i miss maudie

So there were a few things that happened yesterday that turned a pretty rough day into a pretty amazing day. They were nicely spaced throughout the day too. God knows that if I have too much happiness at once, I might actually explode.

1. Glory (a student) totally made my morning by frustrating me to my wit's end. I don't know how he does it, but I love it. He asked me to sit down and practice his Spanish conversation with him for an upcoming test. However, the script was already written out and memorized (on his part), but his partner was home sick (and had the only script). So I had to go through the whole conversation - with him only giving me minor hints (in Spanish, of course) as to what my next line might be. It was hysterical. The 3 minute conversation took us closer to 30 minutes.

2. During third period, I just up and left Algebra II class to stand for about 5 minutes watching Peco try to open his bag of mango juice. But I was rewarded for my (lack of) effort when he let me have the first drink. What a great way to start the day.

3. After school, I got TWO packages! One from the little girls I babysit, and one from my college room-mate and her momma! And I got to share the things they sent with other people who needed cool stuff!

4. I got an excellent thank you message from the student I talked to about love on Sunday. My favorite part was where he thanked me for having such a heart-to-heart conversation and not even minding that he's 4 years younger than me.

5. Glory stayed after school and we did maths together. Trying to prove things that are impossible to prove. That is always a highlight of my day.

6. Mrs. Patterson baked me a crapload of peanut butter cookies.

7. When I got home from school, my house had no power. So I got to eat nasi goreng ayam (chicken fried rice) for dinner by ginger-scented-candlelight. It was very pioneer and romantic even by myself. Then, when I realized that my external lights were still on, I called Sid and Mary to come over and fix my house for me. So they did. And they are always a good time. I discovered 3 breaker boxes I never knew I had. And my giant porch toad came over.

8. I rode a vespa in the rain through the dark.

9. I got together with friends to pray, sing, and practice guitar.

10. While we were practicing guitar, who should walk in but - A PUPPY! A little, fuzzy ball of happiness who wagged his tail so hard his whole butt shook! He ran right through the front door and over to me and tried to jump into my chair with me, but he was too little and fat. So I quick passed my guitar to Yohanes and picked the little guy up. And he spent the next 5 or so minutes jumping up and licking me all over my face and gnawing on the buttons on my shirt. His little body was just shaking with sheer ecstacy, and I was afraid he was gonna pee on me. But he didn't.

11. Awhile later, after practice was over, puppy found me outside again and loved on me just the same.

10. I went to an Indonesian family's house and understood a little bit of what was going on and mostly just got to make their baby girl laugh by making ridiculous faces at her. I shook hands with her when I was leaving, and she took my hand and pressed it to her cheek. It was just about the cutest thing ever. Maybe second only to puppy.