Domestic Geek

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Now that I'm done with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and I am no longer obsessing over it with my every waking moment, I need to get cracking on some other things that were put on the back burner.

Thirteen Things I Am Going to Tackle Now That Harry Potter is Over

1. Stephen King — I've got all those Stephen King books I bought earlier this summer to tackle.
2. Home Inventory — Marcus and I need to do an updated home inventory and get it to a secure, off location spot. You never know when a disaster will strike and it would be a good idea to have our possessions cataloged.
3. Learn to Knit — I've had this on my list for years. I want to learn NOW!
4. Sell Stuff on eBay — I have a huge box of stuff I want to get rid of. Hopefully someone will want it.
5. Wax my Car — I came to the sad realization that I haven't waxed that poor car once since I've had it.
6. Find Another Income Source — I am not getting much OT at work and paid blogging is unpredictable. I need another revenue source so I can make it to Vegas in November and so we can get our house on land.
7. Clean the Carpets — Winter will be here before I know it and I won't be able to have the house opened up to dry them.
8. New Blog Design — hopefully this will happen before Saturday's blogathon. I'm really close to having it finished.
9. Purge More Stuff — It's amazing with everything I've let go of, I still have a ton of stuff. I don't use it, so I need to get rid of it.
10. Find Old College Buddies — I have a few people from college I want to try to locate and see how they turned out.
11. Establish Exercise Routine — Now that my ankles have finally gotten better, it's time to concentrate of getting the old body fit.
12. Get My Hair Done — I haven't had my hair cut professionally since well before my mother passed almost 10 years ago. I'm tired of the long, stringy pony tail.
13. Craft — I started a craft blog, but haven't made time to craft recently.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Also, 3 Days Until HP and the Deathly Hallows

I stopped by Mike and Nina's after work today to leave my car in their parking lot so that Marcus and I can retrieve it once he gets home from work. While there, Nina gave me the Chocolate Frog that she picked up for me at Borders the other day. Guess who my wizard card was? Yep, Severus Snape! w00t! Nina got an Albus Dumbledore one. How cool is that? At least we didn't end up with unheard of wizards or witches, y'know? So, thanks again, Nina and Mike! It was very thoughtful and very much appreciated.

It's getting increasingly hard to concentrate at work. It seems my every waking thought is on this book and the desire I have to see how Jo ends it all. I thought it would be interesting to get all my thoughts, hopes and predictions down here in writing for my TT this week and we'll see how close or far off the mark I am on Saturday.

Thirteen Predictions About Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

1. Voldemort will die. Hopefully that one is a duh, no-brainer prediciton.
2. Snape is one of the good guys. I know there are two sharply divided camps over this one. I believe that Dumbledore made Snape kill him for one of two reasons. Either the piece of Voldemort's soul that was in Marvolo's ring transferred to Dumbledore (making him a Horcrux) and therefore Dumbledore had to die to destroy the fragment or else it was necessary for my next prediction to happen.
3. Dumbledore is a Phoenix Animagus and was reborn. The absence of Dumbledore in the former headmaster painting speaks volumes. Also, are we to believe the greatest wizard of all time isn't an animagus? If Gandalf can come back in LOTR, then so can Dumbledore...that's all I'm saying!
4. Lucious Malfoy will die. Hopefully he is one among many Death Eaters that will bite the dust. Although I find the actor that plays him in the movies incredibly sexy, the character is an ass.
5. Draco will redeem himself. I think he will end up on the side of good in the end.
6. Crookshanks will be a major player. I'm pretty sure we haven't seen what Crookshank's purpose in this story is yet. True, he played a big role ferreting out Peter Pettigrew/Scabbers, but that cat will have a part in how things turn out in book 7.
7. Wormtail/Peter will help defeat The Dark Lord. I don't think he'll do it intentionally, though. He's a bumbling idiot and a coward. Since he is also indebted to Harry for keeping Sirius and Lupin from killing him, that will have to be a factor.
8. Ron and Hermione will not be a couple in the end. One, how many school romances last into adulthood? Not many. I think Ron is too much of a dunderhead for someone as smart and talented as Hermione. Not to say that they can't remain good friends, though (providing neither of them is killed in the final battles).
9. Harry and Ginny will not be a couple in the end. There are many reasons other than the school romance thing why I don't think this one will continue. First, I think there is a strong possibility that Ginny will die. It could be the final straw that pushes Harry over the edge for revenge. Also, is Harry survives the final battle, he's going to be one messed up dude. I don't believe that Harry will be with anyone
10. Aunt Petunia must have some part to play in the final book. Since Harry's protection ends when he turns 17, I doubt that Jo would just have the Dursley's drop out of Harry's life for good. On a separate but kind of related note, what happened to Harry's grandparents (i.e., Lily and Petunia's parents)? I always wondered why they weren't in the picture.
11. Percy Weasley will fall under control of Voldemort. I don't know if he'll be under an Imperius curse or if he goes of his own free will, but Percy has always bothered me and I could totally see him ending up on the wrong side.
12. Harry will be a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I believe there will be a little epilogue like LOTR. What a fitting end for Harry to live out his days at the one place that felt like home to him in the position that Voldemort cursed because Dumbledore wouldn't hire him for the position. Harry is already good at teaching Defense as shown by the DA lessons in Order of the Phoenix.
13. Neville will ultimately defeat Voldemort. I think all along that old Voldy has had his attention (as well as everyone else) on the wrong boy wizard.

So, there we are. Will I be right? Only J.K. Rowling, those involved in the production of the book and those putting up leaks all over the Internet know for sure. It will be fun to see if my thoughts play out or if Jo throws us all for a big loop. We'll find out on Saturday.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Ten Favorite Movies From My Childhood

1. Bambi
2. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
3. Star Wars
4. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
5. Wizard of Oz
6. Cabaret
7. Airplane
8. Grease
9. Xanadu
10. The Muppet Movie

This week's subject is something I've really been thinking a lot about lately. I'm not getting any younger, so I really need to get cracking on the things I want to do.

Ten Things I Want to Do Before I Die

1. Learn to oil paint.
2. Learn to knit and make a sweater.
3. Get and learn to ride a motorcycle
4. Travel to Germany
5. Get a house and land
6. Weigh under 150 lbs.
7. Become an Adobe Certified Expert in Illustrator
8. Own and embroidery machine
9. Get a tattoo
10. Take a cruise to Alaska

Wow, I really love music and there is so much great talent out there. It was so hard to narrow this week's topic down to just 10. I closed my eyes and gave you the first 10 groups that popped into the old brain.

Ten of My Favorite Bands

1. The Electric Light Orchestra
2. Queen
3. Van Haln (w/ David Lee Roth)
4. Metallica
5. Rush
6. The Police
7. Barenaked Ladies
8. Pink Floyd
9. The Beatles
10. Mannheim Steamroller