A Snowflake Baby

Alex's mum just told me that on the day she was born, April 1, it snowed. The doctor didn't believe her when she told him it was snowing outside, patting her hand, but it snowed. Her little snowflake.

I think it's a sign.

Winter Song

To follow up from the snow yesterday, the radio played a cover of Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michelson's Winter Song. I very much like theirs better, and Alex put it on the first mix she made me for my birthday, when she was moving so far away across the ocean.

The song with background photage of the making of:

If you just want the song without a bit of commentary (but with random photos):

Happy winter...

For Wednesday - Snow

It snowed in London today. I was sat at a long computer desk upstairs in a high-ceiled, big windowed office in Belsize Park--a beautiful, quiet part of North London--when I looked up and saw the snow lightly falling through the small window, over the rooftops. I spun my chair around to face the wall of windows behind me and watched as the snowflakes fell larger and larger and the wind moved them in swirls to the black pavement. The snow did not stick to the ground, but melted. My heart, though, was floating and I breathed deeply as I smiled...

The first time I saw snowflakes that large before--the size of a quarter or a 50p coin--it was my birthday and I was turning 12. My friends from 6th grade were all arriving via their parents' cars, pulled up in the middle of the road, the snow quickly accumulating on the ground, parked under the yellow street lamp to unload overnight stuff, sleeping bags, pillows and presents. From that year on, it snowed on my birthday every year until I left home. And even then, there has been at least a light dusting on the ground when I've woken, if not more.

Sure, my birthday is in December and the likelyhood of it snowing is greater than say, if I was born in August, and yet, that first year of snow, heavy snow, on my birthday was the first time it'd snowed all season. Like magic.

I was so happy to see it snow yesterday that it could have very well been my birthday yesterday anyway.

Working 9 to 5

I'm volunteering this week at a non-profit org that would be really kick-ass to work for, and I'm volunteering basically 9 to 5 every day this week to get a feel for the place. Let me tell you, I'm already exhausted. I don't know how people do it--9 to 5, trying to make a living--but graduation is coming soon and I think I need a little more Dolly Parton in my life to easy the road.

For Monday -- Reading a Picturebook

Last night I read one of my new favorite picturebooks to Alex and our friend, J: Queen Munch and Queen Nibble. It went fantastically well, seeing as we're all in our mid-twenties, huddled around in our friends apartment. Their reactions were wonderful, and I also enjoyed the storytelling. It takes multiple readings and the accumulation of time to get the voices down just so. At a few points in the stories, the voices started to take shape: a little husky and boisterous for Queen Munch, hushed and a bit uptight for Queen Nibble, proud for the Important Reader, casual and laidback for Goodnurse Scrubadub. More readings are needed, but they are on their way.

Customer Service

I am really good at my job. Tonight I took deep breaths to take in the acknowledgement I was receiving from my boss: customers comment on how great I am, even when I'm not there. It's good to know I'm good.

Now if I could remember it.