Harry Potter Tuesday!

I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. I think the characters are great and I am FLOORED by the attention to detail in the plot. When I read the seventh book I was totally amazed by references to the older books that seemed innocuous at the time but ended up being really important. There is a reason the Harry Potter books became such a phenomenon: they are wonderful! I've been rereading books 6 and 7, and I am delighted -- I had forgotten how good the writing is.

The whole phenomenon is one of the reasons I wanted to be an editor in college. Wouldn't it be incredible to be part of a project that got so many kids reading? Kids who started when the first book came out, and ten years later were excited to see how the last one ended. How many authors have that effect on people?

I am also a fan of the movies. I think the actors are great and the screenplays have enough of the details to keep me happy. They may not have been made the way I picture them in my head and some key information and great lines are missing, but how tough must it be to translate a 500+ book into a 2+ hour movie? No, the directors and especially artistic directors have done a great job. I rewatched the first four movies last week in preparation for the latest, and was reminded once again how much I enjoyed them. It was also fun to think about the circumstances of my seeing all of them:
1. I saw the first movie the first day with my brothers Peter and David at about 10 at night. I wore a cloak, and I remember thinking it was kind of cool that David was wearing his glasses, Peter has red hair, and I have curly hair, like the three main characters! Since David was the one who introduced me to Harry Potter (he even read the first few chapters aloud for me), I was glad to see the movie with him. When we took my mom to see it a couple weeks later, she was inspired to make David and I our very own House scarves for Christmas -- Hufflepuff for David and Gryffindor for me. I always get compliments when I wear mine. One girl chased me down the street to ask me where I got it. Well done, Mom!
2. I saw the second movie a few days after it had come out; I was in school at the time and took a break from studying to see a matinee. I thought I'd hate the spider scene more than I actually did... There weren't many people in the theatre, and since I'd heard there was an extra scene at the end I made sure to tell as many people as possible to stay until the end of the credits.
3. When I saw the third movie, I had tickets for a noon matinee, and took the afternoon off at work. I invited a guy friend I had a HUGE crush on (we were both writing HP fanfiction at the time), and his best friend the Brad Pitt of our singles ward. They were pretty disappointed by the film, but I liked it!
4. For the fourth movie, a friend of my Dad rented out an entire theatre on opening day, so I got to go for free. I took the day off work again to see it with my mom, and even though it was in July I took my scarf. Why not?
5. For some reason, I didn't see the fifth movie until a week after it was released. I was tired of waiting for a group of friends to go, so I went by myself on a Saturday afternoon. When I got out of the movie, I had a message on my phone from my brother Aaron asking if I wanted to see the movie with him. So I went again that night. It was so fun seeing it with someone who wasn't familiar with the books. He hated Professor Umbridge as much as I did :D

This brings us to last Tuesday, the day before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (movie 6) came out. My friends Kate and Laren had put together a group to see the film at 12:01 opening day. When they first mentioned the idea, I thought "I should invite Aaron". I had intended to do so, but the deadline to RSVP was the week I got sick and I forgot. Luckily, they had one ticket left over, and were happy to sell it to me. However, when Aaron came into town and I mentioned I had a ticket, he expressed an interest in going, as I had thought he might. A friend at work had mentioned he had tickets for 5:30 on Tuesday; I asked if there were any left that day, and he managed to get three. I bought two for Aaron and I and mentioned to another work friend, Emily A, that there was a third, so the three of us ended up going together. I had no worries Aaron and Emily would get along -- they are both the kind of people who get along with everyone.

Aaron met Emily and at work at 4, we drove to the District theatre together, found awesome seats, and Emily and I walked over to Target to buy snacks. We didn't see many people dressed up for that showing, but there were plenty waiting in the lobby when the movie was over. Hagrid, Tonks, Luna, and even one guy dressed as a Nimbus 2000 -- with a broom fitted around his neck to go over his head! It was pretty awesome.

But those costumes were nothing compared to the craziness going on at the Gateway when I finally arrived there about 11:30 that night. I am pretty sure the people with feathers were Hedwig, one guy looked like the European Father Christmas but probably was supposed to be Professor Dumbledore, and one middle-aged woman had brought a live owl. How cool is that? It was great to sit with my friends and see the movie again--

I liked the movie a lot! Book 6 is my favorite, mostly because of the contract of light-hearted humor and teenage angst vs. all of the dark goings-on and shocking climax. I wanted to like Jim Broadbent more as Professor Slughorn -- I thought he was surprisingly low energy -- but everyone else was fantastic, especially Rupert Grint and Bonnie Wright as Ron and Ginny, my two favorite characters from the series. Oh! And Alan Rickman was fantastic as Snape and I think Tom Felton is brilliant. If the bad guy in a movie stinks it just doesn't work (I could give you examples), but they more than made up for the lack of Voldemort. Good movie!

And if you want the opinion of someone who hasn't read the books, Aaron loved it too. He's going to take his girlfriend to see it when he returns to D.C.

So... go see it! Even if you already have! I'm already looking forward to the next in November 2010...

...I think I'll go to my condo pool and finish the last chapter of the novel Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince this afternoon.

To read about my experience seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1, see this post.

When It Rains It Pours

I am learning that I have pretty much no control over anything going on in my life...and I don't like it. But, I do have to deal with it. I am really tightly wound. I've cried so much in the last five days that I now have a perpetual crying headache. I did not want to work today. I wanted to lie down on the floor under my desk, cry for a little bit, and then take a nap. I would prefer to have this meltdown at home, but since my car died yesterday, I don't have a way get home until Laren and I go out tonight which I am really, really looking forward to. I love Laren! I love that we go to so many plays together, and we're seeing Oklahoma together tonight. We were going to go on Friday, but it turns out she has Seussical rehearsal Friday and we are both free tonight instead.

But I digress (how I love that phrase!). My latest disaster is that my car died yesterday. Ironically, I had already been planning on taking it to the shop today and had even called the mechanic to let him know I was coming. At the time, my engine oil was leading, and my battery and brake lights were lit up on the dashboard. Not horrible, right?

Well, yesterday I went out for lunch and noticed that my radio played for about a minute and then died. This happened on the way to Einstein's Bagels and then when I drove back to work. Odd. After I left work at 8pm, I drove over to Cold Stone because I very much wanted ice cream in spite of the wonderfully splooshy rainstorm. Once I had some ice cream to-go, I decided that I should get some more gasoline, because I was just under a half tank, so I got on I-215 going West and then took the 280 E. exit in search of Sam's Club. At that point, I noticed that my windshield wipers were moving more and more slowly...

And then, while I was making the left hand turn from the freeway ramp onto Windermere, my car started to move more and more slowly. I had the gas pedal on the floor and it was barely moving. I made the mistake of taking my foot off the gas, hoping that reapplying my foot would somehow rev the engine, but there was no response. I was just past the intersection, crawling down the street on nothing but inertia, and the inertia was dying. All I wanted was to reach the parking lot. I got so far as the entrance to the parking lot when inertia ran out. So, I put my car in neutral (not an easy task since all electricity was completely unresponsive) and got out to push.

In the rain.

With my injured arm.

For a minute, it didn't occur to me that the only way I'd be able to turn into the parking lot was if someone were at the steering wheel. I thought I could just push the nose of the car. Nope! I did manage to stop it before it crashed into a jeep at the entrance that had been hoping to turn left.

I will forever be grateful to the driver of that jeep. The young man got out of his car and volunteered to push mine so that I could steer. His girlfriend took over his jeep, and the man pushed me into the parking lot. Then he asked if I had anyone to call. I assured him I'd be fine and encouraged him and his girlfriend to go do whatever they had previously planned.

You know, it's not the first time Heavenly Father has sent me someone to help when I've had car trouble. Often when I have a flat tire, a minivan will stop, and a middle-aged man and his teenage son will take care of me (although I know how to change a tire, I've never actually done it on my own). I worry as a woman who usually drives alone that a man might take advantage of my situation, so I'm always grateful when it's a man with his teenage son, wife, or girlfriend. I hope they are blessed for helping me. It's really the coolest thing.

I called my mom first to tell her what was going on and ask for a ride. Then I called triple-A. Ironically again, I was parked outside of the Fashion Place Mall Sears Auto Center. I gave the guy on the phone the directions and told him what had happened, and he said someone should be along in half an hour. I ate my ice cream, read a bit of my book, and tried not to think about the possibility of buying a new car. If I have to buy a car then I'll need a roommate, and my fortress of solitude will disappear. Then again, maybe I could use the social network that would likely ensue, the cute green room will finally be occupied (I adore that room but never spend any time in there), and few people could be worse to live with than my last roommate (which is why I haven't had one in at least four years).

I called my friend Michelle B. Turns out she was just up the street and offered to wait with me. Somehow, I accidently put my phone on silent, so that wait became over an hour. It gave me time though to vent and cry with my best friend. It just felt so good to complain and talk. She went through similar problems a few months ago and now things are great, so the hope she offered was nice too!

We discovered at 9:45 that my phone had been on silent and the tow truck driver had tried to call at 9pm. I called his company and it was then we found out he'd been sent to the wrong Sears Auto Center, so he couldn't have found me anyway. Triple-A sent someone nearby within 15 minutes and didn't charge me for the trip. Yay! I called my parents, told them Michelle would give me a ride home, and asked my mom if she'd be willing to give me a ride to work the next morning, which she was.

Michelle and I ended up getting spinach dip and raspberry lemon cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory (we ate them separately) and talking for awhile. It was nice having some one-on-one time with her. She gave me a ride home and let me proudly show off the latest stage of my condo. I was up late, but it was worth it!

I talked to the mechanic this morning, and let him know about the new problems. He said most of the issue may have to do with the battery or the alternator or both. He's supposed to call me sometime today with an estimate. I loathe being without a car and this week is especially busy. The timing stinks!

My friend Emily A says that hard times are holy. I believe that is true. Those are times when I reexamine my relationship with Heavenly Father and redetermine my priorities. I am forced to grow up which apparently I need right now. I need to at least teach myself it's okay not to be in control, and learn to have a lot more faith than I have of late. Hopefully, once I've figured all this out, I can clear the way for blessings (and other trials, too, probably), or at least recognize the blessings better.

Meanwhile, I've been cheering myself up by thinking of ways my life could be worse (because it definitely could). Last night I had a horrifying dream that made me wake up and think: "I'm glad I don't have to deal with that!" Sometimes when I'm stressed and then I have dreams like that, I think Heavenly Father must have a sense of humor. My right arm still hurts, my left arm is starting to feel the strain, I have periodontal surgery this week and no dental insurance, I'm drowning at work, I'm in a relationship loop, and now my car has died, but all is not lost. I have a great job with wonderful coworkers, darling friends, events to look forward to, nieces who are finally home from the hospital, parents who are always willing to help, money in my savings account, and a roof over my head. Even writing this post makes me feel a lot more cheerful. Heavenly Father is showering me with tender mercies that punctuate the rough times, and I am grateful.

I will get through this. I will. I just wish I could take two or three days off from all of the rest of my life to recoup. I need a relaxing vacation, soon!

A Subtle Change

I decided to do something wacky, and dyed my hair RED Tuesday night. I LOVE it! I've been wanting to dye it red for a LONG time! Every time I look at myself in the mirror and look down at the curls that sit on my shoulders I feel gleeful! It's only semi-permanent because I'm terrified permanent dye will keep me from ever being a natural blonde again, but it's definitely different!

Apparently I did a really good job, because only one person has noticed the change. Either that, or they aren't actually looking at me, or they don't want to say anything because it's so subtle they just think they're going crazy... Even my brother and sister-in-law didn't comment on it last night! Thank goodness for Emily A. She probably only saw the change because I'd told her earlier in the week that I was thinking about dying it, but I very much appreciated her acknowledgement! While I like that apparently strawberry-blonde hair looks natural on me, half the fun of changing hair is the reaction from other people! Oh well. I did it for me, and I feel pretty!

Here are some photos:

Before:

After:

Oh, man! My hair totally looks the same in both photos! I'll have to take some in the sun. I promise there's a difference!

Note: Sorry that my eyes in photos I take of myself make me look like a satanic deer-in-the-headlights. It's probably the crazy flash. Or maybe that's just what I look like...

Nothing Bundt Cakes

Today, I and some of the girls at work needed some chocolate, so we decided to take a short break and decided to go find some. It was while driving that Michele S, Emily A and I realized we just wanted chocolate and didn't care much about the details -- place, form, or price. Therefore, we couldn't decide if we should go to Tin Roof Grill, Chili's, Kneaders, Paradise Bakery, Cold Stone, Harmons, See's Candies, or Red Mango. There is no group so indecisive as women who want chocolate in whatever form!

We finally decided on a place I'd never heard of: Nothing Bundt Cakes. It's such a cute little shop! The display was geared towards weddings and baby showers. You've got to love a place where the main decorations are bundt cakes with flowers in the center... and the frosting dripping over the sides... mmmm... cream cheese frosting. They even had little onsies with silly "bundt" slogans, frilly aprons, and rubber gloves with fancy gingham cuffs. Everything about the place said "girly". I didn't see a single man while we were there (or a married man either -- high-o!). Quite a few pregnant women and their friends, though.

They had free samples of red velvet cake. It was so perfectly moist and the chocolate chips added just the right touch -- I had to eat two!! (I've mentioned how I don't have any self-control lately, right?) In spite of our earlier indecision and all of the different cake choices, Michele and I settled on sharing a single serving chocolate-chip cake. I tell you what: it was good. Good enough that if that place were closer to work or my apartment I'd probably go once or twice a week. Fortunately, it isn't close to anywhere I go with any regularity. My waistline is greatful.

It sure was what I wanted today! Hooray for chocolate cake on a rainy turned sunny day!

Lousy Leadership

I have been in charge of three meetings at work in the last two days, and though I was mostly prepared for the content of each, technology conspired against me, and all of them started late, amidst much confusion. I even accidently hung up on my manager and another woman on a conference call this afternoon. I haven't accidently hung up on anyone in 5 years! The rest of the meeting actually went quite well, but I cried afterward anyway. I just hated that I was so involved with the stupid laptop and wireless connection and the meeting room being occupied even though I'd scheduled it, that I couldn't pay great attention to all that was being said. Not a good position for one who is supposed to be in charge.

I feel like it was a lesson in what not to do. Hopefully, I've got all the kinks worked out, and future meetings will be better. After all, it doesn't seem to be an option to never let me be in charge of anything ever!

Just when I was really feeling hopeless and like I should be fired, my manager sends me this instant messaging conversation:

Beth (3/24/2009 5:37:50 PM): and thank you for organizing and leading us into the Indexing issues. You have it covered, Megan. Nice work. I am so glad to have your insight and commitment.
Megan (3/24/2009 5:38:19 PM): thanks, Beth
Megan (3/24/2009 5:38:27 PM): I am so sorry for all of the technical difficulties.
Megan (3/24/2009 5:38:36 PM): hopefully I'll iron those out with more experience
Beth (3/24/2009 5:38:59 PM): lessons learned, i expect. the more you practice (rehearse)...takes on a new meaning.
Megan (3/24/2009 5:39:09 PM): yeah
Beth (3/24/2009 5:39:47 PM): Just know that I appreciate all you do for our little team.

Seriously, I have the best job with the best co-workers ever.

Emily A, me, Wendi, Beth, and Michele S at the Christmas Party

Was it Willie?

Yesterday, my friend Emily A and I took a break from work for a lunch run to Harmons. We were talking in the parking lot when a man in a black cowboy hat, red jacket, cowboy boots, and full beard walked by. Emily gasped and said, "Is that Willie Nelson?!" I was full of doubt, since the guy didn't have braided hair and seemed awfully skinny, but Emily was fairly sure. When she mentioned that the Sundance Film Festival should be going on now, I agreed it was possible this man was in fact Mr. Willie Nelson. We waited for a minute, then followed him into the store. We didn't exactly stalk him, since we had our own groceries to locate, but we're pretty sure he noticed us watching him and started avoiding us! We mentioned to the girl at the check-out counter that Willie Nelson was in the store, and she said that Jack Nicholson used to come in all the time! Whoa, Jack Nicholson?

When pressed, I'd have to say I have no idea what songs Willie Nelson is famous for, but Emily and I considered asking him if he was indeed the singer and if he'd give us his autograph. It was a nice little moment on our otherwise icky Monday.

I've never been to the Sundance Film Festival. I'm not particularly interested in seeing the movies since there's no ratings system that I'm aware of, and with my luck I'd probably see a movie worthy of an "R" rating. Call me a goody-goody if you want, but I'm not a fan of the "F" word, or excessive violence or sex. I do think it would be fun to go up to Park City and do some star-sighting, but it's cold, and I have trouble recognizing people out of context, and if I were famous I'd hate not being able to go places without people mobbing me or taking my photo. I don't know what I'd say to a famous person anyway. Heck, half the time I don't know what to say to normal people either! So, I'll probably skip out on the Festival again.

But I wonder if Golnar has tickets to the Entertainment Tonight party again... I may not be invited, but I sure can dream!

The Monday Cast

Since neither my double nor I had any conflicts during the run of the show, we decided to pick a random day to switch casts. We both wanted to perform with the others -- we made friends in both casts, and each one has such a different dynamic. It's really fun!

Well, we picked Monday the 8th and Tuesday the 9th to switch. As I drove to the theatre on Monday, I was kind of nervous! It occurred me that most of the people I was close to in the show are in my cast. Of course, as soon as I walked in everyone was completely welcoming. They were all excited to see me there, and to see how the show would be different. I imposed my preferences on them -- my Vadoma is a lot more huggy than Skye's -- and they imposed their charm and talent on me. I hung out backstage with Shauna, Nate, Stormy, and Tara for the most part.

Tara, Shauna, Stormy, and me

The show went by too quickly, and before I knew it, it was over! I was rather bummed that I wouldn't get to perform with them again. At least, not all together like that. Sami, the Monday cast's Allan, gave me a hug and said it had been a pleasure. It was just one of many well-wishes, but I felt so loved and appreciated. To think I'd been nervous!

Well, Wednesday night I had just sat down to dinner at Rodizio Grill for my office party, and I happened to check my phone and found a message. It was Skye. She was having car problems and wasn't sure if her parents would let her borrow their car. She asked if I could do the show. Did I mention it was 6:20 when I saw that message? I kind of flipped out. Not only did I not want to ditch the party, a free meal, my friends at work, and the chance to make my boss look good in front of her boss, but I was not at all sure that I could drive home to pick up my show stuff and get to the theatre in Magna in time for the performance. If I wasn't in the first act it wouldn't have been a problem, but I'm the second character onstage and the first to open her mouth! I told Skye I couldn't do it. I felt guilty, but I knew if I'd tried to make it I would have been stressed, the performance would not have been good, and I would have resented Skye for making me miss my party. I called Skye later that night, and she said she'd been able to borrow her step-dad's car and made it in time. The show was fine, we are still friends, I had a good time at the office party, and all was as it should be. Phew!

So, when at 5:45pm today I saw two messages on my phone -- one from Nolan the director, and one from Skye -- I rolled my eyes. It turned out that not only was the freeway closed up in Lehi where Skye lives, but so was the road that leads to the freeway. Fortunately, all I'd had planned for tonight was Christmas shopping. It was a little hectic driving home from work and then to the theatre. On a good day it would have taken 45 minutes. Because of the snow, it took me and hour and 15 minutes, which was actually about what I expected. I was able to go slow and the roads were not too bad. The funny thing is, at 5pm, a coworker had suggested that if I had the show tonight I should have left then. At the time, the messages were on my machine, but I'd been in a meeting when they called so I had no idea... Oh! The irony!

I arrived at 7pm and discovered I can get ready in 20 minutes -- who knew? It helps that I don't do anything special to my hair. I signed in, did mic check, and saw a whole bunch of people in the cast, so I was quite surprised when Nolan called to see where I was at 7:15. At that point, I was dressed, in make-up, and putting on jewelry in the dressing room. He was in the room just outside and had no idea I was there.

I was thrilled to get to perform with this darling cast again. Such neat people, and I felt like I got to do everything I wanted to. I'm excited to see them perform on Monday -- the show's closing night.

The audiences since Saturday have been awesome! For the first week, we had maybe 80 people in the audience each performance, if we were lucky. Since Saturday, we've had full houses, and they are the kind of audiences that laugh and applaud. If you've ever been in a show, you know that performers feed off of an audience's energy, and if we can tell the audience is having a good time, we can relax and give them an even better show.

Saturday was possibly our best performance so far; we were all focused and everything seemed to go right. We all felt we'd performed a magical show, and then we went outside and it was snowing! It was like the fairy tale we just finished sharing with the audience was just continuing!

However, last night was the funnest show by far. We made all sorts of mistakes and had a few odd problems, but the audience loved us, and we just started goofing off and really having a good time. Not technically our best, but man, we enjoyed being together and appreciated all the whooping from our friends and family! Emily A, Wendi, and Michele S. from work all came. They've been hearing for awhile about how I love to perform, but they had never seen me onstage. I think they were a bit surprised -- they knew I had it in me, but knowing and seeing are two different things -- and I know they had fun. I watched them during the last scene, and they were laughing as hard as anyone (yes, I break the fourth wall all the time. It's a weakness of mine).

Sam, Aubrey, and me

'Twill be fun to perform twice tomorrow. We have a 3pm matinee, and then our closing performance at 7:30pm. It occurs to me that the last time I was double-cast in a show, I ended up doing either 9 or 11 shows in a row. My double got sick. Four shows is nothing. I did that in Birdie and loved every minute of it. I am really excited that a group of my Birdie friends are coming to the show! Nothing better than having some support from people I admire and adore.

And here's a photo of my brother, Aaron, my grandmother, and my mom after the show on Opening Night. You know, that was before the weather suddenly got bitter cold and snowy... Don't we all look fantastic?

Accela-versary

I realized this morning that today October 1st. That means that as of today I've been working with Accela for a year. Whoa! Where has the time gone?

I started off as the new girl, like everyone (unless they are a boy) does. I'd just come from a job where you pretty much have a handle on what you're doing within the first 30 days. But with this one, not only did I have to learn about the company and the features I was writing about, but I had to master five new computer tools before I could even start writing! Those first six-to-eight months were humbling and stressful in a lot of ways.

Now, not only am I not the new girl anymore, I've been privileged to train two new employees in the stuff I've learned. It really is true that the best way to learn is to have to turn around and teach it to someone else. I feel much more confident now in my abilities.

Anyway, I enjoy my job and am grateful to be useful and productive and that I work with the wonderful women I do. Beth, Michele, Emily and Wendi are supportive, honest, hard-working, thoughtful, patient, and hilarious. I cannot believe it was a coincidence we are all working here at the same time. I know they've been a great support to me, and hope I've been as beneficial to them. It's been a good year and I'm looking forward to the next!

Congratulations also to my brother Aaron, who started his job in Washington D.C. a year ago today as well. Way to go, little bro! I'm so proud of you!