Happiness....

.... is when the only thing bigger than the smile is the glasses.

.... is "going shopping" with your sis.

.... is knowing someone will always keep your spot warm for you.

.... is playing so hard that you can't even keep your eyes open until the end of the show.

.... is two happy little chickens in a basket.

October 27

October 27th... not only is it my 32nd birthday, it's the 17th Annual Make a Difference Day! Make A Difference Day is the most encompassing national day of helping others -- a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors.

Created by USA WEEKEND Magazine, Make A Difference Day is an annual event that takes place on the fourth Saturday of every October. Millions have participated. In 2005, 3 million people cared enough about their communities to volunteer on that day, accomplishing thousands of projects in hundreds of towns.

If you've got even 10 minutes to spare this weekend, check out the Make a Difference Day website for lots more info and great ways you can Make a Difference!

On Saturday, I've recruited some neighbors (along with my husband and kids) to spend time at an assisted living facility near our home. In the morning, we'll be giving the women mini-makeovers and probably singing karaoke. In the afternoon, we'll be calling a game of Bingo! In addition, we're collecting unused eyeglasses and cell phones, empty ink cartridges and canned goods to donate to organizations that can put them to good use.

If you do volunteer, please post a comment to let me know... I'll consider that my birthday gift :-)

Hooray for honesty!

Some will say there aren't many honest people left in this world, but today, I was blessed with several of them.

Around 10am, my mother-in-law called to say she got a phone call from someone looking for me, the woman left her phone # but wouldn't say what she was calling about. I called her back, and it was a woman who works at our local Goodwill store. Seems that someone had turned in a wallet that they'd found on the floor while shopping there, and in the wallet were credit cards with my name on them. The lady at Goodwill looked up the last name in the phone book and got my mother-in-law.

I knew this wallet was missing more than 18 months ago. No idea what happened... if I lost it, left it in an old purse, I just knew I couldn't find it. I knew what cards were in it, cancelled them all and periodically checked that there was no activity. No problems, thank goodness!

Today I went to Goodwill to pick up the wallet and would you believe that every single card was still there?? I thought maybe I'd left it in a purse I'd donated, but the woman at the store told me that the place I donate to ships it's donations to a store to the north, this was to the south. She said it wouldn't have ended up there. But somehow, my wallet ended up on the floor at Goodwill. An honest person picked it up and turned it in. And another honest lady tracked me down and saved it for me. Neither one of them took a single thing. Tell that one to the cynics!

Last time I was at my dermatologist, they told me my deductible was met, I only had to pay 15% of the fee. The woman did some quick punching on her calculator, gave me a total, and I wrote her a check... didn't bother to check the math. Today, I got a check for $12.33 from that office, with a hand-written note from the payment lady there, apologizing for her fat-fingered error on the calculator. Here was my refund. Granted, it was technically my money in the first place, but she found her mistake and got the money back to me within a few weeks, without me noticing or saying a word. How often does that happen?

Two honest people in one day? Both to my benefit? Some days, the little things aren't so little! Hooray for honesty!

Nice Deed of the Day

(Apologies in advance for the funky spacing on this post, Blogger is NOT cooperating with me today!)

This is Chip. I'll tell you about him in a few minutes...

I mentioned in my last post that I had donated a few dollars to a young man in uniform who was standing at a busy intersection collecting for a new Veteran's Assistance Center here in South Florida. Though I believe it's my duty as a human being who has been blessed with life on this planet to give back as much as I can, I admit that I also do it for selfish reasons, too... it makes me feel good! If you haven't consciously done a nice deed in a while (or even if you did one this morning), I've got some ideas for a few things you can do today, with barely a change in your normal routine, to make yourself feel good and help someone else out at the same time. I challenge you to give one of these a try. If you do, I'd love to hear about it!

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Ever been on a plane?

If you've ever signed up for a frequent flier program, there's a chance you're sitting on miles that (1) you don't use, or (2) you don't have enough of to buy a ticket. Rather than let them go to waste or use them to buy magazines you don't need, why not donate them to someone who could really use them? After all, 3,287 miles aren't going to get you anyplace... but they could make a huge difference to someone else. Click on one of these airline links for more info on their specific programs and partner charities:

American Airlines

Continental Airlines

Delta SkyWish Charities

United Airlines

US Airways Miles of Hope

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Ever have leftovers?

If your family is like mine, a full pound of pasta is too much for one meal but not enough for two. Sadly, we almost never eat leftovers. I've got 2 ideas on what to do with the unused pasta.

1. If you have a child in the house (or if you're a kid at heart), save out a handful of uncooked pasta (this works best with elbows or ziti.... spaghetti won't work). Find a piece of string and some other small holey items around the house (beads, small pieces of colored paper cut into shapes with a hole punched through the middle, etc.) and let your little one make a necklace. Wrap it in tissue paper and present it as a "just because" gift to a neighbor, friend from church or even the cashier at the grocery store. Watch both your child's and the recipient's face light up at this small act of kindness.
2. Cook the pasta like you normally would, but package up the leftovers in a disposable container. Pack it in a bag with plastic utensils and some napkins, and give it away. You might know of a homeless person who is always at a specific intersection, or you might have an elderly neighbor who doesn't always get a home cooked meal. Give someone a great dinner tonight that they might not otherwise have.

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Got kids?
My daughter (she's 4) is in love with her box of crayons. She'll draw pictures till the cows come home and I love every one she makes. The problem? She makes a LOT of them. I have stacks and stacks and stacks of pictures that I can't bear to throw away but don't know what to do with. After wallpapering half the house with her drawings, even framing the "most special" ones, I still have dozens left. A lot of them look exactly the same... this month every picture has a house, a rainbow, a tree, a lake, grass, a sunshine, 2 clouds and a bird. What am I going to do with all these pictures? I'm going to give them away. To a nursing home, maybe the VA hospital, a friend down the road who had surgery and could use a good pick-me-up. Might seem like a small thing, but who's day wouldn't be a little bit brighter when they receive a home made piece of artwork from a little girl with a big heart? Of course, I'll have her sign them all so that some day when she's famous, they can sell the pictures on eBay.

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Got 5 minutes?

Yes, you do! You really do!! Earlier I said I donated money to a man on a street corner. Though my $2 won't go very far, I've been counting... there's an average of 18 cars stopped at each intersection on my ride home at any given red light. If every car that stopped dropped just 50 cents into that bucket, that guy would collect $9 every 90 seconds. Imagine the cumulative effort of only 1 hour's work? Think of the number of veterans that could be served with the change that's just hanging out in our cupholders. It's this "cumulative effort" theory that stands behind this little guy, my new friend Chip.

Chip is from CoolPeopleCare, an organization I can't say enough wonderful things about. CoolPeopleCare is aiming to be THE online destination for anyone who wants to make a difference, and all it takes is 5 minutes a day. They're full of ideas on how to make your community and your world a better place, things that make a huge cumulative impact but you may never think of on your own. Bookmark the site, or sign up for their daily email newsletter and let them come right to you every day.

Want to learn more? Check out their site, see what they're all about, what they believe. If you like what you see, you can even order a copy of their new book for yourself, or to give to a friend. (I've already preordered five, and will give them as gifts along with some fun stickers and t-shirts).

Come on, take 5 minutes out of your day... you'll be glad that you did!

("Chip" logo used by permission from Sam at CoolPeopleCare)

He Already Has

Last night on my way home from work, I was waiting for the green arrow so I could turn left at a very busy intersection. Standing in the median was a young man in uniform, collecting donations for a new Veteran's Assistance Center that's opening up nearby. I flagged him down and he said, "God Bless You" as I dropped a few dollars in his bucket. My response was the same as it always is: "He already has."

I would never call myself a "religious" person, and some might even question how "good" a Christian I actually am... I don't attend church regularly, I've never read the Bible from beginning to end, and I married a Jewish guy. What I hope no one ever questions is that I'm a good person, that I do good things, and that I strive every day to leave the world a nicer place than I found it, whether through my words, my actions, my time, my money, or most importantly, my children. There's another post brewing in my head about "doing good things," but this one is about God.

It frightens me a little bit to blog about God, actually. It's not because I think he'd disapprove, but because I know there are people out there who can do Him a lot more justice, who can probably get it "more right" than I can. So this post is about my relationship with God, my thoughts about God, my opinions and perspectives and random thoughts only.

How many times have I prayed when something is wrong? When I need help? When I need answers? Strength? Healing? Acceptance? How many times have I prayed when something is right? When I don't need anything, except to say "thank you for my blessings?" The former certainly outweighs the latter, but it's something I'm working on every day... saying Thank You to Him for my blessings, and to remember that I truly do have a blessed life.

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In late 1998, an oncologist said "cancer" and "complete hysterectomy" to me in the same breath. I was 23 years old, engaged, and the rest of that conversation is a blur. God sent me a ladybug, and I fought back. I refused to accept that course of action, and today I have two perfect little girls that remind me daily that I made the right choice. Why did God put cancer in my path? Why did he give me that ladybug to remind me not to give up? Would I have loved my children just as much, been as grateful for them, been as amazed by them every day if I'd never been told I couldn't have them in the first place? Maybe. Or maybe, I would have taken them for granted, would have let my career come first, been just another corporate bee who happened to have kids, instead of a mommy who happens to have another job, too. At the time, I asked God why. Today, I thank him for the lesson and the blessing.

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When my grandfather passed away unexpectedly in late August 2001, I again questioned God. Grandpa was only in his early 70's. He was a good person. He volunteered his time. He had so few "things" but would give you anything he owned if you needed it. If he didn't have it, he'd borrow it from someone else and loan it to you. I didn't get to say goodbye. Why did this happen? Again, God gave me ladybugs.

