Because I never finish anything I start! Day 10

Today was a good day. Started off with Church and then went to lunch with my Husbands cousin and his girlfriend. After lunch we all went to the bowling alley in Riverside for Auntie Lizzy's birthday. We arrived a little late but we were able to hang out a bit and chat with other family members. Then as we were driving home I called my oldest to see where she was and she was literally at the same stop light we were at in Riverside. So when I asked where are you she was saying "I'm right here look mom look." She was passing right before me into Harvest parking lot on her way to Church. How bizarre! So, she turned around because Church started at 6pm and it was only 5pm. She had a friend I never met and she was a nice girl. My good deed was buying Mo's friend whom I don't know starbucks! nite peeps, Tina

Because I never finish anything I start! Day 9

Today we had a little BBQ with some family & friends. Danny's cousin's daughter was here and we made Valentine picture magnets for the refrigerator. I told you about dropping off the shoes at Sports Chalet. Well, a neighbor had about 4 more bags of shoes. She said they were on her porch but they were behind a bush so I didn't see them. I have to go to Sports Chalet and drop them off. So that was it. Short & sweet a pretty simple day. Here's a picture of the magnets she made.

Because I never finish anything I start! Day 8

Today was a good day. I went to the homes I dropped off fliers for the "soles for souls" in Haiti shoe drive. Around 10:30 a.m. is when I started to collect. But if your following this blog then you know about 9 bags were dropped off on my porch anonymously. I was quite pleased with the turn out. I had over two hundred pairs of shoes! The back seat of my truck was stacked full and the back bed of the truck was half full. It was a great success indeed. I drove them to Riverside Sport Chalet and there were people dropping shoes off left and right. It was so great to see that people really can make a difference. It was very rewarding! Also, I went to do a little more shopping for the Moreno Valley Senior Center. I need more candy and I need to buy a cake to feed about 100 Seniors. I also decorated the heart containers that I'm putting candies in. It was a gratifying day to say the least! Nite peeps, Tina

Because I never finish anything I start! Day 7

Today I went to the Senior Center again. This time I went early. I was there from 8:30a.m. till 12:45p.m. We had spaghetti and meatballs with zucchini and apricots for dessert. Oh and a bread stick. I brought stickers to give out and most of them were taken and that's a good thing. I sat at the piano with a Senior Lady and I sat on the bench with her while she played and we talked about the piano and when she learned to play. She said as a young girl she took piano lessons but they did not work out very well. She learned better on her own. Then I got brave and actually sang some songs with her. It was very cool. It was birthday day and they celebrate the Seniors who have a birthday in January. They also get served first and then have cake and ice cream. What I thought was cute was there were Seniors sitting at the birthday table and it wasn't even their birthday. Hah! What a hoot. I tell yah they'll try anything. After that I went to recycle some bottles and cans (thanks to my Mother -n- law) she saves them for me. So, I recycled those and with the money I went to shop for Valentine treats for the Senior Center. I want to have a party for them. I have a pretty good start on a few things but it's out of my pocket so I have to budget myself. I can't think of a better way to spend a few extra dollars. So if there are any readers that would like to donate to their party let me know I will be more than happy to pick up what you can donate. :-) Other good news, is I went to my Nephews preschool class to find out if I could make those heart magnets and she said YES!!! WooooHooo.... I was so excited! Tomorrow I pick up the shoes from the neighborhood and take to Sports Chalet. I've been busy. But that's what this whole challenge has been about. Happy? Yes. nite peeps, Tina

Because I never finish anything I start! Day 6

Today was another great day! I went back to the Senior Center and helped out. This time I brought a treat for the Seniors. First I helped serving the lunch and then passed out the Sees suckers. They were happy to get one. One lady asked if she could have two because they were so small, she said. Too cute but I was on to her! After passing out the suckers it was clean up time and then at 1:00p.m. bingo started. I bought two cards at .50 cents each. I could only play about six games because I had an appt. It was still a good time. Tomorrow I plan on going back and visiting with some new and some old friends that I remember from a couple years ago. Another pleasant surprise was when I got home two more hefty bags on the porch with shoes!!! I haven't even picked up the shoes scheduled for the 29th! I called Sports Chalet tonight because I was getting a little worried and I needed to know if the 31st was the last day they were accepting shoes and she said yes. Whew!!! I asked how many you could bring and she replied well, people have brought in a box or one pair is good. I thought to myself "how about a truck load!" I have a feeling that's what I will have by Friday. How amazing and wonderful is that? Nite peeps, Tina

Because I never finish anything I start! Day 5

Well today was a GREAT day! First I got up this morning and I decided I was going to go to the Senior Center in Moreno Valley to help prepare and serve lunch. I left the house around 9:00a.m. and off I went. I had the best time. I've been before but it has been a long time. It is so rewarding I don't know why I stopped going. I know the Lady in charge and she welcomes me in even after me not being there in so long. I walked in through the kitchen entrance (taking my chances on getting booted out) but it's the only entrance I've gone through. Anyways, it was amazing to see some seniors I haven't seen and there were new faces too! As I spoke with Darlene she updated me on who was still coming and who had passed on. I asked if I could help with lunch and she said sure! So I put the lovely hair net on with my plastic gloves and went to work. On the menu was polish sausage, red potatoes, carrots, chocolate pudding and peaches. Lunch starts being served at exactly 11:30a.m. everyday. I needed to leave by a quarter till to pick up my nephew at preschool. I asked if I could come back and she said absolutely! Then I went to pick up my nephew and asked if the director was in so I could get permission to make the heart magnets with the kids but she was not in today. So I will have to wait on the answer for that. A great surprise happened when I got home from my great day. There were about 8 bags full of shoes someone had dropped off on my porch! Imagine that. I was smiling even bigger. People really do care! How great God is!

