USA here I come!

I did do some baking this week but I don't have pictures just now - I baked a 2-layer chocolate banana heart shaped cake for Valentine's Day.

Tomorrow I am off to New York for a week to see my dear friends, Brandi and Chris, and to meet their son Austin. Next week is Winter Break at school so I have some time off- unfortunately Jason doesn't so he will be dog sitting. Brandi and Chris live in Albany so I will take the train up from NYC and arrive late Saturday night. The week plans include some toddler music classes, Target shopping trips, a haircut and lots of girl time. Brandi and I are taking the train back to NYC on Friday to have a great girls night with some good dinner, a Broadway show and shopping the next day. Then I head back to the Arctic on Saturday evening.

Ever wonder what it is that we miss and can't get in Norway and stock up on in the US? Well here is my current shopping list: over the counter medicine (sudafed, nyquil etc), sunscreen, floss, mechanical pencils, chocolate chips, chili seasoning, vitamins, stamps, mac and cheese, contact lens solution and splenda packets. Some of these things are unavailable here such as mac and cheese, chocolate chips etc. Other things are really expensive here like sunscreen, vitamins and contact lens solution ($20/bottle). So that is what my extra suitcase will be full of (plus some new clothes for our Egypt trip!) when I return.

Side note- Jason and I have been really excited each day to check the Olympic medal count and watch the US kick Norway's butt in medals! They are super proud of their skill in the Winter Olympics so we love seeing the US dominate in the count! Kinda mean but a great feeling :)

Strawberry Swiss Roll and Some Venting

Today I was ill prepared to cook so I had to go with something I could make with what was in my pantry. I decided on a swiss roll - I have never tried one and always was too nervous that it would be hard - so today was the day. The cake itself is really interesting- you beat 3 eggs and some sugar for what feels like forever - until they form a "mousse" and then add just fold in a little sifted flour- nothing else! Funny enough when it bakes it smells like eggs. It is very thin cake- you flip it out onto a sugar coated piece of wax paper do some edge trimming, add your jam/filling and roll it up. Much easier then I made it out to be in my head and it tasted good too! Here is a similar recipe but mine was slightly different but mostly the same.

Now on to the venting- so as you learned from the relocation drama post we are staying longer in Norway. We were excited by this for only one reason- we could travel a little more. But now we have a visa conflict that is super annoying! Our visas expire May 5 - my last renewal took 5 months to process and they say the wait now is 6 months. So we went last week to the immigration office (we arrived at 6:30am after being turned away the week before at 7:55am) to submit our paperwork to renew - we were told we are too early and they won't process it until 4 weeks prior to our expiration date. But here is the reason for the vent - you can't leave the country on an expired visa - so we are trapped in Norway for up to FIVE months! We are trying to get the company to assist us with this since Jason may need to travel for work in this time period. Our company contact in Oslo tells us that if we lived there we could go to a special "international worker" office and get the renewal processed in one week and travel while it is being processed. Glad we live in the backwards section of the country.

I was trying to make myself feel better by rationalizing that all immigration offices suck everywhere. I thought I would compare it to the US- bad idea! Even though the US has a horrible reputation for immigration it is way better then here. You can apply online- check the status online - check wait times for every type of permit/visa etc. And you can travel on an expired visa as long as you can show that the INS has received your renewal. Needless to say these are for "foreign workers" like Jason and not someone trying to become a resident etc. But even the fact the US recognizes there is a big difference between an expat and someone seeking residence/immigration is a big step up from Norway. Grr! We have booked travel to Egypt but we also know we may need to cancel it if it comes down to it. Nothing like feeling trapped to annoy you.

Into our 30's

Jason turned 31 on Friday! We celebrated by having dinner at our favorite restaurant in the city- which sells $35 hamburgers and then going to see Sherlock Holmes which was pretty good. On Saturday we had a lazy day and then I cooked Jason's favorite meal - Gorgonzola Pasta and Boston Cream Pie cupcakes. I found a super fun "ice cannon" which is basically a big sparkler for the top of the cupcake so we had a good time with that! It was weird not having a present for Jason on his birthday....he wanted a new lens for the camera so we ordered it and it is awaiting pick up in New York at Post Office Taylor!

Here is the recipe for the cupcakes if you are interested. They are so good but slightly time consuming. Though it would be easier in the States since you don't have to make yellow cake from scratch.

Relocation Drama

Well it has happened again - we have relocation drama. As many of you know Jason's assignment is supposed to be finished here in July and we will be relocated. In order to be relocated Jason needs a new assignment, he was supposed to enter an internal job pool process (called PDC) in March and be assigned a new location and job starting at some point this summer. The PDC process is somewhat scary since Jason can say were we won't go and what he is interested in but at the end of the day it is a crap shoot.

