Glúbb, glúbb ... ga, ga, ga ...

Today was a quiet day at work. Little to do as the computer system I was testing was down ... it wasn't my fault ... they were doing some stuff on it. Soooo, I found myself a book called something like 'Biologistics made easy ...?' Whoever thought that the first and third word in that sentence had any kind of relationship really needs to look again ... AND ... I'm sure that LINUX (a computer programming language) is geekish for Little Illiterate Newcomer, Useless in XML (another programming language). No, it wasn't that bad really. Grandad Freyr held a really useful talk about the Software Development Lifecycle and where we fit into the whole system, as a team and as individuals. I love you all and will soon get to see you all again. I hope Elijah remembers me ...
Love and kisses and lots of misses,
Daddy xxx
P.S. It took me ages to find a computer word that I could put in that joke. I've never actually used LINUX but I do understand XML. So don't take it too seriously. It's my way of looking with humour at the fact that I'm in a job where I understand very little ... but that's why I enjoy it so much, every day is a learning experience.

All the shopping done ...

Went into work early this morning. I'd read some of that exciting book I told you about which was good as I sat a lecture in the morning and actually understood 2% of it. If I hadn't read the book I'd have understood -3%. All very positive, isn't it. After work today I went and did a few bits of shopping and sorting (like dropping off the invoice at Café Aroma). All in all ... a good day. Got to try something new at work as well, involving lots of data and databases. Mummy says that now I look like grandad, talk like grandad and talk about the same things as grandad. Speaking of grandad, he's doing fine. His shoulder isn't hurting as much as the doctors and nurses told him it might and he's not had to take the really strong medicine. He's coming into work for half a day tomorrow and then I'll drive him home at lunchtime. I might be helping him to do some typing as well at work. 'Do I look like like a secretary?' Joke, man ... it should be good fun.
Love you all loads and loads.
PS. The picture was taken this morning ... yeah, right ...

All's good in the Þórarinsson-Geirsdóttir household

Hello,
We're all fine here. Grandads op went as well as could be expected and all he has to do now is eat huge amounts of pain killers and he'll be fine. Work today was quiet, just plodding along. I'm going to spend the evening reading the no. 1 besteseller 'MySQL and mSQL Databases for Moderate-Sized Organizations and Web Sites' ... no, no, don't tell me the ending, I want to find out for myself. Anyway, lots of love accross the Atlantic.
Tóti xxx

The best (and worst) things come in threes..

Howdy y'all! 3 boys (2 Best ones and 1 much bigger and bit rougher looking..esp at 7.30am...5am in this neck of the woods). 3 broken appliances-one mended, one working differently and one about to be repaired. It really has been hard work these past 3 weeks!
Yesterday, we went to Lyme Park, as I wanted to take the boys somewhere Christmassy but there wasn't a Christmas tree in sight. We had a lovely walk tho' and Eli B laughed all the way.
Today we went to church and I was really touched, as a lady in the congregation asked how old Eli B is now and she commented on how quickly time had passed. Considering I'd never even spoken to her, it was really lovely and made me feel really content and at home. I was offered communion, but I can't take it as I'm not baptised..which got me to thinking and it may be something I will consider if I feel as at home in our new church as I do at Salem Moravian. I am looking forward to playing a more active role in Gardur church (if they'll have me!). Eli B received a blessing and Jolly-One also helped with the collection.
J and I chilled this p.m and watched some of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban. As always, I was amazed at J's memory for detail. Mind you, neither of us could remember Professor Lupin's name! And Eli B enjoyed his earlier visit to Camerons house and Kristina got very broody and the boys thought it was way cool having Elijah to play!
Tomorrow p.m I am meeting Deb, Jackie and Bev for a meal-I am at work, which is unusual on a Monday. J thought it can't be that much fun having a long weekend, every week anyway!!!
Great to hear all the positive reports re painting-however, was it a deliberate ploy to impress by listing every seperate part of the reception area?!!It will be lovely to have a piano in our new home too (J agrees.) It is a house just made for music.
Off to bed myself now-good luck Freyr with your op. We will be thinking of you.
Have a good week babe-and may it fly by like the speed of the wind.
We love you, 3Bs xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Howdy folks. Two pictures today. The first is of all the designated drivers, at my grandad Geirs 80th birthdayparty, stuck in the corner together. That's daddy, daddys' older cousin Erna Sigga Hallgrímsdóttir and daddys' younger cousin, Kári Finnsson. The second picture daddy took at the band rehearsal early on Saturday morning. (They're musicians ... that's why they look so tired ... just like daddy always is in the morning ... he, he ... sorry Sváfnir ...) That's Sváfnir Sigurðsson on the left. He plays guitar and sings. Haraldur Vignir Sveinbjörnsson (Halli) in the middle. He plays piano and sings backing vocals and Kjartan Guðnason (Diddi) on drums. They're lovely people and you'll all like them. Yesterday (Saturday) my mum and dad as well as Þór Þórbergsson (Nannas' son) came and helped. Today it was me and my dad as well as Þórarinn Sigurðsson (Doddi, Helgas' son) were all painting. We finished everything we meant to finish and then some. So here is the list of finished rooms:
Porch, Jolyons' bedroom, Elijahs bedroom, spare bedroom, lounge, tv corner, hallway in front of lounge, bedroom hallway as well as a coat of white in the first bathroom. Not bad at all really.
I'm shattered now and think I'll have an early night as I'm taking grandad Freyr tomorrow morning and then it's back to work ... then home to you guys on Friday ... yippee!! Can't wait to see you all again.
Love you loads and miss you loads ...
Tóti xxx

