A close shave

Still feeling a bit sick today, but at least I'm not bed bound. Now that my medical card has arrived I registered at the local Drs and then because it was hot again and I resolved to do something about it and went to the barbers across from the Drs for a short back and sides. It was an old fashioned barbers. The funny thing was the barber faced the chair away from the mirror and stood behind me, so I wasn't able to see what had happened to my hair until the end. Half way through I felt a hot substance being spread around my ears and then a cut-throat razor appeared at the side of my head. Arrghh! He then proceeded to shave around my ears and neck. It took a lot longer than the UK, but the result was the same.
This afternoon I wired in some of the gadgets in the car, but had to strip down to the 'bare essentials' because it was like working in a sauna. How people can do manual labour in this part of the world beats me.

Sick Boy

Poor Stuart has been unwell since last night. I am not sure if he has eaten something or just picked up a bug while out and about. Anyway, he has spent most of the day in bed today with me calling in to make sure he is drinking water and eating some dry toast. He is looking a little more lively now so will hopefully be feeling better tomorrow.

As for my day, it was just another busy one at work and since I didn't get home till late, I have been bad and have not gone to the gym. I think my trainer might sack me soon for my lack of commitment!

Tonight, we are sitting quietly at home watching NCIS and Law and Order - to make up for missing the Bill!!

Smoking

Today I picked up the new car. If you think it looks like the rental one, then you are correct. We decided to buy the same model, but 2nd hand and a higher spec. It even has seat memory. Anyway it seems to drive well and Em will get to see it for the first time since she wasn't there when I bought it and she had to nip back to work before the salesman was ready to go over the final bits of paperwork today.

This afternoon I've been experimenting with the Smokenator 1000. It is a add-on accessory for a Weber BBQ which allows slow smoking of food at lower temperatures. Before I had arrived in the States, Em had said to her work collegues I would cook something for their regular Firday breakfasts, which everyone takes turns at. I'm trying to smoke some salmon, and if it is successful, then I will be serving it with homemade sourdough bread and cream cheese. Tonight we will try the first experiment with smoked corn on the cob.

Snack d'jour: Mango con Chile (Juicy dried mango slices coated with chile. Yum!)

Dangerous Animals

I could get used to lie in on Sunday's! We must have got home at about one o'clock again! what must the neighbours think and with our outside light on until 10 am this morning indicating we weren't out of bed and therefore certainly weren't at church.

We need to plan the weekends better because we searched through our Day Trips from Houston book this morning, but day trips should start earlier than late morning. In the end we decided a walk in George Bush park was good enough. It is the same park I have cycled to, with Andy, along the Bayou. The temperature has now risen, to my joy, and it was up in the nineties. We walked around the little lake and watched some fish jumping and a stalk at the side trying to catch them. There are no crocs there, but you still would want to jump in, there could be snakes. After our short lakeside walk we went off into the trees, at the start of the path there is a sign saying 'beware of dangerous animals and plants'! You always think walking through the trees would be pleasant, but then the humidity gets you. However, we were out over an hour which is enough, and we walked along the edge of the some wetlands, that was dense with vegetation and could just imagine something jumping out at you! Unfortunately, the path we took was a dead end, with a locked gate, so we had to come back the same way. It would be much quicker exploring on the bike. The path full of the sounds of crickets and cicadas, and gun shots! There is a shooting range that seems to be very busy, as there was no let up.

We treated ourselves to a cold drink before doing the weekly food shop. I had doing the fridge section as it is always freezing! We came away with lots of different chilli peppers to try out for flavour and heat!

As soon as we got home we hit the pool. The temperature outside is great but the pool is just so cold. We both jumped in then flt like we were hyperventilating with the coldness! We tried out the kick board Stuart bought last week and it is good fun. you can push it against the edge of the pool and therefore just kick indefinitely (so you don't have to go around in circles!). We fished out a poor dragon fly that was just about alive. Stu and I tried to get it wings dried out, but even with all that tender love it still died!

Tonight, it is Texan style chilli with tortilla's :)

Indian Theme

Yesterday morning we both went to a Hot Yoga class at the gym. It is like normal yoga except that it is done in approx 100F. The class was about 70 minutes long and at the end I was a sweaty heap. Emily wasn't and says that it because she is already used to the heat from living here for 6 months. It was a really good workout and I think we'll both go again.

After an afternoon of random shopping tasks and waiting for the longest train ever to cross the road, we met Andy, Laura and Danny at the Black Labrador (A British pub) for a couple of beers. There was a small selection of British beers, but I stuck with Stella, since I hadn't had it in a few weeks since leaving the UK. We discussed which Indian Restaurant to try for dinner as they aren't the same as back home. Going with Laura's local knowledge we drove to the London Sizzler. It is based in a strip mall with lots of other Indian businesses, so it was a good sign. There wasn't much of a Texan influence on the menu, except Bombay Nachos and the poppadoms looked a bit like tacos. The food was very good and as close to a British Curry as we will get in the US. I had a Vindaloo, which I base all curry houses on. Though it wasn't anywhere near as hot as a British Vindaloo it was still a great curry.

The end of the evening was spent sitting outside around Danny's pool.

Ginger Man meet up

First of all sorry for not getting this written last night, but it was after one by the time we got home so I would have missed Mum's breakfast anyway!

I met Stuart after work at the gym for our workout session before going to the pub! I normally do my warm up on the same machine as Stu so we can chat but then we go and do our separate thing. I am definitely getting to know the regulars who go at a similar time. Even though you don't actually know names it is all very friendly and you say hello or give sympathetic looks if the person is in obvious pain (normally at the hands of a trainer!)

