It’s been a while since I last touched on our recent trip to Canada.  For more reasons than I’d like to discuss it wasn’t exactly what I’d call a vacation.  So many people have asked how the trip went and suggest that it must have been great to have an extra week.  The reality of the situation was that from beginning to end we never really had a chance to relax and enjoy it as a vacation.  Travel disruptions (BA’s cabin crew strike, NSB forgetting about DST changes, VOLCANOES!) as well as diarrhea and chickenpox didn’t exactly add anything interesting into the pot.  At one point this interesting “stew of a vacation” almost boiled over and we all just wanted to call it quits.  For almost two days I cried that I wanted to be home and then on the second to last day I regretted that I didn’t take advantage of the extra time.  I suppose in times like those one can never really think clearly or as wisely as one could.

Now when I look back on how the trip went I’d say it was a 50-50 so-so trip.  Some good, some very bad, and some moments of pure satisfaction.  We stayed closer to home which I’d say was good for my mum.  (Being that she really only gets to see us a couple weeks of the year… if that.)  Ørjan spent almost two weeks of his time cleaning out my mum’s basement as well as renovating her bedroom.  I’m not sure if I mentioned it much but we surprised my mum with a new bedroom.  He cleaned out her room, installed new flooring, assembled the new furniture, and then tried to give her a nice living space because he had to do it.  This of course was never easy because there was one factor that we avoided discussing from the beginning: her boyfriend.  We had to be very careful presenting him with the news that we were going to do things in the house, and also had to do it in a way that wouldn’t offend him because he has a tendency to become jealous and hurtful.

I tried to keep calm but I constantly felt like someone was shooting spitballs at me.  I cooked every meal 2-3 times a day in a very small and unkept kitchen (zero tools, the dullest knives I’ve ever met, and unused appliances everywhere!), and I could barely stand to touch the food.  As someone that loves food and has respect for the food I prepare and eat, I was appalled to learn that my mother had gotten to the point that any fresh food she had in her fridge was nearly fossilized, and that she was really only eating food that could be eaten from a can, or could easily be cooked from its frozen or dehydrated state.  I feel like a real snob saying this, but it just wasn’t to my own standards.  I think what I really felt was concern and slight disappointment that my mother had let things come to such a point.  I can honestly say that I never felt like this during past trips we’d made and it was with a heavy heart that I had to almost lecture my own mother about the way she was keeping her house and the effects of her very poor diet.  I didn’t like to tell my mother what to do, but it was out of concern that I had to constantly remind her about simple things like expiry dates and when to toss out certain foods.  I also had to turn a blind eye at the mountains of unused items in the house.  I saw the show Hoarders for the first time in April and it hit hard when I looked around the house.  After my dad died she let everything go and the house seemed to suffer along with her.  I won’t reveal too much but I know the connection with the state of the house and my dad’s death is undeniable.  The house was clean and definitely did not look like some of the homes seen on the show, but I could see that her attitude had changed and she was becoming stubborn which is not like her at all.

The only outlet that we seemed to have was indulging in some good ol’ fashioned retail therapy.  We bought some new clothes, I got my hair done, I treated Ørjan to a day at the spa, and like the geeks we are Ørjan and I bought matching ipods.  Ørjan was also invited to the casino by some family friends and I pushed him to go because he’d never visited one before.  I caught up with some old friends, indulged in some very decadent food, and even managed to watch TV.  I’m sure there were some days where we enjoyed ourselves (especially when it meant Chinese buns and the market) but there seems to be too many sour memories that prevent me from overlooking the bad.

I want to say more and perhaps I’ll come back to edit this later, but for the moment I just want to stop.  There’s too much I want to say, too much that I want to avoid discussing, and too much that I still haven’t come to terms with.

