Good Deeds

I spent the weekend doing some good deeds. It was a balm for my spirits, as I came home from work on both Thursday and Friday feeling very undervalued and discouraged (for reasons I am not going to go into here).

On Saturday, I spent the morning baking for Mary's family, who are soon to be home from the hospital and need their freezer stocked.) I wasn't confident about preparing meals, but when someone suggested baking, I was all over it. I made two loaves of bread, two batches of muffins (in both toddler and grown-up sizes), and an apple loaf. Gwen "helped" for some of it, as well. I am getting better at managing her in the kitchen. (Except for the part where I turned around and found her with a paring knife in her mouth. She was actually fine until my loud gasp and terrified face scared the crap out of her. She didn't cut herself, though. Also, GAHHH.)

In the evening I continued the theme of good deeds by donating money to two good causes: my cousin Sonia is participating in the Ride to Conquer Cancer, and a mommyfriend is doing the Weekend to End Women's Cancers, so I gave them both money. Some of you may not know that in 2005, I raised $5,500 for the Canadian Diabetes Association and did a marathon in Rome, so I have a soft spot in my heart (and wallet) for anyone who undertakes something similar.

The final good deed was to finish up the Advent Conspiracy this morning. Those who took home the giving cans were asked to either bring them back to church by today, or give them to another charity of their choice. Out of 36 cans I made, 15 of them came back, netting a total of just over $300. Along with the other monies donated, this gave us enough to build 2 wells in a developing nation. Once the money is tripled by CIDA, we'll be able to build six wells, which will provide clean drinking water for over 230 families! That's a lot of water. That's a lot of hope. That's a lot of love!

With that, it finally feels like Christmas is over around here. Chris finally took down the outside decorations - he wanted to wait for dry weather, and I feared this would mean our house would be festooned with half-lit reindeer until sometime in June, but the rain actually stopped long enough today for him to go out and disassemble the poor creatures. Glory Hallelujah.