Halloween Schmalloween, clogged toilet and other stories

Of course, I cant put any other picture here when we have come to the letter G. It has to be my lovely, beautiful nephew Gaute.

Here he was a small baby, about 2 months old, being strangled by his auntie. Poor thing.

He is not the same right now, though. Big, strong with sharp claws (nails), and just turned 1.

He is my little bundle of joy. Before I finally decide to get my own... When when when?

I would write more, but I'm tired. Thinking I was gonna spend a relaxing Saturday evening with my not so successful homemade pizza and a good movie, we realized our toilet was clogged. And seriously clogged. You know those toilet fresheners..thingies..that hang on the toilet ring, and has a little soapy thing inside and when you flush, some soapy thing runs out? Makes your toilet smell nice. Well, this morning when I was cleaning the toilet, I flushed while using the toilet brush to clean, and the thingy jumped off the toilet and disappeared down the drain. Of course it had to get stuck somewhere down the pipe. And now it is. We (hubby) tried all kinds of things down the toilet; wire, hose, bike tire... Hubby had shit up his arms, while I was googling clogged toilet. In the end, my (Googles) solution seemed to work, trying to create a vacuum with the toilet brush and pouring down bucket loads of water and some clorine. I was very happy with myself, thinking it had worked, and it HAS. Somehow. But its not perfect yet. So...

I'm ending my evening with watching Simpsons Halloween Special. Halloween has appearently been adopted by Norwegian kids now, when I was young nobody talked about Halloween here. But now they tell me kids walk from door to door begging for candy. Yuck. I have a doorbell that can be switched on and off. It's off tonight. I'm sure it's a great tradition in the U.S, but I dont see why we have to adopt it? It's just fake. Let us Norwegian stick to OUR tradition of dressing up during Christmas, sing carols on people's doorsteps and deserve our candy!

Good nighT!

F is for Friday!

Wow. The letter F comes on a Friday. What a coincidence.

I'm continuing in the spirit of yesterday. And put a picture of my Family. Or at least parts of it, and very important parts too.

It's an old picture of my grandmother, my big sis and me. I cant be older than 5. It looks like the 17th of May, Norways Constitution Day.


How can I tell?

1. I am wearing a hat with the Norwegian flag's colours.
2. I am wearing a hat, meaning it't not a warm day, though sunny. May in Northern Norway does NOT mean heat.
3. We are eating ice cream, which is the second most important activity for kids on this day, only beaten by walking in the parade.
4. We are wearing some goofy looking jackets and trousers, probably bought for the occasion, and we are feeling pretty dashing.


My grandmother died 13 years ago but she was the best grandmother one can ever have. This year she would have turned a hundred years. My sister lives 10 minutes away and is a big part of my life and I'm very thankful for that. Family comes first.

Have a lovely Friday!

Man taya

Today we have come to the letter D. So I made an easy choice.

May I present:
(drum roll)


My Daddy!

This picture of my dad is taken on the Norwegian/Russian border close to where I come from. This summer me, Daddy and Hubby went on a road trip to the border, and found beautiful nature, lovely weather, big russian watch towers and big Norwegian watch towers watching each other. Even though I have lived 3 hours away from the border all my life, this was my second (i think) time coming there. And the first time I remember it, cos last time I was there, I was a little kid and I dont remember anything. You can read more about our interesting finds at the border here.

Short info on my Dad:
1. He LOVES taking pictures at ANY time, wrong or right...
2. He comes from the south of Norway, but fell in love with the Northern part (good for me).
3. He thinks the best of every person and never sees bad things in anyone.
4. His birthday is in 27 days and I dont know what to get him!

Good night, everyone!

dumdidam...

I just browse through my photos looking for one with the letter C, and I take the first I find. It's all very random, but every photo MUST have a story, right?

So here are some lovely Cowfeet. My mother-in-law brought them home one day and asked Hubby to chop them up for her. Out came the machete but to no avail. Hard cowfeet those...

I've never tried eating them. They were rediculously huge! But I'm sure very tasty, if my MIL cooked them.

Today:

1. As usual, morning gym = good start of the day.
2. Breakfast with a friend, very nice!
3. One of my long overdue diaper boys decided today was the day he would go to the toilet, rather than "doing it" in his diaper! Hallelujah! Let's hope it lasts.

