Buying and selling houses..getting a sense of deja-vu here?...

Hi all!
Hope you are all happy and not too disheartened by the rain. We are still enjoying the sunshine and today it was a definite bonus as we had our open-house, in order to try and sell the house and the sun definitely helps show Gardur in its best light. It was like a picture postcard and J and E made the most of the sun and the hot-tub being filled and dived in. We will definitely have to make good use of our hot-pot (as the natives call them) and as school hols start next week...
Yesterday, as we were all fed up of going between Gardur and Rvk we compensated by going to the zoo park. J disappeared with Kristjan-Geir..how they are growing up now. We were definitely surplus to requirements. E really enjoyed looking at the animals too, esp the cows and had a great time climbing on the pirate ship. He is going to be an expert climber like his big brother :-)
Toti Troubadour has been really gigging hard and is now shattered, so no gigs til next week. And the music community seems to get smaller and smaller in this country ... T met the estate agent who is organising the sale of our house..and-what-do-you-know? They were both playing bass guitars around the same death metal/grunge period. I tell you, it must be really hard to keep skeletons in the closet in this country..you can guarantee someone will open the door and recognise it ;-) !
Off to chill now-still brilliant sunshine as it will be until 3am. Derrien and Erika said it was really strange setting off from manchester and it being dark and then actually flying into the sunrise!Its just a bit of a nuisance actually..your body always wants to wake early, esp if you are 1 or 8 years old!We still dream of having lie-ins again...
Photos will be on the way soon but the photo-master is away in italy at the mo'. Can't wait to see those 'artistic' ones that Erika took last weekend (did she get up to something that we didn't, Derrien..apart from the sneaky fag of course ?!!). By the way, how is the non-smoking going girl??
Love to you all from us all
J,T,J and E xxxx

the question on everyones lips...did iceland survive erika then...?!

..and the $64000 answer is..just (I think). And erika even survived the cold, albeit with a pained expression on her face especially when we made her walk for miles too!!
Seriously tho´girls..didn´t we have a fab time and didn´t we keep busy? We showed the girls Reykjavik and its history..no shopping as all the shops close at 4pm on satudays!..and the golden circle (who else in the Dementia team can claim to have actually looked into a crater of a real volcano!) and of course, the Blue Lagoon.
And erika walked for miles and got told off by mother joanna as she should and as derrien said she would. and we laughed and snored(!) our way thro a great weekend. I´ve missed you girls!
And of course I´ve become a huge celeb in Iceland (not) having had a whole page devoted to telling my story in the biggest daily newspaper in the country. And yesterday I went to the ambassadors residence..which was as you would expect and not somewhere I will be going again but hey! you have to do everything once (particularly as it didn´t cost anything!!).
And yesterday i started my voluntary work and that is good. house goes on the market tomorrow too.We are all fed up of living between houses and towns. J and E both finish school and childminders for the summer next week. 6 weeks holidays? Oh Nooo! they don´t do less than 12 here..I´ve yet to work out what working folk do during such long breaks as childcare is not all that consistent for out of school stuff.
So off to collect my boys soon and back to gardur before being back in RVK on fri..phew..
Love to all..still sunny here but it did snow yesterday!
Love from Joanna,Toti,Jolyon and Elijah xx :-)

a nice sunny day al´round today...

Hi folks...been a difficult few weeks what with really early starts for my 3 boys and having to put house on market and trying to work out how we can stay in Iceland and live in a more expensive area on only 1 wage. (We still havn´t worked that one out yet.) And I have to send my comments to the ministry of health re my registration..people who have been thro´a similar process talk of it taking 2-3 years...which is where the economic hardship button is pressed and everything becomes even more stressful...
On a happier, sunnier note, Adrian and Maureens comment on our blog was great and thanxx guys. And derrien and erika arrive this pm (will Iceland ever be the same again?!). And I went to my 1st mums and baby language group (I offerred to volunteer as it is run at the intercultural centre) and elijah and I met a lovely group of people, all sharing similar experiences and difficulties, all english speaking (2 from UK, 1 from Canada and 1 from Iceland), all married to Icelanders and all ready for getting out and about and learning the language in the real world!You never know, this time next week I might actually be able to order a drink in a cafe and actually remember all the words the next day!
All 3 boys are keeping well-J is finding really early starts hard but is much happier, E has taken to waking earlier and sitting in his cot and reading his books all on his own (both boys take after their Mum and are real bookworms). And T is playing every gig that is sent our way..back to the ol´economic crisis again (groan!).
Still we keep each other smiling and happy and in the words of J´s favourite song ´its better when we´re together´.
Stay together and happy folks, lots of love from 3Bs and TT. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

its a funny ol' world isn't it..?!

