Let's Go Red Wings...

For Christmas, Nicklas received a tickets to attend his first Detroit Red Wings. He was very excited to attend with his Papa and especially wear his brand new Nicklas Lindstrom jersey (note the spelling of Nicklas in both their names!)

Here is Nicklas in front of the Gordie Howe statue....

The boys in front of Lindstrom's photo....

Getting ready to cheer the Red Wings....

Random Thought Thursday

Hear ye, hear ye, it's time for RTT!

1. Tonight is senior night for Mia's swim season. I'm hoping to make to Lafayette in time to walk with her and The Polack.
2. I always go back and forth in identifying where I live on this blog. Although it's easier to state the city, other times I feel as though I should remain semi-anonymous.
3. What's the point of the encore in at a concert? Play your whole set list or don't but please don't make me sit there and wait for you to decide.
4. Everyone keeps asking how the new job is going. In case you're wondering.... it's fab-u-lous. Okay, it's probably not really that fabulous BUT I'm back to doing what I love doing (and what I'm good at) and I work with a great group of people and I'm in Bloomington. No complaints from me!
5. I'm slowly trying to introduce Mia to my favorite girlie movies. As in those that I bought in the late days ofVHS. In honor of our trip to NYC, we watched Working Girl. Last week she watched Picture Perfect. Next up is Object of My Affection and I'm hoping What's Love Got to Do With It. I also had Nicklas watch Hoosiers which he loved.
6. Speaking of movies, I found out that staff at the IU Foundation (the fundraising unit at Indiana University) watch the move Breaking Away together once a year. What a great movie! Definitely on my list for Mia and the kids.
7. Uncle Bill cleared the snow off my car again this week. What a sweetheart. I really want to fix him up with a nice single lady I know but he doesn't seem interested. I'll have to work on that.
8. Speaking of Uncle Bill, he invited me to play poker with his friends last week. It was fun hanging out with the guys and they were very gracious to include me - even when I beat them.
9. January is almost over and despite how busy I've been this month with the new job and commute and house project, I feel the weeks ticking away and Mia impending departure rapidly approach. It's too sad to think about.
10. If all goes well the house will be listed on the market next week. Cross your fingers in hopes that our contractor will finally finish everything up soon!

Empire State of Mind...

And now part 2 of the photo upload extravaganza.... After Christmas, we drove to New York to visit relatives who live on Long Island. We had a great time visiting and especially enjoyed our day trips to the City.

Waiting for the train to Penn Station...

Cousin Andy (and his sister Molly) made the trip with us.

Hanging out on the train...


I snuck a photo of Mia looking uber urban...

Nicklas and his New York pizza...

Group shot at lunch...

It was SUPER crowded when we were in the City. It was the Sunday after Christmas and everyone and their brother was visiting. We made our way to Rockefeller Plaza to see the tree.

A famous marquee...

Visiting Central Park....

In the jewel of the city...

Any thoughts of going ice skating in Wollman Rink were quickly squashed when we saw the line going around the park...

The boys doing some rock climbing...

Since we couldn't ice skating, we took a carriage ride around the park....

Checking out the sights....

The next day, Seeger worked on building a city at Aunt Carolyn's. Cousin Andy offered his engineering expertise...

On the third day, the Polack and I took Mia in to the City for a grown up day. Here is Mia waiting on the Staten Island Ferry.

A glimpse of the Statue of Liberty!

Returning back to Manhattan and heading somewhere for dinner. After dinner we went to see West Side Story on Broadway.

One last shot in the City of Mia at Times Square.
She LOVED the trip.

Scene's from Christmas

I'm finally able to upload photos! Woop. Here are some shots from Christmas. It's been so long, I won't bother with the recap and will just include some captions. Enjoy...

The cousins, just before it's time to open presents...

Me and Mel with our pretty Christmas drinks.

Time for presents.... Mia checking out her new quilt.

Seeger received a piggy bank that he could decorate.

Nicklas and his tickets - a Red Wings game and an Indiana University basketball game.

Seeger is pretending to be a present.

After presents, we enjoyed a Norwegian custom. Mia made porridge and a peeled almond was hidden in the dish. The person who receives the almond in their dish wins a prize.

The next morning, it was time for stockings and gifts from Santa...

And then more presents. Nicklas models his Norweigian hat from Mia's family.

Seeger's hat w/ his pillow that Mia made and the Barrel of Monkey's - also from Mia.

And then next day... Christmas with the North family.

This was only pictures of three of the six Christmas celebrations we attended. We are VERY lucky.

The mom letters...

I don't have much time to update (are you seeing a recurring theme here??) so I thought I'd share some recent communication between myself and Mia's mom.It actually provides a somewhat decent, albeit limited recap of the past few weeks.

