My 38 Random Acts of Kindness on 3-19

 

If you know me well, you can confirm that my favorite thing to do on my birthday is to spend it completely alone without everyone asking me to do something for them. I love the day, I turn it into two days, take the days off from work.  I spend the night alone, exercise in the morning, sit in the spa, shop, eat lunch alone, turn off the phone, report to NO ONE.  Oh... how I love my birthday!!  This year was going to be amazing.  I had 5 full days off, with my husband and daughter gone for three of them, my father visiting me, oh how my birthday week was shaping up to be exactly what I planned it to be!   

Somehow, things started changing before my very eyes and the more annoyed I got, the more divine I realized it was getting.  WELL, OF COURSE, HE, always does this to me; goes messing up my plans... I know, I know... it's because He knows what is best for me, at that 50,000 foot level!

First, I found myself giving away a day off to a co-worker, then I had two friends want me to go up to the company store and get them software and then, a tearful father requested I spend time with his daughter who had recently shared some sad news, and then...well, I came across the below picture and quote. 

Well, if you know me well, you can also confirm that for 31 years I have adored my princess and the next thing I knew, I turned my selfish birthday alone into a selfless day of gifting.  

Monday night, I was calm, cool, and collective.  I had big plans, lots of confidence, love to give others, and not a care in the world.  I got this... no problem, this can be done in 18 hours! 

When the alarm went off 6 hours later, boy was I scared.  HOW WAS I GOING TO GET THIS ALL DONE? Thank you to Troy and Alyssa for helping me!  Here's the list.

Prepared a package for my husband to take to an Aussie co-worker, Venison, and Girl Scout Cookies.  He was about to have all four wisdom teeth taken out and will be on a liquid diet for 6 weeks.

Walked at 5am with Melissa, my near 8-month pregnant friend, to keep her motivated in her exercise.

Walked my husband up to his carpool pickup location.

Gave out a hug to Amber, Troy's carpool buddy and she's my friend from the former ward.

Tried to get my bosses to allow me to gift a vacation day or sick day to a team member, but after multiple email exchanges, they thanked me for the nice gesture.  (it still counts that I tried)

Gave a ski coat and ski bibs to the Howells and found out that Lydia had just broken the zipper on her coat and the timing was perfect.

Provided my 58 page PPT deck on my favorite hikes to Rachel who is organizing 5 hikes from April 4-May 18 that are family friendly. 

Troy, Alyssa, and I ambushed the Behunin boys with a nerf gun fight (I called ahead and planned it with Leslie).  THEY LOVED IT! 

Made a Take What You Need sheet and pinned it to a grocery store bulletin board; kindness, forgiveness, faith, strength, love, patience, etc.

Bought a bottle of laundry soap, prepared a note to accompany it, and left it at the Laundromat.

Left four snack bags with 4 quarters each and post it that said, random act of kindness and left those in different machines at the Laundromat.

Went to the party store, had 4 balloons filled with helium and finally found a family to give them to, not until 9:40 PM though!
 
Pick up someone else’s dog poo.

Left a note on a windshield.
 
Was a witness to a car accident and drove around the block before deciding to go back to the scene and give both drivers my card.  The insurance agencies already phoned me for my recorded statement.  The silver truck and the green SUV, turning to pull over after the accident. 

Gave a neighbor, Samantha, a ride home from the bus stop and saved her the walk in the rain.

 

Went to the company store and purchased software for a friend and delivered it as a gift (he still came over and snuck a check under my welcome mat – we said we wouldn't cash it, but then they  threatened us with cash, if we didn't... FINE, you win Kimball, but I still tried).
 
Was leaving the gun store with a box of heavy ammo, when the FedEx man walked through the door with multiple packages.  As he was struggling, I ran for the door in my stilettos no doubt, and tried to assist him with the door.  He also tried to assist me as he saw my big box of ammo and then he dropped boxes doing so.  We both had fun with it as we tried to help each other and I got his arms all loaded again with packages! 

Gave an IOU “one organization of your choice” to friend, who says she like my organization skills and would love to have some paperwork of hers organized into a binder for saving and easy viewing... and now she says, the offer is good enough.

Saved up a month of Zip Fizz capsules and mailed them off to my cousin Scheris and her husband Larry in Arkansas who wanted to use them for a project in the garage. 

I took a picture of this encounter; while driving 5 mph over the posted speed limit of 50, I had two people who tailgated me for several miles.  I was happy and patient and didn’t think bad thoughts about them once; my random act of kindness to them; either my kind thoughts or maybe I just saved their life, in holding them back from speeding?!

Bought a $50 grocery gift card at QFC and left it for the cashier to give to the mom with a young child at the back of my line.  The cashier was making such a big deal about it that I had to leave in a hurry so as to not draw attention.
 

It was windy on Tuesday out in North Bend and garbage bags were flying around everywhere.  We chased one down, captured it and put it in the trunk for later disposal.

Drove to the Lewis' to drop off the balloons and noticed they left their car dome light on.  It was 9:40 pm, and they were glad to not have a dead battery the next day.

Gathered a few of my favorite stories, pictures, quotes for Jenessa, a young woman who is about to leave for her 18 month mission to Uruguay.  

Sent a bunch of photos over to Costco.com of happy family events from the past and wrote a letter to my sister who is in jail.  I am hoping she will be reminded that she has a good family that loves her and wants her back!

Gave Kate a ride to and from the young women’s church event. We SOOO owed the Farish's and every other ward family who usually drives Alyssa to Mutual each week! 
 

Left a $20 tip after we ate at my aunt's favorite Mexican restaurant.

Waved hello to Dick and Becky, the 80 year old couple that lives in my neighborhood.  They were out for a walk. 

Called my grandmother.

Made a new friend, Ben, at the gun range.

Mailed photos that I recently found and had mistakenly had possession of; for the past 10 years back to Cori.  

Left 5 snack backs with $1 bills and a post-it note, on 5 different vending machines – note said it was our random act of kindness. People who saw us doing it, just stared, and not smiling.  I think they thought we were weird.

While at the Covington library, I decided to pay my fine of $1.10.  We offered to make a donation or pay someone else’s fines.  You wouldn’t believe the hassle we got from the elderly lady at the counter.  I say hassle, only in that she wanted to offer us all these different ways we could donate the other $3.90.  It was interesting. 

Visited Jake and Ireland since we share the same birthday.  I wrote Jake a card about what a good dad he is to four children and what an important role he has to care for them.

Kyle and Roxann gave birth to Maxwell Connor Smith on my birthday, so I sent them a picture of the 3/19 club and $31.19 to spend on Max!

The most special part of my day was spending many hours with Christina.  We went to lunch and went shooting and talked a lot and I'll never forget my birthday with Christina.  Thank you girl!

In the evening when this random act of kindness challenge got a bit stressful due to time constraints, my daughter lost her brand new $175 mouth retainer; somewhere in the car.  We spent more than 30 min looking for it, delaying the acts of kindness.  I remembered to stay calm and polite as the clock was ticking and my plan was being affected and I was worried about both her situation and mine!

I will forever remember my 38th birthday and enjoyed this wonderful day.  I recommend that you do it at least once in your life. Thank you for all of you who touched me on my birthday!