Feel Good Friday

It's really hard for me to believe it's Friday again already!  It's Feel Good Friday once again, so visit The Girl Next Door to link up.  Here we go.

1.  I wish so much I had taken a picture of Gwenstopher the other day.  She was making a beeline up my parents' walk and I couldn't imagine what she was doing.  She doesn't go over there.  So, from the house I called her and she stopped dead in her tracks, looked around and didn't see me, and kept right on going.  What on earth was making her throw caution to the wind and go over there.  MINT.  She LOVES mint. It doesn't even have to be catnip.  Any mint will do.  Even though it's there all summer, every summer, she only occasionally gets into it.  I don't know if she forgets or if she likes to savor it for a rainy day, but when she finds it, she is in her glory.  Rolling around in it.  Obliviously to everything.  So I snuck up on her and scared the bejeezus out of her but then she went right back to it.  She doesn't ruin it, so it's all good and pretty funny.  Somehow, she doesnt' come out staggering, she comes out looking just fine.  No stoned look about her.  She usually carries herself with such decorum that rolling around in mint seems so beneath her.

2.  I ran for the first time in a month and I didn't drop dead.  I am not a lover of running but I do it to stay in shape.  They tell me that someday I'm going to just love running.  Well, it's been 10 years.  Isn't that long enough to know that I'm never going to love it?  I never run every day, nor is running my sole workout method.  I believe in cross training so I do one of everything each week instead of all spin classes or all running or whatever.  I am certain this is what has kept me injury free for all this time.  In the winter, it's not unusual for me to go a month without running because of the weather.  I will use the stairmaster, spin, etc.  But in the summer, this is rare.  But,I thought if I waited much longer, I might never do it again, so I went out there and knocked out 3.5 miles.  And I'm still kicking.  Myself for not running more, but oh well.  My philosophy about running over the years has changed.  It used to be that I wanted to get faster every day and would scold myself for being slow one day but now I realized I'm still fit, I can be very active, and that's all I really want in this life.  Realizing that I can learn to ride a horse (and not fall off is a major accomplishment, according to my instructor) or spend a day at the beach playing the waves and then come home and remain a functioning human being, not a comatose crybaby who is out of shape has been a major thing for me in this past year.  I'm not going to the Olympics.  If I don't knock myself working out one day, the world does not end.  My pants still fit, I can still ride Tucker, I can mow the grass and not get winded, so life is still good.

3. Tuesday,  I was given a $25 gift card for Trader Jos by the same women's organization that I belong to that made me Woman of the Year in April and from whom I won the laptop I am currently using.  They say it is because I work so hard for them and blah, blah, blah.  I make the reservations for the meeting.  Whoopeee.  A very hard job indeed.  Got to get the excel spreadsheet just so.  But I like Trader Jos and who doesn't like free money?

4.  Many of my 6th grade students are THRILLED to be taking French.  For the past few years, my incoming 6th graders have had pissy attitudes and make me pissy by spreading their attitudes and then we all hate each other.  It's been a while since I've seen the joy on the faces of 6th grade so early in the year.  They are so tickled when we go through the calendar routine in French. They are knocking each other over to bring me extra credit and post on my class blog.  It's a nice feeling and makes me realized why I've felt tense at school for the past few years.  On this same note, those very same 6th graders who really made me question my career choice for the entire year last year, have turned into some decent 7th graders who have great attitudes.  They are like bring on the French which is so nice to see.  And 8th grade is fine. They were fantastic last year, and the little twerps who got on my nerves seem to have a matured a little.  We're speaking the same language at the moment and this is a major thing in 8th grade. Perhaps the carrot of getting French penpals is motivating a few.  And scaring the pants off a few because they realize they have to actually write something in French.  One kid asked me for some 7th grade work because what he was doing was too hard.  "oh, this IS 7th grade work, it's chapter 1 review" I told him.  This didnt' go over well..

5.  K-ster got to go to a hockey game last night and that makes me happy.  His brother got season tickets and though it is a hike for k-ster to go, I like that he gets to watch the games with his brother.  Even if it does mean he has to take the General because his truck is lifted and too large to fit in the parking garage.  It amazes me how much I use what a have in the General and how empty I feel when I can't just reach and get something I need.  And I need a stepladder to climb into his truck so I dont' love driving it. Until I see a man gawk and then I get a little pleasure out of being a tiny girl in a large truck.  And some day when I have it at school, kids will inevitably see me get in or out of it and it will be quite the talk.  I will be a legend for like a minute.  It's a big deal to be a legend to a middle schooler and I strive for it every day.  There was a time that I was a legend because there were rumors that I was a "model" .  I'm 5'2".  What in all of hell could I model?  Ok, maybe I was a SPOKEMODEL for 5 years.   But that's another story for another day.  Maybe if you show some interest, I'll tell you about it.  

Now share your own Feel Good Friday goodies!