Monday, July 20, 2009

Harry Potter and a Weekend at the Fine's

I'm so ready to move out of this apartment. As we speak, I can hear my neighbor's television as if it were in the next room. And my TV is on too. Frustrating. This is why I had to camp out in the library all last semester. I pray that my new apartment will be quieter. I can't wait. Anyway, that's not really what I intended to write about...it is just driving me nuts right now.

There aren't too many events to report since the last time I've written. Last Tuesday, I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. For the first time, I hadn't been counting down to the movie nor was I all that excited about seeing it. That had nothing to do with the movie, per se...I've just had SO much on my mind that has overshadowed any excitement I might have felt. And I ended up having mixed feelings about the film. I wasn't fond of some of the scenes they added that weren't in the book (i.e. the Weasley's house being set on fire - I'm pretty darn sure that wasn't in the book). I also felt that they left out some essential scenes, such as the last battle at Hogwarts and Dumbledore's funeral. Having that said, it was probably the funniest of the six movies. I don't think I've laughed so hard at any of the others. When Ron was intoxicated by the love potion, he was hilarious. And I liked how his and Hermione's romantic relationship was starting to develop in this one. Overall, I can say I enjoyed the movie and would likely see it again...it just isn't my favorite. From most of the other reviews I've heard, it appears that the majority of people either love it or hate it. I'm more on the fence though. Maybe it's because I can hardly bring myself to insult anything Harry Potter related. I'm too loyal.
This past weekend was my next-to-last with James. It was nearly our last full weekend but, on Friday, he found out that his leave date had been changed yet again...this time to the 28th of July. So he gets two extra days in America. I had to also rearrange my schedule again so I could be with him but I didn't mind. At this point, I don't care too much about inconveniencing my work sites. They can deal. I have other priorities.

I left for Fayetteville on Thursday night, just to get in a little extra time with him. I was SO excited to give him the scrapbook I made...in fact, I was downright giddy. I'm not sure if I've mentioned the scrapbook before. It was a complilation of pictures...of us, his family, his friends, his home. I wanted to include everything he might miss while away...everything that's most important to him. I was really pleased with how it turned out. I've been looking at it everyday - it was almost tough to give it up because I'll miss being able to look at those pictures. He seemed to love it though, which made me very happy. He could tell that a lot of work went into it. Not that I didn't enjoy it...I was sad when it was done. We stayed up late talking that night, which was really nice. I was worried that we'd be feeling down, especially since we'd both been in low moods throughout the week but, sitting there with him, it was as if he wasn't deploying at all. We were just a boyfriend and girlfriend spending the evening together.

We were pretty lazy for most of Friday and it was lovely. He didn't have to work so we slept in and then he fixed breakfast. I've been really restless lately and sleeping badly but I slept like a baby Thursday night...I think it's because he was beside me. That afternoon, we set out for his parents' house in Denton. Both of his brothers were coming into town as well but we were the first to arrive. The plan was to cook out by the pond but just as we were able to head down there, it began to pour. Still hoping to dine outside though, we just moved the grill to the porch. Before too long, Jason (James's older brother) showed up with one of his roommates. Then Michael (his younger brother) arrived. Just when I thought all the guests were accounted for, another friend of Jason's came over. The male to female ratio was now 6:2. I'm not used to be around so many guys but I was actually much more comfortable than I expected to be. And I guess his mom is accustomed to all men. I think she enjoyed having another lady in the house though :). Dinner was great. I'd never had a venison (a.k.a. deer meat) burger but it was delish and didn't taste too different from beef. I was able to talk to Jason a bit, which was nice since I had barely met him before. After dinner, a few of us (me and the boys) sat around a fire by the pond. It was relaxing and, again, I forgot about my worries. The evening ended with a late-night fourwheeler ride through the woods. It doesn't get much better than that.

Saturday, I woke at 10am, freaking out. I figured I had to be the last person up and couldn't believe James hadn't woken me. I had a bit of a reputation with Ben's family for sleeping in late and I didn't want to start that again with James's family. So I jumped up and rushed into the bathroom to take a shower. Little did I know that, actually, James and his brothers were still sleeping at 11am. Whew. Hadn't made a bad impression yet. I met James's grandmother and thought for sure that she'd interrogate me (James had given me a heads up about this) but she didn't. She really didn't say too much to me at all...not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Saturday afternoon, James, Jason, and I went to a one-year-old's birthday party. You're probably thinking, "Ooh, what an exciting way to spend a Saturday". But this was unlike any child's birthday party I've ever been to. This party was half child-half adult. There was beer, for goodness sakes. At one point, the birthday boy's grandfather literally felt down the patio stairs and landed on his butt because he was so drunk. I only saw the aftermath (i.e. him on his behind and beer spilled everywhere) but I do wish I'd seen the whole thing (come on, you would have too). Nevertheless, after he cleaned up his scraped knees, he starting sipping (or guzzling) another beer. I guess some people never learn. The rest of the day wasn't quite so eventful. I watched a movie with James and his brothers (Hot Rod - sorry James, but you know it wasn't my cup of tea) and took another nighttime fourwheeler ride. Neither of us wanted to go to bed because we dread Sundays...this one especially.

But, of course, Sunday eventually came. Michael left early for Raleigh but the rest of us had a nice dinner, compliments of his mom. Then it was back to Fayetteville. I was definitely in no hurry to get back so we finished watching a movie we've been trying to watch for weeks, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I liked this one better than Hot Rod and it was good to laugh, especially since I knew that our time to say goodbye was approaching. And it was difficult, just as I knew it would be. I held it together until he thanked me for going home with him and I couldn't do it anymore. I'm quite proud of myself though...I pulled it together fairly quickly. So, no worries, I wasn't bawling as I went down the road, placing myself and others in danger.

Next weekend is our last for a good while. I plan to spend Thursday through Tuesday with him and I'm just hoping to make the very best of it.

1 comment:

Miss Molly said...

Sounds to me like you had a very fun "pg" weekend. ;)