Iceland - Day One

Let's see, how can I describe our first day here in Iceland? How about...

Unexpected. It was dark when we landed and as it got lighter and we could see what surrounded us as we waited at the airport for our shuttle to the Blue Lagoon we were unimpressed with what we could see. It was cloudy, windy, very cold and everything was covered with a light blanket of snow. That sounds like what we should have expected but I guess having perused Iceland for so long I had become convinced it was not actually that way. The weather had also been leaning on the warmer and not-so-snowy for quite a while. The airport area resembled the lava rock beds of Hawaii and Maui, but covered with snow.

So you could almost say it was a mite anticlimactic. But as we finally boarded the bus and headed around a short bus route to pick up others headed for that other-worldly tourist spot we began to see things to make our photographic juices flow. The terrain in the Reyjkanes Peninsula was not described to any degree in anything I'd researched. Now I know why. Not a tourist's haven, a lava rock bed with a small smattering of trees here and there as well as a seaside town from place to place.

So we got to the Blue Lagoon and it was pretty much as described. Every bit as unusual and delightful. The beautiful robin's egg blue water looked so out of place and maybe even more so as it was surrounded by the black lava rocks covered with white snow. The water was only about 4 feet deep in most places, I had to crouch to stay submerged to my neck. And the air temperature was COLD! 20's!

We headed to our respective locker rooms and donned our swim suits. We wanted to get some pictures so we were outside in our bathing suits in that 20 degree weather running around, taking pictures. Amazingly, though, if we weren't wet it wasn't too intolerable. Our feet got numb and felt like rubber and we had to go inside and thaw them out but honestly it wasn't too bad aside from that.

Besides the huge hot tub aspect there was a hot waterfall and a smattering of "steam baths" at one area, as well as silica facial mask "centers" dotting the shore. The silica was in buckets inside a wooden box with a small scooper to pull some up to smear on your face. It felt like mushy oatmeal. The steam bath was 120 degrees celsius. I just googled that and it's 248 fahrenheit! Checked it in 3 places! Yowch!

Oh, I must mention the guy hanging around by the water, I'm assuming performing the duty of "lifeguard" being his job description.  Well, he was dressed in full winter gear but keeping very close watch in all areas of the spa. Neon green winter gear.

We wandered around, getting a variety of shots from different vantage points and then found a bus there to take us into Reyjkavik. The terrain remained about the same until we reached the town. Then it became someplace understandably inhabitable. There were hills, trees and just normal surroundings. All covered by snow.

The bus driver dropped us at our hotel and we settled into our sparse European style room. It's adequate but missing 2 things - a place to put our clothes and a clock. Fortunately with all our electronics we have the clock issue covered but our clothing remains in our suitcases. We unpacked all our bathroom items into the bathroom, as well as the food I brought along to be able to munch and replace one of those meals that turns out to be something I'd rather not eat.

Once settled we had a desire to go into town but lacked the means and the energy. Rick was especially wiped. So we had a 3 hour nap and was ready for the next free shuttle bus into town. We also arranged to get our rental car for this afternoon upon our return from our Golden Circle tour. So we got downtown and wandered around in the hilly, snowy, windy, frigid town of Reyjkavik - totally lost. We meandered and saw all kinds of stuff that we would have liked to have shot but the daylight was dwindling so we chose a spot to eat. Something very similar to what we would have done at home, a pub with a grill. And next door a club that turned on it's laser lights and disco-beat music at dinnertime (I'm assuming there were laser lights, we didn't go in, but laser lights have replaced disco balls in clubs of today).

After enjoying our cheeseburgers, fries and Viking beers we headed back outside to try to figure out how to get back to our hotel. After wandering to a variety of bus stops to try to figure out where to catch bus 19 we headed back into the Visitor Information store and the girl there told us we had to head back up the main tourist street, Laudevegur, to a bus depot referred to as "Hlemmer". When you say that out loud be sure you use the guttural sound of the "H". I think you got it. We found it and had about 15 minutes til our bus came. Once on board we deposited our 700 krona and the driver again delivered us right to our hotel door.

As the money goes, one dollar equals at this point approximately 116 krona. So it's almost a penny per krona. It's like if we said something cost 1000 pennies instead of 10 dollars. So whenever you buy anything it's in the hundreds or thousands. Our little loaf of bread we bought last night cost 229 krona. That's about $2 USD.

