vinterferien

This past week was winter break (vinterferien) here in Norway.  Maybe we should have planned a beach vacation to get away from the cold, snow, and ice.  But we didn't, so we made the best of it here.

Rory has a book called our Wonderful World.  The characters in it take a hot air balloon ride across the world.  Rory can recite most of the book from memory.  In the back of the book there are instructions for making a wonderful balloon.  Rory made her own wonderful balloon this week.

getting started

adding the red tissue paper

our wonderful balloon!

On Wednesday we had a play date with Rory's friend Hannah at Capella Play, an indoor playground here in Stavanger.  We all had a great time.  Rory really loves seeing Hannah and it doesn't happen too often because our school schedules are opposite now.  We'd planned a play date with a Norwegian family that we've met, but they were all sick so that didn't happen.  On Thursday Rory and I made oatmeal butterscotch cookies after running errands.  Friday was playgroup as usual, only Hannah was there because she didn't have school.  Rory was a happy girl this week!

Rory loves wearing her apron!

This week marked one year since Stepler and I were here on our advance trip.  One year ago we visited Stavanger for the first time and found our apartment.  Hard to believe that was a year ago.

Christmas in Norway & Munich

This blog entry has been sitting in my drafts folder since early December.  Never got around to finishing it, but might as well post what I have...

Stepler and I attended the Marathon Christmas party a couple of weekends ago.  It was held in an old fishing warehouse.  For dinner there was a buffet of traditional Norwegian Christmas foods, a julebord.  Lots of meat on a julebord -- pinnekjott (salted lamb), ribbe (fatty pork), sausage, a meatball (no sauce) and I think some other meats that I didn't even try.  That was more meat than I normally eat in a week.  There was also a good bit of seafood on the buffet - shrimp, crab, scallops, fish - all of which I enjoyed a great deal more than the meat.  Not much in the way of vegetables on a julebord.

Last weekend we went to Munich for the Christmas Markets.  Stepler and I had talked about it before we moved to Europe and since we're not sure how long we'll be here, we wanted to go this year to make sure we got to go.  We arrived on Thursday afternoon and after a bit of quiet time in our room we headed down to the main Christmas Market.  We just wandered through the market and then found a restaurant.  The food was very good (schnitzel! and potatoes!) and so was the beer.  After supper we went back through the market and to our hotel.

First things first, Friday morning we went to a bakery for breakfast and I went to Starbucks (there are no Starbucks in Norway) for a latte.  It was raining, as we expected it would be, so we took the subway to the Duetche Museum.  We thought we'd take Rory to the Children's Museum there and then maybe see a bit of the museum.  When we arrived there was a sign that the Children's section was closed until 12:30.  Bummer.  So we had some time to kill in the museum before eating lunch and then finally getting into the children's museum.  We saw the transportation area, - with helicopters, airplanes and cars - the oil and gas area, metals and toured the coal and salt mines.  By then it was lunch time so we ate in the Museum's cafe.  Sausage! and potatoes!  Finally the children's museum was open so we went there.

As we walked in I had a ping of longing for the Children's Museum of Houston.  I miss it.  Not so much working there, but visiting it.  This was a very nice area of the museum, but nothing quite compares to CMH.  Rory loved the water area, there were locks, wheels, plastic boats and plenty of opportunity for getting wet.  There was a fire truck for climbing on and pretending to drive.  There was also a music area that Rory enjoyed, drums, an xylophone, a piano (without its front so you could view the inner workings) and a very large guitar that Rory and Stepler were able to climb into.  Rory also visited the ropes and pulleys, but was too small to really do that.  There was a light room, but Rory did not go in there.  The water area was so popular that Rory had to do it a second time before we left.

When will the snow melt

My computer died a few weeks ago.  The dreaded blue screen.  I finally took in to a repair shop and now it is fixed.  Not having a computer was not a tragedy, Stepler has a computer, I have an iPhone.  But I am so accustomed to my own computer that I can use whenever, e.i. all the time.  Happy to have my computer back.  And my documents -- things that didn't seem too important, until faced with the possibility that they were gone.

There is still SNOW on the ground.  I am done with it.  It's dirty.  There is ice everywhere and I am a bit of a klutz.  I cannot run.  Makes me nervous to even walk on it.  On Sunday the ice cleared a bit and I finally got out for a run, it felt really good.  It was a short run because I haven't run in quite awhile and because the snow/sand/slush made for difficult running.  The ice is back now so no more runs until it thaws.

We have had some fun in the snow though.  We've walked on two frozen lakes.  Rory got a sled a few weeks ago and has enjoyed it for the most part.  Last weekend we got a sled for Stepler and me.  It's pretty fun, but I get nervous when it starts going too fast.  Stepler got cross country skis and enjoyed skiing on one of the frozen lakes.  There are pictures, but with the computer issues, they will not be included in this posting.  

becoming a baker 

For two mornings in a row last week Rory asked for pumpkin bread, but we did not have any.  So on Thursday I decided to make some, with Rory's help.  She wore the apron that we got her for Christmas and stood in her chair to dump ingredients into the bowl and stir the bread.  She was a very good little helper and our bread was delicious!  We put it in the oven right before her nap and when she woke up she ate two pieces.  

