commit acts of kindness

We went to church w/Todd’s mom yesterday morning. Her church starts an hour earlier now and it takes 45 minutes to get there (only 35 yesterday!) but we made it and surprised her! It was her 77th birthday and, though the woman rarely shows emotion so we couldn’t tell she was surprised, she said she was. And she was obviously very happy to have us there. The service was very nice and then we took her to lunch. Todd’s brother and sil always attend church w/her and went to lunch, too, and then we went back to mil’s house and lit the new gas fireplace and had tea and cake. We all slept on the way home (except Todd, of course) and continued those naps when we got home. Just a nice day all around.

Now, this doesn’t sound like an out-of-the-ordinary-act-of-
kindness…but the truth is the other brother and sil are always mia and have, in fact, informed mil that they will no longer spend time with the whole family if the first brother and sil are there. Talk about petty. Grrrr… (Oh, that 2nd sil doesn’t speak to any of her own family either!)
So, it was just a regular thing one does w/one’s family but on thinking it over later, I realized how simple and natural it was but how much mil appreciated it…

to the Toys for Tots drop-off. It was the one Sophie got 2 of for her birthday.
Then, at the grocery today as I was looking at fresh parsley (all they had was curly-leaf!) a man with a cart full of cold medicine, carrots, celery and broccoli said, “Excuse me young lady,” (!) “Can I ask you how to make vegetable soup?” So he and I then stood there and shared our ideas on vegetable soup and he told me how he makes hot chocolate with powdered milk, Hershey’s powder and sugar. It was a nice little moment. :)

was almost like spring again. Will climbed in his stroller and we headed down the street to the post office. We stopped at neighbor Dan’s house to check on the paint job of his front porch. Then we made it the 2 blocks or so to the post office and mailed an ebay package, a letter to England and a postcard! Crossed the street and headed up to the coffee shop where I bought myself a diet Coke. I had been thinking coffee but the idea of that cold, sweet drink swayed me over. I bought a cookie for Will and one for neighbor Dan and we made our way back up the street. This weekend are the Christmas open houses in all the shops in town so we stopped in one. Hanging out in there was another, uh, friend, B. She has wanted me to list some of her things on ebay for her and she walked us back up the street to show us the things. We went in the house where she lives w/her dad. He didn’t get up from his seat where he was reading a newspaper but was insistent that I look at the framed photos of his nephew riding his prized Tennessee Walkers. I took a look at the lamps and the dish she wanted to sell and then we decided to walk to my house so I could give her something, too. When we said to Will that it was time he go, he said, “No!” Heehee.
Well, we got him out of there and went out to the street again, surprised yet again at the near-70 degree temperatures in November. Dan was outside painting so I gave him his cookie and we critiqued the colors of his porch: lavender, plum, dark green…he lives in an old painted lady Victorian and they’re tentatively painting the porch floor the lavender color. B. was pretty vocal about it although she hardly knows Dan. Inside my house, she talked and talked and talked. I took a picture of her dish w/my digital camera and gave her the magazines I’d told her about and she finally went on her way.
Now. The reason this is an act of kindness: besides the fact that everyone needs friends and she needs some more than others, I think, is that she and I didn’t use to get a long at all. She is rather pushy and forward. In addition, she volunteered at the library when I worked there and one time, during a big reprocessing project, she brandished scissors at me. I just sat there, afraid to move as she waved them around and yelled at me and then my boss came in. She wasn’t allowed to volunteer anymore (I was left to tell her that as my boss, the memo-queen, of course, couldn’t give a memo to a volunteer) and from then on, B. was seen less and less in the library and in town. She goes in and out of her shell and yesterday must have been the start of an out-time…
It should always be that natural and easy to be kind.

It’s raining today, grey and drizzly: a spitting rain. I parked the car at the grocery and left Todd and Will inside so I could run in and pick up something for dinner. A lady was pushing her cart back up to the store, balancing her umbrella over her head. I said, “I’ll push that back in for you,” and headed her way. She said, “Thanks!” and turned and headed to her car, a little less wet and perturbed and cold…
I didn’t even think about it being something kind until after I did it! All I could think was why should she push that all the way inside when I’m already going inside…and she can just get in her car?!

the little neighbor girl was playing with Sophie and Will when I called them to the deck for dinner. Well, little neighbor girl (J) stood at the gate…watching us. “Do you want some spaghetti, J?” She nodded and I fixed her plate. Well, halfway thru the meal, she jumped up and said, “There goes my mom and dad!” and sure enough, there they were driving off together in the car…

Did they even know where she was? She started school that day, too. Were they even going to fix her dinner? Poor little kid…

So I’ve offered the neighbors on the other side of us some tomatoes and the cucumbers my MIL brought (what did she think we were going to do w/6 cucumbers in less than a week?!—wait, nobody answer that…)
I’ve made and frozen spaghetti sauce and salsa and we put tomatoes on everything….so it’s time to share more wealth!
It was just funny. I offered them to her and she seemed surprised about it…plus she was seriously just getting in her car to go to the grocery and said she’d been planning to buy tomatoes!

Mrs. K. from church who is also an old family friend just stopped by and brought an old train set for Will and a bowling/shuffleboard for Sophie. She’s cleaning our her house to move into an apartment and found these in her son’s old things. I just thought it was so nice that she thought of us to bring those things to.

Sophie got 3 of the same toy for her birthday and I’d like to donate one of them somewhere…Anyone know how or where to do that? I don’t want to wait until Christmas b/c it is a birthday Barbie…

they got me today. In the throes of my frustration and the heat I answered the phone w/o looking at the caller id. It was a telemarketer wanting money for Make-a-Wish. It hit me that no matter how hot and angry and frustrated and depressed I may feel...it is nothing compared to the worries and real problems of others…

When Sarah went to run 2 short errands after dinner, Jodi sat down at the computer to check her Myspace, ie play around…and I cleaned up the kitchen. I had had the kind of day on Monday that Sarah had yesterday and I know how helpful little things can be. I didn’t even think about it…
As Sarah pulled in the driveway, Jodi yelled in from the other room, “Are you almost finished with the dishes? I’ll be in in a minute!” haha…