A Moment of Silence

The collective heart rate of a full transatlantic flight rises in time with the blood curdling squeals of a 3-4 year old child in full hysterics. The lungs on that kid! And the stamina… She has been going full steam like this for a solid hour now, showing no signs of letting up.

The lady across the isle from me peers judgingly back at the helpless Asian family a few rows back. “Something’s wrong there,” she mouths to her husband. “Something’s very, very wrong.” The girl seated directly in front of the family looks especially pleased.

“Whaaaahhh! Whaaahhh! Daddy! Daddyhhh! Let me down! Let me down! Please let me DOWN!” Upon which Daddy proceeds to walk her down the aisle towards us. Lovely. “Daddyhhh! Daddyhhh! Let me down! Let me down!” He lets her down and she does a classic belly flop, kicking and screaming on the floor. So he picks her back up. Another lady hands her a lollipop, to which she responds by screaming even louder (if that were possible) and kicking some more. The lady with the judgmental eyes cringes and backs away in disdain from the flailing feet on Daddy’s hip.

Later, when she returns from the restroom, I overhear the lady tell her husband the stewardess has never seen anything like it. “In her 15 years of service, this is the worst she has seen.”

The jarring noise tapers off. Finally! I take a deep breath of relief, grateful for the moment of silence. Did she finally tire out and fall asleep, I wonder, hopefully. But no, we’re not that lucky. The restroom door opens, and the horrendous sound returns at full blast.

Half way through the meal, she finally does appear to fall asleep, and silence returns, only interrupted by the occasional outcries of the several other young children on board. But they all are angels compared with this monster child. I can almost hear their mothers thinking how their little Bobby really is perfect, after all. A cumulative sigh is felt as peace returns to earth and my fellow passengers and I snooze for a couple of hours.

Eventually, breakfast is served and the monster awakes and bellows with renewed energy while we circle London in a holding pattern. Fortunately, the torture is almost over and our flight lands without incident, though some nerve endings arrive a little more fried than when they took off.

Home, Sweet Home

Today we're leaving!

First, Sweden for two weeks. Then Norway the week of Christmas. Be back next year!

Can't wait to see everyone... :D

Holiday Cheer

The neatest thing happened to me the other day. I am in line at the McDonalds drive-thru for a quick bite to eat. Exhausted after a 12-hour whirlwind workday the day before and little sleep, I get to the check-out window. The guy hands me a receipt. I look at it, confused, wondering why he is handing me the previous customer’s receipt. When I hesitate to take it, he says in broken English: “She pay for you.” She what? Who? “Yes, the lady, she pay for you.” He gestures to the car in front of me at the pick-up window. I flash on a TV commercial where a woman picks up a guy’s dry-cleaning bill as a way of coming on to him. But this doesn’t seem to be a come-on. It’s a female driver with the whole family in the car. “Yes, she say is for Merry Christmas or something.”

I didn’t know what to say. I just smiled, honked my horn and waived at the car as it disappeared out of view. It wasn’t a large sum of money. Just a small, random act of kindness. But it totally brightened my day. This is what the “holiday spirit” is all about, isn’t it? People being kind to one another and picking up one another’s tab at the fast food joint. I immediately decided I’m going to pay it forward and do the same thing to someone else. I’ll let you know how it goes! If any of you have had a similar experience, or done something of this kind, I’d love to hear about it.

Why don’t we all go out and spread some more holiday cheer?!

COLD

It's cold.

Most of the snow melted and then it got cold again, so now we're stuck with the ugly brown edges and patches of crusty, rotten snow. So much for the winter wonderland of a week ago!

-7°C , 19°F is really not so bad but here it FEELS so much colder, it seems. I complain about the heat in the summer, but for some odd reason, I seem to complain more about the cold in the winter than I ever did growoing up in Norway. It's like the cold just bothers me more here. It's mental for the most part - you just don't EXPECT it to get very cold here, so psychologically, you're not prepared for it. And you don't dress for it, either. Plus, this cold is like a humid cold that pierces to the bone, unlike the dry cold that you can stand in much lower temperatures. And then you add the wind chill factor...

So, here is a tribute to the Norwegian spirit I received from David:

+15°C / 59°F
This is as warm as it gets in Norway, so we'll start here.
People in Spain wear winter-coats and gloves.
The Norwegians are out in the sun, getting a tan.

+10°C / 50°F
The French are trying in vain to start their central heating.
The Norwegians plant flowers in their gardens.

+5°C / 41°F
Italian cars won't start.
The Norwegians are cruising in cabriolets.

0°C / 32°F
Distilled water freezes.
The water in Oslo Fjord gets a little thicker.

-5°C / 23°F
People in California almost freeze to death.
The Norwegians have their final barbeque before winter.

-10°C / 14°F
The Brits start the heat in their houses.
The Norwegians start using long sleeves.

-20°C / -4°F
The Aussies flee from Mallorca.
The Norwegians end their Midsummer celebrations. Autumn is here.

-30°C / -22°F
People in Greece die from the cold and disappear from the face of the earth.
The Norwegians start drying their laundry indoors.

-40°C / -40°F
Paris start cracking in the cold.
The Norwegians stand in line at the hotdog stands.

-50°C / -58°F
Polar bears start evacuating the North Pole.
The Norwegian army postpones their winter survival training awaiting real winter weather.

-70°C / -94°F
The false Santa moves south.
The Norwegian army goes out on winter survival training.

-183°C / -297.4°F
Microbes in food don't survive.
The Norwegian cows complain that the farmers' hands are cold.

-273°C / -459.4°F
ALL atom-based movement halts.
The Norwegians start saying 'Faen, it's cold outside today.'

-300°C / -508°F
Hell freezes over.
Norway wins the Eurovision Song Contest.

SNOW

Friday morning we woke up to a foot of snow outside our door. Although I admit this is nothing compared to the Scandinavian conditions of my childhood, here in Tulsa this kind of snowfall is highly unusual.

So for those of you who didn't hear about our historic snow storm, below is an article from NewsOK.com for your amusement:

Record-breaking storm
The system that spawned severe thunderstorms Wednesday and transformed into a strong snowstorm Thursday reached historic proportions in the process, the National Weather Service said Friday.

Before the precipitation ended early Friday:
The 10.4 inches of sleet and snow measured at Tulsa International Airport for Thursday brought the monthly total to 10.5, which was the highest monthly snowfall for November. The previous mark was 5.6 inches in 1972.

The 10.4 inches Thursday was the highest daily snowfall for November, beating the 4 inches in 1972.
The normal annual snowfall for Tulsa is 9.1 inches, surpassed by this week's single storm.

Tulsa also set a record for maximum rainfall for the day with 1.14 inches. That broke the mark of 0.73 inch set in 1981.

There also were records set in other northeastern Oklahoma cities and towns.
Bartlesville recorded 15 inches of snow, beating the highest daily snowfall mark for November — 6 inches, set in 1923 and tied in 1951.