Blogging in Safe Mode

I'm blogging in safe mode right now, as I try to download all my photos to Google + in a vain attempt to save them.  Luckily, I've downloaded most of them already (the best ones really) to Facebook.  For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, you know I'm a photo posting fool. 

It feels SO good to be writing, even if it is only blogging at this point.  Our computer is on the fritz, and we have to restore to factory settings.  Hubby and I are trying to dump the data into anything we can get our hands on so we can save our precious pictures and videos of the kids.  I'm uncertain about the music.  It's on my phone, and I have the cloud.  Does that save it? 

This week has been good, but hectic as I'm trying to get back into the routine of three kids, a husband, work and life after a week of vacation.  Am I the only one who always feels a little bit down after vacation?  There's like a huge let down after coming back, a feeling of, "oh yeah, this is reality, not the life I was living last week." Although, I'm glad that my reality doesn't include six children and living in an one room apartment with two kids and sharing a bed with my Mom and sister.  That's the good thing about being home.  I do miss my family though.  It's always so good to have everyone in the same location (minus my brother this time and some of the kids). 

While I was in Nashville, I received a call from the Red Cross asking me to give blood.  I don't know if you remember, but I intended to give blood back in January, which didn't work out because my iron levels were too low (for their standards). So, I made an appointment and went on Monday, and SUCCESS!  My iron was high enough to give.  This is simply one of the easiest acts of kindness that anyone can do.  It took them SIX minutes to take my blood.  The questionnaire, etc. took longer, but once I was hooked up ONLY SIX minutes.  And that can save three people's lives. 

Then they gave me this nifty tee-shirt, and the friendly nurse even gave me two shirts for my kiddos!

 

 

I was glad to have helped, and it was a good feeling to give something JUST TO GIVE. 

In other news: My week off of running has come to an end.  My shin splint feels completely heeled.  We'll see how it feels after I run at lunch today.  It was hurting when I walked on it, but I haven't felt it at all in the last couple of days.  If it hurts while running today, then I'll take another week break from running and just stick to Taekwondo.  I want to make sure it heals completely so I can do my 5K in April. 

I am also officially a brown belt in Taekwondo!  I'm so excited.  This week we did some jump, spin, side kicks, and it was so much fun.  I feel like my balance and coordination has improved immensely since I started taking Taekwondo TWO years ago!

I hope to be able to blog a weight loss tips tomorrow.  Until then...

Acting in Kindness Every Day

I've had a hard time coming up with more acts of kindness to do lately.  Since I've started being conscious of being kind, my whole mentality has changed, and I do things randomly that I never would have done since I began this project.

Over the weekend, two opportunities presented themselves:

Act #15: One of my high school friends emailed me over the weekend.  She asked if I was running, and she told me about this cool iPhone App called Charity Miles.  Basically, this program gives .25 cents a mile to a charity that you choose from their list. So on my first run of 2 miles, it gave $0.50.  They do this by finding sponsors for the miles that you run. 

I chose the Feeding America charity from their list, because I absolutely hate that there are children in the U.S. who still go to bed hungry at night.  The app sent me an email confirming that my .50 cents will provide 4 meals to hungry people in the United States.  Pretty neat and a simple way to give and get motivated to run.  I just have to remember to turn it on every time I'm running.

Act # 16: Hubby and I took the kids grocery shopping on Sunday to pick up a few goodies before the Patriots game.  When we were leaving, I walked around to buckle Number Two into his carseat, and I noticed that someone had left a whole meal on the ground, just deposited their trash in the parking lot.  This is one of my biggest pet peeves.  I hate litterers.  How hard is it to walk the 500 feet to the trashcan in front of the store, rather than leave your trash to dirty our nation or for someone else to step in? I picked it up and walked it to the trashcan, throwing it away.  An easy, free act of kindness, and maybe someone who saw me picking up trash will think before they litter. 

 

What acts of kindness have you done lately?  Feel free to share in the comment section.  



2013: A Banner Year!

I am a writing fool this week!  I have sat down every morning, blogged and then worked on my novel.  I'm fitting it into my routine, and I'm thankful that I have the time every day to do something I love so much.

