Tag Archives: Kindness

39 Acts of Kindness – 24

07 Thursday Mar 2013

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It’s been a gloomy day here in Los Angeles.  It’s cold again … a near freezing 59 degrees (don’t mock me that is cold).  I tossed and turned last night with a sore throat and woke up groggy from lack of sleep.  I’d like to say that Riggins is missing his friend Bud but I think he is glad to be back to being the only child!

I did spend some of my morning getting Wendy Bombs of Niceness out in the mail.  I’m so excited for them to get to their recipients.  Tee hee!  On my way to the post office I stopped by the corner laundromat for a niceness time-out.
photo (7)#24 – Free Wash – This was a suggestion from a number of people so thanks to all who had this idea.  I have to say it was a bit difficult to give up my sacred quarters.  I save them until I have enough to treat my car to one of those self car washes.  Now the dog mobile will have to wait a little bit longer for that luxury!  I loaded up a couple of machines which should make the next person to come by really happy.  I haven’t had to use coin operated machines in 6-ish years so I was shocked to see how expensive it is.  I would go broke!  I usually do some sort of Riggins related activity in the morning, like hiking up Runyon, shower, go on with my day, then go to Bar Method in the evening.  That is, at the minimum 2 full outfits that get dirty each day.  Remember I sweat a ton (as described here – https://wendyandriggins.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/dont-sweat-it/) so work out gear HAS to be washed after each use unless I want to smell horrible.  Add PJs (I sweat even at night.  It’s gross.) and that is a full load every other day or so!  I don’t think there is enough quarters in rotation to get me through all the loads of laundry I have.

Speaking of, I have a few clean loads hanging out on the counter I better go fold right now.

Act of Kindness Roll-Call:

To be continued …

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39 Acts of Kindness – 23

05 Tuesday Mar 2013

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Since I bombarded you with details of a zillion niceties yesterday I’ll limit today’s post to just one!  Don’t worry though … things are happening in the background.  The wheels are still turning on some fun-filled surprises.

image#23 – Reading is Fun.  Last week my good friend Cathy asked if I wanted to read to one of the classes at her son’s school.  Of course!  I’m an avid reader.  My personal taste runs from the silly (I’ve read every single book in Janet Evanovich’s One For the Money series.) to the deep and serious (I’d love to think of an example here but just can’t.  You will have to take my word for it.).  I’m happy to read books that I’ve passed on to male friends that they have enjoyed (The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo series and Ready Player One for example.) as well as those I’d only pass on to women for fear any male friend would mock me.  Like anyone who can call themselves a true reader I can’t manage to get through Fifty Shades of Grey and weep a little for the American public when I see it on a best sellers list (It’s been on some kind of best seller list for ions now.).  I was happy to share my love for reading with adorable young minds.

Since I doubted the kids would enjoy a dramatic reading of Gone Girl from my Kindle, I asked my Mom if she had an adequate book for first graders.  Luckily for me, and my niece and nephew, my mom was an elementary school administrative assistant for years and is in the know.  She let me borrow her copy of The Treasure (http://tinyurl.com/b2w9amh).  A very pretty book written by Susan Yost-Filgate and illustrated by Leonard Filgate.  The story follows a mouse, his sister, their friend the cat and frog on an adventure to find a pirate treasure.  On the way they come across a duck and her family, two ants, and a dragonfly.  If you are counting, and I was, that is 8 different character voices.  I suggested to my friend Cathy, who just happens to be a voice over artist, that we should switch books since mine required an enormous amount of voice changing talent.  Alas her book, pirate themed as well, included two Irish pirates.  As much as it is a struggle for me to voice a dragonfly I’m even worse at an Irish accent!

Yesterday morning, after practicing reading to Bud and Riggins, I got ready to go.  I put on what I considered a pirate themed outfit (T-shirt with skull and crossbones, stripped scarf and bright yellow scarf in my hair.), then  I grabbed my book and headed off.  Once at the school, and after some drama surrounding who was going to read where, I made my way to my assigned first grade class.  To say the teacher was waiting for me was an understatement.  I think she was looking forward to the short break from her overly hectic day.  My class was full of adorable tiny little people with lots of ideas that needed to be shared.  It took us awhile to get through the book since there was a lot of guessing on what was coming next and what kind of things pirates tend to wear and what they like to do.  There was a lightbulb that went off after they saw the pirate flag and there was a lot of discussion on how it looked like my shirt and how I was wearing scarves just like the characters were.  1/2 the audience tended to call out at will, while the other 1/2 patiently raised their hand.  I would stop to pick out those who were raising their hands in the hopes of encouraging that behavior.  It really didn’t work.  I’m afraid I’d fail as a first grade teacher.  One little girl in the back raised her hand and when I choose her just she said, “I like you.”

