Day 127: Teacher Appreciation

This week is teacher appreciation week.  Because of this, Chipotle had a deal going on today where if you are a teacher you could get a buy 1 get 1 free burrito.  Well, I figured if Chipotle was doing something to show appreciation to teachers, I could as well.  Especially since my wife is a teacher.  So, today for my act of kindness, I bought my wife new shoes along with flowers and surprised her with them when I got home.  This was just a little thing I could do to let her know how much she is appreciated.  She is such an amazing wife/mom that sometimes I can forget how great of a teacher she is as well.

Day 126: Post Office Run

I usually don't get home from work until about 6pm every night and with my daughter's bedtime being 6:30pm, it only gives me a small window to spend time with her.  So today's act might seem like a small one, but when I get home 30 minutes later than usual, it is actually a pretty big deal.

A friend at work is trying to get tickets to an event for this summer and it is essentially luck of the draw to get tickets.  To better his odds of getting tickets, he asked me this morning if I would send in a check to try and get tickets as well.  I said no problem, however I did not have a checkbook at work and in order to qualify for the tickets the mail needed to be dated for today.  So that basically meant I would need to grab a check when I got home and take it to the post office before it closes at 7pm.  So that is what I did for my act of kindness today.  I hope he gets the tickets!

Day 125: Jump Rope for Heart

I remember participating in Jump Rope for Heart in elementary school.  It was always something I looked forward to.  I am a very competitive person and even though I was very young, I still wanted to raise the most money to "win."  Well, one of my friends from work got an email from a teacher friend of hers asking for donations for her school's Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser.  They have a goal of $2000 and they are currently at $800 with a week to go.  So today, for my act of kindness, I decided to donate and get them a little bit closer to their goal.

Day 124: Catered Lunch X2

I remember the first few weeks after Emma was born being a pretty hectic time.  I think we had 26 straight days where we had at least one visitor over to the house.  Although we welcomed it all, it was still very tiring.  One thing that helped is when the visitors brought over either lunch or dinner.  We were so busy during this time, the last thing on our mind was what we were going to eat, so it was very helpful when friends and family would help out with that.

I became an uncle a few days ago when my sister-in-law gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.  I have had a little bit of a cough the last few days and I didn't want to get the baby sick so I haven't gotten the chance to meet her until today. My wife and I went over to their house around lunch today, so today for my act of kindness, I decided to be one of those helpful visitors and bring them lunch of their choice.  I know the next few months will be a big challenge so I was happy to help out in any way I could.

Day 123: Catered Lunch

My wife and I are very lucky with our daycare situation every week.  My parents watch Emma every Monday and Tuesday and my mother-in-law watch Emma every Friday.  This arrangement has saved us a ton of money and anxiety and we are very grateful.  Today I was running errands around lunchtime and I got a craving for Chipotle.  After talking with my wife (who had the same craving) I decided to pick up food and bring it to my mother-in-laws so we could eat and hang out with M for a few minutes.  We also thought it would be nice to pick up lunch for Gina's mom.  So today, for my act of kindness, I brought lunch over to my mother-in-law's house.  We will never be able to repay her with how much her watching Emma every Friday means to us, but this was just a small thank you that I hope she appreciated.

Day 122: FBI Manhunt in my Neighborhood

Pretty much every act that I have done this year I have enjoyed doing.  Today was not one of those acts.  At about noon today I learned that there was one of the FBI's most wanted on the loose near my neighborhood.  Obviously, my first thoughts went towards making sure my family was safe.  Thankfully they were.  My next thought went to everyone else in my neighborhood.  I live on a street where everyone looks out for their neighbors which is amazing.  It is one of the biggest reasons why I would have such a hard time ever moving away.  Having good neighbors is invaluable.  Today, for my act of kindness, I went through all my contacts who lived in the area and gave them a call to make sure they were aware of what was going on.  I also hailed down a stranger who was walking their dog on my street and told them about the manhunt.  Again, this wasn't an act that was fun....but who knows, it might have made a big difference in someone's life.

Day 121: Public Speaking Anxiety

I think I read it somewhere that the number one fear of people is not spiders, or heights, or sharks, but public speaking.  I can understand this.  Although it is not my biggest fear, it is definitely something that gives me anxiety.  Over the years I have found how to combat this fear, and that is to be really really prepared for what I am going to say.  With that being said, I am the best man in a wedding coming up in three weeks which means I will be needing to give a speech in front of hundreds of people. I can already feel my palms starting to sweat. I think the best man speech is something that is really important to take seriously and put some thought in to.  My brother gave an awesome speech at my wedding and it is something I will never forget.  So that is why for my act of kindness today I took time to write my speech for the wedding.