Home Sweet Home

I love Bank Holidays! We stayed in and relaxed all day and I got quite a bit of cross stitching done.

As you can see in the picture Pazzesca also enjoys having a day off to play around. She spent a good 10-15 minutes chasing her own tail. She was rolling around and flipping from side to side. Thankfully she showed she was smarter than a dog as she never started running around in circles. When she would catch her own tail she gave it a couple of licks and then let go of it to start the whole chase over. Crazy cat.

Have you noticed the date countdown up in the title? This is day 335 out of 365! I can not believe we have been over here now for 11 months... it does not seem possible.

High: 66°
Low: 54°
Forecast: Periods of Rain
Sunrise: 6:18 AM
Sunset: 8:02 PM

Today we had Wigan at home. There are a couple new faces in the squad and they made their debut today. In the above picture you can see Sylvain Distin. He is the taller guy walking toward the camera. He is our new defender and in my opinion will fill the role Lescott left very well if not better.


In the above photo you can see Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (just call him Billy) who just arrived from Russia. Do you see the three footballers in the picture? He is the one in the middle facing the camera. He is 24 years old but to me he looks so much younger. Plus practising with Marouane Fellaini (left) and Jô (right) makes him look even smaller as they are both pretty tall.

The match was great, we ended up winning 2-1. We won on an injury time penalty and it was a very happy scene at Goodison Park. We dominated for most of the match but it seemed like nothing was going to hit the back of the net. We deserved the win after our performance so I am glad we came out of the match with the 3 points.

It's an International break next weekend so no football... seems like it just started and we are already taking a break. Ugh!

High: 58°
Low: 51°
Forecast: Passing Showers
Sunrise: 6:16 AM
Sunset: 8:04 PM

I have started a new cross stitch project today. Hopefully I will get quite a bit done since it's a Bank Holiday weekend. Yippee!!

We do have an Everton match tomorrow but I will have all day Monday and I have Wednesday off so I will get even more done then.

Once I am finished with it I will show off my hard work.

High: 58°
Low: 51°
Forecast: Passing Showers
Sunrise: 6:14 AM
Sunset: 8:07 PM

This unexpected light almost made us late for work today! It stayed on red f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Thankfully they were done with the work by the time we made our way home so the light has now been removed.

Andy, James, Tracey and I were all going to go see The Final Destination in 3D tonight but when we got to the movie theater the 9pm and 11pm showings were both already sold out. We ended up seeing Funny People instead and it was a very good movie. There was some pretty strong language in it but since it is about stand up comedians this is understandable. All in all I am glad we saw it... Monday is a Bank Holiday so we have a three day weekend ahead of us. Yay!

High: 55°
Low: 48°
Forecast: Rain
Sunrise: 6:13 AM
Sunset: 8:09 PM

On the way to work today there was a car broken down in the road. It was raining and the poor man and woman inside the car had to get out and push it up to this curb so that cars could pass.

Now you may have noticed below that one of the labels for this post is 'Things I Hate'. I am not referring to the car that broke down or the poor people that had to get out to push it out of the way... I am referring to the cars in front of us that thought it wise to start honking and yelling at the situation.

How can that couple help that their car just died? Do you think they wanted it to happen and then to have to get out in the rain to push it?

Rude drivers annoy me.

High: 60°
Low: 51°
Forecast: Early Rain, Partly Cloudy Afternoon
Sunrise: 6:11 AM
Sunset: 8:12 PM

The remnants of Hurricane Bill came through England today. It was pouring down rain as we drove into work and this picture shows what the front window looked like just after the windshield wipers went by. The minute the rain was pushed away it came right back.

The rain did die down to a nice steady shower and it was quite windy all day. It was funny a week or so ago I was talking on Facebook about how I miss watching The Weather Channel. I used to be addicted to watching it when hurricanes were hitting somewhere. This is a much smaller dose of what other people received but I was still able to be involved with Hurricane Bill in a small part and that made me happy.

High: 61°
Low: 50°
Forecast: Rain and Wind
Sunrise: 6:09 AM
Sunset: 8:14 PM

Andy and I have decided to start our Slim Fast diets today! You are now looking at our breakfast and lunch for the foreseeable future.

The canisters of powder are for breakfast and the pre-made smoothies and shakes are for lunch. Then of course it will be a sensible meal for dinner. We also bought a lot of different kinds of fruit for snacks. Bring on the weight loss!

High: 61°
Low: 54°
Forecast: Partly Cloudy
Sunrise: 6:07 AM
Sunset: 8:16 PM

I have never taken the time to read the side of a milk carton before...

