American in Norway

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays ...( a little belated ) My Holiday was spent between being sick in bed (Christmas Eve & day) & working... Not so much fun But Bjørn did an awesome job of picking up the slack & made a delicious American- ish Christmas dinner while I was delirious with a fever.... (Yes, he bought another Turkey...we didn't serve the rotten one... : ) ) Santa was very kind the kiddos this year leaving the much wanted Wii ...... & Wii Fitness.... (I am volunteering to be a spokeswoman for Nintendo....) Bjørn & I have been burning off a calories after we put the kids to bed...wink wink... (boxing & doing the HulaHoop game....) Being sick & on heavy cold medication was probably a blessing, had I been in my right mind, I would have been very very homesick as my sisters & brother all flew home with their families ,to my mom & dad's .... : ( , there are 8 grandchildren between the ages of 10 & 4 (with another on the

Sooo, as I go down to the basement get some food out of the freezer last night...what do I stumble upon? A bag with our Christmas dinner.... 2 turkeys & a large ham.... sitting BESIDE the freezer... completely thawed ... When Bjørn arrived home, I asked if he had taken the stuff out of the freezer? Hmm? NO... Oh, maybe he had on Saturday night.... But it was probably still OK... (I could see him calculating how much the 2 birds & pig had cost him...about $100...this is crazy expensive Norway remember...& wondering if they could be saved) I insisted that they would have to be thrown away... yes our unfinished basement is COLD...but not the COLD... hubby did the only logical thing... he called his MOTHER.... during his conversation I hear him repeat the advice his mother gave him... "if it smells like farts...don't eat it...." (in case you are wondering...NO I do not make this crap up.... MIL & I come from 2 VERY D I F F E R E N T worlds.....)

The computer killer is BACK! & this time I have learned my lesson...(I hope) we were able to transfer all of the important stuff (Eva's life in pictures) over to Bjørns computer... We will have to transfer them back to my laptop in order to burn them... which we will do tomorrow ....(heard that before?) I know what i will be doing during my 2 free days of Christmas , trying to set my laptop back up again.... It is sooo sad how dependent i am on my computer.... Had we not been able to save the pictures on my computer, Eva's life in pictures would be GONE..... I have maybe 20 pictures laying around the house... how scary... At least with Dane , i have boxes & boxes of photos before I went digital. (just a warning, i do not have English spell check on this yet...so bare with me... no mean comments as i am a horrible speller... & I had a crappy week... so be nice!) Is it Christmas already? I am sooo trying to get into the Christmas spirit, but it has yet to hit me...

Yes...another computer bites the dust... my laptop this time.... 2nd computer in 3 months... Did I back up all of the kids videos on the laptop? Noooooooooooo... baby pictures? Noooooooooooo Bjørn is now convinced that I am a COMPUTER KILLER..& he may be right... I am just S I C K..... I am not allowed to be on HIS work laptop in case i get the urge to STRIKE AGAIN... I am sooo bummed.... hopefully Bjørn can get an IT guy from work to look at my little baby, if not I may not have a computer until after NEW YEAR.... (once again a thought which makes me SICK...) My laptop is like my left arm.... I sleep with it... (I use my earphones to listen to my HYPNOSIS thing as I drift off to sleep...down 11 lbs) Roll over as soon as the alarm goes off to check in with work, I have my life line to the US an (American telephone line) on that baby... & of course all of my online shopping... which I was going to do this weekend for all of my nieces & nephews.... CRAP..... So if I a

I live.... but what a CRAZY week.... Had the (not so) crazy Christmas Party... & after 3 hours of sleep, my big meeting with the German office & a 10 hour work day... (I know now that I am no longer 20) Will have to fill you all in, in the morning...hopefully I will be able to post a picture of the new do, although it isn't drastic...just not a BAD hair cut.. yippee, finally... Just wanted to let y'all know I am still kicking.. : )

It's Friday, It's Friday, Thank Goodness it's Friday!!! (I KNOW it isn't Friday there YET...but it is ALMOST FRIDAY here...& I am cheating a bit this week...) YIPPEE!I'm playing Candid Carrie Friday Foto Fiesta Finish again . So after you're done here, go over there and check out who's playing this week!!! OK, so as you may have gathered I am in a rather POOPY MOOD... so as I pop my 2 midol & call it a night, i thought I would share one of my "HAPPY PLACES" with you... Once upon a time...for two wonderful years, this was my home.... (not the island, but yes, this is Santorini ,Greece to where I often dream about running away ...) the ship SEABOURN SPIRIT... I LOVED this ship.... I worked my tail off, but had the BEST TIME.... I met some of my bestest friends in the whole world on this ship... I visited some of the most amazing places on this boat... I had someone cook for me & clean my cabin.... press my uniforms.... I would la

