help!

I have this beautiful Christmas tablecloth my mum made for me. This year we got a couple of candle wax dripping on the tablecloth. I was not to worried about it, thinking it would come of when I washed it. I was able to pick of most of the wax so there was only some pink stains in the fabric. I sprayed them with stain remover and washed on gentle. After one wash there was still one stain left. I sprayed stain remover on it again and washed again, this time on hot.

After second wash the stain was still there. I hung the cloth outside to dry, hoping the sun will make the stain fade. But no such luck. I wash it a third time and still no change. My mum suggested I iron the tablecloth with a piece of paper towel over the stain as to sort of 'suck' it out of the fabric....

I have now a piece of very nice and flat paper towel. The tablecloth still have a stain. So what do I do now?

perfection

holiday fun

the best christmas gift

the best gift we got this year was actually from the cemetery. Odd as it sounds.

We have been waiting and waiting and waiting very patiently for Sami's gravestone to be finished and put up since September. First they told us it will take 4-6 weeks. Then they told us 2 more weeks and kept on pushing it forward in time.

I last spoke to them in mid December and were then told that the place which makes the gravestone was shut down for Christmas. I had to wait until January to call again. Hearing that made me very very upset - for reasons I'm not all sure about. I believe Sami is in heaven, so it really should not matter if there is a place with his name on at a cemetery here. But it does.

We made a temporary solution so the grave got a name and was decorated for Christmas.

Now yesterday on Christmas day we went up to the cemetery to put up some flowers. And to our great surprise. The gravestone was finished and put up. It looked so nice and totally made our day.

god jul, jul, jul

the headline is from a Norwegian advent series which used to be on tv when I was little. It was great to discover that my sisters had decided to buy me the dvd of this tv serie as a present. Noe I can share my childhood memories to people here in Australia (that would mean Hameed, mostly..)

Christmas this year was great. My mum (I love my mum) is hilarious at Christmas time. She never believe in buying us expensive things. Instead she always got us lots and lots of small an usefull things (like toothpaste or shampoo or socks) and wrapped them individually so it appeared that we all got a mountain of gifts. This year she had wrapped a lot of things that was actually mine, but which I had kept at home with her. One of my presents was a picture of my grandparents and my cousins taken back in 1982. We all looked so cute and innocent.

Dinner this year was Indian food (I think we have started a tradition here) and it was very very good as always. Kine made us a beautiful dessert of fresh fruit, chocolate and ice cream and it was nice even though they did not have the 'right' chocolate here in Australia.

All in all we had a great christmas and of course we all ate way to much..

little christmas

" I'm dreaming of a rainy Christmas
just like the once I used to know"

It has been raining a lot here the last days. The farmers are happy for some rain and to me it feels a bit more like it really is Christmas. Cold and rain is much more 'christmasy' for me then sun and 40 degrees. Oh and yes I got a 'Christmas star' plant too - I'm feeling so grown up now.

And the tree is up. It look so nice, specially at night. I got some help with the tree this year actually. Kine came all the way from Norway to help me. Well at least I can pretend that she came just for that. Who Kine is? She is the daughter of some of my parents friends, whom I have meet once before when Kine was about 9 years old. So basically we don't know each other, but when you are far away from home and its Christmas everyone is best friends.


Happy little christmas!

love thursday

finally, my last day at work before the break is finished and I have 27 days ( and nights) to spend with my favorite person.

Happy love thursday!

lets talk

Diva posted this on her blog:

Oh, Okay

My weird coworker says this over and over and over again. Thirty three times. Thirty three times for ONE call. By the end I wanted to slit my wrists.... or her throat. She also loves to say "Hi. hi. Hi. Hi. Hiii." My other coworker almost kissed my boss' feet when she was moved across the office (and out of WC's range). She loves to repeat. It's worse then Valley Girl chat. Over and over... and I have about five more hours of trying NOT to strangle her. Anyone want a human parrot?

I too have an annoying co-worker. Maybe a little less annoying then this 'oh, okay' lady Diva talks about. My co-worker ends every sentence with 'yeah'. And she also have this habit of asking questions about the weirdest things. One example. All the kids were sitting down to drink their milk. She walked into the room looked at me and said. 'Are they having milk now, yeah?' I just looked stupid at her. What do you respond to that?

I'm itching to talk to her about this 'yeah' thing. But don't know how to do it delicately. I can be a bit blunt...

This 'yeah' girl is engaged to marry and I have been wondering how her fiance can possible handle all her 'yeah's' - well that was until I meet him. He talks the same way...I guess some people are literally 'spoken for'.

I know, i know

I forgot what day it was yesterday - so no love thursday. I promise I'll try to make up for it next week.

Today I'm to busy. First I was to busy running around at work trying to finish up all the little bits and pieces so the kids could take their christmas presents home. What started out as a cute idea became a HUGE task. And I am so very glad that we finished it - FINALLY! Oh and I knocked by finger. That hurt! I am actually getting a black nail too.

After work I have been very busy too. First I had to finish up this huge block of chocolate. Really I had to, because otherwise it will melt and that would be totally waste. And now I'm busy bookmarking all my favorites again. When Hameed fixed my computer yesterday it involved erasing all my files, so I also lost all my favorites. Now trying to bookmarking them all again, I realize that I actually know all the web adresses without searching for them. Makes me wonder why I need bookmarks...I guess it saves me a few seconds of time when I don't have to type in the address everytime I want to look at a page.

So love thursday will be back next week. Oh and did I mention my finger hurts?

lucky afterall

After I spilled water on my computer it has been acting a bit funky. It worked oki, but somehow it was impossible to shut it down. If I tried to shut it down it will act as I asked him to restart. Yeah it got a bit annoying. Last night Hameed just switch it of without shutting it down first and I guess the computer did not really like that. When I tried to turn it on today I got a black page asking me to reinstall all my programs and press 'r'.

Here is were the lucky part comes in... I have a husband who know how to reinstall everything again. And it was not just lucky for me. To fix a computer after it has crashed happens to be a major part of Hameed's curriculum. So when he spent some time fiddling around with my computer he actually got to practice for his exam. My computer is up and running again now and everything seems alright. I guess that husband of mine know what he is doing..

I'm ready now...

weekends

for some reasons weekends always goes so fast. I almost never plan to do much, but still there is not enough time to do all the nothing I want to do.

This weekend I had 2 things planned: do some laundry and wrap the presents for my family. So far I have done neither. I seriously have not had the time. I have been very busy just doing nothing and also doing nothing together with my husband. And right now? Right now I am very busy eating a fresh pineapple while watching an amazing sunset... that is definitely more important then doing laundry.

butts and toilet-smelly

I am blessed (or coursed..) with a big butt.

Sometimes I look at other people's small nice butts and envy them.


Other times I look at some peoples 'inwards' butts and are grateful for my big one....




oh and the toilet smelly. I have been annoyed with how bad our toilet have been smelling lately, even though I cleaned it so I bought this thingy today. That thingy you know which you put on the edge of the toilet so every time you flush some soap comes out and make your toilet smell nice. I have decided to call that thingy ' toilet smelly' because I can not remember what it is really called...

love thursday

We have now been married for 2 years and 4 days. Our anniversary celebration on Sunday was great. I had no problems getting a gift for Hameed and I was excited to see what he came up with. I was pleasantly surprised when he actually bought me clothing. I never thought he would be able to figure out the size to buy me.

Last year our anniversary was spent at a top hotel and looked like this , now this year it looked like this.Our day was full of laughter and joy and I am looking forward to spend many more anniversaries with the greatest man I know.

Happy love thursday!

I think I fried it..

my computer that is. I have a laptop and I was chatting with my mum last night, trying to get the web cam to work and drinking a huge cup of water. It had to go wrong...

I spilled most of the water on the keyboard of my laptop and he did not seem to like that much. We were pretty quick and got it turned upside down so the water could drip of, but the computer were still making hissing noises. Hameed manage to turn it of so now its laying upside down and drying of. I will try to turn it on again tomorrow and hopefully everything will be alright.

I am very glad we have 2 computers in this house.

happy cotton day

I feel it in my fingers
I feel it in my toes
Cotton is all around me
And so the feeling grows..








real lyrics here

first day of December

The advent calender is ready


and so is the advent candles. I can not find any purple candles in this country, so dark red is the best I can do.


I also got 'new' hair. Not the easiest thing to take picture with my web cam, but you can sort of see it. I am quit please with how it turned out and hope I don't look to much like a 10 year old.

love thursday

This week, 2 years ago, was one of the most exciting weeks in my life. It started with me getting permanent resident here in Australia. A couple of days later I was offered a full time, permanent job at a child care center in Melbourne, a job I still have and still love.

But the best part of that week 2 years ago was what happen the 2nd of December. That is the day I became Mrs Hameed. As much as I wish my family and Hameed's family could have come to our wedding, I really still loved the way our wedding turned out. We had a small ceremony in the town hall in Bendigo with only a few friends present. After the ceremony our friends came with us back to our flat for a small meal and then Hameed and I went out to a lovely dinner. I really enjoyed having a small wedding and don't think I would have had so much fun if we had 100 or so guests, which is normal for both my extended family in Norway and Hameeds family in Maldives.

There is only a few days left until we have been married for 2 years. Those 2 years feels very long in some ways, but in other ways it has gone by so quickly. I do know though that I married the right guy and I really enjoy being married.

We have decided to follow the traditional wedding symbols and buy each other gifts according to that ( really I decided this and Hameed don't seem to dare to disagree..). This year the gift has to be something cotton. I still have not come up with anything more exciting then socks... suggestions are most welcomed.

I will leave you with a picture of our wedding party.

Happy love thursday.

it seems like I have educated him well

Hameed sent me this picture in an email...

hipp hipp hurra!

A big congratulation to my daddy who turns 60 years old today! Apparently he is having a great time, partying and eating cake for the 3 day on the row.

I wish we were able to be there and celebrate with him. Hopefully we will be there when he turns 61.

Enjoy your big day dad!

I Hereby Resign as an Adult

(I wish this was possible..)

To Whom It May Concern:

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult, in order to accept the responsibilities of a six-year-old. The tax base is lower.

I want to be six again. I want to go to McDonald's and think it's the best place in the world to eat. I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make waves with rocks. I want to think M&Ms are better than money, because you can eat them. I want to play kickball during recess and stay up on Christmas Eve waiting to hear Santa and Rudolph on the roof.

I long for the days when life was simple. When all you knew were your colors, the addition tables and simple nursery rhymes, but it didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know, and you didn't care. I want to go to school and have snack time, recess, gym and field trips. I want to be happy, because I don't know what should make me upset. I want to think the world is fair, and everyone in it is honest and good. I want to believe that anything is possible.

Sometime, while I was maturing, I learned too much. I learned of nuclear weapons, prejudice, starving and abused kids, lies, unhappy marriages, illness, pain and mortality.

I want to be six again. I want to think that everyone, including myself, will live forever, because I don't know the concept of death. I want to be oblivious to the complexity of life and be overly excited by the little things again. I want television to be something I watch for fun, not something used for escape from the things I should be doing. I want to live knowing the little things that I find exciting will always make me as happy as when I first learned them.

I want to be six again. I remember not seeing the world as a whole, but rather being aware of only the things that directly concerned me. I want to be naive enough to think that if I'm happy, so is everyone else. I want to walk down the beach and think only of the sand beneath my feet and the possibility of finding that blue piece of sea glass I'm looking for. I want to spend my afternoons climbing trees and riding my bike, letting the grownups worry about time, the dentist and how to find the money to fix the car. I want to wonder what I'll do when I grow up and what I'll be, who I'll be and not worry about what I'll do if this doesn't work out.

I want that time back. I want to use it now as an escape so that when my computer crashes, or I have a mountain of paperwork, or two depressed friends, or a fight with my spouse, or bittersweet memories of times gone by, or second thoughts about so many things, I can travel back and build a snowman, without thinking about anything except whether the snow sticks together and what I can possibly use for the snowman's mouth. I want to be six again.

--Author Unknown

love thursday

The biggest change after Hameed stopped working and started to study is that we get to spend more time together and that is quit nice.

He used to work Tuesday to Saturday and with me working Monday to Friday we only got Sunday to spend together. Now he is studying Monday to Friday so we get the whole weekend together. He also used to start work at 6am which meant he had to get up and leave home by 5am. Now he starts at 8.30 am so this week we have been enjoying eating breakfast together and then leave the house together.

It so much nicer going to work when you had some time in the morning for a cuddle and a kiss.
Happy love Thursday!

big drop

Yesterday we had sun and 37 degrees
Today we had rain and 14 degrees

Melbourne weather is crazy

just rambeling

well since last post got some many comments (beside from Angie: hi!) I guess it is safe to day that there will be no Christmas gifts this year..

The biggest news around here is that I am back to being the sole income earner. Hameed left his job and have gone back to study. He has been going to school for 2 days now and so far he is enjoying it. I am so so glad that he finally has a chance to study something he really care about and of course we are counting on that he with a Master degree in IT will be able to get a much better paying job. A better job which will lead to use being able to achieve some of our plans and dreams.

I know he will do well at his study and I also know that he will get a good job after and I doubt he will have any problem getting references. Hameed's boss and colleagues at his old job could not praise him enough. They kept telling me that he has such a nice personality, a beautiful smile and is just a great guy. They really did not need to tell me that (I married him for for those reasons) but it was nice to hear it still and it made me very proud.

the fridge list

when my siblings and I was all living at home with my parents we use to make Christmas wish list and post it on the fridge. There is little talk about Santa at our house, or correctly there is little talk about the commercial Santa Clause that seem to bring presents to kids all over the world. At our house most presents were brought my our parents, hence the need to post the wish list on the fridge instead of sending it as a letter to Santa.

The Norwegian Santa (or 'Nisse') is a short guy, who likes to eat rice pudding and might bring some small gifts like socks and toothpaste.

Anyway, the point of all my ramblings is that I need to know what people want for Christmas. So if you feel like you should get a gift from me, please leave a comment and tell me what you would like to get.

from another world

I stumbled upon a blog called 'babycatcher' while surfing around for blogs to read. This blog is written by Joanne who is a midwife working in Malawi. Her blog entries does certainly put things into perspective. I will like to quote part of her entry for 19 May 2005. This entry made me cry..

To be a mother

...Last week I met a girl 21 years old, who had had three pregnancies, three deliveries, and no surviving children. Her most recent pregnancy ended with a term IUFD and she was delivered via c-section. After waiting a week in the hospital for her incision to heal, she was discharged home but soon returned with a raging infection (peritonitis and a necrotic uterus) and had a hysterectomy. I met her while she was in the ward recovering from her hysterectomy. She is a beautiful girl but her young body takes the form of an old woman when she walks - bending forward, moving slowly, each step cautious and tender. And yet, even though everything about her communicates the depth of her loss, she almost always smiles at me when I enter the ward – warm and genuine. Over the past week, I always looked for her when I came and I watched her wounds, they are healing well. One large untidy line - thick here then thin, puckering at points - stretches down from her navel and a smaller perpendicular scar marks the right side of her abdomen. There is nothing subtle in her story or in its transcription on her small body.

I was with her today when the clinical officer discovered that somehow - in the process of her illness, and healing, and illness and healing - she had developed a fistula between her urethra and her vagina. He found a hole where it shouldn’t be, but there it is, and now urine constantly runs down her legs. They can and will surgically repair the fistula, but she must wait three months before her body will be ready for the operation. Three months after losing her third baby. Three months after losing her uterus. She will wait three months smelling of urine for yet another surgery. As he explained the problem to her, tears began to silently spill from the corner of her eyes. He said she could go back to the room, to her bed, and then she could go home. Just come back in three months.

I followed her back to her bed. In the middle of the noisy room filled with mothers and guardians, visiting husbands, crying babies, nursing babies, she collapsed on her bed in a small heap and began sobbing, “Amayi, amayi, amayi.” I rubbed her back and her head. And, when I realized she was crying “Mother mother mother . . .” the tears I was holding, broke free. We are so much the same in our expressions of pure emotions. We all call for the same person when life ravishes us, the only person whose love can offer comfort in moments of utter devastation - our mothers. I also realized with a bit of tragic irony that here in Malawi where women are raised to be mothers, this small woman had tried so hard to be just that and it broke both her body and her heart. I cried. And, I prayed. I prayed that she did have a loving mother and a loving husband, that she would again find hope and strength. I stayed with her until she fell asleep.

Only once she was still and her breathing deep and regular, did I notice a small wizened woman standing near the bed. She smiled a kind sorrowful smile and said, placing her hands over her heart and nodding at the sleeping girl, “Mwana anga,” my child.

love thursday

(on Friday this week, because I totally forgot it was Thursday yesterday)

I was talking to my friend Elin on MSN the other day (something we do not do often enough) Elin lives in England and she was telling me that she was planning to go into London and visit the Norwegian church there. The Norwegian church abroad is not just a 'church' it is more like a little piece of Norway. I have visit the Norwegian church both in London and New York and both times it felt like I was back in Norway. They have Norwegian 'stuff' there - pictures from Norway on the wall. But most important for a person missing home is the food. They have Norwegian food items there.

