thirteen blessings in a ridiculous half-week

I was Woman on the Verge this week, but I have successfully (read: sans criminal record/with teaching job) made it to Vacation Day #1! And there are many blessings that got me here relatively unscathed:

1. A best friend, whose Monday was comparably horrible, ready to share tea, tears, and stories right after school (Thanks, Jen!), plus all the great reader friends who propped me up, too
2. Enjoying a junior high orchestra concert (wherein some of the tunes sounded like the somber string quartet in Nightmare Before Christmas, yet it was just what the psychiatrist would have ordered)
3. Inspired poems by teenagers styled after "Stopping By the Woods On A Snowy Evening"
4. Witnessing the usually checked-out students in my speech class rising to participate in an assignment
5. Listening to the lovely (or at least earnest) voices of a local girls' choir singing carols
6. Watching my best friend's frequently squirrelly first grader sitting rapt during the choir performance
7. My 7-year old daughter coming down the stairs in her black velvet pants and black t-shirt (decorated with a heart made of bones) announcing "I feel like a shadow today."
8. My son calmly & coolly completing his Moon Base model after the initial "IDON'TKNOWHOWTOPUTONTHEFOIL!" freakout
9. Digging out the jeans I decorated with my faux-edgy quotes and pictures during my freshman year of college - and fitting into them! It's a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!
10. Two classes (20+ kids each) totally excited about playing Taboo for the entire hour & a half periods
11. Receiving an official "Welcome to the school family" present from my principal (a stained glass star in our school colors; I will hang it in my office window with utter pride)
12. Cards, chocolates, cookies, and an ornament from students
13. The train & trestle my Advocacy class created from granola bars, pretzel sticks, marshmallows, frosting and gummi bears, complete with a jumper on the top bridge beam (Merry Morbid Christmas, everyone!)

Ah. Life is good.

Visit more Thursday Thirteen listers.