End of Summer

Labor Day er overstået hvilket officielt markerer enden på sommeren herovre. Langt om længe er skolerne åbnet igen mens poolen desværre er lukket. Ligesom sidste år tog vi turen op forbi Michigan State Fair (med mor her bag rattet!) og fik styret vores trang til bonderøv for et godt stykke tid. Hvor ellers finder man fåre rumper på række? Eller hører på råb om “cow coming through”? Eller spiser friturestegte twinkies og kæler med æsler? Nej vel?

Labor Day is over which officially marks the end of summer here. Finally the schools are open again while the pool is unfortunately closed. Like last year we took the trip to the Michigan State Fair (with mom here behind the wheel!) And had our hillbilly urge satisfied for another year. Where else will you find sheep butts in a row? Or hear the yell of "cow coming through"? Or eat fried twinkies and pet donkeys? 

Ligesom sidste år var højdepunktet klart “pig race”. Ham bone (ham med kasketten), Hamma Montana, Britney Spareribs, og Taylor Not So Swift havde alle taget turen til Michigan igen I år. Præcis samme grise, samme setup og præcis lige så underholdende som sidste år: https://youtu.be/-Peiyy7VGuQ

Just like last year the highlight was the "pig race". Ham bone (the guy with the cap), Hamma Montana, Britney Spareribs and Taylor Not So Swift had all made the trip to Michigan again this year. Exactly the same pigs, the same setup, and just as enjoyable as last year:https://youtu.be/-Peiyy7VGuQ

Der var rigtig mange mennesker, så vi fik trods alt nok rimeligt hurtigt, men vi fandt en lille bod med papir marmorering, hvor Luca og Teresa brugte ½ time sammenlagt I dyb koncentration og med flot resultat: https://youtu.be/QHDxkeXZx14

There were a lot of people, so we had enough after  a short while, but we found a small booth with paper marbling> Luca and Teresa spent ½ hours total in deep concentration and with excellent results: https://youtu.be/QHDxkeXZx14

Skolestart er gået over al forventning denne gang. Altså pånær at Kristian og jeg var så MEGA pinlige at vi formastede os til at møde op begge to inklusive hund for at hente Teresa. Planen var at Teresa og jeg skulle videre hen og fejre sommerens afslutning med en PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) men det var alt for stegende varmt til den slags, så det må vente lidt endnu. Jeg savler ved tanken om PSL hvert eneste år – den ser jo så lækker ud og dufter fantastisk. Og hver gang kan jeg knap klemme en halv een ned, før jeg er mega forkvalmet og ikke orker at tænke på den igen, før et helt år senere. Suk.

Back to school has gone beyond all expectations this time. Besides Kristian and I being so MEGA embarrassing that both of us showed up, including the dog, to get Teresa. The plan was that Teresa and I should head towards Starbucks and celebrate summer's end with a PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) but it was too hot for that, so it will have to wait some more. I drool at the thought of a PSL every year - it looks so delicious and smells awesome. And every time, I can barely squeeze one half one down before I am super nauseated and cannot bother to think about it until a year later. Sigh.

Luca har fået en sød lærer igen, og selv Ulrik lader til at overleve uden for meget bøvl. Men den aller aller bedste overraskelse har været at man på Teresas skole har åbnet svømmehallen igen, så man kan gå til……. synkronsvømning! Det er Teresas hedeste drøm at gå til og det meste af sommeren har hun tilbragt med hovedet nedad og benene opad I vores pool.  Og, hvis jeg skal være helt ærlig, så er det een af de få sportsgrene jeg ikke kan få nok af at kigge på, så jeg glæder mig osse.

Luca is happy with his teacher again this year, and even Ulrik seems to survive without too much trouble. But the very very best surprise has been that Teresa's school has opened the swimming pool again, so you can participate in ....... synchronized swimming! It is one of Teresa's fondest dreams to do and most of the summer she has spent in our pool with her head down and legs up. And to be honest, it's one of the few sports I can watch over and over, so I am quite pleased, too.

Det er rigtig godt at være I gang igen. Især fordi Kristian har fået sin arbejdstilladelse og har fået et job hos Ford nærmest dumpende ned I hovedet via linkedin. Det kommer til at blive lidt af en mundfuld at være I gang begge to fuld tid, men vi kommer begge to til at have super fleksible arbejdstider og det er I den grad tiltrængt at få mere end een indtægt ind på kontoen hver måned. Det betyder jo så også at nogen her skal træne bilkørsel ret så ihærdigt. Der ligger ny-indkøbte kegler på sofaen og venter til parallel parkerings træning I morgen, og vække uret kommer til at ringe tidligt søndag morgen, hvor vi skal klemme min første motorvejs kørsel ind………. Det går faktisk ret godt, men jeg er mentalt ved at dø hver gang, jeg sætter mig bag rattet, og det må altså gerne snart gå over. Ja, det må så! Heldigvis er Kristian super tålmodig, men jeg kan utrolig godt relatere til det her alligevel:http://livefralolland.dk/2015/09/06/hvordan-jeg-havde-det-da-jeg-havde-faaet-koerekort/

It's really nice to be going at full speed again. Especially because Kristian got his work permit and on top of this has landed a job offer with Ford via linkedin. It's going to be quite a mouthful to be working full time both of us, but we will both have super flexible working hours and it is more than needed to get one more income into the bank account each month. It also means that yours truly has too practice her driving quite intensively. There are some newly purchased traffic cones on the couch waiting for parallel parking practice tomorrow, and the alarm clock is set for early Sunday morning where we need to squeeze in my first freeway driving .......... It goes OK so far, but I'm mentally dying every time I get behind the wheel, and I really wish that would pass soon. Seriously! Fortunately, Kristian is super patient :-)