Picnik collages

Rory's first hair cut -- April, 9, 2009

Easter 2009

Hanging out at the Detroit Airport -- April 15, 2009

Enjoy the weather – Sunday, April 19, 2009

The beginning and end of the nice weather said a Norwegian yesterday.  I hope not.  But we have enjoyed great weather this weekend.  On Saturday we had lots of errands, but we walked to all of them so it was quite nice.  I learned that I cannot get a cell phone (pushing for an i-Phone!) without at least a temporary work number.  That’s quite a downer as it expected to take four-six weeks to get that.  Saturday night we went to Chris’ birthday party and met several other ex-pat couples.  With our hosts’ okay we brought Rory along and she was the only child there so I’m sure they were all glad that we were the first to leave.

Today we enjoyed a walk to and around Mosvatnet Lake in Stavanger.  At our leisurely pace and not knowing exactly where we were going, it took about two hours.  After lunch we played at our apartment’s playground and then tried to put Rory down for a nap.  Not successful with that because she’d napped a bit at the end of our morning walk.  Stepler gave me a driving lesson in the Marathon building’s parking lot.  We’ve rented a car with a manual transmission because we’re considering buying a manual.  I’m going to need lots of practice to get my skills back.

While waiting for our Thai take-away we played at a playground made from old parts of oil rigs.  It’s mostly for bigger kids, but Rory did enjoy crawling through the pipeline.  Tonight Rory's bedtime routine was right on schedule as if we were living our normal life in Houston – which we have not done for a month now.  So we’ll see how the night goes.  All in all she’s adjusted really well to the big time difference and to all the other upheaval of late.                      

The third time’s the charm -- Friday, April 17, 2009

Monday was the day.  The day we were to leave for Norway.  We loaded up the cars (yep, it took cars to hold all our stuff!) and headed for the Tallahassee airport.  There was some serious rain and tornado threats cancelling our flight to Memphis.  So we loaded back up, this time stuffing everything in Mama’s car so Ali could go home and went back to Cairo.  This delay did allow us to have our Zaxbys meal that we’d been wanting.  Mmmmm – wings & things. 

On Tuesday we tried again.  This time our flight out of Tallahassee was still a go, but it had been delayed.  We were getting nervous….but were repeatedly reassured that we’d make our flight to Amsterdam.  Then we were repeatedly told they’d hold the flight for us because there were eight of us on the plane that were going to Amsterdam.  Arriving in Memphis we could see our plane to Amsterdam – by far the biggest airplane at the airport.  I kept it in my sight as we got off the plane and walked inside, it was still just parked at the gate.  But as we ran through the Memphis airport I was pretty sure that I saw it start moving.  Stepler got ahead of me in the race through the airport (I was carrying Rory and a few other things) and he made it to the gate before me.  The plane had not been held and was off for Amsterdam without us.  

So we spent the night in a Memphis hotel and on Wednesday morning flew off to Detroit.  We made it to Detroit with plenty of time to spare – we had lunch and watched a dancing fountain.  Then we boarded our plane and were finally on our way to Europe.  Business class is not the same when flying with a baby, but it still loads better than economy class – where I’m sure I’ll be flying for all subsequent trips across the Atlantic – except for the last one home that Marathon pays for again.  Rory was very good and slept during the sleeping part of the plane ride and even through breakfast right up until just before time to land.  Once in Amsterdam we relaxed a little in the KLM Lounge and Rory had breakfast.  She ate like she hadn’t eaten in days - and hasn’t eaten that well since then.  The flight to Stavanger was easy and then we had to collect our seven bags.  Our taxi driver thought he wouldn’t be able to get it all in his minivan, but somehow it all fit.  We were met by Rita with the relocation company when we arrived at our temporary apartment.  She helped us get our stuff in and showed us the apartment.  She also arranged for a portable crib for Rory because our air shipment was delayed and is not here yet.  Thank goodness for the crib because Rory slept for 14 straight hours on Thursday night.

Stepler went off to work this morning around 8:30.  Rory and I met him and his co-worker Chris and Chris’ wife, Liz, for lunch today.  And now Rory and I are back at the apartment and she’s napping.    

people are curious?

I'm going to try to really get started at this blog - we are getting settled in so I should be able to make some time for it.  I hear "people are curious."  Ha!  Two people.  

Rory and I went to a Marathon wives' lunch today.  It was a nice chance to meet some new people.  Now Rory is napping!  She needs it though since she didn't go to bed until 10:oo last night.  So unlike her.  We're all going to check out a car tonight (everything is open late on Thursdays).  We've got a rental car for now, but our time with it is running out.   

I did write some posts back when we were in our temporary apartment and didn't have internet access.  And didn't have boxes to unpack.  I'll get those up too.    

Lars

We have put an offer in on a place to live here in Norway! We have verbal acceptance and should have everything in writing tomorrow. We have been calling it Lars because it is located near a statue of a man named Lars - we had nicknames for our favorite places so we could easily remember and discuss them.

It is an apartment and it is less than half the size of our house. But it is a well-done floor plan with lots of light and - after seeing several Norwegian places - it feels quite large. We have two balconies and a large roof-top terrace so we can enjoy the Stavanger summers. The view is amazing. We were lucky enough to see it on a sunny day - when you can see across the harbor to the mountains.

And Stepler has a short walk to work! You can even see the top of the Marathon building from our terrace.

Pics later....it is a bit slow uploading them from this computer.

Cod

Cod, cod roe, cod liver and cod tounge. That's what I had for supper tonight in Norway. Mmmm. It was actually all pretty good. Never had fish liver or tounge before. Maybe living in Norway I'll have it again sometime, maybe. I do like roe though.

House hunting in Stavanger has turned into apartment hunting. But we've found some good options and we have narrowed it down to three. Tomorrow we go back to see two of them, on Thursday morning we'll see the third and later on Thursday make a decision. I think I could be happy in any of them. They both have their pros and cons. And I know - we have a list.

Before we left Houston we got our house on the market. A big relief to have that ready, photos taken, the sign in the front yard etc. A few people have even looked at it. Hopefully someone will make offer.

Rory is in Cairo. I miss her more than she misses me.

Coats

Buying a good winter coat is quite hard if you've never needed one until now, can't really go to a store to try one on and generally have a hard time making up your mind. Finally I found one that I think I like.  It should be here soon so we'll see.  

Buying a winter coat for Rory wasn't so hard.  I found a cute one on mega-sale and bought it for her in 18-24 months and 2T.  They came and I liked them even more when I saw that they actually had features that (I think) will keep her warm. She wasn't too keen on having her photo taken, but I still wanted to share!