"I only have two kinds of days....

good days and GREAT days!" That was part of the speech that was given at our 'Back to School' district kickoff in the Fall of 2007. I can't remember the speaker's name, or the rest of his message, but I remember that. I remember him saying that as teachers, we couldn't afford to have 'off' or 'bad' days. The kids needed/deserved a good day from us everyday. Now, in actuality, of course we all have days that are better than others. I think the point is to look for the good in that particular (not so perfect) day, and to emphasize that. To not subcumb to the 'bad day.'

I was reminded of this after reading this post. Scroll to the bottom. It's a brief mention, but it reminded me of the title of my blog. Some of my posts lately have included vents. I know it's only human (and assume no one minds), but I want to get back to focusing on the positive.

I was grousing a little bit to my mom the other night, that I put so much effort into things, yet I feel like my life doesn't look that spectacular (on paper): part-time job teaching kindergarten, modest home, one child. E and I used to attend this annual Christmas party with a bunch of his high school friends and friends of friends. There was a part I disliked, in which everyone was supposed to share (by giving the information to the host, who would make a little speech), what was 'new in your life.' Everyone talked about their new cars, jobs, houses, additional children. My joke was always, "well, gee, I have this new hangnail..."

Anyway, I realized after talking to my mom for a bit, that actually my life is pretty much exactly the way I want. I love teaching kindertarten. Years ago, I worked hard to return to school to make a career switch. I stated from the very beginning that I didn't want to be just a teacher, but a kindergarten teacher. After my daughter was born, I felt strongly that full-time teaching would mean too much time away from her, and so I worked hard to make a job-share happen. I love having just one child. And we never thought we'd afford a home here, but both E and I really wanted to stay. And through research and luck, we were able to find something.

So, we are maybe lacking glamour, a lot of material things, and a fast pace; but in actuality, those things aren't that important to me, which is why I haven't chosen those paths....because life is what you make it.