If you have not been updated on my weekend in Lille, France then please read the post below this first :)
Well world, it’s been 23 good ones. Here is a halbury B-day in review:
I woke up at the ripe time of 6 am, so that I could talk to my mom on Skype. This gave me about 5 hours of sleep, being that we didn’t get in from France until about 1 am that same day. In my drowsy, 6 AM, 5 hours of sleep, morning state I stumble to the bathroom. Wake up shower time right? Wrong, the temperature of the shower was colder than the artic and not showing signs of improvement. So what do I do? After a 3 day weekend of not showering, walking around a foreign country, sleeping in a hostel, riding a train? I turn around and make my way back to my room, no shower, cursing the day only to realize that it was my very own birthday. Reality check: I am not going to start off the next year of my life with “one of those days,” I refuse to!
It seemed that my students disagreed. Even though I told them it was my birthday (and in some cases, jokingly forced them to sing me happy b-day), I could not rein the class in. I had planned out a hands-on activity where they actually measure out a proper serving size of various foods (or what they thought a serving size was) and I was handsomely rewarded with periods of uninterruptible talking, spilling (custodians must hate me!), off task comments, and generally ungrateful students. It would have been a hard day no matter what, let alone running on such little sleep after an exhausting weekend (again see blog post below for more info).
Dun, da da, daaaaa! Here come family and friends to the rescue. I immediately made my way to the post office after school and found 1 envelope, 1 small package, and 3 large package slips inside my PO Box. The contents were as follows:
1 envelope- a valentines letter from my mother (see 2 posts down), I knew should would be my valentine this year!
1 small package- a VERY thoughtful package from my friends at “The Grove” in Pullman, Washington. The package included 3 CD’s of artists/bands that I had not heard of, however upon loading them to my iTunes I have previewed each one of them and let me say this: thank goodness I have friends with such great taste in music! The CD’s were 1. Current Swell- Trust Us Now, 2. Hotel Lights- Firecracker People, 3. Goldfish-Perceptions of Pacha. I have not heard of any of them, however this new music came at such a crucial time. I am so tire of my own music that I needed something completely new to listen to. It was perfect guys! Thank you!
Large Package #1- a valentines package from Madre including various Valentines day candy (I cannot eat half of it!), a puzzle, MDA camp info, “Into Thin Air” by John Krakauer (a book I have actually started in the past, but not finished), a couple of double DVD movie cases, the TIME magazine commemorative edition of President Obama’s path to the whitehouse (amazing articles and very candid pictures!) and a great framed picture of swiss family Iverson on their great summer get away to Hawaii, tan, smiling faces and all.
Large Package #2- a valentine/b-day package from the wonderful wicks family in Puyallup. Contents include: 3 DVD’s, 1 model (96 Dodge Viper GTS coupe, yellow with black racing stripes), a hand-made deluxe valentines day card (signed by all Wicks family members), and a hand-made deluxe b-day card (all signed again). Package # 2 from you guys, thank you so much! It’s so great to get love from home!
Large Package #3- a red, black and white striped cougar polo shirt for teaching. I can now officially wear professional collared cougar gear for everyday of the week. Am I becoming a living version of my mothers Christmas cougar tree? Thank you mom.
Other very notable B-day presents:
A very charitable contribution to the “Save a Hal Fund” by my very tolerant and loving parents to help me in my travels over here. I love you so much, and I know I did not ask for much, but the experiences that I have had in my life and the opportunities that you have allowed for me are simply the best present you could ever give me. I love you so much mom and dad. I miss you and think about you everyday. Thank you for being such great parents.
My brother Kale wrote me an email that made me cry. He too has given me a lifetime of presents with his presence. He has been my leader, he has been my partner in crime, and has probably had one of the largest impacts in the development of the person I am today. I love you Kale, and I do not know what life hold for us, but I am ready to attack it, explore it, and enjoy everything it has to offer right beside you brother.
Kale also gifted me two albums, Tegan and Sara “The Con” and Umphrey’s McGee’s new album “Mantis (Bonus Track Version). He also gifted me an iTunes gift certificate.
Leslie Mac made me lug a wrapped present over here in my carry on. It was hard, but I promised her that I would not open it until it was my b-day, and I kept that promise. The reward was something quite unexpected. It was “No Such Place As Far Away” by Richard Bach. This short book, almost written in the form of a children’s book, explains very subtly how not even distance can separate you from the ones you love, especially on your birthday. Thank you Leslie. I already told you how much the book meant to me, but I just wanted to let you know that I feel your love, and I appreciate the note in the book. It was very thoughtful. The feeling that the book portrays is really applicable to the rest of my friends and family. Even though I am far away from you all on my birthday, you really have given me an incredible gift of love. As cheesy as that sounds, I feel very loved on my birthday and I want to thank you all for being such a great part of my life.
Enough of the mushy stuff. I returned back to my luxurious dorm, and the other student teachers helped me celebrate my 23rd year with a Taco feed and home-made cheese cake, my favorite! Candles and all! It was very nice of them to be so warm and thoughtful. They are a great crew.
