The Rest of My 31 Things

Today, as promised, I give you the rest of the 31 things I did this holiday season:

23.  Took home-made chicken noodle soup to a friend going through chemo-therapy. 

24.  Took pumpkin bread to our new neighbors.  They built a duplex across the street from us, and we hadn’t met the people on one side.  Taking them a Christmas card and pumpkin bread seemed like a good way to meet them. 

25.  Took pumpkin bread to the rest of the neighbors.  We usually take baked goods to all of our neighbors around Christmas, but this year we also stayed and visited, instead of just dropping things off.  We have a neighbor in her 80s, who has lived there since 1960.  She seemed to enjoy the company, and it was neat to hear about how the neighborhood used to be.

26.  Paid for the next person's order at the drive-thru.  I did this one early on, just never got around to posting about it before.  I gave the cashier a note wishing them happy holidays to give to them.

27.  Took pound cake to the people who do security in my office building.  They do a great job, and are really nice, so I thought they needed to know they’re appreciated. 

28.  Took pound cake to the volunteers in my office building.  There are a lot of volunteers who work in the building, and help keep things running smoothly.  They do it simply out of kindness, so I thought they deserved a little something to say thank you.

29 – 31.  Took baked goods, magazines, books, soaps, and a movie to hospice.  I’ve written before about how amazing the people at the hospice house my grandmother was in were.  So we decided to try to do a little something for the staff, and the people there at Christmas.

We baked pound cakes and pumpkin bread to leave in the kitchenette in the family waiting room and for the staff.  My parents came too, and my mom made up little snack bags of Chex Mix and trail mix type things, as well as bringing fresh fruit.  We reasoned that people have to eat, and vending machines can be expensive and unappealing.

We also brought books and magazines for the waiting room, and a holiday movie for the kids’ room, because sometimes you just need a distraction.  We also brought some soaps and lotions for the care packages that they hand out in the beginning.  It wasn’t all that much, but we just wanted to do something. 

And that is the end of my 31 things project.  I’ve enjoyed it.  There were a few times when I wondered if I’d find 31 things I was able to do in the timeframe, but then some random opportunity would present itself.  I think that’s kind of the point, there are opportunities to do little things to make the world a slightly better place.  We just have to alert to them and seize them when we can. 

It also seems that I’m maybe a little obsessed with feeding people, and helping pets is definitely my thing.  It takes all kinds, right?

More of My 31 Things Project

I hope you all had a wonderful time during the Christmas holidays.  Nick had to work on Christmas, but fortunately, he was on day shift, so we were able to have the evening together, as well as his lunch break for lunch and presents with my friend Crystal.

And, I have not abandoned my 31 things project.  I’ve actually been quite diligent about doing the things, just not very diligent when it comes to blogging about them.  Things got a little hectic right before Christmas, and our computer/internet are so slow these days.  It.  Seems. To. Take.  Forever. To Load. One. Post!

So, instead of daily little posts, which was my original plan (one that I think would have been better), I’m going to do two relatively long posts to finish up the 31 things.  It seems that they’re pretty much all food or animal related.  (Can you guess what I’m passionate about?) So, I’ll do all of the animal related ones, and then all of the food related ones tomorrow.

18.  Picked up a dog from a local vet to take to the no-kill shelter.  He was taken in as a stray, with a damaged eye.  The vet’s office fixed him up, and then got in touch with the no kill shelter about taking him.  It’s in the next county, so he needed a ride over.  I arranged to leave work a little early and picked him up to take him to the shelter.

19.  Donated a blanket to the animal shelter.  The colder temperatures seem to be here with a vengeance, and here to stay.  The animal shelter sent out a plea for more blankets to help keep everyone warm, so we donated a blanket.

20.  The no-kill shelter has a thrift store (all of the money goes back into the shelter), so we loaded up a few boxes of things, including a few Christmas decorations we decided we could part with, to take to them.  The money is for a good cause.

21 - 22.  There’s a colony of feral cats living behind a local hardware store here, and there’s a small group of volunteers who feed them.  I became involved with them last year, and Monday is my usual feeding day.  Since Nick had to work on Christmas, I took Christmas as well, so the usual Wednesday feeder could enjoy Christmas morning, uninterrupted with her family.  I also took the cats some treats with their regular food.  It was Christmas!

Number 17 – Donated to PetSmart Charities

(Part of my 31 things project.)

Last weekend we found ourselves in PetSmart to buy food and toys for the fur kids.  I love the fact that PetSmart doesn’t sell kittens or puppies, and that they do a lot for animal rescue groups like giving them space to house pets and hold adoption events.

The group we adopted Milo from is one of the rescue groups that benefits from this, so it hits home.  Because PetSmart chooses to share their space Milo had a safe place to wait for us to come along and adopt him, and so have over a million other pets. 

So when we checked out and the option to donate came up, we gladly gave them a small donation. 

Number 16 – Took A Spaghetti Dinner To Our Next Door Neighbors

(Part of my 31 Things project)

We really hit the jackpot when it comes to neighbors.  We like all of our neighbors, but fortunately we really, really like the people right next door to us.  They’re very friendly and nice, and their kids are extremely well-mannered and well-behaved.  They’re also the neighbors who kind of keep the little traditions that make our little section of the street nice alive: they take cookies to everyone at Christmas, they share things from their garden, and they help the elderly lady on our street with things like walking her dog. 

We usually take them a pound cake around Christmas, but we decided to do something a little different this year.  We took them spaghetti last year when the youngest child was born, and they just went on and on about how much they liked the spaghetti.  We decided to give them the choice this year. 

I called and told her we were thinking about bringing them spaghetti instead of baked goods, but weren’t sure if that was Christmas-y enough, and also wanted to make sure we brought it at a convenient time.  She said that a night off from cooking was a great Christmas gift, and that they loved the spaghetti.  So we took our neighbors a spaghetti dinner.   I know it’s a little unusual for Christmas goodies, but it seemed like what they wanted. 

Number 14 & 15 – Took Pumpkin Bread to My Acupuncturist & Office Staff

In the interest of trying to catch up with posting about my 31 things project I’m going to have a few posts that are multiple, related things.

Last week I had my last acupuncture appointment before Christmas.  I really, really like my acupuncturist, Amanda.  She’s very sweet, has done amazing things for my allergies, and was amazingly kind and wonderful during all of my health issues this year. 

She’s in a new office, and the office staff is wonderful as well.  Everyone is always friendly and pleasant, and great about scheduling. 

So I decided to take them pumpkin bread: one loaf for Amanda to take home for her family, and one loaf for the people in the office.  Just a little way to try and let them know that they’re all very much appreciated.