Goodbye Good Friend

I stayed up till 5am finishing the book last night. By the time I was 40 pages away from the end I was seeing stars (literally) and even looked over my shoulder for dementors (dark hooded figures from the story). Probably a sign that I needed more sleep...

I can't even describe how great this book is, just like all the others. I will have to read it at least 2 more times to take it all in. Without giving things away I will say that the book takes the reader on a roller coaster ride of emotions and is much more mature than any of the previous books. I even had to ask my husband what a few words meant! The characters are done so much justice and the story is so rich. I will give it another week and then I might post on the details (with a SPOILER warning preceding any such details). I am not left wondering what happens to anyone. I feel like the end was whole and meaningful.

I just want to thank Jo Rowling for sharing such a wonderful story with the world. I am too tired to feel the full loss that is the end of this world of Harry Potter but I am sure the sadness will set in when I allow myself to think of it (after a few more hours sleep). Perhaps labor will finally come and spare me the thought of no more Harry...

OMG- First in Line!

Thanks to some very special young ladies (pictured above) I was one of the first five people out of well over 1,500 at my local book store to get my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Very unfortunately, pregnancy brain is causing slow reading and so I am ashamed to say that I am only 200 or so pages into the book at this late hour. A friend who spent the night after the midnight release finished earlier today and I am so afraid she will give something away I can't even look her in the eye.

Baby news (and then back to reading so I have more to report later)- Acupuncture this morning for 1 1/2 hours and so far no baby but it did feel very intense while it was happening so I am hoping that is a good sign. Could be anytime tonight or tomorrow if it worked in inducing labor. Will let you know!

Also, when I am reporting on the outcome of the read later I will try my best not to spoil and will only talk about my emotions following the end of the series and the outcome of the book. Please be advised that I will try my best not to give any plot lines away! Also, my crazy face in the picture above sums up my delight at being first in line!!!!

At the end of my rope.......

I don't have a picture of my baby because he is still held up inside so I am posting this pic. This is perhaps the cutest thing I have seen in a long time. This is my friend's baby with a huge rescued pig at a Sanctuary in Australia. This pig was rescued from a factory farm and is obviously doing very well now. How beautiful to see how much this little girl loves this animal who is 100 times her size.

I haven't been posting as much as I like because I am so very uncomfortable. I am going in for acupressure this Saturday morning to see if it will move things along. My due date is not until next Wednesday but the doctors that are on call after Wednesday will just not do. My friend's husband, the acupuncturist, offered to help and my doctor seemed to think it was the only safe choice out of my list of crazy labor inducers. I will let you know what happens- the suspense is killing me. The whole not knowing when your whole life will be turned upside down thing is really getting to me. Can't you tell?

Order of the Phoenix Premiere

Ok, I finally feel ready to talk about the big movie premiere last night. I needed to let it sink in and talk it out a bit first.

Firstly, I liked the movie while I was watching it. However, it felt very rushed. I may not have noticed this as much because I was so uncomfortable (I am now feeling 16 months pregnant). See, the book is over 800 pages long and this is one of the shortest Potter films yet. The new director also left a lot of details in so he really rushed through things.

Something really interesting that my friend Jessica called to my attention is that the new director is a television director and so the movie was shot close up as in tv as opposed to far, wide angles like in a movie. That didn't bother me as much as things being changed from the book. I understand leaving things out but I don't understand making things up. The things that were made up barely made the movie flow any better and weren't necessary. These books are brilliant and NOTHING needs changing from the original story. It would be like taking a Tiffany diamond and chucking it for a cheap pearl.

One thing I did really enjoy was the actress who played Professor Umbridge (as seen in pink outfit above). If you haven't yet read the book then imagine one of the most annoying, anxiety producing people ever- that's Professor Umbridge. This actress made you want to punch someone which was in fact the whole point. I also loved, loved, loved the fight scenes and I am not one that usually does. The fight sequences in this book are intense and important and while the movie simplified them and shortened them almost painfully so, it still brought these amazing places and interactions to life. That is, after all, the purpose of the Harry Potter films, to bring these things to life. I would personally be happy to sit for 8 hours and watch ALL my favorite scenes come to life, but I understand that is not possible.

The outcome? I am still not completely sure. I liked it but was let down as one usually is when they see their favorite book splayed out on the cutting room floor. I will most likely see it one more time in the theatre to get a firmer grasp on my opinion- if I can physically sit that long again.

