Day 54

This one means a lot to me. Today I donated to the First Annual 12•23 Classic. 

This is a varsity vs. alumni basketball game at my high school to raise money for the Humble/Hackim athletic scholarship fund. Like anyone who attended my high school in the late 80's, there's one day I remember like it was yesterday. As the article says, nobody wants to relive that night 25 years ago. But I'm so happy that something very positive is coming out of this, and I know that the community will come out in full force. I wish I could be there in person.

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Update: It was packed to the rafters. So proud of my alma mater. 

Thanks to Brian Gregory for the photo.

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Day 53

Today, I am cheating. I played only a supporting role in today's random act. We coordinated with some friends to invade the home of some other friends for an autism-centric feast. All told, we had eight adults and ten kids, including four autistic kids. Besides two beautifully cooked turkeys, there was sweet potato casserole, green beans with toasted almonds, glazed carrots, garlic mashed potatoes, two kinds of stuffing, roasted veggies, regular gravy, noodle gravy, creamed corn casserole, salad, rolls, pumpkin pie, turtle pie... and I'm not overstating things when I say it was all delicious.

The kids' table was the actual dining table, while the adults sat on the floor eating and sharing kid stories, life stories, autism stories, and generally having a great time. After stuffing ourselves, the kids played in the well-secured back yard until well after dark. Good, good times.

I have to admit, I'm cheating in another sense too. There was another random act today. In fact, it was the Top Secret Project, finally come to fruition. However, I'm going to save the details on this one for my last post on Sunday. Due to the fact that I can't count, I'm already beyond the 42 days plus the extended days from my Day 8 promise, plus it's my blog and I can make up my own rules.

(Okay, really it's just because I don't have any pictures yet.)

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Day 52

Today I baked homemade chocolate chip cookies for our neighbors. Our autistic daughter is something of a Houdini, and she has escaped more than once from our well-secured house. She almost always goes across the street to the neighbors, lets herself in and makes herself at home. So as a little thank you for putting up with her home invasions, I thought some fresh-baked cookies were the least I could do.

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Day 51

Today I bought doughnuts and doughnut holes for my co-workers. (Or were they donuts and donut holes?) It was a close race for which kind was most popular, but powdered were the clear losers.

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Day 50

Today I had nowhere to go, and no budget to work with, so I focused my efforts on as many different things as I could around the house - cleaning the bedroom, cooking dinner, cleaning the kitchen, minor repairs, working on a project for a future entry on this blog, etc.

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Day 49

Today I made a small donation to 4 Paws for Ability toward a service dog for a child named Michael Palumbo. Our daughter was able to receive a service dog through 4 Paws for Ability, and Michael and his family's story was much like ours, only moreso. (You can read his story via the link above.)

Our dog Bobo has already served his purpose well, by tracking down our autistic daughter after she escaped and wandered off. I understand Michael's family is very close to their fundraising goal, so I hope my small contribution gets them there a tiny bit sooner.

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Day 48

Today I tried to help people improve their job situations. I recently accepted a great new job, so I turned my attention to other people. I let one person know about a good job that was opening up (mine). I passed along some (hopefully helpful) career advice to another friend. And I asked if I could get a referral bonus for a third friend at my new job.

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