American in Norway

It has been a while..  a crazy couple of years..  A couple of years for all of us to process the changes in our lives..  How to move on, how to start over..  The starting over.   Dating again in my 40's yikes..  with all of my history thrown out on the internet to see.    Family pictures, daily adventures..  I suddenly didn't want my life out there for the world to see. Was a time for privacy for sure....  I made my blog private..  & then left it..  Sad really, when once I really enjoyed posting memories for my children and our life "abroad" Not really so abroad anymore.. - As Norway has really become home & I have even gotten my Norwegian citizenship Whaaaaaat?  Yes, the procrastinator got off her tail and took care of herself..  Looking at the old header.. Another reason I stopped blogging.. I had to figure out who I was -- After 17 years of being a wife ,...

Last week I was in Jevnaker for work... what a LOVELY area in Oppland. I know it is breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL.. yet I never allow myself enough time to stop and take pictures on the drive up... perhaps next time..         We stayed here at Thorbjornrud Hotel - beautiful views and fantastic food and wine ... Hadeland Glassverks Factory We had a little outing with work here at the Hadeland Glassverks Factory.. if you are in the area it is  well worth the visit. As it always is with me, it is either feast or famine...  You don't hear from me in AGES.. and now you will be bombarded with 5000 posts. :-) I may have been horrible posting on my blog.. but I am an INSTAGRAM fanatic.. lol.. posting photos of where I am almost daily..  instagram name :   tressa_in_norway

One thing that most expats can agree on is that once you have lived abroad for a while, you can never really go home. You will find you yourself stuck between two countries...two cultures.... but where do you fit in? When I am in Norway... I find myself thinking of all of the WONDERFUL things which are American to me.... Yet, when I am home in the United States... it is easy to see all of the wonderful things about Norway ... P L E A S E don't tell my husband I am saying this... I am afraid after almost five years of my bitching & complaining about moving me here... he may go into shock ...... Norway...really is...a nice place to live.... OK...I said it... out on the Internet for the rest of the world to read... it isn't really too bad here... I am not crazy about the sky high taxes & prices.... I am not a big fan of socialised medicine.. Nothing pisses me off more than watching people screw the system....which apparently is very easy to do... if anything Norway is a ...

Made it through another birthday party....This time much more Norwegian.. (read....easier) and I must admit less stressful. I was so "unstressed" on Sat. night, that I started getting STRESSED. B-days are a MAJOR event in our house... (for me anyway) My mother was a big planner... my friends "Martha Stewarts of the Midwest", are big planners... and I am (was)a big planner. *My son usually decides the theme of his party about 11 months before hand. We talk about it all year... *a few months before the big event, I will start having large amounts of crap sent to my mothers house... who in turn will wait to the last min. to send it over to me, paying around $150 to overnight my $5 Oriental trading party favours.... *I send the invites out 2 weeks in advance so everyone can save the date for my 6..7..8..year olds party. (Think I need to get over myself ?) *Pull an all nighter finishing food, decorations etc... All of the games... are planned out... bla bla bla you get...

I am in a crappy mood today.... CRAPPY.. meaning no sun although it was promised for the rest of the month...LIARS... SO in an effort to make myself feel better... I am posting things that make me laugh instead of bitching about the friggen post office & furniture I ordered 2 months ago.... Thank you Leanna for this little diddy... made me smile! You know you have been too long in Norway when....... *You only buy your own drink at the bar even when you are with a group of people..... *You can't remember when to say "please" and "excuse me"..... *You always prepare to catch the closing door if following closely behind somebody..... * stranger on the street smiles at you, you assume that:a) he is drunkb) insanec) Americand) all of the above.... *Silence is fun..... *you use "Mmmm" as conversation filler..... *You actually believe that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing..... *You know Norway's results in the last three years ...

Just had to share.. this makes me giggle. Not sure from where the bathtub or "sauna of vapour" (as we like to call it) is imported, but I am guessing English is not their first language.... And despite the image on the sign... our " sauna of vapour" does not double as a toilet This is reason #496 that I choose to not write in Norwegian.... I don't want to look like a total idiot. Really... if you were going to ship your product worldwide... don't you think you would have someone proofread your English.... ?

OK you have to sing this to "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors... catchy little tune from the 80's. It seems everyday I resist a little less... and I'm turning Norwegian.. Examples of my Norwegianism ... (yes kinda like a Bushism ) The sun is shining... and I feel like yelling it from the roof tops... THE SUN IS OUT... THE SUN IS OUT!. Which of course means I need to be outside doing SOMETHING... You can not be in the house when the sun is out.... In KC... I could give a big shit.... if the sun was out... and Oprah was on... forgetaboutit .... Sun was out & needed retail therapy... I was off to the mall. Because I have never lived in Alaska or Seattle... I just took sunshine for granted. Here I feel like I need to savour every delicious drop of light.... because you really aren't sure when it will disappear or if it will return. RETAIL THERAPY? I used to enjoy my days at the mall--- swinging by on my way home for work, hitting the sales at Jones store... or bet...