PiNG's Danish Adventures

Pretty Flower or Evil Menace?

2011-05-12T20:32:00.000+02:00

Every spring as we welcome the longer days and the warmer temperatures, we also welcome all things that grow. The vast majority of this is a good thing. That first crocus that pops from the ground, and then the daffodils and tulips… ooo so pretty! We excitedly bend down to sniff the hyacinth and point out each perfect little flower. Lilacs are blooming every where and adding a wonderful fragrance to the air. But alas, amongst all the beauty, there is this one seemingly innocent creature...

Oh sure, it introduces itself as a pretty little yellow flower but beneath those little yellow petals lurks evil. Ladies and gentlemen, I speak of the dandelion. And oh what a lion it is. You see, this little lion does not come alone, nor is it particularly dandy.

No, dandelion are like deer; where there is one, there are usually more…

And so, if one would prefer to have a lawn that is just grass, without these menacing little buds, one must find a way to slay the lion. There’s an app for that! No wait, that was a previous post. There’s no app for this. There is, however, a tool!!

The wonderful folks at Fiskars (yep, same as the scissors) have made a handy, perhaps one might even say ‘dandy’, tool to slay the lion, or at least, look good trying. Allow me to share the product description from Fiskar’s own website:

There's bad blood between you and those weeds. Get the upper-hand in the battle for the perfect lawn, with the UpRoot® Weed and Root Remover. There's no messing around with this tool. Extra-long, razor sharp stainless claws deeply penetrate the soil to grab these delinquent growths at the root. Hard to fathom, but it almost makes removing dandelions fun. A few passes and you'll be an old pro. The weed ejection feature is effective and satisfying. Bright orange markings make it easy to find in the grass if you set it down for a victory dance.

Now, allow me to air a grievance. Notice the photo above. Notice how there is ONE, just ONE dandelion plant on that lawn. And ooooo goody, they got it! All is safe again on the lawn and one can simply sit back and enjoy the rest of the summer. HA!

We own the tool you see above. I use it. Daily. There are little holes all over the lawn. There are buckets and bags full of pulled dandelions. By the sheer volume of what has been pulled from the ground, and the huge block of time that I have spent using the tool, one would think, at this point, I’d be doing a victory dance. One would be wrong.

Why? Because you never really and truly know how many dandelions have invaded your lawn until the day comes that you decide to remove them. One at a time. With a tool.

We live on a corner property. There are no fewer than 5 homes that have windows directly facing our yard. Much the same way we notice the neighbor who washes his already clean car seemingly 2-3 times per week, I am now convinced that each time I am in the yard, pulling dandelions, there is a neighbor saying to his spouse… “hey honey, you gotta come see this… she’s doing it again!” And then they bust into fits of laughter, pointing and saying… “crazy american”.

And yet, for unknown reasons, there is some part of me that cannot stop trying to slay the lions. Their yellowness taunts me, day in and day out… “come on, just try to get us all!” I think some small part of me must be convinced that if I pull just the right one, the rest will cower in fear and leave for good.

Must… pull… one… more…

S.O.L.

2011-05-10T22:21:00.000+02:00

For the native English speakers out there, when you hear SOL, what’s the first thing that springs to mind? Yeah, not so good, right?

Well, when that phrase comes up in Danish, it means something entirely different. In this case, SOL means Sundhed og Livsstil, or in English (yeah back to that again), Health and Lifestyle, or more succinctly, Healthy Lifestyle. And this, my friends, is what I’ve been trying to do for the last few months.

As my blogging friend, Stephanie, said one day on Facebook… “There’s an app for that; I’ll do anything for an app!” If you’re lost and don’t know what an “app” actually is, well, it’s a program that runs on your mobile phone and helps keep you motivated to do things. Basically, it’s life as a video game, with bells, whistles, badges and achievements for things you really should be doing anyway, but are incredibly more motivated to do when it means you can share with the world that “Hey, I walked 5 Km today” and get instant feedback from your friends. So yes, I’m a sucker for a good app.

And so, for the past 2 months or so, I’ve been spamming my Facebook friends with little maps of my walking and cycling routes. I know they probably don’t care and have probably hidden the app from their feed. And, I’m sure some are secretly hating me because I’m making them feel guilty for sitting at their computer. They’ll get over it. :)

I turn on the app when I leave the house and start walking/cycling and when I get home, I tell it to stop running and it creates a great little map of my route, telling me exactly how far I went and how long it took me. How cool is that? Oh sure, I could go out and walk and never really know the exact distance of my journey, but this is way cooler, and I’m amused by it so it keeps me motivated and isn’t that what it’s all about?

As for the danish SOL… the local county has a program encompassing all sorts of things to try to make us all healthier. As part of the SOL program, there is a group of women that get together to go cycling every Tuesday evening. The county apparently provides the extremely fashionable bright yellow reflective vests we all had to wear. And, since it doesn’t get dark here until about 10pm at this time of year, we can get in quite a bit of cycling while we still have daylight. Tonight was my first ride with this group but I don’t think it will be my last. Though I do think they tricked me! I could’ve sworn I had read that their trips were approximately 10 Km, but tonight we did that one way, and there was no one waiting at the other end to drive us back! All I can say is that I either need more padding on my seat or in my shorts in order to survive these trips that should eliminate some of my own natural padding, if all goes well.

Now about those accomplishments. The app tracks it all! And I am pleased to say that, in the month of April, I accomplished the following:

Walking – 89.55 Km (55.64 Miles)
Cycling – 30.22 km (18.77 Miles)
Zumba Class – 3 times

And, since I take both dogs when I’m walking, I have the added benefit of upper arm strength training while I try to keep Lexi walking on my left and Zoe walking on my right, at the same speed, without stopping to sniff every little silly weed/shrub/blade of grass along the way. Dog Training 101 – Hey, maybe there’s an app for that!

One-sided Harmony

2011-05-05T19:12:00.001+02:00

Every six months or so, I go in to see the doctor for what they refer to as a ‘control’ visit. It’s basically just a check-up to be sure I’m doing okay. The visit unnerves me a bit because of its pure simplicity. The doctor talks to me, does a brief exam, talks to me a bit more, sends me home. No complicated scanning procedures or tests. But, here’s the thing, I WANT the tests. PROVE to me that I’m okay, damn it!

So, on my last control visit, I asked them if and when they would ever do some sort of additional testing or scanning. As it turns out, 2 years after the initial surgery is when they do a mammogram and thus, it was scheduled. Keep in mind that the last time I had one of these tests, it was because I had found a lump, and the day of the test went downhill quickly as my worst fears were realized. I was hoping for better results this time around.

I arrived a bit early for my test and figured I’d have to sit and wait awhile, but as it turns out, they were ready for me. Really? In a hospital? No waiting? Score! The nurse (or whatever they call the person who runs the machine) did her thing, squashing and shoving my one remaining boob between the plates to get the pictures.

I wonder, if I had to pay for any of this, would it be half price?

After the pictures were taken, I was led into the next room where the doctor would examine me, so up on the table I went. And now I had to wait. But this wait was understandable because now some doctor somewhere was looking at the pictures to make sure everything was okay. After a bit, the Doc arrived to do some ultrasound tests. I don’t know if this is something everyone gets or if I’m just special because of my history!

Up until this point, I was doing really well using my Danish and not using my English. I was quite proud of myself, that is, until the Doc said something completely incomprehensible at which point I just had to tell him, in Danish… “I cannot understand you”. Given the importance of the proceedings, there comes a time when perhaps switching to English is a good idea, and this was that moment. And then he told me, in English, what he had said…

“Your breast tissue is harmonic.”

Hmm. Really? I mean, I know I grew up with two music teachers for parents, but I had no idea their influence reached far enough to make my breast tissue harmonic! So yes, ladies and gentlemen, you heard it here first… my boob can sing. Top that.

Food Nostalgia

2011-01-24T21:55:00.001+01:00

Living outside the US means that many of the foods I used to love, and some I never knew I loved until I couldn’t have them, are no longer available to me. I would love to be able to claim that there are all kinds of wonderful things here to replace the things I miss, but this is Denmark, and other than a really expensive Michelin restaurant and a breakfast pastry, let’s face it, this country isn’t known for it’s food.

To fully understand the Mac & Cheese story, I have to go back to about one week before Christmas. Ole and I were in a grocery store that has a British/American section. Comparatively speaking, a rather small section considering the size of the two countries it represents, but I digress. In that section were boxes of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, the actual thing, and it could have been mine for some insane price. I don’t recall the exact pricing, but it definitely came out to more than $5 per box. I know this only because I was pointing out to Ole that I could buy Mac & Cheese boxes in the states for 99 cents. Perhaps not the actual Kraft box, but still! And, he didn’t really believe me and reminded me that it has probably been at least 5 years since I bought a box of Mac & Cheese.

We then took our whirlwind, snow-packed trip to the Northeastern US for Christmas with the family and we, of course, went to a few stores while we were there. One of which was Target. Ahhh Target, how I miss you. Lo and behold, there it was… 99 cent Mac & Cheese. I probably would’ve let it sit on the shelf after pointing it out to Ole, but he insisted I bring home a few boxes, and so I did.

You have to understand that when I was a kid, the tradition in our family was that on your birthday, you got to have your “favorite” dinner. My brothers usually chose lasagna, which meant several hours of prep work by my mother. Me? I chose Macaroni and Cheese and no, not some home-made version. It had to be the bright orange stuff that comes out of the box! (Yeah, my Mother got off easy on that one!) Mac & Cheese was my FAVORITE dinner. But, that was probably between ages 5 and 10.

So, here I am, back from our Christmas trip, and I have 4 boxes of Mac & Cheese. I wasn’t overly excited about it because it’s been years since I’ve had it, and I pretty much assumed that whenever I did get around to making it, it wouldn’t be as good as I remembered it. When something has that much history, and that much hype, it rarely lives up to it’s promise.

But tonight… tonight I had Mac & Cheese. By myself. And it was… YUMMY! Now all I can think is – why did I only bring back 4 boxes?????

Summer Road Trip - Day 5 - Krakow and onward north

2010-09-15T18:42:00.000+02:00

As promised, we now return this blog to our previously scheduled summer vacation wrap-up. It's now almost 2 months later, but who's counting?

Where was I? It looks like I left off upon arriving in Krakow, Poland. I loved that city and I definitely would like to go back and spend more time there. We only stayed one night.

The next morning we went to Auschwitz. I definitely think it's a place everyone should go to at some point but I can't say it was 'fun'; just one of those things you have to see. During the high season, you must tour the camp with a tour group so if you come as individuals, you are assigned to the next group to leave with a guide in the language of your choice. The next English group was huge; so big that they ended up splitting us into 4 groups of about 30 each. Unfortunately, we ended up with a tour guide that wasn't very good. The tour itself wasn't bad; it was his personal opinions he chose to inject into everything he was describing to the point that several in our group were making comments about filing complaints. He had a chip on his shoulder and I guess he was using his position as a tour guide to be able to vent his feelings to travelers from all over the world. It was unfortunate, and it caused us to decide to skip part 2 of the tour. I'm not sorry that we went, I just wish we had had a more impartial guide.

After leaving there, we began our trek up to the northern coast of Poland. It was a trip that lacked motorways in most places. Polish roads... wow. I have never seen anything quite like it! You know how, after a major snow fall, cars form ruts in the snow and everyone follows those ruts? Picture this, but without the snow, just the ruts, in the blacktop. Passing another car became an amusement ride of getting up out of the rut, around the car and back down into the ruts. It was nuts.

I will give 1 point to polish drivers, though. When they're driving slow, and they know it, they move way over to the right shoulder and drive with half the car on the shoulder so that it's easier to get around them. Loved that!

They lose that 1 point, however, for the sheer number of times we saw a car towing another car, with a rope. Before Poland, I can probably count the number of times I've seen this done, on one hand. After Poland, I need both hands, both feet and a few other appendages... we saw at least 2 a day. Crazy! Maybe it's how the Poles save on gas?

[Insert your own "How many Poles does it take to... ?" joke here]

Oh, and if you have to make a quick market stop and there's no place to put the car? Not a problem, just pull right up on the sidewalk...

It's been 4 years!

2010-07-29T17:14:00.000+02:00

I know I left you all stranded somewhere in Poland and I will get back to the rest of the vacation tales, I promise, but today is a special day and so, instead of vacation, we're going back in time to 4 years ago...

On that day, it was hot - really, really, hot, 100 deg F (30+ on the Celsius scale) and that was the day that I married my prince. :) See what a witch I was that morning?...

After I jumped off my broom, I had to sit for all the pre-wedding pictures. My dress was heavy, and hot, but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do, right? On the back of my dress was a train, and on the end of that train, what else would you find but a caboose?! My father is a model railroader and since the time I was very young, we had always joked that my train would have a caboose, and so my mother was tasked with sewing a small caboose on the end of my train as a surprise for my dad. :)

And how did my Dad repay me for the surprise? When he hugged me at the church, he ripped the veil out of my head!

Then we got down to the business at hand and I married this wonderful man...

Today is our 4th Anniversary!! I just googled the gift traditions:

4th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
Traditional Anniversary Gift: Flowers
Modern Anniversary Gift: Linen/Silk

I didn't get either of the above but what I did get was even better... I finally have a dining room set!! I would show you pictures, but you'll have to wait as the table is currently upside down with no legs. As soon as it's all put together again, I'll get a picture.

Happy Anniversary Ole! :)

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 4 - Prague to Krakow

2010-07-21T23:37:00.000+02:00

Day 4 began with a bit of a scream. It came out of me as I attempted to take my first steps of the day. All that hill walking on Day 3 left my calf muscles a bit unhappy!

We headed out from Prague, bound for Krakow. If you viewed our original itinerary, it called for a trip to the Salt Mines. As much as I would've loved to see them, with the shape we were in, we made the decision to skip the mines and the 378 wooden steps that lead down to the mine.

The drive from Prague to Krakow was very pretty and it was all motorway, which made for easy driving. I decided to give Ole a break with the driving and was cruising along the highway enjoying the drive. Then we hit a bit of a snag...

A police van that had been parked at an on-ramp suddenly decided to pull me over. I wasn't sure what was wrong as I was actually doing the speed limit - heck, the limit was approx 80 mph! Thankfully the police van had a little system for pulling people over - he pulled in front of me and the back of the van had a message bar that said "Follow Me" in several languages! I followed him into the gas station rest area as I was instructed to do.

Well, apparently we were supposed to have some sticker on the windshield to drive on the toll roads in the Czech Republic. We honestly had no idea about this sticker or we obviously would've had one! We ended up having to buy the sticker, and pay a fine - lesson learned I guess! The worst part of it was that at this point, we had about an hour left in the Czech Republic and then the sticker was useless.

We arrived in Krakow about mid-afternoon and decided to go into the town's market square. I absolutely LOVED the area and I could definitely go back and spend more time exploring Krakow. We enjoyed a horse-drawn carriage ride around Old Town. It was sprinkling rain and we were a bit wet by the time the trip was over, but it was warm enough that we didn't care. Here's a few pictures from the market and our ride...

I have found something new that I love! It's called żurek, and is a traditional Polish soup. Yummy!!

Once last picture before I leave you for Day 5... This, apparently, is Schindler's Lift...

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 3

2010-07-19T23:41:00.000+02:00

I'm already a day behind and it's only day 4 of the trip! Let's catch up now....

Day 3 was all about Prague! If you have not been here, the one thing you really need to know is that this city is all cobblestone, and if you want to see Prague Castle - it's all about the hills. Our hotel was within walking distance of Prague Castle... if you're a mountain goat!

Honestly, it was rough, but we survived the climb and Ole survived my whining and we made it up to the top in time for the changing of the guard.

Prague Castle is huge. For most of the buildings, you need tickets, so we did the big ticket. The ticket sales people attempted to convince us that we needed to buy the Audio Tour, for another 500 Czech Kroner each, or we would end up standing in line at the St. Vitus Cathedral for up to 2 hours. Ole then tried to tell her that if he didn't buy it, he could make 500 Czech per hour that he stood in line. He was being difficult, and she didn't understand him (shock) but we convinced her we would be fine without the audio. As it turns out, there was no line by the time we went to the cathedral so ... we win!

This is a view from the stairs leading down from the castle. This was about 4-5 flights down, with more to go, as you can see...

We then went from the castle to the Old Charles Bridge. I think our bodies were screaming in pain too much to truly enjoy things by this time but I am glad we went! This is a view of the castle from the bridge...

And this is us, exhausted!...

We returned to our hotel, and then later headed out to the local shopping mall for dinner. I had a very tasty pizza and then we crashed.

I will catch up with Day 4 as soon as I have the energy!

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 2

2010-07-18T09:15:00.004+02:00

We left Lehrte, Germany on Saturday morning to continue our drive to Prague. The trip took us through what was once 'East Germany'. These days it's hard to tell that there were 2 countries, but there are reminders now and then, like this old watch tower out in the middle of farming fields...

I drove a bit of the way and I actually drove over the Germany/Czech border, which means there is a place in Europe that I have driven before my husband! Driving the German roads can be a bit nerve-wracking. I'm sure if I did it more often, I'd be fine but there is something a bit disconcerting about being passed when you're already driving 95 mph!

We have a GPS in our car and Ole has one on his phone. We installed maps for Eastern Europe on both before we left but neither of them would navigate over the German border. We knew the maps were loaded so we just hoped for the best and thankfully, once we drove into the Czech Republic, the GPS did wake up and realize where it was! Which meant we were able to find our hotel - whew!

This is a view from our room - we are right on a busy street but across the street is a gorgeous park:

Last night we took a dinner cruise on the river to see Prague by night.

Either my camera doesn't have the ability to take decent night pictures, or I personally don't have the ability to use the camera - either is possible! But here is the best I could do - Prague Castle at about 10 pm:

Today we're headed over to see Prague Castle and explore the area.

One more random observation before I go:

They have some really, really big doors on these buildings... It's hard to judge the scale but that white box are you see is about even with my head.

Summer Road Trip 2010 - Day 1

2010-07-16T23:26:00.003+02:00

Our much anticipated summer vacation is officially underway!
My plan is to do a daily update so we have something to look back on and remember it all! This is, of course, dependent upon working internet connections but I do believe I have booked all of our hotels with that in mind so it shouldn't be an issue.

We headed out at about 1pm this afternoon with a car full of suitcases, dog beds, 2 dogs and lots of water. Typically we would leave the dogs at a kennel, but because we planned this trip too late, and everyone in Denmark is on vacation at the same time, finding a kennel with space was impossible! We ended up finding a dog sitter online where the dogs live at her house for the week, with her own dog, and her family. So the first stop on our journey was the dog sitter and, once we got there, I became quite confident that our dogs are about to enjoy the vacation of their lives! The house is in the middle of nowhere at the end of a dead-end country road. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the dog sitter, her husband, her 5 yr. old son, a cat, about 6 eight-week old kittens (they were hiding everywhere so counting them was tough!) and a flock of chickens. The dogs went nuts, exploring every inch, sniffing everything there was to be sniffed. Zoe wasn't quite sure what to make of the kittens but she thought they definitely should play with her! I am convinced that, by week's end, she will have bathed every one of those kittens from head to toe whether they need it or not. Lexi also thought the kittens were quite interesting, but backed away quickly when the momma cat told her off. You had to be there!

The rest of the day was spent on the road headed south. We were doing quite well until just before Hamburg when traffic came to a stop…

Thank goodness for A/C in the car as the thermometer said 95 deg F!! There were several reasons for delay including some fender benders and some construction. It was a bit frustrating to be crawling along but at least we were moving. The north-bound side of the road was not. Due to an accident of some kind, that I think was already cleared up by the time we passed through, all traffic on the north-bound side was being diverted to one exit. This meant that for about 5 miles, no one was moving. Trucks were stopped in the lane with the drivers out of the truck, etc. But the thing I thought was so awesome was that there were ambulances driving up the emergency lane literally handing water bottles into each car that was stuck in the jam. How cool is that? BIG points for Germany on that one. Never saw anything like it and I'm quite sure you will never see that happen in the states!

Driving through Hamburg and past the ports almost had me thinking I was back in New Jersey…

I do believe there are a few container ships that pass through this port each day!!

We finally made it to our hotel in Lehrte, Germany at about 9pm and were able to sit down and have a nice dinner on the restaurant's patio. The amount of food on my plate at this hour and in this head was way, way more than I could eat, but it was quite tasty. I could've chosen the "Ox Cheek" but that frightened me, so I went for the Mixed Grill instead!

Our hotel is nice - a bit on the warm side - but it's not often that it's this hot around here.

I took one picture just for Kelli…

Little Cat, Big Bed

2010-06-29T18:18:00.000+02:00

My name is Coal. Long ago I lived on the street. It was really, really cold one night. I sat in front of a door and howled. Patti felt sorry for me and took me inside. Where I stayed.

I'm old. I was neutered in 1994; you do the math.

I have extra toes. It seems to fascinate people. My paw can double as a spoon, which is handy. It also allows me to lift the ball out of the track on my favorite toy.

I have been on an airplane 2 times in my life. I didn't much like it.

My first trip was from New Jersey to Washington. I had 2 brothers and a sister with me, but the airline wouldn't take all 4 of us on the same flight, so I had to fly out on the first plane and sit in Washington waiting for the rest to arrive. It was a long day in a small box.

The new apartment had carpeting. I liked that.

My second trip was from Washington to Denmark. I shared a crate with Oscar. He pee'd on me. It wasn't a pleasant trip.

The new house is big but it doesn't have carpeting. Slippery!! I had to learn how to walk again.

I'm basically an indoor kind of guy. I wander outside now and then, but I get confused. One day I jumped out the bathroom window. Things outside made me nervous. I ran up a tree. Patti eventually convinced me to go back inside. When I go outside now, I only go to the terrace or the driveway. I like to roll over and scratch my back on the cement. If you catch me out there, I will immediately run back inside. Can't take any chances (see cold night above).

Sometimes I think I'm a dog. This is why I sleep on the doggy bed. This is also why I ignore my own water bowl and drink from the big bowl.

Today I was in the kitchen when the tall guy served food for the two big black slobbery ones. I stuck my head in Lexi's bowl and started to eat her food. She was confused.

Mission accomplished. I will go back to sleep now.

Good Morning Denmark!

2010-06-28T13:26:00.000+02:00

While the Danish government believes that I can read, write and speak Danish (after all, I did pass the test), I find my skills lacking and it frustrates me. By far, the hardest aspect of the language, for me, is understanding what people are saying. That and actually listening, rather than tuning them out, but that's a separate issue!

I've talked to others attempting to learn the language and to those who are more fluent than myself and the number one suggestion that I get is to turn on the TV. I can't actually watch the TV while I'm working, but everyone suggests that just having it on in the background will somehow penetrate my skull; subliminal learning apparently.

So today was day one of the experiment. I turned on the TV this morning and found Denmark's version of the Today show, "Go' morgen Danmark".

This is what I know, or more accurately, what I think I heard...

It's a nice morning in Denmark.
Something about a motorway. I don't know if something happened on a motorway or if something is going to happen on a motorway but I know that a motorway is somehow involved in something. Useful, yes?
Pia Kjærsgaard had something to say about something. She's the leader of the most conservative party in DK and most of what she says holds no interest for me other than outrage, so I didn't pay much attention to this part.
I think someone wrote a book about women's backsides through history. When it was popular to have a small butt and when it was popular for baby to 'have back'. And they talked about Pamela Anderson. And church bells were ringing in the background. The same segment was played again later - the church bells gave it away.
Tour d'France is coming. I think someone from the Saxo Bank team was interviewed.
It is a dark day for England after yesterday's loss in the World Cup. In a related matter, some woman wrote in asking for someone to explain 'off-sides'. I'm not sure if it was explained or not. Then again, I'm not sure I would understand it if someone explained it in English.
Someone cooked something involving couscous.
Protesters are at the G20 meeting in Canada.
It's going to be warm later this week.

Perhaps Day 2 will go better.

Can you read my mind?

2010-06-25T21:08:00.002+02:00

You're probably thinking, "who is this woman in my reader list?" And that would be perfectly understandable as I seem to be as rare as an overstock in a Danish grocery store.

But...
I have been blogging.
I blog all the time.
Daily.
In the shower.
In my head.

The mere absence of actual words on a screen should not discount all the great posts I have written.

In my head.

Perhaps one or two will be coming to a screen near you!

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T09:09:00.007+02:00

Today is Mother's Day so a perfect day to share the story of our birds.

No, we don't have birds as pets, but we do have a rather large bird population that frequents our yard and the yards of those around us. Each year, the birds build nests in the area and one of their favorite nesting spots is inside our car port.

Next to our house we have a large storage shed and the back wall of the shed (the wood storage area) isn't a full wall. It has vertical boards with spaces between the boards.

One day a few months ago, I had mentioned to Ole that we needed to move some items that were stored in that area because they were getting very dirty from the birds and from things blowing through the open walls. A few days later he discovered the reason for so much bird dirt - we had a nest in our shed...

That white metal part is the place where our garden hose hangs. At the time the nest was built, the hose was still there! Apparently, for this particular momma bird, the car port wasn't good enough for her babies so she chose a more secluded spot inside our shed! Quite an elaborate structure - the condo living of bird life, so to speak.

I told Ole that we couldn't move the nest after she spent so much time building it! But then, about 3 weeks ago, I needed the hose so that was a bit of an issue. I decided then that I would take down the nest. But, when I lifted it off the hose, I discovered 3 little eggs inside and suddenly I had huge guilt! I set the whole nest carefully on a shelf, removed the hose, and then put the nest back up and hoped for the best. As it turns out (thank you google) birds have little or no sense of smell, so despite popular belief, they really could care less that you've touched their nest. And, if you do ever find a baby bird, with or without feathers, out of their nest, the best thing to do is to simply pick them up and put them back in the nest.

(I'm fascinated by the construction that goes into these nests. When you get a chance to look at one up close, it's pretty amazing.)

About a week later, as I opened the door to the shed, 3 little beaks popped up! And each time I opened the door after that, I could hear momma bird quickly fly away, always to return when I left the area. I grabbed my camera one day and managed to get a little photo of the babies...

It's quite difficult to figure out what's going on there as it's just a pile of feathers and beaks, but I think there are 3 little fledglings in there. This past week, I wanted to get another photo figuring they'd be a bit bigger now but when I went to take a picture... I found an empty nest.

Our little birdies flew the coop. They're all grown up and off on their own in this big, bad world. Perhaps this time next year, they'll return to raise their own little babies.

To all the mothers out there - whether your babies are still in the nest, or have grown up and are off on their own...

Happy Mother's Day

Stockholm Baby!

2010-04-08T22:55:00.005+02:00

I live in Europe - just a hop, skip and a jump from the rest of Europe in all its fabulous Europeaness. You would think that I would manage to leave my little sheltered town and venture out now and then but somehow it just doesn't seem to happen often. I've been here 3-1/2 years and have rarely ventured beyond the German border (it's 2 hours away!). We did manage to get in a car with some fabulous friends last November and spend our Thanksgiving weekend in a spa in Poland, and of course that was worth every moment, but for the most part, getting beyond the local doggy forest seems to be somewhat of a chore.

But, my family managed to wake me from my slumber and send me on a mission. The original mission was to somehow get the rest of the fabric for the drapery project to my mother, in the US, without having it cost more than a flight to the US.

You know how someone is from a place and you know someone else from that place, and the chances of those 2 people knowing each other or being from the same spot within that place is usually an impossibility but yet you can't help but say... "You're from Texas? Do you know Jim?". Well, my brother sent an email last month and though he knew the chance was slim asked... "You're in Denmark - have any friends in Stockholm?". Yeah, because those two places are small, and right next to each other. I know 3 people in Sweden. Total. And to say I know them is a bit of stretch, really, since I just know them from reading their blogs. 2 of them I'm sure have no idea that I exist, but they're blogs are funny, so I keep reading. The 3rd, however, also happens to be a Facebook friend and so I posed the question... "Any chance you're anywhere near Stockholm?" And get this... she is! And, being one of those generous souls that also happens to be a perfect person to serve as a pseudo-ambassador for her current country, she agreed to let my brother and sister-in-law pepper her with questions about Stockholm. Why the interest?

Because my brother may take an assignment in Sweden and hop on over to this side of the pond. Now, how cool is that!?

What does all this have to do with getting fabric to the US? Well, suddenly one evening on the phone with my mother, I found out that my brother, and his entire family, would be arriving in Stockholm for 4 days beginning on Palm Sunday. Which, at the time, was oh... a week away? Suddenly a flurry of activity took place on the computer next to mine and the next thing I knew, we were heading for Stockholm on Saturday, duffel bag full of fabric in hand, so that we could give said bag to my brother, visit with the family and even meet my Stockholm connection! Granted by the time we booked our flight, paid for the dogs to stay at the kennel, and paid for a hotel, it would've been cheaper just to ship the fabric to the US, but hey, a girl has to get out now and then!

We arrived in Stockholm Saturday afternoon and were greeted at Arlanda by Sir Pe, who took us straight to the home of Lady Fi, Oscar the dog and the infamous anklebiters! Upon arrival she promptly asked us if we had remembered to bring ear plugs - and I don't think she was kidding! The ankle biters are loud, but very sweet, and they proceeded to entertain us with their attempts at the Danish language. If I'm being honest - their danish was probably better than mine!

I gave Oscar a gift of a purple ball and he instantly became my friend for life. This is one very sweet dog!

We enjoyed lots of great conversation and pizza and I am delighted to have had the chance to meet our new Stockholm friends!

After a great evening, Sir Pe offered to drive us to our hotel. Once the men decided, with the help of the iPhone, the best way to get from point A to point B, we said our goodbyes and piled into the car for the ride to the hotel. We were a bit delayed getting out of the driveway as Sir Pe had forgotten to unplug whatever it was he had plugged into the car to keep it warm when we had arrived. Yes, it's that cold in Sweden.

As we drove, we chatted about various things, and then Ole and I learned that if you ask your driver about certain topics, such as their home country and why they don't live their anymore, said driver can get a bit distracted and forget exactly where it is he is supposed to be taking you. You have to be careful, as you may end up back at the airport, which doesn't happen to be anywhere near your hotel. I'm not saying that this is what happened (because I think I said I wouldn't say), I'm just saying... as a general word of caution for future visitors. 'Nuff said. Moving on!

On Sunday, we got together with my brother and family! It had been over a year since I'd seen them, so this was a great treat for all of us. Unfortunately for them, their luggage had been delayed in Amsterdam so they were stuck in what they had worn on the plane. Not to mention that they'd just arrived on an overseas flight, with 3 kids, so everyone was a bit exhausted. Nevertheless, we all went out to a local pub and had some lunch and then had a chance to wander around Stockholm a bit. We visited the royal palace and did a bit of sight-seeing.

Ole and I finally headed back to our hotel. Did I mention that Ole booked a hotel that sat on top of a shopping mall? Could it get any more perfect?! We wandered through the Swedish grocery store and I found some prized possessions - cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup and ziploc bags. I decided to let Sweden keep the caviar in a toothpaste tube. That's just too weird for me.

Final word of caution for those who may be thinking of visiting Stockholm. There is a train. It runs from Arlanda airport to central Stockholm. It takes 20 minutes. It costs approximately $40 USD, per person. And, at the time we were on it, the bathroom on board was out of order. Grumble. Highway robbery!

Oh, and the fabric? It has arrived back in the US! :)

Telling Time

2010-03-13T07:38:00.003+01:00

I learned how to tell time long, long ago. I have no memory of the process, it's just one of those things you learn early and never forget. But, I learned to tell time in a part of the world that uses AM and PM to differentiate between the time before lunch, and the time after. Then I moved to Denmark, and ... my ability to tell time has been blown to bits.

Why? Well, you see, over here they use a 24 hr clock. Where I come from, we call that 'military time' but here, they just call it time. Whether there are armies of soldiers involved or not, it confuses the hell outta me. Oh sure, on paper, it's all rather simple - there are 24 hours in a day and if you just use all 24 when telling time, rather than only 12, it simplifies things and gets rid of that pesky little 'am' and 'pm'. I fully understand the concept and I do agree that it does make a bit of sense, but my brain cannot compute the times on short notice. It's not that I don't know that 17 means 5pm, it's just that when the world is moving quickly, and I'm not paying attention, 17 is meaningless. And this... this gets me into trouble now and then.

Exhibit A: A couple of weeks ago, we had the dogs at the swimming hall on a Saturday. There's an appointment book there where you choose your next swimming time and write in your name to reserve the time. We were on our way out and decided to book a time for Wednesday evening. I ran to the book, scrolled quickly through the available times, and jotted our names down for 6:30 pm. As we were loading the dogs into the car, something in my brain was triggering me that some bit of something, somewhere, wasn't quite right. So, because of that little nagging voice, I ran back inside to double-check the time I'd chosen. Yep, okay, 6:30 it is. All set. Or so I thought.

When we arrived Wednesday evening, right on time, the owner started to tell Ole that we had missed our time, but that we were lucky, as no one was scheduled so we would still be able to swim. I'm thinking.. huh? How did we miss our time? Let's go to the videotape (or in this case, the appointment book). What time had I chosen? 16:30... um, oops. Yep, I had chosen 4:30 pm, not 6:30 pm, and despite my brain's best attempt to warn me of my error, another part of my brain just couldn't see that pesky little "1" standing in front of the 6:30.

Exhibit B: And just the other day, while on the phone, we were discussing an upcoming event and whether or not we'd be attending. I had received an email with the details of the event and I had read said email earlier in the day. When Ole mentioned that it may start too early for us, I quickly replied that I thought we'd be fine as it didn't start until 7 or 7:30.

I went back later to sign us up only to discover that we will be late in arriving. I'm guessing by now, you can probably figure out why.

STUPID CLOCK!

Hockey Hockey Hockey

2010-03-05T20:43:00.004+01:00

For the first time in over 15 years, I watched a hockey game from beginning to end. Not only that, but I watched a 2nd hockey game, in the same weekend, from beginning to nearly the end, and a 3rd game for about the last 20 minutes. Last weekend was all about hockey, hockey, hockey.

The last time before last weekend was the 1994 Stanley Cup finals where I watched the NY Rangers win the cup and end a 54-year drought in winning their first cup since 1940. It was a HUGE game if you lived anywhere in or around NYC and was something not to be missed.

On Friday evening, we headed out to a hockey game that wasn't quite so newsworthy! It was an event planned for a new international society. There was a fantastic turn-out with about 100 people, including both internationals living in Denmark, as well as Danes. It was really exciting and a great kick-off to what I hope becomes a regular part of our lives! We had a sandwich, a beer and a hockey game all for just 50 kr. per person, which is about $10 and let me tell you, entertainment does not come this cheap in DK! Incredible.

The game was the Herning hockey team against the Esbjerg team, in Herning. Now, as this new group is for those living in and around Herning, the general idea was that those who attended would be routing for the home team. Slight problem with that in this household. The 'home' team for my dane would be Esbjerg! But, given that our tickets were smack in the middle of the Herning fans, and the fact that despite all of our cheering and hopes for a good game there were no goals scored while we were there, in the end, it didn't matter that a traitor was in our midst! About that lack of goals thing... after 3 periods with no score, the game went into overtime. After the first overtime period, still with no score, we decided that beating the traffic out was more important than seeing the game to the end, and, after standing for over an hour (hey, 50 kr. remember - no seats!), it was time. Some pictures...

(Photo courtesy of Kelli!)
Ole, Monica and me

Kelli and Monica

Upon arriving home from the game, I discovered that the USA was in the middle of kicking some serious hockey butt at the Olympics against Finland. I was able to find a live stream of the game and watched the last 15 minutes or so of that one. Suddenly, I was totally sucked into the hockey madness!

And Sunday night, I joined the masses in watching the Gold medal game against Canada. It was a nail-biter and emotional roller-coaster from start to finish and while the end was a crushing blow, I'm glad I was able to watch it even from the other side of the world.

Maybe I won't wait another 15 years to see my next game!

Fancy Schmancy Pictures

2010-02-18T18:39:00.003+01:00

Since I started taking Tamoxifen, my left knee has been bothering me with a nice nagging pain. I explained this to my Oncologist in January but he felt that since it was just one knee, and not all my joints, that the Tamoxifen wasn't to blame. He advised me to go to my regular doctor.

After a visit to my regular doctor, she wanted an X-ray of my knee, so I had to go to the Herning hospital for the X-ray. But, nothing was apparent from that little black and white picture and she decided to send me off to an Orthopedist.

So, earlier this week, I trotted off to Viborg Hospital to meet the Orthopedist. I had a 9:15 am appointment so I brought along my Kindle, and the paperwork they had sent me by mail, figuring I'd have to sit awhile. When I got there at about 9 am, the receptionist surprised me by greeting me in English - she must have read my file because I hadn't yet said a word! She told me to sit in section 4 and I prepared myself for a wait. Before I could even get a pen from my bag to fill out papers, they called me in - yeehaw! After a 15 minute consultation with the Orthopedist, he decided that I needed an MRI of my knee. He then explained that I would have to go to the private hospital in Viborg for the MRI and that it would be about a 2-week wait. That was on Tuesday.

Yesterday morning (Wednesday) I received a call from a private hospital in Herning asking me to come in for my MRI today! She explained that the wait time in Viborg would be too long and that my file had been sent over to them instead. I have to tell you it's quite handy to live smack in the middle of these two cities!

I have never had an MRI before and I wasn't quite sure of what to expect. I arrived at the hospital this morning and I have to say, the place was much smaller than I had anticipated. The MRI machine was actually a portable unit that was in a trailer in the parking lot. Once inside, it was just me and the technician. I had to lie down on the machine and then she put all kinds of braces and straps around my knee. She gave me some headphones to wear so I could listen to music to counteract the noise of the machine. She was telling me everything in Danish, which was okay as I was understanding the majority of what she was saying. There was, however, one thing I definitely misunderstood. When she explained it all, she said I had to be perfectly still and I was sure she had said it would take about 2 minutes. I'm thinking.. no problem!

Problem. 2 minutes and 20 minutes, in Danish, sound a bit similar. So, as the machine is cranking away, loudly, and I was listening to the 3rd song on the headset, it soon hit me that she didn't say 2, she said 20, and I was going to be stuck here for a bit. Oh well, there wasn't anything uncomfortable about any of it so I didn't care.

Next thing I knew, she was waking me up. Yes, despite the songs in my head and the very loud machine, I managed to doze off. I'm sure I'm not the first to have done that!

Any publicity is...

2010-02-15T09:09:00.004+01:00

Let me begin by saying that I attempted to find the perfect image for this post... I failed. My image search yielded results that just weren't fitting. Sigh.

The local newspapers often have articles describing a new business that has opened in the area. It's a great thing for the local proprietor as it gives them a bit of free publicity. And, you know the saying, any publicity is good publicity. Or is it?

This week's paper features an article regarding a woman who has opened a new sexology and partner's therapy clinic. The article includes a photo. Some may choose to visit the new clinic based solely on the proprietor's looks, which would make sense, as she's an attractive woman.

But, if you go on to read the text that goes with the photo, well... I'll let you decide. Here is a bit of what was written (translated from danish):

[Owner's Name], 33, who is divorced, is the mother of 6 children.

This is definitely the person I'd turn to for relationship advice! Umm, not.

Translating the Olympic Games

2010-02-13T14:47:00.002+01:00

Literal translations are always a bit scary and they tend to be less than accurate, but they're still fun to do if for no other reason than a good giggle. I've been surfing the Olympic television listings for Denmark attempting to figure out which events I will be able to see - everything is generally broadcast live and with Vancouver 9 hours behind us, that makes viewing some events a bit tricky.

For example, the opening ceremonies were broadcast here - they started at 3 AM this morning.

Today begins the first day of competition in the Vancouver games. I love the Olympics. I miss the US coverage, as I've previously explained, but hopefully, as most of the exciting live events will happen here in the middle of the night, they'll do some recapping during normal waking hours.

If you're checking TV listings in DK, today's scheduled event is/was styrtløb. For those of you who don't possess a danish to english dictionary in your head, the literal translation of that is...

Crash Run

Yep, that's what the 'downhill' is called in Danish. That sounds a wee bit more frightening than the word downhill!

As of now, I hear the event has been postponed due to rain... which is a bit odd, considering every other place on the planet seems to have freakish snow at the moment.

I'll just go back to checking the listings and see what other strange names I can find for the events!

Let's catch up, shall we?

2010-02-12T20:52:00.004+01:00

Forgive me readers for I have failed... It has been one month since my last post. Each day that goes by I feel like I should get in here and write something, but then I think... where do I begin? What do I write about? What is worth mentioning and what isn't? So, rather than write, I procrastinate, which only compounds the problem. Anyway, you know the drill! So here I am.

This may end up to be a bit of a long post - or not - depending on how much I feel like typing. So there's your warning. If you'd prefer to just skip to the end, I'll understand, though I can't promise that the end of the post will be any better than this part right here as I haven't written it yet. It might suck. And then you'll be disappointed and upset that you missed all these tasty little tidbits here in the middle. Your choice!

Let's start with the elephant in the room... breast cancer/ brystkraft. For those who may be wondering; I am feeling good! My nails are coming back (slowly), my hair is coming back (grey) and Denmark has gotten over the hump of winter's darkest days, meaning that the light is coming back! I had my first post treatment check-up in early January and the doctor says "everything is as it should be". And... I have an appointment at the end of this month with the plastic surgeon to see about getting me a new fangled boobie to replace the one that tried to kill me.

It all seems a bit surreal at this point. I knew I wasn't one that was ever going to drape myself in pink and run around screaming "I'm a Survivor" but I did feel like, at some point, there might be some kind of epiphany or something about all of this. But nope, I just did what they told me to do, took the treatments they told me to take, and here I am on the other side. Weird, huh? So enough about that - let's get on to the fun stuff!

As previously noted, my parents were here for the holidays. My mother happens to have a great talent for sewing so we decided to make full use of that talent! She brought some fabric with her that I had purchased long, long ago and magically turned that fabric into duvet covers for our bed... in 1 day! Amazing. Then we put her to work on some drapes for my newly painted living room - okay, it's been a few months, but that's still 'new' relatively speaking. Anyway, after some extensive browsing, I found fabric I liked and she started on one 'test' drape. I decided immediately that i really liked the direction things were headed so we went back to the store to get enough fabric to do all the drapes, only to find out this particular fabric can't be re-ordered and they only have what they have. They checked the inventory of a few other stores and there was just enough in the country of Denmark for us to finish our project. Unfortunately, we didn't get it all while my parents were still here so we now have a big bolt of fabric that will be shipped to the states. (There's that procrastination thing again!) My mother will then work her magic and in August, when the family comes back, I may just be able to hang some drapes! How exciting is that?!

Speaking of August, everyone is coming. Yep, the whole clan. This means my parents, my oldest brother, his wife and my nephew, and my other brother, his wife, my other nephew and my two nieces. Holy travelers, that's a lot of Americans in Karup! What's the big deal? Well, this June my parents will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary and they have chosen to celebrate the happy event by having the entire family travel to Europe to visit us. My parents will come by plane but will travel back to the US by cruise ship. What a great cruise that will be for them!

Still here? Still reading? Whew, haven't lost you yet! Here's the good news for you... you've reached the end. My enthusiasm for this current post has waned so it's probably better to stop now then to babble on endlessly about things that aren't important or interesting. I'll try to come back more often; I've got a few ideas rattling around in my brain so I'll see what I can do to make that brain-to-finger connection.

Don't take this next part personally... it just means "the end" in Danish...

SLUT!

Dear Google...

2010-01-14T20:11:00.005+01:00

I know you have big plans to take over the world and I know that slowly but surely, you seem to be achieving that plan. I also know I'm just one small cog in the big internet wheel but you've already touched my life in many ways. Oh how I love your search engine, my free Picasa, my free blog, my google docs, my calendar, my google reader, and of course, the lovely iGoogle to bring it all together so nicely. Seriously, you do make my internet life much easier.

But...
I had something on my Google toolbar before the last upgrade - a tiny little thing called "Translate". I didn't use it often but now and then, depending on my level of laziness on a particular day, I would hit the button and voila, you would translate the page... sort of. Oh sure, there were problems along the way like the day you told me "Æbleskiver bagt på pande = Apple slices baked on the forehead" but I let it slide. I can read Danish after all, and I do try to help you whenever I can with your little "contribute a better translation" link. Mostly I do that when I'm bored, or when your translation has just gone so horribly wrong. Those Danes and their crazy ending the subject with the "the" instead of putting the "the" in front of the subject - I get it, I know it's hard. But overall, the translate button was handy if/when I needed (read: lazy) it.

But now you've gone and updated the Google toolbar. I had no choice but to get the 'new' version when I got the new computer, and... now you've gone too far. No longer is Translate just an innocent little button just waiting to be pressed. Nooooo. Now you ask me each and every time I go to a page that (you decide) isn't in English, if I would like you to translate that page for me. I don't want to say "never do this" because then, when I need you most (surfing for spas in Poland), you won't be there for me. Why is it always all or nothing? I suppose, given time, I will learn to live with your interruptions, but I do have one tiny request...

Please, for all that is sacred, stop telling me that Bejeweled Blitz is in Danish/Ukranian/Bakmel or whatever the language of the day seems to be, and asking me if I want you to translate it. No, I don't want or need the page translated! It's Bejeweled Blitz - it's the universal language of gaming addiction - it requires no translation, so cut it out already, would you?!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some apple slices to bake on my forehead and a game to get back to. Thank you for listening.

Sincerely,

pingdk
google user and bejeweled blitz addict (not necessarily in that order)

Magnetic Force Field

2010-01-08T14:24:00.002+01:00

When we bought our new rug, I don't seem to recall it being advertised as having any kind of magnetic properties, but apparently it does...

Christmas with family

2009-12-31T16:24:00.004+01:00

It has been a busy week here and I thought I'd share a bit of what we've been up to!

My parents arrived in Karup last Wednesday morning to experience their first Danish Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve at Ole's sister's house so that they could get a taste of the 'real' experience, complete with roast duck, pork roast, caramelized potatoes, and of course, rice pudding with a whole almond for one lucky recipient. We then did the traditional singing and dancing around the Christmas tree before dancing through the entire house singing 'Nu er det jul igen' (Now it is Christmas again). I did my best to teach the song to my parents as we rode in the car to the festivities and I think they did a pretty good job learning it!

Christmas day we did a more traditional 'American' Christmas here. We exchanged gifts and made a full turkey dinner. I actually made Ole wait until Christmas Day to get his gift, which was quite hard for him! Here are some pictures from our Christmas feast...

Once we were done eating, my father was assigned the duty of getting the remainder of meat from the turkey bones. This task was supervised VERY closely by a couple of four-legged detectives. Their job was to catch anything that accidentally 'slipped' from the counter...

My father is quite the dog lover, and the big brown eyes of these two meant that there were quite a few 'slips' during the process!

On Sunday we had a traditional 'Julefrokost' here with Ole's family. My mother-in-law did the parts that required actual cooking of anything traditional. She does these things much better than I ever could!

What a wonderful Christmas from start to finish. I hope yours was as Merry!

Graduate!

2009-12-22T21:42:00.002+01:00

This morning, December 22, 2009, I attended school for the last time - to pick up my official certificate of completion:

"Bevis for Prøve i Dansk 3"

Yes, I know I already told you all this before but humor me! Rumor has it this means that I can speak Danish now - umm, sure. Well actually I can speak Danish, it's the understanding when others speak Danish that seems to still be my greatest issue. Oh well!

Look at the picture. Really look at it. What do you see?, other than some official looking envelope. Chocolate? Yep, that's there too, compliments of the school.

But look again...

I have HAIR!! Sort of a salt and pepper look at the moment, but I'll take it. Still no eyelashes which means that I still can't wear mascara (pout).

I'm pretty sure, when I walked up to shake his hand, that the school director (who I never saw before today) was probably thinking... "what the heck happened to her hair?" Little does he know!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2009-12-19T22:39:00.003+01:00

Where, oh where, does the time go?

It was Thanksgiving last I wrote a post and now, suddenly, it's almost Christmas! We spent Thanksgiving weekend relaxing at a spa in Poland and then I spent the last few weeks gearing up for my big final exam in Danish.

The grading system here is a bit odd to me, but the final result was 7, 7, 7... the last 7 counts twice but the three 7's, rather than 4, looks more like winning the jackpot in Vegas, so I'm going with 3. Finishing school is a bit like winning a jackpot!!

Moving along... in just 4 days my parents will arrive from the US for their first Christmas in Denmark! We've been busy get the house ready for their visit and for once, the weather gods have cooperated and sent some snow. Hopefully it will stick around so we can have a white Christmas.

First - the tree. We went to a local guy we'd been to before and he had the perfect tree for us - Ole actually picked it up off the ground and said, "how about this one?", and that first pick was the winner!

We happened to have had the dogs with us at the time, and our car has a split folding rear-seat, so lowered the 1/3 side and pushed the tree through the opening. This meant the dogs had to shove over in the back seat and share the remaining space. They were quite confused by the tree in the car, but surprisingly, they haven't touched the tree in the house!

Our tree now, all decorated...

The guy had a table full of free tree pieces he had cut off of other trees, and since I had planned on trying to make my own wreath, I took a huge pile of trimmings. I spent a few hours this afternoon attempting the wreath. It's not perfect, and now I've learned a bit for the next one, but here is my hand-made wreath!...

What are you thankful for?

2009-11-26T10:47:00.004+01:00

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States and, with a year like I have had, on this day, I have much to be thankful for...

I am thankful that I am done with all of my treatments! The only thing left at this point is check-up appointments every 3 months or so. Yeehaw!

I am thankful that my hair is beginning to return; I missed it! It's still so short that I appear bald from a distance, but if you get up close, there actually is hair there - in a few more weeks it may actually look like hair!

I am thankful that my nails will return, even if it's hard to believe at the moment. To answer all of the comments after my last post, yes, they will come back! But, in the meantime, I have a pile of pistachios I can't crack open, and someone else is going to have to peel those clementines!

I am thankful for my rubber-boob-in-a-bra and my stick on boob. Yeah, it's the little things!

I am thankful for the hand-made hats that have covered my head for the last several months.

I am thankful for my dogs. It's impossible to cry when a dog is there to kiss your tears away, act silly, and do everything possible to be as cute as can be.

I am thankful for the Danish health care system. The entire process from start to finish has been made simple for me. Not once did I have to call an insurance company or make sure some treatment was covered. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to go through treatment worrying about what it costs or whether or not it was affordable. From head coverings to nail treatment packages to burn lotions to rubber boobs, everything that I could need to get through this process, has been handed to me. The nurses in this country are so sweet, caring and attentive - they have understood that I couldn't always understand them and they have done everything possible to help me along the way. Priceless.

I am thankful for my family. They are all far away but everyone is healthy and happy and in just a few weeks, my parents will be here in Denmark to celebrate their first Danish Christmas.

I am thankful for my co-workers. Every few weeks over the past year, a new card would arrive from the states with little notes from all of them. They have covered whatever work was mine whenever I wasn't able, and have been supportive and understanding through it all.

I am thankful for the generosity and kindness of friends, both old and new. I have received so many wonderful packages and notes from friends. I am incredibly touched that someone would go out of their way to make me something, or buy me something, and send it to me. Every single package, note and blog comment brightened my day and I am still overwhelmed by the kindness.

I am thankful for my friend Kelli. Yes, she is covered in the paragraph above; however, she also deserves to be singled out, even if it embarrasses her. When I was diagnosed, we had met just one time for a couple of hours and yet, when she learned of my diagnosis, she immediately jumped into action for someone she barely knew. Kelli arrived at the hospital on the day of my surgery with a basket full of American products, and she spent the entire day there with Ole, trying to keep him sane as the day went on and on. She visited me several times while I was in the patient hotel, driving from Herning to Viborg each time, and kept up my blog so that everyone else in my life could know how I was doing. As I went through chemo and radiation, she was always checking in on me - be it a text message, facebook message, Email or a phone call, I always knew that she was right there and that, had I needed anything, she would've made sure that she took care of it. She was there when it all began, she was there every step along the way, and she's still here now, when it is time to celebrate the end of treatment. And, this weekend, we are headed out for some relaxation, with our Danes in tow, to do just that.

Speaking of my Dane, I am thankful that I have the most kind, generous, funny, patient and understanding man with which to share my life. He has been by my side through everything and he is my rock. There are simply not words enough to say how much I love him, and how great he really is! Thank you Ole, for always making me feel loved and making me laugh even on the worst possible days.

And thank you to all of you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fingertips on a chalkboard

2009-11-21T20:41:00.005+01:00

I lost my nails.

It's one of those things they tell you will happen, but you simply cannot comprehend that it actually does happen. Okay, I have one left and I'm protecting it for everything that it's worth. That the one remaining nail happens to be on my middle finger, is just a bonus.

It's not that I had extremely long nails or anything, but this is way different from simply keeping your nails short. There is a bit of nail, but it does not extend at all - so, if you look at your own nails, think of them without any of the white part.

The good news is that losing them didn't actually hurt. I feared it would be excruciatingly painful as it is when you have nails and one breaks too far down, but no, these just sort of snapped off.

Whoever said that 'nothing is impossible' never lost their fingernails. Trust me.

The last 3 weeks have been an endless string of frustrations and the list of things I am unable to 'do' just keeps growing. Allow me to share some of my list of impossibilities:

Scratch an itch
Peel an onion
Pick up a piece of paper
Hold onto anything
Remove a band-aid
Lift up the little wick on the tea light candle so it can be lit
Make screechy sounds on a chalkboard

Not that I actually own a chalkboard - it's the principle of it!

I can vote!

2009-11-11T18:12:00.005+01:00

Something very exciting arrived in the mail today - and something that I didn't expect would be fully automated!

As of November 8, 2009, I have been in Denmark for 3 years. My 'official' residency actually began on the day we applied for it, which means Denmark says I've been here since August 2006, but November is when I actually got here. But that's neither here nor there.

I had heard a rumor that said once I'd been a resident for 3 years I would be able to vote in local elections, but I figured I would have to go apply or register or something. Then suddenly, in today's mail, came this:

This is my voter's card and on November 17, I will get to vote in Denmark for the local elections. I get a voice in who will become the next 'borgmester' for our 'kommune' (county), which is kind of the equivalent of a mayor. Now I just have to figure out who's running, what they stand for, and all that good stuff. Unfortunately, they don't send a big voter's pamphlet like we get in the states!

Coincidentally, this is the same day as the writing portion of my Danish language exam so it's going to be a big day!

Hundesvømning!

2009-10-31T21:07:00.002+01:00

After Lexi's recent trip to the water walker we've been investigating other options since the vet's office is a bit of a drive from here. In the US, the pet business is HUGE with doggy day care centers everywhere and all kinds of services made especially for pets. I assumed that we wouldn't have the same kind of options in Denmark and I'm happy to report, that at least in one area - I was wrong!

In our searching we discovered that there are many, many places in DK to take your dogs swimming, and no, I'm not talking about the local lake - I'm talking about indoor swimming pools just for dogs! The most exciting thing is that one of them is about 15 min from our house. We originally wanted to head there last Monday evening but when we called for an appointment we found that, apparently, we are the last to know as they were booked solid for the entire week! The first opening they had was today, Saturday, so at 12:30 this afternoon we took Lexi and Zoe to the swimming pool.

They loved it and we loved it, though we were both drenched from head to toe by the time we were done there. Lexi was a bit apprehensive about getting in the pool at the beginning, so we put a life jacket on her so we could help guide her, but once she figured it out, she was all in!

Lost in Translation

2009-10-27T23:16:00.003+01:00

I tend to forget now and then that a certain someone with whom I live, does not have English as his first language. We met one another speaking English, and we continue to do so 99% of the time. And let's face it, his English is WAAAAAY better than my Danish. So yeah, I forget.

Now and then things get lost in translation (mostly my jokes and puns). We now have a Wii and last night, that certain someone was surfing amazon.co.uk, checking reviews of the various fitness programs, calculating whether a certain game was cheaper in pounds, dollars or kroners (yes, he does this regularly - the currency thing) and trying to decide what to buy.

Along the way, Amazon put up one of those nice ads that tells you that if you sign up for an Amazon credit card, you'll get 15 pounds off your order, instantly! This caught his attention, and it needed to be read. After spending 15 minutes reading all the details of the offer he had made the decision to apply for the card.

If you've ever filled out one of those forms, you know there are a bunch of questions about how much money you make, etc. But, each country is different, so what may be a perfectly normal question on a US credit card application may not be on a Danish application or a UK application - different banks, currencies, rules, you know. For example, no one in a Danish bank knows what the heck you are talking about if you mention your 'credit score'.

Now all of this was happening on the computer next to mine, but I wasn't paying too much attention to it. Then suddenly he read a question out loud... "Time at your current residence"

Him: "Why do they need to know that?"
Me: "That's a pretty standard question on a credit card application - at least in the US"
Him: "But it's meaningless"
Me: "Well, they want to know how stable you are I guess - or something .. I can't explain it"
Him: "Makes no sense"
Me: "They want a picture of your financial security - and part of that is asking how long you've lived at your current address."
Him: ..... [lightbulb] OOOHHHHH

[Mr. Financial Brilliance thought they wanted to know what time it was at our house.]

A guest post from Lexi

2009-10-22T22:39:00.004+02:00

Hi everyone! I asked my Mor if I could write about my experience today and she has given me permission - woohoo!! Of course I can't really type, but I'm very good at expressing myself and Mor also agreed to do the actual typing. One day I will figure out that keyboard thing - so frustrating... I try to hit one key and end up with 10 things.

Let's get back to me. Almost two weeks ago I had to visit Jesper because I've been a bit stiff when I wake up and I limp a bit if I play too much. Jesper's the guy that sticks needles into me while he's feeding me, thinking I don't notice. I know what's going on, I just pretend not to because the food is good! Well, apparently Jesper met with Mor and Far and said that I have some problems with my hips, something called Hip Dysplasia. I have no idea what that means but I guess it's why I can't go as fast as my sister Zoe.

This morning Zoe and I had just finished our breakfast and were in the yard doing our thing when suddenly Mor yelled for me to come inside. I thought maybe I was going to get an extra serving of breakfast so I hurried in, but then she put that dumb strappy thing on my nose. She calls it a 'Halti' ... I prefer to call it a torture device. But, in all fairness, when that thing does get tied to my head it usually means we're going somewhere - and that's always exciting! I love the car!! For some strange reason, it was only me going - Zoe and Far were staying home. Weird!

So first we went to the big building with the big parking lot. I was here once before so I know the drill.. I have to just sit in the car and wait while Mor goes in. After about 3 short snoozes, she was back and we were on the way. Not sure where we were going but we'd already been to the boring building so the good part must be coming next!

Mor played with some gadget that has little pictures and talks to her while she drives. The gadget lady gave Mor a few instructions and then we arrived at a doggy forest. Good lady! This wasn't my usual doggy forest and Zoe wasn't with me, so I wasn't sure what to do. I found some small mud puddles and splashed around a bit in them but Mor kept yelling "Nej" when I did that, so I moved on. Then a big handsome stud came around and I ran around the forest with him for awhile while Mor talked to another lady. After a bit, my new friend left and Mor said we had to go back in the car.

Then we drove to the little building with all the funky smells. I ran right to the door because I know this place always has food laying around. Where is it? Where is it? Ah ha, they hid it inside the spinning thing this time... found it! Ooooo, a cat! Hmm... that cat spit at me - not really sure what the big deal was, my cat buddies at home let me lick their heads.

Then a lady came and called my name - my turn!! We ran around to a new room that I hadn't been in before and it had some scary things and some fun things. There was a big ramp and I ran up and down and the lady kept giving me cookies - always a good thing. Then suddenly Mor went up the ramp with me and this is when I got a little nervous. There was a metal platform and I had to walk out on that and then step on this table that was up really high. The lady was still giving me cookies but now I wasn't so trusting - they were definitely up to something. But Mor kept saying it was okay and that I was a good girl, so I did what I was told. Next thing I know, the metal platform was gone and now I had no choice but to stand on the table.

Then it started. I was just standing there, being a good girl, when the table started going down and water started coming up. Don't get me wrong, I love water, but this was weird. When the water got deep I started swimming, of course, because that's what we dogs do in the water. But then the lady said not to swim, just stand... I thought that was strange. But then it got even stranger - the floor started moving under me. So naturally, I started swimming again! And again, she said just walk. It took me awhile, and splashing with my big paws got Mor pretty wet, but I finally got the hang of the thing. They tell me that all of this is so my hip muscles will get stronger. Not sure if that's true or not but I think I could manage to get in that thing again!

So anyway, Mor took a movie of me in the tank. Enjoy!

Zapped

2009-10-20T23:00:00.002+02:00

Just over 2 weeks ago I started with my radiation treatments. From start to finish there are 25 treatments. Viborg Hospital doesn't have a facility for radiation but luckily Herning hospital opened their new facility over the summer. Why luckily? Well, for me, it means that I only have to drive 30 min to my treatment - had they not opened I would have been driving over an hour each way to Aarhus instead.

Each morning for the last 2-1/2 weeks I have gotten up at 6:30 am to be in the car at 7:00 for the drive to Herning. The first few days it was light when I left the house but that's no longer the case - darkness has descended upon Denmark. I have had 15 treatments to date, which means there are only 10 left - woohoo! I have to say that all in all the drive hasn't been as awful as I feared.

Before all of this started, 'radiation' was just a word. I knew it was a treatment of some kind but I honestly had no idea what it was. As it turns out, it's rather uneventful. Radiation is basically a high-intensity x-ray. The treatment itself doesn't hurt a bit, but you can end up with skin that looks like it's been sunburned and that has now started for me. So far, not too bad, but there are still 10 to go!

This is how it all goes down each morning... (all times approximate!)

6:30 - get up and shower while Ole and the dogs stay in bed
7:00 - drive to Herning dodging potato tractors along the way (more about that later)
7:30 - arrive at the hospital and swipe my card to let them know I'm there
7:35 - go to cubby area and get my bag that contains my hospital shirt
7:36 - sit and page through year-old gossip magazines and will the door to the nurses to open
7:45 - door opens, my name is called
7:45 - go to changing room, remove clothes from waist up and put on hospital shirt
7:46 - nurse opens back door of changing room and leads me to treatment room
7:47 - remove hospital shirt and lay on machine
7:48 - lay on machine table with green laser lights shooting from all angles of the room
7:48 - listen to nurses tell me, in danish, to move my butt a little to the right and my shoulders a little to the left, etc., until I'm properly lined up in the machine.
7:51 - nurse says "94" which I assume is some setting specific to me
7:52 - music is turned on and nurses tell me they're leaving the room now and to lay still
7:52 - panic for a second while I figure out whether or not breathing is permitted while laying still
7:53 - lay there while machine makes funky noises and spaceship like parts move around me
7:55 - have obligatory hot flash while laying there
7:55 - nurses re-enter room and tell me it's now okay to move
7:56 - ride machine back to starting position
7:57 - sit up and put on hospital shirt
7:58 - walk to changing room, remove hospital shirt, put on burn cream, get dressed
7:59 - deliver bag with hospital shirt back to cubby room
8:00 - leave hospital and drive home

So, there you have it, all you ever wanted to know... and lots of things you probably never cared about.

A Tale of Two Lexis

2009-10-10T09:09:00.005+02:00

You know how, on Facebook, when one of your friends comments on another person's photos, sometimes those photos show up on your own sidebar? For example, I have seen literally hundreds of pictures of Leonbergers because Amy own Leonbergers and happens to be friends with lots of other people who own Leonbergers. (I honestly never knew there were so many Leonbergers in the world!)

So one day I'm surfing Facebook and I suddenly see a picture, in my sidebar, of a dog that looks amazing similar to one of my own. A friend had commented on this woman's dog, which placed that picture into my own sidebar, and as soon as I saw the picture I had to take a look. Upon opening the picture, I nearly fell off my chair - the dog's name was Lexi, and for those who read my posts regularly, you know that MY dog's name is Lexi.

Ready to be a bit freaked out?

This is the 'other' Lexi	This is my Lexi
This is the 'other' Lexi	This is my Lexi

My Lexi is not a purebred dog, by any means! And that's what makes this all the more unusual, at least to me. Lexi's mother is a purebred golden retriever, and her father is a black labrador. The two dogs were bred and when the puppies popped out looking like neither mom or dad, it was then determined that the black labrador was part german shepard; hence Lexi's coloring.

After I saw the pictures of the 'other' Lexi, I just had to write a note to the woman who owned this dog. She wrote back after comparing the pictures and was as surprised as I was how similar the dogs appeared. But wait... there's more!

The 'other' Lexi with a cat	My Lexi with my cat, Petey
The 'other' Lexi with a black labrador friend	My Lexi with my Zoe

I will leave you with one last bit of trivia about the two Lexi's - their birthdays:

My Lexi: June 7, 2008
The 'other' Lexi: Born June 1, 2008

Yep, 6 days apart.

Breaking the Benzine Barrier

2009-10-07T19:38:00.003+02:00

Long, long, ago in a land far, far away, I regularly took my car to the gas station. I didn't really think much about it, just drove up, stuck the card in the machine and followed the on-screen instructions. Voila, gas flowed, car filled, receipt spewed out and I was on my way.

Then I moved. Far. To a foreign land. A land where they call it 'Benzine'. A land where the pumps don't look the same as the pumps I was accustomed to. These weren't tall sleek pumps with a credit card machine on each pump. No, no. They were short, and squat and, at many of the stations, there was just one machine in the center. A machine I feared.

I generally avoid doing things that would make me appear to be a complete fool; unless I admit up front that I will be a complete fool trying it, and then it's okay. But this was different. This was one of those things that everyone already knows - unless you're 13 - and even then, you've probably figured it out.

But the machine... with all it's funny foreignness, was daunting. What if I pushed the wrong button? Why was there only one machine with multiple pumps? Why was the lowest octane rating the 92 - that was always the highest, not the lowest! What if I somehow pushed the button for the wrong pump, would I then be paying for someone's benzine - someone that wasn't me?

But, I had a solution. I had a husband in this foreign land, one that understood the daunting machine with all it's funny little characters and words. And, he used the car much more than I ever did. And miraculously, the gar always had plenty of 'benzine' for me to consume wherever I needed to go.

So what began as just a fear grew into a bit of a challenge. How long can one live in a foreign land before one pumps their own gas?

Answer: 2 years and 11 months.

I have broken the benzine barrier and lived to tell about it. I pushed all the right buttons; I pumped the liquid gold...

Today's price after conversion = $6.68/gallon, but we prefer not to think in conversions. Instead we celebrate the fact that Benzine in Herning is only 8.95 Kr/Liter whereas the Benzine in Karup is 9.65 Kr/Liter - SCORE!

I did make a tiny fool of myself while returning the nozzle to it's holder but it would be impossible to explain. I figured it out and then scurried back to the car.

I no longer fear the machine. (okay, maybe just a little)

Hello darkness my old friend...

2009-09-28T22:04:00.003+02:00

We had just finished dinner, Ole had left to take the dogs over to the field (the 9pm doggy play date is now the 7pm doggy play date thanks to the sun's rotation), and I was just sitting down at my work PC to call in for our weekly meeting when poof... DARKNESS.

Our power went out - causing several battery backup systems to cry out, as if we didn't know the power was out.

So I did what I tend to do best - I called Ole. Not that he could do anything about it, but hey, it is his country and who knows, maybe there's some magical switch somewhere I can flip. But no, the entire neighborhood was out.

Now one of the great things about this country is that there is no shortage of candles. As a matter of fact, I believe that one of the lines on that immigration form that I signed said something like.. Thou shalt always have tea lights burning... in Danish, of course.

I dutifully wandered throughout the living room and kitchen lighting every candle I could find. As it turns out, we have quite a few! Then I was lost. Candle lighting project complete, but what now? After wandering aimlessly in and out of our computer room, knowing full well that my trusty computer would not suddenly start working on it's own but hoping nonetheless, I finally sat down on the floor, grabbed the cat brush, and started grooming Mr. Pete. Happy cat.

As I sat on the floor I began to notice a procession of cars - one by one my neighbors were piling in and leaving. Then Ole got home and stated that Rema (the local grocery store) was still open for 15 more minutes, so we blew out all the candles and followed the crowd. I do believe all of Karup may have been at Rema as there were at least 30 people in line when we arrived, and on a normal busy day, there's about 10.

We came home to discover that power had been restored. Party!! I fired up the PC while Ole turned on the TV to catch his soccer match. All was right with the world.

But - before I could even get to Facebook, woosh, gone again. So I ran around again lighting all the candles, again, and then I sat down and read my newly purchased Alt magazine, by candlelight. By the time our power was restored again, the soccer match was over (his team won) and I had learned that attempting to access Facebook via the internet connection on my phone took much too long for it to be any fun.

Hopefully our lights are staying on this time!

Latest News

2009-09-20T12:12:00.005+02:00

Yep, that's me - done with chemotherapy!
(And still able to make things rhyme.)

11 days ago I had my last chemo treatment and I can confidently say that the worst is over. Woo-friggin-hoo!! Yes I still have some aches and pains, but they are minor and each day I feel a bit more like my old self again.

On Friday I went for my radiation mapping, and though I swore I'd never do it, I now have 5 tattoos. Well okay, technically, they're just little teeny dots so that each time I go for radiation they can make sure I'm lying in the exact same position. Wouldn't want that zapper thingie to miss! I will go every day for 5 weeks starting on September 30th. Which means, if you do the math, I will be DONE in the first week of November.

What else have we been up to? Well, we bought a pretty new clock to provide a taste of New York and to go with our newly painted living room...

I don't think the color is 'true' in these pictures, but it's close enough that you can get the idea of what the NCS version of BM's Saybrook Sage looks like...

We had new gutters installed on the house and the current project is painting things outside. Before we started, everything was a very dark brown and we're brightening things up a bit so stay tuned for the final results!

Lastly, my Google calendar is starting to fill up with actual dates and times of social events. Before you know it, I may have something that resembles an actual social-life!

Bragging Rights...

2009-09-05T18:30:00.002+02:00

Yep, I'm taking this moment to brag a bit about my incredibly talented oldest brother, Jeff. Not only did he write this particular piece but the second solo is him - he's the one sitting in the dark!

And yes I do realize that the video is 12 years old, but hey, youtube didn't exist back then!

The group is called "New York Trombone Conspiracy" and if you enjoyed this performance, you can find a bunch more on youtube. :)

Silver Anniversary

2009-09-01T22:11:00.003+02:00

Today is the 25th wedding anniversary of one of our neighbors and the perfect time to explain another Danish tradition!

Last night the neighborhood was a frenzy of activity - kids running everywhere while the parents 'pretended' to drill holes in the neighbor's house. They didn't actually drill any holes but the idea is that you attempt to freak out the happy couple by pretending to destroy their house - or something.

By the time everyone went to bed, there was a beautiful 'gate of honor' at the couple's front door:

Between 6:30 and 7:00 am this morning, everyone gathered in the street in front of their house:

There was a trumpet and a flute to accompany what some would call singing...

The singing was sad. I'll give everyone credit for attempting a few tunes at this obscene hour of the morning, but let me tell you, they really needed a Ken Nelson (aka my dad), a man who can be heard miles away, to lead them in their songs. Instead, this singing sounded more like someone had woken a few mice and led them in a sad chorus. I kept thinking.. I thought this was supposed to be a happy occasion? When you have 40-50 people singing and you can still hear the flute... something is amiss! Perhaps by the time another couple on the street celebrates their 25th, I'll know the Danish better, and the tunes better, and I can attempt to lead them.

As the group started song #4, the happy couple appeared on the front stoop...

And when the singing ended, everyone was invited inside for breakfast.

While I love embracing new traditions, I must admit that to me, this ranks up there with the faulty concept of the danish birthday party. Hasn't anyone in Denmark figured out that when it's YOUR day, someone else is supposed to do all the work? The happy couple had transformed the inside of their house into a banquet hall with seating for all these people around 3 HUGE tables. I can only imagine where the tables and chairs came from - I hope they were borrowed and that it wasn't necessary to rent them or something!

Keep in mind, this was 7 am!! Which means, in order to serve breakfast to all these people, my poor neighbors were probably up at 5 am putting rolls in the oven, slicing cheese, setting out jars of marmalade, etc. I do hope that once everyone left they finally had some time alone to celebrate their anniversary!!

Note to the Danes... When Ole and I celebrate our 25th, please do come and sing to us, but, if it's not too much trouble, can you bring the breakfast with you? Oh, and some tables and chairs too? Thanks!!

Fire and Ice

2009-08-23T21:47:00.003+02:00

Last Wednesday was my second dose of Taxotere. In my best effort to ward off side effects, I gulped down nearly 2 liters of water prior to the treatment. We were home, all ready to go, and then the phone rang. There was a problem at the pharmacy inside the hospital -something with ventilation - and they were unable to prepare the drugs for me. Thankfully, we weren't yet on our way and could just sit at home and wait.

Ole decided to take advantage of the little break and put on his painting clothes. Just as he was halfway through painting a window the phone rang again and now, of course, they were ready for us! He predicted that simply by changing his clothes and getting out the paint brush, they'd be ready, and he was right!!

When I go in for each treatment there is a whole question and answer session about the side-effects from the last time. This is where they decide what other glorious pharmaceuticals they will send me home with - more little bags of pills! The best thing is that I never have to go to the pharmacy for any of this stuff, they just give me little baggies with whatever pills I'm supposed to take.

In reviewing the last treatment, and my complaints about the numb fingers, it was decided that my hands would be put on ice. The nurse came with two frozen gloves and stuck my hands into them... holy ice, that hurt! But, I kept telling myself, if it helps, it's worth it!!

During the course of treatment, these frozen gloves came in quite handy. You see, one of the other wonderful side effects of all of this is that my body goes through menopause... or as it's called in some places, chemopause. And with chemopause, comes hot flashes. They were interesting and fascinating when they started, now they're just annoying! However, if you happen to be wearing an ice glove when you get a hot flash, just put your hand on your head and you'll instantly feel better!

After treatment, I was feeling the usual tiredness and spent the last few days just trying to take it easy knowing the worst was yet to come. Yesterday I spent most of the day in and out of sleep and wasn't feeling great last night so I decided at 10:30 pm that I would just go to bed. I mentioned to Ole that I was cold and as he gave me a hug, he said... "You're not cold, you're burning up." Bah. We then took my temperature, and yep, I had a fever.

The 'book' says that if I have a fever, I'm supposed to call them immediately and we did. And then, an hour later, I found myself in a small room, in a bed, in the hospital. They spent the next hour poking me, drawing blood, checking me, questioning me, etc., trying to determine whether it was just a fever or if I could have contracted something else. With my blood counts so low from the chemo, I'm not really able to fight off any possible infections, so they have to be extra cautious. Finally, they hooked up an IV with some antibiotics and saline and let me sleep, and Ole went back home.

After a frustrating morning of waiting around to see whether or not they'd let me come back home, and some pretty decent breakfast and lunch at the hospital, the doctor finally came to talk to me around noon. My fever had gone down and they cleared me for release. And here I am, home again!

So how did you spend your Saturday night?!

Whammies

2009-08-07T22:42:00.006+02:00

Tap tap tap... is this thing on?

Hello world - I'm alive!

Last Tuesday was my first treatment with Taxotere (aka docetaxel). It seemed innocent enough. Oh sure, they warned about allergic reactions that can happen within the first 10 minutes of treatment, but I didn't experience that. I figured I was home free. I ... was wrong.

The day of treatment and the next day I had my usual tiredness but overall the Taxotere seemed to have much less impact than the previous treatments. I was thinking to myself.. weee.. this isn't bad at all! And then slowly, gradually, it snuck up on me. All my chanting of No Whammies, No Whammies, No Whammies... and then the little whammie with a lawnmower plowed through.

I don't remember the order of which horrible reaction came first, but I can tell you that if you go through the booklet of possible side effects and put a nice little check mark next to each one I felt, or am feeling, you end up with more marks than a high school trigonometry test.

I'll spare you all the gory details because 1. they'd probably gross you out, and 2. typing is still painful. Suffice it to say I'd rather have 2 more treatments of the first chemo drug than 2 more taxotere, but I don't get a choice in the matter. The worst effects that I'm still feeling are the numbness in my fingers (hence the typing issues) and the fact that nothing I eat tastes the way it's supposed to taste. Even water tastes funky! And, if you wish to share in my current misery, go to the kitchen and grab a bit of unsweetened chocolate as that will simulate what ALL chocolate is currently tasting like. They really should've warned me about that part. However, in fairness, had they done so, I would have been running out of there kicking and screaming.

There was one upside to the last treatment. While I was getting my treatment, a nurse came in and asked if I would like some lunch!! When she said that I could have tarteletter, I was so excited that nothing else mattered. The only other time that I ever get these is for julefrokest or easter time, made by my mother-in-law. This wasn't the hospital food they served back in the US!! One giant point for the Danish medical system...

Coloring My World

2009-07-28T08:39:00.006+02:00

3.5 years ago, prior to my arrival, Ole moved into our house and, with the help of his dad, painted the entire house in good old painter's white. The great plan was that when I arrived, we would then choose some actual paint with which to decorate the place. Up until a month ago, everything was still white. Shocking, no?

An interior decorator I am most definitely not! I find the process of picking paint colors, rugs, curtains, and other associated knick-knacks to be excruciatingly painful. On the other hand, laying on the sofa staring at blank white walls is equally painful, and I just couldn't take it anymore. So off to the paint store we went - finally!

When you shop for paint in the US, you will be instantly overwhelmed with racks and racks of little 2x1 colored squares, on strips, from which to choose. Each color will have a carefully chosen name which is just about as relevant to the actual color as the names typically chosen for lipstick. Should you choose "autumn pumpkin" or "fireball sunset"? Sure, both are some shade related to orange, but they can't just call it orange as there are probably 500 strips of color that all fall somewhere between yellow and red and labeling them Orange 1, Orange 2, etc., would just bore people.

But the names serve another purpose - they let you choose your color based on a feeling. Autumn Pumpkin evokes memories of wandering a field of pumpkins in October, picking those perfect specimens that will then be carefully carved, adorned with a candle, and left to rot on your front porch until some teenagers come along to smash them in the street. Ahh, sweet pumpkins. If you want to have this memory of Halloweens gone-by everyday, then Autumn Pumpkin may just be for you! But perhaps a 'Fireball Sunset" is more to your liking. Perhaps you live where you don't ever get to see a proper sunset and would like to experience that feeling each evening in your living room. The bottom line is that Orange #4 just doesn't quite give you that same ease of choice - it has no meaning, and therefore, no memories - 'tis just a color. And without feelings, the process of choosing is just too difficult!

I thought everything would be the same here in DK. I was wrong. We arrived at the paint store only to find that there were no walls of paint chips. There weren't any books full of pictures of what Mango Mango could do for your living room, or what Apricot Dream could do for your kitchen. There was just a dude behind the counter and walls of nondescript buckets of paint. We went to the counter and the dude handed us a fandeck of the NCS color system - 1700+ colors. All without names. All simply labeled with the official NCS color codes.

It's a very mathematical system they've designed; apparently the Swedes are responsible. The color codes look like this: S 3010-G50Y, which I suppose is very helpful if you're trying to match the new carpet you purchased in S 3010-G10Y. Yep, exactly. To start this process, I had a general idea of what I wanted. For my office, I was looking for something in a terracotta type color, and for our living room, I wanted some sort of sage green. So I spun the deck, flipped back and forth, and did my best to make some choices. We left the store with 3 sample bottles of colors related to orange, and 3 samples of colors related to green.

We splashed my office walls with the 3 shades of orange so that I could sit and stare at them for a day and see which appealed to me the most. That plan worked out quite well and I was able to pick 1 of the 3 - woohoo! We splashed the living room with 3 shades of green, and that didn't really go as planned. One was too dark, one was too 1983 and the other was just ugly. Total strike-out. The next day, Ole went back to get the orange I had chosen, and to get 2 more samples of greens. The two new samples were equally horrible, but they also didn't match to the chips I had seen and we were convinced they hadn't been mixed correctly. At this point, I was just so frustrated by the process.

Off to the internet I went, searching for pictures that would speak to me by people who do such things as paint their kitchen and then put it on the web for all to see with the name of the paint. I found a forum at gardenweb full of green painted rooms and I learned that Benjamin Moore's Saybrook Sage seemed to be exactly what I was looking for, if only I could purchase BM paint. But I can't. But... Benjamin Moore happens to be the licensed seller of the NCS paint line within the United States, so I decided that if I could call a BM retailer, he would surely know how Saybook Sage translated to an NCS color code. He didn't, but he did hook me up with a phone number for the Benjamin Moore company's service group and that was my next call. This man was initially not so helpful... "It is BM's policy that we cannot translate our colors to other manufacturers". Ahh, capitalism at it's best. I reverted to my most desperate voice and explained to the man that I was living in Denmark and if I could purchase his product, I most definitely would do so, but unfortunately I cannot and I am desperate to use his company's color, if only I could figure out what it is, but I'm a total wreck and please, oh please, Mr. Benjamin Moore rep, help me out here! It worked. He said they likely have the NCS colors somewhere in his offices and while it wouldn't be exact, he was willing to give it a go and see if he could eyeball the closest color match. He would call me back. Needless to say, I was skeptical that I would hear anything from him and went on to Plan B.

I found a number for an NCS agent in the New Jersey. I called, he answered, he was British. Weird. I went through my whole plea for help again. I explained what Benjamin Moore had told me. The NJ Brit felt my pain and was sure he could help. He took my phone number and said he'd call me back in 10 minutes. Wonder upon wonders, he did. He then presented me with 2 choices: S3010-G40Y and S3010-G50Y. I thanked him profusely, carefully wrote down the numbers and handed them to Ole to go fetch some paint. 5 Minutes later, he called again, this time being more decisive and said go with the 50Y over the 40Y. It sealed the deal. Then, surprise, surprise, while Ole was driving to the paint shop, the Benjamin Moore rep actually called me back with what he had decided would be the closest match. His pick? S3010-G50Y. Woohoo, we were on to something and both reps had chosen the same!

Ole fetched, we splashed, we loved, decision made. Our living room is now Benjamin Moore Saybrook Sage, or NCS S3010-G50Y. You decide which sounds more homey.

I don't yet have any pictures to share of the living room as the room isn't really decorated yet for the new color scheme and I'd rather show off a finished product. However, I will share with you my wonderful new 'hyggelig' office - it's not for everyone, but I happen to love it!

And yes, there is a desk in the office as well, but pictures of desks are boring!

In other news...
Today is treatment day. This is my first of 3 Taxotere (Docetaxel) treatments. I have no idea how it will go or how it will make me feel - we'll have to wait and see. Catch you on the other side of the drip!

Coffee and Diapers and ... Seriously?

2009-07-13T18:38:00.004+02:00

I was curious so I headed over to google in an attempt to learn what are the most popular grocery items. Now, going with the theory that the first link is the best, I was taken to the following page of bestselling items under the category of Grocery, at Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/grocery

I'll give you a few minutes to peruse that list - hurry back!

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Oh good, you're back. If you're like me, this particular list will raise more questions than answers. Let's review.

The #1 item is coffee. That in itself isn't really a surprise. The interesting part is that the #1 coffee on amazon comes in 'frustration-free packaging'. I can't remember ever becoming frustrated when attempting to open a package of coffee, and remember, this is before my first cup of the day. Annoyed perhaps, that a new bag must be opened, but not frustrated. If your 'normal' coffee ends up causing you frustration, perhaps you're buying the wrong brand, or maybe you need some help - let's be honest, is coffee really the source of your frustration?

I can't help but picture some woman with frazzled hair answering the doorbell to receive that package, tearing into the coffee (minus the normal frustration) and just snorting the ground up coffee, thereby skipping the entire brewing process - which, mind you, could be somewhat frustrating.

So we move onto #2 -some sort of accessory for a Braun shaver that apparently "leaves your shaver thoroughly and hygienically clean for a better shaving performance every day". Really. There goes my theory of the frazzled woman - apparently it's metrosexual men that are shopping for coffee at Amazon. And thingies for their shavers. If these thingies are the #2 item, these men are either incredibly hairy, hence requiring the daily changing of this item and purchase of so many of these, or incredibly concerned about the cleanliness of their Braun shavers. You decide.

Then there's some more coffee -with frustrating packaging I assume - then we move on to item #4 - baby wipes. Okay, now this one at least makes some sense. Anyone with a baby needs them and I suppose you go through them rather quickly. I'm down with that.

More coffee... more baby wipes... some fruit roll-ups which, I guess, are for said babies... now we get to the weight loss pills. No surprise there, honestly, you just had a baby, right?

Now we get some sort of powdered product, typically found at GNC. The object of this drink is "For maintaining and increasing lean muscle mass". Not really sure if it's the hairy men or the frazzle-haired new moms buying this one. I'm gonna assume it's the hairy men.

More baby wipes, more coffee, more shaving accessories.. hmm.. #12 - Organic chocolate coconut bar. Maybe it's sold only on Amazon?

Coffee, coffee, coffee, wipes, wipes... white strips (#18) and toothbrushes (#19)! Ahh, clean teeth does kind of go with the shaving obsession. Clean teeth, white teeth, check.

More wipes, more coffee... diapers! Where there are baby wipes, there are diapers.

#23 - Moroccanoil. I had no idea what this was or what it could do for me. Opened it up - it's a hair care product. If I still had my hair, this is probably something I would've loved to try. I'm going to have to remember this for the future, assuming my hair is going to come back at some point. It's supposed to tame the frizzies, so now my frazzle-haired woman theory has been confirmed.

Let's move on... As we continue further down the list of the top 100, there seems to be an overall theme of babies and coffee with the occasional personal care item thrown in here and there. #33 is Prilosec - acid reducer. Considering that about 20 of the top 30 are coffee, it's no surprise that acid-reducer may be needed, particularly if you consider these coffee drinkers also have babies.

Then we get to #56 - "K-Y Intense Arousal Gel For Her". Seriously? At this point, I'm going to recommend that our frazzle-haired woman and her hairy, metrosexual husband may want to focus their attention elsewhere. Really. Perhaps this is what got you into this whole baby mess in the first place.

Now, if you're like me (which you probably won't admit to if you are, and who could blame you) as you scrolled through this list of the 100 most popular grocery items, you learned something. I'm not sure if you learned something about humanity in general, or just Amazon shoppers, but chances are you noticed that someone, somewhere has an obsession with coconut flavored products, there are many people purchasing baby wipes at amazon, and coffee. Who knew this many people purchased their coffee, in bulk, via the internet. Oh, and they shave - often.

But nothing jumped out at me quite like #74.

Ladies and gentleman - I present to you - the most ridiculous and insulting representation of an American president - ever...

Chia Obama Handmade Decorative Planter

I kid you not - it's an Obama chia-pet that, in truth, looks nothing like Obama. If I were president and that were me, I'd be using that power of office thing to get that representation of me off the market. Does anyone need to be growing weeds out of the president's head? And, oh look... it comes in both 'happy' and 'determined' - maybe I'll buy both so I can put the appropriate Obama chia-head in my office window each day.

After that item appeared, I pretty much gave up on the rest of the list. The shock value of that alone made me close the browser.

And now that I've looked at the list again, all the way, my whole hairy man theory is out the window...

#98 - Rogaine for Men Hair Regrowth Treatment

Or maybe the only place he's missing hair is on his head.

Doggy Play Dates

2009-07-09T21:48:00.005+02:00

Depending on how you look at things - we either don't have kids, or we do, and it all comes down to whether or not you count the 4-legged variety as kids. My 4-legged creatures are my kids. Current tally - 2 cats, 2 dogs.

Now the cats are entertaining in their own way and they don't ask much of us - some food, some water, and someone to clean their toilet on a regular basis. It doesn't hurt to occasionally give them a wee bit of roasted chicken or some juice from a tuna can. These are the things that make cats happy. Mr. Pete is the strong silent type, pretty much a pillow with legs. The only time he makes any noise at all is if you step on him, or attempt to give him a bath, both of which I have done - one turned out a bit better than the other. I'll let you guess which one. Mr. Coal, on the other hand, always has something to say, we just don't know what. If any living being passes his line of site, he'll speak. It could be a happy sounding meow, it could be a "yikes, where did you come from?" howl, or, when he really wants to freak us out, he resorts to the middle of the night 'I see cat fairies' chirps howls and other assorted noises. These are much more guttural, and bit creepy. I think he just likes to hear himself speak. It's rather comforting to me that he does talk so much as he is approximately 17 years of age and if he's speaking, he's breathing! All in all, however, the cats are simple.

(Side note - in the course of writing the above paragraph, Mr. Coal has had an entire conversation at the other end of the house - either with one of the dogs, or himself, I'm not entirely sure.)

The other two creatures, Miss Zoe and Miss Lexi, are not so simple and are far more demanding. They need entertainment. And if you think dogs can't tell time, or have no concept of time, you'd be wrong. Zoe and Lexi know exactly what time their daddy is supposed to be home from work, and they know when it's 9pm. They can be sleeping peacefully, but if that clock ticks just a bit over the 9pm mark - they're wide awake and crawling all over us. Why? It's doggy play date time!

It used to be that each evening, around 9pm or so, we'd take them for a walk around the 'hood. It was important to us that we got out for the walk before 10pm because that's when the light on the bike path gets turned off - you try to see two black dogs on leashes, in the darkness of a danish winter, and you'll agree that a lit path is important.

Then along came Stella. Stella is a yellow lab who lives in the 'hood. Stella is Zoe and Lexi's BFF and as Stella went from small puppy to large dog, our walks went from casually strolling around the block to meeting over in a field where all 3 could run wild. The beginning of the official doggy play date. Now, it's important to understand that Stella's mom is in the military, doesn't take no for an answer, and will tell it like it is. Why do you need to know this?

Because, also in the 'hood, is Bella. Miss Bella is the about 6 months younger than Zoe and is a chocolate lab. Unfortunately for Bella, she doesn't seem to get out much. We watched her go from sweet chubby puppy to sweet chubby doggy - a dog that desperately needs exercise. Each evening on our way to the field, we pass Bella's house, and more often than not, Bella is on her outdoor lead, in the driveway, and she always does the Bella dance when she sees us pass. The Bella dance involves twisting the hind legs back and forth (like a kid who's gotta pee), swinging the tail wildly and high-stepping with the front paws. But each time we tried to hint to Bella's dad that Bella should come out and play with us, it never worked. Stella's mom, on the other hand, well - let's just say that I think she flat out told Bella's dad that Bella was getting fat, needed exercise, and to be at the field at 9pm. Amazingly enough - it worked! No, Bella doesn't come every night, but if I see her 2 times in one week, I'm thrilled for her and you can just see how happy she is to be out playing with friends!

So, it's become a thing. Our doggy play dates. We're always recruiting - we'll tell any dog owner we see - the more, the merrier! About 2-3 weeks ago, just as doggy play date was ending - dogs all leashed for the stroll home, fat pink tongues hanging wildly from happy mouths (the dogs, not the owners) - a small speck appeared in the distance. One tall man, one small yellow labrador puppy. 9 weeks old. Awwwww! Stella mom wasted no time and got right to the recruiting - and we now have the first 'boy' dog of the doggy play date pack, Sofus.

If you're ever in Karup around 9pm, and you have a dog, head for the field. You'll find us, and a whole pack of very happy dogs.

And now, I'll leave you with a few pics of the crew in action (unfortunately, the night I had my camera, Bella was not in attendance so she's not pictured!)...

Rockin Robin

2009-06-30T18:31:00.002+02:00

So this morning I was just doing my normal work stuff when I headed to the kitchen to fill up my coffee. As I approached the kitchen, I heard some strange noises and immediately saw the source of the noise... a tiny little bird was in a panic on the kitchen windowsill - somehow this bird had flown into my house!

Before you ask "how the heck did that happen?", you have to realize that in this house, with two dogs, the 'terrace' door is almost always open with a big long hook so the dogs can go out in the yard during the day without me having to open and close the door each time. I can only assume my little birdy took a wrong turn and suddenly found herself in the house.

Keep in mind - this house has two dogs and two cats. Birds, while cute, can cause quite a commotion around here and this one certainly did.

Since the bird was on the windowsill, I immediately thought if I just opened that window, out it would go. Things didn't go according to plan. By the time I managed to swing the window out, Ms. Birdy had taken flight towards the other end of the house. As soon as she took to the air, Petey the cat started chasing, and as soon as Petey started running, Lexi and Zoe were off in hot pursuit. So, to sum up, bird flying, cat chasing bird, dogs chasing cat, and me freaking out about how I am going to get this bird safely out of my house! My next step? Call Ole.

Not that the phone call accomplished anything other than to let Ole know that we had a bird flying around the house, but I just had to tell someone so that I could calm down and stop panicking. While I was calling, Ms. Birdy had perched herself on a door frame. By the time I hung up, she wasn't there anymore, Mr. Pete had lost interest as had the dogs, and everything was calm, so I just assumed she must have found her way out.

Fast forward a few hours. I was sitting in my office working and every now and then I would hear a strange rustling noise. It finally dawned on me that the bird must still be in the house. There is an empty cardboard box in my office and the sound was coming from said box. I walked over to the box and shifted it about one inch and the bird took flight again! This time into the computer room - to the top half of the window (the part that doesn't open). Mr. Pete once again arose from his slumber to investigate. I didn't worry that Petey would actually catch the bird - he's far too fat, slow and dumb, but he made a good effort on the chasing part!

Following a 'bird' theme - I decided to send a 'twitter' to thewriter , the only person I know who knows anything about birds!

I managed to open the window in the computer room - Ms. Birdy still on the top half. Then I stood my distance to see if she'd find the open window. At one point she perched on the bar that turns the blinds and slid down a bit and I thought.. ahh.. she's going to get out! Then poof, into the air again and up to the top of the bookshelf to hide behind some boxes there. Foiled again!

Fast forward another hour or so and this time I'm on the phone with my office. Suddenly Ms. Birdy flies out of the computer room and heads for the spare bathroom. When Ole then came home, I suggested she may still be out in that area and that he should open the door out there, but he couldn't find her, so again, we hoped she had found her way out.

She hadn't. She was hiding - behind some boxes - again. (I really need to get all of these random stacks of boxes out of my house!) This time she flew toward the terrace door and we finally had a real chance to help her. We opened both terrace doors all the way, all the while holding back 2 extremely curious dogs that really, really, really wanted to help, and finally, after a few shuffles around, Ms. Birdy managed to fly to freedom. Yeehaw!

Lexi and Zoe quickly took to the yard and did a full sniff investigation to see if this flying creature really had left the premises.

Ms. Birdy has left the building.

Advantages and Disadvantages

2009-06-26T06:40:00.002+02:00

Hot time, summer in the city. That is, if you can refer to 75F as hot, and a very small town in the middle of Jutland as 'the city', which really would be stretching it, on both fronts, but stay with me here.

We are having summer weather in DK and I love it!! It's quite rare that wind ever stops blowing in this country, so I have yet to witness a truly hot, humid day of the kind I grew up with. This hot is more like pacific northwest heat - hot if you're in the sun, relatively cool out of it. I miss my humidity filled days with the late afternoon thunderstorms, but given that there is little AC in this country, we're probably better off without that!

But I'm not here to talk about the weather (had you fooled, didn't I?). Let's chat for a moment about baldness - the pros and cons, so to speak! Keep in mind this is coming from someone who has not only had long hair for the last 20 years, but extremely thick hair as well!

Advantages:

It's cool! In this (relative) warmth, it's quite a treat to not spend even a second of my day figuring out whether to do a ponytail or a braid as the chosen method for keeping my hair up. Timing is everything - It's the summer. Were it winter, I think perhaps I might miss the hair and it's associated warmth.
New sounds! If I put on the right pair of little hoop earrings, and then go out in the wind, I get all sorts of cool new whistling sounds as the wind passes by my naked head and through the little hoops. Interesting, no?
Speaking of the right pair of little hoop earrings - people can actually SEE my earrings now! It does encourage the wearing of the ear jewelry when it can actually be seen rather than hidden under hair.
Hair care products - zero, zip, nada! I spent some time last weekend going through every cabinet in the bathroom - took all the hair stuff (shampoo, conditioner, gels, sprays, hairdryer, hair clips, scrunchies, other assorted miscellaneous products related to hair) and put it all in a storage container and out of the room. Freedom!
No shaving! It's not just my head folks. I have smooth legs! I'd love to say I'm taking full advantage and going the 'who wears short shorts' route, but I'm no Daisy Duke and those types of shorts don't really fit the current body shape. I'd prefer not to frighten those around me. Even so, the razors were all packed away with the hair care products, yeehaw!
Fast showers!
If it's not there, it's not gray.

Disadvantages:

Boys will be boys. It was actually quite an amusing moment, but telling nonetheless. We went to my in-laws last Saturday and my mother-in-law must have told my nephew in advance that I may not have hair. He's umm.. 5 or 6? Anyway, I was wearing a cap, but he was curious. When I sat down in the living room, he came over and asked me.. "Do you not have hair?". I explained that I did have a little bit of hair, but for the most part, it was gone. "Can I see?" So, I decided why not, and took my cap off for him, at which time he pointed to my head and laughed. In fairness, I thought it was actually quite a funny moment!
The sad looks. Yes, I'm bald. No, it's not by choice. No, I'm not dying. Stop giving me the droopy face. I'm fine!
Scarf tying 101. It takes longer to tie a scarf than a ponytail. The time I save on not 'doing' the hair is instead being spent on figuring out how, exactly, to make a scarf look fashionable on my head. The little hats I have are the quick alternative, but the scarves are also fun - if I could just get the tying part of it figured out!
Bug bites! Did you know mosquitoes and other assorted flying annoyances will bite your head? ARGH! We take our dogs to a doggy play date on a field near our house nearly every evening, and apparently the bugs that call that field home are not too thrilled by the exuberance of 5 dogs and have chosen to take out their anger on those responsible for bringing the dogs to their field. They bite. On my head. It's really, really, annoying. I've always been a bit of a mosquito magnet, but this biting on the back of my naked head is just adding insult to injury - knock it off! Speaking of which, can one even purchase insect repellent in DK, and if so, what exactly is it called and where does one get it? I can't take much more of this but I don't want to cover my head in something designed to kill aphids on rose bushes either. And, I don't want to spend the entire summer looking like I just spent 39 days on Survivor. My head is bald, it is not, however, a pin cushion.

So there you have it, and if we're going on bullet points alone, it seems that the 'pros' have won the debate!

Go ahead ladies - you know you want to join my little party!

Drip, drip, drip...

2009-06-15T14:34:00.003+02:00

Last Friday was treatment #2, another joyous morning of visiting Viborg Hospital!

This time my appointment was 9:40 AM and this time, I was a bit more prepared. After doing some reading of various forums concerning chemo, I found that although the various pills they give me just say to take them before treatment, they don't really give any kind of time frame. Forums full of people that have been through it - this is the real place to get some decent information!! So, pills were consumed at 9 AM, shooting for the 'one hour before treatment' time frame. I was right. Though my appointment was at 9:40, it was 10:00 am before any type of treatment would actually begin. I also drank an entire liter of water before arriving.

Last time they told me that they were going to have a group of patients for this treatment slot that all were breast cancer patients. However, when we got there, I was taken to the exact same chair I had been in the last time, and again, I was the only one in this particular treatment room. I wonder if they fear I will scare away the others? While it would have been interesting to chat with some other patients, I wasn't horribly disappointed that we were alone again.

I am very happy to report that this time they stuck the needle on the first try - WHEW! I was not looking forward to another Guantanamo Bay torture session. Perhaps that's an extreme description but when you're the one sitting in the chair having the needle poked in and taken back out multiple times, it certainly feels extreme!

The nurse stays and monitors while they drip in the red juice (drug #1). I'm not entirely sure why this particular drug requires full time monitoring, but who am I to argue. During this first half of treatment, while having poison dripped into my body, I get the pleasure of attempting to figure out what the nurse is trying to say to me, in Danish. Needless to say my brain isn't really in full gear during these moments, so it's probably good that Ole comes along. I just look over at him, he tells me what she said, and we can all get onto the next sentence.

After the first bag is complete, the nurse switches the IV, and then she leaves. Because I am always thinking of all of you, my wonderful readers, I decided to pass the time by attempting to get a picture of myself. After several failed attempts at doing a self-portrait, I handed the cell phone over to Ole, who then, after a few deleted (by me) attempts, managed to finally get this shot.

I'm sporting one of the snuggly caps that my mother crocheted for me - isn't it pretty!? The treatment chair is fully adjustable - not because you need to make all kinds of adjustments, but just to give you something to do while you're sitting there bored out of your mind. Or at least, that's my take on it.

After about 45-50 min, treatment #2 was complete. We made our way home where, after approximately 1-2 hours, I fell into dreamland.

Today is one of those better, but not quite normal yet, days. Little pangs of nausea come and go, but nothing to get too anxious about. I'm coming around the bend of treatment #2 - only 1 more of this drug combo, and then 3 of another drug to go!!

The wrong side of the bed?

2009-06-07T23:23:00.002+02:00

There's an old saying about 'waking up on the wrong side of the bed' that serves to tell others you're having a bad day. It's always been a bit strange to me. I mean, even when I was single I had a double bed all to myself, I don't recall ever having woken up on the other side of it. How does that happen exactly? And if it did happen, I'm not sure I'd have gotten out on that side, I would've just shimmied my way over to the 'right' side and went about my day. Now I share a bed, and now it would be virtually impossible to wake up on the wrong side - I mean, seriously, what kind of sleep are you getting if you actually switch places at some point in the middle of the night. It's not like Ole gets up to go to the bathroom and comes back and shoves me over while I'm sleeping. Zoe does try to shove me over, but not to the wrong side, she's just shoving me OFF the bed more than anything. So, no, I don't wake up on the wrong side of the bed.

Based on personal experience, I think a more accurate description of a day filled with confusion, is one described as 'having showered out of order'. Let me explain. Unless I'm the oddball (no worries, it's happened before), I'm assuming that most people have a routine when it comes to showering. Something you do every day (or at least most days) and probably something you do in the same order, each day, without thinking. Mine has always been:

Get wet
Apply shampoo, rinse (no need to repeat, those directions on the bottle serve only to sell more shampoo)
Apply conditioner
While conditioner soaks in, soap up and rinse
Shave legs
Rinse out conditioner
Stand under hot water and contemplate the meaning of life (optional - depending on time)

Then it's time to move on to the drying stage of the routine. So I reach for the towel (mine is furthest from the shower, and no, I don't know why, considering that of those who use towels in this house, I have the shorter arms, but oh well, it's not like I'm bitter about it) and once I have grabbed the towel, the face is dried first. The rest is a bit tough to describe, because I'm not really conscious of how it's done, it's just done. However, the last step of the process involves turning around to face the shower, followed by flipping the head upside down, throwing the towel around the shoulders, then wrapping said towel around all hair and turning right side up again so that I end up looking a bit like a naked Carmen Miranda minus the fruit basket on top.

There have been days that, for inexplicable reasons, things suddenly get out of order and that out of order-ness, in and of itself, can throw off everything that happens for the rest of my day. Like accidentally grabbing conditioner before the shampoo. Or applying shampoo for a second time when it was actually time for the conditioner. Or suddenly shaving my legs before having shampooed. Any of those things will cause not only the rest of the shower to be in a complete state of disarray and confusion, but the rest of my day!

In the past 3 weeks I have gone from thick, curly hair in need of deep conditioner, to short hair I wasn't sure what to do with, to short hair being pulled out in seemingly bizarre clumps, to no hair. For the 3 weeks that I had short hair, I didn't know what to do with it. Seriously. How much shampoo do I use? Do I even need conditioner now? Does this shampoo make my hair spike a bit more or lay down flat (I was going for the spiky)?

Through all of the short hair phase, I kept my drying routine, and dutifully kept doing my big hair flip only to be suddenly reminded, each and every time, that there was nothing left to flip. Really cuts down on the drying time but (til gengæld), added to the styling time because I couldn't figure out what the heck to do with the hair - gel, no gel, mousse perhaps, hairspray, what to do, what to do - each day became a new experiment. Some were successful, but were doomed not to be repeated as I couldn't quite figure out by the time the next day rolled around, what exactly I had ended up doing with the hair the previous day.

And then, the short hair exploded in hand fulls. And finally, I pulled out the clipper, and took off what remained. Yes, it was an extreme move, but quite fun actually and what was left was nothing short of irritating and no longer necessary. Now I'm just a stubble strewn head in a world full of hair. If you think going from long hair to short hair messed up the shower routine, try going to NO hair! I'm no longer quite sure what to do with myself in there. I've officially moved on to the Reader's Digest Condensed version of 'how to take a shower':

Get wet
Soap up and rinse
Stand there dazed and confused wondering if that's all there is to it
Stand under hot water and contemplate the meaning of life (fully dependent on the length of time spent on #3)

So, what do you think? Are you a wrong side of the bed person or shower out of order person? Or are you now just shaking your head trying to figure out why I'm so strange?

Get out that Dyson!

2009-06-03T22:26:00.004+02:00

Something in this house is shedding and in this case, it's not a 4-legged creature. Well, they're still shedding too, but now something new is shedding!

Today when I got in the shower and went to put shampoo in my hair, my scalp was so tender that I couldn't even rub in the shampoo, and I said to myself.. this is it, this is the moment that I freak out.

I rinsed out the shampoo and then started running my fingers through my hair to figure out whether or not I was right on this one and voila, there it was. It has officially begun - my hair is falling out! EEEEK!

When they told me it would start 2 weeks after treatment, no one mentioned that it would be exactly 2 weeks to the hour - these treatments really should come with better warnings, or at perhaps they should just hand you a ticking time bomb and tell you that when it explodes, so shall your hair!

So I spent most of the afternoon sitting at my desk picking at my hair. It's fascinating and freaky and I'm completely obsessed with it at the moment.

When I was about to leave work, someone said 'Don't pull all your hair out!", and then followed-up by saying, "It's not every day you can say that to someone and mean it literally!"

Ole's in Poland this week and I told him when he booked the trip that I was going to lose my hair while he was away. Right again! Hope I'm not totally bald by Saturday when he gets back.

Oh well, I've got my caps ready! But I really hope I look more like this:

... then this!

Adjectives

2009-05-29T21:53:00.002+02:00

Went to Danish class last night and the teacher was describing the shirts that some of the guys were wearing so that we could learn the various adjectives - practical knowledge I guess if you wish to buy a specific type of shirt and lack eyes with which to view the merchandise.

He started with the obvious - describing it as a striped shirt. I think everyone can agree that for this particular shirt, 'striped' would be the apt adjective:

However, the next shirt he came to, and asked us to describe, led to a bit of discussion...

Okay, more of a little argument, and okay, it was just really me being difficult again. Sort of like the time another Danish teacher attempted to tell me that basketball and volleyball could be described as similar games, which he based solely on the fact that both have a 'ball', and I argued that in reality, basketball is more closely related to hockey, whereas volleyball would be more closely related to badminton. Yeah, I'm like that sometimes, and if I were the teacher I'd probably want to slap me upside the head, but that's not allowed in Denmark and besides, I'm the class entertainment. Without me, they'd all be asleep 30 minutes into the 2-1/2 hour class. But, I digress. Back to the shirts and my point.

We needed the equivalent of striped with which to describe the above shirt. So I said "på engelsk, det er 'plaid'" and then I quickly grabbed my dansk/engelsk dictionary to look up the danish word for plaid. Which, lo and behold is.. wait for it... PLAID. The teacher had decided to use another adjective to describe the shirt.. he chose "ternet". So with some speedy little page flipping, I found 'ternet' on the danish side of the book, which officially translates to "checkered".

When I said... "No no, that's plaid!" - and I then showed him that the danish dictionary translated the english plaid to the danish plaid, he looked at me strangely and said I was incorrect. Grumble.

Now, 'checkered' to me is the pattern you see on a flag at the racetrack - not the shirt pictured above. A checkered shirt, in my opinion, looks like this:

THAT is checkered. The one above it is plaid. Hmmph.

In Danish class, one of the important things we are taught is that when you have an opinion, you also need argumentation. So, I present to you, my argumentation:

plaid

–noun
1. any fabric woven of differently colored yarns in a crossbarred pattern.
2. a pattern of this kind.
3. a long, rectangular piece of cloth, usually with such a pattern and worn across the left shoulder by Scottish Highlanders.

–adjective
4. having the pattern of a plaid.

checkered

–adjective
1. marked by numerous and various shifts or changes; variegated: a checkered career.
2. marked by dubious episodes; suspect in character or quality: a checkered past.
3. marked with squares: a checkered fabric.
4. diversified in color; alternately light and shadowed: the checkered shade beneath trees.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.

His argumentation was that 'plaid' was only used for certain plaids, not all plaids (as if that makes any sense), as in the definition found under the NOUN plaid (3. a long, rectangular piece of cloth, usually with such a pattern and worn across the left shoulder by Scottish Highlanders.), not the adjective, mind you. HA!

So, what's your opinion?

(And, btw, if you're a certain Canadian reader who has a certain PLAID skirt wearing scot for a hubby, feel free to chime in!)

Look what the cat dragged in...

2009-05-27T22:11:00.005+02:00

Okay, okay, so the post doesn't actually have anything to do with cats, but rather, packages!! I do believe that at this point, the Danish postal service must believe that it's my birthday because for the last couple of weeks, they just keep showing up at my door with packages from the good ole US of A. Weeee!

First, a package from my mom and dad with books, a big chocolate Easter bunny (not pictured - hmmm) and lots and lots of Hershey Kisses (also not pictured.. sensing a pattern here)...

A few days after that package arrived, along came another one, this time from my sister-in-law. She sent me a whole pile of books as well as the Parade article featuring Frederick and Mary and several pages from the Sunday comics - a nice taste of home!

My mother is really skilled with a sewing machine and whipped up these little caps for me and sent them off! I don't know if it was because of a slow postal weekend or if putting 'chemo caps' on the customs form means they rush things, but she mailed these on May 22 and they arrived here on May 25!! Woosh!

And then yesterday, much to my surprise, another package arrived! This one was sent by my co-workers back in the states. I am blessed to have a great group of people to work with - people that I consider friends and people who have been there for me over the years many times. I happened to have mentioned during a meeting about 2 weeks ago that I didn't think it was possible to purchase Saltine crackers in Denmark and saltines are one of those things that, as any good american knows, what you eat when you feel nauseated! Lo and behold.. SALTINES!

I have to mention it - I don't know if you can read the card or not, but it's 3 Golden Retriever puppies and above them it says HEAL!. Perfect card for me and one that definitely put a smile on my face.

Packages from the US are always exciting and I am so lucky to have great family and friends! Thank you to everyone. :)

The long and short of it

2009-05-24T18:15:00.003+02:00

Finally, I'm feeling human again! Yesterday I could feel the fog lifting, but today, I feel 'almost' back to normal. Either that, or I'm just getting used to what it feels like to not feel normal - which leads to the inevitable question of what exactly 'normal' is?!

Today was a perfect day. I woke up with a killer headache, mostly due to the lack of caffeine over the past few days, but happily my coffee tasted somewhat normal this morning and that headache passed quickly!

Kelli and Mads came over this afternoon carrying some gorgeous flowers and a big basket full of fresh buttermilk biscuits - handmade by Kelli. Wow, they were good!! I told Ole that I should get the recipe, but I actually liked his solution better - he said "just tell Kelli that she'll need to make them and bring them over!".

So, let's get to the long and short of it. Since college, my hair has been pretty long, usually below my shoulders anyway. This is a picture Kelli took a few weeks ago...

But, with my treatments, it is pretty much a given that I'll be losing my hair. So, in preparation for that, I had it all cut off. It's taken me more than a week to be able to accept the fact that my hair is short. I keep forgetting that I cut it. If I have a bit of a headache, I keep reaching around to pull out my ponytail only to be reminded that it's not there! Anyway, here's the new me...

Meow.. stretch..

2009-05-21T23:15:00.003+02:00

It's official - I've turned into a cat.

I now sleep at least 18 hours per day.

Wooosh

2009-05-20T22:51:00.002+02:00

Well, today was day one. My best description at the moment is WOOSH.

We arrived on time, to an absolutely stuffed waiting room - I guess that's what happens when your appointment time is one of the first times after lunch. We didn't have to wait too long, however, before we were led down a long hall full of nurses into a treatment room. There was one bed, and two big fancy chairs that reminded of business class on a plane. Thankfully, they put me in the chair, not the bed!

The next 45 min or so wasn't so pleasant. The first needle stick into my veins didn't work - my vein apparently ran away (smart vein). Then she whacked around my arm a few times and tried another spot that also didn't work. And it was at this point that happy Patti became very frustrated, anxious, Patti. The nurse said she was going to go get a colleague to assist. And at this point, I wanted to run screaming out of there - but instead, I found myself getting very overheated and starting to feel sick. Ole helped me to relax again and get my mind off the whole thing and then the nurse came back in to let me know that she had called a nurse down from the anesthesia department (now that has to be a nurse that knows what she's doing!), so I felt a bit better about that. She then wrapped a hot towel around my arm to convince my veins to come out of hiding. Then green hero nurse (regular nurses wear white - operation room nurses wear green) came in to try her turn at bat. She wanted to stick one spot very close to my hand, but the other nurse told her that it was better if it was between the wrist and elbow - so against her better judgment she tried it there, only for it not to work AGAIN. At this point, I was no longer looking - eyes closed, think happy thoughts! Green nurse then stuck where she wanted to in the first place and got the silly thing in my arm. WHEW.

Then I sat there while red juice went first, then saline, then clear juice, then more saline, until the whole process was complete. My only reaction at the time it was happening was this really weird feeling in my nose - like I was about to sneeze, but not sneezing, just all tingly. So, I left the hospital feeling like, okay, I can handle this.

And I could - until a few hours passed. First, and they do warn you about this, you pee red. And yep, it's weird. It's the red drug that causes it, not blood, which is I'm sure why they warn you about it. Approximately 2 hours after finishing treatment, my body decided that it had to sleep.. NOW.

Slept on the couch, and woke up about 90 min later, but laid there trying to figure out how exactly to physically get up. Nope, couldn't do it on my own. Ole had to help me stand up. I wanted to get to the other end of the house so I could change into sweats - I managed to get down there, change, use the restroom, and then made it about halfway back before I just flopped into the nearest chair. Ole made up the guest room bed as it's down at this end, where everything else is, so I crawled into that and promptly fell back to sleep.

I did manage to eat dinner and then sleep again. The hospital told me to try to go for a walk each day, so we just not took the dogs around the block. I'm ready to go back to bed very soon.

So, the best description of day one is just WOOOSH.

(They did, however, warn me that any nausea is probably going to appear on day 2 and 3, so we'll see).

Don't be backward about coming forward - Or, as others put it - I'm awesome!

2009-05-18T20:23:00.002+02:00

So, I've been tagged not once, but twice (that I'm aware of!) as being a blogger that is awesome. As part of this, I'm supposed to state 7 reasons why I'm awesome, and here's where it gets a wee bit tricky!

This is hard for me, but I'll give it a shot since the others have already spit out their own reasons!

1. Well, let's start with the obvious. I'm dealing with cancer for the 2nd time in my life. And, I am 100% confident that I'll get through it. It's scary, but so are other things in life, and I've done okay so far!

2. I was smart enough in life to wait for my prince. I didn't marry until I was 38 years old and looking back, I am glad I waited. I found my soul mate, I found the man who loves me for being me, and I found the man that truly makes every day a joy. He is MY Prince of Denmark.

3. I have the guts to go just about anywhere. I grew up in upstate New York, I went to college in Michigan, I lived in NJ and worked in Manhattan, and then I moved across the country to Washington state. And then, as you already know, I packed up my world and moved halfway around the world to live in Denmark.

4. I can do a triple pirouette. Admittedly, not nearly with the same level of skill I once possessed, but I can still do it! So there's something you probably didn't know about me - I have a B.A. in Dance.

5. I was once given the nickname "Brit", which was the short way to call me Encyclopedia Britannica, because I can remember things and my head is full of all sorts of random facts and trivia. It comes in quite handy in my work as I'm often the go-to person for 'do you remember when we made this change and why?'.

6. I amuse people. In most situations, unless it's highly inappropriate, I try to make people laugh. I don't take things too seriously and I have fun with life. I credit my father for this trait! If a joke is to be found within a situation, I'm going to do my best to find it!

7. I make an awesome chocolate cheesecake, an awesome chocolate cake, and very tasty chocolate chip cookies (sensing a theme here!). I don't really like cooking, and therefore, haven't really tried to excel at it, but I can bake. And the chocolate cheesecake is my masterpiece!

So there you have it. Now, the real challenge is to attempt to find 7 bloggers that haven't yet been tagged by someone that I find awesome! If you've already been tagged - it's just more pressure on you to come through!

A Swedish American in Sweden
Not Quite Danish
Happy Adventures
On a Quirky Quest
Our Feet are the Same
Forget Me Knot Nonsense
The Spotted Sparrow

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2009-05-15T19:02:00.002+02:00

So, today I had the pleasure of meeting my oncologist. Oh what fun!

When all of this began, the 'Mammacentret' had given me a nice little binder to keep all the wonderful information about my surgery. Now that the surgery part of this is done, and the results are in, time to move onto another department, and another little binder. Actually, she asked if I'd like to have everything put into my original binder. I said yes - so now I have 2 books in one - the doublemint book, per se.

So here's all the gritty details, for those interested in such things. (I'm going to do my best to put the danish into english!)

Invasive Ductal Carcinoma
Tumor removed - 11 mm
Estrogen-receptor positive
Normal HER2 (don't really know what this one means)
29 lymph nodes removed - cancer in 14 of them
No distant metastasis

So, what does all that mean? Well it means I get the full treatment - Chemotherapy, radiation and anti-estrogen.

Step 1 - Chemotherapy

Next Wednesday will be my first treatment so today I went in for the introduction and the 'book'. There is all sorts of little pills, in little bags, with a nice little diagram of when I have to take each pill. Funny thing is, all these little pill bags were then placed right into the binder for safe keeping. So my little binder/book now resembles a small pharmaceutical company.

Come Wednesday, I will receive my first dose of EC - epirubicin and cyclophosphamide. After 3 treatments of EC, I'll then receive docetaxel for 3 treatments. And once all that is done, then I get the pleasure of radiation - but I'll worry about that bridge when I get there.

I can't really say that I'm looking forward to any of this! But hey - it's for my own good right? Right?

Run for the border..

2009-05-13T18:35:00.005+02:00

No, we didn't go to Taco Bell, but come to think of it, that would be pretty cool too!

This past weekend, in my continuous effort to limit my computer time, we decided to head for the border, as in the German border. I find just a trip to the Citti market is exciting as there is way, way, more product selection in Citti than there is in your average Danish grocery store. I honestly cannot say whether Germany exists beyond Flensburg, as that is the furthest I've ever wandered into Germany, and I'm not sure it really counts, since it used to be Denmark there, but anyway...

Here is one thing that I think is really, really cool about the parking garage there:

I happened to have brought along the non-lady of the family, so we didn't park there, but still!

Now we've ventured down to Flensburg before, but this time, something new and exciting awaited our arrival - something that solidified the fact that we were going to get in the car and go...

Woohooo! Not really sure how the "J" became a "K" but who cares - it's the same place! Sort of.

You know how at TJMaxx you find rows and rows of stuff that isn't really all that organized but has those wonderful little red stickers where the price has been slashed ridiculously low and you suddenly buy things you never knew you needed? The German version wasn't quite as bountiful. There were red stickers, but they haven't quite learned yet just how far I expect them to discount things! Since we'd made the trip, I scoured every aisle as I was definitely taking something home with me - no matter what. I did finally find two nice throw pillows with removable covers for only 5 Euro each, and given the fact that Lexi went through a pillow chewing phase, some new pillows were needed. I bought some other things as well, but given that one of those things is for someone who reads this, nah nah nah nah, I'm not telling!

