Lisa: Kristoffer, it is almost the new year and I want to write a reflective blog. What was the best part of 2009 for you personally?
Kristoffer: Having Grace. Seeing her grow. Every minute it seems she can do something new.
L: Okay, and what was the best part of 2009 for you professionally?
K: That the rains finally came to Kenya because it will help alleviate the current emergency drought situation.
L: Do you feel you’ve changed at all in 2009?
K: Yes. For some reason I take myself more seriously now. I feel I can handle any situation, professionally that is. I became a father, which is a huge change in a man’s life. I feared it a little bit, but then I realized that you can learn it as you go.
L: Do you like being a father?
K: Yeah, it’s great…especially the older she gets.
L: Do you have any hopes or wishes for 2010?
K: Many. Do you want them all?
L: Yup.
K: A published children’s book, a healthy child, a marriage that continues to get better and better, to beat my German rival in squash, to deliver food on time for 700,000 children to eat, to develop a carbon credit project related to energy saving stoves, to find a new job for the end of the year, to travel to new places – see a bit more of Africa specifically, learn French, and….I guess that’s enough for now.
L: Wow! Sounds like a big year ahead of you. Now Grace, what was the best part of 2009 for you?
Grace: silence
L: Do you feel you have changed at all in the last ten months?
G: passes a little gas
L: Alright…what about a wish for 2010?
G: A – dook – a –dook – a – dook – a
L: I’ll take that as: “I hope I can walk soon.”
K: And you, crazy wife?
L: Well obviously 2009 was all about Grace. And travel, I guess! We’ve been to the US and Denmark twice as well as to Spain and a bit around Kenya. Grace has been on 18 international and 2 domestic flights in less than 11 months! What a year!
K: Do you think you’ve changed at all in 2009?
L: I actually think I’ve changed A LOT! I think I’m a bit more flexible and easy-going, not such a slave to plans (although I still love them!) and not sweating the small stuff so much. I have a good sense of the “big picture” and I am trying harder on a daily basis not to take things for granted. Becoming a mother is the single biggest change I could ever dream of going through. I just love it and I am really, really happy. And I am so happy that Grace is such a happy girl. I feel very lucky in that way. She is the best.
K: That’s true, she is sooooo cute. What do you wish for 2010?
L: I definitely wish for good health for the people I love, a more stable climate, and peace on earth. You know, all the good stuff! But on a smaller scale, I hope that the new year will bring an improved schedule of eating and sleeping for Grace. I hope that we will find out sooner than later where we will move to next so that I can start doing research on our next life. I also hope that Kenya gets its act together because the closer we get to the 2012 election without more peace and reconciliation, the more likely it is that there will be tribal conflict even worse than the last time. Finally, I hope that I learn something new – like how to play the drums we bought when we moved to Kenya – or that I do something incredible – like climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. I am not naïve so I doubt I will accomplish both of those things, especially given Grace’s sleep issues, but I do hope to make something new and interesting happen for myself in the coming year!
K: That would be great if we could climb Mt. Kilimanjaro together!
L: I think so too! We just need a babysitter or two to come from Denmark or the US to stay with Grace for a week. Hint hint…anyone out there? Sometime around September perhaps?
K: I think that should end the blog.
L: Unless Grace has anything else to add?
G: sleeping
L: I guess that’s all! Out with the old and in with the new.
Happy New Year!
Kristoffer, Lisa & Grace
