A Time For Everything

 

 

Doin' pretty good at this point... :0) And I'll tell you why at the end. But misc updates in the meantime:

Most of the country was besieged by various levels of UGLY COLD weather when the last post came out on January 15th, but we survived. I read that 80% of the country had temperatures below zero degrees that day. WOW!

DD and I had started a Harry Potter re-watch right before the end of the year as Peacock was showing the extended versions of the films. We got through the first days of the nasty freezing weather by finishing up our HP fest. DH even joined us each evening.

Speaking of Harry Potter...last weekend (the 20th/21st) I took the official sorting hat quiz and was officially sorted into Hufflepuff House. DD and I are House mates... :0)

* * * * *

So the "year of doing" started off pretty good...

I began a couple of 30-day challenges to help me stay motivated. One challenge is to do yoga every day and the other is to do (or start, for longer tasks) one of those to-do list items I've been meaning to get around to. I've only missed two days of yoga (both Saturdays) but, sadlyy, I've missed too many days of to-do items thanks to the weather.

If my stride gets thrown off too soon, I struggle to get back to it. Having to hunker down because of the cold pushed me off track, so I'm trying to get back on it. I did, however, get one thing done...

The junk drawer next to the back door has been cleaned out, and inexpensive shallow baskets have been purchased to keep the remaining items tidy. I have no before picture because that drawer was nasty.

On a side note... Several months ago I bought some contact paper to cover the ramen boxes I save to use as organizers.

Although now that I'm thinking about it...buying the inexpensive baskets at Dollar Tree is cheaper than the contact paper and I get more of them for the price of the contact paper that only covers three boxes... Hmm... I was gonna use up the remaining contact paper but it's not sticking well to the one box I covered, so into the trash it went. I'll just go straight for the Dollar Tree baskets next time I need to sort and organize anything.

* * * * *

On a random note--I've discovered the ease / convenience of depositing checks via my cell phone. In the last six months, my bank, which is centrally located between the office and the house, did away with one of its ATMs. Now, that branch gets a decent amount of traffic, especially around paydays, so you can imagine one ATM with tons of traffic. And, occasionally, it's just plain out of order. The next closest branch isn't far, but it's definitely out of the way so it's very inconvenient.

A week or so ago, when the ATM was out of order again and I just didn't want to drive to the other branch, I tried out the mobile deposit and -- easy as pie -- I'm a convert!!

* * * * *

Last but NOT least and the reason I'm feeling pretty good is that my mom's house has finally sold. I'm so relieved that the house and the property will have someone to take care of it and find pleasure in its beauty.

The selling price is way below the original sales price, but between Oregon state property tax invoices and one very thorough appraisal, I've come to the conclusion that we were asking too much. The final sales price was a couple grand below what the state said it was worth, so I'm going to count my blessings and wish the buyer well and happy trails.

And that's all for now folks... Have a super couple of weeks.

N--looking forward to seeing you!!

 

So I've been working on a gift for a dear friend. It's a cross stitch project, a sampler of sorts. But I had to create the pattern myself. I've done them before, and usually they're birth samplers and are much easier to throw together. You have pattern books with alphabets and decorative lines and borders and cute little baby patterns. Dig out the graph paper and the pencils and plan it out. Or, you know, you could buy a kit, but where's the fun in that?? But I digress...

I'd seen this tee shirt...

Did I get everything done that I wanted to? No, but the birdies, squirrels and yard cat got fed and watered. I got eight bags of leaves raked and half the back yard mowed--which added two additional bags of grass and leaves.



 Remember my Chinese wisteria? This is what it looked like earlier in the season:

This is what it looks like now:


The house is relatively tidy and laundry and grocery shopping are done. Saturday, I worked on revisions to the young adult novel I entered in a contest. And on top of all of that I watched A LOT of television. I even got some reading in--'cause you have to do the quiet stuff when you wake up at 6am on a Sunday.

Remember my bush weighted down by ice?




It's standing tall again, but will be getting cut down soon in preparation for a flower bed. I want to plant red, white, and blue (purple) bulb flowers. I'm gonna take a page from a friend's book and request labor from my kids for Mother's Day. Several hours worth to pull the trees out and the root balls, churn up the soil, and lay the border stones. Yep!

And wouldn't you know, after ALL that raking and ALL those bags of leaves, a stiff wind blew through and left another layer of leaves for me to work on next weekend!

In addition to watching a movie I hadn't seen before (I'll catch you up next Monday), DD and I enjoyed a partial Harry Potter fest. We watched the first two movies on Saturday evening and then the third, fourth and fifth movies on Sunday evening. (Okay, I confess--I slept through most of the second one...) I even got to watch a few episodes of China Beach as well. All in all, it was a great weekend.

How about you? How did you spend your last weekend of the year??

It really was a very good weekend...

I already shared my stickers and my friend Molly's book, so now...the rest of the story.

I know, Paul Harvey I'm not!

So, Saturday, Rita Award winning author Cindy Dees spoke at my writers group. It was an awesome presentation about Big Characters and Big Scenes. Cindy was able to query over 40 editors on what they look for and this was the result. And she's nice and she's funny and she's a member of my chapter. Cindy writes Romantic Suspense for Harlequin.

On top of that, I earned another charm for last month's editing. And as I mentioned yesterday, I had a charm I gave myself for finishing Snowball and submitting it. (No, I still haven't heard back.)

So the horseshoe is from the chapter, the key from myself to go with the lock...




Oh, wait--I've gotten ahead of myself...on Friday, DD was also working on a surprise for me:

Yes, that's a wand. It's also a pen.


I'm sorry, I just can't help myself. :)

And when I got home DD had yet another surprise waiting for me:

The choice was taken out of my hands yesterday. The Internet and phone line went dead in our office. Most of my duties require the Internet to accomplish, believe it or not. That's kind of scary to think about, isn't it? Maybe my boss and I need to have a conversation about that...

On the other hand, I couldn't work yesterday and no phone calls. So I piddled all day with a couple of websites: one belonging to a friend, whose husband I am helping figure out Dreamweaver and CSS, and the band website, which has needed some updates and a spring cleaning since I took it over last year. It was a mess and now, not so much. The person with probably much less knowledge will have a much easier time navigating the files.

Thank goodness I got my words written yesterday morning at home, though. Without Internet at the office, my files, which I access via Dropbox from both locations, couldn't be updated with the versions from home. But then...(blonde moment)...I realized last night, I had my laptop with me yesterday and I could have written on my laptop. *duh* Oh, well, that band website stuff really needed to be done. :)

So the Internet apparently came back up shortly after I left the office yesterday (early) to go to my friend's house and the guys were inundated with phone calls. Figures. Just like washing your car. Today I will be catching up on a few things that I couldn't do yesterday.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for:

Day Two of the Twelve Days of Jen !

So I'd asked for my very own copies of the Harry Potter books in hardback. I am very rarely willing to spend the money on hardbacks, but I love these books and I want them on a shelf in my writing room and I want them to look nice.

I expected one, maybe two of the books, but instead I received all seven of them!


 

Not much, really...

Our server crashed at the office so I have been without e-mail since Friday. It's been sort of odd to be without e-mail because I am in it and communicate via e-mail for just about all aspects of my life. It's more the lack of contacts and userids and passwords that's been the bigger hassle, as I keep all that information in Outlook. :( We may get it back, we may not. *fingers crossed*

I've started a re-read/discussion of the Harry Potter books with some online friends. Deadline for finishing book one is this coming Sunday. I finished reading it the other day and have begun re-reading it. Since I am the coordinator of said re-read, I'm responsible for coming up with the discussion questions (with a little help from Google).

Band Booster prezzing is going okay. Not great, as the band director is pretty busy and it's difficult to get things done--certain things she supposedly needs to handle. I'm not sure. I might just have to test the waters and explain my position and if she does indeed need to be involved, then how much can I do? If she doesn't, then I proceed. On a happy side note, the band director decided we weren't working the event at Cowboys Stadium this weekend. Instead she's running a car wash.

Writing Chapter is going okay as well. The elected president-elect resigned a month or so ago and it's been a challenge to find someone qualified to step into that position. I resisted at first, but eventually decided to accept the call. So this weekend my appointment as president-elect should be ratified. My biggest gripe is that no one wants to step up and volunteer. The chapter can't run magically by itself. And while I could probably pull off president, newsletter editor, and website director by myself--I shouldn't have to.

I've also been taking a online class on sexual tension and how to get it on the page. I aced the first homework assignment. Though I didn't do the second or third assignment (that's about the time my e-mail went bye-bye). It's been quite interesting with interviews from big name authors and examples from published books as well.

I have a bit of an epiphany . . . I've always lamented that my love (read: sex) scenes tend to run more to the porn end of the spectrum (more physical descriptions) than the true LOVE scene (the more emotion-packed scene) . . . and while reading comments from the class instructor on others' homework, it finally clicked - - and now it seems like a *DUH* moment -- But I struggle to write or should I say *show* (rather than tell) what those emotions are. But how do you show love or lust? What are the physiological responses? I guess there's a fine line between the truly physical and the physiological... I don't know... I'm confusing myself again.

All right, well, I'm done. That's what's going with me...

I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II twice this weekend. I loved it just as much the second time as the first. I caught a few more minor things during the second watch that I didn't realize were interesting or important on the first watch because I was so excited and mind-boggled the first time 'round. And, yes, I'll be seeing it again with a friend as she hasn't seen it yet. I may break my record of seeing the same movie in a theater more than once. It's currently at three for Star Trek 2009.

The movie stuck with the book pretty darn close. It's been a few months since I read it, but as far as I can tell and from what I've heard, they didn't change much. Of course they had to leave some stuff and out and gloss over a few things due to time constraints, but that was to be expected.

Loved, loved, loved it!!

Here we are again. Monday morning. It's still hot here on the great (by that I mean large, not awesome) state of Texas.

I accomplished A LOT this weekend and I'm very happy about that. In addition, we spent quite a bit of time together as a family. We weren't all doing the same thing, but we were in the same room interacting, which was nice. Some days I think we're not that dysfunctional. :)

My to-do list contained about 20 or so items, all of which were accomplished except two (both mine). I was too pooped on Sunday to do them.

And and and...I've been walking. My feet, calves, and thighs will corroborate my story. Three blocks and about twenty minutes worth. Once I'm acclimated to this, then I'll add a block and so on and so on. Of course it'll be easier once the weather cools off too.

The writing is going well and I'm making progress on two tales: my original short story and a JAG fic. My short story tipped the scale at 7300+ words this morning. Only 200 to go to reach my goal. I think eventually it will exceed that as I've finally come to the place where I can see that I need to add some stuff.

And I know the last chapter (that I haven't gotten to yet) will definitely need revisions based on changes in the first two or three chapters. So I'm excited about that too. The JAG fic is undergoing some major revisions as well and I'm excited to experience my writing M.O. once again. Nothing I can really explain, at least in writing, but this is like the fourth story where I've done this similar thing and so it's nice to know I have a method that works for me.

The spare room was on my to-do list and one of the tasks I failed to complete this weekend. My next task is scrubbing the floor in preparation for the floor treatment. I bought steel wool yesterday at the grocery store, so I have what I need. I think tonight, I'll be getting started on that.

And last but not least, the final Harry Potter film comes out Friday! We have our tickets bought and will be seeing the 4PM show on Friday. This'll be my first and last Harry Potter movie in a theater. That makes me kind of sad.

