Another Year Nearly Past

It is hard to believe it is Hogmanay tomorrow and we will be heading in 2010. This year has flown by with everything that has been going on but it has been fun. Anyway that is enough of looking back lots to plan for next year already!

Work was absolutely dead today with even less folk in and probably even less tomorrow. On the upside it means I can beaver away.

Tonight I have been baking shortbread to take to Danny's tomorrow night as a first footing gift I- however we will already be there. My fingers are a bit larger than intended - Texan size! I now have indigestion after doing a taste test!

Poor Stuart has got my cold that I got from Sam and she got from Thomas! However, Stuart's is worse - it is man's flu :) poor boy.

I made myself go for a swim this evening as I have been a little out of gym going since coming back from skiing. Next week I will be full steam ahead and back on the diet - the never ending diet!

For those of you that will enter the New Year ahead of us - best wishes and every happiness for 2010. Lots of love from Emily and Stuart xxx

Mile High to Sea Level

It sadly feels a lifetime since we left Denver, the mile high city. We had a wonderful breakfast altogether at the Delectable Egg. I recommend it as even if you are not an egg lover there is plenty of others choices, however we tried out their eggs Benedict and pancakes. Thomas managed to get down the biggest breakfast ever of poached eggs, bacon and pancakes. Mariska, however, was shocked at the enormous size of her two blueberry pancakes, and that was after we reduced the order from three to two pancakes!

Stuart's foot was much better in the morning - maybe all the walking we had done the day before was actually good for him. Stairs are still painful, but at least he can get to the bathroom with out being on all fours :)

The Oxford Hotel was brilliant another strong recommendation if you are need a night or two in Denver. Inexpensive, but very pretty inside and out and located in the historical/downtown part of Denver. They had a wonderful book in the lobby of Denver past and present. There were quite a number of the old street destroyed by modern monstrosities, but there was also a large part of Denver with it original pretty buildings, and the Oxford was one of them. At the end of the street there was the Union Station - we all went for a walk in there to show Thomas the trains. However, we didn't see many trains (as you cant get out to the platforms), but the building, even though it had changed from its original state was still quite impressive. There were big pew benches in the waiting area, and because it was so well heated in there, everyone was asleep on them.

Sam and family's flight to New York was at midday so they went off after breakfast, while Stuart and I packed and checked out. This really old bell boy (he must have been at least 75) lifted our really heavy bag into the back of the car. I was fighting him for as I thought it wasn't right he should lift it in - anyway he did. We went off to see Di's house and waited outside for a cuppa - but no one was in !

I now have to have a moan about airlines - in our case Continental. We had to pay for all our luggage when we flew to Denver, but then we had to pay for it again coming home?! Surely you should just pay once - I mean charter flights do that so why don't bigger airlines. No only that we weren't given the option to pay for the return journey luggage when we checked in online before we left - so we couldn't get the online discount just to make us even madder. And then to top it off the automated baggage check in was so difficult in both directions, it took us longer than if we waited in the regular check in line. Moan over but just watch for this when you travel!

I was slightly worried that my car was going to be sprouting mushrooms, because we left it still damp inside having had it valeted the day before we flew. It was all fine and didn't even smell too bad! Last night we bought a bottle of champagne to drink while we opened our last presents under the tree :) Thank you Mum and Dad.

Work was naturally a struggle to get up for especially with the hour time change :))) I managed to get a fair amount done as there are only a few of us in this week. I have to say Sam has successfully passed on her cold so I am feeling decidedly bunged up. Instead of going swimming, Stuart and I went for a brisk walk along the bayou - it is nice to be back at sea level and not getting out of breath every step you take.

'Let's Go Avs .......'

Today started quite well, with us getting up reasonably early to finish all our food for breakfast. Thomas elected to have popcorn! During the tidying up and packing the cars, David came back up the stairs to say that his cars keys were locked in the car with the engine running. After trying the hire car 24hr emergency line and not getting past the waiting tone, and a local garage, that was going to take forever, we tried to 'jimmy' the locks. After help from some neighbours and lots of different methods we tried the local garage again who miraculously came within 10mins and opened the door within seconds. Good job we didn't have to catch a flight today as David's car was blocking us in.

