I'm a Simpsons character!

Haha.

Also, I finally got music for my wedding musicians: Crys, Katy, Addy, Franny, Laura, and Caroline, check your mail late this week and early next week!!

Speed

If time keeps speeding up at the rate it's been going, I'm going to be ninety-five, retired, and playing with my great-grandchildren by the end of the year.

I've been wanting to change the title of my blog for a while, and the perfect thing came to me last week - I just haven't had time to implement until now. Good advice to live by. Kind of along the same lines as what my dad always says: "Remain calm." Only better, because it's from HHGTTG by Douglas Adams, may he rest in peace.

I am starting my complete media blackout tomorrow morning - no NPR, no radio, no TV, no newspaper, no surfing the internet, nothing. I'm taking my CDs into work and in the car etc. so that my chances of hearing anything at all about Harry Potter are as minimal as possible.

I get a sad feeling in my tummy when I think about HP being all over...but it's been so fun to live through something like this, and epic fantasy being written in my life time - now I know what it was like to live through the original releases of LOTR and Star Wars. The anticipation and discussion and mania, and sharing it with all the other fans! It's so fun and exciting.

Tomorrow night I'm headed up to Hanover, PA to the Dunlop's for pre-Harry Potter snacks, and then to a Harry Potter bookstore party with all the PREPs, Connie, my mom, Hannah, and all the other HP fans! It will be so exciting.

Then the PREPs are sleeping at the Dunlop house and all going to David's Bridal Saturday morning to try on dresses for the Kelly's weddings. I'm so excited to spend so much time with them! Hopefully by the time I get to Camp Hill in the afternoon, my copy of HP7 will have arrived at my parents' house so that I can start reading that night. omg omg omg, I'm so nervous about finding out what happens! I swear, if Harry, Ron, Hermione, or Ginny die, I will be so so so so SO so so so SOOOOO angry. Anyone else, just not those four.

My predictions:
Snape and Wormtail will both play major roles in helping Harry defeate Voldemort, and at least one (probably both) will die to save Harry.
Hermione will be the next Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, a post she will keep for her entire career.
Kreacher will end up being helpful in some way, altho against his will.
R.A.B. is Sirius's brother Regulus Black, but I think pretty much everyone agrees with that.
Harry is NOT a Horcrux.
Snape is GOOD, although still a complete jerk.
Harry & Ron will pass their apparition tests after Harry's birthday, and then all three of them will be able to apparate places, which will be cool.

Things we know from the covers of the various editions:
Today I discovered a new US Deluxe edition cover that shows Harry, Ron, and Hermione flying on the back of a dragon, and their robes and the dragon's wings are all in tatters.
I think the regular US edition cover tells us very little, except that Harry and Voldemort confront each other (possibly without wands?) in front of a crowd of people (possible the death eaters, including Snape and Wormtail?).
The UK children's edition shows Harry, Ron, and Hermione falling into a bunch of treasure (possibly in Gringott's?), and peeking over Harry's shoulders riding on his back is a pair of House Elf ears, and the elf's hand holding a sword. I think Dobby has played his role, so I think this must be Kreacher.

I wanted to get those writting down so that once we all know what really happens, I can see how close I was, and prove it to everyone if I hit any nails on the head! My only specific prediction is Hermione becoming DADA teacher, and I know it's not too original, but whatever. Hannah asked an interesting question about what happens to Dumbledore's memories in the Penseive now that he's dead, and I think we agree that they would just stay there. I wonder if we'll even find out, but it was an interesting question to ask. We'll know if Harry re-visits any of the memories to help him on his search.

And now I'm done. Packing for the long weekend - Monday I pick out flowers at the florist's, and Tuesday morning Paul and I are getting our marriage license! OMG! 43 days...!

Busy, busy, busy!

Well, it's be a while. Things keep happening that I want to blog about, but then I never find time to sit down at the computer. The only times I've been online at home in the past weeks have been to pay bills or work on wedding invitations.

All the invitations are now sent! I got my first official response card in the mail yesterday, from my co-worker Jeneane. Yay!! I have started an official pile, which currently only has one thing in it, so I can't wait to get more!!

I want to start thinking about how the reception is going to go. Since we're having hoers d'oeuvres and not sit-down meals, there won't be assigned seats or tables, so everyone will hopefully be mingling; and since there will be three live musicians but no DJ, I need to figure out how to initiate certain events such as the speeches by the Best Man etc., the first dance, the father-daughter dance, and throwing my bouquet. Comment with other ideas for traditions we should include at the reception - anything but the garter, I hate that one.

Hannah's 21st birthday was the last weekend in June, and I had a bunch of fun as DD for her and her friends. Then last weekend, after Paul and I went to my college friend Nate's wedding earlier in the day, we ended up at the same bar as Hannah and her college friends, who had come down for a birthday visit a week after her birthday. Paul got to buy her a drink since he missed her actual birthday. I doubt the food at Duke's is anything special, but it's really nice to be able to sit on their huge deck overlooking the Susquehanna river. I plan to make that a regular hang-out once we're back living in PA.

This week is also super busy, with VBS on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and tonight I'm going to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with co-worker Jeneane! I'm very excited. I'm also excited that I will go get my free pair of Victoria Secret pink flip-flops before the movie - I love those free coupons they send out in the mail! This on is free with purchase, but that's OK because I need some new undies anyway! With free pink flip-flops on my feet and a big bag of popcorn in my lap at the new Harry Potter movie, I'll be about as happy as can be.

No, wait, not quite as happy as I am when I daydream about my wedding and subsequent honeymoon...and I sure have been doing a lot of daydreaming lately. Concentrating at work is becoming more and more difficult, especially now that I booked a honeymoon location...I found a GREAT deal on a suite hotel room in Ocean City, Maryland!

The room has a balcony overlooking the bay, a kitchenette, a little living room, and a separate bedroom with a king-sized bed. I think the only time I've ever slept in a king-sized bed before, I was sharing it with two other people. There's also a pool with a really nice looking hot tub. The hotel is the Coconut Malorie, and it's right beside Fager's Island, which is a really nice restaurant & bar - there are actually a few different bars with different atmospheres, and quite possibly some good live music, so that will be a nice place to hang out in the evening.

I know that Ocean City, MD isn't very exotic, but I think we'll have a more relaxing honeymoon being somewhere we're familiar with. There are so many things I love to do in Ocean City that I can't stop fantasizing about: swimming, sitting on the beach, catching sand crabs, building sand castles, strolling on the boardwalk, eating yummy food, playing mini golf, flying a kite, playing catch, walking on the beach, finding seashells, watching the sun set over the bay...*sigh*...I wish we were there right now!!

Alrighty, I guess I need to put my nose to the grindstone here at work...I've been writing this all morning in between e-mails and pages refreshing and phone calls...but now it's time to focus. At least I get to leave at 4:30 today!