Made Me Smile

It was a bad day. The kind of day that can only be described by pouring the last bit of juice into a cup, and realizing the cup is really dirty.

That didn't happen, but it could have.

It started out well, sleeping in, great.... but combing my hair made me realize what poor health it is in. And so that was a slight ding. (Any tips on how to improve hair health?)

I drove to SLC, got here just in time, it was shaping up to be pretty swell, grabbed the wallet I forgot when I went to Ogden last night, found my keys, and went up to institute. In the middle of class, I realized my U-Card was missing. It's $10 to replace it, so not a big deal... but the thing is, I need it to swipe at work and get in. And I couldn't find it. I was all antsy waiting for class to end, and I rushed home and tore apart my house.

Nothing.

Tore apart my car.

Nothing.

I looked for an hour and a half, and while looking, I lost my keys, my wallet, my water bottle, the sweater I was wearing earlier....

So add more time looking for those. Eventually found them.

But while tearing apart my room, I also tore off a few fingernails. I'm not usually a prissy girl, but I'm getting freaking engagement pictures taken this weekend, and my fingernails were mangled. And guess what, boys?! Tearing a fingernail hurts. Especially when it tears half way down. Which is all mine know how to do. How would you like it if I tore off your fingernail?

I got out the door, down the drive way, quickly threw myself on my ground so I could stare at the sky for a while and wonder why my ankle hurt so much and felt warm.... Oh wait, no that was an accident.... Utah. I'm telling you. The ice does nothing for the natural grace and elegance I posses *cough*... ugh...

And when I fell, my keys flew through the air, landed across the street  (YEAH. I KNOW.) and I got over there to find my favorite key chain, a red double-decker bus with wheels that moved... was broken. And so was my heart. And a key that I don't use anymore and don't even remember what it's for.

Sigh.

So I got in my car and drove to work. Ankle and palms bloodied. Walked through the parking lot, and a car started backing up. Nearly ran me over. I literally had to jump out of the way.

It wasn't a good day.

I walked into work a little broken. I said a prayer in my heart, because institute was wonderful, and I didn't want to go through the rest of the day just bitter and upset. So I prayed that something would happen that would make me smile.

And something did happen that made me smile.

I got a job at a preschool about 4 months ago. That makes me smile every day. And it made me smile today. And at the end of the day when I was the only teacher left and there were 10 four year olds in the room, I put on Disney music, and we danced around and sang at the tops of our lungs, and they made fun of my voice, and I didn't care.

In the bathroom, one of my kids walked by and eyed my bell bottoms. "Why are your pants like that?" He asked.
"Because I like them. I think they're cool. Don't you?"
"No. I'll tell the truth, I don't."

And during free play, they braided my hair.

And the little Asian girl who hated her beautiful black hair remembered the story I told her about Anne of Green Gables who tried to dye her red hair black and it turned green. And she remembered that and remembered that I told her how beautiful she is.

And they remembered "The Princess Pat" word for word, and all of the actions. And they remembered "Quiet Coyote", and even used it on me when I was being a little noisy when it was supposed to be quiet.

And I left work and got a text from my amazing fiancé telling me how much he loved the leftovers I sent home with him this week. And that made me smile.

And the trees covered with frost made me smile.

And the moon shining through the clouds made me smile.

And it turned out, today was actually a wonderful day. I just was looking in the wrong places.