Friday 27 April 2007

The sun is shining...!

It is suprising how much a bit of sunshine lifts the spirits. It is warm and sunny today - cannot complain. This time last year, we had tons of snow. This year the plum and cherry trees are already in blossom - freaky!

Oskar can now stand-up on his own and crawl too. It was a big day in his life yesterday... This of course means that we have to clear the decks....Oskar is coming!! Well, not quite. However, when in his "non-politically correct" babywalker, he is like the Tasmanian Devil;-) So far today, we have two pot plant casualties.....!

Wednesday 25 April 2007

It is going to be a long day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NILS. HAPPY 4TH ANNIVERSARY TO US!

SAS nightmare update 07.30 - I've sent an SMS to Nils to wish him "happy birthday". I've had no reply so far, so I am hoping he is at Christian's house having a proper sleep. Just hope his mobile isn't flat. We'll be glad when we know where "Daddy" is......! I looked on Copenhagen Airport this morning and the SAS flight to Brussels is also cancelled, so Nils wouldn't have gotten to his meeting...or back to Kristiansand.

Update 10.30 - No news from Nils....have tried calling his mobile, but no reply....getting worried....!

Update 12.00 - Have spoken to Nils:-) He's in Aalborg and will be going to Hirshals to get the "Ana Silvia" (Colorline) at 17.30. He will arrive in Kristiansand at 20.00 and will take either a bus or taxi back to Kjevik to pick up his car. ETA around 22.30:-)

Now I know why Nils took my laptop...his work one is pants! It crashed on me yesterday! Luckily, I am able to use the normal PC and amazed myself that I remembered the password to log on. Off to make a cheesecake whilst Oskar is sleeping. BTW it is another grey, miserable and wet day....!

Update 16.00 - Nils is in Hirshals. He has checked in for his crossing back to Kristiansand and just killing time at the moment before the 17.30 departure. It is 24 degrees in Hirshals - about 14 degrees warmer then here!

Final update on SAS nightmare - Nils arrived home at 22.40!

Tuesday 24 April 2007

SAS - DO not use this Airline!

The weather is grey and miserable. Nils has left for his trip to Brussels. He has taken my laptop with him, as the EU have issued more questions ahead of tomorrows EIAO meeting and my laptop is far better than his work issued Windows one! So, he will be able to work ,review and prepare whilst travelling.

So, what are Oskar and I up to? Well, as I type, he is having his nap. If I am lucky, it will be for 2 hours. Just enough time to sort out the washing, have lunch, prepare dinner.........! When he wakes, we'll have a trip to the local shops and then play for a bit. If I am really lucky I might get some "me" time after his bedtime. Time will tell.....!

A little update at 19:00 hrs. Nils is currently stranded in Copenhagen. SAS cabin personnel are on an unofficial strike! Nils is waiting in a massive queue, to find out "what happens next!" As it stands, it looks likely that he will spend the night in Denmark. If he can't be put on the 07.15 flight to Brussels(tomorrow), then he will be on a flight back to Norway! The annoying thing is that, he was booked on a KLM flight, but someone decided to change his flights to save a bit of money......expensive move, as the flight and hotel cancellation is a bit high for non-attendance of a very important meeting! But we'll see.....maybe he'll get to his meeting - I'll let you know!

Update 21:00hrs. There are NO rooms available for Nils, so now has to try and get back to Norway from Copenhagen. Total chaos at the airport and after waiting in a queue for 4 hours, still not managed to sort out "what to do next". Luckily, a Danish colleague was booked on the same flight to Brussels as Nils, so option A is to go by train to Aalborg and stay at Christians house tonight and travel by train and ferry back to Kristiansand to pick up his car. Option B is to try and get on the last flight to Torp this evening. If that is the case. I'll have to drive to the airport and pick Nils up (3hour round trip). Tomorrow, we then have to drive to Kjevik (Kristiansand Airport) to pick up Nils' car. Both options a real hassle! Just need to wait for another call from Nils to see what he decides.

Update 22:00hrs. Nils is going to make his way via train to Aalborg with Christian. The last flight to Torp was full...So, not sure what time they will reach Aalborg. Still chaos at the airport, so Nils hasn't managed to see any staff to get any info or receive food/drink vouchers....:-( The SAS website is totally out of touch with the situation. They are saying that passengers would be put up in hotels, offered vouchers! Are they not aware there are no rooms to be had on the CPH are of Denmark and Southern Sweden this evening?

