I am currently babysitting my friend's daughter and her dog. My friend had to go into hospital to redo her knee surgery, it hasn't been healing properly since the accident she had right before Christmas, hopefully this will fix it, then she will only have the hip replacement left!! It's a good thing for her that we have free healthcare in this country, if she's lucky she'll be back to work this time next year

Now.... since i'm babysitting her 13 year old daughter who has to go to school..i'm up in the mountain area halfway between Oslo And Bergen. Apart from the fact that it is cold up here and waaaay too quiet... (what can i say, never put a citygirl in the countryside for too long)... i'm very much enjoying myself, photographing away..too bad i'm not really satisfied with pictures i've been taking...but hey...i can always go back out tomorrow.

Other than that i'm still looking for a studio space in Oslo which turns out to be quite hard, apart from the fact that the prices are mad there simply aren't many locations that are SMALL enough...and i refuse to pay rent for a place that is way too big... but hopefully i will get there eventually.



Hello everyone,

I'm back, this happens every summer i just seem to take a holiday from everything... but hopefully i'll be little more active now and not neglect you all.

I'm currently sitting at my dad's computer while i'm waiting for my washing to be done. There's a laundrette in the basement of my place, but it doesn't take money (you have to put money on a card, and guess who haven't filled up her card) So daddy's place it is. But what does he care, he's not home

I've just come back from a two week holiday i really didn't feel like going on in the first place, but i got through it, and i had a pretty good time. I went to Florida with my brother, two cousins (brother and sister) and a friend. While they spent one week in Orlando doing five parks in six days, I escaped to visit a friend in the Bahamas ( a much better idea). Then we all met up in Miami, went to the obligatory Gatorpark, went to Key West, where the beaches are a huge dissapointment, but the rest is very charming, back to Miami to stay at a Miami Beach hotel, 2 min. walk and you're on the beach, very nice. That was the short version of my holiday.

Maybe I should explain why I didn't really want to go... 1. personally i have never had the urge to go to Florida 2. I would have prefered to go a little later in the year (you know... make the winter shorter) but as my youngest cousin is 16 and school started yesterday that made it impossible 3. i really didn't feel like going anywhere but the tickets were booked and paid for and i would not have been given a refund.

Oh...there's this one thing i'm wondering about... on Key West they have the most southern point of continental USA.... but...Key West is an island...? So how can this be? Just wondering...

Hope you all had a great summer, and I know for some you the summer isn't over yet, here Autumn is very much knocking on the door...



It's warm, it's sunny, I really should be outside and enjoy this beautiful day but here I am sacrificing myself, so that you can get an update on what I'm doing these days...Which isn't much at all.

I'm well settled into my new place, and I love it

Maybe I should take my camera for a stroll rather than bore you to death with a lot of nothings...yup...sounds like a plan to me












EDIT...
I'm in the process of moving and will be without internet connection for a few days, I'll be back as soon i'm online again

------
The week I had in LA did me a lot of good. I'm back home with new reserves of energy and motivation. Unless of course you consider that I woke up this morning and couldn't move...my back has gone to hell...again.. For those of you who don't know...I have two cracked discs in my lower back. The good news is that this time around I don't have the pain down my leg.

And just to top it off, I went out and bought a new printer yesterday, A3 size, heavy bastard (which could explain my back today but let's not think about that) Anyway, I bring the printer home, do everything I'm supposed to do and... it doesn't work!!! So now I have to take it back to the shop to get a new one..... anyone who cares to come and carry it for me??

But I do have some good news, I might have found a new place to live. It's a studio flat fairly central in Oslo, it's actually my uncle that owns it, but I haven't asked him about it earlier because I thought he had sold it. So now I just have to sort out a few details and all will be sorted







edit-
Okay, i'm off to LA See you in a weeks time.

I really want spring but when i woke up this morning the ground was covered with a white blanket of snow and it was still coming down. come on ... how depressing is that... So I've booked a ticket and heading for LA, Calif. on Tuesday and staying for a week. Hopefully, by the time i get home spring has arrived.








....I've just been extremely lazy and bored. I just can't seem to find the energy to do anything these days, so i'm not going to bother you with a lot of empty chatter.