Anyhow, after all our good, we picked up Andy and headed off the Rice Village to the Ginger Man to meet up with Laura and Danny. I knew Stu was going to like the Ginger Man with its selection of beers. It had warmed up a bit yesterday so it was nice and comfortably warm to sit outside (Stuart may disagree!) Andy and Stuart were having a good tasting session of some of the local beer, Saint Arnold (made in Houston), however, Stuart still says he prefers Shiner, made in Texas in a place called Shiner! Danny was at the pub with another group, and bizarrely enough one of the guys was from Aberdeen University, not that I realised that until they were leaving - but small world!

By 9pm I was starving everyone else was having beer dinner but water just doesn't fill you up the same! We went next door to a Turkish place. I thought it was going to be like the places in Aberdeen which sell nasty greasy Donner kebabs, but oh no! It was run by Turks and they had a bread oven to bake their own pitta. We sat on the terrace and had a double apple 'Hookah' - it was quite fun as it had a flavour just like sweeties. It was the first one I have ever had! The food was really good as well, I had Kofta, lamb mince meatballs, and Stuart had a chicken kebab. And for the price, you just couldn't complain.

Well, we are just getting ready to go 'hot yoga' - I will tell you all about it later!

Some days just ain't that exciting!

Well we both had uneventful days. Stuart did not find anything exciting to do today and I was just at work so I don't know how I am going to fill a blog today!

We have managed to book our flights to Denver at Christmas on air miles, however they have used them all - 100,000 miles!! I think the airlines are being quite restrictive on you using air miles just as Dad found out! We did have to pay $10 - for issuing e-tickets!!! Yes, that is a computer getting paid to do the work - hmmm I hear you say. We have now looked at the luggage costs and yes they are going to get us on that as well!!

We had steak tonight, one of my multi pack that I cut three steaks into 9!, with a Texas meat rub called, Grub Rub :) It was very good with the BBQ'd corn -until you taste it you wouldn't believe how much better corn on the cob can taste when it is not boiled.

Yippee it is Friday tomorrow although we still have to plan our weekends activities. With the weather being so cool (~72F) we are not going to be in the pool!

Yummy!

For ages I've been wanting to try to make Sourdough bread, but the temperature in the UK has always been to cold to get it started. A couple of days ago I successfully made a Sourdough starter and fed it over 2 days until it was fragrant and sour to taste. This morning I put it in the only oven pan we have at the moment to prove and then cooked it this evening. Wow! It is so much better than yeast based breads. You have to try to make it if you can.

As well as the bread I made Hatch Chile Gazpacho, as the Hatch chilies are coming to the end of their season. Recipe below;

• 2 mild Hatch chiles
• 1 large tomato (skinned)
• 1 small seedless cucumber (skinned)
• 1 spring onion (scallion)
  
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of lime juice
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 8oz of chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
• salt & pepper to taste
  
  Add everything to a blender and then chill for at least 2 hours
  

Scottish Weather Hits Houston

Stu managed to sort out the car insurance for a more decent rate than what we were quoted yesterday. It is now just double what we pay in the UK! So we are now just waiting for the cheque to clear and then we can go and pick up the new car.

The weather today was decidedly Scottish. I drove to work in the rain which is very uncommon. Looking out of the window at work it was dark until about 0830 this morning. Stuart has definitely brought the bad weather with him :) He phoned me later in the morning to say the street was totally flooded and he was watching one of the neighbours sitting in the cul de sac deciding whether to brave the weather. Stuart got board watching them in the end!

The weather continues to be poor even this evening. I got goose pimples when I walked out of work - I might have to take a cardigan tomorrow!

I have now finished our fundraising web page for our 'Ride for Roses'. I don't know if you will be able to sponsor us from the UK, but maybe someone could be nice enough to give it a go and start us off :) We have to raise $250 each, so every little bit will help. I will probably be emailing you as well - just warning you!!!

To visit our web page just follow this link: http://austin09.livestrong.org/emandstu

Podgy!

Nearly forgot about the blog tonight. I was too busy registering Stuart and I for the Rides for the Roses in Austin, this October It is a bicycle ride hosted by Lance Armstrong and raising money for cancer research. I agreed to do it with Sarah C who is coming back out to visit her brother and is also doing it. We are going to do the 45 mile route, because I don't think I can manage 65 mile course as I have to make it halfway in 3 hours and we will be riding in the hill country. I am sure Stuart would be able to do it no trouble but he is going to keep me company. As with all these things we need to raise money so I apologise in advance, but I will be sending you a link to website so you can give generously!

I am feeling very depressed tonight because my trainer did a surprise weigh in this evening, and guess what, I am heavier than when I started! It is just not fair. I have told him I am going back to more swimming as running always seem to make me gain weight - I think it because I get too hungry after doing it! My trousers aren't really feeling any tighter so it appears to be muscle, but I don't want more muscle. Anyway, dinner was grilled veg and a boiled egg :(

Poor Stuart has spent the day trying to get car insurance for a reasonable price, but it seems like that is impossible. Car insurance is about 4 times what it is back home and that is still with a really large excess. The reason is because of all the drivers without insurance and I think the chance of suing/health costs etc! We are hoping our past no claims will help get the price down a bit. I am sure he will keep you posted on this one!

Happy Birthday Flora :)

Cultured

Wow, that must have been the first really long lie in for a long time - 10am - shocking! However, I always feel I have wasted most of the day when I get up late because weekends are so precious. Yet we got ourselves together as we had decided the previous night we were going to be cultured.

The Terracotta Warriors were on exhibit at the Museum of Natural Science, and since I had never seen them when they were in London I had it on my list of things to see. All the museums in Houston are located in the Museum District that is right beside a large park called, Hermann Park. We used Stuart's GPS to navigate us there as I am fine to get to the general vicinity but can get a little lost at the final stage of journey around the museums. I grumbled about the all day $10 parking fee - because in Houston it is very uncommon to have to pay for parking. The exhibit was not not cheap to see, but we noticed, as with the parking, you get a significant discount if you are a member. So we are now members of the Natural Science Museum and can go and visit the general exhibits for free, and we have got back 50% of the membership fee already (plus parking now only cost $5!!)