When we arrived in Canada it was warm.  The first week at home welcomed us with temperatures of 20°C – 30°C and it felt fantastic.  The kids were able to play outside and ran around in just diapers, we never needed coats, and I felt good about wearing the new pair of chunky-heeled sandals I had just purchased.  Magnus had a few rough days and we all felt it but he ate icecream and watched the complete pixar collection and after a while things seemed to ease up.  Sophie jumped in with both feet and she seemed to adapt very quickly.  Ørjan seemed to enjoy himself even if he had the same worries as me.  The one thing that did affect us was the food.  Oh god I felt awful each day because the food tasted bad on my tongue.  Simple pleasures like a slice of bread (Where was gluten-free?) or a glass of milk tasted so bitter and I swear I could taste the toxins and hormones.  Meat was full of water, the fruit and vegetables were always shiny at the supermarket, and the yoghurt was completely fat-free and sugar-free and it was almost like eating congealed fruit-milk.  I instantly felt disappointed because I had hoped going back to North America I could get my hands on healthy and whole foods but everything seemed stripped or pumped full extra artificial ingredients and my stomach couldn’t handle it.  During the first week we all suffered from diarrhea or constipation and it was not fun.  I even had to resort to feeding the kids baby cereal for breakfast  just so they could get something nutritious in them.  Oh, it was bad.

Going home is always hard for me because I’m never able to relax.  Maybe it’s the memories of that house, or maybe it’s because I’m so consciencious about my environment, but I was never able to just stop and rest.  I was constantly cleaning, constantly cooking, and constantly itching to get out of there.  I felt slightly trapped.  It also didn’t help that I felt so uncomfortable knowing that my mom’s boyfriend is now living in the house.  I constantly felt like I was walking on eggshells in every room I walked into.  Eventually I tried to let go and made an effort to have a good time.  I suppose a little retail therapy did help though.  We bought shoes, clothes, toys, and all those other items that we can’t find in Norway.  We visited friends and family and while it felt good it was always sad knowing we only had a couple of hours together.  We even surprised my mother with a new bedroom and spent many days cleaning her house.  I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned it but my mother is this—far from being one of those people you might see on hoarders.  (Just another reason why being stuck there got on my nerves.)  I felt miserable not being able to exercise as I usually do, but I did go on a few walks and runs which made me feel better despite never really having the energy.

I love my mom, she is the most generous person I know, but she really got on my nerves when it came to our children.  The first week wasn’t easy on her because she thought the kids made too much noise or that they made too much of a mess.  Eventually she realized that they are kids and embraced their laughter and stickiness, but there was always criticism and I always felt angry when she tried making a point.  Nearing the end it was very sad because she really connected with them and I wasn’t sure what kind of comfort I could offer.  I think I tried to avoid it because I didn’t want to deal with my own feelings of longing.  We did have some talks and we were able to communicate but everything still felt so fragile.  Nearing the end (or what we thought was the end) of our trip we started to say our goodbyes and then everything fell apart.  Suddenly Eyjafjallajökull erupted and everything came to a complete stop.  We were packed and ready to leave and then suddenly we were stranded.

Ørjan and I were under so much stress last week and were almost ready to kill eachother.  We frantically called our travel insurance company, our bank, our employers, and family members.  It could have been worse, we could have been like those thousands that were stranded at airports, but being away from home even longer meant more problems.  It meant the kids would continue to be miserable, it meant Ørjan and I wouldn’t be at work earning money, and it meant another week of struggling to keep it together.  At that point we were short on money and contemplated finding any flight to get us closer to home.  Nothing was available and even flights that could take us across the pacific were off because none wanted to fly to Europe.  At that point we were feeling so low and then wouldn’t you know it, Sophie broke out with chickenpox.  On the 20th day of our trip she finally got chickenpox.  Luckily for us and her she’s a tough girl.  Her outbreak wasn’t as severe as her brother’s and only had several spots on her face, but it was still an awful experience.  It was obvious she was meant to get them on our flight back to London which doesn’t surprise us at all.

What made everything worse was the waiting.  We were originally scheduled to fly out of Toronto on the 17th but the only flight we could be promised was the 25th.  We were basically stranded for 8 more days and each day felt painful.  The kids had been sick, we had to think about the loss of income, and we were very far from home.  At that point it seemed hopeless.  If you follow me on twitter you’ll know just how desperate I had been feeling.  Eventually the week came to an end and we were more than ready to go home.  I took the initiative to pack early even if it killed me.  We came with 2 suitcases and 1 carry-on and left with 4 very full suitcases and 4 heavy carry-ons.

