Sister Act ... !

Hello Friends!

Apologies for being MIA over the last 2 weeks but we have had visitors here at Barlow Towers and despite good intentions,  I didn't quite get to updating the blog ... soz!

So how've you all been?  Is it getting chilly yet across the pond?  I must admit I have completely lost track of what the weather is up to over there as here it is still unseasonably warm (even for the desert!) ... 102°F (39°C) today (Thursday) - a record high for October ... phew!  Next week promises a return to the 80s though, so I am looking forward to being able to get outside a bit more (not that that means anything too energetic .... for me it's just more a matter of having my coffee outside on the patio rather than indoors in the air conditioning **snort**)

Mr B has been very busy with work over the last couple of weeks including 4 days away at a Travel Conference ... 8 miles down the road (don't get me started on that).  That was followed by 3 days away in New York and now this week he is in South Carolina slumming it at some swanky waterfront resort fulfilling his duties for the Travel & Leisure Board.  He did try and argue that it was hard work and he would have to attend all day board meetings ... blah, blah ... but quite frankly we weren't having any of it.  All I can say is that if I don't get the slippers and the posh smellies from the bathroom, there will be trouble!  Oh, and did I mention that he is away again next week for a couple of days and then again two weeks later?   ... and this was the job that required 'hardly any traveling' ...  **rolls eyes**  It's all good though.  Luckily, having also been in the same corporate arena for a number of years,  I know that it's not always a choice and I get it.  It's not always fun either ... getting up at some god forsaken hour to get to an airport ... waiting around for hours on end ... being allocated the middle seat between the two largest passengers on the planet and feeling so tired and irritable that you wanted to stab the next person to utter "Have a Nice Day!"  (oh, maybe that was just me!).  Do I miss it?  Sometimes.  Would I like to do it again ... Not really.  I miss the people and the social interaction but I don't miss the politics or the endless meetings and emails ... ugh.   Anyway, who would take care of the school runs?  hang around for ever at the orthodontist/dentist? do the laundry? buy the groceries? ..... Yes, that would be me as well!   No thank you.  I am quite happy to take a back seat now and leave all of that to Mr B who (thankfully) still loves doing all of the above.    Plus I get to have to control of the TV and catch up on all my trashy shows (with NO SPORT allowed) ... in my PJs with a glass of wine and a bowl of popcorn ... whilst he's away, so what's not to like?

Last week my sister and her partner were visiting from the UK ... well, actually from Spain now where they moved earlier this year.  We hadn't seen each other since we went back for Mum's funeral last March, so it was nice to spend some time together under happier circumstances.  Mr B took a couple of days off (well, if you can count 5.30am meetings, answering emails and joining 2 conference calls days off ... **more eye rolling**) whilst they were here so even though Youngest was still at school, it felt like a bit of a holiday for us too.

Any excuse for more cocktails ...!

Last Saturday, as well as it being our 17th Wedding Anniversary, it was Mick's (Judith's partner) 65th Birthday so a double celebration was called for!  We spent the afternoon at Turf Paradise, a local horse racing track, which always feels a bit scuzzy if I'm honest but is nonetheless quite good fun.

Not exactly Brighton Races but still fun!

We had last visited in January when our friends Jane & Sal were visiting and I seem to recall Ethan picked the winner from 4 of the 7 races!  As we only bet a couple of dollars each for each race though, it didn't amount to a fortune but between us we managed to cover our afternoon out :)   This time though, as he has now reached the age where being seen out in public with your parents is clearly too embarrassing for words, he elected to stay at home and 'get homework done' (yeah right).  On the second to last race though, I laughed at a horse called 'Rob's Golden Touch' and said to Mr B "I bet if Ethan was here he would have chosen that one!" On a previous holiday to the US several years ago, after listening to commercials on the radio for 'Rob's Crab Shack' and 'Rob's Pancake House'  he had joked that everybody was called 'Rob' and spent the rest of the holiday entertaining us with made up commercials for Rob's various commercial ventures :D  I asked Mr B to put a couple of dollars on it for him .... whereby it promptly won, earning him a fiver!  Unbelievable!  Next time, I am getting him to pick all of my horses too!

