RAK in November: Week Four

*If you need a refresher on what on Earth I am talking about, go HERE first... 30 things in 30 days is the goal.

This week:

-We got a big bag of sugar free candy and the boys had fun handing it out at the nursing home. The residents loved getting treats and seeing the boys. The boys love going to the nursing home and having so many "grandparents" that love them.

-We took the boys' old coats to a local children's home (Open Door). The combination of the normal warm winters and the way these two grow meant their old coats were in new condition. Hopefully another child will get more wear out of them.

-We took some of the boys' baby toys to the preschool for the baby class to enjoy. It was hard for K to let go of some of the things he thought were really cool but he got to play with the babies for a bit and that made it all better. K loves babies.

-I dropped of a box of old women's magazines at the local health department. Last time I was in there getting D's EED for school, all the magazines were from 2005. They were in serious need of some new reading material.

-I gave the boys both a pack of silly bands and set them loose to hand them out to the other kids on the playground. They were both a little shy at first about it but they made lots of friends!

-While we were at the playground, we took a walk around the park and I picked up some of the trash that people had thrown on the ground. People are gross. Seriously.

-I let the boys pick out 10 coloring books and crayons and we took them to the Children's hospital that has always been so good to us (CHOA).

We did a lot more running around this week than we usually do but it was all worth it. I'll admit too though that we did a few at once. We also got some of the clutter out of the house, which kind of takes away from the selflessness  little. Oh well. Did you do and RAKing this week?

RAK in November: Week Three

*If you need a refresher on what on Earth I am talking about, go HERE first... 30 things in 30 days is the goal.

This week:

-We sent a huge plate of cookies in to the office staff of the Boys’ preschool. They sent back a very sweet note, thanking the boys’ for the goodies. One for the baby albums!


-We took Bob’s old crate and a bag of food and donated it to the adoption agency (SEGA) that we got him from. Bob even got to go and hang out with some of his kind. Turns out he is pretty fast when in running with another hound.

-I dropped a couple of old cell phones and another huge plate of cookies off at the Domestic Violence center close to home.

-I took the old lady across the street’s mail and newspaper to her door. I was nervous about bothering her mail without asking but she was very appreciative. Turns out she has OA as well and her daily trip to the mailbox is a lot rougher on her than it is on me. I told her I would try to get it more often for her and she gave me a hug. RAK win!

-I gave one of my old USB drives to a friend at work. She is forever having me scan things and email them to another co-worker who has to print, edit and then rescan and email for her classes and this way she can just save them to the drive and hand them over. Easy peasy.

-I kept a girlfriend’s kids so she could go use a spa certificate that was about to expire. She was so sad she wasn’t going to get to use it and was thrilled when I offered to keep them. It was a full house! She has five kids!

-I pushed the little old lady across the street’s trash can to the curb for her. It was something she had mentioned the other day and it took me three seconds. She got a double dose this week!

Two more weeks left! Lets see what else we can do!

RAK in November: Week two

*If you need a refresher on what on Earth I am talking about, go HERE first...

This week was our first full week of acts of kindness. I'll admit, I almost forgot a couple of times. I also did a couple of them the same day. Still, 30 things in 30 days is the goal.

This week:

• I brought my mother a coffee and doughnut after I dropped the boys off at school. Is it cheating to do a RAK for a family member? I don't think so. She was glad to see me and glad for the breakfast.
• The boys and I took the leftover Halloween candy down to the Ronald McDonald house down by the hospital where they were born. They were excited to get all dressed up in their costumes and hand out candy to the staff and family members that were there. We left the rest of the bag for the families coming home from the hospital.
• I tucked a few dollar bills into the toy bins at the Dollar store here in town. The hope is that a child will find the dollar and get to buy themselves something special. I didn't have time to stick around and find out what happened exactly though.
• We gathered up some cans of veggies and fruit that we had in the house and took them to a local food bank. We don't have much to spare but I do realize that there are people out there way worse off than us.
• I let a woman with a cart full of groceries go in front of me and the boys at the store. Even though we only had a few items, her newborn was crying and I have so been there.
• I went through mine and the boys' clothes and donated a bunch to a local battered womens shelter. Some of these women leave with nothing but their children and the clothes on their backs. God bless them.
• I sent some homemade pumpkin butter to the boys' teachers. Just because they take such great care of them and the boys love them so much.