After shopping to the 'Maxx' we wandered out to the shopping street, but didn't stay long there. Then we spent an hour or two wandering through Citti grocery, grabbing yummy things I can't find here. I bought a few cans of stuff that looked like good lunch food, like canned ravioli and tortellini. These cans have since confused Ole a bit - he thought I bought them as a side-dish for dinner but couldn't quite figure out what to do with them. The fact that they happened to be Weight Watchers brand (not for any reason other than it looked good, lol!) and therefore the can said "4 points" on the side, led to even further confusion. And all that confusion led him to not prepare that as a side dish the other night - so that's a good thing.

Our original plan was to get Ole's coca-cola at Citti market, but they were sold out (note to all - do not attempt to buy Coca-cola over the border on a Danish holiday weekend!). Eventually, since the coca-cola is as necessary to Ole as iced tea is to me, we stopped at the border store and loaded up the car before finally heading home.

Tried one of those things that I DID buy as a side dish last night, and it was very tasty. We weren't sure about it, so had only purchased one of that variety, which means before long, I'm going to insist on another run for the border. Weeeeee!

Two Dogs and a Lake

2009-05-09T23:57:00.001+02:00

This was actually filmed back in early March - as you may be able to tell by the fact that we are wearing parkas! It was a sunny, gorgeous day so we took the dogs out for a swim - which they absolutely loved.

We were like proud parents when Lexi decided to actually go for it and swim! Now when we get to the lake, she's in the water before we're even fully out of the car!

Zoe LOVES to swim - and roll in the sand!

Random Observations - Follow-up!

2009-05-09T21:56:00.002+02:00

Rather than post a comment to reply to all the comments on the last post, I decided to post a follow-up as best I can!

The goosebumps thing...
Yep, it's all about the nerves. Since I previously had a hysterectomy, I did a little self-test and there are some spots along that scar that also seem to be missing goosebumps, I just never had noticed. Probably because I'm not in the habit of rubbing my stomach area when I'm cold - I'm more of a rub the arms kinda gal (certainly makes more sense), so I noticed the smooth spot on the arm immediately!

Swimmers Boob
I'm glad you all found it as fascinating as I did! It's made by Amoena, who I'm learning seems to have the worldwide market on breast forms. They call it an 'accessory', rather than an actual breast form. This is another way of saying that if you want it, you're going to pay for it - not your government health plan or your health insurance company. They call it the 'swimform' and here is the official description from their website:

"Clear silicone form with a hollow, concave back allows water to flow through so the form retains its shape in and out of the water."

So there you have it. I was just left wondering how well it fits into one of those super speedy Speedo suits all the olympic athletes were wearing in Beijing! (Hmm, wonder if those come with a pocket sewn in to hold the swimmers boob - I'm guessing not.)

As a further follow-up to the whole bra topic - I officially hate the silly thing, it's just not comfortable, and for the most part, I'm going with the baggy sweatshirt look instead (mind you, I had already adopted this particular look long, long ago, so, truth be told, nothing has changed). After a few more weeks, I can go to a store and pick out a few more stylish options that look just like normal bras, and hopefully will be a bit more comfortable.

The great deodorant debate
Yes, deodorant has aluminum.

In the interest of full disclosure, this is something I've read about as one of the ways to prevent lymphedema in my arm - not something that I was strictly told about by the doctors. In addition to the lymphedema thing, apparently aluminum deodorants have been found to possibly have some link to Alzheimer's, so, if there is an alternative, it's probably worth considering.

Great suggestions on the okologisk products - but, I have to say that in my experience, they haven't found to really work all that well. Interestingly enough, I did find a few types in a grocery store here, made by Sanex, that have that potassium alum ingredient but given the 'alum' part of that I'm not sure it truly qualifies as aluminum free. I'm no scientist (obviously) so I may very well be wrong, but it was enough to stop me from buying without doing more research. The other 'downside' to the lack of aluminum is that the aluminum is essentially what stops the sweat - so while the organic product may be a deodorant, chances are it's not an antiperspirant and therein lies the problem!

One thing I did find was a product made by Adidas - something called Aluminum free Cotton-Tech or some such thing, but it's also apparently very difficult to find and may actually be discontinued at this point depending on which website you view for info.

For now, I'll stick to my normal stuff and see what else I can find out there the big, bad world!

Random Observations

2009-05-07T11:55:00.003+02:00

Now that I'm one breast short of a whole oven stuffer roaster, I felt it was time to give you some random observations of my new world.

Goose bumps - or lack there of
Given that the process of removing a lymph node also entailed cutting some nerves, I have just discovered that there is a part of my right arm that lacks goose bumps. I was cold and about to jump into the shower and as I rubbed my arms in a feeble attempt at warmth, there it was - a goose bump free area. Weird, eh?

Free pre-stuffed bras
One of my benefits of surgery was a free bra. This thing is like putting on some old-fashioned corset - there are 7, yes 7, hooks up the front of the bra. I would love to know who exactly determined that 7 would be the magic number. I can tell you that getting all 7 hooked is a bit of a challenge... hook the first few and by the time you get to the rest, a few previously hooked have slipped free. It's a test of will!

One half of the bra is currently stuffed with cotton so that I don't look all lopsided when I venture out in public. This means that after I finally do manage to get all those hooks hooked, I then get to "reshape" my cotton side - it tends to get a little lumpy at times. Eventually I will get something better to fill the bra, but I have to wait until my incisions are healed before I can go for my first official boob fitting.

I have learned more about filler boobs then I ever thought possible, but we'll save that for a later time! Okay, okay, I'll give you one preview - did you know they make one just for swimming? You can wear the normal one to swim but if you swim regularly (like several times per week), they recommend that you get the special swimmer's boob. Apparently it all has to do with the manner in which water flows through your suit as you're swimming. Who thinks of these things?

Secret
As in a Secret of the deodorant variety. At the present time, due to the physical inability to get in there, I am unable to apply deodorant to my right side. So, just as a cautionary warning to you.. if you're standing near me, you may wish to stand on my left.

And about that - apparently I should wear aluminum-free deodorant in the future. Given the lack of deodorant selection in this country, finding such a thing could be quite a challenge. What is it exactly with the lack of solid sticks in this market? Do Danish women actually prefer the cold goop of a roll-on or the frozen blast of a spray? Or is there something in the sticks that isn't permitted by the government here? This is one of those 'weird' things expats are left to wonder about. Oh well, the deodorant I use now all came from the states, so I guess I'll just have to purchase a different kind on the next trip!

Home Sweet Home

2009-05-05T18:29:00.006+02:00

I really need to update this thing a bit more often before I fall further behind than I can possibly catch up with!

I believe I left off somewhere in a recovery stupor enjoying my first food on Tuesday evening. I really have to say that I had the 3 most enjoyable danish women with which to share a hospital room. These ladies were a riot - and while I could understand most of their danish, they were very sweet to switch to english whenever they were addressing me directly. We exchanged names and talked about our dogs and just really had some fun in the room. Perhaps I will see Tøve, Marianne or Bertha again at some point in this journey - great ladies!

So Wednesday morning we woke up and Drew Carey returned to take each of our breakfast orders and deliver our breakfast. Nothing special - the typical danish breakfast of bread and cheese, etc., but everything was fresh and nothing felt like pre-packaged hospital cafeteria food, so that was definitely a plus! One of the other nurses then put a thermometer on each of our tables and I really didn't think much of it until she closed the curtains around two of my roommates, at which point Marianne then hollered out "we don't take our temperature the same way you do in the states!". Ugh. Enough said about that.

The doctor then came to speak with each of us and when that was said and done, we were escorted over to the patient hotel. And I would like to reassure my dad at this time that yes, we did in fact take the monorail from the hospital over to the patient hotel!

We were all checked into the hotel and were given meal tickets. We had to give our breakfast, lunch or dinner ticket each time we went to the hotel restaurant for our meals. The staff would then check for all the tickets before closing up the restaurant and if a patient missed a meal, the nurses would then go to the patient's room to check on them and make sure all was okay.

Each evening, a nurse came to my room around 9:30 pm or so to check the surgical drain and make sure things were okay with that. It was optional but an option I wanted! And each morning, Ole joined me at the hotel so that we could go over to the hospital to see the nurse for a quick check-up.

The hotel itself was like any other basic hotel. The only difference was that the bathroom had all kinds of safety railings and equipment that you would expect in a hospital setting. However, I really need to talk to these people about their paper products - the sandpaper labeled as paper towels and toilet paper just wasn't very nice!

My room had a fully adjustable bed, a nice chair, a TV, and a desk with internet connection. I had the most fabulous view out over the lake while laying in bed...

Outside the hotel there were several benches and I found some new pets while I was there:

Rather than bore you with the details of each day at the hotel (they all kind of blended together after awhile!), I will just tell you that I came home on Sunday and I am very happy to be back home!! And, I'll share a few more pictures from the patient hotel...

I'm baaaack!

2009-05-02T21:43:00.004+02:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, your first live post from the Patient Hotel!

The wonderful Kelli has been keeping you all up to date and I cannot thank her enough for being my guest blogger, and for being a fantastic friend during all of this.

I arrived at the hospital Tuesday morning at 9 AM only to be told that they weren't quite ready for me yet, so we sat in the waiting room until about 10:00 AM or so. They then gave me an extremely stylish set of hospital clothes - no open back gowns here! The fabric felt a bit like terry cloth. The top was a button down shirt that fell just below the butt, pretty much like wearing a man's shirt, and the briefs were true granny briefs - they came up way, way too far! The also gave me some socks, the kind lacking any elastic whatsoever, so you put them on and they just immediately fall down. So, I took them back off.

Once properly dressed in Viborg's finest, I had to just lay in the bed and wait. They came and shot me in the gut with a blood thinner, apparently to avoid clotting while I stayed in bed for 24 hours. They also hooked me up to an IV line at this point. Before they wheeled me away, Kelli had arrived so Ole and I got some time to chat with her and that helped pass the time. I had a nurse attending to me, and she had a student nurse following her - the student nurse was a dead ringer for Drew Carey, so that's what I called him! Then Mario Andretti showed up to drive my bed from my room to the surgical area.

In the surgical area, I was forced to put the socks back on, and then I had to confirm which breast they were removing - a good safety check in my opinion. The nurses there then gave me some fancy plastic bootie shoes and a wonderfully fashionable hairnet - woohoo. I got out of bed and walked into the operating room. Now I had a team of nurses frolicking around me attaching things to me, asking questions, etc. At some point during all of this, they all exited and the surgeon came in to draw lines all over me. He left again, the gaggle of nurses returned, and with them, my favorite person in all of this - the doctor who would knock me out. First I was given what they were calling a 'block' - which I later figured out must have been an epidural of some kind. They gave me a shot in the spine and it felt like I imagine a house must feel when you blow insulation into its walls. Kinda cool really. Finally, they had me lay down and that's when the nice knock-out doctor gave me the good stuff - can't really tell you much after that point!

Cut to much later - I remember someone telling me that it was over, but that was all I heard. I recall waking a few times and asking for something to drink, and then immediately falling back to sleep. Eventually, at 7:10 pm, I woke up again and asked someone what time it was and then I asked when I could go back to my room, and they said "right now". And so, I got wheeled back and my 3 danish roommates cheered my arrival. They were so welcoming - apparently I'd been gone quite some time, and they were all happy to see me come back awake and smiling. Ole and Kelli then joined our little room party, Drew Carey brought me some food, and my day's ordeal was over.

The worst part of day one was not for me personally, but for Ole and Kelli. As it turns out, no one was telling them anything about whether or not I was out of surgery and that had them quite worried. Ole kept trying to get information but none was forthcoming and he was understandably frustrated. When I finally returned to the room, he was very relieved!

So that was day one. There is more to tell regarding the rest of the days until this point, but I figured day one was enough information for my first post surgery blog!

I was able to read all of your comments and I want to thank each and every one of you - you have definitely made this easier for me and I appreciate it so, so much!

On the mend....

2009-05-01T20:48:00.002+02:00

I had a great visit with Patti today and was AMAZED at how great she looked! You would never know that she had major surgery only 3 days ago if you saw her today! She was happy and positive and in my opinion, back to the Patti we all know!

So I started thinking..... how can she be recovering so fast?! Is she really THAT tough?! And then I looked around at where I was! The Viborg Regional Hospital PATIENT HOTEL! She has her own private room, complete with a tv, private bathroom and internet connection, plus the ability to come & go as she feels up to it! The nurses are on site, ready for whatever the recovery patients need. There is a great little "cafe" set up for the patients, complete with a balcony to enjoy the Danish springtime while you eat, and there is even a MONORAIL to transport you across the street to the hospital should you need it! It looked like something from Disneyworld!

So I got a first hand view of the Danish health care system.... and I must say, I AM IMPRESSED!

And just to show Patti´s mom and her growing fan base that she REALLY IS doing great, we had the woman in the HOTEL reception take our picture this afternoon! See..... I told you...SHE LOOKS GREAT! :o)

Hopefully she will get to go home Monday! And on that note ...a message to all you Jutland-dwelling ex-pats... We are going to organize a MEAL DELIVERY PLAN for Patti and Ole after she goes home, so if you want to participate, email me or contact me on facebook (both contacts are on my blog )

Wednesday´s Update

2009-04-30T09:33:00.002+02:00

I was not able to make it to Viborg yesterday, but I did talk to Ole and get an update on Patti.
She was moved to the "Patient hotel" yesterday, and actually, she WALKED across the street to the hotel, on her own, so that tells you a great deal about how she is doing!

She is still very tired from the long surgery and the anesthesia, so she is spending much of her time sleeping and resting. Her body just needs time to heal from Tuesday.

She will be in the Patient Hotel from 3 to 5 days... until she feels ready to go home. They want to keep her there, for sure, until they are able to remove the drain that they had to insert during the surgery.

They also were able to meet with the doctor yesterday to talk with him about how the surgery went. He gave a great report and said that what he expected to do (remove Patti's right breast and 1 lymph node) was exactly what he ended up doing... so that was GREAT NEWS! Everything has been sent to pathology and within the next week or so, they will find out what the results are and what measures need to be taken in the future.

Continue to keep Patti and Ole in your thoughts and prayers... and pray that she does not go stir crazy while she is "stuck" recovering! :-) I think if she could get her laptop and her Bejewled Blitz games up and running, she would be much happier!
Oh and she would be REALLY happy if none of you would beat her high score while she is out of commission!!

More to come!
Kelli

Update on Patti

2009-04-28T21:35:00.002+02:00

Sorry to disappoint those of you who are expecting a Half-Danish/Half-English post from Patti´s "guest blogger"....but tonight is all ENGELSK! :o)

I just got home a few minutes ago from Viborg and am happy to report that I left Patti ,AKA PING, smiling and eating a roll with "smør og ost" as ALL bread products in Denmark are served! It was a long day for Patti as Ole and I sent her off with 2 very YOUNG nurses at 12.45 and we did not see her again until 7.15 tonight. Her recovery took a bit longer than the expected 2 hours, but I think it was just Patti´s body way of forcing her to rest after such a huge trauma.

We did not get to talk to the surgeon tonight, but hopefully by the time I go back to Viborg tomorrow, we will have more news that I can share with you from the doctor.

The plan is that sometime tomorrow she will be moved to the "Patienthotellet"... this fancy "Halfway House" (Patti´s term!!) which is where you have your recovery before you go home. She should be there 3 to 5 days. It is a very fancy looking building that is part of the Viborg hospital and I cannot wait to see it in person! (And yes, I warned Patti that I am bringing the camera tomorrow!)

So thank you all for your love and prayers and good wishes all day. I know she felt them and I can tell you all that Ole and I did as well as we waited.

Good night to our blogger friends. It just amazes me that our tiny little blogs have connected us the way that they have..... especially at times like this when we need each other so much.

Hugs from Patti (and the guest blogger too!)

Kelli

Uhh.. I'm a bit hungry over here!

2009-04-27T19:40:00.003+02:00

Tomorrow is the day of my surgery.

I have approximately 4 more hours in which I am allowed to eat anything. If you follow this blog, then you know that I don't usually do the cooking around here. There is meat in the refrigerator waiting for the magical moment when Ole will fire up the grill and turn that meat into yummy hamburgers. But that moment has seemingly been temporarily delayed while he sits and stares at some Danish soccer match on TV. Apparently it's very exciting - his team isn't playing but rumor has it that a very high ranked team is getting a pounding from a very low ranked team, and that means there is some random cheering, in Danish, coming from the living room. As long as the food appears before midnight, I'm good!

Tomorrow morning I'm not allowed to eat or drink after 6 am, which basically means that if I want to have anything to drink in the morning, I'll have to get up early, but if I can't have my coffee (with cream) what's the point of that? Sheesh.

I had to call the hospital today to find out what number I've been assigned in the surgical order - and apparently I'm #3, which means that instead of getting there at 7 AM, I don't have to be there until 9 AM. Not so bad, though I think I'd prefer to just get up and go rather than sitting around waiting.

I just want to take a moment, again, to say thank you to all of you who have taken the time to send me nice comments, Emails, phone calls, and cards. I feel pretty lucky to have such wonderful people in my life!

I hope to be back and writing very soon, but in the meantime, I've asked my fellow expat and friend, Kelli, if she would be so kind as to post an update or two for all of you as my guest author. Maybe you'll even get that update in Danish too! (She's all crazy like that posting in Danish and English - a skill I haven't yet managed to acquire!)

See you on the flip side!

Got tea?

2009-04-26T12:05:00.002+02:00

I'm baaaack!

Spent last week in Washington State and have made it safely home again to Denmark. Going to the states is generally for 1 of two reasons - for work, or for family. Unfortunately, as the two things are on opposite coasts, the trip never covers both.

Back in December, we traveled for family and spent the holidays seeing mine. As Ole was able to go with me on that trip, we brought extra suitcases for the purpose of hauling back jars of iced tea mix. Unfortunately, winter in the Northeast isn't a great time for iced tea selection and the stores had decided to not carry my particular brand in the winter months. Had we known in advance that they wouldn't have it in the store, we probably could have arranged something, but I had just assumed it would be there, and I was wrong. We did, however, still manage to fill up those 'extra' suitcases with all kinds of other items so all was not lost. But, my lack of tea problem remained. And no, another brand cannot be substituted. I think iced tea mix is one of those things where you find one you like, and nothing else will do. Having me attempt another brand, with a different sweetener, would be like telling a Coca Cola drinker that they'd have to make do with Diet Pepsi.

So this past week I was scheduled to head to the states for work. And this time, I planned ahead. My friend, co-worker and all around life-saver, pre-ordered iced tea mix for me from the local grocery store. She arranged a price per case that beat the shelf price, so I said go ahead and order 10 cases. I knew I wouldn't actually be able to get 10 cases back here in one trip, but the stuff doesn't go bad, and I'd like to avoid a future crisis, so voila, 10 cases were waiting for me in Washington. Happy Day!

I had brought along two very large suitcases and very few clothing items. Knowing the tea was the goal, I also had to limit my normal USA shopping to just a few essentials - namely, zip lock bags.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for - just how much did I manage to haul back?....

Yes, there you have it! Nearly 5 full cases. I had the room, but the weight was a bit heavy so 2 of the cases had some jars extracted to get under the 50 lb limit on the big suitcases. Each of the big bags had 2 cases in them, and I had one case in my carry-on. Mind you, that raised some eyebrows at the security checkpoints!! No one said a word at Seatac but upon arrival in Copenhagen, the security folks asked me if I was carrying syltetøj (jelly/jam). I then explained that it was iced tea mix - my guess is that's the first time they have ever encountered 12 jars of iced tea mix in a carry-on! Doesn't everyone come back from the US with iced tea? Apparently not. All in all, 55 jars of tea made it back and each jar makes 35 quarts.. I should be good for awhile!

But wait, there's more!

I arrived home to a very, very nice surprise! On thursday, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law had come over and cleaned my house from one end to the other. The house is amazingly clean - I have no idea what they did differently from what I normally do but I could definitely get used to this! The place is gleaming. Every knick-knack has been spit polished and artfully arranged, my plants look like they're all brand new, the floors are shining - it's unreal. My awesome hubby had arranged all of this while I was away and he also purchased two bouquets of fresh flowers and an orchid. I love my Dane!

Spring in Denmark

2009-04-17T22:49:00.003+02:00

Sometime last fall I went around and dug up all the various bulbs I had stuck in the ground the previous year. I decided to revamp one of my flower beds and just fill it up with all kinds of bulbs. The great thing about tulips and daffodils is that they're so reliable - you just stick them in a hole and a few months later, they reward you by growing. The dogs generally don't eat them, (I say generally because.. well.. I have found some on the lawn here and there so a few were 'sniffed' out and dug up) and that's always a plus in this house. At this point, I don't think I can count the number of rose bushes that have been consumed by a certain black dog. She did grow up a little and recover a bit from her rose eating obsession, but then we got a 2nd dog, and this one eats trees, and anything resembling a tree. Doggie #2 has pretty much destroyed a favorite azalea bush though I'm still holding out hope that it will miraculously spring back to life.

Back to the bulbs. Just for extra 'doggie' protection, I dug a few inches down in the entire bed, dropped every bulb I could find into the flower bed, and then took some of that green wire fencing and set that down over all the bulbs prior to shoveling all the dirt back in - puppy proofing. Getting your paws stuck on a fence seems to work to prevent further digging. Genius!

Spring has arrived, the daffodils are in full blooms, and now all my beautiful tulips are arriving one by one (and some hyacinth too!)... yeehaw!

Brystkræft

2009-04-15T19:20:00.003+02:00

Thank you all so, so much for your kind comments. Though I have never met the vast majority of you in person, it feels good to know that I have my expat buds around to help me get through things, and to keep me laughing.

Let me give you the rundown of how it got to this point. And, btw, I kind of like "Brystkræft" - sounds so much nicer than breast cancer, even if it actually means exactly the same thing! In my danglish eyes, I like to think of it as breast craft - and in the end, perhaps I will get to 'craft' a new breast. :)

It all started about 2 weeks or so ago when I found a lump. It's not like I religiously do self-exams or anything so the fact that I actually noticed was an accomplishment in and of itself. But, when I noticed, it scared the crap out of me, mostly because it WAS noticeable, and I knew right then and there, that it was probably not going to be good news.

I went to the local doctor (always an annoying experience) so that she could then refer me onward and upward. She confirmed that something was definitely there and so off went the referral.

Next step - Mammacentret Viborg. It's inside the hospital and after missing the entrance to the actual parking garage and driving in a big circle around Viborg (well, it felt like a circle after having passed through no fewer than 6 roundabouts), I finally caught the entrance the second time around and found a place to park. The hospital was about what I would expect, with the addition of a big 'netcafe' right off the main lobby, which I thought was actually kind of cool.

The mammacentret part had a big waiting room with tables and chairs, nice arrangements of candles everywhere (a Danish necessity) and pitchers of water, coffee and tea. Since the local doctor's office has an average waiting time of an hour, I figured I'd be sitting there awhile. Not so - they came and got me right away and trotted me off for the mammogram. That was exactly as expected, and as uncomfortable as expected. The nurse did speak quite a bit in Danish, and I actually understood most of it, which was cool. But she also understood that I didn't understand everything, and so, whenever necessary, she simply explained in English - something I definitely appreciated.

From there, I had to go have an ultrasound. The nurse explained that I would go in the next room with her, and that the doctor would review the films and then come in and do the ultrasound. When the door opened and the doctor came in, I was just a wee bit surprised to see that the doctor was actually one of my classmates from the sprog center - a woman from Poland. I knew she worked at the hospital, but it's a big place, and what are the odds that she would suddenly appear as 'the doctor'! I wondered if it would bother me at all, but she was professional, and in the end, it didn't really matter to me - I just wanted to get done with it all no matter who the doctor might be!

After doing the ultrasound for awhile, she then explained that she would need to do some biopsies. By now, I had already steeled myself for the worst possible scenario, so I wasn't surprised. Biopsy itself? Not really a pleasant experience. It doesn't hurt really, it's just annoying as hell. When all was said and done, and I was thoroughly poked and prodded, a biopsy was taken from under my arm, and 4 more from my breast - or was it 5. I don't remember at this point - let's just say it wasn't fun.

The nurse then got on the phone to make sure I could get the results and a follow-up appointment before the big Easter weekend, which I appreciated. Having to wait through Easter would have been horrible. So, last Wednesday we went in for the results and well, you already know what came of that.

