visit reykjanes

I know it is hard to beleive, but there are things to do in Keflavík.

There is lots to do.

There is a whole book full of things to do.


http://www.visitreykjanes.is/

But still, Reykjavíkers continue to insist that they have some sort of superiority and look down upon us out here  in Reykjanesbær.

In the middle of nowhere.
even worse if you live on the base.

But it just is not true.

It is too bad that 80% of the people are fat headed cowboys who vote in the same government every election, even after the town is swallowed up in corruption and bankrupt.  But that doesn't mean that there is nothing to do.

We have a few Museums, dancing light posts, Lighthouses, an abandoned NATO base and the Blue Lagoon.

On holidays I think you could actually skip Reykjavík and just hang out in Reykjanesbær.

I am just complaining because couchsurfing always seem to think Keflavík is just a place to catch your plane, when really its a town, people live in it and there is stuff to do.

Survival of the double birthdays

The party was last night, the official ending, 26 hours ago and just now I can say things are back to normal. Mostly.

Stefán let things get a little to his head and still has not gotten over it, each hour he gets better.

And the living room is still full of day room furniture, even more then usual, but I might like it this way.

Rósa the dog has been sleeping most of the day in recovery, she was a good host and I think she took the time to greet everyone.


Our party included:
14 adults
2 ten year olds
1 nine year old
2 eight year olds
3 seven year olds
1 five year old
1 four year old
1 three year old
2 two year olds
3 one year olds
and one little baby

All this and amazingly enough, no one spilled anything on the carpet.
My father in law thinks this is a sign of a boring party :)

Nearly all the food was eaten, even though at first I was thinking I may have over done it.

Both boys got such nice gifts, they are both very lucky. Thank you too all my friends and family for that, and even Kasper was happy at the end of the night.

And now that the party is done, the pictures being sorted and the house looking more like a home then a kindergarten, I am happy that this only happens once a year.

See you next year.

Smuggling

With the taxes being insane on all alcohol and tabacco products, there is now a kind of group effort to get these things into the country through duty free.

Everyone is in on it.

You have a duty to help out your fellow islander.

Well, not really, but the price difference is so extreme that you feeling guilty about not buying duty free.

You can compare the prices if you want, some stuff is three times more on this side of customs.
Vinbudin - The state controled liqour sales
Frihofnin - The duty free store in Keflavik airport

I do not drink and have not smoked in years, but I still ask couchsurfers and friends to bring beer, vodka and cigerettes for people I know, including my husband.
David likes beer and his friends smoke.

It really would be wastful if every person going through customs does not take full advantage of the chance at duty free.

I have probably stopped making sense now, its really late and I am getting really really tired.
And this computer , o'l betsy, does not have spell check, so I am seeing that this might not make sense to anyone. I just had to say it.

So, good night!

My Thinking

My father in law gave lended me, long term, a lap top. An IBM ThinkPad that may be an original with a shiney sticker delcaring it 'Designed for Microsoft Windows 98'
oh dear, I did not even know these guys were still around.

I am incredibly grateful because after my computer died I have had a tough time getting online for any decent amount of time, hence the blog neglect.

With a screen only slightly bigger then my coffee cup and an English keyboard, I will need to learn how to type again.
*I know how to set it to Icelandic but because the letters would not match up it would be confusing!

And I called this post my thinking because when I am using this computer I can only relate thoughts, words. o'l betsy (laptops new name) doesnt like pictures and has no hard drive space anyways.

In other news, my baby Leopold turned one today, but you have to wait until tomorrow for the pictures.

Everyone's doing it

what?
electing someone funny into government.
The mayor of Reykjavík is a comedian, who also dresses in drag, and now a clown was elected to congress in Brazil
I guess when things can not get any worse, you need someone that can at least make you laugh.

A few shots

Stefán is far too cool, he reminds me of one of those banking gangsters.

Winter is here when Kasper and Rósa both need an electric heating blanket to keep warm.

A few couchsurfers, trying to get some packing done before heading out the next day.

Davíð is the new family hairdresser, at least with the boys.

Worst host ever!

Wheel we always try to be the best hosts we can, it doesn't always work. Sometimes I don't get a chance to vacuum, sometimes the kids are not very well behaved, anything can happen, but we try, and most importantly we follow the couchsurfing rules, which clearly state, no profits allowed.

A little before the story:
These hosts I am relating below have been banned, then re-allowed on couchsurfing for breaking a few rules like, charging money to sleep on the couch, renting out there car and having guests property stolen.

I should make it known that I am very against the whole idea of renting out personal cars from people over couchsurfing, not so much because of the money but because of the lack of security. Iceland is a big place and the roads can be very rough. Cars break all the time and there is a fair amount on accidents, so if you are renting a car under the table, who will pay the the claims against you in a car accident? If you are renting a car you don't know anything about, who will save you when it breaks done in the middle of nowhere? No ama here So, it really i just a bad idea.

