Valentine's Day, Teacher Appreciation, and Happy Mail

When the doorbell rang this afternoon signaling that a package had been delivered, I wasn't thinking about Valentine's Day being only a couple of days away. However, Robbie knew that I was going to be in and out quite a bit this Thursday, so he had my Valentine's gift delivered early to be sure I was here to receive it! I opened the big box labeled Shari's Berries to find this wonderful gift box inside . . .

. . . filled with delicious chocolate covered strawberries (of course, I tried one immediately after snapping this photo)!

We rarely have a typical Valentine's Day (some of you will remember that Robbie had his gall bladder out last year), so this was a wonderful treat that I'll be enjoying the rest of the week. Thank you Robbie - my true love and Valentine!

I also received this beautiful Valentine's card from Rebekah, a dear blog friend! (Thanks Rebekah!)

In fact it's been an especially nice week around here in many ways. I walked in to my classroom Monday morning to find this Teacher Appreciation treat basket on my desk.

 

A little later that morning, during a general assembly at the school, all the teachers were invited to come to the front of the sanctuary. One of the students said a nice prayer for the teachers and then we were all given a little "blessing ring" and gift card to a local sandwich shop.

The "blessing ring" is the mini-album on the right with notes from students grouped together on a ring covered in ribbons. I was especially touched by the sweet notes from several of my students, particularly because I've only been at the school for a few short weeks.

Actually, in the past few weeks I've had a couple of pieces of happy mail, too. First, a package arrived from my sister with two scrapbooking inspiration books inside. (I've already used one of the patterns for a 3-D embellishment on a layout I'll be sharing soon!)

 

And a few days before the Finding Photo Freedom workshop started, this happy mail arrived from Stacy Julian as a thank you for agreeing to coach in this year's class.

I have to admit that it's pretty exciting to get envelopes and packages in the mail and to be given such wonderful teacher gifts! Have you had any special deliveries lately?