What I did learn in the past two weeks is that certain common phrases in English don't translate well to someone who is not a native English speaker. When the doctor and nurse were explaining the results to us, and what to expect, etc., I basically said.. "Okay, we'll play it by ear." They couldn't figure out what the heck I was saying - oops!

So, what's next.

On April 28th, I will go in for surgery and I'll come back out a bit lopsided. I have no idea at this point what type of emotional reaction I may have. I'm hoping it really won't bother me much, but I really can't say as I simply cannot imagine it as I sit here now. Only time will tell.

To blog or not to blog..

2009-04-12T08:58:00.002+02:00

That is the question.

After deliberating in my head for a few days (while frantically swapping gems in Bejeweled Blitz) - the answer I have come to is... to blog.

For those who regularly follow this blog, you'll know that my posts are a journal of my experiences living in a foreign country. Generally speaking, I like to share the things I find funny, or odd, or annoying, about Denmark, and about how I cope with life in Denmark. And now and then, I throw in a picture or story about my dogs and cats, because they're here, and because, frankly, they're rather amusing. Through it all, I hope you're laughing with me (or at me) and that you're enjoying my tales.

But, real life doesn't always provide you with just the amusing things - it also throws in a dose of sobering realism. I have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Yeah, it sucks. But it is what it is. This isn't the first time in my life that I've dealt with cancer. In 2005, I had cervical cancer. Hearing that news sent shock waves through my system. The first time you hear that diagnosis, you can't help but be shocked, and scared. Prior to that diagnosis, I had already decided that kids weren't something that I wanted, so when the doctor told me that I would need a hysterectomy and that I wouldn't be able to have children, I told her that she had just gotten off easy. I won't bore you with all the details, I will just let you know that when all of that happened, I just tried to look at the bright side - I would no longer be a customer of Tampax, Playtex and the like! Ultimately, I got through it and came out stronger on the other side.

So here I am trying to look at the bright side again because, well, that's just what I do. You, my friends, are about to get a first hand account of the Danish medical system! I just know you're on the edges of your seats in anticipation!

I am not turning this blog into a 'cancer' blog but for the near future, you're going to have to put up with hearing about it. I promise, however, that I'll still sprinkle the blog with tales of the animals in my life, so yeah, you'll have to put up with that too!

I hope you'll all continue to laugh with me in the coming months because I'm going to keep trying to amuse you.

As for today...Happy Easter and God Påske!

And P.S. I passed module 4!!

It all runs hot and cold

2009-03-26T22:44:00.003+01:00

HOT

So, since I last wrote, we've been to the fire store where we had to purchase a big piece of fireproof stuff and from that piece, cut a smaller piece to replace what had fallen down from the top of the fireplace.

Then we had a smelter (iron guy) come out to the house and poke around inside the firebox with a measuring tape.

Then we had assistant smelter come today and take a piece of metal and stand out in the driveway and pound it into the needed shape.

When all was said and done, I created fire.

COLD

The dude from punkt arrived with our new refrigerator yesterday. First he took out the old one, then he had to shut off the power to fix the bad outlet wiring the fridge was to connect to, then he brought the new one in. It was a wee bit too deep for the space so then Ole and the fridge dude rigged up a few little boards so that it had something to stand on and slid it into place. We then had to wait 2 hours for refrigerant and oil to slide themselves back into place after transport, and then Ole flipped the switch and created cold (and ice).

Once we turned it on, we scanned the operation manual. It's not that I don't know how to use a refrigerator, per se, but you never know what tidbit of information you may find. It's always good to make sure you've read the Troubleshooting section of the manual, just in case things start blinking or beeping. And, in case this should happen:

1) The Appliance does not work.

- Is the a power cut?
- Is the plug inserted properly in the mains socket?
- Is the power supply cable damaged?
- Is the temperature setting correct?
- IS THERE A CHILD HANGING OFF YOUR REFRIGERATOR LIKE SOME SORT OF MONKEY IN A TREE?

Okay, no, it doesn't actually say that but the picture is for real.

And there you have it - we have hot, we have cold, and we don't have children hanging from our refrigerator door.

Warm Milk

2009-03-23T19:21:00.004+01:00

When you think of warm milk, you probably think of comfort. That special cup to help you sleep, or a warm chocolate milk on a cold winter's day.

But all warm milk is not good. Particularly warm milk found on a Monday morning inside the refrigerator. This is not warm milk you wish to find and this is definitely not the warm milk you want to drink! But, it's exactly what we found this morning! Yes, our refrigerator decided to die. It gave up. It's not like we ever gave it too much to do really - a few cartons of milk, some iced tea, jar of mayonnaise and some cheese. But I guess all of that was just too much to handle - perhaps my gallon jugs of iced tea did it in.

If you're in the US, then for you, your choices of refrigerator look like this selection (thank you, BestBuy):

However, here in Denmark, your choice of refrigerator looks like this:

In fairness, it IS possible to purchase a side by side model - they call them "Amerikanerskab", and they run anywhere from $2000 to $6000, depending on what features you'd like your American refrigerator to have!

So today at lunchtime, we made a quick trip to punkt1 in Herning to see what they had. We googled first, of course, because that's what computer people do - google everything first. They had one in their netshop on sale but we definitely wanted to see it in person, so off we went. They didn't have that exact model in the store, but they did have the 'beer' version. It's a similar model, but it has a big huge beer tap on the front of the refrigerator, and a spot inside to apparently place a small keg. Ummm, no, we didn't get that one!

One thing that I definitely wanted, and one thing that is NOT standard in Denmark, is a frost-free freezer. It baffles me that it's not standard and that every refrigerator on the market these days isn't frost free, but I guess that the frost-free variety is not as energy efficient and selling appliances in Europe all comes down to the magic letter. And in this case, it had to be either A or A+. I wonder how 'energy efficient' it is to spend a day scraping the ice off the freezer. I don't see anyone touting it as the 'new' way to exercise!

We did end up purchasing the one that was shown online and the nice folks at punkt1 are bringing it over to us on Wednesday.

In the meantime, we're defrosting the current model because, while the refrigerator itself died, the freezer just kept on trucking. Everything has been moved into a cooler and is sitting on our terrace - it's a bit odd to go outside to get a glass of juice! And, for once, I am happy that the Danish weather has decided to hover around 40 deg F!

Crisis in Karup

2009-03-16T19:26:00.007+01:00

It's a very good thing that spring is on the way. But, it would be helpful if the air would warm up just a bit faster.

You see, we have one of these:

We use this to heat our house. We do have radiators in various rooms, but we don't turn them on as it's cheaper to buy briquettes or wood for the 'brandeovne' and use it instead. But, now we have a problem:

See those random items in front of the fireplace? Those are supposed to be IN said fireplace. That twisted hunk of metal is supposed to be holding up one single top plate, which, as you can see, is now two pieces of top plate.

Now, if you remember, there was a guy here to inspect all of this before the season began. And, while the pieces were still in the fireplace at that time, the metal was nearly as twisted at that point as it is now - it just did a better job of holding up the top piece. Flash back a few months to this conversation:

Me: "Er det ok?"
Firedude: "Ja, det er det"
Me: "Ok!"

Obviously, det er ikke ok! On Saturday morning, it all collapsed into a pile of rubble. And so we started searching the web to see if we could find replacement parts. No wait, actually, we started by holding a mirror and flashlight behind the fireplace while attempting to read the label to determine who the manufacturer was and what model it was. YOU try reading a german label backwards in a mirror. I spelled out, letter by letter, the biggest word I could find, only to have Ole finally say.. "oh, that just means fireplace" - argh!

We finally figured out that the model was called Nevada. The "grass is always greener" product naming strikes again. What is it about European manufacturers naming everything after American cities/places and American manufacturers naming everything after European cities/places?

Anyway - then we googled things. Lots of things. Ole's googling was going much better than mine since he could at least attempt the various danish or german names for things. The 'nevada fireplace' that I googled didn't work so well.

What we found, after an hour or so, was ... not much. We think we found a similar model so we think maybe we found the right manufacturer - not that it matters any as it didn't help us in figuring out where to find replacement parts.

Long story short - I turned on a radiator or two - and Ole's gonna 'call a guy'. So, hopefully we'll just be able to get some new inserts and won't need to get an entirely new fireplace!

This Sucks!

2009-03-14T20:00:00.003+01:00

Having pets mean that I have a certain obsession with vacuum cleaners. And, little patience for vacuums that don't actually do what they're supposed to do! Due to the difference in voltage, upon leaving Washington, I had to part with my beloved Dyson Animal upright vacuum cleaner. That piece of purple plastic was a very good friend to me and I was so sad the day I sold it on craigslist, but part with it I did. Frankly, I would've brought it and attached it to a voltage converter but I was told that wouldn't work with a vacuum cleaner - pooey!

Prior to my arrival in DK, Ole had already moved into our new house. He had an extremely old vacuum that definitely needed to be replaced. So, my mother-in-law had purchased a new vacuum for our house, made by Melissa. Who's that? Well, Melissa is a good friend of ours. Basically, if there is a small household appliance on the market, Melissa will make a copy of it, slap her name on it, and sell it for 10% of the price of a name brand item. We often stop at the Melissa pile at Bilka to see what new things she may have come up with. Melissa's appliances are just perfect for those little things you want to own that you think you absolutely MUST have, but that you'll only end up using 2 times a year... The sun-lamp that was supposed to chase away the winter darkness blues (if you bother to plug it in and turn it on and have 10 minutes to stare into the bright lights), the mini-blender you purchase because it's just so darn cute and could be handy (if you ever cooked), the pet trimming kit that you'll use to trim the fur between the dogs pads (if the dog will let you get within 2 meters of said paws with said machine in hand) - you get the picture. That being said, Melissa's version of a vacuum? Not cutting it, or more accurately, not sucking it.

We had a few DK gift cards amongst our wedding gifts so I thought purchasing a new vacuum would be the perfect use of the cards! Off we trotted to Inspiration (or was it Imerco, or Kop og Kande - can't remember) to admire all the vacuums available. Most were beyond what our gift card could afford, and an actual Dyson was WAY WAY beyond what our gift card could cover - but there, sitting on the shelf, was a pretty, sleek, ice gray vacuum that looked like it may just do the job. It was bagless, and like every other vacuum in DK, a canister vac. If you prefer upright vacuums, you're out of luck in this country - they do NOT exist. Anywhere. The vacuum was made by OBH Nordica and it went home with us. I was so, so, so excited. I proceeded to vacuum every floor I could find with even a speck of cat hair on it. I was in love.

And then, I wasn't. My love for this vacuum ended the moment it stopped sucking. Oh sure, it made a good effort, but despite it's claim of cyclone technology, it had a stupid design. It contained a filter that cat hair could just cling on to, a filter impossible to clean off, a filter that couldn't be changed, a filter that was plainly and simply - completely faulty design. Pooey!

And so the begging began. Please, please, please let me buy a Dyson. All the problems of the world could be solved with a Dyson. It's the wonder vac - the vac of all vacs. My pleas were met with a scowl. NO WAY were we going to spend that much money on a vacuum. Men. I don't care that a Dyson in DK is listed at a minimum of 2800 DKK ($560) - must have Dyson!

As time went on, we added a dog to the 4 cats - a dog that dropped more fur than 4 cats had ever shed, and still no decent vacuum. I stomped my feet, but it did no good. Men. Then, one morning, Ole was scanning the local weekly paper, and there, in the corner, sat a little notice. A local appliance store was selling off all their Dyson floor models for under 1000 DKK. It would be first come, first serve. It would begin at 9 AM on Saturday morning. We, would be there.

I feared that people would sleep there the night before to be first in line. I feared we would miss out on this great chance. I was a bundle of nerves and excitement - I was trying to control my excitement just in case we weren't there in time and missed out. We arrived at the store at approximately 8:30 AM. There was no mob, just a neat, orderly line of approximately 15 people queued up in front of us. I guess Danes don't do the whole sleep out, stampede the store, thing. Either that, or most never saw the notice in the paper, or they didn't know what a Dyson was and how it could change their lives. Or, Danes just don't have that much dirt.

At about 8:55, a gentleman came out of the store and told us that the vacuums were in one area in the back of the store and that he would go ahead and open the door. We followed the orderly queue into the store and then GOOOOOO... people were quickly snatching up those vacuums. There was no time for browsing - I wanted the biggest one that was available, but for fear of losing any possibility of ANY one at all, I put my hand on a smaller model and started carrying it around while scanning the room to see what else was there. My man redeemed himself. Ole strolled over with the DC-19 - the big one. I loosened my grip on the little model and allowed another lucky being to stake their claim on it. I had my Dyson. My perfect vacuum. My savior in the world. The ultimate fighter of cat and dog hair, and whatever else may be on our floors.

I spent that day vacuuming every floor, ceiling, door jam, and surface. There was not a speck of anything left to be sucked. There was peace in Karup, DK. The rejoicing began.

Doggie shoes and elephants

2009-03-01T19:28:00.001+01:00

So, what have I been up to?

Last weekend, off we went to the hundeskov as usual, and after about 10 minutes there, we saw that we were following a little blood trail through the snow. Unfortunately, that trail of blood was coming from Zoe's back toe - she had cut open the pad on her pinkie toe and it was bleeding quite a bit. Without being able to study the damage there and not wanting it to get any worse, we cut our trip short and headed home.

We washed out the paw as well as we could and then attempted a makeshift doggie bandage to give it some time to heal without getting any dirt in it. We wrapped the paw in some bandages and then put an old sock on her foot. But between Zoe running around and Lexi thinking that thing on Zoe's foot must be a new toy, the bandage didn't last long.

At that point, we decided that perhaps with all the salt they put on the roads here, it was time to give in and purchase a pair of doggy shoes for each pup. We weren't sure what sizes to buy so we only ordered one pair for each dog until we could see how big, or small, they actually were. The shoes arrived Wednesday. I put the shoes on Zoe's back feet, she kicked around for a bit, and then settled in - I think she realized they were actually quite comfy with the fleece lining and all.

Lexi was another story. I decided to test hers on her front feet and in doing so, witnessed possibly her funniest doggy moment to date. Promptly after having her shoes put on, she kicked up both feet, then attempted to walk. You know the old russian military footage where they kick the foot straight out before setting it down - Lexi could've joined a marching band the way she was strutting around here! I was doubled over in laughter. When I finally settled down, I removed their shoes for the time being. But now, if a bandage becomes necessary, or if the roads are freshly salted, we're covered!

So that's the doggie shoes. As for the elephants...

Ole is sitting at his computer and just muttered the phrase...

"Damn elephant, you're supposed to sprinkle fairy dust."

Hmmm..

Hungry?

2009-02-20T17:45:00.001+01:00

Your tax dollars at work...

2009-02-14T10:28:00.003+01:00

Thursday evening, at approximately 5 pm, this brick was officially plonked down on my desk by Ole, who declared "They can't just DO that!". Ahh, but they can, and they did. Yep, the wonderful IRS has spent who knows how much money to send a ream of paper, postmarked through Auckland, New Zealand (still trying to figure that one out), all the way to cold, dark Denmark. Every sheet of paper contained in this brick is also available via the internet, which, as it turns out, is exactly how I obtained all the forms last year and filed them.

To all the US taxpayers out there that may think this is wasteful spending, rest assured, I have to send far more money back to the US than it cost to send that ream of paper to me. Apparently someone, somewhere, wants to make it very clear that: 1. they know I owe them money, and 2. they know where I live.

Grumble

Good morning sunshine...

2009-02-14T10:27:00.001+01:00

This was the view at 9 AM yesterday (Friday the 13th for those keeping track). I just thought the pink sky was so pretty I couldn't resist snapping a pic!

Snowdogs

2009-02-09T13:24:00.003+01:00

SNOW!! Okay, it's not much snow, but it's something! I had to take some quick pictures before it all melted away. The pups are loving it. :)

A spoonful of ..

2009-02-04T23:19:00.006+01:00

It appears that, for me at least, it is always the silliest little things that can lead to the most culture shock. It tends not to be the government, the schools or the taxes that make me realize it's a 'foreign' country. But rather, something so simple, and yet so foreign. In this case, silverware, or more specifically, spoons and forks, and their uses.

Growing up in the US, every basic set of silverware sold in a store, regardless of it's actual design, contained the following pieces:

Desert/Salad Fork, Dinner Fork, Knife, Tablespoon, Teaspoon.

For the basic everyday place setting, we used only the dinner fork, knife and teaspoon. The 'tablespoon' was better known to me as a 'soup spoon' and that was pretty much it's only purpose in life. It was the big spoon that sat in the drawer unused unless it was Campbell's soup time. Grab the ritz crackers, smash them all over the top of your soup, and then get that rare implement out of the drawer and dig in!

The desert/salad fork was used primarily for cake. Yummy! If the little fork was on the table it meant something really tasty was on it's way - hopefully chocolate, with chocolate frosting.

But then I moved to Denmark. Now, as this is the only foreign land in which I have lived, I have no idea if their version of silverware use is exclusive to Denmark, or if this is one of those European things. But, here is your basic set of silverware found in all the stores here:

Fork, Knife, Teaspoon, Tablespoon.

Attention here must be given to the teaspoon. Notice the size. Notice that little-itty-bitty speck of a spoon. Reminds me of the spoon that is given only to those learning to use silverware for the first time - the baby spoon.

But no, that is the teaspoon in Denmark, and in general, it's not on the table. They use the monstrous tablespoon as their everyday spoon. Granted, it IS called a tablespoon, so perhaps they're onto something here and if so, it pains me to admit, if we're going solely by names, they're using it correctly and Americans are not. But, but, tis just a 'name' given randomly at some point I am sure! My dear danish hubby eats his morning cereal with this particular spoon. I just can't bring myself to do it; it just seems SO huge.

On the other hand, the little-itty-bitty, can't pick up anything with it, spoon is used for dessert. And this is where logic fails me. For the life of me, I cannot comprehend eating cake with a spoon; it just sends my brain into a tizzy and confuses my taste buds. It may be okay when it comes to ice cream, however, it's so small it will take you several hours to actually eat the bowl of ice cream, and you know what that means for the ice cream - it turns into the wicked witch of the west and screams.. "I'm melting!"

It's always a fun evening at our house when we have Danish relatives for dinner; I like to confuse the hell out of them by using the typical American place setting. After all, our wedding cutlery did come from the states so... tis only natural!

And now for something completely different. When it comes to the Danes, and their love of modern design, you may end up with silverware that looks like this....

I can't begin to explain what these 3 pieces of silverware might be useful for, unless perhaps one is trying to lose weight, so I won't even try.

Ooooo it's electric

2009-01-25T19:44:00.002+01:00

Someday, perhaps, I may get used to the electrical outlets here in Denmark. I hope I do, for no other reason than to save my sanity.

Let me explain. I've told you before about the toaster oven - the one I used to successfully charcoal two pieces of bread - well, apparently I'm equally talented when it comes to not crisping the bread at all.

I don't know if it's due to the 220V current running through the walls, or just an energy saving measure, but with every electrical outlet comes a switch. This is endlessly frustrating as the switch never seems to be in the 'on' position, even though you KNOW you left it that way. I believe, however, that I have figured out why it's never 'on'. Here is a picture of one such outlet in our home:

The big switch on the top is for the lights, and the big switch immediately below that controls the outlet. Apparently when I'm moving through the house, doing the reach-around to flip lights on, or off, I tend to also accidentally flip the switch directly below it. I didn't grow up in a 2-switch world; I grew up in an old house that had just one innocent little light switch as you entered a room. So, the absent minded swing the hand around the doorway, flick the switch, always worked. If you didn't hit the first time, you just did a little wall grope until you connected with said switch and voila, the lights were on - or off.

But the wall grope here can result in all sorts of other things being switched on or off, so, apparently, I must now learn to look before flicking.

What does any of this have to do with a toaster oven? Well, the oven has one of those little timers that works whether or not the power is actually on. So, in went the frozen rolls, temperature selected, timer set so as not to burn anything, and 13 minutes later upon hearing the wonderful ding indicating that my breakfast rolls were now hot and yummy, into the kitchen I went. Hmm, no hot and yummy here - still frozen. Because yes, while the timer did it's job and the 'ding' happened, the oven had no power and I had no breakfast, and the whole process starts again.

I guess the moral of this story is: When in foreign lands, be careful what you grope!

p.s. If you've dropped in from Strange Shores, welcome! If you haven't, head on over there to hear exciting tales from around the globe.

Bored

2009-01-22T00:24:00.004+01:00

Ole: Cologne, Germany - furniture fair
Me: Karup, DK - bored

Yep, he did it again, he went away on business. It doesn't happen that often, but it still stinks. Oh sure, I do it to him too, but it's no fun to be the one left at home.

Strange really. I lived alone for a very, very long time. Enjoyed it too. I'll give you one little tidbit about our relationship. People sometimes ask me how I knew he was 'the one'. It was easy. He was visiting me for a week, when we still just 'friends' and when he left, I missed him. That sealed the deal. My apartment felt empty after he'd gone back home. It was the most bizarre thing ever for me. Why? Well, typically, even if I had a date and really liked the guy, I still wanted him out of my apartment after just a bit of time. It was MY space - I like you, now get out. So yeah, having the place suddenly feel empty after this one got out made me realize that this was different - I didn't want him to get out - I wanted him to stay forever. So it sealed the deal in my mind and there you have it.

Back to now, present tense, deadly quiet, bored. Wish I could be at the furniture fair wandering the convention center looking at all the cool stuff I could maybe, someday, put in my house. Sigh.

Guess I'll go to bed.

Visa Waiver Program

2009-01-12T19:16:00.003+01:00

So, the US Department of Homeland Security issued this press release today.

All in all, it sounds like a great idea, especially if it means eliminating the stupid paper forms that have to be handed out to all visitors on the plane to be filled out, with a pen you don't have, on a postage size tray table, prior to landing.

My husband completed the online authorization form back in August, the moment it became available. And, he received the proper authorization. Fast forward to December, when we traveled to the states. He took the printed confirmation from Homeland Security with him, just to see what happened. Dying of curiousity?

Well, we landed at Newark, one of the largest airports for incoming flights from abroad and guess what - the immigration officer we spoke to said the green form was still needed as they didn't know what that electronic system was all about yet. He said he knew it was coming, but had no information on it yet. That was less than one month ago. The program has supposedly been in place on a voluntary basis since August. And yet, it was nearing the end of December and they couldn't accept that clearance?

Should be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Fish out of water?

2009-01-12T00:02:00.002+01:00

I have spent the last several hours thoroughly immersed in expat blog world. It's a strange thing really. Before I moved here, I did try to find some blogs of Americans who had journeyed to Denmark so I could hopefully gain a bit of insight into what I was getting into. Either I was a terrible googler back then, or the blog world has grown by leaps and bounds, or a bit of both.

My google reader is beginning to explode with unread entries for blogs not only in Denmark, but in Germany, Sweden, Norway and around the world. I am addicted. I think the Scandinavian nations are closest to my heart, most likely because I can relate; I think many of the customs of Norway and Sweden are the same that are observed in Denmark, and I love reading them all.

I would list my favorites, but I fear I would leave someone out and then I'd have that overwhelming guilt!

My latest reading marathon began when another expat blogger, LadyFi, posted something about Strange Shores, and I felt myself yearning to participate.

I sent off an Email early this morning without even thinking about the date. Then I checked our host's blog, PaddyK, this evening and voila, there I was - how exciting!! And then, as is usually the case, one referenced post led to another, and another, and before I knew it, hours had gone by!

So, if you dropped by to read about chimney sweeps, hopefully you'll pull up a chair and stay awhile and enjoy all my other adventures.

And the chimney guy? There's a follow-up to be found here.

Feel free to drop by any time, and thanks for visiting!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-11T01:08:00.004+01:00

Let me tell you, the 4th of July has nothing on the Danish New Year's Eve.

We did what we always do on New Year's Eve, stayed in with the dogs and relaxed. Unlike apparently everyone else, we did not see the Queen's speech. At least not that night. I did finally see it last week at Sprogskole - my teacher used it as a teaching tool so we could learn some of the expressions used, so it was pretty cool, but let's get back to the subject at hand - crazy Danes!

What we did do was watch a movie, and hang out in the house, waiting for the magic moment to begin. Some don't officially wait until midnight by most do, at least for the 'good' stuff, and at the stroke of midnight, the sky is ablaze with fireworks. These are not the little piddly stuff either, these are huge, and there are many of them.

