Shows, Bathroom Items, Walks, & House #2

2019-10-03Us Standard

[Photos taken 03 – 20 October 2019, posted online 19 April 2020. We’re two weeks away from some lifting of Covid-19 social distancing.]

All of a sudden it was October. We spent quite a bit of time looking at options for the upcoming bathroom renovation. House #2 was visited frequently, as a new dishwasher was installed, as well as a networked temperature control unit. I felt very adult-y as I arranged for my car to be repainted, and cleaned, and walks happened.

The big theme though was shows: Professor Brian Cox’s Universal Show, Matilda the Musical, as well as Hannah Gadsby‘s Douglas. (80-ish images total)

Thursday 03 October 2019

A thematic image for October, as the bathroom renovations loomed large. Finnur and myself were instructed by our interior architect to visit a few local shops to choose a towel warmer, toilet, sink, shower-bottom, and faucets.
So exciting!
I made it to the gym!
I made a quick stop on the way home to check out a nearby bookstore, where Jóhanna, my sister-in-law, was launching a children’s book she illustrated. Sadly I was so late that I missed Jóhanna herself, but did read through the book, which is lovely, and is about a boy who’s little brother is born with a cleft lip and palate.
At home, Emma hijacked the big camera, and took a few photos.
Emma is using Anna’s old piano book for her studies. Happily, Emma’s teacher is a much better teacher than the novice one Anna had when she was using this book, inasmuch that I spent a huge amount of time and energy keeping Anna on track, but Emma’s been jumping to practice. It also helps that Anna regularly serenades us with really good music, which is a great motivator.
The gorgeous picture Jóhanna (the illustrator) drew when Emma was born.
Beginner reading books. They are not exactly fun, but happily very short.
Bjarki in his natural habitat.

Saturday 05 October 2019

Emma practicing.
Shortly after noon we’d arrived at house #2.
Happily, our guests were more than ready to help install a new dishwasher.
Finishing touches!
Yummy!
Dinner being eaten while the manly-men finished installing the dishwasher.
That evening we were showered with northern lights.
The kids came out to watch.
I was very sad I didn’t have a tripod. I tried using the fence to steady the camera, and this happy accident happened, but everything else was super blurry.

Sunday 06 October 2019

Morning view.
Later that day we drove back to town, and we visited the library again.
We arrived a day late to a birthday party in the West Town. Emma waves a gift.
Cousins out in the distance on scooters.

Wednesday 09 October 2019

Morning fun! That’s a 32 kg / 70 lbs kettle-bell.
I picked my car up from the repair shop, all shiny. The side doors had gotten scraped up by other cars in the winter-time, and I’d gotten tired of it looking sad all the time. Happily the shop did a great job!
I was a gorgeous afternoon, and I found myself out walking, while Emma attended her gymnastics practice.
Shortly before 6 pm.

Thursday 10 October 2019

Morning hairstyle-request fulfilled.
With the blue car all shiny on the outside, I decided to splurge on an inside cleaning job as well. The cleaner was a 15-20 minute walk away from work.
On my way to pick up the car.
Shiny insides!! Those seats are a haven for splotches, but for a little while the car remained splotch free for the first time in foreeever.

Friday 11 October 2019

Downtown, on my way to meet up with fellow EE students from way back when.

Saturday 12 October 2019

Emma proud after reading a “real” book from the library, by herself!

Sunday 13 October 2019

Whoa! It’s a stage!
Yup, we went to the theater to see the Icelandic version of Matilda the Musical.
B and me.
A photo during the intermission. The show was fun, but I wasn’t too fond of the translation. It’s a very ‘wordy’ show, and the translation was a little hard to follow, as a lot of the words were ‘oldy’. (Turns out the translator is the dad of the guy playing the villain (pictured). )
After the show, we visited the library right next door, and found a hammock!

Tuesday 15 October 2019

I managed to meet Elsa before dinner for a quick walk around a gorgeous area a five minute drive away.
The waterfalls minus people.
Cool, and creepy!
A theme-colored trip to the grocery store.

Wednesday 16 October 2019

Emma walking to the entrance of the local soccer team field. The women’s main team were in playoffs with a team from France, and the girls in the lower divisions had been asked to lead the players onto the field.
When I arrived, I realized I’d forgotten to dress her in a thick jumper, but I left her anyway…
Waiting for the fun to start. The artificial turf is new.
Walking in…
They stopped and posed for a minute, and then the kids ran off. We didn’t stay to watch the game, which we lost by a large margin.
I rushed home to switch kiddos, and drove downtown with Anna in search of a quick dinner.
I’d seen ads for this earlier in the day on Facebook, and got two tickets up in the rafters.
Mother and daughter with all the nerds in the city.
Our view, it worked out fine as the photos of the galaxies came across well on the big screen.
Using her coat to open a bottle during intermission.
Guðrún and her family were there!!
As the second half was about to begin.
Meanwhile, at home, Finnur wondered who’d requested all this flour?!

Thursday 17 October 2019

We were quickly pulled back down to earth as we needed to pick a sink for our upcoming bathroom renovation. This is the sink we ended up going with, but on that day we chose another sink, that turned out to be three sizes too big.

Friday 18 October 2019

There was a bit of a fun-day at work, as the production half encouraged everyone to come see what they do.
That evening I was back at Harpa (!!!), this time to see Hannah Gadsby perform her show Douglas, as she was touring it before its Netflix-bound taping a few months later. Guðrún agreed to be my partner in crime. 🙂
The plan.
As this would be taped for Netflix, all phones had to be stored in special bags to prevent unauthorized recordings.
A photo of the phone-keeper, once my phone was free.
The masses leaving after a very fun show, and desperately trying to find a phone unlocking station.
Most everybody returned the phone-keepers.
Anna showing me she was still alive, as she was babysitting her siblings.
Finnur had “eloped” with Óli to House #2, to try and install the temperature regulator.
So pretty!
Later that night I was presented with rather a useless lineup of letters in the Icelandic scrabble game netskrafl.

Saturday 19 October 2019

The next day I was sent to find a certain type of valve, so the boys could finish their thermostat adventure.
Emma and myself about to drive out of town to deliver the valves.
Emma warming up, with the remains of a chandelier-ish light we’d taken down.
Óli checking out the status of the roof.
At 6 pm I drove to Borgarnes to attend a sewing club, as one of the members has moved there! She has the most gorgeous view from her living room windows.

Sunday 20 October 2019

Around lunchtime Emma and myself departed House #2, and stopped in Borgarnes to eat lunch. See the wind?
Walking back to the car after eating lunch. This is the ‘mom stop taking pictures’ face.
We made it to our street with 7 km of electricity to spare. Always fun to drive in wind!
Next on the agenda was measuring how much space we had in front of the downstairs restroom for shelving, as the next day we were expecting a demolishion-crew to tear down the upstairs bathroom.
Hello Ikea, my old friend.
As a sign of my brain being overwhelmed by the approaching bathroom renovation, I ended up buying this table, hoping to replace the living room coffee table, which was falling apart. Long story short, this table didn’t fit at all, but before returning it, I wanted to see if we could use it in the front room. Then the front room turned into a storage room with a lot of stuff from the garage, and when I finally decided the table didn’t fit there either, it was too late to return it. So now I have a table I need to get rid of. Anybody? 🙂