Post-Halloween Week...

So, I have a few observations as I look back on Halloween in Norway...

First, from what I hear, Halloween is just catching on here in Norway. I have heard that it has only been in the last couple years that you could even find Halloween things in the stores and that is pretty obvious based on the limited supply of costumes, decorations, and even individually wrapped candy. Speaking of candy...

Next, it is quite odd to see some of the things kids received trick-or-treating. Although my kids only went to organized activities (not door-to-door, which is only done in a limited way, mostly where more expats live,) unwrapped candies, especially gummy-type candies were handed out along with pepperkakke (ginger) cookies just dropped in the buckets. Very strange...

And last, licorice...I have always noticed a lot of licorice-flavored things here - everything from gum to candy bars to gummy candies - but seriously! And I do mean the black licorice (my grandpa Shackelford would love it!) Gum...licorice gum...YUCK! If I am not mistaken on my translation, it also appears there are cough drops that are licorice-flavored. Ewww...

As for the rest of the week, just the usual, I suppose. The weather is definitely turning colder and the daylight hours are shrinking. We had our "fall back" time change this past weekend so now it is light in the morning about 7:30 or so, but dark by 5:00ish in the evening and getting shorter by the day. It is strange for it to be so dark so early and it is easy to lose track of the time. Spencer and I both think this is going to be a bit of a trial for us and will take some getting used to. I have started taking an Omega 3 vitamin supplement with Vitamin D since everyone says you really need to, especially during the winter. I am also making a concerted effort to drink more milk. The sun only makes token appearances and rarely is out for the whole day, although Monday was an exception.

I also made play-doh for the first time here. I had to get one of the ingredients at the apotek (pharmacy.) Yes, really...called Alun. Oh, and my friend, Ronda told me they sold the syrup I need for my gingerbread and she even bought me a jar. Today, I went on the hunt for the other ingredients I need...the one stumbling block, brown sugar. Very hard to find here, but I got lucky and found a treasure trove at the second store I went to, Helgo. Now, I have to find some cookie cutters...mine I apparently had packed and put in storage. So, so glad I will get to try my hand at my homemade gingerbread! Hopefully I can get it to come out as good here as I did in Texas! It will make great gifts!

Now on my mind...Christmas gifts. I am thinking I better get on that soon. It will be a fairly simple Christmas here for several reasons. One, we will actually be in Prague the week of Christmas and we are so excited about our trip! Air, hotel, and tours are booked! Second, the availability and price of things here is a big turn off, so we are looking to find one or two special things for the kids and leave it at that. Third, we have no room in the apartment! They have plenty of stuff to entertain themselves with and space is a premium! Tomorrow, I am going to hang out with my buddy, Dan and we are going to do some price-checking and idea-getting...

This weekend is the huge PWC Christmas Craft Market - they are expecting somewhere in the neighborhood of 8000-9000 people! It is the biggest craft fair in the entire country! Because I am a PWC member and donating a cake for the cake and coffee stand, I can go an hour early for a preview time on Friday and you can bet I will be taking advantage of that! Wendy and I will be there to drop off cakes and shop!

Saturday evening we have been invited to our friends' Peter and Helen's to attend an event being hosted by BISS (the British school) to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night with a fireworks show! Apparently this is a huge event in the UK and the British school is celebrating here as well! We are looking forward to it!

Sunday, it appears we will likely have dinner plans other friends - Lamonte and Wendy.

So, we are definitely staying busy and our social life is in good order - we have made lots of friends here! I can already see it is going to be quite tough to leave here when summer comes and it is time to move on.

I am including two pictures of rainbows we saw on Oct. 18th from our balcony. Truly a rare sight, a double rainbow - you could see the full arc on the opposite side of our apartment off the other balcony - they were amazing! The one on the left is much lighter but both were clearly visible! I have never seen as many rainbows as we have in the short time we have been in Norway!