BUT last week he was told his unit manager (the big boss) didn't want to lose another engineer and would not enter Jason's name in the PDC in March. In addition, he wants Jason to stay until the project here is completed in order to ensure the "metric" is met. The project is supposed to be done July 1 but things could happen to put it behind schedule. When that is over then we will move back to Houston so Jason can rejoin his group. So as it stands today we think we will be moving back to Houston sometime in August or September.

BUT here is the kicker folks - Jason hopes to be put in the PDC in October for a new assignment since he needs new experience to advance his career. Yes, the new assignment could be in Houston but the experience he wants would most likely mean another move in December 2010 or January 2011 (mostly likely domestic but possibly international). That being said his big boss might not want him to enter the PDC in October either and we would have to wait until the next one in March 2011. So once we get back to Houston it looks like it will be a big waiting game full of uncertainty. Do we buy a house? A car? Do I look for a real job or temp work? The list goes on and on and on.....

We are trying to stay positive about it. The first positive thing is - we get one more long vacation! We think we have settled on Egypt. Not to see Cairo and all that but instead to an all-inclusive resort on the Red Sea! Plus we are hoping for a long weekend in England as well. Hopefully those trips can keep us going until we have to deal with the uncertainty that lies ahead.

Northern Lights

Last night we saw the Northern Lights! We were very excited for the chance to see them in Trondheim. I actively check two websites for "auroral activity" and last night the numbers were really high. But more honestly I got a text message from our British friend who lives near the fjord telling us they were visible. So we grabbed the camera and headed to higher ground for a better view. They had been visible in mid-November but we missed them so we were very excited to catch them this time.

They are beautiful and amazing. I can see how people thought they were a sign from God in the middle ages. They move! I didn't realize that and they move really quickly so they are constantly changing shape- fading and brightening in front of your eyes. From what we have heard at our latitude we can only see the green color but the higher in latitude you get the more colors you can see. It was definitely a really cool thing and something we both wanted to experience while in Norway- now we can cross that off our list.

These last two pictures are from my friend Helen- she lives on the fjord so she has less city light and I think she took these when the lights were a lot brighter.

Pretty sure I could be a Norwegian doctor

Jason and I have both been under the weather since returning from the US - which really sucks! Saturday I woke up with the sore throat and Sunday I felt even worse. By the time I went to bed I was pretty sure I had an ear infection. I called in sick today and made an appointment to see the doctor (not mine but another in his office).

Here is the appointment:

Doctor - looks a me- waits for me to talk

Me- tell her my symptoms

Doctor- "have you had a fever?"

Me- "not sure - I am always cold and my temp never seems to be right"

Doctor- "okay I will look in your ear and throat" which she does and feels my lymph nodes and then says "your throat is red but not too swollen and your ear is full of fluid"

Me- "So I have an ear infection?"

Doctor- "I think so"

Me- "Has it ruptured"

Doctor - "Not sure but I see fluid so maybe" "I think you should have some antibiotics"

Then she give me a prescription- she does ask "if I can take penicillin" but no questions on how effective it is for me etc. I also ask for a decongestant since you can't get it over the counter here. She is confused a little but gives me a prescription for that too. Which as I learn later is something banned in the US...but it seems to work so far!

Total time in office including payment: 12 minutes

So basically you have to diagnose yourself and then the doctor will confirm your diagnosis. I told her I had sinus issues etc but she didn't look in my nose and there was no temperature taken or blood pressure. No question of history - nothing. Love it....not even kidding I think I could pass the test to be a Norwegian general practitioner.

Butterscotch and Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I was in the US I picked up a bag of butterscotch chips since you can't buy them here and they are a nice change of pace every once in awhile. Today I broke open the bag! I made Butterscotch and Chocolate Chip Cookies - the recipe is here. They turned out well - though I am still trying to figure out what the Norwegians call brown sugar really is. It is much grainier then ours but I don't know if it makes a difference in the outcome of the baked goods.

Jason stayed home sick today. We have both been under the weather since returning from the US. Jason is not getting better- he can barely talk but I still had to convince him to stay home from work today. He finally agreed and is tasting each batch of cookies for me :) It was frigid here last week, the warmest it got was about -4F all week. Our dogs were not pleased with the cold and neither were we. It is much warmer this week, it should be about 15F all week but we have not had any more snow (but there is plenty on the ground) and none is predicted for the next week - strange how different it is this year then last.

Evidently when it is really cold outside it is common for ice to form inside the house on your doors and windows. Who knew? This is the door from our bedroom to the porch. Brrr!!