Practice Random Kindness: Good Deed December Update #3

I'm not a religious person. I don't go to church. I don't even really think I'm that spiritual, except for the fact that I 100% believe in Karma, or getting back the energy that you put out. However, I do think that if you're going to practice something, religious, spiritual, or otherwise, it should be this:

So here's what I've done for others the past few days as I make my way through Good Deed December.

December 13th: When I purchased something on Overstock.com today, they gave me the option to add an extra dollar to my order which would go towards Wounded War Heroes. One of my brothers is currently in boot camp training to be a Marine. I clicked YES.

December 12th: I donated $10 to 826Chi's literacy and reading program. You should too. The program is totally free and it helps tons of underprivileged kids develop better reading and writing skills, plus the people who run the program are super smart and FUN!

December 11th: I can't remember what I did on this day, but I know I did something! To make up for it, I'll tell you two things I did on December 1oth!

December 10th: 1) This was the day it was 7 freaking degrees outside! I took a cab home from my interview and I was so grateful to get home and out of the cold that I tipped the cabbie $4 on an $8 cab ride, instead of my standard $2.

2)After eating lunch in Ogilvy station, I had almost a whole carton of fruit left. Instead of throwing it away, I left it in plain view on top of the tray holder above the garbage for some of the homeless people, who were roaming the station and digging through trash, to eat. I don't know if anyone found it, but I like to think they did.

Have you done anything nice lately, either in the spirit of the holidays, or just because?

I'd also like to thank JamieLovely for doing a good deed for me last night. After the Chicagonista party, she dropped me off at my bus stop so I wouldn't have to walk in the cold/rain in my heels. It's the little things that count, and not getting blisters and freezing my butt off counts a lot to me! Thanks Jamie. :)

Payback shouldn't be a bitch!

Where's all the good karma that's supposed to be coming my way from doing all these nice things? Granted, I didn't start Good Deed December so that a bunch of good things would happen to me, but isn't that just supposed to be a side effect?

Last night I went to an SMC Chicago networking event with one of my friends. It was snowy and miserable out and we both braved the slush in our impractical shoes, all for the name of social media. Over 150 people were at this event, and out of the probably 30 or so that I actually got to talk to, NO ONE told me I had mascara smeared on my face! Why does it make people so uncomfortable to tell someone, "Hey, I think the snow might have smeared your makeup."?

I have a suggestion to help people get over the fear of telling others when they have gunk on their face or in their teeth, or when their shirt is inside out, etc... Just remember how uncomfortable it feels to watch a sex scene in a movie with your parents, and telling someone that they have an eye goober will feel like a cake walk!

I always tell people when they have snot hanging out of a nostril or a tag sticking out. Yeah, it's not a pretty thing to do. But isn't it worse to have to stare at it while you talk to them?

I even went to this networking event with a really good friend and SHE didn't tell me because, in her words, "It looked like a beauty mark."

No it didn't. It just looked like mascara and I looked like a mess.

Then, when I got home from the networking event, I found that it was raining in my room, right above my door and my desk. What I mean is, the snow that was on the roof had started to melt, and apparently there is a leak in the roof right above my room.

All I have to say about last night, besides what I've already said, is that WINTER CAN SUCK IT!! If I have to check a mirror every time I get somewhere after being out in the snow/slush/rain, and if I have to keep a water-catching bucket in my room where my desk should be, it's going to be a long, annoying winter.

Aaaand, now that I'm done complaining, here's my Good Deed Update for days 5-9.

December 5: I let my boyfriend play video games ALL DAY and didn't complain until the next day when he tried to do it again. Sounds like a stretch, I know, but when I say all day, I mean aaaaaall day. As in, he emerged from his man cave around 10:00 pm with his eye glazed over, a beer in his hand, and his hair greasy and unshowered. Ew.

December 6: While looking for jobs, I found some on Craigslist and Career Builder that I thought would be good fits for my friends who are looking, and I passed them on to three of them.

December 7: I helped a friend (the one who DIDN'T tell me I had makeup smeared on my face!) with her resume and cover letter.

December 8: Another friend and I spent 8 hours making homemade cookies and candy to give to people for Christmas. The results were: poorly decorated Christmas cookies, poor man's turtles, some other candy with an m & m stuck to the top, and homemade caramel. I haven't given them out yet, but I'm still counting it as a good deed because we seriously baked from 1 - 10 pm, with only about an hour break for some Wii Fit Plus exercise and Thai food.

December 9: I printed out my friend's ticket for the networking event mentioned above because her printer doesn't work and the tickets said you had to print them and present them at the door. Turns out, the tickets were liars, but we had them anyway.

Good Deed December Update

Well, it's officially day 5 of Good Deed December. You'd think it would be easy to do one nice thing for someone a day, but when you work from home and don't see that many people unless you make it a point to go out of the house, sometimes the opportunity to do something nice just doesn't come up!

So that's what I did. I sought out nice things to do, either online or for people I live with or who live close to me, so that I wouldn't go a whole day without completing my mission.

So here's the update.

December 2: I can't tell you what I did because the person I did this for reads this blog and I don't want them to know about it yet. It's a surprise!

December 3: I left the house this day, so it was easy to find nice things to do. 1) I let a friend borrow two shirts after she overslept and didn't have time to go home before work. 2) I donated my loose change, about $1.50 to the Salvation Army bell ringer outside of Jewel. 3) I brought the movie Gran Torino over to my cousin who stayed home sick from work. Well, actually Dan brought it over since he was already dressed for winter, but it was my idea and my movie!

December 4: I held the door for someone at the bank. I also signed up for the Letters to Santa program through the Chicago Sun Times, in which you get a letter from a child addressed to Santa, and then you buy them one or more of the gifts on their list! I did this last year and it was stressful (only because I made it so), but fun. You can read ALL about my Secret Santa FAIL here. If you want to request a letter too, it's not too late. You have until December 16th!

Here are the other 20-something bloggers who are doing this challenge, or some other version of it:

Paige from Little Miss Paige
Liv from Semi Settled
Emily Jane from Emily Jane
Nicole from Miss Career Girl

If all five of us do one good deed a day for 31 days, that's 155 nice things that will happen to others in just one month! HOLY CRAP!

If there's anyone who's participating that I missed, let me know and I'll be sure to link to you in my next update.

Thanks for having big hearts girls. :)

-Leah

Good Deed December

I just decided today to do this.

Every day for the month of December, I'm going to do one nice thing for someone, a good deed if you will.

One day, I might tell someone they dropped their wallet (only if they really did, of course). Another, I might volunteer somewhere. The deed may not be huge, but the key part of this challenge, for myself, is that whatever I do, it will be something that I wasn't required to do. It will be something that I did just because I wanted to, or maybe I didn't want to, but someone needed me to.

After all, it's the season of giving, right?

Today I did one nice thing and one sort of nice thing.

Nice thing: I made dinner (Chicken Tacos) for my roommates (this was actually a collaborative effort, but I bought most of the ingredients.

Sort of nice thing: Instead of leaving early for my meeting today and shopping downtown with money I don't have, I waited around for one of my roommates' mattress to be delivered so I could sign for it. It probably would have made it here anyway, but he was worried since he leaves for vacation tomorrow and I wanted him not to worry.

If you decide to participate in this challenge too, let me know and I'll link to your good deed when I post about mine each day.

Happy December!

Watch your mouth gals

For the last 10 days, I've been traipsing around San Diego (and L.A. for an impromptu 2 day jaunt). It was fun, tiring, exciting, exhausting, expensive, etc...Everything you expect a vacation to be, especially when surrounded by upwards of 60 of your boyfriend's closest family members for the better part of the trip.

Anyway, while in L.A., Dan and I met a girl who found out the hard way, that a dictionary is a very useful tool and should consulted for any and all text messages regarding hanky panky, because what you say may not always be interpreted the way you mean it.

Said girl is friends with the couple we were staying with for a few days. We were in the only Chicago bar in Hermosa beach watching the Bears lose and talking about said girl's love life. She was SO excited because she just started dating a new guy and they were sending flirty text messages back and forth.

She then let it slip that she sent him a text message that morning that said, "Ravish me." The way she told us, you could tell that she thought the phrase was both clever and just the right amount of sexy that should be sent over text message.

Dan and I were both a little shocked, and Dan said something along the lines of, "You know that means rape, don't you?"

