American in Norway

Yes .. it is a horrible, rough life ... but someone has got to do it 1 arrived in argentina yesterday ...& it has been NON SToP wine and dining .. but i am managing ... ( OK i am typing on a keyboard with no letters so yáll have to bare with me...) anywoo ... off to my next vinyard ... just wanted to let yáll know i survied the freaking 14 hour flight ... ( soooo worth it !) Am trying to take lots & lots of pictures ! LifE is GOOD !

The last time I CRIED in a Beauty shop, I was 12.... come to think of it the last time I had an ASYMMETRICAL BOB... I was also 12.... Guess who cried in the beauty shop today? - guess who went in for a TRIM & came out with an BLEEPING ASYMMETRICAL BOB..thingy? OKay ... I didn't all out BAWL... but my eyes did tear up after she HACKED the left side of my hair off... I asked for a TRIM... I think I am going to start calling my girl KATARINA ... "the BUTCHER# I went back and forth this morning...should I trim it? should I not? But seeing as I have been going to the SAME GIRL... with the SAME HAIR STYLE for over a YEAR... HOW COULD SHE SCREW IT UP? I am the kind of person who will BITCH about it on here...but I would NEVER say anything to the "stylist" because I wouldn't want her to feel bad.... But today my mouth dropped open when I saw what she had done & said "wow...this is waaaaay too short..." Her suggestion... we leave the right side as is...

OK my new friend Amy turned me onto MEGAVIDEO...wooo haaa hhaaa wooo. How the HELL have I made it 4.5 years living abroad without this WONDERFUL little AMERICAN GIFT....sigh.... All of my favorite shows... at my fingertips.... & some I have never heard of. OMG...whats with COUGAR TOWN? please please please...don't tell me this has been canceled (like all of the other shows which show up over here 4 years late...) Courtney Cox...AMAZING.. but whats up with the Drew Carey chic? ewwww... yet another affirmation that I will NOT be doing anything to my face.. OK.. but she is still REALLY REALLY funny... ( moobs ... man boobs- I am sooo going to use that) So what else have I been missing? Now that I have EVERYTHING I want to watch, I don't know what the cool new shows are. My big plan was to download about 26 hours of shows (the amount of flight time to Argentina... however I can't figure out how to download from Megavideo- I can download it... but can't get it to play....

2 glasses of wine & a shopping trip... guess who isn't sooo SAD anymore. Thought I would just have a little sip while I was making dinner...OOPS... ( I SWEAR...I do not have a problem.) Bjørn is dropping me off at the book club... with all of the sober girls...should be interesting.. Hee hee hee ... I went to the the store to return a pair of jeans for Dane & ended up buying my Christmas Party outfit. YEA me! Last year I did the whole LONG. FORMAL. BOOBS SPILLING out... This year I am doing black satin pants...those ROCKIN shoes I bought in the states & a really CUTE formal- ish top... I'm planning on having a GOOOOD time at my Christmas Party this year& not worrying about SPILLAGE . Hope y'all have a F A B U L O U S Friday night...(funny what a couple of glasses of wine will do for ones mood, no?) TOMORROW? Planning on taking the kidlets for a day out in Oslo... I WILL MAKE IT THROUGH THIS WINTER...I will... : )

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), also known as winter depression or winter blues, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter or, less frequently, in the summer, [1] spring or fall, Symptoms Symptoms of SAD may consist of: difficulty waking up in the morning, tendency to oversleep as well as to overeat ( check ), and especially a craving for carbohydrates(( check ), which leads to weight gain( check check ). Other symptoms include a lack of energy, difficulty concentrating on completing tasks, and withdrawal from friends, family, and social activities ( check check check ). All of this leads to the depression, pessimism, and lack of pleasure which characterize a person suffering from this disorder. Hopping around the ex pat Scandinavian blogs.. you will find the CRAPTASTIC weather a general theme..... Regardless of number of years you have lived here, winters don't seem to get an eas...