Please comment and let me know what you thought! Help me form my opinion!

Daily HP Update

Harry, Ron and Hermione were honored at Grauman's Chinese Theatre yesterday when they put their hands, feet and wands in cement for all to see through history. You can see video of the event here.

I am off to the Order of the Phoenix movie premiere at 6pm today and will have a full report tomorrow. In case you don't care, I am sorry, I have to post this because it is big time exciting to me. More to come for all you cool, happenin' people who do care!

Seriously Crazy Harry Potter Knitting Party

That's how us 9 month pregnant people get rowdy- we go to Harry Potter knit night at our local yarn stores. Mine is the Village Yarn and Tea- the place to see and be seen.

We had so much fun. Above is the HP display. Here (below) is my Harry Potter Wizards Hat knitted from a pattern out of Charmed Knits. Loved the hat but could have done without hand stitching the black boning onto the black knitted hat with black thread. Took FOREVER!

We even made Butterbeer and Hagrid's Rock Cakes. Here we are eating Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans by Jelly Belly. I think Deb had just sampled Rotten Egg flavor when I snapped this. Those other ladies are some of my most favorite knitting friends. We laughed so hard I almost went into labor. How Jelly Belly captured true vomit flavor in a jelly bean I will never know. It was unbelievably believable and sick. My trick was to bite it in half and smell. To chew the bean was a death wish.

This is a splendid bib that Deb made for me- well, for the baby. Most obviously, the "H" stands for Harry.

You probably won't see me out on the party circuit again until the Harry Potter release party- should I make it that far without a baby.

Could everyone seriously check out the Harry Potter countdown to the right. It is for the book- 13 days to go- dreams really do come true!

The movie, however, comes out Wednesday. I am seeing an early showing on Tuesday and cannot wait.

For those of you who don't understand... The movies are not coming out as fast as the books, obviously. So, the fifth movie comes out Wednesday and the seventh and final book comes out on July 21st. I am still waiting on pins and needles to see if the baby labor will coincide with the book release. Say a little prayer that he gives me enough time for the party and midnight release and then I can deal with labor.

My final worry is that the pregnancy hormones will kick into overdrive when I finish the last book and you will find me crying for days because this amazing story is over. If Harry dies you might need to come over and peal me off the floor, tears creating puddles around me... I am not usually like this but I am not in control right now. Watch out!!!

Another Book!

Another one of my favorite blog authors is coming out with a book. This one is about how to live creatively with your family and is entitled, The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections. Her blog, SouleMama, is brilliant and so I am assuming the book will be as well. It comes out next year but is available for pre-order from Amazon. Pre-order works well too. I have done it twice now and the book is on my doorstep minutes after being released.

You must see the SouleMama blog. It is one I check every day and her pictures are inspiring.

Hot Buns- and one dog too...

Two very hot buns. Poor buns, they don't do well with heat.

The dog is suffering too but at least he gets the hose and plays with ice cubes.

Air conditioning comes next week. Too bad the buns don't understand that concept.

Dachshund Fabric Makes Me Happy

How about this for the baby's room curtains? Now, how do you line curtains?

I am hoping that my new book by Amy Carol will tell me. Must have book for the new sewer called Bend the Rules Sewing. Amy also writes a craft blog called Angry Chicken- another must read. Oh, and you know the book is good because I had to drive outside my current 5 mile comfort zone to find it. 3 weeks till baby= not traveling far. But I did for this book and it was worth it.

I found the above fabric on a very nice site with Japanese fabrics. Although, the ones I ordered have a lot of French on them. They are just Japanese imports I think. It is called Superbuzzy and I will let you know when I get my first order.

Anyone know how to line curtains? Anyone know how to make curtains for that matter?

Baby Bunny Video- for inducing smiles...

Here's Phil taking a nap in the office where I write this blog (so sorry no updates for a week- the shame).

I never got to see Phil and Loddy as babies and we got Ishii, the dog, when he was 2. I am quite glad we get the new little human from birth because being involved in rescue one seldom gets puppies. We usually pick the older, more mellow, full of issues to be worked out kind of animals. Ishii was the full of issues one and Phil and Loddy just seemed right and were 1 and 2 years old when they found us.

Anywho, this post was meant to show you a link to a baby bunny video. The nice folks at Rabbit Haven in California put together a short clip of their new baby buns. Your little humans will love it. Just here to bring a smile to your face!