Myndir frá bústaðnum // pics from the cottage

We spent a few days between x-mas and new year at the lovely cottage. These photos are from that trip.

Winter wonderland! 

Playing in the snow. 

Mamma að reyna við snjókarlinn!! ;) 

Freyja doing her lazer-eyes again... 

How cute is this?! Atlas and Freyja snuggling at the cottage after playing in the snow. 

2004

Ég ætla að gera eins og margir bloggarar gera á þessum tíma árs... fara yfir liðna mánuði og nefna highlights.

Janúar: Hætti í Masternum í London og flutti aftur til Íslands.
Febrúar: Ökklabraut mig!
Mars: Fór í geggjaða ferð til S-Afríku með Abdul og Suliman.
Apríl: Fékk sumarvinnu hjá VISA.
Maí: Abdul kom til landsins og fékk vinnu við að leggja gervigras.
Júní: Vinna hjá okkur báðum. Hjálpuðum við að græja garð foreldranna.
Júlí: Vinna hjá okkur báðum. Meiri garðvinna. Magnea vinkona eignaðist litla mús, Eyrúnu!
Ágúst: Hjónaleysin fóru í frábæra ferð, London-Budapest-Transylvania-Tyrkland.
Sept: Vinna. Haukur bróðir fór sem skiptinemi til Frakklands. Perla, tíkin hennar mömmu átti 6 hvolpa með Tínó.
Okt: Biggi 50 ára, svaka stuð! Flutti til Californiu, fór í Joshua Tree National Park og San Francisco, keyrði niður Pacific Coast Highway. SÁUM KONDÓRA!! Ragga vinkona flutti til Japans. Upplifði mína fyrstu Hrekkarvöku í San Diego.
Nóv: Hjónaleysin fluttu inn í sína fyrstu íbúð á kampus í UC-Irvine. Móðir mín tók uppá því að fá gallsteina og lenti í 2 aðgerðum. Ég skapp heim til Íslands í 4 daga. Eyddi einu kvöldi í Boston. Fór í Afganska trúlofunarveislu. Abdul fékk ný gleraugu!! Fórum og skoðuðum Grand Canyon.
Des: Fór til Orlando að heimsækja pabba; amma, afi og mamma komu að heimsækja líka. Abdul fylgdi fljótt á eftir. Flaug svo með íslendingunum (nema pabba) til Íslands fyrir jólin. Vegabréfsáritunin mín kom í gegn. Fékk þær gleðifregnir að ein góð vinkona mín á von á sér!!!

Búið að vera ljómandi gott ár, get engan veginn kvartað. Ég held að ég sé bara aldeilis heppin og hamingjusöm :) Ef ég hef gleymt að nefna einhver atriði sem eru mikilvæg, þá biðst ég vægðar. Minni hefur aldrei verið mitt 'forté' ;)

January: Left the Master's degree in London and moved back to Iceland.
February: Broke my ankle!
March: Went on an amazing trip to S-Africa with 'the udder brudders' Abdul og Suliman.
April: Got a summer job with VISA.
May: Abdul came to Iceland and got a job at laying astroturf.
June: We both worked. Helped the parents fix the garden.
July: We both worked. More garden work. My friend Magnea had a little baby girl, Eyrún!
Ágúst: Abdul and I went on a fantastic trip, London-Budapest-Transylvania-Turkey.
Sept: Work . My brother Haukur went as an exchange student to France. Perla, my mum's doggie had 6 puppies with Tino, another one of my mum's doggies.
Oct: Biggi celebrated 50 years of life, great party! Moved to California, visited Joshua Tree National Park and San Francisco, drove down Pacific Coast Highway. WE SAW CONDORS!! My friend Ragga moved to Japan. Experienced my first Halloween in San Diego.
Nov: Abdul and I moved into our first flat on the UCI-campus. My mother decided to get gall stones and had to have 2 operations. I went back to Iceland for 4 days. Spent 1 night in Boston. Visited an afghan engagement party. Abdul got new glasses!! Went to see the Grand Canyon.
Dec: Went to Orlando to visit dad; grandma, grandad and mum came soon after me. Abdul also spent 5 days with us. Caught the same flight home to Iceland as the other icelanders (except dad). My visa-application came through. Received wonderful news that my dear friend is expecting!!!