After a quick trip home to shower and change, we were off out again (this time courtesy of Uber!) for celebratory drinks and dinner (I know ... exhausting!).

"I smile because you're my sister ... I laugh because there's nothing you can do about it!"

Cheers!

On Sunday we drove over to Carefree to have a look at the Enchanted Pumpkin Garden, which is a display of fabulously carved pumpkins by Ray Villafane, an extremely talented artist and who also created the amazing sand sculpture that we saw back in August when Eldest was here.

Ray Villafane's incredible sand sculpture!  So realistic!

Some of the faces carved on the pumpkins were so lifelike ... and a little bit freaky!  I would love to try and go back for another visit this weekend before it finishes to see them at nighttime, as I imagine they would look even more spectacular then.

Freaky!

So lifelike!

Remind you of anyone ...?

This week at school, there have been lots of College/University visits as the Juniors/Seniors start to make/finalise their choices and complete applications.  Whilst Ethan still has a couple of years to go yet before he gets to that stage, he told us that they were encouraged to start finding out about and researching potential colleges of interest and attend at least two presentations over the coming week.
"I have chosen to go to the ones from University of San Francisco and University of Oregan" he announced as we drove home from school the other day.
"Oh OK ... "  I said.  "What are you interested in studying?"
"No idea.  I have just been to both of those places and I liked it there ..."
Right ... well ... it's as good a reason as any I suppose to get started ...
"I thought I would just start by looking at the University of San Francisco web site before the presentation on Wednesday to find out a bit more info ..."
"Good idea.  What did you learn?"
"... that I might have to get three jobs while I'm at college as the fees are quite high"
"Really?  How much was it then?"
 "$60,000 a year ..."
"Sorry, WHAT?!?"  I thought you said $60,000 ... a year ... for a minute there!  Hahahaha! "
"I did.  It looks really nice though ... and that price includes all your accommodation and food as well as tuition and text books etc ..."
I bet it did!  I would be expecting Butler service, my own luxury apartment and someone to write all my essays for that!
"... and remind me how many years you would be there again?" I spluttered
"Four ... or maybe Six ... because apparently you can go at a slower pace if you want to"
Oh yes of course.   Why not fit in a round of golf a couple of times a week as well?
"There must be cheaper ones than that surely?"  I asked hopefully
"Well, yes, Texas is much cheaper I think ..." Phew.  "... but who wants to live in Texas?!"
OMG!!  We have created a monster!
Clearly I had better start getting to know all about this college lark in case we are still here by then ... or he is!  I am somewhat reassured though by chatting to the school's College Counsellor at yesterday's PTO meeting, who told me not to panic yet, and that there are ways of getting costs reduced, e.g. high grade averages, number of credits received at High School etc. (all still a mystery to me at this point), sleeping with the principal ... oh .. did I say that last one out loud?

I think I may have a bit of bedtime reading to do over the next few months.  Forewarned is forearmed as they say.  Good grief!  No wonder half the country is in debt!
On that note, just off to make a bit of bread and dripping for us tea ...

TTFN
Bev x

This Girl is on Fire ...!

Hello again Friends - hope you are all having a great weekend. What are you all up to?  

Here at Barlow Towers, it has turned out to be another rather expensive week all in all.  

First there was the Great Postal Robbery ... 

I do love a bit of home shopping, don't you?   Back in the UK I was known as the 'QVC Queen' LOL!   This was mainly for craft supplies which were often hard to get or if you could find them at a local store, were an extortionate price.  I also loved buying make up and skincare this way too though, as they still sold the well known brands I liked, except you got to try it in the comfort of your own home in proper lighting (instead of leaving your local department store looking like an extra from an Adam Ant video) for a few weeks - which was long enough to see if your skin liked it too - after which if you decided the Umpa Lumpa look wasn't for you, you could send it back for a full refund.  Love it!  Granted, you had to pay for the postage to send it back, but mine were usually small items (I don't think I EVER returned a craft item, LOL) and I always considered it worth a few pounds in postage (and we still had the convenient of a village Post Office), versus driving into Brighton and battling the hideous traffic, paying an extortionate amount to park and then not finding what I wanted anyway.

Whilst I don't have the need to buy craft items this way anymore (since the USA is definitely a paper crafter's Nirvana), I do still on occasion buy the odd beauty product this way so that I can give them a while to see how my skin reacts.  On this occasion, the foundation I had ordered was WAY too dark (think Ross from friends in the fake tanning fiasco) and so I opted to return it.  Now, the process for returning items here in the United States is generally far easier than it is in the UK as most companies include a bar coded return label with any goods ordered, which you simply just stick on your parcel and leave it in your mailbox, raising the little flag so that postman knows you have something to collect (or if it is too big to fit, you can simply go to the USPS website and ask for them to collect from your porch or wherever - so convenient).  When they have collected it, you will generally then receive an email to confirm they have it and a tracking number so that you can monitor it's safe return.  Once received,  the company you are returning it to will then deduct the cost of your return postage and credit the remainder to your credit card.  A very efficient system I have found and very convenient as actual Post Offices seem to be few and far between here and trekking there with your parcels is a hassle.  A fact that QVC appear to be taking advantage of every which way!  After returning my item via the aforementioned method, I received an email to advise that my item had been safely received and that $12.34 had been credited back to my card ... hang on a minute ... I paid $22.32 for the item, how is it that only $12.34 has been credited back?  I called their customer service number and asked them to confirm how this amount had been made up.  

"Well Madam, the cost of the return was $6.99 ..."

"What?!? ... the shipping and handling cost to send the item to me was only $2.99?"

"Oh yes, well, that's because you used the return shipping label.  We charge $6.99 for the convenience of the return"

WHAT??  

"So more than double the actual cost of postage then?"  Great.  "So are you telling me that if I had written my own label and taken it to the Post Office, then it would have still been $2.99 ... or probably less?" 

"Yes that's right Madam."

Unbelievable.  

"What about the rest?"

"That is the original shipping charge.  QVC's policy is to also deduct the original shipping cost from any return"

**mutters crossly ... "Well at least Dick Turpin wore a bloody mask!"**

"Er ... Have a nice day Madam!"

I think my longstanding affair with QVC may now be well and truly over.   

Then there was the Great Physical Robbery ...

Still cross and muttering to myself about "bloody daylight robbery", I marched out to collect the day's mail from the box at the end of the drive which didn't do anything to improve my mood as it included a bill from the Mayo Clinic for mine and Mr B's recent annual physicals.  Luckily I noticed the wording "Notification only - You will receive an updated invoice after settlement from your Insurance Company" before scanning to the amount at the bottom or I might never have made it back up the driveway!   

Given that we both had the same annual physical, except I think I was in there maybe 10 minutes longer whilst she chatted about the benefits of HRT (more on that in a minute), Mr B's total invoice was $1, 082 and mine was $2,173!!  Comparing the two, it seems that my little 'chat' tipped us into an additional charge for a 45 minute+ appt. and then it seems that the more things they check on your 'routine' blood test, the higher the charge!  Good grief.  What a racket!  As we still haven't reached the magic 'deductible' number on our insurance yet this year,  I can't wait for those bills to drop on the mat! (not)  At least we were aware of the process this year and so had budgeted for such expenses, so it's all good, but just a shock after 50+ years of the good old NHS! I know it has it's flaws, but you sure don't appreciate what you had until you no longer have it! 

The next day was the appointment with the GYN Consultant - nothing sinister apparently which is good but she also recommended I try HRT patches to stop me from spontaneously combusting - bad enough whatever the weather, but in the desert? ... hideous!  She advised me that they did however, carry a risk of blood clots (nice) but that this was very small and I would find them beneficial.  

I came home and did a bit of research on benefits versus risks.  Oh.  It appears that in addition to the more widely known risks of blood clots and breast cancer (minimal for short term use) there is a whole list of 'common' side effects to look forward to such as ...

• headache
• weight gain
• acne
• bloating
• nausea
• leg cramps 
• indigestion

Great.  Hmmm, well maybe I'll just see if there are any helpful tips on helping with the 'tropical moments' without taking medication ... ah, here we are ...

"Avoid the following triggers: caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods, heat ..."

Right.  Well, as we live in Arizona, avoiding heat and spicy foods is not exactly realistic so that's those out.  Alcohol?  Are you kidding? This is the home of the Margarita!! Who wants to sit beside the pool with a glass of Ribera (if you could even get that here).  That just leaves the caffeine .... er ... nope.  That's not happening either. 

So .... patches it is then.  I'll report back in a month or so if you're interested (providing I haven't dropped dead from a blood clot that is).

Later that afternoon, just after I had collected Youngest from school and we were headed home,  I was waiting patiently at the junction with one of the main highways, when BANG!!!  We were rear-ended by the car behind!  Brilliant.  After checking that we were both OK, I got out to inspect the damage - not too bad thankfully, one minor scrape on the paintwork and some damage to the bumper - and speak to the other driver.  An ashen-faced young man (who looked no older than Ethan), got out of the car and approached nervously.  It was then I recognized him as one of the students from Ethan's school!  Apparently, he is a Senior so must be at least 17 or 18 but he was tiny and hardly looked a day over 14!  The poor lad was completely mortified and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
"I'm so sorry!" he cried.   "I have had the worst day ever and I am late for my tutor class ...!"
I decided it probably wasn't the time to remind him that he would be even later now ... I checked that he was OK and told him not to worry and that at the end of the day cars were just lumps of metal and as long as nobody was hurt that was really all that mattered.  He looked a little more relieved but continued to blather on about how he had only passed his test in March and that this was his first accident ...
"... well, apart from the one I had in the driveway when I got my foot stuck and the car just shot off into the air and I couldn't do anything about it ..."  OK then ....
We examined his car, which didn't appear to be damaged at all - typical - exchanged details (at least I knew where to find him) and then continued on our respective journeys.  I had surmised that he was probably on his parents car insurance or if not, paying an extortionate amount for his own, and despite the inconvenience of getting it all fixed, I still felt sorry for him.  I am sure we have all done stupid things at one time or another, especially as new drivers, whether they resulted in scrapes or we were fortunate to get away with near misses.  I know I have.  Not long after passing my test, I scraped  a parked car whilst simultaneously trying avoid being blinded by the early morning winter sun and wipe the condensation which reappeared as fast as I could wipe it from the inside of my beloved VW Beetle's windscreen!  Whoops!  Let's hope this was his first and last accident on the road and he has at least learned to pay more attention and in future waits for the car in front to move before trying to speed off at a junction!

A few hours later, I received a sheepish text from said boy.
"I'm really sorry about earlier.  Is it OK if my Dad calls you?"  I was waiting for that.
"Sure"
Dad turned out to be a Brit too, who originally hailed from Bournemouth!  Whilst chatting, he also told me that his son 'Lewis Hamilton' had just applied to the University of Brighton!  What are the chances?!  Anyway, thankfully it all got sorted, although I will obviously now have to deal with the phaff of taking the car into the repair shop and all the hassle that comes with **sigh**, but never mind.  No real harm done thank goodness.

This week wasn't all bad though thankfully.  Mr B and I spent a lovely evening out with his team mid week who are all in town for a few days for their annual Travel Conference.  (Co-incidentally there was also a 'Platinum' Margarita featured on the menu, so it would have been rude not to ... LOL) During the evening, I was touched when they presented me with a Hobby Lobby Gift Card as a Thank You for making the monthly Recognition cards for all of their teams, along with a lovely card which they had all signed.  So kind of them all.   As I was opening the cards, the waitress asked if it was my birthday and before I could say anything, someone on the table said yes it was.  The next thing I knew a huge chunk of chocolate cake and ice cream compete with candle appeared on the table and everyone was singing!  Hilarious!  (We all enjoyed the dessert though ;)

Happy Cake Day to me!

Finally, the highlight of my week has been meeting one of my crafting heroes - Becky Higgins, creator of the Project Life scrapbooking system - at the Pinners Conference and Exhibition here in Scottsdale!  As many of you know, preserving our family memories is something I am hugely passionate about and this system has changed my scrapbooking life!  If you missed my post on how I use Project Life to record our family journal and would like to read about that click here to hop on over to my crafty blog (which I have very much neglected of late - soz!)

Hope you all have a good week and stay safe out there people!
TTFN
Bev x

Post Script:

And finally ... The Great Prescription Robbery ...

Just been to the pharmacy to collect my prescription.
"Here we are ma'am.  That will be $365.42 please ..."
"Sorry, WHAT?!?"
"Yes, sorry about that, but it's because you haven't reached your ..."
"Deductible ... yes, I know.  Thanks for that"

See you next time - I'm just off to plant another money tree in the back garden.

Riddle me this ...!

Hello again friends!

If you recall from the end of last week's edition, we were all heading out evening to take part in a Newcomer's Social event at Escape the Room.  If you weren't able to join us last week, Escape the Room is a puzzle/problem solving activity, where 10 of you are locked in a themed 'room' and have to solve a number of clues and puzzles in order to open the door.  Our room was called The Dig, and featured a kind of Indiana Jones themed room (only without the snakes thankfully!) which involved cracking a code made up of various hieroglyphic symbols,  obtaining the combinations to a series of locks and solving a giant sliding puzzle to reveal the bigger picture - another clue!  Mr B was a whizz with the sliding puzzle and Ethan pretty good at cracking the various codes and opening the locks (despite getting extremely frustrated with us 'oldies' on occasion as we flailed around blindly trying to find the answers to clues) however, when the 60 minutes was up, we still hadn't managed to free ourselves from the room and had to be let out.  Oh the shame!

Whaaaaa?!  (In this case, two Bevs were definitely no better than one!)

Allegedly we were just one clue away from completing and opening the door, but despite Mr B's and Ethan's best efforts, the rest of us were pretty hopeless to be honest (it was only the thought of a large Margarita waiting for me on the other side that kept me going) but in fairness, it was really HARD!   The other half of our group were in a different room called 'The Apartment' and when we met up with them at dinner, they told us they had finished theirs with 5 minutes to spare (swots) so clearly it must have been much easier than ours .....  These Escape Room activities seem to be the latest thing and are popping up all over the place apparently, so if there is one near you and you can get a group of you together, I would definitely recommend it - it's a lot of fun!

Oh thank God!  Kelly and I definitely earned that Margarita ...

As it happens, yesterday, we also had our own little 'room puzzle' to solve at home ...

Friday is the day that our Landlord, 'Dennis the Menace' usually comes over to attend to the pool and tidy the 'yard' (garden to you and me).   I was out grocery shopping this week when he arrived **yawn** but when I got back and was busy unpacking the shopping (ugh), I noticed an orange cable plugged into the outside socket just beyond the patio doors so sumized that he was using some kind strimmer or leaf blower out there as he worked in the garden, but didn't hear any noise.  Thinking no more of it, I finished unpacking and then went off to pick Youngest up from school (as they conveniently finish at lunchtime on a Friday **rolls eyes**).  By the time we got back Dennis had already packed up and left, and as I set about making lunch Ethan remarked that there were no lights on the cable box and there didn't seem to be any power in the lounge.    Perhaps there had been a power cut?  I tried the light switch ... nothing.  I then tried the power in the adjoining kitchen but everything seemed to be working fine in there.  Hmmm ... strange.  After a quick check over the rest of the house the problem seemed to be isolated to the lounge area and so guessed that maybe something has tripped a switch?  I went outside to investigate the fuse box (which is conveniently located round the side of the house which can only be reached by battling your way through prickly bushes and cacti in the front garden and getting stuck in sticky spiders webs ... yuk).  Closer inspection revealed that all was as it should be with the lounge switch still set to 'on'. Now what?  Damn.   I'm going to have to ring Dennis again ...

