Monday, December 31, 2012

The Old Year Now Away is Fled...


Thus begins a new years song to the tune of «Greensleeves».

January/February:
Having moved just before Christmas, the first months of 2012 were spent adjusting to a new home, new neighbors, a new job for Husband, a new road to work for me, and exploring the immediate surroundings on walks with the dogs. Father-in-law came to visit and see our new home as well as introduce husband to relatives living in the area.

On January 24th my ex, the children's father died of cancer, and the children came for the funeral and stayed with us, the girls from England, Tormod from Texas. Audun and Annina were caught up in the planning of the funeral etc but came for a weekend at the end of February. It was a painful time for them, but awfully good to see them and to be allowed to share in their grief. Though I had little contact with their father in the last years, the time I shared with him were among the most important years of my adult life.

March:
At the end of March we all gathered in New York for the 160th birthday – Mother's 80th, Ilian's 50th, and Beren's 30th. We came trickling in during the course of a week. Roland was already there when we arrived and the first project that he and Husband plunged into was installing the dishwasher that Roland and Mother had ordered the day before. We had several meetings at Ithaca bakery during the week to greet first Audun, then Irene and Ingvild, and finally Sharon. The big day was celebrated on March 31st as a typical Willwerth event: starting with a waffle breakfast as people arrived: first Beren with Audun, Irene, Ingvild and Crystal; later Adam and Jane with Hanna and Ben. I love standing there baking waffles and listening to the happy banter of the cousins sitting around the kitchen, while the older folks visited in the living room. In the afternoon we had a lasagne dinner all together before going to the concert of German Lieder from the Romantic period that Mother had sponsored for the occasion. We had hoped that Ilian would make it in time for the dinner, but her flight had been rerouted due to bad weather and she landed in Syracuse, and hour away, and a couple hours late, instead of Ithaca. Luckily she got a ride with someone and only missed the first song of the concert. We had a longer visit with her the next day, before leaving the day after that.

April:
Spring was early this year. Already February had seen unseasonably mild weather and all the snow melted off. Still it took ages before it was dry enough for spring planting. Meantime Husband and I built planting boxes, but couldn't fill them with compost before it was possible to drive the tractor onto the fields. And that turned out to be May.

In the meantime however I ran some orienteering races, running for our new club: Moss OK. Norwegian Spring was fun! Finally we lived close enough to the venue to take part. It is the first major event in the spring and kind of kick starts the season.

May: a month of holidays and celebrations.
May 1 – the first agility trial of the year. I had concentrating on foundation training since the debaucle of the midsummer trial at Stav where Lucy took walked off the course to sniff the grass after 2 jumps. In fact I had done zero agility training until April when I started training with 2 jumps and some weave poles here on the farm. The only actual agility training with equipment was the last 2 mondays before the trial when there was suddenly room for me at the club's training evenings. And the foundation training paid off: though we disqualified on the agility course, she placed 37th (of 70) in the jumpers course, thus meeting my goal for the year on our first trial: namely to complete a course without disqualifying.

On the first weekend of May I drove to Trondheim with Lucy to visit Audun and Annina. I had been too late ordering train tickets to get a ticket for Lucy - the places reserved for dogs being limited – so I drove the whole way. We had a great time. Went with Audun to the indoor pool: pirbadet, and out to eat in the revolving restaurant atop a radio tower.

May 17, Norway's national holiday. I joined other members of the agility club for an informal trial and bbq. It was the most fun I've had on May 17th in years! Hope they do it again next year.

My birthday, May 22 we went out to eat at my favorite sushi place, and then to a movie, though I don't remember what we saw. The day was otherwise a bit of a flop, as I spent a lot of time waiting for the phone or skype to ring, but recieving no calls from friends or family that day. However Audun and Annina gave me Carcasonne which started a new era of game playing in our household.

Our wedding anniversary is also in May, and we celebrated it with italian ice cream at «La dolce Vita» and a show (Lillebjørn Nilsen songs) at the Oslo New Theatre.

Whitsun weekend at the end of May was a hot and sunny weekend with an agility trial at a stone quarry on the outskirts of Oslo on Saturday and Sunday. It was a wonderful weekend. Lucy did well, on saturday we reached my new goal of completing both the agility and the jumpers courses without disqualifying (20th and 25th place of about 50). On sunday she disqualified both courses, though the second was her best run: she began to run off course and I when I called her back she reacted so immediatly that she knocked over the long jump thus disqualifying. Still I was hugely satisfied with her reaction and we took the rest of the course perfectly, only having to restart the weavepoles twice and going through the collapsed tunnel without hesitation.

