firm and end this now:]

"Yes, I suppose that's what some people think it means. But you are NOT allowed to use that word. End of story!"

[Silence. I did it!]

"I know! That's why I said 'sh-ee-t'!"

[Did my boy just say shit to me?]

Zoom Zoom

2008-02-25T10:19:00.006+01:00

Yesterday - the final Sunday of the winter holidays - we had a lovely walk planned for the Frogner Park in Oslo. But by the time we got there, the parking lot was full, the play area was overrun, and the sun had disappeared behind dark and ominous clouds.

Things were not going according to the plan.

So what do you do with four cranky boys who didn't want to go for a walk in the first place, and two sets of parents getting steadily more frustrated listening to the whining?

You get them READY:

....to GO:

The winners:

There were no losers yesterday. I made sure of it, eating lots of chocolate and not exercising.

Attention Losties!

2008-02-24T08:26:00.005+01:00

Kate has Aaron and Jack won't see him.

Explain.

Busy Hearts

2008-02-23T21:24:00.008+01:00

It's been a busy few days...too busy to even blog, which has not happened since I was in Cyprus back in October and out of Internet-range.

We got back from the cottage on Tuesday, where we'd had an awesome time skiing, jumping, making bonfires in the snow, and generally enjoying ourselves.

We spent Tuesday afternoon and evening back at the house, just the four of us. Mike and I threw ourselves over the piles of work that were waiting for us, and the boys had a joyous reunion with their beloved computers and play station. Four days of nonstop outdoor fun in the Norwegian mountains give boys horrendous electronics-withdrawal, apparently.

Wednesday was another day of frantic working for Mike and I. Over the past three weeks, I have translated some 50,000 words, which is a crazy amount of words. I am starting to dream of CT machines, but have not yet gotten to the point where I'm worried that our rushed translation will cause permanent injury to some unsuspecting patient. I'm sure that'll come by the end of this nasty project, when we'll have reached some 150,000 words.

Wednesday night we had my sister and her family over for dinner. We made Chinese food, which, although not as good as the authentic stuff, beat the hot dogs we'd been surviving on for the last few days.

Since it had been a full 24 hours (gasp!) since my boys had last seen their cousins, they convinced us that my nephews needed to spend the night on Wednesday. Not that it took a whole lot of convincing. The boys are on their winter break, and, frankly, it is easier to have the four boys together, than my two alone.

Thursday was spent pretty much like Wednesday, with us working and the boys playing in the house, except for the hour or two when they were banished outdoors to enjoy the spring-like warm weather we've been enjoying lately. We even put them to work clearing the snow from the walkway, which was dangerously icy to walk on:

Somehow, the boys managed to finagle another sleepover through Friday, which was just as well, because yesterday was my parents' 39th wedding anniversary.

39 years of wedded bliss is not usually celebrated in grand style, but seeing as we are here this year - and likely won't be in Norway at this time next year - we jumped the gun a bit on the big 4-0 years of marriage for my parents.

The grandchildren even got involved by making awesome congratulary cards to their grandparents. They wrote cute little messages and drew balloons and coloured fairly well within the lines. No small feat for boys who are not artistically predisposed or interested. They were very proud when we hung the cards up on the wall by the dining room table.

And imagine my surprise, people, when I realized that B boy knows how to draw hearts. Hearts! This is my fit-for-fight warrior child, who sleeps with his Lord of the Rings sword and dreams of becoming a Jedi Knight. The same child who has been diagnosed with severe fine motor skill issues and refuses to write more than 10 words at a time. But if you're in need of a heart - here's your man:

Speaking of artistic skills, I baked a heart-shaped cake of which I was extremely proud until Mike burst out laughing at my attempt to create the number 9 on the cake with sugar, and kicked me off decoration duty and onto washroom clean-up duty while he took it upon himself to decorate the cake. The nerve!

I think I even heard him mutter something about "I see where Benjamin gets it from" under his breath. Clearly he was unaware of Benjamin's heart drawing ability, because this cake rocked:

The night was a huge success. My mother cried when she saw the boys' cards, the food was awesome, the cake was a big hit and the boys...well, they played and played and played some more.

And despite having been together for 5 out of the last 6 days, they were still upset when they had to say goodbye to each other last night (I'm starting to really worry about how they'll cope when we pack up and return to Canada).

Today has been yet another day of work for us. The boys have done very little but play electronics and card games, and Benjamin only got out of his PJs in the late afternoon, as we prepared to go visit my parents for a quick dinner of leftovers from last night.

Tomorrow is looking like another sunny and warm day, so Mike and I have promised ourselves to take a break from the overload of work and drag the boys out into the fresh air for a nice, long walk. Something tells me they won't be thrilled...

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-02-20T08:55:00.002+01:00

Outdoor Fun

Indoor Yum

Random.org Has Spoken...

2008-02-19T17:29:00.006+01:00

And The Chocolate Goes To:

ewe are here from Wherever Ewe Go, There Ewe Are!

Congratulations!

As soon as you send me your address, this will be making its way across the ocean for your enjoyment:

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who played along!

Winter Holidays...

2008-02-15T10:42:00.006+01:00

...and we're off!

We'll be back in Internet-range on Tuesday. Just in time to select the lucky winner of a lovely box of to-die-for Norwegian chocolate. See the post below and add your comment, too!

Happy Weekend!

Treat Time!

2008-02-14T06:35:00.013+01:00

We had raclette for dinner last night. Christopher has been waiting for this ever since he had it in the UK at New Year's. He was so excited, which is a good thing, considering how ridiculously unimportant food is to him.

I've mentioned this before -- but he's 11 and he is still not eating more than a sparrow. A sparrow on a protein-only diet, that is.

Despite his infectious excitement last night, he only ate a bit of bacon, an egg and a couple of pieces of chicken. Dr. Atkins would've loved him like his own.

Of course, I've taken it upon myself to compensate for his lack of an appetite, certainly if we go by caloric intake. My sweet tooth has been out of control for the last, oh, 6.5 months. Ever since we came to the land of

How am I ever going to be able to leave a country that markets delicious milk chocolate wafers as a 'quick lunch'?

Seriously. The chocolate here is THAT good.

To prove that it is not just me, and in honour of Valentine's Day (and possibly to spread the pounds...I mean...eh...BOUNDS of joy!), I'm going to send one lucky commenter a box of delicious, ecstacy-inducing, Norwegian CHOCOLATE.

So go on, leave me a comment about your Valentine's Day plans, how chocolate once saved your life, or just to say hi.

Best friend random.org will pick a winner on Tuesday at 9 am EST, and voila! A day in chocolate heaven could be yours!

Happy Valentine's, everyone :)

Edited to add: For awesome pictures and a funny take on Valentine's, especially if you like wine or have kids, check out MamaGeek's amazing photo skillz and wit at What Works For Us! She's got it all - except Norwegian chocolate, of course...

Morning Madness

2008-02-12T07:55:00.000+01:00

Any weekday morning, in Norwayland. Everyone's finished their breakfast but the B boy.

"Benjamin, eat your breakfast."
"Okay."

[2 minutes later]

"C'mon, eat your food - and lean over the plate."
"Okay."

[Another minute later]

"Eat!"
"Okay!"

"I have to go to the bathroom."
"All right, go, but hurry up then."

[1 minute later, he's out of the bathroom. I've left the kitchen and he walks by me in the family room]

"Okay good, now go back and finish your breakfast."
"Mmmmm!"

[2 minutes later, I call from the family room]

"Benjamin, are you eating?"

[Silence, then with a mouth full of food]

"I am eating, mamma."
"Okay, good, finish up now. You've been sitting there for almost 20 minutes. You're not going to be able to watch any cartoons before school if you keep this up."

[Wail of unhappiness]

[2 minutes later]

"Benjamin, are you done now?"
"Almost."

[1 minute later]

"I have to go to the bathroom."
"Again? Go then, but please hurry up."

[5 minutes later]

"Benjamin, are you still in the bathroom?"
"Yeah..."
"Are you coming out anytime soon?"
"I guess so."
"Well, come out then."
"Okay."

[Exits the bathroom]

"Now go finish your breakfast - quickly!'

[Runs to the kitchen - comes back immediately]

"I am done with my breakfast."
"Eat the crust, too."

[Clearly stunned by my telepathic abilities, he stomps back into the kitchen]

"And finish your drink."
"Arrrrgh!"

[Comes back again with his mouth full of food, mumbling something about being done]

"Excellent. Now go get dressed. Pappa put clothes out on your bed for you."
"Dressed...arrgh!"

[Mumble, mumble in room...finally comes out partially dressed]

"Where are your socks?"

[Another wail of despair]

"Then you have to go brush your teeth."
"Hmmph."

[Marches off to the bathroom again, still sockless]

[I hear the Tooth Tunes toothbrush from the bathroom]

"And don't forget to MOVE your toothbrush when you brush. It won't do any good if you just push it against your front teeth to hear the song."

[More sounds of frustration as the toothbrush was clearly being pressed against said teeth, and then comes out of the bathroom to illustrate his stellar brushing skillz]

"Thanks for the demonstration B boy, but please don't walk out of the bathroom with the toothbrush. And LEAN OVER the sink so you're not dripping everywhere."

[Back to the bathroom he goes]

[Song stops playing, Benjamin throws the toothbrush down into the sink and rushes back out into the family room, finally done]

[He looks at the Tom & Jerry episode just starting on TV. The frustration of the last 40 minutes instantly forgotten as he cracks a huge smile of recognition and jumps onto the couch]

"This is a good one, Chris!"
"Mmm," says Christopher, who's been sitting calmly watching cartoons for the last 20 minutes.

Random Thoughts

2008-02-10T21:01:00.000+01:00

After a few months of leisurely calm, things have taken a hectic turn in Norwayland.

First of all, I'm struggling under an avalanche of urgent translation assignments. My work load usually increases after the holidays, but this year is crazy. Judging from all the requests for translation of MRI/SPECT software and user guides, Norwegian medical clinics have apparently all decided to upgrade to new and better machines at the same time.

It never ceases to amaze me how companies will spend years - not to mention millions of dollars - on R&D of these extremely complex medical machines, and yet only a few weeks to localize the accompanying documentation.

You'd think it would be worth a bit of time to make sure the users actually understand how to operate the machinery. Especially since this is equipment that could kill patients if used incorrectly.

It also sucks BIG TIME that I may be very busy the last few weeks and months in Norway. I'm trying not to think about it too much. I'm ostrich-like that way. If I ignore it, it'll go away, no?

I guess not.

Sigh.

On a brighter note, Emil was baptized today, followed by a reception held here at our house this afternoon. He was such a good boy! Not a tear was shed, but he did make a grab for the Priest's Bible in her hands as she was speaking.

I'd love to show you a picture of his adorable self, but I apparently altered the camera option to the 'blurry only' setting this morning.

Double sigh.

As we drove away after the ceremony, Christopher commented that he didn't know priests could be female. Mike explained that the term 'priest' in North America usually refers to Catholic priests, and that the Catholic Church does not allow female priests. The Norwegian Protestant Church, which also uses the term "priest", makes no such distinction between the genders.

This moment was too good to pass up, so I seized the opportunity to launch into a lecture about gender discrimination, and soon Christopher caught on and compared it to racism, which we all agreed was terrible and wrong.

I was bathing in the glorious light of good parenting, thinking somewhat smugly to myself that one day, one day, my daughters-in-law would thank me for raising such liberal and open-minded boys.

And how my daughters-in-law and I would be best friends. And they'd call me when they got pregnant with my first grandchild. Even before they called their own mother!

How wonderful it all would be.

But then Benjamin opened his mouth:

"Luckily, there's no 'discrimation' in Star Wars Battlefront*, mamma."
"Oh?"
"No, even girls can be snipers in Star Wars Battlefront."

As the vision of my daughters-in-law and I running happily arm-in-arm disintegrated before me, I was at a loss for words.

I could have tripled sighed, but instead I burst out laughing: "Where's the computer when I need it?"

*For those good parents who do not allow their children's minds to be wasted by electronics, I should clarify that Star Wars Battlefront is a PlayStation game. I do not think I need to clarify that it consumes too much of my youngest child's consciousness.

Senior Sailing Style

2008-02-07T10:30:00.000+01:00

Day 2 of our cruise included a stop in Kiel for some souvenir shopping, where people looked at me with either pity or admiration as I trooped around with my four boys:

Otherwise, though, it unfolded much like day 1. Except for the time I spent worrying that my eldest nephew wasn't enjoying the cruise as much as I'd hoped. He never complained, but if you look at the pictures, you can clearly see his finger is hurting.

In the pool:

Drinking a slushie:

During dinner:

Following an encounter with the chocolate fountain:

And even while enjoying bar drinks:

Fortunately, he's a very brave soul who was able to tough it out:

Junior Cruising Class - Onslaught of the Cute

2008-02-06T14:21:00.000+01:00

Monday afternoon, the boys waited and waited and waited to board the MS Color Magic. Not even at Christmas did 15 minutes feel that long. Finally, the doors opened and thanks to somewhat lower stature, Mathias and Benjamin easily pushed their way through the crowd, leaving the rest of their travel party behind.

They had a destination in mind, and their efforts were crowned with success when the boys were the first kids to make it into the ball pit. Thanks to their acrobatic climbing skills, ball-throwing prowess and intricate battle cries, they also managed to scare off any other kids who may have been wanting to join in on the fun:

But you gotta love the attention span of the under 10 crowd. Once the playland had been thoroughly explored and secured - ie. 5 minutes later - we were hit by a tidal wave of requests to go swimming. Though we were graciously granted circa 30 seconds to settle into our cabins, we were all present and accounted for at Aqualand before the ship had even left the Oslo harbour:

And yet again, the boys conquered everyone in their path with almost unbearable cuteness.