Seriously? Are you seeing what I'm seeing?

Allergy advice - contains milk.

Thanks for clearing that up for me as I wasn't quite sure what it contained.

High: 64°
Low: 52°
Forecast: A Passing Shower
Sunrise: 6:05 AM
Sunset: 8:19 PM

Look at this cute little baby carrot! I decided to pull one of them to see how big they have grown. Since Andy planted baby carrots I think this may be about as big as they are going to get.

I am happy to report that it tastes like a carrot so I guess mother nature did her part right!

High: 65°
Low: 56°
Forecast: Occasional Rain and Drizzle
Sunrise: 6:04 AM
Sunset: 8:21 PM

Went to the Bolton Post Office today as I need to get some stamps. Was met with a long line.. this was after I had been in it for around 15 minutes. It would not have felt very long but the man behind me was on his mobile phone the entire time and he felt the need to scream into it...

Looks like they are doing some work on the place because the ceiling and wall were all messed up.

Thankfully once I finally got up to the window it was super fast. I took this picture with my iPhone because I as too embarrassed to get my camera out.

High: 63°
Low: 55°
Forecast: Mostly Cloudy
Sunrise: 6:02 AM
Sunset: 8:23 PM

Tracey (Andy's Sister), James (her husband), Andy and I went into Manchester tonight. We started out at Costco. In the US if you want a Costco card you go into your local store, pay something like $50 and get your membership card. Here in the UK you have to be in certain professions before you can get a membership. *Boo* Well I had remembered that Tracey was a member so I asked her about it and she was able to add me on to her membership for only £13.50 and I get my own card to come and go as I please. Woo Hoo! I have heard rumors of some of the American food you can get at Costco so I was well excited to check it out.

We made our way in, got my card and started our walk around. Here is what I picked up from Costco: Hershey's Syrup, Beef Jerky, Pace Salsa and Wishbone Italian Dressing! There was much more I could have got but passed this time, there was even Skippy Peanut Butter! Here is the inside of the store.. Andy laughed and said it is a little slice of America right here in the UK.


After we were done at Costco we ran across the road to the Trafford Centre and went into Selfridges. As most of you may remember back on Day 129 I got some A1 Sauce and Grape Jelly but this time I got: A1 (couldn't resist it), Pez, Hershey's Miniatures and (yes you are seeing it correctly) Kraft Macaroni and Cheese! I never knew I could be so excited to see this little blue box. I can't wait to make it for dinner tomorrow night!

Oh... and as you can see there is a Krispy Kreme in Selfridges so we also got a couple doughnuts. Now I am off to have some Hershey's Chocolate milk and to eat my two yummy doughnuts.

What a great night!!

High: 61°
Low: 47°
Forecast: Occasional Rain
Sunrise: 6:00 AM
Sunset: 8:25 PM

Tonight was the first leg match against SK Sigma Olomouc in the Europa League playoff at Goodison Park. To be honest I was pretty nervous for this match after what happened on Saturday. We started out a little shaky but eventually they started working really well as a team and this picture was taken just after the match, it finished 4-0. *Yay*

For those of you who care... Lescott (the defender I talked about on Day 319) was told to train away from the first team and dropped from the match and not allowed to play due to his bad attitude. Finally! I honestly don't believe we would have lost so badly to Arsenal if he hadn't been a part of the team.

But oh well.. onwards and upwards as they say!

High: 67°
Low: 46°
Forecast: Mostly Cloudy
Sunrise: 5:58 AM
Sunset: 8:28 PM

Come down to the pub... bring the kids...

To be honest not much happened today, not a bad day, not a great day just a normal regular Wednesday. Sorry to be so boring today!

High: 68°
Low: 62°
Forecast: Mostly Cloudy
Sunrise: 5:57 AM
Sunset: 8:30 PM

So last night while we were watching Big Brother (the UK one) I was practicing my parallel parking on my Driving Theory Training for the Nintendo DS. Unfortunately I kept hitting either the car in front of me or the car behind me... not good.

Well look at what I just did! As you can see there are zero errors (top right of the bottom screen). I know it is not perfectly straight but for the first time not hitting a car I am pretty proud. Go me!

High: 66°
Low: 56°
Forecast: Clouds and Sun
Sunrise: 5:55 AM
Sunset: 8:32 PM

... this doesn't look like £31.00!