Time to spruce up and get ready for a 8 hour bus ride today. Then we get our car and get to really see the town!

A New Job

Well, in my last blog I mentioned that I had become a bonafide Auburn School District employee, although the hiring process left me feeling not so sure about that status. Yesterday I got my confirmation - I was called in to work!

At just a few minutes before 8AM my phone woke me up with an assignment to go to Chinook Elementary on Muckleshoot hill ASAP. So just about an hour later I arrived and informed the school Office Manager, Lisa, that it was my first time to sub in an office. Fortunately for me, she has been on her job just over a year and did sub work before that so she was sympathetic to my situation.

I had to figure out where to park, remember to hang my parking permit tag on my mirror, then once I was inside find the correct sheet to sign in on. Then Lisa showed me the absence and tardy list that she had begun to compile, as well as entering them all on the computer in the special software the district uses. It was all fairly easy and I picked it up quickly. The one thing I have to get used to is deciphering what people are saying when they're calling in on the phone, telling me that their child will be absent. Names aren't what they used to be. No more "Billy Jones" or "Suzie Smith". This school is located on the Muckleshoot reservation so there were some Indian names. There are also just about everywhere now Mexicans, then the sporadic Samoan, Vietnamese and whatever else. One name I remember was Tuilata. The first names were just as confusing as Tuilata so when a parent called in and spouted "so-and-so and what's-his-name Tuilata" were home sick from school I could figure out what they were saying. But the majority of them just dump the name on you and it's up to you to decipher what they just said. I began to just write down what it sounded like, then go over the student list until I found it. Like one kid name "Ford" I wrote down as "Forbes".

So I mastered the attendance aspect of the job. I had to answer the phone also and that wasn't difficult either. Nearing the end of the day I found myself sitting in the health room with a cute little 2nd grade boy that reminded me of Denny, being small and very talkative. There were about 4 other kids that came and went while I was there with Joseph. One had a sore finger and put ice on it, one bumped her head so put ice on it also, another just felt nauseated so he sat and rested while I took his temp. There was one girl in 3rd grade who came in to give herself her insulin shot. She was so cavalier about the whole thing, it was impressive.

Some of the other interesting albeit very typical events that happened throughout the day:

- a girl pulled out her loose tooth while her class was walking to recess

- a kindergartner was sharing how she lived with her Grandma because her mom and dad    were in jail for shoplifting

- my little health room buddy, Joseph, was in there because he was not allowed to go to the   bathroom in time and ended up "having an accident" and needing clean clothes

- a group of 3 siblings missed the bus and had no other way to school, hmmm, how did that happen?

All in all a great first day at work. I know it'll be about as different as can be when I go to a middle or high school, that's why I check-marked elementary schools as my schools of choice.

Hey!  I just got a call to go to another school tomorrow and Friday!  This job may just work out after all!

January and February Noose

I don't know if it's just me or if my life has just become less interesting. Whatever it is it's making it difficult for me to feel inclined to blog. Hopefully when spring hits I'll be out of this funk and back to blogging. In the meantime here's the latest for January and the first half of February:

Both of us are getting close to finishing up our 365s, our picture-a-day projects.  Rick has been good about getting a shot every day but not me, I've missed about 5 days.  But since some days I've posted about 3 I don't feel like I've failed.  It's so hard to be inspired this time of year.  I've been reading a lot of photography sites and see that I'm not alone with this problem of uninspiration.  My project will end the day we leave for Iceland, but you know that I'll be posting pictures for days at that time!  I would definitely suggest it to someone who wants to improve in their photography.  It makes you see things around you and strive to take better and better shots.  It's just part of that "practice makes perfect" thinking I 'spose.

Kevin and Shirley decided to find a house that they could be happy in for a number of years. They decided to stop moving on an annual basis. I concur, it's what I did as soon as I bought this place. I set down roots and said "I'm NOT going!" No more moving for me. Well for me it's been nearly 20 years in this house and it's great. Kevin and Shirley found a very nice place 8 miles further into the sticks from here, in the little hamlet of Black Diamond. Joe's school is about a mile from home and he's student number 18 in his kindergarten class. The house is on a dirt driveway off the highway about 1/4 mile and has just the right size yard. The house is only 8 years old and has the right size rooms for Shirley's needs. It also has a large attached garage and even came with a pet turkey! Well, they haven't seen "Rock Star" for a couple weeks now but I'm sure he's nearby somewhere.

Dane is the first of my kids to have a part on a Circuit Assembly. He played a young man anxious to get in to his street clothes for dinner while he was also hoping to be able to witness to people he may meet. He was the hit of the weekend, the idiot that wore shorts at the assembly! As usual he did a great job!

It looks like Mark's family will be moving in less than a month as well.  His landlord needs to work on the house so they have to move.  But while Mark was doing some work for a homeowner he found a house in the SIR neighborhood not too far from here.  They all seem to like it, it has enough rooms for everyone and one more bathroom than their current place.  It also has a  detached garage and fully fenced yard.  All for the same rent they're paying now. 

Our ongoing battle with our neighbors over their barking dog (we affectionately call him "Bark-Bark") got slightly out of control a few weeks back when the dog who barks out of boredom decided to break out of his yard to go play with our other neighbors' dogs - via our back yard! He actually broke the 2x4s! We talked with the neighbor and let them know that it's our fence but that their dog broke it so they needed to repair it. They got on the job quickly and admitted that they can't care for so many dogs so are trying to find a new home for Bark-Bark. They also supposedly got the chihuahuas that live in the house fixed.

Rachyl had an episode back in November which pointed her doctor toward problems that she had to have repaired surgically. Female problems. She had her surgery at our local Auburn Hospital and all went well. The surgery was done laproscopically and she was able to go home the next day. Recovery wasn't too bad, she worked about half time the entire next week and by the week after that she was back to her old self. They biopsied some of her "parts" that were removed and discovered more problems so she's on a hormone therapy to balance things out and hopefully make her healthier, feel better and maybe be able to conceive her own "lil dude".

Just before Sarah left for India in January Rick's parents' dog, Jake, had a run-in with a raccoon. They were in bed and heard him screaming in the back yard. All they needed to do was flip on the light and the raccoon left but the doggy was damaged. I decided I wanted to take him a get-well gift so I picked up a little doggy toy at the "Mexican store" in Auburn for $1.29. I tried to give it to him but he's very shy so I visited with Bob and Arla and just left the toy. A day or 2 later Arla called to tell me that Jake just loves the toy! It has a hidden squeaker in it and he loves finding it and running around squeaking it!

Speaking of Sarah's trip to India - well, she's back already.  She was there 3 weeks.   What a neat thing to get to do, especially in the name of education! She visited a number of Indian schools to compare their education system with those here in the US.  Some of the schools were for very poor children and some were for the affluent.  Some were very structured and others were more lax. She got some wonderful shots of the students in the schools as well as sights of the eastern part of India, Chennai and Bangalore.  She saw a beach where the tsunami hit back in 2004, temples, marketplaces, a zoo, a park and even crashed a wedding! She's quite fortunate to have been able to go on such an exciting trip, definitely a once-in-a-lifetime expedition!

I jumped through all the hoops to become a substitute office worker for the Auburn School District.  First I got an application.  Then I turned it in and set up an appointment to take the 4 hour test.  It was a 15 part test that covered a variety of computer applications, spelling, grammar, math, customer service, etc.  It was HARD!  But I passed it and the next step was having all my references contacted.  Once that was done I got a call to go to "Orientation" on Thursday.  I was one of 8 persons there and only 2 of us were there for office jobs, the rest were all para-educators.  So now I just wait to get a call on any school morning between 6:30 and 8AM.  This should be interesting.

Our trip to Iceland is nearly here!  Woo hoo!  We're really looking forward to the first of our travel goals.  No, we haven't made an actual list or anything but we do intend to go visit lands that we've always dreamed of seeing.  Rick mentioned Machu Picchu in Peru so that's our next target.  It's tentatively set for May of 2012.  It'll be the most expensive trip we take so the sooner the better.  Back in the 70s Rick spent time in Italy and Turkey while he was in the Air Force, when he was young and dumb.  I say "young and dumb" because he was in each place for about a year and didn't explore anywhere on his time off!  So another place we'd like to go is back to Italy (he was actually in Pisa and didn't go see the tower! What a doof!) and other places in Europe, maybe Germany and the UK, Ireland.  He'd LOVE to see the Baobob trees in Madagascar but I don't think that's gonna happen, just out of curiosity I was looking and had a hard time even figuring out how to get there!

