Little Hugs

Today has been a lovely day, for a few reasons.

This morning I had my grade 2 class, with some of the sweetest students. One, A., reaches out her arms for a big hug whenever I come to class. I usually make her wait until after class - because I can't actually hug all my students before class. So as soon as we were done, she ran up and before I had a chance to squat down to hug her, she had wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed her head against my stomach! Then she just stood there, and hugged. A few other girls noticed and came up behind her to join in. It was so sweet. Then, I have two little boys who like to walk me back to the office after class. One, R. never says anything, and he has these really big geek glasses. Sometimes he just follows a few steps behind me and pretends he's a mouse. Today, he grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go until he saw me to the office door. Isn't that cute?

The other thing that made my day was my lunch at Starbucks. I've been going quite often, I've a new addiction to their Oriental Chicken Salad. Anyway, since the last time I went, last week, they had a new addition. Sitting on the top of the display case was a cardboard Starbucks cup, autographed by my favorite Taiwanese artist - Jimmy Choo. I recognized his signature in English and Chinese, and it just made me smile that I go to the same coffee shop as him. Of course I wouldn't know if I sat right next to him, but still. I put two of his illustrations below. It doesn't really express the utter enjoyment I get from his work.

I finished my 100th page today, and chapter 11 is online. Plucking Blackberries.