The recent release of the trailer for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” had me so excited I needed to be pried off the ceiling (and bless you all you sneaky people with your cameras, filming it in theaters and then posting the trailer illegally on YouTube for the rest of us). July 13th, woohoo. Since my birthday is the 7th, I will consider it the Potterverse’s birthday gift to me. I’ve also heard rumors that book seven – the final book in the series, wah! – will be released sometime in July as well, in which case I should write J.K. Rowling a fangirl letter thanking her for that birthday gift too.

I know a few people in Vegas and have a few other friends scattered throughout the U.S. who are tentatively talking about a mid-summer trip to Vegas for no other reason than to get together and see the movie. I can’t even imagine how incredibly, ridiculously fun that would be. I missed “Goblet of Fire” because, you know, I had a baby, but prior to that I saw the movies with George. George enjoys the storyline, but we have different levels of, er, obssession. As in, George still HAS NOT SEEN “Goblet of Fire” whereas I have seen it twice. He has never read the books whereas I have read all but book six at least twice, and I’m actually re-reading that one right now.

He knows nothing of the intense conversations that go on about the stuff we read between the lines, the theories, the conspiracies, the questions, the FANFIC, oh my god the fanfic (hel-LO Snape/Hermione and Harry/Ginny). I, on the other hand, can talk about anything and everything to do with Harry Potter until the sun sets and comes back up again. Hell, we do recall that I went out dressed as Hermione Granger for Halloween yes?

I’m a wee bit addicted. I have a feeling that when I read the last word on the last page of the last book in this series that I may very well end up being kind of like a crack addict who just ran out of drugs. I want to know what happens but there may be deflation when it’s all over.

So can you imagine someone like me (loser, I know) getting together with a bunch of other people like me (freaks) and going to a theater (with our hand-knit house scarves, naturally) and seeing the movie together, and then going out for food and drinks and dissecting the movie for hours afterwards?

It would be insane. I would probably go hoarse by the time I came home. But once again I find myself wishing that the world was just a little smaller so that it would be feasible to actually do that.

(You know, you guys could all just fly/drive/hitchhike up here. Montreal has theaters! We have a casino if you wanted to go play blackjack! We have POUTINE! Whimper.)

In other news, this is the last day of NaBloPoMo. I managed to post every day in November, even when I was busy or didn’t know what to write about when I sat down. I feel a little frazzled and drained by it. So naturally I will be starting Holidailies tomorrow, an entry every day in December (though they do cut a little slack and allow for five days off if you can’t help it). So there you go, another month of my daily posts. Aren’t you excited? I may need help this time around. If there was something you wish I had written this month and didn’t, let me know!

This home is quickly becoming a germ pit. Hayley is coughing and sneezing and sniffling like crazy, and she seems to feel absolutely miserable (especially if the whining about her nose is any indication, poor kid). Breanna is a little irritable but it’s hard to say whether she’s coming down with the plague too or whether it’s related to her teeth that are coming in, but she’s also sneezing a bit.

George has allergies so I can never tell if he’s sick or not but I know that I’m feeling a little bit run down myself. I’ve been sneezing every so often, my head hurts, and I just really want to sleep all day. Of course, everyone knows that mothers don’t get sick days because whether we work or stay home, we’re still on call 24 hours a day so I don’t really have time to be sick, especially if the kids are. I am really hoping that it’s a mild one for me, although at the very least I’ll get to pass the antibodies into Breanna’s system if I’m sick.

Fun, fun, fun.

In more festive news, we put our Christmas tree up last week. It’s oddly delightful to have it up with the lights on as soon as it starts getting dark outside. I used to be very bah humbug about getting ready for the holidays and grumbled about people who put their decorations and lights up before December. In fact I rarely got mine up before the middle of December at the earliest. This year I managed to make it until November 24th. I think it was about the same time last year too, shortly after I brought Breanna home. I guess having kids really did change my Christmas spirit.