Just take a look at the new features i've put up



















Hello everyone,

Things are going really slow with me these days..i have no motivation to do anything..and i'm really restless, so i booked my ticket for London ...the problem is... it's two weeks away I think i have the winter glooms and the weather doesn't help. Last week it snowed for four days straight and i loved it..proper snow and all that...and then i woke up yesterday and the rain was pouring down most of the snow was gone leaving only masses of ice. i practically had to put my skates on in order to move outside the door. And the fact that sections of the pavements have heating elements under the asphalt didn't really help as in order to get to those sections you have to walk downhill on pure ice

Hmmm...I think i'll go do some shopping therapy...raise my spirits a little...yup that's a good idea..See ya later folks.







Things are going good and i am bouncing back from my state of apathy...I've had a few weeks where i just wanted to dig a big hole to crawl down in and shut the world out...but what can i say... i'm a social bug so i crawled back out!

My goddaughter is doing great, she was released from hospital Dec 22, back on her feet again and is now just getting her strength back.

My friend is doing a lot better as well, she will be released from hospital on Thursday to attend a rehabilitation center where she will be staying for at least 2 months building up the strength in her legs. Although she has a rough couple of days ahead of her before Thursday. Tomorrow is her son's funeral, it will be held at a special room at my friend's hospital since she can't really travel yet, and Wednesday would have been her son's 11th birthday. But things are moving in the right direction..

Otherwise, we've had a lot of snow over the past few days, I spent 30 minutes digging my car out this morning, the drawback of having outdoor parking in winter, but i'm not really complaining ...i love this season...

KEEP SMILING



For all of you who have followed my friend's situation.. I thank you all for your caring and support. Things are going better. they took out the tube down her throat so she can speak now.. she started off by cursing at her mother..(which in that family is a good thing!) She has mentioned her son and knows that she needs to talk about him, but she doesn't feel strong enough to do so just yet. She has talked about the accident itself and the frustration of being stuck in the car for 40 min. before they managed to cut her loose, without being able to comfort her daughter or know what was happening to her son, followed by watching her children being taken away by helicopter and ambulance...But in all her misery she is very considerate..she insisted that we buy a bag of chocolate for the nurses: "they are working hard and it's closing in on Christmas.." and to quote her further "December is for relaxation, family and spending time in hospital beds!"

My goddaughter woke up yesterday morning and called her father a "jerk" (again good news, she's getting restless), but her spleen keeps her from getting up and about, so she's spending the day listening to music and sleeping, she's still on heavy painkillers, so it's probably for the best.

LAUGHTER CAN GET YOU THROUGH MOST ANYTHING, SO KEEP SMILING EVERYONE!!








update:
First of all..THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR KIND COMMENTS I truly appreciate it! I just thought i'd give you an update on the progress. My goddaughter's situation is good.. the break in her back is "clean" and she can move her arms and legs just fine..but she will still need a back operation. She was told about her brother's death this morning (she was taken to a different hospital (by ambulance) than her mother (flown by helicopter as the nearest hospital was a 3 hours drive away) but they are now in the same hospital. She seems to handle it well, but the true impact of it has not yet hit her.

My friend's condition is more severe than i was told at first. She had been crushed between the dashboard and the seat and the fire brigade had to cut her loose. She was in the passenger seat, her fiancèe was driving (he was released from hospital this morning with minor injuries). She had an operation on both her legs last night and she will have another one on her left leg tomorrow. But we have been told that in time she will be fine. She has not yet been told of her son's death, but i think deep inside she knows. When i went to see her today she kept asking (or should i say write, she has a tube down throat) about her daughter, never once did she ask about her son. She is not ready to hear it!

It was hard for me to see the pain that she is in, not just physical but mental... as i said, deep inside she knows she has lost one of the most precious people in her life..


....
I just feel like sharing this with you...

My very best friend, whom i've known since i was 3 years old, has just been in a horrible car accident. Both her children (my godchildren) were in the car. The youngest, 10 years old, did not make it, he died instantly, his sister, age 13, has a broken back, how that will turn out, i don't know yet. My friend came out of it with no terminal (physical) damage.

