Rainclouds In the Sky With Thunder

Lauren went to see a local comedian with her parents last night and got on late; subsequently, I was up very late with her last night. I didn't get up until 10:30! It was nearly noon before I had my Blueberry Pancakes. I ran the second half of Brunch With the Beatles as I ate. "Summer Of Love: 1967" was the theme today. We mostly heard songs from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, and singles from the era, including "Baby You're a Rich Man," "She's Leaving Home," "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds," "Penny Lane," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "I Am the Walrus," and "All Together Now."

It was past noon when I finally called Mom. I'd switched to the original cast album for Evita by this point. She was fine. My nephew Skylar got his birthday card and the 10 dollars I gave him a few days ago. She said he was thrilled. Now he can buy something he really wants, like a new book about space, or Legos, or a Transformer.

She was less thrilled with all the spending I did yesterday. I really need to make a real budget...but I'm not sure how. It's hard to budget anything when your paycheck differs from week to week. I'm not used to having to budget. I just buy what I need. I just can't buy what I WANT all the time.

I tried to use the formulas she gave me after I got off with her, but I just got confused. I divided my lowest paycheck by my highest paycheck, but the numbers just came out weird. Surely, my budget couldn't be based on 0.3322 or whatever. I really think I need more help to figure this out. I might try finding an easy, free program that helps you work out a simple budget online.

I cooked that salmon from my slog through the icebergs in my freezer for lunch with white wine and mushrooms, along with cucumber salad. The weather had been hot, humid, and windy all morning. I was tired of the air conditioner and how darn stale it was in my apartment. I turned it off, opened the doors, and let that hot breeze blow through as I changed and got ready for work.

Work was busy when I came in at 4. By 6, the crowds had vanished. It was so quiet, I spent the rest of the night putting away returns. I didn't realize why until I happened to peek out the doors of the entrance near the liquor store. The sky was incredibly dark. It felt more like 10PM than 6:30. It didn't look like it had rained at that point, but I later saw people with umbrellas, and one of the college boys did his best to not get wet riding a soaked scooter for elderly customers into the store.

While the thunder I heard earlier had subsided by the time I was done, the rain hadn't. I rode home in a nice, steady shower. I didn't mind getting wet. It felt good, smelled better, and we really, really needed it. The wind and heat had dissipated, though it remained humid. It stormed again about an hour ago; to my knowledge, it's not doing anything but looking damp at press time.