Oh thank you for the sweet comments... I will be honest, I know as a mom, I pretty much ROCK... I am far from PERFECT... but I try to let my babies know everyday how much they are loved, & wanted... & I think MOST times I can be pretty FUN & COOL... But some days ....being a mom is hard... especially in a foreign country. really my problem is that i even give a crap what people think about me NOT being Norwegian or that I do & think different.... this teacher today...was the SAME teacher who made the comment that the WORLD should be allowed to vote for the president of the United States. .... She just BUGS me... & I try to get in & out as quick as I can when she is in the hall... I am not sure but I am thinking she is NOT Norwegian.... I seem to detect some sort of slight accent... I will have to check that out... Like I said this morning, maybe she thinks she is HELPING me... with her "suggestions" but it just bugs me.... In other news...i made a h

As a Norwegian mother I officially get an F as in FAILURE... OK, I didn't ask to be a mother in Norway, trying to be the best I can....but crap, I feel like I am always falling behind... First let me say that one of Eva's pre school teachers MAKES ME CRAZY ... (I am sure this is Aunt Flo speaking here...yes, 2 x's in one month..my LUCKY family...) In my head, I am pretty sure this teacher is TRYING to be HELPFUL....but my heart is screaming... " BIO- TCH " "STOP trying to be helpful, pulling me aside each & every morning & letting me know where I FAIL as a mother in Norway....PLEASE..." This lady has a comment EVERY morning... today she felt the need to pull me aside & ask why Eva didn't know " BlåFjell " ?? OK people, " BlåFjell " (Blue Mountain)is a Christmas show that they play once a year...i THINK it goes every night from the first of Dec. until Christmas.... I THINK...because I have never sat down to w

Or should I say guess which "Gingerbread Man" has an American Mother?.... Yes, the other 3 children are Gingerbread Men as well..... Oh, you couldn't tell? Hmmm ... I didn't know making a Gingerbread costume = Brown sweatshirt & pants.... the Mice in the play? = GREY sweatshirt & pants..... the sheep? off white sweatshirt & pants... (you get the picture) All I can say it THANK HEAVENS I didn't have more time or i would have gone on line and bought the " Gingey " costume from Shrek & had my mother fed ex it over.... Boy could you have seen everyone' s face then? I have to say my boy was a real sport & wore the Mask & "Gum drop" buttons, like a trooper.. & stole the show...(I know I shouldn't say that...but he did... he had everyone laughing...I almost pee'd my pants...) & the best part? For the first time in my life I felt like an OVER ACHIEVER .... (I can't wait until next years play!) S

I'm BAAAACK .... Sorry, I really do have the best intentions of writing every..(almost) day..but sometimes LIFE gets in the way.... We had a lovely NORWEGIAN THANKSGIVING it was ALMOST American... except for the fact we all had to work on Thursday & Friday... so it made for some tired kiddos... Our friends Leanna & Thomas invited us over to their home where Leanna made it feel just like home... Turkey, Stuffing, & the BEST Pumpkin Pie! (I never eat pumpkin pie, but this was FAB!) I made the mashed potatoes & green bean casserole (You can't even imagine how hard it is to find Gre en Beans here in Norway...how weird is that?) i also made my famous "Fat Girl Fantasy" a chocolate trifle... Yum... So what was I most thankful this year? Having a wonderful American girlfriend who made it feel like we were home... hard to get into Thanksgiving without your family...but Thomas & Leanna are like are extended family here... Thanks again for an

I know y'all THINK we haven't been doing any fun family things because I haven't been posting pictures... but we have really... On Sunday we decided to take a family walk & then the rest of the family talked me into taking a little boat ride on Dane's boat... My being the only NON NORWEGIAN in the bunch, was not real crazy about being on the water in the dark, in FREEZING weather, the mommy in me kept playing the "what if" seeing how far it was to shore... But I sucked it up & went along with the gang... (Funny, I LIVED on the sea for several years, but I still have this fear...) Dane & I had a good time shooting all of the lights as we drove by, looks pretty cool doesn't it? After the walk home from the dock, we all snuggled up & had hot chocolate.... Fun, & yum... Can you believe these pictures are taken at 5:00 in the afternoon? Welcome to the DARK Norwegian Winter

I stole this off of my little sisters blog today... it made me smile... Think I will have to learn this routine & do it in front of my kids friends.... (hee hee...)

