Blog NEWS!

I have now registered the following domain name for this blog and you can reach it with either the old address or this new easier to remember address:

http://www.britgalusa.com/

If it is not working immediately, give it a day please :-)

Where would YOU send me in the USA?

I am going to turn the tables for a change and ask my American readers for the #1 place they would send me to visit in the States.....and why?

So come on give me your best ideas please :-)

Shopaholic moves to the country!

Let me paint a scenario for you......

For the first 39 years of your life you have just about instant access to major shopping facilities and you live within 40 minutes of London. During your 30's not only are you even closer to London and living within 5 minutes of a huge Mall, but you also have a decent amount of disposable income as well. If you needed a last minute outfit you could just swing by the huge Mall after work and find one, no big deal!

Combine this with a lifelong love of make-up, hair products, clothes, shoes, handbags, jewelry and being definitely more Glam' than Grunge.....then what do you have?













A Shopaholic!


Now imagine moving in your 40th year to a VERY rural area in Oklahoma, being 2 hours from ANY kind of Mall and 3 hours from the kind you're used to! ......And Bob's your uncle that's my life now as a retired shopaholic.

We do have a reasonably large town 20 minutes away but the mini-mall is just that and contains a clothes store, a silk florist, a christian bookstore, a beauty salon, quilting shop and cafe. I am sure this paints an adequate picture for you. We do have a Super Walmart (woohoo), last year we got a Walgreens (great excitement) and there are a number of nice independant stores but this is NO shopping metropolis!

Yesterday I heard we have a Quizno's, another unconfirmed chain restaurant (Applebee's/Chilli's type) moving in, a new planned small Mall, possibly an iHop and a Lowes. They are also currently building a Hampton Inn and a La Quinta - these are heady days indeed and there is now a rapid growth spurt out here in the Wild West!



But this is also the land of constant rumours as to who is supposedly moving in next and many of these seem born more out of longing than actual fact. But undoubtedly some of these are actually going to happen - HALLELUJAH!

When I heard about Lowes yesterday it would be fair to say I was sadly over-excited, I mean it's pretty bad when a Lowes store can bring on that much happiness (gawd help me if we ever get a Garden Ridge or Hobby Lobby!). For any Brit's reading Lowes is the glamourous bigger sister to B&Q. But if we get a Lowes then it will just be a matter of time before other nationally known chains move in too, we might be talking about the holy grail of up and coming towns..... a Starbucks sometime in the distant future!



Don't get me wrong I am very happy here and have no desire to return to my old life, but the lack of decent shopping is only something a girl from London would put up with for TRUE love! It's the only aspect of my new life I really hate, and of course men really don't have alot of sympathy for us girls or our 'need' for some decent retail therapy.

When we do get to the cities I am like a kid in a candy store, poor Hubster just has to grin and bear it and generally he does. But after 4-5 hours waiting on me rushing around like a headless chicken trying to pack it all in, things can start to wear a trifle bit thin between us! And if there is a Sephora in the Mall, then he knows he is in real dire straits, as that's at least an hour right there.

One of the other issues that can cause friction is that when I try on clothes I like to have his opinion. Now this isn't because I don't know what suits me, with all that retail therapy behind me I can skim a store in 30 seconds for 'my style' and be out again if it's a dud. But I do like to at least show him what I'm thinking of getting, as I sometimes dress a little riskier than the locals (it's the Euro' thing I guess) and I want him to feel comfortable with what I wear in public - to a certain extent! But he just hates waiting around for me to try things on and would rather do his own thing, so now I just let him as it's all just too stressful otherwise and a fight ruins all the fun!

So I have become through necessity the internet shopping Queen. If you need to know where the best online store is to buy anything - just ask me!

My Shopping folder in favourites is huge and full of not only the well-known but the obscure specialists. I know where to find the best deals, how to beat prices and get those 'if you can beat our price we'll pay you the difference plus more' deals. Internet shopping is my sanity saviour out here and all the UPS drivers wave to me and know me as Sarah!

We haven't been to a Mall since October when we went to Amarillo, a great place to shop and yes if you're a Brit ' I do know the way to Amarillo tralala lala lala laaaa'! Right now we plan on a trip in April but I am starting to have serious withdrawal symptoms and have been dropping subtle hints to Hubster about going earlier.... (maybe he'll read this) before I go crazy.

So the next time you just pop down to the Mall, spare a thought for the 'enforced-by-love' retired shopaholic, buried deep somewhere in the depths of the beautiful but Mall free Okie countryside!

Brit' Word of the Day....

This is a word that originated in London as Cockney Rhyming Slang for the Scapa Flow:

"You'd better scarper before she catches you here"


'Scarper' = run off / leave very quickly


This is still in daily use around London and the surrounding area's, but most Brit's would know what you mean by this.

Patient Abuse!

The situation with medical care and the costs in the USA, is too large a problem for me to even have a desire to discuss here - just know it stinks and if you're a Brit' be glad for the NHS, however bad it gets!

But I thought I would share a recent shocking experience with a well known national blood testing Laboratory, I can't name them obviously!

Since last August I have had the same five blood tests run by them every month and the invoice (which I pay direct having no insurance cover) has always been $177. I went as usual in February, saw the same nurse (the only employee at this Lab') and had the blood drawn.

Two weeks later the invoice arrived for $391, which represented a 220% price increase in a month!! First of all it nearly gave me a coronary and then I thought this has to be a genuine error on their part. One of these tests had gone up by 347% in one month!

So I called their billing department and asked them. It was no mistake, they had a price increase on January 27 and therefore my invoice stood. I pointed out the nurse never advised me of the price increase, there were no signs visible about it and therefore I was not paying it. After conferring with a manager she said I should have been told, I said well I was not, she said then you need to take this up with that Lab' - effectively passing the buck nicely.

So I called the nurse, who I have got know well and explained the problem. She also did not know about any price increase and was in total shock at how much my invoice had increased! She called the billing department herself and was basically told you should know this, to which she replied well you haven't told me. She explained to them she does not collect money ever at the site and therefore has no idea on pricing. They said what you don't have a price list, you don't have signs about the increase up? She confirmed no and a price increase like this would put the already quiet Lab' out of business, with a cheaper hospital across the street!

So I then emailed in two complaints and threatened them with letters to the Better Business Bureau and our Congressman. Big surprise they had not replied after two weeks, despite stating you should hear back within 24 hours!

After 2 weeks, the nice nurse called me to see if I had it resolved and offered a solution. She had spoken to her Area Manager and he advised me to ask my Dr to get the tests billed direct to him as they would be less. So I called my Dr and they happily agreed to try this for me and I ignored the invoice.

Finally this week I got a response from my complaints saying the bill will not be reduced, but by now I had settled a much reduced bill at my Dr's office from them.

So now the shocking part.......

January invoice = $177
February invoice = $391

Same invoice but billed direct to my Dr = $83

This bill has been the talk of my Dr's office amongst his staff, despite dealing with medical costs all day, even they can't believe a Lab' can justify charging an uninsured patient $308 more!!

So lucky for me I got it resolved but it made me so mad I have reported the whole saga to the Better Business Bureau anyway. On the basis that patients should be advised of such a major price increase before the blood is drawn - we shall see!

My personal soul food

Today I finally had a Thursday free of work and made it back to my hand quilting group for some soul food!

I was not a seamstress before I moved here, my lifestyle in the UK just didn't have room for crafts and it's also not really something women in their thirties seem to do. Most British women need to work, or those that don't have children to look after. Crafts such as these seem to be dying out with the younger generation there.

The wonderful lady who has become my 'substitute' Grandma here invited me along when I first arrived. I couldn't work due to waiting on immigration procedures and had time on my hands, I was also keen to make friends in my new home. So I decided to go along and give it a try.

Well the benefits have been bountiful and I learned a new skill, now having a hobby I really enjoy. The fact I had always hand sewn things due to my lack of knowledge with sewing machines turned out to be a benefit, as I was soon able to form the tiny evenly spaced stitches consistently. I have now been hand quilting regularly for over 2 years and get real pleasure from it creatively and knowing my stitches will be on someones family heirloom.

