Reminiscing Our Childhood

Just as you were thinking (hoping?) I'd completely forgotten about Tuesday Tales...

1. What is the earliest memory you have as a child? Think far back.
I've got an excellent memory for quotes... But for childhood memories? Well, I actually do still remember that Chinese lady... In Chinatown, New York, when I was 5. I remember what the shop looked like. And that when she took my arm to show me something or other, I totally freaked out and was sure she wanted to kidnap me (somehow, my otherwise discreet parents must have talked about this a little too loud..) - screaming and shouting. It turned out she only wanted to show me some plastic crocodiles. So we bought two, for good measure... (Oh, give me a break, I didn't understand any English, let alone Chinese...)
2. What is a special memory you have about someone? It could be a grandparent, family friend - not including your parents - that you knew as a child. What do you recall about them that makes the memory special?
There are several moments (ok, I do remember some things...), but right now I was made to think about that time in my grandmother's funeral. We were standing outside the chapel afterwards, everyone really sad and deep in conversation. It was winter and freezing. My other gran (actually my step-gran, but I won't go into that...) came out, and wrapped me in her fur coat, comforting me and warming me, saying this "is worst on the kids". It's just a glimpse from way back, but I can almost feel her arms around me now...

3. What was a favorite game you played as a child?
It's not a game, exactly, but my friends and I used to love climbing the nearest hills (or "mountains" if you're from an area without them, like Oslo. Or Holland.), playing cowboys and indians (we were almost always indians...) or hiding in the many bunkers left by the Germans during the war. Of course, we'd play quite a bit of football too!

4. What was a memorable trip that you can recall being a little kid and what did you do that makes you think about it even now?
I can't really keep the summers apart, but every summer we'd go down south (from Lofoten), and every summer I'd spend at least one night with my friend in Fredrikstad. Every year we'd go to the same sweet shop and hang around until the owner asked if she did perhaps know me from somewhere...? She'd always get it right in the end... We'd stay up really late and eat as much candy as possible :) One time I was there (I was 6, I think), I had the whooping cough (which wasn't supposed to happen after all those inoculations, but still...), and at one stage we ran to catch a bus. The coughing fit I got once aboard she's never quite forgotten...

5. Did you ever fall in love as a child?
(Ok, I added this question... Just remembered this, you see) Yes. Quite a lot, really. But I remember my first real crush - there was a youth camp, my dad was a leader there, I was 5 or 6 and just along for the ride. This teenager, T H, played cards or chinese checkers or something with me, and I realised he had the most beautiful eyes in the world... I actually blushed (my sister pointed out, rather too loudly for my liking!), and didn't dare looking him in the eyes for the rest of the weekend. Sigh... (Well, he's nothing of the sort these days, but I prefer to think of him as he once was...)

Tuesday tale on a Valentine Wednesday

What is your favourite quote?
There are so many excellent quotes. I'm a quotomaniac. If that's a word. Well, it should be. My favourite quote is probably still Oscar Wilde's "Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast", though. Go figure...

Your favourite slang word?
Hmm. English or Norwegian? I don't really use a lot of slang, I don't think. Possibly, the kids' (not just my kids. Anyone's kids these days..) adoption of the English "rules", as in "Liverpool rules!". Which they do, of course, only in Norwegian ("Liverpool ruler!") it still sounds a little quaint, methinks...

What is your least favourite slang word?
Well, in keeping with what I just said, this could be the Norwegianisation of "sucks" (as in "ManU suger") which as an expression is already here to stay but which I personally find extremely offensive still. Ok, and funny. At least in this connection...

If you could have a book about your life, who would write it and why?
Good question. Great author urgently needed. There are a few bluddies around with the gift of the, erh, keyb? Anyway, I'd better write it myself, I think. Another writer would go insane from all my post-editing, whereas I do editing as a profession... And seriously, I don't think anyone else could be bothered.

- Oh yes, happy Valentine's day to anyone so inclined*!

*I originally wrote "to anyone so declined", but then I thought you might think that I thought that this was how the saying went, so I thought better of it. Very thoughtful...

