Halloween

For three years, ClanMcCarter has avoided, oh, I meant postponed, celebrating Halloween mainly because no one, and I mean no one, trick or treated along our street and well, Halloween is still sort of lame in the UK. So THIS year in honor of our return to America (land of the free, home of Halloween), we are celebrating once again.

Owen has single-handedly created his own costume over the past week (not sure exactly what he is, but he is happy with it) and Finn went all little kid on me and asked to buy, yes buy, a Batman costume. As an aside, we never buy Halloween costumes in this house. I take that back; I buy only after Halloween as dress-ups when the kids were littler.
We have had a ridiculous problem with the squirrels eating our pumpkins this year. They never touched them in the past. I think it is due to the lack of acorns this year as their occurrence is cyclical. I have purchased three separate pumpkins. One was totally eaten by said squirrels; one was nibbled and I brought it inside only to have it rot and then implode on the kitchen floor; one stayed outside for more nibbling and we saved it in the nick of time.The small ones got the Mr Pumpkinhead treatment.Sad clown
Happy Halloween!

Manassas National Battlefield Park

On our way to the Shenandoahs, we took a pitstop to Manassas National Battlefield Park. It was a good little bit of history for the boys and very scenic as well. I also got my National Park stamp in my National Parks Passport, which was the real reason we stopped. It also helped that there was a Cracker Barrel at the same exit which served proper biscuits and cornbread muffins.


Manassas NBP is where the Battle of Bull Run occurred in July, 1861, during the Civil War. It is also where General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson obtained his famous nickname.








Gen. T.J. "Stonewall" Jackson monument


And the obligatory plaque


Henry Hill


Cannons

Reacclimatized at the Giant

Today marks the first day in about three years that I went grocery shopping and did not return with a headache. I know some may think this is weird. Let me explain.

In the UK, it was a struggle to find grocery items that were similar to my needs. Sometimes they did not exist (I never did find canned black beans) or sometimes they were labeled and/or packaged differently (to-mah-toe puree vs tomato paste). The size of the aisles, the doing math(s) in my head to convert pounds to dollars to see if the price was right, the waiting forever to check out and getting fed up about the whole money exchanging hands process or wondering if my credit card would work this time around was well, headache worthy. Many friends did online grocery shopping, but it just wasn't my thing. Plus, to be quite fair, it was the whole UK experience that I signed up for and disagreeable or not, it was part of life.

Here in the US, I was still coming back from the store with a weary headache no matter the time of day or the grocery store I visited. I think it is due to the explosion of choices, relearning the layout of new stores, deciding if buying the bonus card item is really worth the price and looking for some similar things like I used to buy in the UK. For instance, cuts of meat are different and I can't get a decent gammon joint anywhere.

Today, I got home and unloaded the groceries and realized that I didn't feel like I needed a rest from the mental exertion. Grocery shopping has never been one of my favorite things in any country, but at least today, it was a bit easier.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A Tree is Nice

One of my favorite kids' books is called "A Tree is Nice" by Janice May Udry and illustrated by Marc Simont, who won the Caldecott Medal in 1957 for his illustrations. Here's what Ms Udry has to say about trees:

"Trees are pretty. They fill up the sky. If you have a tree, you can climb up its trunk, roll in its leaves, or hang a swing from one of its limbs. Cows and babies can nap in the shade of a tree. Birds can make nests in the branches. A tree is good to have around. A tree is nice."

This is pretty much exactly what I think about trees. We have so many leaves to rake each Fall, but it's totally worth it.

Here are some photos from our trip to Shenandoah National Park this weekend. Yeah, trees ARE nice.

















Bushes are nice.


Moss is nice.


Milkweed is nice.


Seeds are nice.


Berries are nice.


Meadows are nice.


Deer are sometimes nice. These were almost tame.


Bears are nice to look at. This one was too close for comfort, poor thing.


Sunrises are nice.





Sunsets are nice.


Teenagers who still hold hands are nice.

22 Years

Yesterday was our 22nd Anniversary. I have been married for exactly half of my life. How oddly cool is that? Our friends, Sam and Liz, reserved a room in the Big Meadows Lodge on Skyline Drive in the Shenandoahs National Park. They decided to reserve an RV site instead and offered the room and we accepted. So far the weather has been very clear but also very cold. Luckily, Craig checked the weather forecast and we are well-prepared.

