Blizzard, fish au gratin and puppy training

First proper blizzard of the year. I love it! Runar didn't love it quite as much early this morning driving to work before the plow trucks had cleared the main road. Good thing he's an experienced driver and old enough to know that you just have to take it slow and easy on such days. He called when he got to work, telling me he had gotten to work in one piece, because he knows I'll be worried sick about him if he doesn't. Is it any wonder I love this man? It was chaos on the roads, alright. Part of the main road closed off. Semi trucks without chains blocking the lanes, etc. This happens every year when the first proper snowfall comes. People go nuts. I get that foreigners aren't used to winter climate and get in trouble in this weather, but the rest of us? How can people forget about winter and slippery roads when living in Norway?!? Amazing! He'll be working overtime today, no doubt about that!

The day before yesterday I made the perfect fish au gratin. Best part, the boys loved it! Simen even ate the leftovers the next day – which, you know, you don’t get better proof than that.  Why was it perfect? I’m not sure, as I didn’t use any premium quality fish. Either way, I choose to give the honor to my kid sister, who whipped the egg whites and thus made the dish perfect.  

I know it seems silly to go all overboard for a stupid au gratin, but it’s always bothered me that the boys won’t eat fish.  I’m of the opinion that fish is good for you and should be on the dinner menu regularly. Helene and I love fish and we’ll even make grilled salmon filets when we’re alone, having an all girlie night dinner. 

The boys? Not so much. The only fish dish they have eaten without complaining loudly has been freshly fished mountain trout, but you only get that during summer. They’ve eaten fish au gratin, but it’s sort of a forced kind of effort for them. Now I think I finally found the recipe that will make them want to eat fish more often. Huzzah! 

Yesterday my brother in law dropped by, looking bedraggled and completely warn out.  Puppy training takes its toll :P He was desperate and didn’t know what to do. I think he regretted ever getting a puppy. He’s been bringing the pup with him to work, because he made a deal with the owner allowing him to keep her in the upstairs office. Vera taught herself how to walk down stairs. Not only did she jump on customers, but she also figured out how the doors to the street opens…yeah he had to leave early and he got today off as well, explaining he needed to train Vera some manners. :P  

Vera is a feisty, smart and clever puppy. My kind of dog.  This morning I helped show him some puppy training tips – the kind that function both as fun games for the pup as well as obedience training. It’ll create a bond btw dog and owner and  it’ll wear the pup out mentally, which is important with smart dogs. All the walks in the world won’t do you any good, if the pup is still full of curious feistiness when you get back home. I showed one trick once. That was enough for Vera to get it and for Thomas to know how and what to do. I watched them go at it and it was such a joy.  There is clearly a loving bond between them already. I believe they'll be fine. =)

Baking cookies

Today my sister and I will be baking Christmas cookies. Only easy ones [read quickly and easily made] We've done this before and we're a good team. Half of them will be for my parents - as has become the tradition....I'm not sure how that arrangement came about, but it's been the custom for years, now.

I'm not quite done with the Christmas cleaning. I've finished washing windows and all the doors. I've done the walls and ceiling, etc in the bathrooms, hallways and the kitchen. I've got the living room and the master bedroom left. I've also left to clean out all of the cupboards in the Kitchen. I'll be doing the living room tomorrow. Simen has done his room himself and hubby will have to do the ceiling. I can't get my right arm up above my shoulder anymore - dratted fibro! <.<; He knows this and agrees to help me, but he maintains the right to not like doing it. Noticeably. Loudly. And demonstratively.

Also, because there's been so much crazy stuff happening at hubby's work place and because he's been working almost around the clock, he's getting 3 days off this week. Ka-ching! Happy cabin-time!

We had Berit, the Atlantic storm, visiting this weekend. Poweroutages happened all over the coutnry on and off for most of the weekend. There is something otherwordly when the winds howl around corners and threaten to rip off roofs and uproot trees. We had to keep the doors locked, or they'd be opened by the wind and blown off the hinges. It's happened before and since it was also raining sideways, we didn't feel like taking the risk of having to struggle in the freezing rain, getting hinges repaired and the door back on...

On our way home we drove out to the sea. The sight of a storming ocean is spectacular and the roar of the battling waves, deafening. The storm didn't hit my parts of the country too bad. They got it worst on the west coast and along the coast up in the north. Huge mud-slides took out roads. There were several floods and several communities were completely isolated while it lasted. Linky to some stormy pictures