So I have had a whole month without blogging. Did you miss me?
To be very honest folks, I needed that month. To be even more honest I could have used another month or two...but life doesn´t work that way and so we roll with it.
I´d love to brag that I have been extremely busy doing all the things I wrote that I should have been doing...but I pretty much already predicted last time I blogged that I wouldn´t do much....and I haven´t done much. I´ve relaxed, which is truly an art one must use several weeks to get into the habit of doing. Especially when you are use to going going going...to slow down to the pace I have been at the last weeks is not as easy as one might think. My mind never takes vacations...while my body screams to relax and do nothing, my brain is constantly thinking of all the things I should be doing and if I allow myself a moment of not thinking of anything, it isn´t long before I begin to get panicky for all the time I have "wasted" not thinking about things I should be doing. Ugh, are you still with me? I´m so complex....why do I have to be so complex?!!
We had a week´s vacation in Leksand Sweden, which is in the middle of Sweden in the community of Dalarna. You can read up on this area here. From all the pages I read about the area I got really excited for all the antique shopping and such I could do there while the family went to the water park. A day at the bear park also sounded like fun and something we could do. However, when we got to the campgrounds, which you can see here, we were met with what has now become typical weather this summer- RAIN. Thankfully the entire week wasn´t full of rain but the sun definitely took some vacation that week too and didn´t show up as much as we had hoped. Still, we found things to do. The antique shopping left much to be desired. There are tons of signs announcing a "loppis" which is Swedish for basically- garage sale or yard sale. These signs would be outside of houses and when you looked up toward the house you saw no one and sometimes only a table with a few items on it...was not an exciting thought to show up at someone´s house to look at a few items we might not be interested in at all and yet have to make conversation because we took the time to stop by..ugh...
Sarah stayed home that week to work, so we only had Thomas and Julia with us and no dogs. Such a weird week with no dogs..we were all missing the dogs immensely by the end of the week, even Julia who is the least interested in the dogs was saying how she couldn´t wait to get home and see the dogs again! We didn´t visit the bear park as what we could read about it described the park as bears living as naturally as they could- which the Captain meant, if the weather wasn´t good we wouldn´t see anything...so we skipped it. One thing though that we did, or rather the Captain and the kids did, regardless of weather was drive go-carts...
These guys took three laps at 8 minutes a piece in between rain showers and they had a blast, although the biggest complaint was that the track was so slippery after each rain shower so they couldn´t drive as well as they could have on a dry track....hmmm...poor excuse for bad driving??? I think so.... ;-)
We had a few nice days with sunshine...
Our cabin was nice and cozy tucked up in a little woods...as we discussed while we were there, we almost felt like we were at home, only there in Sweden we had no dogs...
We had a lot of chats and discussed a lot of things on our mind while we were on vacation. One of the things we agreed upon was that our lifestyle didn´t fit with my hobby of being a breeder for such a large breed like the Leonberger. We agreed we would always have one Leonberger and the dogs we have now will be here until their last breath...but more then likely I won´t be breeding Leonbergers myself anymore. I am not going to say never...that is always dangerous, the moment you say never, you´ll change your mind. However, I don´t think there will be anymore litters here. Time will tell though. We have also discussed the possibility in getting a smaller breed so that I could continue with my hobby of breeding if I wanted too and this fall we will be adding a Bichon Havanese to our pack.
We had a Bichon Havanese several years ago whom we adopted from a lady who couldn´t have him anymore at 6 months of age. He was a wonderful happy little dog who we loved but he peed EVERYWHERE- including on my pillows in my bed! At the time we had my male leonberger Ben and a male labrador named Kim. My thinking was that little Jack couldn´t mark his territory enough with these big boys around so he peed on everything. We found him a home with a lovely couple who had no other dogs and he stopped peeing. I always said I would have another Havanese someday but wanted to focus on the Leonbergers then and there. Now things have changed and with the decision to go down in breed size, we came back to the Havanese and the whole family loves the idea of bringing one of these happy little dogs back into our life. Julia even wondered if we couldn´t re-home the leos and replace them with the smaller dogs....what can I say, she isn´t shy about sharing her opinion! We kindly told her that the leos who are here now will be here but one Havanese will join us...
