Tuesday 13 January 2015
The most important meal of the day... USA style
Ok so I can't say I have tried any of these so don't know how good or bad they are, but I have commented on the cereal selection several times so thought I would take a pic of a few that stood out this week at the store.
All of these no doubt appeal to kids and the majority of men, they don't however appeal to this mum. This is mainly because I could imagine these would take our toddler tantrums from 'a solid effort' to scenes from the exorcist.
A lot of people warned us about the hidden sugar in the USA diet (bread etc), these pictures support my argument that there is nothing 'hidden' about the sugar here.
At least it's whole grain right?
MARSHMALLOW! Undoubtedly good and essential part of a hot chocolate but in cereal?!
I'm going to go ahead and say those are not naturally that colour.
But hey whole grains!
These I included because they just look gross
And this one was probably my favorite
G has decided these warrant further investigation. Actual little cookies for breakfast? Or just chocolate cookie Flavoured?
And then what would America be without its Pop Tarts?
Especially when they come in these varieties
Can't say no to great value right?
7 vitamins and minerals - this one has health food written all over it
I have no words.
Suffice to say we have started making our own muesli.
Tuesday 6 January 2015
90 days in South Texas
90 thoughts and observations. Totally based on our experience of one town of one state.
2. Petrol is about 50c a litre. We can literally fill up our car for about $30
3. You do get used to driving on the other side of the road
4. Pickles are commonly served as a side with sandwiches and can be bought individually
5. Supermarkets are massive and sell everything including clothes and TVS
6. Walmart is actually cleaner and better organized than most Warehouse's
7. Dollar stores are awesome. I decorated our entire Christmas tree for $11
8. Everywhere has free wifi
9. You are nothing without a credit history and social security number
10. The only things that aren't cheaper here are Christmas trees, spray oil and second hand cars
11. There are so many more family restaurant options. I doubt we will get to all of them before G's work permit expires. And they are actually family friendly. Great kids menus, space to have a high chair at the table.
12. Alcohol here is super cheap. Beers for $3-$5, cocktails are $6ish
13. At least in Corpus Christi, people can't drive in the rain. There have been three separate instances of people flipping their cars in the last 24 hours alone.
14. The local news is very local, we even get told what the local high school is having for lunch that day
15. Having both a Netflix and Amazon prime (similar to Netflix) account is actually overwhelming. Does mean we are finally catching programmes like Breaking Bad (I know right)
16. Homesickness can hit at any time
17. Convenience stores (dairy's) sell beer and gallon sized fountain sodas but not actually anything convenient like eggs, bread and butter
18. I miss NZ dairy more than anything else food wise. This surprises me as I'm not generally a big dairy eater. The cheese here is weird and orange.
19. Damn is seen as a swear word. Still getting used to the southern colloquialisms Y'all.
20. It is harder than I imagined to go clothes shopping. When you have two little guys with limited time for shopping and you have no idea about any stores you have to put in a lot of groundwork exploring before you have an idea of a store that you might be able to nip into to buy something.
21. Sneakers and jeans.
22. Shipping costs to NZ are exorbitant. UPS wanted to charge me $160 for a parcel weighing 1.5kgs
23. We have become accustomed to 'valet trash' in record time.
24. There are some amazing homewares stores here. Everytime I discover a new one I totally remodel my NZ house in my head.
25. If you miss a sale, next week there will be another one
26. So many more gluten free choices available in supermarkets. This is both a good and a bad thing. Gluten free ravioli would be my favorite find.
27. America doesn't do Christmas crackers or Christmas pudding
28. Tipping hasn't been too big an adjustment and I usually only have to do it when we eat out or get Theo's hair cut.
29. I still haven't seen guns except in law enforcement
30. There seems to be about 5 different levels/ types of police here - sheriffs, constables, police, state troopers etc
31. Medical insurance (even subsidized) is expensive and inconvenient
32. People still fax things, write checks and do money orders here
33. Counterfeiting money is a big problem and some places hold money up to lights before accepting it.
34. The most common Christmas lunch food in south Texas is tamales.
35. A4 paper size is different to A4 at home.
36. Coupons are a big deal and there are heaps dotted around the supermarket attached to products. Our supermarket even does a deal where you buy one thing and get seven things free. I must do it sometime. The first time I used a coupon I got free jar olives with my jar of gherkins. Score!
37. Every fast food place has an alarming selection of frozen ice cream based drinks available. Google Dairy Queen if you don't believe me.
38. I have only seen one mum breastfeed in public.
39. America really knows how to do holidays and how to celebrate seasons. I have actually over heard women discussing how they decorate their house for fall (autumn)
40. Crafting is a big deal here. Mums actually do those Pinterest crafts with their kids instead of just pinning them. Who knew people did that? Theo has been loving it.
41. NZ is so lucky with its kindy system. Nothing like it here.
42. At least in CC everything - signage, packaging, advertising etc is way more bilingual than NZ will ever be. This is despite us having two official languages and USA having none
43. If you thank a person for holding a door open for you, the response is always the same. 'Uh huh'
44. Thanks to the Internet I've met some really cool mums and their kids here. Parenting and its joys and struggles is universal
45. Facebook took about a day to work out I was in the US and now emphasizies the US content instead of friends from home. This really bugs me as I see a lot of sites like Buzzfeed and not so much of you guys.