The Big Meadows Lodge is really neat. It was built in the 1930's and is very old school. The food is pretty good too. The scenery is amazing and the leaves are gorgeous.

On the way to the Shenandoahs, we were listening to WHFS and it was like they were playing our Anniversary Mix: "Punk Rock Girl" by the Dead Milkmen, "Ball and Chain" by Social Distortion and a song we both like by Special Agent.

Blonde Moment

I was starting to feel like I have been living under a rock after being stuck waiting in IKEA for a non self serve item for what seems like hours today when I read Qaddafi was shot on Thursday. I was like, "Jeez, where have I been to not have heard this?" Then I realized that today is Thursday and it just happened today. Seems that I am still blonde under all of this gray.

Mid-October

Fall is in the air. This past weekend was gorgeous after a very rainy and miserable Friday. Even though the sun was shining brightly on Saturday, Owen's soccer game had been cancelled the night before. I found this deal on Groupon and we decided to go to a corn maze and zip line near Gettysburg, PA. When we arrived, it was very very windy and the zip line was closed but the maze was open. There were big signs saying how muddy the maze was but we had all brought our boots so we were in good shape. The maze had an African theme. It was in the shape of an elephant with a small lion to the side and it was very difficult. Luckily, Owen had taken a photo of it from the instructions board just before we entered. Such a schmah-tee! However, we still got lost often and it made some of us (me) grouchy, Finn separated himself from us for a bit and Owen kept running ahead whilst Evan tried his best not to sink into the muck which slowed our progress. So.much.FUN!





There was a lot of corn.





There were a lot of corn stalks.





There was a lot of corn on the cob.





Corn roots are pretty cool.





Craig started to go native. We found our way out in the nick of time.





There was an extreme amount of mud.





It went inside our boots from the top.





Evan is getting nervous.





Finn is a smidgeon stroppy.





Nearly there... I should also add that they made us take a super tall flag with us in case we got lost, needed help and/or had an emergency. Everyone was talking about the guy who called 911 in the middle of a corn maze recently because he was lost.

On Sunday, I went to a decorator show home in Fulton with friends, Nancy & Sheila, and two of Nancy's friends who had also lived in Cheltenham previously but not while we were there. It was a beautiful home and worth the visit. There were 25 rooms in the house, but no children. Sometimes I don't understand people.

Tonight (Tuesday), I am at the high school awaiting Evan's first concert. It promises to be a good evening. The kids just walked in so I am signing off.





Evan is smack dab in the middle of this photo under the blurry kid.

Just got home from the concert. My impressions:
1. They sounded so professional.
2. The trombone is a sad and serious instrument.
3. Steel drums are so not British.
4. Steel drums were not made to play slowly.
5. Herbie Hancock was a great composer.
6. Who knew that Avatar had a good soundtrack?

Morning Chaos

This morning was insane. It is 8:19 AM and I have been in the car three times since 6:55 AM.

Trip One: I walked downstairs to see Evan's lunch still on the countertop. He had JUST left to catch the bus, so I quickly made his sandwich (which he also forgot to do), jumped in the car and got to the bus stop exactly as Evan was boarding it. I think the bus driver and every kid on the bus thought I was a psycho as I drove up beeping my horn and flashing my lights. However, it was a success.

Trip Two: Today, most kids are taking the PSAT (sort of like a practice GCSE in Maths and English for you Brit readers, but it does determine scholarship eligibility for Evan's year group). For weeks, the kids have been told they need to bring pencils and a calculator. I asked Craig if Evan had his calculator. His reply was, "I don't know. He is 16 years old and responsible; I am sure he has his calculator." The Mom gut instinct in me just didn't believe that response, so I went up to Evan's room and sure enough, there was the calculator on his desk! Craig and I made arrangements for him to get the younger guys out of the house and off I went to the high school. I got there and the bazillion kids who attend his school were milling about since school hadn't actually opened. I looked for Evan but there are a lot of kids. I walk inside to the lobby area and lo and behold, my son is standing directly in front of me! What are the chances of that? Calculator handoff ensues. Evan is actually grateful. Upon my return, I wave to the middle school boys walking to the bus stop and Craig going to work. Aaaah, success!

Trip Three: Less than 10 minutes later, I get a phone call whilst talking to a neighbor on the other line (call waiting rocks!) and it is Finn. I thought he was calling to say they missed the bus, but he was calling to say that he had forgotten his gym kit. Aaaargh! In all of the chaos, I had forgotten to get it out of the dryer this morning and to his credit, he had no idea where it was although the bag was right next to his backpack and he or Craig could have called me before this point in time. So I pack a gym kit and head for the middle school. Kit delivered, coffee poured, blog written. A triple play (or hat trick as the case may be)! The End.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Are You Sure You're From Around Here?

Today whilst walking to the farmer's market on Main Street (which is also Frederick Road, like how High Street in the UK can have another name as well), Craig looked at some trash in the gutter and saw something that looked like a KFC wrapper, but said KGC and just after saw a KFC wrapper. He noted that he thought the first one said KGC and we kept walking. Upon our return, we looked for the wrapper and found it and it DID say KGC. After a more thorough inspection, we saw that KGC stands for Kentucky Grilled Chicken and we were like, "What? When did that happen?" Still acclimating or (shall I say acclimatising?).

On another note, we keep seeing this cat wandering around the neighborhood that looks a lot like our cat, Gus, that disappeared at least 10 years ago. This is not the same cat by any means; he is much younger and stockier. However, today out of the blue, he ran right up to us meowing and rolled around for pets and just hung around like he belonged here. So, I caved. I fed him some food which he immediately snarfed down in record time.


We totally had been played, but he was super nice and actually didn't look mangy in the least. So I plan to keep a bowl of food on the porch during the day (not at night because we have raccoon issues) to see if he visits again. We named him Charlie Bucket in keeping with our Willie Wonka theme (Varuca Salt, Augustus "Gus" Gloop) and because he just has that orphaned boy look about him even though I think he is a she.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Indian Summer

The past few days have been extra lovely after all of the rain and cold temperatures we have had lately. Autumn is by far my most favorite time of the year. I do believe I am so glad to be home.

I also love going to Pier 1 in the fall. I love the smell of it, the autumn colored themes, the music. I know it's weird, but I missed it.

This is the Maryland I love. I am actually happy to have experienced the heat and humidity, the crazy rain storms and yes, even the mosquitoes (which need to DIE off entirely) so I can appreciate the changing season. Autumn is awesome.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Been Keeping Busy

Craig returned to work on Friday. Owen has been playing soccer in between rain cancellations.


Evan started Driver's Ed and is doing very well in his transition to high school. Finn is doing lots of homework whilst trying to catch up on some Algebra gaps and I have finally unpacked all of the clothing that we haven't seen since 25 May which meant a trip to the dry cleaners.

My dry cleaner remembers me from three years ago and prints my name on a slip before the door closes behind me. This is litruhlee true. It also helps that we have been in three times in the past month and a half with piles of wrinkly clothes. And the fact that we have probably doubled her income in that month and a half... At least dry cleaning isn't nearly as expensive in the UK.

My latest nephew, Dylan,


was baptized on the last weekend of September. It was nice to see all of the family.


Owen is given Troy a noogie. Aaaah, cousinly love...


Cole is fascinated by Evan's phone. He's definitely the technology brother.


A blurry photo of big brother and belated birthday boy, Shane.


My brother, Kirk, and his wife, Jenny. They're the ones holding the kids just in case you weren't sure.

Finally, a big shout out to Steve Jobs with whom this post probably would not have been possible. Pure.Genius.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hilltop Hike

This past Thursday, the kids had a day off from school for Rosh Hashanah (something that hasn't occurred for us in three years) so Owen, Craig and I went on a hike to one of our favorite spots in the Patapsco State Park, the Sawmill Branch Trail. We heard lots of birds, saw a small herd of deer twice and a couple of northern water snakes. The latter sighting really made Owen's day. Let's just say that I was not unhappy to move along. It was a beautiful day as well.


Follow the red rectangle











The Bobsey Twins looking at...


this foul creature.





Sage advice

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad