Freakin' Floods!

Even before the whole "earthquake" or "hurricane" or "massive rain storms", our basement here at our lovely town home flooded.  Thats right, it flooded BEFORE all that natural disaster stuff.  August was one of the rainiest months Bel Air has ever had - before Irene hit.  Half of our basement one rainy Sunday morning was 1/4 inch deep in water:(

We had the plumber come out and take a look, and our sump pump had failed, which was a blessing, because that means insurance will pay for the damage.  But still, it stinks!!!

We had ServPro come out and rip out carpet and they put these huge fans and humidifiers down there...

    

Yeah, its a mess down there!!  Isnt it?  We got everything settled, pick out new carpet and all that, had the sump pump fixed and were all ready to clean this mess up when....

not the earthquake....not the hurricane....but....

THE MASSIVE RAIN that happened two weeks ago from Lee once again found a way to get water into our basement.  OY!!  Now, this time, our sump pump was working, whereas the first time - it didnt even turn on.  So...not only did that fail that first time, but there was something else happening that was letting water into our basement.

Turns out we have some huge crack in our foundation on the outside of our house, and our neighbors drains are draining INTO the ground next to that crack (not their fault, btw, the drains were buried before we all moved in - I'd like to thank whichever idiot did that!)

So now, we have to have a waterproof company come out and look at the crack, which btw, empties into our basement BEHIND that brick wall there in the last pic on the back wall.  Which means they are going to have to smash out my beautiful brick to fix the problem.  It also means that THIS part of the process is not covered, we will have to pay for the work.  Double Oy.  Triple Oy.  It's a good thing I'm working now;)

So that has been our lives the past month!  Has the rain hurt anyone else?  I'm sure it has since it's been everywhere!  I'm so ready for fall - cool temps, crisp sunny days:)

See ya, Irene!

Well - you may be wondering if I will even post again in this sweet little blog of mine and I am here to say YES! 

We were hit by Irene this weekend - living right outside Baltimore.  We didnt get hit as bad as NC or up in New England - it's like Irene backed off for the middle of her journey.  Now, having said that, our house was out of power for 48 hours.  Our town has been crazy, with half of the homes and businesses and street lights out.  Our first day of school with the students was supposed to be Monday, schools were closed.  Then today again they were closed.  Our power came back on at 9am - Praise the Lord!  And I bet that tomorrow, we will be in school again! 

Update on life?  Well summer is winding down, I started my job as a school counselor!  I love it so far, the staff at my school is awesome, and I can't wait to meet all the kiddos!  I feel that as I settle into my new and permanent routine - I'll get back to reading more and working on the house. 

Right now I am reading One Day - its out in the movies and I am an avid read-before-see kinda girl, I just started that one and so far is pretty good!  My next will probably be Sarah's Key - I hear that is awesome.  I also started Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - I didnt get far, I think that one will be  slow read.  It is interesting though - it's just not a gobble in up in an evening sort of book.

I'm still looking for good book recommendations so keep commenting or email them!  I'll be back and better then ever this fall!

Hope everyone is doing well and fairing well after Irene!  Leave your stories or comments here:)

Long time....

No see?  Summer is lovely.  It's winding down now.  I officially have 8 days of it left before I go back to work.  This is my first permanent full time job in 3 and a 1/2 years?  Isn't that crazy?  I went out of work in April of 2008 with mono - which kept me out of work for a year.  Thank you Jesus for disability and unemployment!!  Then I was in grad school and couldn't work.  Then I worked in long term sub jobs.  Now...it's all paid off!  All my hard work for my Master's - finally I have a job!  I'm so excited!!

Tomorrow is our yearly girl day trip to Ocean City, MD.  I go with two of my dearest friends - Katie D and Crystal C.  It's always a good time when we go too, a good de-stressor!  Perfect way to celebrate our end-of-summer-good times!

I've been writing my school counseling program, so I haven't had a lot of time to read.  Tomorrow at the beach I am starting:



I'm going to start it and see how I like it.  I've heard mixed reviews.  I'm the type that if the book doesn't catch me in the first few chapters - I skip it!!  Review to come...

Still no improvements in the house.  I've been too busy helping mom 3 days a week, since she won't have the help once I start work, I'm trying to help her as much as possible.  I have a feeling when I start work and everything settles down (late Sept probably!) I'll get back into decorating and reading like a bandit!  Plus, we'll have a little more funds for me to use for decoration;)

I can't believe summer has flown by!  It's been a fun one.  I am so looking forward to fall - sweaters and jeans and boots and back to school and our yearly Disney trip.  I love it so much! 

Reviews: Why is Young Adult Lit always the best?

In July so far, I've only read 2 books.  Chalk it up to summer fun and craziness?!?  Even after revamping my challenge I can't even meet my own goals!  Geez!!!

