Shopping & Skating

This past weekend went by very fast.  We didn't have any big plans, but we stayed busy!

Friday night Jule watched movies with her friend from school, Andrea.  Andrea is from Mexico.  Jule has met so many people from different places since she's been here.  I love this.  Learning from people is one of the best educations you can get, in my opinion.

Saturday we decided to head into Little Rock with our friends, the Alexanders.  The father (Shawn) and I have known each other for 30 years.  His wife, Wimee, has become one of my best friends.  And their kids (Marissa - 10 years, Dylan - 14 years and Jordan - 15 years) are like part of my family.  They have accepted Jule as one of their own, too.  Especially Marissa. She hangs on Jule.  Since she's the same age as Benedict, she's very good with Marissa!

So we went to Park Plaza Mall to do some shopping.  Jule was looking for a new pair of jeans and she found a good deal... buy one, get one free.  :)  We love good sales.

Shepherd's Pie

Next we ate at Cheddar's Restaurant.  This is one of the thousands of chains in America.  She ordered a very popular American meal -- Shepherd's Pie.  Click here for recipe!

Shepherd's pie actually originated in England around the late 1700s, but it has become associated with America since the settlers brought the recipe here.  It's essentially meat and potatoes and a few other vegetables made into a thick stew and then covered with mashed potatoes and onions.

Inside Cheddar's Restaurant

After Cheddar's, we headed toward the Arkansas Skatium for ice skating!

Jule, Wimee, Marissa, Jordan and Dylan.
Jule appears to be happy about the "risk" involved in ice skating!  :)

The kids getting ready to hit the ice.

For some reason, none of us thought about the fact that it would be COLD in the ice skating rink.  We froze... especially Wimee and I since we were just sitting and watching.  Next time, we will take jackets!

Jackpot Glitzy & Cuckoo Maverick

Guilty pleasures... yes, we have a few.  (I'm not sure if "guilty pleasures" will translate properly to German, so just in case ... this means doing something that we really shouldn't be doing and that we're embarrassed about, but we do it anyway.)

One of our "guilty pleasures" is watching the horribly stupid show Honey Boo Boo on TLC.  It really IS a stupid show, but we sit glued to the television waiting to see what idiotic thing the family is going to do next.  I see that an upcoming episode features a "breath smelling contest" with the family to see who can-- while blindfolded-- guess the correct person's name by smelling their breath.  We are definitely of a lower intelligence each time we watch this show.  And we don't seem to care much.

Here are Alana (aka Honey Boo Boo) and her mother, "Mama."

All of the family members on this show have some type of ridiculous nickname.  There's the father "Sugar Bear", sisters "Pumpkin" and "Chubbs" ... you get it.  So, of course, when we found out about the Honey Boo Boo nickname generator, we simply had to find what OURS would be.  And thus the title of this post... Jule will now be known in this house as Jackpot Glitzy and I am Cuckoo Maverick.

If you'd like to see what your Honey Boo Boo nickname would be, then please take a peek.  And then please give us a free laugh by leaving a comment here with YOUR nickname (and who you really are since the comments don't have your name generally.)

Nickname Generator Here!  

(You must have a Facebook account.  This doesn't work on mobile phones.)

Enjoy... or be disgusted.  Your choice!

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

As I've mentioned, I'm pretty horrible at cooking.  However, I am getting better.  Tonight I used the mustard from Unna again to make a lemon herb chicken dish with Jasmine rice and honey carrots.  Not bad, I must say.  In fact, it was good.

But then...

I had to follow my success with a huge failure.  I burned the cookies.  I probably would have set the house on fire if it weren't for Jule's nose smelling something burning.

You see the leaves at the bottom of the picture?  This is because the cookies are on the front porch.  They were smoking so badly that we had to take them outside.

Mmmmm... looks good, eh?

The Green Machine

Today the green machine came out of the garage for the first time since Jule's arrival.  We haven't put the top down for a drive yet, but we will soon.  The weather is perfect for it!