The Terracotta Warriors exhibit was smaller than that in London, but still pretty impressive when you think of how the warriors made, displayed, hidden for 1000's of years and then only rediscovered or rather uncovered in 1974. Stu and I got photographed standing next to first emperor of China (we weren't allowed any photographs inside the exhibit unfortunately). We also checked out the gem display - lots of shiny rocks is like heaven for me and then had a quick look through the dinosaurs and fossil displays. Stuart nearly got eaten by a T-Rex!

The great thing is there is still more to see, but we didn't have to, because we can come back for free another time! We then went for a walk around Hermann Park. I showed him the Miller Outdoor Theatre where we are going to watch an Abba tribute band in November and then we saw the boating pond. I have never seen this before, but you are required to wear life jackets on a pedalo!!! We walked past the zoo, but it was hoaching with kids so we will have to come back later in the year earlier in the day and probably when it is a bit cooler. Stuart was struggling with the heat a bit, but at least he could walk under the trees while I enjoyed the sun!

I was desperate to go to the nail bar so poor Stu had to entertain himself for an hour while I went and got pampered! Afterwards I took him to Central Market, the supermarket with all the wonderful cheeses! However, we didn't buy any cheese but picked up flour and yeast so Stu can try and bake bread. Oh and we saw one of the olive oil Angus sells in his shops!

It must be getting close to Halloween.

Ring of fire

I found a supermarket that sells Marmite, so if we ever run out of our 3 enormous jars we will be okay. However look at the size and the price. It would have to be a big emergency.

Today Em, Di and myself went to the Houston Hot Sauce Festival. There was a nice breeze to cool us down as it was outside, but it wasn't enough to cool us down from the onslaught of chili heat. At one tent (CaJohns Fiery Foods) there was a line of 8 sauces that went from mild to super hot that the girls persuaded me to try. The first few were mild, with lots of flavour, but basically Jalapeno sauces. Then came the Habenero sauces. Still lots of flavour, but getting really hot, but bearable. Next were the Jolokia sauces. Oww! Really hot and then to finish were Jolokia sauces with Capsaicin extract. I could still speak at the end, but within 30 seconds I was sweating, burning and shaking. I needed water quick! I ran to the beer tent and asked for a beer quick. The guys serving the beer joked that it was really expensive and I said I didn't care how much it cost. I needed it now. It took a good half an hour to cool down. I have never had anything as hot as that in my life, but it would do it again.

I then persuaded Em to try a 3 sauce line up at another tent (Howard's Yummies). Di wimped out. I couldn't taste any heat in the first 2, because of the other hot sauce. The 3rd one (The Dead) I thought was a bit hot, but poor Ems cried cause of the heat. She was okay after some water and a Snow Cone.

Roll on November cause there is a Chili Cookoff Competition. Yum Yum.

Bull's Eye!

Stuart went to pick Di up from the airport by himself yesterday evening because I had rearranged my trainer to yesterday afternoon. However, he was happy because his new Garmin sat nav, had arrived the previous evening and it would guide him there, and back!

We had already decided to go out to dinner and I wanted to try out a sushi place around the corner mentioned in the previous weeks Houston Press, as having won the Houston Press Best Sushi 2008. As I said it was around the corner, so we just walked it is becoming quite a regular thing now a days and we are certainly not going to run out of places to try in a hurry! The place was nice with the sushi chef busy behind the sushi bar, but we chose to sit in the diner style booth. Di and I wanted wine, however, the first bottle we chose they had run out, the second choice we were told had also run out but they had a more expensive one!, so third time lucky we opted for another bottle, this she said they had, however, it arrived and I didn't notice but it was the wrong one! You know when you just give up so we drank it and fortunately were only charged for the third one we had asked for! Apart from the wine disaster, the food was very good and we just had a mixture of appetizers to share between us - always the best way. At the end of dinner Stu decided to eat all the large lumps of wasabi sauce (the hot stuff!) - he is made but this was only the beginning of his hot food weekend!

Di wanted to try out the pub from last weekend. However, on a Friday there is no live band and the place was pretty dead in comparison to the previous week. Ideally Di and I wanted to stay on wine, however I said it wasn't the sort of place you would get wine, and oh I was right. When Di asked what wine they had the barman said 'we have white, red and pink!' Oh so classy! Di said give me a margarita then and I opted for their odd tasting gin & tonic (the second we got was a pint of!!). Since the place was pretty dead we played darts. All of us were pretty bad with the occasional flukes, it also tested our maths! The first game we played first one to 0 from 301 (reduced from 501 because we knew it was going to take us forever!), and then Stuart said lets play around the lock, hence getting each number from 1 through 20 in order. Well that took us even longer not to mention we were on to another drink by then! It must have been just after midnight when we wandered home, and when I couldn't face writing the blog - sorry!

Today I could linger in bed as I had agreed to skype Sam at 7am! Although I managed to fling my mobile across the bedroom when the alarm went off I think it was the best thing for me getting up. We all had breakfast before setting off for the Houston Hot Sauce Festival in Stafford (pretty much due south from me). This was obviously a Stuart thing so he was very excited :) We got there only about 30 minutes after it opened - some of the crazy early birds. It was outside in a field and there were lots of different vendors giving tastings of their chilli sauces, salsa, jellies - basically anything with a chilli in it! Di homed in on a stall very quickly that had chilli sauces made from carrots. He told her to start with the mild one, which she did, but even that was too much. Stuart went through the guys range and said they weren't too hot. The man said go and try the 'mongoose' if you think you are hard enough then!!