So, not a bad week, right? I guess some days were better than others but the idea is just to get into the habit of doing kind things for other people, just because. Have you been doing the challenge? Hows it going?

RAK in November: Week One

*If you need a refresher on what on Earth I am talking about, go HERE first...

Ok, to be fair, this week is a particularly short one. We have only had two days to get started. Still, i said I would update weekly and decided that it might b easiest to make it a scheduled type thing and what better day to do that than Saturday?

The first thing that I did was I donated to hurricane Sandy's Relief. I have lots of friends and relatives in the area that was hardest hit and I had one big, long panic attack for about three days straight. Luckily, they are all doing okay after the storm. My sister was without power for a bit but her and her zoo are all faring well. My uncle and his boyfriend are in NYC proper but have been able to hold onto their power and I think have enjoyed their off time.

Still, there are a lot of people that lost everything. People that weren't spared the devesating floods, winds, and firs that Sandy brought along with her. My heart hurts for those people that are having to deal with the aftermath. Of course, I am no money bags and couldn't donate as much as I would have liked but honestly and literally, every little bit helps. Even if you aren't doing the RAK challenge, I urge you to spare your morning coffee money to provide food and shelter for the people and animals displaced.

The second RAK that I did was to hand a lady in Publix a Starbucks gift card. She had 4 kids with her and they were... excited to be out of the house. Yeah, lets just put it that way. I, on the other hand, happened to be having a rare rather nice trip to the store with my boys and just happened to remember that I had that card in my purse. We passed on several of the isles and exchanged the kind of knowing glances that only mothers can give and as I passed her in the produce section at the end of the store, I just handed it to her and said "Happy Friday. I think you need this more than I do this morning.". She smiled weirdly and thanked me as I wandered off.

I hope she got a coffee. I hope I didn't creep her out. I hope it made her day just a little better. Thats the point at least.

Now, its off to a new week of RAK-ing. Have you done somethig kind for a stranger this week? Lets hear it.

Here We Go Again! #NaBloPoMo2012

Its time! Its time for National Blog Posting Month! If you aren't savy, and you are a blogger, you should be. Every year, bloggers around the world join in and post at least once a day, every day, in an effort to jump start their brains into mad blogging gear. Its awesome.

I have joined in for NaBloPoMo every year for the last three years that RMM has been alive and kicking. Its always been something that I start out thinking there is no way I will be able to keep it up but somehow always finish. It gives me a goal and I am not one to back down from a goal.

Of course then there is the community aspect of it. Last year, much to my dismay, BlogHer took over NaBloPoMo in what I can only imagine was another attempt to make everyone miserable and uncomfortable as they seem so keen to do. Corprotize everything in blogging land and make a profit? BlogHer says yes please.

Down with the man!

So anyway, with the grand take over, there are many more hoops to jump through in order to officially participate than there used to be but the community is growing and this year is hopefully going to be the biggest ever.

This year, I am doing two "challenges" to help along. The RAK in November Challenge and the Photo Mojo Instagram Challenge. If you want to join in on those, I would love to keep up with you. Just let me know and lets do this thing!

Random Acts of Kindness in November

November is almost here. November is a tween month for me. Its one where its time to reflect and take time to be thankful for where my year has taken me since the last one and get geared up for the Christmas crazies. Its when I get to spend time with family that I rarely see 

This year, November is bringing a new challange. In fact, it comes one of the biggest challenges of the 2012 list. The 30 days of Random Acts of Kindness. My friend Nicole turned me on to this last year when she completed the challenge and it sounded like something that would be fun to do with my boys. A little something to get them involved in giving back and taking an active part in bettering other people's lives, even if it was in some tiny, seemingly insignificant way.

The process is simple do 30 random, kind things for 30 people. You can do 30 things in one day or do 1 thing everyday for 30 days. However you do it, the idea is to extend your heart to bless someone's day in an unexpected way.

I have a few ideas of things to do already but some of them I am expecting will just happen. A by the seat of the pants kind of experiment in kindness I guess. I will be doing a weekly post to share what we have done that week. I am hoping to include my boys on the decisions and "acts" as much as possible. To learn to give as much kindness as possible and see the benefits it makes in your heart.


So, if you are up for the challange, join in. Share your RAK story. Or even just share some ideas! Either way, I challenge you to do some good this month. Prepare your heart for the giving season and make it a habit to continually do something kind for someone. There is no way to lose at this.