Or maybe that was just me?

No matter, others were worn down with sheer persistent cheekiness (including the lifeguard who eventually gave up whistling at their repeated jumping into the water from the edges and refusal to use the stairs).

Although eventually, even little tummies realized that no lunch had been had that day, slushie notwithstanding:

A final swim down the lazy river followed, whereafter we proceeded to gather up our things and head back to the cabin to get ready for a buffet dinner that legends are made of. From the seafood to the burgers and hotdogs to the ice cream and chocolate fountain, the boys' very own table was a little slice of heaven:

After dinner, a small window of opportunity presented itself to spend some of the parents' hard-earned money:

Option A - going to the Adventure Planet games room and using 10's of dollars on a machine that eventually yielded an absolutely useless toy with just enough battery power for two Japanese tunes before it conked out.

Option B - the classic approach involving a stop by the taxfree shop to pick up several oversized bags of candy.

But in the spirit of all things buffet, why choose?

Money thoroughly blown, the boys settled into their front row seats in the show lounge. Neither of them really wanted to be there, but they were overruled by their pesky older brothers.

[I hasten to add that once there, they were absolutely hooked, and couldn't wait to go back the next night].

Then a quick stop by the cabin to fix up their 'do's:

Before a final couple of hours roaming the ship on their sugar-fuelled highs. Thankfully, Benjamin's elevator phobia was short-lived, and he was able to take full advantage of the elevators.

A good thing, that.

Because, even though I admit to being completely biased, what could be cuter than a 7 and 8 year old having drinks (aka apple juice) in the 15th floor Observation Deck bar, ordered and paid for by themselves?

And that, my friends, was the end of Day 1 - The Junior Cruise.

Cruisin'

2008-02-04T08:59:00.000+01:00

We are doing a repeat of November's high successful two day cruise to Germany, and this afternoon we sail into the sunset. Or, if the forecast is to be believed, into the rain.

As part of their Christmas present, our nephews are joining in on the fun, and as an extra bonus, my parents have also decided to come along.

And four boys 12 and under roaming a cruise ship is bound to be fun!

The kids are sharing one cabin, with a double bed, a single bed and a bunk bed. To sort out sleeping arrangements under these circumstances requires diplomacy and finesse.

Which is why why we've avoided broaching the subject.

I am crossing fingers that this will be resolved painlessly once the kids are actually onboard. Without tears over who gets to sleep in the wretched bunkbed.

This morning, Benjamin declared that he would not be using the lovely, glass-encased elevators while onboard. He's apparently concerned that his arms may get cut off by the elevator doors, and "I need my arms, you know, mamma." I have no idea where this newfound fear came from, but I am curious to see how long he'll last trudging up and down the stairs with his little legs on a 15 storey high cruise ship.

Dinner reservations have been made at our favourite restaurant onboard; the Grand Buffet. Because our kids - who are normally picky, disinterested eaters - absolutely adore buffets of any kind. The nephews have been regaled with stories of the bountiful chocolate cakes and ice cream freely available for consumption, but 12-year-old Joakim has much more refined culinary tastes. He's skipping lunch today, to ensure plenty of room for his preferred combo of lobster and fries. Yum, anyone?

Hold on to your colours, Color Line, because here we come!

Making It Work

2008-02-02T22:53:00.000+01:00

The boys are beyond excited that their cousins are staying for the weekend. Dinner tonight is their favourite:

I'm just as thrilled that the kitchen is too small to fit all of us:

A Wonderful World (Parts I, II and III)

2008-02-01T14:16:00.000+01:00

Part I

I got a card in the mail from one of my closest friends. She's in Canada, and she sent the card to me for no reason, other than to say that she was thinking of me while we're away.

In a world of emails and text messages, it was so unexpected and lovely that she took the time to write and send me a card the old fashioned way.

It put a smile on my face.

Part II

Today was a ski day at school, and Christopher came home happy, despite being soaked to the bone by the raging blizzard outside. After a warm shower, he asked to make brownies.

Benjamin then took it upon himself to call my parents and invite them over for a cup of coffee. Soon we were all gathered in the dining room, looking out at the rapidly falling snow, with steaming hot cups of tea and brownies still warm from the oven. If there's a better way to spend a Friday afternoon, I don't know it...

Part III

We are free this weekend. There's no birthday parties on the agenda, or dinner commitments. No places we have to go, or people we have to see. Tomorrow we'll wake up and take a look at the day. Get a feel for its opportunities...and grab them.

Happy Weekend!

One Way Ticket...

2008-01-31T08:57:00.001+01:00

In four weeks' time, we are off on a skiing holiday to La Plagne in the French Alps.

I know, I know...I lead a charmed life of sabbatical decadence. I do.

But today I'm not in the mood to appreciate. And if you read on, perhaps you'll see why:

La Plagne is 2 hours by car from the nearest airport of Chambery. Considering Benjamin's rather severe motion sickness, a 2 hour drive on small, mountainous roads is not perfect (perfect would be ski-in/ski-out privileges from our house here in Norway). But it beats a 3-4 hour car ride, which was our alternative.

In addition, the airport of Chambery offers a direct flight to/from Oslo, Norway. Again, better than many of our other options, which require stopovers in Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Paris or even London.

Whenever we book flights, our primary concern is cutting down on travel time. Benjamin tolerates a couple of hours reasonably well, but he seems to hit a wall at the 2 hour mark, and after that things go downhill quickly. As in lots and lots of being sick. It's messy, stressful and, most of all, terribly unpleasant for him.

That's why we thought La Plagne was a good choice for skiing. Our flight from Oslo leaves at 8:30 am, and we get into Chambery three hours later. Two hours on the road, and we might even make it to the hotel for lunch. Benjamin has the afternoon to recover before hitting the slopes the next day. We have time to buy our lift tickets, book ski lessons/ski school, and even enjoy a nice dinner. French food. Yum.

So imagine my mood when, two months ago, an email dumps into my inbox, with big, bold, ominous letters:

"Time Change to your Flight"

A quick glance through the "We are sorry, blah, blah, blah...inconvenience...yeah, yeah, yeah...change to departure time."

Scroll further down...to see that they have pushed our departure time back by 10 hours! What?? We are now leaving Oslo at 6:30 pm. Look, I can handle an hour or two, but 10 hours is an entire day lost!

I immediately went onto their website, and I searched through other airlines' websites for hours. Only to confirm what I already knew. This is the only airline that offers a direct connection to Chambery from Oslo, and this is their only depature a week. There's no alternative, no choice. Not unless we are willing to do stopovers.

So we changed everything. Booked another car to pick us up in C'hambery. There'll be no getting in mid-day now, we'll be lucky to get in the right side of midnight. This sucks big time. The kids will be totally groggy and cranky the next morning, when the ski school starts.

But what sucks even more is that the return flight has also been pushed back 10 hours. We are now leaving Chambery at close to 10 pm.