You can only keep five things you have. What will they be?

- In what I thought would be the increasingly inaccurately named Tuesday tales, but which are actually deadly accurate. After just one week offline. So far...

(I would say my kids, but even though they're 5 they're hardly things..)

1. My cell phone. Sad, but true. We didn't have one until about 7 years ago, then we shared one for a year or two. Until I became addicted and bought another for my dear hubby...
2. My beloved iPod – including the music on it, of course!
3. My bed. I’m sure I could sleep in a different bed too (after all, I always fall asleep the minute I decide to, wherever I am), but I quite like it…
4. A working internet connection. Aarrrghhhh. I don’t know if it really counts as a material possession, but these last few days at least have shown me that I can’t function properly without one.
5. There’s got to be five? Hmm. Oh, well, the computer! Not much point in an internet connection without one…

And here’s to hoping I’ll be properly connected by next Tuesday!

This morning...

(A Tuesday Tale completely out of my own head...)

... what happened?
I got up at 6 as usual, but only got myself ready and left for work, hubby's taken the kids (and the car to the garage for service)

... any scent made an impression?
The smell of the woollen scarf (new-washed..) wrapped around most of my face to keep the -10C (14 F) out. A good smell, a smell of winter!

... and any sound(s)?
Must be – the sound of Thomas’s half asleep saying “you’re the best mum anyone could have” as I walked out the door. And Rufus’ voice singing “this love affair” from my iPod J

... first person you talked to?
My colleague E, we walked in at the same time. But as it was still really early and it wasn't much of a conversation... I talked quite a bit to r (on msn), though, before internet died down. I hate not being online...

... any plans for today?
Work, then go get the car from the garage at some stage, at least before the place closes at 5. Then try to avoid wathing TV 'cause there's really nothing on (I just checked)...

With MLK day just passed - tell me about causes

What Causes are you passionate about?
Wow. Causes with a capital C? Then I dare not say football... I'm all for human rights and such (of course...), but passionate? If something happened right at my doorstep I guess I might be, but I can't say I run about the place with banners and slogans, no.

Do you actively support a cause? if so what?
I'm a member of the Amnesty International, have been for years. We're also sponsoring two children in two SOS Children's Villages, Dimitra (15) in Greece, and Aliou (7) in Senegal. I don't know if that counts as "active". Sigh... (We do also recycle everything glass and paper, but that's no more than everybody does.)

What do you want to save?
What I'd really like is for the planet, all humans and animals alike, to be saved. Rather than to save them myself... I would, naturally, like to see polar bears survive as a species, I just really don't want to think too much about it. Cruel and selfish. Very self-protective, at least...

Is there too much conservation on any issue?
I don't think so - not rationally. But looking at the springlike "winter" we've got, and hearing people talk about global warming, I tend to turn away and mutter that it's too much, yes. More self-preservation, I guess. I'm getting real good at this. There are so many things closer to hand that I feel I must think about.

Cathy, any tips on leaving myself out of it for a while, and keeping conservation up front?

Let’s talk about our friends

Another tale from our Tuesday friends...

Do you have a large circle of friends or a small one?
Well, now... I've got a lot of friends. I'd say a huge circle of people I could talk to about most anything, and that would help me with whatever I needed help with if I asked, and whom I'd help if they asked. People I've known for ages or just a short while but that I hope I'll never lose touch with. But I don't hang out with them as much as I'd like. So does that make them acquaintances? I don't think so... So yes, I've got a large circle of friends. And of the some hundred contacts in my gmail list, I know most of them IRL too ;)

Your childhood friend C. What was she like?

First day of school, C right there with me

My bestest friend of all, from around 5 - 12 or thereabouts, C. She was lots of fun, always loyal, always ready for my insane propositions*... We were both tomboys (or boys, rather, really...) and we were together always. She lived three houses down the road, and in between was another friend (an actual boy..) whom we also spent a lot of time with. C and I would go in and out of eachother's houses as if we lived there, we'd climb the nearby mountains, cycle down to the harbour to watch the coastal steamer coming in, search through the bunkers left by the Germans, harass her little sisters... Generally having an excellent time! She's been living abroad for the past ten years or so, but she just returned, so I'll look her up one of these days.