She ate the last piece yesterday morning.  She wanted it with peanut butter and the other peanut butter.  The other peanut butter is otherwise known as Nugatti, the Norwegian version of Nutella.  

Today Rory and I made dark chocolate oatmeal cookies.  Our cookies turned out a little crumbly, but pretty tasty.  Wearing her apron is a definite necessity for my little baker.

something to look forward to
We are planning an Easter trip to Paris!  We've booked our flights and our hotel.  Now I'm reading our guidebook trying to plan the rest of our trip.

this weekend
Tomorrow we're heading to the Marathon cabin in the mountains.  It's going to be cold.  There is lots of snow there.  Hopefully new, clean, fluffy snow (not the old, dirty, crunchy stuff we have here).  We're taking our new sleds and Stepler is taking his cross country skis.  

January in Stavanger

SNOW -- it is still on the ground.  And it is getting old.  Really, it is the same snow that fell before Christmas.  There is ice on the sidewalks, making walking semi-dangerous.  And, for me anyway, running is not happening.  I have fallen just walking.  I wish it would melt or snow or again.

Rory has taken quite awhile to readjust to Norwegian time.  After a week she was going to bed almost on time and then we had a Norwegian lesson at our house (when she was supposed to be in bed) and she would not go to sleep. After that it took another week to get her back to her normal bedtime.  Unfortunately there are still nights when she wakes up in the middle of the night.  Ugh.  These colds that we have all caught do not help.  I think we are all on the upswing now though.  
 

Back to Stavanger

We are back in Stavanger after a fabulous Christmas trip to Georgia.  We had a great time visiting family and friends.  And it was nice just to be back in the States.

After two and a half weeks, it does feel good to be back on our own home again.  Rory always seems glad to see her room and her toys.  We were greeted by SNOW covering the ground and COLD.  

We had a fairly uneventful trip back.  Bobby Bowden was on our flight out of Tallahassee.  He wore sunglasses the whole time and was on his way to California.  All three flights were delayed a little, but not enough to affect our next flights and we ended up arriving in Stavanger about an hour late.

We have a jet-lagged two-year old.  She woke up in the middle of the night last night, hungry, right on time for supper in Georgia.  And slept until 10:40 this morning.  Yikes.  No nap, lots of good food, and plenty of activity today, to maybe get back on Norwegian time.  Good thing we found a snowsuit on sale when we were in Georgia.

Thanksgiving dinner in Norway

If I do say so myself, Thanksgiving dinner at our house went really well and (almost) everything was quite tasty.

We ended up with 16 people at our house Thursday for dinner.  We lost three to swine flu on Wednesday.  I had my list of everything that needed to be done and when to do it and things came together nicely.  Monday I made the cranberry sauce.  Tuesday I chopped onions and celery and grated cheese.  Wednesday I put together the red macaroni and the sweet potatoes.  Thursday morning while Rory was at school I put the dressing together and got the turkey started in the oven.  My 16-pound turkey barely fit in our tiny Norwegian oven.  One of the guests that we lost on Wednesday was not actually sick herself and had already offered to bring green beans and corn casserole, so she brought it over anyway early Thursday afternoon.

Our guests started arriving at 5:30.  At first Rory was very shy, but she warmed up to everyone.  She'd been looking forward to it all week.  The food was all ready as planned, except for the sweet potatoes which ended up taking just a bit longer.  Our guests were Norwegian, British, Scottish, Irish and Canadian and many had never had a Thanksgiving dinner before so we explained all the food to them.  We served turkey, dressing, rice, gravy, red macaroni, green beans, corn casserole, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce.  For dessert Stepler made pecan and pumpkin pies.  

I wasn't totally pleased with the dressing, but everyone else liked it.  They also enjoyed the red macaroni and a few even requested the recipe!  The pies were also a hit with everyone.

We set up our patio furniture in the living room and expanded our dining table to seat eight so that everyone had a spot at a table.  We also put Rory's table in the living room and Stepler was the lucky one who got to sit with her.  She was too busy talking to everyone to really eat much.  She did sit in my lap to eat a piece of pumpkin pie for dessert.

And since Thanksgiving Rory has had lots of leftovers, especially red macaroni!


  

Pecans found!

We're preparing to host Thanksgiving in our home this year.  We invited Stepler's group at work and they've all accepted.  So we're having 19 for Thanksgiving dinner (that does include Rory and a six-month old).

With the usual stresses of Thanksgiving dinner preparation come doing it in a country that does not celebrate the holiday.  So trips to four different grocery stores have been made to find all necessary ingredients.  Found pecans for the pies today and now there's just one more trip to one grocery to pick up the turkey and fresh food.  We do not have 19 plates etc, but I bought some plates rather cheaply at the Freetex (Salvation Army), am borrowing other needed items, and will be using paper plates for dessert. But I'm also wondering about the size of our apartment, where everyone will sit, the size of our oven, the size of the refrigerator, and on and on.

Many of our guests have never had Thanksgiving dinner before.  It will be fun introducing them to my family's traditional Thanksgiving meal.  And I can't wait to eat it myself.  I just need the gods of Thanksgiving to smile on me for the next week.