Magic

Last night, I, along with some friends, lined up in front of the movie theater at 5pm to see the very last Harry Potter film.

We’ve had our tickets for weeks. We weren’t lining up to buy tickets. My mom did not understand the point in getting in line 7 hours early.

But everyone does it. Everyone wants the best seats. Everyone wants to be a part of the whole event. A movie like this isn’t just a 2 hour cinematic feature. It is an event.

This whole series has been unlike anything else for me.

I have read these books from the beginning. I waited in line at midnight for the release of the newest book. I would stay up until I finished the books because I couldn’t imagine going to bed without knowing what happened. I’ve reread them and found something new each time. I noticed mentions in the first book that become so important in the end. These books were written so well that I can’t believe she was able to weave such an intricate storyline that the first scene ties in with the end.

Call me a nerd. Fine. I’ll accept it. But I truly love this story.

And last night?

It was magical.

Anyone who has been to a midnight showing of a movie that they have been anxiously awaiting knows this feeling.

You can feel the excitement in the crowd. Every person there is just as excited as you are. There is a common thread running through all those hundred of people. People you wouldn’t normally talk to or interact with or think that you have anything in common with, these are the people you are bonding with.

You make so many friends while in line. You get to know those around you. People will share food and drinks and snacks. People will ask if you need anything when they run across the street to Wendy’s or the gas station for more snacks. People bring games and before you know it, 20 strangers are laughing and and joking while playing Taboo or Catch Phrase. One group even brought chalk and was decorating the sidewalk. They even played foursquare for a while. One group had a tent set up and grilled burgers for people who were towards the front of the line.

In this day when people are less willing to help strangers and you have to be more cautious, it’s events like this that show me there is still some good in people.

And then you finally get into the movie. Everyone is talking and antsy because we’ve been waiting hours for this to start. I normally get so nervous that the people around me are going to talk during the movie. It is my biggest pet peeve.

But as soon as the lights go down, everyone cheers and then a silence settles over the entire theater.

My favorite part of these midnight showings of movies that people know so much about is that when a bad guy dies, everyone cheers. When something happens to a favorite character, you can audibly hear everyone gasp. The entire audience laughs at jokes that maybe casual watchers wouldn’t catch or wouldn’t find it as funny.

And since this was a movie based off of a beloved book, we are all waiting for those scenes that are our favorites. We want to know how they put it together. Does it look like how we thought? Are the emotions portrayed how we expected? Are those lines that are so crucial kept in the script? (And let me say, King’s Cross, in my opinion, was spot on. I couldn’t have imagined it any better.)

It was so fun to clap and cheer with 300 other fans was amazing.

Yes, it was 2:30am before I got home, but there was so much adrenaline and excitement that it didn’t matter. Not once during the movie was I concerned with what time it was or felt tired. My eyes were glued to the screen. I watched through misty eyes during those scenes that just broke my heart. And for once, I was the only one crying in the movie. I could hear a girl behind me crying and I passed her some of my tissues.

I’m not doing justice to all of the emotions I had last night. I know that. I can’t seem to focus while writing this, but this has been such a big deal for me that I want to write this. No, I wasn’t one of the people that dressed up, but I definitely was just as excited on the inside as those people.

I’m a little sad that it’s all over. Actually, I’m really sad. Since I was 11, this has been a part of my life. For 13 years. That’s unreal.

So for now, I will relive last night. I will go see this movie a couple more times. I will reread the movies. And a part of me is very sad that I have no more Harry Potter to look forward to. Excuse me while I go cry in the corner. And look up how hard it is to take care of a snowy owl.

A Million Things

I have about 20 different blog posts that I want to write, but things keep happening so quickly that I can’t keep up, so I’m doing a brain dump post in hopes to touch on all of it. I don’t have the time or patience to write full posts on each of them. (Also, if I have a million typos that I miss, my pointer finger on my right hand is all messed up since my fingernail separated from the skin. It hurts pretty bad, which makes typing hard, so forgive me. I’ll try to catch them.)

 

* This past weekend I headed home and it was one of those rare weekends where everything went well and I got to spend some great time with some of my favorite people. My best guy friend A graduated from grad school this May and is at home before he leaves for California in a couple weeks. He was one of my bride’s men in our wedding and I was so excited to see him. I had dinner with him and his parents on Friday night at my favorite wine bar. And they have the best brick oven pizzas. His dad was the one that married Mr. A and I, and since A and I have been friends since 5th grade, we go way back and his family is just so wonderful.

Saturday morning I got to have breakfast with my very best girl friend R, and we got to catch up. She and I may not see each other for a couple months, but when we do, it’s like nothing ever changed and we just fill each other in on everything that has happened. She is dating an amazing guy and engagement and a wedding is in their very near future. I now have 3 weddings for next year and all are for very close friends. I might be more excited to get to be there on their special days than I was on mine. The pressure won’t be on me and I will get to relax and enjoy.

Saturday night, my mom got some free baseball tickets, so my brother, his girlfriend, A, and I all went and had a great time. My team came back and won in the 9th inning. Always makes for some excitement and fun. And, hello, NACHOS! heh

* I tweeted last week that my brother was being sneaky and was talking about some sort of surprise. The hints he gave immediately had me thinking that he and his long time girlfriend were going to get married. It would not be surprising if they just went to the courthouse and did something very small. However, this was not the case. His surprise was taking me to see The Little Mermaid being performed by the off Broadway touring company. This may seem goofy, but my brother always jokes that he knows all the words to it and The Lion King since I used to watch them over and over every weekend. He thought it would be fun for us to go now that we are older, friends, and could have a beer while watching. It was a sweet bonding night for us and I truly have THE most amazing big brother. He will get his own post one day soon. He deserves it and so much more.

* Speaking of weddings, my butt needs to get in gear because I will need some very cute dresses and these arms need some good workouts.

* Unpacking is taking its sweet sweet time. And torturing me along the way. Kitchen and bathroom are the only two rooms that are completely unpacked, organized, and free of clutter and crap that still needs to be gone through. Not sure what to do with stuff in the living room yet. The bedroom and office upstairs are going to be the biggest projects, so I think I am going to tackle those and plan on getting them done before I leave to visit Mr. A next week. Here’s hoping.

* And I’m waiting to post apartment pictures until I get things organized and put away so I can do before and after pictures at the same time. No point in posting pics of an empty apartment with no way to show all the work that’s been done to fix it up. It won’t be fully complete for a while because I need to stretch the buying of a few things over some time so that it doesn’t break our bank account. I know I will need some decorating help.

* I hate admitting this, but it looks like the husband and I are planning on staying in this apartment for the next two years. I love the apartment, but it doesn’t allow dogs, and I REALLY thought we would get one next year. Actually, i originally thought we would get one this year, but since we had to sign leases in January, and money and everything else was so up in the air, that we couldn’t fathom agreeing to pay more for an apartment when we weren’t even sure we would have the money to even get a dog. And after this moving nightmare, we really would like to stay in the same place for more than a year. I haven’t live in the same place for more than a year for the past 6 years. I moved every year or every semester at times. It will be nice to actually set up a little home and decorate and all that. And maybe we will be able to save money so when we graduate, we can move to a nice place in whatever city we decide on and then get a dog where we settle.

* The thought of not getting a dog for another two years truly breaks my heart. It’s something I’ve wanted so badly for so long that I actually ache inside thinking about it. Lame? Yes. But also very true. Our apartment does allow cats, but I am crazy allergic to them. I have considered just taking a Zyrtec everyday and going for it, but my cat allergy is pretty bad and I would hate to get one and then it still make me miserable. I don’t ever want to be one of those people who get a pet and then can’t take care of it.

* Still on the pet thing, very tempted to get a bunny. I JUST WANT SOMETHING FURRY THAT I CAN PLAY WITH AND SNUGGLE AND TAKE CARE OF!!! Gosh. Any of you ever had a bunny? Thoughts?

