"It's Cold!" Says Graeme

I know you’ve heard us say it is cold over here, but that was before we had experienced a hot St Louis summer. Now that we have, we must have forgotten how cold it gets because it’s bloody freezing! We’ve now had over 2 weeks of the temperature not getting above 25F (-4C) during the day and some nights, wind chill taking it to -30F (-35C)! Notice how I’ve converted between Fahrenheit and centigrade? We’ve learnt so much while we’re here you know!

We also had some snow, about 4 inches overnight last week and again the efficiency of the snow ploughs are something to behold. I made my 20 mile journey to work and was only an hour late, and that is due to the office opening a little later! In fact most people make it in (might have something to do with the fact that if they don’t, they get fired!). Efficient or what! Mind you, Dionne was very nervous about me driving in the conditions. Not because of my lack of driving skills, but more about the lack of any common sense from the St Louis driving fraternity! They have a fantastic ability to not see weather. Weather is invisible. Snow, what snow I hear them cry, as they pile their car into the back of the car in front (who had to stop for traffic lights...Just) and not noticing the icy roads! M.U.P.P.E.T.S!!

We had a great a Christmas this year, which I think is largely down to us being so much more settled than last year. We could get wrapped up in the excitement of the season, rather than worrying about whether we had any cable TV connected, of whether the internet would be down because our stupid cable company failed to update our records. Dionne got a big tree (real one) which had a strange top to it... In fact it didn’t have a top as it had been chopped off by someone or something and looked very bushy, but we loved it as if it were our own! We had a lovely Christmas day and I cooked Christmas dinner at home, made by my own fair hands... No one died, so it must have been OK!

This winter, I’ve also got into making lots of fires. Not like arson, but nice house fires in the fireplace! We got half a truck load of wood brought down by our neighbour’s father from Tennessee, which we thought would last us all winter. Hmmm… We’re already running out! Well, not being wood burning experts, we weren’t sure how much wood it would take to have a fire going all day! I’ve become very adept at chopping wood into little bits, but not so adept at starting the fire! The problem is that now days we do everything online, on the computer, but I need paper to get the fire started and well, we just don’t have any. We’ve taken to smuggling out all the free newspapers at the supermarkets for our fire starting exploits! Still, we keep running out of paper. Also, the wood is so cold from being stored outside and holding in moisture, it takes longer to heat up and catch fire! Still, it’s fun trying and very satisfying when I eventually get it going!

Dog alert! Yoji doesn’t like the cold. She is becoming a lazy ginger fur ball! Oh, for sure she looks excited when I go to take her out in the morning or last thing at night, but as soon as she steps outside, she starts physically shaking (anyone would think it was cold!) and becomes schizophrenic (multiple personalities for those who didn’t recognize the word!). She gives it the ‘I’m so fit and energetic that I could run for miles’ look about her when I get my coat on, but as soon as she does her business, she becomes a mad possessed alien trying to drag me back to the warmth of the house, and in particular to get back in front of the now raging fire I made (well we burnt the children’s clothes to get it started!). If you’ve read last year’s blog entry, we’re back to me flying through the air again in front of the neighbour’s house, but this time slipping along on the icy paths (sidewalks)! Now they really do think I’m a mad Englishman… actually going out in the cold with a dog and sledging along with ginger ‘Husky’ type blur pulling me along but without the actual sledge!

We’ve got some trips planned for this year just in case we do come back in November. We’ve already booked Florida for 4 weeks time, to find out they are having the coldest temperatures (below freezing) for decades when they should be averaging mid 70’sF (23C). We will Sooooooo not be happy if it is not warm. But I’m sure that will be another story!Ok, enough of my rambling as I’ve got a stew to finish off cooking, but I’ll try and get back sooner this time with another entry.

Writers Block?!

That must be what I have...I can't think of anything to write at the moment...back soon! (**,)

Halloween Leftovers!

Something I’ve noticed with all the leftover Halloween sweets is that some of the names are wrong! Wrong, wrong wrong! Now don’t get me wrong, we love our sweets/candy but some things you shouldn’t mess with… for example: they call Maltesers, Whoppers & you’ll find a Mars Bar here but it’s called a Milky Way & a Milky Way is called 3 Musketeers. Smarties are what we call Fizzers & they don’t seem to do what we call Smarties at all! A Twix is …well a Twix but they also do it in a peanut butter version (don’t even get me started on peanut butter version of all sorts of food!) Hershey’s chocolate is weird but that’s probably because I was weaned on Cadbury’s. They do actually do Cadbury’s here but it’s a fake chocolate dressed up in a Cadbury’s coat!
Today I like… all the differences still!
Today I don’t like… weird chocolate!