Rock n' Roll

Hello folks,
I'll make this short 'cos it's past four in the morning. Painting went really well today and gig went very well also. I'm shattered now but we'll get some folks up to Garður tomorrow and finish off what's left of the painting.
I love you all very much, goodnight
Toti xxx

The silence of the lamb ...

Hello everybody out there in Burtonland. Life in Freyssonland is okay, looking forward to coming back to Burtonland though. Today was the christmas party thingy at work. We had a nativity play and I was supposed to play a lamb. One guy there had written a script and I was supposed to say,"baa, baa, baa ..." I don't know why.
I went on a tour of the building which was really interesting (they still wouldn't let me take pics of the robots, but I did learn that they called them David and Goliath). Anyway, the tour started at 11:00 and was supposed to take an hour but ended up taking 2 1/2 hours. By the time I got back to my office, they'd already done the nativity play (ohh!). But I really did want to see what the company did and it was well worth it to get the bigger picture. Unfortunately I couldn't make it to the x-mas do either (they'll think I'm a right grumpy chops ...). It was a shame 'cos they're such a jolly bunch. Oh, well ... there will be other chances for that ... and then I'll get to show my family off as well anyway ... yaaaahoooo!!!
Last but not least ... happy birthday to the two birthday folks! Nana in England (who we miss very much) and great grandad Geir in Iceland (who you guys unfortunately didn't get to meet) would both have been 80 years old today ... on the same day ... that's a nice coincidence isn't it?
I love you all so much (less than a week to go now :-)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Daddy cool

Today was a funny day. Work was good, getting into it more and more yet loads to learn. Sat a course called 'Genetics for Beginners' but unfortunately it was the last of five days. I really enjoyed it though. The tutor sent me his powerpoint slides so I could have a look at them as the course is only run annually and I'll have to wait another year for it to be repeated. (Mummy, the tutor was a genetics specialist about our age ... very handsome with a full set of hair! ... I was glad you weren't there ...:-) just kidding ...)
In our weekly departmental meeting somebody brought up the nativity play and before we knew it, a full bag of costumes had been dumped on the meeting room floor. So, tomorrow at work, I will be dressed as a sheep. It's so warm in there that next year I'll suggest a Hawain theme.
This evening me and grandad Freyr went to the house and did some prep work and sorted out some electrics in the garage. We'll definately finish painting the allocated rooms before x-mas and then the rest after x-mas.
Love you all,
xxx Daddy

To Joanna, Jolyon and Elijah xxx

Another day that's been and gone,
another restless roam.
Another step, another song,
a little closer to home.

What joy it brings, to be so near
yet so far, it feels wrong.
And time can seem to slow time down
and time can take too long.

But life is good, I've got folk that care,
I should stand up and cheer.
It's just that sometimes I feel so alone
I wish that you were here.

Tóti xxx

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do ...

As money is a bit tight here in Iceland, daddy has taken on some extra work ... as an impersonator ...
Than'you very mush ...
xxx

Oh Blimey!The colours are all wrong...!

