WOW have I fallen behind!

Ah well. You know - Rule #3.

Incidentally, not falling behind on the project - although I did forget on at least three occasions - but definitely the blog.

Most of the time, I've dropped a couple bucks into the Ronald McDonald bin while getting a snack with the kids, or into a cup next to a register that collects for veteran-related charities or the like. But I do have a few favorite stories from other days.

There was one day when I discovered that my garden had gone berserk. I had planted one small partial row of green beans that had lost control of themselves in their enthusiasm. I would go out to pick them and literally find that I had a grocery bag full of the things. There was no way we could eat them all, and I didn't have time to freeze them. So, to the Mission I went!

But you know, this time wasn't nearly as interesting. Though their phone recording says you can bring in donations 24/7, in point of fact there's a sign on location that gives more specific hours, and I was well outside of them. It looked for a moment like they might not take them! But in the end, they did.

One Friday night, we went to the Lord's Acre at a local church. It may be that they only take away a portion of what I spend there, but since I bought two chicken dinners, a heap of garage sale stuff, cupcakes at the bake sale (and zucchini pineapple bread, which BTW, YUM), and a heap of books, I'm guessing they made at least the requisite $2 from me.

And lordy, did we have fun! I found four Alison Weir books, some James Michener for my mom, and who knows what else? I got a heap of gold brocade for a project to be determined in the future. Matt found my daughter her long-awaited husband. The potato salad and chicken was awesome, and there's nothing I like better than eating in the community hall at a church, just nothing. And, it was home to some of the funniest karaoke I've ever heard. Sure, there were some good singers, but it was the deliberately-bad who went out of their way to play it up for humor value that stole my heart.

I'm sure more will come to me. Like the day we donated the girls' roller skates and some extra clothes to a church thrift store, and bought a bread machine there, too. My daughter started reminiscing about the bread I used to bake before I had to give up the bread machine in the divorce, and we wound up making cinnamon raisin bread that very night.

Or the fundraising walk I went on for the AFSP. I'd thought it was an awareness-raiser, not a fund-raiser, so I didn't get much money together. Actually, I raised $13. From Matt. And we didn't make the whole three miles. But we went! We raised some! I saw a woman I know from the farmer's market! Emma and I got buttons from the Trevor Project! Which I'd never heard of before Daniel Radcliffe's support, but it's such a good idea! (The buttons, BTW, mark you as an approachable person who will not judge. That's their purpose. How brilliant is that?) And along the way, I learned an awful lot about how not to do a long walk with small children. We learn more when we're challenged than when we're successful, right?

So it may be that, at this point, I won't remember all the details of the two weeks since my last update. (Can you believe all of that happened in two weeks? Me either!) But I can tell you that it has changed my life for the better, definitely. My daughter has gotten fresh bread and a comfy pillow and the experience of going on a fundraising walk with her mother, and we're forming memories together that she'll never lose.

And I know, because I have memories like this with my mom that I'll never, never forget.