Today the sun is shining & all is right with my world. Yay for two happy days in a row! We have a house, will sign the lease soon. Everybody will have their own bathroom, and my brother will be able to get out of our parent's house & get a bit of a new start. The dog will have a yard to sniff around in, and there will be high-speed internet! Goodbye, evil dial-up.

Yesterday I started reading Little, Big by John Crowley. I've seen lots of raves for it & had it recommended by a friend whose opinion I trust, but haven't read it before. I tried once in high school, but drifted away. Also I remember being slowed down by having to look up more words than I was used to. I wasn't aware my vocabulary had increased that much since high school, but apparently it has, because so far I haven't come across anything I can't figure out. Odd ...

A few months ago, one of our friends started a book club because she was frustrated with the one she had been in, and our last meeting on Sunday was a lot of fun. Excellent discussion, over both the book (The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana) and some tangential issues raised by the style it was written in. On the way home, Jason & I debated a couple of things that had gotten passed over in the general group discussion. My brain felt all exercised and happy, which got me all ambitious at work the next day - I picked out several exciting, thought-provoking looking books to read next (I work in a bookstore, so I can check out the new books). This book club has been a lot of fun - reminded me of the joys of reading a book with my thinking-hat on instead of just for relaxation or entertainment. Ah, brain-usingness - I forgot how much fun you can be!