busy, busy.

Sorry for this shortie post in advance...  Too much to do this week to properly sit down and write about all the awesomeness.  I am still on top of my good deeds however.  I have managed to do at least one thing every day and most days I do many.  A lot are too small to even mention on this blog, but they still get done.  Here is a quick list of the few things I have done since my last post:

Saturday - Did a fellow stylist's hair without expecting anything in return.  Stayed a few hours later than I needed to so I could do it for her.

Sunday - Bought 20 or so new books for the kid's school library.  We are taking them in tomorrow.  The kids are stoked.  We also got a gift certificate for my son's teacher to buy some books for their classroom.
*Bonus - Marnie made 2 pairs of earrings for a couple of her classmates.  She wrapped them and anonymously left them in their lockers for them to discover.  She reported that it was really fun for her and she wants to do more.

Today - Gave a man holding a sign outside a shopping center $20.  The sign said his daughter was admitted to the hospital with a heart condition.  He looked very sad and was shaking from the cold.  My husband is trying to fight the belief that all of these people who stand out and ask for money are full of it.  Maybe.  We lived in Chicago years ago and it made him jaded in this area.  You would see someone beg for money and then round the corner and climb into a Cadillac.  It was disheartening.  I have come to an understanding however that it simply doesn't matter.  Does it make the gift any less important?  The giving is always the same no matter who is on the receiving end.  My heart remains the same.

I hope to find some time to sit and write to you in further depth later on this week.  I have a few things that have been on my mind and in my heart and I want to begin to share them.  Maybe get some opinions...

Stats:
Daily Points - 20
Extra - 3
Bonus - 3

Days left to go: 355

swollen heart.

My vision is changing.  My eyesight is the same but how I see is different.  I look at you and I see something that I didn't notice before.  I in turn feel something I have never felt before.  I do not know how to describe it well but it fills me with warmth and sheer joy.  I cannot help but smile.  I smile at you, I smile at strangers.  It is new and I think I am enjoying it.

I did an act for my friend today.  She is one of my dearest friends from waaay on back when big hair was cool the first time around.  She traveled some distance to see me and as always I was overjoyed to spend some time with her.  She met me at the salon and I turned her into one hot mama.  It was fun and I am glad I had the opportunity to spoil her a bit.

My moment of awe however came not with my friend, but with the client I serviced before her.  A client that I have worked on many times before and definitely enjoyed, but had never thought much more about it that that.  Today when she walked through the doors I felt warmth and kindness.  I wanted to give her the best experience and let it be known that she was cared about.  I always do my absolute best and continued to do so, but as she spoke as I worked I listened.  I mean really listened and cared about every word that was said.  I took extra steps to show I cared... and I do.  After massaging her head at the shampoo bowl,  I brought a hot steam towel over her brow.  I firmly pressed the the steam into her skin and chanted in my head with each slow press "I wish you well, I wish you joy, I wish you comfort".  I did not even notice that I was doing it until after I removed the towel.  I realized it was true.

I enjoyed myself today.  I laughed and I felt true joy.  I was happy to be where I was and I wished happiness for others.  Pleasure.

Stats:
Daily Points - 8
Extra - 1
Bonus - 0

lotto and run.

Let me tell you about Christmas Eve.  I have, in the past, adopted families for Christmas and bought toys for needy tots.  I have participated in Operation Christmas Child and picked angel ornaments off trees in order to provide a gift for someone who otherwise might not have received one.  One year I even organized a 'Cut-A-Thon' in which a bunch of stylists and myself did haircuts on the masses from our town and then donated the proceeds to a family of four boys whose mom dies of brain cancer a week before Christmas.  I am no stranger to harnessing the power of the Christmas Spirit.  However, never have I left my good deeds up to fate the way my family and I did on Christmas Eve and as my project intends.  Never have I given willy nilly without any background information or careful selection of the recipient.  It was shakes inducing and my trust was absolutely tested.

As I wrote in an earlier post, the fam and I decided to put $100 towards a random stranger's purchase at our local discount super center.  This idea in theory sounded like a great idea.  We have donated much more money to adopted families in Christmas' past than $100, so what's the big deal?  There have many stories on the news reporting that people were paying off random layaways.  I think that is a fabulous idea and I wish we had thought about it prior to Christmas Eve.  Layaway gives me the impression that a person likely has need to pay a big purchase off over a few smaller payments.  This gives the giver some sort of indication that the gift may be appreciated.  It's like insurance.  We decided not to take out that policy though.  I did not happen to hear of the trend until the night prior to Christmas Eve and by that time I would assume that most people have collected their goods in order to wrap them for the big day.  If by some chance there were a few left at the store, I would think it likely they would forever remain at the store - unclaimed.  I did that once.  I tried on and loved something like 20 dresses when I was a teenager and put them all on layaway.  I handed over the $40 I had at the time and promised to pay the rest of eventually.  I never went back.  In fact I moved out of state.  Good intentions but I couldn't follow through.  That would be my biggest worry - that I would pay it, it would go unclaimed and then the big corporate store would get to keep my money AND the stuff.  I understand that it is about the action and not what happens with the gift, but I am still working on that.

So instead, we went with a donation towards a real, live, in the flesh kind of person who was finishing up their procrastination shopping.  We had discussed the few ways in which we could make the payment without rejection or causing the receiver any embarrassment.  We decided the best way was to purchase a gift card and then on our way out of the store give it to someone in the checkout lane with the tagline: "There is a couple of bucks left on this, would you like it?  We don't get to this side of town often."  Simple, yes?  Well that was the plan.

We arrived at the strip mall where the store is located and split up.  Troy took the kids to the dollar store where they needed to buy a few last minute gifts and I headed to the superstore to pick up some items for dinner the next day and the gift card.  As soon as I walked through the sliding doors my stomach began to rumble and I felt sick and nervous.  $100 is a lot of money to just give to someone for no reason.  I mean, what if the universe is not listening and we choose the wrong person?  Like a child molester or a Republican.  It was such a crapshoot.  I silently asked for a sign.  At that moment I looked up and spotted my cousin Barb.  Barb lives in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan in a town many hours away from us.  Her parents live  in a town nearby, but we never see them.  I stopped her and we embraced and talked of life.  She told me she was just thinking of my dad (he died in an accident of sorts in June 2009).  I told her I had just been thinking of her the day before.  I had a previous by chance run in with her the year prior at a different store and had been wondering if she was in town.  It is amazing how such things work that way.  We exchanged digits and parted ways.  I finished my shopping a neared the checkout.  The gift cards live there.  Sucking in a deep breath, I picked one up.  Surely that was a sign.  Or was it a coincidence?  By leap of faith I bought that card.

I trekked down the cement walk that linked each store entrance to the next.  I contemplated my nervous tummy and what it meant.  Spying the up coming bookstore that was in my path, I decided to dash in for a cup of coffee before meeting the rest of my troop and carrying out our mission.  Someone was ordering and I fell in line behind him.  He was inquisitive and asking the barista many questions about the pastry.  I paid attention and little attention and then great attention as I noticed that he too was yet another one of my father's cousins.  This one I had not laid eyes on since the day we laid my father to rest.  It was lovely to see him and it calmed my nervous stomach as well as my spirit.  Of course there are greater things at work than me and my selfish worries.  There is a plan.  I can either be part of the good or step back and let life happen beside me.  That is my role and I get to choose.  After wishing my cousin a Merry Christmas, I skipped like a six year old out of the store to gather my brood.

We stalked the crowds of the superstore upon our return and looked for the perfect scenario.  We headed to the toy section first but found it nearly empty.  We moved on to the groceries only to discover many carts filled with two or three items each.  Everyone was on their game this year.  No procrastinators to be found.  Ethan had a bit of money burning in his pocket and had the desire for a wallet, so we decided to allow him to make his purchase and then intended to wait up in the front of the store where we would have a better view of the registers.  On our way to cash out we saw her.  A lovely lady checking out by herself.  The grocery belt was full of goods as was her cart.  There were toys and food and boxed gifts with included tags.  She was perfect.  Ethan paid and then displayed his bag as if to show 'See?  We really did do some shopping'.  Quickly and without thinking I slip in beside her at the register and gave her my line about the few bucks left on the card.  She took it and we scrambled out the door before she could finish loading her cart back up with her bagged goods.  Did she appreciate it?  I don't know.  We left.  Does it matter?  No, it doesn't.  We gave and that is indeed what matters.  I hope she did and I can dream she did.  But the lesson is the same to my children regardless of the outcome.  The lesson is the same to me too.

As for today, I did a fun little give.  I am sure this will be a repeat offender as I found childlike joy in the activity.  I bought some scratch off lotto tickets and then left them under the wipers of a few cars.  I attacked at the bank and then again at the courthouse.  I had to open my business account and apply for my DBA respectively and incorporated my acts.  There was a fun element of sneakiness due to the fact that there are lots of people just sitting in cars in the parking lots of both places.  People do not take kindly to you messing with cars, so doing business quickly and then running away so you are not caught is the best option in my opinion.  It was fun and each time I left one my daughter squealed with absolute delight.  The fun is rubbing off already.

Stats:
Daily Points - 7
Extra - 1
Bonus - 0

My Christmas moment moment.

Today was a day filled with clearing.  Clearing of the home, clearing of the mind.  I am preparing for a new year and am excited about all of the changes coming our way.  I feel a need to prepare.  We removed all of our gaudy Christmas decorations today.  Although they were thoroughly enjoyed and will be greatly missed until next year, I feel that this hour is the first I have been able to truly concentrate and think straight since the day after Thanksgiving.  It is wonderful to look out over my home and feel a sense of order and calm.  It is a new day and I am excited.

One down point to my hunkering down and cleaning the Curet household is that... well, I never left it.  I often do not leave home on a daily basis and once in awhile I may be home for an entire week - gasp!  I know.  I work from home mostly and I really, really like it here.  This may not be much of an issue in my previous state of existence, but now I have a daily task to accomplish that I assumed I would need to leave to house for.  I had a small panic attack this afternoon while contemplating this query.  I should have known however that my answer would come to me as so many answers do... google.  Of course there are ways to please people via the World Wide Web.  I can, on lazy days, favor people in a multitude of ways with the click of some keys.  This pleases me on so many levels.

Fear not my friends, I do not plan on never leaving my home again and helping out people in the flesh.  I do however plan on using the internet to insure I do something every day.

Today I did a blog search.  I went in search of a start up blog like my own that has no readers (like my own) as of the moment.  My plan was to read a few and leave some nice comments of encouragement.  Instead I found this one: http://www.mychristmasmoment.com/  There is not really a space to comment, so I thought perhaps an actual entry may be of more encouragement.  This is something I would never normally do.  I am not a participator.  I have no need or want to share my Christmas moment.  I replied merely to make the owner of the blog happy.  There is a delay, but as soon as my musings are up I will let you all know.  I am sure you are dying with anticipation.

Tomorrow I am opening a business account.  This is something I am very excited about.  I have never had a business account nor need for one - but now I do.  A few years ago while looking for some kind of project for Marnie and I to do together, I stumbled upon a paper craft called quilling.  While the tradition methods are of little interest to me, I fell in love with the craft and began making large wall art using the amazing paper coils.  It has provided me with enormous amounts of joy but besides appearing in a few shows, has not made me a profit.  I recently began using my skills to make jewelry using the same techniques and have found an entirely new level of happiness.  People are loving what I am making and buying up all of my goods.  It is the most glorious thing.  Seeing people's reactions when they notice my designs is one of the best feelings.  Second to how I feel when I see them wearing them.  I have pride and it feels amazing.  I want my business to grow a bit and become more legit.  The lovely salon in which I work has agreed to carry my earrings and most of the girls I work with now own a pair.  I would love to carry them in a couple of stores in our downtown as well and perhaps even a gallery.  For now though I am grateful for the business account and the business cards that are on their way.  I am in the beginning stages of planning a small remodel in our basement and creating a studio space for myself.  I am wanting to put more focus on turning my passion from a hobby into a business and I feel that requires a more serious space.  At the moment I have been working out of our bedroom using a lowered ironing board as a table.  I am excited to see where this will grow.  As a bonus to the renovations, Ethan is changing rooms to the largest which is also on the lowest level.  He is excited as he will now have room to have an indoor play structure.  I am excited because his old room will soon be a new walk in closet for the hubs and I.  A new space for a new year and I am so excited to see what else follows!

Stats:
Daily Points - 6
Extra - 1
Bonus - 0

Christmas came and all I got was working at this crummy job.

Merry Christmas!  I absolutely need to do some research on things I can do for people that A) Don't cost a bizillion dollars and B) Can be done without a ton of planning for days like today.  Options were limited today but I didn't want to be lame and claim the giving of presents was my give.  I truly procrastinated and did not have anything pre thought out to do.  I could have easily blown it.  On day 5 too.  That would have been an epic fail.  I made it though.  On the way to family's for dinner, Troy commented how much it sucked to work at the movie store since they were actually open on Christmas day.  That is insane.  I do not want to even support that company since they obviously value a dollar more that the people they have working for them.  On the return trip, we stopped at the only other place open today - Speedway - and (after buying 2 Mega Lottery tickets) bout a package of oatmeal raisin cookies.  Marnie and I then ran into the video store and told the poor fellow behind the counter how sorry we were that he had to be working and that we brought him some cookies.  He looked a bit shocked but responded with thanks and a Merry Christmas.  We then ran out the door.

