It’s Friday once again and here I am struggling with what to do with the very few hours that I have to myself.  I set a few goals for myself to clean the second floor, do some laundry, do pilates, and accomplish some other small tasks, but I have very little desire to do any of them.  I managed to toss in a load of laundry, and I have put some other things in line to get me going, but all I want to do is just get into bed and wait until I need to go to work.  It’s sad.  We leave next week and I have to say that I am so happy and so relieved to be taking a vacation.  My work schedule for next week is going to be brutal (to say it nicely), but it’ll all be worth it when we’ll finally be in London and I won’t have to think about a thing other than enjoying myself.

I have Monday off and if they call me in to cover a shift it will be a BIG no from me.  I work until 7pm on the Saturday that we leave and I plan to use Monday as the official “pack smart” day.  I will pack, clean the house, and tie up all the loose ends that need to be taken care of.  We plan to take a few empty suitcases with us and anything that we find in London will be sent via post because I really don’t want to deal with the hassle of lugging more stuff around from country to country.

Here’s what’s going on next week:

• Monday: day off
• Tuesday-Thursday: work work work + Sophie’s pediatric appointment
• Friday: afternoon/evening shift
• Saturday: work 10-7, leave for Mo, take night train (14 hour trainride to Oslo) at midnight

I’m not too thrilled to be working so much when I need some time off, but it’s something I’ll just have to deal with.  I can almost taste the fish ‘n’ chips!  I can’t wait to get out of here because honestly I cannot deal with this snow any longer.  March is almost over and it we still have so much snow that it’s sick.  If I tried walking in the backyard right now the snow would be up to my shoulders.  (Yes, that much!)

Now it’s time to clean.  Wish me luck.  And if you have the heart to stop by with cake or cookies please do so!!!

It’s almost here!

Stupid me volunteered to take an extra shift on Saturday which means I won’t have the time to place my order online. Luckily I saved and organized a list for Ørjan so he can do it for me that morning. (If he doesn’t forget!) It was smart to take the shift because I’ll need the money to pay for my order ($300+ US) but it’ll mean yet another Saturday spent at work. Sigh. All in a day’s work I guess? It’s a good thing that a Saturday shift pays around $400.

I have to be at work for 13.00 but today’s our Christmas lunch so I’ll have to come in earlier.  It’s nice that we have a lunch for us but regretfully I just don’t have the time for it.  Saturday was meant to be my day of baking but since I got called in my plans completely changed and now I’m struggling to squeeze in time for the huge tasks that seemed so small last month. I’ve been working so many extra shifts and although the money is great I realize I’ve been working too much and hope that next year I’ll learn to say no.

I wanted to bake a gingerbread house from scratch this year but now I’ve resorted to using ready-made dough.  This morning I had all the intentions for rolling out the dough and baking the plates but I just couldn’t be bothered.  Instead I’ve been baking baked gingerbread polarbears and moose (to be decorated tomorrow) for Magnus and Sophie and gifts for the kids in this place.  When I go into work this afternoon the first thing I plan on buying is a ready-made gingerbread house kit.  The kids are so young that I think they’ll just look at it anyways.

Luckily Tuesday and Wednesday are day shifts so I’ll be home in the evenings and maybe I’ll find the time to prepare for Christmas.  Incase I never mentioned it we’re hosting Christmas dinner and I have yet to find the time to prepare a single thing!  I have to iron the tablecloths, wash the serving plates/dinnerware, and let’s not forget the food!  I’ll be preparing a Canadian-style dinner so I feel slightly less pressure, but how will the Norwegians receive it?  Ha!

Now I’ve got less than two hours to get myself ready, prepare and plate dinner for Ørjan and the kids, and squeeze in some pilates if I can manage it!  I would like to clean the kitchen and diningroom but it’s doubtful I have time for that.  Ach.  Time, I just need more time.

I spent most of Friday evening on the sofa because my knees and hips were aching from work, and I felt slightly apprehensive about the fact that I volunteered about coming in for an extra shift if someone were to call in sick.  10.00 came and gone on Saturday and I still hadn’t received a call so I figured I was no longer on call.  We took a trip down to the shop because I needed a few items for my planned day of baking (If I was going to have a day off I was going to use it entirely for baking!) and I saw just how bad things were but hoped since they were fully staffed that it would be ok.  Wrong!  We came home and I made lunch for us but half way through I received a call – Emergency.  I dropped my sandwich and dressed myself for work.  HOLY CRAP ON A STICK they were getting slammed and for reasons that I can’t publicly discuss it meant more work for myself and the others.  Not even two minutes after I received the call from work Ørjan mum sent a message offering babysitting which was fantastic. I was kind of down about having to go to work but knew it was only a matter of a couple hours before I could relax.  Oh, and before I forget, during half of my shift I started to get chills and my body started to feel sore so I had someone pick up my Canadian medicines and syrups and I chugged them down just to get me through all that madness.

After I came home I made us dinner, we took a bottle of wine, and even took a nap.  It was delicious.  After 22.00 we decided to get ourselves ready and go out. We made a stop at the pub which was completely empty due to the Heimkommarfest at kroan, but we really only stopped there to see what the new owners had done with the place.  Meh.  Nothing exciting.  We moved on to the other event and had something more to drink.  It was nice to see friends and co-workers but it felt even better because it meant Ørjan and I actually had a night to ourselves.  We rarely have a babysitter or someone that can even watch the kids for a few hours so we took advantage of it.  Everyone was so surprised to see us and their top question was, “Where are the kids?”  After having a little too much to drink we made the decision to leave early because it meant a long walk home and because I had to work the next day.

The best part of the night was our adventurous spark trip home.  (Our spark actually looks a little different from the one I found online.)  I tried to stand/ride behind and kick and Ørjan sat in the front and tried to keep his long legs tucked in.  You can just imagine how long it took us to get home last night.  It was however so much!  After we came in we finished the wine and went to bed.

Now I’m relaxing on the sofa thinking about squeezing in another quick nap before I have to go to work.  I have to work on a Sunday   I volunteered for it which is fine, but now I’m slightly regretting it because I woke up with such a headache.  Uggghhh.

Summer is officially here which means that I’m working all summer.  Fabulous.  My work schedule is just horrendous and any real-life activities and events that I might have planned are most likely taking a back seat.  For the next six weeks I’ll be working six days a week (with only 3 days off during this period) trying to cover the vacation shifts.  I won’t say that I’m pissed, but I’m slightly disappointed by some of the scheduling because I really can’t see some days working out at all.  The combination of too little staff, insuficient experience, and peak delivery days equal madness.  If you happen to see me stressed out at work try to give me a break, ok?

Lately I’ve been more than exhausted and “working to the bone” doesn’t even come close to explaining how I feel some days.  Here’s how my day(s) go:

• Wake up early (6am?) and walk to work
• Work an openining shift and lose complete track of the day
• Walk home, feed the kids, attempt to clean and do some laundry
• In bed by 11-12

I can usually pull this off without too much complaining, but it’s the days when I have to do a closing shift, walk home, eat dinner at 9pm, and then try to squeeze in an hour with Ørjan that kill me.  Why?  Because the next day I have to leave early to open.  My anemia also stretches my physical tolerance and many times I find myself so dizzy and fatigued that I can barely stand.  Oh well.  I guess that’s how it goes for now… but still.  My schedule is really causing some conflicts and stress at home since Ørjan is the husmor now.  I ask him to do simple tasks like vacuum or tidy the kitchen but when I come home I see nothing has been done.  I work all day, still make dinner (prepare it early or the night before when I have a closing shift), do all the laundry and cleaning, and have only an hour or two with the kids at the most.  I feel burned out.  I need another vacation.  I like my job (working with food and people is fun) but everything combined is starting to pull me down.  Working full time again means more money but I feel like there’s just more chaos in my life than before.  At least mid-August brings full time daycare placement for both Magnus and Sophie and hopefully more order into our house.

Ouf.  I’m so exhausted.  Despite the fact that I have to be at work early tomorrow morning I just might open that bottle of wine I won from work’s cactus pool.  The kids are in bed early, most of the housework is taken care of, and we have some gorgeous weather this evening… why not?

Sweet Zombie Jesus it’s been such a long time since I posted anyting here!  Forgive me?  Life’s just been much too exhausting and each time I’ve tried to sit down and type an entry my mind just draws a blank.  Do I write about my days at work, the kids, or my hobbies and design?  It just all seems too random to concentrate on anything in particular and it seems so tedious trying to piece my thoughts together. So many things have happened but I’m sure you’ll be able to appreciate the next little bit especially if you’ve been in a similar situation.

