Best...Day...Evar

No party peeps, I'm not talking about the day that Paris Hilton finally went to jail, although that day DOES come in a close second.

I am of course talking about July 21, 2007. My birthday, oh yes, but I'm not so self-centered as to praise the day for that reason alone. In fact, I've been feeling unsettled by the quickening pace of my birthday's return each year, and so do not especially like to recognize, much less celebrate, it's inevitable arrival. (Oops! That should be "its", sorry Mrs. Terry).

I'm still feeling the effects of that glorious weekend, literally, because I bought the gallon o' mudslide for the party from Costco. One friend had a drink from it, not too surprising that it was the very friend who talked me into buying the cask. But that was all. So, I've been (painfully I'm sure) skimming away at the bottle each evening since then. So, I'm drunk enough to want to blog, but not so drunk that I posted the "best" photo from that weekend. ;)

Anyway (clear throat - sip of mudslide), my excitement for July 21st this year was initially dulled by the realization that I am no longer in my mid-20s. Graduate school has swallowed my youth (with a soul chaser) and now I must face the world as a very well educated (and very poor) adult. Sigh. However, back in February, the universe decided to throw me a bone by aligning the stars such that the very birthday I was so dreading would also be the day that I had been waiting for for many, many months. Actually years, but who wants to seem that inexcusably nerdy? The release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. On my very birthday. Actually, midnight on the eve of my birthday, but who's counting?

Immediately, I called my partner in ultimate Harry Potter nerditude, Lyndsay, and invited her to come visit me for the affair. We had been reading, re-reading, wondering, plotting, chewing, considering, speculating, supporting, discarding, reclaiming, unearthing, sorting, convincing, escorting and debunking every Potter theory that we could get our hands on. We had spent many a cell minute talking about Potterology. Going over and over the different ideas, the same books, the same characters, the different perspectives until it all bubbled into our own delicious soup of theory. Over time our favorite theory surfaced as the (SPOILER ALERT) *Snape is actually good and will try to help Harry in the end* idea. Once this was coupled with the motive that Snape was in love with Harry's mother Lily, we were hooked. We went back over all the books scanning for evidence to support this theory. I have to admit that initially we were skeptical when we first heard it. But, over time, we became staunch Snape supporters. So much so that we actually bought t-shirts trumpetting his redemption in the final book.

So, the date was on, and we couldn't wait... But of course we had to and did, along with the rest of the literati. Over the following months, we did our best to ignore rumors and spoilers with fairly excellent success. We became so obsessed with NOT finding out the truth that we covered our ears and hummed in our seats waiting for the showing of the IMAX version of the 5th movie that we attended before heading over to the bookstore on July 20th. Of course, EVERYONE at the theater was talking about the book, which were already being read in Europe and other time zones.

Finally, the big moment arrived, and we headed over to the bookstore, still with fingers poised to poke in ears at the mere whisper of a spoiler. We managed to enjoy the festivities with the other Potterphiles, and get a good place in line such that we were out of the store by 12:05, book in hand. We read aloud (to compensate for in-head reading speed differences) unti 3:45am. The following day was my actual birthday and we spent it in San Diego with more friends and family. We got back home at 11:30pm. We tried so hard to stay up, but we were exhausted. So, we resumed reading on Sunday. We had to stop and sleep a little midday, and we still were unable to stay up too late on Sunday night again for exhaustion. This must be how Lindsey Lohan feels all of the time, I thought. Monday morning, we read right up until Lyndsay had to catch her plane, almost finishing the book by a mere 140 pages. So close, damn sleep deprivation! We each finished that night and called each other to talk about it.

Everything we had thought was right. Well, MOST things. :) It was such a fun and satisfiying way to end the series. Ironically, it was sad, in a way. It's finally over. But the best part is, nothing can stop us from going back to the beginning and starting all over again, which we will after an amount of time appropriate to pay respect to the end of an era (remove hat).

My journey with Harry Potter into my 28th year was (like all my other journeys with Harry) bittersweet. For one thing, all the fun and friendship that surrounded me that weekend made me feel like the luckiest person alive. On the other hand, he made me realize that no amount of tea and cake can keep a 28 year-old up all night 3 nights in a row. Ah, touchee Harry, touchee...but I can't imagine a better way to learn that lesson than surrounded by people I love with a good book in hand.