Samantha Potts's Blog

3-Belize City

               I watched Ikan as he turned on the water in the last bungalow to make sure the pipe he had just fixed didn’t leak. It had been a very different afternoon than what I had originally set out to do. So far we had fixed leaky faucets, changed numerous light bulbs, switched out an air conditioner, and replaced a headboard. I didn’t even want to think to myself how ithad got broken. The sun was setting already and soon the streets of Belize City would change and the nightlife would take over.  I looked down at the clothes I was wearing and realized they weren’t exactly nightlife material. As Ikan picked up his tool box, I opened the door for him.                “I want to tell you, thank you,” he said as we came to a stop on the small porch. “I couldn’t have gotten everything done in time if it wasn’t for you.”                “Do you think I have time to go change?” I asked him.                “What? You think I am going to la fiesta looking like this? Go to your bungalow, get cleaned up, and we will meet at the lobby of the resort.” His smile radiated like a bright beacon in the dusky light of the sunset. I smiled back and then started down the steps.                “I will be quick,” I called to him over my shoulder and then I took off in a hasty manner toward my own bungalow.                 I jumped in the shower and washed the day’s salt off of my skin. Some of it was sweat, but I was sure some of it was from being in such close proximities to the ocean. The water felt good on my skin. I could have stayed under it a while, but I hurried and dried and then went to throwing outfits on the bed left and right. The cocktail dress my mother had insisted I buy was the first thing I picked up. I looked at it and then the second outfit. It wasn’t much better. It was a frilly lace top and a mini skirt.                What are you doing? This isn’t a date, dummy, I muttered to myself. I decided to go with the long flowy blue skirt and my fitted white t-shirt.  I threw my sandals on and looked in the mirror. That was more like it. I brushed my hair quickly and grabbed a clippie to twist it up in the back. I dabbed on a little pink lip gloss, grabbed a small tote bag and threw my wallet inside. I hurried out the door and turned to lock it. When I turned around, Ikan startled me by being on my porch.                “Oh shit,” I exclaimed before I caught myself. “You scared the crap out of me.”Ikan chuckled.                 “I am sorry. I did not mean to frighten you.” He looked amazing. He had on a white button down shirt with it halfway unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled midway up his arm. His glossy black hair was still a little wet and it glistened by the now moonlight that shined over head. He had on loose linen type pants and he too wore sandals.  I stared at him for a minute. He was actually pretty good looking when he was cleaned up and not covered in dirt.                 “It’s ok. Just don’t make a habit of that,” I said as I steadied my breath.                 The trip up to Belize City was interesting. It took over an hour, during which I learned that Ikan had come to live with his Uncle after his parents had been killed by drug runners in Honduras. They just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. His Uncle was the head groundskeeper and he had been putting Ikan on miscellaneous jobs at the resort since he was nine years old. They had been offered a permanent homestead on the resort premises but his uncle had turned it down for their small house further down the beach in a small fishing village. I had made a mental note to make sure I would find my way down the beach to the village so that I could get away from the resort area and talk to some real Belizeans. I also found out that Ikan wanted to attend the University of Belize but so far he didn’t have the funding for it. I asked him what he wanted to major in and he had said, “Anything that didn’t require maintenance.”  We had a good laugh about it. He asked me tons of questions about Chicago and the US in general.  Before I knew it we had arrived back in the city, parked, and were headed toward the sounds of music and the smell of food. I felt my heart speed up as we rounded a corner and came in contact with a crowd of people dancing in the street to drums. It was loud and crowded. Ikan grabbed my hand and moved his way through them while pulling me along. He half danced, half tugged, but he kept me from getting trampled on. I figured he knew where he was going, so I just let him lead. We came out on the other side of the street and into a side street lined with carts and people selling items from plantains to hand woven throws. Ikan let go of my hand and smiled at me.                “You can find anything you need on this street. They stay open all night during a fiesta. I have something to do. Stay here and I will find you in a bit.”                “Wait a minute! You’re leaving me?”                “I will be back in a just a little bit. Stay on this street and I will find you. You will be fine, I promise.”                “Well at least take my cell number!”                “I don’t have a cell phone. I promise I will be back.” He smiled a big smile at me and just like that, he was gone. For a split second I panicked. Then it dawned on me, earlier that day I had planning on taking a taxi all by myself. I would have been alone any way and if worse came to worse and Ikan didn’t return I could always call a taxi to take me back to the resort. I turned back towards the street vendors.  The aromas were simply amazing. Someone was frying something somewhere and I could smell a hint of spicy smoke as well. I made my way down the street as I carefully took in all of the sights. I took my time marveling at all of the beautiful handmade jewelry and pottery. I bought a hand woven bag first and then began to buy items to fill it with like fruit and spices for when I cooked at the bungalow.  I had just about reached the end of the market area when I saw an old woman sitting at a table under an awning. She pointed right at me. Her silver hair was tied back in a messy bun and silver rings adorned all of her fingers.  I could tell by the milkiness of her eye color she was blind and a chill crept up my spine. A young boy sat beside her and gestured for me to come over. I stood frozen for a minute deliberating on what I should do. After a few seconds I ducked in under the awning.                 “My name is Anhel. This is my abuelita Ora.”Ora reached up and took my hand. I slowly sat down on the small stool across from her. She leaned over and touched my cheek. I sat still and let the old woman feel my features. It was a little out of my comfort zone, but I realized she was just trying to figure out what I looked like. She smiled a wide smile and I saw that her teeth were yellowed and she seemed to be missing a few. I tried to hide the shake that ran through me, because she was quite creepy looking.                 She leaned over to the boy and whispered something in his ear that I couldn’t hear. He got up and went behind a curtain to enter the building. He returned quickly with a cup and handed it to the woman. She handed the cup to me and I saw that it was filled with some type of small bones, some leaves, and stones. I guessed she was some type of fortune teller and decided to play along with her little game. I figured it would cost me a huge chunk of change in the end, but if this was how she earns her living, who was I to judge?                 “Shake the cup three times and pour it onto the dirt,” said Anhel. I gave him a smirk and did as I was told.                 “I’m not giving her more than ten Belize Dollars,” I think to myself.“Abuelita is an obeahn priestess. She doesn’t charge for her services,” said Anhel. I took in a deep breath and wondered if the kid knew what I was thinking or if it was pure coincidence. The old women bent over and touched the bones, rocks, and leaves. She froze for a few seconds and then quickly came up with another smile. She reached out and grabbed my hands so tightly, I thought she was going to break my fingers. She started screaming.                 “Akna! Akna! Akna!” I jumped up quickly. She was still screaming the strange word at me. I backed away quickly.                “Akna! Akna!” she yelled. I turned quickly and ran from the tent.                I moved so quickly I didn’t pay attention to where I was going and found myself out in the middle of the main street with the crowd of dancers. I turned around and lost my directional bearings. I wasn’t sure which way was which. Then my cell phone went off in my purse. I fumbled through it as I tried to make my way through the crowd to find a quiet side street.                 “Hello,” I answered.                “You were supposed to call us when you arrived,” said my mother.                “I’m sorry. I got sidetracked,” I said as I had to place one finger in my other ear so that I could hear her over the sound of the dancers and drums.                “Are you having fun?” asked my mother. I could hear a hint of a smile in her voice.                “Um, sure,” was all I could muster as I made my way down a side street.                 “It sounds like you are anyway. I’ll let you go. Call us later and let us know how it’s going.”                “Ok, Mom. Love you.”I hung up and looked around. I was on a different street from where I was before. It looked darker and scarier that the other streets I had been down. I only had two options, follow the scary brick road or go back out into the crowd and risk getting lost more.

