...today is mine.

I'm turning twenty-four--and I'm an Ox by the Chinese zodiac, too, which makes me a toshi-onna (lady of the year).

I celebrated today by wearing a bright blue top hat shaped like a birthday cake on a plate to work, which I bought as a gag at the 100yen store and which caused much hilarity among my students and coworkers. My parents sent me beautifully bound collections of Anderson and Kipling, so I'm thoroughly happy. I'll be having a party at the local cafe with my English tutoring class later tonight...

...and, mysteriously, on returning home just now, I found that someone had climbed up and set a large slab of snow vertically on the shoveling-pile in my yard, and carved "Happy Birthday" across the front of it in katakana. And shoveled the snow off my steps. I have a secret well-wishing waterbender somewhere. *intrigued and touched*

Good times! Here's to another year of them.