Day 253: Free Ride

Tonight I am headed to a Halloween party and although I am not going to be the designated driver for my act of kindness tonight, I am going to go a decent ways out of my way to pick up a couple friends on the way to the party.  That way they won't need to worry about where their car is and how to get home.  I consider that kindness!

Day 252: Fire Drill!

My job consists of selling school uniforms.  While I was in a school this afternoon giving a presentation to a principal the fire alarm started going off.  Because of this, we all had to go outside in the 35 degree weather, and of course I didn't bring a jacket with me.  At first it wasn't so bad, but after about 20 minutes I started to get pretty cold.  I decided that I was going to go sit in my rental car across the parking lot.  I figured I wasn't the only one who was cold so I decided to ask the people around me if they wanted to come sit in my car. They all said yes and we went and sat in my car....and it was a good thing because it was another 20 minutes or so before we were cleared to go back in the building.  So today for my act of kindness, I invited strangers in my car to warm up from the cold!

Day 251: Helped Change A Tire

I don't know too much about fixing cars, but I have had a decent amount of experience when it comes to either jumping a car, or changing a tire.  This came in handy when I was on my way back to the hotel today.  When I was on my way out to my car I noticed a guy standing by his car looking somewhat lost. I also noticed his car had a flat tire.  I asked him if he could use any help.  The guy started off by saying that he was a little embarrassed, but he needed help changing his tire.  He had never done it before and didn't even know how to use the jack. I was happy to help....and since it was one of the two things I can help with when it comes to cars, I was actually able to help.  So today, for my act of kindness, I helped a guy change his tire.

Day 250: Breast Cancer Awareness

As most of you probably know, October is breast cancer awareness month. If you didn't know this, no offense, but you probably live under a rock. From football players wearing pink, to pink ribbons on my eggs, (picture above)awareness for breast cancer has never been higher. This is a great thing because it has affected so many lives and the sooner it is out of this World, the better. My company is doing a little fundraiser with all the proceeds going to the Susan G Komen for a Cure, so for my act of kindness I donated to support the cause.

Day 249: Bullies Suck

This actually happened late last night, but I wanted to write about it today anyways. While I was walking to dinner last night something pretty frustrating happened. There was a guy walking probably 30 feet ahead of me who was a pretty big guy weight wise. Unfortunately for him there was a group of about five kids probably around the ages of 10 on the sidewalk. When the guy walked by them, I heard one of the kids say to him, "wow you are a fat ass," and all the other kids started laughing and pointing at him. The guy, to his credit, just laughed it off and walked away. I however felt terrible for the guy. As soon as I got up to the kids I told them they were really rude and they shouldn't treat strangers like that. They then continued to call me some names. I wasn't about to get in a back and forth with these kids, but I did feel like I needed to stand up for that guy. He actually looked back when he heard me talking to the kids and gave me a nod. I truly doubt I was able to get through to any of the kids that what they were doing was wrong, but the fact that the stranger knew someone stood up for him was more than enough for me. So today, for my act of kindness, I spoke up when I saw someone being bullied. I encourage everyone on here to do the same thing if you see it. This World doesn't need bullies.

Day 248: Left Overs

I have been known to eat an excessive amount of food. Just last week I challeneged my friends to try and find a frozen pizza that I couldn't take down in one sitting. My guess is they are going to have a pretty tough time finding one. Tonight, however, at dinner I just wasn't that hungry so I ended up having almost half my meal to take back to the hotel for left overs. As I was walking back to the hotel I saw a homeless guy on the corner holding a sign saying homeless and hungry. I figured the left overs I was holding would be much more appreciated in his hands compared to being forgotten in the fridge the next day so today for my act of kindness, I gave my food to a homeless man on the street.

Day 247: A Nice Pen

One of the toughest things about this year of random acts of kindness has been trying to keep coming up with unique and different acts. Fortunately I have had a lot of people reach out to me with some acts. Today, I was able to complete one of those ideas. I went out to a sit down restaurant today and when my bill came the waitress forgot to leave a pen behind for me to sign the bill. This made me think of an idea that one of my readers emailed me about a few months ago. She mentioned that waitresses are always in the need of a good pen. Fortunately, I brought my work in with me for lunch today and I had a few nice pens to choose from. So today for my act of kindness, I left my favorite pen behind with a little note. Also, if anyone reading this has some ideas or a cause that I could help out with, please let me know. Thanks in advance!

Day 246: Travel Time Again

I am back to that time of year where I need to travel from time to time. Althougb I am not too excited to leave the family, there is one positve about it....there are a lot more opportunities to help people. I have had a difficult time recently trying to find kind acts because I have been stuck in such a routine...being on the road opens up a lot of opportunities for kindness. It didn't take long this morning to run into my first opportunity. Going through security in the airport can be a stressful thing. Since I travel a decent amoount, I have figured out the system. Unfortunatley, not everyone has figured it out. I was behind an enderly gentleman today and it was clear to me he was very confused on what to do. So, instead of standing there impatiently, I decided to assist him, So today for my act of kindness, I helped a stranger get through security.

Day 245: World Hunger

Would I like to donate to help end World Hunger?  Well of course! Very simple act today....I went to lunch with my dad today and the lady at the drive thru asked me that simple question, and my answer was yes. So today for my act of kindness, I donated to the World Hunger initiative.

Day 244: New Faucet

I am definitely not the most handy of people, however having owned a house for the last four years, I have had a lot of opportunities for improvement in my handiness.  Today, I wanted to surprise my wife by installing a new kitchen faucet before she got home from work.  Well things did not go as planned and the installation ended up spanning over four hours.  Things are very cramped underneath sinks I have come to realize.  It makes it pretty difficult to take out faucets if you don't have the right tools. Needless to say I was not able to surprise my wife with the faucet installed.  However it is up and running now (just need to go to pick up two plugs tomorrow to cover the holes) and sometimes it is the thought that counts right?!

Day 243: Vacation for Mom

My mom is one of the busiest people I have ever known.  It always amazes me how much she takes on and how well she manages everything.  With my dad being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, as you can imagine, this has added that much more responsibility to my mom's life. Well this week, my mom is taking a well deserved break.  She coordinated with some friends and is spending the week on vacation in Door County.  Obviously with her being gone, someone needs to watch my dad. So he will be staying at our house for this week.  In my opinion it is a win/win because my mom gets to spend sometime for herself and I get to spend some quality time with my dad.  However I am still going to use this as my act of kindness.  :)

Day 242: Ride

I live about 45 minutes away from my work.  To help save gas money, the environment and boredom, I am in a carpool with three other people.  Today was my day to drive and we ended up only have only three total people in the carpool today which turned out to be a lucky thing because one of my coworkers ended up asking me halfway through the day if I could give him a ride home.  He lives pretty close to my house so it was no problem at all and I was just glad I could help.  So today, for my act of kindness, I gave a coworker a ride home.

Day 241: Free Rice!

I stumbled upon a really cool website today,freerice.com . Freerice.com is a website that is owned by The United Nations World Food Programme and because of the genoristy of the sponsors who advertise on the site, the group makes it possible for anyone to donate rice to people in need, as well as getting an education at the same time. Basically, how it works is simple. All you need to do is go to freerice.com and answer the questions on the page. For every right answer that you get, 10 grains of rice will be donated. This is what I did for my kind act today. I ended up answering 53 questions correctly in a row which totaled out to 530 grains of rice donated....all while sharpening up my vocabulary schools.

Day 240: Good Luck Card

My grandpa is having hip surgery later this week.  My wife and I tried to make it down to visit him this past weekend so that Emma could help him keep his spirits up, however my grandma wasn't feeling well so we had to call off the trip.  Nonetheless I wanted to make sure my grandpa knew I was thinking of him so today for my act of kindness I sent him a card in the mail to wish him luck and to let him know we would visit with Emma after his surgery to help with the recovery process.

Day 239: Foosball Table

Well todays kind act was sort of bitter sweet.  I bought a foosball table a couple of years ago and I had visions of playing it every night.  Unfortunately this never happened.  In fact I probably only played it around five times.  Because of this, plus the fact I am in some need for some extra money, I decided to sell the table.  Today a stranger emailed me that he was interested in coming to look at the table.  I noticed in his email signature he had a quote pertaining to the Marines.  When he stopped by the house and looked at the table he decided he wanted to buy it but mentioned he had a pretty tight budget.  Long story short, after finding out he is a Marine, I cut him a deal as a small gesture of kindness to thank him for his service.  I basically went $50 lower than I had originally anticipated being willing to go.  Hopefully they will get much more use out of the table than I was able to.

Day 238: Packing Groceries

Today went I got in line at the grocery store there was an older woman in front of me.  Typically there is a cashier and then also an employee who helps bag the groceries.  Well today there was just the cashier.  So instead of having to wait until the cashier was done ringing up the food I asked the woman if she would like help with bagging her groceries. So that is what I did for my act of kindness today. The lady was very happy and actually said it was one of the nicest things someone has done for her in a long time. It was kind of funny the woman's reaction because I didn't feel like this was a grand gesture by any means. Part of the reason I helped was for selfish purposes....I wanted the line to move faster.  However it just goes to show even the small acts can go a long way!

Day 237: Act of Kindness Gets Rewarded

I came across a very cool story yesterday. A homeless man, Glen James, found a bag that contained $42,000.....and he promptly turned it in to the authorities.  I think if anyone, regardless if they are homeless or not, found this amount of money it would take a lot of courage to decide to hand it over.  When I learned that a homeless person did this I was at first completely shocked and then I got to thinking that this just goes to show that regardless of what hand you were dealt in life, or how tough of a situation you are in, it does not need to compromise the person that you are deep down.  This man kept his morals even though it would have been much easier for him to pocket the money.

What's really cool though is that a stranger decided to start a donation page to reward Glen's kind act.  I don't think he expected it to take off as quickly as it has however the donation page went viral and in two days has raised over $110,000, and ALL of the proceeds are going directly to Glen.  Today, for my act of kindness I decided to chip in and donate to help Glen!

If you would like to learn more about the story or chip in yourself, just click on the link below!

http://www.gofundme.com/4by2as

Day 236: Small Donation

Today at work, one of my coworkers put a jar on a desk and asked for donations that would go towards paying for some gas cards for a couple families that are going through some tough times. I only had a few bucks on me, but it was a very easy decision that donating those few dollars was going to be my act of kindness today.

Day 235: Raffle Ticket

I remember when I was a kid, I used to absolutley dominate raffles. You might be asking yourself, how could one "dominate" a raffle? Well I don't have a good answer for you except that to tell you that I literally won every raffle I entered into as a kid. It was comical. I won bikes, video games, candy...you name it, I won it. Fastfoward to adulthood, I win nothing in raffles. It is almost to the point that I don't even enter them anymore. I'm not sure where my luck went...but I defintely do not have it anymore. That being said, one of my cowrokers today was attempting to sell some raffle tickets. I, at first, rejected because of my afermentioned adulthood luck, but then he told me that he had 15 left to sell and not much time left to sell them. So, I decided that for my act of kindness today, I would roll the dice one more time and buy a raffle ticket to help out a coworker. Fingers crossed.

Day 234: Shipped A Phone

My brother made the trip down from Minneapolis this weekend so he could take part of the Alzheimer's walk.  It is always nice when I get to see my brother and I wish he could have stayed longer than just a day.  Unfortunately though, he had to go back yesterday.   Even more unfortunate, about 30 minutes into his trip back, we realized he had forgotten his phone at my place.  Instead of him turning around I told him that I could just mail it back to him.  So that is what I did for my act of kindness today, I went to the post office today and expressed shipped my brother's phone back to him.  

Day 233: Walked for Alzheimer's Research

Today, for my act of kindness, I walked to raise money for Alzheimer's research.  In total my team, "Team Mickey" raised $795.  As most of you know, this disease hits pretty close to home with my grandmother passing away from it, and my father recently diagnosed.  The picture above is of my dad and daughter right before the walk. Even though it rained and I wasn't feeling well it still was a great day!  Thank you to all who had a part in this day.

Day 232: Goodwill Drop-off

We recently moved to a different house.  It was the first time I have ever moved from a house to a house.  I guess I underestimated just how much stuff we really had in the old house.  Towards the end of packing I found myself just moving boxes that had never even been opened in the three years we lived there.  Because of this there are a lot of boxes and clothes I want to go through to get rid of the clutter.  Today, for my act of kindness, I looked through all my clothes and was able to fill up two big garbage bags of things I don't really wear anymore and dropped them off at Goodwill.  I know they will be put to better use now compared to at the bottom of my closet.

Day 231: Helped Around the House

My wife and I have a pretty good routine down for handling the workdays, both for mornings and nights.  There are times however where that routine kinda gets thrown out the window.  Today was one of those days.  However, because of this I was able to find an opportunity for my act of kindness.  My wife was running around trying to get Emma to bed, so I decided to clean the kitchen and make dinner while she was doing that.  I'm sure she was half expecting me to be on the couch when she came downstairs, but I am glad I could help make her day a little bit easier.  See above picture for what I made....taco casserole.

