bits and pieces...

Can I say first of all, that I love when I tune in to my blog and...there are comments!!!!? I just love it. When I sit here and write, I ignore the fact that someone's actually going to read it, I just write because I like to write.

Samuel is going home to Virginia! He has been training in New Jersey. He's a Civil Affairs Specialist now, in the National Guard. Poor Grace has been home with little Grant without Sam for a bit. The unsung heroes of the nation, the stay-at-home spouses.


We're getting ready for our trip! We have a suitcase on the kitchen table for odds and ends, and food. The kids will be eating probably a meal a day,(eating out a meal a day) plus maybe an ice cream, or some candy from the candy store, maybe a chai tea, but I don't have much interest in Norwegian food. I don't eat cheese, or sea food, so ummm....I love their bread, but it doesn't love me. We'll buy eggs and half and half, and bread and cheese for the kids, but we're bringing our own coffee to make in the apartment we're staying in. I'm also bringing things like pepperoni, ready cooked bacon, some ramen noodles and instant oats, and almonds and cashews, as well as some Quest bars.

In the suitcase, two things Jon ordered on Amazon, which arrived after his departure, minimalist shoes and an S.D. card, as well as his swim trunks. My lovely Walmart sneakers are in there, too.

I also ordered this fanny pack, I'm going full-nerd. No offense, but even in the eighties and nineties, I wouldn't be caught dead with one of these. But now, according to my kids, they are "in". Charlotte Claire and Sonja K. have Adidas ones, Evelyn has a Calvin Klein, and Emily has a sensible gray one, like the one I ordered. Abigail ordered one too, it has pineapples on it, which is typical for her. It just seems so practical to travel with! Passport, credit card, cash, phone, all within reach, no rummaging! I'm sure with that on, and those sneakers, I'll look hilarious, but who cares?

See all those fanny packs?

So my days with Camille have been just golden. She is a sweet girl, and has just blossomed with me. There's something about not having the siblings there to influence behavior, she doesn't have to try to act older or different. We watched a movie together last night, and yesterday we went in the pool, and puttered around here kind of packing, kind of just relaxing. We stopped at the store so I could get heavy cream for that Keto pie like the one I made last week, but it was $8.19 a quart in the small store in town, so nope. I did get some mozzarella cheese though, to make Keto pizza for dinner. (The fathead pizza recipe, tweaked:
3/4 cup almond flour with a bit of garlic and onion powders, salt and pepper, and some crushed red pepper
1 and 1/2 cups mozzarella AND cheddar cheese, shredded...mostly mozzarella.
a hunk or a few spoonfuls of cream cheese
melt it for thirty second intervals, stirring between, until just melted together
add one egg. Mix it up.
I divided it into two pieces, and rolled each piece out between parchment. Drag each dough onto a baking sheet, remove top parchment, bake at 400 for 7 or eight minutes.
spoon some olive oil on top, spread around, put parchment on top of olive oil, flip it over, remove top parchment which used to be bottom parchment, and top with sauce, cheese, bacon, peppers and onions, pepperoni, or whatever, and put back into oven until melty and crispy.)

It was really yummy, it was the first meal of the day for me, and I loved it.

Ah well, things to do today...so bye for now.