Yup, it rained anyway.

"Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it." -Professor McGonagall, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Substitute "weather forecasting" for "Divination," and "science" for "magic?" And that is how I feel about it all. I am never consulting weather.com again. It just makes me crazy with all its predictions and percentages and accu-weather bollocks, and you know what? It's all just going to unfold the way it's going to unfold and you can't do a thing about it.

I know you guys like weather.com, and that's fine. I promise not to judge you. But I find it very, um, "wooly," and I am done.

trip part 5: dear mr. ollivander of the muggle optical world,

Thank you so much for fixing my glasses this morning. They were seriously squished in my suitcase because I packed them stupidly, but you didn't bat an eye when I brought them in, just nodded and murmured and disappeared into the back room to perform the oculus reparo spell, or something that must have been very similar--because it took no time it all. And you didn't charge me, didn't even ask me who I was or if I had bought my glasses there, just fixed them, smiled, and gave them back. It was like you just knew... A little creepy, but very much appreciated.

xo,

pen who can see a little clearer now

Sometimes...

It does take friends. (this does NOT contain spoilers)

They come in handy for all sorts of things. Picking up slack exactly where you find yourself utterly lacking. For instance my dad decided to unload all his videos that he's ignored ever since DVD's hit the land of the layman. Our favorite resell place has stopped carrying VHS and dad was ready to get rid of them. I looked at the some 300 videos but couldn't bring myself to give them away- most anything i'm pretty callous about good-willing. Because who cares. Why bother trying to sell it? I just think, ugh?! get rid of it. Free yourself!

But since friend Amber's come back into town I told her what the project was and she said, okay no problem- we'll search amazon and see if they come up, cross promote thru craigslist and ... i can do that while you read harrypotter. And then i thought as we got going, what else can we sell! Why is it when she's around i find things like these totally plausible. I'm on board and i'm ready to go- but without i'm totally not having it. Eyes roll, give up, go home.

I confess I am a reluctant HP fan. Mainly bcs my mom enjoys the fact I read it aloud in a british accent and amber i make snarky comments about the character choices, sometimes the writing, and we're not unwilling to give JK props for good turns. I don't bash to bash i promise. It's like i'm a walking talking audio book with commentary tracks. We're on page 387. Plus with all you HP maniacs i couldn't very well NOT read it. Am i right?! So i read aloud for 7 hours with breaks and occasional verbal summations as amber ended up putting up 96 items for sale. And sorting another 200 at least for further review.

By the end of the night I was enjoying HP7 and we'd already had 2 people purchase our items. Insane! But somebody out there was searching for citizen cane and the magnificent ambersons so... sure we've only made like $8- but it's a start. And to see synchronicity really work btw friends is priceless. And if you've read what i just read, you'd totally agree.

unseemly

I've noticed over the past few days certain unseemly habits and patterns developing as a result of this pregnancy. Some are old and have simply returned; others are freshly disturbing. It's a result of tiredness and over-hormonalness and I-don't-care-ness, and sometimes it's just an attempt to uncurl myself from the vile little ball of inertia that I so often become. Here, at the moment, are some:

1. I don't recycle as much. Cardboard boxes, yogurt containers, any other plastics or cans that require too much washing out, or whatever, go in the trash. Sometimes I'll have just taken down an armload of stuff from the kitchen to the laundry room where our bins are, and I really don't want to see the pile by the sink accumulate again. It's all so tedious, this cycle. And won't cardboard just disintegrate back to the earth, anyway? What's the difference if it's crammed in with all the other non-recyclables.

2. I am consuming hot dogs at an alarming rate. In the past 24 hours, beginning at 9PM yesterday evening, I have eaten 4. All have been sliced lengthwise, microwaved for 39 seconds, and then absolutely smothered in mustard and (essential) ketchup. It's like, if the ketchup wasn't there, I might cry. In fact, my last hot dog today tipped upside-down onto the plate after being condimented, and the mustard and the ketchup smeared all over, and I almost did cry.

3. I don't exercise. Okay, but this time, I really, really, really want to try. I have prenatal exercise DVDs divvied by trimester and everything. It's just the Being Green thing, and... I don't know. The more resistant part of me feels that pregnant ladies should be allowed and in fact encouraged to lay around and be lump-like for the whole of their pregnancy.

