Officially Geeks

Please don't judge me, but Grant and I went to a midnight showing of Harry Potter 7 the night it came out. We started listening to the audio books back in March as a road trip diversion, and I got hooked (nope, this English major/secondary ed teacher had never read Harry Potter before!). I finished book 7 the day of the movie, and, as geeky as it may make us, we were SO excited to see the movie! Grant got free tickets from a radio station, my sister-in-law came and stayed the night with Eliot, and we, along with all the college kids and other Harry Potter "freaks," waited in line for hours. We may or may not have felt a wee bit out of place, seeing as we weren't in full-fledged costumes (I did bring a pair of oversized glasses and forced Grant to take pictures), and we were among some of the only parents there without children. A little silly, but worth it. We loved the flick, even with the unnecessary and "controversial" scenes (wow, Utah can blow things out of proportion ... the added scenes were laughably lame). The miracle of it all, considering I usually fall asleep on anything we watch at home, even if we start it early, was that I stayed awake for the entire thing (might have had something to do with the giant Coke I drank). I'm just glad I have a husband that doesn't mind being a nerd with me ...

Here's what I learned from my first-ever midnight showing experience:

• Bring food -- pizza, snacks, whatever. Even if you ate dinner and plan on getting popcorn and drinks to stay awake, it will be torture smelling everyone else's food and not having something of your own to munch on.
• Bring more than one card game.
• Tell the single guy who asks if he can sit in the lone empty seat at the end of your row that it's actually taken, even if it's not. His commentary throughout the entire show will sour your experience that you stayed up all night for.
• Don't go for the popcorn refill, as tasty as that first one was. The rumbling in your tummy in the wee hours of the morning when the movie lets out just won't be worth it.
• Be prepared for lots of movie-goers in costumes, many of which you will not recognize from the books or understand. Just go with it.
• The catnap in line worked like a charm. Next time, though, bring a more comfy purse to use as your pillow.