Harry Potter Flies into the Riverside Plaza Cinemas in Red Bluff...

On Tuesday, July 10th, the kids and I went to Red Bluff Riverside Plaza

Cinema to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. We arrived at

11:00PM, as my 10 year old and 14 year old insisted, a time which I felt

would be too early. However, I was proven wrong as two cinemas were

completely filled by 11:20. The kind manager allowed us to go in and get

our seats. It was really hot outside and I think that everyone was most

grateful. When we sat down, I began enjoying my hobby of watching Red

Bluff people. There are just so many of you and some of you are quite

fascinating. In a group that large, I knew I would end up finding an

interesting person I couldn't resist talking to.

Sure enough...I knew I had found her when she walked in with a small

dragon on her shoulder. Meet Rachel...

and her dragon, Straybo. Rachel regularly attends Renaissance Faires and found her dragon at one last year. An avid Harry Potter fan, she has read all the books and even reread them in anticipation of watching the Order of the Phoenix. Rachel's dragon was very entertaining, looking around the room and lifting its head to have its neck scratched. Very cool.

As a mother, I was glad to hear that Rachel had read the books.

At our house, we have a rule...you don't watch a movie unless you've read the book. Last night, it was obvious that many people don't read the books, they only watch movies. Since we were all packed together,

I couldn't help but observe the reactions of two women who sat in front of me. I'm guessing they were in their 50's and when the plot shocked them, they voiced aloud what had just happened, perhaps in an attempt to process what they had just seen.

"Ohhh! That guy is watching the door!"

If I were a blind person, this seating arrangement would have been

extremely beneficial, as they were pretty consistent at voicing most of the plot. However, the two young women next to me did not appreciate the dialogue. As they listened to the women's reiteration, they put their hands up as if choking them.

Most memorable trip to the theater... Jonah was about 4 years old. I was standing in front of the concession stand buying some soda.

The lady waiting on me asked if I wanted to buy any candy. "No, thank

you," I said. This wasn't good enough for Jonah, who must have thought she needed more information and so announced, "We don't need to buy

any candy. My mom has candy in her purse!" Little Twerp!

The lady just looked at me and shook her head, feeling sorry for my

discomfort. Why did God give little kids such big mouths?

Reminds me of what happened to some good friends of mine.

They had been trying to potty-train their son and he was pretty resistant to

the whole concept. One day in a restaurant, he told his mom that he

needed to go to the bathroom. Delighted, she sent him into the restroom with his father. When the two came out, the small boy couldn't wait to get back to the table to tell his mother the good news.

"Mommy!" he announced in a loud voice, halfway across the restaurant, "I went potty in the toilet!"

The patrons smiled, chuckling and murmuring such things as,
"How cute!"

"And," he added joyfully, "Daddy went poo poo!"

No one smiled...no one was proud of Daddy.
No one thought he was cute.

Facial expressions quickly changed from entertainment to distaste.

You know those moments when you wish the ground would

swallow you up? Yeah, he felt that.

Below: pics of my son...he really gets into a book when he reads it.