It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Well, again, the best laid plans do not always happen. The plan for today was the Christmas market in Lillehammer. Woke this morning to a cold and snowy landscape, after a couple cups of coffee and sitting around in my fleece pyjama pants and t-shirt, anything resembling energy and desire to get dressed and get in my car and drive one hour away to a Christmas market disappeared. Instead we decided to bake and decorate our house. The kids finished decorating the gingerbread hearts from yesterday and for the first time since I moved to Norway, 13 years ago, I made what the Norwegians call Smulteringer or we Americans would call a doughnut. Don't ask why it's taken me 13 years to attempt these but the wait was well worth it...YUM...I got so many of them that I decided to take half and coat them in powdered sugar. One of my favourite doughnuts in the states is the powdered doughnuts...these didn't have AS much powdered sugar on them but they tasted great. Like Sarah said they almost tasted like funnel cakes...mmmmm.. We also made chocolate rolls (sjokolade boller) and those turned out really well also. I made an attempt to make kakemen (not sure how to describe these to my English/American friends...but they didn't turn out. So I'll have to try some other recipe later. Didn't mind though since we have so many doughnuts and rolls! Even Stig got in the mood and helped with making the doughnuts...I was so proud!!! :-)

Stig hung lights outside and we aren't finished, need some more to go around the front side of the house and over the apartment but it will be gorgeous. I've attached a photo so you can see how it looks so far. Sorry it's a little blurry, that could be my fault...hahaha...too old to hold the camera still!!! hahaha! The kids and I worked on the inside of the house. It looks great! I have tons of decorations but I would like more. I had no idea where I would put everything but still I'd like more...it's so pretty and so special with all the red, the santas...I love it! Many of my decorations have not survived the last years so it's time to add some more. We decorate our Christmas tree upstairs with lots of fun decorations, one of my favourite things to get at Christmas is fun tree decorations. My mom was great about sending things every year with our Christmas gifts. Take note of my beautiful nativity scene that my parents got me last year for my birthday/Christmas. While we were walking around the hospital last year waiting to see if my mother would qualify for a liver transplant I noticed this nativity scene in the window of the gift shop at the hospital and I LOVED it. The clothing on the pieces are gorgeous and filled with beautiful detail. It's probably one of the most special Christmas pieces I have. The artist's name is Jim Shore- I think he has other pieces then just the nativity set, so I'd like to look into collecting some more pieces later on.

Our neighbour, Mr. FarmerMan came by today while Stig was hanging lights and Stig arranged to have him clear the snow from our driveway through the winter. 1500kroner but it's well worth it, last year when it snowed really hard, he was here clearing the driveway before 7AM so we wouldn't be late for work. I can't tell you how nice it is not to have to get dressed and go out and shovel that stuff myself!!!! I did that for years on Averøy. We asked the guy who cleared our three neighbour's driveways if he would clear ours, Stig was gone a lot and at the time I had very young children, but he didn't have time! Our driveway wouldn't have taken him more then five minutes but he made it clear he wasn't interested in helping us. So last year, our first winter here was such a delight when Mr. FarmerMan would come and clear the snow with his tractor everytime it got to be too much! Love Mr. FarmerMan....(who has a real name but for the sake of this blog we will call him Mr. FarmerMan) Stig also ordered wood from Mr. FarmerMan, so we will be able to keep a nice toasty fire going all winter long. It's great while Stig is home, he has a fire going every day but when he's gone the kids and I are gone all day with work and school so on those days when we are all gone there is no fire....so it's clear to say that life is extra cozy when Stig is home :-)

Enjoy the photos...hope they help with the holiday spirit :-)

Christmas Stress

Finally it was weekend and the paycheck had come in...time to do some Christmas shopping. First we were going to meet one of my friends from The Biggest Loser days and her girlfriend. Had a really nice visit with them and then we were going to begin shopping. There was so many people and it was so hectic that I totally forgot the list in my pocket that I had made to remind me of what exactly I was looking for. I wandered around the mall like a lost child...gazing at all the Christmas decorations which were hung around the mall and bewildered by the amount of people walking all over the place. The constant hum of thousands of people talking, store alarms buzzing and people walking deafened my ears. I didn't hear any Christmas music...just the hum of thousands of people gathered in one area.

I bought a few things but nothing really on my list...I was walking around trying to get ideas for the advent calendar I was so proudly thinking of making for my three angels. However, when my head started adding up the 50kr here, 99kr here, 45kr here (and then times it all by 3) I began to panic. I also had trouble getting hold of anything as the girls were walking around with me the whole time. So I made an executive decision, along with preparing for Christmas much earlier then December next year I will also work on advent calendars throughout the year and not just a last minute idea. So off we went to Kiwi to buy a Kinder Egg calendar for the three little angels of mine. I know....it's humiliating that I am taking the easy way out here but I was serious when I said I want this Christmas to be relaxing, enjoyable, and meaningful, not just a big shopping spree. So I am stressing down by buying a finished calendar this year...end of story...hahahaha...

Outside mother nature was helping the holiday spirit along by cloaking herself in cool white..we woke to a slight snowfall which only became heavier through the day. The weather is so funny here that in one area it can be snow and the next slushy half rain half snow...so we drove through both of these on our way to Hamar and home again. It's so cozy with snow and everyone was happy to have snow here finally but it's a mutal feeling that driving in the snow is NOT fun. Hopefully we will get even more snow soon. Just hope the farmer comes home from his vacation soon so he can use his tractor to shovel the snow for us...it was such a luxury for us that he did this last year- cleared our driveway and the road up to the house for us. So I hope it wasn't just a nice gesture because we were new last year!!!

Tonight we've lit candles in the house and are going to watch Mamma Mia which we bought today. The girls began making gingerbread hearts which we will decorate and hang in the windows and now Thomas and his buddy are having a go at it, smells great in the house! Have a great night folks..

Onion Breath....

So I've gotten hooked on this meat that you can put on your bread which the Norwegians call, Ribberulle...hmmm....how can we translate this? Rib meat (pork) rolled up with a little gelatin to keep it all together..sounds gross but it really tastes better then my description. I eat it with some red onions and pickles on top..mmmmm... so I had some today before I went to work and even though I brushed my teeth I felt like onion was just ooozing from my breath today at work. I apologized to my co-worker and she was nice enough to say she didn't smell anything. She was probably lying so she wouldn't hurt my feelings and I appreciate that but I still felt like one giant onion stink bomb! To try and make conversation I asked her how you make rolled meat...and she began to describe the process. Will have to try it sometime, didn't sound too complicated and I actually found a wooden press which you need to press the meat together, in the newspaper today, only 200 kroner! Hmmm...tempting.

This weekend we will do some baking and decorating...I am wanting to make gingerbread men and hearts and start getting lights and such up. Last year I brought home those brown paper bags from the states and we filled them with sand and lined our driveway with them and put tea light candles in them. It was really lovely to see, the first night or two...but then it became a pain in the butt to go out and light all of them, it was windy and cold and it would snow and the snow would get into the bags...then the farmer came and used his tractor to shovel the snow from our driveway and the bags disappeared until spring...so I think we will drop the bag idea this year...not to mention I've been using them as my lunch bags all year long so they are diminishing quickly. But I think we will also look for some christmas decorations this weekend that we can add to our collection. I really love doing a lot of lights outside but of course this is Norway and it's expensive and to run a BUNCH of lights outside like any good American I'd be in debt for half of next year to the electric company....so everything in moderation right? The Norwegian motto...

I am also going to make advent calendars for the kids this year, not just buy the 10kroner chocolate calendars they are use too...I thought this would be a very cozy new tradition to try out since we finally have some extra money to buy 52 tiny gifts for three kids. I decided I'd do a little chocolate or Christmas candy, some little things like deodarant, socks, things like that, and then some proposed activity notes. Little white pieces of paper with red string around them and inside there is a Christmas activity we can do together, bake cookies, see a Christmas film together, make Christmas cards or something like that. So I will look for stuff for these calendars this weekend.

Sunday we are going to the Christmas market in Lillehammer at Maihaugen...I've read about it online and I think it could be fun and hopefully kick off the Christmas holidays in a festive way...we will see. I love farmers markets and homemade things, people who can knit and sew and do handicrafts are like pop idols too me...I admire their abilities more then I can write. I keep thinking I'd love to learn to sew with a machine and I've found some cheap machines for sale...I wouldn't need anything fancy when I'm just beginning, would I? I'm thinking pillows and maybe some curtains would be fun to make...summer dresses for the girls? Uff...I'm thinking big I guess with that last one, but still.....I think it would be fun to try. When I came to Norway in 1989, the family I stayed with in Lena were trying to teach me to knit....which is technically impossible when you have two left hands....but I managed to knit the body and they did the arms and neck and bottom and then put it all together for me. I was so proud of that green furry sweater....still have it somewhere here...and it fits!!! But I have never once picked up knitting needles and tried to do that since....but I admire people who can do it. They are such wonderful artists.

Hope everyone has a great weekend...Until next time folks- be good!!!

Thanksgiving 2008

Thankful: Feeling or expressing thanks; Grateful. Every year we would go around the table at Thanksgiving and say what we were thankful for. I must admit since living in Norway my celebration of this holiday has been less and less for every year. This year I made chicken and dumplings for dinner and a salad. My reasoning was we were still eating a bird and it made sense and took less time then the classic Thanksgiving dinner. I think if we had more family around us who celebrated this holiday I would make a bigger deal but this isn't a common holiday here and it's just not the same to celebrate when no one else is...

But I am thankful...my mother is terminally ill. Last year at this time I was in the states sitting with my dad at St. Paul's hospital in Dallas while my mother was in intensive care there. Our Thanksgiving dinner last year was at Denny's- it was the only place open when we finally left the hospital to get dinner. We didn't know if my mother would be around at Christmas and no one felt like celebrating much. My mother, however, is a very strong person with an even stronger will to live, despite being completely bed ridden and 100% dependent on help for everything, she still fights to stay alive every day. When I left last year a week before Christmas, the doctor had told my mother she had 6 months to live...6 months came and went and she is still here...and here we are almost a year later after she got that death notice from her doctor and she is still here, still with us...for this I am thankful. We still don't know how long we have with her but we are thankful for every day. It's not been easy being so far away from her during this time in her life, but at the same time I am "thankful" I am not witnessing her illness first hand. Sometimes it's better to remember someone for how they were then how they are, especially under an illness. It was enough to see the changes in my mother last year and my dad says she has changed even more since I last saw her. So I am thankful that I do not have to witness her fading away to nothing. I'd rather remember her as the strong woman with the never aging face and STRONG opinions. This might be weird, but I can smell her perfume in a shop and close my eyes and she is right there in front of me...my mother had impeciable taste in everything and despite her large size she always dressed very classy and took care of herself. I'm talking about her like she is gone....and in some ways the mom I knew is gone. The mourning process has been drawn out with this illness. I occasionally talk to her on the phone, but she is too tired for long conversations, so the conversation is usually simple- confirmations that we love each other and miss each other and a half hearted "how are you?" knowing full well the answer already I just want to hear her tell me herself how she is.

It's very clichè to write this but remember to live life to the fullest, don't wait for perfect moments- make perfect moments, cherish your loved ones, let them know you love them- TODAY....don't wait...you never know if tomorrow will come, right now is what counts not yesterday or tomorrow...now. Be thankful for "now" moments...

I'll leave you with a sunset photo I took outside our home the other night...the sky was on fire..really breathtaking. Happy Thanksgiving folks..

Picaboo, I See You!!

A short little hello from Helgøya..not exactly a big day or anything but just wanted to share some cute moments from my day at work. I work with children from 0-2 years old and I really love it. Every day is new with children...you might think you know what to expect and then you get blown away with something! I read in the newspaper about a week ago that they are considering incorporating Math and English in barnehagens (kindergartens) here in Norway. I've already been using words like, Honey and Honey Bunny with the kids and they've been very good to repeat after me...I had one mother tell me her little guy was sitting at the dinner table and said, "Amy- Honey Bunny!" Hahahaha!

Well today while changing diapers I was goofing around- as usual- with the kids and I'd hold my hands over my eyes and say PICABOO- I SEE YOU! I'd open my eyes and let my fingers walk up their bellies in a ticklish way...they would laugh and some tried to repeat what I was saying! But they only got out Picaboo and otherwise had trouble with the I See You, even though I tried to make it as simple as possible, they just stared at me wide eyed and smiled!!! I'll keep working on them though!!!

I was closing the "shop" today (a little saying we joke around with at work, for whoever is closing the kindergarten) and I had two kids toward the end of the day. We turned on some children's music and began dancing. It was pretty good music with a pretty good beat and so we did the twist and would twist down toward the ground and up again...the kids were rockin away and have a grand ol' time...I grabbed the broom from the dust pan and began "playing" guitar which TOTALLY entertained the youngins...hahahaha.. as I told my dad when I got home, I have the best audience in this age group...for them I am like a rock star....it's so funny and I feel so happy that I've entertained them so completely!!!

My daughter Sarah was going to her hip hop class tonight and I was driving her. I was going to work out while she was dancing but on the way I felt so tired. Thought SERIOUSLY about just going home and then going back to get her....thought about that all the way to the gym in Brumunddal and then figured, ok, I was here...might as well work out...so I took 45 minutes on the treadmill. I do the manuel program so I can adjust as I would like. I started off with a speed of 6 and a flat treadmill. Then after five minutes kicked it up to 7.5 and jogged for 10 minutes...again- a major achievement for me...so please don't laugh (in my face) hahahaha...ok...and then I walked another five minutes at 6 then I kicked the incline up to 7 for about 2 minutes then 6 for 3 minutes at a speed of 6. I really had trouble on the incline- more so then the jogging...hmmm...weird...anyhoot...took another 5 minutes flat at 6 and then jogged again for 5 minutes at 7.5 and then walked slowly down in speed the last few minutes...felt good and I was glad I talked myself into going...the hardest part about exercising is getting started...after that it feels SOOOOOO good!!

Working early tomorrow morning (7-12) and getting off early because Stig has his birthday tomorrow and I want to spend most of the day with him. He will be 36...my dad keeps trying to confuse me as to how old he will be because he's trying to confuse me about how old I will be in a couple weeks...I will be 28....hahah, I mean, 38....typed wrong but thought I'd let that number stick...always joking around that I'm not older then 29...so 28 works for me too...hahahaha...Have a great night folks...over and out from the big island in the big lake...

The Social Cat

I have a dear friend who said it best about me once, he said that he could tell I was the kind of person who LOVED to have company around me but not all the time. I was also someone who enjoys my privacy. I think this was really well said and spot on description of me. I love to be around people but I want to choose when I'm around people I don't want them around all the time!!! hahahaha! This is probably evident in where I live also, in the middle of the forrest with no neighbours. When I feel like being social I go out of the forrest and meet the world and when I feel like being alone I stay here in my little cabin in the woods happy as can be.

Well this weekend I have felt social...Friday night our old neighbours from Averøy came for the weekend, they were going to show at the Viking ship in Hamar on Sunday and our handler for Birdy also came Friday night and the intention was he would show Birdy Saturday but considering the fact that she has decided to shed any hint of hair on her body we decided to drop it. Instead we had a really nice visit and he was going to show his two Howvarts earlier Saturday so it was still a good thing he came and overnighted with us. I made quiche with brocolli, mushrooms and onions and bacon, salad, and foccacia bread for dinner and a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert. I love playing host for a few days...if you stay longer then a few days with me though you become instantly a part of the family and have to help out!! This is how it was this past summer when we had 18 people here one weekend. Several had been here for over a week so I was putting everyone to work. No one minded and it sure made things easier with so many people here at one time.

However, this weekend I enjoyed playing hostess. Our handler friend was leaving early Saturday morning so after going to bed around 1AM after talking dog for most of the evening we got up around 645 and I made coffee and got breakfast for Børre before he left. Our other guests got up and we had breakfast around 10-1030. Then we took a trip to the Skafferiet, where I bake, to look around. Marianne found a lovely crochet blanket that she bought and had her husband wrap for her for Christmas! I thought that was a very effective way to get what you wanted for Christmas from your husband. Why beat around the bush about what you want? Buy it, have it wrapped and a card from your husband put on it...makes sense!!! hahahaha!

After the Skafferiet visit Marianne and Olav went to Hamar to do a little shopping and Sarah and I went to Kiwi and bought groceries for the week and dinner for that evening. Our new neighbours and good friends were coming over and I was making tacos for everyone and a guacamole dip which was to die for...Dinner was a hit but unfortunately Laila and Rune's little girl, Marte, wasn't feeling well and they ended up going home early. So the rest of us sat around visiting until I could barely keep my eyes open at 10 in the evening. Got to bed at 1030 and then got up this morning at 6 and got breakfast for Marianne and Olav who left for the show at 730. After they left I just collapsed. Pleased with the weekend but exhausted. Just been lying around like a sleepy ol' cat all day long...but next week is a busy week so I'm taking this day to recharge...important to take care of yourself also and not just everyone else!!! ;-)

Stig was operated on his knee in Elverum, Friday. So he's temporarily out of commission which is driving him nuts. This is a guy who doesn't sit still for five minutes and has been forced to take it easy. He's already considering driving to Hamar to get a part for our dryer which broke down, tomorrow. I told him he's crazy and to wait until Tuesday and I'll drive him when I get off work early...ugh!!

Besides work this coming week, Friday will be arranged a Julebord (christmas table) for the workers of the barnehage where I work. (all four departments) and I have to be honest, I'm not feeling very excited about that...would rather just have a relaxing evening at home instead of hanging out with people I work with...(I know this is the anti-social Amy speaking here) but I'll end up going and doing my best to be social...ugh....really not looking forward to that though...huff....

Well, speaking of cats about lazy cats and such as I have in this blog, I'll leave you with some photos of Smokey, our newest family member (as of this summer) who is really growing into a lovely cat. He is extremely friendly but is constantly wanting in and out, in and out...drives ya nuts!! My sister says he looks like a devil cat....whatever that looks like! I think he's pretty...let me know what you guys think!!!

FOOD and Working out...

So I baked this past weekend...surprise surprise!! You know we have this thing in Norway called "Lørdags godt" (Saturday treat) which is suppose to be the one day a week where you can have a treat- candy, chips, cakes...something you wouldn't normally have. Some of us turn "Lørdags godt" into Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday treat and so on....but we have been doing a good job sticking to Saturday the last weeks. Especially since I've started my once a week shopping to try and save money and not just buy because I'm hungry. This past weekend I was going to make some things instead of buying the regular candy or chips. Stig and I use to go to a restaraunt in Wichita Kansas called Spears and Spears had the best French Silk pie which Stig ADORED. I've never tried to make one of those pies before but decided this past weekend would be my first try. I've made pie dough several times before, quiche is a regular meal around here, but I always add my fill at the same time I bake the pie crust...so I wasn't sure how to deal with the pie crust being baked without fill when I was making this french silk pie. I ended up throwing one of the pie crusts away and making another as they shrunk and got kinda puffy like...I was bothered that they didn't stay up the height of the edge of the pie form. But decided I'd give it a try with the last crust I baked. I think the result looked better then I expected and the taste was......wonderful (unfortunately- we have another winner here folks) I would look for a finer sugar though next time because you could taste the sugar kernels in the chocolate fill, but otherwise it was WONDERFUL.

The next thing I made was Peanut butter fudge which my kids had been begging me for the week before and I said no because the ingredients had not been bought on our weekly shopping trip. Well, this time they didn't let me forget the ingredients and so I made peanut butter fudge, but as with any fudge this stuff is INCREDIBLY sweet. Almost sickly sweet...I can't eat more then a bite or two before I wanna hurl....but it's good....hahahaha...the kids chow down on it so half the pan is now gone. I took some to work today and one of my co-workers took a bite and threw it away. TOO sweet was her verdict. Another co-worker who is on a diet said before she tried it that she would also probably throw it away but would taste it anyways...only give her a small piece she said....so I did and she ate the entire thing and said, it's sweet.......but good. HAHAHAHA! I'm not sure this is a desert our Scandinavian friends will enjoy unless they have a super sweet tooth but it's wonderful if you love peanut butter and fudge in general.

While I baked and made fudge, the girls worked on necklaces they are making for my sister and her three girls for Christmas. These necklaces are super popular here in Norway for the time being...or at least they were for awhile, I can never keep up on what is popular and what isn't. The necklaces turned out really nice, don't you think?

Today I got my first chance to go back to the gym after a two week hiatus...I did 45 minutes on the treadmill (ten of which I actually jogged...don't laugh, that's a HUGE accomplishment for me) and then I lifted some weights on the weight machines. Felt SO good to be back there. I will go tomorrow and Wednesday and then Thursday I have to bake a carrot cake. We are getting company this weekend and I'm making a quiche and salad for dinner with some Foccacia bread and carrot cake for dessert. I also decided to go on the weight scales today since I was starting up with my training again...was scared to death I had gone up, especially after my weekend with pie and fudge and American candy Stig brought home....but the scale was the same as when I saw her last time...so I was SO HAPPY...almost did a happy dance...of course we still want to go down...but just the fact that we didn't go up....it's worth a happy dance...

Enjoy the pictures of the pie crust, the pie itself, and the fudge and the necklaces.....we'll chat again soon....

A Christmas Film and an American Find in Norway

I caught wind of a movie opening in the USA on Christmas Day and I am hoping also here in Norway at the same time although I haven't heard anything about it so far. The movie is called Marley and Me (see the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9qLrcUdftA ) and when I watch this trailer I am in tears- I can relate to EVERYTHING in this trailer at least....hahahaha! Our Swedish Leo, Nanna, is Marley's twin, I'm sure of it!!! Sarah bought some twine and beads today to make some of those necklaces that are so popular now and she had cut off a huge piece of twine and went to do something in the kitchen and Nanna had managed to get almost half the twine down her throat before Sarah came over and managed to get it out again!!!! DORK!!!!!

We slept in today, well for me sleeping in is like 8AM...but it was wonderful and I love not having to jump out of bed, just kinda roll out. First Isabella came over to say good morning (Isabella is another one of my dogs) and I let her come up on the bed next to me and we just laid there quietly while I pet her....so nice...and then I got up and made some coffee and then made toast and fried eggs for everyone and then woke the whole gang up. We got ready and everyone except Thomas went to Hamar to do a little shopping and run some errands. Stig needed some car parts for the two cars which are falling apart and I wanted a new lamp for the living room since the floor lamp we had has died completely. Found a lovely lamp at Skeidar called Kristin and it's black and the shade itself faces up, really nice, I'll have to take a picture but don't feel like it today. We found a smaller lamp which hangs on the wall in the same style which we got for our hall between our bedroom and bathroom.

I also made a discovery at Binders- SYNDER'S of Hanover pretzels with different flavors, there was Jalepeno, Cheddar Cheese and Mustard and honey!!!! So for all you expats in Scandinavia- check out your local Binders and see if you can find them ok!!! I love pretzels and the only ones I have found in this country are those small sticks with barely any salt on them!!! So I was so happy to find these bags and bought one of each flavour!

Our sweeper also died so we bought a bagless sweeper now from Biltema- should be interesting to see how that holds up with all the dog hair around here....Stig said they got one for the boat and it was really good. Hmmmm.....ok....probably less dog hair on the boat but ok...we will give it a try was really "cheap" for Norway standards- paid less then 600 Norwegian kroner for it!!!

Our youngest, Thomas, is going to a disco at his school tonight. He has been so excited about this and could barely sleep last night...he asked to go to bed early so that today would come faster. He's informed us there are three girls he likes at school and he was going to see them at the Disco. He has showered and fixed himself all up and is getting his sister to do his hair afterwards. I swear, when these kids decide to grow up it happens overnight!!! Thomas also informed us today that he would like cologne and clothing for Christmas!!! What happened to video games, legos, and other toys? We do a less American Christmas here then I was ever use to as a kid. The first year or two we were here I bought the girls everything they asked for throughout the year at Christmas. It looked like a toy store under the tree but they opened everything so fast and just tossed it aside after a quick, "oooooo". I was heartbroken. I expected they would be so happy to finally get what they had been asking for all year long...but they just wanted to get to the next package. After that year we did one present from "Santa" and one from us, although I have to admit, presents from us can become as many as three or four...but it depends what we are getting them and sometimes we do joint gifts to all three. But I think they appreciate much more what they are getting, at least I hope so.

We do most of our celebrating on the 24th but here in Norway the Christmas celebration last all week until New Year...so that is kinda nice! I want to have a Christmas breakfast for some of our friends, I thought that would be a nice change to do something in the morning since many people have something going on at night through Christmas. So if you have a great idea for a Christmas brunch I'd love any and all recipies!!!

Speaking of recipies, I've bought what we need to make peanut butter fudge and french silk pie. I've never made the french silk pie but Stig loves that so we will try and the peanut butter fudge I've made before and it's TO DIE for...wonderful but very rich!!! I am also going to try and make Ciabatta bread this week and Foccacia bread. We are having company on Friday who will be staying overnight for the big dog show in the Viking Ship in Hamar and I'll serve them dinner and breakfast...for dinner I was thinking about a quiche with salad and foccacia bread and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for destert and then a grand Norwegian breakfast with good bread and tons of different meats and cheese and other toppings. Stig is being operated on his knee Friday morning so I am taking the day off from work, should be a busy day but hopefully fun.

I am also going to try and head back to the gym next week. I've had a two week hiatus and now it's time to get this big bum back there! There is so much ice on the road now it's hard to walk around here. Wish we could get some snow so we can walk easier around here.

Have a great night folks- I'll try and take some pictures this weekend and write more soon-

The Captain Is Home....

Well my darling husband has come home to us safe and sound this afternoon. After picking up pizzas on our way home (original plan was for me to make pizza but after a long day I was glad to have this cheap and good alternative) we came home, ate and he passed out his goodies he brought with him (see photo above). Candy corn, tootsie rolls, M&M's and beef jerky and some grown up goodies (Bacaradi Razz and Bailey's with coffee flavour...mmmm..). Now he is sleeping soundly, dead exhausted after being on the road since 11 yesterday morning. Anyone who has made that trip knows how knocked out you are and I think coming this direction is harder then going over there but maybe that is just me?

Before we picked Stig up we stopped in Kid Interior which is an interior store here and I bought some lovely and again CHEAP curtains which will do nicely in the holiday season but at the same time don't have the little nisses and such on it so I can't have them up now...I rarely buy new curtains so I just had to share with you. It looks so much nicer here in person, it's such a warm glow around here with the wood and the red color...and with a roaring fire...it's very inviting.

I baked earlier this morning, three times a Nestle Toll House recipie and the cookies did get a bit flat but were still very good. I made them kinda big and still had TONS of cookies, can't imagine if I had made them smaller! It took me about 3.5 hours to complete my baking and I was going to leave thinking she would be fine on a Thursday, probably get a slow trickle of customers but noooo...when she opened at 11 there came a bus with older people and then several other customers came in as well. It was really hopping and she needed help with putting coffee on and setting out a cake plate which displayed the baked goods available for the day. So I helped with that and chopping some nuts and chocolate to put on the different pastries and cakes and then I left. I had gotten a message that we were having a meeting at work today so I went straight there from the cafe. I had only eaten a bowl of yoghurt and a banana so I was famished when I finally got home. Grabbed four Knekkebrød and some mackrell in tomato sauce....just one of the interesting foods I've become accustomed too and actually like since moving here. Although I admit it took one pregnancy to get me to try the mackrell as I always thought (and still kinda do) that it looks like kitty food. But it's actually really good with mayonaise and it's healthy!!! I've eaten some weird things since moving to Norway...any of you other expats eating things you never thought you would? I've eaten Cod tounges...did you even know fish had tounges? That was a new one for me...I actually would have liked those had no one told me what it was....but the thought of eating a tounge was too much for me. I have also tried whale and have to admit that what I tried was very dry, not to my liking but everyone assures me I must have gotten badly prepared whale because it's actually very good....hmmmmm...When we lived on the coast we ate fresh crab, lobster and shrimp often...WONDERFUL...although my dearest husband isn't the greatest fisherman, he did manage to catch some over the years and the rest we got from his brother who often caught much more then his younger brother ever could. I think that is one of the the things I miss most about living on the coast, the fresh seafood. My mother in law brings us fish balls (yeah...I'll let you ponder that one a minute) and fish cakes when she comes to visit and sometimes sei filets. I'm not sure what Sei fish is in English...anyone know that one? Well, Fish balls are basically like a meatball but made with fish, you get a similar consistency and you can eat them with sauce or you can use bacon. We get both white balls (made with a lighter fish) and grey looking balls which are made with Sei and she puts bacon in the balls sometimes...it's really good....TRUST ME...I am a very finicky eater but I've tried to open myself up to new experiences here. We had an unspoken rule in our family growing up that if my dad didn't eat it we didn't touch it either. Well, one time when I was maybe 12 or something we had an exchange student from Norway named Ingunn and we were in Pennsylvania visiting my mom's mom and we had been warned before going to her house that anything we took on our plate we had to finish...or we would insult her and it would be bad manners. Fair enough, so we are all sitting around at breakfast one morning and my grandmother sets out what looks like a plate of sausages along with other yummy looking things...so Ingunn and I help ourselves to two or three sausage patties and then we notice that some of the others around the table are putting syrup on their sausage patties???!!!! Then we noticed dad...who was sitting over in the corner with his hand covering the huge smile on his face, belly jiggling from the internal laughter he was trying so hard to control and then we looked at each other....what in the world had we put on our plate? We took a bite and the taste was generic...almost like eating cardboard or something...dad continued laughing internally almost falling off his chair. We asked what it was we were eating and grandma said Scrapple...(at least I think that is how it's spelled) it's all the leftover pig parts after the butcher takes the GOOD stuff....my dad had a grand ol' time telling us what all was in these patties and poor Ingunn had to make a quick run to the bathroom!

A similar situation happened one year when I was again around the same age....we were at a fancy hotel in Wichita Kansas, my Dad had gotten a promotion and we were going to celebrate. My mother who always liked weird foods (probably inherited from her mother's weird food taste) ordered Escargo...and insisted we all try it, including dad. Dad got to go first and his face was twisted and wretched and he made all these horrible grimaces....I ran several times to the bathroom and once I was crying and a woman in the bathroom asked me what was wrong? I said my mother wants me to eat a snail and she said, Oh honey...keep crying...ugh!!!!! I ended up having to taste the snail and honestly was so worked up I couldn't tell you if it was any good or not, all I remember is having to go to the hotel room because I had such a headache from all the crying!!! I'm pleased to say I'm not that strict with my kids...I like them to try things but not to the point of making them sick!!!!

This Is The Way We Wash The House...Wash The House...Wash The House...

So I was thinking, if I ever won the lotto (if I ever played) I wouldn't use the money to pay off bills, I'd hire a maid. I love a clean house but I HATE to clean. With four dogs and three kids you'd think I'd be an expert at cleaning but I'm not. I can wallow for several days in dirt and dust and gigantic fur balls without blinking an eye. After several days I start to mistake the GIGANTIC fur balls for my dogs and when I call and call and the "dog" doesn't move and I finally realize what I've been calling...well, then it's time to clean the house. The absolute worse thing to happen here is to get an unexpected visit. If I get an unexpected visit I try and head them off at the front door...if possible we "visit" on the front porch or out in the driveway...but occasionally people insist on coming in and of course I am mortified at all the dirt and hair around my house that I suddenly notice! So warning to anyone planning to visit me, give me ample notice so I can whirl around here and clean everything up and give the impression I live that clean all the time!!!! ;-)

When we bought this house one of the "luxury" aspects was the giant walk in refridgerator. It's like a cooler room. VERY cool and TONS of space, but the drawback to this luxury is that food gets lost in there...only to be found days, weeks, and sometimes months later cleverly disguised as green mold. You can tell how long it's been there if the food item is completely transformed into mold and you have trouble remembering what it could have been. Is everyone completely grossed out yet??? hahahaha...don't worry, we don't eat moldy food but I'm just pointing out a hazard with such a large fridge..if we ate the food it wouldn't have gotten time to get moldy!!!

In the beginning of our marriage we had a really difficult economic situation and often I hardly had any food to feed the kids and I when Stig was gone...it was a horrible time and I think it's the reason I hord food now. I am constantly filling the fridge, afraid we might be running out of something while all along we have actually plenty of whatever I thought we were running out of...so the already opened food item gets forgotten in place of the new food item and thus begins it's transformation from decent food item to greeny nasty moldy object. I am trying to get better about my shopping habits by shopping only once a week now. I am finding that if I make a list (pretty nifty idea, lists) and buy everything I'll need for the week I spend less money and we use what we have instead of constantly bringing in new before the old is eaten. Smart huh? Yeah...I'm not a natural blonde!!! ;-) I'm a slow learner, I'll admit that but stupid I IS NOT!!!! How's that for BAD English??? hahahaha...

So to the point of my blog here, the kids and I began cleaning up the house this afternoon (the organizer and cleaning freak of our family is coming home tomorrow- hubby) and we wanted everything to look nice. I decided to clean out the fridge and the end result you can see above. I'm so pleased. Now we will set up a new rule that once a week whoever has kitchen duty gets to check over the fridge for out of date products and food that has gotten lost. Who knows maybe someday we can enter our fridge without running into mystery food/nasty green moldy stuff...

The kids were wonderful to help clean, we are all excited for Stig to come home tomorrow! He and the other guys from the crew were being driven to the airport. Immigration said if anyone set foot on American soil without permission they'd be fined 3300 US dollars! Welcome to America!!!! Stig asked one of the customs guys who came on the boat last night if he couldn't go on land to get his American wife some Tootsie rolls and the guys said no. However, later in the evening he came back on the boat with a bag of Tootsie rolls for Stig to bring back to me!!! hahahaha! Now that's the America I love!!!! Stig was told if he flew to Mexico and then into the states he could enter with a visitors visa but just getting off the boat onto American soil was a big big NO NO! Does anyone see the sense in that??? Norwegians don't need any special visas to get into the states but if they arrive on boat they are treated like illegals...nice huh??? Makes tons of sense...ok...won't go down that road tonight...

I baked three carrot cakes today for this little cafe here on the island and tomorrow I am going to bake chocolate chip cookies for her. She told me that everytime she has made chocolate chip cookies they get incredibly flat. She has tried several recipies but falls on the same problem each time. I was planning on taking Nestle Toll House Recipe with me but using "dronning sjokolade" (a similar chocolate to chocolate chips but comes in a bar, so I'll just chop it into pieces) What would cause the chocolate chip cookies to be flat? Is it the altitude or is it cold eggs? Does anyone have advice for getting chewy, yummy, non-flat, chocolate chip cookies??? Well, I'm going to give it my best tomorrow and see how it goes. She loved my oatmeal raisin cookies I made for her last week. She bagged them and put very cute string around the top of the bag and sold them in her store which is attached to the cafe. I was looking up recipies today while waiting on the cakes to bake...there is just too many good recipies out there and not enough time to try everything. I am going to try and make fudge this weekend. I have made peanut butter fudge with great success but never gotten the chocolate fudge to work, have seen recipies that require condensed milk which I didn't know until today I could get here (Viking melk) and some require marshmallow fluff which I assume I can make by melting marshmallows???? Hmmmm....I'm thinking aloud here...but welcome any ideas to help me make successful fudge here. I tried making peanut brittle a couple weeks back but didn't get the brittle to harden like it was suppose too, it was just gooey...ugh the challenges in life!!!!! hahahaha!!!!

Ok folks...that's it for now, I think I've grossed everyone out with my dirt in house stories and moldy foods and then hopefully changed the feel of this blog to a positive with talk of all those yummy baked goods and fudge ideas...will try and think of something just as interesting to talk about next time we meet....until then....be good, be happy!!!!

May She Rest in Peace...

This morning the girls were running late (as usual, only this time it was Sarah and not Julia who was late....weird) and I thought I would be a nice mommy and run them down to the bus stop with the Nissan who I had been having trouble with on our trip to Kongsberg. Well, since I was only driving a minute down the road and then up again I just had my fleece night pants on and a sweatshirt and didn't brush my hair or anything...got down to the bus stop, turned the car around in the farmer's driveway of his farm and was going to head across the main road and back up to our house when I heard the sound....the sound of my Nissan dying...or at least being severly wounded. A terrible breaking sound like something snapped. I gave gas but all she did was screech....her motor reved up but nothing happened..SHIT....now what? It was dark and here I was stuck in my neighbours driveway...well, thankfully it's a big driveway and he has several other ways around my car...but still...ugh....

I feel like my cupeth runneth overeth these days and I could feel my eyes tearing up at the hopeless feeling I had at that moment when I realized I wasn't getting the Nissan home...she would have to be where she was for the time being and I was going to have to get out and walk up to my house in the dark in my nightclothes carrying the pillow the kids had forgotten in the car....I guess I can be thankfull it was dark so no one saw me...OH but of course the farmer just happened to come out to get his newspaper as I was starting to walk up, the girls called for me and told me he was there, so I turned to explain why my car would be hanging out at his house for awhile...in my nightclothes....being the typical Norwegian farmer he didn't have a lot of words for me...just a lot of yep yep, ugh huh...yep yep kinda words...and a smile I could see in the dark....so I figured everything was cool with him and turned to venture up into the woods to the house. Sarah kindly offered me her headlight so I wouldn't have to walk completely in the dark and I was grateful...I guess I can admit walking in the dark alone isn't my biggest joy in the world...

My water cooker has broken down in the last couple weeks so I've gone back to cooking my water for my instant coffee and my teas, with a pan and I had just taken my water off the heat before I drove the girls down....so by the time I got back up it was lukewarm....instant coffee with lukewarm water...UGH...NO....not good....even though I tried to drink it due to lack of time to cook up more...geez I miss my water cooker...Dear Santa....I would like for Christmas.....one water cooker, a new life for my Nissan, my husband home,.....ugh....let me think about the rest I'm sure I can get back to you with more....

Went to work today feeling kinda BLAH...met two of my coworkers who were also feeling blah....several children didn't show up today because they were suffering from diarè which my coworkers were also suffering from...but we can't find substitutes at work so we end up having to go to work even when we are sick...makes sense doesn't it? Anyhow, by 1130 two of my coworkers headed home (took off early) and it left me and my other coworker Ann Mari. But we only had six kids and by 1230 we only had four...so it was a very laid back day...but I have to admit I like the busy days better, time goes so much quicker when there is lots to do then when everything is quiet then time stands still almost... The kids are cute, they are really the best part of my job...one little boy is such a parrot and when I say, Hello honey...he repeats me...his mom thinks it's cute as can be that he's speaking English....I call the kids Honey Bunny, Sugar, Darling....you name it and they just think that it is so funny...it's cute to hear them repeat after me what I say..

No pictures today....sorry....will see if I can't get one last picture of the Nissan before she is laid to rest....will blog that later..Have a good evening folks...

Winter Wonderland

I have to admit that being from Texas (actually born in Pennsylvania but consider myself Texan since that is where I went to High school and met my husband there and my parents and sister live there) I am not an expert winter driver...I actually hate driving period but it is one of the neccessities of life I can't get around, especially living as rural as we do. Well, driving in the winter is a nightmare for me, even with the specialized "pigg dekk" (pigg tires) that we have on the cars.

Thursday night we were having a meeting/social get together for all the co-workers at the barnehage where I work (we are four different departments with over 30 workers). The get together was at Sjusjøen which is in the mountains about an hour from my house. They had rented two cabins and the idea was to spend the night. Considering I didn't have anyone to watch the kids I was going to drive home the same night. I had a couple other ladies who also wanted to come back down the same night, so we would drive together. I followed a group up and they were kind enough to wait on me, as I didn't dare drive quickly. It was also dark, which I hate driving in the dark, I can't see anything...to make matters worse my old car had one light burnt out...so when I was driving with just one I couldn't see anything. I don't know anything about cars, I simply drive them. If something breaks down, even something simple...I am totally lost. So fixing the light bulb isn't something I will do. That goes on the Honey do list I have going for my honey when he gets home from sea. So anyways, my faithful old car got me up the mountain in one piece and we got lost looking for the cabins we were suppose to be at. There is tons of cabins up there so we ended up at what they call a Seter which is where they would take the cattle up too in the summer months and let them graze and they would live in these little cabins through the summer. It was here we were going to be eating with the group but the girls decided we needed to find the rest of the gang, so off we drove to find the cabins. Once found we parked and everyone started heading back to the seter. We walked back, through the woods in the dark and across snowy icey rocks and lyng. We were given fakkels to burn so we could see our way but only certain ones got these so if they walked faster or slower you were without any light other then the moon. Oh I forgot to mention when we got to the cabin there was a shooting star and I thought at first it was a firework...I had never seen one burn up like that and it was so close. Really neat! Anyhow, we got to the seter and went inside where they had a lovely warm fire burning and cozy tables set up for all of us with candles and there were antiques hanging on the log cabin walls. We were served a delicious potatoe soup and flatbread and salted meats or spekemat as they call it. My big boss started raving about one of the sausages she tried and I was JUST about to grab one and try it when someone said, aren't the black ones made with horse meat???? That killed that desire for me....I tried Horse meat in Italy and wanted to gag. Not that the meat was actually that bad but just the thought of it was nauseating to me. I love horses...I love cows too but I guess it's just been a more natural thing to eat cow then horse...so it was a hard idea to get use too in Italy and one I didn't really want to repeat here. After dinner we went outside and performed some little skits we had come up with after being broken into groups and it was a lot of fun and interesting because we all were given the same fairy tale and asked to turn it into something of our own and we got four different versions...was really neat! After the skits we went back inside for coffee and warm apple cake with cream. YUM....then we were entertained by a singing, poet reading semi pro comedian from the local area. A heavy set woman with a good if not a bit strange humour and a stranger singing voice but strange as it was, you still found yourself tapping your feet and almost ready to jump up and stomp your feet and clap your hands....but thankfully I had great self control this evening.....

Anyhoot, started driving back down the mountain and one of the ladies asked me if I wanted her to drive...considering I was doing about 40-50km per hour...and as late as it was that we got started, I said ok....so she hopped in the driver seat and began driving 80-100km per hour down the dark roads of the mountain. I held on for dear life and scanned the roads constantly while making conversation....both ladies had such a giggle at my nervousness....whatever....

Friday morning after only sleeping what seemed like a few hours, I got up and got kids off to school and went to bake carrot cake for the cafe I'm baking for. I managed to bake three cakes and then headed home for what I thought would be a nice rest for me before we drove to Kongsberg later that night. But no....on a roll, I decided to bake a carrot cake for us to enjoy when we got home Saturday night. So I baked my cake and put foil on it, packed our bags and when the kids came home we left for Kongsberg. We got to Gardemoen and stopped at McDonalds for a quick but definitely not cheap dinner. I asked if it was possible to get to Hokksund where we had reserved a cabin for the night if I drove 35 to Hønefoss and then down 35 to Hokksund. Yes, of course I could do this....so off we headed thinking we would save time....RIGHT....again it was dark...and then as we were driving along these semi barren roads in the dark it began snowing HARD. The kind that when you turn your bright lights on you can't see anything but snow....and when you had only low lights on (and only one working) you couldn't see anything either...so we drove blindly into the darkness and I could tell we went up up up....and the snow got heavier and heavier...and then we drove down down down...so figure we must have been up in some mountain area during this drive. I didn't drive quickly but the traffic wasn't that heavy so if someone came up behind me they would just drive around me....my poor old car was loaded down with four humans and two canines and baggage....she wasn't going to be going very fast no matter what. And in such driving conditions, better to be safe then sorry.

Finally around 8 we got to Hokksund...I was so tense from driving that I could tell I was in for a headache and sure enough I woke up Saturday morning with one hum dinger of a headache which lasted ALL day. I could barely enjoy the dog show as my head was killing me. We were a half an hour delayed at the show because the judge kept taking breaks...so we decided to sit on the carpet laid flooring...only to realize after our butts started freezing that we were actually sitting on an ice rink...duh...should have figured that one out by the plastic around the entire hall...but nope...not that observant this one....hahahaha...Don't think that helped my headache any and I was feeling nauseas also. Despite how I felt I had to go in the ring to show Isabella when Sarah managed to show them both up to CK (Champion quality) so she took Birdy back in and I took Isabella when we had to compete for best female...Isabella ended up as 3rd best female with CK and Birdy was 5th best female with CK. We left as quickly as we could from the show and decided to drive Drammen and through Oslo and up E6 to Hamar. Along the way my old car decided it was time to have a fit and began pulling hard to the right occasionally. I would hold tight on the wheel and keep the car straight but the whole car would shake and I'd hear clicking sounds as this was happening, then it was just fix itself somehow...and would be fine awhile until all of a sudden it would act up again. It really got bad the closer to home we got. Still, this didn't detur us in stopping Brumunddal and picking up pizzas we ordered and taking them home. I had sent a message to our dear friends who had changed the tires for us and asked if the husband could come and look at the tires the next day only to have them call me right back and say that the brother to this man lived in Brumunddal and they had called him and were sending him over to us (where we were waiting for the pizza) and he would look at my tires. So we waited on him, he checked the tires and filled them with air, they had 16. and apparently were suppose to have 2.2?? Anyhow, it went better getting home but I still heard clicking sounds. Was so happy to get home in one pieces and I went straight to the bathroom and took out two of the ADVIL COLD AND SINUS tablets I had found in one of Stig's suitcases...they hadn't gone out of date so I took them...and Lordy lordy...I LOVE those things...wish they had them here in Norway. I'm going to have to ask dad to send me some. I have a small idea that I have sinus...but it's too much of a hassle to go to the doctor to get this confirmed...so instead I blow my nose everyday and hope and pray I don't get headaches like the one I had yesterday and as long as I have an advil cold and sinus tablet life is good....

Added some photos of the winter wonderland around the house...it truly is gorgeous, just not fun to drive in....