A little Turban love

Alright... Alright. I don't know what hurts worse, my ego, the horrible first impression I made or the terrified Turban wearer on a street corner in London, England.

So the story goes like this...

I just stepped off the London Underground and made my way onto the bustling streets of London.

Myself, and 6 other women- half American's and half Canadian's were on our way to a formal tea at a beautiful hotel in London. We all had on our Smart Casual Dress, which translates to Business Casual Wear in America, anyways, as we excitedly make our way to the hotel we decide to stop and take a picture with the hotel in the background.

You know how it goes with a group with cameras... someone is always left out of the picture because they have to take the shot of the group.

Well, that's not a problem because as we are preparing to get a photo I decide that I'll take it upon myself to find someone to take out group picture.

I look around and see two men in Turbans getting their picture taken in front of the hotel. Perfect!

So... I ask the young man with a mini-turban on his head that was taking the picture if he wants me to take a picture of all three of them together. 

It turns out he speaks English, though not very well.

And yes, he would like me to take his picture with the other two men. 

Okay, good, little turban dude speaks English. Not very well, but well enough.

So, I think, that's a nice offer-to take a picture of all of them and then he can take ours after that.

So I ask him,

"Do you mind taking our picture afterwards?"

Where he proceeds to inform me,

 "NO... I am married man."

What the heck? Am I being accused of hitting on half-pint turban guy. How? What? Wait...

"Noooooo." I say, " You must not get it, I just want you to take our picture- I don't want to take a picture with you." I'm married too- I think we have misunderstanding."

Well, my convincing went nowhere. I'm still not sure if it was a language barrier, a sexist barrier, or a religious barrier. All I know was this poor little guy looked as if I was about to jump on top of him and devour him. He was absolutely terrified of me. Maybe it was my brash American independence. Or maybe it was my lack of intimidation by his tiny turban.  I don't know. All I know is that when I turned around to look at all the ladies that were with me they had a look of complete shock at what I had just done.

I mean really, who am I to fault a man for not wanting to take a picture of a group of women, that is actually quite respectable. I think I'm just embarrassed that I looked like a total American idiot!

How was I supposed to know that this was some uber traditional, women are for mating and should be locked away other than that kind of man with a turban.

And really, turban dude- why was it OKAY for me to take YOUR picture and not for you to take mine. What? What your wife doesn't know won't hurt her? Oh my. OH my. I really need to learn to THINK before I ACT. For some reason, when you are a foreigner in a country, it's 100 times more embarrassing when you mess up b/c you feel like it faults not only you but also your country.


I have no clue what impression I left on the women with me because I know none of them would have DARE done that. They are much smarter then that- much more controlled.

And none of them would ever say "fanny-pack" either. Oh, YES. Fanny-pack my lady friends, in England means pu$$y. And I belted out, right after my photo-snafu.

"I think fanny-packs should make a comeback. "

The old man in the street on his bike almost died. And the ladies with me quickly informed me why you never say fanny-pack in England.

Tata for now!

Keep your distance from men in turbans and never say fanny-pack... NOTED!

Here's the picture from in front of the hotel. And note, I'm left out. I lost on the picture taking solution. But it turns out that it wasn't even the nice angle of the hotel.

 

But this was.

I'm a crack head

I don't know what's worse...

Having a kidney infection. Or taking the medicine that gets rid of it.

I kind of feel like a crack head right now.

How does this happen?

 From the time she goes to bed, until the time she wakes up- what is she doing to make her hair look like this in the mornings???

Vida BEFORE bed...

Crazy Vida hair in the morning!!!

Mommy and Kiddo time

Marc left for a busy relay to the desert.

Not for a long trip, just two days.

The day he left was the first day that felt like fall. Windy, dreary, perfectly fall!

Tripp and I went around the yard collecting twigs to make a fire together while Vida took a nap.

It was a perfect evening roasting marshmallows and enjoying my kids. A perfect FALL evening!

Tripp is so proud of our fire! A puny fire- but still a fire!

 

Holding sissy from touching the fire. 

Taco Night

Mexican food is scarce here. I mean pretty much nonexistent!

Indian food is the equivalent of our Mexican food. There is a Curry Takeaway on every corner. And it's great! I love it. But... it's no Mexican. A girl needs her chips and salsa every now and then! Especially one who grew up in TX!

So... we had a taco night the other night. Basic, nothing fancy hard shell tacos. I ate until I couldn't move anymore!

Here's Vida enjoying her guacamole!

Online grocery shopping

All I can say is... I just shopped for my groceries online and had them delivered to my house. Have I died and gone to heaven?!?!

Steak and Ale Pie- Intro to British Cuisine

Here's my first attempt at a British recipe. It was really yummy! Kind of like a pot roast in a pie. We still don't have our furniture and stuff here yet so I had to use minimal kitchen supplies and improvise a bit. It's usually served with peas and a brown gravy Pretty much everything here is served with peas! Here's the recipe for anyone wanting to try something different. It's a perfect comfort food for the cold weather!!!


I added mushrooms and I also marinaded the beef in ale overnight and replaced the water with ale in the recipe. It's just like the pubs make it. They sell ale individually here, I'm sure you can buy a six pack of specialty brew in the states.

I thought this would be a two night dinner but Marc ate double helpings he liked it so much. Definitely a MAN meal :) And to really treat him... Buy him an ale to drink with the meal. It will make his day.

Hearty beef pie

There’s nothing better than tucking into a warming homemade pie on a chilly autumn evening.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 20 Minutes

Cooking time: 105 Minutes

Nutrition per serving: 642 cals, 25.9g fat, of which 10.8g saturated fat, 11.9g added sugar, 0.1g salt

You will need

• 1 tablespoon Sainsbury’s olive oil
• 485g lean diced casserole steak by Sainsbury’s
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 leeks, chopped
• 2 sticks celery, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons plain flour

• 1 tablespoon tomato purée
• 1 tablespoon dried mixed herbs
• 1 x 500g tub beef stock by Sainsbury’s
• 375g ready rolled puff pastry by Sainsbury’s
• 1 Woodland medium free - range egg by Sainsbury’s, beaten
• 320g frozen petit pois by Sainsbury’s, cooked, to serve

Method

1. Heat half the oil in a non-stick saucepan, then brown the steak in batches and set aside.
2. Add the remaining oil to the pan with the vegetables and brown for 5 minutes, adding the garlic and flour at the last minute. Stir through the tomato purée, steak, herbs, stock and 250ml water. Bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally until the meat is tender.
3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Spoon the beef mixture into a 2 - litre pie dish with a rim.
4. Unroll the pastry and cut a thin strip from one edge. Brush with a little beaten egg and stick to the outer rim of the dish. Drape the remaining pastry over the beef mixture. Trim any excess and crimp the edges. Brush with the remaining egg and cut a hole in the top to let the steam escape. Bake for 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden.
5. Serve with the cooked peas.

Marinade beef in Ale for a day.

I added mushrooms because I love them!

It's not very pretty. I didn't have the right sized pie dish so I used this instead.

I

Tripp's off to Nursery School

We just toured the Nursery School on base for Tripp. It right across the street from Marc's office.  The government here pays for 15 hours a week of nursery school or 3 hours a day 5 days a week. The Mama in me wants to keep him home and is sad to see my little man growing up! The little guy needs to enjoy playing with other kids and learning from others so... off we will send him to his first school adventure!

There are some really unique parts of the curriculum like, a vegetable garden where they learn to harvest plants, pet bunnies that they can play with, no playground equipment - only tubs and tires and natural things to inhibit a greater imagination. When we toured the younger rooms it was nap time and I saw caregivers sitting on the floor rubbing children's backs or holding their hands to get them to sleep and that just makes the Mommy in me happy.  I wish that it was a biblical based school like the preschool we had him signed up for in Omaha but it's not- and I can live with that- it's our job to make sure he learns that in the home anyway- and we haven't been able to find a church here yet. We're still trying to find our way to the grocery store!

Lately, I've tried the homeschooling approach because I know he needs to start learning a little structure and Vida loves it. She sits still and giggles, Tripp won't sit for two seconds and then he wants to go play trains or color on his face.

When we walked in the school today he was shy, and hid behind my let, Mr. Personality... shy?!!?! I guess he's aware of growing up as much as I am. If I could, I would let him hang out with me here forever but I know I must let him go and explore parts of this world on his own and maybe, just maybe I'll be able to get a workout in during his three hours of school!

Thomas Land

If you have been around Tripp in the past couple of months, then you have most definitely heard him ramble on and on about the infamous Thomas Land. Many people thought he was just making up this great place in his head- but there IS a real Thomas Land and it HAPPENS to be about an hour and a half from us.

Since we are starting to get settled in and the cold weather is upon us,  I told Marc is was probably time to make our trip to Thomas Land. We bought our tickets Saturday night and planned to head out Sunday morning. Tripp was so excited that he couldn't eat, he didn't want to sleep and he obsessively watched Thomas Land videos on You Tube for the entire night.

Sunday morning, I heard Tripp crying and he crawled into bed with us. I didn't think much of it, even when he asked me to carry him downstairs when he woke up. I was busy making coffee and breakfast and getting ready for Thomas Land when Marc asked me what was wrong with Tripp's leg. Poor guy, poor little thing... apparently, he fell out of his bed, (which is a tiny twin sized bed on loan from the Air Force until our furniture arrives- a blog on that later!) When he fell out of his bed he landed funky and jammed is knee. He was hobbling around all morning and asking us to carry him. I knew it wasn't bad enough to go to the doctor but I felt horrible for him. He has been asking and talking about Thomas Land for months and the poor guy is so injured he can't walk around and see everything.

Needless to say, it was great! We all had a blast and by the end of the day, Tripp was back to normal and walking around and so happy that he FINALLY made it to THE Thomas Land!!!

He's so excited to finally be at Thomas Land!

Meeting Rosie.

Meeting Edward.

Okay... I just couldn't resist. I have managed to find the ULTIMATE Muffin Top!!!

There IS THOMAS!!!

Riding on the train.

Driving Terrance the Tractor.

Riding rides.