Lets Check Aisle 4

This afternoon I went out to grab a few things before we hit the road for our next destination tomorrow. While at the grocery, a guy approached me and stared for a minute like he was trying really hard to say something and he finally just kinda blurted out "ranch!" It took me by surprise but then I replied, "as in dressing?" He nodded and it was then I realized that he was probably intoxicated or high... perhaps both, lol. He said he couldn't find it and I looked up and pointed to the aisle 4 sign that said dressing and condiments on it and again he just kinda looked blankly at me. So I asked him, "do you need me to walk you over there?" He nodded again and I took him over there. I'm not sure if he thought I worked there or what but clearly he was in no state to locate salad dressing. It was all actually kind of comical. After we grabbed a bottle I walked with him over to the check out and made sure he had what he needed and he just kinda mumbled something back to me, which I think was a "thanks" While this isn't the usual opportunity that comes my way, I got to help someone and it was a good laugh as well.

And yes... for those of you wondering I did watch him leave and make sure he didn't get behind the wheel. He hopped into his buddy's truck with his bottle of ranch dressing.

I Run For ???

   Our first stop on this trip is Savannah to visit with our good friends Amanda and Will. Despite the rocky start of me wrecking the rental car yesterday before we even left town, we've been enjoying our time catching up and visiting with our friends. One of the many things that Amanda and I have in common is that we're both runners and today she gave me a great suggestion for an act of kindness. She told me about a group called I run for Micheal that she found out about through some of her local runner friends here. What it is, is a group that pairs up runners with disabled kids to help them make a new friend and the runners will run races for them and help raise awareness for whatever disability it is that they suffer from.  I thought this was a great idea and couldn't wait to sign up. So for my good deed today I went and signed up through the group and hopefully soon I'll be making a new friend and helping them through my runs. You can find out more about this group on their facebook page. Just search for "I run for michael"

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished....

Today has been a very crazy day. The fam and I were all packed and ready to leave for vacation and while packing our rental car up, we found an Ipod left behind by the previous renters. So I thought it would be nice to drop it back by the rental place so they didn't have to wait until we got back vacation. After dropping it off and heading back home to get ready to hit the road, I hit a little snag.... Well actually I hit a toyota. Yup I wrecked our super nice rental car returning the Ipod.... Everyone in our car was okay but the car, not so much. But hey, at least someone isn't going to have to wait too long for Ipod right???

Packing It Up

  So today's act of kindness/good deed is one for my husband. We're getting ready to hit the road again and I've been packing us up all day. But besides packing all of my things and all of the kids things, I went ahead and packed for my husband too.  Now some of you wives out there may think that this doesn't really count since some wives do this for their husbands all the time, but for me it's a little different. For whatever reasonI really hate packing and I am very particular in how I pack for the kids and myself and want to make sure that I have plenty of what I need and plenty of options. So when I pack for James I never really know what he's gonna wear while we're gone and almost inevitably every time I do, at some point during our trip I hear... "hey, did you happen to pack my (fill in the blank)?" And the answer is usually no. But in getting things wrapped up here at home and work he's been super busy so I hopefully was able to help him cross off one more thing from his to do list.

As we get ready to hit the road again I really look forward to doing some good deeds and spreading some kindness out there. Who knows, you could be next to receive a random act...

Help For A Mom In Need

   Through some fellow mom friends I recently found out about another mom-to-be who is going through some rough times. She is due in less than two weeks and her husband lost his job. He was able to find some work but the pay is not enough to support a family and they are having trouble making ends meet. Being so close to giving birth is stressful enough, I can't imagine having to go through a financial hardship and worrying about not being able to provide what your baby needs on top of that. So I, along with a bunch of other caring moms are putting together what items we have and getting the essentials for her and the baby to help them out. Today I packed up a blanket, some hooded bath towels and some new baby toiletries to donate. I'm really glad this new mom was able to get connected with the moms that I know so that we can help her and her new family out in any way that we can.

School Supplies For Kids

While out and about today I went to pick up a few items I forgot to get yesterday and saw that at the local Kroger's you can purchase boxes of school supplies to be donated to local schools for kids who can't afford their own. I had planned on buying some to donate anyway and this was so nice and convenient  with everything all together in one box. You can see in the picture that each box includes pencils, notebook, erasers, glue sticks, regular glue, filler paper, pencil sharpener and a pencil pouch. They had them right at the checkout so you can just have them add it on to your total and then they send the boxes to surrounding schools. My daughter starts school this fall and I have a feeling I am about to find out just how crucial supply donations are to schools these days, so I'm happy I could help.

It's A Girl!

   Today marks the beginning of a fun few weeks in our house and the start of an extended goof deed/act of kindness. One side of my husband's family is from and lives in Taiwan including his only first cousin Pin-Shin. She is eight and her parents decided this would be a good time for her to come and visit the states since her schooling and schedule is only going to get more hectic as she gets older and takes on more studies. But her parents both work full time and can't take enough time off to come and travel overseas. So my husband and I have agreed to let her stay with us for a month and try and let her experience American culture. My sister-in-law is also going to take her for a bit as well. I'm very excited that she is here and can't wait to share with her as much of the U.S. as we can. We've got some fun travel plans coming up so that we can show her more than just Tennessee. I'm also nervous about going from two to three kids, not to mention that there is a bit of a language barrier. But I'm sure it will all work out and hopefully this will be the experience of a lifetime for her. If she has a great time than that's worth whatever worries and anxiety I may have, lol.