Happy Sunshine Blond Girl of Death Happy

I went back to teaching ESL today. I have a group of students that I've worked with off and on for the past three or four months. Many of them are leaving in the next four weeks, so it's nice to be able to send them on their way knowing that their English is much better and none of them have gone insane. It's the first day of the session, so of course I'm happy and optimistic; but it's nice to be working with an especially great bunch of students--everybody likes and respects each other. Teaching intensive language classes is rather...intense. I work with students for 3-5 hours a day, five days a week. It's different than semester-based classes, because everyone becomes either very comfortable or very uncomfortable with each other quite quickly, and the subtle shifts and adjustments that happen in a semester class happen much more rapidly and frequently.

My new bike is a dream to ride. Today was the first day that I commuted to work on it, and I shaved more than five minutes off my ride, and I wasn't even working very hard.

After teaching I headed back to Carlsbad to get a pedicure (part of a credit from a birthday gift last year). I had time to kill and so went up to the yoga studio to chat. I'd missed the hoop dance class, but the teacher was still there, so we hung out and she showed me and the owner, who was also there, a few more tricks. Hooping is totally fun addictive--especially to anyone who used to do it as a child. Anyway, I left the studio with some very excellent and total surprise birthday gifts: a hoop and a pair of pants that I'd been eying for at least two months.

Mark and I just got back from a pre-happy birthday happy hour. I'm feeling quite happy and pleased with myself. I have a book coming out by January from an awesome press, I like my boyfriend, my work doesn't make me crazy (all the time), I live near the beach and a great yoga studio, I'm learning how to do tricks with a hoola hoop, my bike is awesome, I get to hang out with poets I like both in San Diego and outside of San Diego; I'm in good shape.