Because I never finish anything I start! Day 4

Day 4.
Well today I thought about doing something for my nephews pre-school class. Being I have a bucket of jingle bells from Christmas. I thought I'd find a craft project for Valentines Day that they could make for their parent or grandparent or caretaker. So I went on line to look up things to make and I did not find anything on line but I had a vision in my head what I wanted to do so I went with that. I went to 4 different stores and having more stuff than I probably needed but "you can never have to much". (depending on what it is). I started to make my idea come to life. I got foam heart shape cut outs and foam stickers that look like candy hearts with sayings on them, staples cause I was out and magnets and Valentine ribbon. I strung the ribbon through the jingle bell and let it hang about 3" below heart and stapled the ribbon to the middle of the heart. I bought strips of magnet with an adhesive on one side and applied them around the heart. On the front I decorated with small foam hearts. I could only put 3 things on because the magnet strip isn't strong enough to hold the weight of the bell. All in all I think they came out cute! See for yourself! Nite peeps, Tina

Because I never finish anything I start! Day 3

Today is Sunday and I went to Church. It has been a while. It did feel good to actually go and not watch from home on the lap top connected to the t.v. I was tired today so after Church I went to sleep. Waking up I thought what am I going to do for my challenge today? So I decided to write to people via e-mail to let them know what type of impact they have had on my life. I chose 3 people. I basically just let them know what positive influences they have made on my life and let them know I appreciate it. Then I thanked them and when I was done it occurred to me that probably not enough of us really tell the people we love or the ones that have changed our lives in some way "thank you." Maybe food for thought. It was a simple challenge but rewarding to me too! So, looking forward to day 4's challenge and letting whom ever is reading what I did.

Because I never finish anything I start! Day2

Well, on day one I made a flyer, printed it out, had 30 copies made, cropped them, put them into ziplocks (in case it was raining) and on day two proceeded with my daughter Kylee to pass them out into the neighborhood. I must say in just a little over an hour it was very interesting to see people's reaction. Let's just say I NEVER want to be a door to door sales person. I made some new friends along the way and even made up with a neighbor I've not spoken to in a couple of years. Quite interesting in deed. For the most part the people that answered their doors were nice and some just were honest and said they had nothing to donate. One kid I felt really bad for because he said he didn't even have a pair of shoes so he could not help. (I'll have to find a way to get him some shoes) But the winner of the day goes to a neighbor that opened his door and before I could say I'm your neighbor he said NO and slammed the door. My daughter and I must of had a look on our face that could probably win a "most shocked" contest! We've all heard the expression "my jaw dropped". I've heard it and maybe even used it as a description when telling a story. Well let me tell you my jaw dropped to the concrete! We looked at eachother in utter dismay my daughter and I and laughed and almost cried, I think. I really have never had the door shut in my face before. It was horrible and it made me feel like a really bad person. I told my daughter if this was the first house we went to I would of went straight home and not passed out another flyer. Seriously, it was...I'm still shaking my head on that one. Thankfully the next house was a great couple with the cutest little girl. She was 3 or 4 and said Hi! I instantly had a smile on my face. She was holding a little plastic boy figure and he was missing a leg and the mom said can we throw him away now and the little girl looked at me and I asked if I could see the little guy. She said yes and held him up to me and I pulled his little pants on a little straighter and handed him back and she said " you can keep him" . Oh my gosh syrup on the heart. It was precious! The mom pointed to the trash can and said you can throw him in there and I was like oh gosh no I'm keeping him. This means so much to me. I'll put him on my computer! So as I'm typing I'm looking at my little guy. There is a God! We had about 8 flyers left to pass out and then we came home. The good news is that the task was completed and the majority of the people we spoke to were more than willing to help. The bad news was the "NO" guy. I pray he never needs a helping hand. Nite peeps, Tina

Because I never finish anything I start! "Day 1"

Okay. So today was day one on my 60 day quest to finish something. My challenge is to do something for a person or people that I don't know. Today was a really bad rainy day and way to cold, but I went out and did what I thought of before I went to sleep. After my morning cup of joe I got on the computer and typed up a flyer for donating shoes to Haiti. I found a picture off the internet and pasted it to my flyer and went to kinko's to make copies. That there is the picture. I was sent an e-mail stating that Sports Chalet's were receiving men's, women's and childrens gently worn shoes and shipping them to Haiti. So I made copies to pass around the neighborhood tomorrow. I made a date that I would come around and pick up the shoes to take to Riverside's Sports Chalet. The last day to donate is January 31, 2010. I feel pretty good about this and we shall see how the " shoe drive" goes. Until tomorrow...nite peeps.

Because I never finish anything I start!

It has occurred to me that life is short and is meaningless unless you do something you always wanted to do. More importantly finishing or completing the task at hand. All my life I've had things or dreams that I have always wanted to do and either chickened out or started and never finished. Which brings me to my next point. I want to challenge myself to see if I have what it takes to make a "cyber-space" commitment. The challenging part is finding a challenge! I do not want to waste away like I feel I have been. I will be 45 years old and I want to accomplish one dream before I go. It's such a worthless feeling when inside you feel your potential is great and you could do so much but to get the brain to flow with the body is sometimes impossible. Not only will I benefit from this challenge but so will the people or person I can help make a difference for. So I guess I answered my own question. What I can challenge myself with is to help at least one person a day. Which means I have to leave the house and do it. Then when I complete the mission I will tell whom ever is listening what I did. So now I need a time line for how long I have to complete this challenge. Okay I thought it over with myself and I decided to do it for 60 days starting Friday January 22, 2010 through March 24, 2010. If there are any readers I would love to hear words of encouragement. It might seem trivial to some but it is huge for me. Thanks for any and all support in advance. Tina