LisasMiles 30:365

It was a beautiful morning running in the park. Crunchy snow underfoot and a clear piercing blue sky - so beautiful but I'd no camera to capture it as is left it in the kit bag in case I fell over and smashed it :( Still, my eyes enjoyed it! 

Also smiled when I'd finished the 5.3+ miles when I looked down and saw the amount of mud on my legs. Compared to others, significantly more! I think it's an inherited trait ;)

And for tea I made sausage risotto, a dish I perfected at uni and a recipe that was then stolen by many friends. The boys loved it and it tasted nearly as good as 24 years ago when I first made it! 

Other smiles:

Wasabi pea overdose as I tried to complete some trying, last minute paperwork. 

End of the week. 

Stories of school from the boys. 

John brought Lindt chocolates back from his travels. 

PS someone called Wendy Webb has posted a picture from the park this morning on Twitter so I've borrowed it! Thanks to @Sutton Observer for the retweet or I'd have missed it. 

LisaSmiles 3:365

Marshmallow toasting over the bonfire with lanterns hung in the tree.

Park Run this morning was wet and muddy but a sense of achievement to get up and running! 

An addition to the lounge made up for taking down the Christmas decorations. 

And I thoroughly enjoyed the last liqueur cherry in dark chocolate, and the last Lindt truffle. 

MoreSmiles 88:365

Spring is here, the sun is shining and I've mowed the lawn for the first time in over two years.

Sad as we said #goodbyetoBev but lots of smiles too as it's hard to think of her without smiling such was her energy and zest for life. Every daffodil and dark chocolate Bounty will henceforth remind me of her. As will loud trumping ;)

And dinner at the Cock Inn. Delicious!

MoreSmiles 68:365

I've been thinking about Fry's chocolate cream since Dave B mentioned them last weekend - and I found one in Wilkinsons. And I thoroughly enjoyed it as I sat in the sun this afternoon having run a race this morning.  

My ability to switch from struggling to put one foot in front of the other with 500m to go to sprinting across the line simply because Jac told me to 'come on' amused - and bemused - me no end. 

And discovering flowers in the garden. 

MoreSmiles 59:365

I've got Sprüngli chocolates! 

#smileygirl

  

 A good run this morning, the arrival of a replacement UP band, sunshine and the end of a looong week all made me smile too!

MoreSmiles 52:365

 

Curling tights. Come on GB! (Silver isn't too shoddy!)

A good day speaking to and talking with PGCE students at Leicester University about technology. 

Delicious lunch too!

And Prosecco for tea. 

Thanks to John Sutton for the chocolate; no need as I can't even recall what you said last week ;) 

And sun is always very welcome and smile-making! 

MoreSmiles 45:365

Too tired to post last night so catch up time!

An early start was made better by this bag by the kettle at 6am! Thank you John x

More smiles as I tweeted with @MissJ0nes as we 'sped' (ha ha!) on the train from opposite ends of the British Isles to meet in York with others for a day of research (brain imploded with information overload!)

Great to see Thérèse and many other familiar faces in York - shame I missed Suzi though.

Good to be home after another rail nightmare - I am NOT travelling by train on a Friday evening again - and thanks to John for picking me up from Birmingham with Medjool dates to calm me!

However I did get a chocolate lolly from the guard who called me 'young lady'

Big thank yous from the boys for the chocolates I left outside their rooms this morning.  

And the new PPA timetable sees me teaching Year 2 - WA-HOOOO!

MoreSmiles 27:365

The look on Jude's face as we discussed catheterisation.

The Pope is a cat-a-holic according to Milton Jones. And many other marvellous one liners.

The last of the Sprüngli chocolates.

Flowers from John.

All reasons to smile on a day at work that I can't say I enjoyed much.

MoreSmiles 26:365

Great Twitter banter about #ILILC4 lessened the post-BETT blues as did sunshine this afternoon and Sprüngli chocolates!

I ran 5 miles fairly quickly and planned some lessons in ultra quick time so I've done one of tomorrow's jobs this evening whilst watching TheJump and The Three Musketeers. I still have countless things to do though...
One thing at a time - and I have planned my wardrobe for #ILILC4 :)

And Stan won the Australian Open!

MoreSmiles 2:365

A lovely day with my sister's family today.

Lots of snuggles with Bob who used me as a pillow and, once he was convinced that "grangra" wasn't coming, kept turning to me and saying my name. Later, I was granted the ultimate accolade of having my arm sniffed and eliciting "mmmm" from him!

Meanwhile, "the terrible trio" continued shooting their film which is set to rival Lord of the Rings in length of time taken to complete. I'm not sure what the other inhabitants of the courtyard thought about the oddly clad children brandishing wooden weaponry not to mention the adult in cycling shorts and smoking jacket.

Here's Jude sporting a fine head of hair. Even more unruly than his own barnet!

The chilli chocolate challenge was taken by all of us after lunch. Jude was rendered speechless by a sliver of the hottest one; Isaac hoovered up the remains of all our chocolates! I was fine after the first which disabled all sensation in my mouth. (Not sure Crabbies is the best drink to cool the mouth...)

Whilst visiting the doctors isn't usually a reason to smile, it was good to see lovely Dr D who I've missed whilst in Switzerland. Always greets you with a smile and shows interest in your life - as well as dealing with your ailments obviously! 

And I'm reading Oops by Hywel Bennett. Making me think but also smile a lot!

Smiles 322:365

I refuse to start Christmas until December but the Steiff shop window made me forget my usual reluctance.

Other things making me smile - 

the excitement caused by chocolate in the staff room;

Good feedback on my observation; 

More Innocent Smoothie hats. 

Smiles 256:365

My nephew received a big box of chocolate bars for his birthday. He was ecstatic as he is obsessed with chocolate. In fact, it was one of his first words, and is always very very clearly enunciated.
He was apparently beside himself with joy at this box and rummaged through it, looking lovingly at each purple wrapper and no doubt thinking about eating them!

Happy birthday Bob from Auntie Pig-Bird xx

Smiles 116:365

Things that made me smile today
The box of chocolates above was given to John but he is kindly sharing them!
RedRun training was fun as usual, and I had to smile at the Grade5s who dragged themselves around despite looking as white as sheets from tiredness!
The DP students who were having a 'Keep your hand on the wall' competition and suffered the indignity of having water balloons thrown at them, and then Lisa and I added ice cubes to the mix!! I'm wondering how long they lasted - are they still standing there now?
The boys receiving their German certificates - Sehr gut bestanden for both of them!

Say cheese in other languages
In Finnish - you say Muikku (vendance) Sano muikku!

Smiles 90:365

Frohe Ostern!

Can you see the snow? Big fat snowflakes! That's a first!

Osterhase

Smile in other languages
In Maori - mene / menemene / whakamenemene 

Smiles 78:365

The poshest toilets ever seen... decorated with eggs in shot glasses! That made me smile! This was at Hotel Schweizerhof in Bern which has 5 stars and, I'm told, exceptionally comfortable beds that are just too comfortable for some people! As a fan of a hard bed, I can understand that!

This sight also made me smile - very colourful, and the start of a great day of looking at technology in education. I liked the fact that time and again it was mentioned that tools must be appropriate for the task and that iPads can't do everything! Even having to 'wipe' them all at the end of the day made me smile as I was woefully slow compared to the speed and skill of people who do it 3 or 4 times a week!

Great to see some 'old' friends too and make some new ones.

And chocolate too! I feel guilty that someone else's loss was my gain, but I shall make sure that Adrien gets chocolate next time I see him!

Also making me smile today - I returned home to find Isaac making koftas for tea, and John helping him. Between them they added 5 cloves of garlic and a unique mixture of herbs and spices. I have to say that the koftas were delicious nonetheless. 

Smiles in other languages
In Basque - irribare

Smiles 77:365

The Goldhase has appeared once more on the roof of Coop City, although this year it;s pretty hard to see it thanks to the scaffolding for the new bus station! 

It reminded me of this video about Schoko-Osterhasen I'd seen earlier today.

Other things that have made me smile today
The dancing Nan on FB.
And also Samuel L Jackson dog.
Zumba.
The last piece of lemon cake.
All the kind people who have been sympathetic about my pounding headache which has been ongoing for over a month.

Smile in other languages
In Bengali - মৃদুহাস্য

Smile 68:365

Jude spotted these Gagnam Style Häsli today in Bachmann as we bought lunch today. Just one of many cute Easter bunnies. (Like the look of the Percy Pig Easter pig with 100s and 1000s shorts I saw in the M&S letter that arrived today!)

We visited the Verkehrshaus / Swiss Transport Museum today in Luzern. I took so many pictures but this is one of my favourites! 

Btw, NOB = Nord-Ost Bahn ;o)

Other things that made me smile

Being able to choose between catching a bus or boat to the Museum - we went for the boat on the way and the bus back - for the same price!

Watching the boys' faces on a screen as John 'flew' them in a flight simulator.

Going out in shoes and NO SOCKS!

Smiles in other languages

In Norwegian - smiler

Smiles 67:365

An ex-colleague of John's visited today with goodies from their new job with Kraft. Jude's excited about the Toblerone, Isaac about the Jelly Babies and I'm excited about the Double Deckers. John's just excited by chocolate in general!

And there were some pretty spring flowers outside the deli today too. I love Spring arriving!

Other things that made me smile
Being told I've been selected as a judge for the Radio2 500 word challenge.
The satisfaction of finishing cataloguing a pile of books that I know the children really want to read.
The sunshine.
An interesting conversation about future plans

Smile in other languages
In Russian - улыбаться

Smiles 58:365

The Easter bunny has appeared again! Pulling my shopping trolley along the street and there he was - a huge yellow bunny! I wonder if he'll end up with a notice around his neck like last year?

Also causing smiles today, food shopping is always improved by being handed a bar of chocolate with the receipt. A small one, but (quality) chocolate nonetheless. And I took no end of pleasure this afternoon in stripping and re-backing a display board, and creating a new display to put up tomorrow. Reading my friend's entry in a competition to write a novel(la) in a weekend also made me smile - it's very good!

Smile in other languages

East Inuktitut - Qungujuq

Smiles 40:365

So many smiles that I lost count! Edited highlights!

Knobs. Manx knobs to be precise, courtesy of Rachel aka @lancslassrach. Oh how we laughed! And I managed to get the leftovers. Did you know that knobs can be grumpy or fruity?

I love my MFL friends - the so called #mfltwitterati. Miss them so much but they're only ever a tweet away. Here are just a few of them - John, Alex, Eleanor and Jackie - with me modelling our lovely T-shirts, organised by Eleanor. Someone took a photograph of all of us in our Tshirts but has yet to share it.

Singing Bohemian Rhapsody in French Spanish and German - oh, and English! - with Simone, Isabelle, Jen and Rachel. Love singing and love languages so very happy!

Then there was singing El Pollito Pío, a little portion of which was captured by Simone here and everyone loved their Toblerone.

And my boys sent me a picture of this from the widow at Vollenweider ;)

Smiles in other languages 

Well, not quite smile today as I can't find that but here's 'smiling' in Manx in honour of the knobs ;o) - mongey.