Tuesday Nuggets of Happiness

I am feeling happiness this morning.  Let me count the ways:

--I slept in this morning, until almost 6 a.m.  That may not seem like sleeping in to most of the world, but when you're a woman who routinely wakes up at 4 a.m., it's great to get extra sleep.

--I woke up to discover that my post on John the Baptist is up at the Living Lutheran site.  I read it and felt satisfied (it's been a month since I wrote it, so I always wonder if I'll see flaws or think of ways I could have done better).  Today is his feast day, and I was happy to have already created something to say about him.

--I am so pleased with my online class that comes to a close this week.  It was a Composition class, a whirlwind class that was less than 6 weeks.  Whew!  They rose to the challenge, I am happy to report.  Their final essays, which required them to turn their analytical skills towards their own writing progress during the course, made me very happy.

--I teach in an online environment where I receive the course shell.  The work of curriculum/instructional writing has been done.  Still, I have sent out e-mails with suggestions and supplemental ideas.  Some of my students mentioned how much my writing tips helped, particularly the revision tip of reading work out loud and even from the end of the paper to the beginning.   

--The fact remains that no matter who creates the teaching and how it is delivered, the hard work of digesting it all and applying it to their writing rests with the students.  And my students improved so radically.  I thought that the accelerated pace might be a liability but it might have helped.  There wasn't time to slack off and forget the lessons learned.

--But what's making me most happy is that my high school friend who has been battling cancer of the esophagus had a great CT scan yesterday--so great that they will stop giving her the chemo that's been giving her such problems with nausea.  I read that news and broke into gasping sobs.  How nice to be crying happy tears for a change.

--And then I slept a peaceful sleep for a change.  I've been having such bad dreams.  I haven't had this many bad dreams since late adolescence.  I'm wondering about the similarities of late adolescence and later midlife.  Am I at later midlife as I prepare to celebrate my 49th birthday?  In any case, what I'm experiencing now reminds me of late adolescence.  Life suddenly seems turbulent and unpredictable, with bodies spiraling out of control--that was what I experienced in high school and college and what I'm experiencing now. 

--And just now, I was able to fix a problem out at the cottage.  Happily, it wasn't a plumbing problem.  In the closet, the bar that holds the clothes in the closet came down.  I was able to unscrew the bar from the other side and move it to the side where our friend who is living there needs it.

--Those of you who are good with tools may not fully appreciate the happiness that comes from that bit of self-sufficiency.  I find it hard to unscrew screws without stripping them, so any time I can actually use a tool and it all comes out the way it is supposed to do, I feel fortunate.