Happy Fourth!

My first fourth of July went out with a bang of stunning fireworks!

We made the journey to Jacksonville Lake on the Friday morning and stayed at a friend's lake house. The weather was perfect, the water was warm, and the food was plentiful (burgers, of course!). We bobbed around on 'floaties' in the water (I had been assured that there were no alligators, only snakes (!!!)) and when the sun set, we took the barge out to the centre of the lake and watched the fireworks. It was so peaceful! 

The Fourth of July celebrates the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, when America broke away from British rule. As a Brit, I didn't know how I was supposed to feel about this holiday, but needless to say, I ate my burger and shouted 'Merica' with the rest of them. 

The only thing we missed due to our early departure the next morning, was a feast of alligator that had been shot by a friend of the family when it began to terrorize his cows! We were told that he shot it, that it slipped into his pond, and that he went in after it, not knowing whether it was alive or dead! The water came up to his neck and the alligator was 11 feet long! 

Big Texas Bug

I had my first run-in with a mutant Texas flying bug at work today. Woe betide me for thinking I could have the door open!

The intruder buzzed in, all big and red and stingy. What was my course of action? Well, I froze, stood up, sat down, stood up again, and then finally rang my co-worker who came in and rescued me. 

It looked like this:

...and was the size of my face. 

A long overdue update

It's June, and the summer is hotting up. It's in the 30s (centigrade) and the humidity is sitting on our shoulders already. We have the air-con on at night, or hubby's monster fan that sounds like a helicopter taking off in our bedroom. For someone who's used to silence at night, this is taking some getting used to! But it's either that or peeling my sweaty self out of bed every morning (graphic but true).

I had my first experience of my glasses fogging up when I went outside one particularly humid day. This was so surreal to me that at first I thought I'd gone blind.

I've started working (hooray!) for an oil company (I like to nurture stereotypes), which I'm really enjoying. The staff are wonderful. So southern and friendly. My boss has a stuffed cougar in the position of killing an antelope in his office, and my colleague sounds like Drew Barrymore (I find excuses to talk to her just so I can listen). I later discovered that my boss, who is a very sweet old man, shot and killed the cougar and antelope in Africa in the 70s (as you do). 

In other news, we have a brand new shiny car, so I am free and solo on the roads! His name is Arthur and he is very posh (incidentally, they don't use the word 'posh' over here! A few people have asked me what it means, and the closest word they use is 'fancy'. I love discovering little nuggets of information like that.)

FYI: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is rumoured that the word 'posh' came into being when wealthy travelers journeying from England to India would have P.O.S.H written on their luggage, standing for 'port out, starboard home', which was the position of the more luxurious and shaded cabins on the ships. Apart from that, there is no known origin of the word. 

Shocking discovery

Soooo, I found out from my aunt that alligators exist in Texas rivers and lakes. Where on Earth am I?! She was telling me about the time she went kayaking and felt her kayak rise in the water, only to look down and see the prehistoric ridges of an alligator swimming beneath her. Now, I'm not an experienced kayaker, but I'm pretty sure that old style kayaks were basically hollowed out tree branches, and easy to tip over. All I can say is, sign me up! It's on my bucket list to wrestle an alligator. (This is sarcasm.)

I would, however, love to go kayaking in a lake that has been drained and fine-tooth combed for any sign of alligators. Lake sports are big over here - I can't miss out!  

The result...

I passed my practical test!!!!

After an awful parallel park, after which the examiner and I looked at each other and laughed, I zipped (Literally. The examiner used that exact phrase. It was probably a combination of nerves and my mother-in-law's sporty little number I was driving) round a few streets and arrived back at the test centre to receive the glorious news that I had passed. 

I am now a qualified Texas driver! Stuff's getting ticked off, y'all! 

The Dreaded DMV

So, today was the day when I made a dent in my venture to get a Texas driving license. I got in line, I filled out my forms, I took my ticket. 924. They were calling 56.

Oh sweet Moses.

57.

Kill me now.

573.

Wait, what?

902.

Ok, so the numbers meant nothing. NOTHING. At least if they'd been in some kind of order I would have known if I had time to go to the loo (I still went twice, but was seized by fear every time I heard the muffled voice of the computerized lady drift under the toilet door to announce the next number. They didn't wait very long until they moved onto the next: "35"..."35?"..."Last call for 35"..."Tough nuggets 35. 415!")   

After about an hour, my number was called and I went through to pay my money and take my theory test (Only $25 dollars, people of England! And I can take it THREE TIMES. Three. Times.Oh, and that's for the theory AND the practical! For you non-Brits, in England a theory test costs around £31 pounds and a practical costs £62. And that's EACH TIME. In dollars, that's about $52 for theory and $104 for practical. Why???!!!). 

The touch-screen computer I chose for my theory test wasn't synced up properly, so the arrow was about a centimetre to the right of wherever my finger was. I did not want to get a wrong answer because of  bad sync-age! 

Anyway, after number confusion, loo fear and bad sync-age, I passed and am now ready for my practical. I will be mobile in Texas in no time! Hooray for grabbing my freedom back! 

Prepare to feel car sick...

Take a trip with me through an English village on the left hand-side of the road! I apologise if you suffer with car sickness, maybe this isn't the video for you, or maybe it will cure you!