T Minus 9 and 8 Days

T minus 9 and 8 Days, Sunday and Monday, August 5 and 6, 2012: "30 Letters to 30 People"

I'm calling this another two-fer. I came up with this idea today and then realized that I could get two days out of this idea!! I have a lot of siblings (5 brothers and a sister). The four youngest are half siblings, and I have an older brother (he's 32) and younger brother (he's 25) who are full brothers. Of course, I don't really divide them like that in my head...and I generally only call them all either my brother or my sister. I usually only clarify when people are shocked that my youngest brother is 6. That's right, my youngest brother is 6 and my oldest brother is 32. We span 26 years...

Anyhow, my older brother lives in Minnesota and my 25 year old brother lives in Florida. I don't get to see them nearly as often as I would like to and of course, these visits can be filled with some bickering. We don't fight nearly as much as we did when we were kids but we still do a little...that's how we show we care. We're that mature :)

One of the rare times we're in the same place at once...this was about three years ago. See how mature we look!

So, today, I was thinking that I don't think they realize how much I admire them. My older brother is an incredible mechanic. He's one of those people that could take a car apart and put it back together and it'll still work. I'd have half of the parts left and be wondering what the hell to do with them... I tend to call him when something is wrong with my car to see if I'm being lied to by my local mechanic and to see if what they're telling me is reasonable. My 25 year old brother is an incredibly talented musician. When we were younger, he just decided to teach himself how to play the guitar. And he did. And now, he can write his own music and has earned a scholarship for music at the college he goes to. I'm seriously jealous of them both.

So, they'll both be getting a letter (one to be written today and one tomorrow) telling them that. I think the letter will be better than doing it in person because mid-westerners (MN is in the mid-west...) aren't exactly emotionally demonstrative people. We'd all be embarrassed if I tried to do this in person! This way, they know and we're not embarrassed. And, everyone likes to get something good in the mail :)

T Minus 11 Days

T minus 11 Days, Friday, August 3, 2012: "30 Letters to 30 People"

I took a little "artistic license" with today's challenge... I didn't actually write a letter to anyone. But, I did call a friend that I hadn't talked to in a long time. I would consider this friend a good, close friend. But, we all know how life can get busy and before you know it months have gone by since the last time you touched base with someone. I wonder, at what stage of life did we change from wanting to spend hours on the phone with our friends as teenagers to sometimes dreading having to talk on the phone...?

And then she said... And I was all, like...

Anyhow, it was great to chat on the phone with my friend. We didn't have much time to actually talk because of the time difference and things going on on both sides of the call. But, we were able to have a good conversation and catch-up on life. And, it was genuinely a good feeling at the end to be able to have had that moment to just chat with a close friend.

Sometimes, trying to fit in time to call someone you haven't talked to in a long time can seem like a huge chore. But, then when you actually do it, it feels great.

T Minus 10 Days

T minus 10 Days, August 4, 2012, Saturday: "Random Act of Kindness" and "Be a Kid"

Does anyone else remember how exciting it was, as a kid, to hear the ice cream truck coming around? Seriously, it was pretty exciting. I was sitting around this afternoon, trying to motivate myself to do something productive and losing at that endeavor when I heard the glorious sound of the ice cream truck. I seriously jumped up, hurriedly searched for some money, got worried that I wouldn't find it in time, found some, ran out the door, jumped over some bushes (they're really low), and caught the ice cream truck man. Who then made fun of me for watching the Olympics too much (probably true because I'm exhausted!) because of my bush leaping...

I think if my ice cream truck guy had looked like this, it would have been less creepy.

When I got to the truck I had a few thoughts:
1. Did these seem as creepy when I was a kid as they do right now?
2. Am I being too judgmental? He's just trying to make some money...
3. Am I seriously about to eat ice cream from this truck?
4. At least it'll be prepackaged...

I bought some sort of cookies and cream bar because I was craving some ice cream and chocolate. It wasn't as good as I remembered... Maybe I should have stuck with the old standby of the Flinstones push-pop.The best part of the experience was when one of the neighbor kids came running up to the truck as well with $1. He picked out his ice cream, I paid for it and he didn't seem to realize that. So, when he tried to give the guy his money, he told the little boy that I'd paid for him. He looked at me a little shyly, then got pretty excited that he got the ice cream and a dollar. So, my bush jumping skills worked in favor for that kid.

T Minus 12 Day

T minus 12 Days, Thursday, August 2, 2012: "Random Act of Kindness"

So, one thing I've learned while doing this is that there are a million easy ways around us every day to do something kind that can make a positive impact on someone's life. Feds Feed Families is a food drive for federal employees. They make it pretty easy to donate food to a food drive because the collection boxes are at work...and we all know that we spend a lot of time at work! While I'm not officially a federal employee, I'm just a contractor, I suppose I'm close enough.

So, I was able to do today's challenge pretty easily. I've had food in my pantry that I know I won't eat. Honestly, I'm not really sure how I got it... Maybe it's just that my tastes have changed or whatever. Either way, it helped me to clean out some food from my pantry and I was able donate it to a worthy cause. So, just a reminder, there's easy opportunities all around you to make a positive impact that take minimal effort.

