The Big Report - The Dallasian Woman
For those of you we have spoken to over the past weeks you will know that we have confirmed the Texan stereotypes, and introduced you to a whole new world of thinking about people, places, religion, politics and a general way of life. What we haven't given much attention to up until now is what I call the Dallasian woman. Within this geographical area we have  observed 3 distinct species, 2 with very unique characteristics. The first species, barely worth a mention is what we all consider the normal woman. These probably constitute half the population, are a pleasure to meet and socialise with, and can be found anywhere else in the world!
Secondly and thankfully becoming more difficult to find in the wild, is one living the American FOOD dream! Initially we thought the stereotypes of Texas being one of the fattest states, was a fable. Unfortunately the more we get out and about the more it becomes a reality. Hopefully with education, restrictions of "soda size" and removal of some addictive snacks (Flamin Hot Cheetos!one of the most addictive snacks apparently available, there has been discussion about banning the sale, if you watch the clip, take not of the reference to the red hands, this is a tell tale sign of a Hot Cheetos junky!) this species continues to decline in numbers and soon becomes extinct (that's Aaron being positive, Erin is a little less confident)...

The final and most interesting species exists in pretentious circles, enjoys yoga and tanning, has a surgeon on speed dial, has not seen her feet in years, self injects Botox, is friends with Louis Vuitton and wears more gold than Mr T. This unique breed is always worth a gaze purely out of amazement and occasionally to work out if it is a man or a woman. A growing species that usually migrates in packs and often referred to as GCB's (Good Christian Bitches of course). Certainly not a dying breed and as time progresses we will try to get a live photo. At present we have been too afraid to whip the camera and face these beasts, but with time courage will build. 

The week past...
Our working lives are now fairly routine with Aaron starting his new job and having to finally get out of bed when the alarm goes off in the morning. Aaron or should I say Coach P is enjoying his school and the challenge of teaching a new subject - Forensic Science for those of you we haven't told yet! Luckily he is working in a school which is not be as scary as he thought teaching would be here based on what we see in Australia. He applied for and thankfully did not get a in the Dallas State School district where he would have to get through security and metal detectors each morning. He is working in a charter school which means the school is neither a private or public school. It is state and privately funded, the students are generally from financially disadvantaged families who parents would not of attended University. There is a simple lottery system (just the student name) to allow entry to the school, with 2000 families on the present waiting list. So far there has been no talk of small weapons training for him in his role as a teacher, and Aaron has been making the most of his opportunity in forensics to discuss with students their opinion and views on weapons, which he is pleased to say the next generation is not as gun happy as their parents and they generally want to see a change to gun laws and definitely don't want teachers armed!

A delightful cowhide...

Now on to my soap box. Everyone back in Australia next time you go in to one of the large chain supermarkets, or hopefully local independent supermarket or market be thankful that this food has not been kept in cold storage for months before making it to the shelf. Fruit and vege in Texas is not what we are use too. It is a struggle to find truly fresh fruit and vege, let alone the quality we have in Australia. This perhaps helps explain why there are such issues with weight in this country. The second astounding thing is the amount of additives in apparently fresh meat. Not only are most of the animal products treated with antibiotics, they also have colour added after processing and salt! Incredible. Anyway I am almost now a vegetarian  however the quality of the vege is questionable and I would starve, or just have to live on giant onions. Anyway rant over, please everyone enjoy the fresh fruit and vege available to you.

Just what we always wanted, decorative cow horns. 

Getting some pony action...finally!

Some serious head gear! 

Last weekend we attended the Fort Worth Stock Show. This was our first trip to Fort Worth, which is an older area and more stereotypical Texas like than Dallas. Dallas is not considered to be very representative of the real Texas... Anyway we were excited to see the other half of the Metroplex. The Stock Show included the usual fair that you would find at an agricultural show in Australia. It was just a lot larger and there were a lot more cowboys. We spent an hour or so walking through the trade stalls and seeing the delights of country Texas. Aaron and I were amazed at the cost of a real pair of cowboy boots (Emu and Alligator are popular, look cool, but are expensive -$500+!); there were plenty of shiny rhinestones as new age cowgirls like their belts to sparkle; there were cow horns for the bonnet of your car or your lounge room; lots of wooden furniture; guys selling tractors, windows and statues. It was an eclectic mix. We were hoping to see the rodeo, but unfortunately it had sold out. So that just meant we had more time to walk through the livestock area and gain an appreciation for the $$$$$, grooming and blow-drying involved in showing animals. Certain schools have programs for there students that requires the students to work with the animals and take them to shows. They collect winnings and when the animal is sold they also collect those funds which they then use towards paying for their graduate education. Amazingly they can make enough money to pay an entire University education!

Ez meeting the Longhorn

Longhorn giving Ez the evil eyes... after the mother to the just outside the picture charged at her!

We hope to be able to make it back to Fort Worth and see the rodeo as it runs for the next couple of weeks. Hope everyone is well in Australia and safe in the wild weather.

A New Yorkers Christmas!

Whooooohoooo! Was our reaction to the amazing generosity bestowed on us by Aaron's cousins in New York who decided we couldn't spend Christmas alone and gave us tickets to NYC to spend Christmas with them. This was just what I needed, poor Aaron has been dealing with sad Erin who has been homesick and wishing on a daily basis that we were back in Australia. So a trip to look forward too and some friendly, familiar faces  to spend Christmas with was very exciting.

Matching Christmas sweaters, not something we would normally
wear on a warm Chrissy day in Aus, but very popular here..

We exchanged presents before we left and it was lovely to have some gifts from home to unwrap, we were very grateful (and the Cadbury chocolate lasted less than a week, thanks mum)! More on our Christmas following the Big Report

Big Report. 
As the history books show us there are important dates and times.  For example 1770, Captain Cook hits the shores of Australia, 1861 American Civil War, and 1941 the Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor. For those of you who are history buffs, you would notice I left out the most important date and probably the most significant event of 1941, if not the 20th Century. This dates signifies the creation of a childhood dream. One that was given as a reward or to put a smile on your face no matter how bad the grazed knee was. One that was creamy on the inside and crunchy on the out. Yes it was the creation of the forever desired and eternally delicious M&M. From these humble beginnings as treats for GI's in WWII, to the creation of Red and Yellow in 1960 and the gradual addition of other colours to the family, this delicious, melt in your mouth chocolate has become world famous. With Red and Yellow reaching cult status, the American's have taken the love of these characters and their creamy centres to a whole new extravagant level.
Have you ever dreamed of 3 floors of M&M's, every possible colour, your nations pride displayed in M&M's and the ability to fully furnish your house with M&M branded products. NYC can make your dream a reality, WOW!

The Weeks Past
We spent an action packed three days seeing the sights of NYC and soaking up the holiday spirit. We flew in  and headed to the family pad in Queens. The afternoon we checked out Central Park as Aaron had a  burning desire to strap on the skates and hit the ice. The air was bitterly cold, but the atmosphere was awesome, the line for the ice skating however was not. So to avoid turning into an ice cube we passed on the skating and went to check out the Christmas markets in the park, before walking through the city to Fao Schwartz. Here we went inside to check out one of the most famous toy shops in the world, Ezzy was in heaven. She looked like Charlie taking a ride in the great glass elevator. After dragging her out by the scruff of her collar as she wanted to buy the entire shop, next on our agenda was the window displays at Saks 5th Avenue. Unfortunately this year the displays were not that festive, but it was nice to walk through the shop, ahhh heating. Next we headed to the pinnacle of Christmas displays...The Rockerfella Centre! The tree was spectacular...and those damn tourists were packed in like sardines in a can! So many people bustling through to sneak a peak at the tree and some, well thousands hitting the ice! After snapping a few picks and soaking up the Christmas joy it was time to feed the hungry beast! So where do you go when you are with a bunch of Irish Italians? An Irish bar, Irish Murphys of course.... With our stomachs full, lips wet and feeling warm again we stepped back out into the hustle of Time Square, and then strolled back towards the carpark before heading home.

