Saturday, November 7, 2009

This Week

Wow, it's been so crazy.

The good things are:

  • We're in the house. Everything's unpacked, and coats are hanging on the wall.
  • We are gradually figuring out how everything in this house works.
  • Work with the horses is going faster and faster as the routines come.
  • There's tons of woods behind us. Max has been able to run himself ragged off-leash on the forest roads.
  • My first feedback from my boss? Work less. This is always a good thing to hear.
  • I've ridden a horse two times this week! Alleluia!
  • I've lost three pounds this week!
  • We have free cable this month, because the last tenants forgot to cancel their full subscription.

The "bad" (not really bad, but pain-in-the-ass) things are:

  • Damn, picking this stuff up is taking me longer than it should. I like to do things right the first time, and I get frustrated when I have a steeper learning curve than expected.
  • Max hasn't settled. He's barking at everyone and everything, including 2 a.m. alarms over cats walking on the roof.
  • It rained the first few days we were here. The paddocks are slimy pits, and now my barn shoes have to live outside in the cold because they're far too nasty to come inside.
  • Damn my hands are chapped.
  • Damn, my thighs are chapped from riding. (Though, it could be worse. Not even thinking about it.)
  • The last tenants want us to pay their cable bill, because they left the card here. Yeah. Right.
As with any new move, there's a few bumps. But overall, this has been incredibly good for us. The fresh air and physical labor is something I've needed. You don't realize how stale you've grown until you're out moving.

I'm tired, but in a good way. Each evening on the couch snuggled with man and dog feel deserved and delicious. And I've celebrated my new weight loss by stuffing my face full of cake today at a family birthday party. Mmmm...cheese cake....

Pictures to come.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

A Math Problem For You



x + y + z = ?


Let x be "over-imaginative, scaredy-cat girl."

Let y be "over-imaginative, scaredy-cat dog."

Let z be "big, super-old house with lots of creepy night noises."

Monday, November 2, 2009

My Day Today

6:30 a.m.: Fall out of bed with the alarm ringing. Throw on barn clothes, let the dog out, let the dog in, sneak the dog into bed with the husband, make tea, brush teeth, grab tea, go down to stable.

7:00 a.m.: Meet the stable owner. Feeding starts. Must weight everything because my kilo-pound calculator is not quite tuned. Takes forever, horses are getting mad.

8:00 a.m.: Let the beasties out in their paddocks in full kit. Go back and clean up stable. (If you are a neat freak, you do not want to know the amount of crap, dirt, bits of hay, and flung randomness eight horses can generate in an hour.)

8:30 a.m.: Realize it's eight thirty, and that I have to get inside ASAP in order to get ready to leave. Hope Sverre is making breakfast.

8:34 a.m.: Get in the house. Sverre and Max are still in bed. Try not to lose it. Get everyone up and get ready.

9:10 a.m.: Out the door. Doing great. Sverre strategically hauling ass to Oslo.

10:00 a.m.: Hit traffic. Bad traffic. Lots of cursing ensues, I need to be at school by 10:30 to take my test. Revise plans, will drop Sverre off at work, will drive self to school.

10:30 a.m.: At school. But all the parking lots are paid parking, and I have no money on me right now. Crap. Drive down and around and back up and down the school looking for a side street. Am reminded of trying to park at the community college I attended for two years--hell without the proper pass.

10:42 a.m.: In the school, in my chair, trying to go to my pre-test-zen-happy-place, but one of the teachers keeps wanting to chat with me. This is going to totally screw up my chi, man.

11:00 a.m.: Taking test. Notice it's snowing outside. Oh, crap. Oh crap! I have no clue how to drive in snow! Oh crap!

11:01 a.m.: Am not worried about this test anymore, am completely fluent in slow, stilted Norwegian, and am spending valuable test time fixating on whether or not this snow will stick.

1:45 p.m.: After nearly three hours of lytteprove (listening test), leseprove (reading comprehension test), and skriftlig (essay test), I'm finally done. Waiting for my Japanese friend outside. She gives me a going away present, a little tin full of chocolates. She SO knows how to buy my eternal friendship. Think I will see everyone from my class tomorrow, but am a bit sad. Do not want to think about not seeing them again. At least have my Japanese friend on Facebook now.

2:00p.m.: Back at the apartment. It kind of looks like the aftermath of Visuvius. Vaccuum, straighten up, take out the trash, chitchat with the landlord/Sverre's aunt.

3:30 p.m.: Hit the road, realize I will not survive Oslo traffic, am still freaking out at the snow/rain stuff coming down, and head off home.

4:25 p.m.: Finally arrive at the farm. Must peel fingers from steering wheel, completely white-knuckled it home for no reason. Do not know if I have the inner strength to drive to Oslo tomorrow. Run into the house, let Max out to pee, change into barn clothes.

4:40 p.m.: Am in full swing mucking out the Arabian's stall. Poor girl, her owner has moved, and no one has time to pay attention to her. Had a small surgery and had to stand alone for three weeks, and lost a lot of weight from the stress. Think she will become my special pet until she leaves. Apparently she is almost free (and a beautfiul little horse), but still, it's too much right now to upkeep a beastie like her. One of the boarders finds me. she has her dog and wonders if I'd like to walk with her.

4:50 p.m.: Am walking through the massive summer pastures and forests with the boarder and her dog and Max. Max was locked up all day in his crate, and has turned into wild dog. Keeps trying play keep-away with a dog five times his size. Always looks confused over losing.

5:30 p.m.: Return to stable. Finish mucking the stalls. Need to get horses inside sooner becase it's too dark to see in the paddocks. Get everyone in their boxes, and finish laying in new bedding, give my special pet a good brushing down. She's such a nicely built little creature, with perfect manners when given a little attention. Want. Want Badly.

7:00 p.m.: Have finished brushing my three full-time charges down. Start evening feed.

8:25 p.m.: Finally done with everything. Finish sweeping the stable, go to the house, change out of barn clothes and into pj's. Sit down to vegetate infront of TV with every single channel on the planet--because the last tenants forgot to cancel the subscription.

Totally wiped out.

Friday, October 30, 2009

A Reason to Marry a Foreigner

Conversations are always entertaining:

(We're watching a famous Scandinavian talk show.)

Sverre: Oh! Winswan is on tonight.

Me: Huh?

Sverre: Winswan. You know.

Me: What is Winswan?

Sverre: Wins Wan! The American actor! You know!

Me: Uh...Vince Vaughn?

Sverre: Yeah. Wins Waughn.

Me: Vince Vaughn.

Sverre: That's what I said! Just like you, with an angry tone! Wince Waughn.

...

At that point, I gave up.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Already Missing It

My Norwegian test is next week, and then I'll leave my school in Oslo for the new town. And I already miss my classes!

Tonight was my last society class in Oslo. I am going to miss the group we had. Most people think that the society class is an exquisite form of torture. However, my group was so friendly, smart, and willing to discuss different cultures that I learned something new every week.

I will miss one of our Ethiopian members who is larger than life. He is an idealist, who waxes lyrical (and loudly) about love and his hopes to create a family, become a doctor, and how Norway is beautiful, people are beautiful, everything is wonderful...what is the problem? He really made me smile.

I will miss my Pakistani friend, who is a Canadian in disguise. She wears traditional Pakistani dress, speaks Urdu, but when she talks in class a Canadian accent falls out. I will miss her stories about her husband and her son, and her unique perspective as a North American living in a European country who is also a Muslim woman trying to make two worlds meet.

Then there's the new guy, the young Lebanese man whose English is shaky, unless it comes to the proper use of shit or fuck. And what's even more amazing...he gets away with it.

I will miss the young Indian man, who is so soft spoken, but always has a well thought out opinion.

I will miss tiptoeing on the stairs during break. My classes were in the late evening, so all other rooms in the school are locked. Our second Ethiopian friend is a devout Muslim, and would use the lower stairwells to pray during breaks. I will miss listening to the music of his prayers.

My teacher is one of the most open-minded people I have ever come across. I couldn't have hoped to have a cooler, more laid back moderator and teacher.

My eager Iraqi friend, who wants to learn Norwegian so bad she can taste it. I worry for her, and hope she will not hear bad news from Baghdad after this weekend's gruesome attacks. I know she fears for the lives of her friends, many of whom worked around the affected areas. She has brought a level of conscience regarding Iraq that I have never felt. She is a good person, and leaves me so conflicted.

Mostly, I think I will miss my Tibetan friend. I will miss his gentle nature, and the unexpected fireworks that come out when the discussion turns to a subject he is passionate about. I will miss simple lessons in Buddhist theology. When I meet people like him, and hear what he has to say, I wonder if we all wouldn't be better off to take the time to meditate on how we will leave this world--if we will leave pain or pleasure. If we remember that all sentient beings have a soul and fear pain, if we shoo a spider out the door rather than squash it, will that carry over to our dealings with others? Is there room for more compassion in our lives? How might we expand that?

Yes, I'm moving, and yes, I knew I was leaving sooner than expected. But I will still miss my friends.

I am definitely not looking forward to saying goodbye to my normal class.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

When Are YOU Visiting Us?

Because the invitation is out, August 2010.

RennyBA's Terella is putting on Blog Gathering in Oslo, and y'all better be there. C'mon down and say hi! This whole fest will get you:

Lots of expensive beer!
(This is me hoping....)
Sightseeing of Lovely Oslo!
Special prices on accommodations??
A guided tour of Oslo on your first day!
Activities and fun!
An opportunity for bloggers from all over the world to meet and verify that yes, blogging can translate to real life!


Look here for more information!


Thursday, October 22, 2009

Just Go!

Sverre's ditched me, and is currently partying it up on the boat to Germany with his grandfather and his brother. Which is so not fair, because he went on the boat to Denmark for "work" last month, is on the boat to Germany now, and will be on the boat to Germany again, the day after we move in for "work."

Because, they "need to plan for the year, and need a place where they can all be together."

Yeah, right. I can spell boondoggle.

Anyhoo, guess who got to go all the way to Sverre's work to pick up the car? And guess who got to drive in Oslo traffic all the way home? Oh, yeah, that was me.


It's so weird, driving in Oslo is not especially terrifying. Nor is it especially difficult. I think maybe the reason for my jitters is that I hardly ever drive when we're in Norway. Thus, I'm not as familiar with where I need to turn, and so I get scared I'll miss my exit. And since Sverre isn't too awesome with filling the tank (and the gas meter lies horrifically), here's my thought process:

God, this traffic is taking forever.
Am I going to burn out the clutch with all this start-stop?
What is that little light....?
Oh, fuck, I'm pegging it. Pegging it on the highway!
And I don't know where Iam!
Oh, fuck!
Oh, wait, downhill, light off. Whew.
I wonder if I should get off here, or somewhere else?
I wonder where that ambulance is going?
Oh, fuck, I'm pegging it. Pegging it on the highway!
Where's a gas station?!
Oh, fuck!
Oh, wait, downhill, light off. Whew.

Rinse and repeat a few times, and there's my drive home.

Tomorrow, I'm leaving Oslo and drivin to my sister-in-law's.

I will be filling the tank first.

Here's hoping for a curse-free trip!