Two additions

#1: 11-11-10. We wear yellow ribbons, the people here wear red poppies.

#2: World Premiere of Harry Potter 7 is tonight in London. It is scheduled to open in cinemas here on November 19. Should it be in theaters in the US prior to that date, and you go see it, don't talk to me until the evening of November 19th. I have plans. And you are not to spoil them.

I think it snowed today.

And yes, they definitely are exceedingly merry. I think my favorite was the Plum, Pear, and Cinnamon combination. The display picture indicates that these are bursting with fruit. Alas they are not.

Dan's research group go to tea every day. 15p gets you tea, 20p gets you a cuppa. (coffee)  BUT NO COOKIES/BISCUITS!!!!! Only if you bring them. And then, because of the culture, you share. Not my idea but there you go. So I decided that I'd make some cookies for them but not chocolate chip like last time. Nope, I wanted to make Oklahoma's official state cookie. There's no such thing apparently. I looked. However, there IS pecan pie. So I searched for a pecan pie cookie recipe and found this:

http://www.landolakes.com/recipe/1057/pecan-pie-cookies

It said it would yield 3 dozen. I got 12 or 15 cookies ONLY!  I did try to make them small but it didn't work out so they'd look like the picture. Also tried to bake them in a muffin tin. Basically, they're the chocolate chip cookie base with pecan pie essence.

Got my hair cut. Didn't get it highlighted and am having static electrical problems with flyaways so it doesn't look like much, but I'll still smile for ya:

Just got it trimmed and thinned is all.

So yeah, I think it snowed today. I was in the back of the shop when one of the new kids burst through the door and said "It's snowing, look!" I went to the back door, there was blue sky. I looked towards the front through the windows and there was some stuff coming down. It was white, it was falling slowly. I looked out the back door again. Still blue sky. So.... dunno.

Xmas in Tesco

The top shelf is reserved for "Tesco's Finest".  Is like putting WalMart's Great Value brand at Dooney & Burke prices.

So a completely new display along one of the main aisles popped up sometime today. What you can see are Christmas puddings and mince pies of multiple flavors and brands. They look to be individual servings on the higher shelves and larger pies on the lower.

'Alex Reads Twilight' is finished. He's blurry brill.

Bonfire Night

Last night, the three of us went to St Oswald's Bonfire. I took video and if I can figure out how to transfer it from my phone I'll add it to this post later. My tech adviser is still asleep awake but busy.

The event was exactly what I wanted it to be. The only thing that could have made it tip of the top was if they had hot mulled cider. As it was, they had potato and leek soup for 50 pence a cup. And a really sweet little old lady walked around the crowd handing out free cinder toffee, which is just like peanut brittle without the peanuts and with more air holes. So we stood around for half an hour watching the fire go up 50 feet in the air and the sparks another 25 feet on top of that. Interestingly, we were in the churchyard which was filled with tombstones and headstones. They're really really old, like 1500s old. And we were surrounded by all these trees, one of which was determined not to catch on fire even though it was nearly on top of the bonfire. It was neat to watch the heat from the fire make the leaves and branches of that tree wave about like it was in a hurricane but not affect any of the other trees. There wasn't any wind; it was the fire making the tree move. Kids were twirling sparklers and the grownups were just chatting and watching the fire. It was really laid back. The guy in charge of the fire would use a pitchfork to scoop branches back into the fire. Kids would try to throw sticks but couldn't because of the heat. The same guy read what I can only describe as a mini-proclamation aloud to the assembled but it was so garbled all I could make out was "boys and girls hip hip hooray, God save the queen" after which no one cheered.

The videos were taken with my phone. There may or may not be any sound. When I view them on my phone there is sound, but when viewed on my laptop there isn't. The woman in the second video is my friend Laura, and those are her two boys, Cameron and Oliver. C and O are fun...they use phrases like, "It was lovely", to describe video games.

So I've mentioned fireworks this week. Those were teasers leading up to last night. As SciMan said, this is a people's holiday. And we really saw the evidence of that. We walked back to the station from the churchyard, and on our way decided to swing by the cathedral. On the western side of the green is a low wall on a small incline. We could hear tons of fireworks going off and so we watched from there and saw some pretty impressive fireworks. And none of it was city or council organized. Imagine going somewhere high in elevation in OKC or Norman or wherever and seeing the horizon lit up with fireworks all across its line. These were private displays. And it was something.