I want to say more about our trip but at this point I’m almost at a loss of words for just how awful most of it had been.  I think after I’ve had some more time to rest and think i’ll be able to write something more positive.  For now I’m trying to forget alot of it any way I can.

Hello world!

It’s been an extremely long time since I’ve posted and I have many reasons why I’ve been avoiding it.  We’ve been traveling since March and it’s quite possible that we won’t make it home until May if you can believe it.  With everything that’s been going on with the volcanic eruption(s) there’s so much to vent about, but this post will only describe the beginning of our trip.  In March we took a few days in London but the fun was short-lived and we barely made it.  We left Saturday, March, 27th, with the night train from Mo I Rana, but due to DST (sommertid) we missed our connecting train in Trondheim.  That’s right, the train company neglected to take the time change into consideration and when we arrived in Trondheim we had to wait to take a bus south to god knows where.   This might have swung but we had a flight to catch but wait, there’s more!  We were flying with British Airways but they decided to go on strike and our original flight for Sunday evening was cancelled.  Due to the strike we had to rebook to an earlier flight that evening.  So where was I?  Half way during the trip the bus driver decided to take a 45 minute break.  At that point we were freaking out.  If we missed our flight we’d have to spend a night in Oslo and might not get another flight until Monday or Tuesday.  (Many flights were cancelled due to the strike.)  We don’t usually get angry but we demanded that the train company either buy us new tickets or get us a taxi to drive us south.  So from Dombås we took a taxi to Lillehammer from where we took a train to the airport in Oslo.  Our taxi driver was fantastic though because she drove the best she could and kept calling the train company so that they’d wait for us in Lillehammer.  We arrived on the minute but she helped us get our suitcases and kids to the platform.  She was amazing and I thank God for her.  What was meant to be an easy 14-hour train ride turned into a day of hell.

We eventually made it to the airport with only 10 minutes before check-in closed.  We checked our bags, got through security, and ran with the kids in our arms so we could get to our gate at the other end of the terminal.  We hugged our kids, tried to calm them on the plane, and then breathed a very heavy sigh of relief when we arrived in London.  London was better than I expected but it a little bittersweet.  We hired a limo to drive us to our hotel (definitely a good idea) and then we tried to relax.  We stuffed our faces with food I brought from Norway along with the extras the hotel bought for us.  After very long showers and an hour of television the kids were sleeping in their beds and Ørjan and I were ready to start our vacation.  On the first day we took in a few sights, bought alot of goodies for the kids, and then took it easy for the night.  On the last day we planned to shop and  take it easy in the city but I ended up hanging out at the hotel with the kids because Magnus wasn’t feeling well.  He seemed to have a little cold and after the hellish travel we endured in Norway I had no problems letting him rest even if it meant losing a day in London. Ørjan spent the day in the city antiquing and shopping for stamps and coins.  I think it worked out for him because he needed some alone-time and the kids needed a rest. For dinner that night we took the kids out for Chinese but ended up going to a McDonalds just so we could buy Happy Meals.  (Which were later tossed minus the toys because they were so disgusting!)

On the morning we were due to leave I noticed Magnus had two spots on his face.  I shrugged it off as nothing because sometimes when he has a fever he gets small spots on his cheeks.  Bad move on our part.  After arriving at the airport he started to get warm again and a few more spots appeared.  At that point we weren’t sure if we were dealing with chickenpox or if it was something less serious.  Either way we knew we were screwed.  We got on our flight and 3 hours into it Magnus exploded with spots.  To say he broke out is an understatement.  To make it short I’ll tell you this much: The flight attendants were nice but scary, I had to be isolated on the plane with Magnus, and then the attendants handed out masks to all the passengers.  Oh dear god it was horrible.  My poor little guy was miserable and there wasn’t much we could do.  Luckily we bought an infant medicine at Boots (at the airport) and he took a little, but having him strip down to a diaper having to fan him to keep his temperature cool was never how I imagined that flight.  Eventually an attendant said things would be ok (after taking our passports and writing down our info) and said paramedics might be meeting us at the airport.  They eventually ruled this out since they believed it was chickenpox and we had a close site of residence from the airport.

