Week 4, 22nd - 29th December 2013

22nd December - It's the simple things that have the most effect. I was worried when starting this experiment that I would be tempted to throw money and materialistic things at it rather than try and take the time and effort in thinking of things to do every day. All that happened today was that I made the effort to email someone I know. I was on the computer anyway and rather than just log off, I picked out a person from my contacts list at random and sent them an email and picture of the family. They responded a few hours later telling me that it had made their day to hear from me. How lovely!

23rd December - Had a lovely afternoon today with friends over. The kids played wonderfully together and the adults put the world to rights with good food and drink! Then the call came, 'Help, we haven't got any heat or hot water, the engineer can't come until tomorrow and its blowing a freezing hoolie - what shall we do?' Off we go and deliver our free-standing radiators!

24th December - For some, spending time on their own is a luxury. I am sure some of you will understand - all day you get tugged in numerous directions, there is a never ending list of things to do and people to see. The only solitude you get is on the loo - and only then if you are lucky (I say this because for me there is usually a small person knocking at the door asking what I am doing!. So when we do eventually get some time to ourselves we consider it a bit of a treat. However, have you ever considered what it would be like to be in a permenant state of solitude? Sure for a while we would cope but by the very nature of our species, we are social creatures, we do need contact with other people, no matter how small that contact might be. I know I have always avoided asking the question 'how are you' to certain people, mainly because I know that I will have to listen to them drone on for the next hour or until I break off the one-sided conversation with some fictional appointment I have to attend. For that reason I all of a sudden felt quite guilty. I realised that I might have been the only person they were likely to speak to that day and I dismissed them so easily. I am going to try not to do that again. The mole man (mammal no annoying blemish) came today to check the traps, from experience I usually wave cheerily from the window and don't venture outside until his van is gone. Today I went out and had a good old chat with him - it felt nice.

25th December - No Social media was to take up my time in any way shape or form. It was interesting to read back a few days later the posts people had made, not being able to stay away from FaceBook, Twitter etc for even one day.

26th December - I text a friend of mine a smile, they cost nothing (I have free texts you know!).

27th December - Yes I know tickets are not transferrable, but I threw caution to the wind and left my paid ticket stuck on the machine for someone else to make use of. It would normally be thrown in to the foot-well of the car!

28th December - Friends have moved away - not a million miles but it does take a bit of planning to make arrangement to go and see them. It shouldn't seem like an effort to see friends should it? But sometimes life and stuff gets in the way and before you know it weeks, if not months have passed and you still haven't got together like you both declared during the pinky promise ceremony 6 months ago! Trouble is I get so busy that when I do have a window of opportunity, I usually collapse on a sofa. I think I ought to change that if I can. We had a great afternoon and I really wished we could have stayed longer.

Week 3 - 15th to 21st December 2013

15th December - Today was the dreaded soft play trip. I wouldn't have minded, but the people we were meant to be going with ended up not coming and then to top it off, when we arrived, we were told that the place was going to be closing early due to a private booking. So £10 for one and a half hours seemed a bit steep. However I smiled through gritted teeth and handed over the dosh. I have to say that once were were in, people were starting to make moves to leave so in actual fact the place was not as horrendous as I thought - plus the children had a blast! On the way out, I said to a member of staff that we had had a great time - to which she smiled in a manic sort of way and jibbered something as she took another swig of her coffee!

16th December - On the way home from our family in the South, we stopped - as usual - at our normal halfway point, to have lunch. After finding a table, battling through the various retail outlets to get something to eat and eventually sitting down - I was wondering how on earth I was actually going to be able to do or say something meaningful today. 6 hours in a car from door to door meant that apart from saying something quite lame to my family in the car, it was going to be quite tricky. So far, no one in the service station had even given me any reason to be anything but just about civil, so you can see my dilemma. Then, salvation! A local group of school kids with their teachers turned up and dressed in santa hats proceeded to serenade us all with some carols. It was lovely and when they inevitably came around with a bucket (not to vomit in), I made sure I told them what a splendid job they did and it had really cheered me up. Job Done.

17th December - Just a quickie today, my craft club had their Christmas lunch. I did not purchase a rude or lame secret santa - as is the normal course of events. I hope the recipient loves it.

18th December - Last theatre rehearsal of the year and I gave a pal a lift and as it was drinks and nibbles, I did some sausage rolls. They didn't poison anyone so as far as I am concerned this was a very nice thing to give to people!

19th December - Coffee in a well known cafe within a well known department store. Sadly one of the elderly customers had a very severe accident in the bottom department. The staff were like a well-oiled machine. Not only did they attend to the 'deposits' in a swift and correct manner but they preserved the dignity of the said elderly person with such care and attention. I was seriously impressed, so I told the manager what I thought. He agreed with me and said that he would make sure my comments were passed on to the team that afternoon.

20th December - You can't beat a bit of Panto and my local one at the moment is Cinderella. I found myself trotting along to this one tonight - with 21 kids. Not all my own - I am not that fertile (or sexually active!)and we settled ourselves in the front 2 rows. We got soaked with a water gun, snowed on by snow and picked on by the Dames - it was fantastic. 'The Princes' Balls get bigger every year' had me snorting with laughter to myself all the way through to the extent that the 4 year old next to me thought I was having one of my 'turns'. Lots of social media feedback was given and bearing in mind I did this after my own kid had decided to throw up the contents of his stomach all over the hall floor when we arrived home - its testament to how good the show was!

21st December - Feeling unwell, I went along with my Theatre group to sing carols in the foyer of the local supermarket. I got concerned when my words wouldn't come out and I was singing 'feck the balls with jowels of dolly'. I retreated homeward and slept off, what I now know was a migraine and not a stroke - Thanks web MD (I am never going to self-diagnose again). By the time I write again (although this blog will appear after the big man has been), I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and no matter where you are or what you are doing, have a lovely time. x x

Week Two - 8th to 14th December 2013

Ah Ha! Gotcha - I bet you thought that this was another of my one hit wonders and that I would not be posting anymore of the niceness that I have been spreading in the world! Well, I was away last weekend and didn't have access to anything I could write my blog on that was bigger than my iphone so I though it best to keep you all in suspenders until today!

Credit for this picture goes to - http://www.fogeygentleman.co.uk/index.htm So here we go -

8th December - I normally snoop about other peoples websites and very rarely leave comments, unless I am particularly vexed or have something useful to add to a conversation. But today I decided to leave a comment complimenting the person about the use of wonderful images.

9th December - Being a school bus driver must be on a par with spending life like a cracked record (repeating yourself all the time), rounding up sheep (rounding up small children), being deafened on a daily basis (with the shrieking of said children) and not one able to clout them around the heads. I told our school bus driver what a brilliant job she does, she just smiled wearily before replacing her ear defenders and getting back in the drivers seat.

10th December - Picked up a bin that had blown over and all the road. Everyone else was just driving past and over it all - normally I would have done the same!

11th December - One of my friends is a splendid gal, she does lots for other people and in fact and in my opinion she is walked all over by quite a few of them. She went off to a local eatery for the evening with her mum - I slipped said mother a few quid to buy my pal a cheeky drink (or two!).

12th December - Spent a good 2 hours having a chat with a friend of mine. I had quite a bit of other stuff to do, but it wasn't as important as giving someone in need, a little bit of care and attention. Yes I was running horrendously behind with all of my stuff for the remainder of the day but some things are worth doing.

13th December - Went to the other end of the country today a-visiting rellies and to get the gifts delivered and do the rounds of sitting with old aunts, drinking their sherry and eating cake. Its a terribly hard job. We spent all day travelling, collapsed in the hotel but still managed a kind word to the rather harassed lady behind the bar who was grappling with the corkscrew! It was going to be a long night for her!

14th December - I now remember why I love living in a rural location so much. The City is bloody hell on earth and I seriously struggled being nice to anyone today. Shop assistants with no more goodwill and cheer than Scrooges left earlobe. Rude shoppers - all elbows, trolleys and buggy's. Apart from one staff member in Poundland - YES - I went into POUNDLAND, and I am not going to be embarrassed about it either. There were queues for queues reaching as far as the eye could see. Plenty of pushing, shoving and bad tempers but I reached the till and this chap was smiley, happy and took an interest in me and how I was feeling. What a nice chap! I left some feedback via their customer services. He made my day a whole lot better.

Week One - 1st - 7th December 2013

Ok Sunday - here we are my friend, it is time to spill the beans and tell you all just how extra nice I have been this week. How, I have attempted to go out of my way to do something a little bit extra for other people and spread a little kindness. Here goes.... Sunday 1/12 I kicked off the challenge in great style and held a party, which I think very well. It was mainly combining two lots of people - a post-production party and also a Christmas get-together. Made sense to me to have both at the same time and everyone seemed to really have a lovely time. Lots of laughs, good food and wine! Shame some people couldn't come at the last minute, a few with good reason, more than a few without. Monday 2/12 During the arduous task of returning the hired glasses from yesterdays party, back to Tesco. I was stood in the queue wondering if indeed I was still over the limit and should I actually be driving anywhere for the next week - there was a lady in front of me. She was on her phone and looking very down in the dumps, I started thinking on how I might be able to shine a little happiness into her life. I saw she had a really lovely dress on, so I complimented her on it - out of the blue, no warning and the smile that spread across her face was priceless. Tuesday 3/12 Sat in my drawer at home, amongst the christmas supplies were 2 packs of cards that you pop a picture of your own in. They were destined to sit there for another year until I gave them to a friend at my craft club to pass on to her daughter to create some nice cards featuring her little boy to send. I would have normally kept them on the off-chance I would have used them for something, sometime. Wednesday 4/12 Gave someone a lift, it was on my way, added another 15 minutes but was worth the effort as we had a nice chat, opposed to me talking to myself in the car (as usual!) and took them home again. Thursday 5/12 Got good customer service today, so fired off an email to the relevant company asking that it be placed on the staff members personal file. Friday 6/12 Local power cuts meant that this was the second day of outage for some people I know. Had some over to fill flasks, get hot drinks, charge their phones, have a hot lunch and to stay a while. Opened the house up when in all honesty I probably would have helped in some way, but not to this extent. Saturday 7/12 Attended a Christmas Fayre and complimented a stallholder on their stall and the goods that were on it. I would have normally just looked and then poached some ideas, this time I bought. Week One done and now dusted. I have to admit that going that extra mile does take a little thinking about, but so far has been worth it. From this week I have seen that sweeping, expensive gestures often are not valued as much and it is the simpler things that mean the most for some people. I am wondering if all this will prove that karma and pay it forward really do exist and I will receive some of the happiness back - maybe the spreading of it will be all I need?

Play Nice Now!

So, towards the end of November I realised that it would have been nearly a whole year since I posted on here. Not very good eh?! To be fair to myself, it has been rather a busy time for me. To be extra fair to myself, I do tend to take on more than I can chew. Sue, a blog is a great idea, but where can I actually get the time to post on the damn thing amongst running the house and doing all of the other millions of things I rope myself in to? Crikey, sometimes I don't even have the time to go to the bloody loo! It struck me, that now I am managing to get on top of things - the house no longer looks like a bomb site (well not all of it anyway), my theatre directing stint is over and yes, although my Uni degree has just started again and the next production rehearsals have begun (I am in the chorus btw!) - I would like to raise this old and crusty blog off out of the grave and start over. And what better way to start but by doing something meaningful? I decided that from 1st December, I will attempt to do something kind and/or meaningful every day for a whole year. My aim is that as the 1st of December falls on a Sunday, this will be the day that I write about the week gone by. So, join me on 8th December to see how the first week has panned out!

All Mouth and No Trousers

As much as I keep trying to put a rational point of view across, there will always be numpties who try and swing it into the political arena, when actually there is no need. It all started with me reading quite a few posts on the netmums site from people- who are employed by the way - who are missing meals and who cannot afford to heat their homes because the rise in costs have pushed them over the financial 'ledge'. People are seemingly quick to blame the current government, when actually I feel the country would still be in the mess it's currently in, no matter who was in power. I don't give a rats if you have a degree in politics, social sciences and social welfare - it's living in the real world that counts, not by reading about it in text books. I am constantly flabbergasted by individuals who spout vitriol about various political parties (depending on their choice) having done them - personally - apparent injustice and in 'their' opinion 'ruined the country' when actually these people, with said opinions, have homes, mortgages, businesses, jobs, are earning a decent living, have food in their bellies, enjoy foreign holidays, had a nice Christmas, go out once in a while, are probably drinking a nice glass of wine tonight whilst watching the tv, have had an education and live quite comfortably thank you very much. So, in essence mate, YOU have not actually suffered in any way then under whatever government you are choosing to give your verbal diarrhoea to? YOU have not ever had to make a choice between keeping warm and feeding yourself? YOU are not on the cusp of being homeless? YOU are not living in a permanent state of anxiety about giving your family their basic needs? Basically then my friend YOU KNOW NOTHING. OK, level head MM - keep calm, free speech and respect other people opinions and all that jazz. No matter what flavour of party is in Government, there will always be mess that has to be sorted, there will always be things implicated that a percentage of people will not be happy with. But rather than blathering on with small minded and selfish - 'oh I am so hard done by' (when actually I am not) - views. Get off your backside and do something to help others. Oh, I am sorry - I am sure your work/holidays/socialising/bone in your leg doesn't allow you the time to actually help does it? But then again your opinion is, that it's not your problem isn't it?!

Menu Plan - February 2013

Spurred on by saving nearly £40 of my grocery budget last month by planning ahead, I have decided to have another go. Here is my menu plan for February - not set in stone as things do crop up, but here we go; 1st - Toad in the hole with mashed potato, veg and gravy 2nd - Lamb curry, rice, naan breads poppadums and pickles 3rd - Out for dinner 4th - Lemon and garlic chicken with new potatoes and vegetables 5th - Spaghetti Bol with spaghetti and garlic bread 6th - Fish, chips and mushy peas 7th - Shepherds pie, vegetables and gravy 8th - Gammon, egg, hash browns and beans 9th - Pizza-topped chicken with salad 10th - Kung-po king prawns with noodles, stir fry veg and prawn crackers (Chinese new year!) 11th - Lasagne, salad and garlic bread 12th - Mediterranean chicken with rice and vegetables 13th - Pizza and salad 14th - Mexican starter, Steak, jacket potatoes, mushrooms, corn on the cob main, tiramisu dessert (Valentines meal with hubby, the children will have fish fingers and chips and farmed off to bed!) 15th - Sausage, bacon, egg, hash browns and baked beans 16th - Tuna pasta bake with salad 17th - Roast chicken, stuffing,roast potatoes, parsnips, vegetables and gravy (Sunday lunch) 18th - Italian sausage spaghetti 19th - Herbed baked salmon with rice and vegetables 20th - Chicken fajita wraps with salsa, guacamole, sour cream and salad 21st - Steak pie, potatoes, vegetables and gravy 22nd - Meatloaf and vegetables 23rd - Chicken kebabs with pitta bread and salad 24th - Roast lamb, roast potatoes, parsnips, vegetables and gravy (Sunday lunch) 25th - Chicken and bacon pasta bake 26th - Sausage and mash with vegetables and gravy 27th - BBQ chicken, chips and coleslaw 28th - Pork loins, new potatoes and vegetables