June:
I planted my boxes with onions and carrots; corn, beans and sunflowers; broccoli, kale, lavatera and cornflowers; turnips, radishes, spinach, lettuce; and 8 zucchini plants on the piles of compost that were left over after filling the boxes. This became the best veggie garden I have ever had. I used up all my old seeds. The only thing I bought was the broccoli and kale plants, the onion sets and carrot seeds.

Ingvild came for a visit and we went on some of the walks that Husband and I had explored in May: Slottåsen and Gaupesteinen.

For the midsummer weekend we went to Beitostølen to the Orienteering Festival there. We stayed in one of MaryAnn and Nils' summer farms, had a nice visit with them. Received a visit from Father-in-law and his new lady friend, and ran 3 wonderful and challenging races. Actually I didn't really like the first one, which went through a “cabin town”, but the second which was above the tree line, and the third in a challenging forest area were fun!

July:
Irene visited in July. We explored the oldtidsveien together. A road along which can be found stone carvings, stone circles and other prehistoric monuments.
We also said goodbye to Topsy, our border collie companion of 12 years this month. She seemed to be in more pain, and was already taking a maximum dose of pain medication + special food and joint supplements.

Shortly afterwards, I took a sheep herding course with Lucy. The main goal was to improve her self confidence. It was amazing to see Lucy going from having to be dragged into the pen to lying down relaxing with the sheep. Then, when they moved around, getting up to keep them between herself and me as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

August:
I did a 5 day cleanse while we were at the summer farm at the mountain lake in Valdres. Surprised both myself and Husband with my determination and persistance. Although, I have to say it wasn't a total success. You always hear that fasting makes you feel so full of energy. It didn't do that for me, on the contrary, it took weeks before I had my energy back.

At the agility trial in August, Lucy placed in 3 of 4 courses with a 10th, a 9th and a 5th place. We actually brought home prizes, something I hadn't even dreamt we would achieve this year.

September:
After the last trial I decided we had to work on our weave poles. Lucy's course faults are always in the weavepoles, and that's also where she loses the most time. It all paid off when she got a third place in the Trial our club hosted in September, with no course faults and only 5 seconds time fault. It was the first time that she completed the weave poles on the first try in both runs.

The 8 zucchini plants started bearing fruit in august. We gave zucchini to our neighbors, and to anyone coming to visit. I made zucchini cake, zucchini hummous as a dip for vegetables and we had zucchini for dinner every day for 3 months.

The hospital where I work has been in the news daily, since a report by the surgeon general was made public about the critical state of things during the first 9 months of 2011. Apparently at least 9 people lost their lives as a consequence of insufficient staffing. The media however make it sound like it is happening right now. People are worried, family members are suspicious. One patient asked a colleague of mine: “tell it to me straight, what are my chances of surviving the first 24 hours here”!

October:
As the days became shorter and the weather rainy the farmyard, fields and even woods became a sea of mud. Actually it had been an exceptionally rainy spring which is why spring planting wasn't finished until the end of May. Everyone had complained about the rainy summer as well. To tell the truth, I kind of expect rain in Norway in the summer, nor do I expect much in the way of heat. It really didn't get to me though until the fall, when the combination of grey, wet, mud and dark plunged me into the worst case of S.A.D. I have yet experienced. I've said it for years: I must get out of Norway in the winter! So when we went to Crete on vacation we took a day to rent a car and look at some properties.

The week in Crete was a respite, an island of summer: 30 degrees C, sunshine, warm ocean. We visited Chania, took a boat trip around an island on which the Krikri goats live and where octopuses live in the water. We explored cretian cuisine. 

I also spent a weekend with Ingvild in London. She took me to a food market and Camden Lock market. We went to see a Musical (Scrooge) and the newest James Bond movie.

November:
At work I have a second year nursing student. It is a lot of fun, though exhausting, and I find I love teaching!

Audun, Annina and Mother came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. It rained the whole time, but we played multiple games of Carcasonne and went swimming at the indoor pool.

I also returned to Crete to start the purchase process for one of the houses we had looked at.

