Catching up ...

Sometimes finding the 'right' time to blog takes awhile.  I don't to sit down & feel like I have to write.  Blogging is like journaling ... actually for me it is one part of my journaling.  I blog randomly and also keep a journal.  When I was in fourth grade I had a teacher, Mrs. Handy, that wrote in one of my notebooks that she hoped to see me in "Ladies Home Journal" one day.  Not yet ....

I've been keeping random notes about my 29-days of gift giving, so to catch you up: 

Day 8 started out as a day where I wasn't sure what my gift was going to be but figured it would happen, and it did, several times.  A friend in NC had put a link on his FB page about an individual needing $$ for start-up biz.  I read about it, thought what a great idea and donated $10.00.  Next time I'm in that neck of the woods, I will stop by her visit and delight in her success.  Later that morning one of our volunteer drivers walked into the office.  He is a delightful man, always kind, and willing to go out of his way to drive people to their appointments.  I spoke "Well good morning handsome.  How are you today?".  He stopped, made a joke about having the wrong person and then his facial features changed.  He said "Why thank you.  I will accept your kind words."  As he said it, I realized that he in turn was giving me a gift.  The sincerity of his words and his behaviors spoke volumes of kindness.  Later that day I was at a facility and I made it a point to speak with each nurse, look at their name tags and say their names to them.  What a difference that made (or at least in my mind) in the warmth of the smiles I received. 

Day 9.  Simple gifts today.  A co-worker hadn't changed her clock back yet and I knew physically she wouldn't be able to, so I did.  On Tuesdays, I teach a yoga class in town and usually am not home until later.  Knowing the farmer would be hungry when he got home, I came home at lunch time, dug a meal out of the freezer (Love the book Don't Panic, Dinner is in the Freezer), popped it in the crockpot, made some couscous, set a place for him, left a couple notes directing him towards dinner and dinner was cooking. 

Day 10  I am a collect of words, writing down quotes, keeping old calender pages (little pages) if they have quotes I like.  My gift today was a note to one of my daughter's, enclosing a calender page with a quote that I thought was fitting at this juncture in her life. 

Day 11 Now this was a gift that I was very thankful for.  Today I gave myself the gift of rest.  It was Veterans Day.  I am a veteran so thought, well, maybe since today is a day of honoring our veterans, my home is quiet, the farmer has switched hats to cattleman, that I would give myself the gift of rest.  I had an appointment with a contractor that morning, but after the contractor left, I did some cleaning up and then 'gifted' myself with a 3-hour nap.  It was incredible ... the phone didn't ring once! 

Day 12  I have a co-worker that would do anything for anyone.  I think we probably all have one of those.  Recently I had shared that I was heading to Costco and was asking if anyone needed anything (living 1-1/2 hours away from Costco ... it is quite a shopping trip).  He had mentioned that he like a certain type of game but the last Costco was out of it.  So I looked at Costco and they were out of it.  The evening before I had been at a market and they had 3 packets of his game.  So I wrapped them with ribbon, added a small note and put it on his desk. 

Day 13  On this day I visited a friend & his family.  Our friend is in ICU and has had a rough time.  On my way to the hospital I had stopped by Chaps (a delightful restaurant & bakery), picking up an assortment of pastries & cookies for the family.  After visiting with the family, I spent time with my sister.  My sister has been going through some rough patches.  We hit some craft bazaars and spent time visiting. 

Day 14 .... this brings me to today.  Over the past few weeks the cattleman & I have had a few friends who have experienced death in their family.  Today I am going to write out notecards to our friends.  And then there is the housekeeping that needs to be done .... ummm, now is that a gift?  :-) 

To be continued ....