Hello there Vikings-all. I've just looked at the colours and they are not a bit how I imagined from the charts-the lounge is so white, the yellow is so yellow, and the spare room is..well, the spare room. But as I usually have such darned fine taste in these matters, I am hoping that they will all look ok in person and that I have not made a right cock-up with the interior decorating? (Sorry Toti-I know this will stress you out, after all your hard work but smile about it-I am!!).
That important matter aside, we have had another day of firsts for our smallest Burton. Eli B did his first 'sign' this a.m and signed for 'change your nappy'. He also shakes his head for 'no' now-and, boy, no always means no!(its in the genes). He also went to the baby room Christmas party and ate far too much pizza and crisps and jelly and ice-cream and won the pass-the-parcel and even coped with FC's arrival. He has barely moved since he fell asleep-it was sooo hard to drink his bedtime milk. J had a good day too-his party is on Friday and tomorrow I am going to watch the school play, Grandmum and Eli B are going on Thurs. And as for Mummy..well, its one busy round of early starts and sterilising for her. She really does live the highlife, altho is planning a sneaky girly pm next week...but don't tell Daddy!
We love you babe..Love and kisses and goodnights from 3Bs xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Pics of the house ...

Well, let's see if this text will fit in with all these pictures. The first one is the front bathroom, just the white on there to cover up the dark blue at the moment. The one with the steps is the spare room. Needs one more coat. The third is EB's room. Needs one more on the walls and two on the ceiling. That beautiful blue room is Jolyons. The first one to be finished. Then you see the bedroom hallway, with the wardrobe in the middle. Notice the kitchen roll under it so as not to damage the floor, Joanna ...!? The last two pictures are the lounge and attached bits. It all looks so much bigger with these colours on ... and it was big enough to begin with ...
Love you all ...
T xxx

Pics ... not robots ... not paint (for a change) ... but daddys workplace

A few strange pictures. The first one is the view from daddys desk, into the building ... where the bridges are. On the other side you can see the laboratories. I think Dexter works there. The second one is daddys desk. Daddys' not there ... he must be on his coffee break (again!) The third one is taken from the bridge and shows daddys office. Daddy sits by the middle window. The last one is taken through the middle window. These pictures were taken after it was dark outside but when it´s light (for about two hours ...) the light shines through the glass ceiling so you get to see the daylight ... even when working at the desk. This helps daddys mood alot ... not that daddy ever gets grumpy or anything ...

Today I was testing a computer programme and made everyones computer freeze for more than three hours so nobody could do any work. This is actually what I'm supposed to do at work ... strange job, isn't it? It was good timing though 'cos it was one of the workers 50th birthday party so we all just went and ate chocolate cake instead of working ... even my boss (who is a really nice guy and a really good boss ...)

Anyway ... I am going to go up to Garður tomorrow to get my phone and I must remember the camera so I can take pictures of what we've done so far.

Lots of love and lots of miss ...

daddy, husband xxx

Paint (I have nothing else to put as a title)

Me and grandad Freyr went up to the house this morning as soon as we were ready. Halli came half an hour later. We painted the whole lounge, the computer corner and both hallways. This is approximately two thirds of the wall space in the house. We had a good time and it is much more enjoyable having company to work with ... and things get done much quicker obviously. Unfortunately I forgot the camera but I am going to take it with me this week to take some pictures as, since the last pictures, I've painted white on the first bathroom, finished Jolyons room, almost finished Elijahs room and almost finished the spare room. This leaves (only) the kitchen, two bathrooms, master bedroom, laundry room and storage room to do (in less than two weeks) ... easy peasy ...
So, this weekend by blogs have been particularly uninteresting as I've done nothing but paint.
I love you all as much as I miss you and miss you all as much as I love you ...
Toti daddy xxx

Another weekend coming to an end..

Hello there you painted viking(s). I sit here imagining what our new house looks like as someone has forgotten the camera..that person needs a list, most definitely!!Jolyon didn't have a good start to the day agin, but we got it sorted and made it right again (altho the tamigotchi was confiscated and subsequently went to computer heaven). J and I went to meet David and J was chilled about the whole thing. We watched Nanny McPhee at the movies and it was a really good and jolly film. And Eli b was equally jolly upon our return, as he had spent the day with Grandmum and thoroughly enjoyed the baked beans on toast that our 2 very Best Boys had for the respective teas. My Mum wondered if you'd see much change in him when you return. There is no doubt about that..he never stays still, never shuts up and is always wanting attention (I wonder who that reminds you of??!). I think the Burton in him is coming thro' altho he is still the spitting image of his (gorgeous) Daddy, so I'm told!I thought you might like to see a pic of the boys unpacking J's suitcase. It was lovely to watch them just 'doing'..altho the unpacking took a while, it was fun and lovely and chilled. Speaking of chilled, it is darned chilly here today so I think I will be scraping the car tomorrow..ah! the dream of a garage with an automatic door! Off to call a chilly Jolly One in for supper and bed now-I am still waitng for bids to end on Star Wars stuff-may the force help us keep our fingers xx'd. We love you babe..over half way now! Lots of Love and kisses, 3Bs xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I love the smell of paint in the morning ...

