Today I took my son to Chucke Cheese. It was a madhouse! There were kids running around everywhere. Of course all of the kids were having a blast.

There was a little boy that I was watching walk around. He was very cute but a bit dirty. He was wearing a birthday hat. He was running from game to game acting like he had never seen anything like that before.

His mom was following him around handing him tokens as fast as he was using them up. I noticed that he was crying and just did a bit of ease dropping. He was asking for more tokens, but his mother explained that they had already hit their budget and she couldnt afford any more. He was very upset. I felt bad for him. I had a whole pocket full of tokens and so did the kids that I was with, so I walked over and put some of the tokens in his hand. Telling him it was an extra birthday present. He was so excited. He smiled and ran off.

I know that he probably didnt really need to play more games but every kid deserves to be a spoiled a bit and the mom was trying to make it fun for him! Chucke Cheese is very expensive.

Feeding the homeless yesterday was a SMASHING sucess. It was actually a lot of fun. I was a bit worried at first that I was going to be depressed afterwards, just because sometimes you dont realize how thankful you should be for what you have but I was pleased with the experience.

I was even luckier that the weather decided to cooperate. We handed out all the meals. I met a lot of very interesting people. We even had some donations of winter coats that we handed out as well. Three of them came from our closet. Ones that we just werent wearing any more.

I have already signed up for next months session to make the meals and pass them out. I really wonder why they only do it once a month. Hmm..its got me thinking maybe I can help to organize it so its done at least every week.

Its been a rough couple of days around here. The flu has hit our house. I am a bit behind with my blogging but doesn't mean that I havent done anything.

Yesterday was an exciting day. I was able to help a local church do their shopping for food that will be made on Saturday morning for homeless people. All of the money was donated and we were able to purchase enough to feed 40 people. I am sure that this isnt going to come close to what is needed but at least a few more people will have food in their bellies.

I will go to the church on Saturday and help to assemble the meals in the morning then we will spend the afternoon handing them out. I am very excited. I will keep everyone posted about it. Have a great day!

Today I got my list for my Family to Family--family! ;-)

Here is what I need to get by the end of the month.

4 cans soup 2 cans of beans
2 boxes mac and cheese 2 cans of vegetables
1 box regular rice 1 or 2 cans beef stew or beef hash
1 box of elbow macaroni
1 box tuna noodle helper or other meals in a box
1 large can of fruit (low in sugar)
2 cans of sloppy joes or something comparable

I did a little more research on how these families are selected for this program.

My local chapter goes to a community in Myra, Kentucky - Median annual family income in Myra (in 2000) was $7,679, compared to Indianola whose median family income is $52,238. 100% of the population of Myra lived below the poverty level in 2000 while in our city that figure is 5.6% of families. Many households have no car, and the closest grocery store or bank is a 30 minute drive away. There is no hospital, library, park, or recreational program for children.

This makes me very happy to know that I might be really making a difference in an area that needs it so badly.

I also have an aunt that is a paraplegic who is hospitalized in the ICU due to sepsis. I made her family a huge batch of homemade Parmesan chicken. They are under a great deal of stress right now and I wanted to make sure that they ate healthy.

Today I am home ill with the flu but thought I would post something to think about....this is by Ralph Allen called Brave Volunteers:

Scared, Cold, in pain,
the dust hasn't settled yet.
Pinned in, crying,
my clothes are ripped, red, and wet.
Lights, noise, and confusion,
all part of the night.
I'm going to die alone,
give up the fight.

Red lights are flashing,
mixing with blue.
A face appears at my window,
the face is you.
"You're gonna be all right"
is the first thing you say.
A reassuring voice,
someone wants me to stay.

You could have been home with family,
they need you too.
You worked all day at the job,
your sleeping hours numbered two.
But you went down the hall,
hoping your family is OK.
Now you're here with me and Death,
with comforting words to say.

No time for yourself,
no thought for your safety.
Later you may think,
your decision was hasty.
"Get the Jaws. Watch that gas;
Keep the people away.
Get his vitals, hose this down."
Some things I hear them say.
You stand in gas,
look in my window,
show no fear.
I look back at you knowing,
your voice is the last I'll ever hear.
I fade away as you hold me,
while holding back your tears.
Thank you for being there,
You Brave Volunteers.

Today while running errands in Des Moines I saw a man who was rummaging through the garbage at the gas station. I watched him wondering if maybe he accidentally threw away something that he was supposed to keep. Then I realized that he was getting the cans out of the garbage can. Watching him do this made me so very sad. He was going from garbage can to garbage can. I sit in my car as it fills up wondering what circumstances brought him to where he is at in life.

I had a few cans in my car and walked over to him to give them to him. He must have thanked me 10 times for them. Once my car had filled up I started to drive off. My son and I were talking about it and how it must be terrible to be out in the cold in the middle of winter. My son had a hoodie in the car and asked if maybe he would want it. I told him it would be a great idea. I also had a $20 bill in my wallet. I told my son that we would give him both. So we pulled up besides him and gave him both. He kept asking what he could do to repay us. He wanted to to wash my windows on my car. I told him that we didnt want anything in return that I just wanted him to get himself a nice hot meal.

I have thought about that man all day long. I wonder if he goes to the homeless shelter. I just cant imagine what all he has been through. He was very worn and dirty. I just hope with the impending storm that he is able to find some shelter.

Today is the beginning of the weekend. Im wondering who will come across my path this weekend. I am excited because tomorrow is my son's birthday and then Monday is my husbands. Should be a fun and exciting weekend!

Following the norm of this winter there was another 4 inches dumped on our town today. I am tired of this winter but took this as an opportunity to help out my fellow neighbors. I had the day off of work. The kids had the day off of school. So we bundled up and headed out to shovel out my neighbors to the north and south of our house. At first I was wondering what did I get myself into with this deed, but by the time we were done the mood had lightened and we were having fun. The kids were plummeting me with snowballs and we decided to make a nice snowman that stands proud and tall in front of our house.

The kids were thrilled with what we had accomplished. We came inside to warm our bones with some lovely hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. While we were enjoying our treat the doorbell rang. It was my neighbor. She brought us over a fresh batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. It went very well with our hot chocolate. By the time we were done we all had a smile on our face and it felt great to get the exercise and to have my neighbors coming home to shoveled driveways!

Today while getting lunch at the cafeteria where I work. I was standing in line next to an older lady. I am not good at guessing ages but I am going to guess 60's. She was smiling from ear to ear. The line was quite long so I started to talk to her. She started to tell me how it was her 10 year anniversary working at Iowa Health Systems. She was very proud of this. I was curious as to why 10 years was so special to her. She continued to tell me that she was a breast cancer survivor and didnt think that she was going to make it to 5 years, little lone 10 years. She had a smile from ear to ear. I told her that I wanted to buy her lunch for such an amazing anniversary. She said no at first but then I insisted. She ended up letting me and thanked me. We ended up sitting together and having lunch. She continued to tell me about how she took a cruise for the first time as a gift to herself for surviving breast cancer. She was a very interesting lady and I hope that I run into her again.

I couldnt stop thinking about her after lunch. I basically thought about her all afternoon. I guess you dont really stop to realize just how thankful you should be for such simple things as health.

My Personal Quest.

Have you ever sat back and watched people bustling about? Where is everyone going? Why is everyone running from one thing to the next? When did we forget to take the time to notice those around us? What would a complete stranger do if you helped them carry their groceries to the car? What about if you paid for their coffee or help them picked up dropped items. This is going to be my daily challenge. Find one person that I can go above and beyond for and see what their reaction is. Think I can do it? Come with me along for my journey.

When was the last time that you had someone do something for you that made you think "Wow, they really went out of their way for me." I have to admit that I can't remember the last time I felt this way. I have decided that I want to be the person that makes another say that because I went out of my way to help them when they needed it. Maybe it will inspire them to "pay it forward" and brighten the next person's life that they come across. How challenging is this going to be? I have 30 days to find out!

I have been in the position many times where I have had a child on my hip and a hand full of groceries. Trying my hardest to keep my balancing act going so I don't drop the child or overfilled bags, only to have the person in front of me not even take a second to hold the door open for me. I am then having the door slam in my face and struggle to keep my juggling act going. Is it really that hard to hold the door? It makes me think am I guilty of this? Do I really just pretend like the person behind me is not there? Do I hold the door open?

I have always tried to raise my kids to treat others as you would like to be treated, but am I two faced when it comes to this? Do I help the person next to me as much as I would like to be helped? I think this quest is going to really open my eyes and hopefully anyone who comes across my path during my quest. I am hoping to show my kids that as little as 2 minutes of your day helping someone out could really make the difference in your day and even more for theirs. I know in this day and age you are taught not to talk to strangers and there are a lot of weirdos out there, but there are lots of decent people that you come in contact with every day. These people don't deserve to be ignored just as you don't deserve to be ignored. They are just as busy and important as you are. So there no reason to pretend like they aren't there.

People seemed to be hurried all the time and try to act like they don't have time for the person next to them. Do you think that if I were to go out of my way helping them with paying for their coffee or carrying their groceries will it inspire them to do the same for someone else? The goal of my personal quest is to make an impact on someone every day so maybe they will stop and say wow maybe I need to start paying attention to what I am doing and the others around me.

