Month: December 2010

Holy Smokes — it’s the middle of December already.  And not a Christmas post in sight around here.  Very sad.  How ’bout a picture of Santa hanging in my kitchen?

There, now I feel better.  But that has nothing to do with this post.  ;-)

You know how you always hear stories about people who do fun things for strangers?  Like pay for the car behind them in the drive-thru lane?  Or something like Karin’s fun with words of hope and kindness?  I’m always too chicken to do something like that.  Or too busy.  Or too out-to-lunch.

But the Saturday after Thanksgiving was a little different. I was in the Target check-out line and started up a conversation with this cute little cashier.  We’ll call her Lucy (not really her name, you know.)  We were making small talk and I asked her if she’d survived Black Friday.

“Oh Yes!  All 10 hours of it for me.”  She was so cheery and happy.  As she was ringing up my towels, she said,

“I took advantage of the towel sale too.  My niece is going to Purdue and I want to get them embossed for her.”  (That really made me smile!)

“Oh, that’s my favorite gift to get new college students.  Towels in their school colors with a monogram on them.”

Then she asked me where I get my towels done and I told her that I was lucky and had my own machine.  She hesitated for a minute and then said,

“Could I pay you to do mine for me?”

Oooooh.  I didn’t expect that.  So, I politely told her that I don’t really embroider for other people, there’s just not enough time.  And we discussed a few places that she might find to embroider her towels.

Then I rushed off to the post office and my other errands.

Only I couldn’t stop thinking about cute little Lucy and how excited she was to give these towels to her niece.  And how hard she was working.  And how happy and cheerful she was while standing on her feet all day waiting on customers.  I even got a tear in my eye!

Would it really kill me to embroider a few towels for someone who’d brightened my day a little?  So, I ran back to Target and sheepishly told her I’d embroider her towels for her.  (After all, we didn’t even know each other.  It was a leap of faith on her part to give towels she’d paid for to a perfect stranger.)  She was so excited, it was fun to arrange the pick-up and drop-off.

After I finished the towels, I dropped them off and then called Lucy to tell them she could pick them up.  She’d already seen them and she was SO sweet and so grateful.  She said she loved them.  She even said she almost cried when she saw them.

That made it all worthwhile. That’s what I’m talking about!

XOXO,
Anna

P.S. I really  didn’t tell you this so you’ll say what a nice thing to do or anything. I contemplated turning comments off (heh, why bother, my server does that enough for me, but I digress) but I’m hoping maybe you’ll tell me about something totally random and fun that you’ve done or heard about?

… the kitties who drag sweaters around?

We outsmarted them. We close the bedroom door so they can’t get to the sweaters anymore. Then, they outsmarted us back. Now they drag the t.v. blankets from the family room all around the house. Every night when we come home, there’s at least one blanket on the floor. (Oh look … there’s the little culprit surveying his handiwork.)

Sometimes, the quilt is by their dinner bowl. They might be sending a signal.

… the little boy who could recite Billy Collins poetry?

He actually met, and talked to Billy Collins! You can read the All Things Considered story and listen to the interview.  Definitely worth your time.  (Thanks to Jill for the tip.)

… knitting here in ThimbleannaLand? In particular, the yarn that I bought at the end of this post?

I know. It’s pitiful. Not much knitting goes on around here. Most of my knitting was done on airplanes, and since I don’t travel much anymore, I’m struggling to find knitting time. The yarn mentioned, is a pair of socks in progress — they’ve been on the needles for. ev. er. The good news is the heel has been turned, so there’s hope in sight!

… the advent calendar I made last year?

I gave it to MyDadLovesMeBestSister and it looks much better in her house. CuteNiece2 was excitedly explaining to me last week that they don’t put the numbers in order and it makes it a lot more fun to figure out which day they’re on.  (Do I get a prize for a run-on sentence?  I had to squeeze this one in here — there really needed to be something Christmas-y on this post.  Speaking of pitiful!)

So, those were a few things I just know you were losing sleep over.  Now, off to bed!

XOXO,
Anna

Oh, and P.S. How fantastic is this cool idea from the Divine Twine website?

Really. Look at those sugar jars! I think they were made just for Divine Twine. Look how perfectly the spool fits into the jar!

(And shameless plug: the twine is still 20% off!)