Tragic Sandwich

My 45th birthday is coming up was in February of 2014, and while I don’t think that 45 is any kind of a milestone at all, I wanted a way to mark the occasion. So between now (January 8) of that year and my birthday (February 6) the point at which I finished (May 22), I‘m going to do did 45 good things. I figure these can be pretty much anything that helps someone else, be the effort large or small. So here goes:

1) January 8: Bought a sandwich and a bottle of water for the homeless woman outside of Starbucks.

2) January 9: Held the slow elevator for someone who wasn’t all that close to the door. (I wouldn’t have counted it, but she seemed really grateful–and if it mattered to her, that’s really the point.)

3) January 10: Made a donation to Heifer International.

4) January 12: Picked up trash–not mine–at the farmers’ market.

5) January 13: Picked up trash on Wilshire Blvd. (I will probably be picking up a lot of trash.)

6) January 14: Returned via mail the case notes Mr. Sandwich found in the street when we were visiting family in San Jose last month.

7) January 17: Picked up trash outside Baguette’s day care.

8) January 18: Paid for the person behind me at Starbucks.

9) January 18: Donated to the V.A. at Walgreens.

10) January 19: Picked up change at the farmers’ market for the person who had dropped it.

11) January 19: Bought food at Trader Joe’s for the woman outside with the baby and the sign.

12) January 21: Gave money to the homeless man near Starbucks.

13) January 24: Picked up trash on my way from the parking lot to my office.

14) January 29: Backed Hello, Ruby on Kickstarter in the hopes that more girls will code.

15) January 29: Helped buy iPad cases for a kindergarten class via DonorsChoose.org.

16) February 2: Picked up trash outside the YMCA.

17) February 5: Donated to the American Cancer Society, in memory of my mother.

18) February 6: Donated to KUSC because I love being able to play classical music while I’m driving.

19) February 6: Donated for Michael Morones’s medical care. because bullying is a poison.

This is as far as I made it by my birthday. I’m still going until I get to 45.

20, 21, 22) February 7: Gave three people bags with water, Clif bars, toiletries, sanitizing gel, lotion, Chapstick and socks.

23) February 7: Gave their dog a bag of dog treats.

24) February 8: On our evening walk, picked up after more dogs than Wicket.

25) February 8: Donated to the Special Olympics.

26) February 9: Donated a bag of Baguette’s outgrown pajamas to Goodwill.

27) February 10: Took Wicket for a walk and picked up after other dogs, too.

28) February 21: Gave change to a homeless man.

29) February 23: Picked up trash.

30) March 13: Let the other mom get out of the parking lot at day care first, because she clearly really needed to (and was also nice about it).

31) March 13: Sponsored a runner in the Boston Marathon who is raising money for cancer research.

32) March 18: Picked up trash.

33) March 21: Bought a pair of TOMS so someone else can have shoes, too.

34) March 21: Picked up after dogs other than Wicket.

35) March 24: Sponsored a friend who is riding the AIDS/LifeCycle Ride to End AIDS.

36) March 25: Picked up after dogs other than Wicket.

37) March 27: Donated to Charity:Water to celebrate Nathan Fillion’s birthday and help people get access to safe drinking water.

38) March 29: Picked up an empty bottle of “brake cleaner” that was rolling around a ski-area parking lot.

39) March 30: Donated to a dog rescue organization in the Owens Valley.

40) March 31: Donated to Ronald McDonald House Charities.

41) April 5: Sponsored a friend’s daughter, who is participating in UCLA’s Dance Marathon to fund pediatric AIDS research.

42) April 17: Picked up after a dog other than Wicket.

43) May 13: Sponsored a friend’s brother, who ran a marathon to raise money for Team to End Aids.

44) May 18: Talked to the great-grandmother in the YMCA locker room and got her some paper towels when she asked.

45) May 22: Donated to Serbian flood relief.

And there we are. 45 Good Things.