Well, the boss has arrived, so I guess it's time to get my work day started. (ha ha)

Been forced actually. I haven't written much in the last three weeks. Which is okay. I haven't really been fretting over it. I know there are times when the well of ideas and creativity and energy need to be refilled. I don't think it's completely full yet, but I've been wanting to write. So with the help of a bit of outside inspiration, I began writing yesterday afternoon. And it feels good. A bit slow, but that's okay. There *really* isn't a rush.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 is officially out on DVD now, so we should be getting our pre-ordered copy in the mail any time. Although amazon.com predicts closer to the 22nd or some-such. I still have to finish reading book six and seven again before watching. DD won't wait for me. So either I watch it with her when it arrives or she watches it alone and I dutifully finish the books and watch movie six before I finally, finally see movie 7. I'm torn, 'cause I really feel like I need to read the book again before I watch the film. On the other hand, it may be a moot point if the package doesn't arrive for another week. I am a fast reader!

It officially spring here in Texas and time for waves of severe weather to pass through. Thunderstorms are expected between 5 and 8 PM tonight. Woo hoo...

Happy Thursday!

Well, I have my computer back. I'm still missing some key programs, like Outlook and Office, but they aren't essential as I can access them on other PCs.

But getting everything re-installed and situated just the way I like, finding all my shortcuts and bookmarks is tedious and done on an as-needed basis.

Getting back into a routine is harder. I have--well *had*--a set list of daily tasks, but because my schedule/routine got out of whack from not having my computer for a week, I am floundering a bit, trying to remember everything and get back into the swing of things again....

And, of course, the phone keeps ringing.

The weekend was good, though. Productive. I like productive. Laundry was done for the week. I got my kitchen floor and half the living room floor (the half that didn't get mopped last time round) swept and mopped. Half the kitchen counter tops were cleaned. All the dishes were done. The spare room ceiling received its second coat of paint and the walls were cut in in preparation for their second coat. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the book was read, the film watched. (Yes, again.)

And, most importantly, time was spent with the kids. We played a couple of games on Saturday afternoon. That was nice. I mean the kids are 21 and 15...so the fact that they still want to play board games is good.

Happy Monday!

Apparently there's something still on the hard drive. The official "C: format" has been tried thrice. To save us all the hassle of jargon and explanations no one will understand, it's not working. So hubby thinks there's still something on there preventing the operating system from installing properly. Grrr, grrr, and triple GRRRR!

I hate not having my own computer with all my things right where I know to find them.

Well, on to more interesting stuff...

DD and I watched the last four episodes of season two of Grey's Anatomy last night. Pretty powerful episodes all, bringing us both to tears several times. It's quite a feat for DD to tear up. She's usually pretty stoic.

I'm working on the 4th Harry Potter book again, HP and the Goblet of Fire. It's one of the longest books in the series.

In lieu of visiting my jail bird, who's not allowed visitors (along with the rest of her block) for 20 days, I went to Lowe's and bought another gallon of the paint I needed for my spare room. I didn't actually paint, mind you, but I'm ready for the weekend. Baby steps, baby steps. I am so ready to have this room finished. You'd think that would spur me on to work faster, but I have a limited amount of energy. Last week when I painted the lower half of the walls, my poor legs ached for two days. A good kind of ache, but still. :)

And so, back to work I go...

Trash day in my neighborhood. Will the kids remember to take the trash out? I didn't leave a note.