12/25/09 - from Vibeke
The Family sends "Marry Christmas" to you
I am back in Kristiansand for a coupel of houers , I had to drive my Father back to the city so that he can take his car back to Larvik. It was so bad weather two day`s ago so he had to drive take the Mainroad to Kristiansand and go up to the Farm with me. Because of all the snow we used twice as long time as we normaly do BUT we made it :) ♥

12/25/09 - from me
Glad to hear you made it through the bad weather. Mia mentioned that Norway received a lot of snow. We haven't had much, enough for the boys to make a snowman but it's melting already. Hopefully the weather won't be too bad for our drive to New York. We're getting excited about our trip but first we have one more Christmas celebration. We're currently at my mom's house and we're waiting for my brothers to come over so we can unwrap presents. The boys are very excited!!

12/31/09 - from Vibeke
We still are in Winther-land ... It`s so nice with the cold weather & lot`s of SNOW. I really enjoy it.
We are off to some friend`s house in Lillesand , a City/Place close to Kristiansand , we are there for New Year every year. Hope you will have a nice evening & all the best for 2010.
How was the Porridge for Christmas , did Mia manage to make it :-) We have not yet resived the package BUT I`m sure it will turn up next week. If not I would need the poastal-number to track the package
Best wishes for a Happy New Year

1/5/10 - from me
Hi Vibeke - I'm sorry it's taken me so long to reply. We've been really busy with packing up the Christmas things, painting our house, and doing some home improvement projects. And of course, right after Christmas, our computer stopped working. So after a couple of days, we finally bought a new one.

Anyway, we had a great Christmas and yes, the porridge turned out well. I'm not sure how much Mia liked it - she kept telling us to put sugar in it. But I thought it was good and everyone enjoyed learning about the Norwegian custom.

Mia said you received the package and I was very relieved! I looked for the tracking number and couldn't find it. It got lost with all my Christmas receipts.

I know I'm behind on my blog and I do have photos from Christmas and our trip to New York. Hopefully I'll get them posted this weekend. I think that's all for now. School and work started up yesterday so we're just trying to get back in the groove.

1/5/10 - from Vibeke
Don`t rush on my Behafe ... I can imagine how busy you are - adjusting to your new job & weekday`s away from home.
I`m sorry but the package that came, was from my nice , Elisabeth in Texas BUT hopefully it will come soon - she sendt that one earlyer than you did I think.
I am looking forward to see your pictures BUT do it when you have time
Take care and my love to you all

1/20/10 - from Vibeke

Hope you all are doing fine and that you are setteling in in you new jobb and that you all are getting used to not haveing you arround all the time.
I guess the weekends are Presious :)
Wish you all the best and hope Mia are doing fine at school and at home and behaveing....!!
There is not much news from here I have had it hectic at work but part from that we are doing fine and enjoying our winther with snow and nicew cold weather
Take care
Vibeke

1/20/10 - from me
Hi Vibeke! Sorry I haven't been good about writing. I'm not on facebook much lately. Things are so crazy - with the commuting and new job and trying to get the house on the market. We've been really, really busy but doing everything we can to not disrupt Mia and boys' routines. Hopefully we've been fairly successful.

Did Mia tell you about her trip to Washington DC? I think she really enjoyed it. She flew there on Friday and returned on Monday. She stayed with my 25 year old cousin, Emily. On Saturday, they walked around the Memorial Mall and past the White House. They went to Georgetown and walked around and did some shopping. That evening, they went to a dinner party that one of Emily's friends was hosting. Sunday, they visited the Holocaust Museum and then Emily made them dinner and my other cousin Molly, joined them. On Monday, Mia did a tour that allowed her to get on and off buses as they went around DC in different attractions. I think she enjoyed doing this on her own and being independent.

I think Mia is still enjoying her stay with us but I think she still struggles to follow our rules. She never disobeys but I can definitely tell when she thinks we're being unfair. It's definitely a learning experience for all of us - we've never parented a teenager and she's still adjusting to stricter rules. But I think even when she's not happy with us, she thinks of some of the other exchange students who don't have as much support from their host families. One of her friends is scared of her host mom who yells a lot. Another had to quit swimming because her host family got tired of driving her and picking her up from practice. So hopefully Mia is happy with us!

I'm glad to hear you finally received our package. Hopefully everything arrive all safe and sound. I can't believe it took so long to get there. I'll remember that next time! did Arne like everything Mia and I picked out for him? Hopefully he likes the shoes we got. did the ornament survive the trip?

Hopefully work slows down for you AND me! We've had some snow but its almost all melted now. It was pretty cold but things have really warmed up for us.

We almost have our house ready to be put on the market to sell it. It's been a lot of work to get it ready - we had to paint everything and finish the construction on our basement. I'm looking forward to things calming down when the house is finished. We're hosting the other Aspect families this weekend. We have a party in a few weeks and then it will be time to start thinking about spring break. I don't think we'll go anywhere, but we definitely want Mia to use the vacation to do something. She will likely go to Florida with a friend and her family. I'm sure she'll enjoy being in the sun and warm weather.

Have you thought much about whether you'd like to visit us and Mia sometime during her stay? You are more then welcome to and we'd love to meet you. We'll be planning a goodbye/going away party for Mia when her stay is coming to an end and that would be a great opportunity for you to meet everyone. And of course, Arne is welcome to visit too! Anyway, it's something to think about.

