Spring is in the air

Ah, yes. Spring. That lovely time of year. And you know how you can tell spring has arrived in fair Ottawa? Half the streets in the bloody city are already torn up with construction. That didn't take long.

However, I'm not complaining, as we've been enjoying absolutely gorgeous weather this week. This is exactly the time of year I love, when you can sleep with the windows open, but still snuggle under the covers. When you still need a jacket, but you don't necessarily have to do it up. The snow is finally (almost) gone, the green things are starting to bloom again, and everywhere you look you see signs of the world coming back to life. It's been a long winter this year and I'm really enjoying this glimpse of spring.

I have a busy weekend coming up -- a performance at a local retirement home with one of my choirs Saturday afternoon, then a girls' night at my friend H's house (always a great time, we get together, eat too much food, have a few drinks, play board games and gossip). Sunday I have a sectional rehearsal for my other choir, then Serdic and I are accompanying my friend Pixie (as Serdic dubbed her several months ago) to the NAC to hear Gordon Lightfoot perform. It's not every day you get a chance to hear a living Canadian legend sing. I'm very excited about it.

Tonight Serdic and I are meeting downtown after work to fulfill our Flat Stanley duties. I agreed to do a Flat Stanley adventure for a little girl in my mom's class. I'm an old hand at the Flat Stanley thing, as I had a visit from one made by my friend Cupcake's son a couple of years ago, so I know all the places to scope out. We have already had an abortive attempt at showing Stanley around Ottawa, as we went downtown on Sunday to take some pictures of him at the parliament buildings. Only to discover when we arrived there that there was this little pro-China rally going on, featuring tens of thousands of protestors. Perhaps you read about it? So although political action on the Hill is part of life in Ottawa and would have made an interesting backdrop for the pictures, we decided all in all it was better to try again when things were a little quieter. Fortunately today's weather is even nicer than Sunday's, and now that it is light until nearly 8:00 in the evenings (woot!) we'll get some nice pictures in after work.

And, finally, this is a special time of April for me, because it's bookended by the birthdays of two people who mean the world to me. My sister, PetDoc, had her birthday last Friday, and SingerDad's birthday is tomorrow. I know I talk a lot on this blog about my family and how much they mean to me, and it does start to sound like a broken record after awhile, so let me just say that my sister is my best friend, and my dad is my hero. I'm blessed to have them both. Happy birthday, youse.