A Roll in the Universe

I think I’ve mentioned Daily Om before, a website that offers life affirming essays and online courses. I’m currently taking a course on clearing. On any other website, it would be called decluttering, but it’s not just getting rid of stuff. It’s the why we hang on to things and how it feels to have them or let go of them. Not quite Marie Kondo, either, this. But rather a supplement to firm tossing and saying thank you to stuff. The course starts with exploring one’s attitude to things and to clearing them. It’s slow going, which I like. I really do not understand “housework”. I’m not good with routines. I’ve followed other flaky people and their systems and have learned something from each of them. Still, I hunt for The One Method that will get me decluttering and cleaning and all that. So why is this different? Maybe because it starts from the inside and you make the outside happen according to that. For example, one lesson was about movement. About how we get stuck in an attitude...

There is one thing I will never flaunt, and that is my cooking skills. I am grateful if I enjoy what I made, because that's not a given. I'm about to declutter my kitchen and I think a number of spices will disappear when I do. I never use them. I don't know how to use them. And no, I'm not interested in learning. I can't learn. My mother and her mother (and her mother) are/were all good cooks. Not fancy cooks, but the kind of cooks who can put together ingredients in a way to make a nourishing and tasty meal, and they can do that every day. (I do remember Grandma saying the biggest challenge to cooking was coming up what to make. Her tomato meatloaf was divine, by the way.) I did not inherit this talent from them. You know how some things are interesting enough to make you want to find out more? I'm like that with computers or astrology, but not with cooking. I don't even watch cooking shows. I may as well be watching a quantum physics lecture for quantum...

When I see the word "haul" the American in me automatically puts a "U" in front of it. I haul, however, without a truck or trailer. I own no car, so life is about getting stuff home without one. Or getting stuff back out. Hauling becomes a project as well as a test of wits and endurance. I am actually proud of myself for being able to haul a 27" iMac home on the bus, the wide, flat box with a brand-new and expensive machine securely strapped to a small, collapsible baggage trolley. The cashier at the Mac store couldn't get over how clever I was with four bungee cords and two wheels. I was rather happy I was impressing a young, handsome man. The awesome plaid of my shopping cart I have a similar set-up for groceries: A proper granny-bag of a wheeled shopping cart, conservative blue tartan and all. It holds two large grocery bags of shopping, and makes hauling canned and bottled stuff so much easier on the arms. I supplement with a rucksack, and there...

I just have to leave this somewhere, so here it is: I was dreaming something last night (what, I never remember). The dream/something woke me up. I opened my eyes in the dark and a woman was standing next to my bed, looking at my nightstand (or the lamp on it?). She was 40-ish, slender, had dark hair and brown eyes, and the same sort of face as actress Melissa Gilbert. I have no idea who she is or why I saw her. What really got me was that my reaction was to say, "Oh, hi!" In Norwegian. And she looked at me, startled, and disappeared. And no, this has never happened to me before and now I'm wondering if somebody was astral projecting and happened to end up in my bedroom.

My own egg cups The thing about growing up with a Norwegian grandfather is that you assume everybody has a cheese slicer and egg cups. Turns out that one of the things American immigrants left behind in Europe were egg cups. I was reading an article on Lifehacker about how Americans eat soft-boiled eggs, seeing as how there is no such thing as an egg cup in the US. It was only then that I realized why a British friend who lives in Hawaii asked if I could get egg cups for him. In every hotel I've been in in Europe, they serve soft-boiled eggs for breakfast. That is to say, they serve a hot egg that is still nearly raw, or a hot egg that is nearly hard. I therefore rarely eat soft-boiled eggs in hotels. But they do have egg cups (and teaspoons) for the eggs. And I have egg cups at home. Any complete set of dishes also includes egg cups here in Europe. 60's fashion: Coffee cup and egg cup from my childhood Now for some etiquette on eating a soft-boiled egg: I learned b...

I'm one of those people who covers her refrigerator in magnets, as seen on part of my fridge door: Typical me: An empty to-do list because I forget I have it Some are functional, meaning they actually hold something in place, like temperatures and times for a couple of favorite dishes. Quite a few are vacation memories; Alaska's state flag tells me the temperature. A timer and a to-do list are held in place by magnets. A couple of magnets are gifts, like the one from Chattanooga. Some are there because they are pretty or whimsical or were meant to be a gift from me but I never gave them away. I have to admit, I think the bottom three in the photograph are ugly (definitely not my taste), and I want to throw them out. I'm not sure why I haven't done that yet. There's a part of me that finds it hard to throw away magnets for some reason. Perhaps it's because I do buy them just as much for personal reasons, and not just practical ones. The Daily Prompt

12 days of my home turned into a construction site, finding bits of concrete in my bed every night, and concrete dust everywhere (I still have to clean all that up). And a bold floor that is not typical for a Norwegian bathroom. But it is done! Tomorrow morning will be the first weekday morning where I will not greet a tradesman, and I have my spare key back. Finished bathroom—view from door Finished bathroom—view towards door The starting point was a bathroom that was probably as old as the building (ca. 1971). I have lived with it for 30 years, so it was about time!