I purchased this car in 2004 and it was a bad decision.  I am so worried that it will get a scratch that I don't drive it very often.  It is still in mint condition.  It is one of my toys that needs to go bye-bye soon.

Tonight we attended a Baptist church with the Alexander family because there's a German exchange student staying with one of the church members.  His name is Julian.  He seems like a nice guy.  She also met a new friend Rebecca who attends her high school.

Last night (Tuesday) Jule met four other German exchange students.  They are on the same soccer team as Dylan Alexander.  Jule had a great time speaking her native language with them.  She now officially has more friends in Arkansas than I do.  Something is wrong with this picture!  :)

It's Payback Time!

Jule... do you remember when you laughed at me doing Level 2 of Jillian Michaels?  Every time I would groan, you would giggle.  Yeah?  It's payback time!   :)

11th Anniversary of 9/11/01

Today's blog is meant to document what I have shared with Jule about this day and its place in my life, in particular.

This day is one of those that I will never forget.  There are a few in my life.  The day the space shuttle Challenger blew up mid-air.  The day my brother was born.  The day Princess Diana died.  The day Robert F Kennedy, Junior's plane went down and he passed away.  When I had to put to sleep my dog, Lady.  Michael Jackson's death.  The capture of Saddam Hussein and the death of Osama Bin Laden.  These are the moments in MY life that I recall every detail of where I was, who I was with, what I was wearing.

Being the traveler that I am, I frequented the World Trade Center on my many trips to New York City.  On the top floor of one of the towers was a rather upscale restaurant called "Windows on the World."  I had eaten there a few times when traveling as a youngster on the dime of my mentor, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason.  (I have told Jule about this experience, but in short, I was blessed to have the support of Linda from my small town.  In exchange for MANY hours of community service in Poplar Bluff, Linda supported the education and travels of a few girls.  I was one of those girls.)  I digress...

The view from Windows on the World restaurant atop the World Trade Center.

At 8 a.m. on 9/11/2001 I was preparing for a business trip to Tampa, Florida.  I was still at home packing to board my plane later that morning.  I was also watching the Today show on NBC -- mainly for the weather report since I was set to fly in just an hour or two.  Back in these days, you didn't have to leave so early to get to the airport since there were no horribly long security lines and such scrutiny on everything that you carry with you.

I was folding my clothes and placing them in my suitcase while standing in front of the TV.  There was confusion on the television.  The normally subdued Katie Couric and Matt Lauer seemed to be getting lots of information at once.  They stopped their current interviews and said that it seemed that there's an event taking place in the area of the World Trade Center.  Helicopters were sent up and within a few minutes I had my first view of what would become one of the most horrific things I'd ever seen... smoke and flames billowing out of the side of the North Tower of the WTC.  It happened at 9:46 a.m. (8:46 a.m. my time.)  With my hands clasped over my mouth in disbelief, I thought I could see the shape of humans falling from the sky.  I did not know at the time, but these people had been forced to jump from the upper floors due to the heat.  They had to choose... jump or be burned to death.  I would imagine that human survival instincts take over in that situation and you must know that you will definitely die if you stay, and you will probably die if you jump.  So you take the "probably" route.  It's less certain.

Unlike the usual smiles on the faces of Katie Couric and Matt Lauer,
this day there was great concern.

I am standing in the middle of my living room in shock still at 9:03 when the second plane hits.  I burst out in tears and drop to my knees.  This was the first indication that something was VERY wrong.  This was not an accident.  Someone is intentionally doing this.  I could not wrap my head around it.  I still can't today.

The next hours would bring more shocks, including the plane diving into the Pentagon and the flight that went down in Pennsylvania.  The hours were long and horrifying.  Nobody knew how many other incidents would happen, IF, WHEN or WHERE.  And more importantly, WHO did this and WHY?

