Some moments of sweet satisfaction

Since the last few posts, I've been on the upswing and had some good moments to cheer me during the last week. After two straight weeks without a day off to recuperate, the small moments of sweet satisfaction were especially welcome.
On Monday, I was scheduled for a shift at the store (school holiday made me available), and actually enjoyed the first half of it because I worked an express lane. That meant shorter lines of stuff, a spot near the doorway where winter sunlight reached me, and a rare chance to work near a kindred spirit -the lady who trained me. She is one of those people who has contagious smiles and an upbeat attitude that are genuine. Her sense of humor and camraderie brought out the same in me, and we found small things to joke about during the brief durations between customers. It was nice; she is one whom I will miss when I move on.

As for school, my worries about what to do with my dysfunctional choir led me to make some changes: beginners meet on one day, intermediates meet another, instead of both together. This will allow the more experienced singers to progress at the speed they are capable of without getting frustrated by the immaturity of the others, and I can help the beginners learn at their pace without the pressure of me expecting more of them than I should. This has also helped to retain the students I wanted to recruit for Honor Choir, who were on the point of dropping out. They are much happier now, and so am I.
On Thursday, a former choir student invited me to their choir concert at the middle school that night, so I went. It was encouraging to see "my girls" as leaders in their group, singing beautifully and looking so grown up in high-heels and styled hair, but still sweet enough to run and hug me, and be delighted that I had come.
Two of the songs were a deja vu of sorts, one of which I had conducted with a highschool choir at their graduation, at the end of my student-teaching days.

I have also been encouraged by more classes that feel like a success, like I was helping the students discover things rather than force-feeding them. Yesterday, the most meaningful moment was not teaching, but just being a source of comfort for a kid who needed a hug. I realized that, after a few careful questions met with a shake of the head, I didn't need to diagnose or even know why she was sad, I just needed to let her stay there with an arm around her shoulders. I couldn't cure the source of sadness, only soothe the wounds, but to be able to do that was enough for the moment and a lesson for me, the fixer.

Something else that made the week nicer was the clear, cold weather all week. It made for bright days with sun coming in the window, birds singing, scarves and gloves, frozen breath and frozen puddles, frosted mountains clearly visible against blue sky, brighter spirits, and crisp evenings with a full moon rising yellow through a pink sunset and turning white amongst the stars, making the frost covered ground sparkle. The thermometer lingered in the twenties, but I walked to get lunch anyway.

Random discoveries:
The difference between a job and a career: a job is work that you do for money and it feels like work (or slavery!); a career is work that you do for a purpose and has more worth/value to you than just the monetary equivalent of your labor.

Two green tea drinks that I am currently addicted to: Enviga sparkling green tea, and Cricket cola (a sushi bar favorite of my past that I joyfully found at a local store that carries it).