2 - One Month Earlier

     I looked out the window of the plane and stared at the crystal blue water below me. The Gulf seemed to sparkle and shimmer with magic.
     One more hour Winona, I thought to myself and then I would be landing in Belize City and off to my beach side bungalow.
     Two weeks earlier when I graduated, my parents had surprised me with the news that I would be spending my summer in Belize. I had been accepted to Stony Brook University last Spring and planned to major in Anthropology. I had driven my parents nuts for months talking about the Mayan civilization and they decided a trip that included a little fun mixed with a little culture would be the perfect graduation present. I was more excited about the culture part, but my mother had hinted around about the nightlife all week before I left. I think she was just trying to live vicariously through me. She had taken me to the mall and bought me two new swimsuits and had my long dark brown hair streaked with highlights. She even bought me a cocktail dress. She seemed to be prepping me for the party of the century, but it didn't really matter to me at all. At the moment, I had my hair pulled back in a ponytail and sported a pair of blue jean shorts with a tank top. Real classy. I just wanted to go visit some Mayan temples and talk to some locals about their culture. I had been practicing my Spanish and I even looked up some words in Kreol so that I could understand what was being said when I wasn't being spoken to in English.  I leaned back in my seat and opened the book I had been reading. One more hour.
      Traveling through the city had been a blur. I felt my heart racing at the sights and sounds of everything around me. To the eyes of a normal person most of the buildings looked like they were worn and weather ravaged. To me it looked like an eclectic buffet of culture that could feed a person's soul. When I reached the resort, a young boy helped me tote my bags to the bungalow and I settled myself in. I had just unpacked my last bag when my stomach growled. I hadn't eaten before I left the airport. It seemed to be as good a time as any to go to a local market and find some authentic grub.  I had just started down the path that lead from my bungalow when the thunder rumbled overhead. I looked up and realized a cloud had moved in and I was about to be caught in a downpour. I hurried on towards the resort entrance where the restaurant and club was located. I was about twenty feet away when the bottom fell out. I ran as quickly as I could toward the opening of the dining area. Just as I reached the wooden steps, so did a young white couple. I squeezed the water out of my hair as the three of us laughed under the awning of the shelter.  They looked to be in their early twenties. The man had strikingly good looks. He had a chiseled jaw and sparkling green eyes. The woman was beautiful as well. She was thin, blond, and blue eyed.
     "Are you Americans?" I asked.
     "We're here on our honeymoon," replied the woman.
     "We just got here this morning and we were hoping to see some sights," said the man. "We aren't going to see them in this."
     "I'm Winona," I said as I shook their hands.  I wanted to see some sights as well. I could see rain in Chicago."
     "I'm Kim and this is Brent," said the lady. "Since we're here anyway, we might as well enjoy some food. Come join us. We can wait out the rain together. It sucks eating alone."
     "Thank you very much."
     As the three of us sat at a table under the covering, we enjoyed a meal of tortillas, beans, rice, and plantains. I learned that Brent had graduated from MIT and Kim was attending law school at Harvard. They were the poster children for white collar America. He was twenty three and she was twenty one. She wanted two kids; a boy and a girl. He wanted to coach little league one day. They seemed to have their life planned accordingly. I explained my plans of the future to them about becoming an anthropologist and although they seemed interested, I could tell it was just a cover. They were the type people that would curl up and die if they were surrounded by bones, dust, and artifacts.
     As the rain let up, we parted ways and I went on in to to let the concierge know I needed a taxi. That was when I saw a boy around my age arguing with the groundskeeper. He stormed right past me. He was clearly a native Belizean. He was beautifully tanned with dark wavy hair.  Against my better judgement I followed him. I watched him as he rounded the corner and I intentionally stayed back to keep him from noticing me. He opened the door to go to the edge of the resort and started towards the tree line.
     Where could he be headed?
     I stopped briefly and debated with myself if I should continue. My taxi had already been called and would arrive soon, but the scientist side of me that craved answers wouldn't budge, so I continued playing spy. I followed him a good  fifty feet when I snapped a twig under my foot and he spun around and caught me.
     "What are you doing? Are you following me?" He asked. I was mortified. I didn't know what to say, so I just stood there .
     "Why are you following me? Is it that important that your shower head get fixed or your light bulb get changed?" He said angrily. That caught me off guard.
     " No. Actually, I overheard you arguing with that man and I guess I just wanted to make sure you were ok." His facial features softened and he sighed.
   "He's my uncle. He's always giving me a list of things to do that take hours and I am wanting to go into the city tonight for a fiesta. At this rate it will be dawn before I finish them."
     "I was about to leave to go to the nearest village to get some food staples. I'm probably going to miss my taxi. What if  I helped you with your list and then I could get a ride with you to the city. It's a win,win for both of us."
     "I don't know if that's such a good idea. My uncle would be furious if he found out I let someone help with my work. I think he just doesn't want me to go."
     "He won't find out. Come on, let me help."
     "Ok. Fine. But, if I get caught it will be Baron Bliss day before I will be allowed to leave la casa again."
     "I promise you won't get caught. By the way, I'm Winona."
     "I'm Ikan," he said as he shook my hand.







