Merry Christmas!

Taking a week off to enjoy some family time and no doubt collect some more material for future posts!

From all of us to all of you, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Birthday Blessings ... !

Hello friends - welcome back! 

So this week another birthday came and went - and one where Ethan took great delight in reminding me at every available opportunity, that I would now qualify for the Senior's discount at Safeway ... cosmic.  At this point I would just like to point out that I have certainly NOT reached my sixties quite yet - apparently 55 is the new 60 as far as the grocery stores around here are concerned and if you are prepared to shop on a Wednesday and battle with Supergran and Captain Birds Eye you can get 10% off your shopping.  Suppose it might be worth doing a booze run on a Wednesday from now on ....

I managed to pack in a fair few birthday celebrations before the weekend was out.  I already mentioned the ABBA factor in last week's edition, but then on Saturday afternoon, Mr B whisked us all off to The Arizona Biltmore to spend the rest of the weekend being waited on and pampered in 1930's Frank Lloyd Wright splendor!  (despite the Teen whining and complaining about having to be being dragged everywhere with parents who were clearly embarrassing behind belief and how he would be quite alright at home on his own ... nice try Sunshine!) 

Wow!  I turned out to be a very lucky girl indeed, especially as Mr B had mentioned it was a birthday treat and the hotel had put us all in the Presdiential Suite!  (The Teen immediately perked up upon discovering that he had his own room and there was free Wifi)

View from our room ...

Nice touch ...

After a few hours lazing by the pool in the warm December sunshine, reading my book and enjoying a late lunch with a margarita (or two), we retired to our 'apartment' to sit on the balcony and enjoy the sunset ... accompanied by the complimentary bottle of red which the hotel had kindly left in our room ... hic!

Beautiful ...!

A little while later, (with grumpy Teen in tow) we headed off to enjoy more drinks outside by the fire before dinner.  What could be better than sitting by a warm fire, next to a sparkly Christmas tree with a glass of bubbly and those who you hold near and dear beside you?  (Well, the addition of Eldest would have made the evening complete but sadly I'll have to wait until February for that :()

After breakfast and a spot of Christmas shopping in the mall next door we headed home to unpack and do a quick change ready for our next event ... the Newcomers Christmas Party.

The Teen had unsurprisingly turned down the invitation to accompany us, declaring that he would rather 'poke himself in the eye with a red hot poker' (rude), a decision which was only reaffirmed when we appeared dressed and ready to go...

Falalallama ...!

I had no idea what the dress code was and suddenly had a vision of Delboy and Rodney bursting into Harry's wake dressed as Batman & Robin as The Barlow's arrived to find everyone in full evening dress, LOL!  Better get out the jingle bell antlers and the flashing lights then to be on the safe side ...

The final event was on Monday, my actual birthday when we went to the cinema to see  Arrival, a sci-fi film about ... well, I'm still not sure what it was about to be honest.  I think it was a film about aliens landing on earth to communicate with humans, but I couldn't be certain.  It was all too far fetched for me.  Give me a nice Rom Com any day of the week ...

This weekend's 'treat' is apparently tickets to the Cardinals NFL game on Sunday afternoon as Mr B has been invited by a business partner and encouraged to bring Mrs B ... oh lucky lucky me!  (Hopefully there will be alcohol involved or else I may be using that red hot poker ... )

Watch this space!

TTFN

Bev x

11 go to Prescott ...!

Hello friends - how are you?  Got all that Christmas shopping done yet?

This week, I went with some of the ladies from Newcomers on a day trip to Prescott to do a spot of Christmas shopping and of course some eating ... and drinking.  Actually it turned out to be mostly eating and drinking as the sum total of my purchases consisted of a large bag of chocolate caramel popcorn and a vintage Christmas ornament!

Gorgeous St Nicholas

We started our day with lunch at The Palace Restaurant & Saloon on Whiskey Row which claims to be the oldest frontier saloon in Arizona and frequented by Wyatt & Virgil Earp and Doc Holliday in the late 1870s.  I also tried Root Beer for the first time.  It tasted a bit like the Dandelion & Burdock we used to have when I was a kid, with a bit of a licorice aftertaste. (we were only allowed 'pop' on special occasions as it was considered a luxury back then, which seems hilarious now when I see it being served like water here, even with breakfast!).   It was slightly odd and not sure I'll be having it again to be honest.  Think I'll just stick with tequila!

Our merry band ... including Booth, Nicole's service dog

It was a really fun day with lots of laughter, notably at the expense of the local candle shop!  Kelly and I, whilst meandering our way towards the next bar meet up **ahem**, thought we would just pop in for a quick butchers (oh sorry, for my American readers that's another Cockney rhyming slang derivative ... butcher's hook = look).  As we had both admitted to being die hard Yankee Candle fans we weren't expecting to be easily converted but we weren't quite prepared for the odd whiff that greeted us as we walked in.   We immediately looked at each other wrinkling our noses.  

"Hi Ladies!  Welcome in!" trilled the over enthusiastic shop assistant (who looked about 12).  "Have you been to our candle shop before?"

"Er ... no" we responded as we passed each other a look that clearly said we wouldn't be coming again either.  As Kelly rightly remarked, usually when you walked into a scented candle shop your senses would be bombarded with all kinds of slightly overpowering scents ... cinnamon, lavender, rose etc.  This was more ... how shall I describe it ... 

"Wax crayons!" 

Thank you Kelly ... that was exactly it!  That set us off giggling like a couple of naughty school girls.  The shop assistant, who was clearly struggling to meet her sales targets for the day as the shop was empty apart from the two of us - can't think why **raises eyebrow sarcastically**, continued,

"All our candles are made from pure essential oils and beeswax..."  Well, I'm not sure where the essential oils were from as we couldn't smell anything vaguely pleasant.  Oil or Olive perhaps? Or maybe Vegetable?

"Turn the candles over and smell the bottom ...". she continued

Kelly and I now standing by a display of drab looking candles each picked one up and turned it over,  and cautiously sniffed as instructed.

"What does yours smell like?" Kelly asked as barely managing to stifle a giggle

"Brown crayon.  How about yours?"

"Blue crayon"

Well that did it.  We could hold back no longer and as we howled with laughter we stole a glance at said shop assistant.  Not even a hint of a smile as she glared at us stony faced.    As we edged our way to the door ... I literally had tears rolling down my face ... Kelly made a desperate attempt to explain our mirth, but sour-faced Sally at the till wasn't having any of it and continued to look like she had several slices of lemon stuffed in her mouth.  

Finally, just as our escape route was in reach, we spotted the display of dog shaped candles. Uh-oh. I can honestly say that that was the first time I have ever sniffed a dog's bottom in public, which funnily enough smelled like ... a dog shaped wax crayon!  Hilarious.

We needed a drink after that and made our way back to Whiskey Row to meet some of the others for a much deserved Margarita at the Jersey Lilly Saloon (I know it should have been Whiskey but I can't stand the stuff) 

Kelly ... my partner in crime

It's 5 o'clock somewhere ... Cheers!

After more drinking ... and a bit more shopping, we piled back in the minivan and headed back to Scottsdale were we stopped for dinner and er .. more drinks .. before heading home.  What a day!  Special mention and thanks also to the other Bev sorting out the van and for driving us all the way there and back again (she's the one in the middle in the photo above ... with the Margarita :D)

On Monday I will be celebrating my 55th birthday (a fact which Ethan is finding hilarious as here in Arizona most of the supermarkets and some other stores also offer a 'Senior's discount' at 55 ... bloody cheek!) and so we started a weekend of celebrations last night with the first of Mr B's organized activities, tickets for Mamma Mia - the Musical at ASU Gammage in Phoenix.  Whilst admittedly, Abba were an extremely popular and talented group in their day,  they were never really my cup of tea.  I was always more of a Blondie, T Rex and U2 fan myself.  Oh but wait ... aren't they one of Mr B's favorites?!  Yes.  Yes they are.  Hmmmmm .....

Mamma Mia indeed!

To be fair, it was a really good show and I had a great time, despite the woman in front insisting on singing along to every single number and bopping up and down in her seat so hard that it made the whole row shake **rolls eyes**.

Well, there is another treat in store today apparently, so had better get my skates on as we are leaving in precisely 4 minutes I have been informed ....

Hope you all have a great week and look forward to seeing you again next time

TTFN
Bev x

Don't get your tinsel in a tangle ...!

Howdy Folks!  How have you been this week?   Have you started the dreaded christmas tree decorating yet?  We have got all ours up now and I have to say it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas Chez Barlow!

Ugh ... another tangle to sort out

Before we moved to Arizona, we always had a real Christmas tree, but this will now be the second year we have had a 'fake' tree.   I was very skeptical at first, but I have to say that it does make it sooooo much easier!  There is no phaffing about for ages trying to make sure it sits straight in the pot, and even better, as it's a prelit version the dreaded job of trying to get the lights on evenly is not required either.  This year, I even found real pine scented little snowflakes that you hang on the tree from Yankee Candle which make it smell authentic too so there really is no contest.   The 'fake' tree wins hands down!  