Update 22.45hrs. The train from Copenhagen to Aalbourg will take 5 hours and departs at 00.30. Nils is hoping to get some sleep....It will then be further travel to Hirshals to get the ferry at 13.45. He'll arrive in Krisiansand at around 18.30 and then has to get a taxi or bus back to the airport for the car. It is then nearly a 2 hour drive back home. So, Nils will spend most of his Birthday/our anniversary travelling and will get back a couple of hours earlier than if he'd done the EIAO meeting! I'll be glad when he is back home.

Sunday 22 April 2007

Update on Oskar..

Firstly, did I tell you we had a new front door? It is a lovely shade of dark green and will look perfect, when fitted in July. I'll no longer be embarassed by the state of our current entrance to the house;-)

Oskar is nearly 10 months old now - just can't believe how time has flown by....! He has 5 teeth and is a chatterbox! He loves his food and will now try almost anything. Although I still make a few dishes specifically for him, he mostly eats what we do - perfect. long may it last...! Looks like we have finally cracked the milk thing too. He was more than happy to take a bottle from me for the first time this evening. Good job too, as Nils will be away Tuesday and Wednesday, so I'll be on my own. I'm so glad that we have got over this hurdle. Now we just have to re-introduce the bedtime routine, which has slipped a bit over the past couple of weeks. There is always something...!

Wednesday 18 April 2007

MM Idol

Those of you that know me, will know that I spend a little bit of time on UKS everyday. So I am delighted, that a member of UKS - Suzanne Torr reached the top three in the MM Idol competition. A fantastic achievement for a talented lady -well done. It is also refreshing that scrappers from other parts of the world are beginning to make their mark in the world of scrapbooking.

Tuesday 17 April 2007

Scrapbooking Magazines.


It looks like there is going to be a new scrapbook magazine hitting the stores in June. This time, it is exclusively for Scandinavian scrapbookers - Skandinavisk Scrapbooking. Of course, I'll be subbing to this new magazine. However, I feel by doing this, that it will be a kiss of death for the yet to be published........! I don't have a good experience for subscribing to scrapbook magazines. Both Scrapbook Magic (British) and Scrapbook Answers (US), were great reads and very popular. But their publishing companies decided to pull the plug on both. Just hope that this "new kid on the block" will last longer than a 12-18 months. Saying that, Ett Trykk, a Norwegian stamping bi-monthly, with card making/Scrapbooking seems to do reasonably well. There may be hope..!

So, what else am I doing? Well, looking for new stock for Ellesea! It is so hard, when you want to buy it all-LOL! I have decided to make a few changes with Ellesea. As the current market is saturated with similar stores, it is important to do something different to the competition. So, we are now different!

Also had my hair cut today:-)

Oskar is continuing to do well. We had a little hiccup the other night when Nils started to give him his bedtime bottle, but everthing is fine now. A bonus is that Oskar is sleeping through the night too:-) The big test will be next week. Nils will travel to Brussels for a review meeting for the EIAO project (European Internet Accessibility Observatory), so Oskar will have to hopefully take a bottle from me......keep your fingers crossed!

Sunday 15 April 2007

Work finished for the time being....!



My scraproom now has 3 new windows. The renovation work is finished for now and will re-commence in July. To coincide with this, Oskar and I will spend a month in UK, to escape all the dust and mess! Can't escape the dust at the moment though, but the cleaning process shouldn't take too much time. I can't wait to get cracking in my room again and I'm sure Oskar will like been back in there once again. Now the weather is warming up, it is nice cool, unlike the rest of the house.

The end of work also means that Mum, Dad and Uncle George have now gone back to UK. I'm sure Oskar will miss all the extra attention he has been getting over the past 10 days. Just have to wait and see if he will continue to accept a bedtime bottle off Nils or me......."Mummy Milk is coming off the menu...."

Wednesday 11 April 2007

The Work Continues.............!


I spent a bit of time in the garden this morning raking up some leaves. Just need to get rid of them now!
So, the final window to be replaced in the scrapping room is out and should be in shortly. The weather is perfect at the moment, so ideal working conditions. The back of the house is now a workplace with a couple of daffodils dotted around!

Tuesday 10 April 2007

Operation House Fix

So, my scraproom is another work room at the moment - one for House Fixer!! He is currently putting new windows in the room. So far, two have been replaced and he is now working on the third! I can't wait for the work to finish so that I can try and get in there and do some scrapping. I've tons of ideas whirling around my head. Just hope that Oskar will allow me the time to do something creative!

Oskar seems to be going through a growth spurt at the moment and eating so well. There isn't much he wont try! Still trying to get him to take formula. But haven't yet found a way that he will take his milk. ( apart from Mummy!) We'll just keep trying!

Monday 2 April 2007

Is it April already?

Where has the 1st quarter of the year gone?