Day 230: Just a little Extra

I have made an effort to bring a lunch to work everyday to try and save some money. I made it everyday so far this week and am pretty proud of myself. However today, while I was heating up my lunch, I overheard a person attempting to pay for their lunch comment that they were a couple bucks short.  Although I am trying to save money I couldn't pass up the opportunity so today, for my act of kindness, I gave a stranger/co-worker some money to cover her lunch.

Day 229: Never Forget

I think we all remember where we were when the news first hit twelve years ago....I was a senior is high school and I was at my friend's house during lunch.  I remember disbelief was my first emotion that I experienced.  As the news kept coming out and the second plane hit my emotions turned into horror...then sadness...and then anger.  

It definitely does not feel like it's been twelve years.  Even with all the time that has passed I still have those range of emotions about that tragedy especially on 9/11.  Today is also a day that I wanted to express how grateful I am for our armed forces so, for my act of kindness, I went to any soldier.com and wrote a letter to a random soldier overseas to let them know how much I appreciate them.  I hope it makes their day a little bit better.

Day 228: Left Some Change

Today's act was a very simple act.  There is a vending machine at work that I go to pretty often.  About half the time I try and get something from the vending machine I never seem to have enough money. I always seem to be a few cents short of what I need.  Well today I had more than enough, however I decided to leave the 90 cents of change for the next person. It's not a big act of kindness but I know that on those days that I find myself a few cents short, I would really be happy to find the spare change!

Day 227: Took a Pledge and Shared

I don't think there is anything dumber than drinking and driving.  Not only do you put your life in risk, but the lives of innocent strangers on the road.  It is one of those things that people just think it won't happen to them....until it does.

I was browsing Facebook yesterday and I stumbled on the video below.  I have mixed reactions on the video, however the message is clear....DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE, IT IS NOT WORTH IT. So today for my act of kindness, I wanted to share this video with my readers in hopes it would have the same affect as it did on me, as well as make a pledge to never drink and drive.

Day 226: Helped a Homeless Couple

Today while I was driving, I came up to a stop light.  I saw a homeless person holding a sign at the intersection. I always try and help out when I see a homeless person asking for help, but I usually do not like giving money in the fear that they will go spend it on alcohol.  However today, it wasn't just one homeless person asking for money, it was a couple and the woman was pregnant.  This was pretty difficult to see and I really hope they are able to find some help and get a roof over their head very soon.  And although I couldn't do that for them, I still wanted to help out in someway, so today for my act of kindness, I gave some money to the homeless couple.  I know it is not a lot but hopefully it helps.

Day 225:Tough Mudder

Today's act was one I've been looking forward to for a long time.  It's one where there are many kind acts performed during one big event.  For my kind act today I participated in Tough Mudder Wisconsin 2013.  I'm happy to be writing this, because it means I made it through this 12 mile obstacle course alive.  My team consisted of 6 guys, through out the race we not only helped each other we also stopped and helped other strangers along the way.  It was a fun experience and all for a good cause.  Also a portion of the proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior Project. I'm looking forward to repeating this kind act again next year

Day 224: Donated to "Team Mickey"

With the Alzheimer's Walk being about a week away I decided (with help from my brother) to get started looking for donations.  I then thought that if I am asking for people to donate to my team, then I should also donate to get the ball rolling.  So today for my act of kindness I made a contribution to my Alzheimer's Walk team, "Team Mickey."

If anyone reading this would like to chip in for a great cause it would be greatly appreciated!  All you need to do is click on the link below and enter in the information! Thank you!

https://act.alz.org/site/Donation2?idb=124997305&df_id=16192&FR_ID=3817&PROXY_ID=8098477&PROXY_TYPE=20&16192.donation=form1&16192.donation=root&PROXY_ID=8098477&idb=290891409&FR_ID=3817&PROXY_TYPE=20&df_id=16192

Day 216: I'm Back!

Remember me?!

So in my last post was titled, "Going Dark." I originally had planned on this only being for the weekend however, as I'm sure most of you had noticed, it turned out to be quite a bit longer than that. I apologize! I have had some personal issues to go through along with closing on a new house a couple of weeks ago so I had to take a little break with the acts.  However, I am back now and excited to get going again!

Now some of you might be wondering....well what went on as far as kind acts over the past 30 days? I am glad you asked! Since I wasn't writing about my act each day, I ended up taking a little more of a reactive approach with performing kind acts.  When an opportunity presented itself, I made sure to act, however there were many days when kind opportunities didn't come up.  Because of this I am behind for my acts compared to the calendar year.  I have decided that regardless I will complete 365 acts of kindness.  Now that might mean some days will include multiple acts, or that my journey is going to go into 2014.  Whatever the case, I will make sure that 365 acts are completed! I am very energized and motivated to get this going again!

Below is a list (along with brief description) of acts that were done while I was away from the blogosphere!


Day 216: Left camping materials for next guests.

• When we got up to the cabin we quickly realized there were some essential items that we would need. i.e. Charcoal, playing cards, fire wood, garbage bags etc.  When the weekend was over I decided to leave everything leftover behind so the next group to rent out the cabin wouldn't need to get so much!

Day 217: Started recruiting members members for the Alzheimer's Walk

• The walk is next Sunday the 15th in Madison.  My dad is battling this disease currently and I wanted to walk for him along with anyone else who has been affected by this monster. If you are reading this and want to walk with me just send me a message and I will get you details.

Day 218: Let woman go ahead of me in line at Target and helped her put her items in cart.

• She seemed in a rush and I was not.  She thanked me 5 separate time.  It just goes to show that it can be the little things that make a difference sometimes.

Day 219: Was an usher in a good friend's wedding

Day 220: Brought a runaway dog back to it's owner

• The dog's name was Fergie.  It weighed about 3 pounds and although it's legs were moving quick, it's body wasn't. The dog was very easy to wrangle in and return to the owner who was running out of her house.

Day 221: Brought a housewarming gift to new homeowners

• As someone who just bought a house, I can attest that gifts are always welcomed!

Day 222: Left a generous tip for my haircut

Day 223: Donated to a local park

• Contributed a few dollars to a park in my town.  This park contains a splash park which seems to be one of my daughter's favorite places to go!

