Let's Get Physical ...!

Happy Weekend friends!  How's your week been?

Here at Barlow Towers it has been full on this week, so quite glad the weekend has finally arrived.

On Monday, Mr B and I had our annual physicals with our new doctor (our old one left so we took the opportunity of switching to a new practice after further research and recommendations from friends).  We were booked in for the first appointments of the morning, Mr B going first.  As part of your annual check up here, they give you any 'preventative' vaccinations that may be due and schedule labs (blood tests) and any other screening procedures that may also be due.

Before Mr B went in, I reminded him
"Don't forget that you had a tetanus shot last year, so you just need your flu jab ..."
"Yep ... got it" he said confidently as he scurried off.
Some 30 minutes later he reappeared in the waiting area, clutching a bundle of paperwork on his way down to the lab to get his blood tests done.
"All good" he quipped cheerfully "she said I am super fit and providing nothing odd on blood tests she doesn't need to see me again for 3 years unless I have a problem in the meantime ...  and I've had my tetanus" he added looking pleased with himself.  Oh good grief  **rolls eyes**
"Right, good.   So that's two of those you've had then.  What about your flu jab?"
"Eh?  Oh, well I didn't really want to have two in one go so I didn't bother with that one because I can get it at work anyway ..."  I have no words.

My turn next ... 45 minutes later,  I reappeared with plasters on both arms (as I was due for tetanus and flu shots), a stretchy bandage from lab work taken (which threatened to cut off the blood supply to my arm at any moment) an appointments for an annual mammogram and ... let's see ... what else?  Oh yes.  After mentioning that I had been experiencing some pelvic pain over the last couple of months, an examination revealed that evidently there is a blue suture thread that has now embedded itself where it shouldn't have, left over from my hysterectomy FOUR BLOODY YEARS AGO! Cosmic.   Oh ... soz if you were in the middle of your breakfast).   So I can now also add to my list an ultrasound and an appointment with a Gynecologist surgeon.  Yay me!  Better get that cheque book ready again ... ker-ching!

I have to say though, that I am still amazed at the efficiency of both the appointment scheduling system and the speed of receiving any results.  After an 8.30am appt. Mr B received a message on the 'patient online portal' at 4.50pm the same day with comprehensive results of his blood tests plus an accompanying message from the doctor confirming that he was indeed super healthy with no issues to worry about.   Mine didn't appear on there until the following morning, (but then I was an hour or so behind Mr B to be fair), but even so, impressive.  Back in the UK it was always at least a week, and then you were never actually given the test results.  Just instructions to ring the surgery to check the results in a week and then either 'they were all fine' from the stroppy receptionist or "you need to make another appointment", invariably followed by ..."but we don't have anything until 2 weeks on Thursday ..."  Let's just hope all my other appointments are dealt with just as efficiently.

On Thursday evening, Mr B and I had a date night with a difference - a couple's cooking class at the home of the lovely Maribeth Janssen of Making Memories by the Mouthful.  I had attended one of Maribeth's classes previously with some of the ladies from the Newcomers group I belong to and it was a really fun event, so thought it would be something different for Mr B and I to do together.  We were in a class with 3 other couples that we hadn't previously met, who were all friends/neighbours, and who turned out to be a fun and lively crowd.  Like me, the ladies of the group had all done a class before but not sure the husbands knew quite what to expect.  Let's just say I think they had all poured themselves a large glass (or three) of dutch courage before they arrived ... the remains of which they all arrived still clutching in large plastic cups!

Some of the husbands seemed to do more drinking than cooking ... nice apron btw

We were all assigned different elements of the meal to prepare and cook in pairs, Team Barlow being responsible for the Warm pretzels bites with baked cheese (Soooo good!).

Pretzels from scratch ... Not bad eh?!

The other couples made Watermelon Salad; Pesto Chicken Sandwiches on Focaccia and Ricotta Cake with Lemon Glaze.  Once everything was completed, we all sat down together to eat the fruits of our labour.  It was such a fun evening and nobody left hungry, that's for sure!

On Friday afternoon we continued the Team Barlow cooking theme by helping out at the Homecoming BBQ at Ethan's school, where Mr B cooked close to 100 burgers whilst I served with a couple of other willing helpers.  It was all a bit frantic and we smelt like we had just finished a shift at the Golden Arches by the time we got home, however, it felt good to 'do our bit' and be part of the Rancho Community (plus, as I'm on the PTO it wasn't really an option!).

The grill master at work ...

Whilst we're on the subject of school, it turns out that Ethan has a new Allie.  A fellow 14 year old Brit who has just moved over from Guernsey so that he can attend the affiliated Golf Academy (guessing he must be quite good then).   During the first week of school, their history teacher asked him where he was from, and after receiving a blank look he added
"... in-between England and France" to which the teacher replied
"Oh, right.  So you spend some time in England and some in France?"
"Er ... no ... it's literally an island ... in between England and France ..."  **snort**
This week they were both giving their English teacher a run for her money as they discussed their class novel 'The Great Gatsby'.
"...so what do you think the writer meant when he says they were 'conspiring against him'?" asked the teacher.
"It means they were going to dob him in" offered Guernsey
Blank look from teacher ... "Sorry ... dobimin?"
"He means they were going to grass him up" added Ethan helpfully.
"Grass ... what?" asked the teacher, now even more perplexed.

I can tell they are shaping up to be a good double act - watch this space, LOL!

This evening, we are all off to a Newcomers social event at 'Escape the Room' where you are locked in a room with a group of others and have to find and solve clues for your given scenario (ours is called 'The Dig') in order to complete the challenge and ... erm .... escape the room.  Let's hope that we can muster a complete brain between us or it could be a very long night ....!

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again next time.
TTFN
Bev x

What a smashing week ...!

Hello friends!

I have been having a smashing time this week ... literally!

Last weekend, I decided on a whim to clean the oven.  Not an urge that comes over me frequently I can assure you, however, I had cooked roast lamb when Eldest was over a couple of weeks ago and it had splattered fat everywhere ... ugh.

Thankfully, our oven here has a self clean setting, which involves heating itself to a gazillion degrees for three hours burning off all the grease and dirt in the process (it automatically locks itself and won't open until the cycle has finished and the oven has cooled).  When it has finished, all you have to do is wipe out the ash from the bottom of the oven and hey presto ... all clean and shiny again!  Genius!  (I have in the past been known to buy a new oven rather than get involved with rubber gloves, caustic cleaning solutions and brillo pads! ... yuk!).

Well, some while later once it had done it's thing,  and I was busy getting inky in the craft room,  Mr B appeared, asking whether I would like him to wipe out the oven?  (duh ....!)  Yes please that would be very helpful (he's such a good cleaner-upper).  What wasn't so helpful, was when he returned a few minutes later to tell me that the glass in the oven door had a big crack in it .... cosmic.  Something else for Dennis the Menace (as we affectionately call our landlord ... ok so maybe the 'affectionately' bit is a lie) to add to his list.  Luckily, we have a double oven so at least we can use that one in the meantime.  Just as well, as Lionel and Doris are coming for tea on Saturday afternoon and I need to get baking! (more on that in a minute).

Oops!

A few days later, on the way back from the early morning school drop off,  I stopped at the supermarket to pick up some ingredients that I needed for a cake for Saturday's tea.  As I got out of the car, I duly locked it I and was just putting the bunch of keys into my bag when they slipped out of my hand and landed on the tarmac with a thud.  To my horror, as I bent to retrieve them, the plastic fob for the keyless ignition that constitutes the car 'key' completely fell apart, sending bits of plastic, circuit boards and batteries in all directions! Noooooooo!

After scrabbling about on my hands and knees for several minutes in the car park, I managed to retrieve all the various pieces, but looking at them had no clue how they might all fit back together!  (I may have muttered the odd swear word ... or two ....at this point ) After a brief moment of panic - how on earth am I going to even unlock the car, never mind drive it anywhere?! - I pulled myself together, headed in to the store, sat down at a table in Starbucks and with all the pieces spread out in front of me set about trying to work out what went where.  A group of men (who all looked to be in their sixties) looked on from the next table - probably enjoying their retirement, escaping from their wives and catching up with their muckers for an early morning coffee and analysis of the previous night's game no doubt.  They were clearly wondering what on earth I was doing, although none ventured to ask ... or offer help ... thanks for that.

