Move along, no spoilers here

I pre-ordered the latest Harry Potter from Amazon way back in the late winter/early spring…Midnight is too far past my bedtime these days, and given how hectic our weekends are I didn’t want to take the chance we wouldn’t be near a bookstore either.

Is there anything more delicious than an opened, long anticipated, nice fat book? I’m sure there are some things, but I love reading. I have since I was a little kid. I can remember all the nights during the summer when I’d have my nose in a book, tucked into bed with just the light on the table next to me and the cat for company, and coming up for air to realize that it was almost 2 in the morning? Or the long, lazy afternoons floating in the pool with a book (I never dropped one in, but did get lots of water spots on them in those days).

Unfortunately those days are long past – now jobs, and family and everyday obligations take up much of the time that was spent reading in the past. Last week on vacation, however, I was reading a couple books that I stayed up to keep reading long after D and C were in bed (don’t ask about the sleeping arrangements in the “cottage” we rented. It was almost comical). It also made getting up early a bit hairy, but I managed (although I did fall back asleep on the couch one morning after C got up extra early and came in to wake me up).

And on this past Saturday, when we got home, the mailman dropped off all our mail for the past week, and the Harry Potter! I didn’t immediately dive in, wanting to savor the anticipation for a little bit. But I couldn’t hold out that long, and started reading after dinner. I wasn’t able to spend all night reading, and put it down a little before the half way mark Saturday night. Sunday was spent at my dad’s, in the pool (so Harry has some of the waterspots too!) and I finally finished Sunday night before bed.

It wasn’t the same as when I was younger, but for now, it’s enough.

PS. For those enquiring minds – the books on vacation that kept me up were: My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult (excellent! The ending was not predictable at all), and White Hot by Sandra Brown.