Involuntary exercise....

It always happen when Victor is away! Everything looks like it is clearing up, then Victor goes away for a few days and the downpour starts. It seems like it has been snowing nonstop since he left. Which means HARD work for me!
We have one of these manual snow showing tools which takes a lot of effort to show up and down the road to our house & the more snow it is the heavier it gets... This in one of those things which I am convinced is really a mans job!! I am all for equality but all in moderation. One would not want to end up looking like a man with huge bulging muscles!!
While all this white fluffy stuff keep falling from the sky my beloved husband is lazing about up north at Finnmarksvidda, skiing, dog sledging, building snow holes and igloo's and then proceeds to spend the night in them. All this from a man born and brought up in suburban Britain, not bad really :-)
Anyway, this still leaves me on my own to fight the elements here at home - maybe I should interpret this as a subtle start to my fitness regime...

Tomorrow...

tomorrow has yet again turned into today. I keep making promises to myself that "tomorrow I will do better", "tomorrow I'll do something about it"...but then tomorrow never seems to happen!

The last few days I've had this aim to start the morning by doing some exercises. I don't know what it is but I have recently begun feeling older - everything is so much more of an effort. Not sure if it is related to the rapid passing of time towards mid-thirties or if is mainly pure unfitness. Not being able to do much about the passing of time, I've decided to go for the fitness regime! That is if I can ever get started...

I've found a picture from days gone by - see if me as 21 will be inspiration enough... :-)

Will keep you posted!

Inspirert av Heidi's "drepe en forelske" blogg så utgir jeg nå en "forbli forelsket" liste...

#1 Gjem den først "mo i knærne" føelsen godt inni hjerte ditt og ta den frem og kjenn på den ofte
fordel: du glemmer aldri den betatte følelsen
ulempe: du forblir forelsket...
#2 Stirr minst 10 min på mannen i ditt liv hver eneste dag (om du ikke har den virkelige utgaven foran deg så får et bilde gjøre samme nytten) mens du sukker av tilfredshet over at han er din
fordel: du forblir betatt og synes at han er den kjekkeste mannen noensinne
ulempe: alle andre menn blekner i sammenligning....
#3 Vær oppmerksom på alle de gode kvalitetene han har som du setter pris på...
- som at han ler av dine tåpelige vitser
- som at han alltid setter pris på maten du lager selv når den ikke når opp til Jamie Oliver standard...
- som at han alltid kjører de lange kjøreturene slik at du kan sove i passasjersetet ved siden av
- som at han tar sin del av oppvasken uten å søle eller sutre for mye
- som at han henter ved og tenner opp i peisen når det er kaldt
fordel: de tingene som ellers ville irritert deg går i glemmeboken for du er så fokusert på det du virkelig liker og setter pris på
ulempe: du har ingen ting igjen å irritere deg for....
#4 Aldri slutt og overrask han
- vask bilen uoppfordret
- la han sove lenge om morgenen uten å klage og vekk han med en rykende fersk kopp kaffe og en sjokoladebit
fordel: du kjeder aldri deg selv eller han - livet blir fullt av overraskelser
ulempe: tingene blir da aldri monotone eller forutsigbare....
#5 Snakk med han! -men ikke unøvendig babbel...
fordel: kommunikasjonen holdes åpen og man fortsetter å vokse sammen isted for fra hverandre
ulempe: det kan ta tid og føre til at man deler følelser og blir mer intime og samkjørte...
#6 Ta vare på deg selv (menn liker velpleide kvinner)
fordel: du får pleiet deg selv og det er godt
du blir i godt humør
du beholder ditt fantastiske utsende
ulempe: resten av Adam's ætt kan komme til å bli misunnelige på din heldige utkårede
#7 La mannen få litt "alene" tid hver dag uten å klage (det er faktisk sant - hule tendensene eksisterer i realiteten!)
fordel: du får en blid mann som har tid og energi til å være sosial med deg og barna resten av dagen
ulempe: du får litt tid for deg selv du og....
#8 La forelskelsen gli over til ekte kjærlighet
fordel: forholdet kommer til å vare for resten av livet
ulempe: det er ingen.... ;-)

Merk - er ulempene virkelig ulemper????? :-)
LENGE LEVE KJÆRLIGHETEN!!!!

