Last night we ended an era - the era of watching "Everybody Loves Raymond."
We love that series and many evenings have been spent, as a family, sitting around the TV watching an episode or two. Last night we did it again, this time we watched the last 3 episodes in the very last season. That is 9 seasons we have gotten through.
We are feeling a bit lost now. We have felt a part of the Barone family for such a long time and they have helped us relax and laugh at family situations that we all know so well. I think we liked them so much because we could identify with them.
It´s strange and a bit sad that we have no more episodes to see. So now we are wondering what our next series could be. We were thinking about " 'Allo, 'Allo" we remember seeing a few episodes years ago and it was funny. I need to go on Amazon and check out what´s around. If anybody in cybercity has got any ideas, feel free to share them here.
Well I will let you decide who you think the Oscar should go to!
Last night Sara, her friend Nanna and Andrew made a scary video. They had so much fun making it. Below you can see the result. Don´t worry it is not soooo scary - it is however in Danish!
Sunday afternoon I was out looking at an apartment with my old lady friend. She had been offered an apartment while I was in Ireland and was not sure what to do. The apartment is situated in a nursing home and here she would get the care she needs so we went to see it. However it is a really hard decision for her to make as she really doesn´t want to leave her home. Ummmhhhh she has a lot to think about.
Tuesday night (Wednesday morning) Andrew woke Kristian and me at 2 am!! "Mum and Dad I have something to tell you." he said. "I think I have a bad heart!" Kristian and I were totally confused. What was he on about?! Well, he went on to explain that his heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was about to come out of his chest and that he was finding it hard to breathe. He went on to tell us that he had had this on and off for about a month but hadn´t thought so much about it because it went away rather quickly. However on Tuesday evening it was lasting a long time and it was more extreme than before.
We rang the doctor and got an appointment for Wednesday, mid morning. We also discovered that he had high blood pressure. So Wednesday he went to the doctors.
They discovered that there is something abnormal. One of his heart chambers (atria) is enlarged. They also talked about there maybe being a blockage of some kind. He has to have everything checked out, so he is going to a heart specialist on the 15th March for a thorough check up. I am taking this as a good sign. Since he has to wait until the 15th March they must not think it is something that needs to be dealt with here and now, so maybe it´s not as serious as it first sounds. He also got some blood tests done. The results came back today and they are all normal.
Wednesday afternoon, after work I was off to play "granny". I was looking after my friend Jette´s children. She had to go to a meeting and so I had a few hours alone with them. They were just so cute and I had a wonderful afternoon. We drew pictures, read books, danced, made popcorn, and played a vet - were I was the vet and they came with all their sick toy animals.(Now that was fun!) Before long Jette was back again and I had to get home to make dinner for the rest of my family. Hope I get to play granny again sometime soon!I just LOVED it!
Thursday I was back seeing my old lady friend. She still hasn´t decided about the apartment. Then it was back to work on Thursday evening for a 3 hour meeting !!! But I must admit it was a good meeting and the 3 hours flew by.
Friday - finally Friday and it´s weekend! Leah is away to the youth club in the church and is spending the night with one of the girls. Tomorrow they have an all day gospel workshop to attend with her choir. Sara has her friend Nanna here. She will stay the night. Andrew and the two girls are having a blast together, they are making a scary movie and it is hilarious to sit and listen to them plan and film things!
Funny thing just happened. I was sitting in the living room talking to dad over skype. The kids had been outside filming and they came in - what a lot of noise they made, so I moved into Sara´s room so I could talk to dad in peace. No one saw me leave and so Sara suddenly came waltzing into her room and got the shock of her life! It was sooo funny. She was NOT expecting anyone to be sitting on her bed and when she came in and saw me you should have seen her face! A complete look of horror crossed it and she ran out!! (I know it´s Friday evening but I didn´t think I looked that bad! haha) I laughed soooo much. Sara on the other hand had to run to the bathroom and a new pair of underpants were needed. Serves her right for making a scary movie!! haha
A week has NEVER gone by as fast as last week did. It went by too fast! It seemed like we had only arrived in Ireland and unpacked our cases when we had to pack and leave again! Having said that we had a wonderful week with dad. Some of the things we experienced......
Leah and I spent one of the afternoons in town where we visited Primark - off course!! I got to see my cousin too...and Leah had her first Starbucks!!
One day my aunt came to visit and we ordered fish, pasties and chips for lunch. The day was spent relaxing together at home with dad, watching some good DVD´s!
