I just finished reading the first book of The Hunger Games. I bought the trilogy for Finn almost a year ago and he litruhlee devoured them (pun intended). As he was reading them, we talked about them so I knew basically what they were about. I think I was scared to start them because they are pretty gory.
So it took me all of maybe five hours partially interrupted to finish the first one. I was hooked and really couldn't put it down but I am not sure I actually liked it. My friend, Laura, described them as " disturbing" and I would totally agree with that description. In addition, here are my thoughts.
Suzanne Collins is a great young adult fiction writer. Her series, The Underland Chronicles, is fantastic. This book however, seemed to be written while Ms Collins was sat in front of the telly watching a season of Survivor except she added real violence and the fact that it was kids just made it worse. I did like the post-apocalyptic setting and the imagination it took to create their world and how she wove in details about each area of the country to create districts. But seriously, I just couldn't get over the fact that the Hunger Games would never exist and/or people would watch them year after year. When we all start tuning into reality TV shows called something like "Survivor to the Death", I think that's my hint to exit this big blue marble.
I started reading the trilogy because a movie adaptation is in the works. Jennifer Lawrence has been cast as Katniss and I can totally see her in this role. If anyone has seen Winter's Bone (excellent movie), you will agree 100%. I just don't know now if I would go to see the film. What do you all think?
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Saturday, September 24, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Girls' Weekend
"She is a friend of mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order. It's good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind." - Toni Morrison
I am very fortunate to have good friends. We had a great beach weekend despite the icky weather. Besides, I am not sure wine and sun mix anyway.
A wet beach walk
Wendy was the only smart one!
Hurricane Irene killed many horseshoe crabs
Ocean front to the extreme
I don't even like melon(s).
Speaks for itself...
As does this one...
And this is for my British friends - it's like a Terry's Chocolate Orange in a bottle I suppose. It didn't sound that appetizing though.
I am very fortunate to have good friends. We had a great beach weekend despite the icky weather. Besides, I am not sure wine and sun mix anyway.
A wet beach walk
Wendy was the only smart one!
Hurricane Irene killed many horseshoe crabs
Ocean front to the extreme
I don't even like melon(s).
Speaks for itself...
As does this one...
And this is for my British friends - it's like a Terry's Chocolate Orange in a bottle I suppose. It didn't sound that appetizing though.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Spiders
It's Autumn and the spiders are out. All of my UK friends are freaking out because the ginormous spiders are in full swing. These are fearless house spiders that come out and cross right in front of you at night especially. They are huge. One time, we were emptying out our recycling and Craig reached into the bag for the next bottle and a HUGE one hopped out right at him! Freaky!
Anyway, I thought I'd post a couple that have been spotted around here. The first one came in with my groceries as I brushed along side a bush and the second was at Second Chance. Not sure they are AS big, but they were as creepy.
Craig says this is a banana spider.
Look at those hairy legs!
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Anyway, I thought I'd post a couple that have been spotted around here. The first one came in with my groceries as I brushed along side a bush and the second was at Second Chance. Not sure they are AS big, but they were as creepy.
Craig says this is a banana spider.
Look at those hairy legs!
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Thursday, September 15, 2011
Second Chance
Craig is remodeling our bedroom. It used to be mid to late 1970's decor complete with lime green shag carpet and bright blue and yellow walls accented by bright blue, lime green, yellow and white plaid wallpaper. We called it the Brady Bunch room and it was always the kids' room. We replaced the carpet before moving to a taupe color which in no way matched any of the rest of the room. Upon our move back, each child got his own room so that left the Brady Bunch room for us. Needless to say, it was time for a remodel.
He has ripped out all of the trim, some window boxes that were hiding the air conditioning vents, the stair rail and some shelving. He has begun to rebuild the window boxes and we picked out paint today, but the biggest find was a new stair banister for our room and some spindles.
There is a place in Baltimore called Second Chance and it is an architectural rehab store. Contractors and remodelers can take gently used or architecturally interesting items to the warehouse for reuse. I like to go there to see cool old stuff
including old metal,
glass,
wood
and tile.
Today I saw a bunch of tin decorative ceiling tiles that I would have taken home if they weren't so damaged. They needed more love and attention than I was willing to give. In the past, we have taken things there and in return purchased things like an oxen yoke that Craig made into a railing for our basement steps, some cool art deco keyhole covers for our doors, an old and heavy door that has been repurposed into a pocket door in our basement and another door that we use as our back door from the kitchen.
Second Chance is first in my book.
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He has ripped out all of the trim, some window boxes that were hiding the air conditioning vents, the stair rail and some shelving. He has begun to rebuild the window boxes and we picked out paint today, but the biggest find was a new stair banister for our room and some spindles.
There is a place in Baltimore called Second Chance and it is an architectural rehab store. Contractors and remodelers can take gently used or architecturally interesting items to the warehouse for reuse. I like to go there to see cool old stuff
including old metal,
glass,
wood
and tile.
Today I saw a bunch of tin decorative ceiling tiles that I would have taken home if they weren't so damaged. They needed more love and attention than I was willing to give. In the past, we have taken things there and in return purchased things like an oxen yoke that Craig made into a railing for our basement steps, some cool art deco keyhole covers for our doors, an old and heavy door that has been repurposed into a pocket door in our basement and another door that we use as our back door from the kitchen.
Second Chance is first in my book.
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Monday, September 12, 2011
Bittersweet 16
Evan turned 16 yesterday. I just don't know what to say. Sort of sad, sort of excited. Where did the time go?
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Old New Friend
I got to spend a great evening on the water with my new in the grand scheme of things but feels like old friend, Amy, and her Dad. We had great crabs
at a waterside restaurant called Skipper's in Deale. Yum! And then we sort of played the parts of Thelma and Louise on a jaunt to Rita's in my new car. I was a Rita's gelati virgin, but I ain't no more! Let's just say what happens at Rita's stays at Rita's. Yum!
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at a waterside restaurant called Skipper's in Deale. Yum! And then we sort of played the parts of Thelma and Louise on a jaunt to Rita's in my new car. I was a Rita's gelati virgin, but I ain't no more! Let's just say what happens at Rita's stays at Rita's. Yum!
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Thursday, September 8, 2011
What's Next?
So far, we have experienced torrential downpours, including a hurricane and remnants of tropical storms, and an earthquake. The kids' principal at the middle school predicted locusts might be next but I have my money on a plague of frogs.
Yesterday, we went to lunch with a group of friends from England who have moved back. Whilst driving down a large hill in a torrential rain, Craig noted that it might not be the best idea to be lunching at a restaurant five feet above the banks of the Patapsco River. As we were driving, I smelled a wet dirt/mud smell from outside whilst inside the car. We reached The Trolley Stop and after a quick debate, we decided to stay and eventually ordered. After being served our mains, we noticed cars turning around and not crossing the bridge over the river into Ellicott City from Catonsville. Then we noticed the level of the river was just about touching the bottom of the bridge. Then someone came into the restaurant and said that the main road back into Catonsville was closed due to flooding and Main Street Ellicott City was litruhlee a river in itself (footage made national television news). So here we are stuck except for a twisty and steep road (Oella Avenue) that we could take back. So that's what we did. Our friends followed us and we eventually got to Route 40 and they made their way home safely as did we. There was water everywhere. Rivers in yards and along the streets. I honestly have never seen it rain so much so quickly in my life.
We returned home just in time to run down to the basement to see at least two inches of water oozing out from under the new flooring system Craig had just finished laying not two days ago. Luckily it had not crested onto the floor itself; just under the subfloor which is designed for wet basements. Out came the wellies, the wet/dry shop vac and all the towels I could muster. Two hours and about 50 gallons of water later, the basement was better. It turned out that water was not leaking from the walls, but from the actual floor of the basement itself. It was litruhlee bubbling up from the floor like a spring, like a water fountain!
Once Craig spotted that, he quickly mixed up some quick bonding cement but unfortunately there was only a little bit because he had been using it whilst repairing the walls where he had just remodeled. (It worked great in those areas - no water!) So off to the hardware store. Meanwhile, I am furiously vacuuming water and dumping it out to no avail, pretty much just maintaining stasis whilst checking my phone to see if there were any school issues I needed to know about. Some buses were unable to take kids home due to road closures. And it just continues to pour and pour...
Craig returns, Evan gets in from school, Craig mixes cement with Evan and I alternating vacuum duty and the cement bonds and WORKS! Amazing that cement can bond in a pool of water. Just pure genius if you ask me (thank-you ancient Rome).
We fixed a quick dinner and then headed off to the middle school back to school night as if we didn't have enough stress.
It is still raining twelve hours later although there have been some lulls. The basement is now pretty dry thanks to my husband's fantastic ability to
and his general know-how. If I had had to do this alone, I think my strategy would have been more like
and I still would have been vacuuming throughout the night and into this morning.
The utter irony to all of this is that we reviewed our homeowner's insurance litruhlee the evening before and the telephone representative had asked Craig if he was interested in earthquake insurance because of the recent shift we experienced and FLOOD insurance. He declined both. In hindsight, we may be changing our policy.
My next door neighbor said something about the weather being like that in England. This is nothing like what we experienced although we did miss the flooding in 2007. I just can't believe how much it has rained from mid August until now. Summers are typically dry. They need some of this rain in Austin, TX where fires are raging. It is so dry and hot there this summer that bales of hay are spontaneously combusting.
All I can say is, "Frogs and/or locusts, watch out! I've got my eye on you!"
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Yesterday, we went to lunch with a group of friends from England who have moved back. Whilst driving down a large hill in a torrential rain, Craig noted that it might not be the best idea to be lunching at a restaurant five feet above the banks of the Patapsco River. As we were driving, I smelled a wet dirt/mud smell from outside whilst inside the car. We reached The Trolley Stop and after a quick debate, we decided to stay and eventually ordered. After being served our mains, we noticed cars turning around and not crossing the bridge over the river into Ellicott City from Catonsville. Then we noticed the level of the river was just about touching the bottom of the bridge. Then someone came into the restaurant and said that the main road back into Catonsville was closed due to flooding and Main Street Ellicott City was litruhlee a river in itself (footage made national television news). So here we are stuck except for a twisty and steep road (Oella Avenue) that we could take back. So that's what we did. Our friends followed us and we eventually got to Route 40 and they made their way home safely as did we. There was water everywhere. Rivers in yards and along the streets. I honestly have never seen it rain so much so quickly in my life.
We returned home just in time to run down to the basement to see at least two inches of water oozing out from under the new flooring system Craig had just finished laying not two days ago. Luckily it had not crested onto the floor itself; just under the subfloor which is designed for wet basements. Out came the wellies, the wet/dry shop vac and all the towels I could muster. Two hours and about 50 gallons of water later, the basement was better. It turned out that water was not leaking from the walls, but from the actual floor of the basement itself. It was litruhlee bubbling up from the floor like a spring, like a water fountain!
Once Craig spotted that, he quickly mixed up some quick bonding cement but unfortunately there was only a little bit because he had been using it whilst repairing the walls where he had just remodeled. (It worked great in those areas - no water!) So off to the hardware store. Meanwhile, I am furiously vacuuming water and dumping it out to no avail, pretty much just maintaining stasis whilst checking my phone to see if there were any school issues I needed to know about. Some buses were unable to take kids home due to road closures. And it just continues to pour and pour...
Craig returns, Evan gets in from school, Craig mixes cement with Evan and I alternating vacuum duty and the cement bonds and WORKS! Amazing that cement can bond in a pool of water. Just pure genius if you ask me (thank-you ancient Rome).
We fixed a quick dinner and then headed off to the middle school back to school night as if we didn't have enough stress.
It is still raining twelve hours later although there have been some lulls. The basement is now pretty dry thanks to my husband's fantastic ability to
and his general know-how. If I had had to do this alone, I think my strategy would have been more like
and I still would have been vacuuming throughout the night and into this morning.
The utter irony to all of this is that we reviewed our homeowner's insurance litruhlee the evening before and the telephone representative had asked Craig if he was interested in earthquake insurance because of the recent shift we experienced and FLOOD insurance. He declined both. In hindsight, we may be changing our policy.
My next door neighbor said something about the weather being like that in England. This is nothing like what we experienced although we did miss the flooding in 2007. I just can't believe how much it has rained from mid August until now. Summers are typically dry. They need some of this rain in Austin, TX where fires are raging. It is so dry and hot there this summer that bales of hay are spontaneously combusting.
All I can say is, "Frogs and/or locusts, watch out! I've got my eye on you!"
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Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Totally Tan
Craig has been utilizing his time off wisely. The first project was a remodel of our dank and dirty laundry room. He has done extensive work ensuring that water will be deterred from entering into the back of the house. As I type, it is chucking buckets so we will see what happens. He also installed new flooring that matches the rest of the basement and some cabinets and a countertop. It looks great! The remodel included a facelift of the yucky hospital yellow walls with a color that runs throughout the rest of the basement room. The name of the color is the same as the name of this post: Totally Tan.
