like Graduation Day

"Hey, how does this look?" I asked a sleepy Jeremy, turning around in the outfit I'd chosen for the day.

He said the same thing he always does: "good".

Seeing a twenty-pound-lighter self in the mirror, I realized that my lifestyle change (two months so far of eating healthier foods and regular exercise) was paying off. I still have more to lose, but I'm happy to be where I'm at right now too.

Today felt like Graduation Day.

I drove down Oxford street with a smile on my face, singing along with the radio as the breeze played with my hair. As the buildings slipped by, I realized that everything that has happened in the last two years was exactly what was supposed to happen.

I am now a registered teacher with our school board.

And as it turns out, the majority of the 40 new hires in the room today had long term classroom experience. Or ties with some of the schools through volunteering, etc. So going to England actually helped me get here. And working for Mad Science did too.

As it turns out, we did everything right.

We might be in a scary financial hole, we might be renting still, and having to wait until Summer 2010 to get married, but we still did everything right. Yes, there were some dumb choices, but that's always part of the process - we all need to make mistakes.

As I pulled into the driveway after today's orientation, I wandered over to my garden to check on my flowers, beans, and watermelon plants and thought about what the staffing officer had said to me before I left:

"All good things come to those who wait. Well, no, actually all good things come in September."

I hate to disagree, but I've learned that even though some parts of your life might completely suck, there are always good things happening along with the bad.

And there will be a LOT of good things before September...