Birthday Parties & Rides Home

These past couple weeks have been busy as usual with work and school and the latest... packing! My parents sold their house which is such great news, but now is time to pack and adjust for a change... yet again! :)

Brittany- a co-worker turned 21 last weekend and when we asked her at work what she was doing she said nothing because her friends hadn't planned anything and when she tried to she didn't get much response. Now when I heard this I was shocked and knew I had to plan something. Birthdays are a big deal to me and this was no ordinary one- it was her 21st!! I went into planning mode immediately. I got all the girls at work together and we picked a bar to have a party at and then I started on her 21st birthday shot/dare book... every girl should have one on her 21st! It's a book made like a scrapbook with shots to take and dares to do. The girls at work all helped and that Friday night we headed out! The party was so much fun and Brittany had a very good time... she completed the majority of her shot book and had to be reminded of the end of the night (the sign of a great 21st!).

                                                          the birthday girl has the mask on :)

I also have continued to feed the volunteer worker at my job- he thanks me everyday he's there and asks if I have ever known what it is to be poor. I told him that I am very blessed with my family and am able to live with my parents while raising my daughter, working, and saving for us. He reminded me to be thankful, which is what I intended for this blog to do. I am thankful I met him and that I get to give for him- he needs it and I am able to do it.

I also have been giving a co-worker a ride to the bus stop or home depending on the day. She doesn't have a car and it has been a VERY cold winter here in Omaha. She takes the bus, but if she works late she misses it. She is a very good teacher and stays any night she needs to talk to a parent. I have waited for her some nights to give her a ride home so she doesn't have to wait another hour for the bus or I take her to bus stop because I tell her it's too cold to walk and wait outside for it. She's so sweet and I have enjoyed getting to know her more.

I feel like I don't have enough time to really give- to get out and do things to help others. I am trying to do the most I can, but once the year settles down a little I want to start volunteering more.

The Littlest Things Matter

My first week into the new year I headed back to work and jumped right back into classes for school! Work has been stressful with a lot of new changes happening in the next month so throw online classes and a beautiful busy 14 month old on top of that and my life is packed full. I tried to focus on the good I could do while at work or running errands during the week because my free time slips away so easily these days.

At work last week I offered lunch to one of the volunteer cleaners. We have a lunch program that is given to the kids and the extra is either taken home by the employees or thrown out. I was holding the door to my classroom open during lunch so one of my students could get a drink from the water fountain when I saw the volunteer eyeing my classroom and the kids eating. I asked if he wanted a plate because we had plenty of extra food. He was timid at first saying " no, no that's ok miss the kids need it" and "I must look hungry for you to ask." I simply said no sir we have so much extra food everyday and I like to offer it out before seeing it go to waste. I made him a plate up and told him to come to my room around lunchtime everyday if he wanted a plate. I was happy to see him everyday this week! I'm not sure what his situation is, but he always takes a full plate or two and is so very grateful for it. I felt good about this gesture and I hope he continues to stop by my class because he made my week!

As I was doing my grocery shopping one night this week I did a very simple and easy good deed- that I believe goes a long way. It was a very cold night and I was running pushing my cart full of groceries to my car as fast as I could to get out of the cold. As I made my way down the car aisle I noticed two of the workers on the other side of the parking lot pushing carts from all over that customers had left strewn out the lot. I loaded my groceries in my car, pushed my cart to the holder and made my way to some other carts close by that customers had left out. It took a simple 5 minutes to push the left out carts into the holder and hopefully those guys got into the store a little bit faster and warmer that night. I know this was a very simple good deed, but I was focusing on what I could do this week in my everyday activities.

I look forward to more opportunities coming my way and focusing on the good in life into this new year!

.Goodwill.

I spent the first day of 2011 sorting through my closet and drawers. I planned to pack up all the clothes I don't wear and donate them to the Goodwill. As I was packing up all the clothes that don't fit, I realized I had clothes in my closet that I never wore. I had these clothes because I liked them or had at one time so much that it was hard for me to part with them. It seemed so ridiculous to me to be holding onto nice clothes that I never wore when someone else could use these clothes. I started going through my closet and drawers a second and a third time and was getting rid of some of my nicer clothes and ones that I really liked.

Giving should not just be about giving away the things that I no longer need or use, but it should be about giving away things that I may still want. I want to stretch my giving this year. I ended up with huge box full of all seasons of clothes and headed to the Goodwill.

This was such an easy deed to fulfill- there is a drive up donation center at the back of the Goodwill store. I simply pulled up and an employee  came out to greet me and helped unload my car and then I was on my way. It was so simple and I felt great about starting off my year giving away clothes that I had loved.


                                                                      Goodwill Omaha, Nebraska

http://www.goodwillomaha.org/donate.php

01.01.11

I want to take this year to give- really give in life. I am blessed with a supportive family and friends, a stable job and a beautiful healthy daughter. Over this past year I focused too much on the negative and I'm not able to always see and appreciate what I have in my life. I want to focus on appreciating all that I have and to remind myself of that everyday. I want to focus on being positive this year and remembering the good in life. 

I want to give back-I am able to do so and have not nearly done it enough.  This year, the next 365 days will be about good deeds. I'm not setting a number for the year, nor how big or how small the deed. I just want to give- to encourage myself to think of others and give.

I want this year to change me- remind me- create me- all into a better person who appreciates life and all I have instead of focusing on the negative and being afraid of what the future will bring.  Here goes 365 days of good deeds.....