We headed off from Breckenridge back towards Denver late morning, stopping for some retail therapy at a designer outlet on the way. Em bought a new handbag and we both bought some cycling shoes with cleats for our spin classes.

We arrived early afternoon at our hotel in Denver, 'The Oxford', which Sam and David had stayed at before. It is a really nice Victorian hotel right in the center of downtown near the station. It is far better than the motels we were going to try closer to the airport and the cost was about the same.

Tonight we all went to an ice hockey game between the Colorado Avalanches and the Dallas Stars. We had tried to buy tickets earlier in the day but the were too expensive and decided to try and buy at the box office. Again the tickets were too expensive, but we had heard of 'scalpers' who were selling tickets outside the stadium. David and I went off in search of tickets and after trying a few 'scalpers' got a reasonable deal for the six of us. The last ice hockey game I had gone to was in Oklahoma, but this was far more entertaining. In the end the local team won 4-1.

After the ice hockey, Em and I had a quick drink at the hotel bar and realised that today was our 6 month wedding anniversary. Tomorrow we head off back home to Houston and the Pecks are off to New York on the next part of their hols.

Merry Christmas!

Hi ,this is Mariska writing the blog today again as Emily is tired again tonight. This morning dad got up nice and early to make bacon and eggs for us all while we had a lie in. After breakfast at about 8:30 we rang everybody to say Merry Christmas. Granny and Granpa sounded very MERRY on skype and liked looking at our very white teeth?! After speaking to everybody we opened the presents that we had brought over from Scotland (thank you for my presents granny and Granpa).

At 10:15am we went to the Hyatt hotel the dog sledding company picked us up there and took us to there centre where we got our boots on and warmed up before going out into the cold.When we went outside we played with the dogs for awhile and we also took pictures of the dogs my favorite husky was 'Avalanche', he was white and was at the back of the pack. I got to control the huskies by myself.I really enjoyed going down steep hills with huskies. While someone else was mushing the huskies I sat in the trailer which was pulled by the skidoo. At the end inside the building there was a baby husky it was so cute and fluffy. I really enjoyed dog sledding. MARISKA xxxxxxxxx

Samantha says, "After dog sledding we came home to warm up after -21C temps! Then we cracked open the champagne accompanied by some smoked salmon and shrimp. At 4pm we headed off for a drink in the oldest saloon in town (kids were allowed in!) and then off to the Hearthstone restaurant for our Christmas meal - not turkey, but large steaks and rack of lamb and shrimps for the kids were order of the day. Thomas was very happy to finish off his meal with a very large chocolate pudding rather than the usual Christmas one!

Tomorrow we all leave after breakfast for a half day and night in Denver. We will have to hire a wheelchair for Stuart as it will be rather embarrassing having him crawl along the sidewalks!!"

ho ho ho!!!

Hi,its mariska writing the blog today as everybody else is watching a movie.Today when we got up we all expected it to be warm as it had snowed 4 inches snow last night so we didn't put a lot of layers on.We found out that we had made a big mistake.As soon as i stepped out the front door my fingers almost fell off.When we were sitting on the chair lifts the wind was blowing against my face i felt like crying it was so painful.Because it was so cold we didn't do such a long day even though it was are last day skiing as we are doing dog sledding tomorrow.After half an hour skiing we all went for hot chocolate.Thomas,Emily and Stuart went off to some runs and i stayed in the warmth for a bit longer(Stuarts legs better but he has now sprained his ankle and is hobbling).

I did some more black runs today including Callie's Allie and lower psycopath again (my fav runs) while we were skiing we wore Santa hats.After a cold day skiing we all went and sat in the hot tubs to warm up .Me ,Thomas and daddy all put water on our hair and it froze it was like having hairspray on your head.

While we were waiting for the macaroni cheese to cook that mummy had made we played vinte-un i won the game .The macaroni cheese was delicious but it didn't taste the same as it does at home i think its because they have different cheese here.

While i am in America i am trying to collect lots of quarter dollars this is because every state has its own quarter dollar with a picture on it i am trying to collect all 51 states i have 22 so far.This afternoon Stuart found a game where you had to name all 51 states in 10 minutes we got all expert 9 but that was because we couldn't spell some of them.

Twinkle Toes

Sorry no blog yesterday because Sam and I went out painted the town red!

By the end of yesterday the slopes were becoming icy because all the loose snow had been scraped off leaving almost blue ice to ski on. However, the adults went off to try some extreme skiing while the kids were at ski school - actually we wanted to do some runs that would impress Thomas and Mariska :) We all headed up the T-bar to the highest point on the mountain (which is currently open) and Sam and I spotted a large mogul field that we had to go and do. We left the boys to do a different run and went off for our first double diamond of the week. We reached the top of the vertical drop and watched a women fall nearly from the top and slide down head first towards a rocky face. Fortunately, she stopped just at the edge of the drop. It did nothing for our nerves! However, we now had to go and pick up her belongings. She seemed remarkably calm all things considered. The run was good and I didn't get too many chunks taken out the bottom of my skis when we had to go across some rocks. Anyway, it was good and we accomplished it, without falling!

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We came off the slope at about 3pm as the temperature was falling rapidly. We then heard an almighty noise from one of the lifts next to us, like all the wire was unraveling from the cog. The lift then halted. We watched as lots of engineers rushed to try and fix the engine becauase the chairlift was packed with skiers, and as I said, the temperature was falling - poor people. Anyhow, just as we came off the hill they were managing to move the lift very slowly, but at least it was moving. Thank goodness we weren't on it!

Sam, Mariska and myself went off to get a pedicure, unfortunately there was only one lady doing it, so Mariska and I got our nails done and Sam re-booked for today. It was lovely getting our dried out legs moisturised even if she did massage me a little too hard over my bruised shines. Our toes now look beautiful! Just look at those bunion-ridden feet!!!

For dinner we went to Bumba Gump, a shrimp place, miles from the sea, but very tasty. The kids enjoyed their fish and chips, of Mahi Mahi, while the rest of us had stacks of shrimp, including David with his lobster claws! For Thomas, the highlight of the evening was his flashing glass. It was a glass with a strobing light in the bottom of it, that is now not working quite as well since Samantha submerged it fully in the sink and drowned the electronics :)

The snow has finally arrived and there was a new 3 inches on the slopes to enjoy. Since Thomas and Mariska we so jealous of us going up the T-bar without them - we had to go today. However, we all refused to share the T-bar with either of them and in the end managed to get them to go up together, and they did superbly well - it didn't even looked like they were fighting from behind :)

"Yesterday, we went up peak 10 as we were going up the lift there was a tree with bras and necklaces all over it. Stuart looked up the reason for the bra tree - it is a conquest tree!!

Today Emily and I made a gingerbread house and we decorated it with sweets. Because we got lots of snow today I went on loads of black runs with Emily and Daddy because mummy had a hangover (mummy and Emily went to the bar till one o'clock drinking). I went lower psycopath, sizzler and pika they were all black runs with lots of moguls. I still haven't got used to the time change and the air is very thin up here when I walk up the stairs I start huffing and puffing." Mariska x

Just sitting here drinking our hot chocolates after a lovely dinner of steak prepared by David and Sam. Stuart has just come back from throwing out the 'trash' (by the way the bin room says 'keep the door closed because of bears'!!) and says there is another two inches of snow already - powder day tomorrow! However, poor Stuart might have to stay at home tomorrow because he has hurt his other knee after a spectacular wipe out yesterday.

Our Christmas tree now has the presents under it and nasty Christmas songs playing on the stereo to get us in the mood.

Monopoly Bandits!

Gosh, we are three times lucky... a third day of blue skies (however, no new snow!). After another monster breakfast including porridge, bacon, omelet, eggie bread and toast! Well, actually we didn't all eat everything! it was time to hit the slopes.

Stuart and I took Thomas up on the slopes with David, Sam and Mariska following later. We managed at least four runs before they met us. Thomas and Mariska were both showing off their new skills from their lesson the day before.

One of the big highlights was going down the timed race track. Mariska and Thomas had done the day before, including how well they had done on the timed race track. We all purchased two runs at $10 each - David raced Thomas, I raced Mariska, and Stuart and Sam battled it out. None of us managed a gold medal - only Mariska, Thomas and I managed a sliver:) The rest were bronze.

The afternoon was good although a little cold and icy as most of the lose snow had been scraped off the top by snowboarders (got to blame them!). Since Mariska and Thomas shared the head camera today - there were some shots that just have to be shown. Just watch Mariska catching her brother taking a fall on the icy moguls. But he wasn't the only one, as Mariska followed suit and then poor David got taken out by an out of control skier, so also ended up in the snow.

Tonight the girls went off in search of a nail bar unfortunately after walking the length of the Main Street, in amongst doing some other tasks - like booking dog sledging for Christmas Day, we found a place. However, we were too late, so we will have to go back another night to get our toes painted :) Not that anyone is going to see them up here.

The night was completed by a big game of Monopoly, although we didn't manage o finish so it was put to the side with Sam and David beginning extra ordinarily rich, Stuart and Thomas breaking all of us with their hotel rent, so hence Mariska and I are almost broke and just holding in there!

Hot tubs!

Today turned into another spectacularly sunny day with blue skies to make us all look a bit red in the face. There was no snow last night so Stuart and I enjoyed cutting up the corduroy on the first few runs of the day. Peak 10 had opened today and it had a good length of run from the top. While we were enjoying the early morning snow, Mariska and Thomas we starting their first full day ski lesson.

The adults then carved the white stuff for the rest of the day trying out some news runs today as well as some of the better ones from yesterday. We only experienced one evil lift that nearly knocked all us off it as it whipped around the corner and knocked us behind our knees.

We went off to watch the snowboard competition at the terrain park in the afternoon. Stu and I had been told to go down beside the terrain park in order to get the best vantage point. Unfortunately, we took the wrong turning and ended up next to lots of huge jumps - the cowards we are, we slipped down the side of them only tempting one small jump once we had seen a five year old accomplishing it! Mind you it was a close call for Stu not to end up in a heap in the trees! We didn't manage to watch the snowboarders very well, all we do know is a girl of 19 was the winner having got some massive air!

Mariska and Thomas had a good time in their lesson, although there was only three of them. They did some timed racing and took great satisfaction looking at their results that were posted on the Internet this evening. I think we may all have to go and try it out :)

This evening we all jumped in the hot tubs, while Thomas rolled around in the snow. I have caught it on video for evidence. We then all headed out for dinner, unfortunately, the place we really wanted had a 90 minute wait so we went off the a grill restaurant, which please Thomas, as he could have his steak :)

We have all been having vivid dreams - we think it is because of the altitude, but at least the headaches have stopped. Lets see if we have anymore tonight.

No snow forecast until Tuesday so lets hope the snow on the slopes can last until the end of tomorrow.

It looks like we weren't the only ones with snow .......This is a photo from Scotland just this morning with the dogs playing in the snow!

In Breck!

For all of us it was a travel day yesterday, but for Sam and family it was a lot longer than us. Not to mention, they had an additional three hour delay on the tarmac at Heathrow.

Stu and I picked up our American muscle car from the car rental company in Denver - a Dodge Charger. However, what we quickly discovered it was certainly not a sprinter it was more like a weight lifter. It did get us to Breckenridge with the skis on the roof and half the supermarket in the boot, including goodies for the kids and me :)

The condo is part of a large apartment complex just off the Main Street through the town. It has three bedrooms all with en suite bathrooms. There is a nice homely kitchen and living room, decorated with lots of old skis and snow shoes for the proper chalet look. It will certainly do us all well for the holiday. Although, it nearly killed us lifting all our bags and the shopping up to the apartment because we are at ~3,000m and the air is definitely thinner. Stu was sounded like some scary heavy breather down a phone :)

Stuart managed to throw a lasagne together for the others arriving at about 9pm. It was yummy, but he did cook enough to feed an army - obviously taking after Mum. By 10:30pm we were all heading to bed. Stuart jumped on our bed cricked his neck, and broke the bed! Fortunately, there was no lasting damage to him or the bed :)

This morning the kids did really well and didn't get up at 7am, the same time as our alarm. What I haven't mentioned, is that our room is just at the edge of the separated by a plastic sliding door - so we don't really want too early risers. Thomas made himself an omelet with mozzarella cheese - I was very impressed with it as it looked really quite tasty and I am not the biggest omelet fan! The rest of us had porridge and toast setting us up for a good day on the slopes, with the sun already shinning and promise of blue skies all day.

While Sam, David and co, went off to sort out ski hire, Stu and I took off up the slopes. We are just a short walk from the bottom of the lift and tomorrow it will be an even shorter walk after Sam showed us a short cut in the afternoon. Much of the ski area is blue runs but there are some reds, or rather blacks as they are called here, and the occasional double black diamond, equivalent to a European black. However, not everything is open yet because we are quite early in the season, saying that though, the snow that is on the runs is good and plenty of fun.

We met up with the rest of the gang at lunchtime for some scran on the slopes - not quite up he French standards, but equally as expensive. Stu bought me the biggest Vin Chaud - I was feeling quite giddy by the time we got back on the slopes. In the afternoon we all skied together, and took everyone down our favourite run so far - Spruce. It is classed as a blue black dashed, which seems to mean it is a blue with some steeper bits, and over the lips of the steeper bits you can get air. Stu managed this to his downfall, which I missed entirely, but he apparently lifted off, realised he wasn't going to land, so landed on his back, spun around and got back on to his feet. Thomas and Mariska are very good skiers, with Thomas trying to keep at my heel, and definitely keeping up with Stuart. Mariska is more paced, but more than capable at getting down anything put in front of her. By about three the travellers were fading and so we decided to head back to the condo. The lifts close at four and sun was beginning to drop behind the mountains - brrrrr!

On the way home we managed to show Thomas the terrain park, with all the crazy jumps and watch some mad people going down them - he was well impressed.

This evening the children have been in the hot tub and running around in the snow in their swim suits, while Stuart and I went to check out our surroundings down the Main Street. It is a very pretty place, with lots of Christmas lights and horse and carts etc. The shops all look very expensive - but there is a fossil shop that I might have to investigate before the week is up :)

All is quiet now - they are all in bed while Stu and I stay up to complete the blog before we head off to bed - no clubbing tonight - not yet anyway...

Money saving ideas

We have decided to cut back on airline tickets this year! We will have to take turns :)
Only joking, we bought ourselves a new ski bag and it is so big - it is human sized! What is even better is that we managed to buy it with the kind gift voucher that my team at work had given us for our wedding. I know it was ages ago, but I had put it aside until Stu got here and then forgot it! The reason we had to go and buy a new one was because the day has finally come when Mum and Dad's fluorescent green bag has given up the ghost. It was always the best as no one these days has such lurid colours for their ski bags - hence we now have a black on as well! We will have to add something to it to make it recognisable when it comes out of the trolley stuffed of skis and boards at the airport.


We have got some Christmas presents through the post now - so we know have four presents under the tree!

Only two days of work left - yippee! Although spin class tomorrow to get through - I agreed to meet someone so no sleeping in!!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

I am sorry for being away from the blog for so many days, but there was just too many other distractions.

So lets start: we were out on Thursday night to meet up with Ann, from the UK, and Andy. We went to 'La Fiesta' a Mexican on Westheimer that had good reviews in b4-U-eat. I accosted the waiter to take a photo of us all, especially for the blog. We had a good meal, but far too much as always. It was quite amusing as two sittings of people must have come and gone in the time we were there and we were still last to leave. I like to take time while eating! We introduced Ann to frozen margarita's - which she thoroughly enjoyed although comment on feeling a little giddy after one!

On Friday, I managed to get up for spin class, although I could feel the cheese from the night before all through the hill climbing session! Note to self - don't go out for a heavy meal and do spin class at 0530. That evening we were out for the Fugro Christmas Party - Laura and Chris' company. Laura had invited four friends to her party so we had fun. It was a buffet dinner, with significantly better choice than the usual Grampian Chicken that we get at every party in Aberdeen! They then had a casino running all evening. We all had fake money, some $5000 each. I managed to lose mine very quickly on roulette, but I partly blame Stuart after telling me to gamble all the rest of my money on red, and it came in black! There was also dancing - some of it interesting tunes. Gangster music followed by line dancing to current pop music. To Stuart's delight there was a free bar! I opted to drive because I was going out on Saturday, and he enjoyed their red wine! I got to catch up with two guys from my undergraduate course who I haven't seen in at least 7 years. Amazingly none of us had changed much. Stuart and I went and got a professional photo taken, however, I think I should have done it earlier in the evening as by that point many glasses of red wine had been consumed. We have yet to get the proofs through on email - fortunately there is no obligation to buy! On the way home, a car travelling my way went straight through a red light, even with the rest of us stopped at the lights! I then because extremely careful at the lights.

I left Stuart in bed and went off to hot yoga on Saturday. It wasn't very busy by she gave us quite a work out (I felt it on Sunday!) We then met up with Ann and Andy at the overly packed Galleria shopping mall. Never again - it was horrible. Ann and I started talking to a man who had tiny puppies in a bag. He said he couldnt leave them at home so he took them shopping. I know you should never trust a man with puppies, but they we so sweet. Before we knew what happened with the day, Stuart had to drop me off at my hen party. We were meeting at someones house in the Heights, but what we didn't realise is it was also 'Lights in the Heights' and every man and his dog was heading that way too. Huge traffic jams and worst of all we ignored the SatNav lady who told us to take another route - that will teach us! Anyway, we gave the hen some funny presents, one of them was an enormous pair of clown pants! Apparently, they had been passed around a number of friends - we all managed to get inside them (unfortunately, I don't have that photo!). We then went out into the Heights (this is a reasonably posh or rather desirable place to live in Houston as it has trendy bars etc. Most of the houses are wooden bungalows), and we walked along the streets looking at all the houses decorated with their Christmas lights, hence Lights in the Heights. The six of us then descended on a couple of house parties, that the hen knew. Poor Stuart had to come and pick me up in the early hours.

Stuart was up and out by 7am on Sunday to cycle with the neighbours. That left me to inspect the inside of my eyelids! Very lazy. Apparently one of the guys had two punctures on their 27 mile cycle. Stuart had to mend the puncture as the guy had never had to do it himself, so he was filthy when he got home. All day was then spent cleaning the house for our fourth and final late night- we were having a BBQ. Seven of us in total and enough food to sink an army, but all very tasty. Stuart did a fine job - again! Because everyone had work today we all got off to bed at a reasonable hour.

There is no slow down at work before the Christmas hols and I can tell even when I get back it will hectic. Oh and just for Sam we have got the fog like Edinburgh!

Trees up

We now have a beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Stuart did all the hard work putting it up and bending out the branches - yes it is a fake! My job of hanging the decorations was easy:) We bought some candy sticks to hang on it, as I guess chocolate melts and so that is why you don't get it.

Both of us went to spin classes today. Mine was at 0530, and it was called power endurance - I thought I was gong to die! However, I felt pretty good all day so I am going back for more on Friday! Stuart went at lunch time and his class was far more eventful. A fight nearly broke out between the instructor and one of the class members. The harsh words and puffing of chests continued into the changing rooms. Apparently, things like 'do you want to be sacked, I am going to see the manager' were said!

This evening we went to Mall at Memorial for a quick shop. The building next door, that normally has a blue light on the top of it, is now lit up like a present (its blurred because Stu was trying to take a snap of it while I was driving). Poor Stuart still has nothing for his Christmas yet, I am hoping he hasn't got me anything either. The stockings are hanging from the mantle piece, but they will remain empty at this rate:(

Stuart is excelling at bread making, tonight he made pull apart bread topped with pickled jalapenos and cheese. We are going through so many pickled jalapenos that Stuart bought a huge jar for $3! Yummy!

Christmas madness begins

Sunday night was our street party, last night the wine dinner and then it is going to be Friday, Saturday, Sunday on the trot!!

The street party was lots of fun in spite of the rain. We all congregated at one of the neighbours house and then we went outside to sing a couple of Christmas tunes - including jingle bells, frosty the snowman and joy to the world (which was the hardest to stay in tune). The lights are constructed at the end of the cul de sac and it is a tree-like arrangement made from strings of light with a star on top that is a family heirloom and apparently is about 60 years old. We all went back in the house for drinks and eats. It is bring a plate just like the summer BBQ. This time I made mini toad in the holes. They went down a treat, so worth the effort trying to buy pork sausages! Stuart's bottle of Macallan also went down a treat, more with the women than the men!

We decorated the front of the house with our homemade wreath and icicle lights - now we fit in with the street, although we refuse to but the blow up Santa arrangement on the front lawn! Stuart is very clever as he has used the timer so the lights go on and off automatically!

Monday morning was a bit of a struggle after too much red wine. However, I had to recover as we had the wine dinner last night with lots more wine. My poor diet is really being tested in it first week.

Today, I took Misty to the car doctor. She has been making a strange noise. The garage today confirmed it was wheel bearings but at the moment they cant work out which wheel is is so they have told me to come back when it starts to roar!! It is perfectly safe to drive, I just need the radio a little louder.

The weather is crazy here. Last week we had the snow on Friday and it went down to minus 3 degC but today the temperature has risen back up to the mid twenties, even this evening it is about 19degC! Mind you, it is very hot and sticky, all the windows were steamed up and the clouds have been really low, I could see out of the office window today because the cloud was down like the Aberdeen haar!

At the races

It is a first for us both. We are at the horse races this evening trying our luck! The Sam Houston race track is only up the road and tonight is the Texas Champions Day with half a million dollars in purses - the biggest race day of the year.

For the first race we watched the riders get up on their horses and mine was the last one to mount - he must have been in the toilet! It was certainly not a good sign for the favourite and my two dollar bet! 'Cat Bells' was the last to get to the starting gate and it is safe to say I lost, and so did Stu with 'Buds little edge'.

The second race was not without its problems. Once again we chose the horse with the best name, this is a highly technical betting strategy, however, Stu managed to put money on two totally different horses than what we picked. The race began and the horse I wanted was in the lead all the way, the horse I had was nowhere to be seen. In the end the winning horse was what Stu had wanted in the beginning, second was my bet (but we had to 'win'), and third was the one I had wanted. Losing money again!!

Our third and final bet, this time we picked best names and placed the beats on the correct horses! They all started where they were suppose to, but in the end mine came in 5th and Stuart's last! We were not lucky this evening. Must have been the cold weather.

Since I have never been to the races back in the UK I don't know if it is the same but it was quite cool because you could get close to the horses before and after the race, seeing them mounting the horse in the paddock and then watch them race, then at the end, the winning horse would be just there in the winners enclosure. Most people watched the race from inside the building, there were TV's everywhere so you didn't have to go outside to see the action. However, Stu and I not realising this brought all our woollies, blanket and bino's. We were the only ones with woolen hats on it has to be said - bloody foreigners!

The racing was continuing until 11pm, but we had seen 5 races and lost all of 12 bucks so it was time to go home.

I am just typing this while waiting for the house to heat up.

It's snowing!

Snow was forecast and snow came.

When I was driving to work there were a couple of wet flakes landing on the window screen however, by 10am it was coming down quite heavy. The snow eventually started to lie on the roofs but it was too wet to lie on the roads. Although I wouldn't call it snowman making snow, it was just as good, because the office got closed at 2pm!!

I got home and we went straight out shopping - why pay to heat the house when you can go out and about :) The snow stopped about 4pm and now the temperature is beginning to drop, so I should think the wet roads this evening will be fun.

The first shop we went to was the cowboy boot shop and wow are there a lot of styles of cowboy boots.

This morning, our Friday breakfast day (someone brings in breakie),we had a true Texan traditional of biscuits and gravy. The biscuits are a bit like scones and the gravy was white sauce with sausages. I was very tasty as all homemade by his wife :)

We went to try and buy a Christmas pudding this evening. Hmmm when I asked where are your Christmas puddings, the reply I got was - 'Christmas what?' We didn't have any luck, however a quick search on the Internet confirmed they are called plum puddings (but don't contain any plums!). But plum puddings are not sold in regular shops, only in the ethnic sections. So we cant make Nigella's mini Christmas puddings for our street 'turning on the lights' celebration on Sunday.

We are staying in this evening eating seasonal tortilla chips - plenty of red and green food colouring in these crisps!!

The duvet is now on the bed in preparation for the cold, cold night!