Not all Plane sailing ...!

So we said our goodbyes to Mum last week and everything went as smoothly as these things ever can.  My nephew Simon read a lovely poem and my great niece Holly, who is only 11, read a lovely tribute to her Great Nan which she had written herself! Bless her.  She did really well.

                         cousins and 2nd cousins - what a handsome lot!

Whist it was obviously a sad occasion,  I was inclined to view it more as a celebration of Mum's life and a chance to reflect on all the happy times we had shared together.  I am glad that she is finally at peace now and wherever she is, hope that she is reunited with Dad and my brother Paul :)

After what seemed like mere hours ... didn't we just get here? ... all too soon it was time to head back across the pond again, but we certainly made the most of our week, cramming in as much time with friends and family as possible as well managing to tick off nearly all the experiences from our collective list of 'Things we have missed about the UK'.  They included:

1. A trip to the pub - we met up with Eldest and had a great meal at The Sportsman in Goddards Green complete with roaring log fire. Mr B predictably went for the fish & chips, the boys opted for steak and  I chose one of my favourites (and which I rarely ever cooked at home as none of the boys would entertain it *tuts*),  liver, bacon and mash with onion gravy ... Mmmmm, I can still taste it now.  Delish!

2. A walk down Lindfield High Street to see the carpets of crocuses that appear every spring.  Sadly we were out by a couple of weeks for the crocuses I think, but there were plenty of cheery daffodils, pansies in window boxes, bright red camellias and the odd magnolia tree just starting to bloom.  Beautiful!

3. A curry at the local Indian - have only seen one Indian restaurant in Scottsdale and haven't been brave enough to try it yet, so as it was 12 months since I ate my last one this was high on my list!

4. A walk along Brighton seafront - I have to say I was a little disappointed.  Everywhere looked greyer than I had remembered (apart from the beach huts which were thankfully still the same) and was either covered in seagull crap or rubbish.  We also seemed to have timed our walk with the start of some charity dog waking event as we were suddenly surrounded by people with dogs of all shapes & sizes sporting orange bows ... not to mention pink tutus, socks, woolly jumpers and bandanas.  Still, I suppose at least they were actually walking.  If it were in Scottsdale they would all be being pushed round in a buggy tucked in with a blanket! (I kid you not people).

                                                               Brrr!

5. A Chinese takeaway - I know that Chinese restaurants abound in Scottsdale, however, it doesn't taste the same somehow.  Everything seems to be much sweeter for some reason? Or maybe it's just me.  It was made even more perfect because we ate it with some of our best friends whom we have missed dearly :D

6. Friends.  Ethan got to go for a sleepover at his best friend Charlie's (who he also introduced to the rank Bean Boozled challenge. If you missed last week's episode, you can read all about that there) and we got to spend some time (although not nearly enough) with some of our best friends.  Apologies to all those that we didn't get chance to catch up with this time, but we did pretty well I think given the circumstances.

7. Chocolate.  We pretty much cleaned out Sainsburys of Cadbury's ... OMG! how I have missed chocolate buttons! ... also Kinder eggs, which Ethan bought for each of his friends at school as bizarrely they are banned over here (as clearly they deem American kids too stupid to know the difference between chocolate and plastic.  On the other hand, having tried some of the chocolate here maybe that is not as far fetched as it sounds ...)

8. And finally, another item from Youngest's list ... breakfast at Bill's!  Mr B was working in the Brighton office the day before we left so Ethan and I made the most of our last day and managed to tick this one off the list as well :)

                                    Now that's what I call I full English!

After a 5am start on Wednesday morning we set off for the airport and the long trek back 'home'.  Oh well, at least we will be able to go in the Priority Pass lounge when we get to the airport  (in my opinion one of the best benefits that comes with the American Express Platinum card) and get some breakfast and a much needed coffee.  It was then that Mr B (who works in ... where is it again?.... oh yes, Travel) announced that he had left his card at home *facepalm* and whilst I could have signed him in as a guest, it wasn't really worth the £30 charge for just under an hour.  Idiot (or I think I called him something along those lines).  

Our return route was British Airways to LA and then LA to Phoenix via American.  Groan.  The BA leg couldn't have gone smoother and it was our first experience in one of the new A380 double deckers.  We had paid the extra for BA's World Traveller Plus and it was well worth it.  Plenty of leg room, comfy seats and even the food was edible, in fact I would even go so far as to say it was bordering on nice!  A pleasant surprise.  The flight left bang on time and after watching four movies (Suffragette and Burnt were both OK, the Minnions mildly amusing and the hidden gem, Hector, which I thought was terrific) and the first episode of some TV drama called Unforgotten  (which I immediately wished I had watched first and followed with the remaining episodes as I was completely gripped!), we arrived in LA.  That's when it all started to go downhill.  

We arrived in the Immigration hall to hideous queues ... ugh ... and whilst Mr B now has Global Entry which means he can skip all the lines and whizz through a fast track lane, he gallantly waited in line with us as Ethan and I are still waiting for our appt to do photos and fingerprints and so ours is not yet complete.  Mind you I think he was soon regretting that decision as after being told to join a queue for those with ESTA's and Visas and finally reaching the 'self service kiosk' we then discovered that this didn't work with the type of visas we had, only basic travel visas, and so we were then directed to join another long line to wait for one of the immigration officers, where we had gone in the first place.  Grrrrr!   