It's Friday, It's Friday, Thank Goodness it's Friday!!! YIPPEE!I'm playing Candid Carrie's Friday Foto Fiesta Finish again (& I have a 3 day weekend!) . So after you're done here, go over there and check out who's playing this week!!! So you all know about my addiction to FACE BOOK... one of the best parts of facebook are all of the OLD pictures everyone posts... the good, the bad, the ugly.... then there are the pictures that make you sigh & think "THOSE WERE THE DAYS.... " This picture is from when I was 19... camping out on a ferry from Greece to Italy... laying out under the stars (freezing our butts off) meeting people backpacking from all over the world. This was one of the best summers I have ever had... being young, backpacking through Europe with my sister & our friends.... SIGH.... Hope y'all have a great weekend!

I was shopping this afternoon when I came across THIS.... it was either Fit or Fitness.. (whats the difference?) I know I sound like a small child when I say I REALLY REALLY want this ... for the kids (of course...) The kids would F R E A K O U T... because we are pretty much against video games... They would NEVER in a million years think we would get one... How fun to wake up Christmas morning & watch mommy do pilates? I mean, open THEIR new WII... (its even fun to say the name.... WIIIII isn't it?) Now comes the fun part...trying to talk Bjørn into it. He has his heart set on skiis for the family this year... Had they been downhill skiis I would be all for it... but he want's to do the cross (YAWN) country skiis... OK I have never been cross crountry skiiing, but it seems like an awful lot of hard work... for what? I thought I had read on someone's blog that they had dropped a lot of weight & got into really good shape with the Wii... anyone? ..

I have been throwing around a title for this post all day.... I thought about.... "it all adds up".... "SHUT UP, getoutta here..." "don't hate me because I am SKINNY" OK people get THIS.... I stepped on my new scale today to .....ready?...ready? A SIX (6) pound loss in one week! (this is where you are supposed to say..."SHUT UP... Getouttahere !" are you serious? Yes I AM! this is where I say... "don't hate me cause I am SKINNY..." (OK I have a LONG way to go ... but I am off to a rocking start! I am going to try to refrain from making this a "diet blog" (2 people stopped following after last weeks post...Hmmm...maybe they are only interested in my jet set lifestyle? (jet setting across the border to get groceries in Sweden) So I will not bore all of you skinny minis with my new "lifestyle" but if there are any of you interested in kicking it in & working with each other...supporting eac

OK, first off... HI...I've missed y'all! What a week.... I feel like I have been working 24/7... it has been a hectic few days at work... then with the kids... & the house... heck, I don't need to tell y'all... I am sure you know how it is... So for the big news... in our house anyway... my BABY BOY came home tonight & announced he HAS A GIRLFRIEND...? he's 9.... he was sooo stinken cute when I picked him up from Scouts tonight... (the boys & girls do Scouts together) he was so excited to tell me all about her.... Awww , how cute... love it... then he told me that she wanted him to kiss her.... (not so much loving it.... am I an old fart or what?) He already wanted to know if he could invite her to his birthday party... (in May...) I suggested we wait a little closer to May to see how it was going with the two of them.... "But mom, shes the ONE... " I have a little drama king on my hands.... (it is my payback for all of the dr

It's Friday, It's Friday, Thank Goodness it's Friday!!! (Oh darn... just remembered I will be working ALL weekend) YIPPEE!I'm playing Candid Carrie's Friday Foto Fiesta Finish again .So after you're done here, go over there and check out who's playing this week!!! As the dark Norwegian WINTER is fast approaching... I give thanks for morning's & sunrises like the one pictured... (today was rainy, & crapy & cold & DARK...but I walked anyway.... : ) ) I seem to take a lot of pictures of the sky... I don't remember ever doing thatwhen I lived in the states... maybe I never caught these kind of sunrises. Or maybe I never took the time to look? Hope y'all have a super duper weekend! : )

