Five things on Friday

1. I'm tempted to go to one of the Harry Potter midnight release parties even though I'm not buying the book at this time (still haven't finished books 4, 5, & 6!), just because it's such a cultural phenomenon and the whole release party thing will be over after tonight. But I'm not really going since the rest of the family wasn't interested.
   
   
2. My 5-month-old baby is crawling! More like a combination crawl-wriggle-frog flop, but wow, can he get around. We're not prepared for his mobility!
   
   
3. There's nothing to make a nearly-40-year-old feel old like joining Facebook. I'm the only person from my high school class, and out of 63,000+ people from my university, only 29 are from my graduation year. Still, it's worth it if only for the application that allows me to send my husband whatever song happens to pop into my head.
   
   
4. I'm no cook...I can even mess up Hamburger Helper. But lately I've been obsessively watching Top Chef and The Next Food Network Star, and today we checked out a few books on cooking from the library. I think I have at the least decided to be a less picky eater--to experiment with flavors and textures I would usually avoid.
   
   
5. After we toured a cave last week, which intrigued my nearly-9-year-old son, it occurred to me to suggest that he read Jeanne duPrau's novel The City of Ember, which takes place in a world of near-darkness. He finished it today, after 3 days of reading, and loved it! I was so excited about this because I think it's the first book I bought mainly for myself to read (3 years ago) and enjoyed reading myself, that I was able to share with him. It's so neat to share books with my child! Next I have to read Joni Sensel's Reality Leak, which I also bought for myself recently, but which he got to first and also loved! He's eagerly waiting for me to read it and discuss it with him. He won't agree to read much lately that isn't a Star Wars book...so finding these points of common interest has been heartening.