Day 31

It brightened my day when:

J: the proviseur adjoint started singing xmas carols in the staff room because it was snowing
K: my whole fam came home early and were thrilled to be able to go play in the snow
P: daddy was able to play a game of wii with me
J: it snowed
H: my teacher said I could stay home today because of the snow

Day 30

It brightened my day when:

J: I saw a car stop to help a stranded motorbike on the way home
K: the little girl at the library came up and gave me a huge hug for having helped her simply put on her shoes
P: my teacher handed me my assignment and told me "c'est bien"
J: everyone clapped for me when I came up to the finish line at sport
H: William tapped me on the back

Day 29

It brightened my day when:

J: I walked into the house and smelled the bulla that J made--it reminded me of the smell in my house as a child
K: H, P and J came home with huge smiles on their faces because H had such a great practice today
P: I saw my bro make a sweet play during his hockey practice
J: daddy said he like my bulla
H: P let me choose the car race on the wii

Day 28

It brightened my day when:

J: P jumped up to open the front door for me when my hands were full
K: I smelled the mimosa bouquet that H brought in from the garden all by himself
P: H was chipper about cleaning our room together and we had a great time doing it
J: Our neighbor came over and brought the best chocolate over
H: P said I am the sweetest brother

Day 27

It brightened my day when:

J: Aurelien told me how much he enjoyed my presentation
K: my neighbor asked me to do a favor for her rather than doing so many things for me
P: the teacher remembered that last week I asked to move seats and this week she remembered to let me
J: my friend told me that I made a great save in handball today
H: my brother played a spy game on our walk at night

Day 26

It brightened my day when:

J: a colleague brought me a coffee
K: H tied my shoes without me asking so I didn't have to!
P: J tried his best to help me understand my history homework - and did
J: H made 2 home-runs for my "mii" on the "wii"
H: the other guy in hockey told me I was really fast

Day 25

It brightened my day when:

J: I was able to talk a little politics with my father-in-law on the phone
K: P was so encouraging to his brother about having tried something new
P: while I was coughing, a girl came over to see if I was okay
J:
H: I learned how to do figure skating really good on the wii

Day 24

It brightened my day when:

J: ever I remembered it was H's birthday
K: the man at the prefecture appeared to have had HIS day brightened when I wished him a good day
P: some friend's and I started singing at the picnic tables in front of a lot of other students
J: the man at the apartment offered me one of his oranges from his orange tree
H: my brother got me a light saber sword for my birthday

Day 23

It brightened my day when:

J: Julie reminded me not to forget my USB port in the faculty computer
K: H got to stay home with me all day
P: one of my teachers encouraged me after just having finished my test
J: K said I had to miss sport class to go to a dentist appointment
H: mommy played ping pong with me

Day 22

It brightened my day when:

J: P told me how excited he was about the book he was reading for school
K: H asked me to play a game of ping pong with him
P: H asked me to play a WII game with him
J: the cashier at the store was really nice to me
H: my brother let me win the race

Day 21

It brightened my day when:

J: the kids started singing "oh happy day" in the car on the way home from the hockey game
K: I had a laughing fit on the phone talking to my parents
P: H played a game of tag with me at the hockey game (in between periods of course)
J: the cashier at the grocery store smiled at me
H: "our" team won the hockey game

Day 20

It brightened my day when:

J: the French administration provided lunch
K: a friend provided us with so much bureaucratic help
P: I walked into the house after school and saw how clean and spring-like it felt
J: my brother's friend said I was a good baker (even though I made the brownies from a box)
H: my sister gave me an extra sip of her root beer

Day 19

It brightened my day when:

J: the lady at the cafe put extra spicy sauce on my club poulet sandwich
K: the motorcycle man alerted me to slow down (even though I wasn't yet speeding) because there was a speed trap up ahead AND when the man at the bank saw my distress at the deposit machine (my first time using it) and immediately came to help
P: a friend complemented me on my singing in music class
J: my friend told me she liked my dress
H: my coach said I might be ready to play my first hockey game

Day 18

It brightened my day when:

J: my wife and daughter both tried the salmon I made tonight, and liked it
K: my son preferred playing an old-fashioned game of memory with me over the almighty WII
P: H and I laughed a lot together while playing a fun game
J: H told me it was fun spending the night in my room last night
H: mommy played a memory game with me

Day 17

It brightened my day when:

J: I was able to have a nice 20 minute coffee break with my french colleagues
K: while driving, I stretched my hand behind the headrest and was greeted with the hand of my son (and not the youngest one)
P: a girl in my class randomly said hi to me
J: my whole class had a giggle fit because of what the teacher said
H: Mathias and I gave each other a hand slap when we won the game

Day 16

It brightened my day when:

J: the administrative staff brought in cakes for the office
K: I saw a bag a fresh, hand-picked lemons from my neighbor's tree sitting on my front porch
P: my friend complemented me on my fairy-tale ending assignment
J: my teacher told the class we weren't having our test until next Monday
H: Mathias told me I could play any game with him

Day 15

It brightened my day when:

J: K decided to exercise with me
K: J walked through the door with a bouquet of flowers that I wasn't expecting
P: mom and dad said they loved my creative writing assignment
J:
H: my sister shared 2 bites of her ice cream with me

Day 14

 It Brightened My Day When...

