(43-290) Help Me, Help You

I've received some absolutely fabulous gifts in my lifetime, and I'm grateful for all of them; but I also find that it often really does feel better to give rather than to receive. If you’re familiar with me and “The Bumpy Ride,” then you know, I LOVE helping. I've mentioned before that I volunteer for everything from my kid's school classes to our soccer league board; and yet, I myself have a very difficult time asking friends for help or accepting assistance from others. Well the other day I had a bit of an epiphany, and I realized that sometimes we HAVE to let other people do things for us when they offer because if we don't, we are depriving them of the happy feeling that you get when you do something nice for someone else.

So there you have it, my lesson for the day; if you're someone who often offers to help others then you need to permit others the opportunity to go out of their way for you too. Here’s an example: Typically when my family goes home to Puerto Vallarta, we stay at my in-laws house and we give my mother-in-law money for groceries as she cooks our meals. Since Luis will be going to Vallarta on his own next Tuesday, we were discussing how much money he should give his mom for food. We settled on an amount, and I told Luis that if his mom declined the money, he should insist; however, if she still didn’t want to take the money then he should just thank her and accept her generosity, since I’m sure that it makes her feel good to take care of him when he’s there. We discussed how we think nothing of offering to help others but we typically don’t feel comfortable when people try to reciprocate. We usually try to decline friend’s offers of favors because we don’t want to put anyone out or seem like we’re taking advantage but the truth is, we always offer with the best intentions and the fullest hearts; so we should believe that our friends are doing the same.

I know so many people who are natural helpers, and who feel more comfortable doing for others than letting others do for them; but we ALL need to give and accept help or a random act of kindness from time to time. So maybe think of it this way; you're HELPING your friend feel good, when you allow them to help you.
I hoped that help!
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-289) Harshing My Gig

So here's some more irony for you. The first line of tonight's post was going to be "So now that Blogger's up and running, I'm free to quote previous posts and provide links until my heart’s content." I was then going to refresh your memory about "Food Tidings," and bring you up to date on the meal that I brought to Mari and her family. However, for the second night in a row, Blogger is harshing my gig; only this time it's worse than before.

I sat down to write my post tonight, and found that once again Blogger was in read only mode due to maintenance; but this time, they didn't provide any time line as to when the problem might be solved, or when we'd be able to do more than read posts. Given this situation, the only thing that I could do to remain true to my promise to write a post a day; is WRITE my post for Thursday, May 12, 2011 and publish it as soon as Blogger would allow.

If you’ve been following “The Bumpy Ride,” then you may recall that a couple of weeks ago I told you that Mari's 18 year old daughter had been in the hospital and that I signed up (through Foodtidings.com) to bring a meal to her family. Well, tonight was finally my night and I am delighted to announce that Mari herself was able to enjoy the dinner that I'd prepared; as her daughter was discharged from the hospital this afternoon and they went home.
Although her daughter's road to recovery will be a long one; we are all thrilled that she has returned home to recuperate. Thank you so much to all of you who said a prayer for Mari and her family.

Now if you’re anything like me, then I know that you’ll want to know what I made for dinner; and since I aim to please, I’ll tell you. I thought I’d keep it simple and I went for one of my kid’s faves since I was going to be serving them the same thing. I prepared baked rigatoni with ground beef and mozzarella cheese. I brought them fixings for a salad, inclusive of a garlic Caesar salad kit, an extra bag of Romaine lettuce, a bag of shredded carrots and a can of black olives. I also brought a warm loaf of French bread; and it was a hit with both families.

Prior to visiting Mari and her daughter in the hospital, I felt helpless. I felt like I was failing my friend because there was nothing that I could do to comfort her or make things easier for her. Once I got myself to the hospital for a visit, I felt a little more useful; but finally preparing dinner for them really made me feel like I had made a difference; even if just in a small way.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-288) How Ironic...

I had a couple of tidbits that I tossed around tonight, but nothing really struck me as blogworthy. I did my usual, Facebook once over, but wasn't inspired. I checked my email for "Reel Life" quotes; found one that I pondered, and came very close to sharing; until I changed my mind. And then I settled on updating you on my Reunion Coordinator job.

I went so far as to write: Being the Queen of FAIRNESS, I always feel compelled to refresh your memory and remind you of posts that have lead up to whatever my given topic for the day might be. I do this so that if by any chance a new reader has joined me on "The Bumpy Ride," they can backtrack (if they chose to take the time;) in order to understand what and why I'm writing about; as well as for more familiar readers who may have missed a post or two. Am I wasting my time with that? Maybe, but it feels like the right thing to do. With that being said, in order for today's post to make sense, we're gonna have to take a lil walk down memory lane....

I thought that I was on a rol after writing that, so I headed into my archives so that I could gather up the names and links for the previous related blogs; and then there was no turning back.  No, seriously, literally, there was no turning back, because Blogger froze up and went into read only mode.  They posted an announcement stating that at 10pm PST Blogger would be unavailable for about an hour.

I was distressed when I initially read this notice, because I really couldn't wait until 11pm to first start writing this post. Then I thought for a moment, and reasoned that I could at least grab the blog names and links in the meantime; but this proved to be impossible. Frozen as I was, I decided to go back to the drawing board, and ultimately decided that I was still going to update you on my Reunion Coordinator job;  but I was going to have to do so with all of the other info that I wanted to provide.  How ironic that at first I had nothing to write about, and now it's physically and technically impossible for me to write.

In my effort to be pro-active, I decided to start typing my post in a word doc, so that I could just copy and paste it, as soon my darling blogger was up and running again. So in all fairness, I have to say that in the long run, it was totally worth it to pay my dues by gathering yearbook information over the past few weeks, because I have now been assigned four reunions to coordinate. Woohoo!! As of tomorrow, I will be preparing to take over four reunions that my boss has arranged and I am extremely excited. I found out that in addition to the planning that I will do prior to the event, I will also be present at all events that I coordinate. How fun is that going to be!!!

I am so glad that I took a chance and asked for this job.  So proud that I got myself through some tasks that were very difficult for me and that I'll now be able to do a job that I know I'll be very good at. YAY me!!  Nothing's gonna stop me.  Not fear, not discomfort, and not technology.

Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING