The Dim Sum Family

My head is going to explode

2011-11-06T16:32:00.002+01:00

OMG. I feel like my head it going to explode. I've been working 12-14 hour days, including weekends for most of this year and it's especially picking up these past few months.

My brain is constantly going. I keep thinking of all the things that I need to do, all that things that I haven't done, all the things that are going to come and all the things that I probably should get to. When I sleep, I dream of work. When I'm working out, I'm thinking of work -- which causes me to stop my workout and get back to working. Sucks. I have told myself that I wouldn't do that anymore and I would work out more. Yeah. Right. My wasteline can attest to the fact that I didn't keep my promise and my energy level can definitely attest to that.

So, now what? I have come upon a new endeavor. I will try meditation --- yeah, that's it -- meditation for at least 15 mintes a day. I think I can find 15 minutes to be quiet and not think.

I've found this whole podcast series on iTunes around guided meditation. It's gotten tons of rave reviews a lot of people -- people in the same busy predicament as me. I've downloaded my first episode and will give it a try tonight. it's just got to work. Otherwise, I'll admit myself into a place for those are are totally overworked and underpaid.

Halooweeeeen!

2011-10-31T22:00:00.001+01:00

My little Viking girl!

Getting back into the saddle

2011-10-25T22:11:00.002+02:00

Completed another workout today. Boy, am I really proud of myself. Falling off the wagon and trying to get back on is such a challenge. The pain, the agony...the fact that I have to tell myself to focus on the task at hand and to quit thinking about all the other things that I have to do is such a challenge. I need motivation.

Hmmm...it's 10:15pm. I think I'll go sleep on that one.

Has it really been this long?

2011-10-24T21:24:00.002+02:00

OMG. I see I haven't posted since May, for goodness sakes! I can't believe that...but, but, so much has happened since!

My parents were here in May, Keira's 3rd birthday happened in May. June and July were uneventful. End of July, early August we went to Spain for a lovely vacation. Came back. Gained weight. Worked like a damn dog. Didn't work out. Didn't get enough sleep. Did I mention that I worked like a damn dog? Ate carbs. Lots of carbs.

And well, here we are at the end of October already. Where has the time flown?

I will now, as I see that I tried to do the same earlier in the year, endeavor to do more postings. It's been so long I couldn't even remember my password, damn it!

I just started a new round of P90x again two weeks ago. I took the before pictures, of which I AM NOT going to post here because they're just scary. I told myself that I would be better this time and what did I do? After the first week, I stopped and ended up working for a whole week. Fell off the wagon and only after a week.

I am back on it again this week and am looking forward to finishing the program this time. Someone just give me a shot of motivation, please!

Starting young....

2011-05-02T07:51:00.005+02:00

Easter fun 2011

2011-04-24T20:09:00.006+02:00

Choice pictures of the Easter week....

Prelude to Easter holidays

2011-04-20T22:13:00.006+02:00

Easter is coming. Yes, it is. Even in Norway. The weather has been warm-- woo hee! Warm - like 15 degrees - like 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The snow has melted. The sun even comes out every now and then. I feel smiles and energy in the air. I can't wait until all the snow is gone and I don't have to look at it again for 5 months.

We've been at the cabin since Saturday evening and I've been counting down the days until it's Easter vacation. And here we are...on Wednesday evenining -- settling down with a glass of wine, enjoying watching season 6 of Grey's Anatomy with my hubby, finished my workout, kid's asleep....Ahhh...let Easter vacation begin.

Funniest video about Norway. Ever.

2011-04-13T09:25:00.003+02:00

Sissie in Town

2011-04-04T08:15:00.004+02:00

What a great weekend. Sandy came to visit on Friday afternoon from London and on Saturday, we shopped till we dropped.

She was also an LV virgin up until Saturday. Here she is -- breaking her way into the world of luxury goods.

You want my what?

Breathe....breathe...

Beautiful

An extra special post

2011-03-26T22:25:00.001+01:00

Today deserves an extra post because it is two years today that we came home with our little Keira.

I can't believe how fast time has flown and I can't even remember how life was before her. I am so thankful that she is a part of our lives. I am so thankful that we are finally a complete and beautiful family. This wonderful gift that we've been given is more than i could have ever dreamed. Thank you to the powers that be.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

First blog post with the iphone

2011-03-26T20:27:00.004+01:00

Alright. Let 's just give this sucker a try and see how it works posting a post here. Still a bit awkward to type but I can at least access blogger. It's taking me forever even to type these few lines. Urg!!!!!!!!!!

It was a very nice day today. We are at the cabin and it's the first time that we went up on the big lift today with Keira. She was totally awesome just singing and skiing her way down the slope. Me , on the other hand, sucked the big one. I mean, how much snow plowing can one do on ice and still fall? First time on the big slope in two years. Thank god everything is melting. I hope it's all gone by Easter .

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Mobile phone dilemmas

2011-03-25T08:02:00.005+01:00

Picking a new phone can be quite an emotional ordeal. Do I go functional? Do I go cool? Do I use a touchpad? Do I not use a touchpad? Do I want a good camera? Do I just want to use it for work? Argh. THe questions and choices are endless.

I had a Nokia phone, quite similar to the Blackberry. It was black, functional, easy to type, easy to find contacts, send SMS and email. It sucked in the camera department and sure as the hell sucked in the car. The bluetooth function didn't work so well and it kept cutting me off in the middle of conversations. I hate carrying on a conversation in the car...and then all of the sudden, in the middle of traffic, the call cuts off. I had to turn the phone off and then turn it back on, put in a passcode and then sync it up to the car. Other than that, it was a pretty good phone. It served me well for a couple of years...and then it started to turn off in the middle of the day for no apparent reason. It wouldn't make phone calls when I asked it to and it certainly wouldn't even answer phone calls when I pressed the green button. So, I needed a new phone.

I thought that the most logical choice would be the Blackberry. Just as functional as the Nokia and probably would work better. I had my mind all set on that and then poof...there comes the husband trying to convince me that I should have the iPHone. He said that I could have all my music, audiobooks, pictures, videos etc on the iPhone. We could consolidate devices at home..meaning I wouldn't need an iPod and a phone and a camera, etc. One device for so many things.

Ok. Fine. He sold me. Everyone at work loves it. I even took a poll on FB and it seems that the iPhone won.

So I got on the iPhone bandwagon Monday night. Ease of use? Puh. Easy to send email? Puh. EAsy to send SMS? Puh. EAsy to connect in the car? Yes. Cool looking and hip? Yes. Happy? Hmmm...not yet.

Well, today, I might, I say "might" be persuaded that the phone is kind of neat. I have been listening to an audio book on my iPod and finished it yesterday. Hubby had downloaded some books onto my iPhone when he so kindly set the thing up for me. This morning, I didn't have to to use the iPhone. All I had to do was to scroll to an audio book, plug it in and poof --- listening to a novel. AND, it still funtions as a phone and I didn't have to carry two devices around.

Ok, so maybe I'll be persuaded to the dark side....just maybe.

Spring is in the air...lalalalalallal

2011-03-24T07:32:00.002+01:00

Dare I say that Spring is here? It's been a few sunny days this week. Cloudless skies. The snow is just melting off the roof of our house. These nights, we here loud "booms" and crashes from every side of the hosue as big chunks of ice melt in the warmer weather and come tumbling to the ground. It sounds like either a big bulldozer is knocking off our roof. But, hey, I don't mind...it's all melting...melting...melting...

I can't wait. This shitty darkness is over. The dirt on the roads is almost gone...maybe that means that I can finally spend a couple of NOK to get my car washed. HAHAH. God knows that it needs it.

Random videos February

2011-03-10T10:43:00.003+01:00

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Random photos in February

2011-03-10T09:27:00.016+01:00

Well...I'm a bit behind in the blogging/ photos area this month. Let's just blame it on the darkness and lack of sun = lack of energy. Anyway, here's a bunch of various photos taken in February.

Like my pretty new dress? Now, if I would only just button the top button

My first pop tart

"Yeah baby, I just knocked that one out of the park."

Valentine's day gift for Keira

So proud that she built this

Catching a ride from Pappa after hot chocolate

Keira and Tonja

Getting dressed for skiing

Cute Valentine's day cards

Goodie bags for classmates on Valentine's day

Playing with the cousins

Picture of Keira and Far Far

Farmor with a big smile on her face

Far Far looking very relaxed and dapper

I'm proud

2011-02-20T21:23:00.003+01:00

There are always breakthroughs that makes you proud to be a parent. We have them constantly, and that's fun. But, I have to share THIS moment with you all, the first day Keira actually went skiing downhill. Take a look, I've been smiling all day afterwards... :)

Just when I think we've turned the corner...

2011-02-15T22:14:00.003+01:00

Bam. Keira gets sick again. Urg. 40 degree fever. Labored breathing. Suck-ola. What is up with this getting sick? I've been sick for weeks and just these past two weeks have been feeling better. And Keira has just gotten well last week...although she's had this constant runny, wet nose and now the Lund family has another germ running around in the house...in addition to the giant size ants that seem to have pervaded our home.

Sigh. When will the madness stop?

Sledding fun

2011-01-27T07:35:00.004+01:00

Weekend ski fun

2011-01-25T08:01:00.005+01:00

Ouch!

2011-01-20T07:57:00.002+01:00

I hurt everywhere. My shoulders are sore, my arms are sore, my abs are sore...and tonight, it will be my legs' turn to be sore.

And, it's not even a whole week yet!

Forgive me for being a bad blogger

2011-01-17T07:35:00.002+01:00

I know. I'm a bad blogger, what can I say? I promised that I was going to be a better blogger as the clock hit midnight to ring in the New year, way back when a few weeks ago and it hasn't even gone by 3 weeks and I am back to my bad habits. My excuse this time? Well, sadly, life.

I'm just now getting over this nasty cough. Thanks, mom, for the tip on eating lots and lots of ginger. It's very good for a dry cough, by the way. It sure as hell beats eating morphine loaded cough medicine which not only tastes like crap, but you can't even crap in addition to that.

I've been working like a dog. There's a new software launch here at work happening as we speak. We also launching a new campaign website, which is, by the way, tons of work and I'm still recuperating from the last long weekend in Copenhagen.

I don't even have time for a haircut and for all of you who know me, you know what a hair snob I am.

Well, here goes another promise. I havent't been taking so good care of myself lately, and so today, I start my workout program again. I'll eat better, sleep more, rest more and blog more. Swear. Promise. :)

Perks of traveling

2011-01-06T22:05:00.004+01:00

In Copenhagen until Sunday for a sales conference. Been coughing and sleepless the whole week. But, still can find the perks in traveling. :)

I've got the whole bathroom to myself. I mean the WHOLE counter.

Got a 60 minute in room massage

Reveled in room service for dinner

Will sleep LATE tomorrow...first meeting at 10am

I might even pamper myself a little bit more and have breakfast in my room -- I've still got to work on the presentation for Saturday

Did I mention that I get to sleep LATE?

Sleep late

Sleep late

No disturbance

Sleep late

.....on that note...am going to start the sleep late cycle.

New Year's Day

2011-01-01T21:35:00.004+01:00

And still coughing...and stuffed up...and coughing.

But, hey, we didn't let it stop us. We went and enjoyed a few minutes of sledding, eating and then back home to clean up the Christmas ornaments. Who knew that the little one was such a good little cleaner?
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New Year's Eve 2010

2010-12-31T23:30:00.003+01:00

Some would say you're supposed to be out partying, having a good time, drinking until you puke. Hmmm..well, I used to do that...when I was, shall we say, a bit less mature than I am today.

We took it a bit more low key today.

Today, well, was the first day that I ventured out of the cabin because well, I hadn't really been out OUT during the whole week. I mean, with a cold and headache and so on, it just didn't seem like the right thing to do. But, today, I thought we only have a couple of more days left to our winter vacation here and I REFUSE, I REFUSE to leave here without having gone out sledding and having a beer at our favorite little eaterie.

We did our sledding, we ate, I had my beer...I came home and basically almost had a relapse. My head was killing me....sinus congestion. The beer about made me keel over. I slept for over an hour and half...barely pulling myself out of bed...to check on the family, I mean, it was New Year's Eve after all.

After chugging down a few Tylenol sinus congestion pills...i felt much better and then could partake more in the festivities -- watching a DVD, eating lots of cheese and crackers and other snacks, kissing my hubby just as the clock turned midnight.

Not anything to write home about in the grand scheme of things, but I thought that it was a perfect ending to the perfect year and am looking forward to all the great things to come in 2011.

Happy New Year, Everyone!

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Lego fun for grown ups (or maybe not so grown)

2010-12-30T09:41:00.004+01:00

Taking a little nap

2010-12-29T19:18:00.003+01:00

Sniffle, cough, sneeze...

2010-12-27T20:20:00.012+01:00

Uh...I am miserable. It all started last Thursday, the scratchy throat, the low voice, watery eyes...I thought it would go away, I mean, I just DON"T get sick. At least not very often.

It didn't go away. No. It went from that to losing my voice on Friday and so now I sound like an almost dead frog with a really stuff nose. I can't breathe. I'm stuffed up with snot. When I bend over, my head hurts, I'm so stuffed up. Drugs don't help. I probably don't have the right kind of drugs. I would just like to get a colonic done on my nose/ sinuses. That would clean everything right out.

No workout for me today, unfortunately. Just a little bit too tired from a coughing fit of a night. I tried to work while Per went skiing. He put me to shame. He skiied approximately 17 km while my ass was on the couch.

Check this picture out:

Isn't he handsome? I am so impressed. It's about -10 degrees out and the man went and did 17km out in the freezing cold.

Of course, we had to have some fun... here's the little one shaking some booty...
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Christmas festivities continue

2010-12-26T19:25:00.005+01:00

It's been a fab Christmas so far! Here we are, in super duper cold winter (-23 degrees celsius, that's -5 degrees F for all of you in the US), enjoying the heck out of the holiday season.

I've unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, for Per, have lost my voice. My voice box cackles like a sick duck and I'm coughing like I've smoked 4 packs of cigarettes a day. I try to cure the cough with a cognac or even a vodka soda today..all to no avail. It works for a few minutes and then it's back to the same wracking cough again.

Meanwhile, the husband has been fabulous. He's cooked all the Norwegian meals, cleaned up like a champ and just all around been the best husband that any girl could ask for.

Shame we're supposed to go back to work tomorrow. Good thing we can work from here though. Here's to more Christmas festivities!

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Christmas in the mountains

2010-12-24T19:12:00.006+01:00

Eek! Christmas is here!

2010-12-21T21:24:00.002+01:00

OMG, what a loser I am. I can't believe that it's been a little over one month since I've made a post. Where has the time gone? What the hell have I been doing? I mean..last post was November 20?

I have no excuse. It's just been super busy. We had a great time in Houston, but the time just flew. And on the last day, right before we were going to leave, Keira ended up getting sick. It was a doozie of a ride home, let me tell you. The plane was cramped. No leg room. She was miserable and had fever and was on top of me the whole trip back. Poor her. Poor me. Poor Per. Just a bunch of poor us's all the way around.

She held in well, though. What a little trooper. Then, when we did get home, that's when all hell almost broke loose. Both of us were working like crazy and had to take turns doing it from home because Keira was sick the whole week. That was tough. Come to find out that she had the flu and some RV virus which can give little kiddos bronchitis.

She's better this week...and then contracted pink eye of all things. urg.

In the meantime, we have our tree up and decorated here at home! It is sooooo beautiful and Christmasy.

It is butt freezing cold here. I mean really cold It's -15 degrees celsius, which is 3 degrees F here.

COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD.

Today is your birthday...

2010-11-20T17:46:00.005+01:00

Today was the girls' 9th birthday and our first day in Houston. We woke up to a gorgeous day and with our tummies rumbling. What's the first thing we did? Why make it to IHOP for birthday pancakes of course!

Here we are on the way...

Making the order...

After birthday pancakes, then I went and got a great deep tissue massage, courtesy of Judy as my birthday gift.

Then, we went home, hung out, played on the jungle gym and enjoyed the great weather. What a great first day!

Houston, the bird has landed

2010-11-19T17:35:00.000+01:00

Yeah!!!! After weeks of angst and worry, we are finally in Houston. And, I have to say, all that angst and worry was for nothing...well, almost nothing.

My biggest worry has been that Keira would not handle the trip very well and then I would be experiencing the long trip from hell. But, I have to say that this little one was a trooper. She was well behaved, happy, slept, enjoyed watching "Bolt" on her little TV and basically charmed all the staff.

When we landed in Newark, albeit an hour and half early, which really helped the stres levle, I thought that she was going to start acting grumpy and all, but she was a picture of charm and happiness. We played chase, she had a chocolate milkshake and watched the planes take off. Toward the end of the plane ride from Newark to Houston, she was tired and wanted to be held, but other than that, she was fine.

My sister met us at the airport and by the time we got home, Ms. Keira was enjoying the heck out of being the center of attention with her four little cousins.

The girls and James love being with her and they all fight for the chance to sit next to her, get her attention and push her stroller. What more could a girl ask for! :)

So, all in all, a fine trip and a great start to a two week vacation.

Videos from the weekend

2010-11-09T09:24:00.002+01:00

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Getting quite relaxed

2010-11-06T22:41:00.003+01:00

If I may say so, myself.

We're at the cabin this weekend. It's about 10:45pm and i' m sitting in front of a waning fire, which was bright and warm only just a half an hour ago, enjoying the last bits of warmth on my chilly feet.

It was a shorter drive last night than normal to the cabin because there wasn't much traffic, but still, it was a long 3.5 hour drive. Ot was cold and dark and we were so tired from the week. We went to bed at midnight and our lovely daughter got up at 5:30am. I was in he'll..let's just leave it at that. I was so tired I thought that I was going to die. It was only big cups of Joe that kept me going.

Although I love this cabin, I don't always relish the thought of coming because the drive is a bit overwhelmingly long, or I'm tired or I feel like we've just got such a long list of chores at home to take care of -wash, groceries, cleaning, cooking, baking,etc. The chores never seem to end and we just get more and more tired. The worst Saturday chore is the grocery shopping. I hate to grocery shop on saturday. Everyone and I mean everyone goes out to do their shopping on a Saturday. The stores are crowded, jam packed with people pushing every which way. It can be summarzed in two words -damn stressful!

We ran our errands out here today in the country. People were nice. There were no crowds. No pushing and shoving and getting run over by baby stroller upon baby stroller. There was even groceries left on the shelves, imagine that!

I never thought that I would say this, but I am getting a bit more relaxed. I don't know if it's the change of the scenery, the lack of city folk, or what, but I admit that I can almost understand why people would leave the hustle and bustle of the city to live in the country. It's good for the soul to get away every once in a while.

Halloween!!!

2010-10-31T21:25:00.005+01:00

I've always thought that liking sweets and chocolates was something that one LEARNS, not something that one is BORN with. I am very relieved to find out that this is true...at least in our family. Keira got to open her first chocloate lollipop and a regular lollipop and as you will see....it wasn't as big of a hit as one would think. Whew! Escaped that one for now!

Birthday fun

2010-10-30T21:08:00.007+02:00

What a lovely evening my wonderful husband had planned today.

Whisked away in the middle of the afternoon by two friends to get a lovely spa treatment. Then to dinner at a swank little Chinese restaurant called Nodee. Great wine. Lots of laughter and good friends. What better way to spend your birthday?

Cleaning up the yard before winter oct. 24 2010

2010-10-26T22:29:00.000+02:00

Reading a good night story

2010-10-25T19:00:00.009+02:00

Well, it's the second night for Keira in her own room in her own bed. Here's Per reading Keira a good night story before bed. So cute.
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It has begun

2010-10-24T20:11:00.005+02:00

Well, we've gone and done it. Or, actually, I should say that Per has now gone and done it. We bought Keira a toddler bed this weekend, Per installed in and she is now sleeping in it as I write this post at 8:15pm.

The nap was pretty uneventful, although she only slept for a little over an hour.

When she went to bed this evening, that pretty much happened without a big fight either...so far. It seems that she acts much better when her pappa takes her to bed than she does when I take her to bed. What is up with that?

I have to say that I haven't been very supportive of this initiative since I have been so extremely selfish and have enjoyed having her in the same bed as me. Per has enjoyed it too, although he complains about it. He says that she kicks him in the face all the time. Funny how I don't notice that. Ha! Ha!

We'll see how the night goes. She always cries out for mamma sometime in the night and she always wants to come and snuggle around 5'ish in the morning. So sad that I won't get to experience that anymore.

I've told Per that since he's taken this initiative, then every time she cries in the night..then he's the one that gets to get up to her. Otherwise, we all know how this is going to end up. I'll go in to her, she'll say mamma, I'll be so tired and want to be cozy with her that I will sweep her up in my arms and bring her to bed with us again...

:) Looking forward to the thought.

Here's some nap time pics:

Wow.

2010-10-17T09:46:00.009+02:00

Yepp. That sums it up in one word. WOW.

We went to dinner last night at a friend's house that we have seen in soooo long. And, in typical Norwegian fashion, this did not disappoint. When we entered the house, I could already tell that the hostess had spent a lot of time and effort in getting ready for this dinner party.

The table setting was so lovely - dressed in orange and grey with matching napkins - those napkins didn't come from Rema, I can tell you that.

We started with a lovely and delicate fish on top of a pepper root mash, served at the Swedish princess Victoria's wedding, then we moved to a roasted lamb with rosemary, garlic and other yummies which was served to the King and then a pannacotta with strawberry fill on top for dessert.

Here we are getting ready to leave for the party. All dressed up and someplace to go...

And no party is complete without dancing...
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Reliving my childhood?

2010-10-11T08:07:00.003+02:00

It's kind of funny now that we have Keira in our lives. I do things with her that I never got to do as a child. One of those things is watching Winnie the Pooh.

I used to think that Pooh was such a lame little character (keep in mind that I didn't know anything about Pooh because I'd never watched the film)...I just thought he was so sweet, and cute...and well, really, I was more into watching Speed Racer, the Flintstones, the Jetsons...oh...am I dating myself or what?

Just a couple of weeks ago, on a whim, I purchased the original Winnie the Pooh DVD in a grocery store because it was CHEAP. I think that it was only 89 NOK or something...vs. 199 NOK for a DVD. I wasn't exactly sure that Keira would like it, but hey, it was sitting there staring at me at the checkout counter and it was cheap, so why not?

I had very low expectations for the film. I mean, really, a yellow, fuzzy, dorky bear who was probably quite passive (which turned me off)..how exciting could this film be?

This film is a delight. It is creative, clever and entertaining. Keira watches it over and over and over again...and I have to admit, I am drawn into watching it with her. Everytime we watch it, I find little nuances and clever sayings which escaped me before. I get so tickled every time I find something new...it's like, why didn't I hear that before? isn't that cute? isn't that clever?

I highly recommend this film to all young kids. I was so enamored with this film that I even bought Tigger...and that film is just as clever as Winnine the Pooh.

TTFN (ta ta for now!)

Two blog posts in one day

2010-10-01T21:27:00.005+02:00

Well, ok, the two videos that I just posted perhaps don't really count as a blog post, per se, just blog activity, I suppose.

I don't know what's been happening with me lately and the whole blogging thing. After a 3 week hiatus from the computer during July vacation, my blogging skills seems to have poofed out the window. I've been so busy with work, Facebook, working out, work, Keira, that it's difficult to find the time to sit down and really write something.

I used to blog first thing in the morning when I got to work while hugging my fantastic cup of Nescafe cappucino...but it seems that I've now replaced blogging with checking out the progress of fellow P90X'ers on the internet.

Every morning, like I always do, I open FB to see what's been up in the night while I've been sleeping. It never fails that someone who has just finished P90X shares their video. I love to watch how they tranformed themselves from big ol' fatties to slim and muscle-y types. It gives me such inspiration to watch these videos and read their stories because I know how difficult it is to "Press Play" every single day. There are so many days that I find it a challenge to even put on the DVD and do the workout, but I do it because all these guys have done it.

I just finished P90x a couple of weeks ago. My results were no where near as good as the guys that post their videos on YouTube or FB. Although there were so many times that the thought of an hour and 15 to 30 minute workout was daunting, I can say that I felt great. My body felt good. I felt strong and my back was rarely in pain. I could sleep in several different beds (don't get the wrong idea), I meant while traveling..and I didn't have pain. Before P90x, i couldn't switch to any new bed without feeling it the next day. Traveling was tough.

After the two week rest, I had planned to start Insanity this week. I took my Fit Test and body fat percentage and I started on Monday. I pulled my back on Wednesday. I could feel this really strong burning pain in the lower part of my back and it was kind of hard to lift my left leg after I felt this little stretch when I stood up from the workout on Wednesday. I went to the chiropractor yesterday and he absolutely forbade me to do Insanity. Too many quick movements, he said. I was supposed to be strength training. Because I'm so flexible, so he says, all the quick movements like this will make my back go crazy. Damn.

So here I am. Kind of bummed out, really. I had my heart set out on doing this crazy cardio thing so that I could burn off the fat and see some muscle. As it turns out, I am back to doing P90x. Nothing wrong with it. I love P90x. It's just that I had been pysching myself up for 2 weeks to do this program and now I can't. Actually, for the next few days, I pretty much can't do a damn thing, it hurts so much.

Well, I promised myself that I would be better with the diet on the second round of P90x and so I guess it's time to start on Monday. This time, I'll even be better with my pics. The first time I did the workout, I was too chicken shit to take pictures of my scrawny, flabby body. This time, I'll try to do better (although flying to the U.S. and eating Thanksgiving turkey dinner and all my dad's good food kind of falls right smack into Phase 2). Ah, well.

And, I'll try better about the blogging. I really will.

Videos from Summer Vacation

2010-10-01T21:07:00.002+02:00

As the fall is setting in, I'm still dreaming about summer time. Here's some videos that I've finally gotten the time to upload:
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Still reeling from last week

2010-09-21T07:54:00.002+02:00

I have to say that I am still reeling from the drama of last week. What drama, you ask, especially since I didn't really post a darn thing.

The drama is that our precious little baby had a 104 degree fever (40 degree celsius) for almost a week. It all started the Saturday before when she peed in her pants five times in a row with a span of 15 minutes in between each pee. I just kept thinking that she was having a relapse on the whole potty training thing or something.

On Sunday, she did it twice.

On Monday evening last week, we went to a parent teacher meeting at her daycare, we come home and we "think" she has a little fever, but think nothing of it.

On Tuesday, she goes to daycare, they call me at 11:30am and tell me that she keeps complaining that she is cold and she has a slight fever. Of course, I go to pick her up and bring her home. She seemed totally fine during the day with a slight fever, but then in the evening, it all started.

Her fever spiked up to 101, then 104. We kept her home on Wednesday and just kept giving her ibuprofen and paracet. Her fever would go down for the first four hours and then straight back up.

She hallucinated about ants on Wednesday night and we were up 24 hours straight that night. Poor little thing. She couldn't get comfortable. She was hot. She couldn't sleep.

On Thursday, same thing. Then, she started shivering...shivering so much and her skin felt like a popsicle. More ibuprofen. More Paracet. Paracet is shit, by the way. It doesnt' work worth anything.

We were able to manage it with those two drugs, but by the evening, she started the shivering thing again....we ended up taking her to the emergency room at the hospital close to midnight. They did their tests and we found out that she had a urinary tract infection. A urinary tract infection!!! What two year old child gets a urinary tract infection!!!??!

Well, we came home that night and had to force her to take her antibiotics and I thought that she was getting better...stupid me, I guess. How could she get better with one spoonful of antibiotics? On Friday morning, she started shivering again...saying how cold she was. When I brought her down to the kitchen to give her her medicine, I saw that she was blue in the lips. I am not kidding. Blue, Blue, Blue in the lips. Her skin was ice cold.

Talk about being scared shitless. I was scared shitless. Everything is OK now. Thank goodness.

Key learnings for next time?
1. See the doctor for 40 degree fever if it continues for two days
2. Paracet is crap. Don't use it for fever. Ibuprofen is the best.
3. Hallucinations? Bad thing - see doctor immediately

Quality time

2010-09-15T08:18:00.002+02:00

Life is wonderful – and sometimes it’s the most peculiar situations that turns out to also be the most special. After 2 weeks of coughing like crazy myself, Keira started to have a fever yesterday, and Jennifer had to go home from work and pick her up from Barnehage. Today I’m the lucky one that has to stay home with our little angel. It could probably not have been a worse day to be away from the office. We have tons of deliverables today at work. But here I am, sitting next to Keira and watching Winnie-the-pooh (Ole Brum) on TV. And she is learning to say Pooh bear and Ole Brum – smart kid. And she is letting me kuddle and pamper her – because she is not feeling so good. And I’m just feeling the moment is so precious. It is after all, maybe those moments that makes up the list of worlds best.

Another classic

2010-09-15T08:16:00.002+02:00

Another one that just cracks me up

2010-09-14T19:06:00.002+02:00

This always make me laugh my ass off

2010-09-09T07:40:00.001+02:00

Brekkie before barnehage

2010-09-02T08:00:00.001+02:00

Weekend fun

2010-08-31T07:43:00.010+02:00

Here's a few pics from our weekend. Per had to work on Saturday so us girls went shopping...We didn't find too much, but Keira got to sit down for a few minutes to enjoy a popsicle.

On Sunday, Ms. Keira wakes up bright and early to make brekkie:

The weather wasn't so nice on Sunday either, so we had to make some boller of course...

Enjoying "101 Dalmatians" and popcorn...ahhh...Sundays

And, we had to clean the house a little bit. What a little helper Keira is...

My new found goodie

2010-08-27T07:46:00.002+02:00

Praise be the Lord. I have finally finished two audio books! Two! Can you believe that?

I have to say that audio books are AWESOME, especially for someone who doesn't have the time to pee, much less sit down and read a book. I'm sure a lot of my friends will say, yeah, DUH, didn't you know that? Audio books have been around forever!

Per has been telling me for months that I had to listen to the books in the car and on the way to work. He loves them and swears by them (when he's not on the Kindle or the iPad).

Last year...I mean LAST YEAR November, I downloaded the second Stig Larsson book on my iPod to listen to on the way to the U.S. with Keira. The reader was sooooooooo SLOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW. His voice was boring, he sounded like he just got out of remedial class for English speakers. He didn't change his voice to match the characters, there wasn't any excitement building and frankly...I was bored out of my skull...it seemed that I always found something else better to do. I ploughed through the audio book because I thought that the first book was so great (which I read in Norwegian, mind you) and wanted to finish the series. I just finished it last week.

This week, I started on a David Baldacci book, called True Blue. It had been burning a hole in my iPad since last year also, but I couldn't exactly begin a new one without having finished the old book. Let me tell you. Listening to this book has changed my whole outlook on audio books. I was so down on them because I had such a bad experience with the Stig Larsson book.

But this one, on the other hand, held me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. When I heard how quickly the guy read and how he changed voices according to the characters, I was so very pleasantly surprised. And the piece the resistance was when the music came on at the end of every major section...it was this crescendo building music like what you hear in a soap opera right before they go to a commercial. I found myself feeling mildly irritated when the music came on because I half expected that a commerical break was coming. Of course, there wasn't a commercial break, but that's how it felt.

Baldacci wrote in some shooting and bombing scenese and even car chasing scenes and the sounds matched the scene. I felt like I was actually there when one of the characters was about to get her ass kicked by a drug gang.

I am sold on audio books. So, last night, I wanted more..more and more. With great hesitation, we downloaded the last Stig Larsson book "The Girl Who Kickced the Hornet's Nest." Why? Because if I didn't listen to it as an audio book, then I probably will never finish the book. It's about 24 hours long. A painful, slow 24 hours long. I'm not looking forward to listening to the guy, but I am looking forward to hearing the story. It may turn out that I can't stand him anymore and just try to read the book.

On the other hand, we've downloaded a new Baldacci book and I can't wait to get started. I just can't decide which one I should start first!!!

Decisions. Decision. :)

Past couple of weekends

2010-08-22T08:45:00.010+02:00

Yeah, yeah...I have just been crap at posting since we've gotten back from vacation in July. Once I get off schedule, it just seems to take a couple of months to get back into the practice of posting.

Since we've been back, our days have been filled with activities...but, for the life of me, I can't off the top of my head remember what those activities are!

Some things to note...

Last weekend, we were at the cabin with some friends and had a great time! We biked, we fished, we gathered wild blueberries to eat straight from the ground and we even made a little campfire outside.

This weekend, Per's parents have been with us since Thursday. It's been great fun hanging out with the grandparents.

Wonder what next weekend will bring?

First day at Gullhaug Barnehage

2010-08-18T18:40:00.008+02:00

The dreaded day has come....my little baby starts at a new daycare today. I had butterflies in my stomach walking into the barnehage. What would it be like? Were the people nice? Would Keira be happy?

What a pleasant little surprise I got today. Not only were the caregivers nice, but it seemed like they really liked Keira and really knew about how to care for children.

There are a total of 3 caregivers in Keira's "class". There's a blend of kids from 1 years old to a little over 2 years old in her group. There will be a total of 5 girls and 4 boys. All the girls are approximately around Keira's age and all the boys are a lot younger.

We are currently now going through a three day orientation period where the purpose is to get Keira integrated into the system as gently as possible and to make her feel safe and secure.

Today was the first day where we were with her from 9:30am - 12:00pm. Tomorrow, I'll be there an hour or so and then leave her for two hours. On Friday, she'll be delivered around 7:45am and then I pick her up at 2pm. She'll be taking her first nap there on Friday. Then, next week, it's business as usual at the new barnehage.

Here's crossing our fingers that everything goes well.

Lunch time!

Drinking milk from a "big girl" cup

We clean up good, don't we?!

2010-08-12T08:49:00.002+02:00

Here's a picture of us from a 40th birthday bash we were at last weekend.

Top 10 Vacation Memories

2010-08-04T11:20:00.011+02:00

We're just back from a three week vacation in La Manga/ Murcia Spain. It was such a lovely vacation. All long sunnny days and HOT, HOT, HOT. We lazed around the pool, dug sand castles at the beach, drank fantastically cold beer, worked out, played golf, hung out with friends and slept late. It was soooooooooo relaxing.

I didn't get a chance to blog while I was away due to no internet connection. In a small, tiny way, I felt so out of touch with everyone and couldn't share my rambling thoughts while away.

1. Good friends and endless glasses of Veuve Clicquot make for a great vacation.
2. Some women have no business going topless in public. They probably shouldn't ever go topless in private either.
3. Sand - it's the gift that keeps on giving. It shows up in all kinds of tiny spaces.
4. Crustless soft white bread (sin corteza) is the bomb. You can actually buy it crustless in the stores. Why can't we have that here?
5. I went off on a 6 year old at the pool because he was picking on Keira and being an all round little shithead
5. I need to learn some Spanish so I can tell off people who are pissing me off
6. Even if we're on vacation and don't have a lot of time, it sometimes pays off to do a little bargain hunting anyway
7. The Chinese mega stores have everything you need at a low, low price - from pots, pans to cleaning products to toys to tampons.
8. The Spaniards singing loud and jumping into the pool at 10:00pm celebrating their vicotry in the World Cup.
9. Fresh sardines and fresh anchovies taste even better chased with a super cold glass of beer
10. Taking Keira to pee pee on the side of the road for the first time - it took ages before she could go because she was more interested in the weed tickling her foot than relieving herself.

Bran anyone? Keeps You Regular!

2010-07-09T09:08:00.003+02:00

Hmmm..how many kids do you know who like BRAN cereal? hahahah....

We're counting down the days to vacation. Today is the last day at work and then it's off to sunny Spain! Yeah! Can't wait.

July 4th

2010-07-04T22:45:00.008+02:00

Spaghetti eatin' little girl

2010-07-02T07:55:00.002+02:00

Avsluttningsfest (End of year party) at the daycare

2010-06-28T21:32:00.007+02:00

Sorry, I've been so busy these days that I haven't even had a chance to post the pictures from last week, Tuesday.

Here is the big shindig at Keira's day care last week:

The party tent

Hot dogs are the best!

Yummmm......what a smorgasbord...

Keira and Stian (Kari's son) playing with the water gun

Hmmm...strawberries...my favorite...

Keira and Kari (her dagmamma/ day care teacher)

Brunch at the Jones'

2010-06-21T07:41:00.006+02:00

Yes, literally, we had Sunday brunch at the Jones'...Clive and Anne Jones, that is. What a gorgeous day. Great food. Great company. Even some jumping up and down on the trampoline.

Fun with undies

2010-06-19T07:39:00.002+02:00

Hmmm...what shall I do while I'm sitting on the potty?

Oh, yeah, put my undies on my head. Isn't that what they're for?

Life's little pleasures

2010-06-18T15:03:00.003+02:00

Our snack place every day after daycare

Rainy Saturday in the Park

2010-06-12T23:14:00.005+02:00

Fab dinner out at Nodee

2010-06-11T23:11:00.003+02:00

Lovely evening out with the hubby and my ssiter at Nodee. Can't wait to go back again.

Have Sister..Wants Hot dog

2010-06-10T18:00:00.004+02:00

It always inevitably happens. When you're in a big ol' rush, there's always a bunch of big ol' traffic. I left the office around 3:30pm to pick up Sandy at the airport...thinking, oh, yeah, I have plenty of time to get there by 4:30pm. I mean, I'm already part of the way there if I leave the office. NOT.

The freeway was packed. Packed with traffic all the way to the airport and beyond. I don't understand it. Don't people work around here? By the time I picked Sandy up, it was 4:45pm. Crazy that it took that long.

What was the first thing my sister, who hasn't visited Norway since 2002, wanted? Well, it was a Norwegian hot dog with the works. Here she is chowing down....

BBQing on a beautiful day

2010-06-07T22:28:00.004+02:00

The weather has been fantastic the past couple of weeks. I can't believe that every day has been a sunny day. I wish that it would go on and on and on.

We enjoyed the day with a bike ride and then a great BBQ with our good friend, Ingse.

Yum...yum...

Another Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

2010-06-04T18:12:00.003+02:00

It's been gorgeous this whole week. Sunny. Warm. Not a cloud in the sky. Life is great, ain't it?

Our Little Rascal

2010-06-01T11:32:00.004+02:00

As you know, Keira is relatively potty trained. And in the past few weeks, she's been so good that she even wakes up in the middle of the night to tell me that she needs to go "pee pee". You would think that this is a mother's dream..potty trained before the age of two.

Well, here's a new challenge that we've been facing. Every time Ms. Keira is in trouble (has to go to time out) or we ask her to do something she doesn't want to do (like take a shower, go to bed...) she suddenly says, "I have to go poo poo." Now, what can you do with that?

Since she's still in potty training phase, of course, I have to put her on the toilet. She then settles down to read a book, play with stickers, gaze off into space, and there is no poo poo coming out of that one.

Last night, she woke up from a bad dream around 10pm and didn't want to go back to sleep so she started the endless rounds of "I have to go poo poo." After being fooled three times in a row, we had to give her a time out for pitching a tantrum and not wanting to go to bed. She didn't get to sleep until 11pm.

This morning...all is right as rain. Go figure.

There's got to be something in the Nanny books about a child who uses going to the potty as power. Gotta look that one up.... :) Smarty pants little girl.

Weekend fun

2010-05-31T07:45:00.009+02:00

Here's some pics from this weekend...

Elisbeth, Bente, Ann Kristin

Cheese...!

Opening a gift from Ann Kristin and Elisabeth at TGIF's...ohhh what is it?! :)

Where's that lunch?

Is there more water? Whew!

Picnic break in the woods

Let Them Eat Cake--Or Not

2010-05-29T21:01:00.003+02:00

I've been so busy this week with guests, guests and more guests that I haven't had a chance to blog at all. After last weekend's festivities, we had our friends from Germany come and visit us until this morning. Then this afternoon, Per's brother and his family arrived to take in the festivites of the Eurovision contest. Having guests is hard work!

Despite all the stress in the last few weeks in preparation for Keira's weekend, it was all worth it and turned out to be very nice. Everything ran relatively smoothly except for my cake fiasco. Yes, that's right, cake fiasco.

Before I begin my story, I have to explain that cakes are a very important of a Norwegian get together. They are the pride and joy of an event. The Norwegians take great pride in baking th cakes themselves and having a lot of them.

I baked one chocolate cake for Keira's birthday and I baked some pink cupcakes, but I, in no way, baked any cakes on Sunday. I bought a beautiful cream cake, a Norweigan kransekake served with vanilla ice cream and my piece de resistance was supposed to be a French passion fruit cake...all for 17 people.

On Sunday, I sent my niece and the godmother of Keira down to Jerome's to pick up the French cake. When she got there...there was no cake. They had forgotten to bake it!!!

She called me at 12:55pm (lunch is at 1:00pm) and tells me that they forgot to make the cake. And if I want a cake I have to wait one hour for it...which meant that she would have to sit there one hour for it and then drive 40 minutes to my house. Then lunch wouldn't be until 3pm? We couldn't begin without her because she was a godmother. I was SOOO PISSED.

I got on the phone and practically ripped the waiter's head off. How could they forget to make the cake? How dare they tell the godmother that the cake wouldn't be ready for an hour? They had better figure out a way to make me a cake and get it here in time. It wasn't acceptable that they could forget something so important on such an important day...blah blah blah.

First, he just kept saying he was sorry. Well, sorry wasn't going to get me a cake. What was he going to do about it? He said that he would call me back in 5 minutes. Within 5 minutes, he called me back and told me that they had a frozen cake..and I said that the Christening lunch was now. What was I supposed to do with a frozen cake? Then, he said that he would call me back. He calls back and his next solution is that he will give me 17 little passion fruit cakes, but at least they weren't frozen. Since I didn't have a choice, I had to say ok to that, although I was still pissed. He called back again in another 5 minutes to tell me that he had a cake for me but, but how would he get it to me? By that time, Stine (the godmother) had already left. I told him that that wasn't really my problem. He would have to order a taxi and have it delivered to my house and I expected that he would pay for the taxi. Well, we had to pay for the taxi and then I would take the bill into the bakery.

I visited the bakery owner yesterday to get my money back for the hotel and also mentioned all the trouble that he put me through and I expected that he would do something about the price of the cake. Keep in mind that I had already paid for the cake when I ordered it and in reality, I didn't want my money back or any money back for that matter. What I really wanted from him was a genuine "I'm sorry" and at least a token of remorse..Like maybe can I buy you a cup of coffee? or maybe next time you come in, you can have lunch on the house or something like that. Not expensive. Just to show he was really sorry.

First I told the guy that I was promised that Keira's name was going to be on the cake and the guy on the phone said he knew exactly how to spell it and so on, but when the cake showed up, there was no name on it. It wasn't even specially made for her. The owner went into the kitchen and came back with a piece of flat white chocolate with her name spelled on it. He told me that they had done it and here it was. Can you believe that? What good is that supposed to do me when it wasn't on the cake?

Then we started talking about the price of the taxi. He almost had a heart attack when he saw the taxi bill. Where did I live? He asked. There was NO WAY he was going to give me anything for the cake. I should even be happy that he was giving me money for the taxi. The taxi was more expensive than the cake. I have to tell you that I was besides myself I was seeing Red. He made it seem that it was my fault that the taxi delivered the cake. I told him that the godmother was not going to wait one hour for the cake because that is what I was told. He said no, only five minutes. I repeated again, like I was talking to a complete imbecile, that that is not what I was told. It was one hour. he kept shaking his head and telling me that I should be happy that I got the mone for the taxi and the cake only took five minutes.

I mean, really, what shitty, ridiculous bullshit service is that? Trying to turn around the situation and make it like my fault?

I think that he thought I was trying to make it about the refund for the cake. But, i was really pissed off that he was trying to make it like it was my fault that there was such a high taxi bill and that I was trying to take money from him. This all had to do with prinipal and bad service. I wanted a real "I'm sorry" and not his stupid money.

