Joan Concilio Otto's Page

Hi, everyone! I miss checking in and saying hi, but life has gotten away from us. Our big news is that we pulled our daughter out of public school on Feb. 29 and have started to homeschool. I'm trying to blog daily about THAT journey (www.ourschoolathome.com) - but in the meantime, the gift I've been giving ever day is just trying to help my daughter build her confidence and realize what a wonderful and talented person she…

The good news is, I've recently completed my second cycle of gifts! While I wasn't blogging during this cycle, I did keep some notes in a composition book almost daily, along with some happiness and gratitude thoughts each day, and thought I'd check in to share some highlights before beginning Cycle 3.

This cycle started Sept. 25, 2011.

Giving highlights

Talked to my best friend when she was upset - prayers at night with my daughter after a really rough…

Both yesterday and today, I've done some work that one of my employees would normally do, to free him up a bit. He is actually being promoted and will be going to another department, and in the interim, he's essentially trying to balance two jobs. He certainly could, but I thought doing this work would make things easier for him. He has done a lot to make MY life and our whole department's job easier.

I also did some weeding over the past two days for the plants that are on the border…

A friend and coworker had her bank card unexpectedly declined due to a glitch, so I was able to buy her some gas and treat us both to lunch on Day 4 of this cycle (June 29) I didn't expect to be repaid, but she returned $20 to me today. It was great to know that I could help, even "temporarily!"

Also on this day, I received the opportunity to apply for a freelance job that would be amazing. No guarantees I'll get it, but just the chance to put in for it was really cool. I also…