Went for the multicolored option this year (another benefit of the fake tree ... you can change the lights to whatever color you want :)

In other news, two stories caught my eye in the news this week, which made a welcome change from all the presidential fall out that is still rumbling on ... yawn.

Firstly, the news that Japan are apparently training reindeer to deliver Dominos pizza in the remote snowy areas during the winter.   Firstly, would they not eat it on the way? wouldn't it take for ever to arrive? surely it would be cold. Have you seen the size of an actual reindeer?  I would be totally  freaked out to open my front door to find a giant snorting animal with antlers and a pepperoni and cheese round it's neck.  And finally, and most importantly, is Rudolph allowed to be moonlighting?  What happens if he gets held up on Christmas Eve?  Santa would not be pleased ...

"Right lads, time to hook up the sleigh.  Hang on ... where's Rudolph?"

"Oh, he's out on a pizza delivery Guvnor ..."

The second story which literally had me crying with laughter in the car on the way back from the school run involved squirrels and the notion that they are staging a rebellion.  

You may recall (or maybe not as it probably didn't make the news across the Pond) that there was the story in the news last month of a squirrel who got into the residents lounge of retirement center in Florida and caused mayhem when it apparently 'went crazy' biting and scratching people ...  (that was not the thing that had me crying with laughter btw - I'm not a monster).

Following on from that, a couple of weeks ago, a Chicago politician went on a rant about aggressive squirrels who were apparently taking over the city ... chewing through garbage cans and costing the council a fortune in replacements etc. etc.  Well, this week, that same councillor was cycling along the local trail when a 'suicide bomber' squirrel leapt out in front of him and got caught in the spokes of his front wheel causing him to fly over the handlebars of his bike.   He is currently in hospital with a broken nose, fractured skull and a handful of missing teeth!   Thankfully though he will be ok but you couldn't make it up could you?!  You can read the full story here https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/22/suicide-bomber-squirrel-hospitalizes-chicago-politician-who-spoke-out-against-squirrels/?utm_term=.a09f0219b01e

Don't even think about messing with us ...

Finally, this week, Ethan and I encountered another spot of bother at the drive through as a result of our British accents, well, mine anyway.   I think I have mentioned previously that anything that is based on voice recognition does not seem to work for us over here as they are all clearly programmed to expect an American accent and anything that deviates from that, no matter how subtle,  does not seem to compute.  (I believe I mentioned in a previous post that using the Voice Recognition on the car GPS was another epic fail, and the instruction to take us to 'Scottsdale Quarter', a well known shopping area, resulted in the navigation to 'Scottsdale Pawn Shop'!)

As Mr B and I were going out to the 'Luminaries' at the Desert Botanical Gardens last night (and Ethan would rather eat his left arm) he voted for a McDonalds for his tea.  As we drove in to collect it, I asked him what he wanted.

"... a medium No. 7 meal, but I don't need a drink as I'll have one at home" which translated to plastic chicken nuggets and some fries... yuk.

Voice at Drive Through: "How can I help you today?"

"Can we have a medium No. 7 meal please?"

"OK.  Would you like large or medium?"

"Er ... medium please"

"OK.  What drink would you like with that?"

"No drink, thank you"

"Sorry, what drink?"

"No drink thank you.  Just the chicken nuggets and medium fries."

"Oh, OK, got it.  Please proceed to the next window."

Arrive at next window to find another employee passing a medium Sprite to us through the window ...

"Erm ... we said no drink thank you?"

"Oh ... you didn't order a medium Sprite?"

"No. Just the nuggets and medium FRIES"

"Oh right.  Well the meal comes with a drink.  What drink would you like?"

"No drink thank you." (bizarrely still cheaper than buying individually)

"Oh.  Would you like some apple slices instead?"

"No thank you."

"How about a bottle of water?"

"No thank you."  Hands bag over ... check in bag .... no fries. "We still need a medium fries?"

"Oh, you want the medium Sprite?"

"NO!!  JUST THE FRIES!"  Good God!  It shouldn't be this hard should it?!

The Luminaries at the Desert Botanical Garden

Hope you all manage to have a stress free week ... and good luck getting those lights right on that tree! Send me a picture of your finished tree - I would love to see them.

TTFN

Bev x

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