Lady B- the busy bee

No blogs for a while, I haven’t forgotten nor ignored it, just been too busy with work, domestic chores and spending time with some long neglected friends. 

Writing this from rainy Spain, as apparently we took the stormy Norwegian weather with us when we flew to Bilbao yesterday, It seems like it is autumn even in Spain.

So what’s been going on since I’ve been so busy?

Not much really.

I have seen a couple of films at the cinema. Tree of life – which I heard on the grapewine that had gotten good reviews, but ended up wasting more than two hours on bursting volcanoes and close ups of the Milky way. Little dialogue made me glimpse a possibly good story. The actors were good ( Pitt and Penn), the soundtrack not bad either, but the time spent watching were two hours of my precious time. I would rather have watched the view from my living room window than this film. But that’s just my opinion.

I have also seen Oslo 31^st of August, which was brilliant. It follows a previously drug addict through 24 hours, showing how he is struggling to find meaning in living. He visits some friends, sits at a cafe and listens to chit-chat, goes to a party and nothing gives him any reason to live on. It is a film who has made a long lasting impression on me, and is the best film I have seen in a long time. It also uses Oslo almost as acharacter in the film, which I really liked. 

I have been to a party. Upon getting there I got lost and arrived after 9 pm. I had a really good time, nice people, a good tapas buffet, fantastic chocolate cake and great Spanish wine. Sadly I had to leave around midnight. So three hours of “partying” – wow! It was fun three hours though and entirely my fault that I got lost on the way.

We have also celebrated Pappa Kas’ birthday. Little H got him a game for his Wii as his wife would never have gotten him such a silly thing. I got him a boring, but very nice jacket and an equally conservative t-shirt- still nice. I did make a rather delicious cheesecake and he got sweet cinnamon buns. He also got to pick the dinner of his choice, pasta Carbonara, so I guess his day was nice and birthday-ish. He even got to borrow Little H´s crown. 

 We have had some nice walks in fine autumn weather. Crisp air, brown leaves and red cheeks,  then home to hot chocolate and waffles. That’s autumn and I love it. 

What have you been up to lately? 

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about getting organized and I must tell you that it is working. At least now and then…

Already implemented is that I have my small clutch bag where I put my keys, driver’s license, access cards, credit card, mints, headphones, lipsticks and other necessities. Yes, it weighs a kilo I am sure, but it contains only essentials. When I change my handbag it is just to remember to move the clutch from one bag to the other, not every single item every time - genius.

Of course the problem is when you leave the whole thing at home, but that has only happened once so far.
Getting organized is a lot more than remembering my keys:

It is to:

• take my shower at night and have the hair dry before you go to bed, to avoid bed head hair in the morning so that I have to take another shower.
• plan and take the next day’s outfit from the wardrobe and have it ready for the next day. It is not as easy as it sounds. How can you predict your mood and the weather for the following morning? I’m not psychic.
• get up in the morning when the alarm goes off, no snooze, no sleeping in.
• leave the house on time whether it is be in work at 7 am or to get Little H to the nursery before 7:45, and then to work.

Because if I fail to do these things

I will:

•  have to take a shower with a drowsy Little H in my arms. And trust me; it is not easy to wash your hair like that. There is not another option as she wants to be carried around the first hour after she has woken up otherwise will cry her you-do-not- care-about-me cry with real tears and all.
• stand in the wardrobe in my underwear letting Little H play with (trying to break) every necklace I have hanging on hooks on the wall, while I try to figure out what to wear.
• wake up after Little H and again having to carry her around while I make the bed, get dressed and so on having the little sleepyhead dozing over my shoulder.

It is a slippery slope, and if only one of my preparations for the day after are forgotten or neglected (I have learnt that to forget or to neglect is not the same thing, which I thought before) it all goes wrong:

I will never get Little H to the nursery on time.
I will not catch my train and I will be late for work. If I am extra lucky, I will have snot stains on my shoulder, jam on my trouser leg and mascara on only one set of eyelashes. All this and more I do not realize until someone points it out until after a morning meeting….

How do you get organized? With or without kids? I need some practical time-saving advice. Help me please…

Ouch! - Little H takes another fall

Little H is a clumsy one. Well, coming from an incredibly clumsy and dizzy mum and having a slightly dizzy dad, does not really give the odds in her favor. What did we expect?

Starting the nursery has been hard, on little H’s head, as she has had at least one new bump, cut, bruise or scratch when she has been picked up at the end of the day. We are now used to being greeted by staff saying things like “there is something you should know….” Before going on with “she ran, fell and hit the wall today and has a nasty bump on her forehead”.