Sadly hand quilting seems to be a dying craft, many younger women in this area piece quilts but very few have the patience or time to hand quilt them.


But the greatest pleasure has been in the friendships I have formed with ladies who are nearly all over thirty years older than me. They not only extended friendship to an outsider but they have taught me the history of our area and told me tales of the old days I would never have known. They have regularly made me laugh until I cried and on a few occasions shocked me with their jokes and conversations!

When I first joined the other 'younger' lady said to me it's so much fun but you do realise we are setting ourselves up for a whole lot of heartache in the years to come as these ladies pass over.

She's already been proved right but I still wouldn't have missed this experience for the world. My hand quilting ladies group is truly 'Food for the Soul' in so many ways and I am determined to try and get more Thursday's free so I can enjoy their company more regularly.

A seriously scary Granny!

Channel 5 news last night ran a piece on mailbox theft in OKC. Without doubt the highlight was the interview with a little old lady called Helen Catlin.

She looked like anyone's Grandma until the reporter asked her what she would do if she caught anyone stealing her mail. Her answer was somewhat unexpected for a Brit'!

"I'd hurt them, in fact I'd cripple them and if need be I'd kill them, they come on my property and I'm gonna hurt them bad or kill them" - that was the gist of it....anyway the words hurt, cripple and kill were all in there for sure. She was all FIRED UP and this was said with ALOT of Granny gusto!

Now I can guarantee you might see the occasional rankled Granny on British TV and she might be pretty wound up about an issue. But I can also guarantee you'd never hear her say she'd hurt the protagonist, cripple or kill them with such fervour; mean it, have the ability to do so and be within the law....LOL!

Helen had me in fits of laughter but I took her threats pretty seriously, after all you have gun-toting Granny's with a 'make my day' law to back them up here.

Maybe this is what the retired and often picked upon older population of the UK needs - access to guns and a law to uphold their rights to defend their property!

I can't believe I am beginning to sound like a gun advocate....I am definitely morphing into an Okie!

Brit' Word of the Day....

This is one some of you might already know, but around here I get blank looks everytime I say it, which is often as it's a very common expression in the UK!

"Can I make my next appointment in a fortnight"


'Fortnight' = 2 weeks

It is actually an abbreviated version of 'fourteen nights'


This is a very handy little expression!

School Snippets #3...

Well I thought I had escaped lightly the past 2 days until the 3rd grade (9 yr olds) just showed up for class. Word has obviously spread in the Grade school that I am substituting and they were well prepared for me!!

When it was obvious they were too excited to settle down quietly, I decided to allow them some time to question me. When I said any questions for me, all 15 put their hands up - just a tad overwhelming!

Here are the choice questions and comments of this hour, keep in mind they have been watching the Julie Andrews version of Mary Poppins.....











This is my stern British Substitute Teacher look!

"WOW you sound so cool!"
"Are you speaking Irish?"
"Are you speaking British?"
"If I go to England will I be able to speak British?"
"Did you live in a castle?"
"Have you met Robin Hood or been to his forest?"
"Is your laptop from England?"
"Have you been to Scotland"
"Do you drive on the left side of the road?"
"Do you drive the same cars as us?" When I told them we don't have Pickups they were pretty shocked and horrified...lol!

"Did you bring your car from England?"
"Are you're clothes from England?"
"Will you teach us to speak British too?"
"Do you have McDonald's in England"
"My Dad's castle is in England" LOL!!
"Can you speak Irish?"

"Have you got a King and Queen?"
"Why haven't you got a King?"
"Have you met the Queen?" I would be rich if I had a cent/penny for everytime I have been asked this!
"Do you know what 'Queen' is in English?" !!

"You sound just like Mary Poppins!" (too funny as I definitely do not!)

Then we all had a sing-a-long to 'Supercalifragilistic' and Chim' Chiminee Cheroo - not at all sure on the spelling!!

Before they left I taught them the British word 'chuffed' and I could still hear them shouting it at each other as they crossed the yard....lol

Every dieters nightmare....

I appear to have hit my first weightloss plateau!

There's just no movement up or down, I guess at least it's not increasing, but it's getting bloody annoying after 2 weeks.

I am staying within my Weightwatchers points and on track, so I have had a look through what I have been doing differently food wise and think I may have found the culprits.....

Some of the regular readers will remember a couple of weeks ago I was happy to discover a Creme Egg was just 3 pts. So I have been happily building them into my daily allowance since then and 'Bob's your uncle' I'm now stuck!

Prior to this the same 3 pts were used on a delicious WW recipe Pumpkin Pie that my buddy and I ate every single day. It's just sooo frustrating - they are equivalent to the same number of points, but they are obviously not 'truly' equivalent!

Pumpkin Pie is obviously healthier, contains less fat and a piece of it alot more filling - it's just not a Creme Egg! So whilst being inspired by The Biggest Loser last night, I made the sad but inevitable decision to drop the Creme Eggs and kickstart my losses again...

I may just allow myself one a week, after all they're not around for too long ;-)

Brit' Word of the Day....

Us Brit's are very good at coming up with alternative words to say in company, that describe the more graphic bodily acts and functions!!

Today I will deal with the most common things a Brit's will say in the place of the word sex, or two consenting adults doing things that might lead to it! Basically all the following would mean only one thing when said to a Brit'......

'Rumpy Pumpy'

'Hanky Panky'

'Slap & Tickle'

'On the job' (if in the right context)

'Nookie'

'Roger' (this can have 'ing' or 'ed' as an ending)

'Shag'

'Bang'


So if you're the hairdresser to a Brit', be very careful when you discuss their bangs with them!

OKC votes YES

The 63% 'YES' vote, for the extension of a 1c sales tax for Oklahoma City to fund refurbishment of the Ford Center in downtown, is a great victory for the whole State.


The Ford Center is our primary 'Event' location in the city, it hosts sports, music and live entertainment events all year round. It already hosts big names with both Bon Jovi and Kanye West heading here in April, at Christmas the Trans-Siberian Orchestra stopped by with their award winning show. But refurbishment will attract even bigger names more frequently and hopefully some major league sports.

After New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Katrina, their NBA Basketball team was relocated temporarily to OKC with huge success and big crowds. Since then there has been a long running campaign to get an NBA team for OKC, a business conglomerate has even bought the Seattle Sonics with a view to permanently relocating them here. But to make this happen, we have to show a serious intent to support an NBA team, having both the facilities and infrastructure in place to even be considered as a 'Big League' city. Today we took a big step down this road....



Everytime we get to OKC there has been further development of the downtown area known as Bricktown. It is now a great place to visit; with a good selection of quality shops, restaurants, bars and clubs. It also has it's share of year round and seasonal tourist attractions, with the Bricktown Canal area, Baseball Stadium, OKC Bombing Memorial, Botanical Gardens, Toby Keith's Restaurant and the ongoing live events in the area.

There are centrally located quality hotels to stay in, including the newly refurbished historic Skirvin and visitors can take carriage rides, boat rides and even Rickshaw rides!

So the result of this vote was critical for the continued rapid development of downtown OKC as a viable tourist area. I applaud the voters in Oklahoma City for seeing this for what it was - a wonderful opportunity to ensure OKC stays on the national map and continues to grow in stature.

I love your shoes!

This is what I heard all day long today!

I literally could have auctioned these Jessica Simpson 'ballet flat' cuties, straight off my feet to the highest bidder at school today. So I thought okay maybe it's just a teen thing, but no the older lady serving in the Quick Stop literally shouted across the store "oh my gawd cute shoes, where d'ya get 'em from?" Luckily there was nobody else in there at the time...lol!

Now this makes me feel kind of justified in my style choices, as hubby was not at all sure the first time he saw these. But then I ask you ladies, do men 'really get' our shoes? This was their first day 'out of the closet' in our rural area and they were mighty popular let me tell you.

Judging by some of the questions and comments I get in schools, the kids here think British people are just "too cool" and "so stylish"......so you know I try not to disappoint them and live up to this reputation I have purely by default ;-)

Now I have to go and search my (80+ pairs) shoe closet again and come up with another pair to keep my reputation intact tomorrow. Oh yes..........

"My name is Sarah and yes I DO have a shoe addiction"

I'm certainly no Sienna Miller, but I am doing my bit out here in the Wild West to keep the Brit' individual style and uber-cool reputation alive and well!

Political differences US vs UK

As a relative newbie to the USA, I am the first to admit I have a limited knowledge of US politics and it doesn't help that it's so complicated by comparison to the UK.

For instance, once I become a citizen and register to go onto the electoral roll here, I also have to register with a political party right upfront. In other words, I have to place my allegiance with either the Republican (UK Conservative) or Democrat (UK Labour) party and in the Primaries (the stage the Presidential election is at now), I can only vote for the candidates of my chosen Party! I could register as an Independant but then I will probably forfeit the right to vote at all in the Primaries, as very few States seem to have Independant candidates on the register.

In the UK when you reach the age of majority (18) you are added to the electoral role by annual canvass. Every household receives a canvass card, this has to be completed and returned for all householders of majority age. You do not have to pledge an allegiance to any party though, you can vote anyway you want to at any election be it local or national.

We just approach this process of selecting the governing party and Prime Minister differently. In the UK the general public is cut-out of the initial part altogether and just the registered Party members get to vote on the candidates for their leadership. So unless you are a close follower of politics in the UK, you will often just be aware of who the candidates are for the leadership of each Party. The national campaigning only really starts once the date of the General Election has been announced.

The costs of campaigning in the Primaries I find quite unbelievable. Mitt Romney who ultimately pulled out of the race, spent approximately $98 million the equivalent of about ₤47 million!! Up to the same date (Jan. 31) the leading Democrat candidates, Obama and Clinton, had spent $115 and $109 million (₤55-60m) respectively. With the campaigning for Super Tuesday and the past month added in, I am sure these figures have sky-rocketed! As a Brit' I just find these figures staggering and it makes me glad the UK chooses to avoid this first round madness.

Campaigning costs in the UK for the main political parties as a whole, are limited in the 365 days leading up to a General Election. In 2005 the limit was ₤11,902,500 ($23 million) per party and these included expenses for all forms of advertising, direct mail, canvassing and rallies. Any party that exceeded the limit, upon conviction, would be subject to a fine.

I also don't think us Brit's would stomach political campaigning at such a high sustained level for a year before you even get to the final vote. Our 2005 General Election total timetable had only 17 working days in it until election day and the last day for receipt of registration of applications, is only 7 weeks beforehand. So the UK General Election process is far more condensed and has strict regulations on campaigning.

I am actually finding the political side of life in the USA far more interesting than I anticipated.

First of all just trying to understand your electoral process takes time and alot of patience on behalf of my husband. Then seeing the madness of the campaigning, rallies and celebrity endorsements.... I can't say that I really care ultimately who Tom Cruise or Oprah choose to support, but I am sure there are many influenced by this rather than the policies!

I tend to be influenced more by a candidates track record or reputation. For example, it has surprised me greatly how short the public memory seems to be in respect of the Clintons and their inability to steer clear of sleaze and dodgy dealings!

I would love to see a female President someday. But I firmly believe with all the current unrest in the Middle East, where women are still regarded as second class citizens, a female leader will be viewed with much derision and seen as a possible US weakness. This is just not the right time for such a major step internationally and that's coming from someone who grew up under Margaret Thatcher. But the Middle East nations are much more unstable and terrorists stir the moslem vs christian situation daily. Many of the leaders of these nations I believe would struggle with the concept of a female leading the majority of the western world.

Another surprising aspect for me is the age of the Republican Presidential candidate, John McCain. If he is elected President he will be 71 years when he takes office and this just seems too old! I just hope he has a younger, healthy (not that he is isn't) and equally popular running mate, just in case! My husband points out his experience and references Reagan as being about the same age when he was President. Maybe this is just my particular perception, as for the past 11 years the UK has had a relatively young leader!

If I had to predict who will be President this time next year, then first of all I am pretty certain it will be a Democrat. From what I observe, the US public seems to have reached the same point of disillusionment that we had, when our Democrats (Labour) gained power again with a young leader - Tony Blair.

As to who will be President, well either way that person will make history. Right now I would bet a buck on Barack Obama and I think he would make a good progressive leader for the USA.

Brit' Word of the Day....

Todays word is commonly used in daily conversation:

"The other person working with me is such a dosser"

"I just doss around all day"



'Doss' = to sit around, or a person who just sits around is a dosser

Should be fun!!

If you know me personally this will be pretty funny.....for the next 2 days I am the Music & Band Teacher at one of our local schools!!

Singing is not my forte and my whistling has been known to clear rooms, I have no doubt there'll be a school snippet after this experience....lol!

Back on the rollercoaster

I spent most of today after going blonde again, running around getting tests done for my Graves Disease.

Over the past 10 days I have suspected I was going back into hyperthyroidism and my mum told me I looked like I was, after seeing me on the webcam Friday. I also have Graves Opthamology which is the eye disease, the most apparent symptom being big or protruding eyes.

So today I went to the Optician who took one look at me and said 'yep you're hyper'. Well my eyes aren't protruding yet but they are bigger and the right one more so. But it's something that is very hard to tell yourself, when you see your eyes everyday! So he took a few measurements and confirmed what we both knew already, I have slid too far.

So then off to my Dr, who drew blood and has sent it off for a full thyroid panel & TSH. These will be back tomorrow and then he will call me to increase my medications again and we will try to get me back in range. This will automatically shrink my eyes, lower my BP again and decrease the anxiety that has returned.

This is just life with Graves Disease. I was diagnosed 11 months ago and now know the warning signs of both hyper and hypothyroidism, as with this disease you swing both ways!

So unfortunately I won't be level by my 1 year anniversary, but I will at least be hopefully back in normal range. The problem as we are finding out, is how to keep me there!

Brit' Word of the Day....

Today's word means something many of us often think and can be used in two ways!

"I could really do with a quick kip today"


"I just didn't get a decent kip last night"


In the first example:

'KIP' = Nap

and in the second:

'KIP' = Sleep


With this word it's all about the context!

Wacky Weather Update....

I am off to bed and it's now 40 degrees cooler outside than it was 7 hours ago!!!!!

Yep it's 37 and snow is heading towards us fast, earlier this evening a tornado touched down about 80 minutes east of us and we just had a recorded wind gust of 55mph.

What was it I said in my post on Saturday about all we needed for a weather 'full house' was a tornado....I guess I'll keep my opinions to myself in the future!

Only in Oklahoma....

Magnolia & Squirrel Care 101

Train your pets to help out around the garden, by keeping precious plants warm on days they are allowed out from the garage in winter....the plant that is!


This is my second attempt to grow a traditional Dutch Magnolia Tree here in windy Oklahoma. The first I planted straight into the garden and then we had a drought and it was a goner. So this time I have kept it in this tub of enriched garden soil for a year now and will leave it until summer 2009 to get well-established, before I plant it in the yard.

Since winter began we have kept it dormant in the garage and just rolled it our on sunny warm days and watered it. I am now being rewarded with new furry buds and things are looking hopeful.


We also have a tame neighbourhood Squirrel who has visited us all winter long for nourishment. His feeding box is on the Cottonwood tree opposite the kitchen window and he always makes me smile as he ducks in and out of the food.

But as you can see, my girls have also developed a certain fondness for our future Magnolia tree and our tame Squirrel and give them plenty of TLC and attention too!

Decisions, decisions!

I am off to the hairdresser in the morning to get my colour done and as you can see this is a constantly changing decision for me! Above is funky streaky golden me!

I have been colouring my hair for about 30 years and I guess the problem is with my colouring I can go a few ways.....but whichever way I go, I always change it the next time....and hubby doesn't help as he always says 'I like it - however'.....urgh!

And now we are in Spring, it's sunnier (well snowy actually but I'm optimistic) and therefore I feel the need to be blonder, no logic to explain this, it just always happens as the weather improves. The picture above is me pretty close to my natural shade, not bad, but a bit mousey which is more 'serious minded' me!

Right now my hair is pretty close to natural with a bit more red and I do like it, plus I don't have too much regrowth. I see women with wonderful red tones in the Fall/Autumn and think 'oh I need to be auburn to match the foliage'!!

But this is the 'real' me....a true light blondie. When I am this blonde I feel it epitomises 'me' better, it makes me feel sassy, exuberant and fun......the 'Sharon Stone' me!

I guess I am going back to blonde land, I may lose a few brain cells in the process but the rewards are so worth it! LOL ;-)

Spring has sprung!

We are officially under a Tornado Watch and the temperature has dropped 20 degrees in 30 minutes from 73 to 53.....Spring storm season has officially arrived in Oklahoma!

It looks like it will all just miss us, as we have squally thunderstorms right now but they are rapidly forming supercells as they head east.

But we have done as the weatherman said and discussed our family tornado plan:

Me "what's our family tornado plan"

Hubby "lol"

Me "grab a cat each and head for the storm cellar"

We are well prepared, have no fear!

Talented Brit's # 1!!

Double-click play.....

This makes me so proud to be British!! ;-)

Happy Mothers Day......

in England today, which when I first got here resulted in my having to make a Mothers Day card for the first time in years! Mothering Sunday is the first Sunday in March in the UK.

Don't ask me why we are out of sync with the rest of the world (except Australia?), but we are? So I have learned to plan ahead and buy my mum a card in May each year and tuck it away until March. But then I still have to remember and this year had totally forgotten until a chance visit to a British site reminded me last Monday!

So I'd like to wish my mum a very Happy Mothers Day across the pond and send her my love.

Brit' Word of the Day....

Today's word needs translating both ways!

This totally confused me the first time I heard this on a telephone announcement!

"Please press the pound key at the end of the number"

There I was looking everywhere on the phones key pad for a ₤ symbol and thinking why on earth do they have our money symbol on their phones??

If you were in England you would hear:

"Please press the hash key at the end of the number"

Which has Americans wondering about drugs or funny fried potato!


'Pound Key' = Hash key

# = ₤


Even now I still have to think about this for a split second each time I hear it!

Can't wait to see this....

The adaptation of one of my all time favourite books into a movie. It was released this weekend and now I just have to wait and wait for it to reach us out here in rural Okieland!

It's about the machinations of the Boleyn family to gain power in the reign of Henry VIII, by basically throwing their daughters in his lecherous path. It tells the story of the lesser known Mary, as well as the infamous Anne Boleyn, and the heavy price they ultimately pay as a family for their ambition.

It was a wonderful book and the movie looks like it may just live up to it for once. The cast includes Scarlett Johannson, Natalie Portman, Kristin Scott Thomas & Eric Bana. Guaranteed to be full of lavish settings, stunning views of England, treachery, treason and heaving tightly corseted bosoms....a sure fire box office smash!

Brit' Word of the Day....

Today's word originates from Somerset, a beautiful county in the south-west of England that is also home to my brother.


"John is a complete and utter wazzack sometimes"



'WAZZACK' = IDIOT


I can definitely see some of you having fun with this one!!

Wacky Weather AGAIN!!

Brace yourselves Okies....it's another few days of everything the weather can throw at us all squeezed in tight by Tuesday!

Today - 11am and it's already 65, sunny and a bit windy... we are heading to a big fat 80 and 40mph wind gusts by this afternoon. Now that's my kind of weather....I grew up loving windy days in England, obviously I was always headed down a path to Oklahoma!!
There is however one downside. It's so darned dry out here, what that actually means is 40mph DUST gusts - not so good!

Sunday - expecting 58 and quite alot of RAIN....finally goodbye dust!

Monday - wait for it.........44 and SNOW - quite a bit apparently!!

Tuesday - back to 61 and sunny and a complete weather cycle in just 4 days will be ours.

Now if we can just throw in a tornado tomorrow and we'll have a full house of weather, life is never boring in OK, choosing clothing however is a challange!