Ho Ho Ho

Christmas. What a heavy string of letters. For so many years it was a  nightmare for me. You tried to keep up the spirit of Christmas and show a happy face. Play with the kids, even though your head was killing you and you were so tired you could barely concentrate.

These days we've gotten into a routine that works well for us. We provide the meat and take on roles as cooks, the inlaws provide the house, vegetables and beverages. They are also cooks in charge of the greens, taters, etc. The rest of hubby's siblings have spouses and alternate spending the Eve with us, or his/her family. Time always varies, because it is for the families with the youngest children, to decide what suits them best.  It's relaxed and fairly informal, although everyone wears suits and dresses.The small children are happy and loud, running around everywhere.


 I have to admit, this year I really enjoyed Christmas Eve. Even though Runar decided that Christmas Eve 2013, was the Eve we celebrated that our children having become grownups.

 The dinner was a success. So was dessert. Runar pulled a Spanish one and told MIL I had already made the  rice pudding. , the day before. I hadn't, but they like mine better than MILs.  I made too little, well, I didn't, but I thought 1 big bowl of it would be more than enough and left one bowl at home, because Simen loves it so much. Boy, was I wrong! They friggin' licked the bowl. And it was a big bowl, too.  Simen didn't get any at all. He had snuck off to wrap some presents and we didn't notice he was gone. Poor, overlooked kid. He knew about the full bowl waiting for him at home and took it in stride, though. That kid is so happy in love these days, I believe he'd let us off for murder. They look awfully cute together, the young turtledoves. It's almost icky.

It was wonderful to have Helene home, which is such a cliché, but it was. and it was really nice to get to know her Runar better too(It is very confusing, having two Runars in the house). I like him. If we measure him by how well and happy Helene looks, he scores well high.

We got home fairly early and everyone being in good mood, we brought out the aquavit, the JD and the beer. We then proceeded getting our kids so drunk they puked and Simen even needed to be helped to bed.

(My) Runar was pleased. "Now the kids know us, they've seen us with our guards down and we have showed them we view them as grownups. We've let Runar know he is welcome -AND! (here he held his index finger up) We all went to bed happy. Well, some were perhaps a bit on the sick side, but still."

He is right in many ways, but I'm not so sure it is a good thing to get drunk with your kids. Maybe it is my upbringing. Maybe it is all the lecturing on this, everywhere. Maybe I just need a bit more time before I completely can accept that my children are no longer children. Besides. Alcohol is a scary monster and always plays a tricky game. It doesn't always work out that well. Sometimes it works out downright bad.  There is also an inner voice screaming at me that this can lead to bad things, that they'll end up as alcoholists, or worse.

I beat him down, that voice, yesterday. Because, I know that sometimes it works.

Runar parents got us puking drunk when we were young. We discussed difficult subjects and embarrassing subjects. We laughed and we cried.  We were drunk-honest and we over-shared. But we were still on good terms when we went to bed.

I loved his parents for it, then. I really got to know them well, that night and we've had a good relationship up through the years. They made me feel welcome and I still do.  It's easy to ask them for help and it's easy to go to them for advice.

I don't know if this will be the case with our kids and their chosen partners, but I do know that was hubby's goal.  And mine.

Regardless, it was a really nice evening until the puking started and by then it was waaay late and time to go to bed.

This morning I woke up to Marianne having pooped on the living room floor carpet and after I had taken her out, she came in and immediately started throwing up on the bedroom rug. I threw out the rug and immediately went back to bed. When I got up an hour later, Helene and Runar were already up. Helene greeted me with a grin, asking me how I was holding up and after seeing my hangover face, they both burst out laughing. I choose to take that as  a sign they had enjoyed themselves. I later overheard Simen and Helene discussing their elegant exits the previous night. Helene triumphantly declared herself winner, as he puked first. It's good to know some things never change.

It was the first year, celebrating Christmas Eve with grown up kids. It has been one of the best Eves in my life, if not the best.

I hope yours were  good ones, too. Merry Christmas.

Hang in there, guys.

