Alright! I finally found some time to sit my lazy ass down and write my second post! Admittedly, I have gotten off to a slow start. But, I did manage to do a few things over the past week. Nothing big (I'll have to save the big ones for later), but that isn't the point. The point of this project is just to spread some happiness and make people smile. So, with that said:

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Tuesday Dec 11th:

I NEVER left my apartment on Tuesday! I stayed up really late the night before  writing the previous blog, so I ended up not going anywhere or seeing anyone. I did; however, order a pizza. And when ordering said pizza, I was given the option to include a donation to St. Jude's hospital. So I did. When the pizza was delivered, the woman realized that she had forgotten my drink. She apologized a million times, but I kept assuring her that it wasn't a big deal and not to worry about it. She went and got the drink and brought it back, so I tipped her a second time. I felt bad that she had to drive all the way back to the store to pick up the drink and come back. I imagine she spends a fair amount of money on gas being a delivery driver, and she was incredibly nice and apologetic. So, there's that.

Wednesday Dec. 12th:

Ummm... I know that I did SOMETHING on this day, but I'm not sure what it was. I can remember the rest of my day. Dr.'s appointment, lunch, final, hanging out with Samantha and Savannah, brief coffee date. Oh!! There it is!! I left a $5.00 tip in the barista's tip jar even though my coffee was only $3.00. I figured, why not?

Thursday Dec. 13th:

I NEVER left my apartment. Are you catching the theme of my winter break? Haha

Friday Dec. 14th:

WORK. Nothing to note.

Saturday Dec. 15th:

Saturday was a good day, but not noteworthy as far as my project is concern. So, as it turns out, I've gotten a bit caught up in enjoying my break.

Sunday Dec. 16th:

I opened on Sunday morning. I was tired and since I was scheduled for a double, I knew that I had a long day ahead of me. So I went to Starbucks to get some coffee. I had intended to pay for whatever the person behind me in line got as well, but would you know it? No one ever got in line behind me! With that effort failed, I went to work.

As per usual, I pretty much did all of the opening stuff in the restaurant by myself. Not even pretty much. I just did. So I guess one could say that I did a nice deed since I didn't bitch my co-worker out for being a lazy-ass, but that's an every day thing for me, so meh :-P The day was actually decently busy. So was the evening. I did manage to brighten the day's of two different tables at work that day.

Table one was a party of five. They were a very difficult group, mostly because we were extremely busy yet they kept me at the table for a million hours asking me a billion questions in the slowest way possible. But, I remained nice and polite and put a ton of effort into the table. At the end of the meal, the grandma decided that she wanted some ice cream. This lead to three of the remaining four people ordering ice cream as well. They asked the fifth person if she wanted some, but she turned it out. In the end, I decided to bring out a fifth bowl of ice cream free of charge. As I passed the ice cream around the table, I explained that I went ahead and brought the fifth one for free, because I didn't want the fifth person to feel left out. Being the only person at a table full of people eating ice cream is a sad and lonely state. This got a laugh out of the table and lots of smiles. The woman who was in charge of the group was especially pleased. She kept telling me how sweet I was. It felt good and definitely put me in a better mood for a few hours.

Table two was another party of five. This family came in during our dinner rush and I was a little slow getting their drinks, because I had just been sat back to back tables before them. Thankfully, they were patient and again, I remained friendly. Since they were still there after the restaurant had cleared, I had a chance to talk to them towards the end of the meal. As it turns out, they were a big marching band family. The son had attended the high school where we went to a competition every year. We got to talking about marching band and then social work. It was a very long, but very nice conversation. In this case, I wasn't actually the one who did anything to make anyone smile. It was them! You see, I eventually left the table to go do side work so that I could finally get out of there and go home. When I came back, there was a tip on the table that was wrapped in a note. The note said "Keep up the good work :)" I tried to attach a picture, but for some reason, it kept coming out sideways! Ah well. The point is, this works both ways! It means a lot to servers to get little notes like that. It makes us feel more like we are humans and less like slaves. In a job that brings very little appreciation, it feels great when we are given any at all. So again, that's a perfect example of how easy it is to do one, little good deed in a day!

Monday Dec. 17th:

While I was walking downtown, I did give a homeless man a couple of dollars. Also, later that night, I dropped another dollar in the Ronald McDonald house charity box when I stopped at McDonald's on my way home. The homeless man seemed appreciative.

Monday was really just another tale of someone else making me smile though. After having a bit of a bad morning, I was invited over to a pretty girl's house. She promised comfort food and hugs and she delivered on both. She fed me spaghetti and let me talk her ear off. For hours. She was great and was exactly what I needed to feel ok about things again. I guess I sort of did my part for the day. I definitely made her laugh a good deal! Maybe that wasn't quite what I had in mind when starting this blog, but hey... at least I made some donations that day!

Tuesday Dec. 18th:

Spent the whole day doing chores. I was too wrapped up in chores to do anything else. I did compliment a lady's hair while I was grocery shopping though! It seemed to brighten her day a little. I'd say that counts! And I wasn't lying either! Her hair was kinda cool!

Tuesday night was awesome for completely unrelated reasons.

Wednesday Dec. 19th:

Had an absolutely awesome day! I also didn't realize that today is the 19th until I typed Dec. 19th just now. Sooooo, I nearly missed calling my step-mom to wish her happy birthday! Thankfully I caught it before late and got the phone call in! Whew!!


So that's it for this week. Not much accomplished, but it is harder when I'm not out in the real world much right now. Also, I have ideas of things I want to do. I just need to get on the ball with doing them. I got wrapped up in enjoying break and taking care of tons of chores. But still...the point is trying to find little things to do here and there as much as possible. I'm sure I'll mix in bigger things eventually!

FEATURED VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

This blog's featured volunteer opportunity is No Kid Hungry. 1 out of 5 children in Ohio struggle with hunger. The goal of this organization is to stop childhood hunger and they have a variety of different volunteer opportunities. If you don't have time to volunteer to the organization, then you can make monetary donations. If you don't have money, then you can donate time! Either way, your efforts would go towards helping hungry kids be fed, and that is as great a cause as any. Children are our future after all, and when a kid is well-fed, they are likely to do better in school. Well-educated children lead to a better future! Follow the link for more info!

http://www.nokidhungry.org/take-action/community


Also, I'm still looking for stories from anyone else who'd like to volunteer them! Did you write a letter to the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting? Did you donate a toy to Toys For Tots or adopt a family to buy Christmas presents for? Tell me about it! 'Tis the season for spreading joy. I can't make good happen all by myself! I need your help as well!!

E-mail me at: teshishgoldfish@gmail.com with your small smile stories!