Living in America....... summer 2010!

[redflipflops]

So.... new thread.... please join me

introductions:

redflipflops - California (central Coast)

Well, I did make a small goof on Ticketmaster and got the 8:00 show instead of the 3:00 but the boys are night owls so I'm hoping it will be OK.

It will be a special Christmas treat then jabber! Had my green card medical this morning, only I couldn't do most of it as am pregnant! All injections and x-rays are pretty much waived, though I'm not sure if that just means they postpone them. Dh's is supposed to be next week (if he's not flying to MN) then the dcs will be done by January. Hopefully it won't be too long after that as the visa runs out in March! [nailbiting emoticon]

I remember in 9th grade we all got worried about a boy's visa getting renewed. He was from England and really cute

My dcs are cute but I think I've passed that stage!

How'd it go Jabber?

They liked the music and lights but the narration thing was kind of boring to all 3 of us It would have been better if I had gotten the 3:00 tickets as planned. As it worked out we stayed an hour and then came home. Ds1, in his typical fashion, didn't say much at the time except that he was tired but now says it was great and he wants to go next year

Would anyone like to take the snow off our hands now? Dh has cleared the drive twice today already and I've had to drive him to work for the last month (he usually cycles). [tired and heavily pregnant emoticon!]

Narration isn't my favorite, but I think the TSO West guy has a much better voice than the East, which I'm assuming is what you got. I find the bar song boring as hell, but after they get done with the Christmas part, they have a really great, more informal second part. Did I tell you that my friend came with me this year, and didn't have a clue who they were or what they did, and asked me if there was going to be any visual stimulation?

No, I'm afraid I don't want any snow. I'd like the IL's to make it up here for Christmas.

We're all ready for Christmas here, except for food. I think we'll make cookies the next few days. DD's teacher gets all of her parent helpers presents every year, and she got everyone wind chimes or something this year, but she knows me really well after 5 years, and got me a bunch of cookie decorating stuff.

i'm almost completely ready for christmas - just wrapped the last gift. we've bought the turkey etc today & i'm going out early tomorrow to get veg. dh has finished work til jan, so it's fun all the way! (i hope)

we also managed to get all the painting & new carpets done, less than a week ago. now it's all perfect & the tree is mine & dd's big delight, we just stand there going 'ooh, pwetty'. it's the first time i have EVER lived in a house that is decorated, tidied & organised (my mum would deny this, but i have witnesses). also first time i've had a tree bigger than 3 feet, so i just keep wandering around looking at my house & feeling smug. i'm sure we'll manage to mess it up soon, but it has been tidied & cleaned for almost a week now!!

ooh, and mme bucket, i am hoping to make some cookies, then spray them with edible gold glitter (which is a bit orange tan-fastic, but never mind), using these

i'm hoping they'll look sophisticated & i can hang them on my tree.

I really love those pearly gray ball-thingies that people sometimes put on cookies and cupcakes. My cookies were not lovely. The kids wanted to decorate them all. But they were decorated with love and a lot of fun was had.

We're pretty much ready here. I have to get about 5 things from the grocery store tomorrow, and that's about it. IL's are getting here in the afternoon. This is the worst time of year for DH. He's been working late all the time, and Christmas will be his only day off in 2 weeks.

Happy Christmas everyone!

My DC have had a sick bug for the last few days.... am hoping it clears up for Christmas Day!

Tad my DC would love some snow they are very envious of their cousins in England! We have just had mega rain storms in CA.

Not quite ready for Christmas as still have lots of wrapping to do. Still missing parcels for the UK which is really upsetting as they were sent in November. Find wrapping a struggle at the moment as my hips get really sore after a while. You can come and get some snow red - it doesn't appear to be melting any time soon! V jealous of all your baking. I'm not very patient with my little ones and end up putting it off. Do have to make some trifle sponges for the trifle on Christmas Day though. Anyone got any useful recipes?

hmm. well, it's a good thing we're all ready - i just spent the day in bed. thought it might be strep throat, but went to doc's & it's just a viral thing. i did manage to get in the last groceries, then had to wait 40 mins at the check out.

WHY does christmas result in people buying ten times as much food? we buy in nice things, but not too much, there's still only 3 of us. do people really eat double or triple their normal amount? and surely the people do big shops cos they have visitors should be balanced out by the ones who are going away so buy nothing?

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas with family, friends and lots of good food.

I buy a lot of food, because I panic about the grocery stores not being open for a day, even though I have tons of food here. Not joking, I seem to be some sort of food hoarder when there's a possibility of food not being around.

Merry Christmas all. We're in full swing here. IL's are here, and MIL and the kids are making cookies while I make everything that can be made early for tomorrow.

oh dear lord. not only have i just found out the difference between a 'ham' in the US from the UK, so dinner was nice but a surprise thise eve., but i've just looked in the fridge & realised how much meat there is. we've got

turkey (which i'll cover with bacon)
skinny sausages, to be wrapped in bacon
sausagemeat, for sage & onion stuffing.

and left over 'ham' (well, pork, actually).

that's a lot for 3 people, isn't it?

anyone want to come round to ours for lunch?

happy christmas.

We're having honey-baked ham tomorrow, yummm. Along with lots and lots of food

Santa is done, going to bed now. I am utterly exhausted. I had a meeting with my accountant last week and wound up doing lots of last minute things at the office so that we weren't in some kind of stupid tax situation come Jan. 1st. Dh was fairly sympathetic but I don't think he really "got" it as far as how much work it actually was. Roll on 2011...

We're desperately trying to bake some trifle sponges for tomorrow but the first two attempts haven't worked out. We're at 3600ft and I don't think that has helped. Any clues?

Ummm, substitute with Hostess Twinkies? Or send out a call to Mme B.

Hello everyone

Havent seen this thread in ages and only skimmed a bit but wanted to come and say Hello and wish you all a merry christmas

Super Bunny

I know a lot about baking, but not high altitude baking, I'm afraid. And I bet I'm late.

THE BUNNY!!!!! I'm so happy to have seen The Bunny.

We're about 1/2 hour away from dinner here. Everyone wanted a ham, but I'm the one cooking, so I did turkey. We did every single thing from scratch this year, right down to the bread for stuffing cubes. Hoping it turns out great.

Present city here. DH outdid himself this year. (Actually, he's not very good at presents, most of the time.) Kids are drowning in Lego.

Merry Christmas all, hope you all are having a wonderful day.

when i was a student we did an exchange to the US for a term & had an international eve - we were supposed to provide trifle. we decided on twinkie bars cut up, goop scooped out, as the base, made some custard, left it to cool and an hour later came back to discover ... it gone! the bowl was still there, but no custard.

hey, happy christmas, bunny!

i'm always so pleased to see that you're settled & happy in your 'new' life.

i've been having a few drinkies, and 'lunch' won't be before 6 pm - there have been a few mis-haps (of the lying in, not getting stuff done kind) so am drinking on an empty stomach.

dh & dd both happily plugged into a game each. turns out i'm useless at mariokart, so decided to mn whilst drunken instead.

Merry Christmas Bunny!

I rest my case re: twinkies

Santa also went a little overboard this year but after the extreme lean-ness of last it seemed justified. And the boys are having a blast. Lots of legos amongst the booty.