Tonight I actually took pictures of the food I made for supper and for dessert. I was going to post them and tell you how I had made some very delicious honey garlic chicken on rice with vegetables. I was going to tell you that I had cast aside my normal “dessert is whatever we can find in the fridge or the cupboard” in favor of actually baking Irish Creme Chocolate lava cakes (which were almost illegally delicious, by the way).

I was going to do all that for two reasons. One, It’s day 28 of NaBloPoMo and I’m running out of steam, never mind the fact that I also signed up for Holidailies and thus must keep writing EVERY DAY for another month. Two, Hayley is coming down with a bad cold (complete with a load of tears over her very sore throat), and Breanna seems to be under the weather somewhat considering she woke up wet at 7, fell right back to sleep after a change (unheard of!), slept until 9:30, took a nap two hours later, and took another nap around 4. Personally I’m trying hard to ignore the fact that I feel a little scratchy in the throat and that I seem to be getting a sinus headache.

However, instead of boring you with my supper and dessert tales, I have decided to shamelessly rip of Jessica of Kerflop and do the “Celebrities I Think Are Really Hot” meme.

Come on. You know you want to know.

Continue reading →

All in good fun, this site will tell you if your blog makes you an A-list, B-list, C-list, or D-list “blogebrity”. Me? I’m a B. Go me.

The other day we went to an indoor play area and they had a ton of those tunnels you can crawl through, slides, ball pits, the works. They also had a small area for kids age one to three and even Breanna got in on the fun. She had such a blast playing in the ball pit, especially the bigger one when we would hold her and pretend to throw her in.

In fact it was so much fun that we’re going to prove we are completely insane by actually buying a mini tented ball pit for them for Christmas. No, I don’t know what we’re thinking and we will probably curse it forever but I know it will go over well.

Hayley wasn’t sure at first about going up in the big tunnel maze that ran the entire ceiling, but eventually she headed up, very cautiously. She intended to go up and come right back down. Ten minutes later she finally emerged, sweaty and thrilled at her adventure overhead. In the meantime, while I followed around on the floor below, constantly keeping an eye out for her pink socks, I got a cool shot of her in one of the transparent portions of the tunnel.

It was a lot of fun and I would go back again. Still, I can’t wait to get our own ball pit. Even if I currently have no idea where it will go!

Parents often know that one of the best ways to keep kids safe online is to educate them about internet safety and to keep all computers in a general family area instead of away in their own room. However, another method on top of those basic measures is to use keylogging software. It will keep a record of all typing done by your kids. As a result, you can make sure they aren’t accessing inappropriate sites or giving out personal information when you’re not looking.

Aside from a security feature, keylogging software is also a great way to keep records of your own activities for future reference.

You know what’s embarrassing? When you’re in a store, poking aorund for Christmas gift ideas, when “Footloose” suddenly starts playing over the speakers and you get so excited that you FORGET you’re in a store and start singing along. And you’re singing, like, LOUD.

I got a few snickers from nearby shoppers. Oh well.

Tonight I’m off to a party for a few hours and I’m leaving both kids with their grandparents. I’m trying not to think about the fact that I managed to get almost no milk for Breanna.

At least my hair looks good!

After almost a year and a half I finally went and got my hair cut. In an effort to avoid spending a ton of money, I contacted a hairdressing school nearby and inquired about their services. I will most definitely be going back. It was amazing. I got a wash, cut, and dry for nine bucks. It was a student who washed my hair and did the basic cutting but the supervising teacher did the consult with me (he told me that the style I wanted was great for me but that I should leave it one or two inches shorter than the picture I had brought in with me) and he also did the final touches and the styling for me.

I am so incredibly happy with it. I’m just enjoying the fact that my hair which was so ridiculously heavy and halfway down my back is now swinging lightly at about my jaw with lots of flitty layers. If you watch The View at all, it’s more or less the same style that Elizabeth has; although her beliefs often clash mightily with mine, I really love her hair.

Before:

After:

I seriously needed this.

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