The reason I was set to fly to Tampa, Florida was to complete a two-year long "conversion" process after my employer had purchased another large company.  We were integrating the two via a very complex process that was set to begin in two days.  Because time is money, "the show must go on" as we say.  While the U.S. was reeling, we were placed on a bus for the  17 hour drive since all air traffic had been grounded.  Nobody was happy about traveling on this day.  Everyone wanted to stay with their families.  But... money is more important than family here, so we had no choice if we wanted to keep our jobs.  During the trip we were cut off from news.  Back in 2001 nobody had a "smartphone" with internet access.  So we traveled in silence.  When we got to the state border of Florida, we were not permitted to cross.  The government had shut down entry to certain states in case the assault was to continue via land.  We parked in a parking lot and waited for many hours before we were allowed to go through.

After we arrived at the Tampa office, the work began.  I happened to be in charge of transitioning all Information Technology interfaces, including all credit card transactions.  I noticed what appeared to be a problem with one of our feeds from American Express.  There were not enough records in the file.  I began to look into the problem and realized that the last records were received around 9 a.m.  And then I realized that the American Express processing center for this particular feed was in the World Trade Center.  I could see before me the moment in time that complete power was lost.

Life would never be the same in the United States.  Not only did we lose our sense of security, but we lost some of what makes us the U.S. on this day.  We are a melting pot of people from the world.  We are accepting of all.  But this day made us view our neighbors with suspicion for many years, continuing (but lessening) today.  It brought our economy to its knees.  We entered into wars on several fronts.  Many Americans still don't understand why we waged war on certain countries when we didn't fully know who the enemy was.  There is still mass confusion about why we're fighting today.  I try not to question too many things to which I'll never know the answer.  Such things will only drive me crazy, and I cannot pretend to know a better solution.  I simply must have faith that difficult decisions were made to do what the president thought would keep the country safe at that time.  I am not sure if he would make the same decision today.  But that's something else I cannot ponder.  I don't know if the world is a safer place or a less safe place today.  In truth, we will not know until something like this happens again.  Until that time, we'll say we're safe.  After that time, we'll say we're not.

In 2004 I visited the hole in the ground where the towers once stood.  It was an odd feeling.  Standing in the same place I had many times before, with my eyes turned toward the sky.  But this time, sky was all I could see.

I suppose that we (Americans) were supposed to learn a lesson through this murder.  I am still trying to figure out what that lesson was intended to be.

The weather here is...

stunningly beautiful right now!  For those reading in Europe, here's is the weather that Jule will be experiencing in Arkansas over the next few months...

September

• average maximum temperature 84.4 (29.11 C)
• average minimum temperature 64.0 (17.77 C)
• average precipitation 3.40 inches (8.64 cm)
• south/southeasterly winds

September is the slow transition from summer heat to the pleasant temperatures of autumn. During the first half of the month, summer usually tends to drag on; however, pleasant conditions usually prevail by the last week of the month.

October

• average maximum temperature 74.4 (23.56 C)
• average minimum temperature 52.9 (11.61 C)
• average precipitation 2.91 inches (7.39 cm)
• north/northeasterly winds

October truly signals the beginning of autumn. Fall colors begin to appear in the northern sections of the state by the second week in October and continue slowly southward. Mid to late October generally provides peak fall color in the northern portions of Arkansas. October and November are two of the most popular months for visitors due to the beautiful fall colors and pleasant temperatures.

November

• average maximum temperature 61.6 (16.44 C)
• average minimum temperature 42.1 (5.61 C)
• average precipitation 4.15 inches (10.54 cm)
• average snowfall .3 inches (.76 cm)
• northwesterly winds

Frost starts to become common during this month. The first of November is generally peak fall color in the central to southern parts of the state. As the month progresses, temperatures can frequently change to harsh cold.

