The Professor teaches until late tonight. With time on my hands and no idea how to celebrate, I took myself to Borders Books, where I spent my 25% off one item, not-to-be-combined-with-any-other-discount-or-offer, not-valid-for-electronics-or-DVD-sets birthday coupon on Orson Scott Card's latest book of short stories. I also got a book on reading cat body language and a drastically reduced copy of Odd Thomas, which I've been meaning to read for a while now. Dinner consisted of a turkey and muenster on a flakey roll thing and an ice-brewed ice coffee. I watched the thunderstorms rolling in through the plate glass windows in the front of the store while I read my presents and ate my celebration dinner. The lightning qualified as truly amazing. It was like watching the clouds play hot-potato with burning tree branches.
After I finished eating, I figured that rather than lollygag about the store I'd best be off before the storm actually hit. I got as far as three feet out the store's front door when the deluge hit. I high-tailed it back to the store, bought another ice-brewed ice coffee and got an iced scone for dessert.
After half-hour, the storm stopped. The heat of the day (it topped out at nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit) lingered in the pavement, and minutes after the storm the parking lot was largely dry. Lightning continued to play cloud-to-cloud tag while I drove home. It was difficult to keep my eyes on the road.
Now itâs just me and the cats and way too much caffeine roiling about in my veins. Sleep is over-rated anyhow.