Last Wednesday I received a call from NAV that I couldn’t take because I was at work so they called Ørjan to find out why I wasn’t answering.  (Hello – I’m at work!  I can’t just pick up the phone when I’m with a customer!)  They finally got ahold of me when I took a late lunch.  The woman on the other side wanted to know if I wanted to apply for financial compensation for Magnus’ daycare fees.  Of course – that’s why I submitted the applications in January with signed communal paperwork from our daycare.  She then went on to tell me that they couldn’t send out my pay because they didn’t have my account number.  WHAT THE FUCK?  “You’ll either have to drive into Korgen and write it down, or send us a fax with your information and hopefully we should have it out by the end of the day.”  OK?  So let me get this straight, I’d have to take off a day from work and lose pay just so you could get my information, or I’d have to fax you (Kr 35,00) my information so that I could finally get the money that YOU owe ME?  I decided to fax my information.  Here’s the fucked up part – THEY ALREADY HAVE MY ACCOUNT NUMBER!  NAV is the same office that sends Magnus and Sophie’s child payments (children in Norway receive money every month until they’re 18) to my account every month.  I emailed them to ask if they received it and it took them two days to respond only to ask what the hell I was talking about.  I told them about the situation and their two sentence reply basically said that she only bothered to check one database and that I should quit my whining because my money would “be around the corner” in a couple of days.  Ok… I was only working for a month and still hadn’t seen any payment, I guess I have no right to be upset?  It only took them a month to realize that they didn’t have my information when actually THEY DID!  I get paid every two weeks so I don’t know why they waited four weeks to bother to ask if I wanted my money.  Fucking NAV. I know Norway is definitely faces some tough times and NAV has been trying to keep up, but the system they have is just useless.  Instead of our calls being directed to Korgen or Mo, we’re sent to fucking Fauske!  Ach!  My payment finally arrived yesterday by the way.  You can probably guess that we went shopping today.  I didn’t go on a spree for things I don’t need… no siree.  Since Ørjan is still laid off (and NAV handles his employment insurance too btw but are still late paying it out) my payment was essential for bills and our costs of living.  Thanks again NAV – you fucking suck.  It’s not like I’m asking you to pay my mortgage or other bills I just want the money that I’ve earned to be paid out when it’s supposed to be!  Aaaaach.  I’m sure there’s plenty more that I could complain about but I just don’t want to bother.

Anyhow, if you want to receive/read more frequent updates add or visit me on twitter or flickr.

I love this feeling.  It’s almost as if it’s the first day of school all over again and instead of shiny new school supplies I’ve got a neat bento box full of goodies sitting in the fridge awaiting my first lunch to be eaten at work.  I can’t even begin to say how good it’ll feel to be out of the house.  It’s not that I feel trapped here with the kids but I desperately needed a change.  I’m looking forward to going back to a familiar setting and being with people and customers again.  I don’t want to think about it but I’m also slightly apprehensive about leaving the kids with Ørjan all day.  Yes, he’s my husband and their father but he’s never had to care for them alone.  I think it’s been almost 4 years since he’s done a load of laundry or made anything more than Toro Lasagne for dinner.  Even though I should probably try to rest up tonight (tomorrow is an early morning) I’m cleaning, cooking, washing, and organizing for tomorrow.  I’m also writing out small notes for Ørjan about their daily routines.  Like I said, he’s never had to care for them from the time they wake up until the dinner hour.  I think I also worry too much.  I just know that I needed a change and the time was finally right.

Hvis du har tid i morgen må du bare kom og hils på meg på bakeriet.

• I was offered an amazing job. I won’t go into much detail now but I am still grinning. If only I had the time to accept it now. Hopefully when I’m ready to return back to the working world it will still be open.
• Futureshop’s photo programme is closing and are moving their clients over to the kodakgallery. As a thankyou and new welcome gift, all current customers were given 100 free 4×6 prints. Although I’m not in Canada, I thought uploading and ordering prints would be a fabulous idea. It would make a great gift for my mom to have photos of the kids (since she’s missing out on them growing up) and she could also pass them along to other family members over there.
• Yet another reason why I love ThisNext: Mavens received $10.00 gift certificates for iTunes. I’m not sure whether I’ll use it, but you never know.
• Sales, shopping, and steals: With a new season approaching there have been massive sales online at Ellos and H&M. Although I probably only spent $50 on myself, I have spent over $300 on clothes for the kids. Hey – when there’s a sale you need to stock up! Kids grow up fast and they always need new clothes for all seasons and occasions. We’ve also picked up items and antiques for our new home at various second-hand shops. I will post pics later when I find the time.