    










    

    

1 - Captive

      Darkness. That's the first thing I realized. I wasn't sure if I was locked somewhere in my own personal hell of paralyzation or if I was in true Purgatory. Pain. It's what followed quickly behind darkness and made me realize paralyzation would have been a welcomed friend. I tried to gather my thoughts to figure out just what had happened to me to get myself into the state of consciousness I was in. My head was throbbing. My ribs ached and when I breathed in it felt like a hot poker was gauging my left side. I instinctively reached for my head and quickly noticed my hands were bound. From what I could tell by rubbing my face against my wrists, I was being held imprisoned by zip ties. I tried to move my legs and realized they too were immobile and tied together. I leaned my head back against the cool hard surface that I sat against and pondered my state. I needed to get out of this predicament.  That's when it hit me. Fear. The memories of my previous days flooded my mind and I went as rigid as a board. Panic quickly whirled up inside me and it took all I had not to scream as I fought back the tears that swelled up and started to sting my eyes. I was going to die. That was the one thing I was sure of.  Within hours I would be snuffed out like a candle wick. My heart pounded inside my chest as I started to hyperventilate, ignoring the pain in my ribcage. This was going to be torturous. The mear thought of what I was going to go through numbed me like ice. It would be so much worse than what I was already feeling. I wanted to sob; to break the ties and run. Anything. But it was no use and I knew that. I slowly took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. I needed to find a happy place. A warm spot that could ground me. I needed something that could give me strength to welcome death gladly when the time came. It seemed useless but I had to try. I took another deep breath and cleared my mind and welcomed the warmth of my first clear thought. I could see his face in mind as clearly as if he was standing before me. His dark hair glistened as the sun danced rays off of the water that clung to his tan skin. His coco brown eyes were soft and understanding as he came near me and I could see little droplets of water hanging on his long eyelashes. He smiled his biggest smile at me and that was when it all came crashing down. The tears started again, but this time they silently ran down my face. I would never see that beautiful smile again. I would never know what it would be like to kiss his beautiful full lips. It was all in the past now, just like the rest of my life. All eighteen years of it. Gone. Just like that. He was the one good thing this trip to Belize had gotten me. He was my best memory.
     "Ikan," I whispered softly into the darkness. But, there was no one there to hear it.

Introduction

I had an epiphany. Yes, one of those light bulbs like all writers have. My idea was: What could I do to get people to read my stories? My answer: Give them something FREE. Yes, absolutely free except for your Internet bill and lets all face it, unless you live in a place where you can score Wi-Fi you're going to pay that anyway.

So back to my idea. I am going to give my fans an online novel. It will be written as I go and together we will find out how the characters evolve and change. We will all delve into the mysteries of their lives together. I already have an idea in mind to start. The bad news is I have eight more ideas I've been working on for years and still haven't finished. The idea I came up with for the online book came with it so now I have nine. Geesh. So to get me motivated on writing again, (I've totally been slacking lately.) I need to see some interest in this project. I need all of my friends to subscribe to this feed and pass it on to get more people interested in this. Once the novel is done, it will be sent to my publisher for review and if published it will be erased from the blog. Pretty cool huh? You pretty much all get to be BETA testers for how well it sells.

Ok. Now to get started. Coffee. Check. Computer. Check. Twizzlers. Check.

Here we go...........

