My early birthday present from Zann arrived today. I am thrilled. She always knows just how to cheer a girl up. Blue chocolate with my name written all over it. After all these years, she still puts up with me. She's the best

This time next week, I will be in Florida with my family. I cannot wait.

Today's festivities included apartment searching. A few of my roommates and I have decided that it is time to put the hassle of realtors and our imbecile landlords to pasture and find a new place to flush our money down the toilet each month. We looked at two places today. One place was here in our Clinton Hill neighborhood; a beautiful 3 bedroom apartment with a backyard, a giant living room, as well as a nice kitchen. I could stand for the two small bedrooms to be a bit larger but the main problem is that there's a brokers fee which is way too high for our tastes. The second place we looked at wasn't even worth the trip, much less discussing here.

There are several more prospective places to look at and we will get around to that in the next few days. In an ideal world we would find a new place by October 1st. We'll see what happens.

For those of you who are addicted to Pogo like I am, you might want to check out the game Shapeshifters. Remember the game called Perfection, where you have to put all the odd shaped pieces in the game before time runs out and the shapes go flying? Well this is a sophisticated online version. It will be the end of me.

Woohoo! Florida one week from today. Here I come.

Different, yet the same. This picture reminds me of times so many years ago. My mother called me today, and as I answered the phone I hear her yell "Listen to this!" She wanted me to hear the rain pounding the porch roof from 1000 miles away.

At least once every summer a freak rainstorm occurs in our part of the country that makes you contemplate calling up Noah and asking him to fax over his blueprints. Apparently, today was the day for said storm.

The strikingly handsome young man standing in our backyard is none other than my little brother. I knew my dad would be sending these pics, and my imagination ran off and led me back to all those summers when the rain would come but the thunder and lightning were on vacation. Mom would let my siblings and I run about in the backyard. Aside from running about like children who had never seen rain, we would attempt to dig holes fast enough so that the rain would not fill them (which never worked.) My brother loved to take out his fishing pole and practice casting in the yard.

When the picture arrived this afternoon and I saw my twenty-year-old bigger-than-me little brother standing in a puddle six inches deep, I was shocked. I'm not sure what I was expecting. Possibly a picture of us as children splashing in the puddles, but definitely not an adult. I suppose in my mind my parents will always be young, and my brother, sister, and I will always be small children. That is where I am happiest, and that is where I wish to stay.

This picture, taken by my father, is cute in so many ways I cannot count. Not only are the two most adorable boys on the planet in the picture, but there is wildlife as well! And we all know when you combine adorable boys, and puppies, there are many "awwwwww"'s to be had. Just look at the little one kissing the puppy! And what about the cow investigating the little crawling, whining creature as well.