So there you go.  I’ve/we’ve taken some pretty disastrous flights but this one definitely takes the cake.  A missed connection due to DST, an airline strike, and chickenpox: DISASTER.  If you’ve come to this point my god you must have patience but it gets even better.  One might think that it couldn’t get any worse but it does.  Join me in our next episode of The Tragic Travels of Candace (and family) where we explore the joys of being stranded due to a volcano!

It’s now 8:30 on a half-decent Friday morning.  I have to work 2-9 tonight and the only thing getting me through the morning is the excitement I have for getting out of here.  I really didn’t want to be working so much this week but the extra money will definitely be worth it during our vacation.  I wrote in a previous post that I would say no if they called me in on Monday but like a sucker (thanks, Liz!) I said yes.  Someone that covered for me when I was sick had the flu so I felt I should return the favour.  (She’s also a friend so of course I did it.)  It was my only day off and planned to do some packing that evening but it never happened.

I have one more load of laundry to do this morning and then finish packing for our London trip.  There’s not too much that I need to do today but the anticipation and excitement is killing me.  I soooooo need to get out of here.  The weather is just shit, the workload is overwhelming, and if one of us gets sick one more time I am going to toss myself out the window.  (Not self-injuring but enough to just distract me from the frustration.)  Here’s what’s on the agenda today:

• laundry x1
• pack toiletry bag
• finish packing for London
• print off all travel info/confirmations
• pack diaper bag and mini-travel bag
• clean and tidy the second floor
• make pizza dough and prep pizza for dinner
• pilates
• work work work (2-9)

We’ve tied up all the loose ends like putting our mail on hold, rescheduling appointments, and our cat is taking a vacation at Ørjan’s mom’s.  We also have a neighbour coming to check on the house so that we can put our minds at ease.  The only thing that I really need to do is pick up a few treats for the kids and say goodbye to everyone.

Oh god we’re almost out of here.  I can not believe it.  I need this vacation so badly.

I posted this over at husmor but I think something like this warranted a cross-post:

We’ve always been folk that love to travel.  Since the beginning Ørjan and I have always indulged in our love for travelling abroad and I guess at some point the idea of travelling with children never seemed like an obstacle.  Oh what fools we were!  This Saturday marks the beginning of a very needed vacation and although we’ve been planning it for months I don’t think we’ll ever be prepared.  We live in northern Norway and anyone that lives north of Trondheim will tell you what a bitch it can be to get yourself out of here.  The only realistic travel option is taking the train from Mo i Rana to Oslo.  If we wanted to take a flight we’d have to take a 3 hour train ride north to Bodø and from there fly south to Oslo.  It seems easier but spending almost kr 10, 000 on tickets just isn’t in our budget.  Travel within Norway is so expensive.  This is not a sick joke but perhaps it is one considering it’s at our cost.  Our round-trip flight from Oslo to Toronto only cost us kr 20,000 you can see why it’s insane to even give it a second thought.  So where was I?

Right.  Saturday night (March 27th) we take the “night train” from Mo at midnight and will end up in Oslo at approximately 14:45.  If any of you are counting that equals 19 hours!  We’ve done the train thing more than two dozen times in the last 8 years so we’re pros at dealing with the uncomfortable seating, but that’s not the half of it.  Earlier this week British Airways announced their cabin crew strike and it meant our flight from Oslo to London was cancelled.  In an attempt to not let this ruin our mini-London trip we re-booked our flight for an earlier departure.  Our train arrives at Gardermoen at 14:45 and our flight leaves 16:55.  It was a close call but I am optimistic that we’ll make it.  I’ve given Ørjan instructions that he’ll just have to run upstairs with our luggage and run to the BA queue for our flight and I would meet him with the kids.  I am sure it will difficult now that Magnus has injured his right foot but I’m used to carrying 2 kids at a time.  We’ll all be tired and it won’t be easy with two screaming kids but we have to do it and I am certain it’ll be worth it once we’re in London.  On March 31st we should leave London for Toronto.  I say should because who knows if our second flight with BA will be cancelled and we’ll end up stranded and scrambling for alternate flights to Toronto.  I can only hope that we’ll make it through this and my kids will have a great if not decent vacation. The one thing that really gets me is the way people sigh and offer their sympathy for the long OH-GOD 6 hour flight over to Toronto.  That’s the easy part!  The hard part is getting out of Norway in the first place!  It’s a struggle to get our two toddlers to sit quietly on the sofa for more than 10 minutes so you can imagine my excitement about this journey.  Almost 4 years ago SAS went on strike and an Easter holiday Ørjan and I planned for Canada was completely screwed.  We ended up sleeping in two nights in two airports (Oslo and Stockholm) and had to overnight in London.  It was probably the most frustrating trip we had taken as a child-free couple but I am sure this one will top it in almost every aspect.  I will make this clear – If you think you’ve ever had the most horrible flight and have been screwed over by an airline try taking a trans-atlantic trip with two todders during a strike.  I promise it’ll shut you up every time.