4. I'm not good at reading anymore. (Except, as always, Harry Potter.) I can't focus. I really like the book I'm reading, The Jane Austen Book Club, but it's extremely slow-going, and it's mainly because I keep getting caught up in daydreams about all the other books I want to read, or should have already read. Oh, and if I feel Too Green, I won't even try to read. I just stare.

5. I get really mad when the news preempts regularly scheduled programming. Oh wait, that has nothing to do with pregnancy. All I can say is, I was really caught up in Suzanne Somers' story about her Malibu home burning to the ground today during Ellen, and I did not need to see W's little speech about the 4-year anniversary of the Iraq War. Something that, over the next few days, will be replayed a million times and analyzed to death on news programs, anyway. I feel very strongly that there should be corresponding stations you can flip to in such an event, where the show you were watching continues to play. These channels would also be available during major weather events. Anyone wish to join my letter-writing campaign?

Quite sure there will be more to come.

i will have this cake, thanks

Purchased for b-day (tomorrow), thanks to Mom, Dad, and amazon.com:

The Brat Pack collection, featuring
1. The Breakfast Club
2. Sixteen Candles
3. Weird Science

The Too Cool for School collection, featuring,
4. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
5. Pretty in Pink
6. Some Kind of Wonderful

As well as
7. Better Off Dead
8. Real Genius
9. French Kiss
10. While You Were Sleeping
11. Clueless
12. You've Got Mail
13. Runaway Bride

Oh, and!
14. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
15. KT Tunstall, Eye to the Telescope

Woohoo!

a more perfect thing to say

Sometimes it takes me a little time for that perfect phraseology, and fittingly, this one is re: version 1.0. In reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone again, I realized that the ol' intelligence situation, in a nutshell, is this:


I used to be a Ravenclaw, but now, I am a Hufflepuff.


Not that there's anything wrong with that.

scattered

For the moment I've given up trying to hook up my (cooler, sans cookie issues) computer to the wireless network, because the problem looms large, and I don't know how much longer it will take to solve. I can't strap mendacious with the hassle of posting my posts forever. I'm scattered and only have some random things to offer at the moment:

1) Last night I updated my ipod and wanted to listen to Lily Allen before bed. Here I am in a fairly quiet bedroom, earbuds in place, half asleep anyway, and the thing starts up at volume: MAX. Literally, I felt like I was going to puke for a good half hour from the jolt of it. It was a scary loud, a complete accident that rocked me down to my tippy toes. I couldn't listen to Lily right away, my senses being so assaulted, and so opted for Sarah Harmer instead. Was disappointed to discover that I accidentally did not load her first album onto pod, despite intentions.

2) Went on a brief road trip this weekend to RDU, and on Saturday had lovely night to myself at surprise party for friend. Party truly was surprise, as his bday was two months prior, but it was pulled off so well. After a mid-party lull, we played a round of Cranium, which my team totally rocked, as well as Imaginiff. I heart party games.

3) I'm still pregnant. I know! I already can't wear jeans because it feels like I'm squishing the baby. Okay, the baby is smaller than a pencil eraser at this point, and it's not like my jeans don't actually fit, but there's some squishing going on. It's absurd. And if it turns out to be twins... mendacious will hear my gasp clear across the country. Because then we will have to purchase a minivan, a cruel reality I am not at present prepared to face.


4) I want to talk about Grey's Anatomy with anyone who will talk about it with me. And also, Friday Night Lights. Anyone who claims TV is a cesspool for society has not watched (and subsequently become addicted to) these brilliant productions. Currently, am sort of in love with Kyle Chandler and his irritated silences, his piercing gaze. Bonus, he was on BOTH shows last week. Here's why I love Grey's: unlike most shows, when a character throws out a declarative statement such as, "George, your marriage is a mistake," the statement is not necessarily prophetic and then fact. Characters fight back against the so-called "truth," i.e. Callie tells Izzy, "Actually, no, I'm here to stay, so get used to that." And Friday Night Lights? You so do not have to be a fan of football. The acting, writing, and camera work on this show all speaks for itself. So FANTASTIC.