I have two really big ones to do this week coming up.  I am pretty excited about one of them in particular.  I am really enjoying the process of thinking about giving so frequently.  If nothing else, that is time not thinking about myself, yes?  The kids are already catching on and have agreed to begin giving away 10% of any money they earn.  They have money coming in on a regular basis, so I think this is fair.  Both Troy and I have our own businesses and each kid 'owns' 2% of each.  We work together as a family, so we feel it is fair that they earn as well.  Troy and I have made the decision for the first time in our lives that it is time  for us to tithe 10% of our income on a weekly basis.  My project is above and beyond that amount, but I like to think of it as backpay.  We do not attend church on a very regular basis, and I am not sure if we ever will, but I do think we owe 10% to someone and the church is a good place for it to go.  I just need to convince them to put a donate button on their webpage so I do not need to check in every Sunday.  Anyhoo, the kids are tossing many ideas around about what they want to do with the percentage they have from all of their Christmas cash.  They kind of banked this year, so they each have about $15 to spend on acts.  Some interesting ideas have been popping up and I cannot wait to see what the final decision is.

Troy is jumping on board a little bit too.  He is the headliner in one of the big ones coming up.  He is very nervous but trusting that this will be good for us.  He deserves his own post however, so I will leave it at that for now.

Stats:
Daily Points - 5
Extra - 1
Bonus - 0

Can this be done?

Well, honestly I feel a bit deflated.  I am glad I get 375 more chances to do this.  This evening's act did not go as well as I hoped but I do suppose much of that was my fault.  I have been feeling a bit ill about this encounter for a couple of days and had mere hours beforehand to try to turn it around in my head but was apparently unsuccessful.  I need to give a bit of background here, but am very wary about doing so.  I in no way wish to hurt anyone's feelings but part of this experiment is to see how events in my life over the next year unfold and how can comparisons be made if there is no 'before' to compare it to?  I will try to be a bit vague and change names without leaving out any important details.

Let's start with the call from my friend about three or four months back.  This was a call asking if I would mind coloring her mother's hair.  No, I don't mind.  Of course.  This friend of mind is a keeper.  A very generous girl whom I like very much.  She ask'd how much I would charge - Oh nothing!  I don't mind doing her hair for free... once that is.  I did not know that once would end up being once every four weeks. I attempted to arrange a barter with the mom but it has never happened.  I have continued to do her hair.  Why?  I do not know.  I am not sure of my reasoning.  Each time she calls to have me meet her once again I plan to nicely explain to her all the reasons I cannot do this.  Each time I meet her, I need to leave my family.  I also work from home, so every time I leave is time I am not spending doing what I need to be doing to earn my living.  The mom does give me $20 but that is not even 1/5 of what I would charge at the salon.

This may seem like no big deal - here I am trying to do things for other people on a continuous basis.  And I do see the irony here.  However, this mom is not destitute nor unable to pay.  She went to another girl from my salon prior to me - she merely wants to spend less and has told me so.  I also do not feel that what I am doing is very much appreciated.  In fact I feel quite the opposite.  I leave each visit feeling badly and determined that I will not do it again.  Then she calls four weeks later...

This was going to be the week.  She called a couple days ago asking if I would come over.  I agreed.  I mulled over what to say about this being my last time and all... but.... she then told me how badly she was doing because her mother died last week.  I just could not add to that.  Nope.  I caved and agreed to go.  The next day the idea for this challenge came about.  Who better to be my first act than her?  I decided to also bring her a nice plant to cheer her up a bit.

I am not quite sure what I expected.  It was not it though... I still felt badly when I left and definitely less happy than when I arrived.  I cannot do that again.  I am sure that not every deed is going to be appreciated, but I do not need to do it over and over.

I am absolutely done dwelling on this evening.  I do not want to think about this anymore.  It makes me feel bad.

Tomorrow is a new day and a new act.  I am gifting highlights to my neighbor who could not afford them otherwise.  This one I am very fond of and I am very excited to do this for her.  I promise that not every act will involve hair, but the first two just happen to fall into that category.

Stats:
Daily Points - 1
Extra - 0
Bonus - 0