Christmas will come and even if things didn't turn out quite the way you dreamed it, it'll probably be a good one, regardless ;-)

So, how goes it with your Christmas preparations? I score a big MEH this year.

 I completely and utterly failed at getting the Christmas box ready for my family in Ohio. I ended up doing the last minute panic solution, that shouldn't have happened, but did.  I promised myself last year that this year I'd start getting it ready in August, but that didn't happen. July - December this year was quite the tricky solitaire to puzzle together financially. Everything that wasn't an emergency got put on hold. Each day was a puzzle and each week needed careful planning. It took up all of the creative space in my brains. The various car emergencies didn't exactly help. Still, it's really no excuse. It's not about the money, it's about creativity and making my American mom something personal. This year I just haven't been able to pull the creative me out of hiding. Except from the knitting, I haven't made stuff this fall.

Even though I haven't finished with the gift shopping, I'm not stressed out. I can't quite decide if that is a good sign, or a really REALLY bad sign, but I'm going to pretend it's a good sign, until the opposite has been proven. Christmas will come and I know it will be a good one. There will be good food and laughs and happy family. I am not going to stress out and become grumpy just because, you know, it's not worth it!

I'm counting down days to Helene coming home. I miss her and wish I could fast forward time. On the phone the other day, she told me she had her Christmas gifts taken care of. How did I get so well organized kids?!?

Danica has a really good influence on Simen. I gave him money to buy a new pair of pants that could work for family dinners and parties that didn't involve a dress code(suit+tie) and I hinted that maybe he could get himself a nice shirt, too - half expecting him to growl at the suggestion. But whaddayaknow. He came home with a black shirt with a silver tie and a pair of dark blue jeans that DID NOT sag to the knees. I was speechless. All I could get out was a silent W.O.W. Turns out Danica had the same idea as I had and went along to help him pick something out. Apparently, she told him that he needed to look nice when she introduced him to her family. *giggles* She also gave him an intensive course in how to appropriately greet grownups. *laffs* I'm beginning to like this girl more and more!

Tomorrow, Hildegunn and I are getting my parents Christmas tree up and the house decorated for Christmas. We'll also take care of an old Christmas tradition my dad has kept since we were little kids. Comic books are big over here and each year they have a special Christmas edition. We've gotten one comic book each, together with a lollipop and candy. It's something we've all looked forward to and when the dinner and presents are finished on Christmas Eve, we sit down to relax with the candy and comic books - we swap them after we've done reading our own. This year dad told me he was getting too old and confused about who got what comic book. I made a deal with him that I would take over the baton and continue the race. It's such a feel-good tradition. It can't end.

Hildegunn will drive me up to the farm afterwards. This means I won't be able to join your chat, guys, which is sad. I love the video group chats. Mucho funn'o! I will, however, be able to greet Runar with a cosy warm cabin and a nice meal when he finishes work. He really deserves it.

That man has been busy lately. I am impressed at how well he copes with things waaaay outside his comfortzone. Last week, they attended a business meeting in Sweden and closed a really good deal with a German company that has had a Swedish company as sole agents in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Now Runar's firm will take over as agents in Norway. That deal alone will be enough to keep the company floating, plus salary to both of them. 

This week he's been in Austria visiting another big company together with a client and he's already made plans for another trip down there in January.

The guy is wearing suits on a daily basis. He is traveling by plane and whatnot. It's pretty amazing. I am falling in love with my old husband all over again. Nice!




This is going to be a baby hat when it's done. Nope, I can't make heads or tails of it, either. Yet. It's a new pattern I'm trying and Ellen says the hats come out very pretty when they're done. Time will show! [in Norwish accent (tee-meh vill sjåvv)]

The two finished baby hats. My niece, who is studying to become a doctor, is part of a project where they try to do something about the high rate of infant deaths in Ethiopia. She'll be going down there in January and will be bringing the hats with her.






Hope you guys have a fantabulous weekend!

Greetings from the cold north

Georg says Merry Christmas

Helene took Georg for a walk in the winter-wonderland

As you can see, Helene is wearing the epic fail Yoda hat. 

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS