Barking Mad

31 Days of Giving $150 VISA Gift Card Winner!

 

And the winner is . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Issa from Issa's Crazy World!

Congratulations Issa! 

31 Days of Giving!

Life is an echo.

What you send out - comes back.

What you sow - you reap.

What you give - you get.

What you see in others - exists in you.

Remember, life is an echo.  It always gets back to you.

Sometimes simply hearing the phrase "Holiday shopping season" is enough to send cold chills down your spine, make you break out in an icy sweat, compel you to curl up under the covers until all of the madness has subsided, or even repeat "Bah humbug!!!" over and over at passers by.   It can get a bit crazy.    The pressure to buy your loved ones the perfect gift and the stress that accompanies the cost of doing so can be downright depressing, especially with an economy that has not taken a turn for the better . . . yet.

I actually ventured out on Black Friday with Kim, her sister, and another friend of mine, Kim (I tend to collect Kims, Kellys, and Cindys/Cyndis at an astonishing rate!) after swearing off of Black Friday forever a few years ago when my little toe was broken in what can only be described as a stampede to get their hands on the hottest toddler toys of the season.    That same year my oldest daughter Meg and her friends were trampled at the mall on Black Friday.   I swore I'd never do it again.  However a full tummy and 3/4's of a bottle of wine during Thursday's Thanksgiving celebrations left me vulnerable to peer pressure and I caved and went anyhow.   Gareth was also sitting there prodding me on, "G'on and have fun.  You know you want to!"   They obviously don't do Black Friday in the UK, where Gareth is from! 

When we arrived at the big box store it was still early and it wasn't too frightening.  I was still a bit hazy from the wine.   A shove in the back from a cart followed by a dirty look from the person pushing the cart, sobered me up pretty quickly.  Mind you, I wasn't stumbling-inebriated, but still fairly buzzed.     I tried not to get too irritated with the incident with the cart but I could tell my patience was ebbing rather quickly so I smiled, apologized and got out of the way of the antsy customer.   There was hardly room to move my own cart so I made my way back to electronics and stood there and stared at the numerous flat screen, high definition TV's mounted all over the back wall until I was pushed from that location by patrons wanting to get the best deal on a massive television.

Kim's sister found me in the towel section while I stood there looking for the perfect shade of pink washcloths to go in Gaby's bathroom.    I looked around at the swelling masses of people, pushing their way into the store with determined expressions on their faces . . . Come hell or high water, they were going to get what they wanted.   Kim's sister looked at me and said, "You look like you really feel sorry for all those people.   It's pretty pathetic, isn't it?  It's all about consumerism." 

I wasn't sure if I was sad, angry, overwhelmed, or what exactly I was feeling.  I think sadness is as close as I can get.  I remember when the Christmas season was a genuinely jolly time.   Sure, people were in a  bit of a rush, especially the closer it got to the big day, but for the most part, they were happy.     I think nowadays the economy, the pressure to have as much, if not more, than the Joneses, and the overall emphasis on buy! buy! buy! has put a lot of people into a bad mood, or at least a not-so-jolly one!

While I did find a couple of things that I was looking for, I didn't feel any sort of major joy at saving a few dollars when I know there are people out there who will be placing nary a single thing under their Christmas trees this year, and some might not even be able to afford a tree to trim.   There are others who struggle during the holiday season as it brings grim reminders of better days gone by, the memory of lost loved ones (this is one I myself struggle with), or just a general melancholy fog that descends during what should be a time of joy, merriment, and celebration. 

When my Thanksgiving hangover had passed, I sat down and realized that I wanted this Christmas season to be more . . . more  . . . but I didn't know what sort of "more" I wanted.     While this is indeed the season of giving, I'd hazard a guess that a lot of us are stretched pretty thin right now and the thought of having to give anything else might be too much.    But here's the thing,  you can give something else this season and it doesn't have to cost you a dime!     The greatest gift you can give to another human being is the gift of you.

It's simple.  Here are some great suggestions (OK, so I thought them up myself and I guess I'm patting myself on the back, but you have a chance to chime in and add your own suggestions!) of simple, and often times free, things you can do to brighten someone else's day during this holiday season, and in doing so, you might just bring a little more merriment into your own life!

~Take your neighbor's dog for a walk. 

~Offer to drive an elderly friend or relative to the store and help them with their shopping. 

~Call a friend you haven't TALKED to in ages (Facebook and email do NOT count!) and reconnect. 

~Make breakfast in bed . . . for your kids! 

~Send a Christmas card to a complete stranger. Better yet, send a Christmas card to someone in the military! 

~When filling out your Christmas cards this year, take ONE CARD and SEND it to this address: A Recovering American Soldier, c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 6900 Georgia Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20307-5001. (thanks Claire for posting about this on Facebook!)

~Smile at every single person you come across. You'd be surprised how that simple little act can change someone's day! 

~Do your children's chores for one day. 

~Drop an inexpensive Poinsettia off at your local retirement home. 

~If you're able, pay for the person behind you in line at Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts (I find this works better in the drive-through- less awkward!), or the toll booth! 

~Forgive an old grudge. 

~Volunteer at a soup kitchen for an evening. 

~Bake some cookies for your post-person, or other familiar delivery professional. 

~Offer to take a busy friend's children for the afternoon so she can have a bit of time to herself. 

~Give everyone in your immediate family a hug for no reason and remind them how special they are. 

~Tell a co-worker how much you value them. 

~Prepare a romantic meal for your significant other and put a love note on their pillow before bed.

~Prepare a meal for a busy working mom that you know.  This will be appreciated more than you know!

~If you are one of those extreme coupon clippers, why not take some of the excess and drop it off at a local women's/homeless shelter? 

~Have some spare change rattling around in your pocket?  If you're downtown and walking by some parking meters, how about dropping in a few dimes/quarters into some meters that are about to run out? 

~Do you have a child who is learning to read and loves to read?  Why not grab a few books and head out to your local retirement center and spend a little time reading to the residents.  Better yet, have a musically gifted child?  A lot of these homes have pianos in the recreation centers and the residents would enjoy an impromptu concert.  This would be appreciated no matter what sort of (portable) instrument your child plays. 

~Have some clean Mason or Ball jars sitting around?  Why not put all of the dry ingredients for your favorite cookie recipe inside, create a colorful label for the outside of the jar along with the recipe, and then tie it all with a festive ribbon and drop it off anonymously!  

~Host a mani/pedi day for your little girl and a couple of her friends!  The smiles, giggles and general happiness is sure to put a smile on your own face!

~For my blogging friends, comments are so appreciated.  Take some time to leave some thoughtful comments on the blogs you enjoy reading. 

You can add to infinity to this list.  The possibilities are endless.   Has someone done you a kindness?  Pay if forward.   It's such a simple thing to give of yourself.   And it's often the best gift another can receive and the most appreciated.

I'm challenging each of you reading this post to take some time out of each and every day and do something for someone else, no matter how big or small the act.  Just do it.    Then come back and let me know.    I'm going to be posting each day and at the bottom of my post, I'm going to write about what I did, not in the vein of "Oh look how awesome I am!" but more along the lines to encourage you all to reach out and do the same!   I'm going to attack this challenge in an effort to pull myself out of my own little holiday funk and not be sucked into the never-ending aggravation that is all too often present during the holidays.   If enough of us pay it forward and give a little more of ourselves,  we can extend the joy of this holiday season, perhaps throughout the entire year.  And you never know, through your own actions, you might just inspire someone else to do the same.   

In the spirit of kicking off "31 Days of Giving"  I am hosting a $150 VISA gift card giveaway!   

