The big picture

I think God might've known a little something about what he was doing when he put families together. Not always, because there are plenty of exceptions to the rule. But mostly I think he had the right idea. By placing certain people together, things usually fall into place. This happens by birth, adopting, fostering, step-parenting and integrated families. Sometimes things just work out in the way they were meant to. My family for instance. Both my parents and my older brother are down right terrified of spiders. My brother has of late tried to overcome his fear by watching movies & documentaires, but he still doesn't get closer that a foot or so to the terrariums in the zoo. I, on the other hand, can pluck them off my shirt or brush them away without a second thought. So, since I became old enough, I have been the spider and other creepy bug displacer in my family. My parents are out-and-out treehuggers. They shudder at the thought of harming ANY living creature. Except, duh, spiders. My father will not step on a spider. He will instead reach for a can of Raid and (not, he doesn't just give the poor arachnid a spritz or 2) he will hold the can and spray until the thing drowns instead of just being poisoned. So I think God knew what he was doing by placing me with these insane people. It was his way of insuring that these 3 people do not end up standing on chairs shrieking at a daddy-long-legs for the rest of their lives. Now, that happened by birth right. But when I think of my family now, my husband and 2.5 children, this is what I mean by the right people coming together at the right time. They are all allergic to wasps, bees and hornets. Their reactions go from moderate to severe. If I get stung, I pluck out the stinger and go about my business with just a bump and a little pain. So now I am also the flying-insect dispenser. No I don't think either of these was an accident. He saw a need, an opening you could say, and I fit the bill. I'm not saying I'm the completely unpertable one in this place. I have my own hang-ups and things that give me the creeps. But mainly it's dead things. We've had quite a few of our lizards & frogs die over time, and I simply can't go near the tank until it is disposed of. I've called my sister-in-law to walk to my house and remove a dead frog from his tank so I could walk through the room again. My husband just reaches in and pulls whatever out and stuffs it into a bag. So, our hodge-podge family might just seem that way on the surface. None of it was coincidental or anything. We got in each others way on purpose, because we had to for one reason or another. No, I wouldn't call it fate, destiny or even ka. Just the big picture.

JKR, HBP and APWBD

Okay, so she killed Dumbledore. Can't say I'm shocked, exactly. Afterall, we can't honestly expect Potter to live happily ever after considering all that's happened to him. That's just about it as concerns my reviews of the book. I must say, though, that I'm happy that Harry isn't quite so much of a little asshole in book 6.

My post today is about the people I met the night I went and bought the book. My brother, sister-in-law and myself went to one of the midnight sales at our local bookstore. The people there were about 30% kids, 70% adults. Also not very surprising. We are not HP geeks. We simply waited 2 years for this frigging book. A lot of the kids were dressed up. Even more adult were dressed up than kids. While in line, we had the good fortune to be standing in line in front of Hagrid. (No, not Robbie Coltrane) This was (I assume) a reasonably sane adult male of overlarge size who decided it would be a good idea to don a large over coat, shaggy wig & beard, and speak in the worst phony British voice I have ever heard. FOR TWO HOURS! The three of us were biting our lips and insides of our cheeks so hard that it hurt to talk the next day. But wait! There's more! After wending our way through to the back of the store, we had to wend our way back up to the cash register to actually purchase the book. (And believe me, the temptation to skim through the last chapter or so of the book and reveal the spoilers out loud was extremely tempting.) I noticed that my dear friend 'Hagrid' also purchased a few other gems, including: "The Christian wisdom of the Jedi religion" "Being a Wizard in a Muggle World" and (I saved the best for last) "Releasing the Wizard in You: How to break free of your Muggle chains". I can only wonder, where was he carrying his pink umbrella?

may God grant a Y chromosome

Okay, this whole baby thing again........
My husband decided he's going to name the baby. We won't even know what is it for another month or so. But, he has already decided on a name for either. I'm not going to disclose the names at the moment. The boy name isn't too bad. I could live with it. Which I know isn't how you're supposed to feel about your child's name, but I'll take whatever I can get. However, the girl name he has choosen is so bad, that I actually lie awake at night scared to death its going to be a girl. There's been a few times that I have cried over this. I am honetsly petrified that I'll burst into tears at the ultrasound if it shoes we're having a girl. Beofer he broke out these names, I really couldnt't have cared less which we got. We have two boys, so it would've been alright to make 3 of a kind. On the other hand, since we do have 2 boys, a girl would've been a nice change of place.
But since the advent of this atrocious name, I am praying for another boy. What am I supposed to do in a situation like this? I've told him over and over and over again how I feel about it. But, he just shakes his head with this smile on his face and say's "Nope, it's gonna be ______ for a girl" like it's a joke or something. No parenting magazine has ever covered this particular subject. I've conisdered what options I do have, and they all look terrifyingly bleak:
1. I could consider widow-hood before the birth.
2. Secretly pay off the nurses to switch babies.
3. Dope him up after the birth and fill out the certificate while he's out cold.
4. Tell him that the name he's picked turns out to be the #1 ranked name for little girls in Iraq.
5. Reverse psychology: start using the name so often he wants to throw up every time he hears it.
6. Point out ugly babies and say "Hey, her name is ____, too!"
7. Tell him it translates to a swear word in Swahilli/Eskimo/ or other obsure language.
8. Finally, give in and let him name the baby and just call her "It" or "Hey You"