One week over

It has been a week now that I have been free from work. My house is clean and everything is done when it needs to be. We have taken a very long walk yesterday that showed me that I am so out of shape. So the focus in the weeks to come is to build my health both physically and mentally.

The journey will be fun as I have time for me and to see what makes me relax and contented. I am already happy and thankful for many of the things that I have achieved in this journey in life so far.

The idea of me needing to loose 15 kg is daunting but that is basically what I gained in a year. Yes it was a lot but the stress that I was under was tremendous. A divorce and custody negotiations, a new partners mess from his dead wife that needed to be fixed. The best of us would have said enough. I do not drink nor do I smoke so I guess food was used. I am sure I am not the first nor will I be the last. Seriously I dont blame me nor do I blame my situation. It was what was needed to get to where I should be. I far from over as I am still in this journey.

So here I am at 38 with no real paper education only 18 years of work experience. Will this paper hungry work force give me a chance to show them what I am good for or am I considered not good enough for the work force. Yes it is both ascary thing and I am sure there are many that have been here where I am now. You see I am not special nor am I unique but I am me. A person who is loved by what my mother consider to be a very patient man. Now that says a lot to get mum's approval.

I can always lie in a ball and cry my eyes out but I wont. I have never felt sorry for myself nor will I ever. As life is a blessing and my problems are trivial to what others go through. I am grateful to god to allow me to have food on my table, a roof over my head and clean drinking water. My problems are not problems and I will treat it acvordingly, a life journey to show me that I am lucky and loved.

Nature in Kristiansand

18 years and counting

I have lived in Norway for 18 years. It was a country that choose me I guess. Coming here when I was 19 and rather naive. Now I am 38 and still as naive I guess in my own way.

This country has its ups and downs for me as an Asian living in the viking land. I love the opportunity it has given me to be who I am without needing a mask, to be able to be the introvert in the very introverted south of Norway.

So what do I love about this place? Well for one its nature and silence. Its so peacefull. You can wonder alone and not be bothered, see the introvert me. The safety that I know that I will always have a roof over my head and some food on the table if I happen to be sick or unemployed. I am able to enjoy any breed of dog when I want to. Seeing that back home some breeds are not approved for apartment living. I am able to have Sunday free if I choose too.

I also have to live with the down side. Making friends in the south is as hard as trying to win the lottery. Alas, the introvert me got tired of that and well. I live in my little apartment in Hånes with my husband. The snow can be cumbersome, I seriously have a balance issue and all my winter shoes have spikes or some sort of anti fall. My so called skinny ass is just bones and breaking my tailbone is not on my wish list.

Norway has generally made me into a positive thinking person as no matter what life throws at me, I am able to dust myself up again and carry on. Bouts of depressions and self doubts and other negative thoughts are able to be set aside while I see that I am strong enough to move forward. Stupid choices in life comes with its consequences and I am full willing to take responsibility of it. That is life is all about, admit your weakness and work on your strength.

So right now, I am working on me, enjoying the time as a housewife and I have not had time to be bored nor time to really do my stuff yet. It will come I am sure after next week when the kid goes back to the dad.

The housewife

I have had a few days at home and so far I am loving it. So far I had errands to be done and a house that had to be cleaned. I think I have found my calling. To stay at home and when the partner comes home there is a hot meal ready and coffe for him. To make sure that there is propper real food to eat. To make sure that the house is clean and nothing needs to be done in the evening. One of the things I did was to bake sourdough bread. It turned out yummy in the evening when we ate it with stew.

 

  To eat healthy is easy when both loves vegetables and want to make sure what is put in us are packed with nutrients that are needed. It is not about low carb or low fat but eating clean and mostly vegetable and fruits. Food that has had been available to us humans from the beginning of time. so now I am looking for healthy recipies to try and experiment with and I have the time for it.

What the universe told me

I had a dream a few days ago. It basically sums me and my life up. I was in my childhood neighbourhood. I was carrying the old school tin tiffin carrier buying food and stopping to buy food that I know my mum would like and too much food. I then was walking home, the tiffin that I carried on my left shoulder was heavy while on my left hands I was carrying several plastic bags full of things. I had to stop several times as my shoulder was hurting and the weight of the tiffin was digging in my shoulder.  I then came to a cross road where I had to take a left to walk home and it was too heavy and I wanted to take a cab. All off sudden there were several people pushing me trying to get into the cab that I was flagging down. Then out of nowhere comes a guy who took hold of the tiffin and started to walk towards my home, helping me carrying my burden. I was behind him trying to keep up and telling him to be care full carry it up right and not spill the gravy in the tiffin.

Now the dream is obvious to me, mum and T.I. It is about me and the burden I have taken on. I take it upon me to take care of my loved ones and it is has been overwhelming and I can't do it anymore. I also need to probably learn to relax and let others help me instead.

 I have several times needed to take a break and rest due to exhaustion. I now have the opportunity to do so and take time to take care of me and get mentally and physically strong again. I will look for a new job and in the meantime try out some stuff that I have found fun doing like cooking and to allow people to order my meals on certain days through the Internet.  It is still in the planning stages and I will do some research and see what I end up doing. I want to take the next few months reading, cleaning my home, take long walks and learning to take care of me.

Food and more food

Arendal, a sleepy town when it is not summer. The place where its old main church looks like the one in the Disney movie Frozen. Where people from Oslo flock in July when it’s the official ‘summer vacation time in Norway. The town is full of life and things to do then other than that, its slow and empty.

So this year town’s interest group got several eateries to serve a dish for Kr100. A concept that is taken from more urban and vibrant countries abroad. For a small town, we have tons of restaurant that I guess make money during the sunny times of the year.

A few months ago Kristiansand had the same thing and I had tried several places. From the experience I have learnt that booking a table is a must and I did. It was good that I did as it is busy and fully booked and long wait otherwise.

I have tried the normal steakhouse as my son was along for the meal. If it was up to him we would end up eating sushi everyday. The portion was of course smaller but it is enough to satisfy and for my son, it was a good portion. He loves steak just like his mother and was enjoying the homemade bernaise sauce so much so that he wanted more.

I then booked a table in a ‘ proper’ restaurant, Steenhuset. It is a place that I have never been to and was looking forward to it. They had several dishes to which the deer stew was something that I was looking forward to try. It was me, T.I and a coworker. When we walked into the old building we were asked if we had booked a table and I said yes. ( I found out later that it is fully booked for the whole period). We were led to the second floor in a very old building. We were greeted by a very friendly British waitress. She was how a waitress suppose to be, cheerful and helpful. We ordered drinks first and we were served some yummy homemade bread with a garlic hollandaise as she called it.

 There were 3 mains that we could choose. T,I and I split a risotto and each had a deer stew. The food was yummy and tasteful. You know that the ingredients used were fresh and was cooked in a proper kitchen. The waitress I must say gave us extremely good service and I wont mind being served by her more often! We then had a dessert of brownie and ice cream. All made there of course. The brownie was very nutty and the chocolate sauce had a tinge of coffee in it. Ice cream you can see the vanilla seeds. So to say the least, we came out full, contented and would try the place again if we are out eating in Arendal.

Thursday I made a booking at Kitchen and Table at Clarion Tyholmen hotel. They had their signature hamburger as their dish. The burger was yummy, the service here was lacking for my taste but the ambience was good. The meat was perfectly grilled, vegetables fresh and parmesan fries yummy. The portion was of course smaller as on the menu the burger cost NOK 198. Now the service was like going to a cheap café where the service was ok and you get a smile but not that extra. I am not sure if it is due to them being over whelmed with the full service or if they are just that. We have to find out later when I go back to try it one more time and try their peach cobbler too.

 

For starter I had the udon noddle soup and 2 fried spring rolls that my son ended eating up both. The food was yummy, price wise it was ok and nice new restaurant. I would rather eat here than the malls sushi shop and we do not have to drive to town and next time T.I can order from the cooked food section.Now since this is a long post review of food, we tried a new sushi restaurant , LV sushi on Saturday. Silly us did not see the ‘Chinese’ food part as T.I does not eat sushi. So it was my son and I who devoured the items.  We had the standard soft shell crab, I ordered the egg sushi, the normal assortment of nigiri.

For the love of baking

The week has been hectic. When you have a kid who is more stubborn than a mule and inherited both parents tendency to be stubborn you have one hell of a week when kiddo don’t want to do something. There are days when smacking with a cast iron pan is the only way out. The joy of parenthood. I cant wait to get grandkids so that I can spoil them silly and seek revenge.

So what did I do in the weekend other than feeding the kid and doing errands? I baked a cake that was requested by T.I whose co workers wanted cake since it was his birthday last week. So what did I do? I whipped out one of my favourite chocolate cake of course! It is a cake that I have tried and tested many a times and is one of my favourite kind. It is dense and moist and absolutely heavenly. All baking is easy for me and my first attempt is the one I find out if I want to tweak the recipe, keep it as it is or trash the thing.

All in all I got to use my time to do something that I love and I got a cake that I found out my son loved and requested for his birthday. Now that is a good weekend for me.

Things that goes through my head when at work

There was a point in life where I felt like I was having a midlife crisis at around the age of 30+. It was about the same time where I was unable to bear to be where I was and I was living a life that was not me. I then got a very good advice that everyone should have in a relationship. Do not have a list of what you want in a partner but a list of things that your partner cant break or be against. That is a great advice that I took thanks to ‘The millionaire matchmaker’. Who thought that information from reality tv can actually be used in real life.

When I got to know my now husband, I had to ask him my unbreakable. I still remember the day and where I was. I was in Oslo eating at HRC and I gave him mine. He answered me honestly and we had the same fundamental believes that would make a union between us easier for us. It has been true and it has given me the peace of mind that I did not have with the x.

I have never dated and if anyone were to ask me how do you find a life partner I would I no idea how to tell them as both times it was they who found me. What I know is I like to get to know people, what makes them tick and what makes them who they are. People are an interesting breed for me as I have no idea how they work and as for men, I have given up trying to understand them. As for other females, I honestly don’t get many of them even though we are of the same gender! So basically what I know is I do not know anything!

I can basically say

• I do not understand males/females/humans.
• Having a person who has same values and interests makes life a whole lot easier.
• The older I get the more I realize I do not understand many things.
• You cannot help someone who does want to be helped.
• I should stop buying cakes from the store unless its from the bakery as I really do not like them.
• Seeing a young person go through life and knowing that they are doing the wrong things in life and yet its their fate to go through the journey so that they will be wiser when they are older.
• Getting a hug from a loved one when you really need one is priceless.

Food and more food

I love to cook. I basically make almost all meals at home and cook from scratch. For some people the food looks like it takes forever to cook and complicated. For me its part of my daily life that it is done smoothly and at minimal time. I can be in the kitchen for hours making food when the mood strikes me.

I cant knit nor can I do any artsy thing. I do not have any hobbies other than cooking, the occasional baking and travelling. Eating since I have to do it everyday does not constitute as a hobby though as we need to eat everyday. So does T.I. We both are foodies.

What I have at home are things to cook a storm or so people think. They are the basics that all home should have. Meat, vegetables and condiments that turns them into delicious healthy options to take out. The time it takes for one to make a frozen pizza I can whip up an omelet with vegetables and scampi. Simple comfort food can also be food can also be cheap and healthy.

I am an advocate to real food. I eat butter, whole fat milk and fresh vegetables. What is given to us by god is what I prefer to put in my mouth. So it means I am very looking forward to summer when I can buy fresh vegetables from the farm that is located between my work and home.

Here in Norway they eat a lot of bread and I am not fond of that. What I do like is sourdough bread that I bake myself. I made my own sourdough starter and it sits nicely in my fridge until I need it. The bread does not mold as fast as the breads you buy from the store nor does it contain any preservatives. I usually make a big dinner to which T.I and I bring as lunch the next day. Bread and us do not really work too well. I do also make my own crisp bread which is full of nuts and oats.

I do love  to try out new things but I already have an idea what kind of food T.I and I like so I know what I can skip and what I should try my hands on. It is about spending the time in the kitchen, tasting as you go along, the smell and the final product that gives me the satisfaction. It also means knowing how your oven and stove work and how certain things turns out when you cook them a certain way. So if anyone wants to come over for dinner, just give me a call and Ill whip up something for you.

So yesterday I was home alone and I do what I love to do. I made food for us and for my 2 funny co workers for lunch. I wanted meatballs so I made Italian meatballs with marinara sauce though the chilies for our sauce was added later. They do not eat cheese either so I made their meatballs first and added parmesan and cheddar in ours. It is a simple yet yummy and hearty meal. Today I feel like making enchiladas but will use Greek yogurt since I have a huge tub at home and the sour taste is somewhat similar.