Thursday, December 21, 2006

This blog is currently moving

Blogger
Okay, all day yesterday, there was a message: "This blog is currently moving." I had written my post yesterday, and as in previous postings, asking if I would want to move my blog. I have read that eventually all blogger blogs will be converted, so my mind changed and I knew that I would have to eventually change. I thought to myself, "what the hell," it should only take a few minutes.

I mean, the message did say that most blogs would take a couple of minutes to convert. Nearly eight hours later, the blog finished its conversion process. Thanks, blogger. Well, the good news is that it appears that the posts made it. Not all of the comments did however. For instance, mal made a comment yesterday, and she became anonymous after the conversion. Sorry, sweetie.

Comfort Zones
~deb has a really interesting post today, in "Waters to Swim..."
Have you heard about the frog that was born at the bottom of the well? He thought life couldn’t get any better till one day he looked up and saw daylight. Climbing up to investigate, he was amazed to find a much larger pond than the one he lived in. After hopping twice, he was eaten by a snake.

Okay, ~deb's post actually started a lot better than that. I am all about taking some chances. But sometimes when you expand your world, a snake eats your ass.

Receiving Gifts
I received a wonderful gift yesterday. I was running around, in a hurry, and I stopped in the local Walgreens. Well, it was not one near where I live, but I wanted a soda on the way to do some other errands. So here I am in line, behind a woman who was counting single dollars and coins to make a purchase.

All of a sudden, her face went ashen, and I could tell she did not have enough for her purchases. Her total was around $36 dollars. I never spend that much in Walgreens. Anyway, I felt for the woman. Looking at my watch, I formed an idea.

I gave the cashier two crisp twenties, asked him to scan my soda and said I was with her. After scanning my soda, I told the woman to grab the change and I would be out in the car. I left, and as I was driving away, I saw her start walking down the street.

I don't know who this woman was, just some frail old lady with kind eyes and years of work etched into her hands. I sometimes wonder if I offended her; I hope not. Since she was already wondering which item to put back, I think her mind was not on me, but on her next step.

I am a nut about "giving trees." I like them because you can give and still remain anonymous. Our church has one, the local convenience store, the grocery store, schools. I love giving for the feeling I get. And I try to remain anonymous because I think it is important to give for the right reasons. The only reason I am writing about it here is – well two-fold – perhaps I can inspire others, and well, I have nothing to write about today and this fills space.

One thing I did do a few years ago is ask my hubbie to actually purchase items for the church giving tree. I pulled two "angels" (paper angels with ages and sexes of needy kids) and sent him to the store to make purchases. He is a bit of a tightwad, and I wanted him to loosen his purse strings. Well, not purse strings, but you get the idea. It was very hard for him to do, and he complained that he was spending more on strangers than our own family's children. Yeah, it was painful for him.

The next year, I gathered two more "angels" (two church-goers = two angels) and planned on purchasing them myself. I just did not want to inflict more pain. I am a bitch; I am, however, not heartless. Funny thing is that hubbie picked up an additional angel and asked if he could again purchase the gifts. Blew my freekin' mind.

Hopefully this "new blogger" will improve. Perhaps I will kick my writing up a notch as well. After all, I am not heartless.

10 comments:

Prata said...

First! Hah!

Expanding your horizons. Yes, it's likely that by expanding your horizons a snake will eat you. But why would anyone give up growing for the fear of failure? Life always ends in death. Embrace that and you become truly free.

I have done that before, in a different manner but it has been done. I paid for the object of my affection's coffee that way, only she had the money, I just did it because I needed to start a conversation with her. On the other hand, I've also bought people's purchases for the sake of helping them out because you know..they have two fidgeting kids in the line and it turns out that those diapers weren't on sale after all. It's important to put diapers on kids..really.

Deb said...

Ugh! I was scared there for a minute when you mentioned to me that you "tagged" me. I didn't know what that meant, other than listing 100 useless facts about one's self and tagging someone to do the same. Luckily, the tagging you meant was the one I had hoped for! ha!

And I didn't think of the negative aspect of being the frog. I never thought a snake would eat me! Maybe I should remain in my shallow waters!

And who woulda' thunk you were such a generous person! I loved the stories you gave - especially about the lady at Walgreen's. I bet she'll remember that the rest of her life.


P.S. I loved your "thought process" in your comment on my blog. ;)

Leesa said...

prata: I was sort of being humorous with the frog being eaten. It is much more likely to be run over by a car!

~deb: thanks, sweetie. I loved your blog entry today, but I was feeling more funny than interspective today.

Prata said...

Oh I know..I just happened to ponder that when I read it lol

Joe said...

Great stories, Leesa. I've recently started volunteering more often, and it feels great. It's amazing how much you can accomplish simply by changing your perception.

MOAB said...

Leesa, you are a lovely person.

Ian Lidster said...

What a charitable and nice person you are, Leesa. The story of the lady in Walgreen's was very touching and shows the true spirit of the season.
Consequently, you and yours deserve a blessed one.
your friend,
Ian

jj mollo said...

Maybe this will help on your search for a vice. Trick people into accepting good deeds! I used to give money to street bums, but it didn't seem to help them. I sometimes give excessive tips, but it often backfires. Women think you're trying to pick 'em up and men get possessive and want you to sit at their table. Anonymous is better.

My own vice is an obsessive search for the cure of all the world's problems. It keeps my mind off anything that might actually be useful, provides an outlet for passion and keeps me from thinking negative thoughts. Also, biking is good, especially when you ride too far and get lost.

Tony said...

Peace unto you this Christmas season.

Leesa said...

joe: it is also interesting how much you can change when bombarding yourself with gamma rays.

monica: I want you too, babe!

ian: the kicker was that it was all of the money I had on me, and I had to hit the cash machine later that day. Sometimes charity is not well-planned.

jj mollo: you are onto something. Many people don't like with strangers are nice.

tony: peace to you as well.