When things go better than expected

It is so strange how one day can be so sucky and the next day can be so great. Last night was pretty bad; feeling depressed and deflated. I slowly worked myself up from the dumps, expecting the day would be just an average working day, but then it turned into something much nicer.

The kids were both in pretty good moods. No verbal challenges or sparring occurred during the drive to school. I immediately headed to work. I usually return home to eat breakfast and then do some work before leaving for my first class. I went straight to work because I am a bit behind on grading and I wanted to get caught up. I was able to tie up quite a few grading loose ends before my first class.

Today was a one of those days in the classroom where everything seemed to click. I was witty, the students seemed interested, and we parted ways smiling rather than looking relieved that class was over. I went to my office for office hours and was greeted by Margaret, a tenured faculty member, who wanted to interview me for a feature article in the upcoming newletter. I chuckled and told her she was nuts and I hoped she had some Starbuck's with her for the interview. We ended up talking for the entire 50 minutes. Who knew I had so much to say and she seemed interested. She was so kind and assured me that as long as I want a job teaching I'll have a job teaching. It was really nice to hear, particularly since she is on the personnel committee. She told me that the "word of mouth" about me is great and that I'm one of the student favorites. My ego was sufficiently stroked and I felt pretty darn good after she left. It was now time to teach three more classes. Just like the first class they all went smoothly and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and left smiling.

Time to pick the kids up from school. When I arrived Chelsea and Katelyn were there to greet me, but no Cody. I called him on his cellphone, but it went immediately to voicemail. Where could he be? This is totally out of character. I went to the office to find out if he was in detention and that was what was keeping him. It was so strange to hope that my son was in detention! But alas, he was not. I started to get worried, because school had been out for 40 minutes now. Where could he be? When I returned to the car, Chelsea was on my cell phone; it was Cody. I was so relieved that I forgot to be mad at him. He actually had a good reason for not being there. Time to go home. The ride home was fairly uneventful, which means the ride home was good. Dan came home, also in a good mood. We talked about the silver-lining of McCain not being elected. Ate a great dinner and now I'm getting caught up on email and blog reading.

I'm so grateful for days like this.