Summer Reading

I am reading Gone With the Wind. I'm really a horrible Southerner for never having read it or having watched the movie! I tried to read Gone With the Wind several years ago, right after my divorce. However, I went through a period of several months during which I couldn't focus enough to read anything because I was so distraught, so I never got past the first few pages. (I finally finished a book- The Secret Garden, which I'd read several times before- 4 or 5 months later.)
Now that I am finally reading Gone With the Wind I am really enjoying it. I can't believe I waited this long to read it- it's wonderful and right up my alley. (My alley being "any books or movies set before 1930 and preferably involving dramatic and beautiful clothes.")
Right now, our neighbors just set off a bunch of loud fireworks, and my dog Bernie went nuts! The cat wasn't too happy either. The worst thing is that the fireworks were just loud- not pretty at all. Lame.
In other news, I had a lovely lunch with my friend Xiujuan. I love going over to her house because I get real Chinese food. So yummy! Her little boy, Tate, is 4, and she is expecting to give birth to her little girl, Ola, in November.
I also got some scary news this evening. Apparently my little brother (he's 24- so not that little, actually) and his friends took my dad's boat out to Horn Island in the gulf for the 4th of July. They were on their way home when a huge storm blew up. They knew they wouldn't be able to make it to land in time, so they had to go back to the island (with waves so tall they were crashing over the boat), anchor the boat, put on life vests, and sit on the empty island until the storm passed! My mom called me because they'd called everyone before they got to the island, but their phones were too wet to use after the storm had passed and so my parents called the coast guard and everything. Fortunately, they made it home safely- but I've been told that they are all very tired! I plan to call my brother tomorrow so I can hear all about it! (And of course, I plan to call him Gilligan for the next several months.) I'm so happy he's safe!