Even the Captain was charmed by these little sweethearts...
Back to Sweden...overall it was a nice trip. The best part was being with the ones I love...
It was odd not having Sarah with us, my three musketeers were down to two. I guess this is the beginning though of a big change coming in my life. When my kids will one by one be too involved in their own interests, work, boyfriends/girlfriends, friends in general, to go on a family vacation. I´m going to hope that when they settle down and have families of their own they will be interested again in the idea of a family holiday...the Captain and I talked about that also while we were in Sweden...about how it would be someday to go camping with our grandkids....mind you though, we are in no hurry to become Grandparents, it is a fun thought for the future!!
The Captain and I celebrated 19 years of marriage while we were in Sweden and for those of you who follow my blog you know that last year, it wasn´t a given that we would make it to 19 years...so it was a special day this year. They are all special but just being together and feeling our relationship has strengthened because of what we went through last year...it made the day really great. Another thing that made it great...and quite honestly was the highlight of my entire Swedish trip was while we were eating dinner in Leksand we saw several old cars drive by....one by one they came, the next one nicer then the last...we agreed if they were still coming by the time we were done eating we would follow and see where they went...and sure enough they kept coming...so we followed and there in the park in Leksand was an Amcar get together. Hundreds of old classic American cars and some foreign cars, old motorcycles, and tractors...and just anything American. Have you ever seen The Wizard of Oz? You know when Dorothy runs toward the Emerald City? I kinda felt like that when I was walking down this valley like park toward all the gorgeous classic cars...I almost wanted to skip I was so happy!!!
I can´t tell you exactly what it is that I love about classic cars...it´s definitely not the technical part of them- motors and such, I haven´t a clue about any of that stuff, but I love the look of them...they look like big giant faces sometimes, I love the wings on the backs of some of them, I love that they are from a simpler era, a generation I feel I belong too more so then the one I live in now, maybe it´s the social aspect of these classic car get togethers? The fact that there were TONS of dogs with the owners of these gorgeous cars- so they obviously have great taste in cars and a love of dogs- sounds like people I would enjoy immensely! What I can tell you is that someday the Captain and I will have a classic car...no doubt. Which one it will be is hard to say right now, I have been looking at classic car ads since I got home and have to tell you I have a weakness for pink Cadillacs from the 50´s and if it is a convertible then I am totally sold...hahahaha...but the Captain is more into the muscle cars and I like those too...so who knows...but before we get our classic I sure hope the road up to our house gets fixed...anyone who has been up here to visit us knows what a nightmare that road is with all the pot holes that almost eat your entire car up when you hit them and you can´t avoid hitting them unless you want to drive into the woods or out into the field with all the cattle...I´ve heard rumors that Mr. Farmer will be fixing the road soon, one can sure hope!!
Back home, we have entertained various guests. We had a visit from one of our puppy buyers from Birdy´s litter. Akela and her mom were here for a day and it was so great to see them.
We also had a visit from Jenny´s breeder and her family which was really nice. Since we have been thinking about smaller breeds for me to potentially continue my hobby as a breeder, we have thought about Jenny and possibly showing her and seeing how she does. However, Jenny was never bought with any intentions other then to be a wonderful mascot and loving family member so we were unsure if she was right for the show ring or not. After her breeder was here though we are ready to give her a try in the show ring and will enter a show this fall and see how things go. Anne-Marthe and Thøger talked so warmly about Jenny. She has a few kilos to lose (who doesn´t?!) but they thought she would do well in the show ring- so we will give it a try. She hasn´t ever really been walked on a leash- she can go on a leash but generally she goes off leash- so she has a lot to learn in the next month or two before she debuts in the ring!!! :-)
Regardless if Jenny succeeds in the ring or not, she is a sweet girl who we absolutely adore. The original plan was that when Sarah moved out she would take Jenny with her, but we love her so much we can´t imagine not having her here...so we told Sarah she would have to get her own Aussie....of course we said it in a way so she agreed, I mean, while Sarah goes to school who would entertain Jenny? She is so use to having her pack around her, she would be lonely and sad....Sarah of course agreed!!! I do think though that someday Sarah will have another Aussie...even her boyfriend who didn´t really like dogs before he came into our family has grown to love Jenny! Aussie´s have that effect on you!!