This week has seriously been the best for my family.  At the end of the year, I received a promotion.  I'm now working for the CEO at my office.  I started shadowing the outgoing assistant on Monday, and I honestly really like the job.  I'm also thankful for the extra money, which we really needed to support three kids: one in private school, one in daycare, and one in gymnastics (which costs almost as much as private school per year)!  Plus, miscellaneous expenses that are ALWAYS coming up! 

Yesterday was my first day doing the job on my own, and I do think I will be able to perform it with ease, but I'll continue to be busy which is super important for me.  Hubby called me in the morning.  He sounded down.

Me: "Are you okay?"

Hubs: "I guess."

Me: "What's going on?"

Hubs: "I just got a promotion, with a raise!!!"

Me: "Oh my God!  2013 is the best!!!"

Seriously, thank God we've left the hell year of 2012 in the dust, because 2013 is already becoming a banner year!  I attribute this to the fact that both Hubby and I looked at our life and we were unhappy with our mindless meandering. We both worked on ourselves: our attitude, our bodies, our minds. We both set goals.  We became more goal-oriented, more cognizant of those around us, and of course harder workers.  Working harder always gets you somewhere.

Now for a little bit of superstition: What goes around comes around.  Since I started doing #26Acts and really giving to people, even perfect strangers the Universe has started to repay me. 

This started simply, with a man in a restaurant giving me 2 quarters so the kids could get gumballs after their meal.  He didn't know me from Adam (who is Adam anyway?), but he felt like he wanted to give something to me and make my kids happy.  Even little gestures of kindness like that can make a person's day. 

Then the other morning, the kids left the lights on in my car and my car wouldn't start.  For some reason we were having trouble putting the car into neutral.  I walked down to the construction workers in my neighborhood, and they quickly and willingly came to help.  They did it with smiles on their faces.  I still need to make muffins for them.  Give back. 

Giving to others is amazing.  Not only does it make you feel good, but maybe the spirit starts to infect other people, and before you know it people will be giving back to you. 

Goals: What Am I Achieving?

I thought today would be a good day to re-examine the goals I set at the beginning of the year (11 days ago!). I don't think I'm going to keep a weekly goal section anymore, but I am going to update my yearly goal progress, and add more goals as the year progresses.

The first two weeks of 2013 have been hectic, and they'll continue to be through February.  It's Number One's meet season, so we will be traveling almost every weekend until the end of February (plus I'm throwing in a few trips to see my darling nephews too!).  Busy!  I like being busy though.  The busier the better.   

I'm only going to update the goals that I've actually worked on and not whine about why I haven't accomplished the ones I haven't started! 

So, as far as my goals, here's where I am:

• Run 315 Miles this Year: I've run 5, but RunKeeper says I've run 3, because one day I accidentally set the program for walking instead of running, and I can't find out how to change it!  I think I'll be able to make this goal easily, as I've really incorporated running in my life now.  I'm even getting Number One involved.  He ran 1.38 with me yesterday (he's a faster runner than me, but he doesn't know how to pace himself yet). 

 

• Finish My Novel: I am almost there.  I have 56,000 words down on paper.  I know that's a ton.  When I read Stephen King's book, On Writing, he said the goal for your first novel should be 80,000 words, but I'm not quite sure if I'll get there, as this book has a purpose, and I'm drawing to the end already.  I'm thinking it will be about 65,000 words, so I'm fairly close to finishing. 

• Live in Kindness: This is a new goal.  It wasn't on my original list. This goal is inspired from the #26Acts movement that I began doing in 2012.  I'm stuck on #14, but I feel proud that I've made it that far, and I know some other opportunities will present themselves.   I want to live in kindness every day though, respecting other people, realizing that giving to others is what life is all about. 

So that's that.  My life is a full plate, and I love it that way. 

Reach for your goals, and you'll achieve them. 

#26 Acts Update: Keep on Giving

 

I haven't updated on my Acts of Kindness in about a week.  Christmas and New Year's threw me off.  I am back to acting though, even though I'm having trouble coming up with free acts.  Somebody on twitter said to smile at everyone you see through the day, but I already do that so I can't treat that as my act of kindness. 

