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Had a big storm last night - all kinds of wind blowing the rain all over the place. I love going out into the yard the morning after a storm like that...the sun is just rising, burning a mist off of the ground, and the branches of trees are lying about in a mildly post-armageddon-ic fashion. The best was after Hurricane Gaston, which actually brought down trees, washed away huge portions of the road and left things in a surreal state that was enjoyable to traverse at 6 am. My sister and I both awoke to find ourselves relieved from duty at our respective schools, so we took a walk to see all the new landscapes God had wrought during the previous evening. If a sunset is God's painting, the aftermath of a storm is God's sculpture.

I still enjoy a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch in the morning - thanks to my mom's restrictions on such sugary cereal as I grew up, I never got tired of it. I also learned to absolutely love Raisin Nut Bran, even more than all the exciting cereals that are out there. But long live the tradition of a Birthday Cereal - wherein we got to pick one cereal to eat on our birthday, ignoring all typical restrictions. Oh the memories. Did you know there used to be a "Nintendo Cereal System"? Two cereals for the price of one - two narrow bags that fit in a regular sized cereal box. One was Mario shapes, the other was Zelda shapes. Greatness in a box.

My brother and I are spending a lot less time together recently - not only because he has a girlfriend, but because she lives far north, and so visiting her takes a lot of his time. Often it's more worthwhile for him to spend the night at her place (in an apartment out in the garage, with her parents firmly ensconced between him and any hint of scandal, so don't worry dear Christian readers) than to come home for the night. That makes our upcoming trip to eat dinner at her house tomorrow night all the more refreshing, as a chance to see him without taking him away from her. Plus she and her family are fabulous - they all go to my church and I was good friends with her before she hooked up with him. In fact, I told him that if she were five years older, he'd've never had a chance with her, because I would've snatched her up first - she's that fabulous. And yet, they are young and there is nothing their idealism can do to change that fact. Mistakes will be made. Probably have been made. But that's why they have parents. And me...but I try to limit my role because that sort of thing would be most not appreciated. And I totally understand that.

Knee surgery in 10 days. Monday, July 18th. In the intervening time, I will be: Going to laptop training at school (Mon/Tues Jul.11/12), getting the results of my pre-op blood tests (Wed. Jul. 13), going to the "packing party" at which I will say farewell to my dear brothers and sisters from church as they head to Belize for our yearly missions trip, and quite likely shed a tear that I will not be joining them for the first time since we began the trips four years ago (Thurs. Jul. 14), Flying to Vermont for a wedding - hooray Amy Bowers and Ernie Mathews! (Fri. Jul. 15), attending the second blissful nuptuals of college best buds in less than a month (Sat. Jul. 16) and flying home (Sun. Jul. 17). So you see I've got quite a full schedule. But I bet I can squeeze in some time to hang out with friends and watch movies.

That reminds me, I've got to sign up for Netflix before my surgery so that when I am in bed for the subsequent two weeks, I will have something to do. And Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince comes out while I am in Vermont - I've got to figure out how to get ahold of that before my surgery so I can read it, too - I'm racing Megan Davis to the end of the book and I will not be slowed down by such things as time, space, and surgery! Vengeance will be mine!