In it for the fun!

During all of April we will be making posts following the alphabet each day with the exception of Sundays. This should be alot of fun and a great way to meet other bloggers that are up to a challenge and just love to write. Since I have a good deal of time on my hands it is possible for me to visit many of the blogs that are doing this challenge and hopefully I will meet alot of interesting and fun bloggers.

I really do not have a strategy other than to have fun, but do keep in mind that because I am in Europe that some time delays in my responces should be expected. I am really looking forward to this challenge and I am very excited. Not nearly as excited as Minnie is though. I have decided to let her come out and play this month. Minnie as you may recall has a very strong opinion on everything. I like to call these opinions "Minnie-isms." If you have watched the show Ally McBeal, than you should remember "Fish-isms" and Dr. House has his "House-isms." Minnie will be sharing her "Minnie-isms" each day according to the correct letter in the alphabet. Just be warned, Minnie is not the sweetest voice out there so I doubt she will be referring to fashion, gardening, children, crafts and least of all coupons. Consider yourself warned.

Meet Minnie

This is Minnie. She may look tough but actually she is quite insecure. That is probably why she is such a grumpy old thing. I met Minnie years ago on the internet, where she came from before that I do not know. She seemed to be hiding out, homeless and ignored. Whenever I found myself cruising around in the image ghetto looking for a fix, I would run into her. Finally she just followed me home and has been living in my photos ever since.

Scared out of my pants!

Walking alone in the dark and sure that someone is following you, in the middle of the night you hear someone in your house. You open a door and see someone standing there with a hidden gun, trying to “sell magazines”.

Whats up your sleeve?

It is getting harder and harder every year to pull off a good “April Fool’s Day” prank. My family is on extra alert the whole day making my pranks almost impossible to find. I don’t know why I get such pleasure out of fooling them or why the words “April Fools” make me feel all giddy and happy. Could be the child in me, or it could just be the little devil in me.

PANIC

Doing to many things at the same time, while not concentrating can have really bad consequences. Why can’t I get this into my thick skull? I really have to get a grip and learn how to slow down! I lost my mother’s bank card again. It happens often that I shop for groceries with two grocery lists and two bank cards, mine and my mothers.

Adventure Friday Continued

Our adventure started with a long train ride into Oslo at 6:30 in the morning which is a bit early for this night owl. After a little over two hours we were in Oslo half asleep and with no idea of where the American Embassy was. After all, it had been years since we were there last. Let’s just say that I was born without a sense of direction and my daughter inherited that from me.

Adventure Friday

Today is going to be an exciting day as I travel off to Oslo with my daughter so she can renew her American passport. The American Embassy here is a very scarry place. There are lots of military men with heavy weapons that guard the place, and getting in there requires a lot of security stops.

Too much want

Yes, thats me. According to chinese astrology I am born in the year of the dog. Always wanting to please others, a giving and compassionate. personality. A Dog is a listener and attentive. Sometimes though, Dogs should pay more attention to their own needs. In private, many Dog people worry a lot. I am a dog and I want too much.

The House That Spoke

This is our house. The "house that spoke", the house before we started remodeling it into a house divided in two. There have been many facelifts over the years, even the main door has been moved to the other side of the house. The "house that spoke" is over 2 centuries old and in the beginning it was a little store that catered goods to the local "Sotinger" of Langestrand. Sotinger was a nick name for the people that lived in this area because they were covered in industrial ash most of the time. At one time there was a lot of industry here, now the industry has turned into culture and lucky for me, "ash free".

Sometimes I am 100% sure that this house is haunted. Even my daughter as a little girl was convinced that there lived a witch under the stairs who would grab her legs and try to make her fall. Not surprising really when you think of all the times someone actually has fallen down these stairs. Our plan was to get rid of these stairs and build a staircase in the new addition. Once again the "house that spoke" had other plans and for many reasons we have to keep the stairs where they are. Strange things have always happened in this house. Since we started building on to it even more strange things keep happening. Sometimes I just wonder if this house is cursed. I can't help but wonder what is going to happen next. Skeptics would say "Nonsense", my husband being one of them, but I can't help but feel that the "house that spoke" is making it pretty clear how it wants things done around here.

Have you ever had one of those "Aha" moments? I did this morning when everything seemed to make sense. I needed firewood so I had to go up the creaky stairs to get some. I scratched my hand trying to move a heavy box that stood in the way of the wood, "OUCH!" Carrying the heavy basket full of firewood (which is actually old paneling from our ceiling) I lost my, "should have been wearing slippers," footing and tumbled down the stairs, wood and all. Damn that witch, I thought to myself while rubbing my surely to be bruised rear-end. While I was gathering once again the firewood I heard my mother screaming from her room. "SIV, THE TV WENT OUT AGAIN!" As you probably can guess, this is something that happens quite frequently, especially when we turn on a TV. Off to the fuse box I go to flip the switches for what has to be the 1000th time. "Mother," I said in a slightly angry voice, "The house has spoken again."

Somewhere behind all these creaky floors and doors, behind these crooked walls of old timber is the spirit of this house. "The house that spoke", keeps changing and delaying our plans until it gets what it wants. I just hope that we don't end up in a Stephen King novel and kill each other first.

Follow other stories on "The house that Spoke":

The Naked Cupboard

Today I have to fill my naked cupboards, freezer and fridge. There is a sale! Finally I can get some good stuff without having to run off to Sweden. In case you are wondering, Sweden has been attracting Norwegians for years with their cheaper foods and wines. Food in Norway is expensive and people will travel for hours in search of a good deal! Coupons do not exist in my world, oh how I miss those good old days of clipping and saving little pieces of paper that could be turned into cash at the checkout counter. Wine cannot be bought at the local market, or beer at the gas station around the corner. On Sundays nothing at all can be bought unless you count the overly priced limited selection of emergency food at the “what used to be called” service stations. Excuse me, my mind is wondering and I am getting off track. Back on topic again, service stations and liquor restrictions better left for another day.

So, one of my many fascinating and challenging jobs is making sure the fridge and cupboards stay stocked with all the "so called" necessary, "can't live without" items. These items do change from time to time. For instance; before we had children and I was pregnant I had to have peanut butter, pickles, vanilla ice cream and mackerel in tomato sauce. The pickles and peanut butter went so well together, just like the vanilla ice cream and mackerel in tomato sauce. Sounds yummy, right? Then when we were a family of 4(mom, dad, 2 kids) we always needed to have a supply of spaghetti, pizza and nut spread. Now it is just the three of us. My husband, who insists he cannot live without his instant oatmeal, raisins and chocolate milk powder. Then there is my mother. She would absolutely die without hot dogs, instant mashed potatoes, and a good dosage of cookies, liquorish drops and pastries. As for me, I am happy as long as we have Diet Pepsi, coffee and tea. Guess I am more of a liquid junkie.

Don't get me wrong, I love to cook and my cupboards would be bare without the following: Soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, worchester sauce, onions, garlic, horse radish, chili, real butter, chicken stock, eggs, cheese and cream. So what do you need to keep your cupboards from feeling bare? What can't you live without?

Rest in Peace

Panasonic

1994-2011

Yesterday we put to rest my mothers best friend and our long time companion. We first met Panasonic when it was brand new and shiny. We took it into our home just in time for the Winter Olympics in Norway. Panasonic was a big sports fan so it came as no surprise that it used up its last spark during the World Championship in Skiing being held right here in Oslo Norway.

Coping With TV Withdrawal

One of the biggest troubles of being an American living in Norway is Television addiction and the constant withdrawal symptoms that come from that. When I was still living in the states I used to look forward every week for the TV guide to come out. I grew up with TV dinners, Saturday morning cartoons and the ever loving babysitters like; I dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Gilligan’s Island, Flintstones, Dick Vandyke and Mary Tyler Moore…Oh the list goes on. Today is usually Movie day, but I feel for an old TV friend instead.