Day 214 and 215: Going Dark

I am about to head up north for the weekend.  My brother and I rented a cabin so that we can have a guys weekend with us two and my dad.  I am definitely looking forward to it.  With my dad's condition I know I need to take advantage of all the time I can get.  I am not sure I will have internet at the cabin so I will catch up with my acts of kindness after the weekend.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Day 213: Flowers

I wouldn't be able to do my job as a sales rep without the support of a lot of people at work.  One person in particular has really helped me out a lot over the last few months. She, unfortunately, is having knee surgery next week and will be in recovery mode for 3 months.  Since I won't be in the office tomorrow today was the last day I would see her before her surgery.  Because of this I wanted to make sure she was aware of how appreciative I was of all the work she has done to help me recently.  So today, for my act of kindness, I brought my coworker flowers as a thank you and also for wishing her well in surgery/recovery.

Day 212: Shared a Picture

My dog, Paisley, bolts.  Meaning if she gets out in the open, she is gone.  She has only gotten out of the house on us a few times in her life but those have been very scary moments.  Luckily after about 15 minutes of chasing her down we have been able to get her back in the house.  Because of her tendency to bolt...one of my biggest fears is having her run away and get lost.... or worse.  So when I saw something on Facebook tonight about a dog that has been found but no one knows who the owner is, it made me want to try and help.  I can't imagine the feeling the owner has right now not knowing where their pup is. So today, for my act of kindness, I shared the story/picture with all my friends on FB hoping that someone would know the dog/owner.  I also put the picture above on even the off chance that one of you know the dog.  Fingers crossed....

Day 211: A Simple Act

A lot of times this year my acts have revolved around just being aware of ways to help and make people's lives easier. I think doing the little things everyday can make a huge difference. Today I had to get gas on the way home from work.  While I was filling up my tank a stranger was walking out of the gas station with a case of water. The lady happened to stumble a little bit which cause the water to fall on the ground.  About half of the bottles went rolling on the ground.  Now I know I am not supposed to leave the pump unattended but I felt like this was a good excuse.  I went over and helped the lady pick up the water.  She seemed partly embarrassed but mostly appreciative.  I think she thanked me probably 15 times in a 30 second stretch.  I was happy to help.  I always feel good when I can help people make their day a little bit easier.

Day 210: That Sinking Feeling

Don't you hate that feeling you get when you misplace something important like keys or a wallet? I couldn't find my wallet a few days ago and it drove me nuts.  It got to the point where I couldn't concentrate on anything else until I found it.  Good thing my wife was able to track it down for me and I was able to relax.

Tonight, after work, I went to pick up pizza.  When I was waiting for my order I noticed a credit card on the floor.  At first I thought it was mine but when I went to pick it up I realized is was a stranger's card. So today, for my act of kindness, I helped a stranger find their lost credit card.  I ended up bringing it to the employees and they were able to match the name to a person who just picked up an order 20 minutes ago.  They gave her a call and told her they had her card.  This was a simple gesture but one that I know was appreciated!

Day 209: Scratch Off

I just got home from the softball tournament and I am exhausted so hopefully there aren't too many mistakes in this entry tonight.

On the drive home we had to stop and get gas.  When I went in to pay I thought it would be fun to get a scratch off ticket and ask the cashier to give it to the next person who came in.  However I switched up my plan on the last second.  Instead of having the cashier give it away I decided to just give the ticket to t he cashier.  When I handed it to him he seemed a little bit confused.  I just told him I wanted to do something nice for a stranger today and said good luck.  He seemed very happy and thanked me a bunch.  Hopefully he won something!

Day 208: Free Gas

Today I took my parents car to go to my softball game.  On the way out there I realized their car was pretty much running on empty and I would need to stop for gas.  Instead of just filling it up a little bit and bringing back the car with the same amount of gas I decided, that for my act of kindness, I would fill up the tank and bring it back full. With gas being nearly $4 per gallon, I am sure they apprecaited it!

Day 207: Coming Out of Retirement

I thought I hung up my softball cleats three years ago.  Little did I know I would be coming out of retirement for an act of kindness.  I mentioned that I am up in Door Couty for the weekend, well it just so happens that a buddy of mine from work is on a softball team that has a tounament in Sturgeon Bay (30 minutes South of where I am) every year.  He asked me a few weeks ago if I could play in the tournament because his team needed an extra player.  So that is what I did for my act of kindness today.  We won 11-7 and I am strongly considering coming out of retirement for good because of how much fun it was....

Day 206: Door County Trip

I wasn't planning on using this for my act of kindness today, but then I had a conversation with my mom and I figured it was a good one.  We have had this Door Couty trip planned for a couple months now however when we got up here today my mom mentioned to me that she thought for sure that she was going to get a call from us cancelling the trip.  The reason she thought this is because with us being in the process of selling our house and buying another one, plus our busy work schedules, the weekends are crucial for us to get things done.  My mom figured I was going to call and say that we needed to use the weekend to get some work done.  Even though I know she would have understood, this would have been very sad news since they haven't seen their grandaughter in almost a month...and up until a couple months ago, my parents were barely going a week without seeing her.  They definitely needed their Emma fix.  So today, for my act of kindness, I put aside everything going on at home, and made the trip up to Door County for the weekend for some family time.

To be honest, cancelling on this weekend never even crossed my mind.  There will always be time to do work...

Day 205: Juvenile Diabetes

Since yesterday's blog turned out to be more of a novel I figured I would keep today's very short for the readers.  I had to make a stop at Walgreens this morning and they are doing a fundraiser to support juvenile diabetes research.  So today for my act of kindness I donated to the cause.

Day 204: theCHIVE

I have a few websites that I check pretty regularly.  One of those sites is theCHIVE.com.  This site consists of a lot of funny pictures and galleries that give me a much needed mental break sometimes during the day.  This is also where I get all of my Bill Murray shirts which can be pretty tough to get because they sell out so fast. The reason being is theCHIVE.com is sort of a community and having one of their shirts shows that you are part of it.  This website is also very big on helping strangers and people in need.  One of their galleries every few weeks just consist of examples of people doing random acts of kindness which is fun to look at and sometimes pull ideas from! There are also special cases where the website calls on theCHIVE community to come together and help raise money for a good cause.  Today was one of those days where we were asked to help so today for my act of kindness I donated to the cause below.  As usual The Chivers did not disappoint. Within hours their goal of $80,000 was raised and will have forever changed the life for the better for Jaiden and his family. 

Below is Jaiden's story.....

http://thechive.com/2013/07/23/a-brave-young-boy-needs-our-help-meet-jaiden-16-hq-photos/

Tim and Natalie Rogers always wanted to have children of their own. When they discovered that wasn’t possible, both were undeterred. The Rogers felt there was room in their home and hearts for adopted children. Their first, a newborn daughter, was adopted from a Russian orphanage in 1989. The second, a 12 year-old boy, was adopted in 2005.

