Oh dear reader, the adventures I haven't told, yet here I am with a new draft. Who knows? Maybe I can finish more than one tonight. I am snuggled under a fuzzy zebra blanket watching the snowflakes float through the shine of the streetlamp carried by the whims of the wind until they land on the already plush cushion of white coating the world. Gusts of wind roll over the roof and a flurry of flakes swirls toward the street below. Still, there are a few brave costumed candy collectors out this Halloween. I guess I should light the jack-o-lanterns one last time and melt the snow from their sagging faces. What a strange combination, right? But as I have been told more than once, "You live in Norway. You know this." We've had a few trace amounts of snow whispering of colder days and preparations to be done, but this performance seems to be a more serious harbinger of winter to come, throwing open the door and shouting, "I am here!" I reluctantly prepare. I love autumn and all the beautiful colors that winter hushes and hides. I want to be caught in a whirlwind of leaves and crunch them as I walk by. And of course, the snow will melt, and I will have my opportunities to wring the last drops of serotonin out of autumn, but just as the daylight quickly fades, so too does fall. The duck hat has come out, and today, I used my spikes for my morning walk. I even bought a snowblower for the cabin. I am not spending one more day scooping snow and cursing about how we "should have bought the snowblower, but no, this will be the last snow." I fell for that prank of mother nature more times than I am comfortable admitting. Which reminds me, I need to save my trash can before it is too late! Let's catch up a little more. I have fun stories to share. At the end of September, NBF and I traveled to Kansas for BAH birthday. Before we left, I was sitting on the sofa thinking, "I should check the weather. It is autumn in Kansas. Maybe I'll need a hoodie." Mind you, I have just shut the door and pulled my blanket over my lap. I took one look at the temperature forecast and told NBF, we're going to fucking die. 36C (97F)!! You want me to leave 10C (50F) for 36...IN SEPTEMBER. What the actual fuck, Kansas?! There was no cool breeze on our hay rack ride, no crisp autumn air to nip your cheeks. Sunburn, mosquitos, and sweat. NBF really hit the jackpot. The trip was even better than we had planned and hoped. Even if it did get off to a rocky start. After our trip to the states, I needed to fly to Dublin, Ireland for a work conference. There was a day between, so it would work fantastically. I would even have time to do laundry between. Narrator, she would not do laundry between. Somewhere along the way, we discussed staying an extra day. Well, of course I am game for more time with my kids! Let's do it. The reality of "a day between" and losing seven hours traveling back punched me right in the gut when the airline customer service representative said, "Here is your finalized itinerary. You land in Oslo at 9 am on Wednesday, October 4th." Wait. Is this the same October 4th I have booked a flight to Ireland?? Turns out, a day between was really 24 hours. I packed two bags after that, one for Kansas and one for Ireland. With the newly improved itinerary, I would have three hours from landing in Oslo from the states before I took off for Dublin to make the IB conference. Hindsight and all that, I still wouldn't change adventuring with NBF. The work bag could wait in the trunk and when I landed, I would just run out to the car and get it. Other than that, the flight was surprisingly NOT #nellie. I even managed to carry two skolebrød in my backpack for BAH without smashing them. That is, right up to the point where he grabbed me from behind to hug...read, scare the fuck out of...me. We heard a pop, and I knew. All that care and the big fucker smashed them himself. However, I was the only one concerned. He said he wanted them to eat not look at. From the word go, it was meant to be a short trip, landing Thursday and leaving Tuesday, but we managed to cram it full of fun. I am no doubt going to leave out stories and experiences the NBF and both BAHs would find blog worthy, so I simply have to apologize in advance that I can't write a novel about our five days. When we arrived on Thursday, our room was done up complete with chocolates on the pillows. You know you are at a special place then and calling it Hill's Hideaway was perfect, because that was my intention. My boys were my main focus for this trip. One of our first outings Friday, was to visit the insect zoo where my daughter-in-law works. Holy shit, does she know her stuff. It was simply fascinating and highly informative. You can tell she has passion for it, and beside that, my mom heart enjoyed seeing how BAH looked at her when she was telling stories he had no doubt heard before. Friday night, we planned to have a nice dinner with family. I was even going to get to meet the fiance to my bun from another oven. I had some trouble finding a restaurant that would take reservations, but I finally landed on one which of course, was the one BAH said was WAY too expensive. When I checked the prices, I was thinking in Norwegian restaurant prices, so it seemed perfectly reasonable to me. So yes, I had a steak for roughly the price of a cheeseburger and fries at an Applebees level restaurant in Norway. Besides, a round birthday should memorable, right? He put up the expected Kansas manners and protested, but I think he was secretly smiling. First thing Saturday, the boys got a tattoo. Although this is in the territory of not my story to tell, I mention it simply because for me this was tangible evidence that their relationship may have started with me, but it exists outside of me. Also, I learned a valuable lesson. If your tattoo artist asks you twice if you are sure about placement, you should reconsider placement. Saturday was also shopping day. Oh who am I kidding? That was every day. Apparently, seeing me empty my suitcase giving things to the boys had NBF believing that it was open season on souvenirs and snacks. We ended up buying a small carryon suitcase to catch the overflow, but we sure did have happy kids when we got back home. From the farmer's market to lunch at the brewery, I don't think the light dimmed in NBF's eyes. I'm pretty sure he thinks all restaurants should offer beer boards. It must be the same for him when we are in Norway. There is fun to be had in the smallest experiences. I didn't need to fret over planning grandiose adventures, sitting in a small town brewery was adventure enough for him, and that is just what we did, a few times. Sunday we traveled to see more family and to visit the Courtland Depot Market and Irrigation Ales. Of course, there was a whole world of new experiences for NBF from huge pumpkins to bison tacos and of course, BEER. When I tell you this man has never met a stranger....he already has a date to trade beers and snacks when we go back. It was another experience where it was so much more meaningful to watch through his eyes because it brings me back to the wonder that exists in the world if you know where to look. Monday came and we spent our afternoon testing the limits of my tetris-like packing skills after NBF once again couldn't resist ALL the shopping. And just like that, we're left with memories and photos. Unfortunately, these posts always take longer than I believe they will when I begin. I will have to save the turn around to Dublin for next time. Enjoy the photo dump and if you get a chance, ask BAH about Slash's dick!