Hmmmm ... so this little round thing is clearly the battery, which must fit into that little round shaped groove there.  Then this circuit board thingy looks like it slots in there.  This plastic bit must clip in that piece there ... and then this metal bit - oh it's an actual key, LOL - clearly slots down inside there .. and then this half should clip onto that half ... YES!! Done it!!  It was as I was doing the obligatory 'Get In!' gesture and high fiving myself (not an easy move that), that I noticed the extra bit still left on the table.  Bollocks!  Well where the hell does THAT go?  **picks up fob to examine more closely. Curses as it all falls to pieces again.  Resists Basil Fawlty-like urge to jump up and down on said pieces whilst screeching like a banshee.  Sighs.  Starts again**

After another two attempts, I finally worked out out where the extra piece needed to go, but couldn't for the life of me work out how to get it in.  Holding together the almost assembled key, I headed back out to the car park and held my breathe as I pushed the 'unlock' button and heard the reassuring clunk of the door unlocking.  Phew!  Pressed 'Start' whilst still clutching the bodged key in my hand - also successful - Yay!  I decided I had better drive straight to the nearest Ford dealers and see if they could fix it, (which they did in about 5 minutes), before finally resuming my day.  

Right.  Where was I?  Ah yes, ingredients for cake.  Stopped at another supermarket on way home to pick up ground almonds and some glacé cherries - can't go wrong with a trusty old fashioned cherry cake can you?  Well, you can apparently.  After hunting up and down the baking aisle for ground almonds - not to be found anywhere - I found a small packet of something called 'almond flour'.  On closer inspection it said 'fine ground skinned almonds' ... the same thing possibly?  Well, let's give it a try.  Just as I was popping it into my trolley I noticed the price - $11.50!  WHA?!?  **gasps** I was about to put it back in disgust ... I could buy 3 cakes for that! ... but then curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to see if it truly was ground almonds so I decided to chalk it up in the name of research and suck it up.  Now I just need the cherries.  They were nowhere to be seen either.  Oh good grief, it shouldn't be this hard surely?!  I spotted an assistant ....

"Excuse me ... can you tell me where I can find glacé cherries please?"

"Oh you're about a month too early dear" she said with a smile

"Sorry, what?"

"We only get those a few weeks before Thanksgiving ..."

Oh for goodness sake!  Right ... Well you can keep your overpriced 'almond flour' as well then ... 

Lemon drizzle it is.

So, who are Lionel and Doris?  They are a really sweet South African couple, both in their 80's, that we met on one of our Sunday morning visits to Butterfields (our favorite Brunch place) almost a year ago now.  Turned out to be their favorite place too and so we bumped into them on a fairly regular basis after that.  Last February they invited us to their home for afternoon tea and treated us like long lost family - so sweet - and we left with armfuls of oranges and lemons from their citrus trees.  Anyway, time marched on - they were going off on a cruise and then visiting family in Europe - and we hadn't bumped into them in months.  In fact, we were beginning to wonder whether they were both ok.  Then a couple of weeks ago, there they were, both looking the picture of health.  We felt we were long overdue in returning their kind invitation and so they are coming this afternoon :)

A freshly made lemon syrup loaf (Nigella's recipe if you're interested) is sitting in the tin and I just need to knock up a few scones this morning (sadly they will have to be served with jam and whipped cream as can't find clotted here for love or money **sniff**) and then make a few dainty sandwiches before they arrive.  Quite looking forward to it.  Not sure Ethan feels the same though. When we bumped into them the other week Lionel asked him if he was any good with computers?  Sensing where this conversation might be going, he hesitantly admitted that he 'wasn't bad' ... Lionel then went on to explain that he was having trouble connecting to the Internet.  He could get on but then everything took ages to load.

