Move over Darcy ...!

As I write this week's update, I am still languishing in bed after being up half the night with a rather unpleasant bout of food poisoning (while Mr B snored on oblivious).  Yuk! Can't remember the last time I was so sick and today my stomach feels like it has been through a mangle (showing my age? ... thought so).

This week has been another busy week and once again we seem to have packed a lot in.  Last Sunday we headed up to Payson to experience our first rodeo, which claims to be the oldest continuous rodeo in the United States, the first one being held in 1884, and then every August since.  There were competitions in bare back horse riding, roping and of course bull riding - some of those bulls were HUGE - plus 'mutton busting' for the kids where they attempt to ride bareback sheep - all very odd - and barrel racing for the lady wranglers.

It was hot, dusty and I have to say rather tedious inbetween events - (especially as we had to listen to Youngest continually lamenting the fact that there was 'no Wi-fi or 4G signal' and therefore was cut off from the rest of civilisation apparently), but overall we enjoyed the tradition and pageantry of it all and it was a good afternoon out (but not sure if it will be one that gets repeated if I'm honest!)

We also attended a Back to School night at Ethan's school, where parents, armed with your child's schedule and a map of the classrooms, go from room to room and experience 10 minutes in each 'class' to experience a glimpse of their child's day.  I had not experienced this concept before and thought it was a great way of meeting all of his teachers and also the parents of some of his friends.  Ethan's classes were as follows: 

Advisory (where they meet in small groups with a teacher who is nominated as their advisor for the year and where they can discuss any issues and seek help for anything they might need); 

Algebra (I think I glazed over for most of this one); 

American History (nope, still no clue);

Advanced Media Arts - Ethan's favourite subject as focused on designing, writing and publishing their own video game - cool!; 

English - where we were assigned one of those trick passages to read and discuss who was in the wrong, where there is no right answer. (In this case though, it was definitely the husband ... It usually is); 

Biology (teacher was absent as driving her daughter back to college in Conneticut apparently ... Only a 36 hour drive!!; 

Yearbook - Ethan's elective this year where they will produce the school yearbook and learn about photocopy and journalism. The teacher is an ex-military war photographer! Never mind Ethan ... I wanted to take this class!  And finally ...

Spanish, where we were handed a vocab sheet on the topic of introductions and greetings.  Uh oh.  "Practice in pairs for a few minutes ... " then "how about this couple at the front performing a little skit for us?" and there it is ...!  Neither Mr B or I know a word of Spanish (well, except perhaps for that which we learnt from Manuel in Fawlty Towers ... Que?).  Great.  Oh well.  Suffice to say we managed to entertain the other parents of the group when Mr B asked "how are you?" and I answered "I am feeling unwell".  His reply of "I'm going to school" went down a storm.

I also promised in last week's edition to update on how the dancing lessons were going. Dancing lessons? you may be thinking ... let me elaborate.

Being avid fans of Strictly in the UK (now having to make do with Dancing with the Stars though, although they've got Artem so it's all good) we had often remarked whilst watching, as I'm sure have most fans of the show, that it must be lovely to be able like to dance like that and I had often coveted the beautiful sparkly dresses and costumes (I'm a sucker for anything shiny).  Well, a couple of weeks ago Mr B  came home from work and announced that he had found a dance studio really close to where we live and that he had booked us in for a trial dance lesson  Oh God! at the rather optimistically named 'Fred Astaire' dance studio.  Wait ... you did WHAT?!! The last time I had done any kind of ballroom dancing was when I was 7 years old and our mother packed my older sister, brother and I off to Saturday morning dance classes (which I have to say I really enjoyed ... although looking back maybe it was just the silver shoes I liked?).  Ethan was also suitably mortified.  "Oh God.  He is going to burst through the front door singing the Strictly theme tune and doing that embarrassing Dad Dancing isn't he?"  Spot on Youngest, spot on!

We arrived at the studio which was tucked away in the corner of one of the local malls.  I thought it would be full of old wrinklies with false teeth and syrups but i have to say I was pleasantly surprised.  After an initial fit of the giggles when we arrived and saw our names on the welcome board underneath some poor guy they had recorded as 'Mr Ben'  (I had visions of Mr Ben in the back of the shop changing into a pink tutu!), I managed to control myself for the rest of the lesson.

All the staff were lovely and we were given a tour of the studio(which was not at all like the broom cupboard I was expecting) and then introduced to our instructor, a lovely girl called Sarah.   40 minutes flew by and we had lots of fun, usually at Mr B's expense, but to be fair he did an ok job and at least (so far) I have managed to avoid having to cover my feet in plasters!  In fact, we both enjoyed it so much that we signed up for a course of lessons there and then.  We have now had 4 of our 8 lesson beginner course, and in addition to learning a rhumba and a cha cha we have now added Swing and Tango ... get us ... and although I don't think you'll be seeing us on Strictly any time soon it was definitely a 10 from Len!  Watch this space!

"It's the Wrong Trousers Gromit ... !"

So finally, after the longest summer holiday ever,  he could escape it no longer and it was time for the youngest member of Team Barlow to start his new school here in Arizona!

Last Sunday afternoon, the day before the start of school, I thought I had better just do one final check on the school website to make sure we hadn't missed anything.  It was there that I noticed an advisory stating that the 'formal uniform' would be required for school ID pictures on Wednesday.  Ethan's school uniform helpfully consists of not one, but two separate dress codes, thanks for that.   An everyday uniform, which comprises khaki shorts and a navy polo shirt; and a formal uniform required to be worn at certain events/ days throughout the school year, comprising long khaki trousers, white collared shirt and school tie.

Phew, thank goodness we had got all that sorted earlier in the summer **smiles smugly then immediately remembers ordering long trousers with 'unfinished length' which seemed such a good idea at the time but which now required hemming ... crap**
"Could you go and put your long school trousers on please with your belt and bring your shoes so that I can do the hems ..."  **cue eye rolling followed much huffing and puffing**
A few minutes later, 13 year old 'Kevin' (for those of you that remember Harry Enfield) shuffled into the lounge looking like the worst dressed scarecrow ever ...!  He was sporting a pair of long khaki trousers, which seemed to be the perfect length, but way too big around the waist, and pulled in by the belt bunched around his waist causing several large 'gathers', together with huge wadges of extra material round the hips, making him look like an extra from Lawrence of Arabia.   Dear God ... I thought to myself, how can he have lost that much weight in 8 weeks??!  closely followed by ...  and how the hell are we going to get some more by Wednesday?!
"What?" exclaimed the sulky one, watching my facial expression change from one of horror to  complete hysteria as I could hold it in no longer ...
"Oh, thanks Mum ... way to shatter my confidence...!"
"Well, I'm sorry, but you look ridiculous! **still guffawing loudly**  They weren't like that when we tried them on a few weeks ago were they?  I'll have to order you some more (Lands End being school uniform supplier) and you will just have to manage with those on Wednesday if they haven't come in time." Still trying desperately to stifle my laughter (and failing).
"You must be joking!  I will just have to be sick on Wednesday ..." Kevin wailed.
At this point,  Mr B, ever the diplomat, stepped in to offer words of sympathy and shepherd him off to help him get the rest of his stuff ready for the morning, muttering reassurances as they went.
A few minutes later, I heard Mr B exclaim from Kevin's bedroom ...
"Hang on a minute ... these are MY trousers!  I've been looking for these for ages!  Ethan's are here ... on the hanger underneath his shirt...!!!!"
Well, that was enough to send me into complete hysterics and half an hour later, tears were still rolling down my cheeks and my stomach ached from laughing.  Kevin was of course completely relieved,  and eventually saw the funny side before disappearing back into his bedroom amidst mutterings of  'for the love of God woman ... ' and 'why can't I just have normal parents...?'

The next morning, after getting up at stupid o clock, we set off bright and early in order to make the 20 minute drive to school and arrive by 7.45am ... ugh!  As we pulled up to the designated drop off point, I was under strict I instructions not to get out of the car, and especially not to shout any terms of endearment from the window. Trust me, I was soooo tempted, but thought I better not ruin his street cred on the first day - I'll maybe wait until next week for that! :D  All three 'Heads' (Middle School, Upper School and overall Head of School) were outside to welcome the existing students back and reassure the new ones, amid lots of high fiving, smiles and laughter ... the sunshine definitely a contributory factor here I think.   I watched for a minute or two as Ethan shuffled awkwardly past the over enthusiastic teaching staff before disappearing into the building, and then drove back to an eerily quiet house feeling a bit emotional - the last milestone of our big move successfully completed! 

I am so proud of how he has handled the whole move but in particular with regards to school.  It can't be easy as an adolescent 13 yr old to leave all your friends behind, move to a different country and start a brand new school where you know not a single person.  Yet, he has taken it all in his stride, showing a maturity way beyond his years.  Way to go Ethan! 

After what seemed like the longest day ever, I returned to the school at 3.15pm to pick up one happy 13 yr old, enthusing about what a great day he had had and how many new friends he had made ... well, actually I think his exact words were "yeah it was cool .. got loads of new snapchats and Instagram followers ..." How times have changed! 

The only slight negative seemed to be the school lunch.  Spoiled by the excellent lunches at his last school - choice of main dish, salad option, vegetarian option, baked potato, soup ... followed a choice of two desserts or fresh fruit - I think he got a bit of a shock!  

"What did you have for lunch?"

"Well it was supposed to be 'breakfast for lunch' day, but it was basically a sausage that wasn't a sausage and waffle flavoured rubber" Oh dear.

"Never mind, did you get a nice pudding?"

"No. They don't do pudding ..."

Oh.  Apparently not a piece of fresh fruit or a vegetable in sight (not that he would have eaten them anyway, but hey ...)

The menu didn't seem to improve much over the rest of the week either. Tuesday was a chicken burger with rice (?) and one piece of broccoli. Wednesday was pizza (which did get the thumbs up) and Thursday, "orange chicken nuggets, rice and some weird vegetable dish that looked the skin of a dead chicken so I didn't eat that .." (still haven't quite fathomed what that was supposed to be!)   Jamie Oliver - I think you may have your next project right here!

I have to say that I am alarmed by some of the food choices in general over here, not to mention the additives and chemicals that seem to be in everything, probably accounting for the seemingly never ending shelf life of so many items.  The other day I asked for some minced beef at the butchers counter of the local supermarket 

"Which one would you like?"

"What's the difference"

"Well, do you want the organic one that's free from growth hormones  ... or the other one?"

Growth hormones??!  What the hell?!!

The rest of the school week thankfully continued to go well, and even the test in his U.S. History class didn't seem to dull his spirits as he cheerfully informed me ...

"We had a test in History today on the U.S. Government.  Just so you know, I am probably getting an F .."  Ah.  "I have no idea who wrote the Declaration of Independence and I don't even know what the constitution is, never mind what the first 10 'amendments' are called..."  Lol. Guessing we may have to reset our expectations for that class then ...

Meanwhile, I had been having my own school experience attending the first PTA meeting of the new school year.  (I thought I had better show willing as we were new).  After introducing themselves, and outlining their various roles, the PTA committee proceeded to share the calendar of planned events they would be running throughout the year,  seeking the usual volunteers for each and referring more than once to the sign up sheets at the back of the room.  Oh God.  Wonder if I can swerve that for now until I become a bit more familiar with how it all works.  Not a chance.  One whiff of a British accent and I was declared the perfect candidate to help with the 'Mother's Tea' planned for December!  I swear to God they think that's all the Brits do ... sit around drinking tea and eating crumpets.  Think I might suggest a Mary Berry  'Technical Bake Off' challenge and get them all to make a Victoria sponge and a plate of scones.  Ha! (Although, I think I might be more of a Mel than a Mary!). Will have to give that some thought before December.

All in all it turned out to be a very busy week ... and I haven't even mentioned the ballroom dancing yet!   I'll save that for another time though or you'll all be in your pyjamas by the time you've finished!

TTFN and thanks for stopping by

Bev x

Brace yourself ...!

Well, can you Adam and Eve that we have now been here almost 5 months?!?!!  I know!!  And finally, on Monday Ethan will be starting his first day at school after being stuck with me since the end of March!  (Quite frankly, I think this has been an education in itself ... although maybe not all in a good way ... not sure being able to mix a good margarita counts towards graduation credits?).