After clearing immigration and collecting our bags we then joined another long line to recheck them in for our connecting flight.  Never mind, at least as we had a three hour layover in LAX there was no rush.  Deep breath and count to 10.  It was then that we noticed that our connecting flight to PHX was running an hour an a half late.  *sigh*.  Well at least we could go to the lounge and sit in comfort with a drink.  Oh wait.  Never mind.  Well at least Ethan and I could go to the lounge and sit in comfort with a drink!  Luckily, after explaining dozy's memory failure and smiling sweetly at the lovely chap on reception he let us all in.  By this time we were all beginning to feel a little tired and so after settling EJ (who was by now in severe wifi withdrawal) in a chair with plug and wifi password, Mr B and I found the bar for a much needed drink and a packet of cardboard pretzels.  Some while later, after watching a Captain Birdseye lookalike honking up greenies and spitting them into the waste paper basket at regular intervals *gags*, I could take no more and we wearily made our way to the gate, heaving a sigh of relief as we saw that the information board read "Boarding will begin in 10 ... 9 ... 8 minutes".  It counted down to 0 just as the gate doors swung open ... perfect ... and throngs of disembarking passengers meandered their way through!  What?!  Well, clearly we will not be boarding any time soon.  Grrr!   Another half a hour or so passed and finally we were allowed to get on.  Once all passengers were on board we sat patiently ... well except for the 3 screaming babies and a cranky toddler ... wondering why we weren't going anywhere.  Suddenly an announcement from a clearly pissed off pilot:

"Ladies and gentlemen, apologies for the delay, however it appears that some one (you could so tell he wanted to say wassock) has overfilled one of the fuel tanks by 300 gallons and so we are now just waiting for it to be siphoned out again. Thank you for your patience and we shou be on our way in about 20 - 30 minutes."

Oh for God's sake!  Don't bother to thank me as I actually don't have any patience left due to the fact that I have now been up for 23 hours and just want to get home to bed!  What moron did that?! And further more how can you possibly over fuel a plane?! 

Fast forward 45 minutes ...

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have just been advised that it will take another 30 minutes (which means at least 45) to complete the offloading of excess fuel from the tank, after which time we should be able to get on our way."   Cue synchronised moaning from passengers.  Sensing the rumblings of a passenger uprising, one of the crew members hurriedly handed us all a credit card sized biscuit ... yum.  

... was so tempted to amend the title in the wrapper and hand it back 

A disgruntled 30 something man in a black baseball cap in front of me asked the indifferent crew member whether he could at least have some water?  10 minutes later they appeared pushing a cart loaded up with bottles of water, pausing tantalisingly close before moving past.  

"Erm ...hello? It was over here!" Black Cap shouted.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait sir, as we'll be starting from the front of the aircraft"

"Oh great, what like another 20 minutes?!  Jesus!"

Oh dear,  Trouble a't'mill!  It didn't get him anywhere though as they just breezed past and carried on up the front.  Black Cap was spot on though, as we were finally handed warm water in a plastic cup - no ice - about 20 minutes later. 

Finally, three and a half hours later than scheduled, we were on our way and we walked through our front door a mere 26 hours after we had got up!  

As unbelievable as it may seem though and a mere 3 days later, this morning we are all on a plane again heading off for a few days in Sarasota and then Naples, Florida, for Spring Break (which we had arranged some months previously.  Another stupid o'clock pick up (4.30am this time!) and a chaotic Sky Harbor airport, but after a very efficient and hassle free boarding process, we took off bang on time and are now about half way there.  Great job South West!  Much to our surprise, Ethan was also seemingly unpeterbed by South West's policy of 'no seat allocations' and after I explained that we may not all get seats together, exclaimed,  "What, you mean I don't have to sit with you two?" and promptly plonked himself into a spare aisle seat next to some other couple at the front of the plane as we filed on. Lol!   I can't believe how much he has grown in confidence in the last 12 months!

Looks like we are coming in to land now so I will sign off for this week.  Look out Florida - the Barlows have arrived!

TTFN

Bev x

Completely Bean Boozled... !

So this week we are back in good old Blighty, albeit for the sad occasion of Mum's funeral on Monday, but I am trying not to think about that for the time being.

Having gone to America on holiday every year for at least the past 20, it felt very strange to be doing it the other way round.  Of course this time, after a long and uncomfortable night flight (how on earth anyone can sleep squashed like sardines in a tin is beyond me) at least we weren't going back to two weeks of junk mail and a fridge containing nothing more exciting than half a pint of rancid milk, a jar of tomato purée and an onion (why is there always an onion left?).  One of our lovely friends was waiting at the airport to meet us with a big bag of Cadbury's for Ethan, a bunch of pink roses for me and a football magazine (proper football that is!) for Mr B!  Thanks Ju, what a star!

