Me time.

We still have some challenges coping with our daughters tough time. Trying our best to help her is draining our energy and I should probably have gone to bed as it's almost midnight here in Norway. But I need some me time with my book in a quiet house where everyone is sleeping.

Family.

My family and it's well being is the most important thing for me. Therefore I have a tough day today when my daughter is telling us she has a hard time. She's a fantastic girl but all to often she is hard to her self. I also believe that she, like many youngsters, is struggling to find her place and who she is. It's also hard to see her always comparing herself with others and not being able to see what a wonderful girl she is. It's breaking my heart seeing her unhappy and feeling unable to help her.

Happy new year.

It has been a hectic period the last few weeks, and it will probably continue through January. But I am feeling confident that this is the beginning of something better.
When February arrives my plan is that things will be more stable work wise and my income will be close to what I had in November but the hours spent will be considerably less. And the most important I will be happier at work, working with people who bring out the best in me.
2017 will be a fantastic year, because I say so, Living the good life in this Wonderful World.

Dreaming of a White Christmas.

Living in the South Western parts of Norway it might be decades between each time we get a White Christmas. Being a family of five we decided many years ago that it's easier for us to spend the holidays at home instead of traveling to family in other parts of the country.
Having family in parts of the country where a White Christmas is more common traveling would enhance the possibility of experiencing snow at the holidays.
This year we have discussed the possibility to visit the family in the North Western parts of the country. At Sunnmøre we will at least have snowy mountains surrounding our celebration, if we are really happy the landscape will be like we experienced it last time we decided to celebrate the holidays there.

It's probably no surprise that we have made our plans to celebrate our holidays at this part of our beautiful country. The plans include lots of traditional Christmas food combined with skiing and relaxing with a good book in front of the fireplace.

A new design.

One of our Christmas traditions is to make and decorate a Christmas house. This year we found some pictures on the net and decided to try to make something similar.

We have spent a few afternoons making the house through trying different solutions.

We are really satisfied with the result and will do some small changes to make it even better next year. These changes includes one extra floor. Time will tell if we will succeed next year.

Cutting for Stone.

One of my passions in life is reading. I also love to visit a bookstore and it is always one of the first things I am looking for when I visit a new city. I also love to hunt for books at bookstores online.

Tonight I finished reading the book Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. The story is a saga about the twin brothers, Marion and Shiva Stone. The boys where orphaned by their mothers death and their fathers disappearance at their birth. They come at age at the mission hospital in Addis Ababa where their parents were living and working, their mother a nun and their father a surgeon.

I will not tell you more about the book. I recommend you reading it instead. It left me with the strange feeling of loss I sometimes get after reading a great book. The knowledge that I've read it and this exact experience is lost for ever. But the knowledge that this Wonderful World is full of great books keeps me visiting bookshops and surfing the internet searching for the next great adventure of reading.

A pleasant surprise.

Yesterday evening I was relaxing at home reading the newspaper when the doorbell was ringing. It was a nice surprise when I realized it was flowers for me. There is no occasion for it so I was really wondering who'd sent them.
When I opened the card and saw the text and the names written on it my eyes where filled with tears. People who I want to keep in my life, people who, amongst many more, bring out the best in me where thinking about me and told me that they care about me.
I'm lucky to have these people around me in this Wonderful World.