The Frailties of Youth Revisited.

I was not, at all, a rebellious teenager. The worst vice I could claim to the age of 18 (other than the very occasional diet coke) was staying up into the wee hours of the morning reading books. This made getting through the following day's regimen of chemistry lectures, english homework, and trig equations somewhat problematic -- especially considering I thought school in general was about as useful as a third nipple.

I grew up. I went back to college for a second time and found that I had hitherto untapped brains, ones that allowed me to.. like.. take notes, and study for exams, and.. read the assigned material. I know - what's your superpower?

Last night, however, I revisited those days of yore. At approximately 6pm on Sunday evening, I discovered that by not checking the mail box on Saturday I had left my copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" in the box for an entire day. 24 whole hours! Wasted!! I resolved to remedy this situation as quickly as possible and, as of about 7pm, I was earnestly engrossed in the pages of this cultural phenom.

Every few chapters I would glance at the clock, marking the minutes that had ticked by. When the big and little hands rolled around to the 12 and I was 3/4 of the way through the book, I gave up trying to put it down and get to bed and surrendered to the superior might of the book. My will was weak, my flesh was willing, and when I finally looked up with a sigh from the final lines, it was 3am.

My husband is exasperated, to say the least, with my total lack of adult control.

Then again, by finishing the book in roughly 7.5 hours? I have cleared the way for him to begin reading it immediately. So he's pretending not to notice that I'm swatting at imaginary insects and wearing a matching set of luggage below my eyelids.

When HE is the one seeing fnords and carrying on conversations with the coat rack? I'll turn a blind eye, too. Because I love him, and because I've totally been there.

The book? It should come with an FDA warning label. S'all I'm sayin'.