Day 120

It brightened my day when:

J: I got to have lunch with my dad, brother, and sister -- first time they have all visited at the same time
K: the kids got excited when their grandpa, aunt, and uncle walked through the door
P: G-pop, J, and Teet-teet walked through the door (we knew they were coming, but didn't know when)
J: G-pop, J, and Teet-teet came to the house
H: Uncle J played hockey with me

Day 119

It brightened my day when:

J: H tried to help up his team's goalie -- who is 5 and was playing in his first game in goal
K: we found our mouse that got out of his area when we were away for the weekend
P: I found Max, our mouse that got away from his area over the weekend
J: we found Max, our mouse.  He got lost while we were away for the weekend
H: P found our mouse under the kitchen sink

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Day 118

It brightened my day when:

J: I found out the guy I was speaking with at H's hockey tournament for a few minutes turned out to be from England.  We continued out conversation in English.
K: P reminded me to do the "Brightened My Day" post
P: I saw all the 7-8 year-old hockey players tapping their stick in support when an injured player went off the ice
J: K said I could go up to our hotel room and read for a while
H: my coach gave me a tap on the helmet after a goal I scored in my tournament

Day 117

It brightened my day when:

J: the somewhat-older man riding his bike up Alpe d'Huez smiled at me when I caught his eye
K: we passed an old woman working on her farm as we passed through the stunning scenery on the way to Alpe d'Huez
P: the waiter at the restaurant brought candy with the bill
J: the waiter at the restaurant brought candy fish with the bill
H: the waiter at the restaurant brought candies with the bill

Day 116

It brightened my day when:

J:  a friend brought over 6 fresh eggs that had been laid by her neighbor's chickens earlier that morning
K:  a friend took two huge bags of "giveaway" items from our garage
P: my dad's friend's wife (Toni) played soccer with me in the yard
J: when my dad's friend's wife (Toni) said she'd love to come visit again because I'm so good with her 2 month old baby
H: when I played baseball with my dad's friend (Jason)

Day 115

It brightened my day when:

J: the woman at the boulangerie went to the back of the shop to fetch 3 baguettes (there were none left out front and they were "officially" sold out)
K: I got to help a friend with an animal surgery -- neutering a dog
P: little Miles (a friend's baby) kept wanting to hold my hand in Cannes
J: I got to carry Dean (a 2 1/2 month old baby) down to the car to get him ready for our little car tip
H: I got to play Angry Birds on my dad's friend's iPad

Day 114

It brightened my day when:

J:  I saw my friend Jason for the first time in over 20 years (he's visiting with his wife and kids)
K: all three kids began singing 'Hallelujah' together this afternoon
P: H played a great game of Battleship with me
J: I got to hold a 2 month old baby
H: my big brother helped me learn to play Battleship

Day 113

It brightened my day when:

J: J brought me a hot bowl of baked apples that she made on a whim
K:  J decided to "save" all our rotting apples by making a baked apple dessert
P:  Patrick (the guy who does the gardening for the owner of our house) yelled "Hi" to me from all the way across the yard
J:  P played Battleship with me
H:  when my hockey coach told me I made a nice pass.

Day 112

It brightened my day when:

J:  I saw H having a blast by himself in the pool this afternoon, even though the water temp is about 18 degrees
K: I heard P running the vacuum cleaner in his room
P: when a friend texted me to see if I wanted to go paint-balling with him and a group of other friends
J: I woke up early at my friends house and bunch of friends and I ate breakfast together
H: J and I made a great soccer goal in the backyard.  It's so awesome!

Day 111

It brightened my day when:

J: I was able to chat for a bit with my dad on the phone this afternoon
K: H was so happy to come reveal to me that he had washed his face and it smelled soooo good
P: J brought out lunch for everyone when we were outside enjoying the beautiful day
J: my friend called ME to see if I could bring a friend of her sister's to the birthday party tonight
H: mommy was so happy to smell my nice clean face and hands that smelled sooooo clean

Day 110

It brightened my day when:
J: a parent of a student rolled down the window of her car this morning and introduced herself
K: I got to go to a school play with P and J this evening
P: the lady working the concession stand at the play tonight gave me a whole bottle of juice instead of just a cup
J: my drama teacher laughed at our "inside joke" when I returned two tickets for the show
H: J told me my bedtime story tonight.

Day 109

It brightened my day when:
J: my Model United Nations students gave me a big team "thank you" for the fun year we've had. (It probably helped that I had just taken them all out for pizza)
K: a friend stopped by unexpectedly with a fresh batch of cupcakes for us
P: when J texted me to suggest an evening bike ride
J: my Latin teacher started laughing at an answer my friend and I gave in class (we were obviously very wrong)
H: my friend Augustin stopped by our house while he was on a walk with his grandma

Day 108

It brightened my day when:
J: I cam home and saw P and J playing a great "imaginary" soccer game
K: P finally -- after 4 years -- gave some good French help while we were in the car
P: a teacher gave our entire class a huge compliment by saying we were working really hard
J: two of my teachers starting playing around with me and a friend
H: I got to stay home with mommy

Day 107

It brightened my day when:
J: the secretary for our office provided a huge basket of meringue for our meeting this evening.  I don't love French meringue, but sure appreciated the gesture
K: the lady in the parking garage asked me a directional question (which I actually knew the answer to) and she understood my response
P: the lady wanting to cross the street smiled and waved in appreciation when my mom let her pass
J: the girls in front of me (in 3eme) was so thankful that I found her cantine card on the ground and gave it back to her
H: our whole team played against our two coaches at the end of hockey practice.

Day 106

It brightened my day when:

J: I heard that a colleague had her baby today
K: our neighbor came over to check-in on our housing situation for next year
P: J had a pretty uncontrollable laugh at a little "inside joke" I told
J: J and K appreciated my "Latin" comment
H: J found the cream cheese I had been looking for everywhere

Day 105

It brightened my day when:

J: one of H's friends yelled, "look how good I am" when he skated about 5 ft on the ice on his own
K: one of the little girls at the ice skating birthday party we went to finally allowed me to skate around the rink with her
P: the fans from Mulhouse showed some respect to us (Nice fans) by chanting "Nissa!  Nissa!"
J: a lady helped H get through the very crowded seating area at the hockey game
H: Lucy said she would bring me some birthday cake to school on Monday (because I couldn't go to her house for cake).

Day 104

It brightened my day when:

J: a french colleague came up and told me that she had "heard some good things from her students about my class"
K: I saw P pick up his brother's backpack and coat from the driveway without anyone asking
P: a friend came up to me in a very happy way and asked if I wanted to share some of his coke
J: I saw a friend outside my classroom window during class and she mouthed to me "good luck"
H: my teacher said she was going to give me a good grade on my writing even though it wasn't very good!

Day 103

It brightened my day when:

J: a colleague who has been having a few problems told me she was "doing better."
K: the lady at the boulangerie was extremely patient with my torturing of the french language
P: a friend offered me some cheese that he knew I liked
J: I told a friend how good she did on her musical piece, then she told me she thought I was a good singer too
H: a guy at the ice rink told me that I was doing great especially because I went to the end of the ice rink and then I skated to the end all the way back to the other end and I finished before everyone

Day 102

It brightened my day when:

J: the man at Carrefour offered to weigh my sack of pears for me because my hands were full of other things.
K: the cashier at Decathlon was so friendly when I returned a load of items (something that doesn't always happen here).
P: one of my little brother's friends looked so happy to see me!
J: the little girl who accidentally bumped-in to me at the store was so cute when she said "oops, sorry."
H: P told me I was pretty good at throwing my brand new Frisbee.