Given how hotels usually ask you to clear out of your room before noon, we will have the entire day to do nothing. Sure we can, and probably will, ski. Because who doesn't love changing out of your wet and yucky ski clothes in the public bathroom off the lobby in a cramped ski hotel? With kids? Fun times!

At the end of that fun day, we'll arrive in Oslo at 30 minutes past midnight. And you know the privilege of clearing snow off a car that's been parked in the outdoor parking lot for a week? Well, imagine doing it at 1 am with two children in tow?

That's almost as great as having to drive another 1.5 hours home afterwards. Woo-hoo!

But since we are still looking at 5 hours of travel time - just at nasty, nasty hours - there's no point in changing anything. And we may even luck out and the boys will sleep on the flight home. Benjamin can't get sick when he's sleeping, so who knows? A silver lining?

So these last few weeks I've been trying to get into the mood again. Working my way back to looking forward to this trip. It's going to cost us a fortune, and I want to enjoy it.

Until I saw this in my inbox last week:

"Flightnumber Change"

It actually took me a few minutes to work up the courage to open it, and when I did, at first I couldn't see any changes:

1730 from OSL to CMF 2115
2155 from CMF to OSL 0135

But then it dawned on me. They added another hour to the flying time. We are now leaving Oslo an hour earlier, but still arriving at the same time.

Did France move without telling me?

I threw myself on phone to customer service.

[Wait, wait, wait.]

Finally, a human voice. "Ma'am, you are travelling during peak hours of the day, when the air space is full, so we've essentially had to add extra time to just circle."

Hmm...I really don't understand that little dinky Chambery airport can be that busy. Heck, I couldn't even find another flight in. And Oslo Airport is not busy at 1:30 am, I can promise you that. But she insisted.

Fine! Maybe she can sit next to Benjamin as we circle the airport for the 57th time.

The bottom line is that we've now added another hour onto our travel time. Two more vomits, by my count. Not to mention the fact that we'll be arriving back in Oslo at 1:30 am, and at our house no earlier than 4 am. So there's Sunday gone, too.

Back to getting into the mood. It's going to be fun. Fun. FUN! I.Am.Going.To.Love.It. Forget about the travel time. Who cares?

[Phone rings this morning at 9 am]

...an hour has been added to the flight time to allow for a stopover in Gothenburg, Sweden. We are sorry.

I.Hate.Air.Travel.

Time Lost

2008-01-30T14:05:00.000+01:00

What I could be doing right now...

Going for a walk in the lovely, sunny winter weather
Shopping for a dress to wear at Emil's christening next weekend
Baking a cake for my boys when they come home from school

What I should be doing right now...

Work, work, work, so ever more desperate emails will stop clogging up my inbox
Laundry in preparation for next week's mini getaway with the boys and their cousins
Exercising to at least attempt to combat the frightening results of all that yummy Norwegian chocolate

But all I want to do....

Is watch this:

Winter Weekend

2008-01-27T20:57:00.000+01:00

Note to self: Next time you decide to drive to the mountains in a snowstorm, bring a shovel!

Here's what we found as we arrived at the cottage on Friday afternoon:

Yep, instead of a cottage, we found a roof.

This is Mike bravely trying to gain access to the missing cottage, and its much coveted snow shovel:

(I know it looks as if he's able to just walk on top of the snow, but seconds after I took this picture, he fell through...there's nothing like a meter of fresh snow to make you want to lose a kilo or 20!)

We finally managed to dig out way into the cottage, where we lit a cozy fire and fixed a quick pizza dinner. Then, because we are crazy, we headed out into the snowfest again:

Headlights in the dark are a brilliant idea, especially when you've lost your legs:

We spent the next couple of days skiing. Seeing as B boy is still a novice cross country skier, Christopher had no choice but to keep Mike company on the 10k ski circuit on Saturday. Benjamin and I went for a shorter stint on our own.

(Please...I know! He puts the hat on himself...)

On Sunday, I was raring to go for a longer stretch, and Christopher kindly volunteered yet again, while Benjamin and Mike went on their own. I, of course, picked the best day, as we had gloriously sunny weather.

All in all, Christopher probably covered 23-24 km this weekend; not bad for an 11 year old without a whole lot of cross country skiing practice.

As far as B boy is concerned, he needs a bit more practice, but we are hoping he'll do the 10k before Easter. That's our goal, not his.

This is his goal:

And who can blame him?

2008-01-25T10:27:00.000+01:00

Mountain Forecast: Snow and Sun

Skies are on the roof rack, the bags are in the trunk. We'll pick up groceries on the way. All there's left to do now is wait for the boys to come home from school.

Life is good.

Happy Weekend!

Neverland

2008-01-24T15:39:00.001+01:00

Sometimes I feel as if Norwegians live in a different world than the rest of us. A nicer, gentler world, where everyone is safe, and where terrorism is still unheard of.

Today, we went down to renew the boys' Norwegian passports. Not only were we in-and-out of the passport office in less than 20 minutes, but the entire process was so simple.

In today's world of fear rhetorics, homeland security departments and coloured threat levels, I'm no longer used to anything connected with international travel being simple.

Which is why this was so refreshing.

The passport form was half a page long and 2 minutes of effort. There were no guarantor, birth certificate or ID requirements. All we needed to bring were the boys' old passports.

It made me wish that it could be so simple again everywhere. That the people of the world would come together, and the fear and mistrust so rampant at the moment could be put to the wayside.

That we could all live in Neverland.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-01-23T09:38:00.000+01:00

The iridescent skies of Norway, January 21st, 2008

T - 4 Months

2008-01-22T11:47:00.000+01:00

Although I successfully ignored its half-way mark in December, there's just no denying it anymore:

Today marks 6 months since our departure from Canada.

We have another 4 months to go, 3 in Norway and one to be spent in the UK. And while I am not yet ready for our sabbatical to be over, I think this calls for a "summing up" of the highlights of our adventure so far. What follows below are...

My Top Five

5. Celebrating my mother's 60th birthday only 4 days after our arrival in July, with family and friends we hadn't seen for years.

Now that my own children are getting older and I am slowly accepting the fact that they won't be living with me forever (*sob*), I keenly understand how happy my parents were to have their entire family celebrating with them that night. And their excitement at the thought that all of their children would be close by for the next few months (I decided a long time ago never to allow my children to move abroad like I did, and made them sign documents promising to live in houses on either side of mine as soon as they were old enough to spell their names).

4. Going to Prague

Mike and I were married almost 12 years ago, and I'm still waiting to go on a honeymoon (some might argue that living in Costa Rica at the time equalled a honeymoon, but I beg to differ). This trip was a mini-honeymoon of sorts; our first ever without our boys, and even though we missed them, it was wonderful to be able to walk where we wanted, see what we wanted, and eat and drink when we wanted.

We were clearly not accustomed to such freedom, as we covered all must-see tourist sites within half a day of our visit. I think we were secretly afraid that it was all a dream, and that we'd wake up the next morning with two boys who only wanted to go to McDonald's for breakfast, and then sit in the hotel room and play DS for the rest of the day.

3. School

My biggest worry by far before coming to Norway! I never thought I'd say this, but the experience my children have had going to Norwegian school has been incredibly positive. I was expecting rough patches, but, when I look back, I can't really think of any. The boys have adjusted remarkably well. Their Norwegian has improved beyond what I could have hoped for, and they've both found good friends to play with.

While I would like to see both boys retain their language skills, more importantly, I hope their confidence in themselves and their ability to adapt, make friends and learn in a foreign environment will stay with them.

2. My nephews

I always felt very close to Joakim, my oldest nephew, and my first Godson. He and Christopher also have a very tight relationship, and he's spent time with us in Canada. My second nephew, Mathias, has always been more of a mommy's boy, and although he's always been interested in Benjamin, it wasn't until this year that the two of them really bonded. But they have definitely made up for lost time! They call each other on their cell phones and have long conversations (I can never get any information out of Benjamin as to what they actually talk about), and they have sleepovers every weekend. It's been a really awesome thing to watch, and I now sense that those two boys will be as close as their big brothers for life.

But the biggest highlight this year in terms of my nephews has to be getting to know baby Emil, and watching him grow from an infant into a lively almost 8 month old baby boy who has a will and a mind of his own. It's going to be a huge honour for Mike and I to become his Godparents in two weeks' time, and I hope it's a sign that he will be as close to us as his two brothers are.

1. Family

Before we left, our life in Canada was pretty busy. We had a healthy social life, combined with busy careers, and children with lots of school and after-school activities, not to mention countless playdates.

It was fun, but often felt hectic and stressful.

By comparison, our life here in Norway is so calm. Some might call it boring. We don't have any friends here, except for the few I still know from years ago. And we haven't done a good job of keeping up with any of them (oh, the shame). Nor have we seized chances to make new friends, whenever they have presented themselves. In fact, we've been rather hermit-like in our life here. It's been all about ourselves, our boys, my parents, and my siblings and their families. We've also been fortunate enough to see Mike's family in the UK more than we normally would have.

And as a family, we do everything together now. We go to the cottage a lot, we hike, we ski, we skate, we bake, we cook, we read, we play cards. We have family over for dinner. We watch movies together, we play singstar. It's all pretty mundane on paper, but in reality, it's been a lot of fun. We've grown much closer, and we are more in tune about where we are in our lives right now, and where we want to go.

I thought I might have gotten tired of this life by now, but, in truth, it's been such a soothing, centering experience. I knew our life in Canada was busy, but at the time, I never thought I had much say in the matter.

I'm rethinking that now.

I know I made too big of a deal, for example, of the boys' school work in Canada. And I no longer want school to play centre stage in our lives. Our children are not the best students in the universe; they are lazy, unorganized, messy, etc. They're just kids and they want to play and have fun. They do not want to be practicing spelling words, or doing math drills. But they're not lost behind a wagon, and sooner or later, things will click for them. It isn't going to make things any better for me to push for perfect right now, when they just don't care. As long as they're not ruining their chances of getting into Harvard, I'm going to be cool about it.

I also want to stop scheduling every single free moment of their lives. While I do want my children to be exposed to different types of sports and have lots of friends, I do not want to have to take them to activities/playdates every single afternoon. From now on, we will pick with care and enjoy the things we do. No running around like a crazy woman, trying to get from point A to point B 10 minutes ago.

Finally - and I'm having a tough time getting the words out - I pledge to appreciate my husband more.

Because the truth is, he is kinda great. Fine! He's really great, then. He was certainly great when he agreed to come to Norway for the year. There isn't a lot here for him, and I'm sure it wasn't the best career move in the world. And yet, he did it. That's a lot to be grateful for. He tells me on a daily basis that I don't appreciate him enough. He's joking, but you know - he's got a point. So, Mikey, I'll appreciate you a little more, okay? Just don't get too used to it. You still have to pick up the boys when it rains!

Ice Day

2008-01-21T07:26:00.000+01:00

Dear Principal Larsen,

As you know, last week's rain melted much of the snow around the school playground.

However, freezing temperatures over the weekend have covered the ground with a slippery sheet of solid ice. Since the school is in a small forest, with nary a flat surface in sight, this makes for extremely treacherous passage.

Benjamin practicing the bum walk

While we realize you have no control over the changing weather patterns, we feared broken bones had our boys (and, in particular, accident-in-waiting B boy) attended school today.

This explains why they were not present at attendance call this morning, and we hope you understand that we only acted with the best interests of our children in mind.

We also want to assure you that despite missing school, the boys did work very, very hard today.

In fact, they are absolutely wiped after a long day in our improvised classroom...

...where we covered science:

What goes up....

must come down:

...math:

How long does it take a 7 year old to complete a slalom run? What about an 11 year old?

...a vision test:

Who can spot the numbers on the chair lift?

...and even geography:

Name that town:

Our only regret is that we ran out of time before we could get to the ethics and morals class. We will be covering that subject later (just as soon as the boys have forgotten the meaning of the word truancy, which they picked up during our language class).

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Sincerely,

The Responsible Parents of Christopher and Benjamin

While Waiting For "Lost" To Start Again...

2008-01-18T20:11:00.000+01:00

I'm not Ebert or Robert or whatever he's called, and I'm not going to start writing detailed movie reviews, mostly because I don't want to give too much away. But if you're looking for something to watch this weekend, the following list may be of interest to you.

In no particular order:

"I Am Legend" - Oh.My.Gawd. How come noone told me this movie is scary, scary, scary? I only lasted 40 minutes, half of which was spent looking away from the screen, ears plugged. And I was still unable to sleep that night. The last time I lost sleep over a movie was when I stumbled into a screening of "Silence of the Lambs". Since I didn't see "I Am Legend" to its end, I asked Mike for a synopsis, and even in broad daylight, he freaked me out. This is not a movie for the faint of heart.

"Chocolat" - I may have been the last female on earth not to have seen this Johnny Depp vehicle, which undoubtedly is part of Mrs G's nightly film rotation. For me the movie was a huge let down, only because I had just finished reading the book upon which it is based. As far as I could discern, the only thing the movie and the book have in common, is a confectionary lady. Everything else, from beginning to end, is completely and totally different. I am quite surprised that the book's author even allowed the movie makers to use the name of her book for this movie. The movie would probably have been quite enjoyable, had I not read the book first. As it is, though, I can only recommend you read the book instead, and insert Johnny Depp wherever appropriate.

"Away from Her" - I decided to see this movie based on a beautiful review by my good bloggy friend She She (drop by and wish her a happy birthday, why dontcha?). It is a fabulous film. Lovely, sensitive and deeply moving. This movie will have you in tears.

"Wild Hogs" - Awful. And that's all.

"Enchanted: In New York" - Cringeworthy, McDreamy notwithstanding.

