Noooo! Not Little Harry Potter!!!

I've made this picture reeeealllly small (so as not to offend any body) but you get the gist of it. It's Dan Radcliffe (a.k.a Harry Potter) in one of his MANY (it seems) promo pics of Equus, (which are currently slathered all over the internet) which he is starring in in London's West End very soon.
I remember when Equus played in my hometown, and I was of course disgusted by it (hey, I was a TWEENager for Cripe's sake) and today I'm still a little rattled by the premise. I guess this is such a HEFTY departure from his role as the boy wizard. Here he is with his equally naked co-star Johanna Christie:
Personally, I still see him as the adorable eleven-year old with starry eyes, attending Hogwarts.

Apparently his participation in this play has caused quite the uproar. There are parents who will "never let their kids watch any of his movies again, because he is their child's "role model" and they are aghast that he would take on such a role in the middle of the Harry Potter furor, etc. etc. etc.

I am of two minds on the subject: Part of me is screaming: Why the BLOODY hell would his parents allow him to do this? He's still a MINOR! For Pete's sake he has to pull the Full Monty and simulate sex!!! It's an OUTRAGE!!!

And the more liberal part of me is calmly saying that the fact is: he's an ACTOR. He's not really Harry Potter. It would be unfair to pigeonhole him as Harry for the rest of his life, and he's branching out into riskier roles at this point. Good on him.
Granted, I think the timing of his choice is unfortunate for his younger fans, but his crazed teen fans LOVE it (although I have a vague suspicion that it is only because they want to catch a glimpse of his Willy) and support him wholeheartedly.

I still wonder where his PARENTS are in this process?
I'm sorry, but I have to say it: if my UNDERAGE son came to me and said "Mom, I want to be in a play and cavort naked onstage in front of the world and simulate sexual pleasure from horses" I would lock him in his room until he came to his senses. I really would. Even if he had more money than Croesus. I wouldn't care. He's still my underage son.

Personally, believing what I believe, I'm disappointed. And a little sickened. But that's just me. My nine-year old daughter, for instance, just walked in behind me while I typed this blog and gasped at the picture I didn't mean for her to see. "Mom, why is Harry Potter naked? What is he doing?" I told her he only had his shirt off and it was from the movie where he was in the bath scene with Moaning Myrtle (okay, out of context that sounds kinda bad) and I felt awful that she had even SEEN it.

I know Daniel is growing up. I am just not ready for it. I think a lot of people out there are with me.

Hallelujah!!

I've got Handel's Chorus running through my head this morning. We got the verbal offer yesterday, and we are getting the written today.

FINALLY.

So, I'm feeling somewhat relieved. I'm not full-on celebrating yet, because until the house has changed hands, I'm just...not.

I just got the parent/teacher conference times for my kids, and I'm going to have to call the office. They are at 4:00, 4:20 and 7:10. SEVEN TEN??? Just a little gap, there. Besides, the kids all have swimming class at 5:45, so it won't work. Phone call time...

Got all antsy yesterday. I have all these planned trips to the U.K. and other places (in my head--don't know when they will actually come to fruition) for novel research, but will I take any of them any time soon? Nope. One of my writing friends let me rant yesterday about how I feel slightly "trapped" because of my imminent arrival. I guess Google and Libraries and Barnes & Noble will have to suffice for now.

I skimmed through a seeming 600-page biography of Francis Drake yesterday (doing research) and how many pages were devoted to his first wife, out of all of them?

Not even one. Three paragraphs to be exact. I mean, this guy is probably the most THOROUGH biographer of Drake I have ever read, and even HE had nothing on Mary Newman. That's just wrong. I am on a mission, as far as she's concerned. More to come later.

Okay, my kids are being VERY high maintenance this morning. I want to ground all of them. I'd better wrap this up. Ah, the joys of Motherhood!

OMGOSH!!!

Stop the presses!!! Stop the FREAKING PRESSES!!!! Someone hook me up to some oxygen!!!

*NEWS FLASH* We actually might have an OFFER on our Denver house! Yes, the house that's been sitting in Lone Tree, Colorado since FREAKING JULY OF 2006!!!!

Okay, I need to breathe. I need to just Breathe. (I'm going to need a freaking DEFIBRILLATOR is what I'm going to need!!!)

Everyone cross your fingers for us!

Tossing and Turning...

I don't want to use this blog as a platform to rant about my current (knocked up) state, but I have to say, either I've gotten UN-used to being pregnant, or this one seems to be more difficult than my others.

(*Insert MAJOR growl of frustration, here*)

I toss and turn all night now, because if I stay too long on one side, my hip socket on that side feels like it's going to pop out. I've tried pillows (my record: sleeping with FIVE) and I've tried the Body Pillow, and I've tried sleeping on the old mattress, and I've got the Memory Foam Thing going, but nothing seems to work. Not to mention that I am now CONSISTENTLY getting up to go to the bathroom at 2am and 4am, like clockwork.

