Just Look at That Smile!!

Today I'm thankful for: #1 - A "business" meeting after work. So I'm a teacher I'm not used to professional lunch meetings. I remember when I was first looking for a job my brother Jonathan was also looking for a job. The companies who where interviewing him would fly him in, show him around, take him and his wife to dinner, and in some cases put them up in a hotel before flying them home. I on the other hand drove hours on my own dime (of which I didn't have much, I was a recent college graduate you know!) At any rate, I'm not used to someone saying we'd like to meet with you and how about we meet and we'll buy you lunch - that just doesn't happen in education. But I've been using this fabulous program to help me track my students' mastery of the core standards. I love it and I'm pretty impressed with these guys who are creating this educational tool. They're so realistic about how hard teachers work and this tool really does give me a way to do my job better but it doesn't give me one more thing to do. That is what is so impressive. Somehow I've gotten to know them mostly through e-mails as I've had a million questions and think I wish I could do this or that. Then they go to work and make it happen for me or tell me it's something they've been working on. Today I enjoyed visiting with them telling them my thoughts and then listening to the cool things their working on.

#2 - Jonathan, Annie, Lilly, and Ivy. What a sweet family that I absolutely adore. I'm pretty lucky to have such wonderful members of my family. Annie said to me today, "We hope you know that you have a standing invitation to come visit us. Anytime you can find a cheap flight we'd love to see you." It's so nice to feel loved. Lilly is getting so big and I love to hear her little chatter. Ivy is growing up too and is just as sweet as can be. Don't you think her smile is the cutest thing? After the girls were in bed Annie, Jonathan, and I played a few games. We had a lot of fun just visiting. We even pulled out Monopoly Deal which is risky because Jonathan can get a little grumpy when you steal his property. We played three times and all of us ended up winning one time. Jonathan wanted to play one more time but Annie and I refused. We know it's best to stop while we're ahead.

#3 - Visiting with my mom. I called my mom on my way home and enjoyed visiting with her. She's working on a quilt for me and I can't wait to see it. I'm pretty lucky to have such a talented mom. She really is wonderful!