Anyway, I told him that I thought that he gave awful customer service and I would make sure that everyone I knew would be told about what a bad place this was. He just looked at me and told me that he had given me the taxi money and that his conscience was clear and I could go do whatever i wanted to do and didn't need to come back. You gotta love that, right?

Asshole.

Video from Frogner Kirke

2010-05-24T13:06:00.000+02:00

Keira's weekend

2010-05-23T23:29:00.013+02:00

Sunday night. Late. It's 11:30pm. Am tired like hell, but wanted to post pictures. No post today. Just a few pics to wet your appetite. More later.

Grandparents showing up on gifts - Friday :)

Birthday party - Saturday

Christening day - Sunday

Keira's 2nd birthday

2010-05-18T22:03:00.011+02:00

She had a great day today. Her teacher decorated the daycare with balloons and streamers. She got to wear a crown and be princess for the day. \

Unfortunately, she got a really bad haircut today, which almost made me cry. But, then she came home to enjoy opening presents and eating a little bit of her chocolate cupcake.

My beautiful, healthy baby likes grapes more than she likes choclate. She made her mamma proud!
Daycare all decorated
Princess for the day
Opening presents
Chocolate cake is ok...
But, I LOOOOOOOVE grapes. Check out my bad 'do and my runny nose

May 17 or Syttende Mai

2010-05-17T22:01:00.012+02:00

Today is the National Day of Norway and is the celebration of when Norway became an independent nation dating back to the year 1814.

The day is celebrated with children's parades all over Norway. Each elementary school district arranges its own parade with marching bands between schools. The parade takes the children through the community, often making stops at homes of senior citizens, war memorials, etc. The longest parade is in Oslo, where some 100,000 people travel to the city center to participate in the main festivities.

This is broadcast on TV every year, with comments on costumes, banners etc, together with local reports from celebrations around the country. The massive Oslo parade includes some 100 schools, marching bands, and passes the royal palace where the royal family greet the people from the main balcony.

Afterwards, it's a feasting celebration of hot dogs, ice cream, coffee and cakes...and lots of it!

Congratulations to Norway on it's special day today!

Here's how we spent our day:

Start out the day with a toot on the horn!

Why doesn't it make any sound?

Got the flag. Got the dress. Rready to go.

Getting ready to watch the parade

Gathering at Mølladammen Skole after the parade

Even the dog is dressed in official colors. Check out the collar.

Where's my hot dog?

Baked chocolate cupcakes from scratch for Keira's birthday tomorrow

Finally..a date night after one year and 2 months!

2010-05-10T10:24:00.003+02:00

Yes, folks, we had a date night on Saturday, and it was stupdendous! Our 16 year old neighbor babysat for us and we went and had a wonderful time together. What did we do on such a momentous evening?

1. Go see Iron Man 2 at a REAL movie theatreWe sat in a movie theatre, ate popcorn, held hands and snuggled. Just like the good ol' days..not to say that these aren't great days either, mind you! Just different.

It was fun to see a grown up movie in a movie theatre and I didn't have to share the TV with Keira or wait until after she was asleep to watch a movie. We caught the 6pm show and it left more than enough time to get over to the restaurant afterwards.

2. Eat dinner at a REAL restaurant
What do I mean by REAL restaurant? Well, it had nice white tablecoths. We hate "small, fancy" food and didn't have to hear a bunch of noise and kids running around all the time.

We went to eat a restaurant called Haga Restaurant relatively close to where we live. It was a very expensive restaurant and I chose it because I wanted the whole fantastic service experience....from the decor, to the food, to the wine, to the waiters. The whole shebang.

It was a shame that we didn't get any of that. The restaurant was just mediocre at best. The food was ok. The service was blah. People weren't dressed up fancy at all. Some were even walking around without shoes, if you can believe that. The restrooms. Oh, don't even get me started there. Paper was flowing out of the trash bins. It was messy and not at all the 4 star experience that I had imagined for myself.

I mean, really. I had made reservations for 8:30pm. They knew we were coming. But, when we got there, the table was harldy set for us. It had a white tablecloth, two white napkins and two white plates on it. No flowers. No candles. I had to ask her to put something on our table so it could look more cozy.

The waitress brings over the menu, after we had been sitting there for some time and just says, "we serve a 7 course menu. That's what we have. If you want to reduce it to 3 or 5, you can do that." Um, ok....

The menu was printed on a cheapie piece of white copy paper, for God's sake. There was no description of the food. Just a one liner. "Salmon Asia". What the hell is that? How's it cooked? What comes with it? Turns out that it's poached salmon with soy sauce or something like that. Ugh. Gross.

It was like that for whole menu.

The waitress comes back. She takes our order and leaves. During the whole eating process, I don't think she came back more than one time to ask if everything was ok. Was the food to our liking?

When I left to go to the restroom, I expected someone to come and fold my napkin. Pull out my chair when I come back to the table, etc.

Yes, you may think that I am snotty for wanting all of that, but let me tell you, it was supposed to be one of those snotty restaurants where you get treated like a king or queen. I wasn't eating at Steak and Ale or Outback Steakhouse. And, for the prices they charged, they pretty much should have been kissing my ass. I WANTED someone to kiss my ass.

And the bill? Hehem. I could have bought myself something VERY nice for that price. Let's just say we will NEVER go back there again. Such a shame though. We were there three years ago and thought that it was a pretty classy joint. Too bad that it's gone so downhill.

However, let's not let the restaurant experience cloud the evening. Despite that, we still had a great time being together sans child. We will definitely do that again. I'm expecting a monthly date night is in order. :)

Nervous Breakdown

2010-05-07T09:00:00.002+02:00

I swear that I feel like I am going to have a nervous breakdown soon. There's nothing like an almost two year old's(2 years old on May 18)bad antics and behavior to bring you down to your knees.

I'm getting a "bad mommy complex". I feel like I can't do anything right with this kid. She cries and cries and pitches a fit for no apparent reason. All I did was ask her to get out of the car the other day and just that simple request started a 45 minute long crying tantrum. I left her on the ground next to the car and took my things into the house thinking that, surely, she will follow me or ask me to come and get her. NOOOO, she sat on the ground and refused to come in. When I went to pick her up and bring her into the house, she started another crying fit. I just had to leave her in the hallway and walk away.

After 15 minutes of continuous crying, I went to see if she was ready to stop crying. She wasn't ready to stop, of course, so then I was going to leave again. That wasn't the right thing to do. No, not according to Keira. She came and dragged me back and so I thought, ok, I'll try to give her a hug and see if we can kiss and make up. Well, that just started her crying even more. She pushed me away with this "get away from me attitude". Then when I go away, she cries even louder. It's like this. Go away. Come back. Go away. Come back..but don't touch me. YOu can only x inches from me.

This goes back and forth and back and forth for almost everything. Every day. I have no idea what sets her off to a crying fit. I can't seem to do anything right. She's the model child for her father. Now what is up with that?

I searched on the internet today under "My 2 year old is driving me crazy", thinking that maybe I might find others who are in the same situation as me. It was AMAZING. There are tons of mothers in the same situation as me with terrorizing 2 year olds that act in exactly the same way. Some of them have dealt with it for several months now and I am only dealing with her behavior for a week.

I can't believe that a two year old can make me feel so incompetent as a mother. I wonder every day if I'm doing something wrong or if I've done something wrong to make her act this way. Come to find out. It's probably the terrible two's. Oh yeah.

I guess I'll have to dig in my heels and wait this one out. I am the adult. I am the boss. I will prevail. Gulp!....

Catching up

2010-05-05T08:01:00.010+02:00

Argh! I see that I have been remiss in keeping the blog updated this week. I have no clue where the time went. I can't believe it's already Wednesday.

Well, let's see...the weekend was nothing to write home about. The weather on Saturday was the shits. It was rainy and cold and windy. In addition to that, it was a holiday. May 1. That caught me by surprise. I think that it caught everyone by surprise. The little corner grocery store on Friday evening was jam packed full of cars and people. I had gone to the store around 4:00pm to pick up some milk and was thinking to myself, "gee, wonder why it's so busy...."

Per called me later to tell me that Saturday was a holidy. What does that mean? EVERYTHING IS CLOSED. That's right. Nevermind the fact that it's a Saturday and that people will most likely like to shop...spend money....stores have a chance to make some good change. NO. No one wants to work on that day. So I had to go back to the store around 8pm to shop. By that time, the store shelves were pretty picked over. Nothing much left there.

Saturday, as I said, was not so nice weather, but Keira and I had a great time while Per was downstairs working. We put on some dance tunes, danced around the room, played hide and seek, made pancakes for breakfast, colored, put stickers on everything that didn't move and watched some TV. That daughter of mine is a really good dancer. You never know..she might even show up so "So You Think You Can Dance."