Now, as Landlord's go, Dennis is a fairly amenable sort, (if a bit of an introvert who will avoid conversation at all costs wherever possible) but definitely comes from that breed of over 60's males who think that woman should stick to cooking and cleaning and when it comes to practical matters cannot possibly know what they are talking about.   If ever I ask him a question of a practical nature and Mr B is also present, he completely ignores me and addresses any answers directly to Mr B which always makes me laugh because whilst he is good at a lot of other things ...  for example he will sit for hours patiently untangling my jewelry when the chains have all got in a big mess and he is brilliant at dealing with those irritating cold-calling sales people (firm but always polite and respectful whereas I'm more ... well, let's just say, it's better that he deals with those), he is absolutely shite at any form of DIY or practical task around the house ... bless.

I called  Dennis ...
"Hi Dennis.  Unfortunately, we don't seem to have any power in the lounge at any of the sockets and none of the lights are working either.   I have checked the rest of the house and everywhere else seems to be fine though, which would suggest to me that something has maybe tripped out on that circuit?   I have checked the fuse box and double checked the trip switch marked 'Lounge' and tried turning it off and on again but it hasn't made any difference."
"Oh.  It's probably a power cut ... "
"Er ... no ... **rolls eyes** the power is on in all the other rooms in the house so it's not that"
"Oh.  That's strange.  I better come over and have a look.  It sounds like something has tripped the circuit out ..."
Ya think?!   Meanwhile, I continued to think what might have caused the outage and remembered Dennis using the outside plug socket earlier in the day.  I tried the outside lights on the patio ... nothing.  Ah-ha!  Armed with my hairdryer (always a useful way of testing whether a socket is working I have found!),  I went outside to see if it worked in the outdoor socket.  It was at that point that I discovered that said outdoor was not only not working but falling out of the wall!  I think we are getting warmer.
Twenty minutes later, Dennis arrives.
"I think I may have worked out what the problem is."
He raised one eyebrow slightly and gave me with one of those patronizing 'you-can't-possibly-know-what-you're-talking-about-but-I'll-humour-you-anyway' looks.
"When you were here this morning, I noticed that you had something plugged into the outside socket?  I have checked both socket and the outside lights and they are not working either.  Could it perhaps be something to do with whatever you were using this morning?"
"Oh ... now wait a minute ...  I cut through the strimmer cable this morning whilst I was doing the yard work... !"
Oh dear God.  And you didn't think to perhaps mention that?
"... it must have blown the circuit.  Good thing you thought of that!"
This is also the man (you may recall from a previous post) that took one of our large venetian blinds away to be fixed as it wouldn't open and close and then when putting it back up cut through all the cords whilst trying to remove the tape holding it all together, so that now whilst we can open/close it, we can't raise/lower it!  Good grief.
After locating and resetting the relevant trip switches for the outside circuit, order was soon restored, (thankfully just in time for my daily dose of Rachael Ray) well ... apart from the socket which is still shot to bits but as long as it is fixed before I need to plug Rudolph in for the holidays I don't really care.

As I type this, Mr B is currently up a ladder trying to disassemble the Burglar Alarm box which has suddenly started chirping ...  very loudly ... every 2 minutes ... FFS! ... so I had better go and supervise quick before we have half the Arizona Police and Fire Brigade on the doorstep ...!!

Laters ...!
TTFN
Bev x