Uncomfortable silence.

She didn't know.

She thought it meant "Sex me up passionately, but non-violently."

It can mean something like that (see #3), but more often than not, it means something not quite so nice.

Here's the FreeDictionary.com version:
Ravish:

1. To seize and carry away by force.

2. To force (another) to have sexual intercourse; rape.

3. To overwhelm with emotion; enrapture. See Synonyms at enrapture.

Once I showed her the actual definition (Thank God for internet capable phones!), she immediately started in on the damage control. For the record, the guy didn't know what ravish meant, so it was pretty unnecessary.

The rest of the night, after a bunch more drinks and some pizza, she stated, "No wonder guys always want to sleep with me and then don't talk to me again. I've texted that to the last 9 guys I've dated!"

Ouch.

Word to the wise ladies. If you're going to be sexy through text message, make sure you know the meanings of what you're saying, ALL three or more of them.

List making and how I suck at it

I make lists so I can stay on track and actually get stuff done during the day. Besides, I feel extra accomplished when I look at my list at the end of the day and ALMOST everything is checked off. (Checking everything off would mean a way too productive day for me).

I have a problem though when it comes to making lists. Most of the time there are things on the list that I absolutely don't want to do, but I still want to feel accomplished. To combat that inconvenience, I add more things to my list that I DO want to do (usually after I've already done them), and then cross them off. The more checks on my lined sheet of paper, the better.

That's why currently:

My toenails are painted - but my room is only half dusted.
My bathroom is relatively clean (it's really small and therefore not a hard task) - but my clothes have been in the dryer since yesterday. Folding and putting stuff away is the WORST.
I sent follow up emails to the company who interviewed me for a job I really want (cross your fingers for me!), updated my Linkedin profile, and sent pictures to my step mom - but haven't gone through my real mail in a week.
I dropped clothes off at the dry cleaners - but have only just started packing for my trip to San Diego tomorrow.
I showered - but didn't workout. Who wants to get sweaty after they've already showered?

My list is currently 17 activities long, some of which I was eager to do, and some of which I dreaded, and according to that list, I still AM.

I wonder if I'm the only person who does this.

Exceptionally Exceptional!

Awhile ago, I guest posted on a Chicago blog called "The Exceptional Man" about, you guessed it, what makes a man exceptional (in my opinion). I went on and on about how great Dan is and talked about the idea I have that what you should really look for are the qualities that your grandmother looked for and how those qualities are so much more important than jewelry or vlogs dedicated in your honor.

I believe and meant everything I said. But, it wasn't until a few days ago that I realized that this guy that I've been dating, living with, (probably annoying the crap out of) for 2.5 years, is actually beyond exceptional and not just to me, but to the people who are important to me, too.

We were talking to a cousin of mine, who has been having boy troubles. Basically, she's been dating a selfish guy, who only acts like a boyfriend when it's convenient for him. Dan and I have been trying to get her to realize how much selfish guy is a minus in her life, and she does realize it but for some reason, she won't take the final step to say "That's it, we're through." He's waiting for her to do it, and she's holding out for him to change, when she knows he won't and that he's probably not even capable of doing so.

Then, Dan said something to my cousin that made me realize, even more than I already do, that he's not only a great partner, but he'll probably be a kick-ass father when the time comes and his teenage daughter is crying her eyes out because some jerkface broke her heart.

He said: K, the time you spend with A is a gift to be cherished. What has A done recently, in the past 6 months, or even the past year, to deserve that gift from you? Nothing.

He wasn't even talking to me and I started tearing up like the sensitive loser I am.

Sometimes I wish I could watch state farm insurance commercials without crying, but then I wouldn't be me. And if I wasn't me, I wouldn't have a guy who considers the time he spends with people a gift that he has to work towards deserving. You're doing a good job so far D.P.!

My boyfriend likes boys

I have my few close girlfriends that I've had since elementary school/high school and a few more good girl friends that I've made since moving to Chicago/dating Dan/getting a grown up job, etc...

But I'm always amazed by how EASY it is for Dan to bond with other guys. It takes me weeks, months, years to form friendships and for him, it's effortless. I try to come off as friendly so people know that they can be themselves around me, but usually I just end up stuttering over a compliment in hopes that they'll like me right away.

Dan, on the other hand, spouts off something ridiculous or shocking and immediately, he has a new best friend! Here's one of his best lines to date: That guy must think the streets are paved with cheese cause he's driving like a pussy. <---Fievel Goes West Reference

Example: This weekend two of Dan's female friends were coming in to Chicago to go to a wedding in Milwaukee with us. They're from NJ, but he lived with them for four months while studying abroad in Australia. I was nervous because girls are usually way more judgmental than guys and I knew I wouldn't be at the top of my game because I was on Day 11 of being sick and didn't really feel up to entertaining.

I didn't really have to worry about that because we bonded over videogames (of all things!) but no matter how close we got, it wasn't anything like Dan and Kyle (one of the NJ girl's boyfriend). Seeing them together was like seeing Dan meet his long-lost brother from another mother for the first time. It was really special...and also a tad creepy how much alike they were.

This is after one night of drinking. Dan is shirtless...and I don't know if he's less anything else. I was upstairs sleeping while these shenanigans were going on and only saw this picture and the rest of this photoshoot in the morning. Here are Dan and Kyle bonding over tying ties. Dan knows how to tie a full-windsor and feels the need to make sure everyone else's tie looks as good as his. There are also a couple of bathtub pictures that I can't figure out how to get off my blackberry because they were sent to me by text and not email. Those are probably too weird for me to post up here anyway.

So on one hand, I'm grateful that I can bring Dan somewhere and people immediately like him, vice versa. It makes so many situations less stressful when I know that I don't have to babysit and introduce my boyfriend to everyone and their mother so his feelings don't get hurt. (I dated one of those before...it's horrible!)

On the other hand, should I be worried that he's perfectly okay, excited even, to take bathtub pictures with a guy he's only hung out with for about 4 days? OR should I be jealous that both girls I met didn't want to take bathtub pictures with ME? I don't even know what to think right now!

After this weekend, I'm left wondering, is it just easier for guys to bond right away? Or is it just easier for Dan?

Leah and the terrible horrible no good very bad day

When I say I have no luck, I mean it. As soon as I think something great is going to happen, something equally horrible will happen to put me back in my place, the place where I remember that...I have no luck.

Example: Yesterday I had an appointment to give a presentation to a company about why I should do their social media. It was a big deal to me because it's a multi-million dollar company and would mean a steady paycheck for at least a few months while I worked on this project.

10 minutes before I had to leave, my fever (the one I've had off and one for 2 weeks) broke which meant my dress shirt was soaked through with sweat and THEN my computer decided it just wouldn't turn on. It was fully charged, and looked like it was on, but the screen was black. I couldn't bring a malfunctioning computer to a presentation, so I did what any sick, sweaty and out of their mind person would do and brought a harriet the spy notebook with a few things I jotted down that I could remember from my presentation. I then came up with the plan to try to act like my intentions all along were to only talk but I had a presentation ready if that's what he wanted. Thank God he didn't want the presentation...

On the way to my meeting (I'm still sweating) it was so sunny outside that I couldn't tell if some lights were red or green. I'm looking for the address of the place, which was on the south side in a sort of janky area. I can't find it so I turn around and as I turn around, I immediately hear sirens.

Me: Hi...Um, was that a red light or a green? I couldn't really tell. It's so sunny out!
Mr. Officer: I don't know, but you were driving down a one way street.
Me: Oh, really? I mean, I wasn't actually driving down it. I was just turning around. I'm lost! Do you know where this address is? (Like my quick subject change here? He didn't...)
Mr. Officer: License and registration please.

I then had to scramble to find Dan's insurance/registration with the sun beating down on me, which caused me to start sweating even more. Plus Dan has documents in his car all the way back from 1998 and I couldn't find them!

Eventually I did, and eventually the cop realized I'm just retarded and wasn't breaking any traffic rules on purpose. Oh, and it turned out I was directly in front of the address I was trying to reach.

He left me with a very wise word of advice (and no ticket!) He said, "You need to be more careful. We don't want you killing anybody."

I thought that was a little dramatic just for turning around on a one way. And if it REALLY was a one way (there was no sign) why was there a green/red light that let you go onto that street in the first place? Riddle me that, Mr. Officer!