Sunday was great weather. We had a nice picnic at the local barnehage and Keira went up and down a very steep slide. I was impressed that she did it because when I went up to the slide to try it out, my heart was in my throat. It was scary!!!

I've started a new workout program called P90X. I have been good about it since Sunday. (you're supposed to workout 6 days week with this thing). It feel SOOOOOOO good to workout again and I hav to say that the DVD's are great. The guy is motivating and fun and I feel like I have my own personal trainer right in my living room. Love it!

Ok, here we are at Wednesday. I can't believe that it's already Wed. I was in Denmark yesterday....up at 4am, if you can believe that. I even managed to workout last night when I got home. :)

Here's some pics from the week:

MMMMMM..I love BBQ ribs!

Coloring fun on a Saturday morning!

Look! Horsie! Pee yew!

Picnic!

I can go down this slide...yes, I can!

Ok pappa, let's go...

Being dropped off at the barnehage...so cute with her matching lunchbox

New Rain Boots

2010-04-29T21:51:00.002+02:00

Check'em out! :)

How do I feel today?

2010-04-27T21:40:00.002+02:00

Blah.

Cultural differences

2010-04-23T07:22:00.003+02:00

There's been several times in the past year that the hubby has just off-handedly mentioned to me, "Hey, we need to get Keira christened." "Ok," I would say absently and continue doing what I was doing.

A few months go by, he'd mention it again and he'd get the same response. Since we were in Germany at the time, there really wasn't any hurry to get this done yet and really, we thought that it would be best to plan it when we moved back to Norway.

So, we come back and Per mentions it again..."hey, we need to get Keira christened."

I couldn't for the life of me understand what the big deal was. I thought that we would just get to it when we got to it. It's not like we were lacking in things to do, especially with the move back to Norway, starting to work again and so on.

I finally booked a date for the christening a few weeks ago and as it turns out, it's the day after what I thought would be Keira's big 2 year old birthday party. In my mind, the big event was Keira's birthday party and not the christening, so it would be ok to have them back to back. I've been in birthday party planning mode...going back and forth about the invitation list, activities, what to serve, etc. blissfully unaware that the christening was a big deal.

How did I suddenly get the shocker that I didn't have my priorities set correctly? I was mentioning to a colleague of mine that I should probably cater in for the christening because I wouldn't have time to cook and plan, with the birthday party and all. Did I have to have a cake? I asked her. She got this look on her face--like "Uh, yes. You need to have a couple of cakes. You also need to bring out the good china and the silver too. Some people wear their bunads to this. It's a big deal."

What?!?!?!?!?!?

When I heard the words..silver, good china, and bunad,then it hit me that maybe it's not the regular casual event.

It's not THAT big of a deal in the U.S. Normally, we just get family together, we go to the church, and then we have a meal together afterwards..no stress...no silver...no cakes...not super dressed up.

Puh. So I had to re-arrange my priorities last night and have decided that I am not super woman and cannot manage two big parties back to back, especially with family staying the whole weekend. I'll downsize the bday party to family and I'll expand the christening list to include close friends and family, focusing a lot more effort on the latter.

Geez. Who knew?

Overachievers are overrated

2010-04-20T07:45:00.005+02:00

I've been struggling with finding time to workout. I've got all kinds of excuses, or maybe they're not excuses, but the reality of the situation, of why I am not able to do it...I'm too tired. There's not enough time. I'm too tired. I'm too tired... There's not enough time. I sometimes feel like I'm a broken record.

I've been having a lot of problems with my back recently, a lot of the pain is due to the fact that I don't workout anymore (don't have strong muscles to support my back) and I am back at a desk job. I snuck away for a chiropractor appointment yesterday and boy, did I hear it from him! He's been telling me this for weeks...that I needed to do some physcial activity...walk in the forest (hahahah..NOT), weight training, back training, etc. because I'm in pretty bad shape.

For the life of me, I can't seem to find the energy to do it. I think a part of it is due to going to sleep at 11pm and waking up at 5:30am. Then, I'm go go go for most of the day and when I put Keira to sleep at night, the softness of the bed and the dark, cosiness of the room make me fall alseep for 45 minutes and then when I wake up, I'm definitely not in the mood to work out and it's getting late.

I was lamenting to a friend of mine this weekend about the lack of time and the tiredness that I felt and how I always felt guilty about not doing what I KNOW that I'm supposed to be doing. She said something very smart to me...and I guess I should have figured it out myself. But, being the overachiever that I am, I kind of don't wander down this path...I'm an all or nothing gal. If you can't do it right, then don't do it at all.

She said that this was a stage and that it would change when Keira got older. Instead of focusing on what I used to do (workout 6 days a week), I needed to set a goal like maybe 2-3 times a week and be happy if I manage that. Life is too short for feeling guilty for stuff that I can't help. All mothers go through this and it's not just me.

She has told me this before--about setting goals lower, but that was before I had a child. I used to think that she was a little lazy for saying that she would only work out 2 times a week and she was happy with that. I used myself as a comparison and a Jennifer with no kids, and all the time in the world, could work out 6 times a week.

Well, now the shoe is on the other foot and I truly understand why she set that goal and why she was happy. It certainly beats setting the goals high and never being able to meet them.

So, now, I'm going to try the new way. I will try to work out 3 times a week. If I make that, then I've done great.

Lazy Sunday

2010-04-18T21:07:00.004+02:00

This girl of mine woke up at 6am today. Sunday. 6am. I thought that there must have been a HUGE mistake when she rolled over on me with a big smile on her face. I groggily glaced at the clock to check the time. No. No mistake. Sigh.

Here she is lounging in front of the TV watching an educational Sesame Street while I'm in the kitchen desperately trying to make my first cup of coffee.

If I could turn back time

2010-04-16T07:36:00.002+02:00

I'm not the kind of the person who dreamt about the big wedding or the huge house or the expensive car. In those sorts of things, I just took things as they came and always just wanted to be happy. The one thing that I had always imagined for myself, though, was to be married to a great guy, live in a nice place with 2children and no pets, of course. Just your regular yuppie couple with the yuppie kids.

I always imagined 2 because I always wanted them to have each other. Just as I am with my sisters, they would never be alone in the world and would be best friends for life.

It's funny how life throws you for a loop. So, here we are, 45 years old, 46 this year, one year has passed since we got Keira and we are now able to apply to adopt for another child again, according to the Norwegian law.

What should we do? Shall we go for another one?

With a full time job and days which seem to end to quickly, I see how much time, patience and energy it takes to raise a child. I'm still young...well, at least I feel young, but I get worried that I won't be feeling this way all the time. How will I be in my 50's? God, I even hate saying that word, "fify." It's a ways away, but sometimes it feels like it's just right around the corner.

Let's say we apply. By the time we finish our paper work, probably about 3-4 months of this year has gone by. The wait in China for a child is approximately 4 years, which puts us close to 50.

Is it fair to have a child when you're 50 years old? Am I going to be too tired? Am I going to have enough patience? Will I be too old? Just enunciating the word "fifty" makes me feel like a grandparent already and I've just embarked on the road of parenthood.

I wish that we had started our family earlier then we maybe we wouldn't be in this predicament. I mean, really, why did I think that I had all the time in the world "once upon a time"? Why did I think that I wasn't going to get older back then?

We have waffled about this back and forth. When we realized that it would take 4 years to wait for a child, we said last night that we wouldn't go for it. Am I going to regret this 5 years from now? Will Keira be sad that she doesn't have a brother or sister? Are we being selfish for not giving that to her? Or, are we doing the right thing by her for not having another child?

I wish that I was 5 years younger. I wish that time would stop. I wish that we could start over.

Sunday fun

2010-04-11T20:49:00.008+02:00

We got together with three couples from the Oslo area who had gone to China together with us to pick up a child. It was so nice to see everyone and also to see how the kids had progressed and grown in one year. We had lunch at Anita and Arne's house and then went to the park to enjoy a fabulously sunny day!

Some parting 2010 Easter pics

2010-04-09T21:33:00.005+02:00

Here's some more Easter pics from last week...

Back to the Grindstone

2010-04-08T07:27:00.002+02:00

Ahhh...yes, the second day back at work after the Easter holidays. I am quite sleepy right now as I'm writing this post.

It's difficult to get up at 5:30am when we've been used to getting up around 8:00am - 8:30am every day, lollygagging around and just enjoying a late breakfast.

On Tuesday, I got up at 5:30am...barely. I think I hit the snooze button a couple of times. Yesterday, I got up at 5:40am and today, I finally dragged my lazy, tired ass out of bed at 5:45am. I could barely keep my eyes open as I was driving to work and here I am, with my hands tightly wrapped around a cup of coffee, wishing desperately that the caffeine would kick in, only to feel my eyelids drooping down and the the screen swimming in front of me as I try to write this post.

All I can say is thank God it's going to be Friday tomorrow and the next day will be Saturday. All I can think about is SLEEEEEEP. zzzzzzzz....