5. Finally, finally watched Jesus Camp yesterday. It was one of those movies I lusted after in the Netflix queue for so long, and once it finally got here, I had no desire to watch a documentary. What I really want to watch is Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, even though I didn't really like it the first time around. But, Jesus is going back today. It scared me, just like I thought it would. Frankly, on the whole I felt like there was a little something missing from the production, like maybe a little more framework would have been nice, or some added points of view? But the camp director properly horrified me with the statement that Harry Potter, had he been in the Bible, would have been put to death. Because Warlocks are the Devil. I think she's in cahoots with Voldemort, I really do.

This week: still on a closet-cleaning tear. Hope to: clean fridge, dust here and there, purchase brilliant presents for March birthdays (not including my own), figure out the beaded bracelets, spend minimal amounts of money, not totally give up on working out. Tamilee, you continue to slay me. And, ANTM is starting, wahoo!

Happy Eve!

Do you all believe that adage about ringing in the New Year, and how it's somehow reflective or prophetic of the year to come? Last year at this time, I was mondo pregnant, therefore not able to catch a decent buzz, and also Very Tired overall, and so naturally we stayed home and did not a whole lot. A quiet evening brought a relatively quiet year. I mean, I had a baby and all, but compared to years prior? Not much dramatic happened, good or bad, and for that I breathe a huge sigh of relief. We didn't buy anything enormous like a house, I only quit one job, J.Lo stayed in his job and remained happy with it. Only one traffic infraction, everyone remained alive and, for the most part, well. It was a quiet and good year overall, just like our NYE.

My friend J says she brought in 2006 away from home and drunker than she's ever been, and paid dearly for it. I'm not exactly sure what that meant for her year, but it was a rather crazy-busy-erratic one, filled with adventures both fun and regrettable. A few years ago, I rang in the New Year having drunk every kind of alcohol available: red wine, white wine, champagne, liquor shots, beer, and a mixed drink--I think I had one of each?--and somehow managed to avoid too bad of a hangover. What did that mean, that I would have a year where I would fly under the radar of idiocy's consequences? Hmmm. I have to think about that.

This year, we'll be ringing in the New Year quietly once more, this time marathoning with all four Harry Potter movies. J.Lo's even giving up Sunday football for it; it's a big day. There will be one bottle of champagne to share, chicken parm to eat, and a K.Lo to squeeze. So what does this mean? Perhaps that 2007 will be quiet and yet magical, filled with family and low-key good vibes? Cheers to that. I can only hope.

not too much

I thought I should post at least once more before being swept away in a holiday whirlwind of travel, twinkle lights, giving and receiving, family and eggnog and good cheer. Baby's first Christmas, yay! All the presents are purchased, wrapped and under the tree. I need to bake a cheesecake before we go away, and pack some bags. So far the stuffing veggies have been chopped, the aquarium water refreshed, and the living room dusted. We'll be returning Christmas Day for part 2 of holiday festivities, and I'll be cooking a turkey dinner. And yet what else is there to say? Just a random few come to mind:

-(Mis)Adventures has been updated to the new blogger. Experienced a brief formatting scare yesterday when updating the template, but switched computers and recovered. Phew.
-I got my $105 back from Wachovia bank. I think we'll still switch our accounts, with the exception of a CD, but for now, Hallelujah.
-K.Lo is fairly mobile now, and over the past few days has been into e v e r y t h i n g. The books, the CDs, the cupboards, the drawers, the yet-to-be organized recipes, the aforementioned presents under the tree. She can't yet walk and she doesn't crawl, but that baby can get around town using an ever-elusive scooch maneuver.
-A fish has died, and another 2 look sketchy. I don't know what's going on there, but I fear it may be the ich. Or whatever it is I've had possibly prophetic dreams about.
-On a positive aquarium note, however, 2 new algae-eaters have made their home in Greek-Ruins Central, and creepy as they look, we have high hopes for their scouring expertise. They won't go hungry in that tank, that's for sure.

-We've watched the Christmas party ep of "The Office" twice. I totally would have gone to the Committee for Planning Parties' party, rather than the Party-Planning Committee's party, but perhaps not before snagging one of Angela's brownies.
-Overall, it's been a peaceful week, filled with chores and holiday movies and Harry Potter, OotP, on CD. Can't think of anything better...

Merry Christmas, everyone!
xo,
pen