"It may be your speed that's causing the problem" Ethan offered.  "Are you with Cox?" who are our cable/internet providers and the one most people seem to be with in our area.

"Er ... no ... I think I'm with Google..."  

To give him his due, Ethan did manage to keep a straight face and there was only the slightest hint of a raised eyebrow, as he tried to respectfully explain that Google probably wasn't his internet provider and was usually just a search engine, looking at me with an invisible speech bubble above his head that only I could see which clearly read "Shoot me now!" LOL. 

Let's just say that if he turns up later with a laptop under his arm, it could be a very long afternoon! 

Lionel & Doris (without laptop, much to Ethan's relief!)

Have a great week and hope to see you next time

TTFN

Bev x 

September ... do YOU remember?

Hello again friends - how's your week been?

I hope that all those with kids who went back to school this week managed to survive the last minute panic of 'Back to School' shopping for calculators and compasses, not to mention the most hideous task of all - sewing in bloody name tags.  Ugh!  Just the thought of it makes me break out in hives.

At Ethan's last school in the UK, every last piece of clothing - even his socks (I kid you not) had to have name tapes sewn into them.  No biro scribbling allowed on the washing instruction labels either let me tell you.  Only proper printed name tapes, sewn on with proper thread would suffice.  When my Mum was still with us and she would come and visit over the summer (the timing of which was not accidental), she would quite happily sit all afternoon with a giant pile of uniform neatly sewing in labels with the tiniest of stitches.   Bless her!  She had far more patience than I'll ever have.  I seem to recall the last time I conducted the exercise, I stitched the opening of two of Ethan's socks together and one of his jumpers to the arm of my cardigan!  **snort**

Thankfully, I have been spared this task here so far as last year Ethan managed to swerve P.E (or any type of sporting activity for that matter) as the requirement to graduate Middle School here is only 2 years of PE and as he had already done it every year in the UK he was deemed to have met the requirement and could choose to do Media Arts (in this case designing/making video games) instead if he wanted to.  No prizes for guessing which way that decision went!  Therefore, with no reason to ever change out of the clothes he left here in each morning, I decided not to bother. **smugface** This year though, being his first year of High School, there is to be no escape from the dreaded PE, although as this term takes the form of 'Health' (yes, the irony is not lost on me) I have had a reprieve until January.

This past Monday, was Labor Day here in the US and so a holiday weekend.  On Monday morning (well, I think it was still morning when he finally emerged from the teen cave),  Ethan announced that in addition to the list of books they are reading in English this year, he also had to have a 'personal book choice' which had to be a physical book and could not be on his Kindle.  Cosmic.
"Oh, and by the way,  I need it for tomorrow ..."  **rolls eyes**

Luckily, as everything here seems to be open whether it is holiday or not and nowhere is more than a 15 minute drive,  we headed off to Barnes & Noble so he could choose one.  We are all avid readers in our house, including Ethan (who can get through a book a week!) so this was not a hardship for him however, as we all have electronic reading devices, none of us had frequented an actual bookshop in quite a while.   As soon as I opened those doors and that first whiff of 'new book' smell wafted over me,  I realized how much I had missed it!  I have always loved books and as a little girl would look forward to those Saturday morning trips to the library with great anticipation and excitement (no Kindles in those days and a trip to W H Smiths would only be allowed if I was lucky enough to get a book token for a birthday or Christmas present).  I would wander up and down the aisles several times, making sure I had given everything due consideration, before carefully making my selection and couldn't wait to get back home to snuggle down on the sofa and be transported into another world.  What would the Famous Five get up to this time, and surely no-one could manage that much ginger beer without being sick?  Ahhhhh happy memories .... although those girls at Mallory Towers have a lot to answer for ...!   I heard on the news recently that here in America, physical books are now regaining their popularity over e-books and after our trip to the bookstore today, I have to say I can see why.  It was also very busy in there so it would seem others concur.

Anyway, these are the two books Ethan chose for this month - apparently they can add as many as they want to their list each quarter ... great ... they certainly don't come cheap.  Sadly the library has never been an option for Ethan as he will not entertain a book that someone else has read **sigh**.  Trust me, the amount he gets through I have tried several times!  Not that I mind really.  I can think of worse things that he could be doing that reading!  