OK... I really didn't want to have to go there... The FAT GIRL post ... but here we are... the truth is hard & horrible & UGH... But I said it out loud ... I am fat... (hey Mr. ex boyfriend who occasionally pops by to read my blog... I'm Not really THAT fat... actually I am a smoking hot domestic goddess ...) OK, yes i am REALLY THAT FAT... I would like to say that I don't know how I have gotten this big... I no longer eat fast food... We are out walking & hiking... WTH ? But to be honest.. I make poor choices... I have been doing a lot of self reflection the past few days... I have been letting myself go... my marriage /kids have never been better... but I have put myself on the back burner & it is time to get a grip... I went out today to buy a scale.... We haven't had on in the house since we moved to Norway... ladies.... it is bad .... but not really a surprise. I guess I should tell you now that i am depressed & miserable &

I would like to take this moment to publicly apologize for the past few days.... For leaving your 4 -9 year old out on the side of the road to hitch hike home after I could no longer take the bickering & teasing.... For smashing your birthday cake in the your brothers face...& after 3 bottles of wine, walking out on your birthday dinner... Geeze ... SORRY... we all have those kind of days right?... OK I jest .... but i THOUGHT about this... oh ya... & the running away to Greece fantasy...sigh... the SNL " Annuale " Skit would fit PERFECTLY ...r.i.g.h.t h.e.r.e.... but of course, I am unable to find it on YOUTUBE... cause that is how the week has been rolling... I managed to make it through the birthday party with a smile on my face & only 1 bottle of wine. But on the BRIGHT side...I have started walking again.... I walked for an HOUR yesterday...in the RAIN... yea for me... Sorry people... Got NOTHING for ya today.....

Happy Birthday Blue Eyes.... After all of these years you still make my heart go pitter patter.. Wish your gift this year could be a trip to Ireland or somewhere fun...(Florence hint hint..) but instead, you will be getting a driveway : ) & if you are lucky... a Garage.... Oh, & lots of pretty pictures from your babies.... I am so blessed to be growing OLD with you.... much love.... your lucky wife....

I agreed to host my own little post Election Bash for Martinis For Two Let's Party! The Virtual Post Election Bash Kick-off To say I am BEAMING with pride is an understatement .... Today I feel like one of those CRAZY European Soccer Fans ... You know the ones, who drive arou nd with flags waving from their cars...honking their horns demanding everyone to notice them & the pride they have for their team...today THAT IS ME .... If I could have figured out a way to attach my American Flag to my car to drive around town honking I would have.... I am THAT PROUD .... Instead, I dressed my daughter like this.... With the big old Texas Pony Tail & Bow to boot.... dang it... I want EVERYONE to know my babies are American too.... I awoke this morning to several text messages from Norwegian friends CONGRATULATING me... Flowers from my MIL..... well wishes from everyone at Eva's preschool.... Just talking about the election with them gave me goosebumps... I ALMOST even started cr

Wow! Today has been almost surreal... from the moment i left my house today, people have been stopping me... those who know I am American..& those who overheard me talking... Everyone wanting to know what I think about the election today... ( 7 of us Americans were interviewed for the paper this weekend... kindda cool people actually value my opinion TODAY.... I realize that this is a one shot deal .) I don't know if most Americans realize that the ENTIRE WORLD is watching THIS election ... I know here in Norway they will be broadcasting the election all night long... BBC as well.... this is BIG TIME folks! Can you imagine ABC CBS or NBC broadcasting the French or German or British elections ALL NIGHT LONG? Or even more.. EVERYONE I have talked to today has an opinion in regards to today's election.... Now granted, Eva's pre -school teacher went a little far this morning when she suggested that the "rest" of the world should be allowed to vote in the US e

I was torn, should I call this just Halloween Hangover post... or the post that lasts forever....cause seems like my weekend went on F O R E V E R .... (we had LOTS of things to do this weekend... ) So grab a POT of coffee & relax cause this could take a while.... So the Halloween "get together" went great... the kids DID get to go trick or treating.. (although it is no where near the same as in the US... not really a bad thing after reading all of your candy dilemmas) My American girlfriends brought over their stash of American Candy... Reese's & candy corn... YUM...(my already huge ass THANKS YOU!) & we had a great night of playing TABOO..(LOVE this game) & wine.. (LARS is a cheater...anyways...) All of the cute little American Trick or Treaters ...going out to show the Norwegians how it is done..... We made it through Friday.... with the rest of the weekend LOOMING.... Dane had an all day outing in Oslo on Saturday.... & we had tickets to an ABBA

