Today was a "not for public consumption" day. An "I am a dairy product past my expiration date..do not OPEN me!" day. I kept my "Please...enter only for emergencies. Teacher trying to regain sanity! (If she ever had any to begin with!)" sign on the door most of the day. I knew if I just kept my head down, if I didn't make eye contact with anyone any more than necessary, and plowed through the day, I could just "fake it 'til I made it". (That never works, by the way, when you have concerned people checking on you all day...drat those folks who care so much!) :) So...I was grumpier than I intended to be with my students. And then I just felt worse. And then we had a fire drill...in the rain. And then I didn't quite get done what I needed to. And then...and then...and then...
Sigh...
And then...my phone rang! I didn't recognize the number, but being in a grumpy and yet somehow adventurous mood, I answered it. Enter lovely former student whose mere voice, "Hi Mrs. Eaton!", just made me melt. She was calling to see if she could use me as a reference on a job application. She's one of those students who wouldn't even need to ask, and she knows that, but she's also one of those students who does things the right way. I told her abso-posi-lutely she could use me as a reference and by the way how were things going? Things are well, some medical issues from last year are cleared up, and it seems as if life is good.
Sigh...
And then...my dear friend from down the hall stopped by and obliged me by snapping the above pic of my phone. (It's awfully hard to take a picture of your own phone!) As she helped me out, she noticed the James Taylor tunes I was listening to and we started trading favorite J.T. songs. She likes You Are My Only One, and recalled singing it to her newborn baby daughter back in the day. I shared that I am more of a Sweet Baby James girl myself, having seen J.T. in concert when I was pregnant with my own sweet baby girl! Well that thought made me squirrel off to find out when and where he was/is touring and GUESS WHAT!? He IS on tour... NEXT MONTH! We laughed and giggled at the idea of the four of us up here in the Middle School jetting off to Hawaii for a two night J. T. gig! What fun would that be!? And again, it appeared...that life is good.
Sigh...
And life is good. Why is that on some days your "everything" hurts and it is so very hard to remember that very fact? Life IS good! Do your part, friends...remind someone who may need it that Life IS good! And don't take no for an answer when they tell you it's not. Play them some J. T., make them smile, give them a hug, make them take their "go away" sign off their door and make them hang up a "Get in here, I need a HUG" sign! Ooh wait! I know! Make them join the Slice of Life Challenge and when they try to think of something to write about, they'll remember all these cool things about their day and then...they'll be cheered up!
Sigh...
Today I just love getting cheered up! Now to go home and apologize to The Man for the past two days...
