Just a quick blog today to remind you to leave your RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) comments from last week. Remember, we’re all trying to make December our month to go out of our way to pass on kindnesses (or “Pass the Cheer” as Starbucks advises.) I’ll announce the contest winner (drawn from all of today’s comments) on next Monday’s blog if I don’t blog again before then. I’ll have lots to tell you about when I get back!
I want to wish every one of you a blessed holiday season, with lots of special times with your families. (And a Merry Christmas!) We’ll have a whopping Sneak Up for you when things get back to normal after the holidays. (Probably the first full week of January.) The new Dream in Color colors arrived in Classy, as well as all of the Dream in Color Baby Lace. 🙂 Plus, the Cherry Tree Hill DK weight one-of-a-kind colorways that we’ll have on sale for you, Romi’s gorgeous earrings and pins, Mountain Colors Bearfoot, and all of the things I listed in the last blog. Ohhh, it’s gonna be fun!
Sheri finishingordersfromtodaythengoinghometomakecookies!
Sheri, Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and holiday season! I am so thrilled to be included in the Loopy weekend. I can’t wait to see Loopy Central. And I can’t wait for the January sneakup. Just wanted to let you know that you and your shop has made such a difference in my “knitting life”. I have learned and grown so much as a knitter in the past year. I think I first ordered from you in March of this year, and now it seems I can’t let a sneakup go by without ordering something. On another note, I don’t have a specific RAK to report, but I have been trying to incorporate kindness into my every interaction with others (much easier said than done), but I’ve noticed that it is becoming more of a habit for me. Thanks for all you do.
Merry Christmas!! I made it safely to Kansas last night and later this afternoon I’ll be going over to one of my mom’s brothers to celebrate with her side of the family. We are having a fun grab bag gift exchange. We all bought 10 $1 items at the the Dollar Store (or equivalent) and we’ll see what fun stuff there is to be had! And, lots of eating. I can’t wait for my grandma’s cheeseball – sooo good!
As for RAK, I had to take a taxi ride the other evening and I decided to leave a little extra tip in the spirit of giving!
Enjoy this time with your family and as Angela said, thanks for all you do – The Loopy Ewe is truly a special gift to us all… : )
Merry Christmas, and may the Joy that was born this season be in your hearts every day of the year!
A young African-American girl, around the age of 12, came into our local yarn store about two months ago wanting to learn how to knit. She can not afford to buy yarn so this past week, I took a check to the store and set up an account for her to purchase yarn. I feel we need to encourage young girls in knitting and I think I can help one to become a knitter.
Merry Christmas to you Sheri and to all of your wonderful family. The same for your elves too. Hope you have much continued happiness and joy through out the New Year. Hugs
THere’s been lots of snow here in the past week or so. I have spent the week letting people go in front of my on the highway (which nobody does here) and overall just being a “friendly” driver on my commute to and from work. I wouldlike to see the ripple effect eventually!
I also brought and shared several WW friendly recipes at my meeting this week.
Merry Christmas!!
Here is a kind of funny RAK story. Today, my daughter pulls into a Starbucks drive-thru where she orders a Frappuccino. I remembered your daughter’s idea about paying-it-forward at a Starbucks by paying for the car behind you and told my daughter to tell the cashier that I would pay for the car behind us, too. But no one pulled in behind us. We arrived at the window to pay and the guy says, “The lady ahead of you paid for your Frappuccino and said to tell you Merry Christmas.” Tables turned! WHAT A HOOT!!
Merry Christmas to you!
The other day I totally confused the cashier at Safeway when I told her to include the items for the woman behind me. She totaled the purchase at the end of my items, anyway, so I stayed there & had her ring up the woman’s purchase – just 2 32-ounce containers of yogurt, but it sure caught them offguard!
Merry Christmas to Sheri & family and all the Loopy Elves (and Happy New Year, too, if we don’t get a chance to say it before then)! I’m so glad I found you & TLE, & I’m really looking forward to getting (more) Loopified at the Spring Fling!
Merry Christmas Sheri and all…
Bought another bunch of $5.00 GCs from our local Starbucks and have given them out to the sales clerks in the stores I’ve shopped at. The stunned look they give me is priceless.
I picked up groceries for a neighbour the last time we went to town so that she wouldn’t have to drive, and I added in a few extra treats.
I hope your holidays are wonderful!
The other day at Safeway, I totally confused the cashier when I told her to ring up the items for the woman behind me together with mine (but to bag them separately for her). When she got to the end of my order, she totaled it anyway, so I paid for mine, then stood there while she rang up the next order & I paid for that – just 2 32-ounce containers of yogurt – no biggie, but it totally caught them off-guard!
Merry Christmas to Sheri & family & the Loopy Elves – and Happy New Year, too, if we don’t get a chance to tell you before then! I’m so glad that I found you & TLE this year, & I’m really looking forward to getting (more) Loopified at the Spring Fling!
Merry Christmas Sheri! Hope you have a wonderful time with your family. Now that I’m back at my parents for the week I’m trying to help them out a little. I did the grocery run and an extra errand for my dad this morning.
Have a great christmas!
Merry Christmas to you and your family Sheri!
I have a fun RAK, for me anyhow. I had some last minute shopping to do this morning, with the rest of the world it seems. Traffic was a nightmare! Since we don’t travel for Christmas, I really wasn’t in a rush to get home. At our mall, it is near impossible to make a left turn anywhere. When they built this place, it’s clear they didn’t expect the growth this area has seen. Honestly, I can remember waiting 20 minutes to turn left before. So I decided to hold up traffic and let people turn. I just kept circling around the mall, letting people turn! it was pretty fun, especially with the christmas music blaring on the radio 🙂 I got a lot of horn honking but I just smiled in the mirror and kept on. I got plenty of waves of thanks and I know I made someone’s day
Joyeux Noël ! Merry Christmas Sheri !
Merry Christmas, Sheri, to you and your family.
My RAK for the week was to write letters of appreciation to all the loved ones in my life. I gave a gift to a coworker I didn’t like very much but she is going through a difficult time in her life right now. I love that you have encouraged us all to do this and I plan to continue it nto the new year.
Merry Christmas, Sheri, to you and all the elves (and everyone else, of course)! My RAK this week is cat sitting for a friend who is on vacation with her husband til after the first of the year. This is quite an act of kindness for me as I just randomly said I would do it (I was turning a heel at the time and not paying attention to the details), forgetting that in addition to 5 cats, they also have 2 snakes. Once I remembered that little tidbit, I just sucked it up and planned to do it – but UGH! I hate snakes!!!!! And I have to confront their presence in a very quiet, isolated country house every single day for the next week and a half. UGH UGH UGH.
Merry Christmas! Fabulous, tasty cookies to all the Loopy Elves!
Merry Christmas. I love reading your blog. You have certainly made me think about the needs of others this Christmas season.
Last Thursday, my last day of work until January 3rd (yahoo!), our boss told us all we would receive a $1000 bonus in our paychecks. I felt so blessed and thankful for a great job and a great boss. When I got home, in my mail was an appeal from our local Bread Basket, indicating that supplies were low and people would go hungry for Christmas. It was like a message sent directly to me! I sat down, wrote out a check for $100, the biblical tithe from my bonus, and took it to the mailbox.
So a kindness was given to me, and I was able to pass it along. The next day I was telling my daughter the story as we were going into the grocery store. She saw an older woman struggling to load her groceries into her trunk, and she ran over and helped her. Then she took the cart to return it for her.
Another pass!!!
Although the gift is passed to someone else, we are gifted ourselves in the giving!
