A weekend full of adventure

This weekend was Halloween and I wanted to go to the Halloween thing they were doing downtown but I knew my husband didn't really want to so in the end we went to the drive in to watch The Vampire's Assistant and Zombieland. Both movies were good but I really enjoyed Zombieland. It was really funny and I will probably watch it again when it comes out on DVD.

Earlier in the day I thought it would be a great idea to make these little Halloween brownie things on the Betty Crocker website. They were shown as being easy to make. hahaha mine were not really anything like the ones on the website.
I took some pictures to send to my mother and she said she laughed so much she nearly wet herself. Here are my Halloween treats tricks.

my little ghosts

my spooky spiders

Here is a picture of how they should have looked and in case anyone wants to attempt to better mine then the recipe is at the Betty Crocker website. Click here for the official recipe.

So I think that pretty much wraps up Saturday.

Since we had so much fun at the beach the week before we decided to go again and to bring a picnic so we could make a whole day of it.

We had such a lovely morning and afternoon. The dog was having fun trying to catch birds and we had a nice picnic. I was collecting seashells as I want to decorate a picture frame with some.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from that day:

i think this one looks like a dinosaur

just a little bit of driftwood

one of many jellyfish we saw

So the day was getting on and we were getting a lot of sun so we decided to take a detour on the way home and perhaps go to another beach. We ended up going to a beach just a little way down the road and that is where our day took a turn for the worse.

First off, we stopped the car, jumped out to grab a lovely conch shell that was still intact. It looked as though there was something still in it so we bagged it and put it in the back of the truck. Then we drove down further and stopped again. I jumped out looking for shells and saw of all things....a dead baby shark! How I wish I had taken a picture of it but unfortunately I couldn't because as my husband was calling to tell me, our truck had a very very very flat tire. We had driven over some branches and pop went our tire.

It really wasn't funny because we were right on the sand and couldn't go back the way we came as we had had to drive over branches and water. So, off I went with the dog in the other direction to try and find an exit. I walked for ages and miraculously found a secret exit that I didn't notice until we walked past it.

The dog and I walked back and I felt so sorry for him because he has never had that much exercise in his life. I thought he was going to pass out. It was funny because he kept licking water up and I didn't have the heart to tell him that salt water wasn't going to help his thirst much.

Anyway, we got back to the truck with the good news about the exit but it was no good. It was too far for our truck to make it as my husband had tried to move the truck and nearly got it stuck in the sand. He got the jack out and tried to change the tire but obviously it kept sinking in the sand.

We were about to call a recovery company (which would have been a nightmare trying to explain where we were) when a good Samaritan stopped and went off to try and find some flat wood for us to use. Luckily he found some and it worked!!!

We had caught the sun and were exhausted by this time but we were in goodish spirits as we didn't have to spend the night on the beach.

Throughout all this drama my husband decided to take a picture of the flat and here it is:

Now I really wish I had taken a picture of the baby shark but at the time I thought it would have been in bad taste to be off taking pictures whilst we were stranded.

We got home later and we all had aching bones. The dog pretty much went into a coma for the next day or so.

I was gathering all my shells together and as I was admiring my beautiful conch shell it started to move. It was still alive! I felt bad and although if I had realized it was alive at the beach I would have put it back, since we had it at home and people do eat these things we decided to cook it and remove the stuff inside. Oh god it was traumatic. Never again. It was scary and gross but my shell is lovely and when I get it all polished up I will post a picture of it.

For the time being our trips to the beach are off but I'm hoping this won't be forever as we have had a really nice time there this past two weeks.

Concert and a trip to the beach

Not this weekend just gone but the one before I got to go see my favorite band, Alice in Chains. They were playing this all day concert thing sponsered by our local radio station. We had no interest in seeing most of the other bands so we went in the evening.

The place was full of youngsters and I felt a bit old particularly when htis couple who had to be in their forties walked pasted us and the man said....'oh look those people are the first people I have seen who are our age'. I'm a whole decade younger than that! So, a couple of days later I got rid of my grey hairs and now it is blue black. Hopefully I have shaved a few years off with the new hair color.

Puddle of Mudd came on whilst we were waiting for AiC and oh my god they were awful. I don't know whether their singer was wasted or what but he sounded bad. He was so bad I was cringing for him. The crowd was loving it although I think vast amounts of alcohol may have helped with that.

AiC were great. It was the first time I had seen them perform outside and whilst I still prefer to see them indoors in a smaller venue it was a good show and they played quite a few new songs although I would have liked to have heard Your Decision live. Maybe next time.

On the Sunday we went for a drive down to the beach. It was a lot of fun. The weather was nice and the beach was pretty deserted. I love being near water so it was a lovely day for me.

We found some animal skulls and after doing some investigating it turns out one of them was a skull from a wild boar. it had a full set of teeth and a tusk. Very bizarre.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the beach that day:

an egret

the beach

a weird fish head. so gross we had to take it's picture
egret flying away
the dunes
skull
clouds
beach
beach
my lovely puppy...and half my husbandif you look closely you will see a little crab

Bra shopping on the cheap

I just remembered this after I posted earlier about my overheating at Traders Village.

Traders Village is a big market. They have loads of stalls there and like all markets there are some good bargains to be had and some real cheap shit.

I got one of those little things that you can put on the table and hang your bag off. They are a cool little thing and I got one with a cool little picture on it. It was $1 so if it doesn't work I can't complain.

Anyway, the thing I remembered was looking at some bras. There were a whole load of them and they were 3 for $10. They were cheap shit but for that price who can complain if they cut your shoulders and back into ribbons.

My sister in law was getting some and I was having a look but wasn't going to get any as I haven't measured myself for my American bra size and apparently it is different to British and European sizes.

Oh my goodness...that means I haven't bought myself a bra for over a year. Isn't that awful?

Anyway, I explained to the little woman on the stall that I wouldn't be buying anything as I didn't know my size. Well she was not having this and started sizing up my boobs. I would have been insulted if she hadn't been so generous in her guessing of my cup size. hahaha if only I was as large up top as she was thinking.

She grabbed a bra and hooked it round me to see if it would fit. It was kind of funny in an...oh my god, a stranger is touching my boobs, kind of way.

Her brazen sale tactics worked though and I thought I would get them as cheapo bras to tide me over until I could measure myself properly and buy some nice ones.

It was so awkward. They were really tacky bras. You know the type...playboy bunny emblems on them and stuff. It was kind of hard to say...eww I don't want that tack...especially when my sister in law was buying some of those kind. Because I was umming and ahhing the woman went to find me some more and came back with this horrendous red bra that was just yuck. It was padded but not in a good way. It was also a really bad red colour. It was just disgusting and her selling point to me was hilarious. She whispered to me...."this would be a good one...good for Valentine's Day huh?". Umm NO! lol. Not only do we not really do Valentine's Day but my husband is not going to be thrilled by some $3 manky market stall bra and if he was then oh dear lord have I made a mistake.

Ah it was funny. Trying hard not to say that out loud I said something to the effect of....hmmm no, I don't really like it.

For anyone interested (and I'm sure you are not) I ended up getting a fairly ordinary white one, a bright green one (I have a lot of green clothes so I was being practical) and a blue t-shirt material one with a hello kitty emblem. I just couldn't bring myself to get one of the ones with the playboy bunny on. I am no playboy bunny, lol. If I had less of a choice and had to get one of those I would have spent time picking it off just in case I was in an accident and taken to hospital. I could just imagine the doctors or whoever thinking...the cheek of her wearing that, lol.

Free screening of District 9

On Thursday evening we went to a free preview showing of District 9. I got the tickets from FilmMetro and they give out more tickets than there are seats to make sure the theater is full so it could happen that not everyone gets in. We planned on leaving when my husband got home from work but there was a really bad thunderstorm and I was too scared to go outside. After a while the storm started dying down and we decided to go and hope that the storm had put everyone else off so that we could get in. Traffic was horrific and it took forever to get there and I started to think that perhaps we would not get in.

We got there eventually and we were at the right theater (see my previous post on My Life In Ruins for details of one of our previous attempts). We went in and a man pointed us in the right direction. Well, the queue was horrendous. I thought for sure we wouldn't get to see the movie and even contemplated leaving there and then but we joined the line and surprisingly we got in. They stamp your hand and check your bag and wand you. I guess so you don't record the movie. I bet it is only a matter of time before they start doing that for regular screenings too.

We went in and picked our seats. I thought it would be more organised to just put everyone in seats in order of when you enter but no, they left it as a free for all. We ended up right near the front so my husband could hang his gigantic legs out the side and be a bit more comfortable.

It took a while to get everyone in so my husband kindly went to get drinks and popcorn. I didn't want him to whilst we were outside in case we didn't get in.

Finally, the movie started. I didn't really have any expectations of it. I just knew that aliens had landed on earth. I actually really enjoyed it. It was done documentary style which made it more interesting to me.

There was one rather surreal moment and that was maybe halfway through the film. We were all caught up in the movie and out of the corner of my eye I could see something moving on the floor. It took me a minute to fully understand what I was seeing but it was a really small child crawling across the floor. It freaked me out. I don't know where the kid went but it was a weird little moment that kind of made me think....did I really see that?

Anyway, not a bad movie at all. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

My first Independence Day

This past weekend was absolutely exhausting. This was my first Independence day so we were definitely going to do something. We were invited to spend the day on a boat which was a lot of fun. It was very hot and I was very sweaty - yuck - but we went swimming which was fun at times and scary at others. The fun bit was I had never swam far out from the shore before and I was very impressed with how brave I was. It was also lovely to get in the water to cool off. The scary bit was there were things in the water which you didn't really know what they were and you just hoped they were only fish. Near where we parked (moored? anchored?) the boat there were signs a way off saying there were alligators. Now I am only used to seeing alligators on the tv or in the zoo so this was very scary. I didn't see any though thank God. I did see some at a park a few months ago - very scary. They can eat people you know.

Anyway, it was a very nice day and we sat on the boat and watched fireworks.

Sunday was going to be my recover from babysitting do nothing day but we did end up going out. I can't remember why now but it was still quite a lazy day.

Monday we went to a water park. I have never been to one before so it was interesting in that respect. I thought they would have a normal swimming pool there along with the rides and stuff but they didn't. I highly recommend they get one. I went on a couple of rides and went on the floaty river thing a few times but it got really busy and people kept banging into me and bumping my sunburn so I got annoyed with it seeing as I am allergic to most people.
I had had enough by about 3pm so I just wanted to sit under the covered pavilion thing. Obviously I had way too much sun because I got heat stroke (or as my husband insists heat exhaustion). Finally we went home at about 5.30pm and I just conked out. I was sick and very tired.
Next time a trip to a water park is suggested I think I will pass. I've tried it once...didn't like it.

I have sunburn

We have spent the past couple of days in the swimming pool as we have been babysitting and it has been a good way to occupy the kids.
I have been very good about using sunscreen but apparently not good enough. After spending 5 hours at the pool today I noticed when I got inside that I was rather red. As the evening wore on I was just getting redder and redder and after I had a shower I discovered white patches along the top of my arms. Obviously I had rubbed sunscreen in some places better than others. This is really annoying because it hurts a bit and we are supposed to be going out on a boat tomorrow so I will have to be really careful not to make it any worse. Then Monday we are going to a water park.
I am deathly white normally so any hint of sun on my skin is really obvious and I hate having red and white stripey skin. It looks so unladylike. Also, I have really freckly arms now and my forehead is covered too.
I can't wait until winter.

I hate birds...however...

...I love these pictures because the sky is so blue that it appears to be fake.







and I love this one below because it reminds me of the film The Birds and supports my theory that birds are evil and will try to wipe out humans one day.





These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago when we went to the beach. Seems like absolutely ages ago now.

Houston Astros baseball game

Surprisingly I had a really good time at the baseball game. The Astros played Kansas City Royals. Not much really happened in the first half of the game which was good for me because I was so busy looking around, taking everything in and trying to understand the rules. It was weird when we went into the stadium as it looked fake. A bit like in a movie. It has since been pointed out to me that the only time I have seen a baseball stadium is on television which is actually quite a valid point.
The second part of the game I was getting familiar with the rules and able to pick out which team was which and I actually got a bit excited as the game was neck and neck and went to extra innings. The Astros lost which was a shame but it was a fun experience for me and I think I would like to go to another game.

Some things that struck me as funny where when the cameras pan around the spectators and catch them doing funny dances and stuff. One of the times they did this it was a kiss camera and the people the camera stopped on were supposed to kiss. Highly awkward if it is someone you are with but don't really like or they have stinky breath. Anyway, one of the times it stopped on this couple who didn't notice and it just stayed on them for a while. They didn't twig on however and some random man ran up to her and kissed her. It was rather amusing but also surprising that in such a litigious country as America that someone would feel comfortable doing that without fear of the woman pressing charges for assault of some sort. It tickled me anyway.

It was dead hot last night and by the time we left I was sweating probably as much as the players were. I absolutely hate sweating so anyone that knows me would think I would have been in a strop because of this but I think because it was a new fun experience I didn't let it bug me as much as it normally would have.

So, all in all, baseball good. Would like to go again. Better tickets next time though. We had bargain tickets that cost $10 and got you a drink, bag of chips and a hot dog which is very cheap but I would like to see better now that I have more of a clue as to what I am looking at.

Looking forward to my first baseball game

Tonight I am going to my first ever baseball game. I am seeing the Houston Astros play. I can't remember who they are playing against but to be honest I probably won't be able to tell who is who anyway. This is going to be more of an outing to experience American culture rather than me having any love for the game. I don't even know the rules.

It is supposed to be 100 degrees here today so I hope I don't die of heat exhaustion or anything. That would suck.

Shopping and movies

I went shopping yesterday for some new clothes. There are a lot of sales on at the moment and since I needed new clothes desperately in case I get a job it was the perfect time to shop.
I had a 25% off coupon for Old Navy and they were selling tank tops for $2 so we went there first. The only tank tops they had were white ones in size XXL so not any good for me. I do wonder whether they were the only ones they had or if they had other ones and they just sold out early. We got there about 10.30 so it wasn't particularly late or anything.
I did get quite a lot of tops and shirts I could wear for work though. My husband did really well getting jeans for around $11 after sale prices and our coupon. He got some really good prices on shirts as well. There still are some coupons on the Old Navy Weekly website. You have to hunt around for them. It is quite fun but the high value coupons go so quickly.
We then went to Macy's. They were having a sale too and I had a coupon for $10 off $25. Again my husband cleaned up getting a $60 shirt for $10 or something. I got some trousers (or pants as they are called in the US) and a nice summer top and two wrap around / cape type cardigans. I have wanted one of these for ages but the only ones I have seen have been so expensive so I was very happy to get these for less than $15.
We'd finished our shopping by about lunchtime which was great because it was nearly 100 degrees. I much prefer getting out in the morning to do things. It's normally way too hot in the afternoons here to be out and about.

In the evening we went to the drive in to watch Year One and Angels and Demons. Luckily there was a breeze and we sat out on chairs to watch them. Year One was funny but not quite as much as I was expecting it to be. Angels and Demons was good. Changed a bit from the book but I actually think that may have been for the best. I fell asleep a couple of times and once when I woke up my husband's face was right in mine and I nearly had a heart attack. The movies didn't finish until 1.30am which for me now is a really late night. I was absolutely exhausted but it was a very fun day.

I certainly enjoyed a nice lie in this morning and plan on having a relaxing day today. I'll have to prep for my interview which is tomorrow as it has been a while since I worked and to be honest I can't remember half the skills I actually have.

My busy Sunday

Saturday night my husband and I were playing a board game called Scene It. It was quite fun and then we got to the final stages of the game. The questions were going back and forth, back and forth, but we didn't know any answers so the game lasted until about 2am because we were so stuck. I thought for sure we would be lying in on Sunday morning but we got up pretty early so we decided to go out and get doughnuts for breakfast since I am in love with the maple glaze ones. We also popped into Walgreens so I could get my weekly bargains (see my other blog http://youarethough.blogspot.com/ for more details). We got back and were just relaxing and deciding whether or not to go and watch jazz bands at Discovery Green. I thought it was too hot to sit outside so we looked up the weather on the internet. It was something like 98 degrees in Houston. Of course add on the heat index and it would have felt over 100. Galveston was a bit cooler at 89 degrees and of course there is a sea breeze there so off to the seaside we went!
We put our swimmers on, packed some towels and sunscreen and loaded some drinks into the cooler and just upped and went. It was a nice drive down there because it only takes about an hour. When we got there we took a little drive around because I have never been to The Strand area. Lots of the buildings have been destroyed by Hurricane Ike and it is pretty sad because they were lovely buildings. One of the buildings we drove past has a painted line marking how high the water came up and next time we go I will get a picture because it puts into perspective just how much damage would have been caused.
We saw a big cruise ship waiting to take people away on holiday and whilst I have never been the type of person who fancied a cruise I think I would consider changing my mind now. It just looked exciting.
We got to the beach and it was really nice. It was hot but there were a really strong breeze so it didn't feel overwhelming or anything.
The scariest thing was the sea gulls. I hate birds so I was terrified of them especially when people were feeding them scraps and then they all swooped down in their hundreds.
One pooped on my husband which was awful but funny. I know this is horrible to say but I was so glad it was him and not me. I was a bit scared after that that they would get me so I made sure to keep my hat on because I didn't want a poo head. A while later another one got him on his arm. Oh it was disgusting and extremely unfortunate. Luckily I have my mini emergency kit that has anti bacterial hand sanitizer.
After that we went into the sea for a bit. I was a bit cautious as I have a problem with getting my head dunked. I may go into details about that little problem in another post one day but not today. My husband was going really far out but I was a bit of a scaredy cat and wanted to stay really near the beach. I did go out for a bit though but things kept hitting my legs. Sometimes it was seaweed but other times I didn't know what it was....crabs, jellyfish, who knows what.
I did see a fish jumping out of the water right near us which was cool. I would probably have had a heart attack if it had touched me though.

We left about 5.30 and drove home. After we ate I filled in an application for a job. I haven't been able to work since I've been in the US but I have my permit and social security number now so it is about time I started looking. It took ages because my old CV / Resume wasn't completely up to date. My husband helped me a lot because there are little differences between English and American styles so I am very grateful to him for spending so much time on it for me. He is awesome.

All in all...a very busy Sunday.