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

Trouble in Target ... !

Hi folks ... blimey, where does the time go?

It was 'back to school week' here in Arizona and so we are back to the 6am alarm calls, making packed lunches and early morning traffic ... ugh.  I think Ethan was ready to go back though (after being stuck at home with his mother for the last 12 weeks who can blame him) and excited to be finally starting High School after discovering when we moved last year that the school system was different and he still had another year of Middle School to do.  Not sure whether he was still quite as excited when he got home after the first day after an overview of each of the subjects on his schedule and discovering that Maths is a year of Geometry, History will focus largely on American Politics and English (ironically his least favorite subject **snort**) this year is 'American Literature' and their first book is The Great Gatsby.  LOL.  Apparently amongst the other books on the list, (which obviously includes To Kill a Mockingbird ... or To kill a Mockingjay as Mr B thinks it's called **rolls eyes**) is an American play adaptation of Ann Frank's Diary ... can't wait for that!

Of course, moody teen has also reached the age where he would rather eat his left arm than be seen out shopping with his parents at the weekend (an option I would also have chosen when I was 14 given the choice so suppose I don't really blame him).  And let's face it, as this morning's shopping expedition was a fairly typical example for Mr B and I, who could blame him? 

"We're just popping out to Target for a few bits and bobs ... do you want to come?"

"Er .... durr!  I'd rather eat my left arm!"  See?

Now, don't ask me why but now that we have this newfound freedom and get to venture out on our own again occasionally after 14 years of having to be responsible parents and 'setting a good example' (well, trying anyway), we seem to turn into a couple of giddy teenagers the minute we step out of the front door.  

This morning, we were headed to Target to pick up a few items.  (Btw, the last time we went to Target together, this happened ...)

Ahem ...   

Today, I needed a new hairbrush and a couple of ingredients for tonight's dinner (Beef Strogonoff in case you were wondering).  Within two minutes Mr B (read B for Bumble) could be found in the electronics aisle trying on some noise cancelling headphones (not on the list) and turning up the volume so high that the adjacent pair of headphones which, unbeknown to him were also connected to the same music source, began blaring 'Cake by the Ocean' at 100 decibels to the entire technology section.  As if this wasn't bad enough,  he then began shouting at the top of his voice  

"THESE ARE GOOD .... HAVE A LISTEN ... GO ON ...!" at the top of his voice whilst simultaneously doing his best Dad dancing impression as scores of terrified shoppers ran for cover.  Oh good Lord.  

Next, Sonos speakers (also not on the list).  

"I wonder how loud these go ... ?"  

After a withering look from the clearly not amused sales assistant who suddenly appeared at his side asking through clenched teeth ...

"Is there something I can help you with Sir?" I hastily dragged him away, focusing our attention back to the list.  Right.  Hairbrush ... After determining they didn't have the one I wanted, despite the gazillion others on the shelf, but having to check every one just to make sure, Mr B, clearly bored, wandered off again on his own (never a good idea).  I discovered him in the sun cream aisle (not on the list either).  "Do we need any more sun cream?"

"No.  We've got loads"

"Oh.  I like this one though ..." taking a large bottle of lotion of the shelf and then promptly dropping it from a great height onto the tiled floor where it promptly exploded, leaving thick white sun cream splattered across the majority of aisle 10 ...

As (thankfully) nobody was around to witness UV-gate, we cleaned up as best we could and quickly moved on clutching our sides with laughter and with tears rolling down our cheeks.

Oh look, the moisturizer aisle ... I had recently read an article which said that body creams and lotions actually made you hotter in warm weather as they trap in the moisture and stop your body cooling itself down.  Makes sense, I thought.  It advised using a spray or gel moisturizer,  which I had never really noticed, so I wanted to have a look to see if they stocked any as it is so dry here you can't survive without a good moisturizer but within 5 minutes of applying it I usually feel like I am going to spontaneously combust!  Ah yes, here's one.  I picked up a bottle which clearly contained a gel.  As I smeared a generous dollop onto my arm, I squinted at the label (as I didn't have my glasses on) ... 'Gel moisturizer with ... oil ...!'  Ewwww!  It had the consistency of melted lard and despite constant rubbing, it just wouldnt sink in, leaving a shiny oil slick down one arm.  This set us off giggling again, as I leant on the handle of the trolley and promptly slid off the end. LOL.  Time to grab what we needed and get out quick, as I think we've caused enough mayhem for one day.

Just time for a quick visit to Menchies for a frozen yoghurt before we headed back home.

"We're back!"

"Oh ok.  Did I miss anything?"

"Noooooo.  You'd have been bored ..."

"Thought so ..."

Although it is still over 100 degrees every day here, the sun is gradually sinking lower in the sky and there is a perceptible change signaling that Autumn (I'm still holding out from calling it Fall for as long as I can) will be on it's way before too long.  Not that that means hats, scarves and coats for us by any means, but hopefully nice sunny days which don't feel quite like walking out into a furnace (80s would be nice) and slightly cooler nights, however, I think we are still a month or two away from that yet sadly.

All the stores here though are having their 'end of summer' sales and the Fall Decor (dammit, failed already) is appearing, which I think is my favorite, along with all the Halloween stuff.  

Having now got the house to myself during the day once again, I can get started on all those craft projects which I have on my list to try.  Door wreaths are very popular here, for every season, and I have been wanting to have a go at making one from deco mesh, which I havent used before, so I think that will be the first on my list.  Something like this maybe ...?

Once again, Pinterest is my best friend.  Will show you the end result when I've finished, (although mine will probably look nothing like that, LOL)

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week and hope to see you again next time ...

TTFN

Bev x

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