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My Norwegian family really is a pretty adventurous bunch, and for the most part, they fall into a range between tolerating and embracing my American habits, traditions, and ideas. For example, Santa on Christmas day was happily adopted, whereas my American accent on Norwegian is tolerated, mostly because I can't fucking help it. I would say I have a pretty good gauge by now how things will go over, but when I told NBF I wanted to carve pumpkins, I was unsure. He had enjoyed it last year and was all for sharing with the kids, but he tends to be more adventurous and curious than your average Norskie. I sent out an invitation with the added incentive of gifts from the states and cash prizes for the jack-o-lantern contest. To my surprise, the teenagers offered Friday as a day that would work for them. I thought, "This might actually end up being a good evening!" at least I knew they would enjoy taco Friday and their gifts from the states even if the pumpkin portion was a disaster. However, this gave us two days to find pumpkins! Unlike in the states, pumpkin shopping is hit and miss in our area of Norway. We were definitely not going to find the color and size assortment we did in Kansas. We toyed with the idea of buying three pumpkins and letting the couples work together, but reason took over and we decided that each person should have their own pumpkin. While I was not sure how the evening would go, I was VERY sure we had one strong personality in each couple that would drown out the other voice. I am not saying we are a competitive group, but yes, we're very competitive. So now the issue became finding six pumpkins. After our third trip into a store, we were getting a little worried or I should say I was. NBF was willing to load up and travel to Oslo while I worked Friday to gather pumpkins. Kiwi saved the day though. Just to set the tone, we bought half of all of the pumpkins available at the store, and when we got outside to load them in the car, I saw someone taking a photo or filming. I was pretty concerned the kids would think it was a spectacle as well, but I was in too deep now. After dinner and treats from the states, it was time to dive into the carving. I gave a short talk about techniques and things to think about and they were off. There were definitely some, shall we say concerned, looks as they began digging the pumpkin guts out followed up with plenty of hand rinsing. They were good sports and even commented that it wasn't so bad once they got going. I busied myself digging some seeds from the pulp to bake because the experience just wouldn't be complete without some roasted pumpkin seeds to munch on. Soon enough, they had the pumpkins cleared out and ready for carving. For the most part, it was silent concentration as they scraped out the insides and thought about their designs. In one moment, I looked around the table and commented that I was glad we each had our own pumpkin. This comment was met with strong approval and comments of sabotage and ownership of the process. I would expect nothing less from my family in Kansas, so it just made me giggle to know there are some shared values and common humanity in competition. When the faces started to take shape, the concentration got even more serious. There were reminders not to share on personal Snapchat because the contest would get skewed. There was searching on Google for faces and complaining about searching on Google for faces. I learned they had watched YouTube videos to prepare. Most of all, there was a lot of laughter and a full house making memories for a holiday they didn't even celebrate. At one point, a couple of them thought they were finished only to go back to work after taking a lap around the table. I have to admit that I was surprised as well considering this was their first attempts. The last bit of adjusting was done as I talked to them about thinning the walls to impact how much light you want to shine through, and one by one the pumpkins made it to the veranda. Luckily enough for us, it is dark by 7 pm, so we could see our hard work right away. What a glorious site....smiles on the kids' faces and a line of amazing creations. We even finished in time for them to enjoy their evening how they wanted. I was asked at least twice if this could become a family tradition because it was so fun. I am ever so glad I took the chance and asked. It was a runaway win for pumpkin number one on social media, and we ended up calling the contest a little earlier than anticipated. I am definitely going to have to up my game next year. I have already heard talk of picking their own pumpkin for shape and stem. Who knows, maybe we venture as a family down to a pumpkin patch near Oslo. I haven't stopped smiling about the great evening we were able to have and honestly, I cannot wait to plan another evening to enjoy together. I just hope it is as successful as the little taste of Halloween.
On a related note, I know that Halloween isn't done handing out its fun and surprises. I have been threatened with payback!! I left a visitor in BK's computer chair for when he returned from a party. Maybe the Norwegians aren't ready for all that Halloween brings quite yet. |
Nellie HillJust a woman leaping outside her comfort zone and telling the tale. Archives
April 2024
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