Well, we found the stall with the 'mongoose', just one of their chilli sauces. There must have been about 6-7 sauces lined up in increasing heat intensity. We were busy watching some of the recent victims sweating uncontrollably having tried near the top of the range sauce. The man said you could do the challenge of trying all of his sauces. Stuart said that the chilli used in the top of range ones was quite new on the market and had been rated the hottest chili in the world! So Stuart obviously decided to have a go. Di and I stood there in amazement. Stuart actually savoured each of the early ones as he went commenting on the flavour with the guy. He then went a little quieter as they got hotter! However, another chap came in to do the line and went at high speed, passing Stuart. For the hottest sauce he took a really large spoonful, at which the guy behind the counter said you don't want to do that, but it was too late. His face was a picture, just holding together long enough to get his prize, a beer coozie (the neoprene holder for your beer), then he walked off briskly! Meanwhile Stuart also completed the full complement. He had his picture taken by the guy and also given his prize for the pain. However, the following photos were taken over the next 10 minutes.

The heat went from very hot to exceptional and Stuart was pacing around looking for something to calm the fire in his mouth. He wanted milk or cheese, basically anything with fat but there was nothing. So whilst sweating uncontrollably, he went to get a beer, and apparently just said to the beer stall 'beer now!'. There appeared to be no let up and even finding a bit of 'chilli con queso' (chilli cheese sauce) didn't really help. We then wandered around more of the stalls tasting the calmer stuff that Di and I liked, whilst Stuart continued to sweat and burn :) It took a crawfish sausage on a stick to finally return him to human again! By the way, if you ever think of having a a crawfish sausage don't - they taste like fishy sausages - just wrong!

Stuart said Di and I were wimps. So I agreed to do one of the line up chilli sauce challenges with him at another stand. Only three to get through! The first one was a piece of cake, the second one, which had chocolate and other flavours, was a tad warm, but quite pleasant in taste. The third one, to win the skeleton key ring, was hot! The pain was not immediate until I breathed in - oh my goodness. My ears then started o burn, and all I wanted to do was curl up on the ground - my head was exploding. My eyes began to water and I also could not control my sweating. Stuart was of course saying it was only a 'twenty', if his serious hot chilli sauce from earlier was 100 points! By this point I was wandering around in search of something to cool the offending sauce, and I walked past the stand trying to get you to sign up for their electricity company, just earlier we had stopped to talk to them and I said they had turned me down because I had no credit rating! Anyway, the nice man gave me a bottle of water (he could see I was crying and in a lot of pain!). I just took sips and let in sit in my mouth - ahh relief! Stuart went to buy a 'snow cone', basically artificially flavoured ice - oh amazing, who cares about the E numbers in a situation like this. The pain continued for at least 20 minutes coming and going - it was awful!!! Even when I thought it was all over and we were back in the car, my stomach started to burn and make me feel really quite funny. Let's just say it wasn't worth the skeleton key ring!

After dropping Di off somewhere miles northwest in the middle of nowhere - for a wedding she was going to, Stu and I came home to take it easy by the pool.

No ill effects from the sauce yet - tomorrow morning might be different:)

Alive

We, Stuart, Di and myself have been visting the Ashford Pub again! So this is just a placeholder to say we are alive, even after playing darts, and will be back in tomorrow with news and photos!!

Love Emily, Stuart and Di xxxx

Silver one or the blue one? Women's choice of cars!

As you have probably guessed Stu and I taking turn about at writing the blog so you don't get bored of my endless chat! Especially, as Stuart is the one doing all the interesting things while I go to work!

Work is continuing to be challenging just now, it must be getting on for a month with no foreseeable let up, but as Dad always says, that is what you get paid for! Saying that though, I have been prompt leaving in the evenings and meeting Stuart every other day at the gym - he is now a fully fledged member of his first gym :) This evening I went by myself as he got back late for car hunting - more on that to follow. I didn't manage very well at the gym this evening, possibly because I decided to do the step machine for 10 minutes (it is just like walking up a continually moving staircase) and then feel like my legs were jelly and ready to fall off!! I did a full work out just not up to the standard I was meant to.

Stuart was car hunting all day. The first car he saw had really soiled/stained upholstery, but he then saw another two good options in our price range (both suitable colours!), and hopes to put a deposit down tomorrow. We will pay by check for the remaining balance next week. It is a good thing I squirrel my money away (typical stingy Scot), so we have enough of what I have saved to date not to have to take any sort of finance -mind you, we probably couldn't get it even if we wanted it!

We have been using the BBQ lots, this photo is actually from last night, because tonight, Stuart braved the electric oven, which has the tendency to burn things if you are not careful . He did a wonderful job of roasting us aubergine (eggplant) and yellow courgette (squash), accompanied by a jalapeno sausage. We are now awaiting for the smoker, named the Smokenater, to arrive that fits on to the Weber BBQ and we can really start doing some exciting things.

I am tired tonight so planning an early night - last night I stayed up too late watching a British gorey comedy (that made me jump!). It was called The Cottage.

The Days are packed

Day five and things are still very busy. All day yesterday was spent shopping. I managed to organise my mobile phone with a US number, though as I said there other day I have to pay to make and receive phones calls. I also bought a garage door clicker. After programming it I was feeling pleased with myself, but then closed the garage door locking it behind me and realised that the house keys were still in the car. Because I had just come back from the supermarket I was able to enjoy some beer, tortilla chips and salsa while I waited from Em to get home.

Dinner was experimental as I had been shopping at Fiesta, the Mexican supermarket. First I cooked some Prickly Pear Cactus paddles, which are a bit like sorrel flavoured runner beans. For dessert we had the Prickly Pear Cactus fruits with lime juice and chili powder. Em didn't like the paddles, but quite liked the fruit.

Woops! Driving back from the gym tonight I turned left at a stop sign, turned left and drove on the right side of the road only to realise that the car behind me didn't follow, but went on another parallel road. Arrgh! I was on the wrong side and had to quickly manoeuvre though a break in the centre. Luckily it was a quiet road and there was nothing else coming. Em was in her car behind shaking her head.

Off to looks at cars tomorrow.

Locked Out!