I try to not constantly write about my kids or being a mother - I know (from personal experience) that when a parents life revolves very much around the little angles, but I am also very aware that I am not just a mother and my life is not just my kids, but I am afraid that today it has to be a blog about just that....motherhood....because today is MOTHERS DAY in Norway....
The day started like many a Sunday, husband away at work, so no breakfast in bed - but at least I got a lay-in until 8.30 am. which was not bad. At which time I had a squealing child on the toilet "I'm FINISHED!" and a puppy whining as loud as she could in her cage "let me out - I want to play!!". I dragged myself out of bed, put on my dressing gown (yep, old enough to be the proud owner of a thick and comfortable dressing gown :-)) and went downstairs to deal with the crises'. I subsequently put on children's television and trying to wake myself gently on the sofa with a glass of fruit juice whilst browsing in a magazine. Then the inevitable nagging starts - I want a drink, I'm thirsty - that crises dealt with - then starts the arguments - my dear son had manged to leave his Nintendo DS game in the car last night, and with husband away at work meant that the car was gone with him, so, no possibility of getting the game for a few hours. His older sister is merrily playing away on her game which he of course wants to borrow...no chance of that... It all culminates with mother (voice being slightly louder than appropriate) saying "Today is mothers day you should all be nice to me, to each other, to everybody today. I don't want any more arguments today - that can be your present to me!!" I then march off to the toilet (one of the few places a mother of three small children and two dogs can have a moment of peace). A couple of minutes later there is a knock on the door and three children come marching in pressies in hand - a lovely princess (self made from a candle), a gift card for mamma's favourite clothes store and a home made card telling me what a nice and kind mamma I am.... I am now sitting in the sofa, sipping my cup of tea, while my son is playing on his sisters Nintendo DS, the sister is sitting on the sofa knitting while the little one is dancing away in front of the stereo - The kind mamma is having a wonderful Mothers Day after all :-)

I received a challenge a while back from Heidi Karethe...
Five things (most) people don't know about me...

1. I have a "thing" for red sports cars...
2. My first ever boyfriend was British (but he was not the one I am now married to...)
3. I drank coffee for about two months when I first started going out with Victor (oh, what stupid things love makes you do :-))
4. Maths was my favorite subject at school...
5. I used to spit after men with beards when I was a child

- anything you did not already know Heidi?? :-D

One of Victor's America highlights... :-)

In Florida we rented a car for the week & Victor was most pleased... It was big, American and fun to drive (apparently...)!!!

Washington DC
Despite the fear that my readers might faint with the shock of writing another blog so quick after the last one...I am willing to take the risk :-)
Going to see my father-in-law with family was really nice - it had been too long - the kids did not know their grandad or auntie or uncle, but now they not only know them they also grew to love them while we were staying with them. They would much rather have uncle Andrew and auntie Lauren babysit then come with mamma to the mall (wonder why???? ;-p). My father-in-law was an extremely patient taxi driver, taking me from one shopping centre to another...thank you!!

Seeing the capital of America was also excellent. We spend one day wondering around, going to museums, seeing the white house and having lunch at Union Station. Kids really enjoyed the natural history museum!!
We went in again on Victors birthday - that was what he wanted to do... :-) We then spend the day going to see all the memorials. They were all very impressive - I liked the Roosevelt one though, were you see the different stages of his presidency.... Also liked the latest one from the second world war! Even though walking through the memorial do make an impression, can't help but think about the fact that these were men and women who left family and friends behind so that other could gain or keep their freedom...
I am glad we were able to make the trip and finally go over and visit our family there as well as all the sight-seeing we got to do!

We are back!

One of my best holidays as a family!! I have to say that I really loved my first ever visit to America (loved as in "love to go back there on holiday" not loved as in "would like to move there"... - just in case any of you were getting worried ;-p)

There were a lot of highlights, so, I am going to spread them out over a couple of blogs. For now - Florida with Disney world & Sea World.

Mattias's highlight was I believe meeting and touching "Lightening McQueen" (the red racing car from the film "Cars" for those of my readers who might not have the faintest idea of what I am talking about...

Miranda just loved all the princess's in Magic Kingdom...she is in a real princess face and is overly excited whenever she gets to put a dress on and pretend to be a princess..

Miriam enjoyed the fireworks and she also got herself a favourite Disney character - Tinker Bell! So, in the shops (which were plentiful) she spotted out all the Tinker Bell stuff and wished for it all..

My favourite was, I must admit, the Magic Kingdom. I know it is supposed to be most exciting for the young kids, but I really loved seeing all the characters which I read about when I was a child - it was magically! The size of the rids were also more to my liking...the Everest ride in the animal kingdom was not for me!!! (relived having the excuse of a young child so having to stay on the ground).