Finally we had a visit from our niece, Anna, and her boyfriend Thomas.
Anna is a good girl with her head on straight, she has goals and is driven and very sweet...really great personality traits to have these days and she has a good man by her side, we are so proud of her and the life she has made for herself. I guess you could say that is one of the "perks" with being older is getting to watch younger family members grow into the adults they will become. It´s always exciting every time!
We also took some time to finally visit family as well. We have lived here for four years and had not yet taken time to drive to Oslo to visit the Captain´s aunt and cousin...it´s shameful and there is no excuse so I won´t try to give you one...or them one...but we finally got around to visiting them and it was really great, like we knew it would be. It´s not for lack of liking these family members that we don´t visit...we are just bad about prioritizing it. I know we have so many others to visit in Oslo also....rest assured we will get to you all someday...hehehe..
Otherwise folks, I start work on Monday...kinda looking forward to that and kinda not looking forward to that. I have to be honest when I say my job isn´t what I thought it would be when I first took it but I love my co-workers and I love the kids...so I deal with it, for now. I didn´t get into school. I applied wrong. You could only choose one application at a time and I applied with my American school papers so I applied as an international student instead of applying with work credit, which most adults do. So they wanted me to have a year of college with a C average which I didn´t have. I had a half a year with a C and I was missing Norwegian and History classes according to their criteria. I asked about the work experience which adults can apply with, but then I´d have to have applied through my work experience, not as an international student! Ugh, we live and learn! So now I´ve been thinking what I can do. Have decided to take the fall and figure out exactly what I need to apply correctly and have a chance and then try again next year. In the meantime I have thought about baking cookies and trying to sell them. Cupcake shops are opening all over the place, so I thought I could be the Cookie Lady ;-) There are a trillion different cookie recipes out there so the possibilities are endless. The Captain believes in me enough that he invested in a Kenwood Major Kitchen appliance for me when my hand mixer broke while trying out a cookie recipe...
I guess this means put up or shut up time folks!!! Anyone living near me who reads this, if you´re interested in testing out my cookies let me know, would love to have some feedback from people who don´t feel obligated to say nice things unless they really mean it!!!
Finally folks- yours truly has gone brunette...
I´ve had mixed reviews....the Captain likes it..my kids like it...some people say they like me better as a blonde and others say this brings out my eyes more...hahahaha....I don´t know personally how I feel. I think I feel more comfortable as a blonde, I´ve been blonde for 40 years, first naturally and then thanks to Lóreal...so this is new and different and is taking some getting use too...but it´s OK. I am not thinking I look horrid or anything but it´s not as comfortable as the blonde yet...thinking of getting some highlights so it won´t be as dark...but we´ll see....so what do you guys think? Bad? Good? Come on, you can tell me I can take it!!!
I guess living in Norway I need to speak a little bit about the tragedy that struck Norway a week ago in Oslo and Utøya. I think the media has covered just about everything and I know it´s important for everyone to know what is going on, but sometimes I think the media makes things so much worse then they are. I mean, don´t misunderstand me, what happened to all the victims in these tragic events is beyond horrible...but the media has been relentless in it´s pursuit of the next big headline and I have to wonder sometimes at what cost-- at whose cost? I think those kids will need time to heal....lots of time, they´ve been through something none of us can really comprehend and hopefully will never have too. They will forever be changed, the little country of Norway will forever be changed...but how everyone will be changed, only time will tell. As with everyone else in the world, my heart goes out to the victims and their families and friends and that is all I care to comment about these events at this time..
Ok, this was super long, but you know I´ve been gone a whole month...I´m sure there is still plenty to tell you but I´ll do that next time. In the coming posts I´ll share with you the cookies I am making and how my little cookie business is going...I´ll share with you what´s going on with the dogs, the kids, and the Captain and I...I´m going to get back into the gym after being gone all summer, so I´ll let you know how that goes too...I´m sure it will be a struggle but at least I´m going back...that has to count for something, right??
I hope you´ve all had a great summer, I´m going to be heading around to all your blogs and trying to catch up. In the meantime have a wonderful weekend and if you feel up too it, leave me a message...my inbox has been soooooo quiet this past month...I miss yáll....
Until next time my friends....
