April Fools...the Joke's on Me

Yesterday after giving the dud the cold shoulder for 3 months, I decided to be kind instead. I spoke more than two words. We almost had a real conversation even.

The dud stopped by my office again today. He's been coming by about twice a week to check behind his cleaning crew, so I wasn't entirely surprised to see him in the office before lunch.

Since I opened the door a little yesterday, he tried to pursue more conversation today. This time he asked what went wrong with us. I look at him and asked, "Are you serious?"

He said he was, so I asked if I should start with the lying or the other women. He asked if I thought anyone else could lie besides him. It was a humorous exchange to me. Eventually I told him he was dismissed because I didn't have anything else to say about it. He laughingly said I was mean. I assured him that he has not seen me really mad yet. He shook his head and went on his way.

After lunch a man came through the front door of the office carrying a basket of flowers for me. Gerber daisies, pink and yellow roses, and waxflower...some of my favorites.The card said, "You are Beautiful!" but didn't have a name signed to it.

I figured it was from the dud. It was a hand-written note, but I haven't seen much that he has written.

A call to the florist confirmed that it was from the dud. He didn't get me flowers for my birthday while we were dating but he sends them now? You just can't be nice to some people without them thinking there is more going on between the two of you.

The dud came back in later that afternoon with one of his cleaning crew members. They vacuumed and swept the floors but he never mentioned the flowers. I wonder if he will tell me they are from him.

It is flattering to receive flowers, but not as exciting when you know it's someone who is a "no."

Random Acts of Birthday Kindness {Let the Kindness Begin!}

To celebrate my upcoming 40th birthday, I decided to follow an idea I came across a couple of years. Since this is a milestone birthday, I wanted to do something extra special. But this isn't just something special for me. I want to spread the joy of life to other people as well!

The idea is to do 40 random acts of kindness for the rest of the year. I asked my Facebook friends for suggestions on what to do. They came up with some great ideas I had not considered. The simplest is one I've done before: buy the meal for the car behind you in the drive-through line at a restaurant. The most complicated was a doozy: get 40 friends to agree to cook 40 Thanksgiving meals for 40 families. I still count on my mom or grandmother to lead the way when cooking for Thanksgiving, so I'm not sure that's in my wheelhouse. 

There were plenty of ideas that are doable. Here are a few:

1. Collect books for dialysis patients to read while they get treatment.

2. Visit the nursing home.

3. Invite someone to a meeting.

4. Bake cookies for friends and neighbors.

5. Take a meal to a new mom.

6. Make care packages for cancer patients receiving chemo.

7. Ask a friend how they are doing and actually listen.

This past Friday night I did my first random act of birthday kindness. I invited a bunch of single friends to join me for bowling. As a surprise, I paid for 2-hours of bowling for all my friends who attended that night.

Maybe that doesn't seem very random. But these are the people who are there to pick me up when the chips are down. Seems like such a little thing to do for friends who have been so good to me.

What are some ideas you have for random acts of kindness?