Random Acts of Senseless Kindness

I'm the kind of person that if I see someone struggling to carry things or someone who can't find an item in a store, I will stop and help if I can. I often share helpful tidbits with random strangers. I point lost children back to their mommies and pick up items that people may not realize they have even dropped. I fix turned up collars and sleeves. I will tell you if you have something on your face or in your teeth. I give directions to people on a regular basis. I didn't think this was such a weird thing, but evidently not everyone does this. I thought I'd share of few of my especially helpful moments recently.

• I was in Kroger in the cracker/cookie aisle when I heard an older couple next to me talking about how they couldn't find the goldfish crackers that were individually packaged. If you shop at Kroger you know that these are located at the other end of the aisle with the other individually packaged crackers. So I kindly spoke up and said I couldn't help but overhear what they were looking for and pointed them in the right direction. I mean the woman had a coupon and I wanted her to be able to use it. I'm pretty sure they would not have located the goldfish without my help.
• I encountered a woman in Target who was struggling to reach the Wesson oil that was on super sale from the top shelf. I offered to help mentioning that I didn't know if I was much taller, but I would give it a go. She looked at me and said "I don't think you are any taller, but you are much lighter and can climb on the shelf." This was exactly what I was thinking, but I didn't want to say it. So I proceeded to climb on the bottom shelf and reach her all of the remaining bottles of oil, including the one in the very back. She was very impressed with my reaching skills. Fortunately, I have lots of shelf climbing experience. I do it often :-)
• One time I politely told a woman that she had left the size tag sticker on the side of her jeans. She was quite appreciative that I didn't let her continue to walk around the store like this. 
• And my favorite one, last night after my shift in the ER, I stopped at Kroger to get my turkeys for Thanksgiving. I am at the self check out (because I always check myself out) and the man behind me asked if I had a Kroger Card and if he could borrow it. I of course do and was glad to lend it to him so he could save a few bucks....on his beer. Hey, I earned fuel points thanks to his beer! 

Cancer.
It's crazy how that one little word can turn your world upside
down in a second. How it can make you want to throw up the minute you hear it. I think it's the ugliest word in the english language. I can not begin to imagine how my little sister and brother in-law felt when they heard those words Saturday morning. It's been a roller coaster week. It started out as what doctors thought was a gallstone but turned out not to be, which led to a CT scan and the discovery of a tumor in the pancreas and spots on his liver. The biopsy results came back showing malignancy with a diagnosis of stage 4 Pancreatic cancer. He is only 25. This type of cancer is pretty much unheard of in someone his age. Needless to say we are all in shock. Prayers are greatly appreciated. I feel like I am having a bad dream and that eventually I will wake up, but I don't. I feel like I have been punched in the stomach. We remain hopefully, but also realize the seriousness of his condition. All of my medical knowledge feels like a curse at this point, but I know that I have it to help in this situation. I have shed so many tears but try to remain strong and trust that God has it all in control. Times like these are when I realize how thankful I am for my family and my faith. Without those things, times like these are unbearable.

Happy Thoughts

These little faces always make me smile.

It's been a pretty crappy week. I can't really wrap my head around it all right now. Needless to say I need some happy thoughts to focus on. These are things that make me happy.

A few of my kiddos from the nursery at church.

We had a dessert cook off at work today. My pumpkin cupcakes won first prize. This is what I got plus a Panera gift card. I was almost as excited about the pretty box as what was in it.

Pumpkin Spice Soy Latte from Starbucks. Enough said.

This was my major impulse purchase of the week. I've been sticking with the running so I decided to buy myself a nano. I have a touch but it's just too bulky to run with. It came today. I love it.

My boys. I really do love them even though at times they drive me crazy. Like the other day after one of the worst days of my life when I came home to find that I must have not shut the bathroom door all the way and while I was at work the boys had some major fun. I had left a 6 pack of toilet paper right inside the door. I opened the front door to find my living room covered in what looked like snow, but on closer examination was just shredded toilet paper. If it hadn't been such a sucky day, I probably would have found it humorous.  I however did not.

Really Random

It's that time again folks. Time for me to clear out all the random thoughts out my head and post them on my blog for all to read and hopefully get a few laughs out of. I must confess I keep a list, because I don't want to deprive anyone of the amusement that my inner monologue might provide. This also includes random things that have happened that don't qualify for their own post. So with out further delay.....

• I peeled and chopped my first onion a couple of weeks ago. And I survived. I have a strong dislike for onions and am very sensitive to the smell so my eyes go crazy. Even scallions bother my eyes. I managed though and it was well worth it because the white chicken chili it made it's way into was amazing.
• This was on the sticker in my new Rachael Ray 9x13 pan: "Keep small children away from the oven while you are baking. Some pets, especially birds, have extremely sensitive respiratory systems and should be kept away from the kitchen area."
• I gave candy out to trick-or-treaters for the first time ever this year. I myself have never been trick-or-treating.
• I am running the Turkey Trot this year. It's a 5K on Thanksgiving morning. It's my first 5K
• I am also hosting Thanksgiving for the first time. There will be 15 people at my house. I have visions of my turkey turning out like the one in Christmas Vacation.
• Sweet potatoes are my new favorite thing. I thought I didn't like them, but am convinced that I had one that was not cooked well and it turned me off. I think I could eat them until I turn orange. The best ones I have had so far came from the stand across from Fender's Farm.
• Our church is part of a social network site called The City. The other day it told me that approximately 2 other people were on line.
• Currently you can try out a Barnes & Noble membership for free for 2 months. It includes free expedited shipping. That means free shipping for Christmas presents, plus good discounts.
• I made pumpkin bread for the first time last week. I randomly decided I want to make some last week at 9pm. Good thing I had pumpkin on hand. The random recipe from the internet turned out very well. I'd like to send a thanks to whoever's grandmother provided it.
• If anyone else is trying to be diligent about running and the cold weather is making that difficult, I recommend Danskin running tights from Walmart. They are $11. I bought a pair, ran in them, and went back and bought 2 more pairs the same evening. Yes, they're that good.

Ok, enough randomness for now. I'm working on a Christmas post of really random things so stayed tuned. Hope you got a few laughs or at least some useful info from my brain.