Songbird

This weekend, our daughter blessed us with one of the most beautiful gifts I've ever received.  I've been listening to the muffled beauty of her voice behind her bedroom door, and the bathroom doors for years.  I've been wanting to hear her really sing for a while now, but I recently stopped pressuring her about it.  Interestingly enough, when Dishon and I were trying to have children, we went through a similar experience - over two years of trying, and then as soon as we stopped worrying about it, there she was :).

On Saturday night, she decided to record herself singing Payphone by Maroon 5 (clean version ;).  She sounds so beautiful! I listened to the original, and I love how she put her own flavor into the song. I wish there was a way for me to upload it to the blog so you could hear it, too.  Maybe I can convince her to let me record her on video so I can upload it.  We'll see.  She's still terribly shy about singing in front of anyone . . . even us, and that's okay.  I've been playing it ever since, and just smiling and smiling.

That's the thing about songbirds, I guess.  If you see a beautiful bird sitting in a tree singing carelessly, sounding so pretty, and you chase after it trying to get a closer listen, the bird will fly away.  If you just go with the flow, however, and listen from a distance, letting the songbird have the space to just be, you end up getting to enjoy it more than you would if you chased after it.  Who knows?  The songbird might just come and rest on your shoulder, and sing into your ear.  Interesting life lesson . . .

Zipcar

 Good morning, all.  I had such a fun experience yesterday using Zipcar for the first time.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Zipcar, it's a way to share cars instead of having to rent them or drive your own car (kind of like Hubway is for bike sharing).  Zipcars are parked right across the street from the courthouse, so once I was added to my organization's account, all I had to do was reserve the car for the time period I wanted, and I was all set.  Since I don't drive in to work, it's a much better way for me to get around to the schools.


I reserved the Cooper Mini pictured here (I loved the new car smell!), and it was SO fun to drive, once I figured out how to turn the car on.  There's a sensor in the car window, so you scan your zipcard, and the doors unlock. That's also how you lock the car.  There is a key fob in the car that you insert into the fob outlet to turn the car on, press start, the engine comes on, and you're off.  What's really cool is that there's a gas card left in the car so the cost of gas is already included in the membership.  There's also a parking card left in the car, too, so you just scan in and out of the lot where the car is stored.

The car is already configured to connect to your smartphone, so I was pumping my own music through the iPod in my iPhone on my way back to the office.  I couldn't figure out how to open the windows, and I was running late after taking so long to figure out how to turn the car on, so I had to open the car doors to scan in and out of the lot.  Once I parked, I read the manual, and below you'll see why I was confused.  All the controls for locking/unlocking the car doors and opening/closing the windows are below the radio.  I'm all set now, and I plan to reserve this same car as often as possible, because it's so cute, and I put so much work into figuring it out!  If you have a chance to use Zipcar, I highly recommend it.

Coming Attractions

Hello, family.  I'm reviewing Joe Bunting's book, Let's Write a Short Story, and along with Tayari Jones' blog (she's the author of Silver Sparrow - a book I recently listened to on audiobook, and loved . . . ), this book is inspiring me to write regularly, and stop waiting for the perfect moment to revise, create, etc.  There is no perfect moment.  There's only right now.  I look forward to sharing more about it with you . . .

A Brooklyn Girl Discovers the Farmer's Market

I can't lie.  As much as I'm delighted about Serena and Cairo's wonderful experience in gymnastics camp this summer, I am not mad that tomorrow's my last day driving to Stoughton to pick them up after work.  I am usually pretty bushed by the end of the day, so it's been hard having a two hour commute home from work.  Next week, the kids will be at New Heights Camp with Dishon, and I'll get to come directly home.  I almost don't know what to do with myself!  The week after that, they'll be at the recreation camp in town and they'll be coming home with our friend's daughter and son (this same daughter who will be caring for them after school, which I'm so psyched about).  That means I'll get to go straight home.  Woo hoo!! They go back to school on August 29th, which will be here before we know it.  

The Randolph part of my morning commute has been a little challenging.  While I'm so happy that Randolph received funding to improve and beautify the town, I am not pleased with what it's doing to traffic.  And why they seem to want to work on the streets during the height of rush hour is beyond me.  Aside from that, though, my commute has been pretty beautiful.  I've been driving through the Blue Hills on my way to pick the kids up, and past Houghton's Pond . . . and on Thursdays until Columbus Day, there's a fabulous Farmer's Market at the T-station where I park every day.  I noticed it a couple of times before, and I finally stopped there today.  I bought some fresh peaches and corn, some home made salmon cakes, and I was given a free nectarine!  Next Thursday, I'm definitely going to pick up some more fruit and vegetables, maybe a homemade ceramic mug, and I'm definitely getting a lobster.  I'm feeling the Farmer's Market, yall. 

Elementary Transportation Dilemma and My Own Walk Home

Serena and Cairo's school is about two miles away from where we live.  Picking the kids up wasn't an issue last year when I worked in Randolph, but now that Dishon and I both work in Boston, it has now become a challenge.  Thankfully, there's another parent who's willing to drive them home every day,  where a wonderful teenager will be waiting to care for them, but she will only be able to drive them until Thanksgiving.  I've asked several other parents if they can transport the kids for us, but they mostly live in North Randolph, and have after school activities to do with their own children.  So I was stumped. . . until I remembered how I got home from school every day when I was their age.

Background: I started first grade when I was five, so I was only eight in fourth grade, and nine in fifth grade.  I only rode the bus in first, and maybe second grade.  After that, I walked to and from school every day, and it was a nine block walk.  I walked in the warm weather and in rain, cold, and snow.  I sometimes had friends who would come to meet me at my house, and we'd walk together, and pick other kids up for school on the way.

I was ten in sixth grade, and I continued to walk to junior high school, which was 17 blocks away.  On days that were too cold, snowy, or rainy, I would take the B12 bus home.  Sometimes with friends, and sometimes alone.  Sometimes we'd take the longer route home, and walk through the Kings County Hospital parking lot.  Sometimes we'd stop at the pizza shop and get a slice and a grape soda.  My favorite times were when we'd go to Downstate Medical Center, and we'd go play video games in the student center.

So, all that to say that now that Serena and Cairo are nine and ten, they just might be able to walk the few blocks to the city bus, and take the 10 minute ride to our house.  We don't have to feel stuck.  I just have to go through another level of letting go . . .