Just for Fun

I was kind of bored the other day and discovered this cool blog. It is called Bent Objects and it is a lot of fun. The blogger's name is Terry and he lives in Indiana. He makes characters out of wire and other things, that are amazing. Check it out! It is guaranteed to make you smile.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a huge fan of fantasy books and have been a big fan of the Harry Potter books for a very long time. I think they are "bloody brilliant!" My daughter Laurel and I have been attending the book release parties for the last several books and this year we attended with middle daughter Steph and my sister and her eldest son. I picked up my wrist band at 2:30pm and received number 320. We arrived at Borders at 10:00pm found my sister who was in line to have her sons caricature done. The line was so long and slow that they finally had it completed about 11:30. (Steph had hers done as well although it doesn't look too much like her) We received our book at about 12:30 and headed home. Laurel read aloud to us until we got home, then she claimed the book as hers.

I was able to read almost all of Saturday and finished the book on Sunday. Laurel has been hampered by her work schedule but I expect that she will finish within the next couple of days and Steph has started to read it after I read a couple of chapters aloud to her. Yes, I read it so fast the first time that I am reading it again. I enjoyed it that much. There is something exciting about reading a book that you know millions of people are reading at the same time.

I will not give any spoilers but say that I thought it was very well written, exciting and ended very satisfyingly. I urge all of you to read the books because they will be a part of our culture and the words and phrases that J.K. Rowling coined will be used for generations to come.(think Wizard of Oz) Also the books are an easy read and a lot of fun. I know that some of you are non-fiction readers only, which I can scarcely understand, but I feel that the benefits of Harry will be soooo worth your time. They are not just kid books. Unless you count me as a kid or maybe just a kid at heart!

Past

There are times when I wish the past would just stay there. Not always, of course, sometimes it is great to see an old friend and catch up with them. I had a lot of fun at my high school reunion, for instance. Then again there are other times....

When I graduated from college I had trouble finding a job in my degree (Industrial Engineering). One of my sorority sisters' dad had just bought a car dealership and they needed some sales people. I applied, got the job and started work after I returned from my honeymoon. I knew next-to-nothing about cars but went through training and became pretty successful. One of the downsides to this job were the horrible hours, almost every evening and Saturday's. Another was boredom. During most day's you would only speak to a few customers and on winter days you might not have any. The biggest downside was the almost constant sexual harassment. The staff was mostly male and they enjoyed telling me bawdy stories to see my reaction. There was one older man that always wanted to put his arm around me and if I complained he would get this sad puppy dog look and say "don't you like me?" This is just a few examples and there are much worse ones that I won't write about. These were the absolute worst times of my life.

I was so relieved when I finally after 2 years got another job. For a long time after I would get a sick feeling in my stomach just passing the building. The dealership closed a long time ago and I rarely think of it now except when I have a bad dream and those are fewer and fewer as time has gone by. It has been about 22 years since I last worked there.

I have recently found out that the church I attend is seriously considering moving to the exact building of my torment. I am sure that it will look drastically different and may seem to be the perfect place for us to move. For me the discussion has brought back many really bad memories that I would have preferred to have forgotten.

Tennis

It has been a long time since I have posted because I have spent the last 2 weeks watching "The Championships Wimbledon." It was very exciting with Venus Williams winning as the lowest seed ever and Roger Federer winning for the 5th consecutive time in a thrilling 5 set match against his nemesis Raphael Nadal. I only saw the last 3 games of the match because I went to church. It was nice for Roger to hold off beating Nadal until I could get home.;)

As well as watching tennis I have also played in some matches myself. I played in a USTA match last Saturday against a woman that I go to church with. I was really hoping that I would not have to play her and was nervous that I would have to. I don't like playing against people that I know. I would much rather my opponent be a stranger so when I crush them I don't feel so bad. Plus, there is the added pressure of knowing that I should win big. My team is tied for second place and the team we played is in last place. My partner and I won 6-2, 6-2. It was a big relief. My record for USTA is 3 for 4.

Yesterday I played a PTL(Pittsburgh Tennis League) match against someone from my USTA team. You know how I feel about playing someone I know! Karen is a very hard hitter and has aced me a few times with her amazing serve. Fortunately my partner can also hit the ball really hard and we prevailed winning 6-1, 6-1. I felt a very tiny bit bad because this certainly wasn't our opponents best day but, it brings my PTL record to 3 for 3 so I was very happy. Karen asked me to not tell anyone how badly she played and I said that I would just put it in my blog. You all can keep a secret, right?

My seasons are all winding down soon. My USTA team has their last match Saturday and my PTL team only has 3 matches left. I will be feeling a great sense of loss until contract time starts in September. So if anyone wants to go to lunch I am available.