Happy Easter.....

It has been a strange sort of Easter for us. We have all been feeling sick. 

It started with Andrew last weekend. He has had it really bad lying all week with fever, an awful cough and a bad cold.

Kristian got sick on Wednesday afternoon with a fever and went to bed when he got back from leaving Sara and Christian off at the airport. He stayed there all Thursday and thought he was feeling better on Friday. However on Friday evening he was feeling rotten again so it was off to bed. He spent the most of Saturday in bed and most of today too. He really does look awful. He is loaded with the cold.

Leah too is loaded with the cold. She started to feel rotten yesterday. Her head is sore, her nose stuffed and she coughs and sneezes constantly.

 I had a bit of a sore throat at the start of the week but it disappeared again. Then on Friday evening I started to feel rotten and discovered that I had a fever,  so off I went to bed with my onions! REALLY - onions in my socks and a half of an onion lying by my pillow. (Onions are meant to fight bacteria....they take the bacteria out of the air and your body.) 

It seemed to do the job for I was feeling fine again on Saturday morning. However Saturday evening going to bed I started to feel rotten again. I had fever once again and my throat was starting to get sore. So today we all stayed in bed till the early afternoon. Not how I like to spend Easter Sunday. I missed getting to church to celebrate that Jesus is risen.

Andrew now seems to be on the mend. Leah is still loaded.

 I keep peeing myself because of all the coughing that I am doing!! haha My fever seems to have gone but my throat is still sore and my head too. 

Kristian was up a bit this afternoon but had to go back to bed. He still looks awful and is not dealing with being sick very well! (He is a man after all!! haha)

There are a lot of germs in the Rasmussen household! I hope they all disappear soon!!

So yesterday it was my neighbour, Laura´s birthday. Late Friday evening I went over to her place (and I was feeling so rotten but was determined to do this!) and hung my huge "Happy Birthday" knickers in her kitchen window along with other Happy Birthday streamers, so when she got up on Saturday morning her kitchen window was full of wonderful birthday greetings.

When we woke on Saturday morning we went over to wish her a Happy Birthday and gave her a few wee presents we had bought.  We didnt stay long, Kristian was dying to get back to bed as he wasnt feeling the best. She and Mia would be over later in the evening for dinner.

She thought it was just leftovers that we were having but I had planned a 3 course meal.

 The table was all set for the birthday girl......

 We had prawn salad for starters....Bahmia for main course.....and chocolate cake for dessert.

 In between the main course and dessert there was a special song for Laura especially written by me. We had a laugh! Then came the birthday cake all complete with candles! It even tasted good! :-)

 The rest of the evening we spent just relaxing in front of the TV watching Naria film.  We had a great evening with her.

Drama and family.....

....yes, it has been a dramatic few days here in The Rasmussen household!! It started Wednesday afternoon just before I went to the cinema with my mother-in-law. Leah was heading out to Copenhagen with her friend and her mum. Her friend was going to get her nose pierced. Well, a few nights ago she asked if she could get her nose pierced too. I said "No, when you are 18 you can do what you want" and that was that. 

So before going to the cinema Sara got a text from Leah asking her to ask me if she could get her nose pierced. Once again I said no and told Sara to tell her that if she did it she would be grounded!! I thought no more about it and went and enjoyed my afternoon with my mother-in-law.

Well, the wee bandit went and got her nose pierced. Totally disobeyed us!!!! She has NEVER done anything like this before! She sent me a text saying that she had done it and that she loved it and it was worth getting grounded for!

( I actually didn´t really believe it, I thought she probably had bought a sticker for her nose and would pretend it was pierced.)

 Well, when I got the text I realised I needed a better punishment for her, if she really had gotten it done. Grounding was not having an effect on her. So when I got home I went into her room and unplugged her computer and put it away somewhere out of her reach. I then changed the codes on our computer so she couldn´t get on there either. 

When she arrived home I saw what she had done. She HAD gotten her nose pierced and not with a stud but with a ring!!!! It was awful. 

I tried to keep calm! (not something I am good at - I tend to blow up and rant and rave about whatever it is for a few hours!) Anyway when she came through the door I calmly put my hand in her coat pocket and took her phone. She was shocked!

 I then went on to tell her she was grounded without her mobile and that her computer was no longer in her room. (Not much left for her to do and no contact with the outside world, except when going out with us to something which we as a family, needed to go to. ) I then wrote to her friend and told her that Leah would not be attending her birthday on Monday. Another shock! 