Poor Stuart got woken at 5am this morning as I have decided to go to the gym a couple of mornings a week, but since I need to be at work for 0730 it means an early start. It was great, except for all my yawning for the first 15 minutes! Although, I have to say I am definitely feeling the early wake up this evening, I guess on those days I need to go to bed earlier the night before.

I was in a course all day, which I had forgotten about and have another day of it tomorrow. It is a good course, however, with everything else going on at work it is not the best timing! However, I am sure I will manage.

At lunch I did a demo for the girls with my new ability to touch the floor with keeping my legs straight (I know, you can do it easily!) Last night, my trainer got me to try and touch the floor with straight legs and I was a couple of inches off. He then made me lean on the arms of a chair and tighten my abs, pushing down on the chair. I did this for about 30-40 seconds, then tried to touch the floor again. I could do it! I don't know how or why it works, but it does. The girls were amazed as well! However, I don't recommend doing straight after eating!!!

Stuart had a busy day running errands. He managed to get himself a US Sim card for his mobile phone so that will be much easier to stay in touch. He also managed to get a second garage door opener so he can be the true Houstonian and not get out of his car! However, he will tell you all about his adventures separately.

I got home this evening to find him sitting at the outside table with all the shopping and a beer in his hand. I was surprised especially as it was reasonably warm and you always want to get the shopping straight into the fridge. He had got out of the car and locked the garage behind him, only to discover the house keys were still in the car! Locked out week one, and setting the alarm off, he is doing well so far!!

Stuart prepared me some 'Prickly Pear', cactus paddles, tonight for my dinner. It was spiky, and I could hear the swearing as he was handling it! It was apparently meant to be a bit like runner beans, and treated in the same way. Well, to Stu's disappointment, I was not convinced, as to me it had a slimy texture and didn't taste of much. I have been told I am not adventurous enough! I think he will be testing me again on something else!

Lost

I think I'm well over my jetlag now and starting to get into the swing of things apart from the heat. Today I went to ask about a Sim card for my phone. The basic packages are reasonable, but you have to pay extra to be able to send text messages, but the real shocker is that you have to pay to receive phone calls and texts, which seems a bit unfair since a you can't control spam calls. Anyway tomorrow I'll be looking at a few more companies for comparison.

Em and I met Dean, an old KMG colleague for lunch at Papasito's, a really good Mexican restaurant. I've been eating Tex-Mex since I've arrived and drinking lots of iced tea. I'm becoming a Texan already.

Early this evening Em took me to her gym and signed me in as a guest to try it out. It is huge! There are hundreds of machines but it was quite empty, even though we went at rush hour. I took my own car so I could drive home while Em was with her trainer, however even though I was paying attention I got lost. I'll have to get a GPS.

Curing jet lag

Last night we had a fantastic night with Laura and Chris trying out things in the neighbourhood. We first went to Lynn's steakhouse, which looked a plain building from the front, and inside was totally not what any of us expected. The waiters were properly dressed up and the place looked posh - there was us in shorts and flip flops! However, that didn't seem to worry them, as I guess our money was more appealing than our dress sense (especially as there only three other tables occupied on a Saturday evening!). We asked for the wine list, and we could already predict it was going to be extensive because of the number of bottles lining the walls. Well Stuart and Chris were both given a bible! I hope you might be able to see from the picture the thickness of the menu in Stuart's hands. Stuart played 'top trumps' with the wine costs, and the most expensive he found was $1965.00, and that was not the year!!! In the end we asked the waiter to help us choose a wine at a much more conservative price around $50!!!

Dinner just had to be steak in a steakhouse. Both Stu and I had a rib eye, however the smallest available was 16 oz!!! There was not a hope I could finish it, even without having a starter. However, I did manage some strawberries and raspberries, but even those I left for Chris to finish off. It was a good dinner and would certainly recommend it.

We were walking back home, when we decided to try out the local pub, the Ashford pub. It was picked on one of my earlier blogs as looking like the pub in Shameless (Channel 4 TV program). We it was very lively and there was a live band playing Irish music and place was packed. We stayed there until the wee small hours dancing and having fun. It is always the best cure for jet lag I find! Having now looked at the pubs website it is an Irish theme pub and it has karaoke nights on Monday's!

Due to a late night today was spent by the pool, actually Stuart woke me up at 8am, put on his swim trunks and went out to the pool, I followed in my PJ's. He stood at the edge before deciding it was too cold that early and he needed to wait until the sun rose!! Once Chris and Lura surfaced we had a lovely brunch of scrambled eggs, Laura homemade meatloaf and Heinz baked beans :)

The day then continued lounging by the pool enjoying the slight improvement in the weather. This evening, we were out again around to a friend from work and her boyfriends house for dinner. It was a nice evening and a calmer pace than the night before. We spent a long while watching her mad kitten, Cosmos, run around the room and just generally be bad behaved. She has another cat called Ginger man', yes the cat is ginger, and look just like Mussolini back home.

We are both ready for sleep now, and at least I have got the day off tomorrow!

New car

Still feeling in a bit of a groggy because of jetlag and just have to get through the next couple of days. It was great seeing Em in 'real life' after two and a half months. It was so hot when I got to our house that I had to jump in the pool to cool down even though it was raining. Em joined me, but protested that the pool was cold. She has become a wimp since leaving Scotland :)
This morning we got up early and walked along the bayou before the main heat of the day and then we went to pick up my new (temporary) car. The afternoon was spent with me trying to get enthusiastic about shopping but still in a daze so will have to go for more shorts and summer shirts next week. Back to the house for another swim. A bit chillier than yesterday, but still warm compared to an inside pool in Scotland.
Just waiting for Laura and Chris and then off to dinner.

My Belove'd

Arriv`e Stuart (sorry the blogger is not fancy enough to write in true french speak!! )

Today started early for me because I decided to get up at 5am and go swimming before work. It wouldn't have been so bad if I had gone to bed before midnight! Work was exceptional frantic as we had to prepare a presentation for our Company MD for 10am and we hadn't managed to do much of it the day before. At 9am I get a phone call from the car rental company saying they will be at the office shortly with Stu's car, just when I was meant to be in another meeting. I rushed to meet the guy and it is a very nice Nissan Murano. I rush back to the office for further blind panic before the presentation. Presentation went well, but it took considerably longer than planned and I had things to finish off before going to the airport to collect my belove'd. I finally got away from the office half an hour later than planned and, disappointingly, I didn't manage to make him a greeting sign :(

So I rush to the airport and breakneck speed - no that is not true, I drove at the speed limit, but didn't take kindly to anyone dawdling in front of me. I then got lost in an enormous car park and went to the wrong terminal (you would think I should know by now which terminal international arrives in!) anyhow, I got directed by some officers. A predicted, even though I arrived 45 minutes after his plane touched down, he was still stuck in ques at immigration, apparently standing behind a drunk Aberdonian of all people who was quite mouthy in the line! We had a big hug & kiss when he came through the glass doors (both of us were slightly worried we would recognise each other!).

Poor Stu, as soon as we stepped out of the air conditioned airport, the beads of sweat gathered on his brow. I have to tell you it is cool, really cool just now, just low 80F! Humidity is a bit up with the rain, but nothing too bad. We whizzed back to the house along Sam Houston Tollway, I am getting quite efficient at the airport run. And then I gave Stu the guided tour of the ranch. He said the pool was much bigger than he thought - and it was certainly deeper, when he decided to jump in, in his cowboy hat and sunglasses, and lost all. I joined him in the pool, but let me tell it was cold for me! We stayed there until we looked like prunes and I was blue!

For supper, I gave him a Texas grill (BBQ) and it was yummy :) Our wedding present excelled itself once again. We both nearly died with some peppers I roasted but didn't realise they were in fact chillies (I seem to be doing this a lot!) Following dinner we have been for a walk around the block, temperature in the high 70's now, however Stu still suffering. I have a feeling he is going to make me freeze tonight as he will need the air con down significantly more than me!

It is fantastic to have him here and I am sure he will be writing you some blog posts soon.

Less than 24 hours

The days don't feel like real days at the moment as I am so excited about Stuart arriving tomorrow. It is finally here. I spoke to him on the phone this afternoon for the last time until he is walking through the arrivals gate :) I was thinking I should make a sign as I will be standing with all the taxi drivers.

Andy, fellow Scot from work, gave us a 'slightly' late wedding gift today. I cant believe how he guessed what to buy us. It is a bottle of Prosecco - how perfect as that is all we drank at the wedding. I have got it chilling in the fridge for us to celebrate with :) I didn't tell Stuart as I wanted it as a surprise.

I got home late after going to the supermarket after my trainer. I had to buy dinner for tomorrow night - cooking for two! It has to be a BBQ, however, I don't think the weather is going to be very nice but since the back area is covered it doesn't really matter. I was in the wine aisle debating what to buy and a guy, definitely not native American, said 'do you like wine?' Of course, I said yes. He then recommended a red wine from Chile made for Rothschild. I decided since I was having trouble choosing - why not give it a go - I will let you know what it is like, if I get Stuart's approval!

Well I am off to bed now as that will make tomorrow come about sooner - good night x

Washer women!

It is late again tonight as I have been busy getting ready for Stu's arrival.. I feel like a washer women tonight! Three loads down, bathroom cleaned and bed changed! Just need to go and get some food in tomorrow and then I am all set :)

My trainer asked to move my session until tomorrow which actually worked out well for me as I had some work to finish off (taking advantage of my last few days of freedom!!). But now I feel bad as I haven't been to the gym for two days - shock horror!

The weather must know Stuart is coming from Scotland. We had the first day, since I have been here, that looked like a dreek day in Aberdeen. OK the temperature wasn't the same but it looked grey and wet all day! They are saying it is going to be like that for the weekend. I hope not!

I came out of work this evening, heading home and there was an accident on the small road by the office. It involved one of the dumper trucks and at least one other car. I have no idea what went on it is not exactly a fast or busy road! Anyhow it mean the road was blocked so I had to do a U turn and head down Westheimer. Well as I discovered the other day, the reason for all the dumper trucks are outside the office every night is because they are resurfacing Westheimer. It is quite a big thing as it a major road (+/- 10 lanes across), but they are obviously doing most of the work at night, however at present the road surface has been stripped back with bad ramps between lanes. But since I was heading that way home, I stopped to pick up my golf club. It looks better now I guess the real test will be hitting it! It was only $8 but it looked like they had a steady stream of people coming in to get clubs fixed and a number of people were getting new grips. They had some nice golf clothes, but I resisted just this time :)

Oh, I finally got my UK mobile sorted and working - not that I expect anyone tocall me on it or even text as I dont plan to have it on all the time!

Wines from Chile

Hello readers! Gosh today I just couldn't get me head around it being Tuesday rather than Monday. At lunch, I was most confused, why we had a hot meal - but that is because it was Tuesday! I forgot about Stuart's doctor appointment - but again, it was on Tuesday, today!

Stuart sent me a photo of the house, and it is all packed up ready to be loaded on to the container tomorrow - so we will no doubt block most of Aberdeen's commuter traffic tomorrow! It will be great to have a house with some furniture, however much I like my one chair and bean bag in front of the TV!

Tonight, was the monthly wine dinner. It was another great night and everyone is very friendly and chatty plus I can hold my own:) Tonight's discussion went on to the famous haggis. I drew a haggis, in plural it is 'haggi'. I explained how haggis can only go one way around the Scottish hills and therefore they are relatively easy to catch. I also said that Stu and I would be hosting Burn's Night in January - sorry Stu I think I have at least two parties so far, so it is going to be a long end of January for us!! I also learnt that the girl that organises our party is also January 4th :) and you never guess what, her Mum has the same birthday (and year) as Dad! Spooky!!

Tonight's wines were from Chile, Cousino Macul Wines, from a vineyard some 150 years old. The family that now own it , apparently, bought the land with vines on it, however, the type of grape grown at that time was not commonly associated with good drinking (sorry can't remember the name of the grape), but they travelled to France and Germany picking up good vine stocks and planted them. Tonight, all the wines and food, for that matter, were great, with the exception of their Riesling wine. It was a dry Riesling, but it smelt of car oil, and when you drank it, if you didn't sniff while doing so, the first taste was quite pleasant, but the after taste was like rubber. You know the smell of rubber, but now imagine that as a taste. Even with food I couldn't get away from this smell and so I didn't enjoy it, and too be fair neither did any of the table. This is from someone who happily drinks any wine!! We asked the rep from the vineyard about it. She said the Riesling grape from Germany, of this considerable age, is commonly associated with a diesel aroma and the strength of the aroma depends on the amount of heat the grape is exposed to. I have never smelt or tasted anything like it, but I am not keen to do so again. However, what I would say is that the other wines from the vineyard where very pleasant and I have photographed our menu to show you what they were paired with (please take note of the excellent artist impression of a haggis!).

Everyone at the wine dinner is dying to meet Stuart so I have already booked us in for next month! Plus, to make you jealous Stu, I was taken home in a Toy. Boata!!! Stuart will know the type of car I am on about :)

On the way out the door my hand bag, as big as it is, was filled with the free mints, last month I kept finding them so now I have even more!

Labour Day

I am just about to head off for my third shower of the day, I even washed my hair twice already! That what happens in a hot climate - all I have done since my last shower was the cleaning but even that got a sweat up! I am proud to say I am working through my lists quite successfully.

I had a look for where I could do recycling near me. I had previously been to one just around the corner but the bins had gone, as I said. I decided to go into the HEB supermarket and ask them what had happened to the bins. The lady behind the counter was a women of few words. I said 'What has happened to the recycling bins?' She said 'they've gone!', 'Oh' I replied and we left it at that. Anyhow, I found some paper recycling at the local school (schools were off today so no one saw me), but I am still stuck with my plastics I will have to go further a field.

Well the reason I was not at work today was because it is 'Labour Day'. Since I had no idea what it was for I had to go and look it up. Labour Day is an 'annual holiday devoted to the recognition of working people's contribution to society. It is observed on the first Monday in September in the U.S. and Canada. It was first celebrated in New York City on Sept. 5, 1882, under the sponsorship of the Knights of Labor. Various U.S. states observed the holiday before 1894, when Congress passed a bill making Labor Day a national holiday. It is often celebrated with parades and speeches, as well as political rallies, and the day is sometimes the official kickoff date for national political campaigns in the U.S. In most other countries, workers are honoured on May Day.'

Ok, I have learnt something! Labour Day is celebrated in many countries on 1st May, and is call May Day. However, if I am right in saying UK doesn't celebrate Labour Day, and 'May Day' is the first day of the month of May, when the weather improves, (except in Scotland!), and the flowers and trees start to blossom, and is associated with local celebrations. May Day is like the beginning of summer, although not officially the start of summer as that is in June. For the convenience of the general public, the May Bank Holiday (first Monday in May) is now utilised for the May Day celebrations, in England they have Morris dancers and dance around the maypole, whilst in Scotland, actually Turiff, apparently they have the local pipeband playing down the high street!

Back to work tomorrow but only a short week as I am off on Friday lunchtime to pick up Stuart! Sorry not let forget his imminent arrival :)

I don't believe it!

I have just seen the worst advert ever! Snuggies - blankets with arms for men and women! They look like monk tunics, only strange colours and patterns, including leopard print. I cant believe anyone would actually own one of these things, mind you it is a 'bogoff' deal!

I have done a number of my chores today. I finally succeed in unpacking my box of bathroom bits and pieces. I have been so used the the box beside my bed it now looks very strange and almost empty! I also managed to make space for Stuart in the en suite, however still not managed to clear out my golf clubs from his wardrobe. Still tomorrow because it is a long weekend :)

I don't believe it! ( with a Victor Meldrew voice). I filled up the pool with my hose, only a couple of hours later we get the biggest rain storm and the water level goes up by another inch. At least I had bothered to water the grass! There was actually a fair amount of wind with the thunderstorm which we don't to get. The rain was whipping around the corner by the garage - very exciting I do like the storms when I am safely inside.

There was another women singing along to her Ipod along the Bayou this morning on my run. It was quite humid and I was sweating from my eyelids! I nearly got clipped by a bike - it was some daft old guy that forgot his handle bars stick out further than him.

'The spy who loved me' this evening - how can life get any better! Bond tastic on BBC America just now.

Bond, James Bond!

I have to admit I have had a very easy going Saturday. After going swimming this morning, with one other lady! I came back and skyped Stuart for 1 and half hours. By the time I finally got out to go shopping it was after 1pm - weekly food shop and I need to purchase some new underwear as the evil washing machine finally finished off one of my bras! Grrr again! Going to the supermarket here is like going to 24 hour Tesco's in Dundee every time (Frances will understand), hence I can go only once a week, otherwise I would be spending a considerable amount of my time in one! I was also trying to do my recycling. I have been religiously collecting it and with Stuart's arrival next week, I decided I needed to go and deal with it, however, the bins down the road have now gone, but I thought the big HEB (supermarket) should have some - but no! I am a little stuck where to go now, so need to have a look at the Houston City website to find my nearest recycling location.

The rest of the afternoon was trying to go through my list of things to do! Lots of things I just haven't got to yet. A big annoying issue is my UK mobile. I am fed up with Vodafone and their rubbish website that wont let me change my profile. I then typed a relatively rude email to their support (2nd one I might add) only to say it had an error on the page when I hit submit!!!! I am less pleased with them just now.