Since I've already done todays workout, I'm gonna relax the rest of the evening. The thing with the morning gym class though, is that I'm sleepy now. So I'm pouring coffee down my throat, hoping that some washing or bread baking energy will awake in me soon!

Blushing bride

I didn't hear any complaints about "picturing" me through the alphabet, so I guess you all thought it was a greaaat idea. So I'm gonna go through with it.

Therefore I'm choosing a photo from my (our) wedding, of the happy Bride. Always a good oportunity to show them off!


Today:

1. Woke up before the alarm, and therefore got a looong morning, time to get ready, passed by the supermarked on my way to work to do the shopping I planned to do after work, and was really awake by the time I got to work.

2. Got to use my creative skills at work today too, making two crowns for two birthday boys. When kids have their birthdays in the kindergarten, we make them a crown out of card board, decorate them and put their names on them, and they wear them while we sing birthday song for them and eat either homemade pizza or smoothies out of fruit and youghurt.

3. Dragged my ass to the gym for spinning and stomach exercises.

have a nicest week!

A, B, C...

Blue Monday.

I don't know what to say about today.

1. Did some art work with the kids at work and felt a bit useful.
2. Got to change loads of shit diapers ... Oh wait, was the list supposed to be about good things??
3. Went to the gym and sweated and pumped iron... Haha..
4. Home at 6pm, already done with todays workout.
5. Long evening ahead, would be possible to do some cleaning of bathroom and livingroom...

I want to put a photo on my blog everyday. But I want it to have a reason/purpose/topic for the photo. It's not always so easy to find photos which has something to do with what you write that day, so I'm looking for a way to post a photo everyday, in a system. Get me? Tips are welcome.

Maybe I should work my way through the alphabet..? The pic up there is of a former neighbor,

Adwoa.

A wolf in sheep's clothing if you ask ANYONE. But beautiful as the day is long.

Sunday morning

Sun is shining.

It's Sunday again, as I said, not my favorite day but I'm planning on making it exactly that. My Sundays starts with Hubby getting ready for church while I'm doing nothing (Yes, I am an infidel..). He goes to church and I eat breakfast and watch Dr. Phil....But today they had changed the programme to Oprah. Gosh. I'm being to honest here. Well, I do this while surfing a bit online and enjoying the lazy morning. But when the DAY starts to hit me it can go either ways. I can do sometihng really useful and nice, OR get stuck in my Sunday mood and nothing will work out.

When me and Hubby were seperated by distance, and only had contact over the phone, Sundays were days he was recommended by me not to call ME. Cos those were the days we were more likely to get into a fight about stupid things. (Everything becomes bigger and more negative when you only talk on the phone, and can't see the other's face, or body language + the delay on the line makes it even more annoying.) Sundays can still be a day for a fight, but not that much..:-)

SO what to do today? I have a mountain of dishes waiting for me in the kitchen, but right now I'm enjoying the great mind of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Finally I got round to hearing her talk about the "Single Story".

Me, who constantly fight people who make AfriCA into a country and tell the kids that in Africa they dont have shops or fridges in the nursery where I work, her words are like birds singing in my ears. But I don't need to hear this, THEY do. Anyway. Back to the dishes. I'll play loud, energetic music... And wash them all.

Have a lovely Sunday!

Relapse alert!

Wooops! I went against my vow to post something everyday... 2 days of radio silence isnt good koraa.
But I'm back.

I didnt go on the trip as planned, so I ended up with relaxing.

1. Hubby's friends came over Friday night. Hadn't met them before properly. One spaniard, one Afghani and one Thai. One Ghanaian and One Norwegian. Exotic and interesting. Some are in Norway cos of love, some are asylum seekers with a complete different story. And all this gathered under one tiny roof in Levanger.

2. Finally got us proper winter shoes - now the snow can just come. But I'd rather it waits until Christmas.

3. Spent some hours with adorable cutie pie nephew, who now knows to say "baaah" to sheep, and "moooo" to cows (he should though, growing up on a farm and all), and gives me a cuddle when I ask for one (most of the time...). Now I'm cooking experimental food, hoping Hubby will like it, I know he is SuperHungry and is therefore looking cranky! :-)

Bad things:

1. I was supposed to see a movie this week with my friend, but because I'm obviously a moron, when we arrived at the cinema it was closed and I must have imagined I saw the movie on the programme.
2. I SHOULD right now be at a party a friend is having and she is nagging for me to come, but I'm not going because I'm BORING!
3. I should have visited my friend today, and I didnt, I went around with my BigSis and nephew and Hubby....

