Monday, November 21, 2011

A full heart

Today is my birthday (cue in Happy birthday to you...happy birthday to you...). It could have been one of the most boring birthdays to date...but I wasn't having that. Why anymore boring than the others you ask? Well, my birthday is always with in the week of Thanksgiving. Everyone is busy...always. Then add in hunting season. And don't forget the common cold/flu that ALWAYS happens this time of year. Well, this year...all of those things fell into my birthday week! Yes, birthday week. I won't lie...I got a little bummed for a few days. Then I decided I was going to snap myself out of my funk (because really, if I don't...who will)? I took a step back and realized I've got it pretty darn good. Then I felt a little selfish. Then I got inspired.

Random Acts of Kindness or RAC. Ever hear of it. It's the new craze (well, that I have noticed in the blogging world). For each year you are celebrating you do 1 RAC. FUN! It's like a 1 person party! Well a 3 person party in my case because I took the kids with me to do 34 RAC's! Here is what we did...

1. Mailed a card to a friend with a Starbucks gift card. If we lived closer I would have taken coffee to her at work.
2. Delivered hot chocolate to a couple I saw outside hanging Christmas lights. Turns out, it's their daughters birthday too!
3. Took dinner to a friend who just had surgery.
4. Helped do a little house keeping for the same friend in #3.
5. Dropped off fresh baked cookies to friends (x 2).
6. Fresh baked cookies to the kids daycare.
7. Dropped mail off at the mail box for my aunt (a whole 2 house away) lol.
8. Gave a picture of Jake to his bff/day care pal/ cousin. There is a really cute story behind that.
9. Surprised a friend with a fabulous wreath that she has been eyeballing for a few weeks!
10. Picked up garbage in the parking lot at Jake's school.
11. Gave a Bling Bulb (Christmas decoration) to a lady in the parking lot of Starbucks.
12. Paid for coffee of the car behind me at Starbucks.
13. Delivered little gift bags to 2 new babies born today. In the bags were a pink/blue rubber ducky, and knitted hat that my mom made. Thanks mom!
14. Gave a Bling Bulb to our friend that works in OB. She helped deliver Gracie 6 years ago!
15. Walked around the hospital handing out balloons and lolly pops to any kid we could find.
16. Left folders with color books & crayons in the OB waiting room & in the peds play area.
17. Fed all of the candy machines & pop machines we could find in the hospital.
18. Left little bottles of hand sanitizer...everywhere (bathrooms, tables...).
19. Went to a playground a dropped coins all over for kids to find.
20. Left a generous tip at dinner tonight.
21. Put shopping carts away in the store parking lot.
22. Gracie told a old lady that she liked her kitty sweatshirt (lol).
23. Put coins in balloons. When Gracie woke up she got to pop the balloons and spend the money at the dollar store.
24. Left a care package of vitamin C drink mix, tissue, and hand sanitizer on a few cars in the mall parking lot.
25. Saw a rock star parking spot at the mall, but let the car behind me have it. (that was a tough one). lol
26. Didn't remind my brother that he is almost 5 YEARS OLDER THAN ME when he sent me a text to tell me that I'm old. (Ok, that's a stretch as a RAC, but it took some holding back)
27. Took dad to dinner. Thanks for going with us dad!
28. Stopped at McDonald's for ice cream, & bought ice cream for the car behind us.
29. Left lolly pops on cars that looked like they had kids.
30. Gracie colored a Thanksgiving picture for the older lady next door! But she got to shy to deliver it, so I did.
31. Left a candy bar in the mail box for the mail man/woman.
32. Gracie stood by the door at the grocery store while I was checking out and opened the door for people. (yes they are automatic doors, but she thought she was doing something really nice).
33. I let Gracie listen to Kids Bop in the car ALL DAY LONG.
34. Our grand finale...we Ding Dong ditched! The funniest thing I have seen in a long time!

Ahh...that was a action packed day. Gracie & I had lots of talks about how happy our hearts were when people smiled because we did something nice for them...tonight we go to bed with full tummies & happy hearts. It was a good day.