Friday, December 31, 2010

2011 is almost upon us

I'd like to wish all my followers a Happy New Year, may you have lots of fun this evening and stay safe.
I hope 2011 makes all your dreams come true and is a fantastic year for you.

2010 was  a good year for us, and hopefully 2011 will be even better.


The proper behavior all through the holiday season is to be drunk.  This drunkenness culminates on New Year's Eve, when you get so drunk you kiss the person you're married to.  ~P.J. O'Rourke




Stay lucky and stay healthy xxx

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Our little visitor

We spotted this cute little guy in our garden this morning, eating my grass seed I've just put down!!
Anybody have any idea what he is? He is a bit bigger than the size of an adult fist.
We have recently blocked off the garden as the dogs have been obsessed with something and have been digging, possibly to get this guy. We have also had something burrow under the lawn and leave mounds. I thought we had gophers in the garden, but don't think this is a gopher. We have gopher sticks installed in a few places in the lawn, but this little guy doesn't seen bothered by them, although i guess the sound they omit is more underground than above.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my followers.
Hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and a fabulous 2011

xxx

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Another classic moment

Yesterday I had two guys come to repair my oven, I think they may have been Polish but I could be wrong.

This is how the conversation went :
Repair guy: 'You arent American are you?'
Me: 'No, Im English'
Repair guy: 'Which country are you from?'
Me: 'England'
Repair Guy: 'Is that the country next to London? - as I went to London once'
Before I had a chance to reply and let him know London was in fact in England, the other repair guy joined in the conversation.
'You idiot London isnt next to England, its what the English call England!'

At that point I just smiled :)

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Christmas for an Ex-Pat

Christmas is upon us once again, it doesnt seem that long ago that it was last Christmas!!
This will be our second Christmas in the US, I have been back 'home' once in the last year, but Dave hasnt, but we have had family and friends come and visit on numerous occasions to bring a bit of Britishness to our home.
This Christmas is a definitely a lot different from last year, last year we were still settling in and didnt know many people, and when it got to Christmas it made us realise how far away 'home' was, and you start to miss the things you normally do with friends and family at this time of year, skyping on christmas day is nice but isnt the same as visiting people in person. Home sickness definitely set in at Christmas last year.
This year we still miss friends and family, but we are more settled in and have lots more new friends around us to help us celebrate, and we even have our own Christmas day routine to look forward to.
We are lucky that culture wise Christmas isnt that different in the US from the UK, except they dont know what Boxing Day is!! 
Weather wise, yes I miss the snow, but then if I had a few feet of snow and everything came to a stand still then I probably would soon get a bit peed off with it, although the rain we have at the moment is starting to become a bit annoying - who has stolen our Californian sun?
Ive been speaking to a few ex pats recently who have moved here in the last six months, and I can tell they are noticing the distance at this time, for those of you who this applies to, keep smiling and get on skype with friends and family, and remember it gets does easier with time, and once Christmas is out of the way the home sickness will slowly fade.

Merry Christmas everyone xxx

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Do you plan to volunteer in 2011?

Dear Friends,
Every week, I spend time at a nearby public school helping a child learn to read. It’s a simple and fun way of giving back.
There are many more students who need our help, so please join me in making a new year’s resolution in 2011: become a volunteer and help kids unlock the infinite possibilities of reading.
For more information or to sign up, please visit http://readingpartners.org/tellafriend
Happy Holidays!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Santa Paws

Today we took our two dogs for their first ever visit to Santa, we received a gift voucher for a sitting from a friend (thanks Victoria). We drove to the  Family Tails studio, and it was all very well organized, we had a bit of a wait, as the lady who was in there had a few problems with her dogs, seems they weren't too keen on seeing Santa, once she was gone it was a breeze.
My two loved Santa, and were more than willing to pose for the camera. They even both gave Santa a kiss as they whispered their Christmas wishes in his ear.
Once Santa stood up Jess got a bit nervous and barked, which led to Bluey barking, but as soon as he knelt down with treats they were his friend again.
I will definitely be going back again next year (although don't think Dave will be coming along again!!)
As you can see the end result was so so cute


Friday, December 3, 2010

Gyros

We have been in the US for 12 months, and tonight I discovered gyros :) For those of you in England who may have not heard of this dish, its basically a doner kebab, something I have missed having since moving here. The gyro I had just consisted of pita bread, lamb/beef meat (cut from an elephant leg style piece of meat!!), onions, lettuce, tomato and tzatzki. Not quite the same as a good old doner but very very tasty. I will definitely be having another one.
Those of you in America, if you have never had a doner kebab complete with chili sauce, then you havent lived, especially if you have never had one when sober!!
Apparently (according to the husband) he knew about this and never told me!! also its pronounced 'yiro' not 'giro', no wonder the takeout place asked me twice to repeat what I wanted!!!
Gyro
Doner kebab


Thursday, December 2, 2010

American Gym Attire

I have recently returned to the gym, and have stopped swimming and started using the gym equipment.
I cant help but notice how the gym attire varies so much! Now it could just be my particular gym or it could be an American thing Im not too sure.

Personally when I workout I wear a tshirt, sweat pants and sneakers (yes I know Ive gone all American!!), back in England this seemed to be the norm, but not here. Yesterday there was a guy in a suit he entered the gym and took his tie and jacket off and started his workout, needless to say when he had finished he was rather sweaty, he put his tie back on and jacket and left, I certainly don't envy the people sharing an office with him. There are also other people wearing strange things, today a guy was on the treadmill in what looked like work boots, Ive seen people working out in jeans, people in high heels, its all very strange. Maybe though they are looking at me thinking the same thing :)

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