46. Pedestrians have right of way in all car parks and people just saunter across the lot without any sense of urgency.
47. When you are in a country that drives on the other side of the road, people naturally do the same with their trolleys I the supermarket. This has been harder to get used to than the driving.
48. Most restaurants, convenience stores and supermarkets sell milk in 250ml bottles - awesome for toddlers when you are out and about.
49. Supermarkets sell a lot of convenience foods eg hard boiled, peeled eggs in bag, little plastic containers with a hand full of grapes plucked off the vine, cut up pieces of fruit or cheese in containers. The eggs are too weird for me, but the fruit is actually handy if I am rushing through and T decides he needs something to eat. ( so everytime I'm there).
50. Some stores (Walmart, target, Sam's club) have fast food joints in them. E.g target has both a Pizza Hut and Starbucks in it
51. Museums are way more kid friendly. The San Antonio children's museum was amazing.
52. I never thought I could miss Swedish rounding so much. Pretty sure if they tried it here some groups would be convinced the government was stealing from them
53. Fall means pumpkin spice and it's seems everything can be flavoured pumpkin. We even tried pumpkin cider. It was as good as it sounds. Bleh.
54. Overall we haven't found bread to be too sweet but cereal is really gross. Very sweet and full of artificial flavoring.
55. Each holiday seems to bring with it themed baby wear. Just before Christmas I started seeing St Patrick's and Valentine's Day onesies
56. Coins here come in ridiculous denominations. We have had to start rolling all our left over coins to take to the bank to exchange for notes
57. It's a weird feeling when you see something like a yellow school bus - so familiar after years of U.S tv but still weird to actually see that they exist
58. Adverts for lawyers on tv and radio actually exsist and they are as bad as Saul on Breaking Bad.
59. Bathroom to bedroom ratio in houses especially new builds is like double NZ. We have two in our three bedroom apartment
60. I love the tv adverts for medication here. 20% of the ad is about how the drug can fix you and then the remaining 80% is all the side affects. I almost cried the first time I watched one - couple strolling along the beach, holding hands while the very serious voice over lists things like suicidal thoughts, anal leakage and unwanted hair growth.
61. A pump bottle in NZ is $3.50. This whole pack of water -24 bottles for $3.
62. We are slowly educating our local Starbucks about fluffys
63. Lucky for us, we don't drink coffee. If you are coffee fiend, don't visit the US.
64. Black Friday sales are awesome. We bought a camera this year for $400 down from $ 900.
65. Churches here offer parents days out or parents nights out where for very little money you can drop your kid off for the day or evening and they essentially babysit them for you. Open to anyone in the community.
66. The freeway systems here are incredible. All flow on from each other with underpasses and overpasses going all directions.
67. Motorized scooters are available at supermarkets and Walmart. There are no restrictions on who can use them.
68. I have seen a checkout operator at Walmart literally on oxygen. Had the tank beside her on a little trolley. I am tempted to think this has something to do with their healthcare system?
69. Lawyers advertise on billboards
70. Petrol stations sell beer in giant cans. In singles and with a paper bag of required. Stay classy usa
71. Eggs yolks are really orange and most eggs have white shells (remember them?)
72. One assumption that has been totally dispelled is the lack of true international food. Our supermarket sells lots of Thai, Japanese and Korean products. Only thing really lacking is Indian food.
73. Everywhere has free refills on fizzy drinks.
74. PIN numbers are not needed with your eftpos card at all places. Some places just scan it and you sign for it. No one ever checks the signature. I cant understand how this is a good idea. Surely it makes way more sense and is more secure for you to always give your pin.
75.Tax is not included in the price listed and is added when you check out. This gets me every time, especially at places like the museum where the fare is $9 and then when you go to pay its $9.09. So if you have cash you end up with more useless coins. I would literally rather pay $10 and have tax included then a stupid number like 9.09.
76. Thank God for skype and viber
77.Our license saga is still not behind us. I have mine but Garth's was sent to our old address. We had tried to notify them when we moved but they wouldnt change it without proof we have been there 30 days - which we hadnt been at the time. By the time we had, the license had been sent. They cant just resend it, instead he now has to go back to the office, change his address, and then wait the 6 weeks for it to be send out again. We have now been dealing with his license since September 25.
78. There are lots of community activities on offer almost every week to go and do and we are enjoying this aspect of being in a bigger city again.
79. The stupidest question we have been asked by someone to do with NZ is whether it is a state within the USA. The scariest part of this was she was working for a company that does G's security clearance and background check for work.
80. The weather forecast is a lot more precise than home. They tend to give you the temperatures morning, noon and night and have been really accurate so far.
81. Our city has dedicated hurricane evacuation lanes on the freeway out of town.
82. I have not seen any snakes but a snake skin was found in a playground that we play at every week.
83. The best thing about watching the New York ball drop at New Year's is that they are an hour ahead of us, so I was able to watch that live and still be tucked up in bed relatively early.
84. There are so many TV channels that we literally cant keep up with it all. I rely on Buzzfeed posts to tell me if something good is coming on TV.
85. G misses cricket. I don't.
86. We were invited to three different families for their Thanksgiving. Such a cool gesture and was so appreciated. As for Thanksgiving itself - im not totally convinced. Cool idea behind it, undone by gross consumerism the next day. And if you think about it, its kind of Christmas without the presents and where's the fun in that??
87. They collect sea turtle eggs from along one of the beaches here and then release the hatched sea turtles back into the water 15- 25 times a year. Huge crowds go down to watch.
88. During the fall harvest season, Pumpkin patches are created at churches and you can go along and select a pumpkin for carving or decorating. They even set up little places for you to take pics of your kids there.
89. Santa photos here are another level. Kids in matching outfits, dressed to the absolute nines. I saw one little girl about H's age dressed in some many frills and layers of red netting and frills that she was barely visible. The mall Santa was the most realistic Santa I've ever seen, so weird when he opened his mouth and had such a southern drawl!
90. The sea temperature here in winter is the same as it is in NZ in the summer.
and to answer some people's questions - What is G's job here? He is working at a Oil refinery in the technical team as a process engineer with oversight of a couple of units. So that probably doesn't actually answer any questions but that's what he does!
So there it is 90 observations for our first 90 days here. Cant believe it has gone as fast as it has. There have been hard days where having family and friends in the same time zone (at least) would be great and then awesome days getting out and exploring. We are looking forward to three family visits in the next three months with my cousin, my sister and my parents all arriving at various times. We have two little people's birthday's to celebrate as well as my 30th. Exciting times ahead as always.
73. Everywhere has free refills on fizzy drinks.
74. PIN numbers are not needed with your eftpos card at all places. Some places just scan it and you sign for it. No one ever checks the signature. I cant understand how this is a good idea. Surely it makes way more sense and is more secure for you to always give your pin.
75.Tax is not included in the price listed and is added when you check out. This gets me every time, especially at places like the museum where the fare is $9 and then when you go to pay its $9.09. So if you have cash you end up with more useless coins. I would literally rather pay $10 and have tax included then a stupid number like 9.09.
76. Thank God for skype and viber
77.Our license saga is still not behind us. I have mine but Garth's was sent to our old address. We had tried to notify them when we moved but they wouldnt change it without proof we have been there 30 days - which we hadnt been at the time. By the time we had, the license had been sent. They cant just resend it, instead he now has to go back to the office, change his address, and then wait the 6 weeks for it to be send out again. We have now been dealing with his license since September 25.
78. There are lots of community activities on offer almost every week to go and do and we are enjoying this aspect of being in a bigger city again.
79. The stupidest question we have been asked by someone to do with NZ is whether it is a state within the USA. The scariest part of this was she was working for a company that does G's security clearance and background check for work.
80. The weather forecast is a lot more precise than home. They tend to give you the temperatures morning, noon and night and have been really accurate so far.
81. Our city has dedicated hurricane evacuation lanes on the freeway out of town.
82. I have not seen any snakes but a snake skin was found in a playground that we play at every week.
83. The best thing about watching the New York ball drop at New Year's is that they are an hour ahead of us, so I was able to watch that live and still be tucked up in bed relatively early.
84. There are so many TV channels that we literally cant keep up with it all. I rely on Buzzfeed posts to tell me if something good is coming on TV.
85. G misses cricket. I don't.
86. We were invited to three different families for their Thanksgiving. Such a cool gesture and was so appreciated. As for Thanksgiving itself - im not totally convinced. Cool idea behind it, undone by gross consumerism the next day. And if you think about it, its kind of Christmas without the presents and where's the fun in that??
87. They collect sea turtle eggs from along one of the beaches here and then release the hatched sea turtles back into the water 15- 25 times a year. Huge crowds go down to watch.
88. During the fall harvest season, Pumpkin patches are created at churches and you can go along and select a pumpkin for carving or decorating. They even set up little places for you to take pics of your kids there.
89. Santa photos here are another level. Kids in matching outfits, dressed to the absolute nines. I saw one little girl about H's age dressed in some many frills and layers of red netting and frills that she was barely visible. The mall Santa was the most realistic Santa I've ever seen, so weird when he opened his mouth and had such a southern drawl!
90. The sea temperature here in winter is the same as it is in NZ in the summer.
and to answer some people's questions - What is G's job here? He is working at a Oil refinery in the technical team as a process engineer with oversight of a couple of units. So that probably doesn't actually answer any questions but that's what he does!
So there it is 90 observations for our first 90 days here. Cant believe it has gone as fast as it has. There have been hard days where having family and friends in the same time zone (at least) would be great and then awesome days getting out and exploring. We are looking forward to three family visits in the next three months with my cousin, my sister and my parents all arriving at various times. We have two little people's birthday's to celebrate as well as my 30th. Exciting times ahead as always.
Friday 2 January 2015
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