In London they even make traditional Christmas dinner in the church. And this was what Elin was telling me about. She was going to the church to eat 'pinnakjott' (smoked lamb ribs is my best translation). I told her I was very jealous are her now, because I have not had any pinnakjott since christmas 2002 (and that is a few weeks ago..)

Yesterday I got an email from Elin. She had looked up the Norwegian church in Sydney. When she was looking at their web page she found that they are actually selling food online. I can fax them a shopping list and they will send me Norwegian food right to my mailbox - how good is that? I knew Elin was great, but I like her even more now for finding this out for me.

Happy love thursday!

Elin is the one on the far right. Guess which one is me??

pulling teeth

The first aid course today was loooong and boring. I seriously rather pull some of my teeth out. Did I have to worry? No. Did I learn anything new? Definitely not. That's the short version of today. I might give you the longer version later when I feel less tired.

UPDATE: the long version (just because I know you are dying to know it all..)

So my college and myself did go this course pretty nervous. We had heard from other people we work with (who all took the course back in August) that is was pretty hard...

The first half of the day was for CPR. The teacher went through the does and don'ts of CPR and then we all had to to a practice test. That means, we all had to try to breath and do compression on a dummy for 2 min. Which was fine - only that the teacher was not looking at all.. I could have done compression on the dummy's stomach and breath into the dummy's ears and I'm pretty sure he would still have said ' oh that is fine - good job'.

Then we had a verbal test, which I don't even want to call a test. He read the questions out loud and then the answers - so we could just write it all down.

We had lunch and then the real terror started...

He began with explaining how to put bandages on. He showed us 2 different ways and how to make one kind of sling and then he said ' I only have on more sling to show you..' A lady asked a question, started to tell a story and kept talking and talking and talking and talking some more...

2 hours later

'oki now lets get back to that last sling I was going to show you'

The clock was almost 4 pm and we had been there since 8 am. My college made it clear that she 'had' to go at 4.30 because her car would be towed if she stayed any longer. He then quickly rushed through how to deal with asthma and allergies, and to make matters worse, he did not have all his information right. I was the one that had to inform him and the rest of the class about what kind of medication children with severe allergies have to take.

I guess we should have known what we were in for before lunch when he told me he did not really care when we finish for the day as he got paid by the hour... And we did not even get a written test at the end of the day (but that I am not really complaining about).

I am very glad that this was just a refresher course for us. I also realized when I was reading the book before the course that I do remember most of what I learnt 2 years ago, so I can still say that I am certificated in first aid with confidence.

first aid

I have to take a refresher course in first aid tomorrow. I'm not looking much forward to it. 8 hour lecture and exam. It is not very difficult stuff, but exam is always a bit daunting. I have not read very much to prepare,actually I have read very little.. I have a book with 250 pages that should be read before tomorrow. I might need to start that soon.

the most powerful man's words

I guess it was a given. The funny & dumb things George.W.Bush has said have made it into a book. In his own words; "They misunderestimated me."

The top 50 can be found here

taste of summer

all my life

This song by KC and Jojo is one of my all time favorite. I remembered it again the other night and tried to sing it for Hameed. He claims that he does have that song - somewhere. So far he has look through all his cd's and files with no luck, it might take all his life to find it...

love thursday

Sometimes I just love me job. Working with young kids means there are lot of funny and cute things happening. Today it was cute.

We have several push bikes outside, but not enough for all the kids to have one each so that means they have to share. Today two of the boys were running to get one of the bikes. Henry was a bit quicker and got the bike and this left Seamus very very upset. I picked Seamus up, reassured him that he could have a turn on the bike when Henry was finished and then suggested we find something else to do. Alexia had been watching the whole thing. As soon as Henry was finished with the bike Alexia got it and brought it over to Seamus and me. She patted the seat on the bike, looked a Seamus and said 'here you go'.

I think that is the cutes thing I have ever seen a 2 year old do for another child.

one day..

This is what I see many mornings when I look out of the window. One day I want to be in one of those..

5 things I do not like

1. Rain














2. Doing dishes



















3.Smoking












4.Cleaning


























5. Olives

weird things about me

M, the only person I know who reads my blog without being in my family, posted 5 weird things about herself. You sort of have to be tagged to do things like this, but since I am pretty enough weird I figured I could just go ahead and make a list about me myself.

1. I don't like needles 50% of the time.

To explain; I do not care how often people (doctors or nurses that is) stick me with a needle as long as they do not take any blood. They can inject whatever they feel like and I will barely care. Now, if they try to take my blood on the other hand, that is a different story. Years ago, I saw the movie hot shots and one of the scenes were a blood transfusion between two people. the 'doctor' doing the procedure forgot about it and the man giving blood ended up all deflated. That is the scene I picture in my head every time I have to give up some of my precisions blood.

2. I hate tomatoes but love tomato based pasta sous.

Don't ask me to explain this because I don't know why.

3. I changed a nappy for the first time when I was about 3 1/2 years old.

The lucky 'dummy' was my sister Annette. To this day it still amazes me when I met grown people that do not know how to change a nappy.

4. I know how to stamp a pig

Or a sheep or cow for that matter. Stamping the meat after my dad and his colleges in the meat control had checked it was one of my many holiday jobs. I also worked in a chicken factory, a flower store, folding advertisement, delivering newspapers and of course babysitting.

5. I frequently make up my own words/sentences

'stop tickle my teeth' are one sentence that comes to mind right now. The fact that I do this keep my husband very much amused (and also somewhat confused). Back in Uni he started to write down my 'sayings'. Maybe it will be a book one day.

love thursday

And now to the post following this picture - I was way to tired to think or write anything on Thursday night...

The picture is of the two men I hold dear in my life - my husband and my dad. Now I believe most people have heard the theory that a woman would choose a husband similar to her dad. I have given that theory some thoughts lately and it actually was a poll whether people found that this to be true or not on the morning show on TV the other day. Unfortunately I had to go to work so I was not able to see what people answered.

