Kindness Continued

I have not been keeping good track of my daily acts of kindness, to be honest with you. But I have been sporadically writing them down over the past three weeks, and so being that it it the holiday season, life is busy, and I am still doing my best to be nice every day, here is a summary of those weeks:

• I held the door at a gas station for a man walking with not one, but TWO canes. He was using them as someone would use a walker. If you know me at all, you know patience is not one of my strengths, especially when it comes to simply running into the gas station to pay or get a drink or something. But seeing this man struggle to walk up to the door was just so sad to me, that I had to wait it out for him to get there to ensure he didn't have to maneuver the doors by himself.
• I have a co-worker who has been having a lot of stuff going on recently, and she got turned down for a new job. Having just had this happen to me myself, I got her a "hang in there" card and tried to at least make her smile. 
• I made these hats. 

                                                

• The kids mother laughed a lot when we put them on, and the kids really are smiling behind those makeshift yellow faces. So it was a win for everyone. I put the faces on the kids because while their mother can choose to put their pictures all over the internet, I would like to respect their privacy in case she doesn't want them everywhere.
• I went to a store that sells specific things for a specific, expensive toy that my husband happens to own. Pardon the crypticness, but it isn't Christmas yet and I don't want to give away any spoilers! Anyway, this store caters to mostly men, but I complimented the man helping me for never treating me like I am an idiot because I am female or trying to take advantage of me. I believe this particular brand prides itself on good customer service and creating brand loyalty, so I know this meant something to them to hear it. 
• At least twice in the past few weeks I have left my change behind in a vending machine. I have a Diet Pepsi addiction, and I figure other people should benefit from my addiction if they can. 
• Then there was this:  

                                               

• I was on my way home from work the other night and I saw a fire engine in front of a neighbors house. People who I assumed live in the home were standing in the front lawn, talking to the fireman, with the lights from the fire truck highlighting their conversation. The house looked fine from the outside, but a truck with lights on and a fireman in gear standing in the front yard usually means something happened. I had this thought when I was hanging a Christmas card on my fridge. I had been thinking that I wish I had known what had happened so I could think of something to do for them, when I spied this Target gift card hanging on the fridge. I have had this gift card for a long time, and I have totally forgotten it was there to be used. So Friday morning, I stuck the card in a leftover envelope, wrote the greeting on the front of the envelope, and stuck it in their door on my way to work. When I stopped by there was a van in the driveway advertising fire and water cleanup, so I guess something did happen. Not that a home fire would ever be pleasant, but right around the holidays is even worse. 

So when the new year starts, I will hopefully go back to blogging weekly. But the point is really do just do the random acts of kindness, not necessarily blog about them on time. After the shooting in Newtown, I know there have been a lot of movements for random acts of kindness. I was really pleased to see these and I hope that it can continue. I know that I have been doing things like this before the Newtown tragedy, and I will continue to do it afterward.

Happy holiday season to all (few) readers. I'll be back to blogging after the holidays. Peace on Earth, goodwill towards all, and do a random act of kindness or two over the holidays.

12 Things You May or May Not Know About Me (in honor of 12/12/12/)

1. I have lived in the midwest my whole life, I am over 30 years old, but I still am scared of tornadoes. I head to the basement with my teddy bear that I've had since birth whenever there is a tornado warning.

2. I was once on the Bozo Show with my Brownie troop.

3. I really want to write a book someday.

4. If I could live anywhere in the world, it would be London.

5. I get very reliable gut feelings. I don't always listen to them, but most of the time I do, and it has proven to have worked out well.

6. I honestly have no idea why I chose to go to Truman, other than they sent me an application and I got it. This has proved to be once of the best decisions I have ever made though. I made amazing friends, had a wonderful education, fantastic experiences, and met the love of my life there. Kind of goes with the "gut feelings" thing.

7. I have 24 screws and a metal plate in my jaw due to having jaw surgery as a teenager. Before 9/11, I really hoped that the metal in my jaw would set off metal detectors at airports. Now, I am so glad it doesn't.

8. I would love to have the job of designing worksheets. I love formatting documents look pretty and organized. 

9. People have told me since I was younger that I would change my mind someday about having kids. I haven't yet. I have noticed people not saying things about it as much though since I turned 30. Apparently, I have finally gotten to the age where people realize I am getting too old to have kids or something. 

10. I used to not like to watch the Olympics when I was a teenager because the Olympic gymnasts made me feel so insignificant. They were my age and winning gold medals and I was just a regualar high school student. I felt like I should be doing more with my life. I am really happy I was never and Olympic gymnast. 

11. I love true crime books and TV shows. I don't know why this fascinates me. The husband calls it "drama", but it really does interest me. 

12. My current dog is my first dog. I never thought I could love a pet as much as I love her, but she really does warm my heart every single day. 

Week 4 (or, how to score free BBQ sauce)

Monday: A friend had a medical procedure done this day, so I sent her a text asking how she was feeling. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but I know that the last time I had a medical procedure done, even though it was minor, I was touched by people sending me a little note to show they were thinking of me.
Tuesday: I held the door not once, but twice, for people going in an out of the gas station.
Wednesday: I let someone else go first at an intersection when we both arrived at the 4 way stop at the same time.
Thursday: I let a co-worker know how much I appreciated her work and how well I thought she did her job.
Friday: The husband and I went to Pappy's Smokehouse for dinner. After 6 years of living here, we finally found some good barbecue! We talked with a waitress who happened to be walking by and told her how much we absolutely loved the food. She asked us what we liked, if there was a particular sauce we liked best and some other things. The next thing you know, she came back to the table with a bottle of the sauce we liked, saying that her dad is the owner and they appreciate the compliments. Yay for free sauce!
Saturday: I slowed down to let someone in in traffic on my way to a training that morning.
Sunday: The husband and I were a team on this day. We did some good stuff both directly and indirectly. We cleaned out the linen closet and the coat closet and consequently, had a bunch of stuff in decent shape that we no longer needed. So we took it to Goodwill. On our way to go get lunch after dropping off our stuff, we saw someone we know walking down the road. We stopped and offered him a ride to his destination, which he happily accepted. I know it was nice out Sunday, but if you can offer someone a ride, why not?