7 Days to Christmas

It is a nice cold winter's day. We had one day with mild weather yesterday, typical for this pre-Christmas time. Philip's on a sleep-over, Tia and Mum and Dad are home.

Having Lutefisk for dinner a little later. Very Norwegian, served with bacon fat, pea stew, potatoes, beer and a small aqua vita. That's it.

For some this is what they eat on Christmas eve. We have dried salted mutton or lamb ribs. Steamed.

We usually end the day early on Fridays, round one or two pm. Especially now so close to Christmas. People have things to fix. Houses to clean, presents to buy. So we have to make room for that as well. Unemployed or not, Christmas is coming up.

This week has also seen class organized activities at school. Singing, performing plays and dancing. Food and drink of course. Mostly cakes and coffee, soft drinks for the kids. Tia's class on Monday, Philip's on Wednesday. Philip and 5 friends had created a break dance they performed. They call themselves six-pack. Made a huge success. Especially since they came up with the idea themselves, headed home to one of the guys and practiced the whole afternoon. Called their teacher and asked her to perform it.

Now everyone want to start learning break dance.

So in a week it is Christmas eve, the big day, or rather evening. That's when we get all the presents, that's when we have the Christmas meal, that's when we go to church.

The fine thing with this time in spite of all the darkness, is all the lights. Before Christianity this time of year had its light feast.

Monday the sun "turns" and days start getting longer again. A couple of minutes every day.

In case there is no more time to write on this blog before Christmas, a very happy Christmas to you.

Advent

There is something special with this pre-Christmas season. I thoroughly enjoy it. This Sunday evening I have been writing Christmas cards, listening to Christmas carols, eating chocolate while Ingunn is coaching a client.

We have had a spell with very cold weather, extremely cold weather for Norway and this time of year. November was the coldest in a hundred years. Well I get used to it, so after a while it is not too bad, but I mean temps as low as -20° (C) is very cold. My problem with winter is that I get sore finger tips which can be very painful. So I have summa sumarum realized I'm not supposed to live here during the hardest part of winter, which usually is January and February.

But finally, yesterday and today have been quite mild, but still sub-zero, which is fine because temperature round or above zero makes the roads slippery and dirty. In this country they are using tons of road salt to avoid icy roads. Well that does not work when the temperature is below -8° C, that also means roads are quite "dry" and the cars don't get all that dirty. See what I mean? If you look around very carefully, low temperature has its few advantages. Not very good for the car engines though.

So can you expect a Christmas card? Could be. Keep checking the mail box.

It's OUR House

As you know, our present housing is temporary. OUR house is just down the road, 400 meters or so. It is the house we have visualized twice a day for years. It will be ours. It is just a matter of time.

Today it came up for sale. A few years too early for us. Just go to this link to have a peek:

And the price? NOK 18 million which corresponds to $3 million.

So, we have a week to raise the money, so right now we have an even more intense dialog with the Universe.

Selling a house is quite different for the US. They usually let people in to have a look for an hour or so, on two different days. After the second day a bidding process starts. The house can be sold within an hour or so. $3 million. Anyone out there thinking we deserve it and send a check telling us to enjoy the house?

The pros and cons? Is it too expensive so it won't be sold, giving us a bit more time? The financial dip is not that serious in Norway, nothing compared to the US. That will definitely not scare people. It is a very posh area, down to earth but for that reason also attractive to the rich and famous. But the majority of people living here are just ordinary families. Forecast says prices will come down over the next year or two. Will that scare people? Perhaps. Generally houses at this kind of price takes longer to sell.

It's just a matter of time. Perhaps it still is.

What a morning! Weather's beautiful. And I am drinking decaf coffee!

Tia's Disco Party

Today was Tia's birthday party for all her schoolmates. 14 girls, Tia included for a disco/karaoke party. They were singing and dancing, mainly to ABBA having a great time. ABBA is of course is fairly fine with my generation. (We only invite the girls in the class plus a few others from her class last year. Philip will only invite the boys plus those in his soccer team who's not in his class).

Then hotdogs by the pool, saves all the ketchup mess inside and finally cake by the pool as well. Also saves some mess. They all came in disco outfits, and brought beautiful presents. Tia's very satisfied. And so is mum and dad, event organizers. It all went very smooth.

In this family, from August through November there is one birthday every month. So up next is Philip on September 27th. How about a bunch of 10-year-old boys? On his 7th birthday it was warlike. We kind of felt we lost control. Well we learned something.

But today's been a great get together, some old class mates and some new because they break up classes after 1st grade, but now it's all set right through 7th.

And the weather? Saturday was rainy in Oslo, Sunday was rainy in Oslo. Today brought bright sunshine and a beautiful fall's day. Couldn't be better.

Sunday off!

We have had the most amazing Sunday, Weather wise with one of this summer's best days. We went for a long walk in the huge forest recreational area surrounding Oslo to a small lake. it was about a two mile walk upwards and same back from where we parked our car. Brought a fishing rod, but got no trout. Brought some lunch and tea as well and really did enjoy the day out (in the wilderness).

Being self employed and working on getting some make-us-independent-business going there are seldom room for a day off. We work a little bit every day being it a working day or Saturday or Sunday. We have decided it is wise to take a day off, and that be Sunday. So this is Sunday night, it's almost midnight, is this regarded as work. No, not really, it's just a short update on the what-abouts and whereabouts of this family.

We got Philip back home from a two-week stay away from home camp on Friday. He's had a great time. And it was so good to see him again.

It's midnight, time to go to bed.

Sorry for being lazy.

It's been more than three months since I last wrote on this blog. That's a shame really.

It has been May 17th, our summer party, end of school, vacation at our cabin, visiting Kristiansand Zoo, visiting friends, a funeral, a wedding, moving from first to second floor and a two hour trip to Sweeden for some grocery shopping.

The weather has been pretty mediocre. Not particularly hot, not very sunny, and more rain than we appreciate. But we've had a fine summer after all.
Bought a new small boat at our cabin. That is boat Norwegian style, 14 feet with a 15hp outboard engine.

We bough a car as well. We rented from Hertz for a while, but it is cheaper to borrow the money and buy one. So we bought a used, 2-year-old Peugeot 308. That's a French and relatively small car. But it is more than big enough for us.

We're almost done with the move. Had an electrician today who did a bit of this and that, so now we can put the last pieces in place and we are settled in. In a few weeks we're getting a new couch as well, and then it is time for a new TV. We're moving forward. A little smaller this flat than the first floor, but more rooms. And it has a terrific view of Oslo and the Oslo fjord.

Back to work again last week.

Philip's still a week left at a two-week summer camp. They're having great fun. It is on an island in the Oslo fjord, about two hours south of Oslo. This island is owned by the City of Oslo, they actually bought it more than 100 years ago for summer camps for working class kids at the time. They are doing all sorts of things, from sailing to swimming to climbing, to reading and arts, playing soccer and other sports. Not allowed to bring money, cell phones, ipods, Gameboys or other technical stuff.

Tia is with her grandmother for a few days on a mountain farm camp. They left this morning and are coming back late Wednesday night. There is a lot of animals there, wild and tame and they are getting close encounters all the time. Tia is the youngest of Ingunn's parents grandchildren and the others have all been there before.

So now we have three days on our own.

May Day

Rain's pouring down. No newspaper in our mail box. Philip and Tia's running sort of a mud race today. All the rain makes it even muddier. Never mind, good sportsmanship.

All our America stuff arrived yesterday, 39 boxes in all sizes, so the house is full of boxes. Tia's unpacked her doll's house and all the accessories literally floating all over the floor. There is a need to clean up. What do we do with all the boxes? We need a plan.

After the race, a shower, put the wet and dirty clothes in the washing machine, had some lunch and off to IKEA to look for a new couch, then to the "office" to make it all ready for a new course starting on Monday. Well on our way to IKEA (and ToysRus) we realize it's May Day. That's a public holiday in Norway. Everything is closed. It's a huge disappointment.

Not much we can do about that other that adjust to Norwegian standard: things are closed on public holidays. And of course, that's why there was no newspaper this morning.

Off to prepare the office for the next course. Philip's playing video games. Tia's watching a film. Mom and dad working.

Then off to some friends of ours for dinner and socializing. Sit down relax. Excellent Bacalhau. A good bottle of Beaujolais. Good company. Ingunn's drinking water and driving home. Volunteering. Kids playing games and videos on the iPhones so the stay awake on the way home. Home 10.30 pm, kids straight to bed.

May day; explains it all.

It's 11 pm, hope you had a wonderful May Day.

Spring

Would you believe it? Spring is here. We're flooded by sunlight. Snow is melting away. Spring flowers are popping up. We're packing away winter clothes. We got a car just before Easter. We have spent our Easter vacation at our cabin by the sea just an hour's ride from Oslo, no week-end rush or anything. Well, the weather was very typical this time of year; rain, wind, rather cool temperature, but we noticed the snow melting day by day. Then finally yesterday the good weather came. Bright sunshine and temperature creeping up. Today we had 50(F) when we arrived home in our black snappy car.

We have had a wonderful week doing nothing but relax. We brought some work to do still resting undone though. Never mind. I have managed to read some in the books of Moses for a key note I am planning.

Tomorrow is 2nd day Easter, what others would call a bank holiday, but I think Norway has the world record in celebrating Easter, it is our spring break. For us this will mean a total of 11 days off. Great!

Tuesday we're back with our clients for the final month. Hopefully finding a job for some more of them. Then 3rd May we're heading off for another 22-week-course. That will be he final, by the end of that we need to have found some other means of revenue generation with clients on a higher level of vibration. If you become the average of the five people you surround yourself with over time I frankly do not dare to think where we are heading. So for that reason we need to generate some other kind of activities.

But for now, music on the radio, Philip got two friends here for a sleep-over, the washing machine is working full time and a light dinner later today.

Happy spring!

Winter

Al Gore was on a Norwegian/Swedish talk show last night and was asked how he thought about climate change when he was met in Oslo with -4 degrees(F) now in March. "It's winter" was his response, and it feels like he is right.

It is an early Saturday morning, there is some talking and music on the radio somewhere in the background (in the kitchen), the sun is about to rise brightly to the east. Skies are blue. I have some good coffee in my mug, have picked up the paper (it is 7 degrees outside and still very cold in other words) so I have it ready when Ingunn wakes up. Tia and Philip have a sleep over at Ingunn's sister's place. Peace and quiet in other words.

We have (finally) at least come to the time of year when the difference in temperature between day and night is high. That is something. It creeps above freezing in the day time. This type of so low temperatures in March is very rare. But it turns milder over the weekend and they forecast daytime high in the upper thirties next week. That is something. I met with some parents in Philip's class the other day for a coffee and we reflected over the fact that there has not been one single day since Christmas where the tempretaure has been above freezing, enabling the kids to make snow balls and have a snow ball fight.

So why this concern with winter and freezing temperatures? I am not a winter guy, and I am definitely not a guy for extremely low temperatures. And we have had it like this since Christmas Eve.

Since we acquired the cabin on the coast just an hour's drive from Oslo we have always spent Easter vacation there. It is about 3 minutes' walk downhill from the cabin to the sea and the "beach"; - the thing is there is so much snow now we will have huge problems reaching the cabin with all our stuff in the first place. One thing is food and other supplies for a long week, the other thing is all the stuff that has been taken home for winter and needs to be put back for the new season. With the snow so deep we wont get it up there.

All hope is not gone though, the snow can melt pretty fast if only the temperature rises. Some rain, some fog and wind and sun will only accelerate the process.

Today's project is to shovel snow from our veranda. Then we can sit outside with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and feel the warmth from the sun. THAT is spring in Norway, and the first snow bells (I think that is what they are called) and crocuses popping up from underneath the snow. That is spring as well.

Make it a great week-end.

A magpie was flying by with a piece of a branch from a treein its beak. Is that a spring sign?

My Glasses

It was doomed to happen. And yesterday was the day. My glasses broke. I was tying Philips shoelaces on his huge Canadian wintershoes.

I had bent down to tie them and he bended down to something with his outdoor winter pants. Then he suddenly rose up and on his way hit my glasses fairly hard just where the frame is fastened to the glass. So he hit me just on the outer top side of my right eyebrow by the temporal. The glass broke and so did the frame, the glasses fell to the floor but part of the frame drilled into my eyebrow and was well fastened there, the part that goes behind the ear. Ingunn could not get it loose. So she suggested we made a trip to the ER, which of course could have been ok if we had a car, but I could not really see myself on the subway or the bus with this thing hanging freely from my right eyebrow. I was not bleeding, but it hurt. After all this metal thing went straight through the skin and hit the bone.

Long story short, Ingunn finally managed to remove it. Put on some antiseptic and a couple of band aids. I had a headache.

Philip was of course sad.

And I thought: this was exactly what we needed now: a $1500 expenditure for new glasses. That's how life is. Well, these glasses have been somewhat loose in their "joints" for quite a while and I have focused on the fact that I did not want them to break so I would have to buy new ones, because I would have to if they broke and that was not a priority right now. So the Law of Attraction works in case you are in doubt. You get what you focus on. I cannot read or write or do anything as most things get flurry without my glasses.
I had to find my old ones, which luckily was here and not in a box in the US. But it's almost three years since I last used them, so now I feel like I have not slept for a few days.

Spring soon?

More snow, and more snow. We have enough. Monday is March 1st. and it is supposed to start thawing. Not so this winter. The other day the temperature just dropped down, way down. When it rose again it started to snow. I know what i will have to do today.

Apart from that life is getting back to normal. Ingunn has started to work with me to get our clients back to or into work. Challenging but it is also a good learning. So we get on the bus every morning, me a bit earlier than Ingunn as she gets the kids safe and sound to school.

It is a good thing to have Ingunn alongside me. She can look at it from a different perspective. Can we approach the challenges from an other angle? Most probably we can.

Are you concerned with the olympics? I am not that much. But we were watching biathlon relay yesterday and cheered Norway in to a very comfortable win. I must admit I was a bit skeptical ahead of these games as to our possibilities to collect medals. We have done very well, and saved by the outsiders when the most obvious failed. Which they have done. This is a small country, but usually doing pretty well in the winter olympics, this year turned out no exception. The we realize that we have won a medal in some sport we did not now about. What's that and who's that?

But, tonight it's the great Final. Curling. Norway vs. Canada. The happy amateurs vs. the pros. The Norwegian team that have become world famous for their jester trousers. They are real amateurs, probably the only ones. The national team has no sponsors and these pants? Yes they did pay for them themselves.

So talent, joy and passion can win over financial resources.

Watch the final, I think it is 6 pm Eastern.

Enjoy.

Saturday February 13th

I think this is a Norwegian kind of sport. Measure how much longer the days have become since December 21st. Especially this time of year when it is still mid winter, we have lots of snow (which we do not necessarily have), and it is rather cold. It is definitely winter. But the light, days are getting longer, which of course is measured by the length in time from sunrise till sunset. And as per now the day is 3 hours longer that december 21st. That is most noticeable. And especially now when the weather bright and sunny. then there is an other phenomenon the difference in temperature between day and night. The clear skies make the temperature fall during the night, and the sun is getting strong enough to rise the temperature during daytime. Which again leads to some dressing issues. What is appropriate to wear in the early morning on the way to work will make you sweat in the afternoon on your way home. Not a big problem of course, but non the less an issue, and definitely a clear sign that we are heading toward springtime. Yeah! A couple of more weeks and we should see temperatures consistently rise above freezing during daytime.

This winter has been extraordinary cold in Oslo, but part of the challenges id also due to the fact that we have no car so we have to use public transport for whatever need we have. Well, public transport in Norway (and Europe) is quite a different matter compared to the USA. But still it is no fun to wait 30 minutes for a delayed bus when the temperature is -15(F).

Suppose we will rent a car when we enter the month of March, there is a rental company called Rent-a-Wreck (suppose it is an American idea) and they will provide a cheap car for us.

Today we have been out skiing. I am not a very keen skier, Philip is more into downhill and snow boarding that x-country, but Tia likes cross-country. And she is very eager, but a bit frightened skiing down steep hills. She'll get used to it.

Next week the school arranges a ski outing, that is tradition in this country. Anyway every Thursday Tia has outdoor class. Irrespective of temperature, rain or snow.

Winter olympics started yesterday, that is the thing in this country. I am not all that into sports so no way am I going to sit hours in front of the TV to watch whatever.

It is Saturday afternoon, the sky to west is so beautiful as I look out the window in our living room. Ingunn is out of the house visiting some family, Philip's at a friends house, Tia's watching TV and I am keeping the world informed about our activities.

This is what it looks like in Oslo right now!



And by the way, next Saturday is our wedding aniversary.

Monday, Monday

So Ingunn left her job a couple of weeks ago. Not much drama around that, just that it was not the right place for her. Good programs, top clients, but that is not always enough.

Right now she works as a high school teacher in entrepreneuship. It is just half day and for three weeks. Then she will also join me, so we will run this program together. Fun.

We're into February, the days have become over two hours longer since mid-winter. That is really great. Yesterday was filled with sunshine, and for the first time this winter snow was melting from the roof of our house. This dripping is a sign that we approach spring. Well, it is quite a way to go yet, and there can come a lot of snow from here onwards, even in March, but days like these are energy boosters.

Ingunn bought Philip a pair of skis today. We've been living in Florida so it's not all the equipment that we have in the right sizes. Tia, on the other hand has it all in the right sizes.

Seems like in March we're able to hire some kind of a car. Does not have to be big, but it makes life easier. Suppose this eco save the world don't have a car thing is part of the learning.

Still alive after all these years...

Tia and Philip on new year's eve.


Sorry to have left out for quite a while. But it has been a busy and special time with a few challenges. Not that we are through, but a least I had an awakening to day. You can read more about that on my blog http://peteraursnes.com. (I don't think this link is clickable).

The weather has turned much milder and we have a normal winter. Got a little bit of snow the last few days so I had to clear a bit around the house and the driveway. Gives me an hour of exercise. Which is never bad. Accompanied by Tia who was tobogganing down the driveway. Philip's off skating and playing bandy with friends.

The last few days have brought a bit of drama into our lives but not more than we can easily handle. I think that is really what woke me up as well this morning and gave me a kick in the butt. It felt good.

So life has fallen into normality, whatever that is. But I have had a strong urge to creep into my comfort zone and just stay there. Not that I think I'll never return out. I am too impatient for that and will be bored by the comfort zone's predictability. But I have had a period after we returned where that was a necessity. So just to have said that, it could just be that I came out again today, so much for staying in the comfort zone.