I have been sent an official letter confirming my Driving Theory Test appointment that is scheduled for September 2nd. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't cost me £31.00 to take this silly test. I guess they have to recoup the cost of the nifty little DVD they send you with the letter.

I have noticed something here in England though... When you go to book appointments such as this Theory Test they always send you a letter out in writing just confirming everything. In the States if you supply your eMail address (which I did in this case) they would just send you an eMail confirmation. Why waste money on the postage?

High: 62°
Low: 50°
Forecast: Clouds and Sun
Sunrise: 5:53 AM
Sunset: 8:34 PM

Apparently there is a new Lidl or Netto going into this space which is not too far from our house... not sure which yet but hopefully this will mean that the Co-Op will finally have a competitor in Westhoughton and that will drive some of their ridiculous prices down! Yay for that!

High: 62°
Low: 55°
Forecast: Clouds and Sun
Sunrise: 5:51 AM
Sunset: 8:36 PM

The score would have stayed 0 - 0.

Today was the opening match of the season, Everton were home against Arsenal. For those of you in the US, as you can see ESPN have made there way across the pond. Setanta Sports which used to show quite a few of the football matches went out of business over the summer and ESPN rushed in to buy the rights to quite a few of the matches they had. So they have officially broken into the English Premiership Football market. This was their first televised match.

What can I say about today... It was raining cats and dogs when we left Andy's Nan's house to head over to Goodison Park. He wanted to drop me off outside the stadium so that I didn't have to walk a mile in the rain. It started to let up around the time he dropped me off but was still raining pretty heavy.

Now for those of you that remember this post back on Day 167 you have probably noticed that the above view does not look the same as the one I showed you when we ordered our Season Tickets. After the Season Tickets went on sale we started looking around at different seats and found two great seats over in the lower Gwladys Street Stand. So we switched to these and I am glad that we did. The atmosphere is great over here and we are a bit higher than we were before.

So the match started at 5:30pm and for the first 30 minutes or so we were playing well but then... Arsenal scored and we fell apart. I know those of you who are reading this are probably not that into English Football and have no idea what is going on. In short, we have a defender named Joleon Lescott. There is another team Manchester City that has a really rich owner and they are buying players hand over fist and spending a lot of money along the way. Well City are wanting Lescott to join their team but he still has like 4 years on his contract with us. They have made to official bids (one for £15 Million and one for £18 Million) but they have both been turned down. Then, because they are willing to double his wages, Lescott turned in an official written transfer request and again it was turned down.

As you can imagine this has not made the Everton supporters very happy. The only talk that has been in the papers and on the news is about how Lescott will continue to play because the supporters are mad at him for wanting to bugger off for more money. He clearly wants to go to City but he can't so where does that leave him?

When he came out a lot of supporters boo'd him, Andy and I did not. As long as he plays for Everton there will be no boo's from us but that didn't stop a lot of people.

Anyway... like I was saying they scored first and we fell apart. At the end of the match we had lost 1-6. Yes you read that correctly, they scored 6 goals and in the last minute of injury time Saha scored a goal for us.

It was not a good match. Tons of people left early but again that is something that Andy and I never do. We stayed, we clapped the players off the field and then we clapped the Arsenal players off the field. No booing no jeering... at the end of the day it just meant that Arsenal got 3 points and we got 0.

It doesn't mean that we are 'going down' this season and it is not the end of the World. But I do know that something needs to change. It was obvious that the atmosphere effected the players and it needs to be sorted. If Lescott stays then everybody needs to get behind him and grow up, there is no room for booing your own players... who of us in his place would not do the same thing? He is currently earning £45,000/week at Everton but City are wanting to pay him something like £100,000/week. Who wouldn't have their head turned by that?

Anyway... this is me off my soapbox. We lost now let's move on and focus on the next match.

High: 64°
Low: 50°
Forecast: Cloudy with Late Rain
Sunrise: 5:50 AM
Sunset: 8:39 PM

I worked 12:00 - 8:00 today and this is what I came home to find... Rooney sound asleep in the front window. He must be glad that they are double paned... since we live on a busy street I doubt he would be able to sleep here if he could hear everything going by all of the time.

High: 65°
Low: 58°
Forecast: Periods of Rain
Sunrise: 5:48 AM
Sunset: 8:41 PM

As if some of the roads around here were not small enough... you have to share them with parked cars along the side, cyclists, and horse drawn carriages? What's next?

We came home from work to find my provisional license had arrived which means I now get to book my Theory test. I went to the website and I could have booked something within the next couple of days (not the best idea since I haven't really studied) or Wednesday September 2nd. Of course I went with September 2nd.

Now that my test is booked I am hoping it puts my butt into gear to start studying... at least I can hope it does.

High: 64°
Low: 55°
Forecast: Times of Clouds and Sun
Sunrise: 5:46 AM
Sunset: 8:43 PM

Yes I am talking about the good old fashioned French Dressing you find in the States... not the white with odd bits floating around in it French Dressing that you find here in England.

I so very much miss my yummy salad dressings and French has always been one of my favorites. I finally decided to do something about it and found a wonderful recipe on the Internet.

It is so YUMMY! Even Andy likes it and he was not a great lover of it in the States. To me it tastes exactly the same and I am in salad heaven.

Today is the day that I no longer think 'I wish I could get 'this' or 'that' over here. Today is the day that I start thinking 'I am just going to make 'this' or 'that' over here myself!'.

In case of you guys are wondering what recipe I used here it is:

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 cup ketchup
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon onion granules
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix well and store in the refrigerator.

It could not be easier!

High: 65°
Low: 58°
Forecast: A Couple of Showers
Sunrise: 5:43 AM
Sunset: 8:47 PM

Nine years ago today Andy and I were married. I loved him to bits that Friday afternoon and I love him even more on this Tuesday evening. Here is to many more years together... I love you Andy!

So... my important news from yesterday. The department that I have been working with has opened a few permanent positions. Since I was on a seconded basis I had to apply as anybody else would. Well... my interview was yesterday and I am very happy to report that I have been offered a permanent place! YAY!! I am so very excited that I get to stay because I am really happy where I am now.

Today has been a great day!

High: 65°
Low: 58°
Forecast: A Couple of Showers
Sunrise: 5:43 AM
Sunset: 8:47 PM

...To forget my umbrella.

Luckily by the end of the day it had already stopped.

I had an important meeting at work today... Tomorrow I will be able to share the news!

High: 63°
Low: 56°
Forecast: A Couple of Showers
Sunrise: 5:41 AM
Sunset: 8:49 PM

Look at what I found at Asda! Andy has been telling me he saw these somewhere however Tesco (where we normally do our shopping) does not stock them. I have not yet tried one but I am sure it will taste just as yummy as I remember.

Andy just laughed at how excited I was to find them... It is truly the little things in life which bring us so much joy.

To be honest in the States I hardly ever ate Pop-Tarts, but what is that they say? Absence makes the heart grow fonder!

High: 66°
Low: 54°
Forecast: Partly Sunny
Sunrise: 5:39 AM
Sunset: 8:51 PM

This orange truck has been hanging around for the last few weeks. I have a feeling somebody who works for 'Electric Center' must have moved in nearby. I honestly would not normally mind but he has started to also park in the small parking area next to our house. Last weekend he was right outside our kitchen/dining room window so it blocked the light coming in and it filled the room with bright orange color.

Also with the van being so big it takes up two spots for cars, which could pose some problems. Luckily this weekend he appears to have found a spot on the street to park.

Also, I have noticed that they usually spell 'Center' like this... 'Centre'. I wonder why the truck has it with the 'er' at the end?

High: 66°
Low: 54°
Forecast: Partly Sunny
Sunrise: 5:39 AM
Sunset: 8:51 PM

I am addicted to Strawberry Laces... they are so yummy!

Last Friday at work I ate a whole bag by myself, yes you heard that right a whole bag. Well today when Paul (one of my co-workers) came back from his lunch he gave me a bag he had picked up at the Co-Op. Yay!

I had been craving them all week. Now I just have to learn to limit the amount that I actually eat. Maybe it can just be a Friday treat. The only problem is that you can get three bags for £1.00. I doubt I could get three bags and just let them sit in my drawer all week...

High: 61°
Low: 47°
Forecast: Clouds and Sun
Sunrise: 5:36 AM
Sunset: 8:55 PM

...My baby beside me at the wheel.

Took advantage of the rather warm weather today and we drove home with the sunroof open. I didn't even take an umbrella to work today!

So I am really starting to get football fever! The first match of the season is next Saturday August 15th and I ... Can ... Not ... Wait ! ! !

Only 9 more sleeps (including tonight).

High: 68°
Low: 53°
Forecast: Partly Sunny
Sunrise: 5:34 AM
Sunset: 8:57 PM

£50.00 - Postal Order, Payee DVLA Swansea
£ 5.00 - Fee for the Postal Order
£ 4.95 - Priority Mail postage (overnight) to DVLA Swansea
£ 4.95 - Priority Mail pre-paid postage for return of documents

Total: £64.90

I am shocked. I can not believe I was charged £5.00 for a Postal/Money Order. Wow. I guess the Post Office will survive the 'credit crunch' [I hate that phrase].

So I finally found out from a DVLA employee that since I hold a US passport I must send my passport in with my application as proof of identity. Since I am doing this I do not have to have my photo signed by a UK professional that I have known for two years... which I would find difficult since I have not been here two years.

Anyway, it is not a good feeling sending my passport in the post. I mean this is my passport we are talking about. It holds my Visa which proves that I can live and work in this country. If it gets lost I have to worry about getting a new passport issued and then I have to pay something like £200 to have my Visa reissued in the new passport.

I paid for Overnight Priority Mail and I enclosed a pre-paid Overnight Priority Mail envelope so that they could return everything to me in that.

Let's hope that it gets there and back to me quickly and safely.

High: 68°
Low: 51°
Forecast: Times of Clouds and Sun
Sunrise: 5:32 AM
Sunset: 8:59 PM

This bumper sticker says "Bolton Mountain Rescue Team Supporter".

What's that again? The Bolton 'Mountain' Rescue Team? What mountains?

I know that we live next to a rather large hill [Winter Hill] but it is no mountain. I do believe a more appropriate name would be the Bolton Hill Rescue Team. I can confirm that there are no mountains within the Bolton area... at least none that I have seen or know about anyway.

Had every intention of stopping by the post office today after work so that I could post off my Provisional License application and somehow we both forgot! *doh* Will have to remember to do it tomorrow as I can not book my theory test until I get it, but then again I really should not book it until I have at least studied... which I am finding very difficult at the moment.

And the answer to your question is yes... I always have my camera out. When Andy is driving I always have my camera at the ready so that I don't miss anything that I may see.

High: 67°
Low: 59°
Forecast: Periods of Rain
Sunrise: 5:31 AM
Sunset: 9:01 PM

Was watching a recorded episode of Don't Forget the Lyrics (UK version) and look at what they have done here!

This song was written by Americans (Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg) and performed by an American (Cyndi Lauper), when they came up with the title there was no 'u' in their colors... what gives this show the right to add it in now?

Is that even allowed? It's a title of a song, they can't just go around adding U's willy nilly and expect to get away with it... I may have to write to the producers of this show.

While I'm at it I may add in the letter that they have a great show but it is sad that when watching it back once recorded there is only actually 15 minutes (if that) of actual show content out of an hour broadcast. The rest is Shane Richie and the guest going back and forth 'is that right, is that not right... lets go to a break'. Thank goodness for Sky +.

High: 62°
Low: 51°
Forecast: Periods of Rain
Sunrise: 5:29 AM
Sunset: 9:03 PM

Andy went to the gym this morning so while he went there I decided to go out in search of the book The Time Traveler's Wife. Yes, yes I know... I have these books to read and then I have these books to read. However when we were at the movie theater yesterday to see The Proposal I saw the preview for this movie. A few people at work has said the book is really good and the movie looks excellent. Since the movie comes out on August 14th I figured I better hurry up and get reading because I like reading the books before movies, even though I usually end up disliking the movie because of it.

So out in search I went... only to have no luck at all. Asda and Tesco were both sold out. Of course because it is Sunday none of the proper bookshops were open. *ugh*

Before I left Tesco I went thru the automatic car wash which is where I took the lovely photo above. Now that the outside has been washed I need to give the inside a nice vacuum so that it is equally as clean.

Later in the day we went to go see Land of the Lost so we stopped by the Asda that is near the movie theater and there was no luck there either.

Tomorrow we will run into Chorley right after work to go to a proper book store but if they are also sold out I will just order it from Amazon.co.uk.

Wish me luck in my search!

High: 63°
Low: 52°
Forecast: Clouds and Sun
Sunrise: 5:27 AM
Sunset: 9:05 PM

A few people at work have been telling me to try this ice cream parlor and today Andy and I finally did... and it was delicious!

Before even going to see what flavors they had I had already decided I would get Pistachio because I haven't found it at the stores and it is one of my favorites. However when I got there the Mint Chocolate Chip looked too good to pass up so I got a two scoop chocolate dipped waffle cone of it.

Will just have to go back again for the Pistachio!

High: 61°
Low: 48°
Forecast: Clouds and Sun
Sunrise: 5:26 AM
Sunset: 9:06 PM