Jeepers Creepers Meepers

Hey folks - look, it's my requisite monthly post! Just kidding. I'm interested in posting more, but lack the time. Seriously!

Reading

I've finally finished re-reading all six books of the Harry Potter series. There are some definite advantages to reading them back to back - you get a clearer picture of the story progression and detail continuity, for one. It makes the ending of the sixth book much more decipherable. Not that, for an English major, I'm very good at getting subtlety and layers in literature. One drawback is that now I've started using "mate" and "bogey" regularly. I'm excited for the fourth movie to debut in the states. It will be the second movie I go to in the theater since Jack's birth.

I haven't had much time for reading other things. Actually, I was really pushing my luck trying to read the HP stuff. It sort of eliminates time for things like showers and exercise. Lately, though, Jack has turned into a real little person, so I've been revisiting the Dr. Sears books, The Baby Book and The Discipline Book, to get a handle on some of the new challenges. However, none of these restrictions have stopped me from looking! I found a great book, Montrose, about a nationally famous garden about an hour and a half from my house in Carrboro. In addition to being a wonderfully written history of how the garden came to be what it is today, the book also has the most amazing botanical illustrations also done by a local artist. Sadly, I have made no progress on Will and Living History in about three months.

Baby Jack


Baby Jack 

Speaking of the bubba man, things are not slowing down at all with this guy. He's mastered cross-crawling and doesn't even bother with the arm-over-arm army scoot anymore. He's pulling himself up on things and then letting go and standing unsupported for at least a count of three pretty much on a regular basis. He rarely biffs it, which means I can tidy up around him or do dishes while he plays without having to constantly spot him. I think I'm going to have to stop calling him Baby Jack, because he's virtually on the verge of officially qualifying as a toddler!


baby jack 

Hallowe'en was a cold bugger this year. We took Jack out in this cute little fleece Spiderman outfit, and by the end of it (just walking around our miniscule neighborhood!), he was complaining bitterly about the temperature. Poor guy, mom has discovered the umbrella stroller, so he doesn't get held as often as he used to. Not that he wants to - he does what April calls "the luge" when he wants out of your lap.


baby jack 

The World

I've really been ignoring goings on outside my own little life. I heard Iggy or Piggy or Scooter or whomever actually has the balls to start a fund for his legal defense. The guy assisted in outing a CIA undercover operative, and he has the gall to ask for money. I'd really love it if these folks could own their mistakes instead of pretending the issues don't exist.

The hurricane season if FINALLY over. The record number of storms this year really confirms for me that our continual over-use of carbon-based fuels could use a little more attention. I know car dealers in our area started really pushing their higher-mileage vehicles after gas prices shot up, but sooooo much more could be done! We're still burning coal here on the East Coast, for crap's sake!

Movies

As I've said, I'm totally stoked for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I think folks that haven't gotten into the series before now will be surprised with the maturity and adult themes that enter the scene at this point. I personally can't wait to see Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort.