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.