On my flight home from his funeral, I took a puddle-jumper plane from central New York into New York City for my connecting flight to Florida. I'd flown in and out of NYC over at least 200 times, I'd seen the city from the air at all times of day, from all directions. This time, though, the plane flew east to the Bronx, and then turned south down the west side of Manhattan. For the first time ever, I got to see Yankee Stadium from the air. (If you've ever been to the stadium -- Yankees fan or not -- you'll know why this is so special.) The people next to me were asleep so I didn't feel guilty about hogging the entire window, my nose almost pressed to the glass. We flew past Central Park, the sun shining through the trees. The light bounced off the top of the Empire State Building before we passed Times Square. I looked in awe at the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, towers I'd been in more times than I could count from working in the building next door for 6 months and taking the WTC subway every day. We flew south past the Statue of Liberty and looped back around before heading into LaGuardia. I'd seen most of this view so many times, but that day, it was as if I was seeing it for the very first time. That memory is cemented in my brain. I wondered at the time if my grandpa had ever seen that view, but realized his view was now much better than my own.

Two weeks later, terrorists brought down those towers. Suddenly, I understood why God called my grandpa when He did, and why the pilot took that route on my flight home. As a part of the Salvation Army's Disaster Relief Team, my grandfather would have been the first one to volunteer to go to Ground Zero. They would have told him he was too old, his health was not stable enough. God knew Grandpa would be a great asset, and decided to use him in His own way to help in the aftermath. There's no doubt in my mind that Grandpa was standing right inside the gates of Heaven when those people arrived, ready to do whatever he could. And that pilot's flight path was also a gift, a "one last look" before the world changed. There are no more questions about "why," only prayers of thanks for the blessings.

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My husband and I were in the process of having our first home built during my first pregnancy. The house was running behind schedule and we moved in only 6 weeks before my due date. I was anxious to get the nursery done, get all the boxes unpacked, blinds hung and fans installed before the baby arrived. Only two things were left: buy a small TV for the guest room (my parents were planning to visit for a while after the baby was born) and make one last set of curtains (also for the guest room).

It was a Saturday afternoon, the curtains were cut, pinned and ready to sew. My in-laws called with an offer to take us to dinner, then to BrandsMart to pick up the TV. We had a great dinner and were waiting to have the TV loaded into their car when, much to my surprise, my water broke. Well, actually, started to leak. It was too soon! She wasn't due for 3 more weeks and there were things unfinished on my list! I didn't tell anyone until after we'd gotten home and my in-law's left. My husband told me to call the doctor. I wasn't in labor, so I ignored him and instead just to bed.

On Sunday morning (and still not in labor!) I called my mom, who convinced me to call the doctor, who convinced me to go to the hospital to get checked. I cried the whole way. It was too soon! What if she's not fully developed? Who's going to make those curtains? This is not my plan! I asked "why" the whole way there.

After she was born (she was perfectly healthy), I learned that another woman who I knew casually from an online "due date club" during my pregnancy also had her little girl on the very same day. Her daughter didn't want to come out, and mine was 3 weeks early. Why did things not go "right" for either one of us? We started talking more and more frequently about our stories and our little "birthday twins." It's been over 4 years now, and she and I still talk every day. There's not a thing in the world she doesn't know about me, and we're only half joking when we say the other one has half of our own brain. We finish sentences, we know what the other is thinking, and we just "get it." She lives more than half way across the country, and who knows when we'll even get to meet in person. But still, she's my "sister" and one of my very best friends. I used to ask "why" my daughter arrived early, now I thank God for the blessing her early arrival brought to me.

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I could go on and on (as if I haven't already!), but I'm at a point in my life where things just seem to look more like blessings than problems. There's a silver lining everywhere, a big ole' pot of gold, if I'm just willing to look. Some days that's a lot more difficult than others, and sometimes it takes days, weeks or months to find it, even if it's been in front of my face all along. So today, and everyday, I will do my best to remember to thank God for my blessings, to say Thank You for all that's right in my life, to remember that when it comes to blessing me, He already has... beyond measure.

Nice Matters

Last week, Julie at The Surrendered Scribe gave me my first ever blog award, called "Nice Matters." Wasn't that nice? I had no idea you could get a blog award, but I'm honored and I love it. Now I have the opportunity to pass it on to someone else who makes a difference.

A few months ago, I stopped by one of my favorite sites, called Cool People Care. On that site was a link to a blog called Sixty-Six Days, Luanne's story of the goals she was working on in the 66 days leading up to her 50th birthday. Her goals were not to change the world, but to make some positive impacts in her own life, and the lives of those around her. She ran 2 miles without stopping, she wrote a 30-story book, she lost some weight, and most importantly, she learned a lot about herself. Luanne's blog is a big part of what inspired me to add "Be a Non Smoker" to my 5 Things List.

After her 50th birthday, she started a new blog called Luanne @ 50. I'm enjoying this one just as much. Though the days following her 50th birthday were spent recovering from gall bladder surgery, she's back to jogging again, taking life at her own pace, and figuring out how she'd give away $100,000 if she stumbled across it.

I admit, I'm really bad about posting comments to blogs (I rarely ever do it, even when I'm inspired), but every one of her entries inspires me, or puts a smile on my face, or gives me the little nudge I need to get motivated for something.

So Lu, even though you don't know me, I'd like to pass this award on to you, because Nice really does Matter.