Hello folks,
Paint, paint and paint ... that's all I did today. No, that's not quite true. Gummi and Gulli (who was grumpy cos his team had lost to Víðir from Garður) came for coffee and to look around. It was good to walk around with Gummi and pick up some tips. Gulli soon cheered up when I gave him some chocolate that nana Kristín had sent me to Garður with.
Unfortunately, Árni couldn´t make it today, but another friend of mine, Halli (short for Haraldur) is coming tomorrow, as is grandad. Grandad has to be careful though 'cos his shoulder isn't good. He's going to the hospital next week to get it fixed.
I should be up there earlier tomorrow and get loads done.
I love you all and I'm off to bed for an early night.
xxx daddy T

Is way past your bedtime Mr. Freysson

Well ... it's 01:00 and I'm off to bed. It's been a good, busy day. Went to work early this morning (about eight o'clock) and had a good day. It's like preparing for supporting people babe. We have to have this project finished before the 'committee for the protection of personal information' (that's a mouthful) comes to audit it on the 29th Jan 06. (It's a software system that works like this: When doctors or nurses take blood samples for genetic research purposes one doesn't want the information to be connectable to the owner of the sample. So once the sample has been collected, the 'collector' inputs the data into the IPS (Identity Protection System). The system encryptes the information, giving it a unique code ... but destroying any links between it and the donor ... and sends it off to the researcher. This is the cheap explaination. I've not learned the proper one yet. My job is to test, re-test and re-re-test the software, using a procedure I was involved in developing (slightly) making sure there are no bugs and all goes as it should. I've got a week to do my bit.
Left work at four, went home and had a snack, spoke to my babes on the phone and stuff. After picking Kritján Geir up and dropping him off at nana Kristíns and grandad Freyrs´house I went to our house in Garður. I finished painting the white in the bathroom and finished painting Jolyons room. Although I might have to paint the loft again as it is a very light blue. But I can do that over the weekend. I also went to see them light the christmas tree and saw the children from the music school play a couple of songs. The place was full of kids. Stopped painting and set off back to nana and grandads at ten pm. After having a (very) late tea I went back out 'cos Sixties was playing. (they started early ... only 11:30 pm). Mainly I wanted to say hello to them but they'd already started playing when I got there so I had a drink (sprite ... not lemonade) and decided to wait till they had a break. At 12:30 they were still playing and I was shattered so I left them to it and now I'm off to bed. Won't get to Garður till 10:00 tomorrow 'cos I need to buy paint for the lounge, hallway and porch. Gummi and his son Gulli (who is 11) are coming up in the afternoon tomorrow and Árni (who was best man at the wedding ... Jolyon was best boy ...) is going to help me paint. So ... another busy day ahead ...
I miss you too Jolyon and I miss all of you. But just think ... it's only two weeks ... then we'll go and see The Chronicles of Narnia when I come home ... then when you come to Iceland ... you'll have a Star Wars room ... the coolest room in Garður. Do you think your mummy will let me paint our bedroom so it looks like food ... 'cos I love food ...!? Will you ask her for me, please? Oh ... I don´t know if your mummy told you, but I work with a robot (no not your grandad) and I´ll get to see him on monday (he works in the basement). I'm gonna see if they'll let me take pictures. xxxT
Love,
Daddy xxx

A bit of a difficult day...

Well, the day didn't start too well as I set off to work and turned around as I felt my chest infection getting worse. Luckily we all have a very good GP practice and more antibiotics were the order of the day. Jolyon was surprised to see me at home time but it did mean we could get some errands done before we collected a very chilled little brother. We all enjoyed a chip supper but J wasn't himself and I wasn't as patient as usual but we survived with lots of kisses and cuddles. At bathtime J burst into tears and poured his little heart out about how much he misses you babe. 'I miss seeing my dad's funniness and love..and I miss the way he tucks me in at night and gives me a cuddle and a kiss..and I don't care about the house or work..why couldn't it just wait...and these 2 weeks are going so slowly and then when he comes home, he has to go back again..' Hence the long conversation this pm. It was very upsetting but it was good that he told me-sometimes he is so like his Daddy and needs a bit of a push to open up about his feelings. He was much brighter at snuggle time-we are reading 'the lion, the witch and the wardrobe' at the moment and he so wants to see the film. Its great to relive all these old favourites. I've been outbid on some more Star wars stuff for J's room but will keep trying. We are going to the gym tomorrow for splash hour and have a second house viewing of course (more blagging). Keep all those Viking fingers xxxd!
We love you gorgeous daddy-husband. Only 2 weeks to go now!!Lots of love and kisses from your 3B's xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A Burton returns to the fold..

It's good to know the new job is turning out to be more of a challenge than first anticipated..I'm just biding time with mine (it was very strange going to the carer-user project Christmas celebration yesterday and not being a real part of it, after the last 2 years.). I am ready for a new work challenge too.
Our biggest Best Boy came home and that was fab. Eli B moaned all the way there and all the way back, until I did the unthinkable and raised my voice and gave him a baby-style telling off. I looked over to see him poised with his mouth open, looking as if he was about to cry (and make me feel even more guilty) and...he actually stayed quiet, for a few minutes at least!! (and so Jolly-One forgave me too). Eli B is now able to use his drinks cup too, all by himself.
But back to big boys-J clearly had a great time, altho I have had to eak it out of him. Grandmum's take on the whole thing was 'a total rip-off...everything was sooo expensive'. Spoken like a true yorkshire woman. But they obviously had a great time together and didn't actually get to meet the mysterious frenchman who was apparently sharing their room!!
So now we are 3 again and in two weeks, we will be 4 again (and my hands can recover from the constant washing-up and sterilising routines). And I can tell you about the things-to-do-in-january list!!
have a great time in Gardur tomorrow and I look forward to more decorating pics.
We love you Toti Daddy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The SDL, ISL need FLSH to operate on SMH ...!?

Every Thursday at fifteen-hundred-hours we have a departmental meeting in the Product Management department. Contain your excitement folks! I sat in on my first one today and I am clearly the one who knows least about computers (or at least the systems that they were talking about) in the room. Every other word might as well have been japanese. But this is good you see. It means that the job is more of a challenge than I thought and I've got something to sink my teeth into. Started my first proper software test today and it was nothing near as easy as I thought. I was completely lost ... it was great! I love that feeling of being completely out of my depth, I find it really motivating ... can't wait to go back to work tomorrow. My notebook from the meeting is full of question marks as well as words and phrases I need to look up.
The team itself is great. There is a christmas decoration competition in the company and someone suggested that when the judges came round to our department we should all be wearing costumes and put on a short nativity play as our decorations ... everyone thought it was a great idea and was up for it.
That said, if one more person tells me how much I look like my dad ...
Anyway, I love you all
Daddy T xxx
PS. I'll try and remember the camera to take a picture of my office ... it looks like the control room in a space ship.

It's nice to talk

I've had such good chats with you today Joanna, they've really kept me going. Remember we spoke about the house viewing ... that went well and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. It's a good job you've taken on that role and not me ... I've not got a milli-centi-nano-liter of salesmanship in me. Then we had a long chat tonight and I was telling you about how lonely I felt without my wife and two boys. You made me feel so much better. And your text dotted all the i's and crossed the t's. We're half way through tomorrow. Just another two weeks till I get to see you all. I'm really sorry I missed Elijahs first tooth and it looks like I'm gonna miss him getting mobile as well. It's not fair when I live to see my family blossom and grow. That is my purpose in life. But talks like we've had today, when you sound so strong and positive, make me feel strong and positive too. (Laying all the cards on the table here ... all real men please turn away now ... this is gonna get ugly ...). I love you all so much and we shouldn't have to be this far away from each other for so long but it will make life so much easier in the long run.
Unfortunately, the gigs over the weekend have been cancelled. Not good for the wallet but good for Sváfnirs' voice as he's got a sore throat and more or less lost his voice last Saturday. He's getting better though. I'm going to sort out a website for the band (when I get the time!?) just to make some more contact with the outside world.
Anyway, got to go now. Shower and bed then back to work tomorrow. Work is still good and I'm getting into it more as I learn more. I now realise that starting with the projects I have been doing will make the actual testing of the software so much easier as I now understand the process and format I'll be working in ... 'cos I helped create it ... completely by accident. Well, somebody else created it, I just did the labour and put it together.
They're putting up the X-mas tree in Garður on Friday evening and I think I'll go up and mingle and watch the entertainment. I've not asked anyone to come with me yet, but I will. I'm mostly looking forward to seeing the children from the music school do their thing. You never know ... there might be someone from Jolyons class-to-be there ... and we get hot chocolate and cookies.
Say hello to everyone and I hope Joyon had a really good time in France. I did try and ring you, Jolyon, but I had the wrong room number and I woke some french guy up early on Wednsday morning. "Oui ... oh, oui ...," he sounded very tired when he answered. I asked, "Is there a Jolyon in this room?" "no, no, no ... allo, frade muu, blah .... no ..." or something like that. Then he hung up. I did manage to say sorry but I don't think he spoke much English. Hopefully he got back to sleep though ... which is exactly what I'm going to do now.
Goodnight folks ...
Toti xxx zzz

A little poem about copy and paste

At work today I got to copy ... and paste :-) Seriously though, it's good to feel like I´m actually doing something. I was updating the template for a test procedure (don't ask me what that means ... I don't know yet ... and I certainly don't know what the test procedure is supposed to test ... yet!) and quite enjoyed it. Having said that, I spent far too much time on it and half way through I realised I should be copying and pasting whole tables rather than individual cells. I was so busy trying not to mess up the bit that was new to me that I forgot to pay proper attention to the bit that I know like the back of my hand. Nobody noticed though, so it's okay ... he, he, he ... ho, ho, ho ... ha, ha, ha ... uhmm ... sorry, too much deCAF ... I mean deCODE coffee.
Painting going well. I love rolling but painting edges, and especially around radiators is doing my head in ... it just takes so much time to put so little paint on so little wall ... It's got to be done though ... and ... I can have a car tomorrow (Wednesday) so I´ll go back up tomorrow evening.
Another gig with 'Menn Ársins' on Friday and possibly Saturday ... that'll be a busy weekend then, won't it?
I've also learnt something new about myself ... too much coffee (they make really good, strong coffee at deCODE, and it's free, and the supplies are endless ... ha, ha, ha ...) where was I, too much coffee makes me paranoid ... what do mean it doesn´t ... who have you been talking too ...? No, but I do get a bit edgy so I'll take it easy on the black stuff. It's not fair though. It's all well and good being a 'sensitive little flower' but a mans got to have some vices if he is to be a real man (not to mention a viking man). Otherwise he's just a girly lad and needs to be de-sissy-fied. (Have I mentioned I want to take up ballet?) I'm whittering now so I'll log off. Goodnight and I love you Jolyon (France) and Elijah and Joanna (England).
Toti (Iceland) xxx
PS Me thinks we is the most cosmopolitan-est family in the world.
PSS oops, almost forgot the above mentioned 'copy-paste' poem about my life as a test engineer (I still don't really know my proper title. My access card says employee, but we knew that much already!)

There's copy and then there is paste
and neither of these we should waste
the boss he is near
and he's rushed, so I fear
so lets finish the testing with haste

Cheap and cheerful (NB just want to note that despite the sarcasm I am thoroughly enjoying my job:-). That's a full stop and not a mole under the smiley faces mouth ... Okay, I'll stop now ... lots of love ... xxx ...

Just a quickie..!

Great to see paint on walls at last..and thank goodness you aren't painting in your birthday suit, Toti. I thought it was supposed to me who was going to upset the new neighbours??As planned, I made a curry and drank too much wine (1 1/2 glasses!) and so now I am a bit tipsy and am off to bed, to try and study my second language. It is scarey sometimes when I think I will actually be needing to bumble my way along in a foreign Viking-esque language in only a few months. Mind you, I did understand you bands name (impressed 'eh?). The house viewing seemed to go fine and its good to have a 2nd viewing on Weds. Eli B has been chilled, except for when I go out of line of sight-and when I am driving in the car and he can't see me (even if he can see Jolly-One) etc etc etc. He is sooo gorgeous, as his gorrrgeoouus big bro.
Off to bed soon, I am trying to ignore the fact that Jolly-One may actually have had his tea in Macdonalds. Love to you, Toti daddy. XXJ,E and a francais J xxxxxx

New Job - New House

First day in the new job went well. I didn´t actually do anything that I´ll eventually be doing. Instead I read an awful lot about what I´m supposed to be doing and got to now the companies intranet and some of the computer software I´ll be using. By the way, it´s apparently deCODE, not DECode as I´d written previously. I´ve got a desk next to a window on the third floor that looks into the building (if you remember what it´s like.) It´s quite stressful getting lost in there 'cos you feel everyone is stood at the window watching and laughing at you (which is what I did everytime I saw somebody that was obviously lost ... naw, just kidding ... I think I was the only person that was lost in there today).
Anyway, here are some pictures of where the house is up to at the moment. Top picture is Elijahs room, with the white on. Second picture is Jolyons room, with the new paint on the walls ... it needs one more coat. Third picture is the spare room with just the white over the bottom bit done and the last picture is Toti in his paint clothes, stood in Jolyons doorway. Just so you know that I´m not wearing my birthday suit whilst painting!?
Sorted out a meal with Geir and Sif on the 22nd by the way. Should be good. Cannot get hold of Jolly-one and his grandmum. I´ll try once more tonight and then I´ll leave it till the morning.
Love,
Toti xxx

In the white room ... with (no) curtains ... what a paint job ...

Oh, it was hard to get up this morning. Didn´t get to bed till half past four in the morning, after driving the whole band home last night. The band is called 'menn ársins' by the way. That means 'men of the year' ... he, he ... Managed to get up at 9:00 this morning though and after a good breakfast and a strong cup of coffee I headed off up to Garður. Painted Jolyons' and Elijahs' rooms as well as doing some filling and prep work. The day was productive but I can´t help but feel it´s all going too slow anyway. So, Totis' social diary is now closed. I´ve visited most people and had coffee with them so now I will step the house work up a gear. Having the colours for the lounge and hallways helps ... gives me loads to do and no excuses to take a break.
I´m going to try and gather an army of people for next weekend but as all my hundreds of friends (!?) have hundreds of children I might be there on my own ... we´ll see.
I am currently in negotiations regarding cars so it should all work out.
New job starts tomorrow. I´m ready for DECode ... but is DECode ready for me? (Hey, you have to have a bit of cheese). Am really looking forward to it and I should be able to text you some good news Joanna. I´m afraid the pictures of the painted rooms will have to wait till tomorrow as me and Kristján Geir were busy staying up late and watching Shrek II ... on a school night ... Sorry, Áslaug ...
Todays picture brought the love out ... I know it will for you too babe ... Jolly-one will have a great time in France ...
Love,
Toti 'the tin man' Freysson
PS. that should be 'the paint tin man'
PSS. I´m still thinking about that text Joanna ;-)

Party!Party!

Well, a busy few days (which is good when a special person is missing)..Friday, of course, Jolyon swung the lead (as they say) and ended up being grounded. Erika thought he is very clever-she was convinced Mum lets him go an the Xbox b4 bed (as if). As it turned out, grounding had avery positive effect and we all got to spend some really positive time together, playing and going in the bath. Deb babysat last night (no more porkies) and I danced the night away at my final Christmas do with my team. I had a great time-we all did-but I got a bit emotional too. The team is the best and it will be hard not to be with them (the paperwork and the new NCRS form..well, thats a different matter). Derrien, Erika and I made lots of plans for their trip in april-this is to include a trip to the world famous willy museum and a night out in Reykjavik, including a gig (Toti). We also intend to drink champagne in the jacuzzi-altho we decided to wear our swimsuits and not run across Gardbraut stark naked and jump into the sea afterwards!! (I was disappointed-you know how we Burtons like to shed our second skins!). At home, all was well and the boys slept well again..long may it continue. Of course, our biggest Best Boy is off to Disneyland tomorrow-can't beat that!!
Keep busy with that paint brush, Toti Freysson...sending lots of love from all of us to all of you over there (and especially to our gorgeous daddy husband). Lots of Love 3B's xxxxxx

yippee ... we finally have paint on walls

Who da man ... whoooo daaaa maaaan ... moooo daaaa maaaan!? Finally we have paint on the walls. I only managed one coat on Jolyons bedroom and one on the spare one as the weather was getting bad and I didn´t want to be stuck in Garður tonight, cos I´ve got a gig in Hafnarfjörður ... and we need the money, oh, yes-sir-ee ... the overdraft groweth. Feels like I´ve started properly though now and Jolyons room looks so much bigger I´ve got rid of that dark blue colour.
Gonna be a busy day tomorrow ... up (fairly:-) early and straight to Gardur for the day. Then looking after Kristján Geir in the evening. I believe he´s looking forward to seeing Jolyon again. Unfortunately Hljóðriti, the company we were considering buying has been sold, but hey ... time is on our side ... The good news is that my best man, Árni Ólafsson, who worked there and was thinking of buying it with us, went with the company, so he´s still got a job.
Haraldur Hannesson, an old friend I dropped in on, told me a funny story about the priest in Garður. They knew each other as teenagers and frequented the bars in Reykjavík together. One friday evening, about 11:00pm Halli (that´s Haraldur) says to Bö (that was the priests nickname at the time ... he was not a priest at this point), "I´m ready to call it a day." Bö wasn´t and headed into Reykjavík on his own.
Halli tried ringing him the next day but couldn´t get hold of him for love nor money. It wasn´t till Sunday evening that Bö phoned him and said, "Halli, the most amazing thing in my life happened to me on Friday ... I found god." Bö had met a girl (like you do in dodgy rock clubs ...) who had taken him to a christian gathering on the Sunday morning. A month later, Bö was in bible school in America, where he met his wife, and then took the priest job in Garður shortly after coming back and finishing the priesthood and has stayed there since. Halli says he´s a lovely man.
Sif, my brothers wife, has been in touch. We´re trying to sort out getting together on the 22nd after they arrive and before I go. Hopefully that´s gonna work out ... it´s been a while.
Anyway ... must dash ... got a gig to blag my way through.
Today´s picture is of a cows bottom ...
I love you all and as always ... I miss you. More and more each day.
Daddy xxx

Washing the week away ...

Blimey! That´s all I can say about this week, is Blimey! Lets go back a few days.
On monday, I met my boss to be and everything was sorted to start the next day. Monday was a good day.
On Tuesday I started work. It was good fun, that day, great, exciting project to take on ... still no sign of my contract though or what exactly I´d get paid.
Wednesday. Started out well. Went to work, really getting into the project at hand ... and then it was time to sign the contract. What a shock! This was nothing even remotely close to what had been discussed and (I thought) verbally agreed. I went home early and set up two job interviews at other places for the next day. It´s amazing what you can do when under pressure. I really felt I´d let my family down.
Thursday. Job interviews were interesting. First one was mental health related but wouldn´t start till January. I was confident but not positive I could get that one. The second one was a great job, sound engineering and editing at a radio station. This one I was positive I could get after going through the interview. Unfortunately the pay was not enough for four of us to live on and the hours, being long shifts, were not very family friendly. What to do, eh!
Then I get another job offer. Ideal ... family friendly ... good hours and a good wage ... funny how life sometimes throws things at you at just the right time, with some help ...
Friday. Spoke to my boss at the first job and after some discussions and negotiations we didn´t reach an agreement (and my loyalty had been severly dented) so ... new and most excellent job first thing Monday morning. I can´t wait ... it all worked out. A tad stressful at times though.
And ... despite all the stress and hassle, I´m still on schedule with my work in the house. It´ll be hard grafting this weekend though, what with painting and decorating as well as gigging. Can´t complain though ... My beautiful wife (who is now officially married to a computer geek ... do you remember, Joanna, my darling, when I said I liked computers and you said, "I know, you´re strange that way", that tickled me ... as you´re just as good at computers as I am) Anyway, my wife works even harder than me with a full time job, two boys and a house to sell. Which leads me nicely into the next paragraph.
After the dust had settled and everything was sorted I went to the house and did some work, which felt great. After coming back to my parents house and having tea, I started to feel very lonely ... I miss my family so much. My two smiling boys and my lovely wife. Strange to feel like that when everything is actually going as well as one could possibly wish for. So, had a long shower to wash the week away and felt much better afterwards. Going to have an early night tonight, as I´m not going to the first companies x-mas party tonight (why not, I wonder? ... hmm ...). It´s rubbish not getting to snuggle your favorite people ... but it´s great to have so much love to come home to. One week down ... three to go ...
PS. can´t really complain cos life with my parents is easy peasy lemon squeezy and they´ve been great in all this.
Love and miss you all ... goodnight ...
Hubby and daddy Toti xxx

What a day indeed ...

Well, we have discussed and re-discussed work related issues so I won´t go into that in detail but I certainly kept busy today. Looks like I might be working for Decode then. Me and grandad (who was tired after a late night ;-) went to see the bank man and we're getting all that boring, grown up, money stuff sorted to pay for our new house. All evening I´ve been walking around with the phone in my hand waiting for my biggest best boy to phone so I could say goodnight (I almost phoned mr. Briley to tell him to hurry up ... no, not really).
Anyway, here´s a funny story: A cow went to see a farmer about borrowing his van. "Why do you want to borrow my van?" the farmer asked. "Because I´m moooooving!" Ha, ha ... Get it? Hmm ... maybe it wasn´t that funny. I just made it up as I went along.
Love you all and miss you loads and loads.
His Toadness xxx