I am a zombie most days. And I know the lack of sleep will only continue AFTER the baby is born, so why am I having this problem now? It's frustrating at best. I am to the point where I want to get a semi-deflated AIR mattress and stick it next to the bed. Heck, I would squirt shark pee up my nose if I thought it would knock me out and let me sleep. Who cares if I wake up and my hip socket is completely dislocated. I JUST WANT ONE GOOD NIGHTS' SLEEP, DANG IT!!! WAAAHHHHHH!!!!

*Ahem* So we had a pretty good weekend. Hubby needed some serious down time (they're closing out the year, trust me, I'm happy to see the end of January) so we didn't do much except for a few errand-running trips and one birthday party drop-off and pick up.

I got the boys into a soccer clinic on Saturday mornings, and although I was unable to get Thing Two onto a team for Spring (we moved here too late and all the U8 teams are full) at least he can do the Saturdays and Thing Three (who has the REAL soccer talent, which I would never admit to Thing Two) will start playing on a team again in April. Next is getting Thing One into Volleyball and Gymnastics again, and all three Things into swimming. Yeah, I'll be running around a lot again, but after the baby is born I'll just cart him around with me. I've done it before!

Our NEWLY ordered Popcorn maker is supposed to come today! We ended up getting a better one. We paid a little more for it, but apparently we were getting a cheap one, that wouldn't have held up well. You gotta love EBAY!

Time to get the kiddos on the bus. I just hope they don't get hypothermia--it's a whole FIVE degrees outside! BRRRRR!!!!!

Update...

Didn't mean to leave anyone hanging...the ultrasound went well...and the baby is perfect. We even got to count all his fingers and toes, and...yes...he's STILL a boy!

Thanks everyone, have a great weekend!

Lazy Day, lazy post...

No school today. So the kids and I just finished having pancakes for breakfast. Hubby got me one of those belgian waffle makers (the kind you close and flip over to cook) so we've been having WAYYYYY too many waffles as of late. Pancakes are the bomb.

Not much going on today, I'm getting the kids to organize their rooms, and Thing One has a Brownie Troop activity at a fitness center. We might go out (our favorite non-school day trip: Half Price Books!) but it's still in the teens as far as weather is concerned. This kind of unrelenting cold makes me a bit crazy. And I can't wash my car because the water will freeze on it and I'll be driving a giant icecube--but it's so dirty and covered in salt from the roads. It's gross. This is the kind of freezing cold you keep your gas tank full in. I forgot and left a big bottle of water in my car during work yesterday, and in just four hours it was frozen solid.

So I've got Thing Two in his room (he's in trouble currently for not being nice at breakfast) and Thing Three is in my bed playing his gameboy, and Thing One is on the other side of my bed writing a story. I helped her make up names for her make-believe creatures while we were flipping pancakes this morning.
Thing One reminds me so much of myself, at her age. She's always got a composition notebook and a pencil in her hands, (and I'm always finding them all over the house...grrrrr) and she's constantly asking me if she can "read me her story so far" so see if I like it. In fact, I think she's going to be a MUCH better writer than me, because she is constantly writing. I only really did it in school until I was much older. She's been writing stories since she was seven. I've got notebooks and notebooks in boxes that she's filled up with her poems and stories. In fact, her teacher entered one of her poems in a contest and she WON! So yes, she's my little writer. She's basically a little Lara, only with blonde hair. SCARY.

I have my ultrasound today, and thanks for all the well-wishes. I have a feeling everything is going to be fine. Hubby is getting off work early so he can be there.

I'd better go up and talk to Thing Two about being rude at breakfast. He got mad because it looked like he didn't have any syrup on his pancakes. I had to explain to him that it had soaked in, but that wasn't good enough. He is my ONE grumpy child in the morning. I sure can't wait until he's a teenager! (Yes, that was blatant sarcasm.)

Okay, this is too funny: my daughter just informed me that she has "writer's block" and my six year-old son just randomly uttered "Cheeeese, Gromit!" for no particular reason.

Kids.

Have a good weekend, all! Stay warm!
Lara

Stuck at Home...

Brrrrrr! It's COLD outside! I was stressed most of yesterday because the Tree People came to prune my 75-year old White Oaks that frame my driveway, and although they had harnesses and a Cherry Picker, they STILL climbed into the topmost branches of the trees to whack them off, (we're talking WAYYYY up there) and I could just see them catching a bad limb and falling to their deaths. (Not to mention that it was only about 15 degrees outside the whole SIX hours they were there, and I was worried they'd fall because they were frozen!)

No one died, no one fell, but they sure whacked the crap out of one of my trees. The builder chose this lot because of the trees, but then he proceeded to pour a gigantic long driveway between them, cutting into some of the root structure, and stressing them. At this point the Tree Doctors gave them a 60% chance, as long as we follow a rigorous schedule of fertilization, pruning and TLC. I mean, these trees are BIG. The cost of saving them I'm sure would be nothing compared to the cost of replacing them.

But since I had tree limbs scattered all over my driveway most of the day, I couldn't go anywhere, so I was home bound. I outlined in completion a novel idea that has been bouncing around in my head, then spent hours poring over tax stuff and getting the files prepared for our accountant, and can I just say when you own two homes (and switch jobs mid-year) things can get...a tad complicated?

