We came back from France last Sunday night, and arrived at the house a little past midnight Monday morning.

One of the bitches of traveling by plane, is the weight restrictions - in our case, 20kg of checked in luggage and 10kg of cabin luggage. Because the excess kilos cost an arm and a leg, we decided to send a lot of stuff by mail. Even by getting rid of about 25kg divided into four prepaid boxes, we were still quite close to the weight limit... One of the reasons for this might have been the four bottles of wine we had in each suitcase, but still...

We had a very good time in France, seeing members of Sylvain's family again, some after a one and a half year wait. The weather in Argelès wasn't as good as it could have been, but we still managed to go swimming and get a tan (and a slight sunburn...).

When we got to Evry and Sylvain's mom, we went to see the Chateau of Vaux le Vicomte, which supposedly inspired Louis XIV to build his Chateau at Versailles.

Monday afternoon, Sylvain's friends from Rennes came, and spent the night here, to be a bit closer to the airport. They got to see some of our life here, amongst other things, the house where we lived before, and where Sylvain works.

Wednesday (yesterday) afternoon, my dad and Anggun (the cat), arrived by train from the south of Norway. Anggun will stay with us for a few weeks, before we bring her with us back south. Dad returns to the south tomorrow afternoon, after which The vacation marathon, part 2 begins...

I had my last exam yesterday. Man, it is good to be done! Especially when I haven’t had classes for the past few weeks...

I’m spending today vegging and washing clothes. Tomorrow, my mom and a friend of mine are coming for a two day visit. Then, on Friday, Sylvain and I are off to France. Hopefully, the weather there will be as good as it has been here for the past couple of weeks. I’ve even started to get a tan! :)

My second birthday 'day' started quite early in the morning, because we were finally going to Ikea!!!

When we arrived there, the parking lot was already full. We didn't have to drive around for too long, though, before finding a space.

We started upstairs in the big furniture department, because we were looking for a couch for our living room.  We were looking for something simple, not too big, and with a built-in chaise-lounge. We had looked in a few other furniture stores before coming to Ikea, but we could end our search here, because we found something we both liked. What we ended up with, was this couch, but with gray washable covers.

We also wanted to buy a "singing" water boiler compatible with our induction stove. We already had an electrical water boiler, but the socket where we plug it in is attached to a fuse which also provides current to the living room, where we plug in our two 2000W oil heaters. Basically, when we want to boil something and use the oil heaters at the same time, the fuse blows. (Fortunately, we have the modern system, so we don't spend a fortune on fuses!)

We got 55cl (1pt 3fl.oz) beer glasses because I wanted huge glasses to drink from. I think this obsession with huge glasses comes from my brother always taking ours at home, leaving none for me. But now, I finally have my own, and they fit exactly in the kitchen shelves!

We got curtains for the bedroom and for the bathroom, a bedside table lamp for Sylvain, oven mittens, sheets for our newly acquired cots, and hangers for the bathroom door. We also stopped by the food section to get double chocolate crisp cookies for Sylvain.

My parents were coming up again with the black leather armchairs they had been storing for us, a bottle of champagne and a birthday cake.  We met at Ikea, and because Sylvain was getting tired of shopping, he went with my dad in my parents' car and drove towards the house. I finished up the shopping with my mom, and we drove Sylvain's and my car home.

We had a very nice dinner consisting of duck meat with a side of potatoes, apples and sauce, accompanied by red wine (white wine for me, but I'd already finished my half bottle before the meal started). For dessert, we had the cake my parents brought, a cream cake with chocolate sprinkles around the sides and a marzipan top. Yum!

My mom and I spent the rest of the night watching the newest BBC version of Sense and sensibility, adapted by Andrew Davis, who also wrote the screenplay for Pride and Prejudice (the one with Colin Firth and the "wet shirt" sequence).

I turned a quarter of a century yesterday.

I will have had two celebrations this year, one with "only" Sylvain, which was yesterday, and one with Sylvain and my parents Saturday (see Happy 25th birthday to me, part two).

It all started at midnight yesterday, when Sylvain gave me my present, a pair of white gold, sapphire and diamond earrings :

You'll have to excuse poor quality, I took the picture myself with my cellphone.

I spent the day at home, waiting for our new washing machine to arrive. To make a long story short, when it hadn't arrived at 3pm, I phoned Elkjøp's call center to figure out what was going on. After about 30 minutes, they call me back to tell me that the people who were supposed to deliver the washing machine hadn't been told, but that it could be delivered now asap, if I had someone in the house who could help to carry. The machine is now installed underneath the dryer :D, but I've learned my lesson to not go back to that store again...

