NWA SUCKS....

Like to just pop in from my blogging "break" to say the Northwest Airlines SUCKS....

Remember the days when you were able to get "FREE" tickets by using your miles?

Past few years when we were able to get a "Free" ticket... we had to pay some where around $150 for taxes & processing... OK, I was cool with that...cause it was still a cheap ticket...

- so I am all ready to book my ticket with my 51,000 miles I have saved... only to find out that now the international ticket will cost me 60,000 miles... shit..... but a girl has to do what a girl has to do to get home for her 20Th reunion RIGHT?

So I just paid $300 to transfer to the miles between our accounts... go online to book the ticket... when I get to the end my "free" ticket is costing me an additional $300 are you BLEEPING kidding me?

before I hit the pay button thought I would check to see how much it would cost to just buy a ticket... approx $750 (150 more & a WAY better connection... plus no MILES....)

I am pissed at myself & even more with NWA... Just thought I would throw it out there...
After over 15 years of being LOYAL NWA travelers... this is the final straw...

I hate being screwed... & I really feel that I have been now... SO now I am debating... do I use the miles... or pay a little more.. (cause chances are we won't be able to use the miles when we want to next time anyway...)

Hope y'all are having a FAB summer... ours is JUST getting started... & talk about a SCANDINAVIAN HEAT WAVE... we are dying up/over here... you would never guess I grew up in TEXAS with the way I am HATING this heat... but AC over here is VERY RARE ...

So gearing up for the big "tipi-tastic" trip... going to flip things around a bit because of work...but we will get it all worked out... keep y'all posted... sorry I have been MIA...

Land of the Midnight Sun...

Land of the Midnight Sun...

OK I am really too far south to truly enjoy the "Midnight Sun" for more than maybe one night... but these were taken around 11 pm last night... & if it weren't for these (in my opinion) AMAZING clouds, you can see it would still be pretty light....

I wonder what the neighbors were thinking as I stood on my toilet taking pictures out of the window last night.... there goes that CRAZY Freak of an American taking pictures out her window A G A I N...

A while ago I found some guys blog & it was an entire blog based on pictures of CLOUDS... some of the pictures were really cool...but still an entire blog about CLOUDS?... & then I start going throught the pictures on my computer & see how many pictures of the sky I have taken.... I am always AMAZED with the sky here in Norway... not like we don't have clouds or rain where I have lived in the U.S..... For a while, I was pretty sure it seemed so different because I never took the time to really appreciate the sky in the states.... but now I am pretty sure it is different here.... the clouds always seem to be right on top of us... as if we are on top of the world here... Hmmmm?

This isn't the best photo... but I thought it was cool that I could actually seen the rain coming...

I DID it!

I did it! I went back through "rush" hour like a crazy woman... & bought not ONE but TWO sets..

I found 300 kr in birthday money stuck to the fridge... B I N G O..

Y'all told me too... & I did...

I always feel like I need to justify myself when I buy something like this...

(of course I can drop $100's of dollars on NOTHING or on the kids.... but when it is something for ME... I feel bad...)

But I am LOVING these... can't wait to break them out & see how they look mixed up with what I have...

The store had 4 sets left... lets hope that no one else will buy them because lets face it... you can't get a whole set now... & they will mark them even L O W E R... cross you fingers for me... I am going to be the crazy ROSENTHAL stalking lady... waiting.. & waiting... until the store no longer wants these dishes taking up place & practically GIVE them to me... (a girl can hope can't she...?)

Thanks for the push I needed to get in the car & GO! : ) tee hee...

Suzanne... YES.. we do make more money over here... min. wage is something like $15 an hour. but remember gas is $8 a gallon... milk is about the same... OUCH

Kicking myself....

Oh ya... I remember why I don't go out shopping anymore... its because I have a PROBLEM...

Although things cost about 4 x's more than they do at home... I have saved a fortune since moving here because I never go out to S H O P... I only like to do my THERAPY shopping when I THINK I am getting a good deal... a REALLY good deal which almost never happens here...

Today I was going to do all of my running around... I have been on a mission this week to use every gift card I have saved since my Christmas & my birthday... I had my first massage here in Norway... (interesting experience for a prude like me...)

Today I was going to use the gift card from my Brother & sister in law.... it is worth about $50 U.S.. Super sweet right? I thought I would go & pick up a coffee can... (not sure what you call this in English...) You know, to keep your coffee warm & on the table...

Um, ya right... not in THIS STORE unless you are willing to pay approx $150...