What do you like to do with your friends?
As little as possible... Not meaning that I want to do as little as possible with them, or prefer the company of others -- but I want us to be together and not do very much... Talk, laugh, perhaps see a film and have a bite to eat. There's enough heavy scheduling with school & work... But that's what I've been doing with my friends my whole life, anyway - just hang out. Never much of a party-goer...

What is your favourite memory of a friend?
I'm sure there are plenty, but the first that came to mind was this: I was staying in Crete the summer of -94. The au pair family & I didn't quite work things out, so I'd left them after a month, and moved on to greener pastures. I'd brought my harddisk (this was pre-laptop and general internet access...) and rented a screen, so I did some work for a Norwegian company - but then they decided not to pay me anymore, so I decided not to work for them anymore. Which left me ample time to enjoy Crete, but generally skint...

.. And this is where the friendly memory comes in. (See? I hadn't forgotten...) My best friend M, my maid-of-honour-to-be (not that we knew about that at the time...), called me. For the first time that summer. (This was back in the Cretaceous period, mobiles hadn't been invented and calling abroad cost a fortune. Besides, I was out on the Harley quite a lot of the time...) She asked about how I was, and what I was doing, and then asked for my bank account number because she felt pretty certain I was broke... She didn't ask - but deposited 3000 kroner (at that time: $ 437 / £ 283) the next day, "to be repaid at some later stage"...


In doing so, she gave me one more month of sun, fun, Greek, sun, swimming, souvlaki, sun, Harley rides, sun, crystal water... You get the picture. An invaluable present :)



*or what seemed insane to us at, say, the age of 7. Which means, very innocent stuff like pressing doorbells and running away...

Happy new year!

(Tuesday tale turned Wednesday tale...)

What is the best thing from 2006?

Hmm. Our winter and summer holidays, my travels to Lisbon and Berlin, the Robbie concert, getting the new job! Making new friends and re-finding old ones.

What is the worst thing from 2006?

Excruciating things like Liverpool not finishing top of the Premier league and Ronnie not becoming world champion... All in all, not such a bad year for me ;)

Did you make any resolutions in 06? Did you keep or break them?

Nah. Didn't make any. Best way to avoid breaking any!

Do you plan to make any for 2007?

I've made one this year. To be more present with my kids and hubby... It's not that I'm not there with them - it's just that I'm not there with them, I'm here... I'll (try to) become better at combining the two...

What are you looking forward to in the year ahead?

Summer. As always. We'll be going to Lofoten this year :) Also my trip to San Francisco in May! And this winter - apparently there won't be any snow... Oh, and world peace, of course...

What is the worst thing from 2007?

My mum's gone to Lisbon. That's ok, but she went without me. And now sends me mms's like this (see above, photo from hotel balcony). The nerve... (Ok, this question wasn't really in TT, I had to get the photo off my chest, didn't I! Looks as lovely as ever...)

10 things about me that hubby somehow thinks are charming

... but that friends / other family members / passers-by might find uninteresting, at best... (Oh, yes, this is a very remotely related Tuesday tale tale...)

1. I smack my tongue in disappointment at vital moments like if I drop something on the floor, or if I have to go twice to get everything out to the kitchen (I always try to take everything in one go - which is often why I'm tut-tutting about the dropping things in the first place...) But never if the kids spill their milk or my favourite film just finished when I zap over to that channel or if Ronnie misses an easy ball. Then there's more! (No, I actually don't swear. But I know quite a few other words...)

2. I can wake him* up in the middle of the night because there's someone I just can't remember the name of, and I'll need to know to go back to sleep. (On the bright side, I'll never forget the name "Patrik Berger" again...)

3. I know the offside rules. I know this shouldn't be possible for women, but there you have it. I also know quite a few players and previous clubs and previous results. Only don't test me...

4. Watching a match I'll abuse the referee no end if he can't see that was actually a penalty for Liverpool. Same way I'll never stop talking about Peter Ebdon's horrible, slow march to crush my man** whenever "Mister" (and I use the term loosely...) Ebdon is on the screen.

5. Quite frankly I'll just never stop talking...

6. And I do go on about Ronnie a bit, don't I...

7. I'll scream like mad and hide my head in my hands watching important football or snooker matches. He'll do it to, but softer, so as not to wake the kids.

8. There are certain people (ok, men) that I'll be a bit shy around, even if they're on screen... He'll even call me in, if they're on and I'm not around!
(Judging by this, you'd guess my hubby would be dark-haired too. But he isn't! Ronnie is, though...)

9. I have censured clothes given to the kids - they haven't been allowed to wear ManU-kit, and Thomas only got to wear that Chelsea-kit because he was tiny and very cute and noone would look beyond those long lashes of his anyway...

10. I will stay up late most nights to blog or watch some silly film, and even if I really could do with some sleep he won't even mention it... Like he hasn't mentioned the fact that I've got Steven Gerrard as my desktop photo - not him or the kids.

-- You'd think after 11 (almost 12) years of knowing me he'd tire of these things at least, but no.. And have I tired of him***? Of course not!! :)

* Hubby, that is, not Ronnie...
** Ronnie, that is, not hubby...
*** hubby or Ronnie...

Wintery Tuesday Tale

I hope you'll agree with me, that what we're having at the moment isn't winter. So we'll just skip that and mindleap (that's a word, right? At least it ought to be) to a wintery winter... And I'm really not such a big fan of snow, or skiing, or cold! But I'll be looking on the bright side...

The smells of winter
The smell of wood burning, inhaled through frozen nostrils. The smell of hot chocolate, coming home from the cold. The smell of hot blackcurrant squash (what we call 'toddy') and oranges taking a break on a skiing trip. That's cross country, obviously ;) The rancid smell of fresh-gutted fish and seawater during the fishing season.

The sights of winter
The northern lights. Couldn't possibly tire of them! The drying racks full of fish. The vastness of the starry sky on an endlessly dark night, as you see them lying on your back in the snow.

The sounds of winter
The sound made walking on kram* snow - it is in fact just like walking on potato flour. (Try it!) The sound of sea gulls calling from afar, then masses responding as the fishing boats return home! The swish-swash sound of skis run through a slope.

The touch of winter
Cold. Obviously. And very sticky... Like (probably) every Norwegian child I once just had to lick some metal surface that had ice on it. Don't try this at home kids! Yes. Your tongue will stick. And yes, it does hurt having it ripped lose. 'nuff said...
The tastes of winter
(Except from blood, in the above example...?) Well, hot chocolate, "toddy" and oranges I've already mentioned. Christmas cookies, I guess... And the taste of snow :) Well, no, I don't eat snow anymore - and I tell my kids not to (they haven't either, since one of them got those dreaded worms, and they all had to take the horrid medicine for a week...), but I do remember the taste of it. Tasty? Not really. But definitely wintery...

*Quite new and sticky snow, excellent for making snow-balls and snowmen!

And don't be silly - of course these photos aren't mine!! The daylight ones I ripped off somewhere I don't even remember, the starry night was taken by the excellent photographer, my Canadian friend r!

Tell me about what you dream of

Yet another Tuesday Tale (I think I've nearly exhausted their funds now...). Favourite -

Job
My current one. I get to play with words as much as I like. I have access to all the dictionaries I want - if we haven't got them, I can buy them. And if there are words I need to find out about I'm allowed to spend time googling for it (or posting it on my blog for you to help me out!). I get to work from home 4 days a week. Ok, it won't make me a millionaire. And we've got five weeks holidays a year, not, say, ten - but truly, how could I dream of more?

Vacation
I don't think anyone will be surprised if I bring Greece into this... Crete, to be more precise, and Chania, to be very specific. This photo's from Gramvousa, the northwestern tip of Crete (check out a map and you'll know what I mean). It's absolutely paradisiac! In an ideal world, we'd go to Crete for an entire summer. The kids would be friends all the time and befriend some Greek kids to keep them company. (Which would explain their non-fighty-ness..) We'd be staying right by the beach, and we'd have friends coming over every so often. And there would be nothing to worry about - financially or concerning health. I wouldn't have to wish for nice weather - it would be, in Crete, in the summer. And I wouldn't have to wish that hubby and I stayed friends all the time - we always are... Leading me straight on to the next point:

Mate
Ideal mate & best friend? My hubby. Noone would come even close. His only flaw - and I admit it's a big one, but still - is that he isn't Greek...
- And as 'mate' (at least in British English) also means 'chum, buddy' I'll throw in how much I appreciate all my friends - IRL & in the blogosphere. Life's so much more fun with you guys! In my dreams I would have more time for each one...

House
Well, now... There are so many... The one we've got really isn't bad at all. We've got 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a spacious enough garden for all our little footballers... But I wouldn't mind if it was twice the size... So, in an ideal world, we'd have one built just like we want it - living room big enough for a snooker diner (...), one room for each child, a separate office, guest room .... In this ideal world, of course, we'd also have a villa or at least a flat of our own in Crete... But in this world, our house is good enough, methinks! But I can dream, right?!

Snooker player whose birthday it is today (Ok, I threw this one in for good measure...)
Ronnie O'Sullivan, of course! Happy birthday!!!

And I dream that you win the UK Championship tournament that started yesterday...




So - what are you're current dreams?

Literary Tuesday Tale

Who is your preferred author?
Preferred, it's hard to say.. There are several. But I haven't yet been disappointed by Lars Saabye Christensen or Terry Pratchett, and Shakespeare still sneaks in from time to time. So choose between them? Nah... You choose...

What genre do you prefer?
Anything that makes me laugh I think it's fair to say. Which includes all of the above... Fantasy fiction with a sense of humour (i.e. not Mr. Potter and friends..), or historical crime novels with a twist (i.e. not Da Vinci and friends..). Stuff with longwinded sentences and intelligent ideas behind the gibberish. Is that a genre?

Do you belong to a book club? If so, what is it named?
Well... Sort of. It's the New Yorker Fiction Club that I mentioned earlier. It's more of an online reading circle, actually - and it's not particularly crowded, so if you want to join, please do :)

What is your favourite all-time book?
I'm not saying it's the best book of all times. But it's the one I've read most times. (As an adult, that is. I did read The Secret Garden 10-12 times a year when I was younger!) It's Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman - it's absolutely hilarious and very intelligent. Go read it now!

What did you like most about the book?
You're still here? I thought you went away to read Good Omens? Oh well, before you go then, know that these may be side effects of reading this book: Your cocoa will congeal while reading, any music you play in your car will turn into Queen (not so bad, is it?), if you see a pothole you will start looking for Tibetans and you will never again hear the words "grievous bodily harm" without sniggering. All of this in addition to you being curled up on the floor, laughing, of course.
After you've read it you can test yourself in it right here.

- If you want a Tuesday Tale, please help yourself :)

'nother Tuesday tale

What is your fav summer memory?
My first, and most favourite summers - probably Hvaler, until I was 12 or so. We'd drive south from Svolvær every summer, 1500 kilometres (932 miles) to see family in Oslo, then onward - about 125 km (77 miles) to Hvaler. (That's right. It's actually closer to Sweden.) Spending a few, glorious weeks there, with our summer playmates, and I can't remember it ever rained... I had three boyfriends (no, not like that, male friends) that I used to hang out with, they were eachother's cousins and stayed in cabins close by. There were no roads - and obviously no cars - on the island. We'd either walk to the shop on the other end of the island, or row to the shop on the next island when we needed something. We had to get water from a well nearby, and the outhouse was really not somewhere you'd want to spend a lot of time in... Possibly it was more of a holiday for us kids than for our parents! I'd still really like to go back one day, to see how it really was.

Also, I didn't dislike that summer when I was going to England - I had time off from the end of term at the university of Oslo (April) until term started in England in October! And of course, my 4 months in Crete in 1994 I would never have wanted to miss... Actually, all the times I've been to Crete (12) are my favourites too! This one's from Chania, last year.

Do you still take a summer vacation?
How can anyone survive without one?? I realize in some countries holidays is hardly an option but yes - absoulutely, we take summer holidays. Besides - the kids' after school care is closed through July, so they've got to have holidays..

IF so..where will you go this year?
I'm going home. I'm taking hubby and the kids with me to Lofoten. I was there two years ago, for a school reunion - the family hasn't been there since 2003. We spent 18 days there - and there was sun every day and night. That just doesn't happen... But it did! So we're hoping it will happen again... We haven't decided yet if we fly to Bodø and go on by coastal steamer, or perhaps should go by car. Those 1500 kilometres may not amuse the kids, though...

What is your least fav summer memory?
Least fav? Can't say there's a lot about summer I don't like... Must be when living in Svolvær, those summers we didn't even get to take our woollies off the whole year -- but that wasn't often. And you can't really tell from this photo that the water holds about 5 degrees C (41 F), can you...

Describe today for me, I want to experience it with you.
You do? Well, then you're a little late to begin with... I got up at sixish, got washed and dressed before waking the kids up (unless they wake up by themselves). Around 7.15 we were out of the house, and off to school. I made sure the kids started eating their breakfasts (packed lunch) before I left and set off for the boat. (Most days I go home to start working, once a week I work in town.) I have my own breakfast onboard (packed lunch). Full working day at the office, including packed lunch for lunch and at 4.30... Off to Greek classes at 5, where my father and 3 others joined me in our wait for our Greek teacher. Noone should be surprised he was late, he's Greek ;) Then my dad drove me back to the boat (it's not really that far, but it was pouring down - and besides, it gives us some time to chat), and I arrived home in time to kiss the kids goodnight. Then I donned my oilskin jacket and wellies and went off to shop some food, and later I sat down at the computer (sic!).

Ah, the excitement of it all...

Incidentally, if you'd like to tell your Tuesday tale, you can find out how here.

School Days

My, how time flies. It's Tuesday again! I feel another Tuesday Tale coming up...

Tell me about your favourite school
There weren't that many... I was at the same school from 1-9 (compulsory), and one from 10-12, before going to universities in Oslo and Guildford. But favourite? Oh yes, that would be the summer school at the university of Thessaloniki - way back in 1991!

Tell me about your first day of school
I can't say I actually remember it. Just look at the photo (that's me on the left) - it's a fair assumption to say I didn't have a clear thought in my head that day... I do remember the first day in 2nd grade, though. My best friend and I were strutting throught the streets after our first day, shouting "we're 2nd graders!" -- at least until some girl passing by casually remarked "I just started 3rd grade". Devastating...

Tell me about your favourite subject
I'm one of those geeks who actually quite liked school. I'd still be studying if I hadn't needed an income... Favourites? In primary school it was everything but PE and music.. Even maths! In lower secondary school I loved English, German and Essay writing in general. In upper secondary - apart from those few (few? Hah!) months every term I was quite fed up - I mostly liked English, French, Norwegian, linguistics and German, in that order. So, all in all, English seems to be the favourite. No surprises there...

Tell me about your favourite teacher
Definitely Mr. A, our form teacher in lower secondary school. We'd had the nicest lady teacher before - but she was almost too nice, and we were quite a wild bunch.. (As you can't actually see in this photo...) So at first we really hated Mr. A. He was extremely strict. He made us stand in line outside the classroom, in twos. He made us stand by the desks at the beginning of every class. If it was the first class of the day, we'd sing a psalm and say The Lord's Prayer. If it was later in the day, he'd read us a poem or two. Once or twice he made us run outside as soon as we'd come in, because the light on the sky was so amazing - or there was something extraordinary happening downtown. He called us by our last names, and we called him by his - I think I was an adult before I knew what his first name was...

Now, things may still be like this elsewhere, but to us, this was 19th century teaching. And no other teachers did anything like this. We didn't know they had surnames...

In our second year with him, Mr. A was growing on us. He did give us a lot of homework. He could be very harsh, if you didn't pay attention or was able to answer a - to him - very simple question. But he was always fair. And he knew everything. And was completely enthusiastic about teaching!

