A ministry guest who was here in April brought us a Costco-sized box of Cheerios. I just had a bowlful -- with bananas -- and felt compelled to blog. Joy truly does come from the little things.

It's ironic when I think about it. Growing up, my mom wouldn't allow us to have sugar cereals. Kix was as far out there as she'd let us go. Cheerios was a staple in our house, and although I enjoyed it I also disliked it because it was unsweet and boring. (I can recall that whenever I slept over a friend's house, I would devour as much Lucky Charms and Fruit Loops as I possibly could, feeling so deprived at home!) Now that I'm thousands of miles from home, able to purchase all the sugar cereals I want, I miss the good ol' basics like Cheerios and Kix. We brought back a box of Kix from Germany last October (as we got to shop on the American military base) and received the Cheerios in April. It's a good cereal year!

Dave has seasons 1-3 of The West Wing on DVD; last night we watched the finale of season 2. It's taken us--Niel, Dave, Rebecca, and I--a year (or maybe a year-and-a-half?) to get through the first two seasons. I have really been enjoying them; the writing is unbelievably riveting. I recall watching the show back in 1999/2000 during the short times I was in the States. My older brother Mike was an avid fan; I only watched the occasional episode with him. I remember struggling to keep up with fast-paced dialogue; now that's one of my favorite aspects of the show. I'm looking forward to starting season 3. Good times.

It's 66 degrees today; the air is still pretty cold, but it's nowhere near as cold as it was last week. Rejoice. Rejoice. Again I say, rejoice.