The two children excelled. Their daughter is working on her masters in psychology. Their son, a computer science major, will graduate in 2015 as a commissioned officer in the Air Force. With both children soaring off to make their own marks, the Rogers felt they had room for one more. In 2007 they took guardianship of a 2 year-old boy named Jaiden.

The Rogers entered Jaiden’s life not a moment too soon. After his birth mom signed over guardianship, Tim and Natalie were finally directed to a remote residence in Georgia. When they walked in ‘the smell was overwhelming.’ They found a little boy with fetal alcohol syndrome, neglected and malnourished, huddled next to his filthy car seat eating dog food out of the dog dish.

Natalie told me that for the first year they had Jaiden, he used to sneak into the Rogers’ bedroom in the middle of the night and feel their faces to make sure they were still there, then go back to bed. What neither Jaiden nor his new family could have known was that the only thing more horrifying than the first chapter of Jaiden’s life would be the second.

The trouble began innocently enough 3 years ago when Tim noticed a small lump on Jaiden’s right thigh just beneath his skin. He took Jaiden to a dermatologist who told them to keep an eye on it. Things were fine until early this year when the lump started getting bigger. Even more startling, the lump had started to spread…fast.

Tim told me “It was as if the skin on his right leg was only 1/8 of an inch thick with something very hard underneath, like stone. It felt like tapping on countertop.”

In a matter of weeks, the growth had wrapped around Jaiden’s right thigh and behind his knee. Once the hard calcifications invaded the joint, Jaiden began to lose mobility. The family rushed to Texas Tech for a biopsy.

When the results came back, even the doctors couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Jaiden was diagnosed with something called Stiff Skin Syndrome. Jaiden is the 41st documented case ever.

Stiff Skin Syndrome is a connective tissue disorder characterized by hard, thick skin, which can spread over the entire body causing immobility. Muscles become weak, short stature is common, and there is no known cure.

Jaiden’s doctors acknowledged that, of the known cases, they’d never seen such aggressive spread of the syndrome. In a month, it spread to Jaiden’s left leg, both hips, buttocks, and his arms. Spots have recently appeared near his spine. The once-hyperactive Jaiden is mostly confined to a wheelchair and no longer able to attend school with his friends.

Everyday the pain from the disorder grows worse. Jaiden is the first to point out new, hard spots of skin. Jaiden understands that he is sick as much as a 7 year old boy can, although he cannot fully grasp the intent of the sinister syndrome branching out just beneath his skin.

Jaiden is slowly turning into stone.

Over the last few months, the fight back has begun. Jaiden’s treatment started with rounds of chemotherapy to try to halt the spread of the calcifications. The chemo destroys both good and bad cells, leaving Jaiden weak and open to infection. He wears a medical mask to sleep to prevent bugs.

Jaiden has also started physical therapy, the most crucial component of his treatment. His muscles must be stretched to keep his joints limber. The stretching is immensely painful, yet still Jaiden smiles and jokes with his doctors. Jaiden submits to therapy 3 times per week. Ideally, he should be in therapy 6 times per week but the insurance co-pays are too costly for the Rogers family.

Because there are so few recorded cases, nobody knows what the worst case scenario is here. As aggressively as Jaiden’s calcifications are spreading, it’s likely the disorder will spread until Jaiden experiences total paralysis. Jaiden will become entombed inside his own skin.

We cannot allow this to happen.

Jaiden needs to ramp up his physical therapy to 6 times a week, and there’s a more wholesale solution to this than driving him to PT. We can build Jaiden a heated, covered pool so his family can assist with his physical therapy on a daily basis. Stretching Jaiden’s sore limbs in a heated, floating environment would put less stress on his body, easing his pain. This is no ordinary spa.

To accommodate Jaiden, the pool will need a wheelchair ramp, specialized heating systems, and a special enclosure to keep Jaiden warm during the harsh Colorado winters.

We’ve also been in touch with Dr. Hal Dietz at Johns Hopkins, a specialist in connective tissue disorders. He’s agreed to review Jaiden’s case pro bono. We need to provide travel and lodging for the family for the visit to a world renowned researcher who may bring new answers to help figure out this rare disorder.

Lastly, the Rogers would like to make their entire home wheelchair accessible. When Jaiden is having a a good day, he can sometimes walk on his own from one side of the living room to the other. But those days a fewer and fewer. Tim told me: “Often Jaiden’s poor knees will buckle, and he falls.”

Jaiden is a survivor. The first two years of his life he endured hardships no child should suffer. The lasting effects of which were imprinted so deeply he would sneak into his new family’s bedroom just to make sure somebody was there. Today, we’re all there for Jaiden.

We have the power to slow the pace of this disorder. Jaiden is willing to accept his part in the fight. This brave little boy is willing to step up his painful physical therapy sessions to six times a week, to have his stiff joints stretched despite the syndrome that assails his every movement. Jaiden wants to fight for every inch of his mobility and we’re going to provide him with every tool he needs to win the fight.

UPDATE: Off and running passing $10,000!

UPDATE #2: $20,000 coming in fast

UPDATE #3: $25,000 in an hour flat. Let’s do this!

UPDATE #4: $30,000

UPDATE #5: $40,000 – past the halfway point! This is where the Chivers traditionally lay the hammer down…

UPDATE #7: Just jumpled to $60,000. Holy shit, hitting the throttle when it matters.

UPDATE #8: $70,000. The home stretch…

UPDATE #9: $80,000!!! You’ve done it again!!!

Day 203: Being a Friend

So tonight's blog is going to be a little short tonight because I just got home from a really long day and I am STARVING! So I apologize for that!

A friend of mine had a couple rough days recently. So I (and my wife) wanted to do something to cheer her up a little bit.  So today, for my act of kindness, I brought her some candy (a kind my wife knew she liked) and a note. Hopefully it made her day a little better.  

Day 202: Lift With Your Legs

I have written about it a few times already this year...the whole idea that there are so many opportunities to help and sometimes is is just a matter of keeping an eye out for situations to help.  Well today, I didn't even need to keep an eye out, my act of kindness found me.  I had to make a quick run to our storage unit today.  After I loaded up what I needed I was just about to head home when a truck pulled up behind me.  It was a one way street so I mentioned to the guy that I was just leaving. Right before I was about to get in my car the guy in the truck yelled to get my attention.  He asked if I could help him unload a dresser really quick.  His buddy was still about 20 minutes out who was coming to help.  So today, for my act of kindness, I helped a stranger move a dresser to storage.  I not only helped the stranger carry the dresser, but I helped his friend save a trip. Double act of kindness!

Day 201: Packing is Not Fun

We will be moving into a new house in about a month.  Moving in itself can be pretty exciting, but with moving comes packing.....which is awful.  I only have about one free weekend left before we close on our house so this weekend has consisted of pretty much nothing but putting stuff in boxes and hauling everything to the garage.  There is not much enjoyable about this experience however there is a silver lining....we have found a lot of stuff to give to Goodwill! So that is what I did for my act of kindness today, we took about six garbage bags full of various things that we might not have use for anymore, but I hope strangers will be able to find use of them!

Day 200: Stay Hydrated

It has been ridiculously hot and humid in Wisconsin over the last few days.  It is pretty frustrating because we typically only get a few nice months of weather before Winter hits again, so during Spring/Summer I really want to take advantage of the weather and be outside.  Because it has been so hot...outside it the last place that I want to be.  This got me thinking how bad it must suck for people who are forced to be outside during this type of weather.  I also wanted to center my act today around helping a stranger who needed to be outside.  Today for my act of kindness, I put a Gatorade in my mailbox with a note for my mailman.  I hope it made their day a little bit easier dealing with this heat!

Day 199: Movies & Popcorn

You know how some things just go well together?....bacon and eggs, baseball and hotdogs, and sleepless nights and a teething baby (ugh).  Other things that I think go perfect together are movies and popcorn.  Because of that, for my act of kindness today, I wanted to make sure a stranger to go with one and without the other.  For my act of kindness today I went to the closest Redbox in my neighborhood and attached some microwave popcorn along with a note telling them to enjoy.

Day 198: The V Foundation

I'm not sure if I have mentioned it before but I am a huge sports fan.  You can pretty much name any sport and I am sure I follow it (except soccer that is). Being the big sports fan that I am I always enjoy watching the sports award show ever year (The ESPYS), and those just happened to be on tonight.  Because of this I decided to have my act of kindness revolve around this.

I am sure most of you are familiar with the Jimmy Valvano speech that was given 20 years ago at the ESPYS.  If you aren't, I included the link below and encourage everyone to watch it.  It is truly an inspiration.  Even though I have heard this speech countless times, I never took action.  Until today that is.  Today for my act of kindness I donated some money to the V Foundation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoVM9nm42E

Day 197: Only Took $1

Sometimes it doesn't take much to make a difference in someone's day. A lot of times is doesn't take anything but taking the time to help.  Today however, it only took $1 to help a stranger.  I was in line at FedEx waiting to send out a package today.  There was an old guy in front of me who was trying to do the same thing.  When the cashier told him how much it was to ship his package the old man was taken back.  He had no idea it was going to cost that much and he didn't bring enough cash to cover it.  It turned out he was about 83 cents short.  I waited a little bit to see if the cashier was going to help....this just turned out to be a waste of time.  The cashier just gave a look to the old guy like....well that sucks.  This is when I decided to help out.  Today for my act of kindness I gave a stranger $1 to help ship his package.

Day 196: Alzheimer's Walk

Today was a good day for my family.  My dad was accepted into a research group with a neurologist in the Madison area.  This means that he will have fantastic care and if any break throughs are made, he should be one of the first in lines.  This is very exciting.  Because of this news I wanted to do something for the cause for my act of kindness today.  I searched for how I could help and I found a walk for Alzheimer's fundraiser that is taking place in Madison in September.  So, today for my act of kindness, I registered and started a team for the Alzheimer's walk.  I am looking forward to raising some money and walking with friends and family on September 15th.

Day 195: Pizza Sunday

I have found that some of the most fun acts that I have done this year involve a third party helping me out.  And the reason I think this is the case is because it gets more people involved in being part of kind acts which helps raise awareness! Today is Sunday, so that means I made a trip to Papa Murphy's to pick up some pizza.  When I was finished paying for my food, I grabbed $5 out of my wallet and asked the cashier if he would do me a favor.  I asked him if he could put that $5 towards the next person's order.  You could tell he was a little surprised at first and then he asked why I wanted to do this....I responded by saying I just wanted to do something nice for a stranger today. He was more than happy to do this and actually responded by saying, "Now that is something I can totally get behind." So even though I didn't see the reaction of the person who received the $5...I still could tell that my gesture was making a difference even before it was done, and that is pretty cool!

Day 194: Party Clean-up

Back in college, I was that person who was the last one to leave parties or the bar.  Since I have left college that has drastically change.  A late night for me is staying up later than 10pm on a weekend.  Tonight was a little bit of a different story....It's 2am and I am just walking in the door.  Since I was one of the last people to shut it down I felt a little bit of responsibility to help my neighbor clean-up his yard which was absolutely trashed.  I easily could have went to bed and not worried about it but I wanted to help, and it is something that will make his morning a little bit easier.

Day 193: Mosquitos Suck

Tomorrow is a big day for my neighborhood.  It is the annual Mammoth trail "block" party.  It is kind of a big deal for all of us on the street. We even get a permit so we can close down our street for the day so the kids can play in the road without worrying about cars coming through.  It is also a day all the adults look forward to.  it gives us all a little bit of an opportunity to relax, have some drinks and just have a good time.  I have no doubt that the end of the night will conclude with some sort of bonfire so today for my act of kindness, I want to make sure we were prepared.  I took a trip to a park nearby and filled up my SUV with wood to help keep the fire going tomorrow night.  It went well despite the mosquitos.  I got ripped apart, but it will all be worth it tomorrow. I think. I itch all over.

Day 192: Lunch Money

Today one of my friends/coworkers forgot to bring their money to lunch. So she sat there while the rest of us ate our lunches.  No, I'm kidding, I obviously wasn't going to let her go without lunch so today for my act of kindness, I gave my friend money so that she could get something to eat for lunch.

Day 191: Cleaned the House

Tonight my wife went out with some friends to go see a movie.  In my opinion she doesn't make enough time for herself sometimes and is always busy helping others, so I was happy to hear when that she was going out.  When I got home today the house was pretty much a mess.  It definitely wasn't her fault being that she had a 13 month old to watch all day and still found time to have dinner ready for when I got home.  So it is pretty easy to understand why the house was out of order.  When she left for the movie I decided that today for my act of kindness I would make sure that when she got home, she walked into a clean house.  It only took me an hour or so, but I know she will be very happy when walking in the door.