T Minus 13 Days

T minus 13 Days, Wednesday, August 1, 2012: "Be a Kid"


First, whoa! Only two weeks to go! Second, I must be getting old because I was hanging out with a friend this evening and had to ask several times what day it is...only to confirm AGAIN that it's still Wednesday. I will blame it on being at work until about 1:30 this morning. Yes...it's totally that...has nothing to do with my age...

On to the challenge. I knew I was going to hang out with a friend this evening and I knew I had some sidewalk chalk. Clearly, this mixture promises to be fun! When I got to her house, we decided to play a rousing game of hopscotch. I remember this game being SO MUCH fun as a kid! Over and over we'd play. Apparently, I didn't play enough times to remember the rules or point of the game. Thank God for smartphones! So, after Googling how to play hopscotch, we went out to her driveway and drew a big hopscotch board (or whatever you call it...)

We thought this was bigger than when we were kids but decided it was ok because we're a little bigger, too. And, yes, that's a beer...I may be doing a kid's activity but it doesn't mean I can't enjoy an adult beverage at the same time.

With our fabulous hopscotch "board" ready to go, we couldn't find a rock to toss. That's how you know where to jump to...or turn around...or something. We still don't understand what Google told us about the point of the rock. But, whatever, we couldn't find a rock. Apparently, my friend and her husband take care of their yard pretty well. The nerve! So, I improvised and pulled the tab off of my beer can. Yes, that's right, we played hopscotch with a beer can tab. We're classy that way.

Look at me tear up that hopscotch board!

Here's what we both learned tonight: some things are better left to fond memories of your childhood. We each did it once, tried to figure out what the point was and couldn't. Tried to figure out how you win and still have no idea. I think it's just a game you played with no winners...you just played. But, honestly, I don't know how the heck I played this so often as a kid! I went a second time, still didn't get it, and then we went back inside. Am I missing the point of hopscotch?? Does anyone know what the purpose is of this game?? I mean, I didn't think my brain was so poorly developed as a child that jumping in boxes that are right next to each other would be so enjoyable. So, I'm pretty sure I'm missing the point.... Skipping was way more fun!

But, at least I got the challenge done for the day. And, I dragged a friend down memory lane with me...even if we both still don't get it!

T Minus 14 Days

T minus 14 Days, Tuesday, July 31, 2012: "Random Act of Kindness"


It seems like summer just started but stores are already gearing up for 'Back to School' sales (I suppose that shouldn't surprise me because some stores have already busted out Christmas stuff but whatever...) I remember being excited about the first day of school. New clothes, new backpack, new lunch box, new notebooks...although I don't think I was ever able to get a Lisa Frank binder or a REAL Trapper Keeper (not a knockoff). Somehow, I survived...shocking, I know!

About a week after schools starts, they'll be running AWAY from the bus!

I didn't get to have those fancy, expensive versions of basic school needs because we weren't exactly rolling in the dough. But, we could at least afford to get some new school supplies. Not all families can even do that. When I was grocery shopping at H.E.B today, they offered customers the opportunity to participate in a school supply drive called 'Operation Back Pack' that is in conjunction with the YMCA. They had prepackaged some basic school supplies into bags and priced them out already. All I had to do was grab one of the bags and throw it in my cart and pay for it on the way out. It cost me a whole $7. That's less than what I paid for the random person's dinner in the drive-thru a couple of weeks ago! So, they catered to my desire to do something kind for the day and my desire to be lazy :) Here's a link to participating stores in the Houston area: http://www.heb.com/sectionpage/back-to-school/how-to-help/sd30430087#operationbackpack

If you're not in the Houston area, I recommend seeing if any businesses around you are doing something similar. It's hard enough to get kids excited about going back to school...new school supplies can make it just a bit easier and take some stress off of the parents who can't afford to buy them.

Just because I'm a nerd and I think this is funny. I probably only understand this because I wasn't busy staring at my Lisa Frank folders or playing with my Trapper Keeper.

T Minus 15 Days

T minus 15 Days, Monday, July 30, 2012: "30 Letters to 30 People"

Many people know that a large number of people that work for my company were laid off in the past couple of years. It sucked. For a long time, I was expecting to be one of them. What many people don't know, is that when I was expecting to be laid-off, I was organizing my life to be able to be gone for a couple of years. I had started the process of applying for the Peace Corps several months before what I was anticipating to be my layoff date. As part of the application, I had to write a couple of essays (oh, joy!). One of the essays had to address why you wanted to join the Peace Corps, how these reasons relate to your past experiences and life goals and how you expect to satisfy the Peace Corps 10 Core Expectations (feel free to Google them).

My essay focused on a person who's had a huge impact on my life by demonstrating how a community can be built around you that supports you through all aspects of life. Both good and bad. I like to think that I've learned from that example and put it to good use around me. Since I don't live anywhere near my family, I've tried to build a good circle of friends that are basically my surrogate Houston family. I believe this person's example taught me how treating people with respect, caring, kindness...( I could go on but really the way we'd all like to be treated) builds that without you even realizing it.

That's totally what I look like when I'm writing letters and essays.

Obviously, I didn't join the Peace Corps. I was offered an incredible job opportunity that was very difficult to turn down. Although, it was a very close decision...ask my manager, we talked about it A LOT!! But, today, I decided to mail that essay to the person I'm talking about. With a thank you note for the quiet, unassuming and positive example of building a supportive community around you. Hopefully, it will bring a smile to this person's face.