The last of the in-laws left today and peace and quiet once again reigns in my house...

...that was totally sarcastic. The only peaceful times in my house are the deep, dark depths of night when the four noise machines are fast asleep (thank God, yes, they do sleep well). The embarrassing truth of it is, the moment my husband pulled out of the drive to take my mother-in-law to the airport, I turned to the boys and said gleefully, "Yes! Now we can be lazy again!" We're usually busy, but we're not usually clean and busy. The added pressure of keeping everything picked up and put away while being busy was some stressful work, I tell you.

But anyway, old favorites. We all have movies or books that we love, that we go back to time and time again, and that just holding them in our hands makes us smile. For me, my favorite book, and an all time favorite to read at least once a year, is The Lord of the Rings. A while back I bought a trilogy volume. Over the years, I've lost the dust jacket, the bindings come loose and the spine has ripped and yet I am once again embarking on my Middle Earth venture and revisiting the Shire and Frodo, along with Aragorn and the rest of the Fellowship as they battle the ultimate evil upon them.

Rereading Tolkien always makes me wonder, why haven't there been stories of this caliber since? Why isn't there a serious contender to be cherished along with my trilogy?

The good news is that there is a surprising contender in recent years, one Harry Potter. As we approach the release date of the fifth movie and the seventh and final book, I'm praying I can escape being unwittingly spoiled (as I had been for book six), and at the same time, feeling very ambivalient about the possible deaths to come.

For the first time in the last three films, we will not go on opening day for Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix. The crowds at Goblet of Fire and the lady with the fussy kids and husband with a big hat sitting right in front of me, yes, thank you SO much for blocking half the screen, have enured me into accepting that 'tis better to wait than go home bitching. I've got book 7 on order from Amazon and am desperately battling the urge to go at midnight and pick up a second copy, because after all, the spousal unit is waiting to read it too. So really, it's not technically a waste, right?

And then there's the realization that the Harry Potter journey is on the brink of an end, and though we have two films left to go, we all know the saying: all good things must end.

What will be the next favorite and how long of a wait will it be before something as wonderfully engaging and enjoyable as The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter comes along again?

Now, I'm off to watch Dr. Who! Last night season 3 premiered on sci-fi in the US and we had a get together with friends, so two episodes are napping on my TiVo, just waiting for me. My kids perserved through the noise of many adults to watch it and they enthusiastically said both episodes were fantastic.

Quote of the Day: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step into the road and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.

~JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring