Bestefar

Visiting bestefar

Loosing Troy

Before my sister and I left for Antwerp we went to the mall to pick up a few things for the trip. We both brought the kids, and we all had a great time.
After a while we needed a break, so we went to a cafe at the mall that have a playroom for the kids. Troy and Celina had some food and took off for the playroom as soon as they were done. My sister and I were sitting at a table with a view of the playroom. After a while Celina comes over to our table and asks us where Troy is. I was still fairly relaxed as I walked over to the playroom, since I was sure he was there, which he was not. At that time I completely panicked (having lived in Texas for so long, all the worst case scenarios popped into my head). I ran around the restaurant and he was not there, so I headed to the bathrooms, and pretty much dragged everyone out of there, checking to make sure no sicko had dragged my little boy in there with him (I am sure I startled a few people). I was pretty much ready to ask for a mall shut-down, when my sister finally found him. A nice lady had found him at another store crying, and she was taking care of him. I don't think I've ever been as scared or as happy as I was that day.

Look who's not sleeping

This is what happens when it is as light outside at 11pm as it is in the middle of the day

Birds market

Antwerp

Antwerp

The burger is great but we r becoming dehydrated. They really serve miniature coke bottles here

Amsterdam

Waiting for the train to belgium

Hoodlum

Today I realized that Troy sure knows how to please his audience, and today his audience were boys a few years older than him. We visited a friend of mine, and he was talking back to me, he tried to hit me, he poured his juice on the floor and laughed at it, tossed shoes down the stairs and so on. All this because it made the older boys laugh, and you could just tell how proud that made him feel. He may be two and completely adorable, but this is not the kind of behaviour I can let him get away with.

Ada and troy

Troy with his cousin ada at zitrus today

Summer in Børsa Norway

50f and raining.

Proud

Guess who is getting really good at using the potty...

Baby shower

Inger-lise

Baby Shower

Today I surprised my sister with a baby shower. Baby showers are not that common in Norway, so I had to go online and order some stuff from the US. Who knows if I get another chance to throw another one for her, so I figured I'd go all out on this one. I had banners made up, party favors, and silly baby shower games. I managed to get a lot of friends and relatives together, and we ended up having a great time.

Who says Americans are prudes?

This was on the news in Norway today (not a big news-day obviously):
http://www.vgtv.no/?id=22530
(warning; naked people)

Where does he learn this stuff?

The other day when I came home Troy and Odin were in the living room drawing. Odin had written Troy's name on the paper, and Troy looks at me and points to the O and tells me that that is Dad's name. Odin then writes my name without saying anything. Troy points to the L and tells me that that is Mom's name. Odin and I look at eachother, and can just confirm that this is not anything we thaught him. The next day I asked at his school if it was something they had thaught him, but no one that was there had. Maybe another teacher that wasn't there at the time? Sometimes Troy really surprises the hell out of me with the stuff that he knows.

New Religion

A lot of things have changed in Norway since the last time I lived here. A lot of Norwegians do not believe in any kind of religion, arguing it is superstision, yet a lot of the same people believe in ghosts, clearvoyants etc. It is almost like a new religion amongst Norwegians, so much so that it affected me for a few seconds. A few days after I moved into this house, I woke up and heard something that sounded like footsteps downstairs. I thought someone had broken into the house, and was scared to death (I used to live in Houston, so to me that sounded like a reasonable explanation). Turns out that there was no one there, and when I told other people about it, there was an emormous agreement that there was a ghost in my house. A week later at the exact same time, there was a knocking on the bedroom wall. It was loud enough for Troy to wake up and ask me who was coming. Again a lot of people were sure it had to be a ghost. Some said it jokingly, while others were serious about it. For a while there I almost believed I had a ghost living here. I did however find the explanation though. We have a lot of moose walking around, peeking in the windows, and sometimes it sounds like they are inside. The knoking sounds turned out to be crows. So, so far I've yet to be converted to this new religion;)

Belgium

I am so happy. I'll be leaving for Belgium on June 16th. I am meeting with someone that I have wanted to meet for a long time. I don't know much about Belgium, but I am looking forward to seeing the country for the first time. I just hope it is a bit warmer than here. Yesterday it was about 32F, and we had snow in some areas. It is June for crying out loud. Can I take this for the rest of my life?

Layoffs

I started my new job as a temp for an insurance agency on May 18th. Yesterday they told us that 150 of 290 workers in Trondheim will be laid off. They have 100 temps, guess who will be among the first to go.

Potty training

I figured it's about to start potty training Troy. The weather was great over the weekend (for Norway). I pretty much let Troy run around without any clothes on, and told him that it was OK to pee outside and that he would have to use the toilet inside. He enjoyed the freedom, and was so proud when he used the toilet. The peeing went well, he stayed dry the entire weekend, but the pooping wasn't such a success. I spent the weekend at my sister's, and yesterday Celina came runing outside, telling me that Troy was pooping on the chair. One thing is changing a diaper, cleaning it off a chair is something else. Today Troy was in the bathtub, and when I went in to check on him, he held on to the changing table, with his butt hanging over the bath tub, using it as a toilet. He was so proud of himself for coming up with this solution, so what could I do.