The poor boy is also suffering from aching teeth at the moment after having braces fitted top and bottom this week.  He left with a long list of dos and don'ts and a "No-No" food list for the anticipated 18 month duration ...

• No sticky foods - caramel, licorice, tootsie rolls (?), gum etc.  'An occasional piece of sugar free gum is ok, but avoid as often as possible'.  Ethan, "I don't eat gum so that's ok ... but if I did it certainly wouldn't be sugar free!"
• No beef jerky (bleugh!) or Slim Jims ... ? Nope ... not a clue. 
• No chicken legs and ribs - 'tear meat off the bone before you eat'.  Ha. Can feel a Henry VIII style BBQ coming on - will probably be finding half eaten chicken legs in the plant pots for weeks **tuts**
• No corn on the cob - 'cut the corn off the cob before you eat it' ... what?!?! who has time for that?
• No ice or hard nuts
• No raw carrots, apples, celery and other hard veggies or fruits - **one 13 yr old boy whooping for joy**

and my personal favourite ...

• No pens or pencils - a poor substitute for a packed lunch I've always thought ...

We also had to attend an induction event at school yesterday afternoon for all 'New Families' prior to the new term on Monday. Ethan was mortified.  (Not helped by the fact that Mr B and I were singing along loudly to OMI's Cheerleader on the radio as we entered the school car park). 

"Right you two ... get it all out of your system before we go in..." LOL!

"Haha, are you panicking?"   

"Well, so would you be if you had to take Phil Dunphy in with you!"

I think we managed to make it out of there without embarrassing him further (apart from the reference I may have made to an 'exercise dodger' when chatting to the athletics coach ... oops) although I am sure there will be plenty more opportunities to look forward to!

The weather has been another major feature this week, with violent storms during the first half  ... resulting in me finding one of the loungers at the bottom of the pool (it looked like the aftermath of one of the best parties ever #rocknroll)

... followed by an Extreme Heat Advisory (now expected to be in place until Monday evening - eek!) with record breaking temperatures during the second half!

As I write this at 9.30pm on Saturday, it is still 104 degrees outside! Phew!

I thought you might also like to see some really cool pictures from the storms at the beginning of the week taken from the local ABC15 news gallery.  I can honestly say I have never seen lightening like it.  It was almost continuous for several hours!

Dust storm rolling in across the valley

Finally - the sunshine after the rain - taken from our front porch.  Was really tempted to knock on the house opposite to claim my pot of gold!

Have a good week!
Until next time ...
x

What happens in Vegas ...!

So this week we had a little jaunt to Las Vegas for a few days to make the most of family time before school starts for Ethan next week (for which I think he is more than ready now!).  Besides, the Ballagio were doing a '3 nights for the price of 2' offer, so quite frankly it would have been rude not to.

Although it is just under five hours from here, it is a very straight forward and easy drive with long straight roads and beautiful scenery.  We drove by majestic mountains, the Joshua Tree National Forest (didn't realise it was an actual tree and not just the title of a U2 album) and once again, witnessed stunning Arizona skies with some of the loveliest cloud formations I have ever seen.  I think I could take a photo every day of the year and I would have 365 different skies ... hmmm, I can sense another photo album coming on ... #project365

Joshua Trees

The Bellagio was indeed lovely and lived up to our expectations in every way. You couldn't help but be impressed by the Murano glass ceiling decorations and the fabulous conservatory (although I had to agree somewhat with Youngest who exclaimed "OMG ... I've wandered into a Disney movie!")

"Under the Sea ... "

The beautiful colored glass ceiling at the Bellagio

If truth be known, this was also a bit of an exploratory trip prior to numerous friends' visits over the coming months who all seem to want to visit Vegas while they are here (can't think why?!) to see how easy it would be to include some 'adult time' at the casino, whilst feeling comfortable that we could leave the 'tweens' in the room and weren't too far away to be back in a few minutes if there was a problem.  (Some of the hotels are so huge that you would have to walk miles from the bedrooms before you reached the casino and I didn't feel comfortable with that).  The Bellagio fitted the bill perfectly in this respect.  Not so huge that everything was miles away, but big enough to allow the variety and freedom we wanted.  It transpired that this worked really well at the Ballagio - Ethan couldn't wait to get rid of us for a few hours each evening and was quite happy munching his way through snacks and sodas, chatting to his new American friends via the wonders of social media (mostly girls I have to say!) and watching Netflix ... thank God for Wifi!  Before we went anywhere though, I was obsessed with going through fire drill scenarios and making sure he knew what to do should the alarm go off when we weren't there. 

