A life more ordinary

I realize this will sound strange to all the moms out there who just want a break from their kids, but the past few months have been torture for me. Between my residency interviews and job in Denmark, I have hardly seen these boys since October. It is unthinkable at their young ages. 

I have been from Minneapolis to Kansas City to Chicago to Denmark to Utah to Minneapolis to Pennsylvania to Washington DC to Newport Beach, VA, to Duluth to Minneapolis to Phoenix to Orange County CA to Duluth to Baltimore to Duluth to San Francisco to Sacramento to San Francisco to Denmark to Chicago to Duluth to La Crosse -- and now-- finally... back in Denmark with the boys.

All this for a residency position in the US starting July of 2015 so I can get a medical specialty that is recognized in both the US and Denmark. 

I was reading a gal's blog (from my hometown) who has a brain tumor and how much she values those simple nights when she is just "alone with her boys". I don't think I have a brain tumor, but I could totally relate to this. Now I appreciate it all. Not least of all the guilt trip from everyone who has been helping me watch the kids. Life is MUCH better and easier when you aren't both constantly feeling guilty and constantly worrying about what is going on with your kids. Is it only moms who can relate to this feeling?

I basically had given up about the fact that they were eating waffles with chocolate and syrup every morning and corn dogs or pizza for dinner every night. 

But now I am in charge. It is amazing how much I embrace cooking and cleaning for my little offspring in our little apartment. I seriously can't remember the last time I was this happy.

Oh mackerel, tuna in tomato sauce and salad that doesn't taste like cardboard. Denmark, it is great to be back! 

 I have to admit that I have had it up to ^^^^^ here with Facebook about the bending of the truth about the amazingly extraordinary things people do. It seems the value of normalcy and doing the right thing is not valued as much unless it can be posted on Facebook. Or is this just my impression? I realize more and more that good living is about simply making it through each day the best one can and developing patterns and routines one can stick to... Open faced sandwiches on Barbapapa plates and serve them next to Runner's Word magazine (the British version where weight is in stones- oh yeah!)

You dissin my gray sweater?

And I can go on slow runs despite jet lag and weight gain - and find my old favorite places.

Gavnø harbor

Again Gavnø Harbor- Næstved's gateway to the Atlantic. The only time it will be frozen all year. My last three runs have been in short sleeves.

 I love the Herlufsholm track. It is one of the places I feel most at home

Nothing great, but getting it done. 25 laps on a track is a lot.

Same place. Same gloves. Different day. OK - I suppose I should switch my Garmin back to kilometers now.

Kikkan Randall does pull ups with 25 extra pounds. She was asked in Outside Magazine when it was she really started to pull away from her competition in her Nordic sprint competitions. "When I started regularly doing strength training".

Lately, I have been incorporating an actual bell bar and heavy weights into my training. I even grunt and make strange audible breathing noises. It is kind of fun.

And, as many of you know, I have given up wheat- and have stuck to it for over a year now. So I rarely drank beer before this, but then drank some (½ a bottle) at a party at one of my residency interviews and had this very severe reaction to it! I really thought a little wouldn't do anything, but I was slurring my speech, felt sick to my stomach and suddenly couldn't keep myself from falling over with fatigue at 7PM (it was only a half a beer!). I actually had to leave the resident get together early, which normally would have been unthinkable at a program I would love to match to!

I have found this book brings up a lot of fascinating points (which I started reading afterwards) about the very new (from the 70's), very genetically modified food we call wheat that people eat without ever questioning it. I am not about to go prescribing wheat free diets, I just found it a fascinating, thought-provoking read.

written by a Cardiologist from Wisconsin

Now on top of that, I have given up sugar, which has been a great decision. It makes me feel a lot more energetic. It is nice not to have the fluctuations in blood sugar. I had to go back on it though when I got the stomach flu last weekend in La Crosse- it is HARD to find things to eat with the stomach flu when you don't eat wheat, sugar or meat! I have to thank Robyn for the inspiration to give up chocolate (sugar), by the way. It was tough to convince myself I wouldn't develop chocolate deficiency.

So where is SR? He is still in Duluth, working hard. We miss him!! Why am I here? Because I was told very directly by my PhD adviser that if I did not get back to Denmark ASAP and finish my PhD that I would not be granted a PhD. So we are here until that is done. (I have been awarded such a large amount of money by private and public funds to do this study and so many people have invested their time that it is unthinkable that I back out. And that had never been my intention- and I don't in any way want to!)

I was interviewed a few days ago over Skype by the New York Times journalist Anu Partanen about differences in health care, pre and post natal care and maternity leave in Denmark vs. the US. Her book will be on cultural differences between the US and Nordic countries and what these countries can learn from each other. She is originally from Finland. She has got my head spinning thinking about cultural differences and the importance of them. They are everywhere.

Exhibit A:

This is Christian with his best friend, Frederik in our yard today.

Christian has explained to me multiple times that he has not had a best friend like Frederik in the US. I had not thought much about the fact that Christian and Frederik roll around and wrestle so much - and even hug each other- until Christian's kindergarten teacher in Duluth said to me that Christian needed to stop "touching" the other kids. I had no idea what she meant and was worried "touching" meant like - "down there" but it turns out he was just trying to hold hands, give hugs og tickle. He got in trouble every time and even got time outs. I was at a loss about explaining to him why he couldn't do this, since he was so used to it, and it is the way kids here play and show affection. I just had to say "respect your teacher and the other kids' space".

Then Danni and I were discussing on Facebook Americans, Russians, Danes and gay rights. Yes, when I moved here the mayor of Copenhagen (and actor from Festen, etc), Klaus Bondam, was openly gay and gays really do have the same exact rights and straight people here. And the X-Factor winner a couple years back was a 15 year old lesbian with a steady girlfriend. It is just not questioned or discussed here and that gays are discriminated against by law (and attitude always follows) is very tough to understand.

But- I will say that Denmark's politics and attitudes towards foreigners are not something I can understand or condone. I have really gone through Hell and high waters to apply for permanent residency and for all I know, I won't get it. I hear story after story about wives and children, etc etc being deported. Sometimes I feel it is only a matter of time and I cry on my runs in the woods here thinking- what if we were never allowed to come back?

Just thought it would be educational for the readers to know which countries in the European Union do NOT allow double citizenship:

Estonia

Lithuania

Austria

Denmark

Here is a pic and a cool video taken by Frabricío of our 40km run by Stevns Klint two weekends ago. That Canon go-pro camera is seriously impressive.

Stevns Klint is going to be one of Unesco's worldwide protected sights because you can clearly see evidence of the meteor ash that probably killed the dinosaurs in the chalk along the shore.

I really ought to loosen up a bit when I run!

Running song of the day: Sømand af verden by Dodo The Dodos.