Sharing

Ugh.  My day is just so blah today.  Ever have those days?  Sure you do.  We all do.  Normally I put on my smile anyway and push on through....but today, I think I'm going to stay in my pajamas and put on a movie.  I honestly can't remember the last time that I watched a movie.  That's bad.  I deserve a movie!  We'll see if Kinley agrees....I have a feeling she won't.

Yesterday, Kinley and I drove over to the homeless shelter to deliver our apple juice and ketchup.  As I drove down the main street of town, I saw the stores window displays all ready for Christmas.  The fake snow, the Christmas trees, the lights.....and the street lights are being decorated for the holiday as well.  I've never seen real trees put on top of a light pole before...but I have now.  They have real trees up there, folks. 

All around this little shelter, life was going on.

I rang the bell and waited for someone to come to the door.  A lady answered and invited us in.  I told her that I saw the website and their needs list and while it wasn't much, I had some to share.  She thanked me over and over and asked if she could take my name to add it to the donation list.  I looked around quickly while she took down my name and inside I saw bunk bed after bunk bed and a lady putting fresh sheets on them.  But sadly, no lights, no fake snow, no trees. 

Kind of made me sad.  Made me think about how those people feel that come there at the end of their day. 

I felt proud as I held my baby there, showing her what it's like to give.  I hope that as she grows, we do this often and it will become a common thing to her.  And as she's older, we'll share times of serving together.  And I hope that it warms her heart the way that it warms mine.

Begging you to "like" me...

So, you're here.  You're reading.  Why not become a fan?  Yeah, so it's my cheap and pathetic attempt to make myself feel wanted and appreciated.  Just stroke the ego for a second, k?  It's a simple click, there on the right, to "follow" which doesn't mean that I want your money, your time (well, a few seconds of it) or your first born.  And if you're really nice *wink, wink*, you will "like" me on Facebook too.  That clicky doo-dad is there on the right as well.

Hey, a girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do.

I ain't too proud to beg!  (but I do feel extremely uncomfortable using the word "ain't" in my blogs for the second time in like a week)

I got up at about 5:30 this morning.  I heard Kinley doing the warm-up cries and felt the urgency to get up, run down to start coffee and go pee before the real ones come wailing out.  So I did just that.  An hour later, I just finished my first cup and Kinley is still sleeping.  I guess she just wanted me to be up extra early today.

Isn't it horrible though, that I feel such urgency to get that tiny bit of "me time?"  I feel sort of guilty for that.  But I'll do it again tomorrow.  Richie and I were saying that we can't wait until the time comes that we can say that she can't get out of bed till the little hand is on the "7".  When is that?  Three?  Four?  Few more years.

We went to Aldi last night and got her the shopping cart and kitchen.  Both for under $50!  Oh, and we picked up some Apple Juice and Ketchup for this homeless shelter in town.  Brandi, at The Drunken Housewife, inspired me to look up a local shelter and do something.  So I did.  And I found the Lazarus House.  On their list of "urgently needed" is milk, apple juice and ketchup.  And while my fridge can't hold a few extra gallons of milk for them, I did get the apple juice and ketchup.  So Kinley and I are going to drop those off today.  At some point.  After her morning nap.

Aaaaaaand, she's up!

Much appreciated!

I slept so hard last night.  So hard, that I remember (vaguely) Kinley crying in the middle of the night and I didn't even get up.  Richie said this morning that she cried for 17 minutes before going back to sleep on her own.  We're working towards the CIO method, but altered for our/her comfort level.  If I had been coherant and awake, it wouldn't have gone longer than 10 minutes.  Richie obviously has a higher tolerance level than I.  Hopefully this isn't going to be how I sleep....I'm almost mad at myself for not hearing her and getting up to be with her.

After my budget blog yesterday, I kept it in mind all day that I was on money saving mode.  I didn't ebay, etsy, craigslist, nothin'.  I'm so proud of me!  I've also decided to eat/cook from what we already have rather than buy all new this week.  Our pantry/freezer is never empty, yet I'm always grocery shopping.  Makes zero sense.  Plus, each day that I'm not shopping/buying something that will add up to a nice weekly savings that I can put towards a bill or into Kinley's college account.  I'm really a freak about the college account.  The one gift I want to give to her is a full college ride.  That's a thought for another post.

Do you remember me talking about writing letters to people, for good or bad feedback?  I wrote a blog about it a few weeks ago.  Well, I've kept it up.  I send a letter (or two) each week (not every week).  I've really reaped the benefits here!  I got a gift card from one place for sending a letter of appreciation for a good server and I got a $60 credit to another place for sending a letter because I was extremely disappointed in a purchase (granted, it was a $540 purchase).  But still, I'm being heard and these places appreciate the feedback!  I don't only write for bad experiences, I write for good and bad.  Richie just gets a kick out of it though....he jokes "uh oh, don't make her write a letter!"  It's just kind of neat because I don't write to these places with expectations for anything in return.  I just want to acknowledge great service when it's received and give them a heads up where there is room to improve. The gift card and credit were just bonus!

Make me smile, vote for Kinley!

Pay it forward

Let me start by saying that this blog is NOT brought to you by the worst cable company ever, Comcast.  We woke up to yet ANOTHER service interruption and it’s not estimated to be repaired for another couple of hours.  So no TV, no phone, no internet for me!  We have lived here right at a month and I honestly don’t think that I’ve had a single day without some sort of outage.  We’ve had a tech out once before and still we’re not repaired.  I’ve had it with them.  Today is the last chance and if it’s not fixed, they’re out.  I’ve heard that there is UVerse (or something like that) that we can use for local services.  I woke up and was so upset that I wouldn’t have my “me” time…it’s my sanity for the day!  I get to Facebook, check email, and check in at my online class and blog.  Today I have to blog in Microsoft Word and later I’ll have to copy/paste.  Where would we be without copy/paste, seriously?

Kinley keeps crying out in her sleep.  She’s been doing it for the last hour….or I’ve been hearing it for the past hour.  It may have been going on all night for all I know.  I just have this instinct that something is wrong.  She’s not feeling well and not acting like herself.  I did call the dr. yesterday and they said to give her a couple of days.  I’m going to be SO mad if it doesn’t correct itself in a few days and we go in to a real illness.  If they caused her to deal with a sickness with no medication, they are going to get the wrath of psycho mom.  Mark my words.  Psycho Mommy don’t play.  (And no, spell check; I don’t want it to say “Psycho Mommy “doesn’t” play.)

For my online class, we are finishing up the play Julius Caesar and I’m not proud of this, but I’ve made it thus far by only skimming the text and not actually owning my own copy of the book.  I found a site online that has the original text with a side by side comparison with the translation.  That is how I’ve made it through so far.  Well now the professor goes and throws a stick into my plan because she’s assigned a response essay to a piece in the actual book that I can’t find anywhere else.  Grrr.  The book is only six bucks, but I just didn’t want to have to buy it.  We are done with this novel on Friday.  I was so close.  I even found a super old Borders gift card the other day and it has $8.99 left on it.  It totally had the new Nicholas Sparks book all over it.  But no, now I have to buy the stupid (sorry Shakespeare) Julius Caesar book.  Richie said to just go and get both books but I’m trying to be good and stick to a budget here.  Buying the new Nicholas Sparks book is not in the budget this week….well, it’s not after we ate out like four times last weekend.  Geez.  Talk about dropping the budget ball on that one!

Do you ever think of ways to make someone’s day?  I don’t mean someone you know…that is just a given.  But someone unsuspecting.  Sometimes when I sit and think about people in my life; whether they were a previous co-worker, a past waitress/server, a cashier at the store, a neighbor, anyone, if they had a positive effect on my life I want to acknowledge it.  I never have before and I ask myself why I let the opportunity pass me by.  You know how good it feels to be told “thank you” or “good job” or “Wow, someone really appreciated you!”  Every day, at some point during my day, I think of someone that could use that.  But I never act on it.  Today I want to make it a new goal of mine to spend maybe five-ten minutes a week to acknowledge someone.  Maybe not even every week.  Some days/weeks I don’t go anywhere to meet anyone to acknowledge.  But the thing is, pay it forward.  You have seen that movie, right?  I firmly believe that all good things come back to you so why not start now?  I have a ton of those blank, all occasion, note cards.  They are different designs…you know what I mean.  Why not send one out to someone to just say “hey, I really appreciated that” or “thank you for….”.   Does that sound too cheesy?  Or would some see it as stalker-ish?  Hmmm, I think it would be appreciated.

Off hand, I have two people in mind.  One was a hostess in a restaurant that we visited a few weeks ago.  She was above and beyond kind.  Not only was she super nice to us but also to Kinley.  That rarely happens in restaurants.  She even sang a little song to her.  Do you even know how that changed our dining experience?  I wish I knew her name so that the acknowledgement could get to her directly but I’ll bet they will know who I’m talking about. 

Secondly, there is a teacher that I worked with several years ago.  She taught second grade and I was her teaching assistant.  She is retired now but she impacted me so much; not only as a future educator but as a person.  I believe I did tell her this but I want to be sure that she knows.  Too often teachers go without the recognition that they deserve.  Even if I wasn’t a student of hers, per se, I learned more about me in that second grade classroom than anywhere else that I’ve been.  Isn’t that something?  I always joke that going through the second grade as a twenty-six year old really changed my life. 

Speaking of teaching/teachers, did you watch Oprah yesterday?  She did a show about the new documentary “Waiting on Superman” (I was going to link that, but thanks to Comcast, I have no internet).  Talk about bawling my eyes out.  Teaching is one thing that I am passionate about and that passion is so deep.  I feel so blessed to have found something that moves me. 

Why are GOOD teachers so underappreciated?  One year that I worked as a teaching assistant, it was during Christmas and the children brought in their gifts to the teacher.  I don’t intend to sound unappreciative (the gifts weren’t for me so I guess I am merely making an observation rather than being unappreciative) but do you realize that parents appreciate their servers in restaurants more than their child’s teacher?  Think about it…when you dine out you tip, what, 18% or 20%?  That is for one hour of their time to “serve” you and your family.  Normally, 18% or 20% averages to maybe $5 and that is estimating low.  Here comes Christmas time and it’s time to buy the gift for your child’s teacher.  You head to Dollar Tree and buy some little figurine.  Now let’s be real.  Teachers are like moms.  They appreciate the thought more than the gift.  But to me it’s almost a slap in the face.  That teacher is impacting (hopefully for the better) your child’s life.  They are with your child all day, five days a week.  Money may be tight, I so understand that. Instead of getting that little trinket just to say that you got a gift, you should write a thank you note to tell him/her how much you appreciate the role that they play in your child’s life, or have your child write a note or hand make something.  Am I even making sense?  Your child’s teacher doesn’t need another trinket but would so appreciate a letter of thanks.  Are there any teachers “out there” reading this that agrees/disagrees with me? 

I honestly have no clue how I got off on that rant but after spending that much time thinking on it, I refuse to highlight/delete.  And besides, I have no TV or internet right now (thank you Comcast) so why not continue blogging.

Today’s agenda is pretty bland.  We have to wait on Comcast to get here.  Ugh.  I have vacuuming and dusting on my schedule today.  Yesterday was laundry.  I still have a ginormous basket of folded Kinley clothes to put away.  The child seriously has too many clothes.  It’s not even funny anymore.  I can’t find a place to put everything!  I need to find a family that really is in need and donate.    Then we’re heading out to Border’s to get my book.  It’s supposed to be super nice today so we’ll have to throw in a walk today too! 

Okay, I’m bored with blogging now.  Internet is still out.  Guess I’ll get started on dusting.