A New Friend

The Spunky Monkey

Hi, my name is Pierre. Sounds cool, in a French sort of way, don't ya think? My friends say that it totally fits my spunky personality. AdOrAbLe, oui? Here I am in my new little rocking chair watching sunburst fairies fly by. See that one over my right shoulder? Part of my allure and charm is that I'm always smiling. I'm serious, ALWAYS smiling, positively filled with JOY! At this point, you might be wondering, "What is Pierre so happy about?" and I'd want to know, too, if I were you.


You see, Kim over at Finding Joy In 6th Grade brought me to Texas last week, to the Corner on Character, for her friend Barbara. At first, it was touch and go, actually, because she lined all of us up - there must have been two dozen of us on that store shelf - like we were part of a Star Search or something and I wasn't sure I'd make the cut. She looked us over and inspected us good. It may have been my rainbow stripes, though I'm not exactly sure what she was looking for. What I do know is that it felt like warm sunshine when she put everyone back, and picked me. You'd be smiling a big ol' Texas-smile, too!


We took a VERY long road trip, stopping at some fun historical markers along the way before arriving in Friendswood. While there, we got to visit this really awesome elementary school (where I was secretly hoping I could stay), eat dinner around a dinner table (that husband sure grills a mean bratwurst!), play Clue and Boggle with a fun family (that little boy has a LOT of energy!), and spend the night at a comfy Bed & Breakfast. We even got to Skype chat with Reagan at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits over our Starbucks candybars-in-a-cup Friday morning, making it an official blogging meet up. Have you met that teacher? Another reason to smile! Did I luck out or what?


So Kim (who, in case you're wondering, is even kinder and more encouraging, supportive and joyful in real life than she is in cyberspace) left me at the Corner and here I am, waiting in my rocker to go back to that cool school and meet my new friends. (I'm pretty sure I saw a special someone named JOY while I was there!) I'm told Barbara goes back to work on Monday, and I'm beyond excited!


So that's the story behind my smile. It was SO much fun to be there, at the Corner, when Kim met Barbara. They just talked and talked. Even the young teenaged boy, who's kind of a non-stop talker himself, asked them,"What can you two possibly still be talking about?" It was like they'd known each other forever, proof positive that you're never too old to get gleefully giddy about a new friend.


Pierre