I was thinking “OMG! Why did they not call us, has she got a concussion, a broken nose?” Neither, the staff assured me. She only cried a little bit, the nose seemed fine and if possible she has been even more energetic than usual this afternoon.

And were they right. I looked around and saw amongst the sea of small blond heads, my Little H (the one with the least hair, easy to recognize), running around, talking as fast as a Spaniard and smiling with a forehead full of aloe vera cream.

Well, she IS a tough cookie.

As soon as we got home and before he saw his daughter I had to tell Pappa Kas about the day at the nursery and the nasty fall to explain the large bump growing on Little H’s forehead. I started with: “there is something you should know…”, which I, by the expression on his face, realized was a bad choice of words for the type of “confession” I was going to make. I told him about the bang-head-into-wall incident and how glad I was that it was not this week the photographer was coming to take photos of the kids.

Pappa Kas just shrugged and said: “What’s new?” and I guess he was right. It was neither the first and certainly not the last bump or bruise she is going to come home with.

I want an icecreaaaaaaaaam

Singing the Sunday blues (on a Tues)

On Friday both Pappa Kas and I managed to meet in the nursery to get Little H at the same time.
We meet a very excited little girl who, with the help of lovely Kely the nursery assistant, told that they had been to feed the chickens, picked a cucumber (one!) and eaten apples straight from the tree. Little H is no stranger to eating apples straight of the branches, but since we only had six apples in total spread over six trees this year, I am sure that she could need a little more practice.

The sun was shining; Little H was not a grumpf, everything was set for a perfect weekend. On Friday afternoon we played in the park until Pappa Kas felt feverish and coming down with a cold. We then went home, Little H and Pappa Kas to bed and me to the sofa. Saturday started great. The sun was shining, Pappa Kas was feeling better, Little H slept” inn” til 7 am and was as charming as ever. We decided to go for lunch with some friends and do some shopping. Just as we were about to leave I started getting a headache and a thick throath, and when parking the car I asked Pappa Kas if I had a fever. He felt my forhead with closed eyes and a serious expression before he concluded that it might be the case…

Although cute, I do not think she would make it past the fashion police

During lunch Little H turned nasty H, but only because she was hungry and the food was late. The lunch was stressful but still nice; we managed to catch up with some friends and have some food while entertaining H and lower her tantrums. I was exhausted.
Back home it was my turn to go to bed early, and I am sure that Little H and Pappa Kas were eating ice cream out of the box and watching cartoons (as I would have done). I slept for 14 hours.

Little H shows us yet again how to eat with you whoooole face

Sunday came with rain, fever and a bad cold. How could such a promising start to the weekend turn so bad?
How was your weekend?

Getting organised

After seeing parts of my forgetfulness and all the hassle it causes in writing, I decided that “this cannot go on!”. Things have to change. I want to get organised and tidy, be one of those mummies who plan ahead, who has it all under control at all costs and appear cool as a cucumber even when her wallet is at home and she’s standing at the till with a 100 items of groceries already gone through, and with a less than charming toddler by your side. I want to be one of those I told myself.

Just missed the train...

All changes have to start somewhere. And to succeed I have to start slowly, adapting a few changes at the time, selecting a few life changing quick fixes which can make my life less messy, and less complicated for the people around me.

As per yesterday I have gathered my keys (house and bike), my access card for work, a lipstick, mints, petty cash and headphones for my phone in a little leather pouch that I have. I am now putting that on the bureau in the hallway so that I have to see it before leaving in the morning. It has worked two days in a row, so if it works tomorrow as well, there might be a habit forming here.

All in one place, too good to be true?

The next life changing quick fix is to prepare Little H’s breakfast for the nursery, her morning milk and my own lunch before the sofa captures me and I am lost in front of some silly TV program. As soon as Little H is asleep I go straight to the kitchen and make the sandwiches. Easy peasy.

There's nothing like a packed lunch!
(I wish we had Starbucks in Norway...)

 

The last time-saving being organized going-to-be-a-habit fix being implemented this week is to have my shower at night, put my clothes for the next day in the bathroom (after having checked the weather forecast and taken that into account when planning the outfit). It has worked pretty well so far, the only hitch being that have yet to implement a way to get my work clothes ironed, but thanks to Pappa Kas’ domestic skills (I have none) I have yet to wear a creased top. Thank God for his good habits!