I gave the dishwasher its first cycle. I thought I was going to have to ring the landlord to find out how to switch it on! However, after trying a number of switches that I hadn't figured out what they do, I go it going. Well, since it worked fine, I decided I could start using it so dishes already in!

Oh I mapped my run from last weekend, actually the one I will do tomorrow morning, and it was 5.8 miles. And if I run from the house to the Bayou it is about 1.2 miles one way. Mind you I should not be pleased with myself as last weekend Emma, Mrs Martin, did the Coast to Coast and ran over Helvellyn!!! Very much respect for her.

There is thunder rumbling around but no rain as yet. I moved Berty and Morris back undercover so if it did start they don't get destroyed by the big rain droplets that usually fall. Mind you after seeing the photos of the flooding in Aberdeen from earlier in the week, our rain looks wimpy! It is a good thing our house at home is on a hill. I have just had a look at the dopler radar and I can see what looks to becoming our way (red means bad news)!!!

Anyway, 'Man with the Golden Gun' is on this evening - perfect!

Running my little socks off!

I am sitting here having already fallen asleep in front of the TV once tonight. I ran 6 miles on the boring treadmill this evening. It was a new program this evening and much harder than previous so I am feeling it! I now have a blister under a blister on the top of my toe - ouch! However, after my run I did a couple of my stretching exercises - still rubbish! and then I decided to go for a quick swim. Only 20 lengths I couldn't manage anymore. It was the first time I have gone swimming with my wedding ring on - it was really odd. I normally take it off because the pool is quite cold and my hands get cold, hence the ring becomes loose. However, this evening after running there was no way it was coming off. I went it to the sauna for my warm up - and another lady came in. She was very chatty. She said she has has PMT for 10 weeks! I said my husband would kill me if I had for that long a week is bad enough! She was just remarried and now having to deal with three of her new husbands kids and one of her own! It is amazing what you can find out in a sauna!!

When I was leaving from the car park it suddenly occurred to me that I was only one a few sad individuals at the gym on a Friday evening! Just look at the car park - there are 5000 members at this gym!

Actually, maybe that didn't express it well enough, as that was the spaces nearer the stairs, so where everyone tries to park, just look at the spaces around the corner! This is what it is like at weekend mornings.

I got home tonight to find 'Morris', the chilli plant looking really sad, but 'Berty' his chilli plant friend looking fine and with new flowers! I gave them all a water and I can see through the window that Morris is back to normally standing taller than Berty again :) Sorry must be going mad naming the plants.

Stuart arrives a week today - wow it is not long now :) Until then I have got a long weekend, Labour Day on Monday, so the office is closed. I don't really have any plans except to take things easy, except at the gym :)

Stuff again!

Well not much to report here. I gave a lift one of my colleagues this morning and home again. She kindly invited me in for a glass of wine so I couldn't refuse! I had already decided I was going to the gym as I was feeling tired all day today after yesterday's mammoth session. While I was at Dorte's there was a huge thunderstorm the house rumbled with the thunder and then a huge bolt of lightening surged the power and all the lights went out! Fortunately, it came back on a couple of minutes later, by then the rain was coming down heavy.

When I got home I had the chance, and the enthusiasm, to do some washing, dishes - you know all the things you still have to do to live! I still haven't used the dishwasher yet! I will have to give it a pre-wash cycle before Stu arrives, as he is not into living without using it! I doubt the thing has been used in over a year (since the house was last let) so I hope it doesn't spring-a-da-leak!

There is a film on TV tonight, 'Blood Diamonds', which I haven't seen before, and for once the benefit of all the adverts is that I can get all the things I need to do in the breaks without missing the story!

Well, it is a week tomorrow before Stu arrives. I am so looking forward to having my friend here :) He has been busy today, along with my father, loading a luton van of our possessions and driving to the farm. I have some photos to share from their day. My poor Mum is now the owner of most of our house plants - sorry Mum, but I know they will be healthier when we get them back in three years than when you received them!

What a sun

The sunrise this morning was fantastic and the sunset was equally amazing. I tired to take a photo of both, but of course it doesn't look as good as it it did through my eyes! The weather is apparently being slightly strange because of the hurricane off the west coast of the US. It was definitely in the 70's this morning, but just over 90 again by the afternoon. Hopefully, Stuart wont be really uncomfortable in the heat, only a wee bit!

I am feeling like I did a hard session at the gym this evening. I did my cardio before the trainer and he was pretty tough this evening. I do prefer that, as on Monday it seemed too easy. However, we are now on strength training as opposed to stability. But with strength comes increasing flexibility, my weakness. It was the one part I scored really bad at in my first test. I don't understand why I am so bad, considering Mum is amazingly flexible even now with a back and hip operation under her belt. He actually used a metal rolling pin to roll out my calf muscles and let me tell you that is saw! I also discovered my right leg muscles are tighter than my left leg - apparently that is quite common but new to me.

Well I am off to bed soon! So sleep well and don't let the buggies bite.

Hot!

Not much to report a quiet day at the office and then off to the gym to work off some of my wobbly bits! Actually, I am trying not to eat any cookies at work or drink during the week because my trousers were feeling tight this morning! Last week I really didn't do much exercise because of my excuse of being at work till late, so now I am paying the price.

I got Stuart's hire car sorted today, I cant believe it is only eleven days until he arrives :)

Tonight I decided to roast my Hatch chilli peppers I bought the other day. If you remember I said I didn't know whether I had bought mild or hot ones, since I wasn't really meaning to by big chillis anyway. Well, I cut one of them to stuff with some goats cheese, and while I was cleaning out the seeds and washing it. The chilli smell was unbelievable, I stated to cough and my tongue nearly fell off when I liked my finger - yup, I guess these are the hot ones then! I have roasted them all, and two of them I will slice and put in the freezer for Stuart to enjoy :) My stuffed one was great with salad.