Well world, it’s been 23 good ones. Here is a halbury B-day in review:
I woke up at the ripe time of 6 am, so that I could talk to my mom on Skype. This gave me about 5 hours of sleep, being that we didn’t get in from France until about 1 am that same day. In my drowsy, 6 AM, 5 hours of sleep, morning state I stumble to the bathroom. Wake up shower time right? Wrong, the temperature of the shower was colder than the artic and not showing signs of improvement. So what do I do? After a 3 day weekend of not showering, walking around a foreign country, sleeping in a hostel, riding a train? I turn around and make my way back to my room, no shower, cursing the day only to realize that it was my very own birthday. Reality check: I am not going to start off the next year of my life with “one of those days,” I refuse to!
It seemed that my students disagreed. Even though I told them it was my birthday (and in some cases, jokingly forced them to sing me happy b-day), I could not rein the class in. I had planned out a hands-on activity where they actually measure out a proper serving size of various foods (or what they thought a serving size was) and I was handsomely rewarded with periods of uninterruptible talking, spilling (custodians must hate me!), off task comments, and generally ungrateful students. It would have been a hard day no matter what, let alone running on such little sleep after an exhausting weekend (again see blog post below for more info).
Dun, da da, daaaaa! Here come family and friends to the rescue. I immediately made my way to the post office after school and found 1 envelope, 1 small package, and 3 large package slips inside my PO Box. The contents were as follows:
1 envelope- a valentines letter from my mother (see 2 posts down), I knew should would be my valentine this year!
1 small package- a VERY thoughtful package from my friends at “The Grove” in Pullman, Washington. The package included 3 CD’s of artists/bands that I had not heard of, however upon loading them to my iTunes I have previewed each one of them and let me say this: thank goodness I have friends with such great taste in music! The CD’s were 1. Current Swell- Trust Us Now, 2. Hotel Lights- Firecracker People, 3. Goldfish-Perceptions of Pacha. I have not heard of any of them, however this new music came at such a crucial time. I am so tire of my own music that I needed something completely new to listen to. It was perfect guys! Thank you!
Large Package #1- a valentines package from Madre including various Valentines day candy (I cannot eat half of it!), a puzzle, MDA camp info, “Into Thin Air” by John Krakauer (a book I have actually started in the past, but not finished), a couple of double DVD movie cases, the TIME magazine commemorative edition of President Obama’s path to the whitehouse (amazing articles and very candid pictures!) and a great framed picture of swiss family Iverson on their great summer get away to Hawaii, tan, smiling faces and all.
Large Package #2- a valentine/b-day package from the wonderful wicks family in Puyallup. Contents include: 3 DVD’s, 1 model (96 Dodge Viper GTS coupe, yellow with black racing stripes), a hand-made deluxe valentines day card (signed by all Wicks family members), and a hand-made deluxe b-day card (all signed again). Package # 2 from you guys, thank you so much! It’s so great to get love from home!
Large Package #3- a red, black and white striped cougar polo shirt for teaching. I can now officially wear professional collared cougar gear for everyday of the week. Am I becoming a living version of my mothers Christmas cougar tree? Thank you mom.
Other very notable B-day presents:
A very charitable contribution to the “Save a Hal Fund” by my very tolerant and loving parents to help me in my travels over here. I love you so much, and I know I did not ask for much, but the experiences that I have had in my life and the opportunities that you have allowed for me are simply the best present you could ever give me. I love you so much mom and dad. I miss you and think about you everyday. Thank you for being such great parents.
My brother Kale wrote me an email that made me cry. He too has given me a lifetime of presents with his presence. He has been my leader, he has been my partner in crime, and has probably had one of the largest impacts in the development of the person I am today. I love you Kale, and I do not know what life hold for us, but I am ready to attack it, explore it, and enjoy everything it has to offer right beside you brother.
Kale also gifted me two albums, Tegan and Sara “The Con” and Umphrey’s McGee’s new album “Mantis (Bonus Track Version). He also gifted me an iTunes gift certificate.
Leslie Mac made me lug a wrapped present over here in my carry on. It was hard, but I promised her that I would not open it until it was my b-day, and I kept that promise. The reward was something quite unexpected. It was “No Such Place As Far Away” by Richard Bach. This short book, almost written in the form of a children’s book, explains very subtly how not even distance can separate you from the ones you love, especially on your birthday. Thank you Leslie. I already told you how much the book meant to me, but I just wanted to let you know that I feel your love, and I appreciate the note in the book. It was very thoughtful. The feeling that the book portrays is really applicable to the rest of my friends and family. Even though I am far away from you all on my birthday, you really have given me an incredible gift of love. As cheesy as that sounds, I feel very loved on my birthday and I want to thank you all for being such a great part of my life.
Enough of the mushy stuff. I returned back to my luxurious dorm, and the other student teachers helped me celebrate my 23rd year with a Taco feed and home-made cheese cake, my favorite! Candles and all! It was very nice of them to be so warm and thoughtful. They are a great crew.
Thats the skinny on my B-day. It was great. I feel loved. I live a great life and constantly find myself surrounded by extraordinary individuals. Thank you all!
Halskies
4 comments:
Happy Birthday! I'm glad to hear that you are so loved and received all those packages on your day...just sent you a package yesterday, of epic proportions, probably will blow all your other packages out of the water with how cool it is! :)Les
Great! Of Epic proportions? I'm excited!
Please don't consider me a horrible friend because of the belated birthday wishes. Shucks- there's always next year i suppose. Later brother :).
Hal, sorry we missed your birthday. Again. Think of you often and the adventure you are having. Jordan hopes you like Sara and Tegan. I think she is the one who turned Kale on to them. Take care and come home safe.
Uncle Barry
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