I wish that I could give away ten, twenty or a hundred of these.   Sadly there is only one.   But I'm hoping that it will be just in time for the holidays for whoever wins it!

There are a couple of ways you can enter the giveaway.   The more items on the list you complete, the extra entries you get! 

• Leave a comment for me on this post. 1 ENTRY
• Follow me on Twitter if you aren't already and then Tweet this post to your followers and then come back and leave me another comment with the link to that tweet (clicking on the time stamp on the tweet will take you to the URL of the actual tweet). 1 ENTRY
• Every day that you tweet this post (you can tweet it once a day!) come back and leave me a comment with the URL to the tweet and you'll get another entry! UP TO 9 ENTRIES - the contest ends December 9th at 10PM EST.
• Mention this post on Facebook and then come back and leave me another comment letting me know you did. 1 ENTRY
• This next one will earn you FIVE EXTRA ENTRIES . . . Take the 31 Days of Giving challenge and post about it on your own blog.    Make sure you link back to this post, and if you want to, you can use the graphic above.  Just make sure you come back here and comment with the link to your post!    Then tweet your own post and include/cc @Barking_Mad in your tweet!  5 ENTRIES

You have a total of 17 possible entries for this giveaway.

Contest starts at 12:01AMEST December 1st, 2011.

Contest ends at 10PM December 9, 2011. 

The VISA gift card will be overnighted (sent out December 10th) to the winner.  

All of your entries will be individually numbered and then I'll use the random number generator to choose a winner.   PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS ON EACH COMMENT ON THIS POST so that I can contact you in the event that you win!

Now for the boring but necessary legal stuff, AKA the fine print! Void where prohibited...which really is just my fancy way of saying that if you gave birth to me, if I gave birth to you,  if you are a sibling (rivalrous or not), or in any, way, shape, or form related to me, you are not eligible to enter for a chance to win the giveaway.   Dear FCC, no one paid me or compensated me for this post, or the gift cards. They were self-provided!

 Good luck and happy giving!

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED

 

Baby Distractions

No, Meg has not had her baby.

Yet.

She began the induction process this afternoon because stripping her membranes last Thursday didn't seem to get things going as we'd all (especially Meg!) hoped it would.  So this afternoon they inserted a balloon, filled it with water and sent her back home.   Meg was already 3cm dilated when the balloon was inserted and once it fell out, she knew she was at 4cm.   It fell out not too terribly long afterward.  Before it did, she phoned and like you'd assume, she was in a great deal of pain.  

I bothers me that I'm not there for her right now.  However, come hell or high water, I will be going over to the UK where Meg is stationed, even if it's only for a few days, in September.   Even if I have to swim across the Atlantic, I will be there!

In the meantime, I'm too distracted to write anything of real substance.  Meg and my son-in-law, Ray, just headed back to the hospital for the rest of the full induction.   It's just a little before midnight our time here on the east coast, almost 5AM in the UK and I'm pretty sure I won't sleep a wink until I hear something or see a photo of a baby girl hit my cell phone!

So, I thought it would be fun to have a last-minute pool to guess time (remember, they are in the UK), weight and length of baby girl.   The winner - whoever is closest, will get a $50 VISA gift card! LEAVE YOUR GUESS IN THE COMMENTS OF THIS POST!

I'll close comments on this post as soon as I know the baby's arrived! 

Good luck!

THE FINE PRINT - Void where prohibited...which really is just my fancy way of saying that if I've had sex with you,  you gave birth to me, if I gave birth to you,  if you are a sibling (rivalrous or not), or in any, way, shape, or form related to me, nanny nanny boo boo, you can't enter the contest.   Also, because the FCC or FTC requires full disclosure, I was in no way provided with the gift card,  nor was I in any way compensated for this particular post in exchange for the gift card.  In other words, this is simply, from me to you.  

 COMMENTS NOW CLOSED!  

KENNEDY MARIE IS HERE!  DETAILS WITHIN THE HOUR!