Day 101

It brightened my day when:

J: the woman at the cafe where I often buy a sandwich -- who never speaks to me in English -- greeted me with a huge smile and heavily accented "Hello, how are you today."
K: while talking with a friend and admiring her brand new baby, a woman I didn't know came up to us and proudly announced that she too had a new baby -- a new grandbaby!
P: my friend Martin randomly handed me a lollipop today at school.
J: the girl who has her flute lesson just before me gave me a bit of candy that made my lips turn blue -- something we sometimes do to make our teacher "mad".
H: I kicked the soccer ball just wide of the goal and my friend yelled, "Ohhhh, so close!!"

Day 100

It brightened my day when:

J: a small crowd listening to our music at a local festival began to join-in when we played some Provençal tunes.
K: I saw J performing with a music group in front of a packed church at a festival in a local village.       
P: our neighbor came over with an Easter card and gift.
J: all the kids got an unexpected Easter gift from our neighbor.
H: I made J laugh so hard at something I did.

Day 99

It brightened my day when:

J: H caught my eye after his first-ever goal in a "real" game and gave a little fist pump.
K: H came into the kitchen while I was preparing for some friends to come over for dinner and said, "Mommy, everything looks so happy in here."         
P: my friend Nicholas showed me some cool things on his iPod Touch.
J: our dinner guests told me how much they like the chocolate mousse I made.
H: my teammates gave me "hockey high-fives" after my goal in today's game.

Day 98

It brightened my day when:

J: the very small old lady at the grocery store politely asked for my help getting her some vegetables that were out of her reach
K: H cleaned up the main floor without being asked and was clearly very proud of himself
P: I went to get my bag that I left in a room a boy went out of his way to come toss it to me
J: H and mommy played with me on the couch and we had a lot of fun
H: mommy and J played with me on the couch and we had a lot of fun

Day 97

It brightened my day when:

J: we were listening to the TK show J said "yeah" when her favorite part came on
K: the plombier saw me drive past and he waved enthusiastically to say hello
P: my teacher gave me a jokey funny look when L was taking a very long time to leave the room
J: our guest and a teacher at our school let me be a guinea pig to test out his theater prop of a camel with stilts
H: Gaspard said nice play during our game

Day 96

It brightened my day when:

J:  I spotted P and J in a class this afternoon and they flashed me a huge smile.
K: the man in the blue sweatshirt in the white van threw me a huge smile and wave as he passed me by
P: Charlotte was able to get my friends and I out of our discouraged moods
J: everyone at school asked me if I was feeling better
H: P made fresh squeezed orange juice for me when I got back from hockey practice

Day 95

It brightened my day when:

J: a student came up to me at lunch to tell me how much fun he was having at our MUN conference
K: M came over and was so excited to speak to me in English today--she was showing more confidence in her speaking skills
P: I came home after a long school day and found my sister had made the best gravy sauce ever
J: K came to get me early because I wasn't feeling well
H: J made me a yummy lunch

Day 94

It brightened my day when:

J:Some kids remembered me from last year and said hello.
K: I received an email from a friend informing me that her grandson is doing better and is receiving all the medical care he needs.
P: my teacher told me she was very happy that I volunteered because she knows I am trustworthy.
J: K told me Zane was doing a lot better.
H: a guy at my school said I could play with him because I play well and run really fast.

Day 93

It brightened my day when:

J: I saw a colleague who retired last year but was at school to sub
K: the little girl in the library was so pleased with herself when she came to do an April Fool's Day joke on me even though it was a day late
P: I asked a question to one of the coaches he winked at me and I knew it meant "yes"
J: the kids on my basketball team were telling me how they thought I was doing such a good job even though I wasn't feeling well
H: the coach patted my head and told me "c'est bien"

Day 92

It brightened my day when:

J:  When P took our "April Fool's Day" joke so well.
K: J so willingly agreed to take P to his friend's house for a study session
P: a friend introduced his parents to me in a very cheerful way and they were pleased to meet me
J: everyone said they liked my chocolate mousse
H: Louis offered me one of his coats because I was so cold