After a solid sleep, some NY bagels for breakfast we were off again with our ever enthusiastic and knowledgeable tour guide, who I have to say would of been lost without our devoted and incredibly competent male navigator, who shall not be named due to his modesty! Today we explored the wharf area which was still trashed after the storms. Caught a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, and got up close with the "Stock exchange bull", somehow last year when I visited NYC the bull had alluded Sal and I, but this time, with the help of Aaron (surprisingly enough he can find his way around) we found the bull! Now most people take the bull by the horns, others take them by the balls! By this time we were pretty, freezing so re-hydrated  and warmed up with a hot chocolate before setting off for the next landmark, the 9/11 Memorial. Unfortunately the line to buy tickets was extremely long, instead we walked past the site to the new Freedom Tower! This is one mammoth structure, and is nearly finished. I remember Sal telling me last year when I visited that the workers didn't come down at lunch time because it took half an hour to get down and up alone, so someones job is to get all the lunches from the many food places around the site. Lunch was next on the agenda, and a trip to Little Italy for some New York Slice was in order! Some peoples lives revolve around food, Aaron being one of those people. Again we were treated to a delicious meal on Christmas Eve cooked by Theresa. To help us feel like being at home Theresa made a special trip out and brought us a leg of lamb, mmmmm delicious!

Christmas Day was a blast! It was lovely to wake up and be surrounded by family, the sounds of rustling paper and laughter. The morning went by quickly with chatter, delicious food, some single malt Scottish Whiskey for Aaron and Sal, and Theresa preparing the food for lunch. This makes us look lazy and for Aaron it looks even worse. The fact is we hated not helping, but Theresa would block us with a flying hip, any time we tried to help.

Turducken, what a treat!

As lunch got closer things got exciting with anticipation of meeting more relatives of some description and Erin learning how to fold Manicotti. Our only hesitation was if we could fit any more food in after over indulging on cheeses. With the desire to be hospitable, we stretched a little and made room for lunch which was a feast! Turducken, Manicotti, Vege's and more. Unfortunately Aaron had to work the next day so we packed our bags over the afternoon and headed to the airport in the evening for a long trip back to Dallas.

Rolling like a pro, embracing the Itallian, yummo mannicotti

Now we went to NY with the hope of getting a white Christmas, little did we know that it was going to dump down with snow in hot sunny Dallas, and they say "climate change" is a myth. After waiting an hour for the shuttle to get back to our car in the freezing cold, we literally skated through the icy carpark and found our snow white car with the doors frozen over to the point I could not open them. Luckily I was given some gloves for Christmas so I bashed and cracked the ice around the door, let Erin in and put the heater on to keep her warm, whilst I acted like a man and scrapped the snow and ice of the windscreen, what a MAN! We got home about 2am definitely ready for sleep.  

It takes a Man to crack through that!

Shake It!

How Cowboys Role

Mirrored Saddle

Since NY we have been lying low with Aaron working nights and weekends in the retail world and trying to save some money. Aaron worked NYE and NYD so when he finally made it home at 9pm NYE we had dinner, a bottle of bubbles and watched the ball drop in NY at 11pm our time, before retiring for the evening. We are getting older! Since then we haven't been totally boring. We went Texas Two Stepping with some people Aaron made friends with. This was an experience! Imagine a big barn with hundreds of authentic cow boys and girls, a mirrored saddle disco ball, a country music band, busty blonde barmaids and a dance floor that was set up like a race track with crowds going around in circles "step together, step together, through, through"! The  most fascinating thing, it particularly grabbed Aaron's attention was for about a 15min block the music changed from country to main stream and all the barmaids got up on their bars, turned their butts towards the crowds, put their hands on the wall and worked it for the entire time. A once in a lifetime experience!!

Thats's an update on where we are up too now. The only other news is Aaron got himself a new job. He has gone back to the world of teaching and is working for a NFP called Uplift Education. It is an organisation who works with disadvantaged youth with the aim of breaking poverty cycles, getting them into uni and improving their life chances. I got a little lucky here as the school I am working at is North Hills Prep, the first uplift school which is now considered one of the top state schools in the USA and had 100% of students get accepted into Uni last year. The kids are great, no guns or gangs, it is safe and there is another Aussie working there which is nice. The only crazy thing is I am teaching grade 12 forensic science/psychology, which I know nothing about. I am also their track coach, swimming coach and in the not too distant future I should be taking over the position of director of sports. The other bizarre thing is what they call me, I am officially Coach Pittaway to the students and staff actually call me Coach!!

Central Park, Awesome

Central Park Markets

F&O Schwartz - a childs dream

Rockefeller Tree

Take the bull by the balls!

  

Christmas Day

Rocking the Sweater

The art of Mannicotti 

Betty

The "Godmother" (Theresa's Mum), Betty and the Beast

Hope everyone is well, and has had a great start to 2013, and most importantly is busy planning there trip to Dallas in 2013!!!

Getting in to the festive spirit!

Well it's been a few weeks since our last post, mainly because not too many exciting things have been happening. I thought that we best post an update pre-Christmas because I am sure post-Christmas we will have plenty to tell you!

The Big Report - A Texans love of Guns!!!

As you will have all seen in the news Americans in general love their second amendment rights to bare arms and Texans are one of the strongest supporters. For those of you who don't know it is legal to carry concealed weapon in Texas and in one of our neighbouring states it is legal to carry a visible gun in a holster like the old western days. For us this is a bizarre concept and one which I cannot comprehend. What is even more bizarre is the fact that you can purchase any type of gun you like including an assault rifle capable of firing hundreds of rounds in seconds. Recently we ventured into "Dicks Sporting Goods" to buy something foreign to Texans, sporting goods in the form of tennis rackets. To our surprise 1/3 of the shop was dedicated to guns, camouflage stuff, hunting towers and other similar things. As long as we did not have a criminal record we could simply get a licence and purchase our own arsenal. Guns were displayed the same as we would display a cricket bat in Rebel Sports.
The most puzzling thing is Americans don't understand why they have so many mass killings. Some believe that it is because not enough people carry guns to stop those who want to hurt others??? Recently I have had heated discussions with some gun owners, who confess that they need their guns to ensure the safety of their home and family. That they would not hesitate to shoot someone who was trespassing. Following their justifications that they are needed for personal safety I then ask the question of how many guns you have? Commonly they have multiple and some semi automatic weapons. I ask are these necessary to protect yourself and the answer is if you are attacked by someone with an assault rifle you need the same or better to defend yourself, not surprisingly the sale of assault refiles has increased since the recent shooting. When will some people learn??????

The weeks leading up to Christmas. 

Well the past few weeks have flown by and we have now been residing in the U.S. of A. for three months. Now for our Mums that means three months closer to being back in Australia, for us it means further assimilating to the American ways. Since our last blog the largest change we have experienced has been the purchase of our little car. This has changed our lives in many ways. No longer do we spend half a day each week walking between the supermarket and our home, laden with our weekly shopping. We now drive! This has meant trips to other shopping centres outside  of our neighborhood (if I am putting you to sleep I apologise) which has broadened our shopping experience greatly. The car has also meant that I have not been catching the train to work. This is both good and bad, good as I get to work in half the time, bad because I don't get any walking in. My bike is still out of action after my crash, but we have all the parts now so hopefully will start riding again this week.

We had a little snow early last week. We thought the car was iced up, but it turned out that it had snowed over night. A lovely surprise. Despite being in the Northern Hemisphere we both were expecting milder conditions in Dallas, and whilst it is mild most of the time (22 today!) the cold is bitter, for this Queenslander at heart!

Aaron has continued his career at Urban and as you can all imagine is working hard in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

A Texan sized dog bone!

Christmas decorations at the local Mall

Getting in to the festive spirit at home and out and about.

Aaron before heading in to Cartier for my Christmas present....I wish! 

A Thankful Holiday?