Finally I made it to the end of the book.  We talked about the lesson we learned and what we liked to read.  I told them my birthday was coming up and asked them how old I was.  The general consensus was 25 which means they are the smartest children you will ever meet.  When I asked if anyone was going to guess 39 one lovely child announced he was going to guess 100.  I talked to them about my 39 acts of kindness and we brainstormed on what kind of nice things they could do.  We all promised to do at least one nice thing in the next week.

After saying good-by to my class, and peeling off the little girl who said I was nice, that now clung to my legs asking when I’d be back, I went over to the class my friend was reading in.    Her son’s class.  I made it just in time as Cathy said they had asked her to read another book and wondered if I’d like to read mine.  I have to say there was a lot of pressure. I mean who wants to follow the dramatic reading of the voice over artist?  Not I!  I was afraid of letting the kids down because after all if I where them I’d want to be entertained by the many voices of Cathy too!  With 8 voices in my book I had maybe 5 that sounded different and they went in and out as often as any accent Mel Gibson has had on-screen.  Still I sucked it up and read through my book again.  This time to a crowd that some would consider much more polite!

All in all I hope the children had fun and I’m happy that I had the opportunity to be a part of the schools day of reading.

photo (6)(I’ve been asked for pictures of Bud so here you go …  We went up Runyon this morning and both Bud and Riggins have been asleep ever since.  They did take a break from napping to clean up the huge mess I made when I dropped a pizza on the floor while transferring it from the oven to the cutting board.  Yes, I still ate it.  Bud is with us for one more night before his mom comes to pick him up.)

Act of Kindness Roll-Call:

To be continued …

39 Acts of Kindness – 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22

04 Monday Mar 2013

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Whew I’m beat! Doing nice things really takes it out of you. This weekend was full of niceness so let’s get right to it.

good#17 – Sudoku for Dad. My dad likes Sudoku puzzles. He sits in the living room or in the backyard on the porch swing and works on them for hours. They would make me crazy! Most Sudoku books are set up so they include easy, medium, and hard puzzles. A new book means new easy puzzles which, if you are my dad, can be done in pen. Apparently using a pen is quite the test of your Sudoku skills. I picked up a Sudoku book at the dollar store last week and stuck it in the mail along with a little note.

#18 and #19 – Flowers in the mail. Do you know who likes flowers and frilly stationary? Two of my aunts! I sent them each flowers. Well, I sent them infant flowers in the form of seeds. According to the chart on the back of the packages my aunt in Santa Cruz can start planting right away while my aunt who lives outside of Portland will have to wait a few months. Hopefully it will add more color to what can already be considered two very colorful gardens.

#20 – Shopper help. While at the grocery store, Ralphs, on Friday I helped a gentleman find the popcorn. Since the popcorn is in the same aisle as the soda, chips, sparking water, and Propel it is an aisle that I’m intimately familiar with. I like to call it the best aisle in the grocery store!

#21 – Man down. Yesterday was a doozy of a day! I got up early to start prepping for my tea party (see good deed number 22) and had most of the day planned down to the minute before quests arrived. Unfortunately, the main sewer line decided this would be a good time to back up. That meant an emergency call into the plumber and me having to drive to McDonalds to use their restroom! Driving home from my bathroom break I went by Ralphs (same grocery store as good deed number 20). As I was turning the corner I noticed a man who was extremely off-balance and couldn’t catch himself. He went down HARD partially in the planter, partially on the sidewalk, and partially against the tree. As I made a U-Turn to pull into the Ralphs parking lot 2 different people walked right by the guy and did nothing. How is that possible? After parking I ran over to him to see if he was okay. He wasn’t. Apparently he had hurt his ribs earlier and was on pain medication which, according to him, causes problems with his balance. Now his ribs hurt again. Falling in to a tree then onto the ground can do that to you. He insisted he was fine but couldn’t get up past his elbows and while moaning threw up. At that point a couple of women were behind me and asked if they should call 911. I turned around to say yes but they saw him throw up and walked away saying he was a drunk. Now it is possible he was drinking but he didn’t smell of alcohol and could carry on full conversations with me without slurring. He was shaky but not slurry. To me he was showing signs of Parkinsons or something like that. Luckily a man walking his dog stopped a few steps away from us and asked if he should call the paramedics. The poor man on the ground said no while I frantically shook my head yes. The good Samaritan listened to me and immediately got on his cell phone. The poor man on the floor was able to finally sit up but he was pale and still shaking so I sat down with him and we talked until help arrived. I knew he wanted to get up and leave but I really didn’t think he could stand again without falling down. I kept suggesting he should stay sitting for a while longer. I was just trying to buy time until the paramedics came as I didn’t want to have to be the one to try to catch him if he tried to stand up. We talked about how he lived across the street and should have brought his cane along with him. We talked about how responsible it was for him to bring his own grocery bag and how soon it would be the law in the area. He explained that he didn’t like plastic bags and I told him how I used them to pick up my dog’s poop. He didn’t have that same use for the bags as he had a cat. FINALLY every cop and fire truck in the neighborhood (which was 2 fire trucks and 3 cop cars) circled us. As the cop stood there questioning the man I stood up, brushed myself off and explained to the cop that I needed to go. He said that was fine so I shook the man’s hand, who was still on the ground, and the dog walkers hand and took off for my car. Now waaaaaayyyyy behind schedule!

The plumber showed up about 1/2 hour before a nice couple dropped off their boxer, Bud. To help make money while I’m looking for a job I signed up as a dog host (dog sitter) on the site DogVacay (http://dogvacay.com/pro/wendyandriggins). Bud’s mom contacted me that morning saying their original sitter was being non-responsive and asked if I could take Bud for a couple of days. I couldn’t say no, so Bud showed up during this chaos. Not the best way to introduce two dogs but after Riggins (7 years old) put baby Bud (2 years old) in his place a couple of times everything was good.

#22 – Friendly Tea (with dogs). To show my girlfriends how much I appreciate them I treahosted a tea for all. My friends are big planners and I threw this at them with only 6 days notice. Luckily many were still able to clear their calendars and join the fun. In between everything else I did that morning I frantically made cucumber sandwiches (It’s just weird to me how good cucumber sandwiches are.), chicken salad sandwiches (Recipe found here – http://arismenu.com/cranberry-apple-chicken-salad/), turkey and cheddar sandwiches (Recipe found here – http://www.stonegableblog.com/2010/05/tea-sandwich-recipes.html. I actually served them open-faced on big wheat crackers. Well … because I was sick of making sandwiches. The crackers are delicious. I topped them with scrambled egg whites this morning for breakfast. Also I skipped the poppyseed dressing.), and mini apple pie bites (Recipe found here – http://pinterest.com/pin/248823948133965180/. These were delicious but looked NOTHING like that picture.).

After pulling out and washing my grandma’s good china and setting everything up I was finally ready for guests.

My friends, Anna, Laurie, Cathy, Darci, Tiffany, Stevie, and Lucie along with Bud, Riggins, and Chloe (Darci’s tiny little white dog) sat in my backyard to enjoy tea, small sandwiches, and fun. Based on the day I had I announced that I was going to have one cup of tea so it could officially be called a “tea party” then I was moving to wine. So that is what we all did! Everyone seemed to have fun. Bud spent most of his time under the table or, if Riggins wasn’t watching, in my lap (there was a minor incident of Bud and Chloe making an escape but we won’t talk about that). Riggins sat on the lap of the person with the most food and/or who he felt should be petting him. This included laying his chin on my friend Cathy’s lap until she gave up, and allergies and all gave him a pat on the head. Chloe made her way around to all along with being the most active scavenger. The big dogs had dropped their sweet potato treats and Chloe decided it was her job to find them all for her to enjoy. Seems fair. We all had a great time and there is a push to make this a quarterly event with rotating hosts.

I hope your weekend was as fun filled as mine (minus the plumber, the dog escapes, etc.).

Act of Kindness Roll-Call:

To be continued …

39 Acts of Kindness – 15 and 16

01 Friday Mar 2013

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Happy Friday everyone!  Here in Los Angeles it is sunny and beautiful.  Perfect “go do nice things for others” weather.

Here are today’s Wendy Bombs of Kindness:

image (2)*15 – Treats for the Gardners.  The gardners, like the mailman, are sometimes tortured by Riggins’ mean barks.  He tends to settle down after they have been here awhile but those first few minutes have to be terrifying for the poor men.  They usually take their lunch break at my house sitting in the front yard picnic style so the M&Ms and sports drink I left for them will be the perfect after lunch pick me up.  Honestly those M&M’s could not have gotten out of my house quick enough.  I almost broke down last night and ripped into one of the bags!  I had almost convinced myself that the gardners could make do with just a drink.

* 16 – Pretty and calm.  I live a stone throw away from the cemetery, Forest Lawn Glendale.  Founded in 1906 this cemetery is beautiful.  I’ve always really like the calmness and beauty found within cemeteries (After breaking up with him, an ex boyfriend sent me a picture book of gorgeous gravestones and statues.  The book can still be found on my bookshelf.  I love it.  Although looking back I probably should have been alarmed as my ex was a bit crazy and the book was probably an indication that I should have gotten a restraining order.).  Forest Lawn Glendale has, what I consider, the prefect wedding location.  Up near the top of the hill is the sweetest little church, “The Wee Kirk o’ the Heather”.  It sits next to a large parking lot where a tent could be easily set up for the post ceremony party.  In doing some research I found out that I’m not the only person who had this idea.  Apparently this is where Ronald Reagan married his first wife – http://sflib1.sfpl.org:82/record=b1040187.  I don’t think they had the tent party but they did use the sweet little church.

While driving by the cemetery the other day I thought it would be nice to go up, clean off dirty headstones, and leave some flowers for people.  Although I liked this idea I really don’t know anyone who calls Forest Lawn Glendale their final resting place, except Michael Jackson (There is actually a ton of famous people buried here.  For a full list – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Lawn_Memorial_Park,_Glendale).  It seemed like I should take the 15 minute trip over to Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills where I could do the same thing and visit the resting place of my Great Aunt Dode and Uncle Harold.  This
photo (2)Forest Lawn location also has a number of famous residents.  Apparently many are difficult to find but I managed to come upon one just by wandering around http://www.seeing-stars.com/buried2/ForestLawnHollywood1.shtml).

Of all of us Newells/Naylors I live the closest to Aunt Dode and Uncle Harold.  In fact, I drive past the cemetery every single time Riggins and I go to Runyon, which is at least 4 times a week.  I’ve even biked past the entrance a few times.  Yet the last time I stopped by was when my dad, mom and nephew were visiting me and we decided to take a drive up to see if we could find their headstones.

I don’t have many relatives that are buried in local cemeteries.  The only others I can think of are my Grandma and Grandpa Clemmons who reside in a cemetery closer to my folks.  A cemetery which I often drove by at least twice a month going from LA to my parents house.  Even with the closeness I only remember visiting this location once to pay respect and it was long before my Grandmother passed away.  I couldn’t even find my Grandpa’s headstone so just laid flowers on someone else’s with a “pass it on” salute.

Why not visit more?  I just don’t think about it.  As an Atheist I don’t believe in heaven or hell and certainly don’t believe that my loved one knows when I come to visit the location their body is buried.  That doesn’t mean I don’t respect the process.  I do.  I realize it gives great comfort to many people to be able to have a place to visit.  For me my family members live in my memories.  Grandma Newell can be found all over my house as I sleep in the bed she died in (is that weird … it is a SERIOUSLY beautiful bed).  I think of Grandma Clemmons when I wear the teeny tiny heart-shaped locket that my grandfather gave her.

My great-aunt and great-uncle had no children but did have lots of family love through my dad and uncle’s families.  The most vivid memory of my uncle I have is visiting my grandma, great-aunt, mom, dad and uncle in the room where he was laid out post death for viewing.  Horrible vivid memory right?  I have much better memories of him including watching him feed his resident bird in his backyard.  Of course anyone who has had dinner with my father has heard him happily exclaim, “You know what Uncle Harold says,” (Pause for dramatic effect.  For kids who have heard this before to start giggling, and adults to shake their heads) “Better to throw it up than to throw it out.”