The diaper bag is the least of our worries.  Try calming down two screaming kids and then having to squeeze into that tiny toilet to change a diaper.  It’s not even an option to sneek in one of those delicious naps on our flights because we have to be awake at all times for the sake of Magnus and Sophie.  Last year at Christmas we ended up stranded in Boston for 3 days due to poor weather conditions and let me tell you – IT WAS A COMPLETE NIGHTMARE.  Sophie threw up in my lap a couple of times before I ended up puking in my seat, I ran a very high fever, and we had to race to find a place that had baby food and diapers after we landed.  It is not easy travelling with young children. No matter what people will tell you it’s always going to be hard.

Ørjan had many disagreements about this trip mainly including our hotel stay but now I am so glad I booked the hotel that I did.  They have been incredibly helpful and accomodating to this point and it’s a huge relief.  They’ve taken care of our late arrival, ordered a car service to pick us up from the airport, and will even stock our fridge with food that I’ve ordered for the kids.  The kids will need milk, juice, bread, yoghurt, and fruit after our arrival and in the morning.  I anticipate that they’ll be very cranky and hungry so I thank god the hotel could do this.  (Yes we pay for it, but come on, it’s a nice luxury.)

I know this post might seem like a load of bitching and moaning but there’s no way to sugar coat it.  I love my kids so damn much and I am so proud of them for sticking it out in these hard times, but it is never easy.  I think after so many unfortunate travel situations I’ve come to the point where I can stay calm because we’ve been through hell and back and hopefully this time, hell is only a detour.  (Btw, Hell is the name of the town outside of the airport in Trondheim.) – We’ve been there many-a-times.

London’s calling louder than ever.  I can’t believe that only in a few short weeks we’ll be hitting the streets of London and then heading to Toronto.  I usually spend so much time overplanning our trips but this time I’ve practically left everything until the last minute.  (3+ weeks is last minute for me!)  The last time Ørjan and I were in London it was a short trip but it was definitely easy to get around only being two.  Now we’ve got the challenge of travelling with two little ones I guess this means we’re new again considering this is London we’re talking about.  I was very sour about London because it was never one of my choice-destinations but I suppose it can’t be all that bad.  At least this trip will give Ørjan an excuse to break out the new video camera I bought him for Christmas.  Now on to the list:

• purchase Visitor Oyster Cards
• plan day trip to the zoo
• pack the London Suitcase
• budget for shopping trips
• print and organize all maps
• call to confirm (i must triple confirm!) all reservations
• pack extra bag for the kids
• buy/pack memory cards
• research restaurants (we have some special dietary needs)
• map/organize all intineraries and scheduled events
• reserve all online ticket purchases

