The Tough Norwegian Bird

My great-grandma Olga passed away today. Although she was 91, it still came out of nowhere. I haven't seen her for many years, but in my mind her image as the tough Norwegian bird has never changed. This was a lady who still did the jumble and crossword every day, who told me once that "it wasn't too cold today" in her town of North Dakota...followed by "it was -11." Not too cold? Negative 11? And this was in her late 80's? That's right, tough Norwegian bird.

Last year before she went to bed, she reached over to shut the blinds, fell, and broke her hip. Not wanting to bother anyone, she decided to pull a blanket off the bed, and lie on the floor till 6 a.m., when it was okay to call someone. Eight hours on the floor with a broken hip? Tough bird. I told her that next time she should call me, because I would have had no problem "bothering" people late at night in North Dakota, even it was -11. 

The twins (my mom and gma) are flying out Wednesday, while I head South to hang out with grandpa. I know back there they will encounter many other tough Norwegian ladies, and probably a few Icelanders too. Ben thinks its the salted fish that keeps them feisty and kicking with their "yah sure ya betchas" and yummy Lefsa. I have a few thoughts of my own too.

What we know for sure is that our tough Norwegian bird Olga Rheaume will definitely be missed.

Yah sure ya betcha.

Three Cups of New Year

I do admit that I have not hit the pavement once and logged any miles since the beginning of the new year. Nor have I abstained from anything most people swear to stop indulging in, as can be witnessed by the pan of half-eaten fudge brownies I made last night. I did not make any new year's resolutions, just one personal goal. However, I feel that I started off the new year right, with a feeling of contentment towards what 2009 will bring, and reading one of the best book's I ever experienced, further supporting my hopefulness: Three Cups of Tea. 

When Ben and I were in Cinque Terra, we both read through all the books we had brought, along with each other's (my personal favorite was  A Year in Provence), so we headed to a shop that featured English books. There were only a few selections, and since demand was high and supply low, the paperbacks were all reasonably priced for around $25 USD...yikes. This was when I first say Three Cups of Tea, but Ben was more interested in another book A Fortune Teller Told Me (which by the way, is another super interesting book), so we bought that and enjoyed it in Siena. 

Remembering how interesting the book looked, I put Three Cups on reserve at the library, but since I was number 253 on only 20 copies, Margaret was kind enough to lend me her copy over Christmas. I read the forward the other night with marginal interest, but last night I sat down to put in a few chapters and by 11 p.m. read the last page. 

This book is remarkable...well, the man who it is about is remarkable: Greg Mortenson. A brief synopsis is that Mortenson having unsuccessfully climbed K2, accidentally wandered into a remote village of Pakistan on his way down...so remote, he was the first foreign visitor to ever set foot in the town. Learning the village had no school, and due to the gratefulness for saving his life, Mortenson vowed to come back to the village and build a school. 

His struggles, dedication and accomplishments are truly extraordinary, as is the realization that one person can honestly make a difference; and in an area most Americans associate with hatred and terrorism, he is able to shed light on the problems of these stereotypes, and how by building schools instead of dropping bombs, we can truly promote peace. 

It might sound corny, or not that interesting, but I promise you, you will be blown away.

Happy New Year! 

An Extraordinary Year

Looking back on 2008, it seems almost unfathomable all that has transpired. When we rang in the new year, Ben was living in San Francisco and now one year later we're married and in Seattle.

The year started off with traveling adventures to St. Louis and then the six-week trek around western Europe. Those trips were amazing and changed our course together--i.e. if you can spend six weeks of 24/7 togetherness carrying a heavy backpack, lost, tired and smelly, and still find each other appealing, than the sky's the limit. 

The summer was full of wedding planning, a lot of running, and preparing to leave our beloved Portland for the Emerald City. Truthfully everything after September 21st (the move date) is a blur filled with new jobs, the realization I am a student again and have to be self-motivated, to the wedding and everything else in between. We are still mourning the loss of Pablo, yet with the circle of life were blessed with little angels (Emily & Luke, Cameron).

