Weston ways...

Hanging low and saving money doesn't contribute much to an entertaning post. The nights in and self-control at Starbucks I feel will pay off through Rodeo's and Cowboy boots, coastal shores and tumbleweeds, spurs and dirt roads. A road trip I eagerly anticpate, a road trip that begins in 3 days!

I made an appearance at the local Methodist Church in Weston road, the people were friendly, the style casual, the sermon - long ! I will decide tomorrow if I want to attend again. Children are always entertaining, either its something so innocent said so pure that your heart can't help but melt, or its something hurful that leaves you pulling out the little daggers that pearced your heart. One thing I can say with confidence, is that this experience is preparing me for motherhood in more ways than one. Rule one - Don't take anything personally! Rule 2 - always have food in the house, if you are on the move, always have snacks in the car. Rule 3 - always have wine in your fridge, better yet, purchase a wine fridge, and always have it stocked ! Rule 4 - have 2 - 5 babysitters on your call list. More rules to follow....  The days with the kids have been spent splashing around in the pool, playing ClubPenguin on the PC, playdates, the beach and the parks, and general summer fun.

The neighbours have a new au pair - Nina. She is great, from Germany and familiar with the experience and ups and downs that comes with the program. Its very comforting to have someone so close that can relate. Dunkin Donuts for coffee, and Orem's for dinner followed by a movie has been our bonding the last few days. Of course, the constant back and forth from house to house with the kids is guaranteed quality time together. We watched " Ted " with Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis, a definite must see, entertaingly humerous. However, if you are sensitive to sexual references and innuendo's and take offense easily to language and connotations of a more risky nature, then this movie is not for you. If you don't, you will fall off your chair laughing, spilling skittles and Pepsi in the process.

One more sleep and it will be my birthday month, yay ! :)

Say cheese, its summer!

Having just adjusted to my schedule and made my daily plannings around school and activities, I get knocked down by a big yellow school bus with the words " Summer Vacation " smeared across the worn out sides of reality. From an optimistic standpoint, it has started, and therefore will end. On this note, my days are long and exhausting, and when my duties are over, my bed is my saving grace. Gym is going really well, focusing on those areas with professional fitness training advice is definitely making some muscles come out and say hi after many years of hibernation. However, the contradicting visit to The Cheesecake Factory last night diminished this effect. The Cheesecake Factory in Danbury has been open for little under a year, and the popularity has only heightened. Arriving at 8pm and sitting at our table for six after our vibrating flashy lighted gadget indicated a table was vacant, at 9:30pm, was revocable by the most outstanding, mouth watering cheesecake I have tasted yet. With 40 different types of cheesecake to chose from, the large sizes, the ambiance of the wonderful decor restaurant, the awesome service, the wait was well worth it. Just to mention a few;

Hershey's Chocolate Bar Cheesecake
Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake
White Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut Cheesecake
Dulce de Leche Caramel Cheesecake
Lemon Raspberry Cream Cheesecake
Chocolate Chip Cookie - Dough Cheesecake

You can see why the choice is almost impossible. I rescued myself from this mind catastrophe with the comforting thought that I have 10 months here, and will try a different one every 2 weeks. On this occasion, the Wild Blueberry White Chocolate Cheesecake was my choice and it was heavens angels dancing on my palette.

Kiss and Fly

Once again, New York City nightlife leaves me with a grin on my face, vodka in my veins, memories and distorted puzzle pieces through the camera lens that make up the picture of a rather successful affair. Driving the now immune distance from home to station, and station to New York - the City that never sleeps, we arrive heels, hair and heat! Knowing and having a promoter calls for front of the line, free entrance, private couches in a booth with free alcohol, all sounds too good to be true. It was! After five drinks we were dismissed by some tight dressed arrogant woman, but with the drinks flowing and the ambiance growing, it was for a laughable occurrence. Kiss and Fly nightclub in lower Manhattan, boasted elegant design, pleasing to the eye decor, mixing Roman accents with modern lighting.

Pick up line of the night " What would be a typical American Drink? " was effective and provided results! After dancing the night away, we headed for McDonald's, which at 4am, on both floors, was packed to capacity, not to mention I enjoyed my Delux burger as if it were my last meal on earth. Of course, we whip out our flats, as everyone knows, long nights and many blocks trains you for preparation. CVS, in fact, sell foldable pumps in cute zip bags for this very reason. Leaving McDonald's we were bombarded by taxi and Limo drivers, between shifts or perhaps ending off their night hoping to pray on intoxicated tourists, alas, my South African roots knew better, and a negotiation commenced and we drove back to Central Station in pure style, night complete.

Sunday, being Father's day, left me a little homesick considering the distance to give my father a hug on this special day was not entirely possible. I did, however, pre-plan the sending of a voice recorded father's day card, which I might add, is one of my " growing " points of the experience, namely; to PLAN IN ADVANCE! On this note, I would like to thank my amazing dad for helping to make this trip possible, and to thank him for his constant impact throughout my life, I love you endlessly pops.

Now to hang low and save for the Bigger is Better State, Texas...... Yeehaa

Culture Shock !

I would consider South Africa to be a fairly up to scratch country, in terms of technology, entertainment and medicine. We generally receive and marvel in the likes of the latest and the trendiest. Jumping over to a first world country where everything and anything is available and the most recent, my expectations were pretty much spot on in terms of a culture adjustment. However, the general household relations between parent and child and husband and wife have been slightly misguided by either media, or perhaps my own personal perceptions. Either way, I'm slightly perplexed by the lifestyles of some of the families I have admired. Don't get me wrong, respectfully, these are purely observations. For instance, the communication between a mother and her 2 year old daughter over a breakfast and tea where location, popularity, dress code and diet were discussed in which the daughter responded, " Pancakes" much to the mother's disgust. I don't understand why there would be a discussion between Mother and child over the dress code of a breakfast place, I'm really sure she is not concerned about dressing up or dressing casual. The communication shock must be my biggest hurdle when it comes to different ages. I'm all for adjustment and respect, but let's be honest, throwing batter and flipping pancakes onto the floor in the kitchen in your pj's and chef hats, giggling in contentment, experimenting with colours and taste, sounds for a far more entertaining and meaningful breakfast then extravagance and etiquette at the finest breakfast cafe in town.

Minute turns month overnight..

Can you believe it has been an entire month since I set foot in this wonderful country. Time flies when you having fun, but surprisingly also slows down, it has been a whirlwind of emotion for one month. I celebrated by getting ridiculously inebriated in New York, just kidding. I did have a successful party night at a club called Webster Hall, where four dance floors, DJ's and dancers, liquids and laughs, boys and new friends,  rolled into one fun night out in the town. Needless to say, walking through the doors at 8am due to the first train leaving Grand Central at 5:45am, was entertained by my 3 year old who was somewhat upset I turned down her offer to play because I needed to sleep. The streets of New York are crawling with interesting people at all hours, there is an abundance of opportunities to be enthralled by personalities and lifestyles. Never do you feel alone, when it comes to waiting in the McDonald's line at 4am, or sitting outside Grand Central waiting for the doors to open, if you hungry, tired, need to rest on the sidewalk, your feet hurt, you're cold, thirsty, there is someone in every direction who feels the same way. Comforting! New friends are the best, especially when we all have things in common right off the bat, jobs, different cultures, homesick, laundry, we can all relate. Thoroughly enjoying all the eye Candy at The Edge Fitness centre, sure motivates one to shake that thing in Zumba class. Not to mention the odd celebrity working out, shows that they are in fact human!

Yale of a Time

Buildings,  like a person, are moulded together piece by piece, starting off with a solid foundation, gathering stories and moss, experience and courage, meaning and profound significance. Like people, they are tarnished through the years through bad weather and heartbreak, victimisation and destruction, old age and defacement. The beauty falls in every wrinkle every crack, every scar and every discoloured brick. Taking a tour of the Yale University was greatly informative and interesting. The history of Yale, New Haven, and Connecticut itself, is overflowing with the Civil War and the American Revolution. Founded in 1701 as a College, awaiting donations for a potential name, in which the first to be was Jeremiah Dummer, " Dummer University" called for ambiguous arguments and so the second donation by Elihu Yale, was the chosen one. Anecdotes like the Oak trees in the New Haven green, with removal of Headstones and not the remains, humour tourists and students alike with regards to the growing Oak trees. The Frisbee was invented in the New Haven Greens as hundreds of years ago, students ate pies from Mrs Frisbees Pies, using the pie trays, folding them flat, and throwing them amongst each other was where the invention of the Frisbee was born. Living in a modern, fast paced technological world, one finds peace knowing that the simple things still remain in the walls of places like that of the Yale University grounds. Appreciated beauty was on the cards for today.