Easter egg hunt

2010-04-03T22:21:00.004+02:00

Easter preparations

2010-04-02T12:03:00.000+02:00

Making the Easter chickens

Per making pinnekjøtt dinner

All awaiting excitedly for the food

Hmmm...let the games begin

First ski trip out

2010-04-01T13:06:00.000+02:00

Here we are with our friend,Wasim, going out for the first ski trip this year. Keira is being pulled in the sled behind.

Prepping the skis

Putting the sled together

Keira in the sled

Preparing for our guests

2010-03-31T10:49:00.004+02:00

Slaughtering the lamb

Sledding

Like father

Like daughter

Too big for my britches

2010-03-30T21:37:00.006+02:00

These are my jeans. My jeans with a big, fat rip so wide you can see through to Texas.

How did I find out about this? Well, we were in the grocery store today, in the vegetables section, to be exact and Per comes over to me, leans in and whispers, "do you know that you have a rip in jeans where your butt is?"

I was shocked..What? No. How could that be? I mean, I would have known.

I reached behind me and felt myself. Yes, right, I felt up myself and felt that I had a big rip there. I ask in a panic, "Can you see my butt?

"No," said Per, "it's hidden. it's not that bad."

Ladies, here is a hint. Beware of nice husbands who tell you lies so that you can save face. I believed him and basically brushed it off. I walked around the grocery store and then into the mall,totally oblivious to my anal predicament.

When I got home, curiosity got the better ofme and so I took off my jeans and saw this big, fat rip.

"I don't know how my ass could have gotten that big," I said to Per. "Oh, no,it's because those jeans are really worn. You could probably repair it with a needle and thread." Yeah, right. After seeing the hole, what do you think?

Those jeans have seen its last days. And to those who've seen my butt crack, I hope you enjoyed yourself.

Hanging out at the cabin

2010-03-29T22:40:00.005+02:00

Well, it's the Easter holidays and we've been up at the cabin since Saturday. Both the hubby and I are working from here until Wednesday, as well as enjoying a little R&R. The only problem now is that I am sick, Keira is sick and now Per is getting sick. That is no fun...especially when we're expecting two families on Thursday. Come Thursday, this house will be 12 people full! Can you believe it? I'm just stressing out thinking about the amount of food that has to be made.

We went shopping today to stock up, but two cart fulls of food and we're still not done. So, we'll go at it again tomorrow!

Per really wants me to make this yummy lamb tagine dish, but one of the key ingredients is sweet potatoes. Hmmm...that will be really easy to find up here in the mountains.

Now how does this chair work again?

Camping out on the floor

Keira "helping" me make dinner

After dinner fun

2010-03-28T15:48:00.002+02:00

Nothing like a little light reading after dinner

Saturday morning art fun

2010-03-27T16:20:00.000+01:00

Fun activites at 7:00am on a Saturday morning...Good thing they're Crayola washable pens or I'd be having a heart attack!

Exhaustion is setting in

2010-03-25T07:38:00.002+01:00

And it's only 7:30am! I am tiiiiiiiiiiired. Shall I say it again? I am tiiiiiiiiirrred!

Keira has been acting up the past couple of days again. It started with not wanting to go upstairs for her bathtime, to wanting to sit on the potty when she doesn't really need to, wanting me to sit with her during TV time, etc. I guess she seems to need some mamma attention...but, last night? Whew!

She didn't sleep well. Lots of squirming around in the middle of the night. At 2:00am, It was so bad that we had to turn on the lights to wake her up. She cried and cried and cried. I couldn't seem to console her. If I tried to hug her or kiss her, she pushed me away. But, then if I left her alone then she would get even more upset at me. I think she's mad at me for some reason.

She ended up sitting on my lap (not letting me hug her) for a while and crying. Then the crying subsided and she just sat there, but I wasn't allowed to touch her. It progressed to laying her head on my chest and then I was allowed to touch her and give her a kiss.

This is so frustrating. I don't know what's wrong. It seems that she wants me, but she doesn't want me. That's she's mad at me, but then I'm forgiven.

We didn't get to sleep again until 3:00am. I had to get up at 5:30am. Sigh! It'll be a long day today.

Veggies, Mmmmm.....

2010-03-22T21:43:00.006+01:00

Have you ever seen a kid who loves her veggies as much as this one? She's eating choi sum (a chinese vegetable) which has been stir fried in garlic. We almost ate up a whole package just the two of us. We sneaked a couple from Per's plate too.

Hop, Hop, Hop to Hoppeland

2010-03-21T20:38:00.014+01:00

Here we are at Hoppeland with a couple of friends and their son, Martin. The kids enjoyed themselves immensely while the parents got to sit, enjoy a cup of coffee and some nice conversation.

Ms. Keira tried a bunch of hew things today which she hadn't tried before. She was so much more brave when it came to the new stuff...trampoline jumping, slides, climbing over things. There were no arguments going to bed tonight! She was snoring before the lights went out! :)

Climbing, climbing, climbing

Success!

Martin making sure that Keira is ok crossing The Divide

Going through the tunnel with Martin

Crossing the Big Divide alone

How does this trampoline thing work anyway?

Bumping into a new friend on the trampoline

Here's Martin, isn't he a cutie?

Giddy yap, horsie!

Saturdays

2010-03-20T23:28:00.000+01:00

What a challenging day Saturdays can be.

It all starts off with the fact that I am still tired from the week and would love to sleep in. Ha! Ha! What does that word mean anymore? Keira wakes up bright and early at 6:30am and she is a big grumpo, to boot. She cries and acts up and nothing seems to make her happy. She wants to dress herself. She doesn't want to dress herself. She wants to pee. She doesn't want to pee. She wants to read. She doesn't want to read. It takes most of the morning to calm her down. I think I get payback on Saturdays for not being around during the week.

Then, there's the errands that have to be run..all the things that I am unable to do during the week. And to top it off, stores are not open late here and so I rush out like a maniac in the morning, with grocery list and 'to-do' list in hand trying to get everything as done as fast as I can so that I can get home and spend some time with my family.

When you're in a rush, you just like things to go like clockwork. No hesitation. No interruptions. Just go go go.

Well, I'm not the only one who rushes out early in the morning to do the shopping. It seems that all the elderly folk in the city have the same idea. They are at the shopping center bright and early at 9:50am, ten minutes before everything opens, hovering in front of the stores waiting for the doors to open. Everthing is so SLOOOOW with them. They drive slow. They park slow. They walk slow. And, when they're in line to pay, it's painful to watch them slowly take their items out of their cart and place each item carefully on the conveyor belt like they have all the time in the world. Meanwhile, I am the one behind them, tapping my foot impatiently, making loud sighing sounds which in secret sighing language meanss, "hurry up! what's your problem?" It's all to no avail, though. They obviously don't get my psychic messages and probably don't care if I'm in a rush anyway.

Urg.

I Can Dress Myself

2010-03-19T22:33:00.015+01:00

Well, actually, no, she can't. But, Keira sure is going to try!

It starts in the morning when Keira tries to dress herself.

The look of triumph before the end of the day

One Year Today Since We Got Keira

2010-03-16T22:19:00.002+01:00

Wow. I can't believe that time has passed so quickly. This time last year, we were in China, touring Beijing for 2 days and then on a plane to Changsha to pick up our little one. Every time I think of that day, it brings tears to my eyes. It brings tears to my eyes today to think that one year has passed since we picked up our little one.

We are so lucky. I thank God every day for this beautiful gift that he has given us...even though she can be a butthead from time to time. :) Keira has brought not only such joy into our lives,but pushed me to become a person that I never thought I was capable of becoming.

I've had to learn patience and to be patient. There have been times that she has stretched me to my limits, but I still perservere because I love her so much and she is our child. In the beginning of our relationship, I gave unrequitable love, not knowing if it would ever be reciprocated. I used to live a life that was very much focused on ME and now I've switched the focus to Keira -- I don't do it with regret. I happily do it in order to ensure that she feels happy, safe and loved.

What a grown up little girl Keira has become since we picked her up in China. She is multi-cultural and she is multi-lingual..although she is starting to say only a few words now, she understands English, Chinese and Norwegian. She has traveled from China, to Norway, to the U.S., to Spain and to Germany. She has lived in two countries. She loves to be outside and play in the snow and look for the birds. She enjoys "reading" books -- at least she likes to look at the pictures. She is able to point to different objects when asked where they are in the book. She is potty trained. Keira assimilated into the daycare system quickly and loves every single moment that she spends there. I think she must be "the boss" of her little posse of 5 at the daycare. She can eat with a fork and with a spoon..although now I think she's picking up the bad habit of eating with her hands from her little friends at daycare. She loves fruit of all kinds...cantaloupe, grapes, honeydew, mango, and bananas. She enjoys watching Backyardigans, Little Einsteins, Dora the Explorer, Sesame Street and Barney. Wow. This little girl of ours has changed so much.

It will be so exciting to see how the next years pan out. She will take the world by storm.