So, things have been busy here at the Beard household...!
Since my last blog, Spencer has played with the church praise band twice, Brendan got his two retainer appliances at the orthodontist, we had student-led conferences at the kids' school, hung out with friends for a BBQ, met with Relocation, lunched with friends, coffees with friends, Spencer toured a local brewery called Lervig, had movers do a furniture swap, MOVED, and celebrated Brendan's 10th birthday! Yes, all in the last two weeks :) WHEW! Oh, plus all the usual day-to-day stuff like tennis lessons, volunteer mornings, yoga... It has been a little crazy here, so we are hoping for a non-eventful week ahead!
I guess I should elaborate on the "big" stuff - Brendan has been a real trooper with his retainers. He is expected to wear them 24/7, even while eating. He takes them out only to brush and clean them. He has a little trouble talking and there is some slurping going on, but he had been dedicated! He knows if he toughs it out now, he will get "reduced wear time" sooner. He has figured out how to eat most stuff, but is sticking with some of the easier to chew things for the most part.
Student-led conferences were a new experience. The kids had the day off from school, but we had to go there for them to "present" some of their work and show what they have been doing at school.
As for Relocation, there is very little for us unless we move into a house, so we decided, after taking a second and third look, to move over to the other 3-bedroom in our building that is leased by ConocoPhillips. It offers bigger bedrooms and 2 full baths. That alone is a huge plus, not to mention a separate laundry room and larger storage room. Plus, we still have the advantage of the great location! One of our requests was to flip-flop the furniture between the two apartments. They readily agreed to this as well as the purchase of a couple linen storage items for each bathroom. The movers came this past Thursday to to the furniture swap and I started making trips over from that point on. Despite being in the same building, it is in a different section with a separate elevator bank, so moving was a slow process - up and down elevators, in and out of doors - very time consuming and tedious, but we managed to get it all done this weekend and now we are settled in for the most part! The additional space is great, even if Spencer and I don't think the bed is as comfortable :)
I guess Spencer's highlight of the last two weeks would be his tour of the Lervig Brewery. Oddly enough, it is operated by two Americans. He had visions of Shiner...:) It is a very small brewery and most of what is sold in the stores is their basic pilsner, but on the tour, they were able to sample several of the specialty beers that don't make it into the stores for various reasons (taxes, alcohol content, etc.) Spencer, of course, knew about all the machines and probably could have guided the tour too!
Last, but not least, we celebrated Brendan's 10th birthday! It is hard to believe that tiny little premature baby boy is a great big 10-year-old full of pre-teen attitude! We had a party at the local bowling alley with several of his friends. The boys had a great time :) Brendan, of course, loved the attention, but most of all he loved his presents! He got a couple Lego Star Wars things from friends, new clothes (from the states!), Houston Dynamo gear, the first 3 movies of the Star Wars series (we now have ALL 6!), and most exciting of all, he got his very own computer - a netbook! He has his own email account and is also set up to use skype from his computer, so let me know if you need his information! He finished his homework today and promptly checked his email and called Grandma on skype!
One more thing...did I mention...we booked our April vacation! March is going by the wayside since Spencer has to travel for work-related stuff, so we went all out for April - Club Med Opio en Provence - yep, we are headed to France for some relaxing at the all-inclusive resort! We will only be about 30 minutes from Nice (also will fly in there) and be in driving distance to Cannes on the coast! So, so excited!!!!
Okay, so that is all for now, I think...I am including some pictures from the birthday celebration.
And, our new address...
Madlastokken 3, Apt. H0603
4042, Hafrsfjord, Norway