And aspirin a day, keeps the vet away. My dog is old, very old. We've had her since we before we moved to Texas. We've been here 11.5 years. I can't really remember when we got her, but she wasn't a puppy when we did, although she was no more than a year or two. So I'm going to say she's about 14 years old. She's a golden retriever mix. Anyway, she suffers from old dog maladies including arthritis, I'm sure. So a while back I researched dog arthritis on the 'Net and discovered that you can give your dog aspirin--real live people aspirin for pain. But usually you have to crush it up because they don't have the right kind of acids in their stomachs to break down the coating aspirin usually has. Long story short, I wasn't very diligent about it and slacked off. Poor dog became grumpy, surly, grouchy again, snapping at us and her fellow dog, Sam, for no reason. Is this the end? And I thought, hmm... she's been struggling to get to her feet and slow when making her rounds in the yard... Plus a friend of mine mentioned having just taken her dog to the vet and being advised by her vet to use aspirin on a daily basis and save the prescription drugs for when the dog really hurts. Validation. I dug the aspirin back out and started a two-tablet-a-day regimen--crushed and sprinkled on her meals. Wow, what a difference! She's been so pleasant and downright frisky--well as frisky as a 14-year-old dog can be--and she's getting around so much easier. No more slacking for me. :(

If your Internet is slow, it's because AT&T has started a round of updates to their network. Which means, of course, that as their network interconnects with other networks, those other networks mus then also implement some updates. GAH!

Started watching "Grey's Anatomy" recently. Not a bad show, not the greatest. But it's something to watch. And I do love Patrick Dempsey. It's really more of a night time soap opera, which is okay.

I'm re-reading the Harry Potter books. Yes, they are entertaining me that much. At least for now. Just finished the second book (again) the other day and will move on to the third in a day or two.

After my girls writers weekend, I'm going to work on my spare room (probably Sunday). It's been at a standstill for a few weeks and I really feel like I need to make some sort of progress on it. I say I can hardly wait for it to be finished, but I just don't have the energy to make it happen. But soon. Maybe...

My oldest daughter, who's in jail, is not allowed visitors for 20 days starting April 3, so last night was my last visit until April 27. Maybe I'll work on the bedroom those nights in the interim and maybe I can finally get it finished.

Oh, and it appears my boss is going to be gone most if not all day! Woo hoo!

All right, well...need some hot tea and I'd better get started on my day.

Not much going on 'round here, at the moment.

I've started re-reading the HP books. Yes, I'm enjoying them that much. I pre-ordered the DVD of the 7th film for my daughter's birthday last Friday. It comes out on the 11th of April, so hopefully, I'll have gotten through all the books again by then. Then I'll be all prepped and ready for when the second half of book 7 comes out in the theater.

The weather here is very spring-like. Dreary and chilly. But that's good for now. No rain means no mud tracked in by the dogs and no wind means no dust from west Texas all over my house. And the moderate temps means nice low utility bills--

I received my electric and water bills recently and have been the lowest bills I've seen in YEARS. My electric bill was like $70 and the water bill close to the same. As I said, I haven't had bills that low in ages. What a pleasant surprise. The longer the weather stays this way the better I like it. ;)

This weekend I'm having a 'girls writers weekend' with two of my chapter mates and friends. *waves at Marty* It's going to be fun.

I suppose I should get to work...

So I read the book last weekend, started it on Friday evening, finished it on Sunday morning before noon.

To be honest, I don't remember much. I may have to read it again. Maybe. I don't know. Now that I'm thinking about it, bits and pieces are coming back to me.

I felt a bit cheated, actually. And Harry was cheated as well. Unfortunately, under the circumstances, there was little help for it. But still.

So many people died and there was no time to mourn. The journey from the beginning of the book to the end was rushed, even though Harry, Hermione and Ron were on the run for so long and weeks passed without anything much happening.

Hedwig died right at the beginning of the book and Harry was never shown to grieve. A great loss, I think. His first major gift. And an important part of his life for six years. Why did J.K. Rowling not carve out a paragraph or two for Harry to mourn his loss, and for us, the readers to mourn with him. I think the book is poorer for it.

Same night, Mad-Eye Moody dies as well and George Weasley loses an ear. I know lots of things were going on, and in reality it doesn't always work this way, but the reader, not to mention the characters, needed a chance to catch their breaths, and chance to deal with what happened before the next event swooped down on us.

