We Moved Just In Time!

Well, it looks like Norway has been bumped from its position as the best place to live in the world. Not quite the best- Aftenposten.no I guess it's a good thing we got out when we did, as living in the second best place in the world just wouldn't do! Although, Norway did lose its first place status only days after we moved back to the U.S. Is that a coincidence, or did our presence make the country just a little bit more fabulous? Hmm, something to ponder...
All joking aside, where does this data come from? It seems like "The Best Place to Live" is pretty subjective. For instance, sure, Norway and Iceland are both clean and safe and have a high standard of living, but they don't have Dunkin' Donuts...in my opinion, a country without 24 hour access to glazed donuts and iced lattes could never be the best place on earth to live!

Ho Ho Ho!

Saying that my dogs bark a lot is an understatement. They woof when they're happy, when they're bored, when they're anxious, when they see a leaf flutter down from a tree. Unfortunately, their barks sound exactly the same if they see a squirrel in the yard or if an axe murderer is lurking at the door. There have been several times when I have been in the shower and have heard them frantically barking, so I jumped out, threw on my clothes and ran to see what was wrong...only to find out that the neighbor's cat had dared to step into their line of sight, or that the guy down the street was hanging his Christmas lights on his porch. This morning while I was showering, the dogs went nuts again. At first I ignored them, figuring that it was probably just a sparrow or something equally ridulous that had them all riled up. But the barking continued and even grew in its intensity, so I sprinted out of the shower and into my clothes and opened the front door, decent but dripping wet. It was the Dell delivery guy! Kevin ordered me a brand new laptop for Christmas! This will be my first laptop that wasn't a hand-me-down from his company. It is really thin and light and it's red--so cute! I called Kevin at work and shrieked in his ear for a few minutes to say thank you. He asked what I planned to do with it first, and without hesitation I said I want to create a slide show of all the animals who are up for adoption at the animal shelter where I volunteer. There are tons of fundraising activities coming up over the next couple of weeks, including gift wrapping at Barnes & Noble and pet pictures with Santa at Petsmart, so maybe playing a slide show of the shelter's adorable homeless animals (on a festive red laptop) at these stores will help to get a few of them a new home for Christmas!

Seriously?

This is a ridiculously cheap price for a cup of coffee even by American standards, but after a year of paying Norwegian prices, I almost drove off the road when I saw this sign! Can you imagine paying just 50 øre for a cup of coffee? I have no idea if it's particularly good coffe, but I will definitely have to give it a try. Hmm, I wonder if the diner serves crazy cheap pie too?

Cujo

Because our house is a rubble-filled mess right now, we have been staying in the attached in-law suite. The dogs have been going a little crazy in such a small space, especially since their fenced in yard isn't finished yet. I got the brilliant idea to take them to a local doggy daycare--in addition to a huge fenced in yard with agility equipment, there is also a massive indoor arena with fun toys, yummy treats, cheerful dogsitters and lots of other friendly dogs. Kermit LOVED it--he raced around like a maniac and made several new canine friends. He was so joyous, bouncy and energetic that the owner of the facility even asked me if he was a puppy--he's about 9 years old!
Unfortunately, Honey attacked every single dog she met. She got right in the other dogs' faces, snarled and growled, and backed them all into corners. The owner of the doggy daycare cracked me up--she was trying so hard not to offend me by saying, "It's not that Honey is a bad dog, she is just a bit of a bully. She isn't a dangerous dog or anything, she's really wonderful with people. I just don't think that our facility is the right fit for her." Obviously I was not offended, as it was pretty hard to ignore that Honey wanted nothing more than to intimidate all those dogs into quivering pools of submission. I dragged her back to the car and then hurried back to get Kermit, thinking that he would be distraught without Honey. Um, no, he didn't even notice her absence as he raced around with his puppy pals. I think that once a week, Kermit will get to go to doggy daycare while I take my vicious little Cujo for a walk. Maybe we'll even work on a little obedience training--it would be so nice to take her for a walk without dislocating a shoulder!
The picture above is of Honey right after we returned from the groomer last week. The tiny blue bows on her ears make me laugh, especially given her jugular-ripping tendencies!

Home Sweet Home

I arrived back in New York with the animals on November 12th, and Kevin joined me on the 17th. I am so grateful that all the pets made the trip safely and that they seem to have adjusted really well to all the crazy changes. (I think they have adjusted better than I have--I still find myself blurting out the occasional "Tusen takk!" to cashiers and braking for cars to my right at intersections!) The past two weeks have been really hectic and our house has been buzzing with the sounds of saws and drills. Brand new, gorgeous porcelain tiles have been laid throughout the second floor, a door-sized hole has been cut in the back brick wall and an elegant wrought iron fence has been partially installed in the backyard. Progress has been made! Unfortunately, the carpeting still needs to be ripped out and the tiles still need to be placed downstairs, a door which is on order still needs to be positioned in that gaping, door-sized hole, and that elegant fence still needs 3 gates installed before it will contain the dogs. Oh, and when we were cleaning out the attic yesterday, we realized the roof has been leaking and probably needs to be replaced in the very near future. What was that whoosh I just heard? That would be the sound of our money beating a hasty retreat from our bank account! The house (and our finances) might be a mess, but the view is incredible--I took the photo above this morning while watching the Canadian geese paddle around on the lake. I really have nothing to complain about-- being back home has been incredible. Spending time with friends, volunteering at the animal shelter, shopping at my favorite stores, even scouring the kitchen appliances with Kevin...I have loved every minute of it! And after a couple of short weeks, our house will be perfect and the whine of power tools will be just a distant memory!