Best. Valentine's. Day. Ever.

Valentine's Day.  Usually I try to pass through this day as quickly as possible, let it pass under the radar - you know.  One of my friends coined this as "Single's Awareness Day" - S.A.D.  I was hoping that my day wouldn't be a glaring reminder of my marital status.  So I just decided to invest my time and energy into thinking about how blessed I am with the love that I share with close friends and family in my life.

My day started out looking for things that are pink and red to wear.  I scavenged and found a pair of pink cords in one of the dress up bins.  Yes.  I have more than one.  Actually, these pants were given to a Clothing Exchange and I had to drive to Hamilton to pick them back up.  But I got to spend time with a dear friend while I picked them up.  Time well spent for sure.

Back at home, I found a red shirt and then layered it with a printed pink shirt and waist belt.  I had light red socks with a worm holding four circles that had XOXOs on them and red flats from my mom.  And to top it off, I had a heart made out of construction paper that had my name: "Miss Hultink" written in bolded, black letters.  Today was Heart Day.  On Heart Day, all female students and faculty receive a heart with their name on it.  These students and faculty are not permitted to talk to any guy during the course of the day.  The guy with the most hearts at the end of the day wins a prize. During class sessions, if a subject/school-related issue is being discussed, the student/faculty member can not be penalized for talking.  However, if a student is caught discussing a non-school related topic (such as a thank-you, you’re welcome, etc), they must forfeit their heart to the person who elicited their response.  If there is a problem and the person would like to plead his/her case, the supervising teacher will give the verdict.  

I started the day in the elementary wing as per usual and entered the grade 8 classroom.  Now, there's this one young man who has been trying for the past couple of weeks to write a proper greeting on the board in French.  The first day it was: "Bonjour, classe.  Jemappelle Monsieur Hultink."   From there, it's moved on to, "Bonjour.  Jemappelle Hultink."  And this morning?  He wrote: "Bonjour, mon amour."  Maybe his parents coached him?  I don't know.  But it certainly made me smile. :)  The boys in both grade 7 and 8 tried very hard to get my heart, but they weren't very creative so it wasn't too hard to dodge their bullets.

Then came grade 9.  Oh grade 9 boys.  Let's see.  They tried blocking an entrance, putting the microwave on with nothing in it, refusing to sit down in their desks - same old, same old. While we were taking up some exercises assigned yesterday, I heard a knock at the door.  It was my dad.  And he gave me a huge hug and kiss and he brought me a rose.  One red rose.  How thoughtful is that? I love my dad.    Not 10 minutes later and I heard a knock at the door and it was an elementary teacher who had something in his hand - a small vase with a couple of flowers in it.  This one was from my adopted grandparents. SO CUTE!  It made me feel loved and cherished when I normally don't feel that way on Valentine's Day.

You would think that would be enough drama for the day, right?  Nope!  It keeps going.  The janitor came in to let me know that the lights were left on on the blue Mazda in the parking lot - mine!  I thanked him and then he paused and said, "I get your heart."  That's right.  My lights weren't on.  It was just a ploy to get my heart.  Stink on a stick!  Oh well - good thing it's all in good fun!   My whole lesson got interrupted by cries of dismay when girls acknowledged with much grief that their heart had to be handed to their peers of the masculine persuasion.

Lunchtime supervision was hilarious.  It was humorous to just look down the halls to see a sea of red and pink - such creativity in wardrobe.  And all through the lunch break, there were more shrieks and screams and screeches and howls and yells.  Quite amusing.  And then came the appeals, "But Miss Hultink, here's what really happened...."  And the explanation of why the girl should be allowed to keep her heart, how she was manipulated, yadayadayada.  I laughed so much! :)

The afternoon was relatively quiet, interrupted by a bit of emailing, a bit of marking, a bit of Pinteresting and a bit of prepping.  During this time I got an invite to go spend Valentine's Day dinner with some great friends.   So, my choices were to stay at the school eating cabbage soup, going home and eating cabbage soup before volleyball, or hanging out with friends.  My choice was obvious: Forget about the whole cabbage soup situation and relax.  

Decision made, I continued on with my afternoon of teaching and 10 minutes before the end of the day, I was presented with a massive bouquet of orange and red roses from a couple in the community who just wanted to say thank you for the work I do at the school!  I know!!  So touched.  And the smiling just didn't stop.

For dinner, we had some yummy spaghetti and garlic bread and salad and wine and red velvet cheesecake.    I had to leave my friends early so that I could go play volleyball.  It wasn't our best night as a team, but we had fun.  And now, I thought I'd keep my promise to blog more often and share these wonderful memories with y'all.  

Today was a very good day.