Dad had a trip to the hospital for more platelets. For those that don´t know dad is fighting leukemia and so has to make regular trips to the hospital for platelets and blood. This time he only needed the platelets, his hemoglobin levels were good.
One evening Leah and I had a girlie night out. We went for Subway and then on to see The Vow. We so enjoyed it! I did shed a wee tear - Leah shook her head! We enjoyed visiting a cinema in Belfast and seeing the differences that there were from the Danish cinemas. We sooo enjoyed our toffee popcorn, you can only get one type of popcorn at the cinema over here, and we discovered that you can also buy taco chips and dip at the cinema in Belfast. How cool is that!? Denmark you could learn alot!!
We had a PJ day, well Leah did - a day without showering or changing, all day long in her PJs. Boy did our room smell!! haha
We also attended a funeral. One of my good friends lost her mum. It was wonderful to see Karen again, she lives in Canada so we usually are not home at the same time. However it was sad to see her under such circumstances. Her mum was a wonderful woman. She always had a smile on her face, was great to chat with and a lot of fun too. One of those mums you could joke with. I did my work experience at Karen´s mum´s office and she looked after me well that week. She was a brave lady who battled cancer for many years. Now she is at peace. That´s the comfort in this, she knew Jesus and is now in a much better place!
One day a dear "long lost old" friend dropped by - Norman. It was wonderful to spend time catching up with him. The same afternoon my sister-in-law, niece and nephew also came by. We ate far too many cream buns from the local bakery and just had a lot of fun together. When my friend Norman left, Gillian and the kids stayed on and we ended the day with a KFC picnic on the living room floor.
Before going home we got to enjoy a fry at the local cafe. Yummie!!!
Leah got a bowl of stew!
All in all I had a wonderful week in Ireland spending time with dad. We didn't get to do half the things we had planned but we also just needed the time to relax and be together.
Once again I am on the move from one country to another. This time Leah is with me.
We arrived in Ireland late last night. We had a really lovely journey, everything went like clockwork and we even arrived 10 minutes before time! That´s SAS for you!
On the ground it was cold and gray but once above those clouds the view was fantastic!
It´s lovely to be back and see dad again. For Leah and me, the next few days are going to be taken up with having a wee holiday with granda, although a few visits to Primark will probably get worked in around this holiday!
I´m stuffed! I have been out this evening with my friend Genny at one of our favourite restaurants - The Mexican. We always eat too much and tonight was no different. We got caught up with each others lives and it was just great to see her again.
Today a letter came in the post. It was to Andrew from the Danish military. In Denmark the young men can do a 4 month conscription in the Danish army. Andrew has been dreaming of this since he was a wee boy! About 6 months ago he got a letter telling him he would be called into an information day sometime in 2012 and then he could, if he wanted, do his military service in 2013. Now a letter has come telling him they need young men and are therefore recruiting now. This means he could begin his national service already in a few months time!!! WHAT???!!! Mum is not a happy woman! Andrew is running around with a smile on his face!
Over the last few months he has been so tired of his school. He has finished secondary school and is taking a two year course but is just not into it. He has been struggling to keep himself going and has been dreaming of something else coming along! Today that something else came!
So I think he is going to fill in the forms and send them off. Oh dear, I don´t want him to be sent off to some war torn place. Well I can hope that he doesnt get accepted. He has to go to an information day, have an interview and do a fitness test. I suppose there is a chance that he will fail the fitness test! One can hope!!
6 weeks....5 weeks...... 4 weeks.....3 weeks..... 2 weeks.... 1 week and now.... only 3 days left until we have free from school for our winter holiday! When I started back to work after Christmas, 6 weeks seemed a long time to wait for holiday - how wrong I was!!
Leah and I will spend our winter break in Ireland with dad. I`m sorry I wont get to see so many this time while at home. The time is short and I just want to spend as much time as I can with dad and Leah. In some ways I just need a break. I can feel that I just need to be at home without always having to be somewhere at a certain time. (But I am planning to go home again at Easter, so hopefully then I can get to see more people!)
So Friday can´t come quick enough!! I can´t wait for the holidays to begin. You would think I hated my job the way I look forward to my holidays!! haha It´s totally the opposite - I love my job and my workplace!
Last night I went to Ikea with my friend Audry and had such a cosy night with her. We hadn´t talked since before Christmas so it was nice to catch up again. I was first getting home at 11.30pm!! (We did the usual thing - McDonalds after Ikea!) As I drove home the temperature in my car was showing a reading of -18 degrees! Brrrrhhhhhhh! it sure was cold!
