Beach Clean-up

Another wonderful day. After work, I asked LJ what she wanted to do, and my brilliant daughter said, "BEACH!" Good idea, LJ. I like how this kid thinks! I leave our beach bag in the car (for days like today) so thirty minutes later we were building sandcastles. (Actually, I was doing the building. LJ was in demolition mode.)

Anyway, this was the beach that we went to last summer when I first started this project. We picked up trash back then. Guess what? There was still plenty of trash for us to pick up today. I hope all of the tourists enjoy a slightly cleaner beach tomorrow. :-)

Kind Regards,

Your Neighbor

Fairy Stone

When I lived in Virginia, I loved to go hiking. I think I've been to every state park in the western half of the state. A really fun one was Fairy Stone State Park, home to "fairy stones" (naturally occurring cross-shaped stones). The other day I was cleaning/organizing, and I found some fairy stones in a box under the bed. I had forgotten about them and how incredibly cool they are.

Today, I tucked one into a bag along with a note for the lucky neighbor who finds it. I hung it on a branch while LJ and I were out for our afternoon stroll.

PS It is a gorgeous day in South Florida... 71 degrees and sunny. My kind of day.

Kind Regards,

Your Neighbor

Baby Shopping

LJ and I are getting ready to move into our new house. Very exciting stuff! I have a lot of sorting and organizing to do. I've been saving boxes of baby items because I thought that LJ would have a brother or sister soon. I don't think that's going to happen now so I've been thinking about what I should do with all of her stuff. On Saturday, I was talking about it with a friend and said, "I wish I knew someone who was having a baby and really needed this stuff." On Monday, there was a knock on our door. It was a woman who cleans our neighbor's house. She wanted to know if I had a baby swing that she could buy from me or if any of our friends had a used baby swing she could purchase. Really?

I don't know her well, but I do know what a hard worker she is. In addition to being a special education teacher's aide, she also did babysitting, caring for the elderly, and house cleaning. I've never seen her without a smile on her face. So I told her that I had a swing, but it would take me a day or two to get it out of storage. I spent all day on Wednesday going through LJ's baby things, and picking out the good stuff (stroller, car seat, bassinet, bouncy seat, play mats, activity tables, boppy, diaper genie, jumperoo, swing, crib mattress, bath tub, and bags of clothes).



I set it all up in our living room:

When she came over, I told her that she could have anything she wanted. She was so happy! And, seeing her so happy made ME so happy. It was the best day I've had in a while. I'm sure I could have sold all of this stuff on craigslist or at a yard sale and made some money, but it felt so good to give it to someone who really needs it. Our friends and our family have been so generous to LJ and to me; it just makes sense for us to continue the spirit of giving.

Kind Regards,

Your Neighbor

Thinking of You

Back in August, I delivered dinner to one of our neighbors as my daily act of kindness. I wrote about it in Meat and Potatoes. He went to live in a nursing home not long after that. The sad news is that he passed away on Christmas day. I was thinking about his wife today. I'm sure that she could use some extra love. So, today's act of kindness was a knock on her door and a little conversation on her front patio. I just wanted her to know that we are thinking about her.

Kind Regards,

Your Neighbor

Lost & Found

Happy New Year, old friends. I am hoping that reviving this project will be a resolution that I can actually keep. My divorce has been final for one month now. LJ and I are adjusting to our new lifestyle. Even though I miss the time that we spent together, I enjoy my new job and she really enjoys time with her grandmother.

I have been working at my brother's vet office. There are a lot of opportunities for acts of kindness for the animals and for their owners, too. Today, someone came in with a photograph of her lost cat. After she left, I started thinking about resources for finding lost animals. I did an internet search and found a database for lost pets at our local shelter. I looked through all 129 cat photographs, and unfortunately I didn't see her missing kitty. I called her to let her know about the resource though. She seemed to appreciate it.

Kind Regards,

Your Neighbor