Fundraising Day at Work

[Occurred on 12 September, blogged on 27 December of the same year.  As in 2014.]

The company I’m working for, Marel, is one of the largest in Iceland.  They like projecting a “we’re a responsible company”-vibe, so they’ve taken to sponsoring an SOS children’s village in Africa via an annual fundraiser, called Tour de Marel.

This year the goal was to walk/run from Iceland to the village in question, for a total of 6500 km in 24 hours.  Employees were encouraged to go a 5 km route during the day, and then a bunch of running groups showed up the following (Saturday) morning and finished the total off. (6 images total)

Me walking the 5 km circuit.  My heel was still really bothering me so I took it very easy.  The company is located right next to an undeveloped area, also known as nature.

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Photo Exhibit – Cold Countries

[On 21 December I found these images from 07 September 2014 lurking in a photo folder. Figured they should get equal treatment.]

Not only did we jam berries and craniums on 7 September… Anna and I also went downtown to get more manga books for her at the main city library.

While we were there, we popped on up to the top floor to take a quick peek at a photography exhibit that was about to end.  It was by Ragnar Axelsson (RAX), one of Iceland’s top photographers.  He’s spent a lot of time in cold countries, documenting ways of life that are vanishing as modernity takes over.  He’s one cool cat.  (6 images total)

This was the last day the show was open, so the place was busy.

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Jamming Berries and Craniums

[Written 16 December 2014.  Don’t tell anyone but this actually happened on 6-7 September 2014! ]

I’d only been at my new job for a few days when an email went out reminding everybody to submit their homemade jam for the jam-making-contest the week after.

Now, I have never made jam.  Ever.  But, I’m eternally competitive, so I was determined to try. (12 images total)

Saturday 6 September 2014

I’d seen a redcurrent bush (rifsberjarunna) by one of the local playgrounds that I figured might still have some berries, so I took the kids there one fine Saturday.  We were in luck, because although almost all the obvious berries were gone, there were still juicy clusters hiding down low, and inside the big bush.  Anna and Bjarki were a huge help in picking from inside the bush, and Emma helped by not running away.

It’s hard to take photos up into the air when you’re sitting/squatting/lying on the ground.

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Worker Bee

Yeah, the blog’s been a bit quiet.  Ooops! The main reason is that I started a new job on Monday, and I’m now trying to go to bed at a reasonable hour (hah!) which cuts down on blogging time. I’ll post more about the job later, for example when I’ve actually signed an employment contractRead more

Pétur and Signý Say Goodbye For Now

[… aaaaaand we’re into September… 02 September to be exact, even though today is really 16 December 2014.  Aha.] Pétur and Signý took off this fall to study in the UK.  They went to Bournemouth, and are studying in two different, but adjacent schools. They stopped by a few days before take-off, and a photoRead more

August Finished Off at Laugarvatn

[Christmassy things eat up evenings like there’s no tomorrow, so there’s been little to no blogging. This happened on a lovely 30 and 31 August weekend but is being chronicled on 14 DECEMBER 2014. At least it’s still the same year!]

We had the Laugarvatn summerhouse to ourselves on the last weekend of August, and invited Solla and Gunni to tag along.  There were no big plans besides playing games and enjoying life.  I think we succeeded!  (Side note:  This was the weekend where the Holuhraun eruption began, and as of this being written, it’s still chugging along.)

(It should be noted that we got to know Solla and Gunni through reading their blog while they lived in Santa Barbara, and we had just moved to Palo Alto.  We met them once in Los Angeles, and then bumped into each other when our eldest daughters started taking weekly English lessons in Iceland on Saturdays after we moved back.  Serendipity!)

Let there be photos!  (19 images total)

Saturday 30 August 2014

‘Computer time’ always beats the ‘real world’.

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Grandma Ásdís with Emma

[Will I finish August before December hits?  This happened on 28 August, but is being blogged on 26 Nov 2014.  Hmmm…]

Grandma Ásdís and Emma were sitting on the sofa, looking cute.  The camera came out and a bunch of photos got taken.  Here are a few of them:

Granny has a magic thing.

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Garden Fun with the 100 mm Lens

[Written on a dark 25 November 2014 evening, when the light of 24 August seems very far away.  Makes for good memories though.]

Photos got taken this summer.  Here they are. (13 images total)

Flower.

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School Starts, Molars Removed

[Written 22 August 2014.  Yes!]

Today’s been a busy day, with Finnur being a hero and staying at home both working and babysitting.

Emma kept being sick, with a fever and upset stomach, but no rashes.  She wasn’t doing a whole lot better this evening.  Here’s hoping she shakes it off over night.

Bjarki was out in the country with his grandparents, so he missed all the fun.  Meanwhile, this morning, Anna and I went to the school to pick up their time tables.  She spent the day inside reading, and outside playing.

At lunchtime, I went and got two molars (wisdom teeth, endajaxlar) removed.  One required a full on surgical attack, the other a single small yank.  I spent the rest of the day mostly in bed, trying to nap.  It does look like the swelling is not going to be as crazy severe as two years ago, when the top of one was removed, but we’ll know for sure tomorrow.  (3 images total)

The kids in Anna’s class all lined up in a row. They have a new teacher this year, which Anna’s ambivalent about.

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Emma’s Second Day at Daycare

[Written 21 August 2014.  Same day writing!  Crazy!] Emma just barely passed the test for ‘well enough to go to daycare’ this morning, with her runny nose and watery eyes, but we figured she looked energetic enough, so off she and Finnur went. An hour later Finnur returned all by himself, because Emma was doingRead more