Busy Week

I know I have been away for a whole week and some of you think we have disappeared, but alas, no...we are here, just staying busy!

We received our second package from home this week! Vicki sent us the two new universal power strip/surge protectors we needed and an assortment of other goodies! So, so, so good! Brendan is tearing through the Chewy Granola Bars and we are rationing out the Goldfish and M&M's. The two small boxes of Frosted Flakes...well, those are gone and we are going to be enjoying some Kool Aid and Crystal Light very soon! We were also all glad to get our beloved Maroon Out t-shirts for this year! I was able to get all the computer stuff hooked up like we wanted and that is awesome too! Can I just say, I love getting packages! Best part, we again managed to avoid paying any taxes on it!

This week passed by pretty quickly with the usual assortment of things going on - It ended up being a very rainy week with some days being flat out miserable with non-stop rain, but life goes on! Monday morning started with Kyla's "Share in Our Learning" day (Brendan's was last week) and then I did my usual walking group thing. I did yoga on Tuesday, and then Wednesday rolled around. Spencer was off to Oslo for the day and I went to the PWC coffee. I had a lovely chat with several of the ladies and it was a very nice morning. I ended up giving a lady named Louise a lift home. We keep running into each other - I see her at the school, at the mall, she is in the yoga class, etc. She is actually one of the people I met very early on when I took the kids over to play on the school playground one day before school started. She has invited me over after yoga next week to visit. Thursday was my volunteer day at the kiosk. After that, I headed off on an outing with our friend, Dan for lunch and to check out the Figgjo porcelain factory again. He had not been there and is currently between consulting jobs, so he is a little bored when Ella is at school. We ate at the Mexican place in the Kvadrat mall and then hit the store and they were having a sale! 30% off everything in the store! It is very expensive stuff and even with the sale, still more than I was willing to spend, but I did get 4 bowls for us. While we were out, I got word from Spencer that the car was ready to be picked up from the repair shop. Finally! Dan took me by on our way back from Figgjo and I got the car picked up...it wasn't the least it could've been, but not the most either, so all in all, I guess it ended up okay. We dropped a chunk of change on that one though!

Thursday after school, Kyla had a playdate set up with Abigail at her house, so I let Brendan invite a friend over. It seems to work out better when we can have friends over when one or the other kid is occupied somewhere else. I am blaming it on the tight quarters of the apartment... It actually worked out great on Thursday for many reasons. Kyla was at Abigail's in Tananger which is where Spencer's office is. He had to stay late for an after-work function so I had to pick him up anyway. John came over to play with Brendan and then I dropped him off on the way to get Spencer and Kyla in Tananger. The timing of it all worked out perfectly!

Whew! On to Friday! Friday was PWC movie day in town and I was able to catch a ride with a lady named Sue and a couple others. PWC had arranged for "us" (about 60 people) to have an entire theater and show the movie "Letters to Juliet." It was a total chick flick and I, of course, loved it! After the movie, we walked around town a bit and grabbed a bite to eat at a very delicious deli/bakery place called Ostehuset...YUM! It was a lovely day! Then it was back home to meet Brendan from the bus, pick up Kyla from dance after school, and get Brendan off to soccer with Daddy. I think we were all tired by the time Friday evening arrived!

This morning was Brendan's usual soccer games, but today, the weather was sunny! It was still quite chilly with the wind, but no rain! This afternoon, Brendan was off to a birthday party for Eli, so I had arranged for Kyla to have her friend, Anouk over while he was gone. Again, a perfect time for a playdate! Once B was home and Anouk had left, we set off to get some dinner. We decided to try a new place...we pass by it all the time, it generally has people out front, and is literally about the size of one of the taquieras around Katy...Ahmed's Kabobs and Grill. And let me just say...we will be going back! Great food, good prices! Oh, and kabobs here are not what we were expecting :) We were thinking meat on skewers, but apparently, kabobs (at least at Ahmed's) are meat, seasoning, "salat", etc. on a pita bread bun. No problem...it was delicious! And, we fed all four of us for under 300 NOK! I think that is the least we have spent anywhere for all four of us!

Tomorrow, I volunteered to help out with the Sunday School at church. After that, weather-permitting, we may go on another hike. Time is running out to do some of these as it is definitely getting darker earlier and the cold and rain are setting in, so winter is a-coming. We need to get the kids winter gear soon, but since everything is closed on Sunday, that will have to wait until later.

On the agenda for next week...the usual stuff Monday - Wednesday, but then Thursday is the start of a 4-day weekend so we will be heading over to Bergen until Sunday! So excited! Everyone says it is a really wonderful place with plenty to do!

In other news...Spencer received all his SpareBank stuff, but you guessed it...my debit card didn't show up, so I have requested another to be sent...waiting... Driver's License is still a dilemma. I have searched various websites and found conflicting information on them and none are very recently updated...not sure what to do on this. I do think I have figured out a way to order a duplicate of my Texas DL though. As you may remember me mentioning, you are required to surrender your current DL when you apply for theirs...I would totally not have issue with the whole process if they didn't take my Texas DL since I am pretty sure a Norwegian one won't be accepted in Texas...I have considered just waiting still because I have spoken with several other people who arrived about the same time as me and they haven't heard any of this. We were all under the impression we had one year to take care of it. The worrisome part is the random traffic checks, etc. they do here and the knowledge that tickets are outrageously expensive!

Well, that's all for now, I think...