Facebook... 100 likes

So for many of you, you have been following this blog for a while, but it has only been for a year or so that I have been hosting a Facebook page too! The aim for my Facebook page was to make people laugh, smile, think & be inspired to be kinder to themselves and others! :)
In the last day or so, we have hit a milestone at the Facebook page, that I wanted to share here!

We have 100 likes! :) yay!

I am so very grateful for the support & enthusiasm of all of you! You have encouraged me to keep going with this little project and your support makes me want to keep posting! :) my aim has only ever been to show others how simple it is to be kind, how easy & and how inexpensive it is to act with kindness to
make our world a better place! And you have shared your own stories & shown me other inspiring stories that also make what I do feel right in so many more ways! So Thank you! Thank you very much! :)

Luv Daena x

Ps. The photo is a screen shot of the page & the pages milestone! :)

Im alive and kicking in some cases literally

Hey everyone,
you are probably wondering if i have fallen off the planet, of gotten lost in my own town, or something rather drastic, but im here to assure you i am still alive... and still going with my kindnesses. I just wanted to let you know i have been continuing with my kindnesses even if I'm behind posting the monthly kindnesses or weekly, or daily for that matter. SO many plans to be organised! Well they go out the window when you are so engaged with everyday life.

Anyways, part of the reason i have only been on this blog occasionally recently is there have been a few family health issues. Mum had to have another round of surgery, this time for what i love to call "routine mantainence" but she thinks i make her sound like a computer, and she apparently "isn't one"... much to my amusement (mainly because she had to clarify)! Things didn't quite go to plan, but things are slowly (and i mean SLOWLY!) getting back to normal.

My dad had a fall at his nursing home recently, and while he is not injured (apart from a sore bum apparently) it has shaking his confidence a lot, and ours a little too. Dad has been our miracle man for so long, that when he shows fragility, its kind of scarey.


I have been working in the communal garden at our set of units and have recently planted, a peach tree, thyme, basil, carrots, and keep my mint, parsely, rosemary and a crazy pumpkin (literally took over the garden) and chilli bush. My kindnesses have included giving some of our crazy pumkin plant's big pumkins to different neighbours to enjoy, after it tried to take over the pathways to all the houses. We have already got 6 pumpkins off it and its producing more by the day!! I have been helping one of the elderly residents with her planting and pruning, and she has been teaching me so much about gardening, so its a win for both of us really!

Mum and i have also realised how much "stuff" we have... its quite amazing how much "stuff" you accumulate on a day to day basis, or on a yearly basis. So we have decided to start going through things and giving away what we can and throwing away what we cant. We are shredding and then giving the paper shreddings to pet stores or to my sister for her chooks, the first lots been used in the garden as more mulch.  We gave my sister and brother-in-law a bookcase today. It was hilarious because my brother-in-law and neighbour (who is ex-navy) were attaching the bookcase to the back of the car... lets just say the tears of laughter were running down my leg(jk). It was very funny.
We have also already filled up our rubbish bin to make sure that we are getting rid of as much as possible. We have been giving old clothes to people we know can use them (if they cant use them, then they pass it on). And there is soooooooo much more. Mum tires easily, so i have been keeping her plied with tea and cookies (for those who saw my recent photo of the over cook i did a couple of weeks ago... well you know what I'm talking about). It is very slow going, but its will mean that we have more time for people and less time for "stuff"... well that's the theory anyways.

I did a kindness recently that was one of my favorites. I was on my way to pick up some junk food for mum for dinner (while this was a kindness... its wasn't the only one), and i decided that i would buy dinner for the car behind me. I am blessed to have money! its not much but its enough that i can do nice things for other people and not be too worried about what happens next in terms of budget. For a long time, there was no-one behind me in the drive thru line, i was almost at the window to pay when this car pulled in behind me, with two young guy in it. I don't know who they are or what they even ate, but i asked the guy behind the counter if i could pay for the car behind me and he looked at me funny, but said sure. So I did. I got my food and drove away. I love the idea that the guys in the car behind me would have been confused but happy and that they may have done something similar for someone else... but in truth i don't know... and i never will! That's what made this one so fun! A sneaky act of Kindness... or more acurately a Random Act of Kindness. It was so simple. I didn't know kindness could be that simple, but it was. Seriously... you should try it. Its awesome! :)

On a really exciting note, I am currently planning a round the world trip! Its going to be awesome! im going to Canada (Edmonton), USA(Washington, NYC & Boston), Ireland (Dublin), England (Hull & London), Wales (Holyhead & Cardiff), France (Paris), Germany (Colgne), Italy (Rome) and Egypt (Cairo - with a 8 day tour down the Nile)! I am so very excited that the planning is going so well and i have friends & family in a lot of those places and I will get to see them again! I am so very blessed too, not many get the opportunity to travel as often as I have. If you live in any of these locations, let me know about the "must see" things I simply cant miss....

Okay... what else? i have no idea. So much has been happening that i don't know if i am here or there! But i keep my kindnesses going, as should you. Making a cup of tea or coffee for a neighbour (doesn't cost much), helping to carry a heavy load for another (its free), smiling at a complete stranger for no reason (it makes you feel good too). So many simple ways you can be kind.

Anyways, much love,
Daena

p.s the "literal kicking" comes because i am back at Karate. Last year I wasn't well enough to go very often, but i love going and I love teaching people how to protect themselves. We teach that in a dangerous situation you should run first, and only when you can't run do you stay and fight. But we want you to be prepared for both. So a lot of what we do is fitness... so you can run fast! :) I love it, and the teacher has been teaching me for almost 20 years (he's no spring chicken - but can still beat me at any competition... so lets hope he doesn't see that comment! lol). I recently got my lifetime membership (oh that is SCAREY... apparently i'm no spring chicken either! lol!).  And if you are trying to figure out my age... didn't you know its rude to ask a lady her age?! lol! however if i give it to you freely... well thats a whole other kettle of fish! *Coughs* 27 *coughs*. ;)

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