June 2011 Blog Posts (1,037)

Wednesday, June 29 - Round 2, Day 22

Well my intentions and meditation is not going very well again... My mind is preoccupied with family and vacation planning!

Today I sent email messages and text messages to friends and family for planning days together while on my vacation to Michigan. Two really good friends are planning a day for dinner together and a casino trip. We used to go to dinner out once a month before we had children, along with our boyfriends/husbands,…

Second attempt to post these blogs... I will succeed!! :)

Monday, June 27 - Round 2, Day 20

Today my intention is to enjoy the induction ceremony for the professional group and learn more about other members of the Board of Directors.

Work was pretty busy since I was still catching up from the sick day and migraine last week. It is also the end of the month with quite a few more emails, calls, voice messages, and approvals to review and respond to. We…

I decided to pull out all the gift bags I have stored in my closet out onto my bed.  I kept 6 favorites and the rest I opened up and prepared to fill them with a treasure or two.  I went around the house finding things to put in them, things I no longer needed, wanted, or loved.  As I found one I'd put it in a bag and covered it with tissue paper.   I ended up with 19 gifts.  I was so excited as I considered how and where I would hand them out.  Then as I was preparing to go to my…

I didn't mean to start a new round with a gift to myself, but I needed one. I went in today to do some writing, and got one small section of the paper done. But my concentration went wandering and I couldn't find it anywhere, poor lost little soul, so the kindest thing to do for myself was leave off early and go home. Even professional novelists don't write for more than a few hours at a stretch anyway. I spent the rest of the afternoon happily putting lightly washed Shetland fleece through…

Many of us are looking for inexpensive but special gifts for our friends and loved ones. 

I was just reminded of a a really meaningful gift that my sons made each of their grandmothers many years ago.  They decorated a jar and then printed out small notes that said "A special memory" on decorative paper and gave several sheets to as many family members and long time friends as possible . Each person was asked to write down special memories they had shared with the intended receiver…

When I left the house this morning I had all the reasons to have a permanent smile on my face: I was able to get the kids ready to go to camp and had time left for them to have cereal at home--we regularly have to eat in the car since we are running a bit behind. Shower, PBS cartoons, breakfast and arriving on time at the camp was a major accomplishment on my second day of weight bearing on my foot. This equation resulted in an everlasting and…

Day 17 Wed. 6/29/11  Feeling overwhelmed with trying to keep up, between blogging here & responding to FB Is there a way to tie it all together? most of my gifts today were small...giving a smile & hello to a neighbor. Helping Dan in the yard until it got too hot for me.

Day 18 Thurs. 6/30/11 Still feeling overwhelmed to many to do's and not enough time in the day. Gave several friends some encouraging words today. and prayed for my friend's…

Just like darkness is not a thing in itself but just the absence of light, I believe that there's no such thing as bad luck, just the absence of faith in what is our God-given right: abundance and happiness.

Therefore, I proudly use my number 13 instead of skipping it. Mainly because we were surrounded by good fortune today. As I have shared before, my boys and I enjoy coffee…

It's been to long since I wrote in my giving journal!  The giving has not stopped but I'm getting fuzzy on day 12 and day 13.Oddly enough, my luck number and my birthdate. 

Day 14- Gave a wine pairing dinner to a young wine enthusiast that I coordinated.  The ticket price was $55 but Billy got to dine that evening for free.  Sweet guy and well deserved. 

Day 15-  Made dinner for our friends.  Chicken parm, wine and a great game of scattegories. Lots of…

Today has been even better than yesterday!!!!!  and yesterday was a blast!!  Got up early and had breakfast with my friend, Christine.  She told me that he boyfriend said to her "you are having breakfast alot with your friend Shannon, you must really like her." and Christine said something that was so sweet and a gift to me i think!  She said "she is just so upbeat and she has such a positive energy all around her, that we just have the best time together!"  That just made my…

Today I spent the day preparing to go out of town for a family reunion.  Why is there so much to do to get out of the house?  Laundry, packing, it's just a whirlwind.  I did take time to put together some gift bags of my favorite teas for my aunt and cousin, because I know they love tea.  I think it will be a nice little gift to say thank you for all of the work they are doing in preparation for my visit.  

Phew!  It's been quite a busy day.  I think my gift to myself is…

Today, I visited my Dad in the hospital (can't say I've ever done that before). Yesterday, he had robotic surgery to remove his prostate, which was ridden with cancer. I had mentally prepared myself - knowing he would be in a gown, very immobile, hooked up to IV's, and very much in pain - and yet, it was still very disarming when I walked in.

Part of the reason I suppose is because he's so young. He's only 55 and has pretty much been my hero my entire life. We are very much alike. We…

Today's gift was LISTENING.

It was a hard one... listening not because you want to, but because someone else needs to be listened to.

              Day six was yet another simple gift gesture! My daughters and I were both at the petting barn enjoying feeding the animals. As my daughters were feeding all the animals having so  much fun I heard a little girl say  to her mom that she would love to be able to feed the animals, I took some of the feed that I had and offered some to her, she was delighted and thanked me as she ran off and chose the bunnies to feed. It was a great feeling knowing the joy she felt just as…