One of the things I'm most grateful for in my life is my brother.  We've always had a great relationship (probably because we did a lot of camping and making real forts in the forest together when we were kids...), but since my mom died I've noticed that our relationship has changed.  I've seen my brother a ton since October and I couldn't be more thrilled.  He's a lot of fun, and it's nice to spend time with someone who knows what you're going through.  And we've been through a lot together.

I was so happy this week when my bro took the initiative to come up with a fun day for just the two of us.  I met him for coffee and the crossword puzzle this morning (well, him and his two crossword friends), then we went to downtown Tempe for kayaking on Tempe Town Lake (boo for stupid kayak people who don't open on time!  this portion of our day got scrubbed), shopping at Borders (40% closing sale!!  WOOT!), then beer and junk food at Hooters.  Yeah, that last part of the day was for him.

My brother is such an adult all of a sudden.  He's so independent and has a great group of friends who are his other family.  I'm so glad that he's decided I'm cool enough to be one of his friends too, and he's one of my best friends....