Whew!
What a weekend. Friday I got off work at 4:00 instead of 6:00, which was just wonderful. My mom, Jess and I went to Oak Park to go to their version of Diagon Alley, since the fifth Harry Potter book came out at midnight. It was very cool, this Diagon Alley. SUPER crowded. Way, way, way more people than I think anyone had anticipated. I did drink my Butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron, stopped in at Flourish and Blotts, peeked in on a duel at the Dueling Club, took a goblin-lead tour of Gringotts (and got a piece of wizard gold), paused to watch a game of live-action Wizard Chess, passed up Honeydukes and their Bertie Botts Every Flavor Corn (sorry, flavored popcorn just doesn't do it for me), and poked my head into half a dozen other themed stores. it was pretty cool. Lots of Harrys and Hermiones running around. Some Hagrids, a couple Dumbledores... yes. It was fun!
Then we bought the book at midnight at Dominicks. Mostly because we happened to be passing a Dominick's at midnight and had heard in line earlier in the evening that they were selling it. We also got two boxes of Cheerios with CDs in them. Nsync in my cereal. What could be better?
Saturday was spent being lazy in my backyard in the sun, reading. Trying to finish book 4, which I still have 30 pages left in. Eeep. Want to read book 5! Waaaaaant badly!
Today was my dad's company picnic. It was fun! I played volleyball (horribly), got to chat with people I hadn't seen since working there a few years ago, and climbed the climbing wall. That was pretty cool. It took me a while to work up my nerve, but the guy working the wall finally suckered me into it. I made it to the top, 30 feet in the air, and then repelled backwards and landed squarely on my rump. Real graceful, I'm sure. But I was impressed with my ability to scurry up the wall! Go me. Heh.
Tonight I went to dinner with Meghan, and then Jamie met us at Starbucks for some chatting. It's so nice to catch up with them. And the evening was beautiful. Ended up getting chilly as it got on past 11:00, but up until then, it was gorgeous. I wish the weather'd be this nice all year!
Now, I am going to FINISH HP and the Goblet of Fire and START HP and the Order of the Phoenix. ::nods::