Having lived in the UK all my life (and the early part of it 'up North') September has always heralded the start of Autumn ... collecting shiny brown conkers as they fell from the trees (a great spider deterrent allegedly.  Place In bowls and leave on windowsills in areas prone to the little devils), marveling at the leaves turning a hundred shades of red, orange and gold as we strolled through Sheffield Park to walk off our Sunday roast **sniff** and that distinct nip in the air as the nights start to draw in .... sorry, went all nostalgic there for a minute ... cue violins ... 

Now that I find myself living in Arizona,  it is quite disconcerting to be well into the second week of September and still be putting on shorts and a t shirt each morning, feeling relieved to get inside into the air conditioning as temperatures are still reaching 100 degrees and mourning the upcoming end to the monsoon season in another week or so (not sure if it knows that?!)  There is a slight hiny of a change creeping in now though.  Not sure I would ever describe it here as 'Autumn' as we know it, but the mornings are ever so slightly cooler than they were over the summer and it gets light a little later and dark a little earlier.  Other than that it seems to be business as usual, although having now been here through two Septembers, at least I do know that the cooler weather is coming ... eventually ... just not quite yet!

It doesn't seem to prevent everyone here pretending that 'Fall' is here though ...pumpkin spice lattes are back at Starbucks, the shops are full of pumpkins and pine cones and halloween decor/ridiculous costumes (I can feel another outing to Target with Mr B coming on).  Hobby Lobby even has it's full array of Christmas trees and baubles on display!  You may recall that in a recent post I mentioned that I wanted to make an autumn wreath for the front door (you can read about that here) - well, I set about making one following this video tutorial from MayMay Made It Crafts in case you fancy having a go.  It was surprisingly easy to do.

I finally added the finishing touches to it this week and can't wait to put it up now but Mr B says it's still too early **sulky face**.  What do you think? (might have to get another hanger - not sure the green christmas one really works!)

... might just leave it up - he probably won't even notice!

I can't wait for some cooler weather now so that I can get back into my cooking & baking groove.  I have made the odd cake ... 

... still searching for that perfect chocolate cake recipe - this wasn't it

... and a tray of brownies or two over the summer, but somehow I am just not inspired to be in the kitchen cooking when it's 115 degrees, even with air conditioning.  Plus it's so easy (not to mention reasonable) to eat out here, especially during the summer months when most restaurants are less busy (as anyone with an ounce of sense and somewhere else to go clears off from June to Aug!) and who doesn't prefer eating out to shopping for, cooking & clearing up after a meal given the choice?  OK, you can put your hands down now.

Which reminds me ... when Eldest was over he introduced me to the blog of a friend of his, Rosie.  If you are a fellow foodie and especially for my friends that live in Brighton, you might want to check it out.  Click on the link Rosie's Puddings and Pies for refreshingly honest restaurant reviews, recipes and all things Brighton food related.  I love it!

Well think that's about all for another week. Hope all your little (and not so little) students have settled in without too much stress and worry and you are brushing up on those maths skills ready to help with the dreaded Algebra homework!  On the subject of algebra, I thought I would end on a humorous note with this classic rant from the legendary Billy Connolly (NB: don't watch if you're averse to the odd four letter word!)

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again next time.

TTFN
Bev x

Football Crazy ...!

Hello Campers! Hi-de-hi!

Hope you are all having a nice weekend. We are making the most of the last couple of days of Eldest's visit before he has to fly back to Blighty tomorrow :(  Can't believe it has gone so quick!  

We had great fun on our mega shopping expeditions, floating around in the pool and trying out new places for brunch/lunch whilst youngest was at school and Mr B was at work (purely for the sake of research obviously) and then introducing him to some of our favourite restaurants and Happy Hour spots in the evenings.  I think I have only managed to cook twice during the whole time he has been here ... Result!  (Diet starts Monday).

