Ta-da! My lovely new layout designed by the fabulous Sally. Liv is so gorgeous, I could look at her for hours. Not that I'd ever do that... Ashley always says that I am "Liv-like," and I must say that is one of the nicest compliments I've ever gotten. Ooh, and she's so badass in this scene of the movie... "If you want him, come and claim him!" Yesss.

Since my last entry, I have somehow contracted strep throat. I woke up Friday morning with a sore throat, but I didn't think it was anything serious. That same day Lauren and I went to the beach and had a lovely time, which I'm sure didn't help with the fact that I was (unknowingly) coming down with strep. I got heat rash again (nothing bad, just a few bumps here and there from being in the sun too long), and by the time I got home my throat was much worse.

When I woke up Saturday morning (after a restless night) I felt very sickly. Each time I swallowed I made this agonizing moaning sound because I couldn't take it. The best way I can describe it is to say it was as if I were trying to swallow a tennis ball covered in sand paper (or something like that). I was literally in tears it hurt so bad. The weird thing about it was that the pain was only on the left side of my throat.

I called Target to tell them I wasn't going to be able to make it to work because I was v. v. ill, then Momma took me to the doctor (I still haven't gotten to that stage where I can go to the doctor alone). My doctor swabbed my throat and informed us that I had strep, and then she took a closer look. She said that my left tonsil was extremely inflamed, and it had a puss pocket on it. Ew ew ew. She said that it was so swollen that it was covering part of the opening to my throat, and that was why it was so hard (and painful) for me to swallow. Yikes. She prescribed Amoxil 875 mg, and sent me on my way.

Of course I went to the Target Pharmacy to fill my Rx. I told Tasha that I had strep, and she gave me strict orders not to come back to work until Wednesday. Sweeeeet! Heh heh, that's the upside to being sick. The funny thing is, I probably caught the germ from someone who came to the pharmacy to fill a Rx. Hahaha.

Momma and I went to Blockbuster and got a few movies to entertain me while I was quarantined. We rented The Four Feathers, The Pianist, Tuck Everlasting and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I haven't watched The Four Feathers yet, but I'm sure it'll be good. Anything with Heath Ledger is worth watching. Heh heh.

The first movie I watched was My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Oh my good heavens, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. It was hilarious (I've already watched it three times!). I don't know why I waited so long to see that movie. Any of you who haven't seen it yet, go rent it right now. You will laugh your ass off. Some of my favorite quotes...

• "At Greek School I learned valuable lessons, like if Nick has one goat, and Maria has nine, how soon will they marry?"

• "My cousins have two volumes: loud, and louder."

• "The man is the head, but the woman is the neck, and she can turn the head any way she wants."

I watched The Pianist this morning, and it was amazing. Quite depressing, but it was a great movie. I really had no idea what it was going to be about, besides a guy who liked to play piano. Turns out this pianist fellow was a Jew who gets separated from his family during the Holocaust, and somehow manages to escape death on many occasions. Sorry to spoil the movie for any of you who haven't seen it, but he survives the Holocaust and becomes a famous pianist. The best part about it: true story.

Today around 5:00 p.m. Momma and I went to Borders. I needed to get out of the house, but I didn't really feel like doing anything, so we figured we'd chill at Borders a while and read. Momma looked through a few Yoga books (she is going to start taking classes to get certified as a teacher soon) and I got a bunch of random magazines. I looked through Gothic Beauty for a while, and showed my mom all the pictures. Heh heh. It kind of made me wish I was gothic. Maybe I'll just dress up in black and wear tons of dark makeup for Halloween this year to satisfy that craving.

I found a magazine called Movie Magic that featured a zillion things about Harry Potter. There is an article with behind the scenes shots from The Prizoner of Azkaban which got me all jumpy. There was also an article on The Order of the Phoenix (five more days!) that had tons of spoilers told by J.K. Rowling. They included (but were not limited to):

• Readers will find out a lot more about Professor Snape.

• Apparently J.K. Rowling has changed her views from an earlier time when she said that readers wouldn't find out why people become ghosts when they die until the seventh Harry Potter novel. The answer is reportedly in this one.

• The novel will feature the death of a character; a death Rowling claims to have "dreaded" writing.

• "I want Harry Potter and his friends to grow up as well as older, though I'll keep it all humorous, well within the tone of the books. I want them eventually to be truly 17 and discover girlfriends and boyfriends and have sexual feelings - nothing too gritty. Why not allow them those feelings?"

Ooh, I can't wait! I have a copy of OOTP pre-ordered at Borders, and I'm really excited about going to get it because they are staying open extra late on the 20th so the die hard fans (like me, heh heh) can pick up their copy right as the clock strikes midnight! They are having Harry Potter games and prizes and such for little kids, which I think is really cute and sweet. I'm making Cookie go with me that night to join in the festivities. Hehehe. Did I mention how excited I am about this book?

In my Movie Magic magazine there were also a lot of LOTR articles, one of which was about ROTK! ::squee:: It included quotes from Peter Jackson as well as some of the actors, and they all said that it is the best movie out of the three, and very emotional. PJ also talked about his plans following the release of ROTK: "One possibility would be an adaptation of the Rings prequel The Hobbit..." Wouldn't that be awesome if it actually happens! Hehehe, this magazine has me much too excited.

I'm gonna go watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding again. Peace!