Day 91

It brightened my day when:

J: I went downstairs to find that P had made H's bed for him as a nice gesture
K: I saw how happy J was that her friend whom she hadn't seen in a long time was able to come over for a visit
P: the walkathon guy told my friend and I that we did a great job passing out the flyers
J: L came over today
H: little Ben was trying to feed me and thought it was funny

Day 90

It brightened my day when:

J:  The man at the gate to my school. waved me through even before I got my entry card out, because he could see how much traffic there was due to a road closure nearby.
K: H's teacher asked J to help out in H's class and she was more than thrilled to volunteer with me today!
P: J had a fantastic lunch waiting for us after school!
J: Daisy said she wanted to be on my team during the game day in H's class
H: P went outside to play some soccer with me

Day 89

It brightened my day when:

J: the entire staff room started laughing so hard when two teachers came in wearing almost the exact same outfit (complete from head to toe) -they were really good sports about it too
K: Pat brought over some photos of herself from when she was in her twenties and told me stories about her whole family
P: I saw a friend I had recently met and he went out of his way to come shake my hand and say hi
J: daddy said we could stay up a bit later to watch the world figure skating championship on tv
H: I got to go to Bailey's house and see his new baby brother

Day 88

It brightened my day when:
J: the lady at the Consulate was so friendly and talkative during our passport renewal process
K: the little girl at the mall was holding the door open for so many people (including me) and everyone was being so appreciative to her
P: the security officer at the passport office was very friendly with me and shook my hand because his name was my name
J:the little girl at the mall was holding the door open for me
H: mommy and daddy got to play soccer with me outside

Day 87

It brightened my day when:

J: I saw how many students complimented their peer on a job well-done after his surprise mock oral exam
K: an old friend popped over for a quick visit on her day off
P: my teacher complimented my style of voicing during our theater class
J: my friend played a word game with me during lunch
H: the mommy's helper during rollerblading class whispered to me that I was a good "dribbler"

Day 86

It brightened my day when:

J: I was able to brightened my colleague's day by fixing the staff coffee machine for them
K: my entire family went outside for an impromptu fun game of keep away soccer and J brought out an ice cold bottle of water for everyone to share
P:the whole class started a water fight and the teacher let us
J: some friends and I and our teacher were all listening to this man play his guitar during sport class (in the park) and we all started clapping then asked him to play certain songs for us and he did
H: Quentin saw that my marker was not working so he offered me to use his

Day 85

It brightened my day when:

J: a mom came up to me and paid me a compliment about H who was working really hard
K: we were served a delicious dinner by J and it was cleaned up by the kids
P: Matthias saw me arm restling with H and was so excited to come have a try himself
J: a friend wrote me and told me she really hoped that I could come to her birthday party
H: my whole family was at my hockey practice and was able to see me score my goals

Day 84

It brightened my day when:

J: I saw so many parents out with their young kids early this morning in Paris
K: Pat had such fantastic reflexes and caught the ball that accidently hit her and then seeing her and my kids have a good laugh at her kid-like behavior!
P: our neighbor threw the ball at me while having a fit of laughter
J: our neighbor volunteered to give me some oatmeal and brown sugar so I could make Mrs. Field's cookies and didn't have to take a trip to the store
H: my friend Augustin and his brother biked up to my house and surprised me for a quick visit

Day 83

It brightened my day when:

J: the lady at the hotel came up to me and handed me a newspaper
K: H's teacher asked me to come participate in the game day and help the kids with their English
P: I got a birthday invitation (to a girl's birthday!)
J: I saw one of daddy's students from afar waiting at the bus stop and she waved to me happily
H: the man on the tractor gave me a big wave and smile while mommy and I were walking through the woods

Day 82

It brightened my day when:

J: K fixed me a quick cup of coffee before I had to leave for Paris
K: the man in the truck took notice of me right as he was about to back into the passenger side of the car this morning-he slammed on the brakes and stopped with about 1/2 inch to spare
P: my teacher gave me a look of recognition and smiled at me when he saw me crossing the street in front of his car
J: someone told me they had fun with me last night
H: my teacher said good job on my math work

Day 81

It brightened my day when:

J: I got home late at night to find a fresh batch of scones waiting for me in the kitchen
K: H spent about an hour singing for me the same song from veggietales over and over and over again--it really did brighten my day because he usually does not sing and it was incredible off-tune and off-tempo but he was clearly so proud of having learned the words
P: everytime H scored a goal during our indoor basketball game, he would look over at me to see if I had seen him score
J: daddy let us stay up really late on a school night so we could go see the lycee play
H: mommy and me got to make scones

Day 80

It brightened my day when:

J: while playing in a string trio, two little girls came up and sat in front of us telling us that they were musicians too
K: a friend of H's came running up to me to tell me "K, your son is the best hockey player" -she is 7
P: my friend leaned over and patted me on the shoulder when I told him I had a headache
J: my teacher told us he was planning on taking us on an all-day fieldtrip soon
H: Lucy told mommy that I was the best hockey player

Day 79

It brightened my day when:

J: my colleague in the Russian section let me jump in front of her to make a quick photocopy.
K: H's teacher made a point to come find me so she could check on how H was doing after he was sent home early (last Friday) because of a sudden headache.  She was very concerned and very thoughtful.
P: J went out of her way to help me with my homework even though I could tell she wasn't too enthusiastic
J: daddy went out of his way to drop me off at home so I didn't have to go to hockey practice with P and H
H: Calvin said he would be the "loup" so I wouldn't have to be "it" during recess

Day 78

It brightened my day when:

J: I saw P downstairs and he had gotten so much of his homework done already
K: H brought in a bouquet of wild flowers he had randomly picked from the yard and immediately put them in a make-shift vase and placed them on the coffee table
P: daddy's colleague came over for dinner and came up to me and played a quick game of indoor basketball
J: everyone told me how much they liked my fudge
H: daddy let me watch tv for a little extra time

Day 77

It brightened my day when:

J:  P and H bounded upstairs this morning...all dressed in green.
K: the nice man at the gas station helped J put on the new windshield wiper even though he was obviously very busy
P: even though J had a headache he still took us to the hockey match and let us stay until the end
J: K had green crepes all made for us for breakfast
H:  J took me to buy french fries at the game

Day 76

It brightened my day when:

J: K ground all the coffee up for me so I didn't have to
K: the nice lady stopped the flow of traffic to allow me to pull out of the busy intersection on my way to taking H to school
P: I saw a man being very friendly and helping out a very  annoyed lady and when K surprised me by fixing something of mine without my knowledge
J: Stephanie had made tofu and had a lot leftover so I could have some after school--yummy
H: Rowan walked me to the nurse's office when I had a headache then mommy came to get me at school

Day 75

It brightened my day when:

J: my colleagues participated in the carnaval festivities this year
K: J came home for a cup of coffee after taking P and J to school
P: another student came over to pose with me in our hockey outfits at the carnaval
J: that so many kids participated in carnaval with me at school today
H: my coach went to find me a pair of hockey shorts since daddy forgot to bring mine

Day 74

It brightened my day when:

J:when the office manager at work brought be a big cup of coffee while I was working on the computer this morning.
K: the pharmacist saw us drive up as she was preparing to lock the door for closing time BUT looked at us, unlocked the door and waved us in!
P: J brought me my very own bracket to fill out for the NCAA
J: the lady at the pharmacy let me come in and get some medicine for my eye which had been hurting since last night, even though it was closing time
H: J brought just me a special "twix" treat without telling anyone else

Day 73

It brightened my day when:

J: my colleague fixed the coffee machine in the staff room
K: the man in the white truck pulled over and let me pass by the narrow road--and he appeared very happy to have done so
P: I was able to see my cousin on skype for his 10th bday
J: my friend walked with me to meet K after school
H: my friend's dad told me I was doing well in our roller blading class

Day 72

It brightened my day when:

J: a colleague went out of her way to tell me how grateful she was that I had covered her class for her while she was away
K: the little girl at the library gave me such a huge hug just because
P: the man at the cantine said I was such a nice guy for having helped a girl who dropped her tray
J: my teacher was so pleased with my expose in Latin class and gave me a great grade
H: a boy at school asked me how my vacation was

