Day 509: Happy New Year!!!

Today was a marathon door-opening day. I ventured to shopping mall and saw a lady with a walker coming towards the door so I held it open for her. She took a little while, so by the time she’d walked through the doorway, I’d spotted another lady whose arms were full of parcels.

Three guesses what I did next (first two don’t count). Thing is, once I’d grabbed the door, the parcel woman’s husband trailed along behind her. Then two men in parkas, followed by a family of four. I might need an ice pack for repetitive strain injury … not really.

Before I forget, I’d like to wish everyone reading this a very happy, healthy, peaceful New Year. Thanks very much for taking the time to read this and a special thanks to the kind people who leave comments. More appreciated than you’ll every know. Happy New Year!!!!

P.S. Miscellaneous, this is for you. Enjoy!

Day 508: Hats off to you

Saw a lovely good deed in action today. I was sitting waiting very patiently in my doctor’s waiting room for about an hour (my good deed, you might say) when I saw an elderly lady with snowy white hair wearing a brown wool coat shuffle her way out of the clinic, leaning on her cane.

A couple of minutes later, I saw her appear outside the glass door and then come back in, something hanging from the end of her cane, which she held up like a sword. It was a toque. She told the receptionist that she saw someone drop their hat as they rushed inside, so she brought the toque in to return it. The receptionist told her she’d keep it at the desk and try to reunite it with its owner.

I couldn’t stop thinking of that white-haired lady the rest of the day. Walking was not easy for her and she could have easily just kept going or asked a passerby to bring in the hat. But no. She took the time and effort to help someone else … someone who may never know what she’d done for them.

It brought to mind a quote from author Henry James:

“Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.”

And, of course, the fourth is to be kind to hats ….

P.S. Our newest member of the Order of Canada. Enjoy!

Day 507: Soup-er fan

So, still stuck inside coughing like a coal miner. But I found a way to donate a can of soup to the food bank without leaving the house … via Facebook of all things.

I simply clicked a button to become a “fan” of Campbell’s Help Hunger Disappear program, for which Campbell’s will donate a can of soup (tomato, I believe) to Food Banks Canada. Soup is such a comfort food (and a staple of my sick-bay diet), that I had no hesitation in becoming a “fan.”

To find out more about the program, you can visit the Help Hunger Disappear website.

I did, and here’s what I found out:

“With a mission to provide extraordinary, authentic nourishment for all, Campbell Canada has a goal of donating 100,000 cans of Campbell’s Tomato soup to Food Banks Canada by December 31, 2009 — this is in addition to the 1 million pounds Campbell donates on an annual basis to Food Banks Canada.”

Did you know?

• The roots of the Campbell Soup Company can be traced back to 1860, when Abraham Anderson opened a small canning factory in Camden, New Jersey. (Did not know that.)
• In 1904, in order to provide workers with something to do in the middle of the day when the soup stock simmering, the company began making and selling Pork and Beans. (Wow, am def. a fan of those!)
• Also in 1904, the Campbell Kids were introduced as advertising characters. (Yikes, that makes them 105!!!!)
• The colours of Campbell’s Soup labels, red and white, come from the colours of the Cornell University football team. (No idea why.)
• Campbell began using radio advertising in 1931, using the famous “M’m! M’m! Good!” slogan. (M’m! M’m! Interesting.)

P.S. Speaking of coal mines ….

Day 506: Take a letter

Today, my husband brought home an old tin trunk that had belonged to his father. In it were letters written by his grandfather and great-grandfather, some dating back to the turn of the century.

Holding the yellowed pages and reading the graceful loop of the handwriting made me nostalgic for the old-fashioned days of sealing a letter in an envelope and posting it in the mailbox.

Email and texts just don’t have the same heart and soul about them, somehow.

So I dusted off my pen and collection of stamps and sat down and wrote a faraway friend a letter. Maybe it’ll end up in someone’s tin trunk someday.

If they can read my handwriting, that is….

P.S. Here are The Box Tops. Enjoy!

Day 505: Good deed shopping spree

Boxing Day Squirrel ... I am still laughing....

Hope everyone reading this had a peaceful, Merry Christmas. Mine was peaceful but less than merry, thanks to a nasty bout of bronchitis that hit me last week. I’m still on antibiotics and trying to keep my explosive coughs to myself so as not to frighten small children and pets, so no Boxing Day shopping, or other festive outings, for me. This has meant that (a) good-deeding opportunities have been limited and (b) I’m getting cranky.

So imagine how thrilled I was when I found a way to do something nice for someone and shop for my husband’s upcoming birthday at the same time – from home!

I came across a cool site called GoodDeedShopping.com. How perfect is that? Too perfect, I thought at first … I wondered if I was seeing things in some sort of overmedicated Buckley’sDM haze.

But I checked it out and it’s for real. Simply by shopping online at a retailer linked to the GoodDeedShopping website, a percentage of your purchase price (ranging from .05% to 10%) will be contributed to a Canadian charitable organization of your choice.  There’s no extra cost to you, the retailer makes the contribution since they  benefit from increased traffic to their website.

You can choose from more than 50 Canadian retailers ranging from La Senza, Canadian Tire, Chapters-Indigo, GrowerFlowers, Radio Shack, Sportmart, and Amazon.ca. And pick from a long list of good causes, including the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, Epilepsy Canada, ALS Society of Canada, Casey House, Mitchell Centre for Equine Rescue, Starlight Children’s Foundation, Nature Conservancy of Canada, and more.

So I chose to shop at Amazon.ca with a portion of the purchase price donated to Epilepsy Canada.

Here’s how it works
Step 1: Connect to www.GoodDeedShopping.com
Step 2: Register as a shopper and select a charitable cause and a participating retailer
Step 3: Shop till you drop!

So I was able to get a birthday gift and donate to a worthy cause without spending anything extra … in my jammies … I feel better already!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

I am typing this between coughing bouts. Don’t worry, it’s not the dreaded H1N1, but a nasty hit of bronchitis. My only good deed today is to stay home and not inflict my window-rattling coughs on anyone else.

But I wanted to take a moment to send out a message of peace, love and joy for the holidays and the New Year to everyone reading this and to thank you for stopping by over the past 500 or so days.

Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, Buon Natale, Feliz Navidad and Happy Holidays to you and your families!

“There are two ways to live life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
— Albert Einstein

Day 504: Cheeky monkey

"Can I get fries with that?"

This picture pretty much sums up how I was feeling today… actually, I didn’t look this perky. But somehow I managed to muster up enough energy to feed a rescued primate.

How, you ask? Well, I didn’t hop on a plane for the Congo, in case you were wondering — but I did drag my coughing, hacking self over to my computer keyboard.

I visited the Care2 website, where there are a number of different causes you can support with just one click. The advertisers that sponsor the site send a cash donation for every visit.

I chose the “Feed Rescued Primates” button that supports the Jane Goodall Institute. Why? I’d love to tell you it’s because I’ve researched the issue in depth or that I’m Jane’s third cousin once removed on my mother’s side.

The truth is, the picture of the chimp on their homepage is really cute.

So I clicked away to try and give at least one of the little guys a hearty meal. (What do you think? Banana splits all around?)

Once I did, a nice little thank you message popped up informing me that, “So far, 286,483 people have fed rescued primates 13,991,052 times.”

That’s a lot of bananas….

Jane’s Monkey Business
Here’s what I found out about the Jane Goodall Institute (from their website):

The Jane Goodall Institute has created three sanctuaries in Africa (Congo and Uganda) housing more than 200 orphaned chimpanzees in total. These sanctuaries provide a safe refuge where chimpanzees can be cared for and given the chance to live reasonably full lives in spacious conditions.

The commercial hunting of bushmeat in central Africa could lead to the loss of several special, including chimpanzees and gorillas. The Jane Goodall Institute recognizes the immediate need to protect the victims of the illegal bushmeat trade.

The goal of JGI’s Africa programs is to ensure the long-term protection of wild ape populations and their habitat in natural host countries in Africa, while preserving biodiversity, cultural traditions and livelihoods.

P.S. A real cheeky monkey. Enjoy!

Day 503: Play me a song I’m the piano man

Believe it or not this is a piano ... a $100,000 Schimmel Pegasus Piano. Go figure.

Even before my GDAD days, I would always try to donate a new unwrapped toy to the local Christmas Wish toy drive. I must admit I usually didn’t put a lot of thought into it. I’d grab one of the classics I remembered liking from my own childhood — a jigsaw puzzle, or stuffed animal, or that classic favourite: Lego.

Our office is collecting toys for the Christmas Wish drive so I tried to spend more time this year choosing something guaranteed to provide hours of enjoyment (no, I didn’t get a cardboard fridge box … although that’s not a bad idea).

The store had lots of “creative play” sets and dolls and other newfangled toys, but I knew the perfect item as soon as I saw it … a keyboard. It triggered a flashback to my own childhood when I begged my parents for piano lessons but they told me my hands were too small and offered accordion lessons instead. (Did not take them up on that.) I remember going to friends houses and picking out tunes on their real, or even toy, pianos.

Now the keyboard I bought is merely a toy … no kid will sit down at this thing and sound like Oscar Peterson … but I have a feeling tickling the (fake) ivories will tickle his or her fancy.

And their parents? Maybe I should have included earplugs….

P.S. Here’s the man himself. Enjoy!

Day 502: See and be seen

... bet she sees right through him...

My post the other day about cleaning staff got me thinking about all the quiet, worker bees we pass by every day without really noticing them.

Store clerks, cleaners, ticket takers … often invisible to us … unless we need them to help us with something, of course.

So today I tried to pay more attention to those folks and smile or nod or say “Hello, how are you today?”

Some smiled and said hello back … a couple I might have frightened … and one didn’t look up at all.

Maybe I’m the one who’s invisible ….

P.S. Very cool artist at work. Enjoy!

Day 501: Mustang Sally Ann

The Salvation Army peeps are on to something with that bell they ring … you can hear it a mile a way and it does sound like Christmastime. The Sally Ann do wonderful work for the needy and disadvantaged and I was happy to add to their kettle today … next time I might ask if I can give that bell a ring myself!

I read this story on the lovely helpothers.org website and it reminded me that accepting a kindness can be just as important as giving one. Thought I’d share it with you. Enjoy!

Accepting a blessing and passing it on
— by smiletoday

Last Sunday, a woman told me that she felt led to give me $20.  She wanted me to use the money for whatever I needed.  I tried not to take it, but she insisted and so I took it and thanked her.  I didn’t need the money, but I knew there must be a reason for her giving it to me.

The next day, Monday, I went to work.  A different woman was walking by the store I worked at.  She was limping, and didn’t look to be very well.  I knew her and called out, asking her how she was doing.

She responded with her sad situation.  Her husband had died recently, she had to quit her job because of her health, and on top of that, she wasn’t drawing her disability benefits as yet.  I told her the story about the $20, and asked her if she would accept it.  She tried not to take it, just as I had done, but finally I got her to take it.  Before she went on her way, she let me know that she really needed the money, and she thanked me.

The lesson I learned was:  don’t pass up someone trying to give you a blessing because there just might be a reason for it.  Just accept it and pass it on!

P.S. Here’s Mustang Sally … without the Ann. Enjoy!