I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I took a Greyhound bus up to Seattle Wednesday afternoon and had Thanksgiving yesterday with my Uncle Kim and Aunt Michelle, my little cousin Marika, Grandmom, Mrs. Osborne, Merri Ann, Uncle Wick and Aunt Margie, Anne and her husband Robert, his son Sam and their son Jackson. Kim and Michelle hosted the feast, and we had all sorts of delicious food, including an apple pie made with Margie’s own apples and hand-whipped whipped cream. After dinner, I played with Marika and Jackson — they chased me, tackled me, and climbed on my head until I had to forcibly remove them (literally) from my back! That morning had been spent running around Green Lake and jumping in the leaves at the Aurboretum with Kim and Marika. The day wasn’t all fun and games, of course — my hosts put me to work around the house, cleaning up Marika’s toys and raking out front. For some reason I always end up doing housework when I stay at their house… it makes me feel all grown up and responsible-like. :)

Wednesday night I met Zarth Gosvoda. Isn’t that the coolest name ever? He is the son of Mr. Osborne’s second wife, Julianne (yes, my family is huge and complicated). Zarth, coincidentally, majored in Linguistics and studied Russian! He’s a very interesting person to talk with, and it felt awesome to be able to discuss Linguistics and help him explain things like ergative languages and case-markings to my aunt and uncle.

Ooh, one more thing: Harry Potter is excellent! Yes, they finally made a good Harry Potter movie. Although I was initially annoyed with a few casting choices (namely Mad-Eye Moody), the acting, pacing, and style of the finished product more than made up for them. In fact, I think I liked it more than the book! With ample hints and elements of foreboding, Voldemort’s appearance is less abrupt and more creepy. The plot is thinned down quite a bit, but removing a lot of extraneous material (*cough* Winky *cough*) lends the movie a focus and coherency lacking in the previous films. Essentially, I went into this movie expecting it to fail miserably, and I left the theater speechlessly pleased. (Plus they showed a new Chronicles of Narnia trailer — chills, I tell you, chills.)