10 years... And it all comes down to tonight at 12:01 AM...

So tomorrow at this time I will be reading the last Harry Potter book.... It's kind of hard to think about... The Last Book..

I'm going to the midnight party at B. Daltons with my friend Mike, so that should definitely be fun! I'm going in my Hogwarts robes of course! :-D

Oh. My. Goodness!

THIS IS THE LAST BOOK!

I don't know what to say!

AHHHH!!!!

I was thinking about this all day at work, and you know what I realized? I've been keeping up with this series for seven years. SEVEN YEARS! That's a long time! I was introduced to the books when I was 13. (It was around January 2000.) The 3rd book had come out not too long ago and the 4th was 6 months away.

I remember when it was announced that the books were going to be movies... I remember when Dan, Emma and Rupert where proclaimed Harry, Hermione and Ron... I remember what the Warner Bros. Harry Potter website looked like back then... I remember being relieved that Stephen Spielberg didn't get selected as director of the 1st movie. I remember grinning like an idiot while I watched Quidditch for the first time with my friend Bethany.

I remember reserving the 4th book at our local library 4 months before it was released and being the first on the list, and the first to check it out and read it. I remember getting the 4th book that year for Christmas and being SO happy! I got books 1, 2 and 3 for my birthday the year after. Along with my Gryffindor back-pack, T-shirt and various other Harry Potter merchandise.

I got the 5th book in 2003 on my way to summer band camp at Iowa State University, and I remember sitting in my cold dorm between rehearsals and reading and reading. I remember returning back to camp to work and a couple sessions later finding my friend, Jamie K. crying in the meadow one night. Some cruel camper had told her who had died before she was even halfway through the book.

I bought the 6th book at a bookstore party in Forest City in July of 2005. I went right after I got off work at 10pm. (There's archives about it, if you get bored enough to look through them.) I stupidly ended up paying full price for the book, while my sister bought it at Shopko for $16.99. I'm not returning to THAT midnight party. (Wow... that means this particular blog is over 3 years old....)

Matthew and I watched The Shakespeare Code tonight, since it was the last time you could, (in my opinion) appreciate the true aesthetic of the show. After 12:01 am all the Harry Potter references will date the show as pre-7th book release. Watching it after the book's release is not the same. This show is now part of the Zeitgeist.

It's also the last time I can use these icons, plus the one on the top:









There's not much else I can say, let alone TO say! The 21st is just HOURS away!


The Plan:

Go and get Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at 12:01. Get to bed around 1 am. Get up at 5 am. Work 6 am to 11 am, come home, eat and nap. Go to Saturday night mass from 5:30 to 6:30, come home, eat something for dinner...

AND THEN READ UNTIL I CAN'T READ ANY LONGER! :-D

I will have this book finished before we leave for Des Moines on Sunday! (We're going to see Spamalot!)

Meanwhile:

This post signifies my the start of the media blackout I am holding myself to. After this is posted there will be no cellphone answering or texting, no email, MSN, AIM, Facebook, blogger, xanga or myspace. I will not be on the internet UNTIL book 7 is read from cover to cover. My computer will be on to play music only.

Tomorrow at work is gonna suck big-time... but I'll be worth it! I bought a highly caffeinated energy drink to help me through those 5 hours.

Farewell! See you in a Post-Harry Potter world!