As I move to the back of the store to the sale section thinking I could perhaps find a designer FLY SWATTER for around $50... when I spy THESE.... on CLOSE OUT!.....

ROSENTHAL China...

Original price for 3 pieces about $150...

marked down to $80....

(Remember I have a $50 gift card....)

I really liked these 3 pieces...

I thought I could mix them up with all of my other fun white pieces.....

I went around with myself for about 20 min...before walking out... because I wasn't sure it was a really "good" deal .....

Mind you I blew about $500 today on nothing but C R A P.... a rubicks cube for the car ride... a pedometer.... a new bike lock... NOTHING...

I looked up the pieces on the internet... it was a good deal... I want to kick myself....

Damnit... it is MY birthday money... I am going to go buy these crazy china pieces & maybe even buy another set... of course I will have to hide them in the basement until Bjørn is on his next business trip.....

I want these... I N E E D these....

It's not about winning..

Y'all know how I am totally into
I ♥ Faces...
I play almost E V E R Y week... not inhopes of winning... although that would be nice... but for the LEARNING... I learn something new each week I play.

Everytime I post a picture, I THINK I am SATISFIED... until I start looking at some of the other entries... & then I want to KICK MYSELF... I coulda, shoulda woulda....
This week was no exception... I started thinking how I could have made my pictures better.... I like the hint of color... which I SHOULD have had in my entires... OH WELL... here is crossing my fingers they do a sepia week again sometime.... I started playing today & this is what I came up with...

This is the neighbor baby... which I could just EAT UP.... I love her chubby cheeks, dimples & that square jaw line... These pictures remind me of something from the 1950's...

I thought this little girl's eyes were almost brown... until I kept the eyecolor & added the sepia.... ( I didn't alter her eye color...) my goodness she really does have blue eyes like all of the other Norwegian babies around here...

Wish I would have left the color in my sister in laws dress...

& really I wish I would have picked this little Norwegian girl for my entry... I think I may have had a chance...at something... oh well... here is to better planning next time....

TO my happy surprise... one of my photos HAS been included in I ♥ Faces collages .. WOO HOO... can you pick my baby girl out?

I ♥ Faces - SEPIA

This is my sister in law in her BEAUTIFUL Norwegian Bunad (traditional dress) as we took the sailboat into town for all of the 17th of May festivities ...

Not sure I am in love with the way Eva looks in the picture.... But there were a lot of elements I liked... I was shooting up at her with an AMAZING sky... & I really liked her eyes...

Head on over to I Heart Faces, & see who else is playing! Are you playing yet? if not...WHY NOT? Sooo many neat bloggers who WOW me every week...get on over there...go on ...

Americans in Norway...

There are indeed MANY of us here (Americans in Norway) ...

Just had lunch with another really nice American blogger here in my area.... kind of like a blind date... it went well I think....

Talked to Corinne over at Northern Natterings we are FOR SURE going to plan a get together over the summer...for all of our fellow bloggers & expats alike.... We would like to plan something while Kelli from Mads & Kelli is in town... but I'm not sure I will be back from our
TI PI -Tastic trip through Europe... if I'm not, Corrine PROMISED we would have another party in August... I'm also up for hosting a get together in the fantastic resort town of FREDRIKSTAD.... Who is in? (No weirdos - PLEASE)

Holly... There wasn't a link to your email address... if you pop back here, email me... Love to shoot the B.S. with ya...

Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda

If you want to play please head on over and let Jennifer atIt's a Beautiful Life know!
Here's my top things I should have done....

What is your top 10 things of things you should have done? This is really a TOUGH one... because although not perfect... I have a pretty awesome life...

If I had changed ANYTHING... school..boyfriends...bad relationships, I wouldn't be where I am right now.... So my shoulda list might seem a little superficial...

1:) I SHOULD have studied more & made better use out of the scholarship I had to study in Germany...(I did way too much partying....)

2.) I should have taken more time to appreciate the opportunities I have had to travel & see things.. instead of trying to have a good time... (so you see a common thread here?)

3.) I should not have taken my sisters moped out for a joyride - read...shattered leg, compound fracture, 1/2 inch difference in length & scars that will never fade.

4.) I should have never started smoking... I was 16 in Europe & thought it was sooo cool.... I quit THIS year

5.) I should have taken better care of my skin... I remember being 18 years old and dumping BABY OIL all over my skin while Song for Whoever (Kelly) & I spent our summers lifeguarding.. "Who cares if I am wrinkly when I am 30.... I'll be married!"

6.) I should have lost all of my extra weight this year

7.) I should have loved myself MORE.... thoughout my 20's-30's I would beat myself up for not being thin enough... or thin at all.... I look at those pictures NOW & think I was awful hard on myself... I was a cute girl.... with CURVES... ongoing problem... see #6

8.) I SHOULD have respected my parents more...(paybacks are a bitch...)

9.) Early on, I SHOULD have put my foot down in my marriage-with my kids- instead of always trying to "Go with the flow"

10.) I should have started blogging a long time ago! : )

(Super idea Jennifer!) - OK who is playing?

The "UN" plan.... European adventure with kids...

First... Awwwww... Thanks for all of the bloggy L O V E ... I wasn't in so much in a funk because of not having any more babies... not really sure why or what it was.... maybe it IS because I was outside doing summer stuff.... I dunno... but looks like I am back on the horse...

So I thought I would share the "plan" - which isn't really a plan because we are going to "WING" it

R I G H T?
Eeek.... It will be interesting to see what we actually end up seeing/doing.....

The thing I LOVE about living in Europe is that you are only a car ride from pretty much EVERYTHING...

Granted my idea of a car ride may be different than most American's.... I grew up in TEXAS... so a "road trip" to Grandma & Grandpas was a mere 17 hours in the car... STRAIGHT ...through Texas.... Oklahoma... Ill... (I usually konked out by then... or mom & dad drugged us so we would all stop whining" HOW MUCH LONGER....."

Point being... I grew up with 8 hours min. just to get out of Texas... so when I break it down that way.... In just a few hours I can be anywhere....

So the "un"plan....
JULY 4th

just 6 short hours from our home to Copenhagen...

the "unplan" is we will stop in Copenhagen for a little Danish brunch...

Copenhagen is really a weekend getaway for us almost Norwegians... I would have liked to take the kids picture in front of the Little Mermaid... but I think she is on tour at the moment...(right Kelli? )

We will spend most of the afternoon trying to get through Denmark so we can catch the afternoon ferry over to Germany... where we will pop our TI PI for the first night....

(can you tell I am still a little bugged about the TI PI? but alas... I am out voted 3-1 so it looks like the TIPI it will be.... I am thinking FUN MOM..FUN MOM... I can do this damn it...) the Ti Pi could be fun right?

So out first real stop is in Berlin ... where I hope to take the kids to the Brandenburg Gate... what remains of the Berlin Wall...Check Point Charlie,

etc. I was there in '90 not long after the wall came down... GOOD TIMES... Germany in the 90's was a rocking good time...

So the little carrot for my adorable children being well behaved & interested in all things historical will be a stop at

TROPICAL ISLANDS... a "little" tropical getaway not far from Berlin....

Tropical Islands Resort is an artificial tropical resort in Brandenburg, Germany. It is said to be the world's largest tropical indoor pool which can accommodate up to 8,000 visitors a day.

Tropical Islands > Visitors
I kind of wished I hadn't brought it up...because spending 1 or 2 days THERE

Means we probably won't have time to go

HERE

PRAGUE... only a few short hours away...& not really out of the way... but one of the stops we are just going to have to "WING" cross your fingers... I would really like to go back to Prague

moving further south ... we plan on stopping in Salzburg, Austria... so I can take my kidlets up to the mountains and reenact one of my all time favorite movies

The Sound of Music (1965)...

I have been to Salzburg several times & I act like a total dork every time I go...Love this little GEM..

I plan on having some good wine & relaxing when we get here.... Not far from Salzburg is Bavaria... back into Germany...

Where it looks like we will be able to meet up with one of my oldest & dearest friends....

the darling, millionaire,world class athlete friend & his BEAUTIFUL model/Dentist wife...

the two of us (Jochen & I) really have nothing common but our SICK SENSE of humor which has gotten us through 22 years of friendship....

I keep imagining his face as we all roll out of the family truck-ster like the Beverly Hillbillies & the soda bottles & candy wrappers fall onto his driveway.... LOL

(did I mention this guy is a pro athlete who doesn't even own a TV... but loves my Roley Poly, high heel boot wearing-trying to climb a mountain self? -that was the last time I went to see him...)

We are planning on crashing in Bavaria for a few days to enjoy swimming & going into the mountains to feed the mountain goats.... (I found a camp ground where you can do that!) & practicing out yodeling... (that part I made up...)

We HOPE

(oK I hope...) We will have time to stop in Heidelberg & Mannheim area were I spent a year of University... call me crazy & sentimental but I would really like to drive past my old dorm & University.....

We are then not planning... on heading west over to France.... where I can take the kiddos to Paris...

