Life wouldn't be half as much fun without!

It's half time. Liverpool's 2-0 down. Hubby's away, but Jakob (10) and I have been 'watching' the game**). We're really grumpy... Jakob half blames one of his brothers for the defeat that seems to be unavoidable - after all, didn't the brother just laugh? Unrelatedly, possibly, but still - laugh, at this hour?!! 

"Why did I become a Liverpool fan?!!!" Jakob exclaims - in real agony!

As if it wasn't enough, Ronnie just played the final of Shanghai Masters and lost. Just. It's that kind of day.

I yell at the kids for making too much noise (they're not, not really) and decide to start changing the linen. Only I can't, can I, I have to hit the refresh button every two minutes (or more) to see if there could be hope, if a text won't just ...

55 minutes - it's a goal! Torres! That wonderful Spaniard... Jakob and I look at eachother and hold our breaths. More breath-holding as City (today's enemy!) has one player sent off at 67 minutes. 73 minutes - another goal! Torres again!! I have to go down and get towels for the kids in the bath, but my mood is better and I don't tell them off for yelling (they are!)...

Skrtel (our man) has to be carried off the pitch at 86 minutes and we're down to 10 man as well. 6 minutes added time - and then Kuyt!! WE WIN!

"That's why I'm a Liverpool fan!!!" Jakob cries with glee, as we embrace eachother. 

How dull must life be if you don't like football?

**)We haven't got the right TV channels for it, so 'watching' means following the live text on bbc or the Guardian or some such place!

All is well with the world - and I know where it is!

The weekend has brought:

Snow. Which makes the kids happy and which makes me hope maybe global warming hasn't gone as far as they say. Yet.

Liverpool FC beat "Chelski"! 2-0, no less. And there was a lot of screaming around the place... Jakob had gone to watch the match at a friend's place (we haven't got the channel that shows English football live), and the rest of us were listening on the radio. Bliss...

Ronnie O'Sullivan is playing really well! The final still isn't finished while I'm typing this, but he's 8-3 up, and first to 10 wins it. The way he's playing I feel pretty confident he'll win the Masters!

*** And about knowing the whereabouts of the world -

I stayed up till 01 some nights ago (yes, it's sort of silly, as I'm up at 06 and really need 7 hours of sleep...) after discovering this geography quiz link... I hadn't even heard of Prince Edward Island before (my apologies to anyone living there..), now I can do all of Canada blindfold... Also, it turned out I'm pretty good at Africa, and amazingly accurate at placing Central American countries, but that my knowledge of US states had decreased substantially since my heydays..

- Back in this world, Ronnie's on his way to 9-3... So, how was your weekend?

Walking away from it all

(No, not me, silly, I wouldn't do that, now, would I?)

I'm talking about (one of my) all time hero(es) - Ronnie O'Sullivan. Last night he was playing Stephen Hendry for a place in the semi finals. And trailing 4-1, he suddenly decided he'd had enough and walked out. That is - he did shake hands with Hendry and the referee before leaving the building.

Now, he's done a few odd things in his time, but this still came as a surprise... (Photo from his autobiography, just before he walked out from the session, I guess...) Today he issued an apology to his fans, saying he had been so disappointed in his own play that he just couldn't bear it. So he walked.

Maybe I should start doing that too?

"No, you can't have an extra helping of pudding. And anyway, I'm tired of quarrelling, so I'm going. Out."

"No, you can't stay up late. It's school tomorrow. And anyway, I'm tired of quarrelling, so I'm going. Out."

"No, we're not going to Greece this summer. It's too expensive. And anyway, I'm tired of quarrelling, so I'm going. Out. For a bit of a cry about just that..."

And so on and so forth. While the kids may not learn a lot about handling emotions or aggression control, I'll get a lot of healthy exercise, right?

(I realise most of you won't have the foggiest as to who is Ronnie or Stephen or even Jan Verhaas, but I decided against a prolonged explanation and settled for links... I think that was very nice of me. Father Christmas ought to bring me lots of pressies...)

No more 'Beckham of the baize'

I wasn't going to post anything about this, it makes me too sad. But then I found this image - it was created 3 years ago, but is eerily topical..

Paul Hunter, one of my snooker favourites, died from cancer last Monday, 5 days before his 28th birthday, leaving behind a wife and baby girl. He'd been fighting cancer for the past 19 months.

I knew he was ill, but was somehow sure he'd make it. I didn't know him, I've never seen him play live. And now I never will. It's making me so very sad, much sadder than I thought I'd be. It's never fair when someone dies, especially not his age.

Here's to all the great matches he gave us!

