American in Norway

I have to admit it kinda CREEPS me OUT... FREAKS me out... when someone from (one of) my hometowns shows up on my blog.... (I don't tell people I blog...) What is even creepier, FREAKY-ER ... is when you search for me by my entire name....& social security number .... (not really my ss#... but my last name...like how do you know that?) maiden name..yes... but married name.. hell, Norwegians can't even spell it... DING DING DING... you found me... I guess blogging & being in the witness protection is NOT a good combo?! YOU..from Silver Springs MD...looking for me... SHOW YOURSELF!.. (Ok now I am picturing myself like some zit faced World of Warcraft Player...) Seriously... if you know me just say HEY Tree! Cool blog .(unless this is crazy x-boyfriend from college...EEK..). searching for me with everything but my thumb print kinda makes me NERVOUS... Ciao Chica's

Sometimes .... Bjørn amazes me.. Like last year when he took charge of Dane's birthday...threw together a cake in 1/2 hour & played laser tag with the boys... although the party was over at 3...the guests stayed until 8 pm.... & Dane exclaimed "Wow- THAT was my best birthday party EVER..." (really? what about all of the hand painted motorcycle cookies to go with the Harley Theme that I stayed up until 5 am making the year before last ? never mind...) Or how he can calmly ask the kids to do something & (gasp) they get up to do it ..... Or how he can make them feel better when they are sick... ( as long as poop & puke are not involved...) Maybe...just maybe HE IS the BETTER PARENT ? But then I remember the time I came home & he had our 5 mo. old strapped to the lawnmower ... (so he could watch the baby AND cut the grass...isn't he CLEVER) It was a real show for the neighbors... which was weirder, the Norwegian with baby on the mower or the scr...

Yes... Tightwad... that is what my family (sister's/mother) would call me... Bjørn on the other hand just calls me G O D D E S S .... So you know we have this trip to Rome planned for March with another couple...NO KIDS... The other couple booked their trip first.. & we are tagging along... We were able to get a GREAT deal on airline tickets... approx. $150 per person round trip- (I know, your hating me now aren't you?) So when I went to book a room at their hotel I was a little surprised to find the rate at 230 euro per night... CRAP... ($309 US) HELLO? Ouch! Bjørn told me to go ahead & book it. First I was really impressed that hubby was willing to splurge on the hotel... but the more I have thought about it, the more it seems like a waste...(yes, this is where the TIGHTWAD, CHEAPSKATE comes to mind...) How much time are we really going to spend in the room? (this isn't a honeymoon...) I plan on being out & showing my husband ROMA.... drinking wine...buy...

I have started planning /obsessing about our family vacation for this summer... I THINK we have agreed/decided on a 2-3 week camping trip through Europe... I was all excited until Bjørn said something like..." thats ok , you don't need to shower EVERY day..." "Um, yes I do..." I loved roughing it when i was 19 & broke, back packing through Europe... it might not be so much fun with 2 kiddos in tow... & no hotties to pick up. So I am trying to get a general idea of where we want to go... & what we want to do... I hate to admit it, but I am the Clark Griswold of the family... Bwaaa haa haa ... "only 5 hours to the worlds largest ball of twine..." I have done that on several occasions.... "Oh look honey, we are only 2 hours from the ancient Viking burial ground" Not even the locals knew where it was.... So after 4 hours of looking... we found a big pile of dirt... with a marker..."Viking Burial" (if you make it to Giel...

So on a lighter note...**sigh** We had a nice LAZY weekend... seems like I am having lots of LAZY days of late... We did NOTHING... around the house... we did manage to get out & do some sloppy sledding... WET... WET... WET... the weather was between snow & rain... but we figured we better get out & sled while we could... ( Dane ended up sick & home from school yesterday...maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all...) LadyFi has published volume 2 of the Strange Shores expats blog carnival . and I was given a super sweet shout out on... so if you are interested in reading about ex pats life abroad go on over & check it out... Finally please keep my sup-ah star friend Kat in your prayers... Sunshine and Lemonade Many of you know that Kat's husband, Michael, had an aneurysm this weekend... please go give her some love-n... you know she needs all of the strength she can muster right now... Gotta run get the kids up & off to work... (is it Friday...

*** Update of sorts.... I found her lawyers email address... I thought about emailing her... explaining who I am & just forward my info on to H. I am pretty sure that she will at least get the message about the phone etc. If she chooses not to text me/email me back, I will mind my own business.... I just wanted to let her know that I KNOW & am praying for them.... I feel so helpless... yet I don't want to come off as "Creepy Mc. Creepster" So, after a weekend of stewing & worrying.. I called her office first thing this morning... (they know me there... so it isn't like I am some random stranger off of the street...) I asked if she had gone to the if she was already in the states... "yes"... do you know where? "NO..." As an American I think that is weird... you have had to go over seas & seek medical treatment & no one knows where you are? I asked if she had a way to contact her... "no..." "You don't have a ...

So I woke up to this little diddy this morning.... Anonymous has left a new comment on your post " Power of Prayer.... ": "you sound like and idiot! if you CARE about somebody DO something, GO and ASK, your dilemma is idiotic! PS. From my experience, cancer doesn't respond to prayer, don't be naive, be smart, and if you can, do something tangible." So my first impulse is to delete it... but instead, decided to let it be & thought about it.... Perhaps I don't always explain myself clearly...although I think most of you "get me..." OF Course if I was living in America... & this was a co worker, friend, neighbor... I would be hopping on the band wagon like everyone else.... can you imagine this happening to someone you know? What would every one's reaction be? We would have meals ready... we would be writing letters... we would be sending gifts or trying to relieve the parents... we would be taking up collections.... anything w...