This week I’ve managed a RAK that feels big enough for the season to me. I sent a shawl made out of various shades of red yarn (mohair, alpaca, merino, etc) to my dear friend’s mother to snuggle in while she undergoes chemo treatments this year. I’ve also managed more typical types of RAKs: making sure sales people know I appreciate their help; letting people with just a few things go ahead of me in the check out line; in general, looking for opportunities to treat people like they are people in the midst of all the rushing around that folks do this time of year.
Thanks Sheri, for this reminder that we can all practice being kind in all kinds of ways. I hope you, your family and the Loopy elves have a wonderful Christmas.
Merry Christmas to you, your family and everyone who reads the notes here. I have been lucky enough to be able to pay for the next guy twice this week. What fun! Even the drive thru staff were surprised and smiled. Looking forward to whatever the new year brings, I hope the new year finds you all in good company and good health.
My RAK: An ex co-worker of mine was having a rough time financially this year; he had gotten a traffic ticket and couldn’t manage the payment plus his groceries for the month! Before I left, I slipped twenty dollars in an unmarked envelope and left it in his message box. I did it two more times–anonymously–until the next month, when things got better for him. He never suspected me because he didn’t see me two of the times…and still wonders who his “Santa” was.
I’m still doing the let people in line ahead of you and giving out coupons thing, but I have a story for you all. My daughter and son-in-law have been having car problems every time they come to visit us. They live about two hours away and have had battery, alternator and tire problems the last three visits. After waiting, today, to get towed yet again, someone came up to their car and handed my son-in-law $200.00 and said “I hope this makes your day a little better!”. They were dumbfounded and tried to give the money back, but the man had already walked away! The RAK’s are everywhere and, Sheri, you are a big part of all the kindness going on this Christmas season! Thanks for all you and your crew do and MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!
Merry Christmas Sheri! I hope you and your family have a blessed holiday season. All of our money for the month may be gone but I am trying to teach my kids that all Rak do not involve money. We have been trying to make sure we talk to everyone, wish them Merry Christmas, let people go in front of us in line and anything else we can think of.
Merry Christmas! My RAK was a big tip to the bagger at the grocery store. He was thrilled!
This week a single mother I know had to go away for a few days and I offered to have her young daughter stay at our house for three days. I know the mother really appreciated it and the daughter had a great time, especially when my daughters planned a Christmas party at our house for her. On a more random note, we also donated food to the local food drive this morning.
Wishing you and your family a truly blessed and joyful Christmas, Sheri. Thank you for all the joy and friendship you have given us this past year!
Merry Christmas Sheri and all of the Loopy Elves! My RAKs last week both happened at the grocery store – I noticed the man in front of me in line had left his credit card by the card reader and caught up with him just as he was leaving the store. Yesterday I noticed the clerk had not seen a $5 off coupon the man in front of me had left by the card reader, just as the man was about to pay. These are certainly small ways to help people that I would do anyway, but your discussion of RAKs has really made me more aware of all the small ways a person can help others every day. Thanks Sheri!
Merry Christmas to you, Sheri, and to your family and to the Elves! May your holiday be warm and bright.
My RAKs for the week included letting people in, in traffic and at the stores; taking farther away parking spots; putting carts away; complimenting people; giving unexpected gifts; giving my cart to a woman who was trying to carry too many items; holding doors and making donations.
a friend from our camera club admired my fingerless mittens, she put them on and stroked them and said how sad she was since she couldn’t knit anymore. She has awful arthritis in her hands. How sensible she thought the mitts were and as she loves to use her camera. I made her some mitts and finished them today. Barry delivered them this morning. Now that was a gift I never knew I ws giving…does that count as a random act of Kindness?
Merry Christmas Sheri to you and your elves and families! May the peace of this night help you reflect on all of lifes blessings!
My RAK was on Friday when a dear friends 5 year old daughter has been sent to a Childrens Hospital for a softball size mass on her kidney. I made several meals to take to their house to be put in the freezer for their other 4 kiddos and family taking care of them. The least I can do!
