A seven year old just made my day.

A family I use to babysit for has always held a soft spot in my heart. The youngest, Peyton, was my favorite (yeah, I know you're not suppose to have favorites, but everyone does.) After not seeing her for a few years I saw her in June and she ran up to me and gave me a big hug and told me she missed me. I was taken aback because 1) she was about 4 feet taller then the last time I saw her and 2) I was surprised she even remembered me. Her older sisters know me because I also taught them dance, but Peyton was just a baby so I didn't think she would. Yesterday I received a voicemail from my mom that was actually Peyton! Apparently my mom mentioned my name and Peyton just said "I love her." My mom thought it was so cute that she had her call me and leave me a voicemail. It almost made me cry. She sounds exactly like her sister did at that age, who is now a sophomore in HS (I. am. getting. so. old.) She said "I miss you and I want you to come here. So, bye!" My mom also took a picture and sent it to me - she's so big. It almost made me want to go home. Or ship them up to Boston. I miss having kids around my life, teaching dance and babysitting was all I ever did. Maybe I need to start doing something soon...

The Center for Community Service started a program this fall called Service & Leadership Development Series. They are going to do panels based on a different topic each semester. This semester is Youth, so I signed up right away. (They weren't really sure if I could, seeing as I'm not an undergrad anymore, but I use to work for them and I'm technically still with Northeastern so whether or not I'm "suppose" to be there is irrelevant.) The first session is today and will be a panel discussion with community members about issues facing Boston youth, particularly those affecting education. I'm really looking forward to it! Stay tuned.

In other life news:
I'm fighting a cold/the flu. It's not fun. But no fever yet.
My boss is buying me a blackberry.
There's a typhoon in Vietnam.
I spend way too much money on food.
There is way too much cheese in my diet.
DC for Columbus weekend to visit Christopher and get an official post-8th-grade-class-trip tour of our capitol. As an added bonus, Frank & Sam live there too.
New Orleans for Halloween with Michelle & Jake. Enough said.
Living with boys isn't as bad as everyone thought it would be. But someone stole my toothbrush.
When I'm not having a panic attack, I really love this city. And I'm really glad I'm here.