home....ah, home...

 All good things must come to an end, they say.  This trip was certainly in the Good Things category.  We made it to Newark in plenty of time, stopped at Chik-fil-A, and brought some nuggets to the airport.  Surprise surprise, you can bring like ten things of sauce through security,  no problem.  Driving through the city to the airport in the rain and fog was not the most fun, so we saved our food until we were all settled in at the gate, ready to board.

You know by now that I always have adventures going through security, so it's not my favorite.  In fact, it ranks right up there with escalators on my Scary List.  But oh my goodness, this was the most embarrassing thing...Emily and I each brought a checked bag, I brought some things for my nieces.  I easily fit in my clothes and boots and toiletries, so my backpack was free to fill with snacks.  I didn't realize that this flight provided full meal services, and when you're traveling, you never know how things will go...so I had:  beef jerky, six "bars" (protein bars), chocolate covered almonds, salt and vinegar almonds, chili lime pistachios, chocolate covered peanuts, a baggie with mini packs of M&M's and peanut M&M's, peanut butter trail mix, southwest spicy trail mix, and some fruit snacks.  (I don't even EAT fruit snacks, so don't even ask me!).  Anyway.  We go through security for our international flight...and the nice young man says:  take out all food.  Remove all food from your bag.  (I swear I didn't hear him ask anyone before me to do that, he just took one look at me...). I said:  This is my worst nightmare. This is SO embarrassing.  Him:  Oh, surely not your worst!  Me:  You have no idea what's in this bag, as I started pulling it all out.  M&M's, bars, trail mix, making a nice pile on the conveyor belt...he then put his and up, like STOP!, and said I didn't have to take any more out....Me:  What about the beef jerky?  Him:  How big is the bag?  Me:  Extra large.  Him:  Under a pound?  Me:  I think so.  He said I could leave it in there, and put all my other loot back in...it was seriously humiliating.  Then Emily got flagged for a random shoe swabbing.  The guy asked her if she wanted a women to do it, ha.  

Then on the way back...the machine started beeping it's head off when I walked through.  What??!  You have been selected for a random screening.  Random?  Me?  Every time?  I had to walk through again, and oh my goodness, now I'm super nervous, and the screen showed a nice outline of me, with the um, panty area all lit up.  Great.  Now I'm teetering into full blown panic, because I've been borderline molested by the TSA before.  These were Norwegians though, they just wanded me - a big plastic metal detector, I guess...and talked about mysterious things together in Norwegian.  They had this metal probe, and I was really wondering what they were planning, but then they smiled like it was my lucky day, and let me go.  

But the rest of the trip was Good Things.  I met old friends and new friends and laughed and cried and hugged my nieces (two of my sister Cheryl's girls), and went to some excellent meetings.  The beds there are comfy (those crisp white dunes!), and the walking agreed with me.  The meals were all included with the conference, and some weren't bad, a few were good, and I don't always eat every meal anyways, so I did fine.  

I brought home chocolate, too!

Em and I at the airport...the flight was nice.  I am not an airplane napper, so it was a long night.

Friend Page and Emily at the conference center

It's a beautiful place, and the weather, for Norway in March, was mild and nice.

The fjord.

Emily's dairy free lunch...

Sonja, Emily, niece Janet who lives in Oslo, me...

My niece Claire, she lives in Australia...it was so good to see them.

We ended our trip by taking the bus to Oslo on Sunday and staying at a nice hotel at the airport.  Lots of our friends were staying there too, and were going to eat dinner at the hotel restaurant.  Em and I decided to get some hot dogs at the little store at the airport, I think they were like four dollars each...but they were in these peppery wraps, so yummy...we took them to our hotel room and relaxed, with a few Coke Zero.  We did have the nice hotel breakfast buffet in the morning and sat with some friends, really nice.  

Other than the dreadful experience going through security, the trip home was nice.  I met a lady on the plane who went all the way up to the north pole.  There was a bit of turbulence as we neared the airport, the wind was gusting into the 50-something miles per hour range, and people were throwing up on the plane, yuck. 

We stopped at the Starbucks in the airport, and ahh, good coffee.  I like that iced Americano.  The Norwegian version is not as good, not at all.  Then the five hour drive home...

This fine day, I was ready to get to work and clean the house, but then again, I missed the grandkids, and Kathryn was going to Walmart for seeds and potting soil...and yes, I would like to go.

A little visit afterwards...Grandpa took a break from work for cartoons..

Rhys!

The day went by fast.  I put some well seasoned ribs in the Instant pot for 27 minutes, then put them the oven at 450, smothered with barbecue sauce ...mmm.  I put frozen fries in the air fryer, and made some salads...

Ah well...almost bed time.  The time change, or jet lag?  Which is kicking my butt?  hmmm.  The old gray mare ain't what she used to be, that's for sure.  Have a good night!