Lady B and the keys

I am a dizzy person. I forget and I loose things. One of the things lost during the last year includes a really nice cardigan (Odd Molly) possibly forgotten in a coffee shop while being distracted by Little H’s shenanigans. I have asked for it in several places (you know you have to alternate cafés as not to be seen as a skiver when you hang around at daytime. Even with a baby), but no one has seen it. I am sure that there is a lucky lady out there somewhere who got a free cardigan to go with her coffee… If you read this: Lucky you.


One of the things easily lost or forgotten is my set of keys. During the last fortnight I have had two unfortunate incidents. I assure you; this is more often than usual.

Incident nr 1: We take little H to the nursery by bike in the morning, leave the bike at the nursery and take it home when we pick up her highness early afternoon. It works really well. Pappa Kas takes her in the morning and I take her home in the afternoon. Works as a dream and we are chuffed with our new routine. Last Monday I was to pick up the funny bunny and take her to her toddler swim class. I was right on time, came to the nursery, struggled to get H out of there and when the helmets were on and we were all organized to cycle away, I realized that I had forgotten the keys to the bike. I had to carry Little H, my laptop bag and a backpack with swimming stuff for at least a kilometer. I tried to get her to walk on her own several times, but she refused and it was no way in he** we would get there on time anyway if she was to walk by herself, stopping to look at birds, snails and wave to every passing car. I thought that I had learned my lesson, but…

In lack of a photo of my keys (I have no idea of where they are)
I am posting two cute photos of Little H brushing her teeth

Incident nr 2: Last Saturday I went to the town centre of Drammen to do some shopping. Pappa Kas and Little H was not too keen on going to the pharmacy, buying bread, getting tights for Lady B and other long overdue boring purchases. When I arrived home, I realized that the house keys were inside the house and that the other inhabitants of HB21 were out and about somewhere. I did not want to call and moan about me forgetting the keys (again), so I walked around the house testing doors and windows, but everything was as closed as an oyster. By then I had to pee and it started to rain, great. I decided to play scrabble on my phone (recently discovered, highly addictive) inside the car, and almost managed to finish a game before the happy couple came strolling down the driveway. Pappa Kas did not even comment. He is well used to these incidents by now.

As I was writing this I suddenly starting thinking about my access card to the office. At present I have no idea of when I saw it last and where I can have put it. Never mind, the girl at the reception knows me and my habits and she always has an extra card (reserved especially for me) waiting at her desk every morning -just in case.

In lack of a photo of my keys (I have no idea of where they are)
I am posting two cute photos of Little H brushing her teeth

As boring as - curtains...

There are not that many things my mother and Pappa Kas’ mother has in common, it is the love of their childen of course and the unhealthy obsession with Little H, but otherwise, my mum is blond, my mother-in-law dark, my mum cooks as little as possible (sorry mum), while my mother in-law never stops . But there is one thing they both agree on – curtains!

When we moved into our house four years ago, we did a lot of redecoration, tearing down walls, building new walls in other places –you get the point. The couple who lived here before was in their 60-ies, very traditional, mature, and proper… so you might get an idea of what the house looked like.
We fell in love with the view and the location; we saw potential for a happy family life in the green house on the hill with apple trees in the garden and enough bedrooms both for visitors from Spain and a handful of kids.

View to the left

View to the right

After having done massive renovations on the top floor, we were proud of our new living room and kitchen and very eager to show it off to the families. We invited my parents for an inspection. As soon as my mum stepped into the living room she uttered: “It will be nice in here when you get some curtains…” Pappa Kas’ mum said almost the same the first time she entered the same living room, but it was more in a surprised way: “Where are the curtains?”


And here they are:

Curtains made by me! (sorry for crap photo)

Every time I tell Sergio that I want curtains or blinds for a room and that I am going to make them myself, he politely asks if it’s not easier if we buy them. What he really means is that then he will get them this week and not in six months.

Well, if I found curtains that I liked I would certainly buy them. But the curtains I see in my mind or in interior magazines are never to be found anywhere. So I buy meters and meters of fabric and put it in the cupboard with the other meters and meters of fabric I have stored and am planning to make all sorts of lovely stuff from.

This time I only spent a month making them, they did not cost an arm and a leg and I am quite proud of the result (hence a blog entry on the topic).

It was only beginners luck

I should have known that I wrote too soon when I wrote about how great Little H’s first days at the nursery had been.
We’re now at the start of week three, another fresh start and a spot of sunshine, but the nursery is not all fun and games anymore. Not for Little H, neither for her parents.