In the last few days of 2008, I am enjoying my freedom and sleeping in, while Ben works tirelessly at his new job. It doesn't seem fair, and I do feel guilty, but as he keeps reminding me, everything will change come Monday so I better enjoy it. And so I am.

We hope the new year brings everyone happiness, joy, love and lots of laughter. See you in 2009.

Oh How Fast Things Can Change

Two weekends ago on Saturday evening (December 13) it started to snow. As excited as I was when I saw the first few flakes, I was worried about Katie and Mark driving to Seattle for the Jingle Bell Run the next day, and whether or not the race would be canceled. Katie assured me that the Jingle Bell organizers would not cancel the race ("no matter what"), so we watched the snowflakes accumulate knowing that tomorrow we would be running "no matter what."

At 6:15 a.m. the alarm went off and the four of us (Ben to work; KT, Mark and I to the race) headed out the front door and walked downtown in the freezing (24 degrees) weather. To make a long story short, I fell, we thought the race started at 8 a.m. and were downright flabbergasted when at 7:15 a.m.we realized in the "Arctic Blast" that we had to make ourselves warm until 9 a.m. when the race really started. Mark was so excited, since this was his first race, and we traveled from booth to booth gathering free stuff (coffee, blinking lights, handwarmers, chapstick) and then resided in the mall until it was race time.

We ran carefully through the icy streets (making sure to not run over any elves, santas, reindeer, penguins or gingerbreadmen...we apparently missed the dressing up memo), and then faster through the tunnel where the ground was safe and a spontaneous chorus of Jingle Bells broke out. After the race we walked home, enjoying the cold weather, feeling like true Northwesterners (no weather will stop us) and went home to eat pancakes hoping it would snow more (once KT and Mark made it safely to Tacoma).

Oh how fast things change...

It is now 1.5 weeks later and I hate the snow and cold weather. HATE IT! I actually went outside yesterday and shouted two words I never thought I'd say: "STOP SNOWING!" Growing up in Longview, or the Northwest in general, we typically do not see snow, so when it falls, we normally rejoice at it's beauty, the rare chance to have a "snowday" from school and work and bundle up in our jammies and just enjoy the silence it brings.

Not anymore.

It won't stop. It won't allow us to leave the house (I feel like I'm on lockdown), nor will it allow anyone else to travel. Friends are stuck in New York and California. Family are stuck in Portland and Seattle and the snow is threatening to keep us apart for Christmas. Granted, everyone is safe, with electricity, running water and lots of food, but every night I pray for rain. Whoever thought people in Longview, Portland or Seattle would want rain...

Oh how fast things change.

Merry Christmas wherever you might be.

A Student's Wish

Dear paper fairy,

Please come over and finish my papers that are due next week. They are already started, but since I am suffering from either severe lack of motivation or writer's block, or just anxiety about making these papers ridiculously perfect and trying to salvage my grades that have indeed suffered this quarter due to multiple external forces (i.e. a move, wedding, etc.) I can't seem to finish them.

Okay, okay, you're busy...fine. Do you think that when you are swooping down to help another floundering student you could hit the kid across from me at the table in the library with your magic club (wand...whatever) on the head so that he'll turn his terrible, and I mean terrible, and super loud music down that is blasting through his headphones and causing me to have to put on my headphones just to drown him out? I know I'm from Longview, and enjoy my fair share of country music...but that is just bad. And in my arsenal? That's right it's the Christmas with the Rat Pack CD, take that! Because it's the only thing I have downloaded on my laptop besides the Charlie Brown Christmas which is coming up next. Christmas joy coming at you all day long. I hope he pukes on my early December joyfulness (well at least when I'm not doing papers).

Of course, it's not half as annoying as the girl last week who was popping her gum while doing her math homework. I appreciate you stepping in and sprinkling some magic paper fairy dust over her head so that she fell asleep. Drool is better than popping. 

Yes, I will now get back to my paper. I'll still be here in a few hours and the next couple of days though if you change your mind.

Under pressure (and loves and hugs),

The student