Happy, happy! --

My friend A (and his girlfriend G) were at the store this afternoon and my sister and I had such a wonderful time talking to them. Out of the blue, A said "You're looking happier these days." I tried to downplay it and said that it's my kids who are the source of this glow.

But seriously --

I have noticed that I am much happier these days. When I see myself in the mirror, I could see the glow and I recognize this glow -- I've seen it a couple of times before:

When my cousin J and her hubby S first got together, my cousin was so radiant and happy. (She still has this glow, btw -- ^_^)

When my friend C got together with J, I also noticed this same glow.

And now I have it.

And it is all because of my J.

* * *

Bookfair! --

My J and I dragged our friend C on an adventure in Manila. We went to the Bookfair last Sunday afternoon. Like the true OC/anal people that we are, my J and I had a map of the metro with us. (Yes, unbelievers -- my J was the one who asked me to bring it pa)

We were so turista with our map and camera -- hahahaha! See here -- lol!

I wanted to get a copy of The Story of O -- I wasn't sure if I was going to read it, but I wanted it for the sake of having a copy of it. (It's rare to see it on shelf in the bookstores). I decided not to get it because it's a long way to the next sweldo and there's so much more that I want to get.

My J went crazy! 7 books total! I think his best find was the copy of Michael Chabon's Summerland for PhP250 from the ADB booth.

* * *

Primitive? Primordial? Soup! Soup! --

We discussed Denotation and Connotation in my En10 class today. We came across one item in the activity that had to do with choosing between primitive and primordial. The kids had difficulty differentiating between the two and couldn't figure out which was appropriate for the sentence.

Since we do student-centered learning in AdMU, I couldn't just whip out the dictionary and provide them with the definition of each one. We had to go through an exercise to unlock the meaning of the two words.

So, on the board, I made a chart --
primitive primordial
= old = old
= prime (1st) = prime (1st)
= man, artifacts = ? (they had never encountered this word before) so I provided soup/ooze
= primate (sounds like)
= animal

We were able to get to the meaning of primitive by connecting old, with 1st and then man. We figured out that it was someone who wasn't so civilized and was barbaric.

We tried to do the same with primordial by connecting 1st with soup. So I asked my class, "What do you think was the first soup?" (I know, strange question to ask ^_^)

The class was so quiet. (I'm known to be quite encouraging and open with my students' answers and they never hesitate to share their answers. Until kanina...) One finally ventured a guess -- "Ma'am, onion soup?"

Ngek! hehehehe -- ^_^

But soon after, someone guessed that it had something to do with our origin. Whew!

And then I had to add that the gene pool really isn't a pool. ^^

I had such a wonderful time with my class! When it was time to go, I thanked the class for their participation and told them that I'm expecting the same attentiveness and enthusiasm on Wednesday. You could really see them spark when I recognized their work for the day. Ah, I love my kids! (And to think I was so harassed this morning with unfinished papers! I still have 30++ to check by Wednesday. erg! >_<)