Pay it Forward

A few years ago, I was in the drive thru line at Tim Hortons.  I placed my order and when I got up to the window to pay, the cashier told me that the person in front of me had already paid for me.  Was I surprised!  What a treat!  Who was it?  She said it was a man and that he just said I'll pay for the car behind me.  Wow!!  Did that ever make my day (I had one kid still home full time so you know how desperate you are for that first cup of coffee - not to mention, paid for by someone else)!  And, why me?  Was I looking especially cute that day in his rearview mirror?  I did a quick check in my mirror - looking good.  I looked at the car but did not recognize it.  It did, however, have a sticker in the window of a local karate / martial arts gym.

I did some research when I got home and was able to track down my free coffee guy.  Well, wouldn't you know it?  After that day, I started running into this guy all over!  I'd see him at the coffee shop (surprise!), and at other local places - the mall, restaurants etc.  He was a very friendly man.  The first time I ran into him (I recognized him from his photo on his website) I thanked him for the free coffee that day in the drive thru.  Turns out, this guy does this all the time.  That little act of kindness rippled through my universe.  And so forward it went.  I like to tell that story.  This man changed my outlook that day and I hope that I was able to pass it along.

Keep smiling!

Building Blocks

My son, Ben, built a structure for me out of Jenga blocks.  We were actually playing the game of Jenga (build it up and don't let it fall!) when, it fell.  Ben thought it would be better to build his own creation and not let the game dictate.  Good!

By the way, did I mention that Ben has his "M Lego" - that's "Master of Lego" builder. Albeit he is only 6 years old, but that doesn't matter.  He is super creative when it comes to Lego...I'll post some of his creations soon.  He loves to challenge me to create something wonderful - but I usually end up with these kind words from him "mommmmmm, what's that supposed to be?"  LOL!

Something to think about...while they are busy building blocks, we are building memories.

Keep smiling!

Thankful

I have so much to be thankful for.  Family.  Friends.  Love.  We spent Thanksgiving weekend with family.  It was a family-full weekend and I totally enjoyed it.  The kids had a blast being kids.  And I got to spend time with my favourite people.  I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

What are you thankful for?  Take some time out of your day and really think about it.  Write it down.  Make it meaningful.  Sometimes life gets so busy, so overwhelming that we forget to be thankful.  Thankful for waking up and being alive to enjoy another day, thankful for being loved and being able to love in return.

I have been working through some big stuff over the past while.  Some days I wonder why?  Why me?  Why now?  So right now, even though it may be inconvenient timing, I'm working on me.  And I'm going to be great.  I have thoughts about my life - my destiny, my road.  I was on a road, a particular path.  Then things happened and I took a detour for awhile.  And I found my way back to my road.  I am here.  X marks the spot on my map.  I made it back to me.  Thankfully.  I believe I am right where I am meant to be.  Strong. Wonderful.  I matter.  We all do.

"You Are Here" 

You know what they say about "Nothing worthwhile is ever easy - so I must be pretty awesome!"  I'm going to put that on a t-shirt!!!  I bet I could sell millions - well, a couple anyway!

Keep smiling!

Go Cart Go and Other Interesting Tid-Bits

I really should write down all the funny things my kids say to me.  Some of the things they come up with are really quite deep - and other things are just plain old hilarious.
Ben was playing with the Play Doh a few weeks ago (which hasn't been off the shelf for about a year) and made me a wonderful "spaghetti" dinner.  He brought it over to me (he was very proud) and I took a deep sniff of it. Play Doh still has the same smell it did when I was a kid. Mmmmmm - yummmm.  He was staring at me waiting to say something about this lovely dinner.  I said "breathe deeply my friend - that is the smell of childhood".  He replied "Are you serious?"  I laughed and laughed at that.  I'm laughing right now as I'm typing this.  Kids are great therapy.

The yes man (aka Brad) has been working on a go-cart for the kids.  I think it was really for him though.  Well, Ben hounded and hounded me for a week to help with the go-cart building - however, mommy doesn't know how to work all the big power tools.  The go-cart was finally ready for a test run and it was spectacular.  Mommy even had a go on the go-cart.  What a hoot!  The kids loved to see me riding and laughing on this cool contraption.  Yeah!  That was an adventure all right!  Now we just have to agree on the decorating details...do I get a say in that?  LOL!

The yes man really knows what is important - I think he learned that when he was a kid.  Good for him, good for me and good for us as a family.

Keep smiling!