The last week

This week was crazy and fun!

Story from yesterday: I woke up this morning (in the mountains) with a swollen-allergy eye. Two students were very concerned and I told them how it was allergies. I said I wanted to tell people I had been punched. One girl volunteered to be the aggressor. I approached another one of my male students. "[Girl student] punched me!" "Whaaaat!? Really? I can't believe it!" "It's ok. I punched her back. I got fired, but she got expelled." "....[gaping]" "I'm just kidding." "Wait really!?" LOL Awesome to have a gullible kid around. I will take advantage of this more often from now on.

From Sunday: Story of the day/night: Last night I took an ambien and put away my computer, etc. Well I hadn't fallen asleep when it kicked in and I started to complain to my sister. (I'll remind you of my sunburn hence my skin feeling tight.) "Anjo! My skin feels tight like I'm going to explode. I want you to have some of my guts if that happens." Her: "..." Me: "Are you considering it?"

- I got to go to Timp Lodge with the school and it was really fun.
- The workshops I taught went really well.
- I got to spend some time with my Maman tonight.
- I just got a couple new movies and I'm excited to watch them.
- I got to have my favorite food (popcorn) tonight. :D

Achievement unlocked: kayaking

1) I went kayaking for the first time. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be, but I still really enjoyed myself.
2) My educator's conference was only three hours long (it could have been much longer)!
3) I got to watch Godzilla with my Maman and Papa.
4) I think I understand MYP better now, thank goodness.
5) I am going to have a great week next week!

happiness quote: WISH. BELIEVE. Most of all, enjoy every moment of the journey, and appreciate where you are at this moment instead of always focusing on how far you have to go.” ― Mandy Hale, The Single Woman: Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass

Oh happy day!

1) I'm going from a scheduled employee to will-call at Vivint. They are such an amazing company! I'm so blessed to work for them!!
2) Friday school went well (I had to stay after for two hours with the students).
3) I still got to work out.
4) Work went really well in spite of a kind of long week.
5) I'm going kayaking tomorrow! :D

happiness quote: “Most people would rather be certain they're miserable, than risk being happy.” ― Robert Anthony

Oops, forgot again! 9/18

1) I got to play lots of guitar and got two new songs.
2) My hs ASL students were really great!
3) Nadia and I made dinner and it was delicious.
4) I got better sleep.
5) I was able to watch some Project Runway while planning. 

happiness quote: “Those born to wealth, and who have the means of gratifying every wish, know not what is the real happiness of life, just as those who have been tossed on the stormy waters of the ocean on a few frail planks can alone realize the blessings of fair weather.” ― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

Guitar time!

1) I got to play guitar for a longer time today.
2) My workouts have been especially awesome this week - I have been feeling them and am feeling already my workout from today.
3) I got to have a little time off (that I used to play guitar)!
4) I ate some pickles today! 
5) My classes went really well today. 

happiness quote: “Happiness is the most natural thing in the world when you have it, and the slowest, strangest, most impossible thing when you don't. It's like learning a foreign language: You can think about the words all you want, but you'll never be able to speak it until you suck up your courage and say them out loud.” ― Dan Wells, Partials

9/16 (completely forgot, sorry!)

1) I have some plans for this Saturday, after my conference. Yay!
2) I'm going kayaking!! ^
3) I had a laugh because a teenage neighbor whistled at me again. I accidentally encouraged him to do that because I thought my brother was the one whistling and yelled, "You know it!" Oops.
4) I helped a tech BIG TIME - I took care of his problem even though it took a half hour on the phone!
5) I had a break between jobs.

happiness quote: “My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.” ― Michael J. Fox

Just another manic Monday

1) I finally ran some errands I was supposed to do last week. 
2) Angèle went with me to the store (I dislike shopping).
3) I got a bunch of classroom materials. :D
4) Lunch today was awesome.
5) My new toy works great in my classroom. Yippee!

happiness quote: “Happiness [is] only real when shared.”― Christopher McCandless

Sunday

1) I'm, seriously, so grateful to have a good heating pad.
2) I was able to play some games on my iPad. 
3) I got to spend some time with family.
4) I didn't throw up my dinner!
5) I got to watch some football. :D

happiness quote: “The true measure of success is how many times you can bounce back from failure.” ― Stephen Richards

Friday & Saturday

1) I had Friday off from school, thank goodness. I was able to spend most of the day on my heating pad!
2) I was able to see a friend from Japan on Saturday who is now going to BYU.
3) I got my iPad from Vivint! :D
4) I got to watch some Masterchef.
5) I'm doing better with my water drinking. :)

happiness quote: “Maybe you think you’ll be entitled to more happiness later by forgoing all of it now, but it doesn’t work that way. Happiness takes as much practice as unhappiness does. It’s by living that you live more. By waiting you wait more. Every waiting day makes your life a little less. Every lonely day makes you a little smaller. Every day you put off your life makes you less capable of living it.” ― Ann Brashares, Sisterhood Everlasting

Long weekend

1) (I have to work next Saturday so) I have tomorrow off from school!
2) I am going to run a bunch of errands I have been putting off tomorrow. :)
3) My guitar lesson went really well.
4) My classes went well today.
5) I'm finally going to get my car registered tomorrow (late, but still I'm finally getting it done)!

happiness quote: “The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it. (21)” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Quebec!

1) I found out today that the school trips are free for the chaperones! So I will be going to Quebec, Ecuador, or Mexico for free!
2) Classes went really well today. 
3) I got to talk to a friend with whom I haven't talked in almost a year!
4) I had a pretty great workout.
5) I know I have said this before, but I am really seeing my improvement with guitar. It's awesome!

happiness quote: “Happiness comes from within. It is not dependent on external things or on other people. You become vulnerable and can be easily hurt when your feelings of security and happiness depend on the behavior and actions of other people. Never give your power to anyone else.” ― Brian L. Weiss

Rock 'N' Roll Lifestyle

1) I got the BEST new pair of pants yesterday - they are skull pants! I will take a picture of them later. It's like looking at the wall of the catacombs. Super sweet pants!
2) I had a delicious lunch.
3) My French class is so fun! I really enjoy teaching that class.
4) We had a massively cool rainstorm today.
5) I found out today - no school on Friday! Of course that's because we have meetings next week Saturday... but still! I will still have Sunday of next week. :D

happiness quote: “I keep remembering one of my Guru's teachings about happiness. She says that people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don't you will eat away your innate contentment. It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

No sleep

1) I was super tired and feeling icky, so I extra appreciated that one of my students told me that I looked good today (a girl, no worries).
2) I unexpectedly got in some extra work.
3) I got to watch some Walking Dead over the weekend.
4) I got to play a game with my second class that was really fun. 
5) I can tell who reviews and it's nice to see some of the students progressing. (I wish they all would review and look at the vocab sheets I gave them!)

happiness quote: “There are random moments - tossing a salad, coming up the driveway to the house, ironing the seams flat on a quilt square, standing at the kitchen window and looking out at the delphiniums, hearing a burst of laughter from one of my children's rooms - when I feel a wavelike rush of joy. This is my true religion: arbitrary moments of of nearly painful happiness for a life I feel privileged to lead.” ― Elizabeth Berg, The Art of Mending

Kellan's baby blessing

1) I got to see a bunch of family today.
2) I got to sit next to Aunt Colleen during Sacrament meeting.
3) I ate some pickles.
4) My pain was pretty controllable today, thank goodness!
5) I got a couple cute pictures.

Uncle Emmett & Kellan

Aunt Anjo now too!

I didn't miss a Saturday!

1) I got all the planning for next week done.
2) I've got all my grading current now.
3) I got to play with Aiden. :D
4) I got some Spicy V8 - it's soooo good!
5) I get to go to my nephew's baby blessing tomorrow. 

happiness quote: “Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.” ― Carroll Bryant

Made it through another week!

1) My students made me so happy today; they told me I was one of their favorite teachers! They told me my class was one of their favorites. Huzzah!
2) I had an incredulous laugh because 3/4 of my students had no idea who Paris Hilton is.
3) I had time between jobs to workout and practice guitar.
4) My shift tonight went pretty quickly because we were fairly slammed. 
5) I had some popcorn when I got home! Yum!

happiness quote: “One is happy as a result of one's own efforts once one knows the necessary ingredients of happiness: simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self denial to a point, love of work, and above all, a clear conscience.” ― George Sand

My students are a crack up!

1) In French class, the term ti-papotes came up, which made me think of the tetes a claques with that same title. I told them I had to show it to them, and did so. I was DYING laughing in the back of the room. Not a peep from the students. Then as soon as it was over, a girl in the front said, "That was horrifying." I laughed so hard.
2) Then I decided to show them one other (Le Camping) and for that one I did a translation. The rest of the class period they were saying, "Jette le tube Monique!" What a great day!
3) On the way home from school, everyone was driving half the speed limit plus 5 mph (literally). I was going nuts at going so slow. And everyone was moving en masse. And they kept in front of me! I kept thinking, "This is a funeral procession... noooo it couldn't be. Maybe it is.. nooo." Yup, I totally was in the middle of a funeral procession. :/ Oops! Sorry that family - in retrospect it's funny but I hope they don't think I was showing disrespect.
4) My guitar lesson was awesome! I keep getting a new song or two each week and I can see my skills growing. I love it!
5) I have some AWESOME callouses on my fingers (from the guitar)!

happiness quote: “What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.” ― Joseph Addison

Mentor Groups

1) As a core teacher, I now have a mentor group of students with whom I will meet every Wednesday. We had our first meeting today and I felt like it went really well. Afterwards one of the girls caught me in another classroom and said, "You're the coolest mentor!" :D
2) I had time to plan for classes and feel a bit more ready for tomorrow (I've been stressed lately).
3) As usual, I have been blessed with ideas for class tomorrow.
4) I woke up early and was able to read scriptures while I was not in a rush.
5) Even though I had meetings, I was able to go work out. :D

happiness quote: “it is impossible to build one's own happiness on the unhappiness of others. This perspective is at the heart of Buddhist teachings.” ― Daisaku Ikeda

 My adorable new nephew smiling

Tuesday Tuesday!

1) It was a crazy busy day (working 2 of my 3 jobs), BUT I was able to have an hour to myself in the middle of it. That was so nice.
2) My junior high students continue to wow me! They are better than the high school students at not talking! They're amazing!
3) Carl (another teacher at the school) got my laptop hooked up to the printer. I can finally print things for my students!
4) My French class is doing so well! They are all so dedicated and it's wonderful to teach them!
5) I'm so sore from my workout and being out on the lake. It's awesome!

happiness quote: “There is no beauty in sadness. No honor in suffering. No growth in fear. No relief in hate. It’s just a waste of perfectly good happiness.” ― Katerina Stoykova Klemer

Jet Ski!

1) I got to go jet skiing for the first time today! :D
2) It was a blast and I got to spend time with Abbey and her family.
3) I got a lot of planning work done for tomorrow.
4) I got my shopping done that I've been putting off for 2? 3? weeks! (lol)
5) I got new windshield wipers. My old ones were AWFUL - these new ones are awesome!

happiness quote: “Until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be content with what you have.” ― Doris Mortman