April 2012 Blog Posts (516)

My 4th gift

My Nanna passed away a little over three years ago now, since then my Pop has been living alone at their farm in country Victoria.  I’ve never been close to my grandparents on my Dad’s side of the family.  I guess it’s probably because we grew up a different state so our connections have mainly been at Easter, Christmas and the occasional birthday card. We don't really know each other very well. 

At a recent family wedding I made the effort…

Made a small donation to a non-profit charity in memory of a coworkers' family member who recently died.

Gave my dog the gift of his favorite walk through the park--esp on Sunday nights--right after the church group that meets every week for a barbecue leaves & so leaves behind all kinds of lovely leftovers in the trash.  IE: it's a rare Sunday that he doesn't end up with at least a little piece of uneaten leftover hamburger or hotdog.  Such a simple pleasure that makes him…

Oh, dear, I was going to take a day's break and start the next round on the first, but since I helped the student office aid un-jam the copy machine several times (ultimately the repair guy had to be called in) and lent a colleague a copy of the exam I'm giving so that he could borrow some questions, I got some giving in today. Might as well make that the start of a new round.

Today was a busy day.  I know many of you have busy, busy days.  This is new for me and I'm making my way.  I still had lots to do when the kids went to bed.  I asked one of my youngest a question and could see he had been crying.  Got the low-down from my middle son and it concerned a bad grade on a quiz at school.  I wanted to deal with it, but I had too much other stuff to do.  So I told my husband, son #3 is having a problem, I don't have time and we need to deal with it.  Can you please…

Day 28 again? Already? This round has really flown by! I feel like I've gotten back in the giving groove after a couple of lackluster rounds.

There were lots of little gifts today. First, I paid ahead for a random coffee. Then I gave two strangers (together) directions. As I was walking, I noticed a plastic bag fly down the path in front of me; it went over the bank, and I decided that if it somehow stopped near the top of the embankment, I'd pick it up, but if it was already…

I've fallen behind on blogging in an attempt to catch up on rest. I knew this challenge would be a struggle for me in certain respects, namely, feeling like I wasn't giving "cool enough" or "big enough" or "sacrificially enough." In addition, I knew that the challenge would help me redefine my notion of giving, but that was hard for me, too. …

Although I started last Monday, I feels today was my first day.



MON 4/23:

I gave my 29 Gift book  to a friend that I thought may need it at this point and time. Although I did not finish reading it yet, I felt the urge to give.  She kept asking me, what was it about and I said  just read it for yourself as she went on her way.



TUE 4/24:

I brought a bag…

Today I gave four loaves of bread to random people also gave an apple to a co-worker. Went to Crossville for my husband after work about 30 miles one way to get something he needed for work. Also took my brothers clothes to the cleaner and picked up his clothes that were already there.wondering if anyone knows how to make a link to share the challenge on FB. 

Now for your gift Tip 1. I use pizza sauce when making lasagna one layer with spaghetti sauce one with pizza sauce I…

ran a quick errand at lunch to drop off stuff at goodwill and recyclables at the drop off bins.  saw a very bubbly 7-year-old for my evening eval, and she picked out a "winner" medal for herself and a toy car for her younger brother as treats for coming to see me.  

temperature is supposed to be in the upper 80's later this week :-).  I'm definitely a summer girl.  can't wait for the cicadas and lightning bugs!

I was at the bank today, and saw a friend I hadn't seen in quite some time. I said to my banker, "there's Dallas, I need to go say hi!"  My banker says, "did you know her house burned to the ground?" So I catch up with Dallas and yes, 2 weeks ago her house exploded and burned to the ground.  "Do you need any help?"  "Yes," she said "I need someone to go dig through the rubble with me and take notes."  I'm in! 

Hi everyone,

I got so close to completing 29 days back in January but i was struggling with being very pregnant and let things slide. I finally had my beautiful baby boy on 2nd April and i am going to start gifting again tomorrow. I look forward to sharing my gifts with you and being inspired by your stories. Happy Gifting xx

I'm renewing my 29gifts in 29 days commitment:)

Day 1 gift: I supported and encouraged a friend starting a new at home business venture.

Day 2 gift: My little family had dinner out in the city and had leftovers. I had them packed up to feed someone on the street whose hungry. We didn't see anyone on our way back to our vehicle so I walked us around a block that included many individuals that I think our society would label as scary or undesirable but I couldn't tell if anyone…

Day 15

I had an entire weekend off of work at my second job. I was so excited to do what I wanted, even though I didn’t know what it was.

Saturday Morning I went to breakfast with my best-ies and knitting buddies. I bought one of them breakfast, the other one had already bought her own by the time we arrived at our regular coffee shop.  I had to poke and prod her to accept the gift, and even explained that it would be my gift for the day so she would be doing me a…

*My whole day pretty much revolved around church service today.  If religion typically exasperates you, you may want to politely skip this blog.  :)

1- My church is run by laymen (meaning no one has formal training per se and they're not paid) and issues callings to it's members to serve as leaders, instructors, etc.  These rotate about every 2-5 years depending on the "fit" for both the person serving and those they…

Day 20 : It was the first day of the Art of Living Part One Course being conducted jointly by me and an other teacher.As usual,the session was good with amazing experiences of the participants after the Sudarshan Kriya.After the session,i gave lift to a participant.

Day 21 : My son has been facing a problem of too much sweat in hands,so i had taken an appointment with the Aryuvedic doctor.Aryuveda is an ancient medical science where the doctors do pulse diagnosis and you would be…

My 3rd gift

I am studying to be a Primary School teacher - after this semester I've got one year to go until I am qualified...I can't wait!

Today I gave the gift of proof-reading!   My friend Anna was having difficulty understanding the assignment criteria, so we spent time going through it step by step and I proof read what she had written so far.  It felt really good to be able to help her out.  To show her appreciation she helped me to prepare for a…

Mailed out many packages of books and one for mom.

Cooking: bluecorn pancake, spaghetti with tomato, broccoli and other veggies, sweet yam soup with cabbage and chickpea, veggie dumplings.

Tried drawing stone garden topic again, with Inktense color pencils. The color turned to be very vibrant when wet. Can practice more.

Prepare aromatherapy defuser with pine resin, tea tree and bitter orange for coworkers, hope this will somewhat help to  relieve their…

yesterday I helped out with a donation of books.and today was day17 and I gave something beautiful!

fist, I feel really good about myself right now, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'm really full, and that I gave something better than I expected by giving my time.

I spent the afternoon at a friends house, fernando, who I hadn't seen since I was in high school and I already ended up college. so, it's been a while. we always kept in touch, but i…

Aw, poor hubby has a virus. It's like a mild flu: muscle aches, fatigue, and a low fever. He's staying home from school tomorrow. He slept much of the day, while I went outside and tackled the weeds. I did all the grocery shopping today, which we usually do together -- bought myself a new pair of gardening gloves, since mine have holes in the fingertips, and some cut-up watermelon as a treat for tomorrow's lunch -- and let him rest while I did the cooking (Sunday night is his turn). I made…

Day 7: Cleaning and Clearing Ella's Room

Today I took an hour while my husband took my daughter to her musical theater to clean my daughter's room and go through all her clothes, getting rid of the ones that no longer fit: 3 garbage bags full! Eventually they'll go to Good Will, but right now they're stashed away in case I made any horrible mistakes ;-)

She has been getting overwhelmed figuring out what to wear every day...an overload of clothes…