Now they are back on couchsurfing, hosting in Reykjavík, a popular place to go. And I have met a few survivors from this house. Stories including:
-Having to pay 1500 kr a night, per person.
-Renting the car, then finding out the window would not roll up.
-Accepting a ride somewhere, that they were going anywhere, and paying twice the price of the gasoline.

Then last night I host a couple of nice girls from Germany. They had stayed with me when they first got to Iceland then came back for the last night - after they had just stayed at this infamous house in Reykjavík, and they still looked a little shaken up from the whole thing.

First of all they arrived early in the morning and when the door opened everyone was running around naked.  Two men and one women, trying to get dressed for the day. I guess this was a little shocking.
Then one girl has to use the bathroom, sits on the toilet and the entire thing falls over. Water spills everywhere, water starts spraying out of the pipes. And the smell.... Now if this was me I probably would have made a run for it right then, but these girls are made of stronger stuff then me.
Then they hear that this toilette breaks all the time, it will be fixed later. So they sit on the beddish thing, most of the morning, with a Finnish girl that they are sharing a bed with, who will not get out of her sleeping bag because she is frightened.  So the three of them have a bond, with nearly exploding bladders they then went on a laptop and finally read the references for this host.
Pages of complaints about the mess, bathroom, charging for things and communication problems.
Moral of the story: Take the time to read references before you send a couch request.
*******Side note: Davíð is so excited to try this out now he is planning to surf this couch - just to say he did it.

So so behind - back to Facebook

This having three boys takes more time and energy then one might think,

but I have big plans,

as soon as I think of a good name I will go back to Facebook and create a page for the entire family. And I will not use it for Farmville, I promise.

Then Davíð can get his facebooking fix, and we can properly advertise this kids upcoming birthday parties.

Look for your upcoming friendship request :)

Just need a good name......

Toothbrush memories

Today I had coffee at my friends house, but this is not the interesting part for you, what was interesting is that while standing in her bathroom, checking out my teeth after eating, I looked at her toothbrush and was reminded of an old friend in Canada.
Her name was Tammy.
Now one day Tammy had been consuming a few beer and decided to admit that she uses everyones toothbrush. She said that she often feels the need to brush her teeth and because she does not carry toothbrush around with her, she just uses the ones in her friends bathrooms.
Ending line:
If Ive been to your house, I have used your toothbrush.
Morale of the story: Somethings were not meant to be shared.

Eating with the big boys

Leópold refuses to believe that he is actually a baby. Here you see him eating with his big brothers, and the boy from upstairs who is nearly a brother.
And if you used to live on the base you will recognize all my furniture from the old day rooms, so I would like to thank the U.S. army for furnishing my living room :)

Leó, enjoying those noodles.

So he has to stand to be able to see well enough over the table.

Lucky for us, Rósa is very good about getting any food that does not make it into the baby's mouth.

Washing

Here you can clearly see that Leópold spends far too much time around me, that or I clean too much. Give this little guy a cloth and he starts wiping away.

Mr. T

Angela, a couchsurfing friend from the United States, sent me this great surprise:

 

And what is this? You might ask, well, its a Mr. T tampon holder. Seriously, his head lifts up so you can hide them in his legs. To quote my dear friend:

Both Functional and Fashionable

Thanks again Angela.

And some parting words of wisdom from our hero:

A happy 13 year old

While I always suspected I could behave a little on the immature side, I never suspected that I wrote like a youngster.
Even after I spell check.
According to this site, one that analizes your blog and tells you about yourself, I am female (correct), happy almost always (whatever you say) and between 13 - 17 years of age (someone better tell that to my skin).
To double check the accurateness I looked up my rend and neighbor, Lizzy. 
and they were dead on.
so maybe I am 13.

Staying up late

Davíð is out working on the lighting at Víkingaheimur a.k.a. Viking World and I am bored, really bored.
This kids are sleeping, the laundry is done, dishs - check.
Nothing else to do but fool around online.
Farmville, here I come.
But first I want to share these:
My husbands Aunty Anne lives and teaches in Bhutan (admittedly I didn't know that was a place until she started teaching there), and no surprise, she has a blog. The most recent post I found really funny because I think it talks some conversations about men being like animals, like they really can not help themselves and thats OK.

It seems that most Bhutanese women accept that husbands will have other lovers, and that a good wife should “forgive” her husband.

I also ran across this great marriage advice that I actually try to live by, but sometimes need reminding: 

Let the small stuff go. Things are not always symbolic. Sometimes a dirty sock is just a dirty sock (or something like that). We don’t need to over analyze or over invest in small actions or omissions.

And last, but certainly not least, remember Oregon Trail?  Well, some fun loving people made a pretend movie tailer for it, as though it would be a movie... Anyways, if you played the game, you will laugh yourself silly. I nearly woke up the kids laughing so loud, but if you don't know what I am talking about, you will probably think this video is a little stupid?

Little Monster

If you leave the bathroom door open for 2 minutes this little guy is in there like a dirty sock and the next thing you know, the house is covered in toilet paper.
He just grabs the end and runs.