Day 71

It brightened my day when:

J: a good buddy from California wrote and wanted to know where to look for us at the Paris-Nice time trials today because he knew we would be there
K: J surprised us with some very fancy bakery desserts from our favorite bakery
P: the BMC guy at the Paris-Nice gave us all water bottles and we didn't even ask
J: the nice man at the bike race saw me and smiled at me while handing me a water bottle
H: daddy put my dishes in the dishwasher for me without me asking

Day 70

It brightened my day when:

J: the police at the roundabout nodded, smiled and did NOT pull me over
K: I came into the bedroom and saw P was reading a book to H
P: Magali was being very hospitable to me
J: we went to a new friend's house and had a good time together
H: daddy took us to see the Paris-Nice race and we had a picnic up on the mountains

Day 69

It brightened my day when:

J: the secretary at school offered to fill in my forms for me
K: some American friends came to spend the afternoon with us
P: Sam asked if I wanted to help him build his lego car with him
J: daddy bought the new Coldplay album from Itunes
H: Sam said "ooh, you're faster than I thought"

Day 68

It brightened my day when:

J: H's hockey coach chatted with me about his junior hockey playing days
K: a friend helped my son out by going back to the parc to see if she could find something he thinks he left there (she even went to the welcome desk to see if anyone had turned anything in)
P: the lady on the phone at the lost and found desk was so friendly to me
J: 2 little girls at the parc came up to me and wanted me to hold their hands to help them play on the equipment
H: Mathias said "nice pass"

Day 67

It brightened my day when:

J: K and kids brought home a hot loaf of my favorite pain de campagne
K: the little boy in the car in front of us was sooo excited when he saw my son wave to him and he wouldn't stop waving back for the next 2 minutes
P: I met one of my dad's students and we had a great time playing at the beach
J: K went all the way into Antibes just to take me to my favorite shoe store
H: my sister brought me a glass of milk

Day 66

It brightened my day when:

J: the lady I let go in front of me in the check-out lane was overly appreciative
K: my kids were playing on the couch with each other and being very affectionate (of course, in a sarcastic way, but hey) with each other without becoming annoyed
P: H was so excited that I came outside to play soccer with him
J: K was so impressed that I have the record in figure skating on the wii
H: J kept giving me the brownies that she made

Day 65

It brightened my day when:

J: J brought the trash can in from the street without anyone asking her
K: J made the most delicious chicken piccata for the family without any help
P: the coach gave me a quick head nod during practice tonight
J: mommy and I were able to open the wine bottle all on our own and we did a victory dance
H: my friend gave me a high five and a thumbs up during hockey practice

Day 64

It brightened my day when:

J: I was able to share a quick coffee with Patrick (our friend) out by the fire
K: P asked if he could help by unloading the dishwasher
P: my brother asked me to wait for him so he wouldn't be scared
J: mommy let me watch 2 movies
H: P played soccer with me outside and he said "that shot was just how the pros do it"

Day 63

It brightened my day when:

J: I saw a bunch of my students on my flight and they came over to say hi
K: when P and H were so appreciative of their breakfast this morning
P: daddy came home and had a box of Swiss chocolate
J: K let me use the last bit of her dark chocolate so I could make fudge
H: daddy got to come play soccer outside with me and J gave me an extra chocolate

Day 62

It brightened my day when:

J: the lady at the cafe offered me a take-away sample of "chicory" to add to my coffee because I told her how much I liked it
K: my kids took care of the kitchen clean-up today
P: I was outside and Patrick yelled a big "bonjour" to me from across the yard
J: somebody said she was looking forward to seeing me next vacation
H: mommy said I had such a great football throw and when Bailey said "nice kick" when we were playing soccer outside in the yard

Day 61

It brightened my day when:

J: the lady at the front desk of the hotel said, "nice to see you again"
K: seeing P, J, and H playing so well together at the park today and when J shared with us her creations from her craft class
P: J got along very well with me when we stayed home together for a bit
J: I caught the ball 3 times in a row and made my brother's happy
H: P and J played baseball with me at the park and we did the circuits together around the park