Simple Things

I'm feeling content tonight. First, I am the worst gardener ever. I kill plants; I have a black thumb. But a friend gave me a couple of tomato plants and a couple of pepper plants, and I have managed to keep them alive. (This really is nothing short of miraculous. I have friends who say they aren't good gardeners that manage to grow 10x what I do...although when you only get 2-3 tomatoes, it isn't hard for someone to grow 10x what you do.). Anyway, this morning I made frittatas, and they contained a tomato and a green pepper from the garden. It was the fourth tomato I've picked...and there are a bunch more that are growing. There will be more peppers too. Small thing, but makes me happy.

I am back to work. I haven't been so excited to return to work. But today when I walked in for meetings, a couple of my coworkers gave me hugs and people were talking and happily visiting. I really do love the people I work with, and I felt much happier about being back than I had been feeling. Simple thing, but makes a huge difference in my life.

We went over data at work today. Mine contained great news and bad news. It is a long complicated explanation to go over what was good and what was bad, but I felt discouraged. My principal came down after looking at my scores to see how I was feeling and to basically give me a pat on the back and say I am doing a good job and to not get discouraged. It helped. It only took her a few minutes, and was simple, but it helped a lot.

A great friend has offered to help me since I'm busy once I am working. She has said she would grade papers or laminate or do whatever jobs I could give her. I really, normally would just smile and say thank you, genuinely meaning it...it is so nice that she offers but her life is busy and this is my job, and I can do it. But school starts in a week and I really took the entire summer off and I have a lot to do in the next week and I was starting to feel stressed out. So I asked Sara if she had time to cut out some laminating. She said yes, so I took some over to her last night and said if she could finish by Monday night that would be so helpful. She called tonight with a question and said she was almost done and was there any more. She is going to drop off the laminating tomorrow and pick up more. I had tears in my eyes as I hung up. Small, simple thing, but I am so thankful. Thankful to have the help. Especially from someone who is so busy and who already does so much for others. But even more thankful to have friends that genuinely care about me and that are willing to help me. I am also thankful to have such great examples in my life of the type of person I want to be. So many people help me or help my family in ways both big and small. I am so thankful.

Some times it is the small, simple things that make the biggest difference.