Camping life and crashing cars

I'm back from this year's summer holiday trip. Since we just replaced our tiny, red, three door Citroën with a bigger, red, five door Citroën (totally coincidental, I don't as of yet feel any loyalty toward any particular car brand), using the car as transportation seemed like the reasonable thing to do. Some may say (actually: many have already said) that a change of car was about time. I don't know. True, we have three kids, true, the car had an appoinment with the shop as often as I have an appointment with my hairdresser (actually says more about how rarely I see my hairdresser than it says about the car), but it served its purpose. It took us where we needed to be, and we even managed to bring with us whatever luggage we needed. Or the size of the car made us sensible packers, I don't know.

Anywho, we packed our stuff and our kids into the new car and took it to Denmark, for one week of camping life and amusement parks. I would say it went fairly well. I don't think sleeping in a sleeping bag in a tent ever will be my preferred choice of sleeping arrangements, but for a few days it's ok. The lack of showers doesn't bother me that much, the absence of a fridge bothers me more. And I don't like eating my breakfast on the ground. (What I have mentioned here are of course stuff it is possible to do something about, but I'm not a very advanced camper, so it will have to wait for the next time around).

Denmark is a cute and flat country. I have only been to Copenhagen before, so it was nice to see the more rural parts of the country this time. And now I realize that I'm starting to sound a bit dumb and dull, so I'll leave the geography part at that. Legoland and Fårup were nice - I'm a sucker for roller coasters and other scary rides, but I realize now that 1)I have been getting a lot older or 2)It has been way too long since the last time I visited an amusement park, because a couple of the rides really freaked me out. But in a good way. I guess.

On the way back we stopped a couple of days in the southern part of the country, and then a couple of days in Stavanger, where my in-laws live. And there our lovely new car ended up looking not so lovely anymore. On my way out of a roundabout, a crazy German youngster in a rental car came rushing from the right, and there was no way I could avoid hitting him. ( I say "crazy" - he seemed pretty normal. I say "youngster", but when he first stepped out of the car I ballparked him to be in his late thirties, at least older than me. He turned out to be born in 1985. 1985!) So, there we go, our new car is a wreck (not technically, I guess, but in my mind it is). I kind of miss the old one. Yes, it was small, but at least it looked good.

Two world wars, 16 American presidents, 30 Norwegian prime ministers, three daughters, ten grandchildren and six great grandchildren: Rest in peace, grandma!

I came back from my grandma's funeral last night. She lived her entire life in the eastern part of Norway, and that's also where she was buried. She had reached a respectable age - she turned 95 in March - so this wasn't exactly what you would refer to as a tragic death. For the same reason, her death could hardly be called unexpected either, but somehow it still was. I guess that's what happens when one reaches a certain age - they start to look immortal.

My grandmother was always this active, sharp, witty lady. She lived in her big three floor house with my grandfather until she was well past 90, and none of them were particularly keen on moving into the senior center where they lived her last couple of years. What do I know - maybe that move was what started the downfall. The truth is that she changed after moving into the small apartment down the street from their old house. But that could also be due to my grandpa and the way he started to forget more and more, so that grandma had to keep saying the same things over and over again. I guess that gets to you after a while.

I will always remember my grandma as the funny, warm, generous woman that she was all the 33 years I had the privilege of knowing her. As a kid, I spent every summer at my grandparen't house with my family, and I remember the summers as endless days of sun, badminton, water sprinklers, strawberries and cakes and waffles in the garden. I can never remember that it rained, although it must have. In the evenings we watched MTV or crime shows, which was paradise for kids who grew up with no TV at home. My grandma was an amazing story teller, and I loved listening to all the funny real life stories she told us.

Now there will be no more stories. Rest in peace, grandma, this one's for you.

Twenty-ten

Ok,I admit it, it's kind of late. But I really planned on saying this early this year, so I guess it's ok. I, Darling Nikki, officially and solemnly declare, despite the wishes of Norsk Språkråd, that I will call this year TWENTYTEN. Twentyten it is, twentyten it shall remain (until twentyeleven). In your face, Sylfest Lomheim!

What II?

I can't even do simple math anymore? It's been FOUR months????

What?

Three months since my last entry? Time sure flies when you're having fun.

Yo-yo

I am thinking about getting a yoyo.

Snow tires and saving money

Let me first of all make one thing clear: I do not change the tires on our car. My husband does. Not because we are a family where we divide domestic chores in a traditional/conservative way - because we don't - but let's just say that I once had a bad experience with changing tires on my parents' car, and since then I've let others handle that particular task.

My husband doesn't particularly like changing tires. He does it, and he does it without complaining, but he doesn't like it. So when I saw this add in the newspaper that it was possible to have the tires changed at a car store today for next to no money (NOK 25 per tire), I figured this could be something good for the enTIRE family.

So we brought our two sons,went to Auto23, filled out a registration form, and were shown into a cafeteria were we could wait, since it probably would take something like 1,5 hours. Oh, what a delight. In the cafeteria they were serving waffles, Christmas cookies, chocolate, pizza, coffee and soda. FOR FREE! So, with three persons able to eat and drink, it didn't take long before we had gotten our money's worth in food and drink alone, long before the snow tires were on. And when our car was ready, there was a goody bag on the front seat, containing even more stuff, ranging from pens to perfume samples.

Ahh, the feeling of saving money. There's not much that can beat it. And yes, I'm sure Auto23 achieved what they wanted too - a possible future customer with a quite positive view of their store.

The art of whispering

Today I attended a course. It was quite a good one, an English course about India. Well, to be painfully truthful I only turned up for lunch at 12, and stayed until 2, but I swear it was a good one. I just didn't have time for more. The pressure of being a breastfeeding mum etc.

Anyway, sitting there in the auditorium with two of my colleagues watching a Bollywood movie, I was once again reminded that there are people among us who do not know how to whisper. This time it was one of my colleagues speaking to my other colleague. In something far from a whisper. And she seemed to have lots on her mind.

I was glad I had to leave.

Picture taken from http://popartmachine.com

It's a tie!

I turned 33 this month. The next time I will have an equally satisfying birthday is when I turn 44. Until then it will all just be a bunch of away wins and then a few home wins, until I again will experience the ultimate pleasure of a new tie. Ahh, I cannot wait!

Bulldozers and stolen cars

This spring in my hometown, people were awoken by the sound of this bulldozer at 5.30 in the morning. It was a man in his early twenties who according to the local newspaper "went berserk" with it, and, among other things tore down a tree, a brick wall and a fence. I found the story quite amusing. When I went to my parents' house this summer, I realized that the tree that was torn down was in our very own backyard! It had not quite fallen to the ground, it was merely, still, in the process of falling, and if so should happen, ruining my parents' rosebushes. This made the story even more amusing.

When at my parents' house, something else occured. My parents' car was stolen. Well, I would say that "stolen" is a bit of an exaggeration. See, it is my brother who uses the car, and for some reason he always leaves the key in the ignition. So also this particular evening, outside the local bowling alley. That someone couldn't resist the urge to take this 97' Mondeo stationwagon for a spin then, is only too understandable, and could hardly be called theft.

Well, before the car was even reported stolen, my parents received a phonecall from the police, who could tell that the car was found, with the stealer/spinner passed out in the driver's seat. The roadtrip had come to a sudden stop because the person who took the car clumsily enough had filled gas on it instead of diesel. And as far as owning up to his crime, the driver admitted to having taken the car, so summa summarum this turned out to be a sunshine story (apart from the hassle with removing the gasoline).

Ok, so here we have two quite amusing stories. But it is about to become even more amusing. As it is, the person who went berserk with the bulldozer and the person who stole the Mondeo is the very same guy! So, what is it - does he have it in for my family or something? Well, I don't know. And, frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. My dad, on the other hand, being a very kind man, felt sorry for this guy whose background was quite turbulent, and came up with the great idea of just giving the car to him, since he obviously did not own his own vehicle. A nice and noble idea, but the guy turned out to not have his driver's license, so we all figured it wasn't such a smart move after all.

A nice summer it has been, filled with vandalism, grand theft auto and amazing grace.