Where did the days go?
Why does the time that we have been looking forward to so long,
pass so quickly when it eventually arrives?
(Sitting here humming the tune from the "Nut Cracker", the one made hollywoodly famous from Home Alone.)
It's almost that time of year again. Less than two days left. Excitement rising.
I am in that occasion posting the Norwegian baking song: Pepperkakebakesangen.
Endelig. Julebrusen har lyst mot oss i snart to måneder, marsipanen har også spredt sine dufter og farger i butikkene, men for oss som har ventet, får vi endelig uttelling, og den som venter på noe godt får det enda bedre når det først kommer. Snart lyder julemusikken fra høyttalere og hodetelefoner, Skomaker Andersen ler på skjermen og en luke åpnes hver dag i påvente av den store åpne-dagen.
Som en liten forberedelse til lørdag (siden deigen bør stå over natta) slenger jeg opp Bakemester Harepus sin berømte sang:
Pepperkakebakesangen
Når en pepperkakebaker
baker pepperbakekaker
tar han først en stekegryte
og et kilo margarin.
Oppi gryta smelter smøret,
og det neste han må gjøre
er å røre sammen smøret
med en kilo med farin.
(Farin, det er det samme som sukker.)
Og mens smør og sukker skummer
tar man åtte eggeplommer
som man rører ut i gryta
med en kilo hvetemel.
Og til slutt i gryta slepper man
en liten teskje pepper,
og så rører man omkring
og tømmer deigen på en fjel.
(Så kjevler man deigen så flat som en pannekake,
og tar mann- og kone-former og lager mann- og kone-kaker.)
We really don't need one special day to be thankful, but still it's nice that these days exist. Days where the whole purpose of the day is to express thankfulness and gratitude to the giver and sustainer of Life.
With risk of being considered a sappy cliché writer, I still want to ask you to think of three things that you are thankful for, and say your thank-yous.
Have a great thanksgiving day everyone, with or without turkey and stuffing.
Lately I have had all these blogging ideas running in my head, but they seem to have run away as I sit down and write.
There is so much to comment on, especially living in a new place, having new surroundings, old and new friends mixed together.
I have also, sometimes been thinking what this blog is for. What is the purpose? To show off my life? To inspire and encourage? To inform or impress? To entertain and be funny? Can it serve more than one purpose? That's a thought.
One of the things I have been observing when living in a city is the status that busyness and stress has. You're someone only if your agenda is full, if you keep running from one appointment to the other, if you have to leave early because you have to be somewhere else.
Even I, with my, up until now, almost empty agenda have been involuntarily feeling sucked into this tornado of insecurity and chase after a busy life. Why do we do it? Why do I let myself be defined by other people? When I say that I trust in God and my security is in him, do I then lie?
I am pushed by this into seeing who I allow to define me. Whoever you follow define you. And the other way around: Whoever you are defined by, that is the one you follow. Who am I?
Less deep and less challenging blogging will follow. This is what spilled out this time.
Be sure to breathe. Breathe deep.
Yesterday I brought out my 10 year old self again, and traveled back in time. Back to the time when the greatest thing in the world was to get the newest edition of a Don Rosa story, carefully opening the magazine and reading the story, as carefully closing the cartoon magazine and storing it somewhere safe.
Also back in time to the Christmas eve when the book under the tree was the last to be opened, before I disappeared into the world of ducks and world travels.
Yesterday I left home with the goal of a signature on that book.
I started standing in line, and two hours and alot of talking, standing and expecting later, I was first in line.
Thirty seconds later, I was no longer in line, and walking out, I was amazed by the amount of people still standing in line outside.
Inside there were about 60-70 people, and outside, I don't know. At least a lot.
I met with the childhood hero who still is a hero, the cartoon artist who doesn't like to draw, and neither considers himself an artist...
I present to you: My Visual Don Rosa Experience
The starting point.
I met some relatives, they also took the picture with me on it.
So close, but yet so far.
Thank you, Espen
Almost there.
Closer...
...and I'm there.
Close up of the long line.
Long, longer, longest.
As my window is open during the night to provide me with fresh air and much needed oxygen, the opportunity for friends to drop by is evidently present.
When pulling up the curtains and looking out, I found this little friend waiting for me.
Thank you all you other friends for reading what I write, I will now continue, as I know there is some interest in what I write.
Do you ever get the urge to see who reads what you write?
Be it in a newspaper article, a school essay or in something as simple and plain as a blog.
Sometimes you just need to know if what you write is worth writing.
If you reads this, it's not hard to show me who my audience is.
Just click the comment button just a few lines below, write write a small hello and send it off. You can even be anonymous, if you'd like...
OK?
It only takes a few seconds.
Please?
We were home this weekend, the occasion was the 10 year birthday of Freak, our beloved youth group, the green house for many of the good men and women infiltrating the world.
We got to celebrate faithfulness, look forward with anticipation, look upwards with gratitude.
It was good, fun and for some even funner.
Jon-Arne is now no longer youth pastor, but pastor.
This girl is now youth leader.
The ones of us that won the night's quiz won a ride with the 16 meter high lift that lifted us 16 meters up. From there the view was a good one even if the pictures weren't.
The Laughing Song Series
Some were having a really fun time singing about African animals.
Yes, this is the infamous bart.
And, yes. We won.
I was really on a winning strike this evening, winning all of the three competitions I competed in, The Freak Quiz, The Word Song Game and The Random Question True or False Game.
And the next night our table won the Scrambled Letters Food Game.
I feel like a winner.
And then there was an update.
I have received several complaints from all over because of my lack of updating this summer, so finally I give in to peer pressure and give it all to you:
The summer of 07
It started coming back from the land of the outback to the land of the vikings, instantly missing the outbackers, but really happy to be around vikings. Mixed feelings.
About a week after the return, on the fun date of 777, two good friends tied the knot and said yes to knotting, and then they were man and wife.
Soon after that, we started painting. And it seems that we never stopped. It started with painting red. One of our uncle&aunts had a house that needed painting, the color was red and there was a few days of sun. And David got a little bit abstract in his arting, dropping white paint onto the porch from great heights. He is an art fart.
Coming home safely therefrom, planning started for one of the most important days of the year, the 27th of July. For the last 22 years, this has exclusively been Davids day, but this year he had to share it with someone else. Lovely.
Moving straight into the oh so familiar job of applying paint to wood, we had some fun long days in the new residence of Honningdal Jr. They took the pictures, not me, so that's why I have no pictorial proof at the moment.
The night before the amazing Go-fest we went to a barbeque with old and new friends in Vestby, both knot-tiers and not-tiers.
Then Go-fest came. I worked alot with making small daily reports from the youth camp, making my time with others than my co-worker and the camera very short. My time with God, however, was amazing. Worship took me higher than where I have been this summer, and God did stuff with me that I am very thankful for. He is good.
The latest approach in attempting to make this summer more interesting and fun has been the recent shift in location, which means I am now located in the big town of Oslo.
That is where I am at, and this is where I will be for some time now.
Come visit.
Lachie and his silhouetted coffee
We can fly!
My three excellent lovely staff people
The Cold Rock. Mint flavoured.
These were some of the pictures from the last week in Perth, it seems so long ago,
and still it's only been two weeks...
Since the last mysterious post, I have celebrated my 24th birthday, been watching the rain from behind glass, received an overjoyed jumping brother into my arms, watched two friends walk down the aisle of the church as man and wife and longed for summer as well as new good friends.
Life at home is good. It is the complete change of pace, coming from a busy schedule to no schedule. Is it good? At times. Is it bad? At times, too. I am enjoying it, knowing I have longed to be home, I dare do nothing else. I also miss the friends from my time in Perth, they have really impacted my life.
This was an update and semi-deep thinking, next time, maybe pictures will come as well, if Internet continues liking me.
After 47 hours of traveling by air and road, I am home.
My bed awaits me, I'll sleep well.
Good night.
I am flying home.
The next two days will be spent traveling,
starting Thursday at 3:00 in the morning Norwegian time, 9AM Perth time,
and arriving in my own bed at 23:50 Friday, after being picked up at the airport.
Please pray for a safe and fun trip, and I will see alot of you soon, and some of you I leave.
Hello and goodbye. All at once.
-paul andreas
I sit here again, trying to update you all with everything that has happened lately, but without using too many words.
I will try.
We have now been back in Perth for more than a month, and I have exactly two weeks left here.
We have been working in the office, learning much about the post-production of a video, that is all the editing, the effects, the logging and transcribing. If you don't understand, I might be able to explain later. :)
This was Timothy's birthday cake. Nice?
We have had a lot of fun, the latest addition to having fun was making a movie this last weekend. On outreach we came up with a story, a plot and some characters, and our school leader wrote a script and directed the best short movie you'll ever see. Start looking forward to it already!
Jason in the process of putting together the movie
People are asking me to see the stuff that I have made during this school, but that has to be done in person. Which gives me excuses to see more people this summer. As for the projects we are working on from outreach, they will most likely not be done in time for me leaving, so that has to be shown later. But just as spreading out the gifts over a few days, the joy sustains itself more that way :) "Må spare litt, vet du..."
Some of the missable people
I have been doing this school with some great people, and it will be hard leaving them here.
If you want a newsletter and haven't got one, please tell me and that can be arranged :)
Dance Dance Revolution...
It is hard to update everyone about everything, but this it for now. I won't promise too much, lately I have been bad at keeping what I wished for on posting on my blog.
See you later
-paul andreas
Hope you read the text and not just looked at the pictures.
I know that you all are longing for the updates on the further adventures of the Turkey. Here comes a few pictures to stir up your appetite, and you will soon see more.
I am still doing good. Resting on the day of rest will be good, though.
Have a great day of Pentecost, and be a part of the global prayermeeting taking place today!
www.globaldayofprayer.com
Tenk at nå er dagen her,
som jeg har lengtet etter.
Jeg får gå i toget
og jeg er så glad.
Du kan tro
jeg skal nok rope ut
av alle krefter,
svinge flagget mitt
og rope høyt HURRA!
Ser du flagget mitt
rødt og blått og hvitt?
Det skal vaie fritt
og vise seg.
Friskt og vakkert er det som
vårt kjære, gamle Norge
Ja, det landet er vi glad i,
du og jeg!
