March 2011 Blog Posts (966)

What I Gave: 

I live in NJ. Despite  being (in)famous for the Jersey Shore, Sopranos, and Jerseylicious...it is also one of the few states (I believe 1 out of 3) where gas stations are full service...no extra charge...all the time. Today was a rainy, cold night. "Fill it up regular, please".  The young, probably college aged, gas attendant took my debit card, filled my tank, handed me back my card and began to walk back to the center island. I called for him out the window and gave…

My husband had an immensely trying day at work today. He went in at 8:30 a.m.; here it is 11:17 p.m. and he's not done yet. We work together, but I was able to head out around 5:30. When I came home, my mother, who lives with us, had made a nice dinner. It was simple - ravioli and a jar of pasta sauce - but it really hit the spot and I just feel so blessed to be able to come home to a hot meal. It wasn't "much" in return, but I made it a point to sincerely thank her.

Then, I…

So today was an interesting day! I begin my day at approx 4:44 am. I remember the time so well because my better half turned on the lights to ask "Where is the GPS?". "Did he really just ask that?" is what I thought, as I looked at the clock with blurry eyes. Reluctantly, I answered and decided I would creep out of the bed and go with the flow of life, since SOMEBODY had already broken my beauty sleep. Please…

Today I sent a letter, along with a money order to a family member who is incarcerated. He is so far away from where most family live, so his visits are pretty nonexistent. It totally brightens his day to receive a letter or card--which reminds him that he's not totally alone. I reiterated that to him in the letter, as I do all the time, that he isn't!!

My Journey Begins.   I stand in Solidarity with my MBHS family in giving back some of what was given to me.   I do this in honor of my School mate Lubabet and others who have suffered sickness and still found the strength and courage to give and shine a light on the world.

I who am Blessed by GOD with life, health, food, shelter, employment and love should not take for granted the little things in life.   I want to be a blessing to someone else.  I look for the journey to…

I know God hears prayers.  How he answers them, well, that's just another story.  It isn't easy to accept His answers when they are not the ones we're hoping for. Remember, God has written our life story from before we were born.  We can't alter the plan He has for us; we do have choices we can make.  Trusting His plan for us is all we can do.

Today we celebrated my little brother's thirteenth birthday and surprisingly he only wanted one thing: Rocks. J has been infatuated with geology or "mineralology" as he says, and has build up an impressive rock collection for someone even above the age of thirteen. While he won't blink and eye at spending thirty dollars to buy a stone this size of a dime, my little sister and I balked a bit when seeing some of the rocks he pointed out to us, expressing the desire for them to be his birthday…

Day 1: Time and Organization: I helped my little sister clean her black hole of a room. I helped sort her clothes and kept her focused.

Day 2: I bought my sister and I matching wallets. She really looks up to me, and I knew it would mean a lot to her. She hasn't put it down since I gave it to her (:

Day 3: I gave a $20 tip to a first day waitress. It was hard for me to walk away and leave it without seeing her reaction, but

I managed. I hope it made her first day as a…

The biking team is complete and ready.

Last night we went for a Japanese meal.

I paid the bill :0)

I just stumbled onto my first gift...and I haven't even started yet!

While looking through the journals that I put together some time ago (nothing amazing, folks,…

I didn’t disappear, but this post is definitely a case of three days rolled into one. I’ll start with Tuesday’s gift. I found it at the same flower shop I purchased Monday’s gift from. They had these tiny little stones with sayings on them, and then there were these charm turtles. They were tiny and adorable. Alongside each turtle was a little saying of how they were good luck turtles. I recently met up with my elementary school best friend. She was one grade below me in school. We used to…

     It is funny, the first day of the 29 days presented itself with a primo gift-giving opportunity. I love serendipity! Thursdays are my regularly scheduled volunteer day at my daughter's school. A new child has just entered the class at the end of the year because of, presumably, awful treatment at her previous school. This little girl is a 5th grader and has something called Turner's Syndrome. She is a special ed kiddo and sweet as she can be. She got her schedule mixed up today and…

Super-mega-awesome Jane and her troops of ninjas, er, I mean, Girl Scouts, put together more than a dozen USPS flat rate boxes filled with Girl Scout cookies, and sent them here.  I do indeed have enough of these boxes to make a fort. 

What does one do with Girl Scout cookies?  Well, the obvious answer is share.  The better answer, I think, if to just give them away.  I probably gave away half of them today -- sometimes a single box of cookies, sometimes a full USPS box with all…

Yesterday (Day 27), my husband came home nearly an hour late. This isn't hugely unusual, but it is usually frustrating for me -- especially because the kids get upset when they're not expecting it. Still, I try to be at least somewhat gracious about it as long as he shows up on time on Wednesdays. I call Wednesdays our "chaos days" because they are so jam-packed. By the time we get through a later-than-usual, picked-up-on-the-way-home pizza dinner, we barely have time for a bath before…

Hmmm.  Okay.  Twenty-nine gifts.  Twenty-nine days.  Hmmmm.....okay....

I've been in a negative place lately.  Hatin' my job.  Not happy with my friends.  Worrying about my aging parents, and feeling guilty about the distance between us.  Not liking what I…