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