RIP

Things never go according to plan

Of course, sometimes things go according to plan. But that's not what I mean. I'll elaborate...

By way of example - my now husband started working the same place as I was years ago, and after three days I started wooing him... No, really! After 8 months he finally "caved". But, while I was wooing, courting, trying to charm him etc. I had numerous ideas of how IT was going to happen. Would he finally "cave" at work? Outside work? At lunch? And how - ask me to marry him straightaway? Sneak a kiss?

So I had detailed daydreams of how this was going to happen. And every time I thought "... and then he'd say this, and look like that and..." I immediately regretted. Because - what are the odds that things will happen exactly as you planned them in your mind? (detailed plan) A little higher even than the odds for having quads, I think... So every detailed daydream meant hubby-to-be had one less option of actually getting together with me, as I saw it, so I did try not to think about it, but I was pathetic at it ;)

Eventually he / we managed without the detailed planning - then after 4 months he proposed and after 4 more months we were married, so we hardly had time to plan the rest!

- There's a reason why I thought of this now. Because on arriving home, Wednesday night, I saw in the papers that Ronnie O'Sullivan was in town! Now, some of you may remember he's my all time hero and the most talented snooker player to ever lift up a cue - and he was right here! Only I wasn't in town anymore, I'd taken the boat home, and I had visitors, and I really couldn't go back... (He was here to play pool, in some tournament or other, he does that sometimes when snooker's off season. But Norway's a totally underdeveloped country when it comes to pool & snooker, so I'd never thought...!)

Anyway. The next morning, on the boat and then walking to work, I couldn't help thinking about him - maybe he had stayed overnight? Maybe in one of the many hotels I pass on my way? Maybe he'd just step out to take a taxi? Maybe I'd get a chance to say hi? (Just before leaving the house, I thought - what if I did meet him? I'd want to take his photograph. So I grabbed the camera. And then thought - if I bring a camera I'm doomed not to meet him. So I put it back, thinking - I could always take a photo with my mobile. Then, seeing the mobile was only half-charged or less, I thought it may not have enough power to take a photo, so maybe ... I almost didn't catch the boat just because of it.)

Then for every plan, for every hotel I passed, for every fictitious conversation I made up - I immediately thought "NO!" - I'd just ruined the chances of just that happening.

I didn't see him, of course. He probably left Wednesday night... Update - I just read in the papers he hadn't been here at all, had to pull out of the tournament due to an ear infection. Phew... If I had bumped into him I'm sure I wouldn't have said anything at all, I'd just have been standing there, mouth agape, and watched him get in that taxi.

At least there was one option I hadn't contemplated...

Watch perfection...

Ronnie O'Sullivan makes a 147 in the snooker world championship in 1997 - in 5 minutes and 20 seconds!

- I'm not going to explain this, but if you know the first thing about snooker, you'll see what I mean!

Ok - just two things: to watch the above clip, click the 'play' button and be patient... And to Devil Mood: I must protest! Football (soccer!) is by far the most popular sport in Norway! Skiing and all that doesn't come anywhere near... And this is not just my opinion, it's statistics :)

The wonderful art of self preservation

I know this woman. We're acquaintances, I guess, but we get on really well whenever we meet. Especially since she and I share the same idea that our hubbies are our soul mates, and that married life with our respective spouses is pure bliss. They have three children, the youngest as old as our Jakob. Her hubby also had a child before they were married, who lives with them.

Now her husband is dying of cancer. There is no hope. They've stopped treatment. He half sits, half lies in a chair, he barely has the strength to call his children's names. He used to be a wonderful, fun family man, and he loved the great outdoors.

So, what do I do? I give her a hug, when I see her. I don't ask about his health, or hers - even though she's said she doesn't mind talking about it, it's somehow therapeutic.

But I can't bear thinking about it. When I really get into it, when I start imagining that in a few months, maybe only weeks, she's a widow, the kids fatherless - my mind shuts off. I start concentrating on a hair in my eye or the noisy traffic.

It's only too sad. For me! And she lives with it!!

Even as I'm writing now, I can't delve deeper into this, I just concentrate on being grateful and happy that it's not me. It's incredibly egotistical and callous, perhaps, but it seems to happen automatically. Body & mind shield sets in...
On a more lightweight note - these are other things that have made me happy recently:
- Liverpool are through to the FA Cup final!
- "Chelski" got thoroughly beaten and chucked out of the FA Cup.
- These events happened in the same match!
- Ronnie O'Sullivan is through to the quarter finals of the World Championship.
- My new job is only 36 days away. I keep getting mails from my manager-to-be, questions sent in by people in search of a word that is not in the dictionary. Yet. I love the detective work trying to find the proper translation - asking everybody I know in a similar trade - and to think I'll actually be paid to do this! I can't wait...

Monday mutterings

Ok, O'Sullivan cruised through to yesterday's final, only to be crushed by John Higgins... Oh well, if anyone was going to beat my hero, John Higgins at least is probably the most sympathetic bloke on the entire tour. (No, I never said O'Sullivan was that. I just hinted I liked him best regardless..)

And now for something completely different.

I work with a bunch of criminal lawyers. (Haha, cheap pun... Defense lawyers, of course!) Most of them are just as nice as the next man - or nicer, there's a lot of fun and generally a nice 'climate' at work. But then there's always the odd man out. Or woman. Whatever...

The thing is, this person seems not to want anything to do with non-lawyers. Us staff, or clients, even, are just a necessary evil. It seems. If our time is spent waiting - more often than not without any messages as to how long this will last - that's irrelevant. Like NN said: 'I always finish on time! Even if I start half an hour late...' But how could we know? And how can s/he know whether we might have other plans? It annoys the h#! out of me - and s/he won't really communicate with non-lawyers off work either. Even when talking about our kids / holidays / films we've seen etc. - you'd think education wasn't an issue? But yes.

I mean, I've got 6 years of university training as well, only I didn't spend them in law school. But even without this education - does working as a clerk mean I'm worth less? Wouldn't you think I was at least worth gabbing to?

A friend of mine works in this law firm too. This summer there were only four of them working - three lawyers and her. Their boss invited them over one night - the lawyers, that is - with spouses. Maybe to discuss legal matters?? Well, the next morning, her boss went on and on about how the others would be late, how much fun they'd had, etc. Yeah, rub it in, my friend thought...

But was she, perhaps, being overly sensitive? Are we both? Are we less interesting people and need to live with this attitude? I'm not saying they're not allowed to talk law with other lawyers, I just thought - you know, social talk was for everyone...

To be honest, though - most of them do talk to anyone, with ease, and even seem to enjoy it. I just had to spill my guts...

Snooker update!

Ronnie O'Sullivan is through to the semi finals (where he'll face Barry Hawkins, easy match...)! Not that it comes as any surprise, Ronnie being the best snooker player ever (in my, truly objective, opinion - as well as other people's!) - he can do things like this with his cue.

Ah. Perfection... Sleep gets less and less interesting ;)

TGIF!

Every Friday feels like a gift...

By the way, that job I was rambling about? That I decided I wouldn't go for anyway? I didn't even get it.. So much for working myself into a state about decision-making..

Oh, and I've been tagged by Rarity. I'll see if I can do something about it over the weekend. Probably need to clean up the house a bit before I do!

And you might not know this, but EVERY Friday, my hubby and I have lasagna for supper... We've been repeating the Friday menu for almost all of our 9 1/2 married years. Got tired of thinking of some special dish every weekend, so now we've only got to think of something for Saturdays. The kids? Oh no, they're well tucked into bed before supper's ready ;)

This weekend life as we know it will be put on hold - snooker's finally back! Grand Prix in Preston, England... At least for those who a) are in Preston, or b) receive BBC and/or Eurosport. (That's the Grand Prix logo, in case anyone wondered...)

Cravings

I now crave for things I hadn't even heard about until recently. Like an iPod (a U2 iPod, to be precise). And an iTrip. And everything else that goes with it...



I also crave for things that it's really not wise if I actually got. Like a diner / snooker table..

I really, really wish I could get a table like this! Only - it wouldn't fit in our house, would it? And even if we could squeeze it in - there'd not be enough space left to actually play snooker...

Until I was 15 or so, I think I always got the things I really wanted (which excludes quite a lot). Like my first stereo rack, that I bought right before the nose of my best friend who'd been saving up to it forever.. (She did get one too, of course, but only a week later, when they'd ordered another one.. But we're still friends!)

Obviously, my 15th birthday was last millennium. And my last wish fulfilled...?

Is not that strange?

The world has so much to offer - yet this is where I'd like to go..

Ever since I was a kid I've loved the reds. I married another fan (ok, that wasn't why I wooed him for months until he caved, but still..). Now we're raising a bunch of the same.

But how is it - a bunch of overpaid footballers I've never even seen plays such an important role in our, relatively normal, life?

I won't go into details about the nausea I felt when Michael Owen signed for Newcastle... But it was physical. No dessert or extra playtime for the kids that day. Only grunts of 'goodnight' and 'get lost'..

I would like to think it's a good thing I can get so involved in things. But making people believe that screaming about goals, or pots (in snooker), without even considering this might wake the kids, has so far proved quite strenuous... Am I the only one?