Day Twenty Two.

I think today was one of my favorite Acts! :D Hubby and I went out to do some last minute Christmas shopping together.  (No. we still haven't finished.  Yes.  I am starting to panic!!)   We headed out early to avoid the crowds and started at Panera to make our battle plan.  Turns out having a strategy makes short work of shopping which is just how I like it!!

Anyway! My idea for today was to buy someone's turkey.  I had planned to do this towards the end of the 25 days as I had hoped to have enough money saved up to perform a big Act.  We had managed to save a LOT of money so I took it all with me to the grocery store and hubs and I kept our eyes open for someone with a turkey that looked like it needed buying!!! ;D  We saw several shoppers who looked like suitable candidates and then I noticed a lady unloading her cart.  It was so very full... and full of own label goods. Absolutely piled high... with two containers of cat litter on the bottom rack.  I reasoned (and obviously I was guessing and making a judgement here) that a) she had a lot of people to feed and b) she had cats! :D I sidled up to the cashier who was just finishing up with a previous customer and handed her $20.  I explained that it was for the next customer to put towards her groceries and it was a random act of kindness for Christmas.  The cashier was keen to help and I walked away as quickly as possible to try not to draw the customer's attention.  We continued around the store a while picking up one or two treats for dinner and Rex pointed out another lady.  This was an older lady who was carefully going through all her coupons as she shopped.  Apparently she reminded him of his mom who died this past March.  I ran up to her and handed her $20.  "Merry Christmas!!" I said "This is for you!"  Her disbelief and thank you were so heartfelt I got a lump in my throat so I beamed, said "You're welcome!"  and ran off before I cried!  I love doing that so much I could do it all day long!!  SUCH a great feeling!

So now, time for dinner and then wrapping and some more wrapping!!  Not long now 'til Santa!!

Day Twenty One

Well since this was supposed to be the end of the world today I thought I'd better get today's act in FAST!!!  LOL!!  Actually it was ridiculous cold ( 1degree with the wind chill...!!) and I told the kids I was just going to drive out to the City Office and give them a plate of cookies.  "Can I come?"  Jessie asked.... ok.....  so I said to Jack... I'm just going to drive to the City Office to give them some cookies, I'll be about 3 minutes max..... "Can I come?!?! " he asked!!..... Oh! Ok !!  So we all bundled up and headed to the office to give them the cookies.  Jessie and Jack jumped out and ran in to the office whilst I sat in the car and kept the heater running!  Jessie said the lady behind the desk was very surprised but had a big smile on her face as she said thank you!  The kids hustled back into the car, I drove us carefully  back home and I got cozy and warm on the couch.... the kids....??... they went outside to dive into snow drifts.  C.R.A....ZEEE!

Dark Chocolate Chunk and Oatmeal Cookies!! :D

Day Twenty!

You never know what you might find in Hancock's!

It was soooooo cold and snowy today that we decided to stay HOME!!  My mum, however, was drawn to Hancock Fabric store... one of our favorite hangouts!! :D  I asked her if maybe she would like to participate in our 25 acts and she said "Sure"! :D  I wrote two notes, the usual, Merry Christmas, enjoy this random act of kindness, and stuck them to two $5 bills.  I asked Mum to put them somewhere where they would be found.  She first went to the dollar store and was served by a nice young man who was saying he hadn't seen his mother in over a year.  My Mum felt sorry for him and so hid the money where he would be sure to find it when he returned to the checkout. ;D  The next bill she hid in Hancock's....  in the ladies bathroom!! :D   She'd hidden in under a layer of toilet roll so that the next person to pull on the paper would find a nice surprise!!! :D  Much better than most surprises you find in a public restroom!!! :D

Anyway, lots of fun and I'm sure she's made at least two people happy today!!

Twenty days down, five to go!!  I think we are going to make this!! :D

Day Nineteen!

Oh boy NOT LONG UNTIL CHRISTMAS NOW!!!  Eeeek!!  So much still to do!! :}

Anyway, on to today's Act.....  this morning it was trash pick up day.  Our garbage collectors are the nicest garbage collectors around!  So polite and friendly.  This morning we saw them driving up so Jessie dashed out the house in nothing but her PJ's clasping a big old bag of home made fudge!!!  She stood at the end of the driveway only to watch them drive off in the other direction.  She stood and waited.  And waited.  And... waited. And hopped from one cold, bare foot to the other.  She hugged herself to keep warm but she did NOT come back inside, she did NOT stray from her post!  I felt sorry for her so threw her lovely warm coat and fur lined boots to her from the deck and she went back to her waiting, a little more comfortably!   Before much longer they drove up and I watched out the window as Jessie excitedly offered the fudge to the guy.  He asked if we made it ourselves and when she said yes, he said he supposed he would have to share it with the driver eh?  Yeah, that would be the  Christmassy thing to do, she said!!! :D  He gave her a big smile and a high five and off they went on their way.  Jessie came back in, happy, but chilly! ;D

Day Eighteen.

Working fast today....  Mum flies in from the UK tonight and I want to get the place picked up a bit before she gets here.  I won't go crazy ( it freaks the family out if I get stressed about making the place perfect and I know that a) Mum probably doesn't care anyway and b) it won't stay perfect for more than 10 minutes once she arrives!! )  these days I just aim for tidy (ish) and clean (ish!) anyway, still got lots to do..!

Today's act of kindness was a very spontaneous one though probably wouldn't be for those adults amongst us who are organized!! :D  I was looking out the window and noticed our recycling collection people had arrived to do our weekly pick up.  They are a lovely organization, so helpful and just all round good people.  I grabbed $10 from our collection and tore out of the house, baby in one hand, money in the other!  I ran up to the guy and thrust the cash at him!!  "Merry Christmas!!  This is for you!!"  Another day brightened! :D

Day Seventeen.

Well!! :D  A crazy day in retrospect though it didn't sound that bad to begin with!!  I finished up making the donuts and cupcakes I have made for some friends to give as gifts to their kiddoes... I LOVE making them, I just had a hard time finding the time with my smallest wanting so much attention!!  It's really quite hard to sew with sharp pointy needles and a wriggling, cooing little bundle of joy in my arms!! ;D Anyhoo, they got done and I went to town to meet Rex at lunch, ran some errands downtown, stopped at Hobby Lobby to pick up some more fabric and felt and then headed home after dropping off my "baked goods" !! Oh, but did I mention that I did all of this with an ever worsening headache, the lowering sun streaming right into my eyes and a baby girl who screamed at the top of her lungs for most of the trip?!  : (   Poor girl.   I pulled over and fed her a couple of times and managed to reinsert the pacifier more than once, but eventually the crying got the better of me and my head.  By the time I got home I had to go to bed with a migraine.  Awesome. Anyway, after a little sleep and some Tylenol I managed to procure from my friend's house,  I'm all better now!  I DID manage to get in another act of kindness though!! ;D Whilst leaving the parking garage today we noticed that the lady who took our cash was wearing a santa hat and reindeer antlers on her head!  We issued a hearty "Ho Ho Ho!" as we rolled up and she chatted happily with us as she found her change. Well I thought that she might appreciate a little kindness, so I took two individually boxed truffles, one cappuccino and one salted caramel and handed them to her... one for her and the other for her cohort across the way!!  She was delighted!  Made her day I think! :D  Later whilst at the craft store I noticed a lady carrying a huge and heavy shadow box picture frame...  I offered that she might go ahead of me in the check out line... again, she was very grateful and thanked me again after she got checked out.  It really is remarkable how small things can make a person's day brighter just as much as big things.  I've said before how I'd love to give out one hundred dollar bills but sometimes just opening a door for someone, letting them go ahead of you in line, complimenting someone on their hair cut or shoes... these things can make a big impact too.

Life is like a box of chocolates.

Day Sixteen!

Today was a stay at home sort of a day.  The kids and I spent a lot of time dancing round the living room to Gangnam Style... (yeah, we like it under our rock....!!),  I spent an hour on the phone with Alicia... ( Sorry Alicia!!!!)  and the rest of the day I spent cleaning the house ( can I get a Whoop Whoop?!  ... No??!  Bueller???!! )  So our Act of Kindness today had to be something we could do from home.  We decided to bake cookies for hubby's Uncle who is in care.  He went into hospital in March and will never come out again from what we hear.  : (   It's a tragedy as before he went in he was such a vital man, always had projects going, always emailing us and making us cool magic videos and such.  An awesome man.  An awesome man who loves Tollhouse cookies apparently!  I thought a nice BIG batch might make his day, so that's what we did!!!   I mean really, who DOESN'T love a good cookie?!?

A Good Cookie!