We were safely delivered to our other lovely friends, Jane & Sal, who are kindly putting us all up this week, and within minutes of waking through the door had a steaming hot mug of tea in my hands ... bliss! In an effort to minimise the dreaded jet lag, our target was to stay awake until at least 9pm and as we struggled to keep our eyes open after dinner, Ethan suggested we all play the 'Bean Bloozled' game that he had brought with him and was desperate to try.  I can't think why!  

Basically, the game consists of spinning a wheel and then selecting the corresponding coloured jelly bean, which could be either a fruity treat or its foul evil twin! For example, it could be Lime or ... lawn clippings.  Juicy Pear or ... booger (yes, it's an American game).  Peach or ... Vomit.  Nice.  You get the idea.  Obviously there was no way of knowing which one you were getting until it was in your mouth.  After agreeing to the one and only rule of 'no spitting out' (WHY?! I am still asking myself!), we gingerly began the first round (if only ginger was the worst we would have to endure).  Round one resulted in a Tutti-Frutti or Stinky Socks gamble for me and also Sal, and there's no prizes for guessing which one we both ended up with .... Ewwwww!  Jane managed to luck out with a lime (cow!) whilst Ethan got Baby Wipes.  Luck was also on Mr B's side when he got Liquorice over its evil twin Skunk Spray.  Round two:  Sal was not so lucky avoiding the Skunk Spray this time, followed by Ethan's toothpaste selection.  Mr B once again manage to swerve the nasty Rotten Egg with a Buttered Pocorn selection whilst Jane & I hit rock bottom when we selected Dog Food whilst hoping for Chocolate Pudding!  Ugh!  Disgusting. Rank. Vile.  All of those and more.  Despite downing a whole bottle of water, half a bar of dairy milk and cleaning my teeth, there was no getting rid of the taste and I finally gave up and went to bed smelling like I had just eaten half a can of Pedigree Chum.  Never, EVER, again!  

After the last 12 months in Arizona constantly being asked if I was glad to escape the fog of London, whilst rolling my eyes and tutting at the ridiculousness of such a stereotype, I flung open the curtains the next morning to be greeted by .... Oh.  Fog.  Great.  As it happened we did have to head off to London that morning to meet with family and deal with some administration, and so did have to chuckle at the irony however it soon lifted to reveal blue skies and sunshine.  As we drove back in the afternoon it was so nice to see lots of cheery daffodils and the beginnings of the early crocuses on the roadside and we stopped in Lindfield (the epitome of a typical English village I have always thought) for a walk.  I definitely think you view everything with a fresh pair of eyes when you have been away for a long time and notice things that you always took for granted before.  

Later that evening, we met up with son No. 1 and crossed another thing off the 'things I have missed' list - dinner and a pint at the local pub, complete with roaring fire.  And as if that wasn't enough, there was liver, bacon & mash with onion gravy on the menu!  It was soooo good!  After rounding off the evening with an episode of Gogglebox the only thing left on my list was 'go for a curry' and tonight ladies and gents, I can happily confirm that this can now also be checked off the list (chicken jalfrezi, mushroom rice, onion bhaji and naan bread washed down with a large bottle of Kingfisher in case you're interested!).

Whilst I am most definitely not looking forward to Monday's sad goodbye, for now I am cramming in as much Blighty as I can manage!  Now all I have to do is work out how I am going to get my own body weight in Cadbury's, two jars of Coleman's Mustard, four packets of tea bags and a jar of instant coffee into the suitcase .... wonder if Mr B would notice if I left his clothes behind?

TTFN

Bev x

The early bird catches the worm ...!

Hello again and welcome back!

This week I have mostly been reminiscing and recalling fond memories of Mum, who sadly passed away last Monday.  I did have to smile when I realised the date.  If there was one anniversary date you would want to pick so that family and friends would only have to be sad once every four years, it would be 29th Feb.   Nice one Mum!

Born and bred a true 'Northerner' in the 1920s, she had been brought up by her grandmother, who by all accounts was a formidable Victorian lady, (and a strict Methodist to boot) or as Mum would say 'a real tartar'!  However she spoke of her fondly and was grateful for skills she had taught her, many of which she passed on to my sister and I (although not quite sure when I will be donkey stoning a front step or blacking a grate any time soon).   We could however both make cakes and pastry from scratch when we were quite small girls - a far more useful skill - and to this day we both still love to bake.  I can remember standing on a little stool in the kitchen as a very small child with a mixing bowl and wooden spoon beating butter and sugar for a sponge cake and rolling out pastry for jam tarts.   It was  usually all grey and unappetising looking by the time my sweaty little mitts had finished with it (probably from the number of times I had rolled it off the table onto the floor) and can remember insisting that my special efforts be reserved for Dad when he got home from work,  who of course always pretended that they were the best jam tarts he had ever eaten and then suspiciously, had to attend to something urgent in the kitchen.  Lol.  We can also both knit, sew and mend (but only if my life depended on it as I have to confess I have always been more the 'just chuck it away and buy another one' type, much to her dismay!  Let's face it, who has time to darn a sock?!  Well, me probably, but that's beside the point).  

Mum was also very fond of quoting funny old proverbs and sayings (something else handed down from her Granny) which used to have me completely confused as a small child ... "you'll be laughing on the other side of your face in a minute young lady!" .... how is that even possible? ... or "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" ... ewwww! Why would I even went to?!  As I got older of course and understood the meaning of these expressions, I realised that many of them offered quite wise advice (although some were just plain daft in my opinion).  

There are too many to mention them all, but these are just some of those I remember her using most frequently and which I often myself using today (much to Ethan's amusement).

• 'You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear' - you can't make something nice out of something bad (or ugly!).  I remember overhearing her say this once when gossiping about a common acquaintance over tea with one of her friends!  *coughs*
• 'Don't spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar' - don't risk the overall success of a project by trying to scrimp on the details (a ha'p'orth was a half penny worth).  I often think of this when I am trying to justify buying the most expensive fabric for curtains or want some extravegant designer paint for the walls, Lol.
• 'If a job's worth doing its worth doing well' - if you are going to do something, make sure you do it properly.  She used to quote this one at me regularly after inspecting my bedroom tidying efforts!
• 'A stitch in time saves nine' - better to act on a problem right away rather than leave it until it becomes much worse and takes longer to resolve.  I didn't understand this one for ages until I learnt the lesson quite literally.  As a teenager, one of my favourite items of clothing was a long 'gypsy skirt' which was basically large circles of gathered fabric sewn together in tiers (what? It was the 70s, what can I say?)  I must have caught a few stitches of the middle tier on something and a small hole appeared.  Mum kept nagging me to get it mended before it got worse ... "a stitch in time saves nine!" ... what?? ...but as mending was not on the 'top 10 list of cool things for a 15 year old to do' (nor is it on the 54 yr old's version for that matter, see above), her advice fell on deaf ears (probably all that listening to T-Rex and Sweet in my bedroom).  One night a short while later, whilst strutting my stuff in said gypsy skirt at the local Scout Group Disco (probably to the latest Status Quo number or something equally cool), one of my 'helpful' friends remarked "oh hang on ... you've got a loose thread..." and before I could stop her had managed to unravel the whole seam causing the bottom two tiers to fall off, rendering my beloved maxi into a scraggy mini and worst of all, exposing my lily white legs to a packed parish hall full of spotty teenagers!  Needless to say, I spent the next day trying to stitch it all back on, whilst mum looked on smugly.  It was never the same again and soon relegated to the rag bag ... *sniff*
• 'People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones' - don't criticise others for a fault you might possess yourself
• 'A watched pot never boils' -  don't stand over something that will take a while to finish as it will seem to take for ever.  Not sure I ever learned this lesson. This is especially true whilst waiting for IOS updates to download ...!
• 'Too many cooks spoil the broth' - too many people trying to lead or give opinions can become confusing and spoil the end result.  Very true.  I experienced this way too many times at work. 
• 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush' - it's better to have a lesser but certain advantage than the possibility of a greater one that may come to nothing.  Again, took me years to understand this one.
• 'A place for everything and everyone in its place' - everything should have a set place and be returned to it when you have finished using it so you can find it again next time  (she used to say this a LOT as I recall as I was quite an untidy child and was always wailing that I couldn't find something for other! Usually closely followed, when she then found it straight away,  by the equally irritating ... "God gave us eyes to see with but oh how we do squint!"
• 'Ne'er cast a clout till May is out' - which means don't cast off your warm winter clothing before the month of May is ended (this may have just been a Northern saying as Winters could be long and severe with bitter winds).  As soon as March arrived and the first bit of warm sunshine appeared, I would be in such a hurry to put away my drab winter woollies I had lived in for what felt like months, (that's because usually it WAS months),  and get my summer togs out again and every time she would send me back upstairs to get changed or at the very least make me wear some hideous scratchy cardigan and a hideous coat (which I would invariably hide in the bus shelter on my way into town and then collect it on the way back :).  Hmmm, not sure how applicable this one is to living in Arizona where this year's February temperatures were in the 80s for all but a handful of days! Don't think I'll be needing that vest here ...
• All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy - obviously I try and live by this one religiously :) 

And finally, the one I have tried to abide by the most and am forever quoting to my boys when they are getting frustrated by not being able to achieve something at the first pass ...  If at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again! (usually met by tuts and eye rolling).

Thanks for accompanying me on my trip down memory lane and maybe you have even learned something too!

TTFN
Bev x

What day is it today ...?

So in last week's post you may recall me mentioning that every day here was seemingly a 'National something or other day', which got me wondering who on earth thinks these things up? and whether there is a list somewhere?  So this week, intrigued, I set about doing some further research on the subject (clearly I have way too much time on my hands) and discovered that not only is there a list, but a whole calendar and there is indeed one (or in most cases several) for every single day of the year, as well as themes for each month!  What fun!!  Oh soz, think I turned into Miranda's mother for a minute there ...  

Many are completely ridiculous of course and caused me to guffaw with hysterical laughter, such as Wave all your fingers at your Neighbor day ... as oppose to what? just the middle one? giving them the usual V sign? and Dump your Significant Jerk day ... must look out for them all hanging out by the recycling bins.  Lol.  I was particularly gutted to discover I had also missed World Play Your Ukulele Day earlier this month too.  Oh no! Don't tell me that passed you by as well?  *sighs* Wednesday 10th February must have been a particular depressing day as all there was to look forward to was Umbrella Day and Plimsoll Day.  For some reason I have a mental picture of a pair of cheesey grey plimsolls left on the back step, sitting in a sad puddle of rainwater (yes, sometimes it's scary being me ...).  On the other hand, the day before looked to be most interesting as it was Extraterrestrial Culture Day ... Whaaaaaa?!  Wonder if they got them to run seminars? ... maybe 'A Year on Tattooine' or 'A Day in the Life of a Wookie'?  Good grief.  

Some are of course food and drink related - frozen yoghurt day, National deviled egg day (yes, really).   Some though are designed to raise awareness - World Braille Day, ADD Awareness Day ... what was I talking about?  Oh yes...  (sorry, couldn't resist), and some have a philanthropic element which despite being for the most part rather cheesey, if only a small percentage of the population observed it would certainly brighten the day for many people - Stop Bullying day, Make a Difference Day and Be Humble Day, for which the founder is ironically listed as 'unknown', LOL.

Anyway, I thought it would be rather fun to see how many of these I could achieve in a week.  Want to know how I did? Read on  ....

The month of February is apparently ... Library Lovers month, North American Inclusion month, Heart month, Cherry month, Hot Breakfast month, Breast Feeding month ...sorry what?!  there's only so far I am prepared to go  .... oh wait ... stand down people ... I misread that ... it's actually Bird Feeding month (phew), Bake for Family Fun month. 

Phew, well, so far this month I have visited the local library to take back the book Youngest got out for his Science project ... tick.  (In case you were wondering it was "In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeanette"  from which the most interesting fact apparently relates to the origin of that good old British exclamation  "Gordon Bennett!" *tuts and rolls eyes*).  We have filled up the hummingbird feeder in the garden (that was a royal 'we' obviously ... ahem ... Thanks Mr B!) ... tick.   I have eaten several hot breakfasts at our regular Sunday brunch venue ... tick and baked a gigantic carrot cake which Mr B had great fun eating ... tick.  Well, this all seems straightforward enough.  Now on to this week ...

Sunday 21st

Single Task Day - "Research has shown that multitasking is really inefficient.... dilutes focus, introduces delays and makes things take longer to complete ... Make a list in order of priority ... One task at a time ... ignore everything else until you finish it."  Well that's bobbins for a start! Clearly written by a man.  That may well be true for them but everybody knows that we women are brilliant at multitasking and ...oh crap! ..... Sorry, dinner was burning ...

Sticky Bun Day - "another Cinnamon roll?" ... Oh go on then, after all it is in the interest of research.

International Mother Language Day -  in the words of Nelson Mandela "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."  Yes quite. Good job I am multilingual .... being fluent in both 'Barlow' (otherwise we would never be able to work out what he was on about ... ticket boo) and 'Bullsh*t' (handy for most other males I meet these days ...)

Mon 22nd:

World Thinking Day - originated from Girl Guides/Girl Scouts idea.  Each year a country is selected and they learn about it's culture and general living conditions as well as each giving a 1p donation in support of projects that aid their fellow Guides/Scouts from member countries in need. Ahhh, what a lovely idea.  I like this one. 

Be Humble Day - CS Lewis once said " True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less." A perfect quote for Be Humble day.  Anyway ... back to me 

National Cook a Sweet Potato Day - sorry what?  Well clearly that's not happening ... bleugh!

Walking the Dog Day - sadly not applicable ...phew

National Margarita Day - now that's more like it.  Cheers!  *hic*  

Tue 23rd:

International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day (I kid you not) - Ethan and I sat and looked at this dog biscuit for 2 hours, marvelling at its majestic beauty and discussing the merits of bone shaped versus square biscuits ... etc. etc.

Play Tennis Day - obviously that was a non starter

Curling is Cool Day - ditto ... but seriously?

Banana Bread Day - now this one I would have happily joined in with but we didn't have any bananas and I couldn't go out because the cleaners were coming .... anyway, first world problems and all that ... moving on

Wed 24th:

Inconvenience Yourself Day - well, Mr B was away again this week so I had to do dishes AND make my own coffee which was pretty damn inconvenient, I can tell you.

Tortilla Chip Day - that's pretty much every day in this house.  Well what else are we going to eat with our margaritas?

Thu 25th:

Chili Day - kaboom! (maybe a tad less chilli next time)

Chocolate Covered Peanuts Day - nailed it like a boss

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day - don't anyone dare even try ...

Clam Chowder Day - more like clam chunder.  Ugh!

Fri 26th:

For Pete's Sake Day - apparently you are to substitute an offensive word or phrase with something 'more acceptable in society'.  Lol!  I said 'for Pete's sake!" a lot today ...

Personal Chef Day - out for our usual Friday night happy hour and dinner so the 'Chez Barlow' personal chef got the night off.

Pistachio Day - ice cream ... one of my favorites!

Tell a Fairy Tale Day - as my fairy godmother once said to me ...

Sat 27th: 

Strawberry Day - not sure why they have picked a date in February for National strawberry day but still ... luckily for us here in Arizona they are already in abundance.  Yum!

Kahlua Day - oh damn ... we're right out of that

World Sword Swallowers Day - Ethan "don't tell Phil that ..." his nickname for his Dad, aka Phil Dunphy from Modern Family "... or it will be National Funeral Day"

Polar Bear Day - this is Snowy, Ethan's beloved polar bear who was bought as a christmas present by a friend for 'the bump'  3 months before he was born (Kath, would you still recognize him?!) and has been by his side ever since but sadly is now looking a little worse for wear :(  He still comes on every holiday to this day (although he now stays carefully secreted at the bottom of his rucksack).

and finally, my particular favorite ...

Open That Bottle Night - don't think you even need to ask whether I managed this one ... 

Well, what a fun week and I did actually learn a thing or two into the bargain.  If you want to check some of these out for yourself and find out what's in store for next month ... oh hello ... it's only Craft Month!  Get in!  I have included a link to the website here ... Daysoftheyear.com

(Apparently March is also Cheerleader Safety Month, so go careful out there girls!)

TTFN

Bev x

My Funny Valentine ... !

Hello again, has it been another week already?! Well, I'll be jiggered! (as my Grandad would have said)

Not much going on at Barlow Towers this week, but don't believe I harped on about the Valentine's Day celebrations last weekend did I?  Well, let me enlighten you.

It appears that Valentine's Day is another 'thing' here (frankly what isn't?  We've had 'donut day' and 'National drink wine day' recently so nothing surprises me any more).  Unlike us Brits who tend to hold true to the original concept of only sending declarations of undying love to sweethearts and soul mates, here in the good old U.S of A it appears that it is also 'a thing' to send cards to your friends and family on Valentine's Day as well.  (Another money spinner for Hallmark no doubt).  It is especially popular amongst kids apparently, many of whom (especially the younger ones) seem to exchange cards and treats with all their classmates too (or rather another thing to add to mum and dad's to do list).  At Ethan's school, bearing in mind they are all Middle/High schoolers and thus far too cool for that, they ran a 'candygram' service where you could purchase a treat for your friends and have it delivered to them in class during the course of the day.  Not embarrassing at all. I asked The Tween if he was planning on sending any ... "Pffft, noooo!" ... or whether he thought he might receive any ... "I would rather die".  He did inform us though, much to our amusement, that one of the boys in his class had arranged to send one to himself ..'To Andrew, from me," ... which I thought was quite enterprising (and a good way of delivering yourself a snack during a boring science lesson).  

So this year, in the spirit of embracing our new culture, I made a card and a little chocolate gift box for Youngest and left it outside his bedroom door last Sunday, which I think he was secretly pleased to receive (well ok, maybe just the chocolates ... I'm sure the card made him cringe) as well as the usual one for Mr B.

After a late family brunch at one of our favourite breakfast haunts, (Butterfield's on Shea and Scottsdale Road if you're ever in the area ... amazing) Mr B and I headed off for our Valentine's Day treat ... to see the Dancing with the Stars Live, leaving the Tween at home, much to his relief.  Despite his protestations to the contrary, I am still not entirely comfortable leaving him home alone late in the evenings as yet and so Mr B had wisely opted for tickets for the early show.  In case you're not a fan, Dancing with the Stars is the US version of Strictly Come Dancing (complete with judges Len and Bruno, but thankfully not Craig, who would probably get lynched) and every bit as good, although usually far too much 'messing about' for Len! Lol.

Despite being one of only a few men in the audience (which seemed to be largely made up of middle aged women, funny that), Mr B didn't seem to mind, enjoying the scantily clad female dancers immensely (whilst also trying to commit the guy's routines to memory to practice later!).  It was every bit as good as I had imagined and a fabulous Valentine's present. 

One of the things I think I love most about living in Arizona are the stunning sunsets, especially at this time of year when they seem to be particularly spectacular, and never tire of marvelling at them - no two are ever the same.  Last Sunday proved to be no exception and on our drive home we were witness to another beauty.  My shots were not the best as they were taken out of the car window as we were speeding along the freeway, but hopefully you can get a flavour ...

Finally, to conclude the Valentine's theme this week, I made myself a little piece of art this week from a few bits of rolled up paper, a vinyl letter I cut on my electronic die cutting machine and a box frame.  I was really pleased with how it turned out - and may have a new addiction!

Thanks for dropping in and hope you all have a good week!

TTFN

Bev x

Some Mother's do 'ave 'em ...!

Hi all!

I know my UK readers who have been experiencing weeks of wind and rain will not want to hear this but here in Scottsdale we are having a bit of a heatwave at the moment.  Temperatures have been in the mid 80s all week, some 15 degrees warmer than the average for this time of year, and are set to continue all of next week too!  I can't tell you what a difference it makes waking up to clear blue skies and sunshine day after day and being able to sit outside in the evenings with a drink and not freezing to death (even at the height of most UK summers I recall having to resort to a thick woolly cardigan at the very least)!  Having spent 53 winters in the UK though, I know how dark and dreary February can be, so I feel your pain my friends, I really do.  Hang in there though - only another couple of weeks until March and then Spring will be on its way.   But in the meantime .... Yay me!  :D

This week Youngest's English class were all required to give a presentation at school.  

"What's the subject?" I asked him, imagining some synopsis of a book they had been reading or key character analysis etc.  Apparently not.

"Well, we're doing it in pairs and we all have different grammar related topics.  Ours is on Italicising and Underlining.  It has to be 8 minutes with slides, examples and a quiz".  

Ugh.  Good luck with that.  Well let's just hope his English teacher is not a reader of my blog as both are scattered randomly throughout my ramblings, and in all probability totally inappropriately. (I did ask Ethan to describe to me when each should be used ... just to validate his understanding of course *coughs* ... but think I must have dozed off).

 On Tuesday afternoon (2 days before the presentation) he came home from school and asked "Do you think that suit I wore for Simon's wedding will still fit me?"

"I don't know.  That was well over a year ago so probably not.  Why?" 

"Well, Dr Spencer said we had to wear a suit if we had one, or smart business dress".  

Oh did he now.  Thanks for that. Remind me to poke him in the eye next time I see him.

So, amid much muttering and cursing (bearing in mind that this was the same teacher whom you may recall had previously rejected one of Ethan's homework submissions because it was in an incorrect format, i.e. printed on A4 paper instead of US Letter .... Yup ...) said suit was retrieved from the back of the wardrobe (closet) and tried on accordingly.  Amazingly it still fitted!  This was due in no small part to  that 'Mum trick' of buying everything a size too big ... what do you mean it feels massive? as hands are barely visible at ends of sleeves.  Rubbish! It looks absolutely fine ... and also the fact that Youngest seems to be the only member of the family who has actually lost weight since we moved here, growing taller and skinnier (from the waist up only apparently as bizarrely the trousers were still the right length but now too big around the waist! How does that work?) 

As he paraded in front of the mirror preening himself, he announced that he actually looked quite good.  

"It'll be fine as long as I don't take the jacket off."

"What?! You'll roast.  It's going to be 85 degrees!  Why can't you take the jacket off?"

"Well look at it!" he wailed opening it up to reveal the blue and green Paisley lining. "It's like Ariel's palace in there!"

After much hilarity and a quick rendition of Disney's 'Under the Sea' we went off to raid Mr B's wardrobe in search of a suitable tie. 

"How about one of these?" I suggested as I pulled a couple of the more flamboyant options out of the wardrobe.

"Pfffft! NO!"  

" ... one of these then?" I offered as I selected a couple of classic striped numbers

"Ugh, no!"

"What's wrong with those?"

"I'll look like a mini Marcus Barlow and probably walk in saying 'Morning chaps! Tickety-boo!"

That boy kills me, he really does! :D

Finally he selected the plainest most inconspicuous option available, a plain dark grey affair that I think Mr B usually reserves for funerals and such.  He did look very smart though ... 

When I collected him from school on Thursday afternoon he said that it had gone quite well and that they had scored 80 out of 100.  He did observe though that 30 seconds per slide was a REALLY loooooonng time when you were standing in front of everyone and they had underestimated the narrative somewhat.

"What did you do?" I asked "Ad lib for a bit?"

"No, we just stood there awkwardly until the slide changed". Lol.

The other thing that had me in hysterics this week was a visit from Dennis the Menace, our Landlord.  Not that he was trying to be funny intentionally you understand.  Let me explain ...

In our bedroom there are Venetian blinds fitted to each of the windows - you know the sort, those annoying slatted affairs that you have to raise and lower with a knotted cord at one side and which open and close via a pulley at the other.  

Well, the largest one broke and whilst you could raise and lower it (if you had the strength of Charles Atlas) you couldn't open and close it.  I mentioned it to our Landlord some time ago who said he would need Marcus to help him get it down as it was really heavy and if I could let him know next time he was working from home he could take it for repair and hopefully get it back the same day.  Mr B doesn't often work from home, prefering the office environment and the people interaction, but yesterday had to make a visit to the airport to get his Global Entry authorisation approved (which means he won't have to wait in those long immigration lines at the airport any more) so in between was a perfect opportunity.  

Dennis duly arrived just after 8am and proceeded to set up two step ladders at either side of the window. As it was a real struggle to raise it right to the top, he thought halfway would be fine and started to unscrewed the appropriate bits which held it all in place.  He announced he was ready to get it down and so with Dennis at the top of his ladder already, Mr B climbed up his steps to take the weight on the other side.  As I watched with mild amusement from the doorway, I could picture exactly what was going to happen next.  Now Dennis is not a big man, in fact I would go so far as to describe him as short and slightly built.  The ginormous blind was clearly going to be extremely heavy, plus it wasn't concertina-ed right to the top, and as he descended his ladder, instructing Mr B to let him get down first, he realised too late that his arms wouldn't be long enough and as he almost reached the bottom of his ladder, he dropped it and I watched in slow motion as the untethered section clattered down on his head!  

"Oh! Dennis are you ok?" Mr B exclaimed

"Yes, yes ... I'm fine" he blustered clearly embarrassed, whilst I meanwhile was desperately fighting the urge to laugh.

Now on the ground but trapped between his heavy step ladder and the window (clearly not having the foresight to step down in front of the ladder rather than behind it!) he was also clearly stuck.  Mr B, now also on the ground but on the right side of his ladder was just about holding it together and trying to avoid making eye contact with me, now biting my knuckles as tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Erm ... Bev!" Dennis called "do you think you could come and move this ladder please so I can get out?"

Images of Frank Spencer in mac and beret, flashed through my mind as I quickly managed to pull myself together and free him from behind the ladders.  Once they had got it into his car, he drove off to see his 'blind man' promising he would be back with it in a few hours.  I can't wait.

At 4.30pm, just when we were resigning ourselves to having no blind at the window that night, he appeared at the door.  Apparently his 'blind man' only did repairs in-situ (I can't think why) and it had taken him hours to find anybody to repair it but finally he had managed it.

"Now we just need to pop it back and I'll be out of your way..."

Oh God.  

This time, whoever had fixed said blind had sensibly secured with tape at various intervals to stop it all unraveling (and hitting somebody on the head).  Both Mr B and Dozey Dennis climbed their respective ladders once more, holding the blind between them and it was soon secured at the window once more.

"Do you have some scissors?" asked Dennis.  "I just need to cut this tape off ..."

I handed him the scissors with a sense of foreboding

"Ha! Better make sure I don't cut through the cord eh?!" he quipped.

Snip.  Yep.  You guessed it ... he had cut straight through the cord that raises and lowers it!  So now we have a blind that opens and closes but doesn't raise and lower.  You couldn't make it up! 

I had to leave the room under the pretence of 'checking on dinner' and Mr B quickly followed mumbling something about just needing to blow his nose, whereupon we both fell about in hysterics, tears rolling down our faces, whilst trying to muffle our laughter by stuffing tea towels in our mouth.

Two minutes later he was hurrying red faced out of the door muttering something about us not really needing to raise the blind anyway as it would be too hot ...

"Hmmmm .... Betty!"

Well, enjoy the rest of the weekend - Mr B and I are off to see the Dancing with the Stars Live show tomorrow for Valentine's Day ... yay! ... and hope to see you next time.

Thanks for dropping in!

TTFN

Bev X

Super Bowl Sunday ...!

Well, it seems the whole of the United States has been struck by football fever this week (not proper football of course ... American football) as Super Bowl Sunday arrives this weekend (our equivalent to the FA Cup Final).  This year's showdown, which marks 50 years of Super Bowl, is between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers and Mr B is beyond excited as this will be the first year that he has been able to watch it at a reasonable hour (4.30pm for us here in Phoenix), rather than staying up half the night and then propping his eyes open with matchsticks and trying to stay awake at work the next day.  (Those of you that know Mr B will know that he is a complete sports fanatic and would watch tiddlywinks if it was on ...)

Ethan and I couldn't really care less, however I do want to see Coldplay's half time set and I have to confess I am looking forward to the infamous 'Super Bowl commercials' which are a HUGE thing over here (and get almost as much hype as the actual game).  There is much competition amongst the key players for the best ad and big money to be made for those that get it right - the Super Bowl is one of the world's most watched sporting events and last year attracted a record 114.4 million viewers.  Good job too as the cost for a 30 second spot is a whopping $4.5 million!  

As you might expect, drink and snack brands feature heavily ... Coca Cola, Pepsi, Budweiser ... who can forget those iconic Budweiser frogs, or the 'Whassup!' commercial which every Jack the Lad on a night out seemed to think was hilarious for months (if not years) afterwards and quickly became extremely irritating!  They did however redeem themselves somewhat though with last year's cute 'lost puppy' ad ... sniff

One of my all time favourites though has to be Volkswagen's 2011 Darth Vadar ad ...

Game-day food is equally important of course, (with the average American reportedly consuming 5,000 calories during the course of the Super Bowl!) and I think every breakfast tv show this week has had a slot (or several!) on what to make for your Super Bowl party.  Another big thing apparently, but not a popular idea with Mr B who thinks it would be far too distracting, prefering instead to disappear into his own little world ignoring anybody else in the room, jumping out of his seat clutching his head at regular intervals and shouting 'instructions' to the players every 5 minutes.

Popular choices for game-day food include chicken wings, ribs, chilli and nachos, which will be our snack of choice for tomorrow's game.  Not just any old nachos though.  Shredded beef nacho casserole if you don't mind, thanks to this recipe that I recently discovered on Pinterest and which proved to be very popular when I made it a few weeks ago for the Cardinals game (sadly the game turned out to be more disappointing).

Yummy!

For dessert, a special request from Mr B ... carrot cake.  Perhaps not your traditional game-day fare but one of his favourites.  I made one to take to our next door neighbour's birthday party last weekend where Mr B managed to hover by the dessert table and devour two large slices before I had to drag him away sulking!

Probably 5,000 calories right there ...

oooh ... is there any icing left?

Right ... I better go and make sure I have got plenty of alcohol in the fridge for tomorrow to get me through the boring bits in between the adverts ... 

Thanks for dropping by and hope you too have a Super Sunday!

TTFN

Bev x