Day Twenty Two. Trader Joe's

We had a two thirty appointment today, which I thought was a coincidence because it was at the Orthodontist...  (tooth hurty....!) and of course there were a "couple of little errands" that I needed to run as well. ...  (The grocery store, Michael's craft store ( AGAIN! ) Trader Joe's.... ( AGAIN! ) and Target, always Target.  Jackster needed to buy some gifts so he raided his "Pinky pank" and brought all the cash he had.  I, being the morning person, rather than an afternoon or evening person, that I am  thought it would be perhaps better to leave early and run our errands BEFORE the Ortho rather than after so we could go straight home in time for me to do chores and clean up a bit.  Har har. We did a rather amazing job though I do have to say.  We left the house around 12:30, Millie was wearing clothes (albeit no mi' as we had lost them somehow) and Jack was dressed with socks AND shoes ( though he wore his coat UPSIDE DOWN and we found out at bedtime he had worn his jeans OVER his sweats all day long... )   **insert long suffering sigh here**

Anyway, we left at 12:30 and we live a good 15 minutes from the stores.  We went first to the grocery store to buy candies to decorate our gingerbread houses (if and when I ever get around to baking the things!) .... the kids had great fun selecting candies to decorate with and Jack always loves putting the things on the scale and printing out the labels.  I remembered back to last year when it was very hard for him to remember three numbers to type in and now he did it with very little trouble.  Yay!  I let them get whatever they chose without whittling about amount or price.  They are sensible and only got what they thought they would need and I really appreciated not having to overly monitor the situation!  After the grocery store we headed to the Mall to Michael's and Trader Joe's.  I parked up by Traders and left the kids in the car whilst I ran in to Michael's.  I "needed" some cording so we could make some essential oil diffusing necklaces.... someday.... Lord only knows when I will have time to do that.... but we have what we need should a sudden blizzard ensue and we were stuck in the house for a month or so.  On my return to the car the kids indicated I could go to Trader's alone too... alrighty then!  Much quicker that way!  I sped in and picked up one or two things ( soup, oats, an Orchid plant and some truffles....)   I had decided to do our Act of Kindness there today and the Orchid and Truffles were going to be it! :D

Trader's have lovely flowers and I considered a bouquet but settled on a plant, something more lasting.  I figured if the recipient didn't want the hassle of keeping an orchid then they could always pass it on to someone else, doubling the act of kindness! :D

The orchid and truffles....!  Looks fancy, no? :D 

Once I'd paid for the items I wondered who I was going to give them to.  An idea rather quickly occurred to me as I left the store.  A huge line of cars had formed as people were trying to leave and enter the parking lot.  I spotted one car with a lady at the wheel.  I approached her car tapping on the passenger window and indicating she should lower it!  ( Obviously I looked kind and happy, not in the least intimidating!)  I passed the flower and the chocs through the window and wished her a Merry Christmas and saying she had been chosen to receive our random act of kindness!  She was so happy and wished me a Merry Christmas and a big Thank You!  I was pretty happy with it and hurried back to the car... where I twisted my ankle and fell in a wet heap in the parking lot right by my van.  I was thinking the kids would wonder what the heck happened so I suddenly POPPED back up in a sort of TA DAH movement knowing also that the woman I had just "blessed" was watching too!!  I'm such an arse!!   Ah well.... no lasting harm done!!

Last trip before the ortho was Target and we all went into the store.  Can you believe we were in and out in less than 15 minutes COMPLETE with all of Jack's purchases?? :D  The dollar section comes in mighty handy when you have only 8 dollars to spend!!  Quick stop at the ortho for a minor repair and then home to attempt a clean up, nurse a toddler, read some book and make a rather delicious dinner that everyone loves!  Jack had FIVE helpings ( though he IS a growing boy! )

Only a couple of days to go now!  I hope this blog has inspired you to maybe try an act or two of your own.  I forgot to say as I was checking out of Trader's I explained to the guy behind the counter what we were doing.
"How do you do that?" he asked.
"Um....???"  I didn't explain.
"I mean, is it some sort of organization???"  he went on.
I told him that anyone can perform an act of kindness at any time! They don't have to cost money, they don't even need to be much of an effort.  Return someone's shopping cart for them. Help carry groceries.  Shovel someone's sidewalk.  Bake a neighbor some cookies.  ...  it's easy and honestly, you'll feel so good about it, you'll find opportunities for kindness everywhere you turn after a while.  Try it, it's catchy!