We joked that our whole life is totally tan. We have a tan basement, a tan house, and not one but now TWO tan cars. Yes, two, and yes, the real reason for this post is to show off the newest addition to Clan McCarter and here she is:
Fiat 500C (for cabrio meaning convertible!)
I want to name her Coco because she is chocolatey (cocoa) and fashionable (Coco Chanel) at the same time. I am not sure I am going to win this debate.
I have wanted this car since I first saw one on the streets of Cheltenham three years ago. I have dreamt of owning one and even posted a blog about it. Well today amidst a drenching downpour, Craig consented although I didn't have to convince him at all. The fact that the dealership was playing one of our favorite Harry Connick, Jr. songs right as we walked in was pure kismet. Either that or the dealership totally knows their demographic. We are not entirely sure that the ragtop works, because the rain sort of nixed that but we are taking a leap of faith. So yeah, it's a midlife crisis mobile but hey, it could be a lot worse. I have such a great sugar daddy, but no cake, hon, sorry.
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We joked that our whole life is totally tan. We have a tan basement, a tan house, and not one but now TWO tan cars. Yes, two, and yes, the real reason for this post is to show off the newest addition to Clan McCarter and here she is:
Fiat 500C (for cabrio meaning convertible!)
I want to name her Coco because she is chocolatey (cocoa) and fashionable (Coco Chanel) at the same time. I am not sure I am going to win this debate.
I have wanted this car since I first saw one on the streets of Cheltenham three years ago. I have dreamt of owning one and even posted a blog about it. Well today amidst a drenching downpour, Craig consented although I didn't have to convince him at all. The fact that the dealership was playing one of our favorite Harry Connick, Jr. songs right as we walked in was pure kismet. Either that or the dealership totally knows their demographic. We are not entirely sure that the ragtop works, because the rain sort of nixed that but we are taking a leap of faith. So yeah, it's a midlife crisis mobile but hey, it could be a lot worse. I have such a great sugar daddy, but no cake, hon, sorry.
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Friday, September 2, 2011
The First Day
Thanks to Hurricane Irene, the start of school was delayed by two days. The hurricane hit our town on Saturday evening. Needless to say, Craig and I did not get an excellent night's sleep that evening. Miraculously, we were one of the few houses in our neighborhood that did not lose power. This is usually not the case. Many trees were down and schools were out of power on Monday. Over 60 schools in the county were still out of power on Tuesday. A few still had no power on Wednesday, but luckily our schools did and the first day of school was upon us.
All of the guys were up early to start the school year and actually seemed eager to begin. They all were happy to go to school and everyone had a positive attitude upon their return. Owen did remark that he "didn't get a recess, like all day". Welcome to America, dude. Craig noted that the kids were "home a lot earlier than in the UK". Welcome to America, dude.
The smiley sixth grader (Year 7)
The excited (and a smidgeon nervous) 8th grader (Year 9)
The casual 11th grader (Lower 6th)
Is that a smile?!?! Why, yes, it is.
As an aside, our neighbors STILL do not have power four and almost five days later. Since Saturday, we have been sharing our electricity via extension cords with the neighbors across the street from us. At least they can keep food from spoiling and have some minor conveniences.
Owen calls these extension cords that are all along our street "umbilical cords" and he says we are the mother house feeding our neighbors' house. Very clever.
All of the guys were up early to start the school year and actually seemed eager to begin. They all were happy to go to school and everyone had a positive attitude upon their return. Owen did remark that he "didn't get a recess, like all day". Welcome to America, dude. Craig noted that the kids were "home a lot earlier than in the UK". Welcome to America, dude.
The smiley sixth grader (Year 7)
The excited (and a smidgeon nervous) 8th grader (Year 9)
The casual 11th grader (Lower 6th)
Is that a smile?!?! Why, yes, it is.
As an aside, our neighbors STILL do not have power four and almost five days later. Since Saturday, we have been sharing our electricity via extension cords with the neighbors across the street from us. At least they can keep food from spoiling and have some minor conveniences.
Owen calls these extension cords that are all along our street "umbilical cords" and he says we are the mother house feeding our neighbors' house. Very clever.
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