"For Your Consideration" - This is a Christopher Guest film. I have seen all of his movies, and my favourite remains "Best In Show". Having said that, this is a very good film, and if you like Guest's wry sense of humour, you should get a good chuckle out of this one.

"Lions For Lambs" - An uneven effort from Robert Redford. I enjoyed it mostly because I agreed with its message. The movie tries very hard (too hard?), but it just didn't hit the heart the way I think its creators hoped it would. But by all means, it is not a bad movie.

"Gone Baby Gone" - I thought this was a surprisingly good first movie from Ben Affleck. The ending, in particular, was quite understated for being a Hollywood-ish movie, allowing the viewer to draw his/her own conclusions.

So there you have it. It's been a really long time since I've seen what I would call a brilliant movie. And none of the movies above falls into that category, unfortunately. But if anyone has any suggestions, I would be happy to hear them!

Happy Weekend!

It's All In The Balance

2008-01-17T12:13:00.000+01:00

Benjamin will on rare occasions pipe up that he's hungry, but Christopher never, ever asks for food. When I mention this to people, they always try to console me with a "It'll get better" or "They'll tell you when they're really hungry." Well, it's been 11 years, and I'm still waiting.

In addition, they're picky, picky, picky eaters, and they like completely different things. Christopher could live on salmon alone, while Benjamin would be quite happy with only rice and ketchup (don't bother - I know). Behold what was left when the protein lover and the carboholic had "enjoyed" dinner a couple of nights ago:

Does it still count as a balanced meal if I divvy up the different food groups between the boys?

Wordless Wednesday

2008-01-16T11:05:00.000+01:00

The two faces - and two drinks - of Benjamin

In Your Eleventh Year...

2008-01-15T10:32:00.000+01:00

You goofed off with your brother...

You hiked...

And you baked...

You pursued your love of animals...

Of all types....

You played in the water...

And in the snow...

You did a lot of hanging out with family and friends...

Including your brand new baby cousin...

You even learned to pose...

But throughout it all, you remained our very first boy wonder:

Happy Birthday, Christopher!

I'm A Survivor...

2008-01-14T16:33:00.001+01:00

Thank you all for your sympathetic responses to my w(h)ine-infused post.

Lesson learned: greasy pizza and a darkened movie theatre do wonders for a hangover. Who knew?!

[The Lady Who Doesn't Lunch and Aliki2006 suggested as much, but I'm sure they based that purely on anecdotal evidence. Right, ladies?]

The boys were great at the restaurant. At least I think they were. They were sitting across the room from us, and although we did hear the occasional roaring laughter and saw a few boys run around a bit - evidently sneaking lollipops is still popular with the pre-teen crowd - we sat so far away from them, we were able to enjoy our meal in peace. It was quite civilized, really (though I'm not sure if the people sitting immediately next to our boys would agree. Alas).

Then onwards to the movie theatre. Again we were sitting behind the boys, in the last row in the theatre. The chairs were huge and comfy (better be at $17 dollars a ticket), and even though I had to stop a couple of the boys from throwing popcorn at fellow moviegoers, overall, things went very smoothly indeed. I was even able to close my eyes for a bit.

Even better, when the movie was done, all the parents were waiting outside to pick up their respective offspring. No straggler parent making us wait for hours with their stranded kidlet (good thing, too, as it was wet and miserable).

But best of all, Christopher was thrilled with his day and that his friends all showed up for his party.

So now we're getting ready for his actual birthday tomorrow. It will be a low-key affair, with just my family joining us for dinner. On the menu are crepes, and only crepes. Birthday boy's choice, of course!

And completely non-alcoholic.

Of Wine and Whine

2008-01-13T09:41:00.001+01:00

We had a great 65th birthday par-tay on Friday for my father. He seemed very, very happy, and that was really what we wanted most of all. My siblings and I all made and brought appetizers, food and a marzipan cake for dessert.

Judging from the enthusiastic food reviews, we did well. Of course, I've never been to a party where the guests openly admit that the food sucks. So who really knows? I choose to believe that they raved more than they had to, and therefore, that the food was actually kind of good. I'm a glass half full kinda girl (stop making that choking sound, Mike).

My mother supplied fabulouso Italian Valpolicella red wines.

[Cue reverie music]

I.Love.Valpolicella.Wines.

And so does my sister - my partner in crime. So much so that by the end of the night, we felt compelled to finish off the last bottle ourselves, without sharing with our guests. Yes, we did. We are generous souls.

Which may be why I woke up with someone else's body yesterday morning. Someone who's slow, heavier than me, and who gets nauseous when making quick or sudden movements.

When I groaned to Mike that I am cutting out red wine for life, he had the nerve to laugh at me. And under normal circumstances, that would have offended me mightily.

But all I could think of was how much fun it was going to be to take several 11-year-olds out for pizza and a movie that afternoon in celebration of Christopher's birthday.

In someone else's body!

Pets And Parties

2008-01-11T13:26:00.000+01:00

Christopher usually picks his brother up from school, but on Thursdays and Fridays, Benjamin finishes early, leaving Mike and I on pick-up duty. Given the two minute walk home from school, B boy really should be able to come home alone, however, if you know my baby boy, you already know that he won't be old enough for such an endeavour until he's...15?

It's not a safety concern - there's no traffic to speak of on these little roads. In truth it's mostly to spare myself the aggravation of having to trudge back up to school every day to pick up whatever he'd be bound to forget. This is a child who could forget body parts if they weren't attached to him (and yes, I have occasionally asked him where he's left his head today).

Besides, I don't mind picking him up a couple of times a week (except when it rains - then I send Mike). So it all works out.

On our walk home from school yesterday, the sun was shining and our boots made loud crunching sounds in the snow as B boy chatted about soccer lessons, his desperate need to go the bathroom (though apparently not desperate enough to go while at school), how wet and yucky his socks were in his boots, all the while trying to negotiate playtime before homework time.

We somehow got onto the playdate he'd had yesterday, and how one friend always brings chocolate when he comes for a visit. This has impressed Benjamin, who is clearly his father's son when it comes to chocolate.

B: "Can we buy him a present next time he comes over?"

Me: "That's a great idea, B boy. Let's definitely do that."

B: "Good!"

Me: "What kind of chocolate would you like to buy?"

B: "Oh, I wasn't going to buy him chocolate."

Me: "Well, there's also cookies, or chips. We could even bake a cake?"

B: "Nah....I want to buy him a dog!"

Something tells me that B boy and his little friend are taking Nintendogs a bit too seriously...

************************

Today is the beginning of the Birthday Weekend. We are celebrating my dad's 65th birthday today with a dinner party hosted by his children, attended by family and friends.

Tomorrow, Christopher has invited some friends to pizza and a movie downtown. On his actual birthday, this coming Tuesday, we'll have family over for dinner and cake.

Happy Weekend everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-01-09T15:01:00.000+01:00

Hope

Bye-Bye!