(I am NOT TIPI-ing it on the outskirts of Paris.... mommy is drawing the line here... I have no intention of showing my kids PARIS as a funk monger... )

So we will see as many sites as possible....(take my Christmas pictures.. he hee heee...) & then go to Euro Disney... (yea... lucky me...)

I will bet of all of the AMAZING things my children will get to see & do this holiday it will be Disney that wins.. (This isn't my FIRST choice of a vacation stop... but then again it is all about the "carrot" for the kids... Who knows, maybe Eurodisney will WOW me this time around...- I doubt it... but... I am going into my FUN mommy mode now... I am SURE it will be a highlight of my trip... LOL )

I think at this point I will be burnt out & READY to get home... but we are thinking we will be able to stop by the town my dad's family is from in Northern Germany... we'll see....

Get this... almost ALL of the campsites have Internet... is that CRAZY or what? I am hoping I will be able to post once or twice while we are away.... Any tips /advice... throw it my way..

I still have to figure out what the heck I am going to pack...or NOT pack...

So hard to say good bye...my lost MO-JO

Sigh.... where have I been, you ask?

OK, OK, no one has asked, no one has been looking for me...sigh...

(feel like I will be sighing A LOT in this post.....)

But I am here.... can't even tell you what I have been up to really.... (nothing exciting....)

OK... saying GOOD BYE to bags & bags of crap & clothes..... cleaning out closets, working LOTS...

Bjørn finally convinced me to say goodbye to all of Eva's beautiful baby clothes....

I saved the special things... but all of the things I was hanging onto to sell on our version of EBAY was given away this past week.... ( I KNOW I could have made a fortune...) - ok probably not... Lilly Pulitzer, Kate Mack aren't real big over here......

But he convinced me that it really wasn't worth the time or the mess to start trying to sell the BOXES & BOXES &BOXES of her clothes... so I gave them away--- So hard to say good bye...

As Bjørns co worker was trying to pry the huge plastic tubs out of my hands... I asked Bjørn if he was REALLY REALLY sure... this is it... (NO MORE BABIES----no more baby girls...sigh....)

I kinda feel better.... a little bit... I gave most of it to my god daughter... some to a couple who works for Bjørn.....

I have packed up boxes of almost NEW toys to give to Eva's pre school.... I get sick to my stomach when I calculate how much money we have pissed away on toys my children never played with - or for that matter...even asked for.

that's what I get for trying to turn my tom boy daughter... into a girly girl...lots & lots of baby dolls, strollers, clothes she has never touched...

OF course NOW that I have it all packed up & ready to go... she thinks she might like to try to be a little girly girl....

I feel like the past week or so I have lost my MOJO... (not sure I had any to begin with...but whatever...)

I haven't felt like doing ANYTHING... I haven't been blogging/haven't been reading blogs.... I haven't even been playing for hours on end, with my pictures.... (my family is starting to worry about me... - "daddy, why ISN*T mommy blogging?")

Bare with me.... tressa's trying to get her groove back...

Getting ready for the big ROAD TRIP.... eeek... I am not ready... I feel like I need to be more prepared...but Bjørn & I have decided to TRY to wing it as much as possible... so we aren't locked into an itinerary.... Not sure if I have mentioned but i am kinda a "control freak".... so we will see how the winging it goes...

I USED to be able to "WING IT" I am the chic that would sleep in lockers at the train stations...hop on night trains going to where ever, crash on floors..... but ever since we had our kidlets I have forgotten how to "WING IT"....

Y'all cross your fingers for me that I am going to be able to be the free spirit I once was & the entire family is going to have a BLAST trekking across Europe in our.. um... TI PI---

looking forward to it....

photo cause a post wouldn't be a post without one... Babies on the way to see Alexander Rybak with daddy.... (winner of the Eurovison contest...) this weekend...

On a B & W Kick....

Seems I am going through a Black & white phase again...

OH well....

the first two pictures had very poor lighting... switch them over to B& W... & Voilà I'm in LOVE...

I have a million things to do... (should be going to bed... ) yet here. I. sit.

Lets hope tomorrow is a little more productive...

I ♥ Faces - Birthday

This would be Eva's 4th birthday last year....

She LOOKS like a little princess... but really is ALL BOY....

I tried to get her to have a Hello Kitty or Princess party... NO way... had to be Pirates....

Here is my little pirate....

Head on over to
I Heart Faces, & see who else is playing! Are you playing yet? if not...WHY NOT? Sooo many neat bloggers who WOW me every week...get on over there...go on ...