But before this happened, I got an unexpected visit from two firemen who were inspecting the pipe and the presents of fire alarms and extinguisher(s).  We had to search for a while to find the pipe hatch, which was hidden behind some shelves in the kitchen, and clearly broken. We have to get a mason fix that, and some cracks in the pipes.

I checked the papers for the house, and I reconfirm the poor work of the guy deciding the state and value of the property. It clearly states that the guy hadn't bothered to move furniture to check for damages on the non-visible sides (including the pipe hatch, apparently!!!). I hope this is sufficient grounds for a "hidden faults" insurance claim!

I'd told Sylvain I wished to eat pancakes and muffins for my (first) birthday dinner, and that is what I got! In addition, he had found, and chilled, a bottle of Coteaux du Layon wine, a sweet wine from the Loire valley, to go with the meal. YUM! 

With the help of my parents (and their car), a trailer and two of Sylvain’s colleagues, we were able to move all the rest of our stuff into our new house.

We had a lunch break in the middle of the day, where each of us got a slice each of Sylvain’s chocolate cake for dessert. Yum!!

We were able to use the stove and the dish washer for the first time, and they work very well. The dish washer only emits 45dB, and so we hardly hear it. Fortunately, it has a display indicating the time remaining.

We have also decided to buy a new washing machine, because we don’t really have space for the old one in the "wash room", because it opens on top and not in front.

It won’t be thrown out though, because it can be put into good use in our "guest house" in the south of Norway, so guests will have the possibility to wash things at their convenience.

Today, Sylvain, my parents and I went back to the apartment in Eidsvoll to clean it and this. It took us 1 1/2hrs to finish - without my parents we would have had to double that... When we were almost done, I went up to the landlords, who told me to just leave the keys in the apartment. They don’t seem to be afraid of burglars...

We were lucky to be done yesterday, though, because it started to snow last night, and hasn’t stopped yet...

All we have to do now, is start tidying up the house. I’m hoping to have the house warming party before the summer, but there’s no rush...

... and another gets filled with our stuff.

The guys who were installing the Internet connection at the house came yesterday. Beforehand, we had agreed on their coming between 2pm and 4pm, so I'd have enough time to get back from Oslo after class.

When we were installing Internet at the old place, the guy came well after the time we'd agreed upon. This time, I got a call from one of the guys while I was driving from Eidsvoll to Råholt, and the whole thing was over within 20 minutes. Frankly, I was a bit disappointed, because I'd brought my computer and game pad to pass the time while waiting for them to arrive...

Today, we got our freezer, etc, delivered. The delivery guy called me well in advance, so I had the time to get over to the house, which was what we'd agreed upon in the store. While we were talking, he asked me how he would be able to find the house, which caught me off guard... wouldn't you think that every delivery guy had a GPS these days?

I'm not very capable to get around the area without a GPS myself, so I had some trouble trying to explain. Fortunately, though, I have two distinct landmarks quite close to the main road leading up to the house - one discount supermarket called Lidl (a German discount supermarket chain) and the roof of a school which reminds me a bit of the Centre Pompidou-style from Paris.

I am now able to drive from Eidsvoll to Råholt without a GPS, though, which isn't bad for someone who has as bad a sens of direction as me (is it really only a woman thing?)...

Next step is to get all the big items from Eidsvoll to Råholt, which will be done (hopefully) this weekend.

A while ago, I went into an art (paintings) store in Oslo with my mom, because she wanted to show me something she was thinking of buying. What caught my attention, however, was this painting of Audrey Hepburn (of Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and My Fair Lady, amongst others)

hanging on the wall. It was made by a Spanish artist called Antonio de Felipe, and also exists with a red background. Basically, I fell head over heals over it!

My mom suggested later that it could be my and Sylvain’s moving in present from her and my dad, but when I later discovered the price (7500NOK/1440USD/926EUR), we gave up the idea.

By then, I’d taken a picture of it with my cell phone to show Sylvain, who surprised me by saying he’d pay for it if I couldn’t live without it. I was ecstatic!

Because we were on Easter holiday at the time, and far away from the store, I was a bit worried it would get sold before I got back (the guy in the store told me Easter was often the period when couples came in to buy art). Fortunately, I have a friend who was in the capital anyway, and she generously offered to go reserve it for me! (You’ll get your chocolate very soon, M!)

Yesterday was my first day back at the university after Easter, and I grabbed a friend, and the opportunity, to go buy the painting. It will go up on the wall in our future living room.

I’ve made a wish list of products from the UK, the US and France. If you are coming to visit us from either of these countries, an item or two from this list will be greatly appreciated!