I was also very taken by Sea World! Stroking the sting rays was excellent, as well as playing with the dolphins. The shows there and Disney World was also totally memorable - it was all just awesome :-)

So, conclusion, We will be back.

The next report will be focusing on Washington, visiting family and Christmas!!

What is the chance of it?????Talking of misfortune - getting a bit sick of it really..!! You see, yesterday I managed the marvellous trick of falling down our staircase, with the result of a badly bruised bottom and a BROKEN toe!!! Who would have thought that those little things could hurt so bad??? Well, according to my loving husband they are not so "little" - "it's no surprise you managed to break them, they are about as long as your fingers". Ok, I admit it, my toes have been the amusement of many a joke between my husband and my brother-in-laws (seems to be a family trait, my sisters toes are equally long, slender and elegant). They claim that our toes are "the missing link".
The most annoying thing is that it means I am missing out on a trip to Denmark tomorrow and have to hobble about on the first days of our holiday... Because on Thursday we are off!!! Three weeks holiday in the Sates, I am VERY excited about it, never having been there before. Will let you all know what it was like when I come back!
Apart from the toe incident, I had a good weekend with a busy program. The highlights being the children’s Sabbath school taking the church service on Sabbath. Daniel in the lions den :-) I was very proud of my three little lions!! All the kids did really well and it was a excellent service!
Later on Saturday night we went to a Christmas concert in my church, Cornelius, which was another rewarding experience. Miriam's singing group took part as well (their CD is coming out any day now, and being the objective mother that I am I can safely and truly say it is worth purchasing :-)). All in all not a bad weekend, the toe aside ;-)

Good therapy...
To get it out is good therapy; "express yourself!". I guess that is true and I guess I am working myself through the whole horrific experience of Sabbath morning by telling others what happened. At the same time it is excruciating painful because I feel so incredible stupid and guilty.
• Stupid that I managed to lose control over the car just because of icy conditions and a sharp bend...
• Guilty that I crashed my sisters car...
• Guilty that I put one of my friends through the experience...
• Guilty that I let the church down where I was going to preach...
• Guilty that it will cost us a small fortune to pay my sister back the value of the car (since it only had third party insurance)...
At the same time I am incredible grateful that
...no other cars came in the opposite direction at that particularly time
...that neither I nor my friend was seriously physically injured
...that I actually had company with me (the paradox that is...)
...that I am now safely at home and I know that the damages that has gotten done will gradually fade or get sorted...

A touch of frost...
Looking out of my window I see the sun glittering in snow covered branches. The dogs leave their imprints on the white ground as they run along after each other. The kids wake up screaming of joy because winter is finally here "when can I start skiing to school?", "I am going to slide on snow racers in kindergarten!" "so am I!" :-) I run around the house pulling out drawers and searching in wardrobes looking for last years hats and mittens, while the kids put on layers of clothes. The doors are frozen to the car so I have to pull with all my might to get them opened, the seat is freezing my butt off (whatever happened to that garage we were going to build..??). Driving along on twisty narrow country roads while your car is practicing ice skating is enough to wake up even the most sleepy zombie (who needs cappuccino?). Friends walk me to the bus while being like kids and having a snowball fight...
Evening time, the fire is crackling and warming. The kids are sleeping soundly after playing out in the cold fresh air most of the day. Outside it is pitch dark. Drinking a cup of hot chocolate while Jack Johnson is playing in the background.
Winter has its challenges, but it is really not too bad at all ;-) November in Norway.

The latest addition...Sometimes I think we must be absolutely mad...Victor and I have three children, seven seater car, fairly big house, three rabbits, an aquarium, six stick insects (yes - live little animals who pretend to be sticks in order not to get seen and eaten - and they are all just females, still they can produce kids all on their own - very fascinating subject, but slightly off my topic right now...) and now we also have TWO dogs!!! On the side we also have two full time jobs... Getting a puppy in the house is really like getting another baby in many ways (ok, babies do not nick daddy's smelly shoes and chew on them like crazy before we manage to pull it off her..), there are the disturbed nights - the amazing thing is that Victor (who NEVER seemed to wake up when the babies cried) is the one who wakes up and gets up and let her out. On the positive side, there are also the cuddles and affection - her favourite thing is to curl up in your lap and get cuddled. And Twiggy (our 7year old dog) is a very happy and caring "mummy". So, our little family has gotten bigger - no plans for any more additions I can assure you all ;-)

Tuesdays with Morrie; an old man, a young man and life's greatest lessons

Read an amazing book whilst in Israel! It was a truly moving story with deep reflections of the meaning of life and the various elements within it. I am not giving a résumé of the content, only a quote:

"Whenever people ask me about having children or not having children, I never tell them what to do,"..."I simply say, "There is no experience like having children." That's all. There's no subsitute for it. You cannot do it with a friend. You cannot do it with a lover. If you want the experience of having complete responsobility for another human being, and to learn how to love and bond in the deepest way, then you should have children."

Finally I want to recommend that you: “Get the book and read it!”
….a handy tip…keep a tissue box nearby…

PS. Another book by the same author worth reading is “The five people you meet in heaven”.

Returned Home
Israel - after ten days on an intense work journey to Israel I am left with an abundance of impressions. Victor is wishing I would stop chatting for at least a couple of minutes, but I have too many experiences that I need to share and unload :-)
I think the way I would describe the country is a melting pot - it is such a mix of old & new - old ruins and new buildings, various cultures and people - Jews, Arabs, Africans, Philippines etc, different religions - Judaism, Islam etc, religious and secular - it was all just melted together...! Can't really be described, needs to be experienced!

Other things I experienced on the trip were:
- A vegetarian village - everybody who lived there was vegetarian :-)
- Swimming (read: floating) in the Dead Sea
- Seeing various sites where Jesus walked
- Becoming a film star (well, we did go to make a TV program :-))
- Behaving like a film star (oh, well worth a try ;-))
- Being offered 100 camels for my hand in marriage (ok, he did drop the price to 10 camels when I informed him I was already spoken for...)
- Missing my family so much it physically hurt - Hurrah, I'm home!!
- Start of Sabbath by the Wailing Wall - one of the strongest spiritual experiences in my life!

British supermarkets – a true little piece of heaven on earth!
I am writing this with the risk of being accused of being irreverent – comparing a shopping experience to heaven. But to my defence I have to say “I live in Norway!!!”. Norway is not exactly shopping heaven – especially not when it comes to supermarkets –yes, ok, you do get your basic needs covered – there is the milk, cheese, egg and bread – and you might even have the choice of three different types of apples. When it comes to speciality items like Marmite, you will be lucky if you find it at all (there are those rare, extortionate, speciality supermarkets which might stock it – but then again they would see no difference between Bovril or Marmite – “yeast extracts – one and the same thing”)! So, wandering down the ails in Sainsbury, Tescos, ASDA, Waitrose – is like wandering down an exotic world of groceries. Having a couple of days to soak up the experience while attempting to keep my VISA card under control is worth the whole trip back to my second “home” which Britain is.

Off again!
On Sunday Victor and I are off back "home" to the UK. I am always excited to go back - I do miss Britain - especially Suffolk :-) Not to mention Sainsbury, Starbucks and the shopping centres... But this time I am not as excited as I usually am. Reason being that the kids stay behind. It would probably not have been too bad if it was not for the fact that I know that when I come back to Norway at the end of the week I will have less than a week with them again before I am off to Israel for a week and a half - again with kids left behind at home...
Strange how you can miss someone so much in such a short space of time. The good bit is that I get to take my darling Victor with me when I go to England at least ;-) While when I'm in Israel he'll be a home alone dad with three demanding children, full time job, house and laundry to do, dog to walk, rabbits to feed and garden to sort... Good thing I believe in the power of prayer :-)
PS. I'm not thrilled about flying these days, but the airplanes which we tried out this summer in Legoland were really worth a ride!!

My three little angles...
My patience paid off at last! I have impatiently tried, unsuccessfully, to publish pictures in my blogg before, but because I always expect instant response it has never worked - this time I managed to control myself long enough for the machine to work its way through processing it all - so, here you are everybody; a little glimpse of the miniature Marley's!
I realised that almost "everybody" else put pictures of their dear little treasures in their blog - being it kids, nephews, nieces, friends, boyfriends, cats, dogs - you name it they get published. So, desiring not to disappoint here comes a proper "proud mum" contribution to my blog!! :-)
They (my kids) are a very close nit bunch - especially after this past summer. We had a mad time, starting off with Victor's three weeks in Peru, followed by family camp, the week after that Prosess (a spiritual, inspirational long weekend), then Inspiration week at Fredheim with it all drawing to a close with Pathfinder Camporee in Denmark. Through it all the kids came along, took part, made new friends, met old friends and got closer to each other!
So, the conclusion I have come to after reflecting on the lack of holiday and busy summer is that the family could not have had a better summer. We were together. The kids got spiritual food - and so did we. We got to know a lot of people. Had some very good conversations with some old friends. Impressions have been made that will last a life time!

Sommer og sol er herlig!! Det er i grunn godt å kjenne solen slikke på kroppen, bare man har brukt noe av den lille fornuften man har og smurt seg med litt solfaktor. Jeg har begynt å innse at jeg - og flere av mine venner med meg - lever i en fantasi verden hvor vi tror at hvis vi lar solens varme stråler slikke uhemmet på våre smekre kropper så vil vi ende opp med en brunfarge verdig en super modell og vi tar gjerne med fasongen på kjøpet :-)
I stede ender vi opp seende ut som lyserøde, overstekte små griser...huuhm...ikke særlig attraktivt, det kan jeg forsikre deg...
Det verste er at det skjer sommer, etter sommer...og hver gang så sverger jeg at til neste år, når min stakkarslige vinterbleke, småfete kropp, igjen skal få møte solens varme, da skal jeg være forbredt! Faktor 20 til å begynne med for så å gradvis redusere faktoren og områdene som eksponeres - litt hensyn må man jo ta til de stakkars naboene som må tåle den nesten gjennomsiktige hvite huden som blender alle i 100 meters omkrets da den vises de første varme dagene i april/mai.
Nå begynner det hele å roe seg litt - etter utallige tuber med Aloe Vera og noen ubehagelige netter hvor det gjorde vondt hver gang leggene kom borti lakenet så begynner litt av vinterblekheten å gi seg. Og jeg går fra å se sykelig blek ut til å få noe som ligner mer en normal hudfarge igjen.
Lenge leve sommer og sol!!!

Dette er en blogg jeg skrev på onsdag forrige uke, men av en eller annen grunn så fungerte ikke systemet slik at jeg fikk lagt det ut på bloggen min...og teknofobia som jeg har så gjorde jeg ikke så mye med det, ventet bare på at ting skulle komme seg opp å gå igjen :-)

I dag har jeg vært i butikker, dette er i grunn noe jeg faktisk sjelden er. Det kommer av at jeg alltid synes det er så deprimerende at alt det jeg liker og synes er fint ser ut til å alltid være det dyreste de har i butikken – et prisnivå utenfor mine drømmer til og med… Det andre problemet jeg har, hvis det er klær jeg er ute etter, er at jeg nesten aldri finner noe jeg liker som også passer. Og det blir ikke noe lettere med årene – jeg ser med gru frem til pensjonist tilværelsen som nudist…!!!
Men i dag var det ikke klær som sto på handlelisten – jeg var ute etter div. utstyr for barnemøter, maling, papir, sakser – masse spennende ting. Hobbybutikker har jeg nemlig ingen problemer med å finne ting i  Det aller best med hele dagen var at jeg faktisk klarte å få kjøpt noe til meg selv, som også har stått på handlelisten min i en lengre periode nå, nemlig sovepose. Og det var heller ingen lett affære. Jeg tror den stakkars ekspeditøren i sportsbutikken virkelig angret at han hadde lagt merke til meg og enda mer at han hadde spurt meg om jeg trengte noe hjelp etter at han hadde dratt seks soveposer ut av trekkene for at jeg skulle få kjent på foret og hvor tykke de var, hvor tunge de var og hvilken farge de hadde… Jeg holdt til og med på å ikke kjøpe noen – helt til han i det siste øyeblikket kom på noen nye poser de nettopp hadde fått inn som fortsatt var i en diger boks i hjørne av butikken. Og ut kom posen MIN!! Det er grå bak og rød og oransje foran – en tre sesongs pose fra Bergans!! Den er varm nok, myk nok og sier Gryne – så sommerens leirer her kommer vi. Nå er åttemanns lavou med ovn + sovepose i boks. Og jeg gleder meg faktisk til å ta dem i bruk…

Sometimes I wonder what heaven will be like, and then you experience something here on earth which gives you a glimmer of what the real heaven will be like...
...like sunshine after days, if not weeks of rain
...like peace and tranquillity after a morning of getting three small children ready and out of the house on time
...finishing a project which has been looming for weeks
...a friendly smile from a perfect stranger
...not hitting rush hour traffic on my way into Oslo in the afternoon
...money left in my bank account at the end of the month
...a good morning kiss from the love of my life first thing
...a BIG mug of Earl Grey tea with a small piece of dark brown chocolate on the side
...these are some of the little pieces of heaven on earth that I occasionally encounter!