Random Act of Gratitude #144: So Long, Farewell

There's been an old air conditioner on my back deck for a ridiculously long time. It wasn't mine. Long story.

Suffice it to say that a certain friend of mine who is quite the "get things done" type came and took it away.

See? I'm grateful. Thanks, Jesse!

Random Act of Gratitude #96: PhotoSue

For one project on which I have been working, I needed some photos of kids.

I had the project.

I had the kids.

All I needed was a photographer.

Enter Sue, who arrived camera in hand this afternoon. She worked smashingly with my gaggle of models (that's right, models come in gaggles), and took my vague ideas of what we could do for each photo and made them better and made them work. I'm quite confident that we ended up with some great shots for the project.

Thanks for taking the time to come out and shoot some kids, Sue!

Random Act of Gratitude #58: Dennis Makes a Decision

Almost there...

This evening, it was time to hop into the car and drive up north of Toronto to meet up with Sonya so we could see our friend, Charlotte, in a show.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I'm not the most decisive person on the planet. And anyone who knows Sonya can probably predict that she's not impressed with that.

So, of course, once we'd met up the question of dinner came up. To Sonya's credit, she had scoped out some options for dining, but quickly became frustrated with my lack of concern over where we eat. I'm quite sure she might have had a homicide on her hands had my phone not rung in my pocket.

It was Dennis calling to update me on the ridiculousness of his afternoon. While I had him on the phone, I asked him where we should eat and it took him all of 15 seconds to tell us where to eat (Mediterranean).

See? That's someone who is used to just deciding instead of trying to force the issue!

Thanks, Dennis. My meal was delicious.

Random Act of Gratitude #55: A Home When Needed (Part II)

I'm determined to be caught back up by Monday. Wish me luck.

The summer after I finished teachers' college was an interesting one. Within three days of finishing, I had packed my belongings into the car, gone to see a friend get married, seen my cousin admitted into the hospital, and had surgery myself. What followed were a few months of recovery, part-time jobs, and uncertainty in my career.

Things weren't in a great place for new teaching jobs at the time, and I eventually resigned myself to the dauting reality that I might well end up having to live with my parents for a year in the small town where they had moved and where I knew nobody.

I was splitting my time between a daycare and a lumber mill (yes, re-read that and laugh) and proceeded to set up an after-school program through the daycare.

Then I got the call offering me a slot as an occasional (supply) teacher. Despite the risk that comes with unguaranteed employment, I accepted and called up the woman who had been my landlady for the last two years of school, knowing my chances were slim-t0-none. The wee apartment was cheap and centrally located in the city.

"I can't believe you called," she said. "The man living there just told me yesterday that he'll have to move out in a few weeks."

And so I was back (for about a decade, as it turned out).

But in the meantime, I had no place to stay.

Enter Cheryl and Chris. Cheryl had been my associate teacher for my first major teaching block at the school where I now teach.

Upon hearing about my situation, she might have blinked before offering to put me up until the apartment became available.

And so I became the guy in the basement at their home for a month or so. Cheryl, Chris, and their oldest (and only, at the time) daughter invited me into their home and family. Toss in that their house was right on the lake, and it was particularly lovely.

We still laugh about a few odd misconceptions that came from that time.

#1. Despite what Cheryl somehow came to believe, I do not love fish sticks. Who loves fish sticks? Still trying to figure out how on earth she got that idea.

#2: I did not hate everything she cooked. I hated the eggplant lasagna. That's it. The rest was quite delicious. Well, except for the fish sticks.

To top it off, Cheryl gave me a list of principals with whom I was to make face-to-face contact during the "get my name out there" stage of supply teaching.

And so, today, my thanks goes out to Cheryl and her family (now my pickle family) for giving me a hand and a home when I was just starting out.

Random Act of Gratitude #28: Snow Jobs

Today was another day of continuously falling snow, and as it piled up, so, apparently, did the opportunities for some kindess from others.

At the end of the work day, a parent came into the office to ask somewhat concernedly whether the damage to my headlight was new or if I already knew about it. (I already knew about it. It's been damaged -- but functioning -- for quite some time, but the money to fix it hasn't been handy.) I asked how she noticed it, and at first I thought her answer was, "I dinged your car," but what she actually said was, "I cleaned your car." Seriously!

Upon arriving at home, where the neighbourhood was out in full swing shovelling, I discovered that at some point during the day a neighbour had snowplowed the walk in front of my house and up to the front porch. All I had to do was a quick shovel of the new snow. What a relief!

A snowy day and two -- count 'em two -- snow-related acts of kindness for which I'm thankful!

Random Act of Gratitude #24: Post-Season Pal

The taking down of a Christmas tree is seldom a pleasant event. Yes, it's necessary, and yes, there's that knowledge that after it's done, things can get back where they belong and the room regains a sense of comfortable order, but there's none of that festive merriment to look forward to. It's just a pedestrian act of housekeeping.

But this year, it was a pleasant and enjoyable experience, thanks to Sonya who came down back in December to raise and decorate the tree and returned today for dismantling duties.

I know, I know, you're appalled that it's been up until now. So am I, but deal with it.

In any case, having someone here boxing up ornaments (and occasionally searching madly for that little one that is somewhere on the tree but is managing somehow to remain out of sight) was very much enjoyable. Thanks for coming down to finish the job, Sonya!