Day 237- First Day of the Rest of My Life

I've had a lot of "first day of the rest of my life"s.  Today was another one for the recordbooks, as it was my very first day with my very own students and my very own classroom.  They're mine... all mine!

I had a really great day.

My lessons went well.  I'm pretty sure that my first hour was a bit too tired for my perkiness and that they may think I'm crazy.  I'm totally okay with that.  It happens.  Plus, I am kind of crazy.  All in all, I had heard that we have a wonderful group of kids coming through this year, and I believe it.  I'm sure that a few times a few of them will be less than wonderful, but I'm okay with that too.  It's all part of the experience.

I thoroughly enjoy my coworkers.  I feel as if I have known many of them for years already, and I really think that I belong to this crazy, quirky, fun group of people.  They have showered me with multiple welcome bags of goodies and supplies, answered my many questions, helped me figure out how everything works, stopped by my room to say hi, and been more welcoming and loving than I could have ever expected them to be.  People stopped by all morning to wish me luck and checked in all day.  At the end of the day, one of the other eighth grade teachers came into my room on his way out to let me know that he was happy that I was there and that he was excited to have someone like me around.  How awesome is that?  I was touched.  The feeling is mutual.  These people rock.

My family and friends remind me over and over again how wonderful they are too.  I have received countless messages, e-mails, notes, and best wishes.  I am overwhelmed by how blessed I am and by the number of incredible people that I am lucky enough to get to call my friends and family.  I hold their words close to my heart and carry them with me all day.

Finally, my husband is one hell of a guy.  He sent me a cute boquet today (thanks, Dad, for teaching him how to be a teacher's husband) and left me a card in my lunch.  He helped with dinner, asked about my day, and let me bounce ideas off him for all the things I want to do in the next few weeks.  He is such a trooper, and I cannot even begin to express how thankful I am to have him as my partner-in-crime.

To say that my cup runneth over would be an understatement.  I'm trying to fit a 2-liter worth of blessings into a shot glass.  Sometimes when Tom and I are at the mall/movies/a restaurant, he rolls his eyes and scoffs at the tweens, and I say, "Welcome to my world.  Welcome to the rest of my life."  Today I say welcome to the rest of your life, Jess, you lucky, lucky Bulldog (our mascot, of course).

Thank you, first day of the rest of my life, you made my day.

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