My Act # 11 was to give blood, and I attempted to do so on Thursday at work.  I was sorely disappointed that my iron level was 11.1, and you have to have a level of at least 12.5 to give.  The nurse even had the other nurse prick my other finger, but my iron level in that finger was a measly 11.3. 

She looked at me and said, "Girl, you need to be eating your leafy greens!"

I said, "I do eat my leafy greens.  I just don't really eat red meat."

She said, "That's your problem then!  Go get yourself a tshirt.  You tried."

So I sulked off to the break room, disappointed I could not give blood, and a man in there tossed me an Alabama Blood Donor shirt. 

I said, "Um, this looks like an Alabama shirt."

He said with a huge grin, "That's because it is."

"Can I have Auburn please?"

"You mean I have to touch that?"

Ha!  So I didn't give blood, but I did get a pretty cool Auburn Blood Donor tshirt.  One of my friends at work said I should still count that as my Act #11 since I tried, but I can't, so I'm scratching it. 

So instead on the way to work the other day, my co-worker and I stopped at Chick-Fil-A and I bought chicken minis for my department.  That was my Act #11!  They were much appreciative of the special breakfast treat.

And yesterday, I completed my Act #14 too.  I work in loan processing, and we have people who help us process in other locations.  I had a problem with a loan, and this one lady had to stay late to get my documents corrected and reprinted, and she had the BEST attitude.  She even called me to make sure I received it.  She got everything fixed in a matter of ten minutes!  So, yesterday I went to Subway for lunch, and I picked up a $10 gift card for her.  I sent it interoffice mail, so she should get it Monday!  What a great way for me to show some appreciation to someone who works really hard. 

Doing these acts of kindness makes me realize how easy it is to be a thoughtful person and help other people, spreading joy, happiness, and a sense of community to those around you.  Not only does doing a simple act of kindness make you feel better, but it makes the other person feel good as well.

Live Your Life by Constantly Giving to Those Around You, and It Will Come Back to You in Ways You've Never Imagined.    

#26Acts of Kindness #13 for Noah Pozner

Yesterday, I didn't feel like doing much of anything.  I was sick.  I hate being sick.  I'm a huge baby when I'm sick.  I happened to get on blogger though and blog, and then I decided to catch up on some of my blog reading, which I needed to catch up on big time!

I found out one of my friend's granddaughter's was born with Apert's Syndrome.  I had no idea what Apert's Syndrome was, so I researched a bit and found out it is a dominant autosomnal trait, meaning only one parent has to have the gene to pass it on.  It is genetic, and it causes cleft lips, facial weakness, webbing of the fingers and other defects.

Of course, when you have a child you expect the world for them.  And when a child is born with a genetic defect, it alters your expectations, and sends you reeling.  I wanted to do something for this first time Mom, who is currently suffering, and for her baby girl. 



Nicholas Graves, Apert Syndrome Poster Child

So my Act #13 was a small donation to the Little Baby Face Foundation.  I could only give $10 at this time, because money is so tight for Hubby and I right now, but I know that small donation of good will can help someone, some child, and it's what I can give right now.  Every little bit helps. 

The Little Baby Face Foundation provides corrective surgery and medical services, family support, physician education, and research. 

I know as time passes, this new mother will begin to accept the different future for her sweet daughter.  She'll look at her with new eyes, and she'll see her inner and outer beauty.  Dealing with alopecia areata has taught me that sometimes acceptance comes slowly, but it almost always comes.

Running and Acting

I'm back into my exercise routine, minus the dojang of course.  I can't wait until Taekwondo opens again.  I dreamt about it last night, and I miss it.  In the meantime, I'm putting some miles on my Brooks.

I went out running yesterday morning, and I made it 2 miles.  I felt the best I have in awhile, mostly contributed to the fact that this cold is finally going away!  I had this sense of exhilaration around 1.5 miles, and I actually felt like I could have run further.  I love the feeling of just being that I have when I run. I love being able to listen to my music (inappropriate songs like G6 too!), and think over important things in my life (and not so important things).  I love the stillness and how I notice everything around me when I'm running.  Yesterday, as I was running by the lake I swear the ducks laughed at me. They were probably thinking, "Hey, look at that lady trying to run!"  But, hey ducks, I did pretty well!  I made it 2 miles in 18 minutes 45 seconds.  I was pretty proud of that time, because after I finished I didn't feel like dying: I felt like running more. 

In other news, I'm still working on my #26Acts for the Sandy Hook victims. I actually feel like I want to live this way from now on, looking for opportunities to help others.  I drove Hubby to work yesterday so my mother-in-law could have the car, and there was this guy fixing the fountain.  He looked so cold, and I turned to Hubby and I said, "I wish I had a pair of gloves to give him.  He needs a pair of gloves."  It's funny, because before I started doing this I probably wouldn't have even noticed a person in need like that! 

My Acts, #9 and #10, were personal to me.  I gave to two people in my life who I love very much, and who I feel are like extended family. 

I signed up to do my Act #11 too!  I'm going to give blood to the Red Cross. I haven't done this in recent years, because I normally faint.  I know stupid, right?  But I hate the feeling of fainting. I told the lady I signed up with that I might faint, and she said she'd bring an extra pillow! My blood type is needed, always, and I just feel like it's the right thing to do.  The blood banks always need blood, so this is a very easy way to help. 

 

 

This act will be in honor of Ana M. Marquez-Greene. 

 

Are you participating in 26 Acts?  If so, feel free to leave your comment in the comment section, telling me what you're doing to spread the effort!

Consider Donating to the NAAF

Today my act of kindness (#8) is very near and dear to my heart.  I committed to donating $8 per month to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation.  This small donation will only be $96 a year, but it's what I can afford.  All I have to do is give up eating lunch out once a month.  $8 per month to help fund research and find appropriate treatments for this disease.

As a child, I suffered to accept myself.  I hated my bald spots.  I was so embarrassed by them.  One year at camp when I was 11 years old, I kept my hair in a ponytail for 5 weeks, because I didn't want anyone to see that I had bald spots.  I think I pulled out my rubber band once and washed it.   I hated being different.  I hated when people stared and ostracized me.  It's hard to be different when you're a kid, because kids just don't understand.  Plus, I didn't understand when I was little that by educating people they'd begin to accept me. 



Wearing a sailor's cap to cover my spots

I'll never forget in 2nd grade, when I had a lot of uncoverable spots and my Mom bought me two wigs: one long and one short.  I used to interchange them all the time, so I know most people knew they were wigs, but apparently not all the kids caught on.  We had a substitute that day, and we were working on something.  Darryl came up to me to ask me something, and his hand caught the side of my wig pulling it off.  Rebecca shouted, "Lauren's head is falling off!"  I was mortified, and the substitute had no idea what to do.  She put my hair in a paper bag and sent it home with me that day, instead of calling my parents or taking me to the Principal's office.  I can look back on this and laugh now, but as a child it traumatized me. 

Knowledge is a powerful thing, and as I grew older I learned this.  When I lost all my hair recently, I was upset.  I was embarrassed again, almost reliving my childhood.  I just want eyelashes and eyebrows and for my head not to be cold when it's 20 degrees out.  I want to fit in, like everyone else does, even if they won't admit it.  But, I began to accept myself and spread my knowledge of alopecia areata to everyone I knew.  I began telling people about the disease, including my children and their friends and my nephew (who insist that I am not a mammal because I don't have hair!). 

With a little more research hopefully they can find a definitive cause of this disease and begin working on a cure.  To be a child with alopecia areata is so hard socially, but it shaped who I am so I wouldn't change it.  I'm just happy I can give back to the NAAF, as they have inspired me to embrace myself and my hair loss and educate those around me about it.  





With my Adorable nephew this year.

Act of Kindness #7

So far, we've completed 7 Acts of Kindness, and I have a few more in the works too!  On Friday, I stopped on the way to the kids' daycare and I ran someones newspaper up to their front porch.  This was thrilling, but almost felt like I was doing something bad like TPing someones house!

We also finished our present to our families from the Volunteer Information Center.  We bought them presents and groceries (the two ladies I worked with shopped two nights until midnight to provide Christmas for these families)!  How amazing!  One of the families came to pick up the gifts, and they were so appreciative!  They hugged us and thanked us about fifty times.  This is what the season is really about. 