He tricked us into understanding how you can't actually trust everything you read. He lured us into liking poetry (well, some of us already did..). He showed us history wasn't at all dull. And his compassion for what was fair and just seemed to rub off on us. I'm not saying he turned us all into heros or anything, but he did make us all do the most of what we had.

Our third year with him we mostly spent wondering what we'd do without him next year... A handful from my class spent a 10th year at school (a non-compulsory half-working half-studying year) mostly because he was teaching it.

When I was a student, possible while I was doing ancient Greek, I stopped just thinking I ought to have written him a thank you letter, and actually did. On my visits back home after I moved away, I always stopped by the school to say hello to him. First time I brought hubby - then boyfriend - I stopped by to show him off. When Jakob was born and we went up north, we stopped by school as well. Mr. A beamed with satisfaction and said: "And now, Lord, You are releasing Your servant to depart in peace, according to Your word. For with my own eyes I have seen Your Salvation". Then laughed a little, partly because he wasn't really that religious, partly because he didn't actually believe Jakob to be the second coming, and partly because my dad's a minister and he didn't want to put his foot in it... But he did appreciate us coming to see him. When we introduced him to the quads later he was ever so pleased...

We had a 20 year reunion two years ago (yes, I'm an old woman), and Mr. A was there with us. One of the "rogues" in my class, a kind but rough guy, a manual worker who doesn't do a lot of reading, asked Mr. A if he could please, please read another poem... Yes, he was a special kind. When he passed away last year, the church was filled to the brim and beyond.

Tell me your favourite school memory
You mean except Mr. A...? I feel I'm a bit exhausted by school memories right now. (And so are you, I wager!) But I will say, in general, that learning is my favourite memory on the whole. Trite, but so be it!

BBRRR… Did someone say winter?

No, wait, I've got the perfectest excuse! Yesterday I went to bed early. So. There. (And it's still Tuesday in Hawaii. And Tokelau...) And anyway, Tuesday Tales hasn't come up with anything new lately, so I had to browse November last year. Pah.

Do you like the colder weather, or are you into the hotter weather?
I don't mind the occasional cold day, especially not if it's like today - clear and sunny, yet cold and crisp. In general, though, I'm all for warm weather. I hate, hate, HATE freezing.

What is your favourite thing about winter?

The starry nights. The northern lights (well, when I was living in Lofoten we used to see them, hardly ever now). Staying indoors without feeling guilty...

What is your least favourite thing about winter?
The cold. Absolutely. Having to put 11 layers of clothes on myself - and the kids. So much we're hardly able to move...
- And then there's sleet and / or icy roads. Bah.

Do you have a favorite comfy, cozy lounging around outfit?
Not one in particular. Most of my clothes are comfy anyway. I have this thing about huge t-shirts, though, if that counts. And if we're talking winter - my Icelander!

What’s your favorite warm drink when it is just too cold out there?
Hot cocoa. Did I not tell you my dad gave me this cocoa maker for Christmas last year? It brews excellent cocoa. So good, in fact, if you have a mug you will not need dinner. For the next week... (I did mention the marsh mallows, surely...) All food groups represented. Of course. Very good for you.

Birthday Celebrations. We either love them or hate them!

Another Tuesday tale - very topical this time, don't you think, Merujo...?

Tell me about your birthday this year
Well, it hasn't been yet, so it's a bit hard... But it's coming up shortly, and there'll be 8 of us (girlfriends) going to the studio recording of the Norwegian version of Have I Got News for You. It'll be great fun (I know, I've been there 8 times before...), and afterwards we'll go out to eat somewhere. That is, if I remember to reserve a table. Soon...

What is your best birthday memory?
Well, let's see. I went through a few birthdays last year. My favourite, though? The next one. Always the next one.

What is your worst?
My 18th wasn't that great, as I had to work all day and finish a dissertation and only through the corner of my eye watch my friends having cake. (What? Start the work before the last due date? Sorry, don't understand the concept. Brain overload.)

What was your favourite present?
Hmm. I want to say my iPod, but that was for Christmas. And I want to say the trip to Berlin, but that was for my sister's birthday. Then I want to say the exquisite tape recorder amplifier thing - but that was my morning gift after the wedding (yes, those were the days of cassette recorders. And I've never been one for jewellery...) So - which one? Surprise me!

Your least favourite?
If there ever was an unwanted or unpleasant gift I've repressed that long ago. I remember nothing but nice gifts... (I'll let you know Friday if it holds true!)

Photo: I don't actually know if this is my 3rd or 4th birthday. Still, I think the yellow suit is, erh, just beautiful, mum, simply stunning...

Hobbies, we all have them, some of us have more time than others to induldge in them, but we still have them

It's not that late for a Tuesday tale, really, it's still Tuesday in, say, Hawaii... So, here we go :)

What is your hobby?
There are a few... Blogging, obviously, since last year some time. And singing, I'm in a choir (octet, rather) again. And learning languages, i.e. Greek, the past few years. I'm supposed to be playing football (= soccer) too, but training's exactly when everyone else is training in this family, and, well, I'm lazy. Sue me...

How have your hobbies changed over the years?
Well, I've moved from choir to choir, moved to more advanced Greek classes, started and stopped going to football practice and started a few more blogs...

Is there something else you want to learn to do?
Definitely. I'd love to learn Portuguese. And webdesign & html. I wouldn't mind learning proper photography or drawing either, but I'm not really artistically blessed when it comes to form and colour..

How did you get into your hobby?
Which one?
Well, I've been singing since forever, as I just told you. As for blogging, I started reading Børge's blog as soon as he started it, then Josh & Josh's blog, as soon as I discovered it, and Rarity's blog, as soon as she told me about it. She also told me I might as well start my own, so I did.. And the Greek? Well, if you're really interested, there's some explaining here. Jakob asked why I still go to classes - "you already speak Greek", he says - but no, I'm far from fluent, and it's really annoying when I speak it and I have to leave all the verb endings pending, for someone else to fill out, 'cause I'm never quite sure what to put there..

Do you have pictures that show you doing or the results of your hobby?
Is the pope catholic? This one's of me practicing my part in rehearsal. (Incidentally, it's also of my classmates in Greek class, listening to my unfinished sentences..)

Family. We all have them. Big, Small, in between. Tell me about yours

So, maybe I just need a little push. Maybe it's just that the new look on my blog fills me with such peace I can't muster the strength to lift my fingers to the keys. Anyways, a little Tuesday tale...

Tell me about your immediate family
Well, there's me, hubby, Jakob and the quads. (Jakob & the Quads sounds like a rock band, like Bob Marley & the Wailers...) Hubby's got two parents, I've got four... I've also got a sister, she's got a husband and three kids. Hubby's got one twin sister (with husband and three kids) and one brother (with wife and four kids). None of our grandparents live. But there are quite a few aunts, uncles and cousins around. Oh, they're not immediate...?

Do you have family get togethers or reunions?
Not really. Nothing annual. Or planned. But we try to get together for birthdays, in the holidays etc.

Is there a black sheep? Who?
Actually, we're kind of a boring family. Can't really think of a black sheep. Unless it's me, of course, spending too much time on blogging and too little on everything else... Come to think of it, though, my great uncle used to own a black sheep. Does that count at all?

Tell me about your fav family function memory
Hmmm. There's been quite a few nice get-togethers. But my favourite... Well, one of the more recent ones - my sister's wedding, after I'd held my maid-of-honour speech... And then, last year, hubby's mum celebrated xx years, and the whole family - 20 of us - went together to Crete. As you can imagine, I quite liked that...

Tell me about your least favourite family function memory
You'd think it'd be a funeral... But family funerals - and so far this has been restricted to old members of the family - albeit sad, they tend to turn into rather nice family gatherings. Oh, but I remember my least favourite family function very well. Not sure I ought to elaborate. Ok... It was a Christmas party. With very little merriment, as it turned out. Someone decided she hadn't had enough attention and blurted out all she had to say about everyone. Which wasn't little. And no, it wasn't me. But I remember my sister and me leaving early...