I picked up a huge super packed, overflowing gift basket from our favorite local gourmet food shop. I had fun giving it to an unsuspecting “victim” in our lives whom always is willing to go the extra mile for others but never wants to take things in return. She was thrilled with the basket!
We also secretly gave diapers to a family who just got the surprising news of an adoption of a new baby!
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
RAK – I entertained a very young man while his father was trying to wait and then check out at the pharmacy. It was mutually beneficial, as I imagine a lot of RAKs are. He was a bright, darling little fellow, and I hope they’re having a great Christmas.
I didn’t do an original RAK this week. I paid for the orders of the next two people in the drive thru at Dunkin Donuts. I know it’s the competition, Sheri, but there are more Dunkin Donuts than Starbucks here.
Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Ias for RAK’s I did a few in the past few days. I was in a store at the mall and saw a lady drop her gloves and keep walking I picked those up and had to kind of chase her down to give them back to her but she was so thankful apparently that was her 3rd pair this year. She had already lost 2 pair. Then while waiting in traffic to get out of the mall I let 3 cars get out of a side parking lot in front of me. I was in the line for a long time and no one was letting them in so I just stopped and let them in. I would have hoped someone would have done the same for me
Merry Christmas Sheri!
My RAK was to pay for a venti at Starbucks for whoever came after me—– it was a lot of fun to do!!!!
Merry Christmas Sheri, the Loopy Family and the Loopy Elves!
Merry Christmas to all at Loopy Central! My RAK for the past week has been a lot of fun. I bought a bag of individually wrapped mini candy canes and have handed them out randomly through the week to various people I have run across…on the elevator, standing in lines, to salespeople, the bag boy at the grocery store, SA bell ringers…you name it! It is nice to put a smile on peoples’ faces during this hectic time of year!
Poop patrol reporting in from Minnesota here on Christmas Eve — we are continuing to keep the elementary school grounds clear despite the blowing and drifting snow. We will be taking larger bags with us for tomorrow’s daily RAK in case there’s reindeer poop to pick up in addition to the usual stuff. Merry Christmas!
Off the wall RAK – my daughter’s birthday was last Saturday and I ordered a package shipped by UPS to be delivered Friday. By Saturday afternoon, UPS finally figured out that they LOST THE PACKAGE. No birthday present was to be delivered! The UPS representative was preparing herself for a huge rant from me (and I was ready to deliver), but then stopped. I told the woman that I realized how many packages were being sent and that the lost package wasn’t lost on purpose. Nobody did this to intentionally ruin my daughter’s birthday and it was just an unfortunate accident. I told her that I really appreciated all her hard work and concern and that I would like to praise her good intentions rather than harass her for the outcome. I hung up the phone feeling better (as I am sure she did as well). Kindness does work!!!
Merry Christmas Sheri!! The best to your family and continued success for The Loopy Ewe!
RAK Details: Dec 23rd, 2007. On my way home to visit the folks, I saw a man on my flight (Seattle to Toronto) that was trying to get an exit row, because he is very tall and not all that narrow. I had just finished upgrading myself and my brother to business class, and decided to upgrade this man and his wife to business class using some of my excess upgrade certificates. He was extremely shocked and happy that that happened him. Put a smile on my face for the rest of the day too.
Happy holidays to all of you out there!
(Never thought I’d have a “worthy” RAK to write of.)
We attended a funeral last week of a dear senior, someone who knew alot of people. I was reading his obit in the paper and a woman had written (in the online guestbook) how she missed the service and felt really bad. Luckily, you are able to contact them if they had checked that option – that’s what I did. I ended sending her a copy of the wondeful, four page memorial paper that was handed out at the service. She wrote back to say she cried reading it – that made me know how much she was glad to have that memory of that person.
I’m not sure if this counts as a RAK or not, but, there’s a co-worker of mine that’s been struggling with everything that we’re learning–it’s overwhelming even to me at times. So, one night last week, we headed to a local restaurant and “studied”.for about 4 hours. This was after spending 8 hours learning all about medical policies and other fun things. It must have helped a little bit, because my coworker passed his assessment on Friday with the rest of the class. We’re calling it the Christmas miracle!
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your family. Some of my family
is out of town and so we will have our Christmas on January 5th. I went to Walgreens
today and let two people go in front of me although I was having a hard time
standing up. However, I had two people try to help me in the grocery store. It’s
not just about RAK’s, it’s also about trying to give back; like pay it forward. I’ve done a lot of RAK’s
since 1990 something and now I am the receipient of RAK’s. I can tell you, it’s
much better to be on the other end, but I am eternally grateful if I can help
someone else in just a small way anymore. People are really surprised and
appreciative. It may remind them to do the same for others. I don’t like that I have to have help sometimes, but I am grateful all the same. Look how successful
your blog has been. Many people may be doing RAK’s that would have otherwise
given it no thought. Not because they weren’t nice people, but just because they
didn’t think. You did a good service for many of the givers and many
of the receivers.
Merry Christmas to everyone.
Last month, a student at one of the high schools I work in was placed in foster care as a result of sustained, heart-breaking abuse. Because the situation was so serious, the girl wasn’t allowed to return to her home and she now has very few clothes and no warm ones. I told a friend whose birthday was coming up. She asked her friends to make a donation to the child instead of giving her a Christmas present and last week I was fortunate enough to be able to give the girl enough money to buy a warm winter coat and some warm shirts and pants. I’ve never been hugged so hard or so long.
I’ve come to realize that doing RAKs is also a RAK for myself because it takes me away from my problems – even if momentarily – and makes me see something from someone else’s point of view. So thank you, Sheri, for this. Many, many wishes for a happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year.
Merry Christmas to you!
I made a real effort to be “that happy customer” in every store I was in this past week: after years of working retail during the holidays, I know what a relief a relaxed, smiling face can be during the rush…
I let people ahead of me in line as often as possible – at the grocery store, at the post office. I figured they were probably in more of a hurry than I was.
Here’s hoping Santa brings you some gifts with good yardage 🙂 Have a good one, we’ll see you next week!
Merry Christmas to you! I hope you get lots of relaxation and knitting in.
My RAK was to put together several gifts for a single mom and her daughter. They are in the very low income bracket and often run out of grocery money (I know this because I drove her to the grocery store a few weeks ago). I don’t have a ton of money, but I was able to find some nice gifts from among the things I already owned – a raincoat (that I never use), a flashlight, a nice pair of pajamas. I also bought a big bag of frozen burritos (her daughter’s favorite) and a bag of mandarin oranges to give them.
I also have another little RAK; I wrote a real (on paper!) letter to a woman who moved across the country a couple of months ago. Because it’s just nice to get real mail sometimes.
I came across a woman on crutches, struggling to carry her mail back to her car (we live in an apartment complex, so it’s kind of a walk to the mailboxes). I helped her take her mail back & wished her a Merry Christmas. A small thing, certainly, but it made me feel good. 🙂
Merry Christmas, Sheri!!! 😀
mele kalikimaka to you and your family and crew! just received my order with the romney ridge farm calendar – i love it!
My RAK’s this week have involved holiday treats to those who I normally (to be quite honest) never thought of….
The nice kid who’s out there pumping as in this frigid weather… trying to earn a buck…. I slipped him $5 and his face lit up.
I’ve also been slipping lots of $1 scratch off lottery tickets to those who least expect it…. it’s not very costly…. and it’s fun!
Merry Christmas Sheri, WH, College Web Guy, and KD! And to the Loopy Elves!
I found a wallet and turned it in, and because I stopped to try to find the person who’d left it, I found the item I was shopping for (last one, apparently).
My husband helped an elderly lady who was too short to reach the top shelf at the grocery store.
And I contributed to the ONLY Salvation Army bellringer I’ve seen all season!
Thanks for everything!