Lucky Me

Word of the Post
Today's word is: Friggatriskaidekaphobia
Morbid fear of Friday the 13th.
Can also use Paraskavedekatriaphobia, or Paraskevidekatriaphobia.
I will not bother to try to help anyone say these, because they are too technical and clinical. I suppose it is a noun, being a name of an idea. I will just say that I will probably never use any of these in a sentence, but I can pronounce them. You have to take my word for that. :-)
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I don't know why people are so superstitious. I remember working in a print shop, and being open on Good Friday. That year, it was also the 13th. So, with my very intelligent boss, I pondered why we were the only shop open in the whole of the town. He observed that people could be religious (Good Friday) or superstitious (Friday the 13th). I wonder still how many people closed up shop, for fear that the Universe would get them from both sides if they were working.

I don't go out of my way to avoid things like stepping on cracks and stuff, but I don't go out of my way to pursue them, either. I will pick up any penny on the ground, because I am now a penny richer than I was a minute ago. I don't care where the face was facing. Does one face up and one face down cancel out the bad luck of the face down? I don't go running under ladders at every chance. I found out that you are supposed to spit if a black cat crosses your path. I never knew this. I know that the black cat is bad in America, but good in other places. I know that Rachael Ray throws some salt over her left shoulder for luck when she cooks.

I figure that I am a Christian, and my life is no place for superstition. I don't need the gods of Chance, Luck or Doom when I have the God of the Universe. I am not saying that Coincidence is lost. There are times when God speaks in still, small whispers. SQuire Rushnell calls them "godwinks". A little wink from across the table from a God who notices YOU and shows you He loves you. And since I have experienced many, almost countless, of these "godwinks", I can tell you that coincidence is God-engineered to steer you in the right direction, or just to love on you. If you prefer to think of it as Chance, Luck, or Doom, that is your choice. I choose joy over doubt.

I also have to share that good things happen on Friday the 13th. DH got a Bonus today. So I don't have to worry about where the money will come from to pay for the new lawnmower we are considering. And we still have money left to buy a Wii (if I could ever find one available!!!) and still help out on a few needs we know of. The wonderful part of this is that I don't have to work. I could, if I get bored, or if we needed me to. But, we are living quite well on DH's income. That is the truly miraculous part. I can live well, prepare for emergencies, save for the distant retirement and help others, all without having to work an 8 to 5 slave job. DH loves his work, which is an added bonus. I am blessed beyond dollars.

Happy Friday!

I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good!

Word of the Post
Today's word is: pluvial
/ploo"vee*ul/ adjective
Of, or having much, rain.
Today there was a pluvial downpour, resulting in a river falling off of my roof.
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I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I went to see the Midnight Premiere showing on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. On Wednesday night at church, I was asked what I thought about it. I didn't answer then. I have to say now, that the more I think about it, the less I hate it. Yep, I hated it. But it is growing on me. Let me explain.

I was angry. Much like the beginning of the movie for the Goblet of Fire, I thought the small changes that were made were more plot killings than artistry. There were several details that were left out, because the movie would have to be 12 hours long without editing. There were a few minor changes of who said what, and the only house elf seen is Kreacher, and he was not nearly as vile as he should have been. We don't see the heavy locket nobody could open. No cleaning of the headquarters, whatsoever. We heard mumblings, but no shrieking from dear old mother's portrait. Professor Umbridge was not nearly "froggy" enough, and they never really showed the little black-fly bow on her head. I have to admit that I am sad that we missed Hermione's clever charm on the DA list, and therefore, we did not see S*N*E*A*K plastered on the face of the tattletale, Marietta. I think that was my biggest (while still inconsequential) disappointment.

Now to the positive. The Weasley twins' exit is PHENOMENAL. It is a feat of cinematic and creative amazement. I warn you, it is loud, but it had our whole theater cheering. The Room of Prophecy was pretty cool. They didn't have the other rooms, but concentrated on the Prophecy room and the room with the Shroud. Again, 12 hours otherwise. Professor Umbridge had the little "hem, hem" just exactly as I imagined it, as well as a wonderful presentation of the fury with pink frills that is described in the book. The looks and movements are precisely evil enough, yet sugar-coated sweetness drips from her. It is hard to hate Snape. It really is. Alan Rickman is a great actor, and this character is such an enigma. The Room of Requirement was also pretty cool.

Best of all, in my small opinion, is Filch. He gets to do that funny, leg-stretching, backward-leaning run of his. He thinks he is being so sneaky, watching the wall where the Room of Requirement usually shows up. The exaggeration of the number of Educational Decrees makes Filch even funnier. He doesn't get to say much, but this time he gets seen much more in the movie, and it is to his credit.

I have been a fan of the books, and have also been critical of them. I am happy that the S.P.E.W. thing was left out of the movies. It was a ridiculous waste of paper for me. JKR could have developed more background for the trio (Harry, Ron and Hermione), or more emotions for side characters like Neville, Seamus or Ginny. She could have touched more on the other Houses. There has never been much spoken about the Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw houses, because Gryffindor and Slytherin have such a long history of disdain for each other.

I have been a fan of the movies, because it makes the books a little easier to digest. Like any movie, I know that it cannot be identical to the book, because other people perceive it differently than I do. I know that there has to be a lot of work and change that goes into making a screenplay vs. the original book. They can't match perfectly. But there are details that the readers know, and are looking for in the movies, and they will not find many of those hints. This may be a detriment to the next two movies.

I will be waiting in the line at Books-A-Million on the night of the 20th, to pick up 6 copies of the final installment of the books, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I will likely even be wearing my cloak, and carrying a stick (masquerading as a wand) to dress up and be a character like so many children, teens and geeks in my town. Don't worry, I won't be selling them. I have ordered them for my friends with my membership savings card, and will be delivering on Sunday, or letting the friends come get them sooner. I will be reading, you think I would stop to make sure that others can read it first?!?! What, are you crazy?

So what do you think? Do you even care? I know there are people who have not read one book of the series, and won't bother. That is fine. There are many people who have read them, and who have opinions and suspicions about what the Horcruxes all are. Are the Horcruxes actually half of his soul each time he made one? Does that mean he only has 1/64 of his soul left? There are several fan sites that even JKR endorses, so go out there and see what people are saying. I personally wonder how powerful Lord Voldemort was before he split his soul at all.... he seems pretty powerful now, and that is with only a tiny piece of his soul. Or... does it make him more powerful that his soul is in pieces? He has no conscience to stop him from using the Unforgivable Curses, so that would help him find, use and create more evil magic.

I think that JKR could write other useful texts to back up the stories... like writing "Hogwarts: A History" that Hermione always quotes out of. I also have a few ideas about the possibility of fan fiction. There are some real idiots out there. I am sure that the real fans of HP will weed out the nut jobs from the good storytellers. I think there are some very good ideas out there, and I wait to see the explosion of fan fiction that happens when the 7th book has not cleared up what fans want to know.

The best advice I can give anyone wondering if they even want to see this movie is this: Go see it. You have to see it to make your own decisions about it.

Better yet, read the book. The book is always better.

Mischief Managed.

Excuses, Excuses

Word of the Post
Today's word is: despondent
/de*spond"ent/ adjective
Without or almost without hope; heartsick.
He was unable to fight back, having been beaten down for the last time. He was despondent, failing even to try once more.
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I have been working on a secret plan. I could tell you what it is, but then I would have to kill you. And that would be opposite of what my secret plan involves. "I shouldn't have told you that." (Hagrid, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (should have been Philosopher's) Stone) Suffice it to say that I am on the cusp of a Revolution! The 4th of July has inspired me to do, instead of wishing I had done.

I have a song for that title... but I can't remember all the words. I remember that it said that the Devil supplies excuses if we choose to disobey. I will have to look that up in my old song collection folder. This is summer, and many people I know have recently been camping. I used to go to camp in Colorado. I was there for a week as a Camper, and have been there for two of the three available weeks as a Counselor. End of July, and early August, and I get camp-sick. Something I would love to do someday is to convince several of the college aged kids here to go there, and promote Oklahoma Christian University as an option for continuing education, and bring more kids closer to God in those mountains. I used to love going to camp. I got the opportunity to show the kids and myself that God doesn't want you to ride the apron strings to church, He wants YOU to come to Him on your own. I learned a lot about study and teaching at that camp. I applied to college because of that camp, and when I came to college, I met my DH. If money were no object, I would buy the camp and run it today. I have always felt that I was closer to God in the mountains. No, not because I was on a higher elevation, but because I was away from "civilization" and "clamor". It was always so peaceful there. River (where I was baptized) to swim, mountain to hike, field to wander in the darkness, few signs of industry. Most importantly, God's people were there, showing me how to be closer to Him, teaching me that "church" isn't all about the building, but the people in it. I have not often felt that peace. I miss it.