This is basically a list, a gratitude list. Because in the midst of nearly feeling overwhelmed by everything going on in September , I have discovered something: People helping me. The tradesman doing the tiling, also closed off the door to my bedroom and left the bedroom side looking very nice The same tradesman also washed the lobby floor in my building for me, unasked, to get rid of the concrete dust A couple of good friends lent me a key to their house, and let me come and go when I didn't have a toilet at home The reflexologist I'm now seeing for my frozen shoulder, is giving me appointments outside her regular office hours, I've discovered I'm ahead on my self-study course in insurance so I don't have to worry about keeping up Another friend reminded me that I'm allowed to get all excited about my own creativity and seeing it come to life. I'd forgotten that grown-ups are allowed to jump up and down with joy. (See pic.) And somebody helped ...

My shoulder scan This post contains astrology. And bathrooms. And frozen shoulders. Not necessarily in that order. I have discovered I don't take my own advice, which makes me perfectly normal. I always tell people to get their pains and troublesome body parts checked out sooner, rather than later, but I delayed seeing a doctor about my shoulder for well over a year. It wasn't until I actually got a bump on my shoulder that I made an appointment. That was June, and I finally saw the doc in August. What followed then was 50% sick leave, and an MR scan (my first!). The specialist told me I was well beyond the cortisone shot stage but ideal for surgery to remove the scar tissue I now had. This is one of the pictures of my left shoulder. I have no idea what I'm looking at besides a human bone. I do not want surgery and the specialist did say I could use the other treatment for frozen shoulder: Time. So I am doing that. I take a tablespoon of turmeric in a glass of milk ...

Moonrise from my kitchen window (Trying to automate posting this photo led me into the land of IFTTT . I still don't have automation, but I've acquired a new password to herd.)

There are two things I need to do, simply because they are important to overall health and sanity. Sit less at computer. Daily spiritual practice of some kind. This computer—and the internet—are way too distracting. WAY too distracting. Hours can pass by and all I've done is look at stranger's pictures, and stranger's comments, and stranger's anecdotes, some news and a few Facebook updates. Sitting for hours isn't healthy and I already do that at work. But I don't have something just as enticing to replace this addiction with, so I find myself actually a bit afraid to let go of it. But that's what New Year's and resolutions are for, right? Get cracking on January 1 (better make that January 2 'cause I've got to sleep in) on new habits. It takes 21-30 days for a new habit to stick (if you've been practicing daily for those 21-30 days, that is) so just get in there and try to do a new habit every day. Right. Sitting less at computer: ...

Wordless Wednesday

The photos don't come fresher than this, the view from my kitchen window right now. It's going to be an Indian Summer day!

The funny thing about being foreign is that I don't talk about being foreign. Norwegian TV came to my place of work and interviewed some of our non-Norwegian employees during lunch. They managed to find one of the noisier places in our cafeteria to do so, but also a pretty visible one. (We assume it's NRK and the show " Migrapolis ", which is about foreign nationals living in Norway.) One of my co-workers grinned at me and said I should be interviewed, too. I responded with a quick "nope, too assimilated". But then I offered the real reason: I never talk about life in Norway as a foreigner. I have read how other foreigners feel about living here, I've sometimes talked to them about it, and it's never good. I don't watch "Migrapolis" because the foreigners arriving now seem to be taken better care of than when I first came here. Norwegians now are more curious about foreigners and therefore friendlier towards them; I'd rather n...

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Unlike what other people I know experienced, 2012 was a laid-back year for me. I entered the new one, ready for action. Today, I got a taste of what might be in store: I've been asked to stand for election to my co-op's steering committee, an office that is for two years at a time. Right away, I think about Saturn transitting Scorpio during that time frame - in my house of community, groups and friends. I won't know for sure, one way or the other, until later this spring, but the fact that I've gotten this sort of attention tells me I'm no longer at rest; I'm on the move again. In other news, I've finally become an adult. I'm finally starting to understand this business of taking care of home and stomach on a regular basis. At the age of 52, I'm cooking every day for myself (or reheating leftovers from an earlier meal), and my home is fairly tidy (next step: get it fairly clean). I even try to dress like a grown-up, trying to class up my usual swea...

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday