the little things.

a little thing: the gerbera daisies I bought to light up my rainy days a bit.

I had an above average morning, which for Tuesdays is saying a lot.  The kids were calm, my lessons seemed to just snap into place.

But.

Little besides the exact opposite could have applied for this afternoon.  Hello, I realize the reality of having a room full of 14 year olds during their last hour of school a day.  Which is why I tried to plan a fun activity- trying to captivate their attention and run with it a bit.  Unfortunately, seems like the only thing that captivated them was me yelling at them in French.  Which isn't exactly the goal of an English class....  I know I've said it before, but it's just plain tiring to spend half the class 'chhhut' ing (it's what the French say for ssssh!) and moving kids around to try to get something done.

But.

All of that melted away on my bike ride home from work.  I was almost back to my apartment- I had just pulled alongside the high school next to where I live.  The road is kind of narrow at that point, so I usually ride on the sidewalk to get a bit of space from the cars.

At one point, in front of me was a woman walking with 5 young children, completely blocking the path.  I tried to go slow and patiently wait for a space beside them so I could pass, which didn't seem to be coming any time soon.  The four kids were all excitedly pulling on the woman's shirt sleeves, anxious to tell her stories from their day at school.

All except one little guy.  He was doing his own thing behind them, dancing along the sidewalk.  He was the only one who saw me, and before I could even say anything he (with the utmost reverence and seriousness) stepped to the side in a sort of 'attention' stance.  And as if he couldn't get any cuter, he then saluted me.  As if to say, 'safe travels madame, allez-y, go ahead the path is clear'.

That little guy could not possibly know how much he cheered up my evening.  Petit Cadet, I salute you tonight wherever you are.

What are your little things that get you through the day?

Thanks for the recipes and comments by the way!

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