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I would love to write a super great post about our plans tonight, & that 13 years ago TODAY I met my husband at a Halloween party... (Love you honey..) But frankly... I am having 15 people over in a matter of hours & I am still picking pumpkin seeds off of the floor.... I got Boo'd by Song for Whoever someone I used to actually go trick or treating with in the old days... (OK we were too old to go trick or treating but I am sure we egged cars or something... ) Cute rig ht?! So here's the deal: Go to as many of your blog buddies as you want and tell them they have been boo-ed . Have them pick up this picture and add it to their blog and say with the link who boo-ed them . Put the picture in your sidebar if you want so then others know that you have already been boo-ed , if you post lots and it's not on the main page where everyone will see your boo-ed post! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

OK.... I hope this won't be a weekly thing... but today is definitely OVERWHELMED WEDNESDAY Crap...is it Wednesday already? I have been working my tail off since last Thursday...lots of extra hours at the office trying to get everything done before the end of the month... throw into that kids, MESSY house... class mother stuff... AARRRRGGGGHHH! OK, I am going to break this all down into BABY STEPS & then MAYBE, I won't be SOOO BLOODY OVERWHELMED.... On top of working 10-12 hour days... (I know in the US this is pretty normal..but here in Scandinavia, where the work week is between 35-37 hours... I am pretty sure I will be receiving a medal in the mail for all of my hard work....) So on top of all of the long hours, messy house etc... I have my first "Class mother" meeting at Eva's "Barnehagen" (preschool) First order of business... to start planning a REAL old fashioned Christmas Tree Party.... The other mothers are throwing ideas out there left &am

It's Friday, It's Friday, Thank Goodness it's Friday !!! (Oh darn... just remembered I will be working ALL weekend) YIPPEE!I'm playing Candid Carrie's Friday Foto Fiesta Finish again . So after you're done here, go over there and check out who's playing this week!!! So"MY" FOTO this week isn't really mine... I snatched it from my friend Richard..... Is it just WRONG that a mother of 2 young -ish children, REALLY REALLY wants to carve her pumpkins like this ? because sick or not.... I think it is SOOOO bleeding funny!? (Note to self, I still need to track down pumpkins in this non-loving Halloween country...) Happy FRIDAY... Go check out carrie & give her some bloggy loving!

OK, so I found this great blog yesterday... GutsyWriter ... when scrolling through her blog..instead of doing the 999 things I needed to get done.. I found this post...which got me thinking... SELFISH PARENTS MAKE BETTER PARENTS ....I have been thinking about this for the past day now.. Although I don't like the word selfish because selfish makes me feel GUILTY .... being "selfish" parents is something Bjørn & I have have been working on for a while now.... Growing up, I recall seeing 2 kinds of parents... those that put their kids above everything else.. & each other... & those parents too occupied with themselves... to give a crap what their kids were doing... But i never really experienced/noticed a healthy balance..(maybe I didn't really notice it? Maybe I was too busy looking at cute boys? ) I was 30 when I met a couple... my friends parents, that I was in total AWE of.... Although married for, lord knows how many years, they were still

i have seen many a post about pissed off husbands & starving children due to our addiction to "BLOGGING"... Bjørn & I even went through a little "phase" where he was getting, dare I say, a little JEALOUS of the laptop... He would come home from work and ask "Have you been blogging today?..." Of course I would lie and say..." NOOOO " (first sign of addiction is denial..right?) But after I started trying to WORK with my ADDICTION... ie: get the kids fed & then go back to the computer... snuggle with hubby & then hop on the computer after he fell asleep, things got much better.... (I kid...kind of) Bjørn & I talked about my love affair with his laptop & I think in the end he too, could see the benefits in blogging.... I started blogging in May after my little sister got me into it. I don't know what I expected my blog to be like.... an online diary? a place to b! tch & moan about whatever I didn't like about m

Yes. I live.... but I am afraid I am a bit of a Debbie DOWNER .... My fun family weekend? I was flat out sick the entire weekend... (but I understand the rest of the family had a good time...) I am still sick- ish . Not sick enough to stay home from work... but sick enough to whine about it to E V E R Y O N E... (sorry to all of you who have had to listen to me over the past few days....) I am irritated with myself for procrastinating on a couple of things... ie...AMERICAN taxes... (yes, the ones due on April 15th .... ) finally got around to mailing them off today ... after paying the $100 to Fed. EX them so they would be there by the 28th... Hit me last night that I had forgotten to renew my residence/work permit here in Norway... this time next week, I might be better know as the American in America ... OOPS! So Guess what I will be doing during my afternoon off tomorrow? .... waiting in line with 500 immigrants & the one case worker.... J O Y .... to see if I can stay in