LG lovesssss the book…and she enjoyed this video too!

I had a sick child all weekend. Well, I still have a sick child - not that you could tell it by the way she’s acting. She’s still her regular ornery self, but she’s got fever, runny nose, cough, and a rash that only occurs with the fever (which is apparently pretty normal). Three days with a fever (off and on but still…) is where I drew the line and decided to take her to the doctor’s office this morning (which, by the way, is the first time she’s ever visited the dr’s office because she was sick). He pronounced it a cold and told me that spring and summer illnesses tend to produce higher fevers than winter illnesses, which was quite surprising to me, although if you think about it, it does actually make sense.

So, we’ll keep checking the temp and give her Tylenol as needed and hopefully it will go away soon! Nasty virus. Stop hanging around my kid!

It was kind of a bummer, though, that I finally felt pretty much back to normal and was looking forward to singing at mass and I had to stay home with a sick kiddo. But that’s the way it goes sometimes!

I have two more doctor’s appointments for myself this week. Just what I wanted to do. Spend three of five days sitting in doctor’s offices. Yay.

Other than that, I’m rereading all the Harry Potter books from the beginning - one after the other and watching the movies after I finish each book. I wonder what it will be like (even though I know the ending) to read them all together without two year breaks in between waiting for the next book?

I have to say that even though I’m not really someone who reads books over and over again, I’m really enjoying rereading Harry! I think these books will definitely stand the test of time and be considered classics one day.

And did you hear about the Harry Potter theme park within a theme park that will be opening up at Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando in 2009? That might actually be enough to get me to make my first trip to Florida someday…lol!

I finished the book in less than 24 hours. Yes, that’s pretty much ALL I did today.

No spoilers, but there was a part where I was crying and LG came up to me and said “It’s okay, Mama, it’s okay” and gave me a big hug and patted me on the back and said “All better now!”

When I got close the end, I had to put her to bed because I knew I’d probably be crying a lot and there was no need for her to witness that!

Anyway, very tired and I need to process (there is so very much to process I might have to read it again more slowly), so I’ll try and put up a page tomorrow if anyone wants to discuss!

Look! Just look at that counter over there —>

It’s finally on zero. Amazing. When I put it up, it was in the hundreds. HUNDREDS. Now it’s on zero.

It seems around the internet, the thing to do today to talk about how you got started reading Harry Potter, so I guess it’s my turn. I was teaching back when the first book came out and even though I saw it in the Scholastic book order forms, I pretty much ignored it for the first few years. But it didn’t go away, and I finally decided to see what the fuss was all about, so I bought the first book and took it with me on my first trip to England in 2000. I devoured the book on the airplane and in the hotel room when I had time to read and by the time the trip was over, I had to have the next two, and so I bought them in a bookstore in the airport when we were getting ready to come home, so I have the British versions where a sweater is called a jumper. (Took me awhile to figure out why on earth everyone was wearing jumpers since a jumper here is nothing like a sweater…lol!)

By the time I finished the next two books, Goblet of Fire had come out and I bought it in hardback. I was well and truly hooked. Order of the Phoenix came out when I was on vacation in Northern Ireland and I bought that one at the airport in Belfast, so I actually have the British versions of 3 out of the 7 books.

I am looking forward to this last book with great anticipation and with great sadness. I always hate endings and when you have to say goodbye to characters like these, it’s exceptionally hard. But, I will be able to introduce my little girl to them someday and hopefully she will love them as much as I do.

Other than Star Wars and Harry Potter, I can’t really think of any pop culture phenomenon that has taken such great hold of the world. I’m sure something else will come along someday, but not for awhile I don’t think.

In the meantime, after I get the book tonight and until I finish it, I’ll be going on a media blackout to try and prevent the nasty people in the world from ruining the surprises the book has to offer. I’ll probably still be checking email now and then, but mostly I’ll be reading the book and saying my goodbyes to Harry, Hermione, Ron and the rest of the gang. (Surfer Sunday should be posted as usual, though!)

And to J.K. Rowling I want to say, thank you thank you for not only getting kids to read, but for writing books that parents could share with their kids and enjoy as much, if not more, as their kids do. Thank you for sharing your gift. I look forward to seeing what you do next!

HeartSongs out. For now.

To those of you who are planning to read Harry Potter this weekend, please oh please don’t post spoilers in your blog entry titles, and if you put them in your posts, please oh please warn people so they don’t read them accidentally.

Please be kind. I will set up a separate page that does not show up on the RSS feeds when I’m done and comments will be open there for those of you who want to discuss.

But until I’m done reading, don’t even drop hints. I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW!!!!

And trust me, I’m not the only one!

Be kind. Don’t spoil it for other people!

I just finished the third book in Shanna Swendson’s magical series which started with Enchanted Inc., followed by Once Upon Stilettos, and is continuing in Damsel Under Stress. There will for sure be a fourth book, and it’s a good thing because Damsel ends with quite a cliffhanger!

Her books have been described as “Harry Potter meets Chick Lit” and I think that’s an apt description. But, if you like the magical world of fairies and wizards meeting the human world (in New York City no less), this is the kind of book you’ll like. I can’t wait for book 4!

Harry Potter Book 7 is being released July 21, 2007!

I have to tell you this internet. I have to get it off my chest. Here’s the deal - I am not a happy homemaker. I am not good at housekeeping. In fact, I suck at it. Now that is not to say that our house is a disaster of epic proportions because it isn’t. It’s um…just…very lived in! Yeah, that’s the ticket. It’s not like I am horrible at all things Martha Stewart. Not at all. When it comes to entertaining, I can throw a pretty mean party. I can come up with adorable decorations and cute ideas and make everything look lovely. In fact, for Easter one year I made 18 personalized mini-pots filled with little easter treats to use as place markers. And that was when I was still working full-time. I still do crafty things when I’m able - like quilting and cross-stitch and scrapbooking and all of that. Those things I love. But the whole housekeeping thing? Not so much.

One of my resolutions was to get on a daily schedule and stick with it - included in that was a cleaning schedule. But where to start? Where do you start to make a schedule that actually works, that actually gets things done, and that is easy to live with and keep up with when you have a toddler and a puppy in the house? Well, you buy books on cleaning of course! So, I bought two books on cleaning that are actually easy reads and don’t make me feel like a complete and total idiot and promise to get cleaning done FAST and QUICKLIER (I know that’s not a word, but I made it up and I like it so hush) and cut my cleaning time in HALF!

So, today I’m making a list and a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly schedule of cleaning tasks for me and for Mike. And then I’m going to plug all of those tasks into my daily/weekly overall schedule that I will also be making today and we are going to whip this place and ME into shape posthaste!

Honestly, I meant to start all of this right after the new year, but I decided losing our last precious doggy and getting a new puppy allowed me to cut myself some slack. Now, I’m getting SERIOUS! ORGANIZATION!

Oh, and another thing we are going to do around here is make a list of every detail that needs to be done in every room, so that when we have a hour or two here and there we can actually accomplish at least a small project.

So, anyway, that’s my goal for the day. Anything exciting on YOUR plates today?

“He’ll be famous - a legend - I wouldn’t be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!”
-Professor McGonagall, Chapter One of Book One - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

A lot of my friends have been reading Harry Potter and slowly but surely we are all getting finished, so we can FINALLY talk about it with each other. I found it amusing that the hot topic this morning before Bible School started was our theories and angers and so on about the latest book. We weren’t talking around the water cooler per se, but how often do you see a group of teenagers and adults of a wide range of ages excitedly discussing a book that they have all read at the same time? (Outside of a book club of course) Harry Potter is definitely a phenomenon. We certainly didn’t necessarily agree with how we reacted to certain events in the book (which I won’t spoil here for anyone who hasn’t read it yet) nor did we all agree on our theories as to what will happen in the next book, but we all firmly agreed on one thing. We can’t wait to see what happens next. :)

It is 10:32 a.m. MST here in Arizona. Still no Harry. Hurry up UPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Update: 1:21 p.m. MST. STILL no Harry. I think I may cry. :(

Update: 3:30 p.m. MST. Still no Harry. I could have gone to the store this morning and already had it half read by now. Next book, NO AMAZON. I’ll just either stay up late and get it at midnight or get up early and get it first thing. I was hoping that the fact that UPS was delivering it instead of the Post Office might make a difference, but at this rate, the mail will be here first. :P

Update: 4:27 p.m. MST. You guessed it. Still no Harry. U.S. mail was just delivered. So much for UPS being faster. They must have one person delivering every Harry Potter book in the Valley and I’m last on the list. :P

Update: 5:46 p.m. MST. There is no book in my hand. Amazon said don’t call them until 7 p.m. if your book hasn’t arrived. If it hasn’t arrived at 7, I’m calling them all right. Grrrr. And I’m going to tell them to take their book and well anyway…I may have to make a trip to the bookstore tonight. This is getting ridiculous. I know the book is here in town because it says so on the UPS tracking site. Not happy. Not happy! :-(

Update: 8:35 p.m. MST. The book never came. So, according to Amazon’s website, they will refund my money. Tomorrow being Sunday, UPS will not deliver, so the earliest the book will come is Monday. That, however was not good enough for me.

I pre-ordered Harry Potter from Amazon so that it would (supposedly) be delivered on THE day which is of course tomorrow. He better not be late is all I’m saying.

And also, I am like the biggest spoiler nut on the planet. I LOVE spoilers. But if I hear any spoilers about Harry before I read the whole book, I may have to kill someone. Or something. That was a joke. Maybe. Just don’t RUIN HARRY FOR ME or I WILL NOT BE HAPPY!!!!

http://www.hollywood.com/news/detail/article/2439745

Raise your hand if you think he’s actually read the Harry Potter books and not just the hidden agenda book.

Uh huh.

I thought not.

Hurry up and code a pope uninstaller someone.

PLEASE!!!