We’ve gotten two emails recently from the wives of cousins telling us there was a big work party over at our condo this week and many relatives showed up to clean everything, get rid of Aunt Ruth’s personal items (but they left some household items for us) and get the condo ready for our arrival as they are all so looking forward to our return. That was a pleasant surprise. I expected we’d spend the first few days doing cleaning, but now I can scratch that off my to-do list for our first week back in Norway. Woo hoo. It will be nice to unpack our storage unit and get settled into our own place and finally call it “home” – okay “second home,” but still….
I should be further along preparing our house here for the housesitters (cleaning closets, weeding, straightening out cupboards), but I’m not. I got side tracked this week (and last) hunting down dead relatives again –not mine or Kory’s, but this friend of a friend (Stuart) that I met who is 100% Norwegian. His grandparents came over from Norway more than a hundred years ago but he’s never been there. He had just enough good information to get me started and I’ve been able to track his family tree on most branches back to the mid 1700s and some to the 1600s. It’s just too easy once a person knows how to do such a thing. I should have been a detective – I love hunting down all that information. I’ve sent Stuart a lot of records available over the internet for births, marriages, confirmations and census records for nearly all of his ancestors for the last two hundred years. The Norwegian government/State church started keeping written records in the 1600s so if they haven’t burned up in a fire or something, it’s pretty easy to track down the dead if the general area of their residence is known. I know I’m addicted to this process but at least it’s a productive addiction and no one gets hurt.
I nearly called Stuart at one this morning when I realized that he and Kory might be related. If they aren’t, they at least both had ancestors living on the same farm in the 1800s. I won’t be able to connect all the dots until I’m in Norway, but it was a pretty incredible discovery. I love how small our world is.
Kaleb continues to be a nearly perfect child in every way. This invention of mine is incredible! I don’t care if I get a patent or not, it’s worth all the money in the world to me because it so radically transformed his behavior. What a miracle. He’s done so well in school and in piano, with his chores and his attitude, it’s hard to get used to. I’m going to make a few proto-types and see if it’s as effective with other kids, because if it is, I’m really on to something here. Thank you, God!
The tulips have peaked and were mostly all topped this week so the traffic will no longer be making me crazy. Kory is also deeply involved in the well (no pun intended) and is closer every day to getting that up and running in time for summer watering season, so he’s not driving me crazy either. When he has a project, he stays pretty focused and out of trouble, even if he is on my “list” for his political stands…. He spent all day at the Tea Party Rally in Burlington this week, and unfortunately, got photographed with his disgusting and disturbing sign he made about our current administration. When will he learn that praying for someone is way more effective than slamming them? It’s what I have to do now, with him.
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