I think I relate most to my great-aunt.  She was the best!  One holiday we were all over at my great-aunt and uncles house for dinner.  I joined my aunt in the kitchen where she handed over a defrosted carrot cake that had come in a rectangle box.  She asked me to take it out and put it on a fancy tray so it looked like she made it.  I don’t think she fooled anyone but I thought this was FREAKIN’ BRILLIANT!  I’m sure much to her sister-in-law’s (my grandmothers) horror this became my go to cooking and entertaining plan.

Now back to the good deed … After heading through the eloborate gate of Forest Lawn Hollywood I stopped at information to get a map to where I was going.  Even with the map it was difficult to find their location.  Luckily, for me, a groundskeeper helped me out.  Once at their headstones I took out my scissors, fake Fantastic, and rags to get to work in beautifying. Honestly, the headstones were already pretty neat.  If you choose this location for your final resting place you can be confident that it has great upkeep.  After cleaning up the few unruly grass and weeds and wiping off some mud and bird poop I added a flower to each.

I had a total of 10 flowers so wandered around finding 8 more headstones that needed attention.  I took a picture of Mildred’s for you (see picture above).  I have no idea who Mildred is but her marker was a mess.  She managed to sit right in the middle of a water drainage area so mud caked her headstone.  I got pretty muddy myself helping Mildred out.  I think I was drawn to the saying that was chosen for her, “I did it my way.”

imageAfter finishing my good deed I took some time to wonder around the grounds.  Cemeteries are the few places in LA where you can find really beautiful sculptures and monuments.  Some are copies of famous originals while others are originals themselves.  I still like the art found at Forest Lawn Glendale best but the Hollywood location offers a calming place to wonder among the lizards, bunnies and butterflies who call it home.  At the very tip-top of the grounds there is the Plaza of Mesoamerican Heritage.  It was fascinating.  I took a few pictures of the artifacts (most photo (3)are copies I’m sure).  My favorite is the guy holding his hand in a cup shape.  Per the info plaque:

“Ometochtli.  Post Classic Period.  AD 950-1521.  Original in stone.  The rabbit breastplate and the crescent moon nose ornament worn by this statue identify it as Ometochili, the supreme God of Pulque.  Pulque is an alcoholic drink made from the fermented sap of the agave plant.  In religious ceremonies, priests drank it as a ritual intoxicant  and it was served to sacrificial victims to ease suffering before death.  It was also consumed as a medicinal drink and to celebrate battle heroes.”

When I die I don’t want to be buried in a cemetery, as beautiful as they are.  As an Atheist I believe death is the end so I’d prefer if my body could be used for good.  Take the parts that can still work and help others.  Heck you can use my whole body for medical training if you want.  Just don’t make me one of those Bodies exhibits where they use plastination to preserve the bodies.  Seriously one of the most disturbing exhibits I’ve ever seen.  http://tinyurl.com/aew4wuy

Act of Kindess Roll-Call:

To be continued …

39 Acts of Kindness – 9, 10 and 11

27 Wednesday Feb 2013

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KABOOM!  That’s the sound of a Wendy Kindness Bombs going off.  Here is what happened today:

*9 – More cookies!  I thought that another little boy deserved some yummy cookies after schoolphoto (6).  (And the red velvet cake mix was on sale.  It’s always on sale have you noticed that?  I think it is because although everyone says they love red velvet it just doesn’t taste like anything.  Not only does it not taste like anything it is an obnoxious color whose deep dark pigment gets on EVERYTHING in your kitchen.  Have you ever made red velvet cake balls?  I have, and let me tell you afterward my kitchen looked like I had slaughtered live beasts.  I think it is a big hoax and the person who invented the flavor is cracking up about the whole thing.   I say all of this knowing that I just gave it to someone but I think the recipient family are red velvet fans.  I did add some vanilla to the mix to give it a flavor kick.)

*10 – Speaking of school … I stopped by my local elementary school and donated two reams of paper.  My mom was an administrative assistant for an elementary school for years and she seemed to love when people donated supplies.  The folks at the school seemed genuinely happy and as I left where saying, “we can always use things like this!”  Although I don’t have children and therefore no children in school I feel a kinship to this one as Riggins and I often walk by and the kids in the playground run up to the fence to say hello to the doggie.  Hopefully the paper won’t be used to print homework on but instead something fun like flyers for a carnival.

*11 – Speaking of homework … I’m helping tutor one of my good friends in Algebra.  She is taking a course in college right now.  I really like algebra.  I think it would be a little too much to say I love it but I “really like” it.  It is, by far, the best of the maths!  Now I haven’t done any algebra since high school (I received enough AP credits that I didn’t have to take it in college) so it has been a loooong time since I’ve solved for any X, Y, or Z.  I was hesitant to help at first but she seemed desperate, so I volunteered.  It has been going pretty well and every week I stop by her house to go through a chapter with her.  Granted the first few times I sighed saying, “really smart people would just use a fancy calculator for this.”  Now I’m back in learning mode!  (My friend is gracious enough to feed me a delicious home cooked meal each week so I am technically getting paid in food for my time and knowledge.  Last night it was super yummy chicken, veggies and rice.  Still … I’m counting this as an act of kindness!)

photo (5)There is one person who isn’t really on this kindness train … Riggins.  He seems to feel I’m spending way too much time doing nice things for other people and not enough time doing nice things for him.  He is truly a spoiled only child.  He decided to teach me a lesson by chewing up one of my St. Patrick Day headbands while I made red velvet cake cookies last night.  Little stinker!  He hasn’t chewed up a non-dog toy item in a really long time.  Riggins destroyed that headband.  I had originally purchased two rainbow (I cut off the four-leaf clovers protruding from the top because they annoyed me) headbands for Dee Dee and me to wear during the color run (http://tinyurl.com/aujmymj) but that just didn’t work out.  My new goal was to wear one to our St. Patrick’s Day festivities and give my extra one to a friend.  There is no more extra one …. sorry!  Enjoy the picture of Riggins shamefully wearing the non-gnawed on headband.

Acts of Kindness Roll-Call:

To be continued …

39 Acts of Kindness – 6, 7 and 8

26 Tuesday Feb 2013

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I’m on a roll now! You can’t stop the niceness from oozing out of me. Here are today’s Wendy Kindness Bombs:

photo (4)#6 – Treats for the postman. I had decided to leave a refreshing drink and a nutritious apple for my mailman and then glanced over and saw the M&M’s (the other day I raided the 99 cent store while on the hunt for niceness ammo) staring at me and had to throw them in. No one deserves chocolate more than that poor man. Every single time he comes to my door to bravely bring me my mail Riggins charges into the screen door aggressively barking as if the mailman was Satan himself. I definitely needed to include the chocolate!

#7 – Treats for two cuties. Last night I backed some delicious (I sampled one so can say this with certainty) chocolate chip cookies for two sweet boys. Today after school they will come home to a yummy treat! I didn’t want these to be just any boring cookie so I made them cake mix cookies. Although there are many different versions of this recipe on Pinterest I used this one http://tinyurl.com/b8kmhzr, because it was easiest. Personally I thought there were too many chocolate chips but I have a feeling the boys won’t have a problem with that.

#8 – Treats for the puppers. I’m sure by now you realize that my love for dogs is greater than my love for some humans. This makes it super easy to do nice things for them! I packed up some doggie treats and added a note letting owners know they should take one for now and one to hand out on the trail. This morning as we entered Runyon, Riggins and I duct taped the bag to the announcement board at the trailhead. I grabbed a few treats and gave them out to the owners that where around. Their dogs seemed mighty appreciative! Why the owners and not the dogs themselves? Glad you asked. Because Riggins forgot we were doing nice things and lashed out at one poor sweet dog as I was trying to give him a bone. Riggins can sometimes be protective of his treats and his water bowl. Apparently he felt he deserved the entire bag of treats and there was no reason he should share.

Speaking of Riggins look at that picture of him with the treat bag. Have you ever seen a more pathetic look on a dog’s face? He was in trouble for not obeying me earlier in his photo shoot. I felt so bad after seeing the picture that I not only gave him a treat but played the ball game with him in an attempt to get him to perk up. (Video of the ball game below for your enjoyment.)

I’ve packaged up a couple more Wendy Kindness Bombs that I need to drop in the mail. I’ve decided that I’m going to delay posting about things I mail to give them some time to get to their recipient.

(I wonder if that last paragraph will get me on some sort of government watch list.)

Acts of Kindness Roll-Call:

To be continued …

39 Acts of Kindness – 4 and 5

25 Monday Feb 2013

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Good news, well good news for me. I’ve thought of 28 nice-ities to perform which means I only have 11 more to think up (and 34 more to perform). I appreciate the help so keep those ideas coming! Now on to the most recent Wendy Kindness Bombs (That’s what I’m calling them. Catchy right?).

picstitch (1)#4 – This morning I had to go to the dentist which is located in a big medical building in West Hollywood. I stopped by the women’s bathroom to Operation Beauti-fy it with positive affirmation notes. (More about Operation Beautiful – http://tinyurl.com/b4puj6s). Really is there anyone that needs a positive note more than someone who is heading to or from a dreadful dentist appointment?

#5 – I put a little note and a pack of gum in an envelope and placed it on a car’s windshield in a parking structure. This is a bit of a gamble. Would you eat gum that magically showed up on your car? In the note I added the info to this blog so that he/she could check it out and see that I’m not some crazy gum killer. Hopefully that, along with the fact that it was a fully intact, non-opened, non-tampered with package it will get consumed with happiness.

I’m not going to lie. I really like this one because, like any good novel, it starts out looking like one thing and then there is a huge twist that leaves everyone happy. Can you imagine walking to your car and noticing, from a distance, a note tucked under the wiper? I’ll tell you what I’d be thinking, “What the f***ing f***ck. Are you f***ing kidding me? Did some a**hole hit my car? What the h e double hockey sticks is going on? A**hats!” Then I’d open the letter and there would be a nice note and a pack of gum and I’d think, “Wow … that’s super nice. I take back all those horrible things I said.” TWIST!

Act of Kindness Roll-Call:

To be continued …

39 (cough) Acts of Kindness – 1,2 and 3

25 Monday Feb 2013

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Recently there has been a lovely outreach of people doing nice things for others and hoping that the act of kindness gets passed on (more about that in this post – http://wp.me/p159Ee-8C).  In fact, a couple of years ago a sweet mom decided to spend her 38th birthday by performing one act of kindness for each year of her life (http://mixmingleglow.com/blog/?p=1358).  She even went so far as to ask her readers to do something nice and tell her about it.  I decided this was a brilliant idea and I will try to do the same for my upcoming birthday near the end of March.  As my first act of kindness I won’t ask you to do something too.  Ha!  Just kidding.  Well, until I’m at number 38 with time ticking down then I’m TOTALLY counting that!

Now I have 19 days to complete 39 (cough — I can’t say that age without some hesitation or dramatic response) kind things.  That is why I’m posting this now.  I need your help.  I need some ideas of things I can do that are relatively cheap (or free) and fall in the category of something I would actually do.  So far on my own I’ve come up with about 10.  I tried Googling “free acts of kindness” and it give you ideas like “smile at a neighbor.”  Lame-o.  Well, at least until I’m down to the last-minute than I’m smiling at everyone and TOTALLY counting it!  I really thought it would be easy to come up with ideas as I’d just take the 38 the sweet nice original lady did and then throw in, “gave out dog bones to sweet puppers while hiking” but it turns out a number of hers have to do with having children.  It would be considered creepy if I tossed loose change onto a playground or went to a bookstore, sat down in the kid’s section and started reading out loud.  There are also a few that, let’s face it, just aren’t in my wheelhouse.

photo (3)For my first 3 acts (yes I’m counting them as 1, 2 and 3) I’ve written up hand written letters to three out-of-town friends.  I’m always happy when I get non-bill related mail and I hope they will be to.  You know what I’ve learned by doing this?  You know, besides doing random nice things makes you all warm and fuzzy on the inside?  I can’t write by hand anymore.  Seriously three short notes and I need someone to message the cramp out of my hands.  Lost art indeed! 

Anyway — bring on the ideas!  (Seriously.  I’m kinda stressing out.  39 in 19 days?  What am I thinking?)