Our neighborhood was no exception. But I am sad to say that I came home with a little girl who fell asleep on the bus, so she didn't get to see the ones right outside her window. We put in 'Fringe' and I fell asleep on the crappy one and three-quarter seater sofa.

Did they burn Guy Fawkes' effigy? No, not at St Oswald's, but I can't say that they didn't at other Bonfires. I invited my friend Laura to come with her boys. But had the bonfire not been at St Oswald's I don't think she'd have come. Her words were "That probably wouldn't be too bad." Because it was put on by a church. Apparently she hasn't been to a Bonfire Night in 15 years. I did ask why and basically, it is an issue of safety. Not from fire, but from people. It is legal to drink alcohol pretty much anywhere, including around a massive arrangement of burning twigs and logs.

Side note: I took care of the boys for just a few hours after they got out of school yesterday and asked them how much candy they got for Halloween, since it's a shared holiday that I can understand. They said not much but then told me they got several pounds. Took me way too long to figure out that people handed out money in lieu of candy.

Catholic Homer

The Vatican has declared Homer Simpson "a good Catholic", 'even if he doesn't know it'. Have I mentioned this before?

One firework went off in the neighborhood tonight.

National Sandwich Day and Housewife Day

Is the housewife making the sandwiches?

Mary Fallin is OK's new guv'nor. That woman makes history every day. Is it me, or did Jari Askins shoot too high too soon? Does she keep her Lieutenant Governor-ship since she lost? Mary Fallin's wiki is updated whereas Jari Askins' is not.

The education spending issue didn't pass. I probably would have voted against it because of the language. Nowhere have I seen any indication that Oklahoma needed funding at the regional level other than the recent massive operating budget cuts. Why make it illegal to not fund something when you can't afford it in the first place?

What if we did away with political parties and their platforms?  Instead, we could have candidates that picked only ONE issue and run on that. I like a cafeteria and why not do this with parties? Some things from the Democratic platform I agree with and some I don't. Same with Republicans, t.e.a., Green, Communist...etc. Maybe it'd get rid of that feeling that you're choosing the lesser of the evil.

OKC got the top spot in the list of 'most affordable places to live'... followed by Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Rochester. Houston and Austin were on there too.  I was proud but irked by the accompanying picture to the article. It was of Birmingham, Alabama. Not of OKC. Virtual slap to the face to that editor.

National Deviled Egg Day

I think someone's making up this list of national days.

We had three knocks on our door on Halloween. Only three trick-or-treaters, can you credit that? How many did you have?  Fireworks went off again last night. I'm assuming they'll go off again each night until Saturday.

We had their version of daylight savings this weekend. So, now Natalie is waking up naturally at 6 and falling asleep at 7. She would've probably been happy to get in bed at 6 last night. So, now we're only 5 hours ahead CST until you have your 'fall back', then it'll be back to 6 hours ahead.

Haven't heard from Dad about the rally, so I'm going to assume it was as boring for him as it was for me.

Was told something fairly surprising to me last night. Seems that Brits are aware of the midterm elections to be held today. That they even know of the word midterm is the eyebrow raising part. I know that presidential elections are a global media event (see history) but that citizens from a country other than ours would be concerned is interesting. This is related to my by Dan, who had this conversation over tea at work yesterday. I think the phrase was, "The world watches America."

So here's my next questions: Do you care about the equivalent to midterm elections in the UK? Did you know they had them last month (September)?  Do you know there's two political parties in charge here because there was no clear mandate? Do you know the name of the prime and deputy prime ministers?

Honestly, if I wasn't paying attention at the time, would never have known that UK was experiencing political upheaval in April.

They even know what colors traditionally represent the Republicans and Democrats.

Happy November.

Here is your Happy November greeting. November 1st is known as 'Plan Your Epitaph Day'. What would you have as yours? I don't know what I would have.

What brief, literary piece would you like to have describe the entirety of your life?  It's 4:00 pm here and the sun is setting. This is slightly off-putting. And I'm thinking about the Celts who were pre-Britons. What, specifically, I don't think I can articulate but the thought process is related.

Also been watching The West Wing because it's good. Fairly certain I'm addicted.

It's been almost a full month since moving to this blog. Still pleased.

Forgot to send the rose rock with Natalie to school today. Maybe next time?