Since we live in the north of Norway transportation outside of Norway isn’t a luxury.  We planned on taking a 6 hour train ride (the night train) from Mo i Rana to Trondheim and from there take a flight to Oslo (Gardermoen).  About an hour before we were going to the train station Sophie woke up with an incredibly high fever and vomitted everywhere.  With nothing open that late at night Marit raced to get Sophie some meds, we rushed out the door and I slipped on the ice and smacked my head and broke my fall with my wrist, and then Ørjan was almost killed.  That’s right.  We raced to the trainstation and Ørjan was unloading our suitcases from the trunk to the platform when everyone heard a huge screech.  A very senile and likely drunk (there was a definite smell of alcohol) man reversed his car into the trainstation and barely missed Ørjan.  Ørjan was literally TH–IS close from being killed or seriously injured.  Having your husband lose his legs and lower organs on the night you’re to leave for an overseas trip was not anticipated but obviously possible.  Thankfully he wasn’t hit but I know it made him tense from that moment on.  To top things off I was vomitting all the way to Boston and could barely keep my head up.  Being so sick and trying to hold an infant in your lap is no easy feat.  Ørjan had to take on more responsibility and stress and I was so sad but proud of him.

So here we were in Oslo with the confirmation that we’d have to pick up our bags in Boston and go through customs so that the three of them (the kids and Ørjan) could apply for visas to enter the country despite not having any intention on entering the US.  We pushed ourselves to race through the visa line as quickly as possible, raced to pick up our luggage, and managed to find the right bus to take us to the other terminal to check our bags only to find out that woooops – OUR CONNECTING FLIGHT TO TORONTO WAS CANCELLED!  Due to the crazy weather all flights at Logan International were either cancelled or delayed.  Our connection was meant for December 21st but when we arrived to check in (obviously late and missed our connection) we were told the next available flight was on the 24th.  Great.  We were all sick and stressed out, had two diapers and barely enough baby food for the night, and were ready to just give up.  Since our flight was cancelled due to weather it also meant they weren’t liable for hotel accomodations.  All the extra money that I/we had saved had to go towards our hotel stay.  At least one consolation is that the hotel staff was wonderful.  (I plan on emailing them later today to thank them again for their help.)

The only 800 number that we were given to contact Air Canada was impossible to use.  We were never able to get through so decided that we would try to go to the airport and ask/beg for an earlier flight possibly on the 23rd.  We ate breakfast, packed most of our things, and went to the airport thinking that even if we did get a flight that day, it’d probably be late that night.  WRONG!  When we arrived the woman at the counter said a flight was leaving in 1 hour and that we had 20 minutes to get our bags from the hotel and check them in.  WHAT?!  Somehow we managed.  Thankgod for the hotel’s courtesy shuttle bus and the awesome driver because we raced back to the hotel, waited for us to get our bags, and raced us back to our terminal.  We made it though, it’s only too bad the flight to Toronto meant a connection in Montreal and guessed who missed the connection?  Yep.  At least we made it to Toronto a day earlier.  Unfortunately for us by that time we had no sleep, had barely eaten, were sick and stressed out, and had two screaming infants to calm down and care for.  But fortunately we made it home and we had an entirely new hell to meet.

More later…

Before I write what I had planned I just have to get this out now – Congrats America!  I’ve purposely avoided talking about anything related to the election and American politics and now that it’s over (for now) I’m overjoyed.  Ok, that’s enough.  On to what I was going to say…

I can’t believe we’re already into November!  Earlier this week I already started making sample batches of my Christmas cookies to be sent out and I’ve been trying to revise my budget as much as possible due to items being sent from Canada.  I hope to have everything ready and sent out during the first two weeks of December because we’ll be leaving on the 20th for our Christmas vacation home in Canada.  I am sooooo excited to be going home and finally celebrating a Christmas.  I know I’ve already mentioned this a million times before but I can’t help it.  It’s been 5 years and it’ll feel so good to be back in a city (cities) where I lived and grew up.  I’ve already started making wishlists for items we can’t find in Norway as well as some more luxurious items that are just a heck of alot cheaper over there.  (To give you an idea we pay almost 3x more for goods here.)  I’ve already started searching for items to gift and plan to make send some online orders later next week.  This just might be the first year where I’ll do most of my shopping online and most of the items will be green (eco-friendly), handmade, or fun things from Norway or Japan.  The weeks go by so quickly and now I’m worried that despite how much I’ve planned I still won’t manage to accomplish everything before our trip.  But again, this is always the case in my situation.

On a totally unrelated note here’s a fun video for your enjoyment.  I caught this the other day on Letterman (thank god Danish tv runs current episodes) and couldn’t breathe by the time I saw Spiderman walk by.