2008-01-07T16:41:00.000+01:00

This morning, we woke up two very tired boys. Many, many late curtain calls had made it difficult for them to fall asleep last night, and they were totally unprepared for the 7:30 am wake-up call.

Groggy C boy and grumpy B boy ate their breakfast in silence. They dressed slooooowwwlllyy, and then sat on the couch rubbing their eyes and staring blankly out into space.

I had to help them put their outerwear on - snowpants, heavy jackets, hats, gloves. Everything zipped up. Big winter boots on. School bag - check. Lunch - check. Drink - check. The boys themselves stood there like zombies on cruise control.

After encouraging hugs and motherly statements about how fun it would be to see their school friends again after the holidays, they were ushered out into a dark, snowy Norwegian winter morning. I even waved supportively from the window until they disappeared behind the garage and I could no longer see them.

But then...

I snuck back into bed and slept for another hour.

School RULES!

Weekend Affairs

2008-01-06T20:26:00.000+01:00

Bye, bye Christmas decorations....

...and gingerbread house

Hello snowstorm...

...and outdoor fun

Say What?

2008-01-05T10:17:00.000+01:00

We are incredibly lucky that my boys each have a best friend in a cousin. Christopher's best friend is Joakim, who's 12, and Benjamin's best friend is Joakim's brother - 8 year old Mathias.

Joakim and Christopher, in particular, have always been very close, despite the fact that they've only seen each other once or twice a year.

Thus, one of the biggest advantages of our stay in Europe is that the boys get to spend lots of time together. My worry that they might grow tired of each other, seeing as they only live 15 minutes away from each other this year, has been solidly disproved. If anything, the boys have grown closer, and the younger two have had a chance to cement an equally tight relationship.

We really enjoy having the cousins visit, and they often spend the night on weekends. Tonight is such a night. The boys have been playing together since late afternoon, and we all just returned from a tobogganing session in the snow.

As I write this, the two oldest boys are hanging out in their bedroom, playing DS. The two younger boys are downstairs playing Battleground, a Christmas present from my brother.

Both pairs of boys are talking excitedly to each other.

But here's the kicker - while my boys are speaking a somewhat accented Norwegian, Mathias and Joakim are responding in equally broken English.

Clearly, all four boys have decided to perfect a foreign language this year.

Half the time, Mike and I have no clue what they're saying, but somehow the boys understand each other perfectly. And what's more, no one corrects the other's numerous errors. They're communicating, and that's all that matters.

I love it. I only wish I could bottle it up and keep it for posterity.

Really, Really Old

2008-01-04T11:32:00.000+01:00

B boy and I were walking behind the rest of the family on our recent visit to the beautiful city of York in England. We pretty much always make up the tail end of a group. Benjamin has little legs, so he walks slowly.

And he likes to talk.

I often wish he'd speak clearer, so I wouldn't have to stop and bend down to hear him, but mostly, I just enjoy his chattering. He'll make comments about people he sees, things that happened at school that day, and even events from years ago that he's suddenly remembered. Everything with infectious enthusiasm and usually with a slightly cheeky undercurrent.

We don't get anywhere quickly with B boy onboard, but the journey is almost always amusing.

And then there's times when his innocence just slays me. Like that day in York. As we crossed a busy street, I was pulling and tugging on him to hurry up. Those little legs were moving even slower than normal, and definitely not as quickly as the flow of traffic.

Because Benjamin had spotted the ruined remnants of an old stone building. Except to him it was simply a house with no roof, and he absolutely could not understand why there was a house with no roof in the middle of York.

"It's just an old, old house, B boy, I'm sure it's protected," I said.

"How old?" he asked.

"Hundreds and hundreds of years old," I answered absent-mindedly, still trying to get us across the road safely.

"I get it. As old as black-and-white TV, right?" said my genius boy.

I almost stopped in the middle of the street, but managed to get us across to the other side of the intersection before replying:

"No, even older than that. Many hundreds of years old."

"Oh, back from the dinosaur age, then," he declared with total insight.

Which is when I swore to myself never to tell B boy that our first black-and-white TV was bought after I was born. Never, ever!

You're Both Going To Bed? Promise?!

2008-01-03T20:33:00.000+01:00

Kellan from On the Upside wrote about a Saturday afternoon drive with her kids which made me giggle. If you haven't read it, you should do so now. I'll wait here. Really, go...!

[....waiting patiently....]

You're back? Yeah, I know, she's funny!

Yesterday at bedtime, my boys were told that today would be an electronics free day. Meaning a day without access to electronic toys, including the computer, their beloved DS consoles, the playstation, the television, etc. Today would be a day of good old-fashioned playing.

Our poor neighbours likely thought we'd sentenced our kids to 20 years of daily showering, judging from the whines, wails and heartfelt sobs echoing from our house when we broke the news to the boys.

But honestly, we were not trying to be cruel and unjust. We only wanted the children to take a break from all the electronic games they've been playing over the holidays. Heck, we even took them downhill skiing today - a wholesome, family friendly outdoor activity. No electronics required.

But we've been back from the slopes for a few hours now, and, quite frankly, my kids are driving me crazy. They apparently have no clue how to entertain themselves without electronic stimuli. At this very moment, my eldest is lying on a couch, stroking his hair, staring absent-mindedly into space. I can hear my youngest out in the kitchen, doing something with tape and glue that I am sure I will end up cleaning up.

Granted, most of their toys are in Canada, but in the short months we have been in Norway, they have managed to accumulate a respectable amount of playing things. You might think they could figure out how to sit down and play a quiet game of Monopoly, Uno or Scrabble? But noooooo....

Mike even dragged out an electric experiments kit which held their attention for...I dunno...5 seconds, before the kids left him to his own devices.

And while Mike was making sad magnetic fields all alone, the boys could only come up with a ridiculously silly game they've oddly named 'Meditating', which consists of whopping each other with pillows until Christopher falls off the bed and cries foul.

I suggested to the boys that they ask friends over, but they both refused. It is evidently impossible - or impossibly lame, more likely - to have other kids visiting without being allowed to play any electronic games.

So they've booked play dates for tomorrow instead. Because tomorrow has electronic privileges.

But wait - there's a silver lining! Benjamin just proclaimed with glee that it'll be tomorrow in only 3 hours, prompting Christopher to pipe up that he was going to sleep. And with that, they both decided to go to bed!

Soooooo.....it's 9 pm, and my boys are in bed. We’re celebrating with a bottle of red and some cheese, 'cause I think we may be on to something here...

Cheers and happy Thursday!

And The Weather Forecast Calls For...

2008-01-02T21:29:00.000+01:00

...rain on New Year's Eve in the UK. Yeah, I was shocked, too.

We are back in Norway again, but despite the rain we had a great time with the Wades in Yorkshire. How could we not, as we arrived on Sunday to warm-ish weather - for us anyway - and flowering roses!

The airline decided to send our luggage to Hamburg, Germany instead of Manchester, England, which did cause a fair amount of irritation on our part. They eventually managed to get the suitcase to Manchester, but the impending New Year holidays and the fact that we were staying in Ripon (a 90 minute+ drive from the airport) finally forced the courier company to admit we probably would not see our suitcase until we were ready to fly home again.