The Big Report

JUMBOTRON! What an earth is a "jumbotron"? It is a new word for our vocabulary, and to be honest I initially thought it was made up by some super nerds who dream of making things bigger and better. Perhaps our readers are more familiar with this new over-sized technology than we are and now salivating in ore of our encounter. We have now become 2 of a select group of thousands who have heard and experienced the JUMBOTRON! Now for the uneducated like ourselves, the jumbotron is a large, well a jumbo screen at the new Cowboys stadium which we visited last weekend. Some stats on this screen: a couple of years ago it was the largest high definition TV in the world at a staggering 72 feet tall (22m) and 160 feet (49m) wide, 30 million light bulbs, it hangs 90 feet above the field and has 80 000 seats....the stadium cost $1.1 Billion to make! So yes another great example of something that Texas does bigger and better than anywhere else?

The last 2 weeks.

So last weekend we headed to a football game at the new Cowboys Stadium. This involved a long train ride and then a lift at the end to the game with Kristen and Jacob (looking forward to getting our own wheels next week!). Coppell High School were playing their first playoff match against another local Dallas High School, this was a great opportunity for us to go to the stadium for the bargin price of $10 instead of the regular/ludicrous tickets from $150 (nosebleed)-$14 000 to see the pro teams play. The stadium itself is very impressive at first look, as I mentioned earlier it was only finished a couple of years ago - 2009. Well actually everything about it was impressive. They even had padded seats unlike the typical seats we have in our stadiums, so that was nice. The game was a good contest between the two teams, but the real entertainment happens at half time. Coppell is a large high school in the Dallas area, and at half time provide some lively entertainment, there marching band (who is apparently one of the best in the WORLD), Lariette drill team, Cheer leaders and the Spirit Squad all perform short routines. Fair to say there was lots going on and it was a sight to be seen. The teams all spend hours practicing, the band spends even more and the result are some very slick performances.The opposing school also performed, however there band was a quarter of the size of the Coppell team.

We weren't brave enough to sample any of the football food. A hot dog covered in smushed chilli looking stuff was not very appealing. So by the time we got on a train and headed back to downtown Dallas we were both pretty hungry (especially after missing one train by a seconds, giving us a 20min wait!). Anyway we ended up picking a very touristy spot for a late lunch in the middle of downtown. This was our first time in the middle of the city when there were actually people around, our previous visit had been hampered by torrential rain. So it was much nicer to see people out and about enjoying the nice autumn weather. The restaurant was called Smokey Bryans and the menu was crazy, meat, meat and more meat! I ordered a pulled chicken, pulled pork and cheese sandwich with sides of macaroni and cheese and coleslaw, Aaron ordered hot barbecue wings, yes we shared. Check out the pics of our delightful lunch and Az's inability to keep all the food in his mouth, he is a grub. It was actually good, despite the scary look!

 

The past week at work was fairly unremarkable for me. We have started recruiting more participants for our study and I have been learning other new techniques. Aaron has landed himself a casual retail job for the holiday period which is going to really help us. So far the job hunt has been frustrating, and getting passed the initial application seems to be very challenging. Whilst Dallas certainly has a lot more jobs available than other parts of the US, there is still a lot of competition! So keep your fingers crossed Az can get some interviews soon.

This week at work was a short week. For those of you who are interested a couple of astronauts landed in Kazakstan on Monday and were flown in to Houston for testing on Monday night, our boss headed down to conduct testing on them here is a cool link if you are interested in life on the International Space Station












http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doN4t5NKW-k&list=PL2aBZuCeDwlR6Qzc29uzmOApP0A9Tu4QF&index=1&feature=plpp_video

We had a Thanksgiving Lunch on Tuesday at work, the IEEM provided ham, turkey and the trimmings, and all the staff brought along a side. I made my staple pumpkin, pear, spinach and feta salad it was very popular. There was so much food left over, despite everyone over indulging. In true American style nothing went to waste with most people taking a plate back to there office big enough to feed the average family. Crazy. For actual Thanksgiving day we entered a local fun run called the Turkey Trot. The distances for the run were either 5km or 8mi, I was a little hesitant at attempting an 8 mile with my current fitness but we had agreed to give it ago. Aaron got called in to work on Wednesday night and didn't finish until 11pm, so we dragged ourselves of bed early Thursday morning to head off for our fun run with 40,000 other people. It was perfect weather for the run, sunny with a small amount of cloud cover. Once the race kicked of at 9am, it took us 23 minutes to actually cross the start line and we couldn't really run until the 3km mark. It always amazes me in fun runs why the walkers all want to be at the front. This fun run also had a lot of prams and dogs, so there was plenty of dodging and leaping over the poo. By the time the two distances split we were in space and able to keep a nice rhythm. We finished the race together, Aaron definitely could have beaten me on the day but he ran with me and held my hand over the line, so I better start working a bit harder!! The remainder of our first thanksgiving involved making home pizzas and chilling out watching the Dallas Cowboys. They lost, but the other team were really good!

We got to experience our first Black Friday, well Aaron got experience first hand, it kind of passed me by... This is another American tradition that is hard to comprehend. Starting the evening of Thanks Giving (8pm for some, midnight for most) shops open up, signifying the start of Christmas shopping with what people consider, specials to die for! I was asleep Az had the pleasure of experiencing this phenomena in his new retail role. So let him paint this picture!

It was a cool Autumn night, the stars were shining and at 11:20pm, I cruised along the darkened, rough road towards the unknown, expecting nothing but the quiet night and clear entry through the front door of his work. Still half asleep and approaching the shops I could not believe his eyes! It was as if it was the 1970's and tickets to the "Beatles" were on sale. There was a cue about 200m long of people waiting to enter the store. Sneaking through the back door, trying to hide the fear in my eyes I got set for the unexpected. A slow 15 mins passed when the doors opened and about 1000 people came running into the store (literally running). For the next 4.5hrs the till which I was manning was running red hot, with a cue circled around the store of people waiting to pay. It was not until 4:30am that things started to get quiet and I served the last person in the cue who had been waiting about 1.5hrs. From speaking to the customers their goal was to complete all their Christmas shopping in this one day and that this was only their first stop. Luckily for all the customers, we were sponsored by Red Bull and they all left with a 4 pack to keep them going! At this time I had a chance to look up from the till, to see the bedlam, there was clothing and stuff everywhere!!!!!!  Now this was only a quiet store when it comes to Black Friday. There are 2 stores "Walmart" kind of like Kmart, Woolworths and Big W combined and "Best Buys" (JB Hifi on Steroids) feel the brunt of the customers as, people camp out for days to ensure they were the first to get through the doors. In the past people have been trampled to death at these sales, CRAZY!

And as a closing remark I would like to point out how ungrateful Ez is with having a full head of hair. Some of us less fortunate people have what is commonly called thinning hair, and we try to hold onto every strand, we cherish it like a fine wine! The other day when cleaning I had to clean out the vacuum, and what did I find? A collection of hair, simply discarded by Ez like it was worth nothing. I almost shed a tear at the sight, the sheer quantity!

Halloween, Burgers & Pomegranates

The Big Report

Now as we have been reporting things in Texas are generally big. You would think one exception would be the groceries, those everyday items we all purchase wherever we are in the world. A potato is a potato, an onion is always an onion and the humble pomegranate is a pomegranate no matter where you purchase it from. But yet again Texans take the previously standardised fruit and veg to a new level. I am not sure what creates this phenomena, if it is artificial or simply an evolutionary adaptation on behalf of the fruit and veg, so they don't feel inadequate in a place where everything else is big, but even these simple items are double the size of those produced anywhere else I have been. Initially we were hesitant and fearful of these giant abominations but as with all others things we have grown to accept their difference and consume with vigor.  Even sausages take the eater to a new dimension here!

The Weeks Past
We are back! A week off, with not too much happening we thought one action packed and mind boggling blog would be more fun!

October 31st was our first authentic experience of Halloween! Now I understand that in some areas of Australia, Halloween has recently grown in popularity, but Az and I had not experienced this in Brisbane. I arrived home on Halloween eve, with Az excitedly wanting to take me on a sunset bike ride. It was close to 6.30pm so I was less enthused, it took some convincing, but I put some bike shorts on and off we pedaled into the sunset! Az can be such a romantic :)  The suburbs close by to us are a real mix. To our east is a large Latino community with some interesting characters, whilst to our North it is a new/old area, new as people are buying older houses, knocking them down and building giant new houses that look like old house and castles. These streets are very similar to those that we grew up seeing on American television shows and movies, big elaborate houses. Earlier in the day Az went riding to get himself into shape so he can beat me one day in the future around Whiterock Lake and noticed that some of the really giant houses close to the lake were setting up there decorations for Halloween. The sun was slowly setting, we casually peddled towards the lake, as the night started to light up with vibrant decorations at the eve of Halloween. The sun was still on its way down so Az lead me to the lake to watch the moon rise over the water.

What we next experienced was an unexpected bonus. The moon was creeping over the horizon, we excitedly tried to capture this spectacular scene with our fancy camera but found it difficult to do the scene justice... We will let you be the judge of how you think we did?

Halloween at IEEM continued the experience for Ez as it meant large supplies of "candy and chips", which allowed plenty of opportunity to sample different types of American chocolate, to be honest it would of been rude not to try them all. That evening we were invited to a Halloween Party so after Ez got home from work, we jumped back on our bikes and pedaled over to nearby Marquita St. for a gathering with local families. The party was hosted by the same people who has held the engagement party Az attended previously. They are lovely people and we met some more great people, in particular we met a rugby coach called Ren and his hilarious wife Paula. Apparently there is a large Union competition in the US and we had just met the local coach for Dallas. We ended up chatting away and finished with an invite to "Thanksgiving" at there place after the local "Turkey Trot". We will tell you about this in the future.

There is a local burger bar near by to us and it seems to be the easiest place to reference when telling people where we live. So last Saturday night we set out to find out what all the fuss was about. Az's new favourite football team was playing so this made the trip to the bar even more exciting, burgers, drinks and football, wow! The bar is called Jakes, and the burgers were ridiculous, as were the beer glasses! We enjoyed our first experience but not sure we will be making it a regular thing, I don't think our hearts/waistline would appreciate it! If you can read the menu check out the heart attack that is burger number 5!


Az the dork that he is has finally had his working rights approved, we say finally but really it took a lot less time than we were told which is great. Also on the positive I have found a new hairdresser who is just around the corner!

Whilst I was at the hairdresser, Az was making new friends at a nearby bar. Angela and DW were interesting, fun characters who are also descendants of "swamp people" from Mississippi. One of them grew up with a huge gator regularly hanging out in their back yard that they would hand feed, just like in that movie Lake Placid. Well they decided that they wanted to show us more of Dallas and asked if we would like to join them in an area full of live music called Deep Ellum, it was an interesting place. First we parked behind a bikie bar as it is the cheapest and safest parking. Then we wove our way through some streets to arrive outside a place called TREE which had a que 100m long of kiddie boppers waiting to get in. Apparently they get some top acts there, DW saw Vanilla Ice there once. We were definitely too old to go in there this time and we needed food so we went next door to the pizza place and had a brush with a TV celebrity!!

Well she was not really a celebrity but featured on the national geographic taboo series called "Bizarre Bodies" Some of you might have watched the show 60mins when they had the lizard man, cat woman and those other people who do bizarre things to their bodies. The girl that sold us Pizza was one of those people, with horns inserted under the skin in her head, covered in tattoo's, and all those other scary things some people decide to do to their bodies. Ez wanted a photo but was a bit scared to ask. For those of you who want to see what I mean there is a link below to the episode, she is featured at about the 4min mark. Now if you decide to watch this please don't do it whilst eating, or when children are around or if you don't like the sight of blood. It is quite disturbing! So the night finished by watching some live music in a venue called "The prophet"....

 Local Shopping centre "North Park" has ducks and turtles, inside playing in their pond. They were pretty cool!

Az fitting into his new role as homemaker, baker and cleaner.









That's about all for the last couple of weeks, I do warn you only watch the episode if you are not easily disturbed.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/taboo/videos/bizarre-bodies/