Snuggling with Pappa Kas



This week started as last week ended. Like this...

Friday morning everything was fine, Little H drank her milk, changed from her pajamas into clothes that I dared send her out of the house with, and got ready without major tantrums. The only delay, but I’m getting used to this by now, was that she took everything out of the bathroom drawers when I was putting on my make-up adding the finishing touches before leaving the house. She might be thinking that I spend too long...

So far so good, when we got to the nursery she seemed exited by the prospect of spending another day with her newfound pals and the abundance of bright plastic toys with bite-marks. Smoooth I thought, I might even catch an earlier train. So I took of her jacket, then shoes, put on indoor-shoes, got her breakfast box out of her back-pack. By that point Little H was being rather clingy, clingy in the way she normally hangs on to Pappa Kas when he is around. This was a new experience for me, but I would rather that her desperate need to be with her mum came at another more convenient time, as I was going to catch my train and therefore no time for long-lasting cuddles.

It is not all that bad (for me at least)I am being a little comforted by seeing Little H crying and waving her arms, kicking her legs and crying big crocodile tears when I leave her at the nursery. At least she is showing that she is attached to her mother and wants to be with her, I am thinking happy with my mothering skills.




Sad little H - This breaks my heart


So on Friday I stood behind a corner outside the nursery for a couple of minutes trying to listen for my Little H’s desperate cries for help, but I heard nothing so I took a peak through the window. She was then sitting happily on one of the assistants’ laps, eating her breakfast sandwich and giving one of her performances: talking enthusiastically with her whole body, smiling and stroking her ears with fingers full of mackerel in tomato sauce.

So much for missing her mum….

Little H has just shown her mum the sailboat she has bought her parents...

What's the hassle?



Little H takes a taxi to the nursery



This week I thought I would have several hilarious blog entries on how Little H refused to stay at the nursery, having wild tantrums, crying crocodile tears and so on when me and Pappa Kas wanted to leave her in "toddler heaven" - a house full of friends to play with, exciting new toys and entertaining grown-ups who spontaneously starts singing. I was wrong.

There is nothing to report! No trouble so far what-so-ever. What does that say about her parents, when we can wave goodbye, leave her in the hands of strangers to get back seven hours later and Little H refuses to come home with us?



Well, as a friend put it (when I expressed my concern that the staff must think that we are bad parents when Little H doesn't cry (not so much as a little gulp and sad eyes) when her parents leave and does not want to go home when we come to pick her up: "they are used to all sort of parents at the nurseries..." 

Thanks!

A(nother) geek in the house

When I met Pappa Kas towards the end of my final year at university, my friends called him the Geek. Was it due to his studies in computer science, his glasses or the fact that he spent a lot of time helping me in the computer lab? Or all of the above? Well, he got me fooled, I fell in love with a computer geek over long hours in the lab, but his efforts were not in vain . As a reward for his hard work I invited him home for tea. A cup of tea must mean something very different in Spain, as I think he was really disappointed when he only got a cup of chamomile (without sugar).

In the end tea and web-design led to almost 10 years together, a marriage and little H. You look through tinted glasses when in love, but I guess that we both have our flaws that only came out after living together for a while. Mine might have been a surprise, but with a boyfriend nicknamed the Geek, I should have known what I was getting into.
Well, It could have been worse. His incureable virus is a fascination for PC’s, game consoles,electronic boxes of various sorts, wires and gadgets and other stuff that I do not have the faintest idea of what is / how it works. I am not saying that I don’t like my Iphone, my laptop and my Ipad, but not so much that I take them to bed with me…

I guess that I should have seen it coming, that Little H is very much like her father. She might look like me with her blue eyes, round face, Buddha belly and blond hair, but she must have her father’s geek genes.

So far she has deleted several apps on my phone and she knows how to use various remote controls. Yesterday while Granny B was babysitting, she turned off the TV after the children’s program (good girl), to show that that was enough telly for one day. She turns on the stereo and signals when she wants to change the CD. She knows how to show off when on Skype with her Spanish relatives (plays shy, claps, dances all depending on the mood of the day) while she does not when “normal” TV is on.

She gets stroppy when she cannot play with our laptops. Her fingers run over a keyboard as soon as she gets a chance. And she knows how to browse pictures on our phones. The other day I found the following apps on my Ipad: My first puzzles, Phone for Kids, Paint sparkles, and a really annoying one which plays animal sounds when you tap the picture of the animal.

I certainly did not install these, I'm blaming little H (with good assistance by Pappa Kas).