Day 190: Left a Tip

I consider myself pretty lucky that I work at a place that has a frozen yogurt machine.  A couple times a week I like to take a little break and go get some froyo with a coworker.  Today I noticed a tip jar that I had never seen before.  I felt a little guilty when seeing this because with all the times I have gone there I have never left anything in the jar. I figure I am not the only person who didn't notice a tip jar there before I still felt kind of bad. So today, for my act of kindness, I left a few dollars for the tip to make up for those other trips.

Day 189: Yet Another Letter

Good thing I have a little bit of a journalism background because it has come in handy not just for writing this blog, but also for completing some of my acts.  A couple of days ago I wrote a letter to my grandparents to tell them how much they have influenced my life and how much I appreciate them.  While I was writing the letter I caught myself thinking of another person who has played such a big role in my life.  That person is my Aunt.  So today, for my act of kindness, I wrote a letter to my Aunt to let her know how I feel about her.

Day 188: Held a Door

I have written a few times already this year that sometimes even very small gestures of kindness will be used for my year long journey.  The more I get to thinking about it...the more I realize that these small acts can make a big difference. And the reason I say that is because these acts take only a few seconds to perform yet they can make the same impression on people as the bigger acts.  On top of that, because they are so easy, they are also easy to pay it forward.  I truly hope that not only do people appreciate the acts of kindness, but that they get inspired by them and pass it on to other people.  Now I now it might be pretty tough to get inspired by a stranger holding the door for you but if you look passed the gesture itself and see the bigger picture....that a stranger is attempting to make another stranger's day better...that is where I feel the inspiration should come from.

Sorry I rambled a little bit there....on to my act for the day.

I alluded to it a little bit in the above paragraph but today when I was waiting in line for my pizza at Papa Murphy's I noticed a lady holding a baby and one hand and a pizza she just picked up in the other.  I could see it in her eyes that she was already contemplating how to open the door ahead of her.  So today for my act of kindness I got out of line and went and opened the door for her.  I then asked if she needed help carrying the pizza to her car.  She said yes and I helped with that as well!

Day 187: Letter to my Grandparents

A handful of people have made a big impact on my life.  Earlier this year I have written letters to a few of these people.  One was an old teacher of mine, another was an old boss however the people who have most greatly impacted my life are my family and I really haven't expressed that to them as much as I probably should have.  So today for my act of kindness, I wrote a letter to a couple of people who have always been there for me...my grandparents.  I know they know I appreciate them, but it doesn't hurt every now and again to remind them just how much I appreciate them!

Day 186: Second Trip to the Little Library

This is a repeat act from earlier in the year but I think it is one that is worth repeating.  My family is up in Door County for the holiday and there is a little coffee shop that has a free little library where people can leave a book for a stranger to take, or they could take a book if one interested them.  So today for my act of kindness, I brought a book to the little library for a stranger to enjoy.

Day 185: Future Farmers of America

I have been driving for 12 of the last 24 hours.  This means lots of fast food opportunities! Today on the way back up to Door County we stopped at Culvers.  When I was getting my change back after I paid, the cashier asked if I wanted to donate to the Future Farmers of America. Since I was in the car for most of the day, I was a little worried I wouldn't have an opportunity for a kind act so I decided to make the donation to the FFA for my act today.

Day 184: Frank Bear

One of my wife's friends lost her baby during pregnancy a little over a year ago.  Her baby's name was Frank and one of the ways she healed/cope with this loss is she has a stuffed teddy bear named Frank in remembrance of her baby.  This teddy bear goes to lots of fun places.  We found out while volunteering earlier this week that Frank bear has never been to Door County.  We were going to Door County to celebrate the 4th so we asked if we could take Frank bear with us to visit Door County.  So that is what I did for my act of kindness today.  The picture above shows Frank bear just chillin' in The Door.

Day 183: For Maxy Boy

Max cheering on the Packers

Today was a difficult day for my family.  My parents had to put down there dog.  His name was Max and he was a great dog.  He had his flaws (aggressive with other dogs) but who doesn't.  He was the perfect dog for my parents and he will be greatly missed.

Today for my act of kindness I wanted to do something that helped animals in honor of Max.  So today, I made a donation to the International Fund for Animal Welfare. This group saves individual animals, animal populations and habitats all over the world. IFAW provides hands-on assistance to animals in need, whether it's dogs and cats, wildlife and livestock, or rescuing animals in the wake of disasters.

RIP Max

Day 182: Gave Advice

I found through out the first six months of this year that not every act needs to be elaborately planned.  I found that sometimes being kind is can just be lending an ear and listening  and when asked being there to give support and advice.  That is what I did for my kind act today. A friend was looking to talk and needed advice and I was there.  It is something that takes very little time, no planning and no money but can still make a big difference in someone's day.

Day 181: Volunteered for Mikayla's Grace

On day 49 I made a donation to the group Mikayla's Grace.  They support families who have lost babies during pregnancy or labor.  Today, for my act of kindness, I volunteered at the hospital to help prepare care packages for these families through the group Mikayla's Grace. My wife (pictured above) also helped! I can only imagine how difficult something like this would be to deal with and it is great that there are people/groups out there to help with the process.

I also didn't get a chance to document my kind act for yesterday so I did an extra act today to make up for it.  For my make up act, I bought lemonade from the neighbor kid's lemonade stand.

Day 179: My Favorite Shirt

I think I have mentioned it before but I tend to wear the same few shirts when I go out.  The one in the picture above is one of those shirts.  Being that I wear it so much, my dad has gotten accustomed to seeing it and every time I wear it he mentions how much he wants one. These shirts are actually really tough to get.  They go on sale a few times a year and usually sell out in minutes.  Earlier this week they went on sale and I was able to get another one that is slightly different.  My original plan was to add this to my two shirt rotation however when my dad made another comment yesterday about how much he liked the shirt I knew what I should do.  So for my act for day 179 I gave my new shirt to my dad.  I can guarantee you this will be one of the only shirts he wears in the future.

Day 178: Gatorade

Today was a very long day.  Towards the end of it, on my drive home, I stopped to get a Gatorade. I noticed on the corner of the gas station there was a homeless guy holding a sign that said "anything will help."  So today for my act of kindness, I grabbed two Gatorade's instead of one and I gave on to the homeless guy.

Day 177: Appetizers

Today I had a work event that was an all day affair.  I had about 12 other people who also worked this event and really helped me with making sure it was a success.  After we were done for the day we decided to go out to dinner as a team.  To say thanks for the help and to show appreciated I bought a round of drinks and all the appetizers for the group.  It was the least I could do for all the hardwork they had put in for the day.

Day 176: Rented a U-Haul

This morning I rented a U-Haul.  I will be driving it around over the next couple of days and since the hog only gets like 6 miles per gallon I felt like it might be appropriate to center my act of kindness around helping the environment.  Good thing U-Haul had thought of this situation beforehand.  When I went to checkout I was asked if I wanted to make a small donation to "Go Zero," a company that helps offset people's carbon footprint.  So that is what I did for my act today.

Day 175: Letter to a Soldier

So far, over the course of this year I have done a few things to help the people who risk(ed) their lives to protect this Country.  On day 72 I donated to a charity who supports veterans.  On day 80 I bought lunch for an active member of our armed services, and on day 128 I sent a care package of beef jerky to a soldier overseas.  A couple of weeks ago on got a letter from that soldier I sent the care package.  I thought that was pretty cool.  He was very appreciative of what I sent and that he let me know how nice it was to know people were thinking of them back in the states.  This gave me an idea for another act of kindness.  I wanted to let another soldier know that they are in our thoughts.  So today, for my act of kindness, I wrote a letter to an active soldier serving overseas.  I found a really cool website www.operationgratitude.com that makes it very easy to send some thoughts over to our soldiers.

Day 174: My Grandparent's Graves

This weekend I was in Chicago to see The Book of Mormon (hilarious musical). My hometown is Racine, WI and Racine is right in the middle of Chicago and where I currently live.  When we left Chicago this morning I decided to make a quick stop in Racine to do something I should have done a long time ago.  My Grandma died 11 years ago and besides the day she was buried I have never gone to the cemetery to visit her.....until today that is. Today for my act of kindness, my wife and I walked around the cemetery for a solid hour trying to track down my grandparents.  With the help of my Aunt over the phone we were eventually able to find them.  I never met my Grandpa (he died six years before I was born) but I was very close with my Grandma. She was the Grandma who never said "no." I just remember having so much fun whenever I was with her.  And, of course, she always had candy in her purse!   She was such a great woman and I miss her very much. It was more emotional than I thought it would be to be around their graves.  I guess being so close to them made me realize how much they are missed.  However, I was very happy that I went to see them.  I definitely won't be waiting another 11 years before the next visit.

Day 173: Chicago Traffic

I apologize for writing this post so late. My wife surprised me with a surprise bday party in Chicago (Thanks Gina).

Anyone that knows me knows that I hate stop and go traffic. Needless to say I was pretty frustrated on my way into the city today. They only thing worse than sitting in traffic is paying tolls along the way so today for my act of kindness I decided to take care of that frustration for a stranger. While going through a toll I paid for the car behind me. I hope they appreciate it. I know I would have!

Day 172: Carried Boxes

Today was another one of those acts that if it was six months ago, I probably wouldn't have done.  But since I am always on the lookout for ways to help it was a very easy one to do, and it made some strangers day a little bit easier.  While I was walking in to a FedEx store tonight I noticed the person who pulled into the parking lot before me had 3 big boxes to carry in.  I only had an envelope I was carrying so i had some hands free.  I asked if they could use some help carrying in the boxes. They said yes and 30 seconds later my kind act was done. :)

Day 171: Helping the Homeless

A couple of nights ago a homeless man in Madison, WI was beaten within inches of his life.  He was rushed to the hospital and tragically died a day later.  I really don't understand things like this.  Haven't homeless people been beaten down enough?!  We need to help them, not attack them.  This type of thing just sickens me.  So today for my act of kindness, I found and donated some money to a local group called Porchlight who helps support the homeless in the Madison area.  I also plan on volunteering my time later on in the year for another act of kindness.


On a side not, I wanted to give credit to my wife who has done a lot of acts of kindness over the last week or so for me.  With Father's Day last weekend and my birthday today she has made both those days really special for me.  Check out my sweet birthday cake I got today...(it is exactly what I asked for).

Day 170: "Like" for a Good Cause

I am sure you have all seen those Facebook posts of people just trying to get "likes."  A lot of times they consist of someone holding up a picture saying something like, "If i get 50,000 likes my parents will take me to Disney World."  As I am sure most of you know, most of these are lies.  I think I might have fallen for the first one I saw but I caught on fairly quick.

Well today I stumbled on a Facebook page that is looking for "likes" and is not a scam.  It is in support of a little girl name Amy who is 11 and battling a brain tumor.  I read more about her story and also watched a few of her interviews and I was inspired.  It is always amazing to me how people can be so strong when faced with such adversity.  Amy is also a big music fan and one of her wishes is to meet Taylor Swift. There was a Facebook page that was made to raise awareness of this wish and it is looking for "likes" to help get the word out.  So today, for my act of kindness, I helped get the word out to raise awareness by liking Amy's page.  I also purchased a song of hers for 99 cents.  All proceeds go to helping Amy in her battle.  If you would like to read about Amy or "Like" her page just click on the link below!

https://www.facebook.com/HelpAmyMeetTaylorSwift

Day 169: Helping My Wife

I almost wasn't able to write the blog today.  I have been knocked down with a bad fever and cold tonight.  Plus I wasn't able to do my planned act of kindness.  However I did still do some other kind acts that will have to do for today.  We are currently selling our house, so every time someone looks at it we need to make sure the dog is taken out of the house.  I don't think prospective buyers would like to be greated by an 80 lb dog they don't know.  The last couple times my wife has been the person who needs to get Paisley out of the house.  This has been very difficult for her to do because Pais can't jump in the back of our Pilot and Gina has a hard time lifting her.  So today for my act of kindness, I left work a little early to make sure I could get home in time to handle the dog.

Day 168: Volleyball Group

I try to play volleyball a couple times a month with a group of people at work.  I work for a big company so most of the time I don't know anyone I play with but it is a lot of fun and a good way to blow off steam. I have also met some pretty nice people while playing. Unfortunately one of the guys that plays in our vball group was in a bad dirt bike accident yesterday and he had to be medflighted to the hospital.  Thankfully he is ok, but he suffered a lot of broken bones and will have a long road to recovery.  When we found out about the accident someone in the group started a fund to help out with costs.  So today, for my act of kindness, I donated some money to help out. Hopefully he will be back on the volleyball court soon.

Day 167: Coupons for Pizza

My wife and I get Papa Murphy's at least once a week.  For those of you who don't know this is a pizza place where you pick it up and then bake it yourself. It is also a pizza place that you can always find coupons for.  If you ever pay full price for a Papa Murphy's pizza, you are doing something wrong. Today, while I was picking up my pizza I asked the guy behind me if he had any coupons...he said no.   I so happened to have a booklet of coupons with me so today for my act of kindness I gave a stranger a coupon to help him save a few dollars.