Thursday, March 26, 2009

Rold

Lars picked me up from work at 2pm and we had a very uneventful drive up to Rold. It's a drive of 4-4.5 hours depending on traffic, so we arrived just after 6:30pm. We got ourselves checked in, and went up to our rooms to change for dinner (I don't know whether it really is a fancy enough place to get changed for dinner, or if it's just so much of a tradition that we never stopped to question it. Hmm... guess I just did! I'm not about to change it though - it's all part of the experience! :-) ) To our great delight the very first waiter we saw was Agent Waiter!!!! I have no idea if he remembered us, but it was great fun seeing him again :-)

Dinner was delicious as always, even if a tad too slow for the temperaments of the youngest, so they were sent to bed immediately after dinner, while the rest of us disappeared into the pool room for a couple of games and general catching up. It's always fun to see the "BIL-club" (that's what Peter, Christian and Lars call themselves) get together. We're fortunate that they always have a great time together. My two cousins fit in well too, and I quickly felt superfluous as the only girl still awake. They very obviously had no need at all for me ;-) Which is all good, even if it did take a bit of getting used to, not being my oldest cousin's preferred "play mate" any longer ;-)

Saturday and Sunday was spent going on walks in the area - Rold Storkro is situated in the middle of Rold forest and right next to Rebild bakker, so there's always opportunities for long walks... or not so long, when you have kids with short legs along ;) - playing billiard, going for swims in the pool, practicing ax-throwing and eating FAR too much FAR too good food :-D I think I got to read all of 100 pages while away, because I was up and about all day, and at night I was so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open past 10pm! That's what fresh air and young kids'll do to you ;-)

Sunday Nina and Christian had to go back home to their church, as Christian was playing worship. I'd gotten "Miriam-duty" and had to put her down for her nap almost immediately after they left which was a LOT easier said than done. Miriam knew exactly what was happened, and felt completely abandoned. I felt terrible! She was crying, calling for her mum, and kept jumping out of bed to run over and try to open the (now locked) door that she'd seen her mum disappear out of. It was heartbreaking. I know enough not to take it personally, but still felt like an awful abuser. In the end I grabbed a handful of books, and sat down on her bed holding her tight while reading out loud. After the first she'd stopped crying, after the second I was allowed to lie down with her, and after the third she was half-asleep. Phew!

... But of course we had "round two" after she woke up :-/ Thankfully this was a lot easier solved. I've always known that the way to Miriam's heart is through her stomach and this was no exception. She woke up while the lunch buffet was still on the table, so I took her for a walk around that, "Look Miriam, here's an apple... and an orange... here are some shrimps..." "Shimp!!!" "You want some shrimps?" "Yes! Many!" And voila - all was well again :-) I wish you could have seen her eyes when she said "Shimp!" though - they lit up like candle sticks!

Unfortunately I had to stay home from all walks Sunday. My legs were absolutely killing me, and my bad ankle had swollen up :-( Mum theorized that since I can't move the ankle as much as a 'normal' person, I can't "pump the blood around" so to speak, and that's what makes it swell. Could be... I've considered asking my doctor for a check-up on it. After all it's been almost 20 years since I had it checked last - a lot of things could've happened since.

Agent Waiter was as much fun as ever :) Isabella and Jordan asked for straws for their sodas Sunday evening, and he returned with a handful of black straws, and asked them which colour they wanted, "Here's a red one for you, and a blue one for you..." - cue giggling ;)
Nina had asked for her dessert to be delayed so she could tuck in the kids without worrying that her ice cream melted and had it brought out to her when she came back down. She was in the middle of telling cousin Peter something, and due to PERFECT timing ended up raising her hand just as Agent Waiter came through the doors. "I'm coming, I'm coming! Never get between a lady and her dessert!"
Heehee!

Since Christian hadn't been able to get off work Monday, he had to go home Sunday evening, so I spent the last night in their room to help Nina with the kids... to Jordan's delight and huge surprise when he woke up the following morning sleeping next to "Auntie 'Ria"! His facial expression was worth gold - it was very obvious that he hadn't equaled "Maria is sleeping in our room" to "Maria will be there when I wake up!" Cute!

All in all it was a really, really great trip. I had such a good time, and the nostalgia did not disappoint :) It brought back great memories, we had an excellent time together and revived a wonderful family tradition. Isabella and Jordan asked their parents to build a house near Rold so they could stay up there all the time ;-) Safe to say the younger generation had fun too! Hopefully we won't have to wait another 6 years before going next :-)

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Swush-swush-swush

Jeg er rigtig god til at opdatere her kan jeg se :-P Men nu er der endelig noget at skrive om der ikke bare handler om bøger.

Den årlige NC skitur! Jeg var egentlig ikke helt vildt opsat på at tage afsted, for de to sidste år havde kun været so-so, men heldigvis lod jeg ikke det stoppe mig, for turen i år var den bedste overhovedet!

Torsdag
Turen derned gik smertefrit - jeg fik metaldetektoren til at bippe da jeg gik igennem i Kastrup, og kvinden der tjekkede mig jokede at det var på grund af mit hår - man måtte ikke have så langt hår som jeg, så hun blev nødt til at klippe 15cm af! Godt så ;-)

Desværre regnede det det meste af de 2.5 timers bustur til hotellet (Alpenland i Maria Alm, Østrig), men det glemte vi alt om da vi kom frem og så hotellet, for WOW! Vi blev mødt af dette:

Fri bar - inklusiv levende musik! Vi var stort set de eneste gæster på hotellet, og de gik virkelig "all out" for os :-)

Five minutes later...

;-)

Til vores store begejstring viste det sig at hotellet havde et Pizzaria i kælderen! Klokken var nu 20 og vi havde intet andet end en sølle sandwich fået siden frokost, så vi var hundesultne, og forsvandt straks derned. Selvom drikkevarerne stadig var gratis (det var de på hele opholdet) tror jeg alligevel de tjente en pæn sum på os.

(Min mentor - Gustaf, min værelseskammerat - Salina, min ene projektvejleder - Lars, min anden projektvejleder - Jesper)

Lige ved siden af Pizzariaet var der en keglebane! :-D (på engelsk - Skittle alley. Det blev besluttet at det var et godt tjek for om man var blevet for fuld, hvis man ikke længere kunne udtale det ;-)


Salina og jeg gik op på værelset ved 11-tiden. Vi havde taget en drink med op, og sad og snakkede en times tid eller to i de badekåber der var stillet til rådighed. Rigtig hyggeligt!

Fredag
Det regnede desværre stadig fredag - ikke nok til at vi blev hjemme, men nok til at vi blev fuldstændig gennemblødte! Skitøj er ikke regntæt, skulle jeg hilse og sige! Jeg havde meldt mig til pistevisning for "Intermediate skiers", men fandt hurtigt ud af at der havde jeg overvurderet mine evner, for de andre kørte fra mig konstant! Til sidst blev jeg træt af det, og gad ikke presse mig selv så hårdt, så jeg fandt skiskolen for "light experienced" i stedet og fulgtes med dem resten af dagen. Det er jeg RIGTIG glad for. Dels fik min selvtillid et tiltrængt skub op da jeg pludselig var en af de hurtigste/bedste, og dels fik jeg faktisk lært en del :-)

Klokken 15 havde vi fået nok og tog tilbage til hotellet for at tage en tur i poolen og et hurtigt bad inden apres-ski.

Apres-ski/Afterski ligner vist hinanden uanset hvor man er - øl, "flüger" (rød vodka og red bull - sødt og GODT), østrigske/tyske slagere som kun holder når man er på skiferie og selvfølgelig et meget fyldt lokale.

Og naturligvis blev "Hol das Lasso raus" spillet gentagende gange:


Aftensmaden blev serveret kl. 19:30 (GOD mad! ikke den sædvanlige kedelige østrigske cuisine) og efter den tog de fleste videre til et diskotek i nærheden. Jeg var dog MEGET opsat på ikke at gentage de 2 sidste års fiasko - jeg VILLE ud og stå på ski igen om lørdagen, så jeg forsvandt lige så stille og listede op på værelset i stedet.

Lørdag
Lørdag morgen fik vi heldigvis en dejlig overraskelse - skyerne var forsvundet og solen skinnede. Det perfekte vejr til at stå på ski i. Jeg havde aftalt at følges med en fra skiskolen i går, og vi hyggede os med at køre sammen.

Det var pragtfuldt - skønt vejr, gode pister, skæg og ballade og perfekt sne :-D

(Er det ikke en dejlig hat? ;-) )


Klokken 14 kunne vores ben ikke mere, så vi tog tilbage til hotellet og gik lidt rundt i byen inden apres-ski.


Det er utroligt hvad folk kan finde på når de har fået lidt at drikke... der var et par stykker som besluttede sig for at spille Klodsmajor med små Jägermeister flasker!

(Taget på min telefon, så desværre ikke fantastisk kvalitet).

Aftensmaden var nok noget af det sjoveste jeg længe har oplevet. Nå ja, ikke maden, men selvskabet. Jeg sad sammen med Salina, og to fyre (Mikael og Jesper) som enten er "for meget" eller hysterisk morsomme. Heldigvis var det her det sidste, og jeg fik til sidste ondt i maven af grin. Af en eller anden grund besluttede de sig for at "undersætte" sange - dansk til engelsk og omvendt! Og det skulle selvfølgelig gøres "on the fly". Det har jeg - sjovt nok - en del erfaring med (at oversætte "on the fly" mener jeg) og da de også blev ved med at vælge sange jeg kender fik jeg efterhånden ry for at have tyvstartet og have en mappe med "undersatte" sange derhjemme ;-) Hehe!


Mikael er her smidt over skulderen på Andreas... det er nogle gange den bedste måde at holde styr på ham på ;-)

Denne aften var der ingen grund til at gå tidligt i seng, så jeg tog med de andre på diskotek og fik da også danset noget indtil det blev for varmt og trængt. Endte med at få 4 timers søvn... men det var stadig mere end de andre år hvor bussen kørte fra hotellet allerede kl.4. Denne gang ventede den helt til kl. 8!

Turen hjem var endnu kedeligere end turen ud, men det var godt at komme hjem og se Lars igen :-)

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Bøger læst i februar

Amory, Jay: The Fledging of Az Gabrielson, 8/10 ARC

Butcher, Jim: Storm Front (Dresden Files 1), 7/10 ARC

Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee: The Conch Bearer, 7/10 ARC

Jaye, Lola: By the Time You Read This, 7/10

King, Stephen: Pet Semetary, 6/10
Kulczyk, Rhonda: Freedom to Love, 8/10 ARC

Levin, Ira: The Stepford Wives, 6/10
Lewis, C.S.: The Screwtape Letters, 8/10

Montgomery, Lucy Maud: Chronicles of Avonlea, 8/10
Montgomery, Lucy Maud: Further Chronicles of Avonlea, 8/10

Nouwen, Henri: The Way of the Heart, 6/10

Pearson, Mary E.: The Adoration of Jenna Fox, 9/10
Pierce, Tamora: First Test (Protector of the Small 1), 9/10

Rothfuss, Patrick: The Name of the Wind, 9/10 ARC
Rowling, J.K.: The Tales of Beedle the Bard, 8/10
Rubio, Mary Henley: Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings, 8/10

Månedens bog Stiefvater, Maggie: Shiver, 9/10 ARC

Vaughn, Patrick: The Allure of the Curse, 8/10 ARC
Verne, Jules: In Search of the Castaways / The Children of Captain Grant, 7/10