Milo and Lillie are on their way

We've been in the moving process for a while, but until this morning, it's been all paperwork and electronic plans.

We've filled out custom forms and picked up Elliot's medical records and made hotel and airline reservations, but today it really feels like it's all really started.

Today Milo and Lillie were picked up.  Milo is about 100 pounds and Lilie is about 60 pounds, so their airline crates are too big for any plane that flies in and out of the Stavanger airport.

So, in the exact opposite way they arrived, they left this morning.

Yesterday, a man drove from Oslo, spent the night at a hotel here, then came by this morning to drive them around the country today.  And tomorrow morning he will put them on a plane to Atlanta.

They will arrive sometime on December 2nd and will be taken to what I like to call "sleep away camp" where they will stay until about early January or so when we are somewhat settled in our house.

It's kind of odd that our dogs will be back in the United States before we are.

I have really mixed feelings* about leaving, but just today, Elliot and I had been in town for his last check-up and a great leaving lunch with some friends.  We were walking back to our car and we ran into some of our dearest friends.

Instead of just heading home, we sat and visited for much of the rest of the afternoon.

I'm not sure how often that will happen back in Atlanta.

So if you happen to be anywhere near a kennel in Southwest Atlanta over the next month or so, stop by if you have a minute and say hello.

I'd hate for our dear hunds to be lonely.




*In the ideal world, we would have stayed another year.  Our friends are fantastic and the travel has been  wonderful, but I miss the US and most of what that entails.  And we miss family like crazy, plus dear Elliot needs to know his cousins...

Better than Animal Planet

We've all been watching the West Wing, episode by episode, since the very first month Husband and I started dating*.

We love them.  Not is the show smart and honorable, but full of the fascinating details about government that I never even realized that I wanted to know.  And oddly enough, right now we're now in Season Five, which are the ones featuring the Isreali/Palestinian conflict. 

Afterwards, we had a family discussion about the current situation in Gaza.

*Lillie missed the first few months, but we quickly got her up to speed.

How's Milo?

Occasionally I'll get a note saying, "We see you, Husband and Lillie all the time, but what about Milo. How's he doing?"

And the answer is, "He's fine."

For readers who don't know, Milo is my step-dog.  He'll be seven on his next birthday, which he shares with me as well as my sweet nephew James (if you believe the date on his adoption papers.)

He's been living with Husband since he was about 6 months old.  So clearly he's been around much longer than I have been, but we've been fast friends since the very beginning. 

We became The Pack about four months after Husband and I began dating when we decided that we needed one more. So we added Lillie, who we (meaning mostly me) refer to as our first daughter. 

(She came home with us on February 16, 2007, which is exactly one year before our wedding.)

 

So while Lillie is my constant companion and dear household clown, Milo is well and happy, too.  

He appreciates you asking of him, though. 

We went to the dog park a few days ago.  

Both of them spent some time running about and making new friends.

Then the hunds were parched.

(Milo first because he's lead house dog or as Lillie might say, "Age before beauty.")

Then sweet Lillie, but Milo had some more as well...

Then we all posed for a minute before it was time to go home. 

No Matter Where You Go, There They Are

This was on the front page of one of Norway's biggest papers yesterday.



As an American journalist, my first inclination is to say "Must have been a slow news day."

As a American expat, my first inclination is to say "Husband was totally right. Weather here, especially sunny weather, is a big deal."

Weather is such a big deal that pretty much the second thing Norwegians ask any newcomer is "How are you finding the weather." *

(Here's a tip: Always say something positive. Even if it has rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Even if you are wishing you lived in an ark and not a renovated sardine factory, say "It's great to get such use out of my galoshes." Or perhaps, "It's going to be so green and lovely come spring.")

Right after you answer whatever it is you'd like to say, (Keep it positive. See tip above), a Norwegian will usually laugh and say, "Have you heard our famous saying?"

(Here's a tip: Say no and let them tell you. It's fun for them. Seriously. If you just want to say it anyway, make a joke about it. Perhaps, say "Of course I have. It's practically part of the entry process. If you don't know it, you can't come.")

Then, if you wait and let them tell you, they will say "There is no bad weather, only bad clothes."

Next you laugh.

But it's true, the weather here lately is gorgeous.

And, according to Husband and other people who know, it's summer now.

Spring happened on about ten days last month. And for the curious, I do not mean ten consecutive days. Just ten days and they happened in April.

But now it's summer.

These are a few things that Lillie and I have seen over the past few days.

From the top of our hill on Sunday afternoon, the actual day the newspaper said Summer arrived:





But this morning, we walked Husband to work. And after we dropped him off pretty close to his office, we walked onto a pier that extends out into the middle of the harbor.

This is what we see to our left.



During the summer, loads of ships park in the harbor. Sometimes they are giant tour boats. Sometimes commercial fishing boats or oil boats. And other times just private boats filled with people hanging out.


This is what is happening behind us.



The morning activity is in full swing. Cafe workers are putting out the tables. People are heading to their offices and the flower vendors are setting up.


This is what we see to our right.




And a little closer up, there is Husband's office.


Look at the lowest row of windows. He is sitting on the other side of the wall next to the third window from the left. He is working. Lillie and I are still sitting on the pier in the middle of the harbor. We're just hanging out.


This is what we saw on the way back home. Next to the oil museum is the Geo Parken. It's a playground with all the necessary things, swings and bouncy places. School must be on holiday this week because it was packed.



But along with sure signs of summer---the boats and the blue skies and the temperatures--- guess what else I saw last night? Really, I saw about six, right on our back porch...


(Ignore the insanity you see on our neighbor's back porch. Concentrate on the flying object in the top center.)


Yep, it's a mosquito.

Dammit.






*
The first thing they say is "How are you finding Norway?"

Chicken, Shrimp and Swans

Stavanger is the fourth largest town in Norway, with a population of approximately 180,000 people in the general area, and about 115,000 in the town itself.

That means that the population of the general area of Stavanger is similar to the population of the greater area of my hometown, Gainesville, Georgia.

And population is not all they have in common.

Right off the square in Gainesville, is a tall obelisk. Perched on the top is a (relatively) small chicken.



This is because Gainesville, Georgia is the Chicken Capital of the World. For reals.

Years ago, there was a gentleman named Jesse Jewell who made up ways to preserve and pack poultry on an assembly line, forever negating the need to go out back and behead the evening meal. (You're welcome.)

About once a year, some enterprising pack of teens steals the chicken. Mayhem ensues, at least until it's recovered.

And as one can imagine, before Norway tapped into its the mother lode of oil, the sea provided the basis for much of the economy.

Now, Stavanger is called "The Petroleum Capital of Norway," but once it was all about the ocean.

Hence, the giant statue of the shrimp in the harbor, which I think is more proportional to its base than the chicken.



The giant shrimp statue is situated at the most inland point of the harbor in the center of town, which serves not just as the geographical center, but also the social center of Stavanger. On sunny days, the cafes lining one side become packed with people soaking up the rays with a pint of beer. On weekdays, Husband goes to his office on the far side of the water. And the "downtown" is built around it.

Yesterday, Lillie and I went on a walk around the harbor. Though she grew up in Atlanta, she really was a homebody. But now that we don't have a backyard, she has to take her breaks on walks.

So, I am trying to acclimate her to city life and all that entails, for instance people, cars and swans.

First Day at the Beach

This Sunday we went on our first pack outing.

Husband is a surfer.

He started dabbling in it in South Carolina when he would visit his friend Matt in Foley Beach. Then, after moving to Norway the first time, took a few weeks at a place called Surf Experience in Portugal. And on clear days, in his last Norwegian incarnation, he headed out to Solastraden (which means Sola Beach), which is a few miles out of Stavanger.

He's been watching the weather, refreshing the webcams and longing for the water, even though it is still well below freezing.

So last Sunday, we loaded up the surfboard and Lillie and Milo and piled into the car.

When we got there, there was not a wave on the water. At least not nearly enough for Husband to put on his wetsuit and wade in...


(Oh no, Husband. Watching really really intently will not make the waves come.)

But it was okay and we hung out for a while anyway.





No Lillie is not lounging. She just fell down.


Then when it was time to go, Husband grabbed the poo. Gotta love that.

Fish and Guests

\



Whenever I tell people that we live in a renovated sardine factory, they inevitably ask "Does it smell like fish?"

And the answer is "No. No more than a renovated factory loft in SoHo smells like sewing needles or the sweat of exploited workers."

Norway is so far north in the world that over the course of the year, the amount of sunlight varies radically depending on the time of year....In the winter, there is very little sunlight, often just four or so hours. And those hours can look like twilight when the sun doesn't get very high over the horizon.

In the summer, there can be as many as 18 or more hours of sunlight...

Also, it rains. Alot.

So, having dark sleeping quarters is just as important as having ample windows. So you can both soak up as much sun as possible, while still having enough darkness to sleep.

Which are only part of the reasons why I love our house. It's on a hill, so the downstairs, which is storage, sleeping and bathrooms is pretty dark. Then upstairs is an open layout with high ceilings and windows 3/4 of the way around.


(No, all that furniture is not ours. Neither is the dog. His name is Rufus and belongs to our landlord's girlfriend. Lille and Milo will be here soon...)

Plus, it has a red and blue door. And you're welcome anytime.