Post 29 HAPPY MONDAY - The short blog!

Monday! You sassy fiend! You're back! 

See, Monday never gives up. EVER.

We should all be like Monday. 

I think I've made my point. 

Post 28. Week goals!

So, this week's goals were met. 

We finally managed to get a working dishwasher. Actually bought it used from our neighbour and it's going strong and settling into its new home. 

    I worked out every day this week. Bonus points if I managed the workout tomorrow and/or Sunday. 

This week I had a massive case of the lazies. It was hard to get get out of bed, let alone work out instead of napping on the couch.

But I got through it, made it count and I going to keep at it.

    My writing is really moving along now and soon my Beta reader will be done reading my story. Once she's done, I can start the final revising and then I'm going to start submitting it.

I made more time for my writing without distractions and I'm very happy with those results. 

  My thespian friends back home in Iceland performed Ubu Roi last night. They are raising money for their trip to Austria, where they will perform the play as only they can. I got about 15 Snaps from one of the cast members, showing all of them preparing in their wonderful, unique, tasty ways. I miss them. SO. MUCH.    

    My middle child is going to her first class birthday party on Sunday and she's sooooo excited! We are going later today to pick out a present. The Hubs showed me the weather report for Sunday this morning and apparently there's supposed to be a thunderstorm. 

Let's hope that doesn't happen. 

    My oldest had a class party as well this week and came home with a few more freckles, a massive smile, and a splinter. Only the splinter was removed so all is well.

    Then there is the youngest, who's trying to stop sleeping during the day. So far, she's only fallen asleep into her fruit salad once. I had to carry her home that day because it took us a good 5 minutes to wake her. This, of course, makes for a very irritated soon-to-be 3-year-old but it will be worth it in the end. 

    

And instead for making a Hodor joke, I'll say this darling had his 77th birthday this week... So, this is appropriate! 

27. Dishwasher? Yes, please.

     Since we moved to Norway, we have been without a dishwasher.
For the first few days, it was odd and more than a little boring to have to wash dishes/cutlery/glasses by hand for a family of 5 once or twice a day.

    I've gotten used to it by now and it takes no time at all. I even like going through some writing-prep work while performing the task. Cleaning is often useful for that, writing-prep, I mean. You start going over previous events in your story, start setting goals for the day, be it wordcount, events, deaths, saves, and dialogue.

    Now, on the other hand, it's time to add a dishwasher to the servants of the house. It will join the washing machine - in charge of laundry and a big freezer chest - in charge of frozen food along with her sister, the fridge.
     Finding a dishwasher was easy enough. We got online and after a bit of searching and googling reviews, we found one.
Unfortunately, it was sold out. So, the Hubs (we aren't married but that's what I'm calling him anyway) decides to pop over to IKEA and buys us a dishwasher there.
    When he told me this, my only answer was: "Please, tell me we don't have to assemble it!"
He assured me that was no the case and I figured, how bad can it be.
Que the music.

      The Hubs comes home after having to go a long way around his usual route which was closed for some reason. He's already tired and hungry so we have dinner before we start installing the new dishwasher.
The Hubs also got us an awesome cherry tomato plant.
     The kids go to bed shortly after dinner and as I'm reading to them, I can hear the Hubs moving our fridge around since he's being moved next to the freezer chest. I heard as he took the dishwasher out of its wrapping.
It was followed by a lot of cussing. All I could think it was 'oh no, it has to be assembled! I knew it!'

    When I emerged from the kids bedroom, I saw the problem. The dishwasher had no front and this was driving Hubs crazy. I didn't really care if it looked like a steel blob if it could do it's job right.
Turns out, when you opened the thing, it slammed shut of its own accord at unsafe speeds. It would be impossible to load the machine without having one of my kids sit on the door while I did it.
 

   The Hubs tried various things to make  the door relax but eventually finds out this was a flaw.
Not listening to me when I told him to take a breath and we would go back tomorrow and get the front or get them to fix it for you. He wants to take the offending thing back right now!
    He puts it back into the packing, cutting his finger in the process and we then carry it back to the car.
He makes it back to IKEA in time and after bringing it back where they gave it to him, he was told he had to take it around back.
    By this point, Hubs is really done with this and just wants his money back. He finds the correct place, he takes a number and sees there are 13 other people ahead of him. The numbers went like this:
277 - 278 - 279 - 284 - 290 - 281.
 

    Hubs is confused but finally gets his number called.
He tells the nice lady at the desk that he needs to return this dishwasher. The lady nods, takes a look at the disheveled packaging, and then asks:
    "Is it broken?"
Hubs could have told her about the obviously faulty door but nooooooo. This is what he said:
    "No, my wife told me to return it."

The lady blinks at him, smiles in understanding and gives him his money back!!
The Hubs walked out laughing at blaming me for this. But at least he was happy again and got his money back.

At least the Cherry Tomatoes are delish!

The hunt for a dishwasher continues.

(Sidenote: we love IKEA and they always give us great service.)

Post 26. The day of 'I don't wanna!'

Must be Monday!

My kids wouldn't get out of bed, the rain won't let up, I didn't want to do my workout, didn't want to write and most certainly didn't want to do my chores.
Nope, all I want to do is take a nap and watch some shows on Netflix while stuffing my face with watermelon.

BUT if I don't get the kids out of bed, they won't go to school and there will be screaming, running and chasing and extra clean-up to do. So I got them up, fed and dressed them and took their asses to school.

If I didn't do my workout, I won't get fit and I won't have stamina, to keep up with aforenamed children. So I got home (soaking wet, thanks, rain!), put on my workout clothes, collected my gear and videos and got to work.

If I don't write, I won't have pages to rewrite, edit and love/hate them. I won't be able to get my characters from point A to B, no one gets anywhere at all. So I filled my coffee cup and dragged my butt over to the computer and start revising. My Beta tester already got my book and instead of waiting around nervously, I am working on the second installment.

If I don't do my chores, well, the house will simply get dirtier and dirtier. I can almost live with that, until, I think about my son's friends coming over and leaving covered in dust bunnies and grime.
Damn it! I haul ass and do my chores.

Almost my exact expression.

Now, I feel good in my skin after working out, my mind is satisfied with the ideas I managed to get down on paper and my home is reasonably clean. Nothing I can do about the rain but instead of disliking it as I did this morning, I think it's lovely and the perfect weather to do some reading.

At least, until my son comes home, then we can do some homework and then I shall do my best not to let him kill me in Minecraft or Lego Marvel Superheros. (I make no promises, the guy is ruthless) 

This is my way of dealing with Mondays. Just get on with it and it will get better.

Post 25. Friday and I want candy!

I want candy! I want snacks! I want soda and endless sugar!!!!

     The cravings are killing me and I'm trying to stay strong. It's only 2pm over here and I'm already struggling with the need for sweets. Chewing on a watermelon and cherries isn't doing it for me today.

Even a spoon full of peanut butter isn't helping.
I must not succumb, I mustn't.

     It's times like these I wish my cupboard wasn't filled with candy. I really do.

   My mind is telling me

because it is bad for me, bad for my workouts, bad for teeth... Bad for everything.

My body, on the other hand,

    Trying to distract myself, I've been cleaning things and avoid sitting still. I had to conntact our cable company through their website (one of those internet chats) and I can't help myself when I speak to people I don't know.

    I don't know what they sound like, so I amuse myself by making up voices for them, depending on my mood. Not to mention if it takes them forever to answer me, I make up multiple accents for them.
Am I the only one who does this?
Candy!

MAN! I want candy!
I need a distraction, bad!
It's fine. I just won't eat any candy. I mean, who needs it, really?

.........Starting to break....


Have a nice weekend!

Post 24. Breaking through the tired!

I. AM. TIRED.

This is the state of being for me since I started having kids, first juggling job and my first born, then the second and job and now the third and staying at home.
Staying at home is basically a constant battle between doing everything I need to do and sitting down on the couch for Netflix and napping.

      Many mornings are hard for me. I wake up tired but I get my ass out of bed (it may take me a few minutes but at least, I have kicked the snooze habit) and I start my day. Getting the kids out of bed and to school is pretty routine but can be difficult. I cling to the knowledge that when they are safely in school, I go home to have a cup of coffee in peace.
       HA!!

I fool myself like this EVERY morning. Because when I come home, it's GO time! I go straight for my workout clothes and get started on my workout. Every morning, I think I should skip it today, I'm tired and I deserve a break. EVERY MORNING.

But I go through it anyway. I drag my mat to the floor, collect my weights and Ipad (I follow several Youtube videos for my workout) and put on my music.
       This morning, after months of working out (most) mornings, I hit something of a milestone.
Instead of almost dying to make it through some of my workouts, I found I could push myself all the way to the end. It was hard and sweat was pouring off me like the Niagra falls, but I did it. I got through those 5 more pushups, those 5 more everything.
Why is it when you are basically done with whatever exercise you are doing, they tell you to do 5 more?

I have NO idea but this morning, I managed them. I breathed through the pain and it felt glorious.
Now, I'm not doing any Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson workout but I am damn happy with my results and my improving stamina.

      When I started out a few months back (like 2-3) I could barely get through any 1 workout video on Youtube. I found one I liked which included no equipment and I had to work my way up to it and today I workout to 3-4 workouts daily and I make it through!
Totally happy with this!

Also, my novel is almost ready for its first Beta read! So excited, just threw the whole thing through Grammarly to make sure I hadn't missed some horrible typos.

I hope everyone is having a great day.

(That unicorn man! What in the world is that about. I used it cause, you know, Unicorns)

Post 23. The sparkling mess aka I'll be over here cleaning!

"I am Doctor DOOM!" My son shouted as he ran into the bathroom to do his business. Only to skid to a halt and call out, "Mom? Why is the floor sparkly?"
        Here's what happened.
My kids love dressing up in costumes (who doesn't?) and my daughters both have their own Minnie Mouse dress. A super cute, pink and polka dot affair. The dots are covered with glitter. This isn't a problem but when my youngest had a little accident, I soaked the dress but it wasn't enough.
       It was a hectic day and I clearly wasn't thinking straight, because I threw it in with a full load of similar colored clothes and set the washing machine on.
Just over an hour later, I had a laundry basket full of sparkly clothes.

FacePalm, please.

Thank you

     I clearly remember doing this once before so CLEARLY I don't learn from my mistakes. I waited for the clothes to dry and took them outside to shake off most of the glitter. I was too late, the floor in the bathroom was covered after I'd hung the clothes up to dry. Of course, this glitter got under everyone's feet and there are traces of sparkles EVERYWHERE! I even found one in my coffee this morning.
(Don't get me wrong, I love glitter. I just prefer it to be on purpose.)
        Now the family is walking around sparkling like, dare I say it, that freaky vampire for the Twilight series. Sigh.

       I have days like this, where I start cleaning up a little bit but somehow I'm just hurrying up a little too much and all I seem to do is make an even bigger mess. You know what I mean, the times we pluck in the vacuum and start going over the floors, only to find we haven't picked everything off the floor. Oops, there goes Lego Ironman's face mask.

   
      Now you have to decide if you should go in there after it (HELL NO. THAT'S WHERE THE SPIDERS I VACUUMED ARE!) or if you should feign ignorance when the kids start looking for the tiny thing.

       Whatever I choose, I know things are going to be all right and I try not to worry ab.... Oh crap, there's glitter on my keyboard. Fudge it, I'll just be a disco ball from now on.
See you on the dancefloor!

Post 22. The 17th of May has arrived!

           Today Norway celebrates their Constitution day and my friend celebrates her birthday. (Happy Birthday Katla!)
           After doing some research (google and Snapchat) we could tell people were dressing up proper for the festivities. Obviously, we wanted to fit in, or at least be respectful, so we got our fancy on, grabbed some Norwegian flags and joined the parade.
           We followed a Marching band towards my son's school where a stage and some games had been set up. My son's class was first on stage and they sang a lovely song I've never heard before. (Still haven't, my daughter kept shouting in my ear through the WHOLE thing.)  We were surrounded by Norwegians (obviously) in their bunad, pictured below.

           There were many variations of these outfits and I, for one, was mesmirized. They looked similar but not, together but not. It was fantastic. There were also alot of teenagers doing their Russ (graduation partying, before exams) 
           The hosts had set up games for the kids, such as 'knock down cans', 'pin the tail of the pig', 'sack running' and stilts. To name a few.
My kids had a great time ignoring the games and running back and forth on a skateboarding platform and eating ice cream. On the way home we picked flowers and the kids waved their flags at anyone lucky enough to pass us by.
            Now we got some delicious lamb on the BBQ. All in all, we are happy with our first 17 mai!
Hurra!

Post 21. Why? Just why? Mom-mode ON!

            This weekend, a holy weekend since Eurovision was on, I found myself unexpectedly alone with my kids. The hubby was called away to work, leaving me with our three kids. Over the weekend. These three children have friends and over the weekend, I had as many as 6-7 kids at the house almost at all times. 

            Don't get me wrong, while they play with other kids, I have time to do the chores and get dinner ready. But then there's the feeding of all these kids, who have these and those allergies, don't like this and that, and don't understand why I don't own sardines. I could go on but I think you get the point.

            As any parent will know cooking with the kids is fun and also, kind of hellish. This weekend we spend a lot of time having fun and there wasn't much time to clean and prep but I managed. The back of my jeans was covered in stickers and the pockets were filled with crayons  (I was wearing those) as I cooked burgers we made from, sans bread, and my coffee table was covered in stickers and colors (I had just cleaned it from the last time they colored outside the lines of their books.) Their room was a bit trashed and there was an unusual amount toilet paper shredded in the bathroom. 

          In Norway, Eurovision is on at 9pm so my girls were asleep before it started so I figured I'd let the son watch a little with me. He was asleep by song two. (Sorry, Czech Republic)

So I had a little time to watch and Snapchat with my friends and family about the songs.
My Eurovision is usually spent at my mom's house, eating all sorts of yummy food with my brothers and sister, my kids, the hubby and of course, my parents. 
My father complains he hate Eurovision but he always stays and watched quite a bit of it... Hmmmmm... Meanwhile, comments, both funny, complimentary and vicious, are flying around the room. Sometimes so much so I totally miss out on a song (which is why I listen to the Eurovision Playlist on Spotify).
            My favorite part is trying to figure out who wins. I love being right, so I get really into it. Especially for the semi-finals but also for the main event. 
This year I had three possibilities and one of them was right! (I'm counting it) 
           Today is a Holiday here in Norway and tomorrow they are celebrating their independence day. (Another 4 day weekend but this time, we skipped MONDAY!) 
The hubby is back so today was a bit easier but man, I. Is. Tired.