I'm still in shock..but i thought i share this with you... The children i speak of are the ones in this photo Rest in peace little guy, you will be deeply missed



I've been on the most crazy shopping spree over the last few days... buying all the stuff that i've wanted (and needed) for a long time...:

To start off i bought a new camera Canon 5D - this will make my life easier...ehh what else did i buy... oh.. i'm looking at it...a new computer screen.. a whole different world, another external harddrive (already had one but it's really small) Studio flash light kit, new backgrounds and of course the most important of all... a new wristwatch and clothes...shoes will be bought next week!!

The rest of my money from selling my flat will be put in a savings account until i can find new studiospace as where i'm at right now doesn't really work out for me

Ohh..they have finally managed to fix the roof so we no longer have a leak but because of the moisture we now have a monster of a machine in our hallway to dry things up!! And it's seriously noisy, it's going on my nerves.... anyway, someone is coming next week to take a look at the damage and calculate how much needs to be done.. The have to do the floors as the water leaked from inside the wall and underneath the linoleum (is that spelled right..well that's how we spell it in Norwegian anyway).. the big question is whether or not they have to tear down the wall..fingers crossed they don't have to do that...

I'm hoping all you guys will have a splendid week ahead!!

DON'T FORGET THOSE SMILES FOLKS, THEY CAN MAKE WONDERS!



I am not a happy bunny today... everything that could go wrong did go wrong.. I woke up this morning and water was dripping like mad from the ceiling in our hallway (i'm staying at my dad's at the moment). It turns out that the builders that are fixing up the exterior of the building has dropped something quite heavy on the roof and made a hole in it!! The problem now is that the hole is really small, so they can't find it, hence it's not fixed!! :angry:

To continue my day, I went to my own flat which had to be cleared today as the new owners are moving in tomorrow. I put all my stuff in the car, mainly studio lighting and backgrounds as i've used the flat for a studio over the past week. No problem there. Then I'll get back to my dad's planning on driving my car up to the front door, not happening!! My dad lives in a apartment complex and to get into the area by car you have to put about 2us$ on a machine and the gate will open. Well the machine was broken, so i figured i'll just go through the one further down. The machine took my money and nothing happened!! I now contemplated on leaving the stuff in the car until tomorrow, but this area is not a place you want to leave gear worth over 2,000 us$ in your car unattended. So I ended up having to carry all my stuff (which is quite heavy) uphill and up stairs, and with my bad back and really bad knees this is not recommended.

And to top off my day.... I broke my nail (gawd...that is sooo female!!)

So right now i'm smearing melted cheese and tomato sauce all over my keyboard as i'm comfort eating on pizza!

BRIGHTER DAYS ARE BOUND TO SHOW UP.. SO KEEP SMILING EVERYONE!!



The first "proper" snow has fallen and the landscape is shimmering in a blanket of white silk. Hopefully it will stay like this until Christmas...but experience tells me that it won't, it's still fairly warm (around 0c, 32F). It's such a shame since the snow lights up the dark days we have this time of year, our days are still getting shorter. We are now down to about 5 hours of daylight (from sunrise to sunset) around Christmas Eve we'll have our shortest day, about 3 hours of daylight before darkness once again decends upon us. (boy, am i glad i live south of the artic circle, 24 hours of darkness for 2 months would have driven me crazy )

I'm moving the rest of my furniture tomorrow and then my flat will be empty for about a week before the new owners take over next weekend. So i figured i'll be using it as a studio for the week

BE HAPPY FOLKS, A SMILE BRIGHTENS UP THE DAY!!!



I'm about to move and right now I hardly have any furniture in my flat, it's a bit depressing but ...better times ahead so I'm smiling..for not to mention the profit I made hmm... I'm sensing some travelling up ahead, I can hardly wait, I haven't had a holiday for over a year!! I'll probably end up going to see my friend in Dallas, TX in January some time and stop over in London and see various friends I haven't seen since I moved back to Norway

Since I've had some time on my hands for some procrastination over the past week, I've made some changes to my journal. The idea is to feature my friends on a regular basis (my ambitions might exceed me considering I always seem to get caught up in other things, but by keeping it simple I just might manage)

HAVE A GREAT WEEK Y'ALL!!