Boy the atmosphere in the house was not good. There were tears and I got a few things off my chest - telling her how disappointed I was. She had a bit of time on her own to think things over.

Meanwhile Kristian had come home and was not feeling well. He had a fever so he was in no mood to join in the household drama at this point. He told her how disappointed he was in her and that he would talk to her when he felt better. Then he went off to bed along with the neighbours cat! :-)

So after a while of being on her own she did come out and say sorry and that she realised how stupid she had been disobeying us. There were many tears and hugs. 

Her grounding without any contact with the outside world is still in force until Tuesday when school starts again. Amazing how domestic she has now become. She has been in the kitchen alot making American pancakes! 

  
Then today Kristian´s whole family were getting together for Easter lunch down at his mums. We all had to take something along for a buffet. Andrew has been ill with the flu since Monday so he stayed at home, as he wasnt feeling any better. Kristian was feeling better so Leah, he and me went off to see the family.

 We had a lovely afternoon together. We had all the old photo albums out and we went a walk down memory lane.  I love hanging out with Kristian´s family.

When we got home it was "Operation remove the nose ring" time. We had told Leah that she couldn´t keep the ring and that we would go back to the piercing shop on Saturday when it opened again and get it removed. However now I am not feeling the best  and Kristian also isn´t really feeling that good (like he thought it was) and the thought of going to Copenhagen tomorrow is just too overwhelming, so we decided we would try and remove it ourselves. 

Kristian got out some of his tools, sterlised them and set to work. I have to laugh at Andrew´s face on the pictures below....

He did it!!!

  
We now have a nosering free Leah again!! She was ok about getting it out and we both got a big hug at the end of it all. I think we have a girl who has learned an important lesson.

Now we have a few more days to put in without mobile or computer.....lets see how creative she gets!

Easter Holidays!!!

It´s holiday tume. We are all off now for Easter. Sara and Christian arrived last night. They are flying off to Ireland later on today. So we started the day with brunch.

 I was up early and got the table set. I got the Easter eggs hung up.....

 and then it was into the kitchen to bake some bread and make some bacon and eggs.

 It all turned out sooo good and we had a delicious brunch.

 My mother-in-law came so she could meet Sara´s Christian and we had  a lovely few hours together. Now Kristian is going to take the two love birds into the airport. Meanwhile my mother-in-law and I are going into the cinema to see Les Miserable. I can´t wait to see it again! The music is fantastic! 

   On Monday I was also off work. I decided I was going to have some "ME" time and use the morning to paint. I tried my hand at painting some abstract things....but I was not too happy with them so they have now been painted over. It was fun, but abstract is not my thing!

The painting above is one I still have to finish.....

Ok, time to go, a quick walk is needed before a long sit in the cinema!!

Springtime......

 

 Springtime and snow somehow don´t really go together! We have had snow all week and now I am really sick of the sight of it. In December it was fine, but this is now March!! 

We have had snow before in March but what makes it harder to cope with this time, is the fact that a few weeks back the weather turned milder and we got a wee taste of Spring. I was looking forward to my Easter holiday when I coud get out to work in the garden. Then the weather changed again and the snow came back. 

So a few weeks back when the weather was turning milder. Laura, Mia and our family arranged that on the 22nd March we would hold a BBQ. We thought we would grill burgers together pack them in our picnic basket and drive to the Drive in Cinema place, it was opening that evening and there was a lot of fun things happening - like loads of old American cars visiting the place! We thought we would sit on the hill top and watch all the American cars and just have some fun together. One thing we hadn´t thought about was the fact that we could have snow on the 22nd and that it could be freezing cold!! 

 

 So when the snow arrived we just altered our plans a little. We decided that we would still grill our burgers. We were in charge of the burgers, Laura was in charge of the milkshakes and chips. We would drop the picnic and just eat at home, then take drive to the drive in and see what was happening.

We had a cosy evening here at home. We drove to the Drive In Bio and saw that it was open and a few people in their cars were there watching a film.  Usually they have a fire work display but there was none of that either. We came home to hot chocolate and a good film. I unfortunately fell asleep on the sofa so when I woke Laura had gone home!! She had fallen asleep too and when she woke decided to head over home to bed.  Leah, Mia and Kristian were the only ones who saw the film totally finished!

It was such a great evening. Everyone should live next door to a friend!!! :-)

I blew it.....

 .....big time!!! 

It started on Friday with me eating nearly a whole 250gm bar of milk chocolate! Then it continued into Saturday. Kristian had gone into the go kart track to help with the junior teams. I stayed home to clean and organise things. We decided that we would meet for a date at 2pm and that date just happened to be at our local coffee shop, a new one that we hadn´t tried yet. We were not disappointed. The cakes were delicious! (and I was eating unhealthy again!!)

Saturday evening and Laura came over and we each cuddled up in our different chairs with our hot tea and blankets and enjoyed a Doris Day film. 

Sunday morning and it was off to church. I had Sunday School and had to tell the story of Esther, which is one of my favorite stories. The children listened well this time, even the most unruly boys! It was actually nice to come home from church without a headache! haha

Sunday afternoon, just as we were sitting enjoying a bowl of soup, our front door knocked.  It was Kristian´s sister Hanna and her husband Flemming, who just happened to be in the area and thought they would call by. It was great to see them! I loved the fact that they just popped by!  This doesn´t happen much in Denmark! 

They got a bowl of hot soup too and then we went a walk in the area. It was such a beautiful day, just really cold. It was home to coffee and cake before they left for home. It really was a lovely weekend even though I did blow my diet by constantly eating cake and chocolate!

Today I was back at the doctors regarding my legs. They were going to measure the blood pressure in them. I had to rest for 5-10 minutes before they started. Boy was that good!!! Then they measured the blood pressure in my right arm and my left arm. Then it was the blood pressure in my legs that they took, so they could see what the difference was. 

What a job they had finding a pulse in my foot. It took the nurse ages to find it, in fact in the end she had to get another nurse in to help. I was starting to think I was dead in my feet....they couldnt find a pulse in the right or left foot. Finally though they picked up a weak pulse. I was starting to feel like a pregnant woman again as they used the same piece of equipment that you would use to listen to a baby´s heart. Only it was pulse in my foot that you could hear hammering away. 

So what they discovered is that the blood pressure in my right leg is really down and in my left down too, but not as much as my left. This means I will probably have to go to the hospital so they can do a more accurate test. 

On Friday I go to the doctor again to hear what the results are from the blood tests. Let´s hope they discover something so that I can get some help. I am sick of having such sore legs! 

Thank goodness it´s Friday

I always seem to look forward to the weekend!!

So this week has, once again, gone in soooo quickly. 

On Tuesday I was visiting my old lady friend. She is doing fine these days. She had a bad cold last week but seems to have gotten over that. I so enjoy my Tuesday afternoons with her. First I shop for her and then we sit and talk for ages. 

On Wednesday Kristian and I ended up at the airport. About 13 years ago a couple from our church left to go to Barbados. The guy was Danish but the girl was from Barbados so they went back to her country. Now, 13 years later, they have returned to Denmark. When they left all those years ago they had 2 children, now they have 7!  So we went in to help transport their luggage to the place where they would stay. We also wanted to welcome them back to Denmark.

Then on Thursday I had an appointment at the doctors. My legs have improved ALOT! But they still are sore and heavy from time to time. I decided to go back to the doctor, only this time I got another doctor to check me over. She was fantastic. As soon as I told her about my legs, she asked me loads of questions! She said she wanted to find out what was causing the pain. She checked me over and arranged to have blood tests done. She wants to find out if the problem is muscular, to do with my veins or caused by some sort of disease. 

I have to go back on Tuesday for some tests that they will do on my legs and then again on Friday to hear the results from the blood tests. Hopefully they will discover what is causing the pain so that I can be given treatment. I really hope I dont need an operation. I had an operation on my right leg many years ago and it was not a good experience. It was all rather YUK!! So I hope that an operation is not necessary! 

Oh, I also tried something new today. Usually on a Friday I food shop on the way home from work. It takes me ages as I go from one supermarket to the next. I am so exhausted by the time I get home and by the time I get all the food away I am in no mood to make dinner! However today was different. Last night I went on line and ordered food from this website. Did my weekly shopping and got them to deliver. It was brilliant! I arrived home at 3pm and they arrived at the same time. By 3.30pm my fridge was cleared, cleaned and packed with all the new food. I had time to relax, and I made a delicious dinner for us!! I think I will be using them a bit more often:-)

Guests and sleep....

We have had a weekend filled with friends visiting.