Again, I understand that in real life we don't always get a chance to take more than a gulp of air before the next wave crashes over our head. but this is fiction, this is the reader's escape from the real world for a while and it should not be fraught with angst for hours and days without a break. I know we as readers can put the book down, but if the author has done his or job properly, the reader doesn't want to do that. Therefore the author needs to give the reader some down time. Even if the character only gets and hour, even if it's only five minutes, the author should provide that time for the character and the reader to mourn if needed, to regroup, take a deep breath, ready themselves for the next event. I don't feel like we got that. But maybe it's just me.

Maybe I feel let down, as many others have said. It's the end of an era. The end of a huge chunk of people's lives. And there's a sadness that goes with that. Now, I've just jumped on the bandwagon, of course, but I guess my sadness comes from the fact that I'm late to the party, (again) and just when I've discovered this wonderful new world, it's coming to end.)

So now I wait for the Deathly Hollows 1 film to come out on DVD--just a few more weeks--and then for the DH2 in July. I can't wait.

I am still leaking tears...

I finished the book this morning and WOW. Powerful and sad and wonderful and heart-breaking.

The movie version of this book, which I have seen before and will be watching again in the next day or two, does not include some of what happens at the end of this book. Those things, I believe, happen in the film version of HP and the Death Hallows Part 1.

I was thinking it myself and after having read some commentary yesterday afternoon have come to the conclusion that J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, kept fan fiction and fan fiction authors in mind when writing the last of the books.

Fan fiction was a relatively new phenomenon back when the first and second books were written. It steadily gained popularity and a place in our current culture over the last ten years. And I was thinking as I was reading the previous book (HP and the Order of the Phoenix) about if I were to write a fic with a certain thing happening how would that play out...and then all of a sudden, my questions were answered in the text. I'm sure more than anything that it was coincidental, but cool none-the-less. But Rowling knew as she wrote the subsequent books how popular her characters and her world was and really gave fic writers some really wonderful gifts in the process. Mainly and namely a blank slate.

The epilogue of HP and the Deathly Hallows tells us a few things for certain, but that those things happen a certain number of years in the future. She doesn't tell us how they came to be and leaves that gap of time for fan fic writers to fill in the blanks however they so choose. A wonderful gift indeed--not to mention the characters and the world itself to play in.

I finished reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last night and I watched the movie.

I am continually amazed by the interwoven threads of these books. Not everything is a major plot line, but J.K. Rowling has remembered and continued many of the background threads throughout each successive story--which just add so much more to the experience. Of course, we miss out on a lot of this in the films due to money and time constraints. One of the reasons I decided to actually read the books. The films have their pros, of course. To me the biggest one is Daniel Radcliffe. Yes, I'm shallow. He's a beautiful young man. To watch him go from an eleven-year-old to a seventeen/eighteen-year-old has been quite fabulous. And as I watching the movie last night, I was really blown away by young Master Radcliffe's performance. Harry was 15 in the movie and Dan was at least that, if not maybe sixteen by then. There are naysayers and I'm certainly not a qualified judge, but I thought he did a fabulous job, so there you go.

Reading and more reading. I've burned through the first three Harry Potter books and started the fourth one last night. They're getting more and more interesting. I struggled to get through the first one, less struggle with the second, etc. I also told myself I couldn't move on to the corresponding movie till I finished the book, so there's incentive. The movie took a huge departure from the book, but I can understand why. The fourth book is about twice the size of the first two, so I imagine I'll see quite a few more changes next movie.

Writing and more writing...I've been participating in the Robin Hood InterComm competition again this year. Posting ended last night and I was able to squeeze two more fics in yesterday afternoon. All in all a good writing week, somewhere between 1500 and 2000 words. I wasn't counting, just writing. :)

Arithmetic...and so it's Monday which means I am back at work and updating our financials. Not my favorite task, but one I must do everyday.

I had planned to get some painting done this weekend, but the temps dropped a bit and I got wrapped up in getting those last two fics written. Maybe I'll do a bit this evening, just so I'm making progress...unless Harry Potter starts calling my name....though it would be nice to have the room done so that when sonshine and his friends take over the living room, I have somewhere to retreat to.

Hope you had a good weekend...

Week number two with little or no words written. It feels good. I have a story to finish and I've been given a weeks' reprieve. Maybe I'll finish it in time, maybe I won't, though it will get finished soon.

I think I mentioned I watched all the Harry Potter movies with my family last week and the week before. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is my favorite so far. Daniel Radcliffe has a new fan, so I'll be checking out some of his other work soon. I've also started reading the books. Only 60 or so pages left of the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

I painted this past Saturday, too. My spare/guest room. I'm taking pictures as I go. And it's all very thrilling. It's gone from a stark white room to a room that's half white and half "Cream of Mushroom". Yes, laugh, Mom. It's quite funny since I hate the soup. But the color's quite nice and matches the bed spread. My DD and I only got one coat up as a) the room took a really long time to dry b)we need to buy another gallon as the room soaked up the paint like a sponge and c) I was really sore from all that rollering over my head. Plus my legs were really achy, although whether from painting or not, I don't know. Hubby had to give me two hard-core massages and the knots are not gone yet.

The weather here is great, again. I slept with the windows open again, too.

TTFN

It's fall, it's fall here in Texas and, while it's fairly short-lived, it's beautiful and wonderful and fall. It's my favorite season. Man, now I wish I had a picture. The leaves are turning colors and the acorns are dropping like, well, acorns. The day temperatures fluctuate but the nights are blessedly cool and I love to sleep with the windows open. Canned pumpkin should be hitting the shelves any day now and I will be stocking up! I haven't had pumpkin cake in over a year. Argh!

Marching band season has come to a close. (Thank goodness!) Marching band boy and his marching band compadres competed at UIL this past Saturday, scoring a 1-2-2, despite my section of the prop falling forward. The band director was well pleased and so, then, were the rest of us. Our poor little band had quite a few hurdles to overcome so the score were a testament to how hard this little-band-that-could worked. Construction at the high school over the summer meant they had to move to one of the middle schools for practices. Then there was the Texas heat; August here is hot, hot, hot, so sometimes it was just too hot to practice outside on the field. Then the district instituted an A/B schedule at the high school this year which meant band itself officially met only every other day: three days one week, two days the next, and so on. To their credit, every member attended every extra practice even when it was called last minute. And last but not least, the six-week grading period ended October 1st and the band lost five members, bringing its number down to like thirty members. This meant some finagling of the program to account for the missing bodies/instruments. So now...we have three more football games to play unless our football team makes it to the playoffs and I really have no idea what their chances are. I hope they make it, but then again... :)

I watched most of the second Harry Potter movie on Thursday, but started falling asleep, so I still have that to finish and move on to the others. Friday night was the football game and home late, Saturday MBB had friends over so they were busy doing what boys do: playing video games, wrestling, making a mess in the kitchen, Sunday night was read, rest, relax in preparation for the work week. We may get to the next film tonight, we may not. I'm suddenly in reading mode.

And how about those Texas Rangers?? This is their first time in the American League playoffs ever. With a win and a loss against the NY Yankees, they play tonight in New York. Go Rangers!

In a run to the release of the latest Harry Potter movie on Nov. 19, 2010 my children have decided to have a Harry Potter fest. They started last night and I decided to watch with them. I've seen it before, but remember very little of it. I haven't read the books.

Being in a musically-minded mode, specifically marching band program music, I was enthralled with the musical score. I think a very fun and popular program could be created using several of the songs and symbols from the movie. But convincing the band director might be another thing altogether.

As for the movie itself, I enjoyed it very much and Daniel Radcliffe was a cutie patootie as an eleven-year-old.