Yea! Finally I get to play...RANDOM TUESDAY THOUGHTs.... cause it seems like MOST of my thoughts are RANDOM today.... *my goodness...am I BITCHY today... I called Bjørn early at work just to WARN HIM... everything is irritating me.. Seems like it is going around.. it must be the GRAY Rainy days... Everyone is feeling a little bitchy & blue.... lets hope the sun comes out SOON... ** I have a bunch of meetings tomorrow... will I speak up & say what is on my mind or back down to just get through it? I need to be better about standing up for myself. Believe it or not, sometimes I am WAY too nice. *We get a lot of American TV shows here in Norway... months or even years after they come out in the states... the newest show to hit the Norwegian airways is " Dance your A$$ OFF " - I know where I will be Thursday night... bruhaaaaa * Anyone know how we can watch AMERICAN shows on the Internet? - Living abroad you get a message saying you are not allowed to watch from your area...

I am watching an Oprah re run with Dr. Laura Berman... How to talk to your kids about SEX. What you need to do as a parent, Dr. Berman says, is arm them with knowledge that will guide them well into adulthood. "You want to start these conversations early with your kids—before they find themselves in the circumstances where they're having to make those healthy sexual decisions." The episode is about a mother buying her 14 year old son condoms... & talking to your daughter about masturbation. Ummm... N.O. and N.O. .... I realize I have a little time on my side... I have a 10 & a 5 year old... but I can see it coming oh man ... can I see it coming. most Americans have a different view on SEX than most Norwegians/ Europeans . Europeans/Norwegians are much more OPEN about sex in general but especially with teens & sex .. I have a lot to learn... I can't see me being more European when it comes to MY kids & sex. (maybe?...I do have a few years...) Danes...

y'all know... I had an unexpected " face lift ".... I was thinking about changing my layout.. I just hate being FORCED to do anything. (don't you love that I was posting every 10 seconds when I was having problems... but as soon as it is OK... I draw a blank? Not sure what I am going to with the Ol'blog ...but have a feeling it will be a work in progress. I have to give Andy aka Dark UFO a great big shout out & THANKS for saving the day & getting everything fixed.... SO y'all know when weird BLOGGER things happen, they can be fixed IF you know what you are doing.. (I, DO.NOT) In all of this chaos I did lose my BLOGROLL ... I will try to get y'all added back... but if you want to help me (hint, hint) go ahead & leave me a comment or drop me an email... It will save me from trying to find y'all again. I just noticed...did they REALLY take spell check off of the new blogger? gimme a break From: " Lorac " If you use Blogger in Draft, ...

OK...so I lied.  Thought the problem was solved...but NOOOOO By switching to the classic template y'all can comment...but I can't have any of my really cool widgets. : ( I have a very nice person trying to help me... so I had to switch it back to the NO comment mode... Can I just say ARRRGGH one more time?

GIVE ME SOME SUGAR! F I N A L L Y...looks like we are moving in the right direction Unfortunately... thus far.. you are only able to comment on my blog if I use THIS template... Hrmphhhh... (not that there is anything WRONG with this template...I know there are 1.000.000's who have it) I would just like something a little more personal. OK better than nothing. I was thinking I was going to have to start AMERICAN IN NORWAY II... ( insert SAD face ..) Anyway... I have been searching the net for the past two days on a solution to my "no comment" problem... I tried the whole resetting the widget thing...NO LUCK... in the end.. I just clicked the "revert back to classic template" & Voilà Just thought I would throw that out there in case someone else comes across the same problem... OK... so I am waiting by my in box to see who is going to comment first... I've missed y'all!

Where the %&¤&¤//# are my COMMENTS? Is anyone else having a problem or is it just that blogger has decided to kick me out. : ( Seeing as you can't leave me a comment.. Anyone who would like to take pity on me & help me fix my problem... would send me an email? (under my profile...)

K...just don't even LOOK at the BLOG... I was having problems yet again...with everything being shoved to the left... (I didn't do anything PROMISE...) Last time this happened, it went back by itself... this time it didn't & I panicked... Lets face it, I am not an OCHRE kinda gal.... So until I figure out what the heck I am doing with this UGLY BORING template...bare with me. If I go & grab a cute template won't I lose all of my thingy- majigies on my sidebar? Serious...this blows...

Anyone who has been reading American in Norway for a while KNOWS...that one of " THOSE "days.. Is usually a RANT about the HUGE Zit that popped up right before a big meeting.. or my MIL making me CRAZY...or the zillion things I have to do..which I have yet to start because I am BLOGGING... (I know... I have a really ROUGH life..) But today was one of those OTHER kind of days.... The kind of day that starts with a good bye kiss from my husband... (although I am sleeping...I always know when he kisses me good bye) I was awakened by Eva crawling into my bed for a little cuddle & the "little man" aka BABY BOY putting coffee on for me ...before my feet hit the floor... (I have taught that child RIGHT!!... ) The kids were off of school for a planning day, so I took the day off to be with them.... After kisses, cuddles & coffee... we had a little breakfast.... went for a bike ride in the sunny-ish fall weather.... I made homemade Potato Soup ...(to.die.for.) whil...

Now that I have the Birthday out of the way the Next BIG thing going on will be my trip to ARGENTINA.. IN. TWO. WEEKS. I can't believe how fast time is flying... woo hoo ... whos excited for me?? I have never been to Argentina...or even South America for that matter... it is going to be an adventure.... So now I need to get my butt in gear & learn a little something about Argentina... & what do I need to pack? I know it will be summer there...but I don't even have an itinerary! Do I need a converter? What do I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO BUY while I am there? I am going to have to break down & call the company who is taking me & ask them what I need to exp ect ... - do I need to have dresses for dinner or is this an all out WINE-O trip -better stick with pants? The only thing I do know is that we will be heading to Mendoze ....from Buenos Aires , in a little prop plane...NOT looking forward to THAT bit. ( why is it after you become a parent things like PROP planes...r...

OK...so I am NOT Martha Stewart..but I think I can say the party was definitely a SUCCESS.. Today, Bjørn called me from the office twice to thank me again... (Sometimes he can be soooo cute like that.) Biggest surprise was the friend flying in from Trondheim.... The boys had an excellent time catching up... & had a free pass from ME while I got everything ready for the party... FIRST time in my life I was finished with EVERYTHING with an hour & a half to SPARE... was able to have a drink with the boys before the guests arrived..... I had WAY too much food as always... but the Norwegians loved all of the "NEW" dishes... nothing FANCY...but I loved trying some new things out & having them work out.... Some of the favorites (so they told me...) were the CAKE...(first time I have made a cake from SCRATCH...go! me!..SOOO EASY) I will have to link to the recipe... the Cheese ball... & FRITO PIE... OK yummmm...too bad we can't get Frito's over here... (MOM, ...

Y'all knew it was coming.... Just have to say it... HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY! Bjørn says he doesn't want a big deal made out of it...but deeep down I know he does... we all do, don't we? He called me as soon as he got to the office...his office was filled..floor to ceiling with balloons.. & the girls were all lined up to give him a hug...maybe a little birthday spanking ..(he didn't tell me that...) I would say the day is off to a good start...lets just hope everything else goes as planned... Have a super weekend y'all..full report on Monday... Sorry, I couldn't resist.... brwaaaaa haaa haaaaaa

GAME ON....Its C R U N C H time.... Ol ' Blue eyes will be 40 tomorrow... WOW. So now I am running around the house like the Keebler Elf...trying to get all of my baking done.. 1 of 2 Chocolate Mocha cakes...done... 2 sour dough bread bowls.. done meat for the Italian meat sandwiches done... (in the land of NO CROCK POTS it took me 18 hours to get the meat JUST RIGHT...) Cheese Balls... (almost) (I found cheese balls /logs in Sweden for $30 a POUND.. is that not messed up?) Yesterday, Made a run for the border (literally) over to Sweden to buy some "CHEAP" alcohol... HA.. I drove about an hour to make it to the Swedish Vinmonopolet (yes, we have to go to a government owned alcoholic beverage retailer ..if we want wine & spirits..) So I made the hour trek for my 24 cans of beer... thank goodness they were sooo cheap..averaged out to about $2.70 a CAN.. I was so disgusted by my "cheap" buy, I just had to giggle - (to keep from crying) Anyhoo ... bought the ...

Dear face... I KNOW I have treated you B. A .D. for the past ummm... 24 years ... I baked you with baby oil, I picked at you, I talked ugly to you..I tried to hide you, I didn't love you and I am SORRY!! As 40 is fast approaching, I want to make things right. My boobs & legs aren't what they once were & I am counting on you girl, don't let me down! I am going with the tough love approach...doing things I SHOULD/or SHOULD NOT have been doing the past 20 years. sorry*sorry*sorry*sorry*sorry*sorry*sorry*sorry*sorry*sorry*sorry*sorry*sorry*sorry Starting with the "sun" no more fake baking. I know you... my face/skin are THANKING me for not baking you under neon lights... I am having a hard time staying away...but for you, I will.. Never mind within the next 2 weeks I will begin to look like I have been locked in a closet for the past 6 months & with my new white..pasty skin , will need to re think the hair color.... eeeww.. Talking about TOUGH love... I h...

Dane..my baby boy... is a TALKER... Oh. lord .is he a T A L K E R . (must admit, he comes by it honest...) This morning the talking began while I was still asleep & he was sitting on the potty... yelling across the upstairs... " Hey M O M... I have found my apartment.." (didn't know he was looking...) " G R E A T baby... can we discuss this over breakfast/HUGE cup of coffee?) (that child NEVER forgets ANYTHING...) 10 min. I get downstairs... "Soooo mom,... did you get a chance to look at the apartment? it is only1,800,000... huh, huh,huh? I figure when I turn18 I will just get a job that I don't really llike... so I can get a loan... & then I will get a girlfriend & we can buy the apartment together.... whatdoyathink? huh? whatdoyathink? (all of this in one breath) At this point I should have just nodded...said "sure sweetie...sounds like a great idea?" - as I am praying for the coffee to drip a little faster & remembering my ...

Little Miss Eva as Bat Girl... She REALLY wanted to be Buzz Lightyear but compromised with me when I couldn't find the costume.. as long as she didn't have to be a PRINCESS... Here is Kristoffer with the awesome piñata his mama made... way to go Caroline ! Dane was a commando ..... I was SOOO MAD.. I left my memory card at home.. so I think I was able to get 4 pictures.... Sometimes I can be such a DUMMY. We had a great time at Kristoffers b-day... trick or treating wasn't too bad... just a lot of work trying to find the right house ... sigh... (which TOTALLY justified the many bottles of wine we needed to recover from taking 9 kidlets trick or treating) At least the newspaper wasn't filled with upset readers writing in on how HALLOWEEN should STAY in AMERICA... (oh yea... I have read that EVERY YEAR for the past 4 years...) I am still worn out from our fun filled weekend... but there is no rest for the weary... less then a week til Bjørns b-day.. eeek ! I have...

I DID it...: ) I am very pleased with the way it turned out... much scarier than some of the cakes on saw on line... This was for Kristoffers 12 th birthday/Halloween party... so we had to have it look a little mean- Baking " cute-sie "cakes here in Norway is more difficult than doing it at home only because we d on't have the same of candy, decorating stuff who knew I would be unable to find ... ICE CREAM CONES... (I wanted to use one for the stem... no flat cones to be found...) I used Marzipan for the stem & leaves... & am now a convert... More about the big weekend tomorrow... ....OH look... found this post from LAST year... pretty much sums it up..Halloween here is still pretty PAINFUL... (but getting better) Halloween in Norway ... one of our favorite Holidays... or at least it USED to be until we moved to Norway... Halloween is still pretty new to Norway... Not sure how long it has been over here... but not long enough for people to know WHEN they ...