Anyways, I've read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows



Anyone who knows me, knows how crazy I am about these books.  I started reading them when I was in college, almost by accident.  My cousin, either Tatiana or Sabrina (hi lovelies!), left the first book in my room over Thanksgiving.  I was a youth leader at the time and had heard a lot of my youth talking about the books.  I think maybe 3 of them were out at that point.  Anyways, I read the first one and was hooked.  Little did I know how AMAZING the whole story would be?  The first 3 books are fairly light reading, almost kiddish, with sweet stories and plots about Harry's adventures at Hogwarts with his two bffs Ron & Hermione.  Then, as you get into book 4, you realize this story is more then amazing, it's revolutionary, its life changing...the stories become much more intense and dark and the struggle between what is right and easy, and what is pure and what is evil is sprinkled in every chapter.  You fall in love with so many characters, you loose those characters in painful, tear jerking ways.  You fight right along with Harry as he faces things unimaginable.  The story (by that I mean all 7 books) is fun, it's filled with great vocab and moral lessons for kids, it's emotional, it'll make you laugh, curse, fume, cry.  It is, without a doubt and with exception of the Bible, the BEST story every written.  Ever.  I mean it. 

Anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who picks up this series and reads it will love it.  I dont care if you are young or old, boy or girl, if you love Jesus (like me) or hate him (well...I do care if you hate him, actually!!!  Talk to me if you want!), or if you hate to read or hate "magic"....I promise you if you read these books, you will love them.  I've never met anyone ever who read all 7 books and said..."eh, its not for me."  Those people don't exist because that is how GOOD this story is.  So of course, I give the whole series a:

  I don't buy into that whole, "Christians don't read Harry Potter."  I think that the books do better than most "Christian" books in teaching all those great lessons like selflessness, self-sacrifice for the good of others, friendship and love, importance of loyalty and honesty and all that is good in the world.  Don't focus on the fact that it's about wizards and magic, you'll be cheating yourself of one of the best experiences in your life;)  Can you tell how much I love these books?!?!

The other book I read was



This book was SO good.  I read it fast.  Like Hunger Games, I drank it up like ice cold water!!  This is about a world where when you are 16 you choose what "faction" of society you want to belong to.  There are 5, the brave, the selfless, the intelligent, the peaceful and the honest (they all have fancy names).  Its again a story in a post-apocalyptic setting.  The main character is Beatrice, Tris, who grew up in the selfless society but in the choosing ceremony she switches to the brave society.  Transferring societies like that is not the norm, and this is a big deal.  It follows Tris as she is initiated into the brave (Dauntless) society and during that time she learns that the world split like this isn't as functional as it seems.  Leaders are corrupt, murders and jealously and all the things that the 5 way split was supposed to "solve" are rampant.  War is about to happen before anyone knows about it - I was on the edge of my seat!  This book is really good!  I can't wait until the next one (it'll be a trilogy).  I give it a:

Even though I didn't get very far in the reading process this month, I read two really great books!!  Both considered Young Adult Lit.  They are the best books;)  HP 7 took me almost the whole month - I guess because I've read it (honestly) about 8 or 9 times already that I know what happens on each page (lol) and I wasn't motivated to speed through it.  But man oh man, I just love that book, I love going on that journey with Harry!  Just typing this review makes me want to pick it up and read it again!!

Hope everyone is having a great week!!

Vacation Month - I guess!!!

July has been a hoot!  Of course, that means while I'm having so much fun-in-da-sun, I haven't been blogging.  Like, at all.  But you know that, if you have been reading my blog!!


I've been working on projects for sure - just not at our house.  Helping my parents do their reno is taking up mucho timo, but I promise I'll show pics when we are done.  Heck, I may even taken pictures of the place this week so you can see how bad it is, before it gets better!

I am reading, just very very slowly!  I decided to break my own rule (surprised?) and read Harry Potter.  Just the 7th book right now.  Since it's my....um...5th or 6th time reading it...it is going more slowly like summer reading should I guess?  I'm almost done, but so is July!  I do have a massive book list waiting for me, here are some of the titles:

1.  Divergent (kind like Hunger Games I hear?)
2.  Baby books like what to expect when expecting and what to expect the first year...see below
3.  William and Kate: A love story
4.  The girl with....books (Dragon Tattoo, etc)
5.  Lincoln Lawyer (it's movie too now, I hear...)

and many more!  Its these lazy-hazy days of summer that are keeping me from being speedy reader I guess?  I'm having a wonderful summer, fun with friends and my family, and doing my parents a huge favor by working cheap-o for them with the renovations.  Its a good life!

Oh yeah, the baby books - no alarm I'm not "expecting" or anything.  I just had the crazy thought to actually READ these books before we even what to start trying - so I have an inkling of what is going to happen to me, my body, and the bambino when the time actually comes.  They were 50 cents each at the Good Will, so I can't beat the price for a book I'll want someday anyways, right?  The more I know, the less I'll mess up the kid;)  Plus, I'm just interested in learning about pregnancy and babies, is that weird?  Well, I'm 30 - I guess it was coming to me anyways!!

That's all for now!  Hope everyone is having a fab Sat!