But back to me. Did I choose a husband that is similar to my dad? I believe the answer to that question is no. In many ways they could not be more opposite. However, having said that, they do have some similar traits.

1. They rarely get mad and when they do they just get very very quiet After sharing a house for 12 months with a man that got VERY loud, screamed and yelled when he was mad, I truly appreciate this quality. And besides bugging my husband to just.talk.to. me.already. can be fun sometimes...

2. They both love books They have very different taste in books. My dad read Christian books and books about history. My husband prefer crime and sci-fiction. But they both love books.

3. They both like to collect stuff My dad is driving my mum insane by keeping every single issue of his veterinarian magazine. I think he gets 'only' about 4 magazine a year, but then he has been getting them for about 35 years now so there is a few of them. My husband is slight worse I am afraid. He is collecting metcards. The magazines I can understand, you can read them and learn new things. But metcards?? They are used and can never be used again. Most of them are plain blue, so nothing special about them at all. Yet he insist on collecting them.

These are the things I have found to be similar between my husband and dad so far. I don't think they are to much alike. I know one thing for sure though, I love them both - a lot.

waiting and waiting

I don't like waiting. At work, with the kids, I have an unlimited amount of patients it seem. In other areas of my life, not so much.

We went to talk to Sami's doctor today. It was nice to see him an all, but he did not really have any news to tell us. They do still not have the results back from all the test they ran. They still have no idea what happen to Sami. They still have no idea if there is a high chance or low chance for us to have another child with the same problems. Basically we know just as much now as we did in August.

The results are meant to be back in a few more weeks and then the genetic specialist will see us to discuss what they found. So we are waiting...

After we had talked to Sami's doctor we went up to the cemetery so visit Sami's grave. We were hoping that they had put up his grave stone by now, but no. More waiting for us. They told us 4-6 weeks before, and today we were told it will take another 2-3 weeks.... waiting and waiting.

I really don't like to wait.

saving of daylight

daylight savings started last night, so now we have changed the clock one hour forward.

Here in Australia not everyone do the daylight saving. From what I understood from TV this morning, two of the Australian states do not currently do daylight saving. A few years ago I went to visit a friend of my sister in Perth. At that time Perth did not have daylight saving and she told me she had heard a debate on the radio about this topic. One woman calling in claimed that if they started to have daylight saving in Perth too, her curtains would fade in color quicker... another woman had an argument that is not suited to print on this blog... (hi mum). My sisters friend shock her head in amazement and said to me: "are they really that stupid, they are not getting any more or less sun.."

I have no idea. Maybe daylight saving do in fact have an impact on the color of the curtains. I have always lived in places were there have been daylight saving and except from 'losing' an hour of sleep I really don't mind it. I do really like the fact that we now have an hour more of daylight every night. Can you please remind my of that when I am tempted to hit the snooze button on my alarm tomorrow morning?

everthing goes to the cat..

The other night they were talking on tv about the importance of having a will. Here is the conversation we had about that:

Me: so did you write a will
Hameed: yes, everything goes to the cat next door.
Me: (smiling) the cat...hey what you mean about 'everything'
Hameed: my metcard collection
.....

And then he looked at me with his seriouse face and said: oh did you want that?

love thursday

even cold days are oki when you have someone to cuddle with.

living on a shoestring

well not quit so bad. But we have been trying to budget a bit lately and plan things ahead so we might spend a little less money. We are going through some changes here in the Hameed household (I will let Hameed tell more about that later since it mostly involve him). This change do require some money though, so we are saving.

We did very well this past week and it is actually sort of nice to have a plan for what we are having for dinner each night. Now we only need some ideas for what to make for next week. Any suggestions?

crazy John

Last night Hameed and I was watching a interview with this guy. His real name is John Ilhan. John started his own mobile phone business years ago when no one really believed they would become any popular. He was hardworking and also had some luck and he ended up with several stores which he called 'crazy john's'.

He came from a poor background and his school teacher was sure he would end up as a criminal. It was nice and amazing to see how his life was now as an adult. He had a great big house - complete with an elevator! He also had a loving wife and 4 young children.

I am writing 'had' because this morning John died of a heart attacked. According to the news story this was very unexpected. I know very little about John, but from what I have heard and read the last day it seems like Australia have lost a great man.

the tale of the giant bee hive

we had some action at work today. There was a giant bee hive hanging from the shade sail right next to the front gate. I have never in my life seen anything like it. It was probably about half a meter long. I took a picture with my phone, but I have no idea how to upload the picture so you just have take my word for it.

Since this was located right at our front gate we had to redirect all the kids and parents coming to creche to our emergency door. Now most people was oki going in the emergency door, but several seem to have lost their ability to think and read going out. We had put up signs everywhere telling parents where to go and even put a piece of furniture in front of the main door. It was pretty clear that the main door was not to be used (well at least you should think it was clear). The cook still had a very busy morning telling parents to not use that door. Crazy people.

it happen

Originally uploaded by dynamitt

summer arrived today. It was 30 degrees at noon today. Since this is Melbourne, summer might possible leave again tonight, but for now I am enjoying it. Enjoying being able to have windows and doors open and feel the warm wind. Enjoying being able to wear t-shirt again and I am even lucky enough to have a container of strawberries in my fridge. Yay for summer !!

pondering..

I have not been home in good old Norway for almost 5 years. Just for fun I tried to do a search to see how much it will cost us to go there for a Christmas holiday. The weird thing is if I search for tickets from Melbourne to Stavanger it comes to more then 22000 for the two of us. But if I search for a ticket to London and then from London to Stavanger the total only comes to some more then 6000 - that amount we might be able to find one day..

losing it

I have been trying to lose some kilos the last weeks. At first I thought that I would lose weight quickly if I only stopped eating a pound of chocolate every night. That did not make much difference suprisingly enough.

So I thought myself about calories and how much I should eat each day. After some trail and errors I found a system that works for me, basically eat boring and very healthy food in the morning and during the day, so I that I have room for that sweet treat after dinner which I always seem to need no matter what I had during the day.

Now the last weeks I have been very good and I have lost some weight too. It is going slower then I like, but it is going down. The last night though I have been eating a fair bit of chocolate (we are talking a big bar all to myself here)and the weight still seem to go down. I'm not complaining, but I just don't get it.

love thursday

The first birthday card I gave to Hameed I wrote him a silly childhood poem. We were at that time best friends and had only known each other for a few months. The poem start like this:

I must have been born under a lucky star
to find a friend as you are..'

Later it turned out I was not only born under a lucky star, Hameed is the star in my life.

more poop

poo is a big part of my work. Lucky for me is not all gross stuff all the time. The other day I had a conversation with Jackson 2 1/2 years old while he was sitting on the toilet and I was changing one of the younger babies nappy.

Jackson: whats that on her butt
Me: its poop, she pooped too just like you
Jackson: why?
Me: well...you both had lunch and then you poop after.
Jackson: why?

(now I'm thinking very hard how to explain it better and then I remember that his mum often takes him to the library to get books)

Me: Maybe your mum can get you a book about poop at the library so you can read more about why.

(long pause)

Jackson: I have a book about Bob the builder
Me: oh yeah?
Jackson: Bob the builder does not poop.

the weather is like a swedish joke..

Being a Norwegian I grew up telling jokes about Swedes. Norway and Sweden have a bit special relationship. We love to joke about them being a tad bit stupid and they like to think of us a a bunch of farmers.

A Norwegian was having trouble with the turn signal in his car. He asked a swede if he could help him figuring out if it was working or not. The swede agree and the Norwegian asked him to stand behind the car and see if the light came on or not. The Norwegian switch his turn signal on and ask is it working?
The swede goes:
"its working"
"not working"
"working"
"not working"...

Melbourne weather is pretty much like this joke. If you ask me how the weather is I would probably say:
"hot and sunny"
"cold and rainy"
"sunny again"
"cold and windy"

Its a tad bit frustrating. All though the last days we have had pretty much the same weather for a whole day - so that is an improvement...

the big 30

Today there is 90 more days until my sister, Annette, turns 30. And since she loves so much that I keep talking about it, I figure I should make a whole post about the big 30.



It is almost 3 1/2 years since I turned 30 and I really can't remember not wanting to turn 30. Hameed says I was indeed not looking forward to my birthday that year... I guess I that is one sign of me getting old and senile since I can't remember.

Anyway. I was looking through my photos and found some from my 30st birthday. That was my second birthday here in Australia and I got a big party. There was cake and chips and coke and presents and quit a few guests. I did at that time share a house with 23 other students and I think most of them and some other friends came to my party. Made me feel very special.

Here I am with my friend Adrienne


and a very blurry shot of Hameed and me.


Now when I am the very old age of 33 I can honestly say that the thirties are way better then the twenties. I am a lot more happier now then I was when I was 23. So Annette, you have nothing to worry about. Enjoy your last 90 days before your big birthday and also a big congrats on being a owner of your very own flat.

love thursday

My mum is very good at crafts. She is an expert in knitting, but she can also handle sewing, crocheting and do needle points. Basically she is very talented.

Growing up I think I pretty much took her talents for granted. I did not think much about the fact that me and my siblings seems to be some of the few that were wearing clothes our mum made. We had endless supply of warm sweaters, jackets and socks to mention some.

Some of the things my mum made, I brought with me to Australia. Among them is a nice blue jacket, which I wear a lot (Australia is much colder then I expected). When I wear the jacket (or something else my mum has made) I get comments from people about how beautiful my jacket is, and when I tell them that my mum actually made it I always hear 'oh wow, she is so talented'. And yeah she is. It took me a while to realize that many people do not have a mum that can knit you new socks when your feet are cold. I am very lucky indeed.

Today is on honor of you mum. Happy love thursday!

countdown update

I am back to working fulltime as of today! Seems like my boss missed me..

PS! it is now 94 days until Nette turns 30..

counting down

There is 4 (or 5) days to Eid

There is (hopefully) 7 days to we hear from Sami's doctor

There is 18 to 32 days left to Sami's grave stone is finished

There is 23 (I think) days left to I start working full time again

There is 54 days until we celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary

There is 77 days left to Christmas

And 84 days to New years eve

Last, but not least, there is 96 days until my sister joins me in the thirties. (And I know she really look forward to that).

How I say it

I noticed today that my pronunciation is getting better. As you probably have understood (if you didn't know already) english is not my first language. Hence I struggle with proper grammar, spelling and pronunciation in english. I do speak well enough so that people understand what I am talking about most of the time. My approach when I don't know how to say a word is:
a, switch to a simpler word that means about the same (this also goes for spelling)
b, just pronounce it like I think it should be

When I do' b' I many times come up with my own words, which to some people (whom I might be married to) find amusing.

People do every now and then ask me to parrot back a word they say so I can get it right, but that do not always work, don't ask me why. What comes to mind right now is the name 'Hugh' - I just can't say it. To me it sounds like I'm saying huge..

I'm not sure why I have so much problems. It could be because Norwegian have pretty much the same letters as the english alphabet, but even with almost the same letters the sounds of many letters in Norwegian are different from the sound of the same letters in english.

(Are you still following?)

Say you try to make me write down letters while you spell to me. You might say "e" and I would most likely write "i". See how it gets hard?

I am getting better, I noticed that today. I was at church and for some reason they have all their songs in english (could be because it's in Australia). I love to sing, really really love it, so I will sing along even though I do not know the song. I just listen to the music and pay attention to the people around me and sing away. Many many times I have (pretty loud too) pronounced words very wrong only to realize it half way through the word when I hear people around me singing it differently. But today (make a mark in your dairy) I noticed that I actually sang the words the same way as the rest of the congregation...

So there might me a little bit less free entertainment for certain people (not mentioning any names here..) in the future.

a bit about this and a bit about that

Last night when I was trying to fall asleep there was something flashing outside our bedroom window. It almost felt like someone was taking our picture (we live on second floor so I doubt it). I never figure out what it really was though, it was way to cold to get out of bed to investigate.

************************************

I was awaken this morning to birds singing outside my window.
Birds: *kvirevitt* (its spring)
Birds * KVIREVITT, KVIREVITT* (IT'S SPRING)
Birds: *KVIREVITT (IT'S SPRING)
Birds: *KVIREVITT, KVIREVITT, KVIREVITT (IT'S SPRING !!! now get up already)

(short break and then I guess for good measure)

Birds: *kvirevitt* (it's spring)

and then they moved on.

*******************************

My husband have been spending some time (actually a lot of time) using 'stumble upon', which is a application that let you randomly surf internet sites without having to search for spesific things. (If you want a better explenation you can give him a shot here). When he find something he likes he will email me the link to the page. Here is my favorite so far.

(link)

oh the joy

I don't write much about work. I work in child care and my work can be quit... em... interesting.

The other day I let one of 'my' girls run around in just her nappy for a minute so I could attend to one of the babies. The girl had her nappy full of poo, nice runny poo... and she decided to get ride of the nappy all by herself. It is oki to leave it on the floor, right??

But I guess you really did not want to know about that part of my job.

love thursday

The picture is from a tv ad here in Australia. The ad shows a fairy tale prince and princess but instead of living happily ever after they part ways after one date. The ad end with these birds singing 'forever is overrated'.

I have had this line stuck in my head the last days; 'forever is overrated' and I think, no scratch that, I know that this is not right. Forever is not overrated, forever sounds just about the right amount of time.

When doing my daily ' avoid doing as many chores as possible' routine I came across this blog. And reading that made me feel so lucky. Yes, I have suffer a terrible loss in my life, but I do still have my husband and for that I am so grateful. Many people have comment on that I am such a strong person. The truth is I am not. I am just able to appear strong because I have such a great man holding me.

On one of the most scary days in my life, when we had to do an amino, he did not only force me to look at him so I would not see anything of that big needle going into my tummy. He also found out that this particular day was the day we had been married for 400 days. Which of course meant we had to celebrate that fact so the awful day turned out to be a bit good too.

I never knew I could love someone so much or feel so depended on someone as much as I feel about my husband. I guess I should keep that in mind next time he wrestle me down and tell me he is going to lick my eyeballs...

Forever is just right. Happy love thursday.

the coolest thing since sliced bread

Originally uploaded by dynamitt

We got a new food store right across the street for our regular supermarket. This new store specializes in fruit, vegetables and fine food as they call it. I check it out mainly because I was hoping to fine some nicer looking fruit then what we usually get from the supermarket and because they have pretty flowers (see my last post).

Well I am definitely going back to that store and it is not because of the fruit or the flowers. Oh don't get me wrong, both the fruit and the flowers were pretty and great and all that, but what really made me wanting to go back is this neat trolley thing they have there. It sort of like a bigger shopping basket with wheels and a handle to pull it with. I loved it. Yeah, I am really a big kid - there is a reason for why I work in child care.

Anyway I went back today because I needed to take a picture of this great thing. The picture is not to good, I had to take it very quickly as I was worried about getting question about why I was taking pictures. Somehow the truth, that I found this trolley thing so cool I needed to take a picture, did not sound all believable.

A flower, a flower

footy fever

(finally figured out how to change the time, yay!)

This weekend was Grand final weekend, meaning it was the weekend where the Grand final in Australian football, also known as 'footy', was played. I grew up with soccer and footy is a bit different. I guess it can best be described as a mix between American football and Rugby - yeah it is as confusing as it sounds. Some of my Australian friends tried to explain it to me, but I did not really get it(thruth be told I did not really care to understand it).

For Australians though, footy is a big deal and we do often see people walking around in footy shirts, hats and scarfs. The kids I work with too are already huge supporters and I have several times got the question about who I 'barak' for. From what I have gather 'barak' is and Australian term for supporting or cheering for. And the kids don't really believe me when I tell them that I don't barak for anyone. I have not dare to tell them yet that frankly I don't get the game at all, seem a bit wrong to admit that to someone almost 30 years younger then me.

Well this weekend, this grand final, we actually sat down and watch the match, most of it at least. It is possible that we saw it because there was absolutely nothing else on tv.. And maybe we also saw it because it was a bit special this year. There was a Victorian team in the final and said team had not won a final since 1963. So it was a big deal.

Watching the game, I actually learnt a bit (shocking I know).
1.There is some similarities to soccer.
2.You get either 6 or 1 point for scoring a goal, depending on where you shot the ball.
3. And last, you are allowed to act like toddler; meaning you are allowed to lay on top of the ball so you don't have to share it.

It is all much clearer for you now, right?

The Victorian team won the game (or can you call it a game when they won 163 -44?). Judging by the fuss afterwards they might possible celebrate the victory for another 44 years. I guess they deserve it. Go cats!

defeating the purpose

This morning I ate my healthy breakfast of porridge and an apple and then I quickly shoveled down 4 brownies because eating them fast makes them more healthy - right?

I have finally, after living here for almost 5 years, been able to find a butter that do not taste salty. Which means I can bake cakes and cookies that actually taste nice. And because I am not the only lazy person around (surprisingly enough) it is very easy to be a master cook when you just have to add butter and eggs to a pre-made pack of ingredient. Actually cookies are even easier, no mixing require, just put them on a cooking sheet and bake.

As great as all this convenience is (and it actually made me brave enough to agree to make cookies for my church next week) I have one more request: Dear people making pre-packed stuff. Can you please make cookies and brownies which taste good but make you lose weight? Thank you.

interesting...

Can you see anything odd in the picture? If your answer is that black shoe on the left seem a bit lonely, you are right. And no, I did not just hide it.

My husband mention to me last night that there was a hole in one of his work shoes. I suggested we buy him some new once and then we did not talk more about that. This morning I was on my way out and notice this lonely black shoe. First I got a bit confused and looked for the other one, then I started to laugh as I pictured Hameed hopping around on one foot at work...

love thursday

me the idiot

Were other husbands call their wives 'honey','sweetie pie, 'darling' and stuff like that my husband looks at me (lovingly I must add) and says 'idiot'.

It is oki. It really is, because I say it right back. It sort of our ting. And sometimes many times I am... umm.. an idiot...

A couple of weeks ago I was going to the store to do some shopping. We don't have a car so I have to walk there. I put my backpack on and the key in my jacket pocket and of I went. When I was finished my shopping and were putting the groceries in my backpack I was thinking to myself that I should put the key in my bag so I don't lose it. And so I did. I walked back home and when I was almost there I met our neighbor. We said hi to each other and I continue to walk towards over flat. I reached for the key in my pocket and panicked a little when I realized it was not there. I decided that I must have lost it somewhere on the road so I turned around and walked pretty fast towards the store again. I caught up with our neighbor. He said hi again and asked me what was wrong. I told him I had lost my key. He then asked 'did you check your bag'? And yeah then I remembered...

Today I did it again - no not 'losing' my key even I am not that bad (yet). About a month ago I got a notice that I need to renew my drivings license. I received a bill for the renewal fee and some brochures I might possible did not read to well... I had planned to go to their office and just pay the fee with my card there and get the new license. Its not to far but a bit out of the way so that explain why it has taken me a while. Today when I was getting ready I happen to look at the papers I received again, and this time (don't know why) I actually read them. Turns out I don't have to go anywhere. If I just pay the fee (which I can do from home thanks to Internet) they would send me my new license in the mail. I could have had my new license a month ago...

So yeah I'm the idiot.

weird people

When I have been traveling I have been enjoying 'people watching' as they call it. It is nice to sit down with a cup of coffee or something and just look at people passing by. You realise then how different people are and also that there is some weird once out there.

I have not been traveling much lately but that is no problem because it seem like some of the weird people are finding me alright even so.

On Monday I was trying to clean our bathroom. I started as usual with wiping down the mirror and then I began to tackle the sink. While trying to clean the sink I discover that it seemed a bit blocked up and I pictured a heap of hair clogging up the drain. Together Hameed and me manage to pull the pipes apart (well him doing the work and me giving instructions). The pipes was disgusting! But no hair. We cleaned them out as good as we could and put everything back together. Well the problem was not solved yet. The sink was still clogged up so then we had to call for a plumber.

Two guys arrived a couple of hours later and started to work on it. First thing the guy up in our flat asked for was for me to boil some water. And all this time I thought you only needed boiling water when delivering a baby.. The other guy was posted downstairs at the end of our pipes outside. They proceeded to work and call instructions to each other and no they did not have a Mobil or a walk a talking of any sorts. They were just YELLING to each other.. Did I mention we live on the second floor and we can't open the bathroom window.. No?

As you might be able to imagine it got pretty loud and even when the guy turned to talk to Hameed he was still yelling. I was very glad when they were done and we could get them out. And of course all the fuss of getting a working sink again made me to tired to finish cleaning the bathroom.

I'm a loser

of weight that is. I started to watch a bit more what I eat a few weeks back and so far I have lost 2 kg. Is it sad that the first thing I thought when I saw the numbers on the scale was ' yeah I should celebrate this with some chocolate'.

I think I might have secretly be hoping that this new crap healthy diet of mine should not work so that I could resume eating a pound of chocolate a day...

But it worked so I guess I have to try to stick it out a bit longer..

*on the road again*

It is not really related to what I wanted to say. I wanted to talk about that I have gone back to work, but somehow that reminded me of that song and a silly ad they had on Tv in Norway.

Anyway, as I said I'm now back at work, well at least partly. I will work 2 days a week until the end of this year. Or so is the plan, I have a feeling it might become full time again before January.

It was nice and a bit weird to be back. I left a bunch of babies back in June and came back to big kids! How dare they grow so much when I didn't see it. They have started to crawl, walk and even talk - so I think these coming months will be fun. It is also great the weather is becoming warmer now, it is always easier when we are able to go outside.

It was a bit more weird to meet the parents again. They have all been informed about Sami's passing and they did not really know what to say to me. They all expressed though that they were happy to have me back and that they had missed me, so I guess that is good.

What is even a bit more weird is that until the end of this year I will not be the room leader. The one who is the room leader had a day of on Friday so I did not get to work with her then, but I will on Tuesday. Until June I was her 'boss' and now she will be mine. That can be interesting.

The best thing about not being a room leader though - no paperwork! I don't think I will miss that to much..

love thursday

chocolate, oh how I love thy
your smell oh so sweet
your taste...
and how you melt in my mouth

countless hours we spent together
you and me
until I talked to Mr Scale.

I have to start seeing others
apple,carrot and salad

But oh I do miss you
will I see you again?

more cake?

Originally uploaded by dynamitt

we are celebrating today. It is Hameed's 28th birthday. We have celebrated with presents, nice food, good drinks, phone calls from family even a birthday song from 'svigermor' and of course cake...

Hameed loves cheese cake, I don't. I never really understood the concept of having cheese on cakes. Cakes are supposed to be sweet and have lots of chocolate. But since it was Hameed's birthday I tracked down a cheese cake shop and got him a cake. It might possible last him a week....

birthday greeting

to Laisha - hope you have a great 2nd birthday today.

'thutu dhata'