Argh!

My obvious distress is probably why my hero-of-the-day - aka my father-in-law - spent 7 hours that day driving to-and-from the airport, first to pick us up, then to pick up that pesky suitcase. Gah! Whatever happened to airline service?!?! I could write a long venting post about this, but I will not, as I do not want it to overshadow an otherwise fab visit to England.

(side shot of the York Minster)

On New Year's Eve we went to a super matinee pantomime in the beautiful city of York. The boys - and we - spent the better part of 4 hours vigorously exercising our stomach muscles laughing (much needed exercise, I might add, following the chocolate overdose during the holidays). If you have never been to a pantomime - well, you've been missing out!

Pantomimes are usually well-known fairy tales with a spin, and the actors often include a principal boy, most often played by a young pretty girl, the heroine, also played by a beautiful young girl (making the inevitable romance a tad unusual), and - most importantly - a dame, acted with much exaggeration and fancy wigs and costumes by a middle-aged man, as a lewd and rude middle-aged woman.

Although the story changes from year to year, there is no plot line to follow, and there's always a few standard scenes: The water and pie scene (in which the main characters get wet and caked), the neon light scene (with all lights turned off), and a pre-recorded video from around the city, most often featuring local politicians, mayors, police, etc. The entire show is peppered with political and pop culture jokes.

(A scene with "the spice girls")

If this all sounds crazy, it is, but in the UK, this is considered top family entertainment, and though not a native Brit, I've learned to love it, too. It's a great way to spend an afternoon/evening with the entire family.

New Year's Eve was spent in a quiet fashion at home, where we had a highly successful raclette dinner (Christopher has asked me if we can buy a raclette at least 10 times since), played a few games and at midnight went down to the town square to see the fireworks. Despite the rain, the display didn't disappoint, and the boys went to bed with big smiles on their faces.

Unfortunately, the skies really opened up on New Year's Day, when it poured the proverbial cats and dogs. I would have liked to have gone for a walk, but there really wasn't much hope of that. Cue more chocolate and licorice allsorts.

The plane ride home yesterday was uneventful, and we arrived - luggage and all - to a beautifully white snow-covered land, with more snow in the forecast for the next three days. We are going downhill skiing today, and hopefully cross country skiing tomorrow and on the weekend. There may even be time for some skating. Anything but eating chocolate, really!

To You And Yours...

2007-12-31T11:59:00.003+01:00

Happy New Year (ABBA)

2007-12-31T11:59:00.001+01:00

Christmas - Part Trois

2007-12-29T18:02:00.000+01:00

Noone can ever say that we did not celebrate Christmas the year we spent in Norway -at this point I'm feeling a bit Christmassed out!

Mid-morning following our late-night karaoke session, two parents, two grandparents, four boys, four DS consoles with various new games, six pairs of skis, six bum trays, seemingly endless pairs of mitts, gloves, snow pants and jackets were packed into two cars, and away we went to Cottage-land. Also known as Winter Wonderland.

Our cottage is situated in the mountains above the beautiful town of Ål, and is very popular for cross country skiing. Right outside our door are kilometers and kilometers of machine groomed trails, some lit, some not. There is also a downhill centre across the valley, and Norway's largest tobagganing hill is only a short drive away.

Arriving after sunset, we quickly threw together a dinner of leftover food from the day before the boys got into their outerwear, strapped on the cross country skis and went outside to test out the brand new head lights they'd received for Christmas.

Looks like they worked out pretty well!

The very next day, we woke up to very mild weather, and a touch of rain that quickly turned into snow. While my mother and I drove down the mountain for groceries, the boys played in the snow. My dad will tell you that he had no help whatsoever building his snowman, as the boys were far too busy making snow tunnels and having snowball fights.

Later that afternoon, Christopher, Mathias and I ventured out for what I thought was going to be a short skiing trip around the cottage. As it turns out, the boys had a 10k trek in mind. I finally managed to convince them, some 2-3 km in, that it was going to get pitch black soon, and we'd have to wait until the following day to venture any further away. As we were returning to the cottage, Mathias and I had a miscommunication in advance of skiing down a large hill, with the end result that I had to throw myself into the snow to avoid crashing into and possibly mortally wounding my little nephew with my Christmas-stuffed self.

This is me following my not-so-fluffy-and-soft encounter with the snow:

A bruised and swollen eye is the hot look for New Year's, dontcha know?

We did do the 10k trip the very next day, and it was an awesome outing - despite wearing sun glasses on a cloudy day to not scare off other skiers with my blooming eye.

That night, those heavy clouds became an increasingly intense snow storm, which we took full advantage of:

And here's what we woke up to this morning:

Thanks to the wonders of heavy duty snow removal services, we were able to pack our boys and their gear into our little car, wave goodbye to my nephews and parents who were staying on at the cottage, and make our way back home.

Which is where we are currently - and not without a touch of panic - cooking dinner for hungry boys, while doing laundry and packing in preparation for our trip to Manchester, England first thing tomorrow. That is, cooking, doing laundry, packing, and...ahem...blogging. Because no matter how busy I get, there always seems to be time for blogging.

Christmas - Part Deux

2007-12-28T15:44:00.000+01:00

Christmas Eve turned out to be everything I'd hoped for - and more. The boys were incredibly excited to be celebrating with their cousins, and we were equally thrilled to be enjoying the evening with my parents and all my siblings and in-laws for the first time in many, many years. It was also a special treat to celebrate baby Emil's first ever Christmas with him.

• Highlights included my eldest nephew Joakim managing to hog 4 of the 11 almonds. Even though I ate an obscene serving of the dreaded rice cream, I still ended up with zero almonds. Thanks Joakim for sharing your bounty! Prizes this year were marzipan figures for the boys (which none of them likes - all the more for me and my ever expanding waistband), and brain teasers for the adults. Love these!

• Two of the largest prezzies under the tree were awesome snow racers for my boys from my sister and family. Check out the grins!

• My parents gave the boys new sports outfits from the local sports association, complete with name. The boys were beyond excited.

• Our present to my two eldest nephews was a trip on the Color Magic to Kiel, similar to the one we went on last November just with our boys. The kids are thrilled about the upcoming voyage, and have been talking about it continuously ever since.

• Baby Emil slept for almost 6 hours on Christmas Eve (so much for celebrating), despite a rather high commotion factor. We are now starting to think that he may thrive on more not less noise.

Happy baby after nice long nap

The very next day, the family gathered once again for a traditional Christmas Day lunch. This is the day where all we do is eat, eat, eat, following a Danish luncheon format (courtesy of my Danish mother).

We started our luncheon at 3:30 pm, and didn't end until after 1:30 am, including a couple of hours of impromptu karaoke in the basement, much to the chagrin of our children.

Hey, even the tone deaf have a right to work off all that food, right?!