Questions and answers - Golden Pen Magazine.

Hey everyone,

I have just entered myself into an awesome competition that could have this project in the Golden Pen Magazine and their website. They are talking about the importance of passion. If you know anyone else who is worthy of this please share this link with them, or nominate them yourself! http://goldenpen.com.au/2013/03/are-you-going-to-be-one-of-the-top-100-most-passionate-people/

I have just had to answer 4 very interesting questions about my passion, Kindness! If I don't get through to the final stage I will share my answers with you. 

One of the editors wrote on Facebook about what they are looking for... "

I am looking for 100 people who know what they are passionate about? Are you one of them? If you have a burning passion and you can say, 'yes, that's me', then comment below and tell us what it is that pushes all your buttons, gets you hot under the collar about and that you are willing to dedicate your life to..."

What can I say, I have a passion for kindness. I think it is important to share these awesome opportunities too! I hope you have a passion in your life that keeps you motivated and enthusiastic about life. This project is mine! :)

Much love, I hope you are all doing well,  

Luv Daena x

Paying it Forward

Hi all,
I just wanted to share with you one of the pay-it-forwards that I did vicariously today!

The story starts about 5 months ago my mum & I helped out at a community day for the nursing home my dad lives in! We put in heaps of hard work & helped them raise a total of about $3000AUD! As a thank you the nursing home staff gave us a HUGE box of chocolates (1.32kgs to be exact). We gratefully accepted the gift along with a bunch of flowers each! We were spoilt but knew neither of us could eat the chocolate (my mum has diabetes & I'm trying to avoid getting it!)!

So instead we thought of donating it to a local emergency services like the police station! We made a few plans that fell through but it finally happened! today I could pass that HUGE box of chocolates along!

It just so happens that a huge brushfire threatened my sisters house, & many more houses yesterday, and they had to evacuate! but my sister didn't have enough time to grab anything on her way to pick the kids up from school, not knowing it would be too dangerous to return after that! so she and her kids had the clothes on their backs & their car, my brother-in-law was at work and only had the clothes he had with him etc. it turned out that it took 150 firefighters, and several airplane water bombers all afternoon & all night to contain the situation, but contain it they did! My sister & her family was allowed to return home today.

My sister came down to my house with her kids for lunch (she didn't have any food to give them for lunch as before school they still weren't allowed to return home) so she bought them down to us & we all had lunch together!

Now my sister & I had talked about this box of chocolates a few times (after all our house/unit is tiny & the box is massive). And today we were reminded of the importance of our emergency services, particularly the fire fighters!

My sister lives down the road from their local volunteer firefighters station, so I decided to give the chocolates to her for her to give to any firefighters she came across (if they were still at the station as it was early evening). So that is what my sister did!

She dropped the chocolates in, after seeing that several cars were still at the station and gave them the chocolates & told them thank you for everything they had done to keep her house & all other houses safe in the massive blaze! The fire fighters were very thankful & my sister left in tears! She felt as blessed as I did to pass it on!

I was just grateful I still had my sister, & her family safe while men and women volunteers & career fire fighters put their lives on the line! Thank you to everyone who made a difference in that fire & all other fires here in Australia (& around the world)!

My sister & I now know how much of a blessing it is to pay it forward!

Luv Daena x

Facebook and the monday funny...

Hey everyone,
So what I have been doing, for those of you not on my facebook page, is that I try and improve the mood of my followers by sharing a funny photo or quote or video on a Monday. Monday is often a hard day to get back into the swing of the working week and we all need a laugh to help improve our moods! :)

Today's funny is a "doozie " and I thought that everyone here could benefit from a good giggle too!

So here is today's Monday funny:

I don't know about you, but I love Taylor Swift and her music... and this is something that makes me now giggle every time I hear this particular song! I don't think laughter is bad at all! enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this and it brings a smile to your face too! :)
Luv Daena x

p.s. The more times you watch it the funnier it is! :D I have watched it at least 6 times already and it hasn't gotten old yet! :)

5000 page views and beyond....

Hey Guys and Girls,

Thank you so much to everyone who has been following along with my journey this year and the last two. I know that this time two years ago I was excited when I had one or two page views appearing on the page... let alone an over whelming 5100+ so far. I know I promised you all a follow up, for those crazy statistic lovers like me, so here it is....

The darker the country that is represented, the higher number of page views! :) Thanks everyone!

United States - 1434 views
Russia - 1374 views
Australia - 1120 views 

United Kingdom -165 views

Germany - 96 views

Israel - 56 views

France - 46 views

Brazil - 39 views

Netherlands - 33 views

Thailand - 27 views

Welcome to Israel, it hasnt been long but I love your enthusiasm for my page! Thank you! :D

For everyone else! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I just want you to all know that I am so grateful for the continued support! :)

And for those of you who are interested the most popular post with a whole 67 Page views was "Alive and kicking! September kindnesses..."

Well I am off to go and do today's kindness and support some friends who are armature actors in a play, that another friend wrote! Sometimes doing kind deeds are so much fun... actually it is more than sometimes... its most of the time! :) 

I hope you are all doing really well!

Much love to you all, and thanks again

Luv Daena x

Good Intentions.... the end of January Kindnesses

Hey everyone,
trust me when I say that I had not forgotten about this blog. Why is it that we always have such good intentions to be organised (and regular about blogging) but that's not always what happens, sadly.

So life has been pretty busy and crazy since I last blogged. But I keep thinking about this stuff... and i do try to at least post everyday on the Facebook page! :) I plan things I want to write about but its the actual effort of getting my laptop out and sorting it all out and writing up everything! I don't know if its just me but I have these days when I just want to avoid the computer and live a simpler life. Its kind of funny I guess that I can be so anti-social when I'm such a social butterfly... but I keep coming back so I guess its all good! lol!

So here are the kindnesses for the rest of ....

January 2013 (continued)

January 13: I went and helped a friend out at the house he has just built by helping him paint a bunch of walls in his house. I also bought dinner for my mum because I was too tired to make anything for dinner.

January 14: I drove mum to the hospital to see where we had to wait for almost 3 hours. I waited with mum, trying to keep her company. We both donated some money to the “Hospital Volunteers” who had bought us tea and coffee. I also sat & listened to an elderly Chinese woman in the waiting room for two hours as she told me her story. I also came home and sanded down the front park bench in preparation for re-staining & varnishing. I also made some “Lotion Bars” to give my brother-in-law for his cracked hands. I made a delicious and healthy dinner.

This is the front bench partly sanded down!

 January 15: I managed to wake mum up in time for her medications and made her a hot lunch in the heat of the very hot day – because she really enjoys bacon & eggs. I offered to take someone to the train station so they could get home safely.

January 16: I helped a friend at Netball when I took care of his rings because he didn’t have enough time to put them away before they had to be on court. I also made mum a delicious pad Thai so we didn’t go out and buy food, thus saving money. Mum and I also called a friend whose neighbourhood we were in to see if she wanted a visitor or 2 but she wasn’t home.

January 17: today I promoted a friends play “The Standover Man” at the Perth Fringe Festival. I bought mum afternoon tea and made a healthy dinner. Whilst mum and I were shopping we had seen a woman in the store sobbing her eyes out, surrounded by supermarket staff, when we exited the store the same lady (Still in distress) was leaving from the same exit and her care wasn’t far from ours. I helped her out by helping her steer her trolley down the ramp and asked her about what had happened. Apparently her wallet, with a whole bunch of money, had been stolen in the supermarket and she was freaking out because she was a single mum with very little, making a fresh start in a new state. Mum and I spent time talking to her and reminding her that there was some small blessings like the thief had been caught on CCTV and that the supermarket had given her the trolley full of shopping for free – which is a credit to the supermarket. She left a little calmer. Mum ad I also stitched up some teddy bears for the Samaritans Purse Christmas Shoebox appeal (which will start collecting in October).

January 18: I met with one of my dads friends, after organising a time for her to come and see dad at his nursing home. She used to visit my dad as a volunteer from the Red Cross. And when she had graduated University and moved interstate she was sad to leave dad. But when she came home to visit her family recently she made the effort to come back to visit dad too. It was lovely for him to see her and vice versa. We organised a card from Dad to her too. I also invited a neighbour in for a coffee before I went and picked up a friend to take to a wedding because his partner was in the bridal party. I also acted as an MC (Master of Ceremonies) at the wedding reception & drove some friends home because they were drinking.

January 19: I did a lot of sleeping after the weekend. I also organised a friends gift for a baby shower, bought some stuff for the shoebox appeal & spent the evening sewing up teddy bears & giving them faces & sewing details on them. I also made mum quiches for dinner, and made her a pot of tea (which we don't do very often) to help cheer her up a bit. I also helped out a mum at the shops by showing her where the the highlighters were because I had heard her talking about her kids “Back to School List” and she was struggling to find them.

January 20: I helped mum write a note to a friend for a baby shower, I also too a tray of food around (particularly to my sister because it was food she was allowed to eat). I also put the first coat of stain and varnish on the front bench today (a job I never thought I would do). I made some “Vick’sVapour Rub Shower Disks” for the family to use if they need to. I also sewed up the next 3 teddy bears and gave them faces ready for the shoebox appeal.

January 21: I did the final two coats of stain and varnish on the park bench. It looks really good – very inviting. It also makes a nice place where mum & I can sit down on a cool evenings & enjoy a cuppa or a cold drink. I also helped make her bed because she had to clear off all the paperwork before I could help her change the sheets into new ones she got for Christmas.

January 22: I acted as a chauffeur and waited with mum while the RAC man came to replace our car battery. I also helped a lady get a lady a shopping trolley & chatted to strangers I was in line with, to pass the time. I also helped out at Poker by sorting cards, stacking chairs & putting a table cover on. I also chatted to a stranger at Poker and made a new friend.

January 23: I posted to my blog and recognised people who had made a difference to me. I played a full game of netball! We lost but I learned a lot! We were down a couple of players so I stepped up and did my best. I also made mum Prawn Pad Thai after netball.

January 24: I bought my favourite Soy Chai Latte (& some chicken bites) and shared them with a friend. I also finished 3 more shoe box teddy bears. I spent the evening with my nephew watching our favourite shows – Starwars and Grand Designs! 

January 25: I finished 3 more teddy bears. I also watch Starwars (2 movie marathon) with my nephew that I have been promising him for 6 months. My nephew and I also walked down to my dads nursing home (so he could visit his grand-dad) & we could deliver much needed supplies. I also put the dishes away for my sister after dinner at IKEA!

January 26: I completed 3 more bears and watched “The Princess Diaries” with my niece because she was sleeping over. I also made her her choice of bacon on toast for breakfast. I also got a friend a drink and offered to drive another friend home, but he ended up staying the night.

January 27: I prepared salad, sausages and rolls to be used for a picnic lunch. I also provided a friend with shoes so she could go to a pub with us and not have to go home first.

January 28: today I made tea and coffee for my neighbours as a thank you for work they had done in our garden. I also made coffee for a visiting friend. I also made the effort to drive to the other side of town to see some friends I don't see very often.

January 29: today I wasn’t well but got up and went with mum to go to the Drs. I also made a cuppa for my mum. I helped pack up at Poker & talked to & included new people into “the regular” players. I stacked chairs, sorted & packed up the deck of cards & packed up the table and covered it. I also cheered on the final players.

January 30: I was in a lot of pain today die to some long standing health issues but I did couple of loads of washing and even managed to make dinner for my mum, after spending most of the day in the foetal position.

January 31: I finished off making a digital calendar for my sister & sending it to the company (Creative Memories) for printing. I added important dates and edited/sent it off whilst adding all voucher information and such to the order.

I hope you like this... I will be getting up to date very soon... again! lol! I'm sorry if you have been keeping an eye on the blog and been disappointed I've not been posting regularly! As long as you keep YOUR kindnesses up then I will be very happy! :) 

Thank you so very much for keeping checking out this blog and supporting me! :P

Lots of love....

from Daena xxxx

p.s. to those of you who have been keeping my mum in your thoughts and prayers because of her eyes, things are getting better. She is on her way to being healed... thank you all for your love and support! It has really made a big difference to me & mum! :D

keeping up the kindnesses...

Hey everyone,
I realised that I didn't post anything last week so I thought I had better keep you all in the loop!

Okay so for the last two weeks or so (give or take a few days) my mum has been out of action because of her Iritis. I know that one of the funny stories I posted last time was about this, so I wont explain it all again. Needless to say mum has practically be been blind for a while now, so my responsibilities have gone through the roof... not that I mind, I mean I am a full time carer and a kindness ambassador to boot, its just that my time has been a little more taken up with the practical day to day activities that mum cant do herself! :)

I have also had several special events this last week too. Including a hens day, a wedding where i was the Master of Ceremonies(MC), a baby shower for my childhood best friend, a few birthday parties, a farewell party for a friend moving interstate and that's the things I can think of off the top of my head and doesn't include the regular day to day & weekly activities!

This week I also started a kindness project for my mum too. Recently one of our neighbors did some work in our front garden and cleaned it all up, making it look all pretty and cleaned up the mess of my gardening (im not a very tidy gardener! lol). What really stood out after their wonderful job was our front bench in the porch! Everything else was all clean & pretty looking except the decrepid paint-peeling front bench. Mum and I discussed throwing it out and getting a new one... but after careful consideration I decided it would be more environmentally friendly and cheaper if I just restored the old park bench to its former glory. This has meant I have spent lots of time sanding back the old slats and scrubbing back the ends, then staining and varnishing the slats so that the whole things looks like brand new! and brand new it looks too! :) I am pretty impressed with the job! It was something that mum couldn't do for herself, it gave me a project so I didnt go stir crazy (as mum hasn't left the house much because of her eyes) and also meant that we have a shiny new park bench in our porch! Kindness completed! :) 

This is me doing the second coat of the stain! looks pretty good here! looks even better now! :D

This week has also had me witnessing a few kind deeds... (I love this as it makes me feel like the little things that I am doing is having a knock on effect).

Yesterday our car refused to start so one of our neighbours helped us out by giving us a jump start! Thank you! :) this meant we made it to an important doctors appointment on time & i am really grateful for that!

Also I was very proud of my mum, because yesterday we went to a little cafe we love for afternoon tea and where we were sitting meant I had my back to a couple of ladies who were chatting. I was happily munching on the delicious cake we had ordered, but mum was paying attention. Later as we went to pay mum told the waitress she wanted to pay for the two ladies to have their afternoon tea, as apparently they were concerned about spending too much on afternoon tea and not having enough money for something else. The waitress was thrilled, and told us she would tell them right away. Mum was awesome because she asked the waitress to wait until we had left the store so that they didn't really know who had done it, but that a kind act had been done for them! So proud of my mum!

The last of the kindnesses I witnessed yesterday was by the owner of the little green grocer near our house. Mum and I usually go to the large supermarkets but noticed the special on fruit & veg was much better than in store so we bought all our fruit & veg at the local green grocer. The owner of the store was the one serving us and after we spent quite a bit of money she gave us eggs for free "as a gift" she said. I love the fact that she was so generous! I will be going back to that store not just because of her generosity but because of the good value of their produce, and their excellent customer service! I love that I can also support a local food producer because in recent months I have seen several disappear under mounting costs put upon them by rents and by being unable to compete with the big stores!

Well I think that's probably all from me at the moment! I will be posting the next kindnesses as soon as I have enough time to go through my gratitude diary and type them all out! :D

I hope this finds you well!
Luv Daena x

The first 12 days of January Kindnesses! its a miracle!

Hey everyone, 

for those who have been following me for the last two years, this may be a huge shock to you! But here is the kindnesses for:

JANUARY 2013 (so far...)

January 1: I did a bit of work in the communal garden and did several loads of washing for mum because she wasn't well. I also made all meals today so I didn't have to leave her unattended.

January 2: Today I drove an hour and a half round trip to return a car I borrowed. I also spent 20 minutes on the phone with a friend in distress. I just listened to her as she talked, ranted and sobbed. I made a difference just by being a friend and listening.

January 3: I met up with a few friends I haven't seen in such a long time. I helped out a friend by lending her some sewing patterns. I made a coffee for a visiting friend. I also paid for another friends dinner and drinks because he had bought our tickets to see the movie THE HOBBIT in Gold Class. I also made sure mum had a back-up plan whilst I was out, because she hadn't been very well. I also gave out the second of the TOP SECRET mission books today - this person has asked to remain anonymous!

My favorite quote from the Hobbit movie! :)

the copy of the three books... the first of which i gave away today! :) Exciting!

January 4: I made a special trip to see a friend who had had a car accident yesterday, because they just needed a hug! I also helped mum by carrying her shopping out to the car for her because it was too awkward and heavy for her to do!

January 5: I checked in with my friend who had had they car accident. I also made a coffee for a visiting friend & got up early to clean the house so mum wasn't distressed about visitors in her untidy house. I also made a stand for one of my friendships – I asked hard questions of both of us and was able to move on, friendship intact.

January 6: Today I reminded a friend to take her medications, as we had been talking so long, she had forgotten. I also made the effort to go to some friends farewell, but I was late and managed to miss them.

January 7: I made the effort to visit a friend on her lunch break and I paid for her lunch. I also helped mum out when after shopping for stationary (for the Operation Christmas Child – shoebox appeal – mums getting the stationary now while its cheap), she had to get them to the car and drop them off at one of the co-ordinators houses. Also helped mum finish off some teddy bears she has been making for the shoe boxes too! Mum knitted them but I sewed them up, added the stuffing and added their faces! (some of them look a little ugly – but someone will love them!)

January 8: Today it was too hot to go anywhere so I made an effort to connect to my online community and did my best to support another person doing RAK's everyday of the year (sound familiar?) and I did that by sending them a note of support on their page. You can check this group out here!

I also helped mum – So this past week mum has been blind! I say blind because she has an eye condition called Iritis that mean that occasionally her irises become inflamed! To prevent permanent eye damage she has to dilate her eyes and that means her eyes can't regulate light & sight! So she has to have her eyes covered & be in the dark all the time! This in turn leads her to go stir crazy! I don't blame her, I don't know how I'd cope in the same situation!
Anyway, this time I had a plan though! I have recently gotten some of Matthew Reilly's books on CD which I transferred to my iPhone for mum to listen to so she would have something to do instead of laying in the dark bored out of her mind! So I set the play list up for mum with the book in chronological order (as most books are) and left her be!
I have to state here that my darling mum is not very technologically minded... But after twenty minutes I came back to check on her! She told me she was struggling to get into the book because it seemed to be jumping all over the place! Now for those of you who have read "The Contest" you would appreciate that this is pretty accurate of the story line. So I asked her which part she was up to! When she told me I was a bit surprised but decided to check my iPhone... What I didn't realise when I was putting the play list on for mum is that it was still on Shuffle from when I had used the music on it and she had been listening to bits from all chapters & clips from the book! I couldn't believe I had been so silly, apologised for my stupidity & took the play list off shuffle & she listened to the book for another four hours!
But wait... There's more!
So I had to use my phone and didn't want to inconvenience mums story time so I transferred the book to an old iPod I had laying around and then started the book up again and went & used my phone! I came back about 15minutes later to check on her & she said it seemed to be jumping around again! So this time I went to the iPod immediately! And I had done it again! My iPod was still on shuffle & was giving mum parts of the story she wasn't up to yet! My poor mother! Lol! She was pretty much having an unintentional read-your-own-adventure book read to her! I couldn't believe I had managed to do it to mum twice! I feel like an idiot but sometimes the best intentions don't always go as we plan! At least now I know to check the shuffle playlist option next time! Lol! Oh and mum loved the book, even with all the interesting side lines to it! Lol! Kindness still achieved but this one came with a good chuckle too! :)

January 9: Today I went and visited a friend! When I arrived she was part way through doing the washing up – so I grabbed a tea towel and dried up for her. She was grateful and kept telling me that I didn't have to do it! But I did! I also bought some of mums favourite food to use in dinner because she needed a pick me up with being blind for so long.

January 10: I handed out the 2^nd 365days-of-kindness book to Vandra after she had done a kindness and reported it to me. “I didn't do it to get a book. But thank you” she said!

I also helped my niece and nephew earn their pocket money by giving them jobs to do around our house. I helped my nephew with the weeding and my niece with the sweeping out the back. My nephew dried up the dishes and my niece (who is only four) put out a load of washing – with a little help! To get his daily quota of jobs he also swept the floor in the kitchen, and set the table for dinner.

I also let my nephew play one of his games on my Wii after MONTHS of begging because his Wii had broken.

January 11: today I took mum down to the hospital and waited with her to be seen. I also thanked the doctors that participated in her care. With mums Acute Bilateral Iritis, what usually occurs is that it flares up occasionally and can usually be resolved in about 24 hours. But there have been added complications this time and it hasn't gone away like usual. We are back at the hospital this coming week for more tests! (So please keep us in your thoughts!)

January 12: Well you might think its still around lunchtime how is it that you have already completed your kindness for the day? Well today I actually helped a friend by editing a CV a friend was writing because she just needed a second opinion and some fresh eyes! :) Now this might not be my only kindness today, but its still one! :)

Oh my goodness! Oh My goodness! Can you believe it? I am actually up to date with my kindnesses! Its a miracle!!!! :) hehehe! I hope you enjoy this! :) I am trying to keep up to date with these from now on... life is crazy and unpredictable so don't hold it against me if I fall behind! :) 

I hope you enjoy! 

Luv Daena xxx