A Few Good Things

I'm smiling.

My head and my heart are full up at the moment. First of all, I love my job. And I don't say that lightly. If you'll remember, I've never loved my job. In fact, most of the time I've loathed even having a job. I always felt that it kept me from having the time to accomplish what was really important to me. It got in the way of my writing, in the way of my thinking, and in the way of my reading and sometimes running. But my job feels good this time around. I feel like I could do something here, become a better teacher, learn a lot.

I had been dreading the beginning of this week because my adult classes started, and I was scared. Because with kids, I can always wing it and they have no clue. They usually don't care what I'm doing to begin with. But adult students. They're for real. So, I was really nervous last night as I stepped into my first class. It went so well. No one ate me. It's a sweet, small class of women. And tonight, my other class, turned out to be so smart and fun. They are eager to learn and it should be fun because they're at a nice level for a discussion class. I'm also excited about starting a Book Club with my 5th and 6th graders. I am so pumped that perhaps I can get some of these kids reading for real, discovering other places, experiencing wild things, living other lives. I'm excited. And overwhelmed.

Oddly enough, I'm enjoying taking the bus. It's not usually crowded as I go to work in the middle of the day. And in the evening it can be busy, but we live so far out that by the time I get home, I've usually stolen a seat and rocked out to whatever is currently playing on my iPod.

I'm reading The Writing Life by Annie Dillard. It is a good book by itself, but on the veranda in the morning with a bowl of Choco Chex, it's even better.

Also, there's a Dunkin' Donuts down the street from work. Do you really think God in all his Goodness would put one anywhere else besides a few minutes walk from me?