Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas! Hope you're enjoying the day doing whatever makes you happiest. Thank you so much for reading and sharing my Norwegian adventure. Much love to you and yours!

Hello, Blog? It’s me, Michele.

It feels AGES since I last posted but, look! It’s only been 2 ½ months. Not really that long at all, in a generous, span-of-life view, right? I guess I needed a little break from writing, and that’s okay, as breaks are very fine things, but I’m feeling the need to get back into the routine, so here we go….

All is well with me and mine, thank goodness. I quit my daytime Norwegian classes two months ago, I’m somewhat ashamed to admit. I just couldn’t take it anymore! The class was too advanced for me; I had so much trouble understanding the teacher and some of my fellow students, I started feeling quite sad and frustrated over the entire experience. I should have asked to be transferred to the level two class, and I did think about that, but I also thought about the free time I would have if I was just working and going to my Thursday night class, and the free time thing won out. I felt bad about giving up---quitting is wrong!---but I felt bad about being crappy at Norwegian, too, so feeling bad but less busy was, really, the best option.

I also quit taking the hormones I’d been taking since I was prematurely shoved into menopause when the surgeons removed some of my lady parts two years ago. There’s so much talk about how hormone replacement therapy causes cancer, I got a little freaked out. Plus, I was having a pretty severe problem with what I thought was adult acne, and I blamed that on the hormones, too, so decided it was time to fling myself a la naturale into my “new stage” of life. Well, excuse my French, but fuck me! What a mistake! The hot flashes came roaring back within a month of stopping the pills, and the mood swings, OMG, the mood swings. I was all emotional roller coaster for weeks until I settled into what might be best described as semi-permanent bitchiness. Oh, and the acne didn’t go away. Pretty picture, yes? Mistake!!!

I visited my doctor and got permission to go back on the hormones for “a while,” with a promise to see her again within a year. And finally, I went to the dermatologist about my skin; it took her 30 seconds to diagnose rosecea and prescribe a face cream that “should clear that right up!” Bless these doctors, honestly. I love them. My hot flashes are abating, I’m not so constantly stabby anymore, and my face no longer screams, “Look away! Look away!” Sheesh! Menopause and getting older kind of sucks. Yes, yes, I know, consider the alternative, I’m lucky to have my health, blah blah blah, still sucks and y’all know it’s true.

Considering all of that, things are good. Through a friend (thank you Helen!!), I scored a fun gig teaching Business English to clients in my area for a company in Oslo and I’m so digging it! I only have one student so far but he seems satisfied with my teaching competence, which is a super nice thing for me. I really needed this. It’s been so, so, sooo long since I felt professional and appreciated---this has given me a real boost in the self-esteem department. I also recently finished two translating projects, resulting in two happy customers. Yea for me!

So that’s some of what’s been going on. I’m sorry I didn’t post about the world-famous Norwegian butter crisis but I’m sure you found information about that from other sources. In case you were worried about my Christmas baking, I’m happy to report the grocery store had a new supply of butter available Saturday. There will be Christmas cookies in the works here Thursday. Talk soon!