Snowed In and Prepping for a Week of Giving

I’m not sure where you live, but I’m in Northwest Indiana and we are getting hammered with snow.  Since I stocked up on a food yesterday and I work from home, I actually enjoy the snow and don’t mind the inches and inches Linus, I guess they name snowstorms, is bringing to my backyard. 

Since I’m stuck I the house and won’t be venturing out anytime soon I thought I would spend time getting organized for the week, going through mail, paying bills, meal planning, laundry and yes prepping for my daily gifts.  Many days I don’t have a plan for my gifts, but projects are starting to pile up and I need to get them moving out of my house and helping others!  I love the fact that everywhere I look a gift is sitting, waiting to be given.  It is my hope that one day your gift giving journey starts to constantly overflow with abundance to others, if it isn't already. 

So what kinds of gifts am I working on for the week?

1.       My Godson’s birthday was back in October and I totally forgot to get him a gift.  I think I was out of town the weekend of his birthday and it just slipped my mind.  He doesn't need any toys so he’ll be getting money for his college fund. 

2.       I've spent time writing thank you cards to clients for their business and friends who have helped us through the difficult time of losing our beloved dog Boss.  Always remember to say thanks!

3.       Wrote a card that I’ll be sending to a client. It’s a note of encouragement with a positive quote.  A little something to brighten his week!

4.       Set bags of towels, linens and blankets out for the animal shelter.  Over Christmas break I cleaned out my linen closet and found a ton of stuff we weren't using.  I knew the local animal shelters uses these types of items so I bagged them up and loaded them in my car. Then I posted about this on Facebook and one of my friends commented that her friend’s son was collecting these items to donate to the shelter on Valentine ’s Day. This is a win win for me. I don’t have to make a trip to the shelter, but I can help this little boy in his giving journey. 

5.       Wrote my annual check to Public Library Friends so I can renew my membership to the Friends of the Porter County Library System.  Last year the Friends provided almost $40,000 to the libraries to help with the purchase of new materials, pay for summer reading programs, purchase magazines and software, and provide scholarships to staff working on their library degree.  I love the library and can’t help but support!

Are you working on any gifts for today?  If so, please share!  I love getting ideas from others.

I’m taking a break and going to go play in the snow! 

Blessings,

Stephanie

Day 67-Taking care of the pets

Growing up as a child I had all kinds of pets. My first pet was a kitten named Sugar Babies, and then I had a dog Daisy, a turtle Norman, a bird Kiwi and too many rabbits to name, but my favorite was Thumper or was it Oreo? 

The first four years of our marriage Mike and I didn’t have a pet and if I would have had my way we never would have owned a pet, but my husband had other plans.

Since he was a child he not only dreamed about being a police officer, but a K-9 handler. He loved dogs but when he graduated from the police academy in 2000 the Indiana State Police did not have a K-9 program.  Around 2006 a new Superintendent, a former K-9 handler, started a K-9 program and my husband was ecstatic. He had an opportunity to finally fulfill his dream. It would be a lot of hard work, time and dedication.  He applied for the position and in September 2006 he left for 17 weeks for K-9 training.  Prior to him going to training we had a deal. This was his dog, not mine and I wouldn’t be responsible for feeding, bathing or really anything that had to with the care of the dog. And to this day my husband kept this commitment he made to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this dog, Boss, and he is a part of our family. If I am outside he is right beside me. If Mike is gone I feed and let Boss out to go potty, but 90% of the time Boss is my husband’s responsibility.

On this day, actually for this entire week, my husband was going to be gone to training so I would be in charge of the pets. I fed Boss twice a day, let him out to go potty every couple of hours and played with him. Besides Boss my husband also has four Piranhas in one tank and then another tank that has a fish my niece bought that will not die. The fish are in the basement and I actually forgot to feed them for a couple of days. Yikes! My husband would have not been happy to come home to dead Piranhas. He has been growing these fish for months.

Anyways, I feel in life, especially for the people we live with and love there are sometimes things we don’t want to do but since we love the ones we share a home with we need to help out when an opportunity presents itself.

I am very proud of my husband and Boss. My husband has committed countless hours to caring and training Boss. Boss isn’t just one of the best K-9’s in the region, but in the state. To see one of Boss’s tricks click on the video below. Enjoy!