These past 12 months have been lovely, I cannot complain. I believe I am a very lucky and happy person. :) If I forgot to mention something important, I sincerely and humbly apologise. Memory has never been my forté.

Hjálpið fórnarlömbunum // Help the victims

Ég skora á alla sem lesa þetta að kaupa ekki flugelda í ár heldur gefa peninginn til hjálpar fórnarlömbunum í Asíu eða hjálpa hvernig sem þeir geta. Amazon.com/co.uk er með mjög einfalda uppsetningu á að gefa pening til Rauða Krossins.

I challenge all who read this to donate to aid the victims in Asia the money you would have spent buying fireworks or partying in the new year, or help any other way you can. Amazon.com/co.uk hs a very simple interface to donate 100% to the Red Cross.

News from Thailand: Suliman accompanied a seriously injured Austrian, who speaks no english, (for you who do not know, Suli speaks english, farsi and german) from Phuket to Bankok. He shall return south tomorrow, continuing to volunteer as translator or assistant at hospitals or with whatever he can. The world is a better place because of people like him.

Snjóhundurinn Atlas! Ein snjókúla, en nebbinn alltaf hreinn :) 

Snow snow snow

We just spent 3 wonderful days and 2 nights in the cottage. Wonderful weather... sunshine, snow, beautiful dramatic skies... snow buntings, ravens, mice (or "mouses" as someone would like to call them!)... just sleeping, reading, going for short walks in the snow with the doggies and relaxing... heaven!

We had two wonderful visitors from S-Africa (Rowan and Mary) currently living in Londinium and we sent them on excursions far and wide around the southern part. They seemed to like it! It's always nice to have visitors :)

What did mark these days was the tsunami hitting Asia... terrible stuff. Suliman was in Phuket and says the situation is just as horrid as one can imagine. Poor people lost everything, and sometimes family members or their own lives. He's putting off his Asia-travels for now; he's going to stay in the area, volunteering at the local hospitals. They need all the help they can get.

Abdul is in Lake Tahoe, snowboarding with some 'mates'. Lucky skunk. I'm so jealous!

Ok, gonna go now to the grandparents', taking Atlas with me. My little snuggly-bunny. Nothing beats cuddling with a doggie.

The x-mas puppie, Atlas. He propped himself up on that stool and sat there for a while, just watching all the hubub. 

X-mas eve

We had a lovely time at the grandparents' house :) Here are some pics! The doggies were definitely the centre of attention for most of the time... they made sure of that. They got a x-mas pressie, one to share between the 5 of them. Plenty of arguments arose! But then again, they would have argued if they had each got a toy! So, makes no difference!

So, we are now all full of food and happy after spending quality time together. I am now watching the Fellowship of the Ring, extended edition, woohoo!! :D

Hope you all have a wonderful x-mas!

x x x x x
B

Gleðileg jól // Happy holidays

Aðfangadagur runninn upp. Eftirvænting borgarbúa leynir sér ekki. Þegar búin að koma 61 símtal til VISA frá miðnætti. Ég svaf alveg ljómandi vel í nótt, nema að morguninn kom alltof fljótt.
Gærkvöldið var ljúft. Ég fór í smá jólakortaútkeyrslu og Beggaló könguló kom með mér í það. Svo röltum við niður Laugaveginn og frostþurrkuðum á okkur lærin. Það var voða hátíðarlegt og hellingur af fólki á stjá. Svo fórum við og fengum okkur heitt kakó á einu rótgrónu kaffihúsi bæjarins. Svo fórum við hver til síns heimilis og mamma og ég skreyttum jólatréð. Voða jóló.
Á meðan Beggó og ég vorum að rölta niður Laugaveginn vorum við að rifja upp hvar við vorum fyrir ári síðan... Beggó og Ragga voru að Þorlákast í bænum, og voru á leið út á flugvöll að sækja mig; ég var á leið frá London, föst í umferð rétt fyrir utan Heathrow og horfði á Icelandair-vélina takast á loft án mín. Þær voru því án mín þann Þorlákinn. Ég vil ALDREI aftur vera í þessari stöðu. Þetta var ömurlegasti Þorlákur sem ég hef upplifað! Þurfti að fara aftur í kalt herbergið á kampus í University of Greenwich, Medway... borðaði vibba-örbylgjumat, ekki hræða á svæðinu, rúmið kalt... þurfti að keyra aftur út á Heathrow á aðfangadagsmorgun og ná næstu vél. Komst loks heim rétt fyrir matartíma á aðfangadagskvöld. Planes, Trains & Automobiles-upplifun mín. Aldrei aftur.

