July 2010 Blog Posts (1,047)

I drove up to my paretnts lake home to spend the weekend with them. My parents are about 77 years old and do what they can to keep the cabin going. My gift today was to help them with some of the big projects and run some errands with them.

My dad and I went to the hardware store and bought twenty 60 pound landscaping rocks and got them to the cabin. Then we went to the Verison store to help dad get a new cell phone. (He accidently went swimming with it). Next on the agenda…

Morning Reflection: After thinking more about how yesterday 'unfolded' it feels as if the day marked a real turning point for me - everything sort of came together in a single day. So much giving and receiving (and the synchronicity of events linked together) was overwhelming, compelling and EXCITING!!

At this point the only real plan for today is to 'give' to myself by attending a yoga class - something I have not done for about two weeks. And ...weather permitting I will go…

We have had a tough work week, so I decided tonight for our last shift I baked a cheese cake...it didn't turn out as great as I would have liked, but still yummy :)

The day is young but I'm posting now. This morning I shared with a MS friend about the difference this challenge has made in my life. I told her that I would lend her my copy of Cami's book to read. Being that I have bought about 9 copies over both rounds to give as gifts, I have decided that the next time I see her, I am going to give her my copy or try to pick up a new one (if I get a discount coupon before then). I went Feeders Supply and bought my grandpup a large bag of food. Instead of…

Many of you have been following my year-long journey giving $10 to complete strangers every day for a year. I noticed that I had not updated my blog on this site in a really long time...so I thought I would a quick update.

Since then I have met a young man who never met his mother, a man whose entire family was murdered and left him paralyzed, a woman who climbed Mt. Kilamanjaro, a symphony conductor, med students, a thoracic surgeon, a man who bicycled from London to Cape…

The great video that Cami posted from Julie Wilson got me to thinking about the concept of living for today.

I think I speak for many who are dealing with chronic, life-changing illness when I say the we were forced to look differently at our lives. Faced with new limitations, dealing with pain and what I call 'prescription poverty," can alter a viewpoint pretty quickly. We seem to have developed a greater appreciation for life and the things that matter. For that awakening I am…

I'm really excited to start tomorrow. The first of the month is the best time to start! I already have some ideas for what I would like to do. Some days are obvious like birthdays, but other days will probably be more simple like doing something nice for a stranger. I'm hoping that when I share this with friends, they will be inspired to do it too.

Today I spend some time and enrgy to write to my penpal D. in prison. I got his name and address (he's an inmate in California) from a Dutch institution, that provides people in prison with no family nor many friends with a penpal overseas.. All inmates are on death row or sentenced for a lifelong stay in prison. D and I have learned to know each ther pretty well over the past year and became friends. Writing is very important for him to keep sane and alive in what sometimes really looks…

("Tibetan Sand Mandala" by Mary Mueller)

The central theme of « In Our Space » is the idea of building, of perhaps finding or reaching, a space where one is free to simply be themselves and do as they feel they…

Yesterday was the funeral and all went well. Just helped my mom with numerous things that needed to be done while greeting and socializing with family and friends. Ready to be done with this giving theme.

I know...reading the title even makes me yawn. I have some friends who really enjoy the process of cleaning and I am not one of those people. I enjoy the fruits of my labor but the cleaning itself takes my mind off to far away lands and previous lives until I plug back in and find myself in Connecticut scrubbing chicken poop and picking up half eaten mice. No thank you. So this is why it is a perfect gift for a friend. I am trying to turn it…