25 Random Harry Potter Things About Me.

In the spirit of the final release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, here is a list of random Harry Potter facts about me.

Here it goes:

1. Kenneth’s first word was “Harry.” He said it at the beach while my cousins and I were playing with him.-You can ask Thomas or Carrie.

2. I went into labor with Kenneth during the Goblet of Fire movie. I didn’t know I was in labor because Frances was breech and scheduled. I had no idea your stomach hurt every fifteen minutes (Sorry Austin). His due date was planned so that I would not miss the movie, and it was like he waited for me to finish the movie because he knew then I would have time for him. And because I had a newborn, Goblet was the only one I saw in the theater only once.

3. Once in class a girl had book 4 on her desk with a book mark in it, and I could tell what chapter she was on from where her book mark was. I said, “Oh you just started Bagman and Crouch.” She opened it to that chapter, and the room got really quiet.

4. I had a Weasley sweater hand knitted for me with a big “P” on it.

5. I wore it to school and this one boy said ver batim, “Oh Senora! Don’t be wearing that, with your red hair you look like one of them Weasleys from those Harry Potter books.”

6. I wore the above sweater on a trip to Pittsburgh, and security pulled me. I was afraid I was being accused of terrorism, but he just wanted to know where I got my sweater.

7. I hit the side of my Nissan and knocked out a front headlight when we lived in a gated apartment community to get home in time to see the trio on Oprah. I hope Kevin doesn’t read this list, he never knew how I bumped the headlight.

8. My essay on how to read a Harry Potter novel was published in the Greensboro News and Record, the reporter had emailed me for a piece she was doing on spoilers, and I sent her that, and she said she wanted to print it instead of use it for spoilers.

9. My grandmother knitted a Gryffindor scarf for me. She was in her sewing circle and she told them it was for her grand-daughter, and they all assumed it was for Ida (my then nine year old cousin).

10. I attended all four Harry Potter book release parties. The first one was very small before the real hype began, and I was pregnant at two of them. The Breaking Dawn party was lame in comparison-yes, I went. I need a life, I know it. I am over caring what others think.

11. B.J., The priest at my church who went to high school with me, let me do three Harry Potter lessons in Sunday school. I must admit, they were cool.

12. I still have every receipt for each book that I bought and the ticket stubs for the movies. I can now add my Equus program and tickets to the scrapbook.

13. I read the books out loud to Ashley and Heather (“The Nieces”) when they were six and nine. Maybe this was the beginning of their fantasy craze.

14. I got into a fight with a very well known psychologist over whether or not famous British actors were wasting their talent on Harry Potter films. He apologized.

15. I do not have patience for those who do not read the books for religious purposes. I don’t have a problem with people who don’t like the series or just can’t read.

16. I had a Harry Potter group at the three main schools I taught at. At the high school, some of the less intelligent might have made fun, but in the end I had 25 kids show up for the discussion.

17. No one will play me at Harry Potter trivia.

18. I am very thankful that pensieves are not real and that my children will never see me in one.

19. Kevin and I went to London in 2000. We saw the line for her book signing at Harrods. Didn’t know she would be there or I would have tried to get a ticket.

20. I took all three W.O.M.B.A.T.s when she opened them on her website. I made “Outstanding” on all three of them.

21. My students always joked about how “ADD” I was. They knew that if they wanted my attention, instead of calling my name, they would say “Harry Potter” and I would look to see who it was.

22. They also knew if they worked Harry into their essay questions or dialogues they would get extra points.

23. My favorite Beedle the Bard Tale is “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart,” everybody and their brother is going to say “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” because that is the one with the Deathly Hallows, but come on. The one about the warlock is much deeper.

24. My students had to do a Harry Potter video a week where they watched a scene in Spanish and filled in the blank with the correct vocabulary word.

25. My only problem with Twilight is Edward’s death/rebirth scene. Elizabeth had auburn hair and green eyes, which matched Edward’s, and begged Carlisle to save him as she was about to die. So Carlisle took him home and made him a vampire. Ummmmm, do I need to write more? Plagiarism, Plagiarism, Plagiarism! But I still love Steph.

26. When Kevin took the job in Pittsburgh, I threw a major hissy fit about moving before the Deathly Hallows release party. It was very important to me to be at that party in Cary, not just with “The Neices,” but also with all of my students who loved Harry Potter as well. Some of them I had taught as third graders, and then taught them again when they were seniors in high school. I flew back to NC for Harry Potter.

27. I saw Equus. Awesome!

I am headed to Florida when the theme park opens.