December:
After the bad press had died down my hospital is back in the news. Several wards have sent letters of concern to the surgeon general because the hospital is overfull and understaffed. The corridors are full. One day there were 90 more patients than the hospital could take care of. The ER is critically full (40+ patients at any one time) more often than not. We have 130 to 160 patients coming through the ER daily. The staff is getting tired. More and more are ill. And it's not just the flu. Young nurses, in their 20's and 30's are getting chest pain, palpitations, syncope or brain hemorage. The situation is worrying.

During Advent I spent all of my days off baking, and preparing for christmas. We visited the in-laws in Folldal for a few days during the 3rd week of advent. On the friday before christmas we went to hear the Oslo Gospel Choir's Christmas concert. Other than that we had a quiet christmas, with just the two of us. I had to work Christmas Eve, Christmas day and boxing day. Husband had to work a good bit as well. All the kids were in the US to celebrate Christmas with my mother. I talked to everyone on Skype on the 23rd and again on the phone on the 24th. Though I couldn't be there, my thoughts kept reaching out to them. I know that as I write this, they are all gathering in NYC to celebrate New Years Eve there, while Husband and I went orienteering this afternoon, and are watching movies at home.

Happy New Year!!!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Deck the Halls...

The Christmas Sheaf is full of sparrows


The front door is decorated with a felt heart for Christmas Welcome.


The Christmas Star lights up our window from Advent through Epiphany.

Christmas Gnomes
The Creche

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Christmas Spirit

Left to right at rear: vannkringler, hutzelbrot, kransekake, pjalt
Foreground: fylte kjeks, siruptynnkake, kokosmakroner, sjokoladehjerter, kanelstjerner, krumkaker, lebkuchen.

Some of the the things that put me in the mood for Christmas:

  •  Snow obviously. Wading through drifts of it while walking the dog. The branches of the trees lined with snow, 
  • Driving home from work in the dark past houses decorated with christmas lights.
  • The christmas concert that Husband and I go to each year. 
  • And most of all baking while listening to and singing Christmas Carols.
Oddly christmas shopping does nothing for me, in spite of the shopping centers best efforts with decorations and Christmas muzak. The atmosphere is too comercial, and christmas doesn't really come alive there. Though I love the fact that you can get stuff that is impossible to find at other times of the year.  It is more the planning and wrapping of christmas gifts that add to christmas Spirit.

I worked the evening shift this christmas: 3 to 10:30 pm. To my surprise the mood in the ER was festive and full of good cheer. The TV was playing christmas cartoons (Tom and Jerry) when we arrived and christmas music as the evening progressed. One of the nurses wore a Santa hat. Others had christmas pins on their uniforms. The hospital had provided a Christmas plate for our supper. There were gifts from our managers. We all had brought gifts to play secret santa. Many had written words of encouragement and appreciation on the card. There were not too many patients either, so that we had time to eat and exchange gifts in between working.  After the chaos of the last weeks there was a feeling of solidarity and fellowship, the feeling that we are doing our best for our patients in a trying situation.  

Aknowledgements: Husband baked the pjalt and krumkaker. The kransekake is courtesy of husband's aunt. The rest were made by yours truly...


Monday, December 24, 2012

Gift Giving



I originally wrote this post in answer to a couple of blog posts I had read decrying gift giving as materialistic, and thus not in the true spirit of Christmas.

I think gifts are an important Christmas tradition. In a world that focuses more and more on self-fullfillment, treating yourself, rewarding your self etc, a festival dedicated to giving to others creates an important balance. I get that commercialism, and materialism are forces trying to take the joy out of gift giving. Just as the constant pleas by various charitable organisations make you want to turn your back and run. However there is a challenge here to take back gift giving and make it something meaningful!

Gift giving is central to the Christmas story: in the gospel the 3 kings come bearing gifts worthy of kings and priests to the baby Jesus: gold, frankincense. In medieval Christmas plays, the shepherds bring gifts of flour, milk and a lamb. There are christmas carols and poems as well that take up the theme of gift giving: the little drummer boy, giving of his talent – which is playing for the baby.

The recurring theme is giving of what one has. The rich give rich gifts. The poor give gifts according to their means. Those that have nothing can still give of their talents.

The second theme is that the gifts are being offered to the Christ Child himself. How does this translate into giving gifts to loved ones or to charity?

In the gospel of St. Matthew (25:34-40) Christ teaches as follows: Then shall the King say unto them...For I was hungry and ye gave me food: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? Or naked, and clothed thee? When saw we thee sick or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Gift giving brings up a lot of questions and feelings. If I give a gift to someone who does not give me a gift, will they feel obligated? If someone from whom I could normally expect gifts never gives me one, does it make me feel that the gift I give is undeserved? Am I giving a gift purely because it is expected of me, or do I have joy in the giving? Nothing takes the joy out of gift giving so much as the feeling that the person you are giving to feels uncomfortable by, or ungrateful for your gift.

Receiving gifts is as much a challenge in these modern times as giving gifts. We feel most comfortable in a commercial relationship where things and services are exchanged according to clear agreements and contracts. Gift giving muddies the waters. When you receive a gift, it sparks a desire to reciprocate. Giving and receiving gifts brings something personal into a relationship that is not regulated by contract. Gifts are often things, but anything you give of your self, out of your own initiative is a gift.

In her poem: In the Bleak Midwinter Christina Rosetti says:

What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would give a lamb.
If I were a wise man, I would do my part.
Yet what I can I give him, give my heart!

Merry Christmas!



Sunday, December 9, 2012

Crazy Busy


The week since I returned from Crete has been wild. I have been struggling to stay afloat.

The trip home was exhausting: Got up at 5:30 to get the 6:15 bus for the 75 minute trip to the airport in Iraklio. After a short plane ride I had a 4 hour layover in Athens, and then another 4 hour layover in Frankfurt before my last flight to Oslo. The airport in Frankfurt is HUGE! I took us several minutes just to fly over it! In Oslo I had to scrape 10 cm of ice and snow from the car before driving home, another 90 minutes, arriving at midnight. 


The next evening I was back at work. The ER has been outrageously busy with 30 - 50+ patients in the ER at all times (we only have 28 beds and that is if you fill the observation rooms as well as the acute rooms. We have 15 regular admission rooms. So with that amount of patients, they are filling the waiting room and triage area waiting to be admitted, and lining the halls waiting for beds on the floors. It is a madhouse! We have been understaffed as well. Flu season has begun and staff are out sick just as more we are getting more patients due to the flu. Friday the problem was not so much lack of rooms to admitt patients as lack of staff. Monday we had > 160 patients through the ER.  I feel guilty because every time they ask me to work an extra shift, or stay a few hours longer,  I always say no. But I feel like I'm just barely with it, like it would be unjustifiable to take on more. When I'm this tired, I have trouble hearing when people are talking to me, or the beeper in my pocket. I am able to do my job, but only by narrowing my focus on the task at hand. 


At home I have also had deadlines to meet. It was my turn to give a presentation for sunday evening's anthroposophic meditation/study group (First Class). Monday was the deadline to hand in our schedules for the spring (mid feb to mid june). The deposit for the house in Crete had to be transferred - it took me two tries before I got it right. Then getting access to my bank account in Crete via internet banking took several e-mails and phone calls to the National Bank of Greece. 


The regular household chores of shopping, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and walking the dog seem to take almost all the time that is left. I want to spend time on christmas shopping and baking as well, send packages and write christmas letters, yet I have been so tired! I have had to take a nap here, sleep and extra hour in the morning there. Drink extra cups of coffee during the day, just to make it through the afternoon/evening. Wednesday I had such a headache that I went to bed at 8 pm and slept until 7 am.

I am starting to get my head above water again though. The most important deads have been done. The only thing looming now is an online exam in ACLS before the recertification course on tuesday. It had to be done and passed in advance and I won't have time until tomorrow, but will have to make time then! But I feel I am getting things under controll. I will bake a batch of cookies today. Husband baked some yesterday. I am enjoying advent this year. Last year it was all in boxes, as we were packing up to move on dec 19. Our first aniversary in the new house is looming ahead!







Saturday, December 1, 2012

Advent Calendar


When I returned from Crete there was a slip from the post office on my desk announcing the arrival of a package at the post office. That's funny, I thought, I can't remember having ordered anything. 

Husband said he would pick up the package from the post office while I was at work on Thursday, so Friday morning I found this cardboard box with no return adress, but with Norwegian stamps on my desk. More and more peculiar. 

I opened it and inside were 24 small numbered packages and a card from Annina and Audun explaining that this was my advent calendar. The first I've been given in 30 years!