Today, I decided to write letters to the soldiers.  I got all the kids in on it, and here is the result!  I added my own personal message in Darling Daughter's message, and Hubby wrote a letter of his own too!

Darling Daughter's letter!

 

Son Number One's letter to a "solger."

 

Son Number Two's letter to a soldier.  That's Spiderman by the way.

 

Our piles of letters will make it out this week, and they'll be put in a care package by Military Missions. They send a ton of letters to soldiers, and they always need people to write them, so why don't you all write some letters and get them in the mail!  It doesn't cost anything, and it will make a soldier's day! 

 

 

 

The address to send them to:

 

Military Missions Inc.

3650 Boston Road

Suite 146

Lexington, KY 40514

 

  7 Complete for Emilie Parker, and the other victims of the Sandy Hook School Shooting

Four Out of 26 Ain't Bad

I haven't done my weekly weight loss tips this week, and I'm fairly sure it won't be returning until next week.  I think next week I'll try to focus on what you need to do when things get crazy hectic and it's Christmas time and all you want to do is stuff your mouth with cookies, brownies, and oh yeah, my favorite rolos melted inside of two pretzels.  Yeah, we'll start there next week.

Today I focused on my 26 Random Acts of Kindness that I'm doing in honor of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, especially Emilie Parker.  I woke up this morning thinking about it, and I had this major dilemma: We have absolutely no money right now.  I mean NONE.  We just spent all our money on Christmas and paying a fortune to Caden's gym, oh not to mention daycare, and then there's Number Two's private preschool.  So I really needed some cheap alternatives.  Non-money giving, non gift certificate giving ideas.  Some of mine did involve money, but it was a nominal amount.  Oh, and I only did 4 today, and here they are:

1.  I wrote cards to my children's teachers, and I put photos of the kids in them with their names, ages, and the year.  I told the teachers how much I appreciated what they did every day, and that I understood how hard being a teacher must be, but that the difference they are making in our children's life is huge. 

2. I went through the drive thru at Dunkin Donuts today, and I paid for the person behind me.  I wrote a little note for the man at the drive through to hand to the lady with her coffee about doing 26 acts of kindness and passing it on.  This was probably the most rewarding thing I did today for some reason. 

3. One of my co-workers seemed a little down in the dumps today, so I bought her a Twix bar, wrapped it up and had another co-worker secretly deliver it to her.  She figured out it was me, and she is going to do 26 Acts of Kindness too!

4. I sent Christmas cards to the First Responders in Conneticut.  I actually grabbed this idea from a post on MSNBC today.  The addresses are:

Monroe Police Department
7 Fan Hill Road
Monroe, CT 06468

Newtown Police Department
3 Main Street
Newtown, CT 06470

Connecticut State Police
Public Information Office
1111 Country Club Road
Middletown, Connecticutt 06457

Pay It Forward

 

In Honor of Emilie Parker: 26 Acts of Kindness

I've been attempting to process what happened in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday, December 14. The truth is, there is no way to process it.  There's no way to accept what happened to those 26 people in Sandy Hook School and to Adam Lanza's mother.  There is no way to accept that someone could go into a school and kill Elementary School children: children waiting for Santa to come, children who hadn't even lost their first baby tooth, children who's whole life lay before them just waiting to make a difference in our world. 

Over the weekend, I read about Emilie Parker.  Her image struck me, with her blond hair and blue eyes.  She looked like she could be one of my children, giggly, wiggly, and excited for Christmas right around the corner.  But Emilie's short life ended on December 14th, because of one random act of violence.  Emilie Parker's Dad made a statement about her death, expressing sympathy EVEN for the killer and his family.  I was amazed at this, so shortly after his daughter's death, that he could begin to forgive the person who took this precious gift from him.  He has something to teach each and everyone of us about forgiveness in this tough time.   Every time I thought about Emilie's little face this weekend and her father's statement tears would brim in my eyes.  But tears don't solve problems.

So, I'm going to take on the challenge that many across America are and perform 26 random acts of kindness in honor of the 20 children and the 6 teachers who died at Sandy Hook Elementary on December 14. 

Emilie Parker can't be here to spread her spirit, her love, and to draw cards when people are feeling unhappy or down anymore, but by performing 26 Acts of kindness, we can help her spirit live on.