Today, I'm heading to the movies to see HP 7 ; I am quite excited. Through a jumble of circumstances, this year it's going to be Big/Only Brother, Youngest Sister, NoLongerYoungest Nephew and me. Which is an odd group, regardless, mostly because B/O Brother isn't all that big on outings, and Youngest Sister has too busy a non-family social life to wind up spending too much time with me, but it's also kind of neat. Because B/O Brother and I took SisterK to the very first Harry Potter movie back when it first came out (9 years ago!) for her 13th Birthday.

Sister K was, as the target audience for Harry Potter, the first person (not in my Children's Literature class) that I was able to share the HP books with: She'd received the first book as a gift from a teacher when it came out in the US, but she was just finishing it up about the same time I was assigned to read it for class the following fall, and she told me how much she liked it.

Best Friend/College Roommate and I bought one copy and shared it between us, just like we did for any classes we were both taking (which, since we had the same Ed major, was a lot) but I have to say that the closest we came to arguing was over that one copy of The Sorcerer's Stone: She started it first, since she was a slower reader than I was, and - as she did with other books we shared (a lot, as we shared a lot of classes) - she would leave try to leave it in the room so that I could pick it up if I got around to it. But she liked it so much that she started carrying it with her, in the hopes of sneaking in some reading time between classes or whenever. I was displeased, because I wanted to get my hands on it: by now, reports were coming back from all over campus - and across the country - about the boy with the lightening bolt scar, and how great his story was.

Eventually, she finished and then I finished, and then I talked to Sister K about it for-ev-er. We dissected it, and re-read it and ran out to the get the sequels as they each made their appearance. When the last book came out, Sister K laid at one end of my bed and read Book 7 while I laid at the other, finishing my re-read of Book 6 and reading Book 7 (I didn't want to be too far ahead, and spoil the whole thing for her). We both cried - some of us more than others (but that was just because she was reading too slow to be where I was!) - and munched on salty foods, and I may have had to close the book at one point and wait for her to get closer to where I was so I could talk to somebody about what happened (!) But it will be, forever, one of my favorite days: just the two of us, lost in the English countryside and castles with Harry, Hermoine and Ron. (Even though she didn't finish till Monday, which made me want to tear my hair out because I didn't have anybody to squee or cry with, and yes, I realize I am too old for squeeing: shut up.)

It was a few years after the first book came out that I managed to convince O/B Brother that he - Star Wars fanatic that he is - would enjoy them too. And by then, the first movie was coming out, and I talked him into taking us for Sister K's birthday. And we had a ball, and planned to make it a yearly event. I haven't seen any of the others in the theater, unfortunately, because the sicker I got the harder it got to make it to a movie theater. Between the uncomfortable chairs, the overwhelming loudness, the insistence of movie people to include zooming scenes galore (compounded with gigantic screens), not to mention the years I couldn't be around other people's germs at all, and the years when I didn't have the energy to roll over in bed, let alone add an outing to a non-required place, I think I didn't go to the movies for at least three years. But then some things got better, and other things didn't but I learned how to adjust (earplugs! skip quidditch scenes all together!) and then I found out about this place around here with actual COMFY chairs to sit in (and they sell real food, but whatever: COMFY CHAIRS, people!), and I've been able to make it to about one movie a year ever since. (Last year, in case you care, it was Where the Wild Things Are, the year before that Indiana Jones and The Crystal Skull, and this year, it's Harry Potter 7 Pt1 .)

And even better, is that I've been introducing NLYNephew to all things Harry Potter over the course of the past year or so, so he's excited to come with us too! He hasn't made it as far as the last book yet, but he's caught up on the movies, and is a slow reader, so he's extremely curious to find out what happens. I have a feeling that, since it's only Part 1, he might not be too satisfied by the end of the movie, but I think it's still going to be awesome.

Which means I should go get dressed now or something, before I convince myself that it's ok to go out in public in my pajamas. (again). :)

Hope your weekend is bringing you something equally exciting to you!