As I said, it was a late night last night and I sure could feel that this morning when my alarm rang at 5.50am. I just did not want to get up. I lay until 6.10am and then I was running about like a headless chicken! I had a good day at work despite the fact that I was feeling so tired. (Tonight I will go to bed early!)
After work I went to visit my old lady friend. She looked tired but is improving slowly.
It was then home to catch up on my wee family and get dinner ready. So that has basically been my week so far.
Today at work I was listening to this one song, on repeat, for about 3 hours!! (Now that would do Kristian´s head in but I love doing that! haha) I just love the words and the melody. Have a listen....
"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3,17
So Kristian had arranged a date night. It turned out to be dinner and a concert. We met up with two of Kristian´s friends - Morten and Michael. They had their wives with them too. (Kristian met Morten years ago while doing a course at night school. Since then they have been friends. Through the years Kristian has gotten to know Morten´s brother Michael. They don´t see each other so often, maybe two or three times a year.) But last night we all got to hang out together.
The food was delicious. We had prawn cocktail for starters followed by a Greek inspired dinner. Once again I ate far too much but enjoyed every mouthful. Dinner was from 7pm to 9pm and then the concert started.
Morten´s wife and me.
It was Michael´s birthday and he got to meet the man giving the concert....Mike Anderson.
Mike Anderson and band were fantastic! Funny thing was that we were the youngest people there!! A jazzclub had arranged the event and most of the people there were 60+!! and once the music started they were all up dancing. I had so much fun watching these older people swing each other about the dance floor and they could dance! I didn´t get to dance.:-( Kristian is a terrible dancer! So he refuses to dance, at least in public! So I just had to make do with clapping my hands and tapping my feet!
It was a lovely evening although by 11pm I was ready for bed!! Talk about getting old! It was finished by midnight and we were heading home and in bed by 1am! I then slept until 11.53am!!! We all did! We must have really needed it:-) Thanks for a lovely night Kristian, next month it´s my turn to arrange a date! Ummhhh what can I do???
Check out Mike Andersons voice - fantastic voice and his band were fantastic too!
Another week has nearly gone!! Time really is flying by. I must really be having fun - you know the old saying "time flies when you´re having fun!"
So what´s been happening this week....
1. Well at the start of the week we got an invite, in the post, to our friends silver wedding anniversary. Bit scary that our friends are starting to celebrate 25 years of marriage! I remember my mum and dad celebrating their silver wedding and I thought they were old! haha The best thing about this anniversary is that it starts at 10am with brunch and not the traditionally 6am wake up call that the Danes usually have. (Who really wants to get up at 5am so they can get to a house for 6am in the morning! I just don´t get that tradition!! Having said that it is always really cosy when you do finally get to the house and start to wake up a bit!)
2. Leah cut up a pig this week. They had a butcher visiting her school to show the kids how to cut up a pig. They were taught about the different cuts of meat and how they could cook them. They spent a day cooking and had so much meat that they decided to invite all their parents to come and eat what they had made. So Tuesday evening found us down at the school enjoying a wonderful meal that I didn´t have to make.
3. I got in a few visits with my old lady friend. She is improving slowly but surely.
4. Got a hair cut today. Very short! (ah well it will grow!)
5. Need to really get going with this fitness thing. I am really putting on the weight again. I have been soooo bad.
6. Talked to dad this evening. He is in hospital again, although probably only for the night. Another nose bleed which they are having problems stopping. He was to get blood today at home but woke with a nose bleed and ended up in the hospital to get platelets and then blood.
7. Tomorrow evening my hubby is taking me on a date!! I have to be ready for 5pm! Oh I can´t wait!!
Weather wise it has gotten really cold. Minus 8 today and they are saying that temperatures will go down to between -10 and -16 over the weekend. Brrrrrrrrhhhhh - sounds like a weekend for hot chocolate and a few good films!!
My name is Laura and I come from Belfast, Northern Ireland. I am married to Kristian who is Danish, so for the past 25 years I have lived in Denmark. We live in a small town north of Copenhagen. We have 3 kids, Sara (24 years), Andrew (22 years) and Leah(18 years).
Kristian and I are both Christians. It´s so great to be in a relationship with God and know He is there helping us and loving us no matter what life may throw our way. Life has meaning and purpose.
I started this blog mainly as a diary so I could look back and see what we had done as a family over the years. Then I realised it was a great way for my family and friends in Ireland to follow our life here in Denmark. It´s not the most exciting blog - it´s just life - our life :-)
