Everyone say awwww…

We found Abby via the St Louis Senior Dog Project. She is a gorgeous Beagle mix and is more than deserving of a loving home.

Poor Abby spent the first 8 years of her life chained up in a yard with nothing but a barrel for shelter.

She is incredibly well behaved and a very loving old girl, which is surprising given her prior situation, but thanks to her loving and caring Foster Mom, she has become a wonderful friend for someone who wants to love her. We happen to be that lucky family.

Welcome to our family, Abba Dabba Do!

Living in the mid west has not exactly been inspirational, though I have enjoyed a lot of things about it.

That is about to change.

Last night Brad and I were the lucky recipients of two tickets in a luxury suite at Busch Stadium.

I’d never been to a baseball game, so this was “a great adventure” for me.

They had Hoochies with slingshots.

and Fredbird

The players: St Louis Cardinals VS New York Mets.

OH MY GOD!  GRAND SLAM!

I had the most amazing evening!  I’ve fallen in love with the game and can’t wait for the next one.

Thank you, Contegix for an amazing night.

I wasn’t convinced, until I threw in some lemon peel after all the crap…. and OMG.  My trash is gone and my kitchen smells of lemony goodness!  Or a leftover herbal teabag.  Yeah baby!  We love the smell of herbally goodness in the kitchen!

For years in Australia, I couldn’t understand why Brad would throw all the potato peelings and such in the kitchen sink, and then I’d have to clean it all out before I could clean the kitchen. Ewww… right?

NOW I understand.  He was used to having a waste disposal in the sink.  It just goes down the damned drain when you have a handy, dandy InSinkErator!

However, I did my duty a few weeks back and went along to the family trip to the zoo.  I was not looking forward to it.  I decided it was a good excuse to test out my new 500mm zoom.

I had a wonderful day and would highly recommend St Louis Zoo for a visit.

2009 was my first Halloween in the USA, it also happened to coincide with my girls visiting.

Our first taste of Halloween was visiting the Pumpkin Patch to choose our pumpkins with my niece and nephew.

Next, we had a family carving night.  Kids young and old had so much fun!

The front step, now resplendent with Jack-O-Lanterns.  Emily gets the prize for most evil, Susan gets the prize for most scaredy cat-like.

Scarefest.

St Louis is well known for it’s haunted houses.  No, not REAL haunted houses, but houses dressed up by Hollywood crews and inhabited by actors dressed as monsters lurking in doorways and camouflaged into the walls.

OMG

It was the most Awesome thing I had ever done.

UNTIL

We went to Knott’s Berry Farm, which at the time was called Knott’s Scary Farm.  It had also been dressed up for Halloween and had actors dressed as monsters, and the rides had been changed for the event as well.  I’d have had a heart attack on several occasions had I not been having such an awesome time.

Halloween 2009 ROCKED!

***I stole the two photos of Scarfest from Scarefest.com***

“The term “Black Friday” originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day. More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers go from being in the red (i.e., posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (i.e., turning a profit).”  Thanks Wikipedia!

Black Friday is the most insane of all insane sale days.

Oh, yes it is!

So, Thanksgiving morning, the newspapers and mailboxes are full of the store brochures advertising their specials.  So those who say that Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks and ALL about the turkey….. they’re lying!

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SALE PLANNING!

It takes you all day to go through the damned brochures and I finally bit the bullet and set up a spread sheet.  I know.  I KNOW!

So, the sales start at different times and are all over the freaking place, so you have to carefully plot your course, however there are some traps for young players!

Sears opens at 4am and has all the kitchen appliances a girl could ever need at never to be seen again prices. J C Penney opens at 5am, Kohls at 6am etc etc  Walmart sale starts at 5am, however Walmart are open all night and if you are keen on something at Walmart (ie: TomToms for $59 and $89), you really should stand by it all night to make sure you get one once they release the goods.

Obviously there are choices to be made and many risks to be taken!

We learned by accident that if you want one of the most popular sale items from Walmart, they sell tickets at 3am… but getting a ticket doesn’t mean you can leave, in fact if you go missing for more than 15 minutes, you lose your spot. Harsh.

One solution I learned from a serious Black Friday shopper (while standing for 3 hours in the TomTom line) is to  co-ordinate with friends and family.  She had people EVERYWHERE in that fucking store.

You also need a runner for snacks, coffee and to stand in line for you for pee breaks.

We had to do a run home after being at Walmart to empty the car for another  stab at the sales.  We’re setting up house, ok???

So, Walmart shoppers, what bargains did YOU grab on Black Friday?

***Photo courtesy of Black Friday 411***

There were several deciding factors, but the main one was receiving the results of a chest x-ray, which was completely clear.  After smoking for 35 years, I was utterly floored.

I decided that this was my second chance.

Brad and I were recommended a book (thanks Simon!) called ‘Allen Carr’s Easy to Way To Stop Smoking” and we both read it.  It was the turning point in both our lives.  This book made it ridiculously easy to stop.  It’s impossible to explain, you have to read it for yourself. If you are ready to stop smoking, read it, I promise it will change your way of thinking about stopping.

Brad and I are both overweight, and have wanted to go back on The Zone diet for some time now, but have lacked the motivation.  Now that we have stopped travelling and are settling into a routine here, we have started the diet and are feeling SO good….. so good in fact that we did the unthinkable this week.

WE SIGNED UP AT A GYM!  I love that it has a pool and I can swim for fitness. At this stage I am able to swim 650 metres after doing 10 minutes on a fucking Elipter *shudder*.  I couldn’t have done 50 metres 3 months ago.  I’m stoked!

Elipter’s need to die a horrible death, also the person who invented them, and their dog.

I want to puke just thinking about all this healthy shit…. but it feels so GOOD to feel good!

Hickam Air Force Base held it’s Open Day today.

Dayum!

Americans know how to entertain the masses.  It was incredible.

The highlight of the day were the Thunderbirds.

I’ve always loved aircraft,  I could watch planes take off and land all day long. Seriously.

Thunderbirds, unsurprisingly, turned out to be something frighteningly close to orgasmic.

Tomorrow… barbecue and football.  Stay tuned.

The boys are going to need a little more practice, methinks.