Catching Fire

As the title suggests, I am currently enthralled in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. I was able to finish the first two in under 24 hours, but now that I am back at work I don't think that'll be too easy. Especially with James making me crack up every few minutes by saying something about chitlins, the woman found dead under her Christmas tree, or women becoming pregnant in my New Orleans hotel room. The books are very well written. Collins does a great job with description, and it's interesting how the book is written in present tense. I never noticed until I began reading in Spanish that so much of literature is written in the preterit. An odd thing to notice, but it makes reading the book interesting. If you decide to read them, don't finish one at 4 am when your head is by a ground floor window. I am certain the Capitol was sending out all the Peace Keepers out to get me last night.



Last Wednesday was some of the most fun I've had in Tuscaloosa. Sarah, Eva, and Kevin came to visit since the town is deserted. We went to Brown's Corner, my trivia haunt, and had a wonderful time guessing answers and winning money. We got second place! We were 1 point away from first. If only I could have remembered that Sheryl Crow song... Then I took them to Grey Lady for a few drinks,which was followed by a couple of hours of Apples to Apples in my new apartment. This was a lolfest of a painful nature. It's a beautiful thing when friendships can pick up right from where they left off. Here we are in front of one of our favorite restaurants in Savannah, Georgia.


Also on this day I received a text message from my Secret Santa in Maine. It included a Santa stripping to the song "Bottoms Up." I assume he messed up the area code by a number, but I appreciated the gesture all the same.

Thursday, I went to an extended family Christmas party in Yampertown, Alabama. The town is officially called Twin, which is nearest to Guin, which is next to Gu-win. It's a confusing area nominally. While my immediate family did not go, I still had a great time eating and playing Dirty Santa with them. It was Nanny's first time to play, and she was quite the gift stealer. I ended up with a bag of Fartless Chili and a $25 gift card to Panera Bread.

Friday, some of my high school theatre friends met up at our favorite mediocre Mexican restaurant called Pablo's. Then we went to a few bars downtown. We went out so early that barely anyone was around, but at least one police officer was because I got a ticket for parking in a taxi zone. Since it was only $30, I didn't let it ruin my night even though a few other things tried to do the job.

That's all I'll say for now. I'll make a separate Christmas post tomorrow, but I'm too addicted to Pinterest too much to leave it idle. Thanks, Sarah Beth Langcuster...

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