Happy Birthday from around the world
I got birthday messages from Oregon, Indiana, Michigan, Arizona and also from France! Always nice to hear from everyone and all about your latest news !
From my sister and twin Colette I got
* a nice note and picture of Nicolette (but where's the rest of the family?),
* Fun size Halloween niblets - I brought these to 'tea time' today to share.
o None of the others (in this case, English, Canadian, or Belorussian) had ever seen Brachs (America's #1 brand) candy corn
o nestle crunch (quickly snapped up by fellow American),
o whoppers (we all agreed not as good as Malteasers),
o 3 Musketeers -- called the Milky Way in Britain while the American Milky Way is called a Mars bar in Britain - this is all ignorning the difference in the chocolate,
o starburst,
o m&ms (we shared and agreed m&m's are better than smarties here because smarties tastes funny now with no artificial colors).
* 2 Microwave popcorn pouches:
the Belorussian has never heard of this -- we will have to make one at work to share,
the Canadian says you can get butter flavored microwave popcorn now at the grocery store now but it is not as good (the last time I checked, they had weird sweet flavors like vanilla or honey).
* A cool Sun & Moon pattern herbal comfort pac hot/cold therapy -- looks great -- can't wait to try it.
* various religious themed objects (likely freebees): gold cross and a Rose of glory necklace, 2 rosary pouches with a Red commemorative Papal Rosary (John Paul II) and your standard Blue Marion rosary to add to my rosary collection (if I can find it),
* White Cheddar Cheez-its, a favorite flavor. We'll share some with our fellow American cheez-it fan Steve.
* AT&T SPF vanilla lip balm (as if there is any sun here - my guess this was a freebee),
* DVD of Paula's 40th BD party (regret I could not be there but this is the next best thing)
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* scotch tape refill, what a relief !
* Arizona Highways calendar !
My sister Paula's package included:
* cute birthday cards for me and John
* Five (5) yippee 5 Family size boxes of Triscuits -- I just made chili last night !
* Qtips (original) - my ears thank you, they don't like the plastic stems,
* travel size kleenex (always handy),
* Halls strawberry mentho lyptus cough drops - I tried one right away, not as good as cherry but it was better than cough drops here which always seem to have the liquid center (blech!),
* 2 x Oscar Mayer real bacon bits (bacon blog),
* 2 x Wishbone Creamy Caesar salad dressing -- salad heaven -- salad dressings in England are just not very good,
* 6 x Miss Clairol hair stuff - my hair is saved for another 6 months,
* Taco Bell: 2 x Sante Fe Style Beef Bowlz and a Box of cheezy double decker taco dinner (tortillas, shells, seas) -- in Mexico, this stuff is rumored to be called 'American Food' which is probably most accurate -- but what the English call Mexican demonstrates they have seen pictures but have never eaten anything like American Mexican dishes.
* Cottonelle toilet wipes travel pack -- these can be handy, though we never know when....
* Awesome T-shirts (I did not bring enough):
o Cow Girl Brand Wild West tall in the saddle,
o New York NY (white with red/blue letters),
o Red "No Chew Crew - Say NO to spit tobacco (St Joe's hosp & med center)" -- could this be a hospital promotional item?),
o Diamondbacks Baseball (white) -- won't see myself coming and going,
* Moon Valley Rockets boxer shorts - John and I can fight over these,
* 2 Jack in the Box antenna balls (John's had 2 stolen so far).
* Arizona Highways calendar !
* Vitamins (prenatal ? this will raise some eyebrows)
We're looking forward to the fruitcake from Mom and Dad.
Otherwise, we're all set for a while. Have not been to the states for some time so it really is nice to have a bit of home here in the meantime.