A Blissful Evening

Oh, the bliss! It's the first real rain of the season (that little teaser that happened during my fall break didn't count!) and I have been sitting here with my windows open to have a listen. A few minutes ago, I started getting too cold, so I closed the living room window, but I've left my bedroom window cracked to let the fresh, cool air in. When I go to bed tonight, I'll tuck in under lots of blankets, and pull the legs of my extra-long pajamas down over my toes. Millie will cuddle with me, and we'll be so toasty!

For now, I have an hour to kill before Grey's Anatomy is on, so I'm going to brew a cup of peppermint tea and curl up on the couch under an afghan that Mom made for me and read. I've just started Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and I'm excited to read it again, as it has been a while, and I've only read it once in its entirety. Order of the Phoenix is probably my least favorite of the series. It's not bad by any means, and it has its entertaining moments, but Umbridge just riles me to no end. Harry, too, is troublesome--I love how he matures in Half-Blood Prince, because in Order, he's filled to bursting with teen angst.

Oh, and I love that he and Ginny get together in book six, too.

I made it to the gym this evening, so that's twice this week. Yay me! I almost didn't go today, thinking that dancing to "The Monster Mash" nine times in one day would get anyone off the hook, but I made myself go, and spent an hour doing some weights and cardio. Instead of 45 minutes of cardio, I did 20, figuring that all that dancing today had to count for something. After all, I did work up a sweat doing the twist all the way to the floor!

I'm pleased to say that my kids loved it. During the verses, we acted out various Halloween characters--mummies, Frankenstein, a witch on a broomstick, goblins, ghosts, black cats, bats--and during the chorus, we did a crazy hybrid of the Twist and the Mashed Potato. My legs were screaming by the time my third group came to my room. But it was a lot of fun.

I'm in for some more Monster Mashing tomorrow, as well as the general excitement of Halloween. The assistant principal has given her blessing, so staff and students can be in costume all day. I've got my red dress ready, and my Minnie Mouse ears on standby.

But for now, it's all about the riveting tale of Harry and Co. in their epic fight against Voldemort, a cup of hot tea in a dainty cup, a made-with-love afghan wrapped around my legs, and a made-for-loving kitty on my lap, as the rain falls outside my window and I gear up for tonight's episode of Grey's, in which Captain McHottie (my name for him) comes back to Seattle Grace to set my heart, and Christina Yang's, going at top speed.

Bliss.