I spent way too much money today. I bought a set of three Littlest Pet Shop animals (the birth of another collection--fear!), and then we went out for Chinese, and then I went to Salvation Army and found myself two pairs of jeans (all mine are too big, for some reason, and it's kind of embarrassing) and a very nice suit. Unfortunately, to be able to wear the very nice suit comfortably, I need to lose a little weight . . . but it does fit. The skirt's just a little tight. Anyway, I could really use to drop about five pounds. (If I wanted it badly enough, I'd actually exercise, but . . . between laziness, joint pain and asthma, it's hard to get up the urge.)

I've been doing some reading, since my Internet time is a lot more limited now that I'm home. I just reread HP6, for the first time since that frantic 8-hour scramble on release day. It was very good the second time through, and it was extremely enjoyable to take it at a more leisurely pace. I still got all excited or angry or choked up at all the right parts. And my impatience for (and speculation about) the next book has been refueled.

Now I'm breaking into my Ender books again. I'm started with Speaker for the Dead--this'll be the first time I've ever launched into the Speaker trilogy without first reader Ender's Game, but . . . I felt like it. Anyway, as far as that goes, I want to say that I love Novinha's children. All of them . . . but I've had a soft spot for Quara pretty much since I read it the first time. Not entirely sure why.

The bird's still coughing and it's still adorable. I'm still coughing too, and that's not nearly as cute.