* The cars in our family decided that they too hated Mondays and thought it best to screw with Mr. A and I. Mine started doing this thing that when I put it in reverse (I drive a manual), I lose my entire dashboard- no speedometer, no fuel gauge, no turn signal, and worst of all, no blowers or air conditioner. It wouldn’t even blow hot air just to have some circulation. So I would have to change the fuse after I reversed my car out of whatever parking spot I was in. And I would have to do this every time I had to back up. So today, I drove back home so that I could switch cars with my step-dad and the shop he works for can work on my car and try to get it fixed. Nearly 5 hours of driving roundtrip after making the drive home yesterday did not make me a happy camper.

And then Mr. A’s car got towed. He says the spot had lines like every other spot, but they claimed he was in the exit ramp of the parking garage. He texted me a picture of the spot where he had been parked and it looked legal to me, but since he had no bargaining power since he’s an out-of-towner with no other way of getting around, he had to pay the $200 fee to get his car back. After paying for a cab to take him to the tow place.  He was not happy at all. Especially after his car got locked in the parking garage on Friday when he left it there while going to the baseball game with people from work. It was not his weekend with cars.

* This upcoming weekend is going to be a great one. On Thursday, I head to Mville. Mr. A’s best friend G’s girlfriend, C and I will be getting in line around 5pm to see the midnight showing of the last Harry Potter movie. We already have our tickets, but people start getting in line to get good seats. Also, it’s just kind of fun to be with a bunch of people who are all as excited as you are about the same thing. We will get food and bring books and magazines and cards and entertain ourselves. My mother in law said she would bring us food if we wanted. Last time, people ordered pizza to their place in line. And then I will ball like a little baby when the movie is over. Not only because the ending is sad (no, I didn’t give a damn thing away, so chill out), but also because this is the end of an empire and a huge chunk of my child and young adulthood.

Then, I will sleep in on Friday since I probably won’t even get home until about 4am. That night, my MIL and I are going to see Bad Teacher. We both wanted to see it and since my step-FIL is not the type to go to the movies, we’re making a date night out of it. And then I will giggle at the people who will ultimately be in line for the HP movie on Friday. Maybe I should shout out the ending for those who didn’t read the books…  ;o)

Saturday my awesome Mville hair stylist has fit me in for a Brazilian Blowout. I know there was some controversy, but I did my own research and asked her a MILLION questions, and I’m going with it. I’m excited since my hair is truly unmanageable in this horrendous humidity. I can spend an hour straightening and smoothing and putting product in my hair, and 10 minutes outside and it looks like I just rolled out of bed. It’s infuriating since I do want to look like I care and try to look nice. And with heading to the very humid southern state next week, I  thought this would be a good time to do it. Also, I still have the rest of July, August, and September. All still hot months. I don’t plan on doing this constantly, mostly because it’s expensive, but if I like it, it might become a summer thing.

And after my fun hair appointment, my MIL and I are headed to the pool for the rest of the day to sun, drink margaritas, and have a girls’ day. Her friends are meeting us there and it should be a blast. Sunday will also be spent at the pool before I head home Sunday night. Hoping for a little sun on my pale skin and to just get to relax.

* If you have figured out or I’ve told you where Mr. A is, and where I will be visiting next week, PLEASE send me an e-mail with some restaurant suggestions, places to visit, etc. PLEASE. Mr. A hasn’t gotten out much, and I will have all day long while he’s at work to entertain myself, so I need help. HELP.

 

I think that’s it. A lot is going on, and before I know it, GA training will be starting and I’ll be in class once again. This summer is just flying by. And I’m pretty much loving it, but cannot wait for my husband to return. Sure do miss him.

My Brain Is Exploding

I was so very determined not to do just a random post with all sorts of things, but seeing as I haven’t written since like Wednesday, this is what I’ve got. So much has been going on and getting into the swing of things with the new job and I have just been exhausted. My poor feet are about to give up on me and find someone who loves them more.

* So, first of all- the job. Truthfully, it’s been going really well. Yes, 8 hours straight, on my feet, on concrete mean my feet are screaming by the time I get home. I even bought some gel insoles, but they’re so thick that it then makes my shoes not fit right or even feel worse. I’m going to have to figure something out. But other than that, I kind of like it. I’m still having some self-esteem issues when people ask where I work because I still feel kind of like a failure since I have a college degree and work for a manager who never went to college. But, for the time being, it’s going great. My mom said that when I talk to her after work, that my attitude and outlook is a million times better than when I would talk to her after any other job. She said it even sounds like I’m enjoying this more than I did when I was student teaching. And yes, I’ve questioned the teaching, but I don’t want to work in retail as a career. Some people do, but not me. It’s good for now and makes it so I can look for other things while I work. I also like the people I work with, so that helps. I just hope they keep me on after the holidays. I need the job.

Also, I helped catch someone that, we’re pretty sure, was about to steal. Too bad I think they realized we were watching them, because had they stolen and then gotten caught, I would have gotten $140 plus a percentage of the goods they stole. Oh well. Probably better that they didn’t. I also opened my first store credit card today, which got me some in-store money. It has it’s benefits.

*Some of you may have seen this on Twitter, but Friday night we went to go see HP7 after I got off work. I was so excited since I wasn’t able to go to the midnight showing. Yes. I love the HP series so much that I was mad I couldn’t camp out at 6pm for a midnight showing of a movie. Whatever. But then, my head exploded. More specifically, a massive migraine hit. I take a daily pill to keep the migraines away, and then I have a pain pill/lowers blood pressure pill to take when I get one. Usually, if I can catch it right at the very start of one, I can make it go away with a dark and quiet room for an hour. But here I was, at a movie I had been dying to see, at it hits. I took my pill and got some water and was hoping reallllllly hard that it would go away, but it just got worse. It got to the point where I knew I was going to be sick and about to be in tears because of the pain, so I had to leave. I made it only about 45 minutes into it. I tried to make Mr. A stay to finish since we had driven separately, but he’s too nice for that and came home to take care of me.

* But, then my amazing husband, bought us tickets for a Saturday matinee show and it was amazing! I think they did a really great job with it. I was bummed that a couple things got left out, but if they did everything from the book, the movie would be 10 hours long. Which I would still watch, but probably doesn’t have the selling abilities to the mass public. Now I’m just dying for the last part to come out. And you can bet I will be camped out for the midnight showing of that one. Dorky? Yes. But I’m proud of it. haha

*I was going to talk about Thanksgiving, but I have so much to say, that it should probably be it’s own post. But I am so very excited to see all the new babies in the families. I have 2 new ones on my side and Mr. A’s side has 4! Four new, squishy, cuddly, babies to play with. And since there are so many, I might actually get a chance with them because when there’s only one, the grandparents and the aunts seem to hog them all day. Mr. A will just be hoping this keeps my baby wants at bay and doesn’t amplify them. But don’t worry. No babies around here for at least 3 years. A puppy better be coming soon. What are your Thanksgiving plans? Will you be cooking or are you going somewhere?

* We still have to make a decision as to whether or not we’re going to stay in our current apartment or not. We have to decide for next month and it’s stressing me out since I don’t know if I’ll still have this job after the beginning of January or not. Hard to commit to paying anymore when I have no idea what our money situation will be like. So we shall see.

*Finals will seen be upon us. Mr. A is off all of this week, he has class next week, and then two weeks of finals. I think we’re both ready for the 17th to be here already. I know finals is a stressful time, but Mr. A has done so well with his study schedule and outlining all semester and such that I’m hoping it isn’t so terrible. I’m sure he will be at school more and I will need to stock up on books to read quietly, but hopefully it won’t be earth shattering. Some of his classmates should be freaking out since I know some got way behind on reading assignments and some haven’t even started outlining. He’s done excellent with keeping up with everything and working the whole time, so I just hope he does well. Also, he will receive his call of Black Ops as soon as he walks through the door after his last final. And he has been given my blessing to play way to many hours of video games on the couch over Christmas break as long as he still helps with some house chores. I expect him to have a beard to shave before the second semester starts.

* And I need your help. I have not one single idea for Mr. A for Christmas. We’re trying not to spend too much money, but I want to give him something, or do something for him that he’ll really love. I just can’t think of anything to do for him that isn’t lame or that isn’t something I want done for me. And I don’t want to buy him clothes because my mom has gotten him a bunch of stuff for Christmas and I think clothes are boring between he and I. He doesn’t buy me clothes, so I want to get him something better than that. Ideas? What do you and your husband or wife do for each other for Christmas or what are you buying this year?