J:  the woman at the apartment asked our kids about school.
K: the man in the gray car opened the gate for us.
P: my sister made home-made waffles for breakfast.  It was her first try.
J: when the lady at the bakery didn't get upset when I accidentally tried to pay with Hungarian money.
H:  my brother told me I was a good hockey player.

Day 13

It Brightened My Day When...

J: a parent told me her son really enjoyed my class.

K: a teacher at my son's school did not switch into English when she spoke with me.

P: a friend shared his grapefruit with me at the cantine today.
J:  a friend gave me a piece of bread when I was really hungry.
H: a friend told me my Toupie was really cool.

Day 12

It brightened my day when:

J: the bus driver slowed down to let me merge into his lane
K: P and J got along while doing their homework!
P: my teacher told me she thought my paper was great
J: mommy and I had a movie night on a school night
H: Daddy stopped at Mcdonald's on the way home from hockey

Day 11

It brightened my day when:

J: the kids told me they were disappointed that we couldn't listen to the Tony Kornheiser show in the car today (I love that they look forward to our TK time in the car)
K: my kids came home and were excited to tell me everything that happened to them at their first orthodontist appointment
P: the orthodontist treated me very friendly
J: the orthodontist told me she would make my brother suffer during the next appointment-if he did anything bad to me!
H: I got to stay home with mommy all day

Day 10

It brightened my day when:

J: the police at the roundabout didn't pick me for a random spotcheck
K: P and G called to say they made it home safe (that's not a little thing but a rather huge thing, I know, but hey)
P: one of my dad's Terminale students said "hi" to me
J: my friend asked me if she could take me to my flute lesson
H: mommy got to help my class with rollerblading

Day 9

It brightened my day when:

J: my father-in-law got up early (as usual) to see me off and to have one last political discussion before he left
K: P got to take P and J to school before he left
P: Poppop drove me to school
J: Poppop  drove me to school
H: P and G came to say goodbye at lunch before they left

Day 8

It brightened my day when:

J: I found out we were having Indian food for dinner
K: P and H got to celebrate their birthdays together, even though it wasn't either of their birthdays yet
P: Poppop took time to teach me one of the only songs he knows how to play on the guitar ("come go with me to this land")
J: P and H thought their cakes were great (I designed them)!
H: G played hide-n-go-seek with me

Day 7

It brightened my day when:

J: a parent of a student offered me tickets to a hockey game
K: my mom said she always feels so good when she visits
P: H gave me chest pumps whenever our hockey team scored
J: daddy let me play on his smartphone during the hockey game
H: Poppop gave money to J so she could get me a juice at the hockey game

Day 6

It brightened my day when:

J: I was able to play a George Brassens song on the guitar while the kids sang it
K: the kids gave the adults a Friday night entertainment session with their singing
P: I got to sing in the microphone for a family night with P and G
J: G loved my rendition of "moonriver"
H: everyone laughed at my jokes

Day 5

It brightened my day when:

J: I saw a huge bag of the most delicious oranges at our doorstep, again--thanks to our neighbor
K: seeing my parents play with my kids and loving every minute of it
P: my bro wanted to sit with me in the back seat of the car, again
J: G told me I could have as many candy corns as I wanted
H: P and G came to my hockey lesson

Day 4

It brightened my day when:

J: my father-in-law made the coffee in the morning so I didn't have to
K: my dad went out and got fresh croissants before I even had my 1st cup of coffee
P: Poppop tried his best to find the ball I wanted at the store
J: Poppop allowed me to go to my favorite store even though mommy said "no"
H: I rode on a scooter with Poppop at the sport store

Day 3

It brightened my day when:

J: my colleagues wished me a bonne annee
K: my dad got to come with me to take H to school
P: Poppop picked me up from school (and didn't get out of the car to embarrass me)
J: someone said they liked my hair
H: P picked me up from school

Day 2

It brightened my day when:

J: a box of Grapenuts was pulled out of the suitcase
K: my parents actually liked sitting through a 30 minute photo viewing session of our family's trip
P: Poppop told me he thought my outfit was cool (even though he got it for me)
J: P and G took me with them to the store
H: Poppop played bouncy ball with me

Day 1

It Brightened My Day When...

J:  my in-laws left today's issue of the Washington Post in front of our door.
K:  my parents walked through our door and surprised us!
P:  when I realized that my grandparents were coming over...in 5 minutes.
J:  my grandparents surprised me.
H:  P and G surprised us.