Being a house on a corner has it's advantages and disadvantages. The advantage here is that we are totally surrounded by neighbors who probably spent at least one paycheck, if not two, on their New Year's Eve arsenal.

The disadvantage is that it means we get to scour the yard on New Year's Day for assorted debris from said fireworks, madly attempting to pick everything up before the dogs find the trash and decide it's new toys for puppies!

Zoe LOVES fireworks, and just like last year, she stood in the middle of the yard staring up at the sky. She is completely unaffected by the noise, and loves the show. Lexi on the other hand, umm, not so much. She tried to be brave, she didn't hide under a bed or in a closet, she stood with her paws on the window sill looking out at the magic. She bravely tried to come out to the yard, but each time she did, she was, of course, greeted with huge crashes of noise, which would immediately send her running back into the house. The only time she managed to stay outside for more than 5 minutes was when the neighbors wanted to say hello to her and pet her - she overcame her fear in exchange for some good luvin!

This is just over a minute, filmed just as it all began. I am standing in my driveway slowly walking in a circle. The film doesn't do the madness justice!

On the 5th Day of Christmas...

2009-01-11T00:59:00.003+01:00

Okay, okay, it's my last Christmas post, I promise!

And really, this has nothing to do with Christmas. This is more about one of those things that I miss from the US.

What?

Squirrels!!

I grew up surrounded by squirrels. The street where I lived had these huge maple trees up and down both sides and it was so much fun to watch the squirrels run up one tree, jump over to another, run down, run up another, etc. It was like having your own little circus show.

In New York, we had grey squirrels. When I attended college in Michigan, the squirrels were black (very cute little buggers if I do say).

I'm told there are squirrels in Denmark, and I did see one.. one! I was always used to squirrels just being everywhere. Yes, they can be a royal pain as they can be quite destructive and they're a bit mischievious, but you have to admit - highly entertaining.

While visiting my parents, we grabbed the camcorder and filmed the squirrels swarming the bird feeder in the neighbor's yard. This video is a wee bit shaky - hard to hold it steady when you're on the super zoom! And, we didn't catch the best moments as there were several times when they were multiple squirrels on said bird feeder, but this little guy is too cute....

On the 4th Day of Christmas..

2009-01-09T00:09:00.004+01:00

Okay, it actually happened before the 4th day of Christmas, but I'm trying to stick to bit of a theme here!

Anyone remember those old Folger's Crystals commercials where they would sneak into some high class restaurant and switch the fancy coffee for the Folger's and all the customers would then ooh and aah about how wonderful the coffee was?

Well, mystery switches when it comes to coffee don't always turn out so well, particular when they aren't actually a planned event. Allow me to explain...

After being in upstate NY for just over a day, I had a pounding headache. With the dry winter air, I blamed the lack of humidity; seemed a valid enough reason at the time. Add this to the fact that a few hours later, Ole also was reporting a headache. We were both feeling quite dried out in this mountain air and we had the chapped lips as proof, so of course that must be the cause!

The next day, we were out doing some shopping, and the headaches started to come back again. ARGH! After a stroll through Target, I then decided that perhaps the headache was because I had had only one cup of coffee that morning instead of my usual 2-3 cups and perhaps that was to blame. We made the immediate decision to make a fresh pot of coffee as soon as we got back to my parent's house.

So in the door we went, and Ole immediately went to work on the task at hand - making some coffee. He got the water into the machine, put the filter in place, saw a can of Decaf coffee sitting on the counter (see where I'm going with this?) and asked my mother where the regular, caffeinated coffee might be. My Mother, without missing a beat replied, "It's right there on the counter." Ummm.. NOPE!

As it turns out, my Mother had been brewing up the decaf each morning, thinking she was brewing regular coffee. Since she normally drinks decaf, she didn't notice. On the other hand, being a certified resident of a country where coffee is served at every meeting, function, school event, and fest, and a country that has no translation for the word "decaffeinated", we definitely DID notice - however, we noticed about 2 days too late to prevent the monstrous headaches we were now experiencing.

Needless to say, we immediately made a trip to the local Walmart and purchased a can of coffee, with the caffeine fully intact. Headache issue solved.

Yep, we're addicts.

On the 3rd day of Christmas...

2009-01-08T23:40:00.004+01:00

Yeah, so I'm a bit behind, but whatever!

On the 26th, chaos errupted as the remainder of my immediate family with spouses and children in tow, arrived at my parent's home. Well, they didn't actually arrive as scheduled! Everyone was supposed to arrive at some point around noon or so. But my oldest brother, who lives in Manhattan, went over to the car rental agency to get a car for the trip and despite having one already reserved, they had nothing. All that he could do was wait for the first incoming return. So wait he did, and ended up getting a big huge, very nice, SUV. My brother is not an SUV fan, but he feared waiting for another would take a few hours, so he took what he could get!

My other brother called, and little Rebecca had decided that she couldn't go potty, so rather than pack her in the car and worry that there could really be something wrong, they called the doc and headed off to the doctor's office.

Both brothers and their respective families did finally arrive upstate around 2-3 in the afternoon. My mother had been brewing our traditional Christmas dinner, turkey with all the trimmings, but there was no way in the world the kids were going to sit peacefully and eat when there were bundles of shiny packages tied up with bows awaiting them. So, the packages came first!

For me, it was cashmere heaven as I acquired 2 new cashmere sweaters. I also received some beautiful jewelry, a big basket of yummy smelling lotions and potions and assorted other wonderful things. Opening gifts with 4 children under the age of 12 is always fun, and always a bit nuts, but all in all a wonderful day.

Ole and I decided to share a Danish tradition with my family so the night before, Ole had made a HUGE pot of the rice pudding, and on the 26th we added the whipped cream and almonds to officially turn it into ris a la mande. Since there are almond allergies in part of the family, we had to divide the whole pot into two halves and only add the crushed almonds to one. This also meant we could only 'hide' the almond in one of the bowls. So rather than let them in on the secret, we told the kids, who were having the almond free variety, that there was a surprise hidden in the bowl and that they would need to eat some to get the special prize. I was worried they would think it was strange-tasting, but they absolutely loved it and kept running in to get more. What we didn't tell them, until they had finished almost the whole portion, was that instead of the traditional almond, we had put a sticker on one of their bowls. Joey (the oldest) then found the sticker and received the special gift. My brother Tim (Joey's dad) found the actual almond in the traditional bowl and got a special gift as well. It was great fun for us to be able to share a Danish Christmas tradition with my American family and to be able to bring something new to the table that everyone enjoyed.

A few pics from the days festivities:

Bah Humbug

2009-01-03T16:47:00.005+01:00

There are more Christmas updates to come but allow me to interject today's tale.

I woke up quite ill. Ole took the dogs to the other end of the house and I decided to remain in bed - this is something that I never do, but I just couldn't get myself out of that bed. When I finally did get up, it was 12:20 pm, so I stumbled into the shower hoping that it would make me feel human again. It worked, somewhat. However, it used up every ounce of energy that my body could muster up, so after showering, I put myself on the couch and ended up sleeping again for over an hour.

I finally decided that perhaps getting out of the house and into the air may make me feel a bit better so off to the Hundeskov we went. We had a nice walk around the hundeskov but I was running out of steam quickly so we decided to head home. Upon exiting the hundeskov, we found that we now had a flat tire.. argh.

Having before changed this exact tire myself, we thought no biggie, let's just change it and get home. If only life were that simple. The stupid tire would NOT come off the car - we pulled, tugged, pulled, tugged - nothing - it wouldn't budge. Luckily we have Falck, the equivalent of AAA in the states - so we called. And, naturally, they said it could take up to an hour. Waaaa.

The guy did finally arrive, he pounded the tire with a piece of wood and a mallet and eventually the stupid thing came free, the spare was put on, and we were able to come home again.

Now I sit, drinking some juice, hoping to recover from whatever ails me before Monday rolls around.

There is some good news in all of this - since we were just in the states, I do have some Nyquil now so at least I will be able to sleep peacefully tonight. :)

Christmas comes in many parts... part 2

2009-01-03T01:50:00.000+01:00

Let's see now - I've covered the doggy and kitty vacation, I've covered our flight day and I've covered our little junket in NYC. But alas, there is more to cover!!

On Christmas Eve we left NYC to head north to my parents and along the way we just had to make a stop at Woodbury Commons Outlets. The place is gigantic and I feared it would be extremely crowded but apparently the crowds were elsewhere as the outlet center was basically empty. The bargains were unreal and we stocked up on all kinds of new clothes, shoes, etc. There is something a bit 'off' in the world when one can purchase Ecco boots, from Denmark, at an outlet center in the US for approximately 1/3 of what you would pay for the same boot here in DK. I LOVE a good bargain!!

We went to my hometown church for the traditional Christmas Eve candlelight service. It's a tradition that I grew up with and one that I miss anytime I cannot attend. As a kid, we went to the 'early' service as we couldn't stay up until midnight for the candlelight ending to the 'late' service - the moment we were permitted to attend the late service for the first time was one of those .. "oh cool!" moments and I have loved it ever since.

I saw many friends at church and we had a chance to say hello to quite a few people - everyone, of course, wants to know how I'm doing in DK, have I learned Danish yet, etc. Our wedding and reception are a bit of church legend - I'm betting it's the one and only time that the minister will ever say "I know pronounce you husband and wife" in DANISH!

Funny story that I must share...
An old friend I grew up with, and someone known to cause trouble at any and all inappropriate moments, was at the service. We sat in front of he and his wife and kids and we'll just say that probably was not the best idea - knowing him as well as I do. The service began with a half hour of music in various forms (handbells, brass quintet, organ, choir, etc.). Most of the music was printed in the church bulletin but apparently the violinist must not have chosen her piece until late as the bulletin said only 'Violin Selection'. Just as she was about to begin, I hear a voice say.. "Devil went down to Georgia". Needless to say, I did everything possible to hold in the giggles. A few times during the remainder of the service I also had pieces of paper land in my lap, whispered comments here and there - you get the picture. Mind you, this is a 40-year old, with his children!! Gotta love him!

We crawled into bed after the service (Ole and I, not the old friend and I!) and managed to get a good night's sleep. Christmas morning we had a delightful breakfast with my mom and dad and then exchanged gifts.

We also spent a good part of the day attempting to get my dad's PC back in working order - something we were told had to be done during our visit.

Christmas evening we headed over to see my closest friend, my "BFF" so to speak (though I have to admit that I never in my life thought I would actually type BFF!).

Ruth and I go back to junior high school - she was and is the one person in the world that will never require explanation - no matter what she does, no matter what I do, we will always be friends. We don't get to speak as often as we should, and this was our first visit since November 2006, but none of that matters. All that matters is that we are the same as we ever were and the moment I saw her it felt like we had just seen one another the week before.

We hung out for a few hours with she and her husband, Mark, had some beer and wine, got caught up, and all that good stuff. We opened some New Year's poppers, a week early, which contained these simply delightful, totally fashionable, paper crowns...

Ole and I; I guess the combination of beer and camera flash caused his eyes to close!

Mark and Ruth; Yes, she'll probably kill me when she sees this picture of herself holding a nacho chip! (Isn't that sofa the prettiest thing ever??)

My prince of denmark :)

Christmas comes in many parts... part 1

2009-01-03T01:19:00.004+01:00

I know I'm going backwards in time, but please forgive me, there is just so many things to catch up on before I can close the 2008 chapter and move into 2009 with a clear mind!! In the next few days I will probably be sprinkling the blog with a bit of 'things I meant to blog about and didn't' but we'll get to that later.

Before the trip to NYC, before the hundepension, but shortly after the packing of the cats, we had our own little Christmas at home. Oh sure, we could've waited to open our packages from the DK side of the family until we got back from the US - but what fun is that! We couldn't take the packages with us, it just wasn't practical to do so and besides - there were a few big boxes that were simply calling my name, begging to be opened!!

I hate to write wish lists because I can simply never remember the things I've seen that I would like to have but didn't buy at the time, etc. But this year, I put a little google gadget on my homepage and attempted to add things to it as I thought of them. It was pretty empty, however, when family started asking for the list but I did the best that I could to fill it out a bit and alas, the wish list was a success. :)

My in-laws, Anny and Bruno (don't you love that name, Bruno??, it just demands to be said with gusto!), gave me electric salt and pepper grinders, a new pair of gloves, and one other item that I decided a few weeks ago that I had to have...

In DK, most homes have one of these...

Now I don't really understand the popularity of this type of toaster, nor can I see any practical reason for it, unless perhaps you have a desire to have just one side of your bread toasted. I'm more of a toast both sides kind of girl. I also tend to be a bit of a wreck in the kitchen unless I'm really focusing on the task at hand (Thanksgiving, for example). We do own something similar to the model shown above and we also own a toaster oven, however.. said toaster oven now has a bit of discoloration around the door and from each vent as I managed to make black hockey pucks out of 2 pieces of bread a few weeks ago. It wasn't my fault - really! - the timer didn't go off, I was working at the other end of the house, and by the time I managed to remember I had put some bread in the oven, there was smoke pouring out of every crevice of the pretty white toaster oven - all because it didn't go "DING" when it should have and therefore, didn't shut itself off. Apparently you're supposed to turn it past 5 and then back or something for the timer to activate properly - whatever! I decided then and there that I had use for a toast both sides, pop-up when done, shut itself off, kind of toaster, and yes, I got one for Christmas - yippee!!!

Some girls hate getting kitchen stuff for Christmas - I'm the opposite, I hate the kitchen itself, but I LOVE kitchen gadgets and I love getting new gadgets for Christmas. I think somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind, I am convinced that if I finally find just the right magical kitchen gadget, I will suddenly be the world's most amazing chef, without actually doing any work. Hey - it's a goal!

So, on that note, Ole got me a breadmaker and while it can't solve all my kitchen woahs, it does magically turn a few carefully measured scoops of stuff into a magically delicious loaf of bread in just 3 hours and I didn't have to lift a spoon. :)

While the cats are away...

2009-01-01T18:54:00.003+01:00

Prior to our big adventure to the states, we had to send the cats and dogs to their vacation homes. There is a hundepension (aka dog kennel) just a couple of miles from our house and so we arranged for Lexi and Zoe to spend the holidays there. We would have loved to have had them with us, but it simply isn't possible to do so when you're spending Christmas 4000 miles from home! But, before we took the dogs to their temporary housing, we had to deliver the cats elsewhere.

We were extremely lucky because Ole's parents offered to take the cats during our trip. So, we packed up a litter box, a bag of litter, a litter scoop, their food, food bowls and water bowl, and finally - Mr. Pete and Coal, and loaded all of it into the car for the trip to Struer. I snapped a few shots of Coal and Mr. Pete in their travel crates - from the moment we put them in their boxes, they howled like it was the end of the world. Lexi was extremely curious about the whole thing!...

I wish I could've gotten the picture, but the camera was not where I needed it at the time.. Lexi put herself down on her belly in front of Coal's box and put herself nose to nose with him. I think she was trying to tell him that it would all be okay!

Mr. Pete, who NEVER meows (well, except for the one time that we decided he needed a bath, but that's another story for another time), cried in his box from the moment he was put into it and until the moment we arrived in Struer - poor thing must have had one hell of a sore throat!!

We unloaded them at Ole's parents and today we picked them up again. Rumor has it they pretty much hid out in the closet any time someone entered the room they were staying in, but that's no surprise. Coal has an intense fear of strangers and does not like his world interrupted. Mr. Pete is generally friendly but he's also a bit nervous about new places and new faces.

Lexi and Zoe shared a kennel at the hundepension and they were bouncing off the walls when we picked them up Tuesday evening. Who knows what adventures they may have had during our week away - all we know for sure is that the two blankets we left for them were in many, many pieces when we arrived. Hopefully the whole experience wasn't too traumatic!!

Everyone is now safe and sound and home again. :)

The weather outside was frightful...

2009-01-01T18:25:00.002+01:00

... but the city was sooo delightful!

I love NYC but boy, oh boy, I'm not so sure the city likes us! We were in NYC a few years ago for Christmas and on that trip, the temperatire hovered around 5'F. We were in NYC again before and after our wedding, and the temperature was approximately 100'F. On this trip... oh, about 20'F. I wonder if we'll ever experience NY with 'normal' temperatures!!

We didn't do too much while in NYC itself as it was exceedingly cold on the only complete day that we did have there, but we had fun despite the cold. We walked from our hotel on 48th and 8th down to the Manhattan Mall and then over to Macy's to see the Christmas windows and enjoy the big Christmas sales. With the economy in such turmoil, the stores were doing everything possible to sell, sell, sell, which meant tons of bargains everywhere - hurray!!

At the Manhattan Mall, we were both happy and sad to see that one of our favorite stores, Steve & Barry's, was going out of business. Sad because Ole's entire family fell in love with the store when they were in New York for our wedding. Why? Well, if you've never been there, the store's mantra was "3 for $20!" - yes, three items of clothing for $20. When you're used to DK pricing, or even ANY pricing for that matter, 3 for $20 is a wonderful thing. And we're not talking junk clothes either - the store resembled an Old Navy and had awesome jeans, sweatshirts, etc. The prices were awesome, but perhaps their pricing also explains why they are now going out of business!

Happy, however, because the prices were even lower for the big sell-out and we took full advantage; we are now the proud owners of several college sweatshirts. It didn't matter to us what state was strewn across the front - it mattered only that we were purchasing big heavyweight sweatshirts for... wait for it...

$3.99

Yeppers - what a steal!

We had dinner at the Olive Garden (one of my favs!) in Times Square, looking down on the yellow sea of taxis and spent some hours just relaxing in our room. We didn't do all the 'normal' Christmas things in NYC but for us, it was just perfect. Here are a few pics from our adventure - including a rather frightening self-portrait!!

Christmas in NYC - the arrival

2008-12-23T14:22:00.003+01:00

We made it! And, the trip was rather non-eventful, which is a good thing. We managed to wake ourselves up in the middle of the night (3AM), which at this time of year feels pretty much the same as waking up at 8AM, so not a big deal. We got down to Billund airport with no fuss, got ourselves checked in and actually got on the first plane, on time! The reason this is an accomplishment is simply because the last time that the two of us attempted to go to the states, together, was a complete and total disaster. You may refer back to Thanksgiving 2006 for the full account of that trip!!

I did get a nice surprise in Amsterdam and found out that big DK sticker in my passport has it's advantages! Because I have that sticker in my US passport, I am now able to go to the EU passport line rather than the ALL passport line - woohoo! If you haven't been there, the EU line is much, much faster, so today I am thankful for my pretty sticker in an entirely new way.

We sat in Amsterdam for a short while, awaiting the boarding of the US flight. The way they do these checkin procedures for the US Flights mean that you are stuck in a small space with far too many people for far too long. I fear that in a few years, the check-in will actually take longer than the flight itself.

The flight to New York left about 30 minutes late, but that wasn't a big deal. The big deal came when we reached the shores of the US and had to land that big bird at Newark. I have landed hundreds of times in that airport but I never experienced the landing we had yesterday. Holy air-sickness, batman! Every turn we made on approach had a nice air bubble drop to go with it so the plane was bouncing all over the place. The stewards were running up and down the aisles handing out air-sickness bags, passengers were running for the restrooms at a time when getting out of your seat is NOT a good idea, etc. I was never so thankful as when those wheels touched that tarmac. There was actual applause by some (those who still had the energy left to applaud!) and a big sigh of relief from the rest of us. Just before we hit the ground I had to laugh at the flight attendant who suddenly made the announcement.. "If you are in the restroom, you must stay there at this time for the landing - do not attempt to return to your seat." Those poor people!

On the flipside of my DK sticker, being married to me has it's advantages for Ole, as he can now proceed through immigration in the US, with me, in the US citizen line. Again, much, MUCH faster, and needless to say, he thinks that is very cool.

We grabbed our rental car and headed into NYC. When I lived in nearby Weehawken, NJ, for 10 years, the toll at the Lincoln tunnel was $4. It is now a whopping $8. I'm still in shock over that one!

We had booked the whole trip through expedia and we are thrilled by the hotel we chose. We are at the Hilton Garden Inn on 8th Ave and this place rocks. Very clean, very huge rooms (by NYC standards) and an awesome internet connection - woohoo! What more could a girl want!

So, today, we will explore this city - it's a wee bit cold out there, but we'll figure out a way to survive.

Big Three

2008-12-10T23:35:00.003+01:00

A friend shared this with me this morning - be sure to read the fine print! :)

Patti, Pizza, Packaging, a PC and a Plethora of Pups

2008-12-09T13:38:00.007+01:00

So yep, this is what I had for dinner last night. It's no Stouffer's French Bread Pizza mind you, but it wasn't horrible, and not nearly as awful as the local pizzaria's death by pizza (it's that bad). Fifteen minutes from freezer to plate - that's my kind of cooking! Snuggled myself onto the couch, pizza in hand, and watched some TV with the pups.

One thing I love about product packaging in Europe is all the languages that must be squeezed onto the box. There's not much room left for these companies to do any kind of fancy promotion on the package - the entire box must be covered in instructions unless they choose to make separate boxes for each country, which I would guess could get kind of expensive. Sorry about the shaky picture - it's not easy to hold the camera steady enough to capture that detail!

Finished eating, let the dogs drag me around the block again, played some games on the old PC and finally, snuggled in to bed. I must admit, I slept quite well after having woken up sooooo early!!

Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down..

2008-12-08T20:11:00.002+01:00

Anyone remember that song? Yes, I am old, but so are you if you can remember that song.

So, I'm alone. Well, as alone as one can be in a house with 2 dogs and 2 cats, but as far as those who walk upright, I'm alone. And, I'm tired...

Woke up at 4:30 this morning to say goodbye to Ole - he and his boss are off to Poland for the next few days. Long drive - bah, better him than me!

It's just me and the 4-legged creatures, 2 of whom are incredibly confused about why their daddy has not yet come home from work! See, in their book, I'm the boring one - the one who is here all day and as a result, am not nearly as exciting as that other one who leaves for soooooo long every day and then takes them to all sorts of fun, smelly places when he comes through the door!

I did take them out for a walk - which is a rather funny site and would look much more appropriate if I had my feet on some sort of sled. They're strong - and they pull - at least if I was on a sled it would look like they were pulling with some sort of purpose!

Long story short.. I now have to feed myself. Since the only time that I normally cook is Thanksgiving Day, or when I find some exciting new thing I want to try, feeding myself is something I consider a bore, and a chore. There must be something oven-ready hidden in that freezer somewhere!

Thanksgiving!

2008-12-03T13:28:00.003+01:00

Eating the turkey like a true Viking!

Yep, we did it, we had Thanksgiving dinner in Denmark!

This was the 2nd year that I decided to do an official Thanksgiving feast - American style. All of my recipes are for more than 4 people so we end up with lots of leftovers, but that's just fine by me.

I pulled out my heirloom china and Ole's wonderful parents, Anny and Bruno, joined us again this year to have traditional dinner - Turkey, Sweet Potatoes (found in Denmark - finally!), mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, creamed spinach and to top it all off.. A real, honest to goodness, pumpkin pie. Yummy!

We all ate way too much, of course!

Fall Cleaning

2008-11-27T14:04:00.001+01:00

So I decided to tweak my page - I was tired of the old layout. I can't say that I'm in love with this one either but at least it's a bit wider, so it's a step in the right direction!

I want something red - fits the whole 'danish' theme, and I don't want that skinny little writing space that most of the templates offer, so now I'm streched and modified and we'll see how it goes.

I may change it again - be forewarned!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T08:47:00.002+01:00

It's turkey day in the US of A! It's not turkey day here in Denmark, but for me it is and so I off to the grocery store in the hopes of finding all of the needed ingredients for my annual Thanksgiving feast - American style. Last year Kvivkly served me well so I'm heading there again and if I don't find what I need then I'll have to go from Herning to Viborg to make a stop at Bilka - I really wish they'd put these two places closer together!!

I'm not actually going to cook the turkey until tomorrow because tonight, I have school. It's okay, this actually gives me an extra day to prepare my feast. Tomorrow evening Ole's parents will join us and stuff themselves silly on foods they only eat once per year.

May the grocery store gods be kind to me today!