While I have been absent from blogging, I have been babysitting occasionally. For the past two weeks and one more coming, I have watched a little boy from across the street. I am sure that some of our lawnmower swapping will pay for the service of watching the kiddo. He likes coming to my house, because it is different. I am glad that he likes me, because otherwise this could have been a complete disaster. I am happy to let him watch Veggie Tales and Pixar Movies. I am an Auntie. Although not his Auntie, I feel it my job to spoil children at my house. He is happy to have the spoiling.

I also have watched my niece some these past few weeks. Sis-in-law had to work, and had to see the Dr. for a checkup on her progressing pregnancy. So I got to watch Jelly Bean. She is growing up so fast, and is now so conversational! It is tough to remember that she is not yet two. She acts 3 or 4 most of the time. My mom (no relation to Jelly Bean) says the more I talk about my niece, the more she remembers about me as a kid. One of mom's friends once commented to mom that I was "two going on twenty-two" because I was conversational with adults and bigger kids at such a young age. For any of you moms out there, write down the cute stuff your kids do and say, as soon as you can. Keep it in a journal book. It becomes a valuable tool to remember (blackmail) your children's youth.

This last time Jelly Bean came over, she was very sly. She looked at me with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, and she told me, "I'll be right back!" And then she walked across the living room to the (don't worry it was locked!) front door. She reached up and wiggled the door handle. Then she stretched up higher, and wiggled the deadbolt handle. Then, she wiggled the door handle again. When this little show was over, she walked back across the room. She was grinning the whole time, so I decided to play along. I said to her, "I am glad to see you back. What did you do while you were away?" She said simply, as if I hadn't seen her do it, "I locked the door."

Jelly Bean tried to play the game with Mommy last week. Jelly Bean asked for some Fruit Snacks. She was told that she would have to eat dinner first, which was almost ready, and she could have Fruit Snacks after dinner. She went away to play for a while, and later came back with a stuffed Snoopy. Jelly Bean then said, "Snoopy wants Fruit Snacks." Sneaky. Sharp as a tack, that one is.

DH and I went out on a double date on Tuesday this week, with a couple who was child-free for a while. They have a boy who is around 12 and a girl who is almost 2. They have recently started coming to our church, and we decided to get to know them better, so we asked them to come to the movies with us. We all are so easy to get along with, it takes one of us to just make a decision for everyone. First, we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant, called Habaneros. We had a great time getting to know one another.

Next, we took them to our favorite little coffee shop. If you are ever in Oklahoma City area, look up Vintage Timeless Coffee. It is on the corner of NW 150th and Western. They have a really yummy specialty drink called a Smooffee (smoothie/coffee). They even have a drive thru, to help you keep up with your busy schedule. They are open 6 am to 9 pm. I think I converted another family to their comfy atmosphere.

Finally, we went to a late showing of Evan Almighty. I was worried that this movie might be as blasphemous as its forerunner, Bruce Almighty, but I was pleasantly surprised. There were no foul words, no sexually overtoned jokes, and not even any foolish portrayal of God or the Bible. While he did look funny dressing in the bedsheets God gave him, and the facial hair was a bit too much of a sight gag, Evan seemed to be a nice guy. He was even very careful NOT to swear when he smashed his thumb with the hammer. I was sad to see that he didn't know if they had a Bible in their house... but he did find it, and he did read it. More than I can say about the rest of Hollywood, right?

After a lazy, sleep-in morning on Independence Day, DH and I went to see Ratatouille. Another great, clean, fun movie. I don't recall any swear words here, either. There were some loud noises: Shattering glass as a rat breaks through with a book, much yelling over a rat in the kitchen and pots and pans and knives flying all over the room. Jelly Bean doesn't like loud noises, so I bet her family will wait for the DVD and the volume control, but it is clean enough for her to see now. This is another movie on my "to buy" list. I think we have all of the Pixar films so far. We have not yet been disappointed.

"Time's fun when you're having flies." ~ Kermit the Frog