Here I am again with an update on my goal for the year. My monthly Random Acts of Kindness.
As I said in my January post, it's pretty easy to reach a goal of one random act of kindness a month. Especially if you look at all of the little things that you do. This is a summary of some of the kind things that I have done this month.
Let person get ahead of me in line
Gave a quarter to someone so they could get a grocery cart
Hold door open for someone
Donated fleece blanket to shelter
Helped someone locate the nearest Home Depot (while at the dry cleaners)*
Helped a neighbor figure out home security needs
Sent out a few cards (happy mail) for National Card and Letter Writing Month
*I must look like I'm a wealth of information or something
How did your list for Random Acts of Kindness look this month?
Looking for ideas for Random Acts of Kindness? Check out this post here.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
National Card and Letter Writing Month
I just sent out some "Happy Mail!" I'm so excited and can't wait until it gets to its destination.
April is National Card and Letter Writing month. You still have time to send a little note in the mail to cheer someone up. Everyone likes getting a handwritten letter or card in the mail! It doesn't have to be fancy. Drop someone a line and let them know that you're thinking of them.
Go ahead and make some one's day (thanks, Dirty Harry) and send someone a card or letter today!
April is National Card and Letter Writing month. You still have time to send a little note in the mail to cheer someone up. Everyone likes getting a handwritten letter or card in the mail! It doesn't have to be fancy. Drop someone a line and let them know that you're thinking of them.
Go ahead and make some one's day (thanks, Dirty Harry) and send someone a card or letter today!
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Chubby Ring Finger
I'm back on my daily walk schedule. I've been watching what I eat, and I feel like I'm losing weight. My clothes are a little looser and I feel great. All is good, except my ring finger. Yes, I think my weight loss everywhere else on my body seems to have moved over to my ring finger.
I took my wedding ring off to clean it and forgot to put it back on. My ring was off for a couple of weeks. One day, I remembered to put my ring on and found it difficult to get over my knuckle. I did what I thought would be OK (I shoved the ring onto my finger.) Big mistake! My finger swelled. I didn't think it could get any chubbier, but it did! I figured the swelling would go down and I could get on with my life. As I lay in bed that night, I could feel the circulation being cut off to my finger. In the morning I decided the ring had to come off, so I pried my ring off my finger.
I have been ring less for awhile now. Wondering if my finger will ever drop the excess weight so my ring can be worn (comfortably).
If you have any exercises or weight loss programs for fingers, let me know.
I took my wedding ring off to clean it and forgot to put it back on. My ring was off for a couple of weeks. One day, I remembered to put my ring on and found it difficult to get over my knuckle. I did what I thought would be OK (I shoved the ring onto my finger.) Big mistake! My finger swelled. I didn't think it could get any chubbier, but it did! I figured the swelling would go down and I could get on with my life. As I lay in bed that night, I could feel the circulation being cut off to my finger. In the morning I decided the ring had to come off, so I pried my ring off my finger.
I have been ring less for awhile now. Wondering if my finger will ever drop the excess weight so my ring can be worn (comfortably).
If you have any exercises or weight loss programs for fingers, let me know.
Friday, April 24, 2015
"Sick"
I find it interesting when my kids are "sick." I use that term loosely because sometimes I don't believe they really are sick. OK, OK, I'll come clean. It's not "sometimes," it's ALL of the time.
You see, when I was younger, I used to pretend that I was "sick" so I didn't have to go to school. (It's a good thing my mom doesn't read this blog, although I'm sure she knew I was faking an illness) Now that I'm a Mom, because of all of myfake "illnesses", I don't believe my kids when they tell me they are sick. I make them go to school. They have to be really, really sick in order to stay home. In other words, on their death bed.
One day, I had both boys home. Nick didn't have to work (he was done with school) and said he was sick (which I actually believed him...he had a slight cold), and Alex was home from school because he claimed he was not feeling well. I had to work. I left the house and Nick was playing XBox and Alex was getting something to drink. They both looked perfectly fine. Somehow, I felt like I was being played.
You see, when I was younger, I used to pretend that I was "sick" so I didn't have to go to school. (It's a good thing my mom doesn't read this blog, although I'm sure she knew I was faking an illness) Now that I'm a Mom, because of all of my
One day, I had both boys home. Nick didn't have to work (he was done with school) and said he was sick (which I actually believed him...he had a slight cold), and Alex was home from school because he claimed he was not feeling well. I had to work. I left the house and Nick was playing XBox and Alex was getting something to drink. They both looked perfectly fine. Somehow, I felt like I was being played.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
RT loses his phone
It all started with a beautiful day and a hike in the Smokey Mountains. We decided to do an easy hike at Metcalf Bottoms. If you ever get the chance, it's a beautiful hike. It ends up at an old one room school house. The school house served as a school during the week and as a church on Sundays and sits across the way from a cemetery.
We met some people from Georgia on our hike. They were a wealth of information. You know me, talking it up with them. I learned quite a bit about the area we were in and about some of the families that used to live there.
We made our way back to the car and started loading everything (backpack, trekking poles, water bottles, etc.) That's when it all started.
RT: Honey, have you seen my phone?
Not just any phone. His new phone. The old phone completely died a couple days ago and he had to get a new one.
Me: No, I haven't.
Then, the checking every inch of the car started.
RT checked the backpack, under the dog blanket, in the seat pockets, under the seats, inside the garbage bag that was in the car. When he didn't find it, he started all over again. Then I checked the same places. I even checked inside my purse and the box of crackers. This happened at least a dozen times. The back seats in my car were stowed (so the back was flat). I pulled those up and looked under them. I even opened the seats to make sure the phone didn't fall in.
This searching escalated to, "Someone stole my phone." Yes. Memories of "someone stole my swim goggles."
I tried calling and texting his phone. The only problem was we were in the mountains with no cell service. After checking the car a dozen more times*, including the bathrooms and picnic tables and the entire surrounding area. RT decided to go retrace his steps. Maybe the phone fell out of his pocket or his backpack? While RT is backtracking (Bella decided to go with him), I try walking around to get cell service. When this doesn't work, I decide to hop in the car and drive around until I get cell service. This is where Bella came back down the path and jumped in the car with me. Bella was checking the phone for service while I whipped around the mountains.
*I'm not exaggerating these numbers. We really did check the car a billion times.
I drove quite a distance and no cell service and realized that RT might not know that Bella is with me. We turned the car around and drove back to the trail. Once back, I decided not to tear the car apart again. I figured RT would find the phone on the trail.
RT returns from the trail empty handed. We drove back into town to where we parked the car when we stopped for lunch. I thought maybe the phone fell out of RT's jacket when he was taking it off in the parking lot.
We get into town and RT checks the lot. He talks to the parking attendant. He checks at the restaurant where we had lunch. No luck. In the meantime, I'm texting his phone asking him to call me.
RT decides that he just wants to go back to our cabin and relax. He's at a point where he just does not want to think about it anymore.
Once we are back at the cabin, we empty the car. RT puts his hand in the side pocket on the drivers side and....finds his phone.
The funny thing is, we all checked that pocket!
We now have phone tracking devices on all of our phones. I also told RT to turn up the ringer on his phone so we can hear it ring (if this happens again, which I'm sure it will).
Again, never a dull moment.
We met some people from Georgia on our hike. They were a wealth of information. You know me, talking it up with them. I learned quite a bit about the area we were in and about some of the families that used to live there.
We made our way back to the car and started loading everything (backpack, trekking poles, water bottles, etc.) That's when it all started.
RT: Honey, have you seen my phone?
Not just any phone. His new phone. The old phone completely died a couple days ago and he had to get a new one.
Me: No, I haven't.
Then, the checking every inch of the car started.
RT checked the backpack, under the dog blanket, in the seat pockets, under the seats, inside the garbage bag that was in the car. When he didn't find it, he started all over again. Then I checked the same places. I even checked inside my purse and the box of crackers. This happened at least a dozen times. The back seats in my car were stowed (so the back was flat). I pulled those up and looked under them. I even opened the seats to make sure the phone didn't fall in.
This searching escalated to, "Someone stole my phone." Yes. Memories of "someone stole my swim goggles."
I tried calling and texting his phone. The only problem was we were in the mountains with no cell service. After checking the car a dozen more times*, including the bathrooms and picnic tables and the entire surrounding area. RT decided to go retrace his steps. Maybe the phone fell out of his pocket or his backpack? While RT is backtracking (Bella decided to go with him), I try walking around to get cell service. When this doesn't work, I decide to hop in the car and drive around until I get cell service. This is where Bella came back down the path and jumped in the car with me. Bella was checking the phone for service while I whipped around the mountains.