K, that's pretty good catching up for now.  If not before I'll definitely be blogging while (or right after) we're in Iceland.  See you then!

December Blog

WOWSA! A whole month has past since my last blog! So...

Well, if I weren't a JW there would be plenty of excitement to share, with the recent holidays that just passed. But I'm not and - wait!

Excitement! Well, kinda. Our family feud that's been going on for 4 months is over, that's pretty exciting. We even had a little gathering last Friday and everyone attended. It was cut short due to sub-freezing temps though...

Shirley looks to be pregnant, due sometime in late August, that's pretty exciting. They want a girl but I have to say, I'm pretty fond of all my boys!

Rick's daughter, Sarah, just left for 3 weeks in India, that's pretty exciting. She's gonna attempt to blog her stay there, here's a link if you'd like to see how her trip is going...

So, I guess there has been exciting stuff. Besides all that Rick and I took 2 drives to the Hood Canal. Once we intended to do some picture taking but ended up just visiting with his Boeing / biking buddy, Steve. So the next weekend we went back to do that picture taking we had planned on. It wasn't the most productive day photographically but at least we got away for a while. We also took a short ferry trip to West Seattle on the way home. That's a ferry I've never been on.

I went to the doc to get a refill on my asthma stuff. The office visit was $188 for a condition that I've had for 40 years and only need my usual management, no diagnosis necessary, no labwork, no nothing. $188! But I did get some freebies. So now I gotta get the prescriptions filled. One is $139 at Walmart, but $100 less online. So I'll get that filled, that's the management, then I also need the fast-acting broncho-dilator. Jeez!

I got an eyesore part of the yard fixed up with Rick's help. I've cleaned it up once or twice in the past but it bumps up against the woods so the buttercups, fireweed and blackberries keep creeping back in. It looks real nice right now, just ferns and a new pathway. In the spring there will be tons of bluebells blooming.

I got back in touch with an old childhood friend. I can really say that now - "old" childhood friend, now that we're both grandmas. She had some very disturbing news. It turns out her mother died about 8 years ago and it was "not by natural means" as she put it. She was poisoned by her also now dead husband! Awful.

My picture-a-day project is suffering due to lack of inspiration. I guess I'm just an outdoors photographer. I'm still taking a picture a day but not posting a lot of them as they're substandard. Things like this:

We're sure looking forward to our Iceland trip coming up in just another couple months. If anyone hears or sees something interesting in Iceland, let me know and we'll see if we can fit it into our schedule, as the Phallological Museum isn't open until May.

Well, that about catches up all the big stuff. Not a lot going on, just life.

What a Week!

Yep, it was one in a million.

It all started with a snowfall on Monday that crippled Seattle, as usual. It would seem that people would get used to driving in it but when it happens only every other year, maybe not. Besides, it rains 9 months out of the year and the people around here can't drive in that either.

It was only about 6 inches but the ice always comes along with it. Tony works the furthest from home and took him 4 1/2 hours to make it home. That was good time though, some people took 7 hours and some didn't get home til 1 AM. I guess it depended on when you got off work, if it was after dark (sunset is 4:15 right now) it took longer. Just keep your cool and take it slow and easy.

Tuesday nearly everyone in the family stayed home from work, Rick was the only one who went. He works only 15 miles from home and has the added bonus of being experienced in driving in all conditions. So while he was at work the rest of the family enjoyed a sunny and COLD day playing in the snow. We all went up to the school and the kids sledded. It was a good test for Iceland. It was 20's in the shade, 30's in the sun. My camera battery lasted only 1 hour at best in those temps! Good thing we're getting 2 more batteries each! That night when we went in the hot tub it was 12º and the overnight low was 7.5º!

Wednesday the snow was still around and nearly everyone stayed home again. I finally decided to take my toaster out on my first drive in the snow and it did very well. A friend was one of the hundreds of people who had to abandon her vehicle on Monday and couldn't find a ride to go back to pick it up so I decided to help her out. She lives out in the sticks about 13 miles from here. I drove cautiously and had very little difficulty, very little slipping. I also did some errands in Covington. I noticed an older guy following me all the way into the Fred Meyer parking lot. He followed me to tell me that my tabs were expired! How nice! I guess he had nothing better to do... Rick kidnapped his daughter on the way home and she joined us for dinner, a ride with Rick on his 3-wheeler and a soak in the hot tub.

Thursday was Turkey day and Rach was cooking up the big dinner at her place. It was the first of Rick's 4 days off. About noon-thirty the power flickered off and on - then off. Apparently it was a downed tree, should only be a 3 or 4 hour outage. Rach's turkey had another 1.5 hours to go. She came over and I gave her some ideas and offered to loan some stuff. Tony and Kevin both have a BBQ with a burner on the side so they just set them up and finished all the cooking that way. The food was all hot and ready at the same time. It all worked out great, everyone seemed to know exactly what had to be done and they just did it. Rick went to his family's dinner and in the evening my friends from around the corner, the Haydens, came over to stay warm. The power came back on at 9:30 but they stayed and played games til almost 11. So the 3 - 4 hour outage became 9 hours. Oh well, it was all good.

Friday - Black Friday. No, we didn't go. Shirley did, Sarah did. We slept. Then we went for a drive to find some more snow to get pictures of - just about all gone, even in Enumclaw. We did stop at the new Winco in Sumner and had one of the nicest grocery shopping experiences. The new store was clean, neat and EMPTY! I guess everyone was still black Friday shopping! We had already obligated ourselves to dinner with the Haydens so we were at their house this time, had a great dinner and more game playing.

Saturday was just plain lazy. We found a coupon for Ace hardware - 50% off any item $30 or less, so Rick and I picked up Sarah and went. We all got stuff we were happy about. Then we dropped Sarah off (she had to go to work) and went back to town to snap a few shots for our picture of the day. Then back home for a relaxing evening and leftover soup. And the hot tub.

Finally today, Sunday, was nothing spectacular. Rick went down and checked out what Sarah's brakes were doing, then some yard work, then some housework, meeting on the telephone and our usual burgers for dinner.

Not a bad week, a lot of fun actually! I think the whole family agrees. Maybe we should have a week like this every year. Next time, though, Heather and Denny have to be there!

Save the Birds!

The other day I was outside raking leaves, mowing up stragglers, cutting firewood, just enjoying outdoor work on a beautiful autumn day. I have a row of birdhouses that live up on the front of my shop that produce numerous batches of babies in the spring and are inhabited during the cold days of winter. I noticed a bird that seemed to be having a problem in the entrance to one of them, it looked like its foot may have been stuck in a crack in the wood. I just kept working and figured it would work its way out. A couple hours later my attention was drawn back up to the fluttering bird. Still stuck.

Since my jobs outside were nearly complete I decided it was time to address the poor stuck bird. I got my tall folding ladder and leaned it on the building, to make it as tall and close as possible.  I climbed the ladder. I had to go one step higher than comfortable and just remove the entire birdhouse - it wasn't its foot that was stuck.

Those silly birds use anything they can find for their nests and one used a long piece of white nylon that resembled dental floss. It was wrapped around the birdy's neck. As he fluttered when I was close he would get exhausted and just hang by the string around his neck. Talk about a sad sight!

So I pulled the whole thing down and went inside to get a pair of scissors, with the birdhouse under my arm and the bird in my hand. I went back outside and swapped everything around, the scissor was in the wrong hand. I didn't try to slip the scissor under the string, it was pretty tightly wound. I simply snipped it and the birdy flew off with the twisted string still around his neck. Hopefully it'll just slowly unwind and fall off.

This is at least the third bird I've rescued. I have a soft spot for all living creatures but birds can't bite, so I opt to help when I can.

The first time I recall doing anything was when I saw a water fowl, duck or goose, in the road being blown underneath vehicles and not being able to get it's bearing long enough to get on it's feet. So I stopped my car on the side of the busy road and removed it and set it in the grass on the side of the lake.  I believe traffic waited for me, it was probably 20 years ago, I'm not sure.

More recently, maybe 10 years ago, I took my 2 youngest sons out in our paddle boat on Lake Holm. When I neared the far end of the lake a woman came to the shore and started to call to me. She told me there was a baby goose trapped among the boards in a rotten dock that was no longer attached to the land and not easily accessible. Never mind the 2 parent geese that were keeping vigil over their trapped baby! Talk about scary! Ever had a goose come after you?

So we paddled over to it and determined we needed tools. At that point I was walking on the dock. It wasn't as bad as it was made out. I walked toward the woman on the shore and asked her to bring me some tools. She brought out a hammer and crowbar or the like and I delicately pried up the board. The poor thing was between the dock boards and the ballast below. He could get his head out but his body was trapped. I got the little thing out and mom and dad goose were right close but not threatening. I let him go in the water and the happy family swam away together.

