Let me tell you about October twenty-first...

The twenty-first was my birthday. Now, I usually love my birthday. I love the well-wishes, I love the attention and I do very much love presents.

That morning, I woke up cranky. Was it because I was uneasy about being twenty-four? Did I sleep on the wrong side of the bed? Did I have a bad dream?

My roomate gave me a lovely present first thing in the morning. It's a bracelet made by a self-identified gypsy from Nova Scotia. I personally had no idea that there were gypsies in my home province. But there you go! There are. It is made up of a mixture of beads and buttons. I love buttons and have been wearing the bracelet constantly. I was still cranky though.

At school, everyone wished me happy birthday multiple times. I received multitudes of well-wishes on my facebook. I was brought to the front of the class and wore a birthday crown while they sang to me. This was all probably a bigger deal than was made about my birthday then when I was in grade three, and it was all very sweet. My friend Lindsay bought me a hot chocolate (it was delicious). Still, somehow I managed to be cranky through all of this.

Getting home from school that day was pretty miserable. It started snowing and was very, very cold. It was not a pretty, peaceful first snow. It was nasty, and I was not dressed for it.

When I got home, there was a card waiting for me, and a parcel notice. The card was from Alie, a best-friend of mine in England. After reading the perfect card I piled on layers (couldn't find my mittens!) and trekked outside in search of the post-office. I found it, got my parcel (which was huge and light) and trekked back to the house. The parcel was also from Alie and was a bright green giant pillow with a smiley face and tentacles. There was also a message from her on my phone that brought a smile to my face. Later that night, my parents called and we had a lovely conversation. A few days earlier I had gotten a parcel from them with two home-made pottery mugs in my favourite colour and by my favourite potter. New treasures to be filled with tea and coffee.

So, finally, near the very of the night I let myself be happy. I had been slathered in love and kindness all day, and it finally cracked my shell of a bad mood. Twenty-four is not as bad as I thought it was going to be.