Well, this is getting long but I know I haven't been great about communicating lately so I wanted to give you a big update. Hope you enjoy the rest of your week!

Natalie

Alright already...

I know, I know, I know. I promised pictures. And I had every intention of posting them. I even brought my camera cord with me this week (which was the missing piece last week) so I could upload photos. But then I forgot my camera. Duh.... So no pics and really, I'm having a hard time coming up with the activities when I don't have pictures to go with them. SOOOOO.... I decided to post a RTT (since I missed last week, and the week before, and quite possibly the week before.) Here it goes...

1. I love the view outside my window at work. It's awesome to see the students walking by and since there are lots of trees around the building, I can't wait for fall!
2. We got LOTS of snow two days last week and both days, Uncle Bill cleared off my car for me. Isn't that so sweet?
3. We didn't really get LOTS of snow - only about 6-9 inches. But it feels like a lot when no one knows how to drive in it, the schools are all closed, and the maintenance people have a hard time clearing it off the roads and sidewalks due to lack of equipment/experience.
4. Did I tell you about Uncle Bill yet? He's my dad's brother and I stay with him during the week. He's the property manager at a state forest and lives in a log cabin in the forest. He's the sweetest guy and he's never been married and everyone desperately wants him to find a mate. So if you know of any single ladies, looking for a nice - but fairly shy - but really, really sweet guy, let me know. He's a good cook and he clears off your car when it snows. What more could you want?
5. Quilt camp is approaching. Huzzah!!!
6. It takes SO MUCH EFFORT at my new job not to go around saying, "Well, when I was at Purdue, we did it THIS way." I'll admit, I've said it a few times but I really need to stop it.
7. When I was first dating my husband, I used to always say, "I dated a guy once that did this...." He didn't take too kindly to that so I learned to keep quiet. I thought the habit would never go away but it eventually did.
8. Three things to be thankful for.... Mother Bear's Pizza, upcoming Lady Gaga concert (YES, I GOT A TICKET!), and quilt camp.
9. And more importantly - I'm very thankful for my wonderful husband who is home with the kids all week, trying to get our house ready to be put in the market, while being a single dad. He is THE BEST GUY EVER.
10. One last shout out of thanks to PepsiCo. Diet Pepsi = awesomeness.

Random Thought Thursday

1. I'm writing this on Wednesday but not posting until Thursday. I'm tricky like that.

2. The Polack and I are watching the last episode of Season 2 of Moonlighting which features Whoopi Goldberg. Old school!

3. I'm so proud of my boys. They were off school yesterday so I stayed home with them. They were off school today but I really, really didn't want to miss another day of work. So Nicklas stayed home - all by himself - and Seeger came to work with me. Both did a GREAT job of following the rules.

4. The Polack did NOT have two snow days at his school. That's the downfall to having him work at a different school district that what the boys attend.

5. Why does it take Freddie FOREVER to find a place to do his business. I walked around for 20 minutes with him tonight. And it was so cold! And there was so much snow that everytime he squatted, his little behind would touch the snow and he'd stand up and look for another spot - only to go through the whole ordeal again. Poor Freddie.

6. We went to Kroger tonight and purchased the following - hair conditioner, milk, grape jelly, strawberry jelly, and two bags of donut gems (powdered and chocolate.) Aren't you glad I shared that with you?

7. In this episode of Moonlighting with Whoopi Goldberg, Judd Nelson is also in it. He's got really bad hair. REALLY BAD.

8. So I went to the hospital today for an appointment. I had to have a thyroid ultrasound and as I was lying there on the table with the gel goop all over my next and the tech talking to me, I feel asleep. I woke up when I felt my body twitch. Embarassing.

9. Earlier tonight, we watched an episode of The Greatest American Hero. I was so in love with William Katt when I was little. And Bo Duke. I was a sucker for blondes with longer hair/curls.

10. *sigh* I still miss Seeger's long hair.

I am alive....

I promise I'm alive and I haven't given up on blogging. I have tons of excuses, none that really matter but I promise I'll be back in full force soon. Well maybe not full force... the new job and new living arrangements might make it difficult for me to blog on the regularity I've grown accustomed to. But I'm not giving up! In fact, I'd spit out a bunch of blog posts right now because so much has happened in the past two weeks (Christmas, New Year's, trip to New York, blah blah blah). But unfortunately, I'm currently without a camera cord so I don't have any accompanying photos.

Oh yeah, for those that don't know.... I have a new job and the family and I are in the process of relocating from old town to new town that is two hours away. The Polack, Mia, and the boys are staying in our current house in old town and finishing out the school year. Once Mia leaves this summer, we'll all move to new town. For now, I'm living in new town during the week and old town on the weekends. While I'm in new town, I'm staying with my uncle, the forest ranger. He lives in the middle of the forest. With no internet or cell service. AT ALL. I will survive but it will be interesting to see how well I do with no technology.

I'll try to get back to RTT and hopefully do some real posts this weekend!