Hiya everybody!
Its a funny ol' world or at least, a funny ol' meeting..I went to meet my new colleagues at the intercultural centre and met a man who described himself as being 'in the media'. He asked if I would agree to be interviewed as we had been discussing my battles with the nursing board. I said yes, not thinking anything would come of it. And later on that night as i was telling T, it transpires that this person is (probably) only one of the biggest people in Icelandic TV. I bet it must have been really refreshing to him when i asked what he did for a living??! T and I now have to check that it is the person we think it is..either way I am now going to be interviewed by the biggest daily newspaper in Iceland!!Tomorrow!!Eek!!
J thinks its cool, T is disappointed I am not going on TV and I am just nervous!;-0
On the nursing front-I continue with the appeals process-the ministry of health has so graciously said that my training meets the criteria for a registered mental health nurse (!) but the Icelandic nursing registration system only has one category-'nurse' and i don't fit into that. So now I have to submit nore comments again and tell them I don't want to be a 'nurse'..I want to a fantastically specialist mental health nurse! The saga continues..
On a musical note T has his first Toti-Troubadour gig tonight. Just he and one of his fellow band members, 3 hours and a lot of singing!Thats really fab cos T's singing really is coool..hope he remembers the lyrics better than he remembered where Bar Hresso was a few weeks ago (''its moved'' were the immortal words..we were walking past it at the time and that building didnt look like it had moved in a very long time!).
Off to have tea now-have fun in the spring sunshine everyone. We have finally got daffodils out here now!Oh, and our house goes up for sale next week...
Lots of love from Joanna,Toti,Jolyon and Elijah xxxx:-)

' Didn't we have a lovely time, the day the girlies came to Gardur'

Hello all and apologies for lack of entries..
..its been an emotional few weeks as Jolyon has had to change schools because of bullying. He is now going to an independent Christian school and is so much happier-so we are having to sell up (again) and move nearer the capital as his school is in Reykjavik. I won't be particularly sad to leave this house as our life has seemed to be more focussed towards being 'in town' but all that hassle is a bit of a pain (as is the ongoing DIY!).
Still it will be worth it in the end-we will have to buy a smaller house at a bigger price as houses are much more expensive nearer RVK but we will save a fortune in petrol bills so it will all balance out in the end.
And it is worth it to see our biggest boy happy at school again.
All the sadness and worry was put aside for a weekend though when Deb and Jackie came to stay (and yes, I cried at the airport-both arrivals and departures!). It was fantastic to see 2 of our fab friends and we managed to pack a lot into 2 1/2 days..the sights (and shops) of RVK, the sights (and lava fields) of Mount Keilir and the sights (and sea) of Gardur. And the moment when my 2 dear friends became largely nonsensical?...that first moment when they stepped into the Blue Lagoon..it was priceless and they (we) loved it! Derrien and Erika-Deb and Jackie can't recommend it enough! We all had a fab time; laughed alot, talked alot, ate loads of chocolate and the girls fell in love with Iceland..(so when you moving over then??!!)
Not long now til we go to Italy with Grandmum and Pops..we are all excited. Eli B is not yet walking so I wonder if he will find his feet when we are over there?
Our 2 new cats are settling in, after a big scare with Kleopatra who had to spend a few days in the animal hospital. Her adopted sister 'Joy' (named by Jolyon as she is such a happy cat) are such characters and its great to have feline friends again (altho' I could manage without the return to cat litter trays!!).
So all in all, as promised, a hectic few weeks but we are still smiling and looking forward, as always. :-)
Hope all you folks are enjoying the sunshine (Iceland was hotter than Mallorca yesterday!)..
Take care of yourselves and each other..all our love from the Anglo-Saxon Vikings, 3Bs and a Freysson xxxx
PS more photos on web sooonn-I promise!