Super Storm Moon

Once in a blue moon, which in this case is every 18-19 years, Super moon returns to light our sky and fill our eyes with her majestic beauty. So get outside tonight and look up. This full moon is going to be closer to the earth than we've seen since about 1992.

Lost in Translation

Learning another language has been very challenging for me. Through the years I have made my fair share of mistakes and come across some rather funny translations. Here are some of them:

Sound of Music

RAKKASTUTEN BLANDEKOR

My family sings in a choir that just celebrated its third anniversary. Although this choir is relatively new, they have really grown in popularity. Rakkastuten Blandekor will be holding their first concert of the year in the beginning of June, but before that you could hear them singing in the streets of Stavern on the 17th of May. Choir practice is in Stavern every thursday night. If you like the sound of music than you will like listening to this group of talented voices. I will be writing more about this choir in the months to come.

Just Garbage

Today is garbage day, and todays victim is paper. Taking out the garbage has become confusing. Every Wednesday I have to check the garbage calendar to see what kind of garbage is being picked up on Thursday.

Just a little crazy

One of my past times has become Internet traveling. There are so many amusing places to visit and you do not need a passport to get there. All you need is a computer and an internet connection, then woooosh, you can go anywhere with just a few clicks. I have found Google to be the perfect tour guide and today Google took me to the craziest of places. Since I feel a bit crazy today I thought this would be something of interest to share with my like-minded crazy friends. The following are some of the most absurd laws I have ever heard of:

My Furry Friends

There are two of our cats buried in our yard, and before we moved to Larvik we buried our dog Odin underneath a willow tree in Prestfoss. I suppose the stone is still there. I think of Odin often. He was a wonderful dog and I sometimes feel his spirit is still watching over me. It is terrible to lose a four legged friend. Even though they are gone from my everyday life, the memories of them live on and bring a smile to my face. I miss having a furry friend to keep me company, but until we are finished with our renovations I will have to be satisfied with the visits I get from my “grand-pets”.

Isn't Life Insane?

This blogging is new to me. I have been doing it for just a week now and I am still trying to find my rhythm and work out the details on my page. Now I have been told that a lot of my posts so far have been sarcastic and bitchy. Too bad, sometimes that is how I feel and to be honest this blog is a way for me to empty my head and share my opinions, good and bad.

Popcorn anyone?

Sundays have always been for me a day for watching movies or snuggling under blankets with a good book. I am a huge movie fan. Old or new, black and white or color, everything from musicals to westerns, I love it all. Watching a good movie is like getting lost in a dream while being awake.

Moon Madness

The moon has always fascinated me. I guess I am not alone there; the whole world is affected by the phases of the moon and stricken by its beauty. It has inspired poets, artists, writers,photographers, explorers and countless others throughout history. I am one of them.

The Crooked House

“There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile,

He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.

He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse.

And they all lived together in a little crooked house”—Nursery rhyme

The sounds of power tools echo in my head 24 hours a day. Building an addition on to a house that was originally built two centuries ago and added on to during the 1980’s is not an easy task.

As Time Goes By

A few years ago I was living in the country and each day I would walk down to the store and buy groceries. It wasn’t really a long walk, but it was a boring one, especially on the way home carrying heavy bags. It was during one of these walks that I started thinking about time travel and how wonderful it would be if I could just snap my fingers and end up on my doorstep. I have thought a lot about time since then, about how important it is, and about how I could learn to manipulate it to my advantage.

Ignorant on purpose

What is political correct? I don’t think I have ever been particularly political or correct. A lot of things confuse me and I find it to be an art form to be consciously ignorant. Am I mad or is it the rest of the world?

Excuse me!

Excuse me for being such a criminal. I must confess that sometimes I have done some pretty terrible things. I have tried to get out of paying for a TV license because I just don’t like being told what to watch on TV, seems to me commercial TV works just fine Mr. NRK. Well, I don’t do that anymore, I hardly watch TV but I pay the license anyways because that is just the way things are.