Girls Weekend in Oslo

(Note: This blog was written earlier this week!) I just returned from a lovely weekend away with Louise in Oslo. We decided that the blokes are always off here or there on boys trips and seeing as Joel was offshore this would be a perfect time to get away for a girls' weekend! We looked into London but the flights were too expensive, so Oslo was our next best option. We went to a concert on Friday night, Amy McDonald. It was a venue called Sentrum Scene, a fantastic venue, really small and intimate, and even short asses like Louise and I had a perfect view!! Amy McDonald is a really great Scottish singer/songwriter, she has a fantastic, unique voice and great songs. You may know her songs This is the Life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6MRYLWJb1o&feature=channel and Mr Rock and Roll http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR7SdaXHPH4&feature=channel. She's great, buy her albums!

Amy McDonald playing at Sentrum Scene, Oslo

We did some shopping on Saturday morning and then went to a pub on Saturday afternoon to watch the St Kilda v Collingwood grand final "live". The actual result was known by about 10am on Saturday morning but I switched my phone off and managed to avoid finding out the result. The Aussies out there of course know the outcome of that saga - the scores were even at full time, and unlike most other sports, a drawn grand final means a rematch the following week. It was such an exciting, nerve wracking, depressing, inspiring game of football, I was absolutely beside myself for most of the game. Poor Louise - I'm impressed she didn't leave the pub after my carrying on! It was actually Louise's first game of AFL football (she grew up in the States but spent most of the last 10 years in the UK) so I definitely blame her Aussie husband Charles for leaving her this long in the dark. Louise is a fan of rugby and cricket, so I reckon it's a matter of time before we get her hooked onto AFL!

Game (GF1) about to start

Me and Louise at the pub about to watch the GF1

Dinner at a lovely French bistro Saturday night, then Massages on Sunday, lunch at Aker Brygge and we met up with some of Louise and Charles' friends in the afternoon for a while. We had a ball, thoroughly enjoyable and just the right mix of activities and relaxation! So thanks Louise for being a great travel buddy!

Meanwhile Joel is now up to day 24 offshore, working like a trooper doing really long hours and having to deal with lots of issues due to bad weather. AT this time of year the wind and waves can really pick up and cause a lot of issues for the cranes onboard the ships to lift the heavy equipment off the sea bed and into position. They are doing a lot of Waiting On Weather which at this stage of the project, in what should be the final days/week it's extremely frustrating. They just want to get the job done and get home. His return date may be this Sunday but could very easily stretch into early next week. But there's not much we can do about it, we're at the whim of the weather, so we're just hoping for some calmer seas and good progress out at BP Valhall.

Cooba is missing his daddy

Bump Watch 18 Weeks (2 weeks ago) ....and new hair!

Update Today (Saturday 2nd October)
Baby - We've hit the 20 week mark now with the pregnancy, everything is going well. Next ultrasound was postponed until the end of next week so Joel could be there. Really looking forward to seeing Baby again!
Football - I don't want to talk about it.
Joel - Still off shore, finishing up the last few things at the field and will start heading back soon. Hopefully home Monday night, maybe Tuesday at the latest.