HP6

You know you are a pathetic nerd when you are counting the hours at work until you can get home and continue reading the new Harry Potter book. That is what I was doing all day today; 6 more hourst till Potter, 4 more hourse to Potter, 2 1/2 more hours till Potter..... The times I wasn't fantasizing about running off and curling up with the tome, I was piping up over my cube wall asking people if they had read the book, seen the new movie, thought Harry should date Ginny and yes just being annoying to all my hard working coworkers. Yes, I know this enthusiasm is a little late. I am aware the book came out in July but until now I just wasn't really that excited about this new edition of the young wizards adventures. First, I was waiting for a sibling of mine to finish it and send it to me so I quelled my excitement and patiently waited for her to finish. Well that took a while and Mike couldn't wait and bought it as soon as he saw it used somewhere and read it in a weekend. He was obviously very excited about it but his excitement just wasn't contagious enough- it is so big and there are so many chores to do and the last one was SO boring I kept telling myself. But as the leisurely holiday weekend approached I decided I would tear myself from the weed pulling and grouting to devote a few hours to this onerous and surely somniferous task of reading the last book. Oh I also forgot to mention that about 2 months ago sadly some wiseguy in my office gave away a big plot point so I felt even less disinclined to read the book. But oh my I am so sorry I waited, this one is so fun- just like chewy, sweet taffy for my gray matter. I love it! So with that being said I am going to wrap up this silly blog post and get back to what I really want to do- find out what Slughorn's Christmas party is like. Happy Reading!!

Wig Night

Well, this Saturday was much better than last. Mike and I went out for wig night and karoake with a friend of ours and group of her friends from graduate school.At first I was pretty resistant to spending money on something as frivolous as a wig but we ran into the the wig night friend while we were shopping and her enthusiasm was pretty contagious. I cheaped out and bought a really cheap, purple, mylar wig (aluminum ribbons) and Mike got a bargain afro- that is what it really said on the tag- "dark brown, bargain afro". He looked so cute and dangerous in the wig especially with his stubble. Everyone looked so cute in their colorful wigs that I really regretted buying such a cheap, ugly wig. Then one of my friends pulled out an adorable, pink bob wig that she brought in case someone didn't have a wig. So voila I looked like a crazy muppet all night but it was very fun. After we had drinks we all went to Austin karaoke for a karoake extravaganza. When I was told we were going to sing karoake, I assumed we would go to some bar and sing with everyone was else in the bar. However, this karoake was a little different. Instead of a bar we went to a place called Austin Karaoke which looked a lot like a hotel with a series of long hallways and about 12 rooms in the whole place. Each room had a wall of televisions hooked up to a karaoke machine. There was no alcohol but you could bring in as much as you like and you could bring food in as well. Needless to say it was so much fun because you didn't feel silly about making a fool out of yourself and you could sing along and dance as much you wanted. The highlight of the night was when all of us sang along to Bohemian Rhapsody at top volume. I highly recommend going to a private karoake club, it is so fun to sing like crazy all night . I imagine this is how they do karoake in Asia where it is a huge past time. I can't wait till the next time we go out for karaoke.

PS if anyone wants to see Mike in an afro wig or a couple very scary pictures of me in a pink wig, email me. I don't want to post the pictures here cause they are... well kind of embarassing.

Beware the Fish

Last night, Mike and I had dinner with some friends at a local bar and grill. Our friends, Shannon and Lacy, have a 2 1/2 year old so they chose this place because of it's kid friendly reputation. When she told us the address and name, I thought she must have been misinformed the word Tavern was in the name but sure enough there was a play scape in the back and all the toy trucks and buckets a little boy could play with. We had a great time catching up with our friends, watching their little boy frolick in the play area and just generally enjoying the brisk yet comfortable November evening. Where things go very, very wrong is when I order the fried fish sandwich. We didn't have a lot of menus on the table, so I took a cursory glance at the menu, made a quick decision between the fish sandwich and a chicken salad and passed the menu on to my friend. Now I know, when in doubt, go with the chicken salad. The trouble started in the car when I began to regret having two tap beers. I normaly have a sensitive stomach anyway, so I avoid dairy, red meat, fried foods and beer but occasionally I feel a little too self-confident in my digestion and order whatever I want. Well, thankfully what went on last night does not happen everytime I have dairy or fried food or I would be lying in a fetal position whimpering for my Mamma for the rest of my life. Of course, I will spare you the gorey details because I would like you guys to return to my blog but I just have to say that I commiserate with anyone who has had salmonella or e.coli, that was absolutely miserable. I have had nightmare hangovers and stomach flus that were like a fun filled day at an amusement park compared to this! However, I can't say for certain I had food poisoning or even if it was the fish but stomach flus don't usually hit that suddenly. I feel a little better now but I can tell that whatever microbe found its way to my gut last night is just starting to clean up after the wild party. The worst thing about feeling that miserable is you can't really do much but think about how miserable you are...I couldn't read, watch tv, or crochet. All I could do was roll around the bed and moan. So pathetic. Poor Mike. Poor you guys, for reading this;). Well I promise my next entry will have a lot less stomach distress! Have a great Thanksgiving...ugh food:(. Miss and love you all.

Crochet Girls

As a girl I recently met told me, "Austinites love Craig's list". Apparently some cities ignore the free want ads site but in Austin we use it to furnish our homes, get jobs, find dates and make friends from the once hippie list. and I am no different. I routinely peruse the site for furniture but have little luck in actually getting something. Apparently, my Craig's list bargaining skills need some improvement and I routinely lose out on the coveted armoire, lawnmower, or easy chair. But finally I have had a success on Craig's list.

A few days ago I decided to take a look at the groups section which I rarely do and found an ad orgainizing a crochet or knitting party written by an obviously upbeat, clever young woman who according to the hat she was wearing in the ad looked like she was a little more adept at crochet than me. Well, just finishing something makes her more adept than me. For the last two years I have attempted to make scarves and doilies on my own but it was hard to be confident about by progress without any experienced guidance. Mom taught me the basics when I would visit but I forgot the trickier things and it is hard to describe a crochet stitch over the phone. After signing up for two canceled crochet classes at the UT community education classes, I had given up on ever really furthering my crochet skills but when I saw Victoria's ad I was very excited that there were other people who wanted to crochet advise. The meeting was a blast we chatted and Victoria gave great instruction. I am looking forward to many more meetings and actually finishing a project. I will keep you all posted!!