"Now, are you sure you'll be alright if we go downstairs for a couple of hours?"

"Well, I was perfectly fine until you started going on about being burnt alive in my bed ..."

As for Mr B and I, we were like a couple of naughty teenagers who had managed to give their teacher the slip for a couple of hours on a school trip and we had a hoot!  We had allocated ourselves a small amount each evening to play with and stuck mostly to the slot machines to make sure we got the most out of our evening (otherwise I think we would have been back in the room within half an hour) and of course took full advantage of the free cocktails offered at regular intervals!

We really should have had L plates, as neither of us really knew what we were doing and muddled our way along, somehow managing to win enough to top up our pot each time ensuring enough funds to last the evening.

Mr B with his girly cocktail!

During the daytime we enjoyed visiting some of the other hotels on the strip, marvelling at the sheer size of some, and the grandeur of others, and trying to navigate our way inside as much as possible,  venturing outside only when absolutely necessary as it was still hotter than hell.  Las Vegas is also a great place to indulge in our other favorite pastime - people watching - and we certainly saw some sights ... memorably a very large lady in yellow hot pants and matching crop top, prompting Ethan to remark "What's she come as ... Sponge Bob?"  :D 

All in all though a fun few days together and a successful fact finding mission - I have a feeling we could be visiting a few more times over the next year or so!

Hope you all had a good week too and those in the UK are enjoying some sunny weather too.

Thanks for dropping by,

TTFN

x

Note to self ...!

It's been a fairly quiet week this week here at Barlow Towers.  Mr B has been away on his travels again (this time to St Johns in Newfoundland) and Youngest has been on a writing course for the 8th Grade at his new school (where thankfully he made lots of new friends ... the majority of whom seem to be girls ... funny that). Unfortunately on his first day he had to leave early for a trip to the dentist to have 4 stubborn baby teeth removed in preparation for having his braces fitted.  He was still his usual comical self though, declaring that the current song from The Weeknd ... 'Can't feel my face', (which was playing on the radio as we drove home) should be dentist theme tune :D

Anyway, this week I have compiled a list of things I have learned so far since moving to Arizona.  

1. Don't lick your finger and then rub at a mark on the side of your car when it has been parked outside in the midday sun.  It burns.  And you will get a blister.
2. A 'sandwich' is not a sandwich at all and more often than not a burger in disguise.
3. Americans cannot make a decent cup of tea (sorry, harsh but fair).  Leading on to No. 4 ...
4. Iced tea is disgusting.
5. Whenever you attend any kind of medical appointment, doctor, dentist, optician ... you will leave several hundred dollars poorer.
6. Jumping onto a hot car seat whilst wearing shorts can be painful and seatbelt 'branding' is unattractive (and also painful).
7. Always look for a parking space under a tree even if it means walking a few minutes longer (see No. 6)
8. If you order chips with your steak you will most likely get a side of crisps.  I am sure Americans realise all too well that you really wanted 'fries' but love to have a laugh at our expense.
9. The British sense of humour does not travel well across the pond and at best you will met with a blank stare and the underlying assumption that you are in fact barking mad.
10. The majority of drivers here do not know how to use indicators preferring to just surprise you to keep you on your toes.
11. Mosquitos love me.
12. Always check your shoes for scorpions before putting them on.
13. With a few exceptions, American TV is rubbish.  When you do find something half decent to watch, it will be punctuated by adverts every two minutes, mostly for drugs with hideous side effects.
14. Never leave the house without a bottle of water.
15. Margaritas are practically a national dish and therefore compulsory.

Finally, as I was writing this earlier this afternoon, Mr B shouted for us to come quickly and look outside in the garden.  To our amazement, there was a wild bobcat having a cheeky drink from our pool!  Mr B managed to snap this picture before it trotted off - not the best quality but not bad under pressure!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

TTFN

x