Trick or Treat?!

So you may or may not know that Halloween isn't my most favourite time of year & we were in all honestly hoping not to have to do the Trick or Treat thing with the girls but Harley was invited to a party & we felt mean not doing something with Nyah. We were invited to the local yearly Halloween street party in a cul de sac round the corner from us & although G didn't fancy it I wasn't totally sure I convinced him we needed to go even if only for a little while! The 'Hosts' set up tables & chairs outside their house & there were long tables for food, desserts & then drinks. Everyone (if they want)can bring something to eat or drink & before you know it there is all sorts of food & drink available! There is also a 'candy table' which has enough for about a thousand kids then all the Dad's take the kids off trick or treating while the 'Mom's(!)sit round the fire pit (yep someone kindly bought one of those along too!)chatting! Everyone was very friendly & there was even someone there who had family visiting from Oxford! There was beer & a fire & food & fun was had by all! Harley & Nyah were on a sugar high after comparing their loot!

Changing Seasons!

Isn't it strange how you don't notice the leaves changing colour as if someone paints them overnight or something!? First is a picture taken at the start of the 'pool season' back in May when our neighbour uncovered their lovely new pool.... & then recently when the pool was covered for the winter...

Graeme's Observation of the month!

Over the last few weeks, we have been to a couple of outdoor concerts at our local town centre. Now when I say town centre, it’s a bit like Orbital district centre in North Swindon, with lots of shops, a big supermarket, some restaurants, bank and a big hotel. There is also a big car park that they transform into a stage area and set up stalls with free food. Talking of car parks, have you noticed in the UK how small the parking spaces are? I always struggle to get in and out of the doors without hitting the car parked next to me and from personal experience, as well as the chipped paintwork on previous car doors to prove it; other people struggle to do the same! Well over here the car parking spaces are huge! Probably to accommodate their huge SUV and pick-up trucks, or it may be that they have so much space that we might as well make things more spacey like, or it could be to help rather large people get in and out of their vehicles without squishing themselves, and we all know how large some of the people here can get! Either way, I like the fact you can get out of your car without breaking them!

Now, as I was saying, I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine that North Swindon council providing 600 free hot dogs, free popcorn, free crisps and drinks for the evening as well as free ice cream and live entertainment. I know we have the bowl at the Town Gardens, but it’s not the same.

Let’s compare the two. First imagine a sunny summer afternoon (well at least twice a year) with a few groups playing music, lots of blokes drinking cider and beer, throwing peanuts (paid for) at each other, shouting lewd remarks at the girls who are sporting tight shorts, with short tops with plenty of overhanging flash, sitting with the obligatory baby in a buggy and piles of empty cans and rubbish strewn around left for someone to pick up at some point over the following couple of weeks.

Now compare this to a hastily arranged stage complete with sound system, lighting with guys monitoring tables of monitors and other music gear (sorry I’m not technical with this stuff), police directing traffic, fire engine waiting for any problems with potentially lethal exploding popcorn, as well as the many people begging you to take all of the free food supplies so as not to waste anything. Then you have people, who turn up with their chairs and blankets, cool boxes of beer and wine, calmly staking a spot for themselves and their kids, chatting to all and sundry! The kids go off running about with friends in little possees even though its pitch black, while the adults singing along and with some doing very strange dance movements (chicken song springs to mind!). When the music stops, everything is cleared away and before you know it, you’d never have known that anything other than a car park had ever been there. There are even portable loos and free standing hand washing machines dotted around to stop the spread of germs.

I’ll let you guess which one is where, but the one we went to seemed to be really well planned and geared up for the family and made us feel contented to just sit, relax and while away the hours without a care in the world!

This month’s observation being that some things in the States are bigger and better organized with family in mind compared to the UK.

September 28 2009

Hello all…can you believe it…I know I say it a lot but I can’t believe it’s the end of September already & in a month’s time we will have been here, Stateside a WHOLE YEAR! So what’s been happening? Well G is actually in Amsterdam for a meeting as I type & I’ve just heard from him…he’s very very busy, busy out drinking beer & eating steak! Honestly sometimes I despair…it’s not as if I’m sat around here watching TV with my feet up or sat on the deck in the sunshine…well actually sometimes it is! I hear that you are all getting an Indian Summer, right now, right this minute…hope it’s still there by the time you read this!

We’ve recently been downtown to the ‘Fabulous Fox’ theatre…they actually call it that & I just thought they were being a bit pretentious but once we got inside we could see why they call it that, it REALLY is FABULOUS… the foyer was wow with amazing fixtures & ceilings etc all art deco style(e) & totally ‘fabulous darhhhhling’! It’s unusual to see old buildings here & I suppose in the UK we get a bit blasé about old & historical stuff…but being here surrounded by pretty much everything new-ish (in comparison…the Americans don’t really have history like we do, do they, I mean come on!) you forget how nice some of that ‘old stuff’ really is…anyway I digress…we went to see Mary Poppins & it was a great show but theatre is sometimes wasted on kids isn’t it…they tend to take it pretty much all for granted the fact that it’s a play & the Nanny is floating about above the audience so it was left to G & I to watch opened mouthed in amazement & clap excitedly while they sat watching calmly! We of course listened carefully to the British accents in case any of the actors were thinking they could let it slip a little … who’s gonna notice in an audience of yanks eh?! (meant in the fondest possible way!) I must admit I was surprised, all accents were pretty good…there was just one bit, for those of you who know the Mary Poppins story, the bit with the old down & out lady who sells the bird food for ‘Tuppence, tuppence, tuppennnnnccceee a bag’ well she couldn’t say tuppence right & you have to say it A LOT of times in that song, it grated on me I don’t know why & I was sat there listening getting more & more irate…again, don’t know why, it’s not like me (stop sniggering back there!) but I couldn’t take the ‘tuppence’ (I’m singing the song in my head as I type!!!) it was just W-R-O-N-G! The song finished & the show continued without further ado until later on, you know how they do in theatre shows sometimes, they sing the song again…maybe a slightly shorter or slower version (why do they do that?) & guess which song…yep…TUPPENCE A BLOODY BAG… I thought I was going to have to stuff my hand in my mouth to stop myself from shouting out…ENOUGH ALREADY! MAKE IT FIVEPENCE SOMEONE, A SHILLING? A FARTHING? ANYTHING BUT TUPPENCE, BOOOOOOOOOOOO GET HER OFF THE STAGE!!! As I said don’t know why I felt so strongly about it, I just did!

We’ve also been to an outdoor concert locally that was lots of fun…you turn up with your chairs (bit like July 4^th) & your cooler (cool box to translate!) if you wish…but you get given a free hot dog, soda (can of pop!) chips (crisps!) ice cream & kettle corn (sweet popcorn, if its savoury they just call it popcorn!) & did I say it’s all free? Oh I’m repeating myself aren’t I?! But how cool is that…they ask you along, ply you with food & drink, then make you sit & listen to the free music show! Love it! The night in question was a Beatles tribute band… they came on all dressed up & ‘in character’ & when they spoke G & I just looked at one another & couldn’t help grinning…they were the funniest liverpudlian (is that actually a word?!) accents ever…we found out later that it was probably because they all actually came from Chicago but it was a great night & the girls first ‘gig’…they loved it too, they ate lots of hot dogs & kettle corn, Nyah amused herself with her posse of chums & Harley & her friend were much more sophisticated & queued sedately at the end with napkins (serviettes to you & I!) to get ‘John Lennons’ autograph!

Something strange has been going on here in the shops & also outside people’s houses…there is a distinct ‘orange’ feel about everything & I mean everything! OMG all things Halloween/Fall (autumn they mean, what’s all this Fall nonsense!) come out to play with a vengeance at the end of Summer i.e Labour Day which is at the beginning of September which means that even though it could still be 80 degrees outside & in no way looks like it’s the end of Summer it is & you have to put all things summery away & bring out everything & anything orange/Halloween inspired/vaguely leaf patterned or pumpkin shaped. One of our neighbours has taken down his ‘Stars & Stripes & replaced it with a Halloween design flag! When you are in the UK you know that Halloween is a big thing over here but you really have no idea just how big… for example all your normal food you buy gets replaced with an ‘orange/Halloween’ version for the duration, so you don’t have cornflakes for breakfast between end of August & end of October you get a bright orange box with something called ‘Hallow-flakes’ instead…jest I not, the store resembles the orange crowd when Holland play in the world cup! Now don’t get me wrong it’s not that I dislike it exactly & I like Autumn as much as the next person, when it follows a long hot Summer...it’s just that it’s a little too much…we have neighbours with pumpkins on their doorsteps already & it’s not even October yet!!! Enough already!?

This month I’m loving… Faux British accents!

This month I’m not loving… the colour orange!