On Friday evening my friends from work came for dinner and to see our new place. Talk about being stressed!!! I had a full day at work, plus an extra worker`s meeting, which meant I was getting home a whole hour later than I normally do. So you can be sure that I was running around like a chicken with no head trying to get everything ready in time, in the end I made it!!! (Thanks to my wonderful neighbour Laura who came over and helped peel potatoes and cut up some vegetables.) The dessert I had made the night before (3 different cakes - banoffee, pavola and cheesecake.) All rather delicious and very fattening!

I get nervous about cooking food for others. Sometimes it turns out and other times it doesn't. Well I had planned a 3 course meal for Friday evening and, I am glad to say, it all turned out!! In fact it tasted rather good.(even if I say so myself!)

We had a really great evening together with lots of laughter and chatter.

On Saturday Kristian´s mum came by with her friend Ellen. Ellen had not seen our new place. She was meant to come and visit us at New Year but got sick. So we had a lovely Saturday afternoon with them.

It was lovely having guests but I think the most wonderful thing about this weekend was that I got to sleep long!!!!! I slept 10 hours on Friday evening! I was so exhausted when I went to bed Friday night.  It was so great to go to bed and wake up on Saturday morning when my body said I should wake up and not my alarm clock! Boy, did I enjoy that!! 

I have totally caught up on all my lack of sleep this weekend and I am actually feeling rather good! 

Oh by the way the diet thing is going great! I have lost 4 kg so far! I am drinking loads of water too and feel so much better, athough by the end of my work day my legs are still sore, although not as sore as they used to be. They used to be sore all day long! So there is a big improvement there!

Happy Birthday Mia....

Today was Mia´s 15th birthday! Mia is my friend Laura´s daughter and they both just happen to be our next door neighbour! The best neigbours anyone could wish for!!

Mia had some friends over for dinner and we were all invited over for dessert.  So a few minutes before 8pm I got myself ready! 

 Kristian, Andrew, Leah and I all got our flags and sparklers ready and stood outside the kitchen window singing Happy Birthday!

 (Leah what are you doing?!!)

We had a really cosy time with them. 

 Laura and I even got to show off what we could do....haha

Roadtrip

I have been on a mini roadtrip with my best buddy - Kristian. Our goal was a town called Aarhus. (It is on the other side of Denmark) It is here Sara has moved too and she had finally found a wee apartment she could afford.  So we were off to help her move in and get settled.

We left Friday late afternoon. It took us 4 hours to get there but it was great just having this time together in the car. Kristian loves driving and I love talking, although at one stage I did fall asleep for a while! 

Sara was so happy to see us and we her. She had so many things she needed done. The big furniture had already been moved to her new place, although she didn´t have that much furniture to move.  What she did need help with was putting up lamps, shelves and blinds. She also needed someone (us) to collect a sofa that she would borrow from her friend Winnie.

So Friday evening was spent thinking and planning. We finally got our plan ready for Saturday and went to bed so we could be up at the crack of dawn to get started.

7am Saturday morning and the alarms went off!! PLEASE!!!!!NO!!!!!! But there was no mercy - we were up and on the move.

Kristian got ready to collect the trailer so he could make the one and half hour drive to Winnie´s house to collect the sofa.  

Meanwhile Sara and I got some boxes emptied. We then headed to town. Sara started work at 11am so we had an hour to shop before that. She bought a few essentials things that she needed and then she went off to work. I went to find the bus to take me home to her place, all the while hoping that I would remember where to get off!! (The buses in Aarhus are funny, you go in the back doors and punch your ticket, then get off the front door - totally weird!)

I managed to find my way back to the apartment and gave the kitchen and bathroom a good clean. Then Krisitan arrived back with the sofa. It was then out to the hardware store to buy some wood so Kristian could make the shelves that she wanted for her shoes.  

When Sara finished work, she and I had a quick visit to Ikea to get a coffee table and a side table for her lamp. Kristian stayed at home working on the shelves.  The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent organizing things.

Finally at 9.30pm we were finished with what we could help her with. We were ready to make the long journey home again.

 Now all she needs to do is buy some pictures for the wall. 

 Sara LOVES shoes and so she wanted shelved to display her shoes on. (Me I would want shelves for books!! haha) She was so pleased with the result. 

When we left there was still a pile of things on the bed needing sorted, but this was mostly clothes that  needed to put into her chest of drawers. We had achieved what we came to do. It had been a good day!

We had a very happy daughter. It felt good leaving her in her own wee place, knowing she didn´t have to share the kitchen and bathroom with anyone. She was so thankful for what we had done that day and also so thankful for her own wee place. 

We got home in the wee hours of the morning, very tired but content!