Some Journey

3 a. m.

That's what time I finished reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Bert, so you're guess of 2 was not far off. I enjoyed it. I actually had several people tell me that I would hate the book, one going so far as to say that the end of this book ruined everything. I can certainly understand feeling a sense of loss, but I certainly didn't hate it. In fact, I found it to be the most predictible of the books, and to me the story is unfolding in the most logical way. I mean, let's face it. You can only tell the Harry-is-a-jolly-school-boy-who-gets-in-a-fix-but-everything-turns-out-all-right-in-the-end story so many times before it gets old. I feel like the character of the story has matured and darkened along with Harry. As he has faced more and more darkness, Harry has become more and more "real". He is far more complex than in the first book, and the story is following as it should as he grows older and more experienced with the harshness of his world.
As far as the predictibility I mentioned, the biggest surprise was that the story unfolded without any major surprises. I did not, however, guess the identity of the half-blood prince, but didn't find it hugely shocking.

I continue to be impressed by Rowling's story telling ability and the continuity of story throughout the series.

Now on to other juve-fiction. Tonight I will start the next book in the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, a series of books about a teenage version of James Bond that Ethan brought home and I swiped from him.

I've reached the halfway point. It feels like forever til Stephen and the boys get home. I have almost finished painting and stencilling the hallway. I hope to do the trim tomorrow.
Last night was passed pleasantly thanks to a dinner invite by the Kennedys. Be sure to drop by their blog and get updates on their family and friends in Biloxi.

Moan.

I absolutely ache for my husband. I hate it so very much when he's not here. My days seem so long and empty. Like hunger or thirst, it's such a fundamental craving to be with him.

Three days down, seven to go. . .guess I'll go bury myself in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and make the time pass a little more quickly.

The scoop

Here's the scoop on Mom's accident:
No, she was not hurt, nor was the guy on the motorcycle. The girl on the back of the motorcycle did scrape up her arm pretty bad and was taken to the hospital. Mom was pretty much fine except that the cop who came to the accident was really rude to her for no reason, and since Mom had my 3 year old neice with her it was rather disconcerting to try to explain that, yes, policemen are our helpers, this one just happens to be a jerk. Anyway, it was completely the motorcycle rider's fault. Mom was coming up the on ramp at Broad Street and the guy didn't see the yield sign or Mom, and just ran into the back end of her car (well, really, Dad's car). It has a relatively small dent and a shattered window.

Mom called the hospital to see if she could find out about the girl's arm, and since she didn't know the name she was told there was no way they could know which girl it was since they have had an overwhelming number of accidents involving motorcycles all weekend. I love motorcycles. My dad rode one to work everyday for several years and I rode a dirt bike as a kid. But you must know that there are inherently greater risks to riding a bike, and you would think you would take extra care and look for things like yield signs. If there had been more speed involved, this accident could have been far worse. Good reminder not to become complacent, I suppose.

Wilderness Crew

Stephen, Ethan, and Sam have gone to meander in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota with my Dad, Lawton Massingill, and Dave Ridge. They spent yesterday and today driving, and will be on trail tomorrow. Here's a shot of them on the webcam in Ely, Minnesota:

Dave never made an appearance. Guess he's too good for us. Or maybe the temptation of the Piragis store across the street was too much for him.
You can see Dad on the phone in the pic. He's talking to Mom, as she's filling him in on how the window got knocked out of his car when she was hit by a motorcycle on the way to church this morning. :) Welcome HOG rally. . .

Premiere Info

Several people have asked if I have heard when the new season of Alias starts, and I had originally heard that it would not be until January. However, it turns out that the new season will start Thursday, September 29. My guess is that the change is partly due to the decision by the writers to write Jen Garner's pregnancy into the storyline rather than wait and try to film around it. Anyway, Lost will begin September 21. I'm bummed that they are no longer on the same night. I liked having one night a week that I committed to TV. Now the three shows I watch regularly, are on three different week nights: Boston Legal is Tues, Lost is Wed and Alias is Thurs. Perhaps I will tape them and watch them all on one night. We'll see.

Dan and Courtney's tube

I'm trying to aquaint myself with my Flickr acct, so thought I'd try posting a pic from there. Haven't been able to figure out how to directly blog. . .they have a notice that a lot of people have trouble using Movable Type blogs from Flickr, so anyone who's got it down, let me know. For now, copying and pasting the code seems just as easy, especially since it resizes for me.

Here's a shot of my brother in law, Dan, and his wife, Courtney, during our weekend excursion to their condo on the lake:

Fun on the Lake

I'm blogging from the Comfort Inn in Sevierville, where my brother in law, Dan, and his wife, Courtney, graciously put us up so that we could spend the weekend at the lake with them (their condo isn't big enough for their family, ours and Nelie). We had a BLAST today. I honestly can not remember when I have had so much fun. When I was growing up, we spent a lot of time on the lake in Chattanooga in some form or another. I loved it. We haven't gotten to go in many years, and it was so great today. It's so great to have all the kids old enough for us to be able to enjoy being out on the boat all day. Nelie stayed at the condo with Chatham, Dan and Courtney's 11 month old, but all five of our kids and Chancelor went along and loved every minute of it. I have fallen madly in love with Courtney's Sea Doo. It will do 70 mph!! So far, I've only gotten it up to 63, but that was a blast. The kids each got a turn and enjoyed it. Most of the kids got towed on the tube, and a few of us took turns being towed on an inflatable jet ski. Noah wasn't up for being towed, but loved just being in the boat, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute on the Sea Doo. Sydney and Chancelor are inseparable. It was just such a great day of being together as a family and doing nothing but have fun and enjoy each other. What a rare treat. And the best part is, we get to do it all again tomorrow (as long as the kids hold out. . .they're pretty exhausted!) !!!

I'm too tired to mess with sorting out the 404 pics I took today, but I posted four of my favorites as starters on my Flickr album. More to come.