Sorry to you guys for being BORING!

Halfway to weekend!

Yahoooo....

the weekend is going to be spent either:

A) On roadtrip with my girls, visiting a third of our girls who lives in a small town (The smallest CITY in Norway, appearently).

or

B) In horizontal position on the couch.

Reason for the huge divide between activities is that my travel buddies are both not well at the moment, and dont know if they will be fit for fight on Friday.

No matter what happens, it will be weekend and it will be enjoyed.

today

1. Gym early in the morning and breakfast with a friend (who gave me a ride to work!)
2. Lots of fresh, cold air and sunshine at work today.
3. Nice chicken salad and relaxation after work, and thinking about tomorrow's NEW gym class, 'Dance Mix' (Oh my god we are gonna embarrass ourselves!) and going to the movies with a friend after (Inglorious Bastards).

All in all, a great day!
Thanks for the comments guys, very motivating, I must say!


The girl we are supposed to visit, enjoying an apetizer of light soup at our wedding reception!

Hey!

1. Got up long time before I was supposed to be at work.
2. Went to the gym.
3. Came home to nice spagetti with egg stew.

Ok, whats up with blogger now, this font and....something's up.

Im confused.

M for Monday

Very sorry about my negativity yesterday. I'm just NOT a fan of Sundays. I really want to learn to love'em. Anybody who can teach me how to make Sunday a lovely day off rather than the day before a new, long work week? What do you do on Sundays to make them nice, fun, enjoyable?

I'm not on top of the world today either. It started with my alarm NOT going off in the morning so I woke up late and had to rush like a maniac to get to work. I got to work, started feeling sick and went home from work. I have anyway washed the floor, cleaned dishes and baked bread, AND done some stomach exercises, but I still dont feel happy with myself. I think I should eat some chocolate, but it's not allowed so... At least the internet is back after being erratic the whole day. Gosh, I hope I used that word right!

I'm gonna dig out some good things about today:

1.
2.
3.

Wow. Blank.

I'll try one more time.

1. Washed floors.
2. Baked bread.
3. Watched a lot of TV I dont usually watch cos I'm at work.

It's an attempt!

Song that is making me happy nowadays:



Very talented young teenagers from a village not far from my hometown, who are really doing well. They sing in Norwegian mostly, but the song is about Edwin who wants to be a girl. I dig them!
(And they KNOW BlackSheeps is grammatically wrong, they did it on purpose..)

Wish all of you a GREAT week! :-)

.

I dont know if there was anything good about this Sunday

SuperSaturday

Thanks, guys, for all your comments the last couple of days. Of course, my strategy of begging for comments worked, and people I dont even know has commented on my blog. So nice! I mean, isnt that part of what blogging is about? Exhibitionism? Knowing people you dont even know is interested in the mundane things you experience (unless you have a blog with a specific topic that IS interesting)?

Anyway, the comments made me happy. Now its my turn to start commenting also. I'm lazy doing that. What double standards I have.

Good things today then.
1. Got up early on a crisp, sunny autumn morning cos we had a baby delivered at our doorstep early, and he made us smile the whole time we were watching him.

2. Had an 11-hour creative day with a friend, where she made lots of different stuff, and I made Christmas cards (Yes, it's early but I need many cos I plan on selling some.)!

3. Ate one of my favorite dishes, fried chicken breast with onions and mushrooms fried with mushroom sauce, rice and broccoli. Yum!

Now I'm back in my little house, watching L.A. Ink, trying to focus on that tomorrow is NOT the last day of the weekend, or the day before WORK, but rather a lovely day off. Expecting a visit from a friend who will be served Hubby's groundnut soup and fufu!


My little sweetheart

Yumyum!

Our creative day in full swing!
Results...

What should I call this post?

Thanks to my faithful readers, Anonymous and Laura, I will write today again!
It's Friday but I can't use that as one of the three good things this week also. I used that up last week, and I need to advance.

1. I went to the gym this morning with a new friend, and we had bad time working out and a good time afterwards eating the super healthy breakfast they serve at the gym, and had a nice conversation about...things.
2. I won a bottle of red wine in the wine lottery we run among the staff at work, and I'm drinking it NOW.
3. I had 2 comments on my blog today! :-)
My wine! "Quinta de Bons Ventos".

