finding the cure

Ever have one of those days, wait, make that weekends, when you aren't really motivated to do anything?  It's not like you're sad but you aren't exactly happy either.  And you aren't sick or tired,  you just don't want to do all that much!  That's what this weekend has been like for me.  I found myself kind of wandering from one project to another, starting a lot of things and finishing none of them.  Finally about noon today, I sat down to "analyze" my situation, looking for some kind of explanation for it all.  Not sure that I really found the reason for it, but I dang sure did find the cure!  


There's a little girl at my school, a real sweetheart in one of the kindergarten classes.  She had the misfortune of breaking her right arm on the playground this year and has been in a cast for several weeks now.  Her name is Nadonna (sure hope I spelled that right) and this is a picture of her with me at school a few weeks back.  

We are, I guess, the "charter members" of the "broken arm club at Lincoln Elementary".  As charter members, I think both of us would agree that we'd like to be the ONLY members of it!  Neither of us want for anyone else to have to go through all the "fun" (not) that we've had this year.  With luck, both she and I will get our casts off at about the same time....all of our fingers crossed with hope!  :)


This week when the weather turned colder, I had to stop and think about finding my gloves to put on.  Only I'd forgotten, I only needed one of them because "old lefty" well, "old lefty" is a little preoccupied wearing the neon pink splint.  It wasn't hard for me to find one glove because that's generally the way I take care of my gloves......lose one, have one!  Given that scenario, I had 7 gloves to choose from.  I knew there would be a reason to keep all of those strays.  


That day, when Nadonna came to school, I noticed that her little left hand was covered up with a glove and the arm in the cast was neatly tucked inside of her coat.  We laughed together when I said that I could only put on one glove too and that someday, both of us would be back to normal again.  This little girl is quite a trooper and she is not nearly as whiny about things as I have been....I could take a lesson or two from her good example.


At noon today, as I was thinking about my current situation, it dawned on me that if she and I had new gloves to wear, we'd only have to buy one pair....so off to Wal Mart I went with the sole purpose of finding us some new "hand warmers".  And find some, I did...3 pairs in fact.


This afternoon I made a journey to her home and told her about the gloves.  She had the cutest little grin on her face as I took them out of the bag.  Her smile was precious as she helped me cut the 3 pairs apart.  She got three and I got three...and when I hopefully get out of my splint pretty soon, then I'll give my 3 gloves to her.  When she gets her arm out of the cast, hopefully very soon as well, then she'll have 3 brand new PAIRS of gloves.  It was a "win-win" deal if ever I saw one.


As I drove away from her house just a while ago, my spirit was definitely lifted.  It was like I was carrying around a "backpack" filled with worries, fears, the unknown...and anything else that can bring you down quicker than you can imagine.  That backpack had been so heavy this weekend that I was not able to do much of anything it seemed.  What a relief to throw that heavy thing off at the corner and drive away.  And it was all with thanks to a little girl who didn't even know how badly I'd been feeling and how much visiting with her changed the way I was looking at life today. 


You know, there was one added  "bonus" to this visit.  Nadonna and I are used to seeing one another in the gym for breakfast each morning or in the hallway when her class passes by my room.  This day,  I actually got the chance to see Nadonna at her own home.  As a teacher, I need to visit my students more often at their homes and meet their families .  Nadonna's parents are wonderful folks who love their kids so very much.   They wish for their children the same thing that we all do...a wonderful life.  What a pleasure to meet them.


Well, it's not quite 4 p.m. and if I hustle I can probably finish at least a couple of those projects that I started but didn't finish...and if I don't...well, so I guess they'll be there tomorrow.  My shoulders don't ache any more~ and friends, what's the best cure for a "ho-hum" kind of day? Spend at least 5 minutes of it with a little kid and my friends, you WILL see the difference.  I promise~it's a sure thing.  :)

Now THIS is making "lemonade from lemons" my friends!  What a great afternoon to be alive!