Kindnesses 97, 98 and 99

I'm almost at 100! That seems like a lot but then again, there are 365 days total so let's see here. 365/99=.....I don't have a calculator. Okay, so I'm between 25-33% done! And I've kept up on it every day too. I do have to apologize for cramming three kindnesses into one post but my computer's been acting up lately and I couldn't type anything without my keyboard freezing. With that in mind I'm going to start with today's kindness (#99) and go backwards.

Today I'm going to share some valuable advice about computers for all those who are like me and don't know a thing. Don't go to websites! They will give you viruses. Also, if you have a problem with your apostrophe key and it's typing the French "e" instead of the apostrophe, hold down shift and control to switch your keyboard back to English. It took me a while to figure this one out and then I finally Googled it, but for a while I was typing "That is fine and I am okay with that" and "Let us go to where you are likely to have fun." That's a bit too formal for me. So as my act of goodwill I'm passing on these tips that I picked up yesterday. Here's one more: If you have a "touch mouse" and not one of the cord ones (I don't know what either is called), you can go into the settings of your computer and change the sensitivity. This is great because you don't want to open a malicious e-mail with a sneeze (probably where I got the virus).

Yesterday my good deed was a little more action-oriented. My neighbour's little boy has grown out of his bike and J has as well. Instead of us both buying new bikes, we're going to switch J's for a bigger one they were waiting to use in a couple years. This way everyone can still ride bikes, but no one has to spend any money.

The day before yesterday I was on my way home from my mom's place and I stopped to get a coffee. I bought a coffee for the girl in drive-thru behind me. I'm still waiting for the day that I start this and it goes on for 3000 cars, like it did in British Columbia last year. That was neat, and I want to start a coffee gift chain. Maybe this week.

Kindness 96

I'm rather limited in what I can do today as a kindness for strangers, because we're at my mom's place for the weekend. With that in mind, today I'm dedicating my kindness toward my mother. I emptied the dishwasher for her this morning and will keep tidying up wherever possible throughout the day. I also brought her some homemade granola bars which she hasn't eaten yet, but it's still something nice. They're yummy so when she does eat them I'm sure she'll  appreciate it.

Kindness 94 and 95

Yesterday my friend mentioned that her little boy bit his lip and it was swollen and painful. The poor little guy was covering his fat lip with his hand because he was embarrassed. I gave her some teething gel to numb it for him. I also gave her several D batteries because she just had a baby and everything for babies needs D batteries. Since our little one can't stand the teething gel and has graduated from D battery gadgets to AA toys, I was more than happy to pass them along. It also freed up some valuable drawer space for more AA batteries, and even AAA batteries (which my six year old has graduated to).

I apologize, but I forgot to add today's kindness. Those were for yesterday. Today I gave a generous tip to the guy at Tim Hortons and made him laugh by telling him if he cleaned my car he could have more (I'd just dropped my wallet and the change went everywhere). I didn't think it was that funny but it made his day better and making someone smile is filling a bucket. The book says so.

Sidenote: With the American spelling feature Hortons is not a word. With Canadian, it is. There's a smile for all of you!

Kindness 93

Today I went to the gym, and I suppose that was a kindness to myself (although tomorrow it won't feel like it). I took E to the child care centre there and donated a really good book for babies and toddlers. I see the workers there reading to the kids all the time and thought a new book would be appreciated. It was, and one of the girls immediately sat down with two kids to read it.

Kindness 92

Today was definitely a "kid day." I performed a kindness for Eddie today by hosting a toddler play group for him. It was a kindness for the other moms and kids too because everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, but Eddie was the primary recipient. I also performed a kindness for Jimmy, inviting one of his best friends over for an after school play date. I then performed a kindness for his friend by introducing him to homemade lasagne. That one was for my whole family as well because everyone just gobbles it up. I also made an extra one for my sister to deliver in a week or two.

Kindness 91

Today was garbage day, but before you judge me for boring you with garbage day again, remember that it was the long weekend and there were three days worth of extra garbage for everyone on our street. That's relevant because I didn't just take bins back to the houses for my neighbours. It was extremely windy today (yes, I know that happens a lot too) but it was the kind of windy that blew over the full bins of recycling and garbage. I went outside five times before lunch to return bins to the proper lawns and pick up garbage fro the street. By the time the trucks actually went by I'd done it over ten times, and then when they did I went out again to deliver the bins back to their rightful households. It's an indication of how common the wind is that most people here write their addresses on their bins. E was napping so I was able to take the time to do this. I also fully intended to go out after dinner to clean up the garbage from the street and some lawns, but by the time we got home and ate, the wind had taken it all away somewhere else.

Kindness 90

Yesterday I made a homemade apple pie for my family. It was the first time I made any kind of pie from scratch (except the crust, I don't have that much time) and it turned out pretty awesome. The kids loved it and after two days of procrastinating, my husband even tried a small piece. That's impressive and not to say anything about my baking. He is picky. As if that wasn't nice enough, the kids and I also passed out some more Easter cookies. Happy Easter everyone!