Who Do You Want To Be?

That time of year is upon us again. This coming Monday is Halloween and as this is a relatively new holiday here in Norway I don´t expect a lot of visitors. However, I think there will come a few. It is slowly catching on. More so then when my kids were younger. I´ll never forget taking my kids trick or treating here in Norway when they were little. I don´t think anyone did that at the time and I remember the look on people´s faces when I´d show up at their doors with my children dressed up in sheets or some other homemade costume because you couldn´t buy any here at the time. Then they would ask for candy while I stood in the background...all overweight and stuff...I can only imagine what they were thinking! 


The things my kids got in those days were hillarious. Half opened bags of cookies, playing cards, fruit..no one understood the concept and I imagine probably thought we were a struggling family looking for a handout by dressing our kids as cute as possible and sending them to the door...hahahahaha..


Times have changed though and Norwegian stores are filling up with Halloween decorations and people are holding Halloween parties. I actually get kids showing up at my door dressed up and wanting candy. It´s coming...slowly but surely. Despite the protests of Norwegians who feel their julebukk is the dress up tradition they are most comfortable with, Halloween is coming to Norway- to stay. 


I think one of the things I miss about American Halloweens is that it isn´t just about being scary. Costumes are original, cute, funny, colorful- not just scary. In Norway it is all about being scary right now, however, hopefully someday they will get the hint that it´s fun to be original also and not just scary. Here are some suggestions to help my beloved Norwegian friends onto the path of originality!

I know this is wrong....I say it all the time I´ll never be one of those people who dresses up their pets...but I have to be honest when I say it is funny as heck to see animals dressed up....don´t ya think? Sort of?? hehehehe...

I know, it´s hard to say who is cuter, the stuffed turkey baby or the plumber crack dog...ugh...I vote we just say they are all adorable and I applaud the creativity of these costumes be them pet costumes or kid costumes! So who do you want to be this Halloween?


Yesterday I attended the second workshop for a great program we are doing at work called The Incredible Years or in Norwegian, De Utrolige Årene. It´s basically a program about building positive relationships to children (although this can be used in situations with adults- animals..you name it) Yesterday we were learning about giving compliments and positive encouragement. Now, you´d assume giving compliments was an easy task. However, I noticed a lot of my co-workers were struggling. They loved the idea and were totally in with what we were doing, but they couldn´t, wouldn´t, or didn´t give many personal compliments. They were along the line of- "I really love working with you" Which is of course a great compliment to get, but not very personal, it´s kinda general...kinda like saying to a stranger, " I enjoy sharing the sidewalk with you." Hmmmm....I enjoyed hearing personal compliments because it tells me the person giving it is really focused on who they are giving a compliment too and they are pin pointing an actual fact about the person they are giving the compliment too that they enjoy. My compliment that I gave to my co-worker was that I loved her laughter. Seriously folks, if you heard this lady laugh it would bring a smile to your face! Some people have a laughter like that, you hear it and you can´t help but smile...this lady is one of them and my day is always brighter when I hear her laugh, so I told her that...and she laughed again...and I smiled :-) Couldn´t help myself! It isn´t as easy as it sounds to give people compliments. Do you remember the last compliment you gave someone? 

Check it out....nice eh? I´d say this is a lambroghini of coffee makers...at least for the price of it I would say it was..not sure how super quick it is...but quality she is. No, it´s not my birthday, it´s not even Christmas...it´s tax return time...oh yes, that wonderful time of the year where if you have a Captain like me who works in Brazil, he gets his tax money back and you get to go shopping for neat gadgets like this one! Only happens once a year but boy is it fun! Thanks to my super intelligent Sarah Beara I was finally able to enjoy a cup of cappuchino from this little baby. I honestly was frozen in ignorance when I took this out of the box and saw the 600 page instruction book. Naw, I´m just kidding, it wasn´t 600 pages....599 actually....ok, not that either....but it was big and I figured I would need several days to read up on how to properly use this before I could have my first cup. However, when I came home from Thomas´s open school last night Sarah had this baby hooked up and figured out and we enjoyed our first cup! My taste buds are dead as I´ve been drinking instant for....um....like....forever I think? So I am going to need some time to learn to appreciate the fine ground coffee experience this machine gives you...until then though there is nothing a little biscotti flavored Bailey´s doesn´t help with! ;-) Ok, just kidding again, geez...yáll probably think I´m a little alchy...which isn´t the case at all...just ask anyone here on Nes. I win the prize for the person who drinks the least here....but they still love me even though I´m not the party hog they all are...uff...that´s dangerous to group people together, especially involuntarily. Hope no one complains about this...I really mean no harm and am just trying to play around here...yáll get that right? *sneaking under the table until I see the coast is clear*


Next weekend Cookie will finally come to us. I´d love to show you a picture but I haven´t gotten one since she was 6 weeks old. Don´t worry though, I´m sure she is still adorable and when she gets here I´ll take thousands of photos....be prepared folks! And NO....she will never be put in costumes like the dogs above....at least I say that now....ask me again next Halloween...hehehehe...


Have a great weekend everyone!


Until next time my friends.....