The best feeling is the release, letting the bird back into it's comfort. I wish I could help more animals.,,,

OK, I'll BLAH-G!

As usual, it's just been normal life lately. Nothing earth-shattering, just, simply, blah. Hence, this is my Blah(g).

The feud that was going on down the street has quieted. The weapons have all been laid down but no peace treaty has been signed as yet. Still, a move in the right direction.  The evening after a significant event to end the feud Kev and Shirl had a BBQ.  It was last minute, it was cold, but it was fun. We had a bonfire and the DeBellings made some additions to the feast. It was a Monday, a work night and a school night but we enjoyed it til 8ish.

We went on another drive toward the north and east to get some pics of the fall color and, although we left early and had great weather, we still ended up disappointed. We started to see some really cool stuff, just as the sun was getting too low. We hit Winthrop around 4:30 and planned to stop to eat, but that meant that when we left the restaurant the light would nearly be gone. We still had a 4 hour drive home and saw all kinds of stuff that would have been interesting in the morning. But an out-of-town relative was due in Sunday afternoon for a quick visit so we opted to just make the long drive home. Our choice of route turned out to be the wrong one as well, we just crested Blewett Pass when the traffic stopped and people started turning around. I say someone had a bad accident involving a deer or elk, but whatever it was, it closed the road. So we had to back track a few miles (20?) to get to the other route. That added about another hour to the drive and we got home about 11:30. We'll have to do it differently next year, make it an overnight trip.

I finally started filling the bird feeders again and almost immediately had a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers at the suet. They are so cool to see, they're like 14 inches long and each has a big red cap. We've been enjoying seeing all the Snow White type activity in the back yard again. And with the fall color... (smile and sigh)

Rach and Tony are in their house and have it nearly all painted inside and decorated. Kev is working on and off. Shirley is keeping busy with the boys and the new long-haired Chihuahua they recently adopted. Denny and Heather are remodeling and enjoying having the house to themselves. We miss spending time with them though. Gage seems to miss everyone the most. The DeB's are having ups and downs but are sticking it out, they'll get it all straightened out eventually.  The kids are finding friends at school and not so bored any more.

Last weekend Rick and I took the old pickup for a drive to the peninsula to buy a toy for Rick for the snow, a Honda 3-wheeler. It's old but in pretty good shape and was a bargain. It was raining like mad but just going for a drive was kinda fun.

We're plodding through our 365's. That's our picture-a-day projects that we started last spring. It gets real hard sometimes. I get uninspired and then I take lousy pictures. I started and so will end mine mid-March. Rick started his about 20 days later, on April 1.

Joe started kindergarten this year and got chosen to play in the first school musical brought to the school by the Missoula Children's Theater International.  They provide everything except the kids and then have an adult that leads the show so the kids don't have so much to learn.  Good thing since they had only 4 days to learn it all!  But they did real good.  Joe was a rooster and did a pretty good job of keeping up with his part.

And we took advantage of a sale that we missed out on last year. It's a 4 night vacation in Iceland in March! The trip includes airfare, hotel, breakfast buffet and the "Golden Circle" tour to see some of Iceland's most famous sights. We're gonna sign up for a Northern Lights tour and also rent a car to see some sights on our own. We may drive as far as the volcano that shut down air traffic for a week last year. We've been researching lots of stuff since its so unique and we'll be visiting in the last month of winter. Its not as cold as everyone thinks, 30's during the day and 20's at night. The streets and sidewalks in the main city, the capital, Reykjavik, where we're staying, are heated by geothermal heat so there's no ice on them! They serve some strange food that I think I'll have to pass on, things like reindeer, rotten shark, sheep's head, whale and puffin. It's very expensive so I'm planning to take stuff to make sandwiches for lunch (breakfast is included but I'm taking instant oatmeal just in case). Rick can buy his lunch if he wants but if I don't spend money on that I figure I can spend it on other stuff, goodies! Souvenirs are very pricey I hear so I think everyone can plan on receiving something small. One site I was looking at said the dinner buffet at our hotel was $90 for 2! Seriously expensive!

I guess blah is OK, it's better than always exciting.  Although I think Iceland will be pretty fantastic!