X-mas day. People anxiously waiting for the evening to come. Already 61 phonecalls to VISA, counting from midnight. I had a lovely night's sleep, the only disturbance was the arrival of the morning.
Last night was sweet. I did a bit of x-mas card distribution and was pleasured by the wonderful company of Beggó. We then did the traditional walk down Laugavegur (main shopping street) and soaked in the holiday spirit. We stopped for a hot cup of cocoa to defreeze our thighs and then carried on walking. We then started remembering where we were a year ago... Beggó and Ragga were doing the same thing Beggó and I were doing this year (Ragga is in Japan now!!) and I was stuck in traffic just outside Heathrow, watching the Icelandair plane take off without me!! It was horrid, horrid I tell you!! I NEVER want to be in that situation again. It was the worst Thorlaks-mass I've EVER been through. I had to drive back to my cold, small room in Medway, eat nasty microwave dinner and just sit there, by myself until I fell asleep, then drive all the way back to Heathrow on the 24th, just to make it in time for dinner with the family in Iceland. My version of Planes, Trains & Automobiles. Never again.

Just added new links

Put in new link to doggiephotos and to my mum's website, Snasi.is (Icelandic name for Schnauser).
Whoever invented migrane should be hung up to dry. Forever.

Vetrarsólstöður // Winter solstice

Shortest day of the year, and the darkest. Light levels very low. Lots of candles and fairylights create a very romantic feel to everything. Why can't my googly-bear be here?!! Goddamn bloody ticket prices!
It has started to rain. Snow melting, leaving lovely slush everywhere.
X-mas party at parents' house tonight. Good food and catching up with relatives who I haven't seen for 2 years. Then, just chillin' and watching tv or 'somefink'.

Snow-covered doggies after playing outside. So cute!!! :D 

Atlas, Freyja the Alien, Perla and Tino :) 

Freyja and doggies playing under the bed! 

Ég á vegabréfsáritun! // I have a visa!

Fór í viðtalið í sendiráðinu, það gekk upp. Fékk útgefna áritun í vegabréfið mitt og svo umslag sem "ég má alls ekki opna!!" en þeir í innflytjendaeftirlitinu eiga að fá bréfið innsiglað. Spennó! Þannig að þetta er alltaf að verða raunverulegra! Ég er bara alveg að fíla það :) Woohoo!

Er búin að komast að því að það eru alltof fáir dagar til jóla. Mér finnst alltaf vera vika eftir en svo bara lít ég á dagatalið, og þá bara er ekki vika heldur nokkrir dagar! Of mikið ad gera.

Return of the King rúlar!

I went for that interview at the embassy, it worked! I now have a visa in my passport and a sealed envelope that "I must not open!!" but the people at the INS are to receive it sealed at the airport. Exciting! so, this is all becoming more real! And I'm loving it :) Woohoo!

I've found out that there are too few days 'till x-mas. I always feel like there's a week until but then I look at the calendar and there are only a few more days to go! Too busy.

Return of the King rules!

VISA

Ég fór í viðtal í sendiráðinu... það tók MIKIÐ lengri tíma en mér var sagt. En konan sem talaði við mig var voða næs, ég sá hana á fyrirlestri sem SÍNE stóð fyrir á sínum tíma og hún er bara voða voða indæl. En hún spurði auðvitað réttu spurninganna, hvernig við kynntumst og ég átti að segja "my love story". En til að gera langa sögu stutta, þá gekk þetta upp og það verður hringt í mig eftir nokkra daga og þá verður komið visa í vegabréfið mitt!! :D Þá er bara eftir að fara í gegnum inflytjendaeftirlitið á flugvellinum og svo hjá INS. En það er víst allt downhill from here. Woohoo!!! Ég er ekkert smá kát!!

I went for the interview at the embassy... it took a LOT longer than I was told. But the lady I spoke to was very nice, I saw her at a convention held by the student association of icelandic students abroad, and she was quite lovely. But of course she asked all the right questions, trying to get the dates right. She asked me to tell me our "Love Story". But to make a long story short, in a few days I will have a visa in my passport! :D So now all I have to do is go through immigration at my point of entry to the States and then at the INS office. But it's supposedly all downhill riding from here on. Woohoo!!! I am so happy!!

Góður dagur-vondur dagur // Good day-bad day

Alveg var dagurinn í gær rússíbanaferð tilfinninga. Svaka gaman og fékk góðar fréttir, svo fréttir frá Svövu vinkonu að hún lenti í svaka árekstri þannig að restinni af kvöldinu var eytt á Slysó og hjá henni. Svo aðrar vondar fréttir frá LÍN. Ég vissi að þær voru að koma, en bjóst ekki við þeim á þessu ári... búið að segja mér annað, eða þá að ég skildi það þannig. En góðu fréttirnar yfirgnæfa held ég allt hitt. Svava er í heilu lagi, hinir aðilarnir í árekstrinum líka. Bíllinn hennar er aftur í móti í rúst. Hægt er að sjá mynd af slysinu (aftari bíllinn á myndinni er hennar bíll) á www.hogfather.blogspot.com. Alveg ótrúlegt að fólkið slapp svona vel frá þessu.

Yesterday was a rollercoaster of emotions. Great fun and I received some excellent news, then I got news from Svava that she had been in a collision. So the rest of the evening was spent at the A & E and at her place. When I got home I received another bit of bad news. National Student Loan Authorities dared send me a bill for my outstanding debt! I knew it was coming, but I wasn't expecting it until next year, as I had been told that or that was my perception. But I guess the good news overwhelm the bad news. Svava is in one piece, as are the others who were involved in the crash. Her car is, on the other hand, in tatters. You can see a picture of the accident on www.hogfather.blogspot.com, her car is the one further away. It's amazing that everyone escaped relatively unharmed.

Svefnskýrsla // Sleep report

Kjútípæjið svaf bara vel í nótt. Ég var reyndar með annað eyrað alltaf við búrið hans að hlusta, en hann svaf eins og steinn. Haukur bróðir stakk uppá að bara sofa með hann uppí, en vó. Það er dáldið rosalegt að venja hund á að sofa alltaf uppí rúmi. Þá virkar hann aldrei neitt öðruvísi! Anyways, held þetta sé bara allt að gerast. Mjög gott.
Spilakvöld í gærkvöldi, ógisslega gaman!! Vantaði tvær gellur, Maríu og Sillí, en Hilda hennar Svövu kom sterk inn :) Við spiluðum Snorta! sem er einn af nýju leikjunum sem ég keypti úti og vó hvað það er fyndið! :D Við vorum allar að pissa í okkur á tímabili! Svo var smá Imaginiff... spilað, hrikalega fyndið. Sumarbústaðarferðin verður SÚPER!
Er að vinna, geggjað stuð.
Fékk viðtal í sendiráðinu á morgun fyrir hádegi, vonandi að útkoman verði góð. Kvíði pínu fyrir.

The cutiepie slept fine last night. I, however, had one ear to his crate the whole night, listening. But he slept right through. My brother Haukur suggested I just slept with him on the bed, but wo. That's a bit too heavy, to train the dog to sleep with you on the bed right from the start. Then, he'll never sleep otherwise. Which is not good. Anyways, I think the sleep pattern is all coming along nicely. Very good.
Boardgame playing last night, sooo much fun! Two babes were missing, María and Sillí, but Hilda, Svava's girl, was a good replacement :) We played Snorta! which is one of the new games I bought and wo, it's so funny!! We nearly wet ourselves! Then we played a bit of Imaginiff... so much fun! The cottage trip will be so much fun!!
Am working, great stuff.
Got an interview with the embassy tomorrow am. I hope it's going to be a good result. Am a bit nervous, though.

I just can't sit and be quiet about this. Of all the retarded, fucked up, stupid, peasant-like things our government has done, this outdoes them all!!! Bobby Fischer's petition for staying in Iceland has been approved!!!!! He sent a letter this summer to the department of foreign affairs and they just granted his petition, just like that!! (You can count on one hand the numbers of permits issued this year to foreigners!!!) But a family from former Yugoslavia with a baby... nooooo, we can't allow them to stay, 'cause they aren't fancy enough... or fucked up enough! Why doesn't the government just scout the planet for messed-up, retarded, hateful, biggot, racist egomaniacs and let them all come and stay in Iceland???!! Then we can become a colony for neo-nazis and lunatics! I refuse to take part in this 'mierda' any more.

Hundalíf // Dog's life

Atlas hélt fyrir mér vöku í nótt. Svefnaðlögun í gangi. Hann var eitthvað ósáttur við að sofa í kassanum. Gekk um gólf og kvartaði. Hundurinn, ekki ég. Vonandi að næsta nótt verði betri. Er að fara að spila í kvöld, ég vona að ég geti haldið mér vakandi. Er svo að fara að vinna í fyrramálið, fékk 2 daga hjá VISA. Atlas verður vonandi stilltur þannig að ég geti sofið í nótt.
Símadaman hjá sendiráðinu er ekki alveg að meika það á listann hjá jólasveininum. Ég hringdi í morgun... fyrst hringdi út. Svo kom endalaus símsvari. Loksins kom valmöguleiki "or press '0' for operator". Þá fékk ég samband við þennan gáfustamp. Ég skýrði mitt mál. Hún var fyrst vægast sagt rugluð í ríminu, sagði mér svo að hringja kl. 2 þar sem þeir sem sjá um þessi mál taka símann þá. Ég hringdi kl. 2. Þá var mér sagt að það væri einhver önnur sem sjái um þessi mál. Hún sé bara með símatíma á morgnana. Ekki í fyrsta skipti sem ég fæ eitthvað einkennilegar upplýsingar hjá þessu sendiráði. Mrrrrd. Vonandi að það gangi betur í fyrramálið.

Atlas kept me up last night. Sleep adaption going on. He didn't approve sleeping in his crate. Walked around and complained. The dog, not I. I hope tonight will be better. Boardgame meeting tonight, I'd better be awake! Am going to work tomorrow morning, VISA needed me after all. At least for the next 2 days. So, I hope Atlas will be good so that I can get some sleep tonight.
The lady-operator at the embassy is not going to make it on to Santa's list this year. I called this morning... first they didn't pick up. Then it was the answering machine of Death. Finally I got the option "or press '0' for operator". Then I got through to this barrel of knowledge. I explained what I was doing. She got very confused. Then she told me to call back at 2 pm as the people who handle these matters only take the phone in the afternoon. I called at 2 pm. I was then told by someone that I was speaking to the wrong person and the person handling these matters only takes the phone in the mornings. Again, I got misleading info. Not the first time I can't get straightforward answers there. What is going on at this embassy?! Mrrrrd. I hope it goes better tomorrow morning.

Spilafíkill // Game-junkie

Ég kom með fullt af spilum til Íslands!!! Hrikalega gaman!! :D Jólin eru VEL skipulögð hjá mér, woohoo!!! :D

I brought loads of boardgames to Iceland!! Fantastic! X-mas are well-organised this year, woohoo!! :D

Ekkert internet // No internet

Pabbi er med internet tengingu daudans. Lika virus og spyware a tolvunni. Er mord ad reyna ad komast online. Verd thvi ekki i email sambandi fyrr en 14. des, thegar jeg er komin til Islands. Thangad til er haegt ad senda mjer sms i islenska numerid mitt!

Dad has the internet connection from hell. Viruses and spyware on his pc, too. It's murder to try and connect online. I won't be in email contact until I get home to Iceland on the 14th of Dec. Until then I am in text-connection through my Icelandic number!

Skilaboð // Message

Kíkið neðst á vinstri hlið síðunnar og skoðið gestakortið sem þið getið merkt inná og skrifað hnyttin skilaboð!

Check out the bottom of the left-hand side of the page and look at the guest map, where you can mark your position and write witty messages!

Orlando // Orlando

Á morgun held ég á fund föður míns. Verður það ánægjulegt. Skil ég við ástmann minn en mun hann þó heiðra okkur með viðkomu sinni í fylki gullaldinna í nokkra dægur. Sný ég til lands ísa um miðjan jólamánuðinn og mun óska eftir vinafundum í kjölfarið.

Tomorrow my father I meet . Stupendous it shall be. My lover I leave (with 50 ways??) but he will lavish us with his presence for a few days in the state of golden fruits. Return I shall to the land of ice and of my fathers. Middle of the month of x-mas it shall be. Reunions I will request.

Yoda.