Cabbage Patch Kids? No…Eggplant Babies

          First off let me just start off by saying I love each and every one of my children and being pregnant with them was a true blessing. I have done doula work for women for many years and every time I witness a birth it is a true miracle. With that being said, I must admit that my body isn’t like it used to be.          When I was 16 I got pregnant with my first daughter. With the pregnancy I had morning sickness but nothing newsworthy. Hardheadedness and determination lead me to a 20 hour long natural birth. When labor started I couldn’t even believe it was real.          With my second daughter I was the same way, morning sickness: nothing major. I carried over by ten days and had to be induced. Two and a half hours later, she made her appearance into the world naturally and I walked from recovery to my room.          With number three, I didn’t contract. I just couldn’t sleep. I went to the hospital at 38 weeks wanting them to give me something to knock me cold. When I got there the nurse said it was policy to be checked. So, I let her exam me and to my surprise found I was dilated 5. So they put me on Pitocin once again around two a.m. and at 4:23 a.m. she was born naturally.          Baby number four was a little difficult at first. I developed hyperemesis gravidarum, a rare form of extreme morning sickness which Princess Kate has just been recently diagnosed with in her pregnancy. My heart goes out to her. It’s pure misery. I was hospitalized twice during that time for severe dehydration and I was almost five months before I could keep down solid foods. After the sickness let up, I had a healthy pregnancy, other than occasional vomiting throughout. At 38 weeks I woke up thinking my bladder was leaking and went to the bathroom. After helping my SIL clean out her garage that day, at two p.m. a bigger gush occurred and I realized my water was leaking. So I went to the hospital and they confirmed it had indeed “sprung a leak.”  Contractions never came and I once again was put on Pit. Three hours later she was born naturally with no complications.Number five….God bless her. Since birth she has been a handful, but pregnancy with her was easy. Regular amount of morning sickness and no false labor.  However, at four p.m. on a Friday during week 38, I found myself stuck on the toilet and had to call my aunt for help. When she engaged in my pelvis it made it to where I couldn’t stand. They got me to the hospital and confirmed I was having contractions even though I didn’t feel any. My now ex-husband and I were having some problems at the time and I found my natural labor stressful. By nine p.m. I was hurting bad. By ten I had cussed every nurse, my husband, and my mama. She was born at eleven ten p.m. on March 31st. Fifty more minutes and it would have been April Fool’s Day. I had never acted that way in labor before, and afterwards realized how embarrassed I was by it. I apologized to the nurse a million times. That baby girl is now seven and a half years old.          That brings us to now. I have recently re-married. My new husband has four kids of his own and I have five. I am in my 38th week with our first child together. I am 33 now and boy is it different. Not only did I have morning sickness, I have ached and hurt physically this entire pregnancy.  I stay hot all of the time which I never remember complaining about with any of my other children and some of them were summer babies. This one is a December baby and also my first boy. I have had pubic symphasis dysfunction for over two months now and every time I sit and stand it’s like knives shooting into my hips. The round ligament pain has been unbearable at times and I have to move really slowly when I get up or my knees will buckle from the pain. It has been horrible. So bad in fact that I would tell any woman who is waiting to start a family in her thirties that she is crazy. Do it in your twenties.( Even if that means a career hold.)  It’s also made me consider my doula work. Normally I work with teen mothers and young single mothers because they have no birth support. It’s made me realize us thirty year olds may need that support worse that the younger women. PersonalIy,I am so ready for this baby to be born. At night it’s hard for me to breathe because it feels like he’s up in my lungs. If he hasn’t made his entrance by Friday, I am going to attempt to make Scalini’s Eggplant Parmigana.           Scalinis is a restaurant in Smyrna, GA that is famous for making women go in labor with their eggplant dish. So far there have been over 900 babies that are considered Scalini Eggplant Babies because their mothers had them within 48 hours of eating it.  I am so ready to try anything at this point. Since we are attempting a home water birth this time around, I am hoping to avoid the Pit drip. Hopefully the eggplant will get things started. I will post an update. A.S.A.P. on if it worked or not. At my last checkup I still hadn’t dilated any and my last four pregnancies I was dilated three for the last three weeks. Hopefully this labor will be smoother than the actual pregnancy.

Review- The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II

**SPOILER ALERT***

          I just got home from watching the 10:00 viewing of Breaking Dawn Part II and although I have four and a half fingernails less, I have to say I was pleased if not completely excited on how they showed everything. I feel sorry for the people that were still standing in line for the midnight viewing when I left. They were there when I got there at 8:45 and the line was wrapped clear around the building when I was leaving.           I do have a few quips about the beginning being a little off from the book as Bella and Edward were the only two in the room when Bella awakes and she didn’t move fast like she did in the book or spin off of the table. That had me worried, but after the first five minutes I was hooked and the way they changed the hiker in the woods to a rock climber was better to me than what I pictured in the book itself.  Her dress didn’t get as disheveled when she was fighting the mountain lion, but little changes like that I can live with.           Now, let me say that Edward and Bella had one more hot night in the new cottage. I think the lovemaking scene was actually better than the honeymoon in part 1. Sexy, sexy is all I can say on that. No headboards were broken but it was definitely smokin.           I laughed when Jake had to tell Bella that he imprinted on Renesmee. It was funny to actually see him a little scared of her.          Mckenzie Foye played a perfect Renesmee Cullen.  The CGI they did on her face was great. Now the scene with J.Jinks didn’t go down quite the way it should have, but it got the point across as far as what Bella knew about her own fate. Now as far as the rest of the story line goes, they held pretty much to it. Until……          Yes, people. You were promised a surprise ending by Summit and let me tell you they delivered.  This is a MAJOR SPOILER ALERT. At the end of the book Alice shows up at the last minute and shows Aro what proof she has found that Renesmee isn’t a threat to their way of living by showing him her thoughts. This holds true in the movie but then there is a fight scene that didn’t occur in the book and the first thing you see is Aro pulling Carlisle’s head off and setting him on fire. I thought for a minute there was going to be some type of riot in the theatre the screams were so loud. As the fight progresses, Jasper is also killed along with Seth and Leah Clearwater and Alice and Sam Uley kill Jane. Bella sends Jacob away with Renesmee clinging to his back for dear life. Bella and Edward kill Aro in a kick ass tag team effort. By this point, I was shaking I was so angry that they killed off so many main characters. Then it goes back to Alice standing in front of Aro and it’s realized that the whole thing was just her vision of his future if he decides to take the path he has chosen. Needless to say Aro concedes and nothing happens. Alice of course comes through and Nahual appears with his aunt and then everyone learns that there are other half vampire/half humans in the world.          The movie ends in the Bella and Edward’s meadow instead of the bedroom like it did in the book, but I think it was fitting. Edward gets to hear Bella’s thoughts for the first time and everything is perfect. After all they do get their happy fairy tale ending and move on into the depths of Forever.          I have heard Summit is planning on continuing the franchise without Bella and Edward. I don’t see how, but I’m guessing it follows along the lines of Jacob and Renesmee. I don’t agree with doing that because their story isn’t Twilight, but we'll see in time.          Hats off to Stephanie Meyer. She is an excellent author as well as a great producer.  I can’t wait to see her next project The Host.
         

Eden's Gate Givaway

I am giving everyone a heads up. Something good is headed your way!!!! I'm giving away copies of my new book Eden's Gate. So mark your calenders for November 1st and make sure you enter to win!!!!

Robert Pattinson Junkie Patrol

Ok, everyone who personally knows me, knows I have a thing for Robert Pattinson. I can't explain it and yes, these days it's almost cliche. I am a total twi-hard and twi-mom. It's ridiculous I know. I am just a fan. I'm sure everyone out there has some celebrity that gives them goose pimples when they see him or her, so stop judging. I do however have a problem with some of the things I see online like: How can I get Rob's address? Who is his agent? Is he coming to so and so? All I can say to that is WAKE UP YOU FREAKS! I know the odds of me personally meeting him is 4,000,000,000,000 to 1 and if I ever did get the chance, I hope I would have the civility about me to not go stupid fan girl on him.

In all honesty, I think I would just want to be his friend. It would be cool to just hang out and listen to him play his guitar or ask him questions about acting and his life. Real questions not that media crap. He answers the same thing over and over when he is promoting his work and as an author I think I would like to know some of his perspectives on other artists. Since I live in Mississippi, I think I would just want to take him to all of the blues history locations and maybe The Elvis Presley Museum in Tupelo. Here, he could probably get by without being noticed for the most part. I bet he could walk into the McDonalds I'm sitting in currently and walk out with a Big Mac without anyone knowing who he is. I'm not even kidding. Most people I talk to around here are like who's Robert Pattinson? Of course, I think they are all out of touch with reality, but whatever. I don't even have to buy my tickets to the Twilight movies ahead of time in the town I'm in and I only have wait in line at the midnight shows for about an hour. Usually I'm at the front of the line.

Reading is my hobby and writing is my passion. I wonder sometimes about celebrities if acting is really their passion or not. It would be great to have a friend as funny as he seems to be in interviews and still be down to earth when the cameras are off. I might be wrong, but he catches me as that type.

So this is my message to all fans of celebrities. Being a fan is important, without you there would be no movies made, but when you go all stalkerish, it makes the rest of us look like idiots. Celebs will stop taking their fans seriously and start hiding. If a person has to hide all of the time from their fans, it changes them and causes them to lose their realistic qualities. So, STOP BEING FREAK STALKER IDIOTS! That is my rant for the day! Thank you and keep reading.

Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

WARNING!!!! Spoiler Alert!!!

I would like to say right off the bat that...WOW!!! I mean...WOW!!! It has been a long time since I've watched a movie that packed that much of a punch. I gave a great review for Part 1 but this was totally the best one of the series.

I took my twelve year old daughter with me to see it and I asked her as we were leaving the theater how she would rate it on a five star scale. She said five and a half. I totally agree. Five for following the story so closely and graphic art. Half for good measure as Hermione would say. The effects in this film were awesome to watch and the sound was incredible the way the speakers reverberated Voldemort's voice. Daniel Radcliffe brought it in this film by being able to feel Harry's pain. It made it all so real. I held it together even though someone two rows over was blubbering like an idiot when Harry finally realizes his fate. There were plenty of sniffles and a few coughs from the guys.

I did notice several differences that were changed like the lost diadem was in a box not on the head of a statue and they mentioned Ariana one time but never told the story of what happened to her. To me that was a key point. I also noticed the cups were not hot like they were supposed to be in the Belatrix's vault. That kind of took away just a little but only briefly as Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly pulled you back in. What I did like that they changed was the battle scene inside Hogwarts. That completely blew me away. It seemed to be more than what I envisioned from the book and that made me happy. I have to say that there are a lot of sad Potter fans tonight I am sure, as the end of an era has finally happened but, those of us who read the books cried our tears over the end of the era back when it was first published. Seeing it all put together on screen actually felt more of an accomplishment than an ending.

I will say the best quote from the movie was directly out of the book. It came from Molly Weasly and it earned applause, whistles, and I even heard someone say, "hell yea!" It was: "Not my daughter, you bitch!" As a mother of five daughters, I could not have agreed with her more.

With everything I expected and then some, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 will be a family favorite for years to come.

Black Hole Time Warp Springfield Trip 2011

So today is the second day here in Springfield. I got wisked away Sunday evening for a girl's road trip that ended up being a surprise trip to come see my husband up here for the week. After a seven hour drive we finally arrived yesterday morning around three a.m. We stayed up and I didn't sleep at ALL! So yesterday we went on a walking tour of downtown while my hubby was in his classes at THR University.(He works for Treasure Hunter's Roadshow.) We started out at The Union Station Visitor's Center and got all the info we needed. We left there and went to the Lincoln Memorial Library where they have an excellent civil war exhibit right now called The Boys in Blue. I saw a real picture of some fallen soldiers at The Battle of Corinth. It was gruesome. They also have a sketch exhibit of all of the fallen soldiers that have died from Illinois after Nine Eleven. It brought tears to my eyes to see how many young kids we have lost in the last ten years.The average age of the deaths was around 19.

We left there and ate lunch at Maldaner's restaurant. It was great. The place has been there since 1884. The ambiance is worth the visit with it's metal tile ceiling and low lighting, it could be a great place to take a lunch break or pop the question to your honey. They had an awesome lunch special. We had prime rib with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans for $6.50. The service was awesome. I can't wait to go back. It totally gets a five star rating.

We left there and went to see Abraham Lincoln's house. It was really interesting to see where that great president lived. I actually touched things that he had touched in his life and it actually felt like I was in a piece of history. The houses here are very historical and beautiful.

After we left there we went to place called Robbie's and got a beer to cool of. The setting there was also nice. It reminded me of one of those old mob movies and I expected Bugsy to come walking through the door at any moment.

Last night we ate at the Mexican restaurant next to the hotel called Los Cabreros. The food was ok but the margaritas were what rocked the night. Afterward I finally got a good nights sleep.

This morning me and my friend Alisha set out on a mission to go to the beach at Lake Springfield. Somehow, we got sucked into some kind of Black Hole. I'm not even joking. We were on one road and then we weren't. Then we were on the other side of the lake. Neither of us could figure out how we got to where we were. We found The Lincoln Nature Center on accident and took a hike down the trails. It was very cool. The exception was the swarm of locusts that have invaded the ares for now. I felt like we were onto something of Biblical proportions there for a minute. After we left there we finally found the beach. It was closed. Figures. We turned down one road and realized we were back on the road we started on like we never left it. Alisha and I have come to the conclusion that we were victims of the Route 66 version of the Bermuda Triangle and it just spit us back out where we started.

So far it has been and adventure. Who knows what lies in store the rest of the week or the rest of the day for that matter.