The Sunday drive, only on a Saturday

Today I went with my mother and three of my sisters for a drive to some of the small communities southeast of Reykjavík. When I was a child, we usually took trips like that on Sunday, but Saturday with sunshine will do just fine. With me in the car was Steingrímur Páll, my support child, that is staying with me this weekend. My sister Svanhildur also had her boyfriend and two children with her. First we went to Hveragerði, where we spent some time waiting for Svanhildur and her family to show up, late as always :-) Then we decided to drive to the eco-village Sólheimar in Grímsnes. In this small community handicapped people live beside healthy ones, and they grow ecological vegetables and sell all sorts of handmade objects. They also have a coffee house where we enjoyed a coffee and a kleina (icelandic pastry) before we went shopping in the store. Then we drove to Stokkseyri, where we ate dinner at the restaurant Fjöruborðið, that specializes in lobster meals. I had lobster soup, mmmmmm, both me and Steingrímur liked it very very much ! After a lovely meal I drove home, but by then my righ hip was hurting bad and my ankle sore ! Hmmmmm, I am not good at driving for a long time any more ! Still, a great day and great soup :-)

Eating lobster dinner at Fjöruborðið, Stokkseyri

Freyja in Búrfellsgjá last Saturday

Nursery Schools are fun to visit :-)

Yesterday and today I drove with my collegues between nursery schools in Reykjavík, distributing leaflets about a spring cleaning project. It was so much fun to come to these places and see the childrens reactions. I was only there to talk to the head teacher, but invariably some little person turned up and started asking me what I was doing there. Sometimes they only smiled, beaming up on me. It was hard not to have a smile stuck on my face when I went back to the car. In one place a small group gathered around me, holding colorful shovels in their hands and demanded to know what I was doing at THEIR school ! Hehe, the little terrorists let me through after a short explanation, but for a moment there I was worried :-) I love the open curiosity of children. This was a nice uplifting break from my usual duties (ordering people to clean up their mess) and really made my day. :-)

Saturday Night Dinner Party :-)

My friend Ella invited the gang over for dinner on Saturday night. On the menu was lobster soup :-) We were all there, the seven girls going to Barcelona next September. Needless to say, the soup was MAGNIFICENT ! Mmmmmmmmmmmm ! The after dinner conversation was spicy as ever, the neccessary stories about men and appliances :-) Ella put some tanning cream on me and Gunna, that finally stopped the planes from circling over the house in the believe that our faces were landing lights :-) After a fun evening five of us drove home in Gunnas car, never mind the fact that it is only for 4 people... Anyways, GREAT EVENING, thank you Ella, thank you very much :-)

Ella had prepared the table in a most professional manner ! Eat your heart out Vala Matt ! 

Ólafur Steinar on the First Day of Summer. Cuteness factor off the chart ! 

Guðlaug the pear:-) 

The first day of summer

Every year we celebrate the First Day of Summer here in Iceland. This happens on the third Thursday in April, and the day is a public holiday. And the day is usually cold and miserable. It sometimes even snows. So why choose a day in April, when spring has barely begun and call that the first day of summer ? I'll be damned if I know ! But last Thursday, the weather was actually warm. There were a few drops of rain, but hello, a few drops is nothing compared to the hailstorm I once experienced on the First Day of Summer. I went to see a school play starring amongst others my niece Guðlaug. Hilda, my sister Svanhildur (Guðlaugs mother), her boyfriend and their baby boy were there too. The play is called "The fruit basket" (no, not about gays or crazy people) and is about fruits and vegetables living together in a basket. It involves a megalomaniac pinapple that pines to be king, and an oppressed strawberry that is a slave for all the other fruits. Hmmm, yes, I know.... Anyway, Guðlaug was a pear and did great. Her baby brother Ólafur stared at the play, facinated by the colours and the singing. He actually remained relativly quiet most of the time :-) After the play we went to my mothers place where my sister Margrét was eagerly awaiting our arrival to get her hands on Ólafur :-) Steingerður invited us to dinner that evening, mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Steingerður got all the cooking talent meant to be divided among us 5 sisters, so the experience was pleasant, as always :-) Afterwards we had cake and played Scrabble. Lovely First Day of Summer :-)

A night at the theater

Yesterday my sister Steingerður invited me to see a play with her at the National Theater. I was really touched by this kindness and really looked forward to it. I dressed up in my best clothes and off we went, anticipating a culturally stimulating evening. But when we came to the National Theater we immediately got a parking spot....that should have ticked us off. Then we attempted to enter the building....no go. Then a very sheepish Steingerður attmitted that it was possible that the play was NEXT Tuesday. Ooops ! A very nice play, very entertaining indeed :-)

Sick puppy

Mrrrrd. Am home sick. Won't bore you with the details but it involved going to the toilet a lot (nice pictures stuck in your head now ?). Am more sleepless than ever because of this. And yes, of course I had acute back pains too, just to add to the pleasure. Fnys. But ! There are some angels in this world. My friend Helga just brought me something to eat and drink. Snuff snuff, she is the greatest !

Sleepless in Reykjavík

Why can't I sleep like a normal person ? Why am I always awake well in to the wee hours of the morning ? Mrrrdd. Anyway, a nice weekend. Went to a pub quiz on Friday, me and Lóa got 7 out of 30 correct. Maybe not the most stunning result, but at least we got the beer question right :-) Saturday I met my friend Sif that lives in Denmark. It was fun to see her again after 2 years. Saturday evening my boss invited us over for dinner. All the pollution department (including one that just quit)together with their signifigant other were there, and me, without a signifigant other. Or unsignifigant other, for that matter. Dinner was delicious, the conversation good and the company great :-) Sunday I went to a birthday party. Eva Karen, Júlíanas daughter, turned 5. Mmmm, nice cakes and babies to play with :-) So, a long weekend packed with events, so why am I not tired enough to fall asleep ??? Got to dash, must count some sheep...I think I'm turning sick so I best get some z z z z.

Familiar sights ! Me like playing tourist in DK, this is Rundetårn 

Hildur and Søren riding into the sunset 

Wonderful Copenhagen :-)

Last Monday I went to Denmark on a short work-related trip. I was there to pick up a new sound level meter and learn how to use it. As a bonus, I got to spend some time with Hildur and Søren, my friends from my DK years. And lucky them, the got to have me sleeping in their living room for two nights :-) The weather in Copenhagen was wonderful, warm and sunny that Monday. Hildur picked me up at the airport and we went downtown and got some catching up over with over a spot of lunch. The afternoon we spent in a desperate search for Sørens workplace. A slight misunderstanding of pronounciation led to a long but very scenic drive in the suburbs of the city :-) Then I got to see the couple in the saddle, at their riding school. Sexy beasts ! (Am not referring to the horses). Tuesday I was at Brüel and Kjærs headquarters learning how to use the sound level meter. It was nice, and we even got a free T-shirt :-) That evening Søren cooked a wunderbar meal for us, grrroowwwrrrr ! Mmmmmmm, me like, me like. Wednesday it was time to head home. Me and Hildur had breakfast together and then it was time to say goodbye, snuff snuff. Iceland was as welcoming as ever, when we landed it was -4°C and an icy wind was blowing. I'm longing for Copenhagen again !

A merry meeting !

Aloha ! Due to technical difficulties (blogger ate my posts) I haven't been able to blog for awhile ! But before we go any further, let me amend my account of the busy weekend. I forgot to mention a very merry meeting that took place on Saturday, April 2nd. Then the girls got together to meet our friend Huld, that lives in US of A and was here for a short "housewife-break" :-) I had not seen her for 10 years !!! Me, Sif, Ágústa, Gunna, Harpa, Ella and Dóra were there with her. All brought their kids except me and Huld (hers were in the US, of course), Hilda was with her father this weekend. It was so great to get together and share stories of what we are doing and showing off kids. Really proves that friendship can survive years of separation and distances of many miles. Very nice indeed !

Busy busy weekend !!!

My oh my. I was busy this weekend :) The first of April it was Beer night at work. And yes, I drank my fair share of the beer ;-) Then the second of April it was my cousin Svava's 50th birthday. The party was just great, over 200 people were there and in the evening there was a surprise announcement: Svava had gotten married to her boyfriend earlier that day ! So, there was a lot to celebrate ! Needless to say, there was a lot of alcohol around and my lovely, crazy family had their share. It was great fun, and my sister Steingerður and my cousin Palli held great speeches that made everybody laugh. Finally, on April third, there was a confirmation party ! Björn Valur, who is the son of my cousin Palli, was the one getting confirmed. MMMMMMMMMMmmmm, the food was great, the company of family was great, every thing was....GREAT ! So, busy weekend with a lot to eat and drink. And in a few hours I'm flying to Denmark ! Wooohooo ! More later !

I was babysitting again the 30th of March, this time it was Ólafur Steinar that was the lucky kid :-) After an angry screaming fit he fell asleep in my bed. High cuteness factor !