Greatest Hits

It has just been a horrible day around here. The kids don't want to be here, the teachers don't want to be here, and everybody is flat-out getting on everyone else's nerves. I feel like I'm in a pressure cooker, and some steam better start coming out soon or the whole mess is gonna explode.

Just a few minutes ago, I had a run-in with one of our resident crazies and after that, I need to find my happy place. In honor of last week's Lost, in which Charlie wrote out his life's greatest hits in preparation for what looked like his impending death, I thought I would take a stab at talking about my own greatest hits, those moments of my life I come back to again and again when I need a reminder that life is worth living.

Disclaimer: I am not going to go with the two most obvious moments, my wedding day or the birth of my child. Yes, those were amazing, life-changing events. But they were so huge that I wouldn't want to go back and live those days over again; they're too momentous. So let's look at the smaller moments of my life that brought me utter joy and that I would live all over again, Lost-flashback-style, if I could.

In no particular order:

1. The day Jason gave me my first Valentine's Day card. More so even than our first kiss or our first "I Love You", that moment (before we even started dating) represents the beginning of it all.

2. Crossing the finish line at my first 5 K last year.

3. When my favorite Centre professor called me during one of the final days of my college career and asked to see me in his office, and when I got there, the entire English faculty was in attendance to present me with the senior writing prize.

4. The Russian pin thing. When I was in the usher corps for the Norton Center at Centre, one of my first shows was the Russian Army Chorus. A guy came through my door after the performance had started and started taking pictures, a big no-no for that performance in particular since there were dancers on stage. When I went up to him to ask him to stop, he told me, "I no speak English" in a heavy Russian accent. I got the head usher who somehow explained to him that he couldn't take photos. The man was apparently a family member of one of the performers. After intermission, he came back in and reached for my hand. He took a lapel pin with Russian writing on it from his pocket and folded it up in my hand, saying something in his native language as he did so. That moment was one of just a few bright spots of my freshman year, living away from home and feeling very out of place myself.

5. The curtain calls at the end of every play or musical I did in high school or college. The final bow for Godspell, in particular.

6. Any morning spent snuggling in bed with Ainsley.

7. Walking the opening survivor lap at our Relay for Life.

8. My 80s-themed birthday party.

9. OK, one specific moment from my wedding: when all the Centre folk gathered around in a circle to sing "Friends in Low Places."

10. Sharing "The Circle of Life" (during the Lion King musical) with Ainsley.

Alright, those are my top ten greatest hits. What are yours?