On Thursday evening we also managed to tick off another new experience from our list - going to watch an NFL game (albeit a friendly pre-season match) between the Arizona Cardinals and the Denver Broncos.  As I am sure you are all well aware by now, sport is not really my thing and despite Mr B's best endeavours at a pre-match crash course on the rules of the game, I have to say I came away none the wiser!   At least proper football (whilst still as dull as ditchwater) is easy to understand - well, apart from the offside rule obviously.  11 players ... 3 substitutes ... 45 minutes each half ... try and kick the ball into the goal as many times as you can.  Simple as.  American football - not so much it turns out.  11 players ... 34 substitutes (I'm not even kidding) ... 4 quarters each lasting 15 minutes ... oh ok, an hour's not so bad.  Except it's not just one bloody hour is it?  It's at least three!  Because they keep stopping every 5 minutes for a rest or a 'time outs' as I believe it's called.  And what's with all the paraphernalia?  Helmets ... pads ... blimey, they wouldn't last 5 minutes in a proper game of rugby!  That's what you call a contact sport!   

Before all that though, we had to actually get into the ground.  As we had never been before, we weren't aware that we should have pre-purchased passes for the car parks nearest the stadium and so instead had to park in the neighbouring Outlet mall, which whilst not really very far away, still involved a 10 minute walk across the surface of the sun in a zillion degrees (even my eyeballs were sweating).  By the time we arrived at the gate we were all looking forward to getting inside in the air conditioning and downing a nice cold drink.  

"Oh, excuse me Ma'am ... " one of the security guards called after me, "... you can't take purses *handbags to you and me inside the grounds"

"Sorry, what?!"

He handed me a clear plastic bag.  

"You can put everything in there but you have to leave the purse outside".  

Cosmic.  That would have been a really useful piece of information to know beforehand wouldn't it?  I suppose it would be too much to ask to expect someone to actually think about that though eh?  Oh wait ... hang on ... it probably says on the ticket ...yes, that's it ... it's probably my own stupid fault for not reading it properly... let's have a look ... yep, thought so ... NOTHING! 

"Well what am I supposed to do with it exactly?" I asked, trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) to hide my irritation

"Either dispose of it or leave it in your vehicle ..." replied the security guard, making no attempt whatsoever to hide his!

"Dispose of it?!?" It may not have been the most expensive bag in the world, but I was not quite ready to chuck it in the bin just yet ...

Mr B, quickly sensing that the next words to leave my mouth were likely to be of the four letter variety, and that I was very possibly about to spontaneously combust at any minute, valiantly offered to trek back across the Kalahari and take the offending article back to the car.  What a hero!

Once inside the (thankfully cool) stadium and cold drinks purchased, we made our way up the stairs to our seats in the 'nose bleed' section (I had made Mr B purchase the cheapest tickets so I wouldn't feel too bad if we wanted to ditch after an hour!) to await the return of Lawrence of Arabia.  As it turned out, it was quite a fun evening.  Don't get me wrong, the football was still boring as, but I amused myself by dancing along to all the music and irritating Ben by asking "what's happening now?" and "why are they doing that?" every two minutes. Lol.  He also decided what he wanted for Christmas this year whilst watching the game ... a Cardinals shirt?  No.  A Cheerleader apparently!  Dream on Son. Even Ethan, who doesn't normally do crowds .. or sports ... or for that matter any activities that don't involve a screen, controller and headphones,   seemed to have grasped some concept of the game and even said he had "quite enjoyed himself" *gasps!*. Not sure I'll be going back any time soon though!

This afternoon we spent a very interesting couple of hours exploring the MIM - Musical Instrument Museum - in Phoenix.  Some fascinating instruments, all arranged in rooms by Continent and accompanied by headsets which very cleverly played samples of music from each as you stood in front of them.   Sadly, the best they could come up with for England was a video of George Formby playing his Ukulele and a group of Morris Dancers with poles and bells!  

Well, just time for one more brunch with Eldest in the morning before we have to say farewell for this visit *sniff* and deliver him to the airport.  

Hope you all have a good week and a special 'good luck' to all the kids going back to school next week and especially those starting new secondary schools, I'll be thinking of you!  Have a blast ... best days of your life apparently ...!

TTFN

Bev x