I know that I am just as guilty as the next person. I work full time, am a full time student, and a mother of three kids, so my time is precious but I don't want to forget that I am not the only person in the world. Since my time is very limited, I spend my day very planned out running from one thing on my agenda to the next. Very rarely stopping to take notice as to what is going on around me. I want to stop this cycle. I am taking classes to fulfill my lifelong dream of being a nurse. Who wants a nurse that isn't helpful or willing to go out of her way? I think that this quest is going to help me be the best nurse that I can be, not to mention the best neighbor, mother, sister, and wife as well.

I want to be able to make an impact on my whole family even my sisters, mother, husband, and kids. If they see me going out of my way maybe they will follow suit. I want to expose a more generous and caring side to everyone. I want my family to know that it is okay to stop what you are doing and help someone out. I don't want to raise kids who think they are the center of the universe. Maybe if everyone does a personal quest of this sort that it will help to change the world. I am probably dreaming a bit there, but what happens with it is to be discovered.

With my quest I am going to try to be inventive and do something different every day. I am going to try to pick different platforms where to do my quest at too. It could be at the grocery store, at a DMACC campus, at the dentist's office. Just basically any place that I see an opportunity to do something to make a difference to their day. I am sure that I am going to get mixed responses, but I hoping that I am going to get lots of smiles. A smile or a “thank you” is all it is doing to take for me to know that I have accomplished my personal quest. I want to make them happy and make them feel like not everyone is too hurried and rushed to notice that they are struggling and could use a bit of help.

I have always been someone who naturally wants to help other people such as charities, but felt that I didn't really have the money to make a REAL difference. I recently saw the movie “Pay It Forward” and it got me thinking that really I can do so much for the people that I come into contact with on a daily basis. It made me realize that you don't have to do things on a big scale that just a little bit of my time could potentially make a difference. I am hoping to open the eyes of the person I am helping and those around me as well. Show them that the little things in life really do count. I hope to accomplish a sense of happiness because I was able to assist someone who didn't expect it. Along the way I hope to change my own attitude that yes I do have 5 minutes to help my neighbor shovel her driveway. If I do this quest properly then it is going to be win-win situation for everyone.

I think the most challenging part of this may be approaching people as I can tend to be a bit shy. This personal quest is going to take me going outside of my personal realm to get it accomplished. I also think that getting people to let me help them in some occasions may be be difficult as well. They may not want my help or think that I am going to expect something in return. I could also have days where I don't particularly come across someone who needs my help. In this instance I am going to have to use my imagination. I think that this quest is going to really challenge me but in a good way. It will make me use my compassion, imagination, personality, and my people skills.

My rules with the quest are going to be to do at least one nice thing everyday. I am going to try to involve my family whenever I can. I am going to try to do something different every day and try to choose someone from every age group. I want to see how a younger person may react to my help compared to an elderly person. I want to be able to see which one is more appreciative. I have a feeling that there is going to be a huge difference in reactions and am excited to see the results.

I will be blogging every day about the person I helped, what I did, what they said, and what their reaction was after. I am also going to record what it felt like when I helped them out. I imagine with some people it might be a bit harder to help because they may just think that I am weird, but I am hoping for mostly positive responses. Enough positive responses to keep this quest going for the rest of my life. I don't want to get back into my slump of running the rat race and forgetting about everyone around me.

I think this quest is significant because I am hoping to change my daily life and the way some people think. I know that humans overall are giving people but I think that it takes a major crisis for us to show our caring side, such as the Haiti earthquake. Many people are being giving and generous to help out the injured or survivors of a natural disaster, but what about the regular people they come in contact with on a daily basis? I am sure that a mom who has had a terrible day, just getting off of work and at the store picking up dinner for her family would really appreciate having someone help her carry her groceries to the car. I need to get in the mindset of thinking it is just 2 minutes out of my day to make her smile and let her know that shes not invisible. She works just as hard as I do so why doesn't she deserve a little bit of my time? I hope that this will make her happy and make her evening even more enjoyable.

My goal with my blogs is to show all of the classmates how my quest has gone and what impact it has made on me and my family. I want to show everyone that, yes it is possible to do things for people that we don't know and just how much it can mean to do something very small for a person. Who knows I just might even inspire some of my classmates to start making an effort to go out of their way to help someone they don't know. I know the film “Pay It Forward” started a movement of its own. Maybe I will be so lucky as to start something as grand.

I am very excited to get started with my quest and wondering what sort of an adventure and impact it will be for me. I wonder if it will be something that I will be able to continue the rest of my life. I guess any change is better, even if I am not able to do something nice every day of the week. At least I can change myself enough if I see someone in need that I am able to stop what I am doing to help them out. Not worrying if I am going to have 5 minutes less to watch the shows that I TIVO-ed. Maybe it will even change me enough to rub off onto my family. I can only dream right now but hoping to turn that dream into a reality. I am ready, willing, and excited to embark in this quest and anxious for the results. I hope to be able to make an impact on many people with my quest.