When I was a kid, I got my first taste of video games through my brothers' Commodore  64 computer. Some years later, my parents bought me a Super Nintendo, and a Super Mario World game (where we get to use the dragon Yoshi for the first time) to go with it. I later also got the Super Mario All Stars game, which contains a collection of the Super Mario games released before Super Mario World.

Last year, I realized that I would like to play those games again, but had two problems:

• My old Super Nintendo was broken

• Even if the game box wasn’t broken, we didn't have anywhere to plug it into, because we don't own a TV, only computers
  

A question remained; was there a possibility to find a way to play the Nintendo games on computers, or was it a lost cause? Fortunately, I have a computer genius (at least in comparison to me) for a boyfriend. He found the game emulator online along with the two games I wanted.

When you play with the emulator, you have the choice between using the computer keyboard keys or a game pad. I tried the former for a while, but it's not the same as using a game pad.

In the end, I bought a Logitech game pad from Komplett, a Norwegian online store selling computers, software and accessories. This specific game pad was the only one compatible with macs, so I didn't have much choice.

I got the game pad about a week ago, and have been playing a little bit every day since. I'm actually quite proud of myself, because I've completed levels by myself I never had completed on my own before...

One of my favorite musicals, RENT, is closing it's run this summer, after 12 years on Broadway...

I saw the musical for the first time in New York, in July of 2000, and have been a devoted fan (a RENTHEAD) ever since.

I've seen it on stage at the Nederlander theater two more times, in addition to buying the movie that came out in 2005.

I will miss not being able to see it when I'm in the States, but that's the way it is. I'm just sad at the moment...

All there's left to say is: NO DAY BUT TODAY! and May the memory of Jonathan Larson stay with us RENTHEADS forever!!!!

After adding a new application onto my Facebook profile, I came over this site, which has entries with maps of different kinds... My favorites are

- the Blonde Map, facts included, and

- the French kissing map

Enjoy!

Sylvain and I are supposed to be going to London for the holidays to spend it with his family. At the end of the trip, we are going to try a second time to see the musical Avenue Q in the West End... We tried it a year ago for our 1-year anniversary, but the flight from Poitiers was canceled due to fog on the runway...

Because of our bad luck then, I’ve been keeping a close eye on the news these past few days and weeks to get an early head’s up if anything should come in the way. First bad sign came some days ago, when SAS Norway (Scandinavian Airlines System) warned about a strike amongst the employees, in the form of a slowdown of the work pace...

The second bad sign is the weather. People say you shouldn’t travel by plane anywhere during the winter time because the unpredictability of the weather. For a few days now, Oslo Airport Gardermoen, and other Norwegian airports, too, has had to cancel an postpone a lot of flights because fog on the runway, and variations in the temperatures in the air and on the surface, causing the planes’ engines to freeze up...

Because of the delays, people have been forced to sleep in the airport while waiting for news. The newspaper I’ve consulted in addition to the airport website all say that the passengers should show up in good time before the flight, but expect having to wait for a long time.

Our flight is on the 23rd, and should take off right before 8am CET. In any case, I think it’s best if we expect a long delay. Fortunately, we have all day to get there...

In the meantime, we could cross our fingers and hope that Mother Nature sorts out the weather situation. We can also curse the politicians for making a very bad choice for the location of Norway’s largest and busiest airport, although we can’t do much about it...

When I was in Washington a few years ago, visiting family, I got my first taste of a Subway sandwich. I had briefly heard a reference to a "Meatball sub" in FRIENDS ( from Joey, of course) at some point, and, now, finally I got to taste one. I found a store near my friend's apartment in New York, too, and not long after, I eat my first Meatball sub :D...

When I started my commute from EIdsvoll, I noticed a SUBWAY sign on the entrance to a shopping mall which is "wall-to-wall" to Oslo sentralstasjon. And, yesterday, I found it! I ordered half a ham sandwich on wheat bread, with cucumbers, tomatoes and honey mustard dressing... Mmmm! Heaven!!!

I have been missing New York lately, and even though it's not the only place you can get the sandwiches, it's what I've associated with them...

I've been thinking about my life before Facebook, and now it’s kind of blurry. It's a different kind of network site, where real names are important, and the search for old and new friends seems eternal. Thanks to it, I've been able to find school friends from way back when I lived in Ålesund, as well as people from Halden and even after. It has even resulted in some real life reunions with people I haven‘t seen in a long, long time, people I've lost track of - be it by choice or by fault.

You can say good things and bad things about these kinds of sites. For my part, it has reunited me with old friends, but means that I spend a little too much time in front of the computer than I should...