December

• average maximum temperature 52.4 (11.33 C)
• average minimum temperature 35.2 (1.78 C)
• average precipitation 4.13 inches (10.49 cm)
• average snowfall .8 inches (2.03 cm)
• northwesterly winds

December signals the beginning of winter temperatures with heavy frosts becoming quite common. This is the preferred winter month for those who like to experience the colder temperatures.

Angels in the Sky

Once per year the Little Rock Air Force Base holds its annual Air Show.  This is a big deal around here, since these two days are the only two where civilians (non-military) people are allowed to go onto the base.

Here are the things that we saw on Sunday...

US Navy Blue Hornet

Blue Angels

Blue Angels

Blue Angels' "Fat Albert"

Blue Angels

These were the particular shows that we watched:

• Airfield Seizure (AR National Guard, USASOC Black Daggers/C-130 Cargo Drop/Mass Paratrooper Drop)
• Ladies for Liberty
• U.S. Navy Super Hornet
• ACC Heritage Flight F-4s X2/P-47
• Max Adrenaline
• B-2 Flyby
• Fat Albert
• U.S. Navy Blue Angels

Woooo Pig Sooie!

Saturday is college football day in America... so, Jule attended an Arkansas Razorback football game at War Memorial Stadium.

Our day started with the traditional "tailgating."  This is the act of showing up at a stadium many hours ahead of time and bringing your bar-be-que grill, food, games, music and Arkansas gear to party with friends old and new.  Most true "tailgaters" begin their day about 12 hours before the game starts.  This is crazy, in my opinion.

Anyhow, we went tailgating around 1:30 in the afternoon and met up with my brother Tony and his family after being lost in the crowd for 1.5 hours.

The game started at 6:00 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium.  This stadium is small and holds only 55,000 people.  It is not the home stadium of the Razorbacks.  The home stadium is in Fayetteville, Arkansas and holds roughly 80,000 people.  About twice per year the Razorbacks visit Little Rock for games here.

Jule and Jordan Alexander in the crowd at the game.
Jordan (age 16) is the oldest son of one of my high school friend Shawn, and his wife Wimee.
The Alexander family has three kids, and all three love Jule.

As is typical at American football games, there were a few injuries on the field.  I'm sure this is typical in other countries as well, but it struck me as amazing (since this was my first college football game)... how quiet the crowd gets while watching the paramedics work on the injured player.  I just couldn't believe how 55,0000 people could be as quiet as a library.

Even though the Razorbacks lost the game, I think we had a good time.  You'll have to ask Jule if she enjoyed it!

It's Friday Already!

I've written several times that my main goal for the rest of this year is to give Jule the true American experience.  To go back to Germany with a full set of memories, Jule must attend an American football game.  Americans are as crazy about our football as Germans are about their football (soccer.)  I was in Germany during The World Cup games, so I know that the insanity is about the same between the two countries.

Sports are a big part of all universities (colleges) in America.  The best athletes are given scholarships to attend Universities in exchange for their service on the field.  College football is one of the most popular sports, especially in Arkansas.  In this state, we have no professional football teams to support.  This means that the whole state is CRAZY about our major University team... The Arkansas Razorbacks.  Yes, our mascot is a pig / hog.  The University of Arkansas main campus is in a city named Fayetteville.  It's in the northwestern part of the state.  But a few times per year, they hold games here in Little Rock.  This weekend is one of those games, and yes, we have tickets to go.

One of the things that Jule will learn very quickly is "how to call the hogs."  This is a type of "battle cry" that Razorback fans do to irritate the opponents and to just have fun.  We yell "Wooooooo PIG SOOIE!"  This is a bit of American slang that is sometimes used by farmers to call their pigs.  It is now used by Arkansas fans everywhere.  See it below...

We'll attend the game on Saturday.  But we must get there many hours early for "tailgating."  This means that we get to the game very early (some people 12 hours early) and play games, bar-be-que, and just have a good time.

On Sunday we'll be attending the Little Rock Air Force Base Annual Air Show.  I'll blog about that later.  :)