And no, we still haven't sold our house in Denver. We've been getting a showing every other day, but no biters. I think the three feet of snow might be a deterrent...just a guess. Our realtor says he's cancelling his gym membership--he's getting all the workouts he needs shoveling our driveway every week. :-)

I have to work today. My heart isn't in it. I have an ultrasound tomorrow (they saw something that worried them at my last one so we're checking it out again) and I get to drink the dreaded 24 oz of water an hour before. FUN. CARTWHEEL-TURNING FUN. WOO HOO.

YIKES! The bus is coming! Gotta get the kids going!

Tandem Nightmares...

Don't know if I should be concerned, but two of my kids and I had nightmares last night. HORRIBLE ones. I dreamt that some sort of bomb went off and everything was a mess, and looters broke into our house (only it was the house I grew up in) and took everything, including my kids, and I was running through these wrecked streets, screaming for them, trying to find them.
I was awakened from my dream by Thing One, who was at my bedside crying about her dream. She had been kidnapped and locked in a dark basement, and there were glowing eyes and something started roaring at her, and she was screaming. Thing Two told me over cereal that he had dreamt that we were all together in a restaurant, but suddenly he was in the woods in back and he couldn't find us, and he was scared.

I mean, what is the DEAL? I dream about getting separated from my kids, and they dream about being kidnapped or "losing" us. Craziness...

...Still shaking off that horrible dream. There were many other parts, it was one of those all-morning-long ones again.

Otherwise, last night was good. Our personal trainer came, and BOY is she awesome. She developed workout strategies for both of us (but it was all about Hubby last night because my O.B. shut down any working out until my ultrasound results this Friday) and she said after I have the baby she's going to put me through "baby boot camp." I'm excited. Well, nervous, after seeing what she will make us do, but it's something I truly NEED. Someone ELSE to motivate me, rather than just myself.

No work today, but I'm going to tackle a few closets. FUN. I just hope I can shake the yucky dream. It's still bugging me.

Finally! A Trendsetter!

Thing One begged me this morning to do her hair a certain way. I asked her why (I've only done it that way two or three times in the past) and her answer:

"Because I haven't seen any of the girls do their hair that way at school, and I want to try something different."

BRAVO Thing One! She's nine, and usually suffering from Herded Sheep Syndrome. She has to have the same things the other girls have (although I'm proud to report that since Dad is in the Fashion Industry, she's "started" a few trends at school) and frankly, any sort of difference is "not cool."

So I did her hair the way she wanted it, Princess Leia style. (I put it into two high ponytails, braid them, and coil them around into rolls, and bobby-pin them to death.) The end result is she looks like Minnie Mouse, but she liked it and it's different and Hooray for her.

OMHeck I have so much to do today. Nothing like a day off of work to run around doing all the things you couldn't do because you are working. I need to get an early start.

Watched a GREAT Aussie Open Tennis match (Williams v. Peer) last night, but was so sleepy I couldn't keep my eyes open. Although I had to laugh at the way pro tennis players make noise when they get really tired.
Sharapova is the be-all-end-all for game noise, but Serena and the Peer girl were REALLY going at it last night. Serena screamed with her strokes: "AAAARRRRRGGGGHH! and Peer made a noise like "Oooo-MA!" So the last hour of the match went like so:

"AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHH!"
"Oooo-MA!"
"AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHH!"
"Oooo-MA!"

(repeat 10000000 times, ad nauseum)

And yes, I am very easily entertained. Well, the bus is coming! Time to pack the kids off!



It was pretty dang funny. I wonder, do they KNOW they're making those absurd noises?

Quiet Day.

Worked 8-12 today, and spent a few hours after that running errands, so I'm home for the first time today. WHEW! I don't work the next few days, which is fine with me, the store I work at is SOOOO quiet. Nothing going on there at all. And I swear there isn't one thing out of place. I had a customer leave a ton of clothes in the fitting room and I was actually grateful, because it was something to do. Eeek!

This weekend was good, we did a lot of running around on Saturday, but no movies. We ran out of time. So the kids watched Return to Witch Mountain in the Theater and Hubby and I watched TV.

On Sunday, we caught the end of the Saints/Bears game, and were VERY intense on the Patriots game. I'm REALLY sad they didn't win, but I guess you have to be happy for Peyton Manning-- he's never had a Superbowl. Don't exactly know which team I'll be rooting for at this point, because New England lost. Hmmmm....maybe I should toss a coin...;-)

Something New: Hubby got us a personal trainer, she comes once a week, and frankly, I am a little nervous. But she said she'll go easy on me, I'll just be doing cardio, and exercises on a ball with rubber bands, etc., (I can't even do the recumbent bike at this point because my knees hit The Belly) and she'll be busting Hubby's A** on the home gym. This is something we've never done before, so we'll see how it goes. But I have heard they (PT's) are good for motivation.

Nothing much else to tell, the kiddos are coming home soon and Hubby has a vendor dinner tonight, so I'll probably give them something REALLY not nutritious like Corn Dogs or something. I am so bad!:-)

Maybe I'll have something more interesting to write about tomorrow...