*I'm not exaggerating these numbers. We really did check the car a billion times.
I drove quite a distance and no cell service and realized that RT might not know that Bella is with me. We turned the car around and drove back to the trail. Once back, I decided not to tear the car apart again. I figured RT would find the phone on the trail.
RT returns from the trail empty handed. We drove back into town to where we parked the car when we stopped for lunch. I thought maybe the phone fell out of RT's jacket when he was taking it off in the parking lot.
We get into town and RT checks the lot. He talks to the parking attendant. He checks at the restaurant where we had lunch. No luck. In the meantime, I'm texting his phone asking him to call me.
RT decides that he just wants to go back to our cabin and relax. He's at a point where he just does not want to think about it anymore.
Once we are back at the cabin, we empty the car. RT puts his hand in the side pocket on the drivers side and....finds his phone.
The funny thing is, we all checked that pocket!
We now have phone tracking devices on all of our phones. I also told RT to turn up the ringer on his phone so we can hear it ring (if this happens again, which I'm sure it will).
Again, never a dull moment.
Friday, April 17, 2015
Easy Spaghetti Sauce
I was looking for a quick, easy spaghetti sauce to make for dinner. It didn't help that it was already 5:00pm and I didn't have a jar of spaghetti sauce in the house. Or that I forgot to pick up a jar of sauce at the grocery store before I got home from work.
I let my fingers do the walking and searched the Internet for an easy homemade spaghetti sauce. (Isn't the Internet wonderful??) I liked the first recipe I found. Easy and I had all of the ingredients. Check out the full recipe here.
You're going to love this one!
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 6oz can tomato paste
2 Tablespoons sugar (adjust to your taste)
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
A couple of side notes.
I let my fingers do the walking and searched the Internet for an easy homemade spaghetti sauce. (Isn't the Internet wonderful??) I liked the first recipe I found. Easy and I had all of the ingredients. Check out the full recipe here.
You're going to love this one!
Easy Spaghetti Sauce
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 6oz can tomato paste
2 Tablespoons sugar (adjust to your taste)
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions:
Throw it all in a sauce pan, stir, simmer, cover and continue to simmer for 20-30 minutes. Season again to taste.
A couple of side notes.
I used 1 teaspoon of sugar (and it was fine). If you like your sauce sweet, then add more sugar.
I added 5 cloves of garlic. What can I say? I like garlic.
I chopped green pepper and onion and sautéed them before adding the rest of the ingredients.
This is a basic recipe that you can adjust to your own likes. If you want ground beef or Italian sausage, then add it to your sauce! You can even throw in some meatballs! I don't think you can go wrong with this spaghetti sauce recipe.
If you try it, let me know what you think.
I chopped green pepper and onion and sautéed them before adding the rest of the ingredients.
This is a basic recipe that you can adjust to your own likes. If you want ground beef or Italian sausage, then add it to your sauce! You can even throw in some meatballs! I don't think you can go wrong with this spaghetti sauce recipe.
If you try it, let me know what you think.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Random Acts of Kindness - Returned
This year I have been trying to focus on doing Random Acts of Kindness. Making sure to bring smiles to other people's faces. Brighten their day. Be a good listener. Help others.
All of this love and kindness that I have been trying to spread came back to me the other day. RT, Bella and I took a trip over spring break. One day we decided to go into town and do something fun. Bella picked this roller coaster that goes up and around a mountain. Just as we were walking through the parking lot, a car pulls up next to us and the people hand us free tickets. They told us that they were leaving today and would not be able to use them. We offered to pay for the tickets but they refused. It was hard to accept, but I realized that these people were just passing along a little kindness and that we should just graciously accept.
It made me think about some of the kind things that I have done and how easy it is to spread love, joy and happiness into other people's lives. It doesn't have to cost anything. Sometimes it's just a simple hello, or holding the door open for someone. Just a little effort on your part can brighten up some one's day.
The tickets were a wonderful gesture (and the ride was a blast). It made me feel good that there are others out in the world spreading love and kindness to everyone.
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