Now I'm gonna relax the rest of the evening, drink wine and watch TV, and WISH I had chocolate, until tomorrow morning at 8.30 am, when a one-year old is gonna make sure the weekend will be nothing like relaxing...

I

I'm sleepy....

I need comments to be motivated to blog each and every day! :-)

I'm going to sleep.

just gotta do it.

Weather report: Sunshine, - 5 degrees below zero.

1. Payday! (Tomorrow actually but I think it is in my account by now.)
2. Made something like THIS with the kids at work, just smaller versions, made to become Christmas (tree) decorations. (Yes, I know it's October!) Fun!
3. My mom had an operation and is doing well.

(4. SUNSHINE!)















My mom with grandson.

a quickie!

1. Frost on the grass, buildings, cars, puddles! Winter is coming! (Brr..)
2. Gym classes with a friend I was happy to see again.
3. Got a chance to change my doctor, from a terribly bad doctor to a hopefully better one!

Good night....:-)

count to ten... dont explode!

Why do I let myself get so provoked when people in the middle of Norway, far far away from the world, knows NOTHING about Africa, and has that typical "Africa is a country.., they all live in the bush, everybody is poor and there are wild animals everywhere."
I came over a child and an adult in a conversation. The child claimed there was no food in Africa, no shops and no fridges. The adult said they had SOME food, if not, people wouldnt be living there at all. But confirmed when the child talked about the lack of fridges and shops.

I have to hold my tounge not to offend anyone. But ....!!!!!! Ahh!

Can you guys send me your fanciest pictures from Ghana? I'll make a power point presentation of the broad view of Africa ( in this case Ghana) and show it to everyone who needs some education. (E-mail on my profile. Yes, I'm serious.).

I cant blame them. But I still do.

__________________________________

3 good things about yesterday and today:

1. Had a lovely Sunday morning...
2. My nephew turned one and was cuter than ever.
3. Ate cake and dinner at my sister's place with my parents and husband and nephew and brother in law.

today
1. Sunshine until 10 minutes before I was about to leave work (It started snowing then.)
2. I went to a shop where I bought a very expensive jacket in March, and which now had a spoiled zipper (and it shouldnt be spoiled after 5 months cos its expensive and should therefore be very durable), and they gave me a new jacket, EVEN if I didnt have a receipt to show WHEN I actually bought it. Good customer service!
3. I came home to a candle light dinner, served by hubby! <3

(The reason I'm so obsessed by the weather in this blog is a) I'm Norwegian and thats what we care about and b) I work in a kindergarten which means (in Norway) spending huge parts of the day outside with the kids, whether rain or shine. And mostly rain...and soon snow).

name change

If I change the title of my blog, will you who have links to my blog, also get the name automatically changed on your links or you have to manually add my blog with its name? :-S

The title of my blog has always been The English Version of it all, cos I first only had a Norwegian blog (which I still have). But I didnt like the placement the name got on the photo I'm using in the header, so I just put a dash _ as the name of the blog (cos you have to put a title when you edit the settings), and rather used the box for blog description as a place to write the actual title, because I liked it much better where the title was placed. But, I'm tired of my blog showing as _ on people's links. It looks boring and weird and ugly. Nobody wants to read a blog which is called _, right?

So I have changed it, and now the title is smaller and in a different place, and though I'm not too pleased with the placement, it's more important that my blog is called The English version of it all than _.

What I want to say is...If you have a link to my blog, and if the name doesnt change automatically, please edit your link and save it in the new (old) title! Thank you! :-)

Good things today:

1. Woke up late and stayed in bed with my husband a long time before we got up.
2. Went to a shop with my very expensive jacket that got spoiled after a few months use, and the lady in the shop gave me a feeling they might fix it for me/give me a new jacket....*fingers crossed*
3. It's Saturday, the sun is shining, and I'm almost finished cleaning the house...

WooopS!

I missed a day!

That's what happens when you have a busy and exciting life.
My yesterday consisted of work, gym and dinner at my sister's place, cooked by my beloved mother. Lovely. After dinner we got ice cream and chocolate and... There goes the trip to the gym!

Good things yesterday:

1. Dinner (lamb cooked with salt, pepper and cabbage - Norwegian traditional food)
2. Dessert (ice creeeeam)
3. Went to sleep in the arms of my loved one.

TODAY!!!!

1. It is Friday!
2. It is FRIDAY!
3. Gym at 6.45am (brag brag!), fun day at work, sweet kids...FRIDAY!

My Friday is gonna be very boring, sitting inside with the neverending rain banging on my window, under the covers, TV on, internet on, husband playing football, when he comes home he will make his special Tanzanian fried pork and....SLEEEEEP till I wake up.

What are you doing this weekend?

Zzzz

3 things today

tired tired tired tired tired

How come I'm always most tired on Wedenesdays? Last week Wedenesday I slept two hours after work. It should be Mondays, or Fridays. But with me it's Wedenesdays that are my tired days. Yawn.

But even if I'm tired, good things have made me tired!

1. 6.45 spinning class at the gym this morning. Hard to get up, but SO worth it afterwards.
2. Was taken well care of in the hospital the kids created in the kindergarten, and one of the small boys didnt wanna go home with his mother cos "he had to take care of Yngvild cos she is sick". :-)
3. My parents and my nephew passed by after work, leaving a box of ice cream in our fridge.

Good night....

Ntentem (?)

I dont have much time today, first work, then work meeting for 3 hours after work, then home and SLEEP probably. SO here goes!

1. NO RAIN! I could be outside in more normal clothing today, though it was cold!
2. I went on a little hike with the kids and a nice colleague.
3. The person who packed our lunch had sent with us hot chocolate!! mmmm....

Have a nice Tuesday!

marvellous monday

Especially the mondays I start 6.30 at work. Luckily I'm one of those people who dont have big trouble with getting up in the morning, so I really enjoy the days I have the early shift at work. Having the early shift means that you come first to the kindergarten, you turn on the lights, fix everything ready for the kids, make coffee, bake bread, fold towels and bibs and stuff, prepare things for the day - and all that you get time to do before the kids arrive, usually the first one shows up around 7.15-7.30. It sounds like plenty work, but it isnt really. The bread making is just putting all the ingredients intoa kitchen machine. It mixes everything together without mess, and when it has grown enough (whats the word for that in English??), you just put it in bread pans (??) and into the oven = bread for all the kids and employees for lunch! Mmm. Today I made 8 breads. :-)
Having the early shift also means that big parts of your day (the morning), is quiet and calm and there are few kids. And the best part - you go home at 2pm! What a joy.

Unfortunately, I only get to enjoy this shift once every forthnight. And man, do I enjoy it?

After work, I went with my mother (who is visiting) to the mall, to buy birthday gift for her grandson, and I got alot of errands done, and even bought a couple of x-mas gifts! Yippiee, I'm so efficient! My mom sent me to the grocery store and paid for my groceries (double-yippiee)!

So good things today:

1. Early shift at work!
2. Shopping, free food, and dinner with my mommy.
3. I laughed from watching Russel Peters videos on Youtube.

yesterday

all my trouble seemed so faaaar away...!

3 good things:

1. I bought new working clothes for the kindergarten (rain coat and warm trousers...)
2. My parents arrived in Levanger!
3. The sun was shining.

4. My nephew was being cutest as always.
5. My parents brought nice Anthon Berg Chocolate from the airplane.

Wow. That was 5 things.

Today me and hubby woke up equally sick, stuffed noses, sore throaths, head aches.
But I still have to find out 3 things ohhh!

1. We are alive.
2. We eat chocolate cake for breakfast, in bed, watching Dr. Phil.
3. Hubby is gonna make nice dinner for my parents and impress them, as usual. :-)

- By the way, it doesnt mean he makes dinner TO impress them, but they GET impressed by his nice food - (hubby corrected me..)

















My new rain clothes.. I look like a fisherman! :-)

today

Three good things about today:

1. I went to the gym for a 6.45 spinning class and it felt goooood!
2. My husband cleaned up the house, fixed dinner for me and a guest and...is an angel.
3. only 24 hours till my parents come to visit! :-)

Have a nice weekend!

I wanna blog MORE!

I really do. But I dont know why nothing seem to impress me enough to write about it. Anyhew, to force me back into blogging I have decided to write 3 good things that has happened each day. :-) Isnt that all positive and uplifting?! Yeah. So here I go.

3 good things today:

1. it wasnt raining!!! Halleluja! Its been raining the whole of September so you can understand my joy.
2. I woke up, and felt VERY awake, and not tired at all. Must be the sun, that wasnt up yet when I got up..
3. I got lots of hugs and kisses from my 2-year old friend at work and many compliments from him saying I'm nice.

Ahh. I feel better already.