Are you boring?

I've just realized that I'm even more boring than I thought -- so I win!

We often play a game we call "Who's the Most Boring." It's a get-to-know-you game where everyone gets 10 pennies and you have to say something that you've NEVER done, but you figure everyone else HAS done. If the other people haven't done it either, they hold on to their pennies. If they have done it, they toss one of their pennies into a center pile. Whoever is the last one with pennies is proclaimed the most boring -- and thus, the winner.

Here are some of my "never" dones:

• I've never sent a text message
• I've never broken a bone
• I've never gotten a parking ticket

And the ones that always win:

• I've never been to IKEA
• I've never been to Walmart

What about you? Are you boring, too?

Here's Your Sign...

My last few posts got me thinking, what would I put on my sign? If I needed help (financial, spiritual, emotional, etc.), what would I write in Sharpie on an old piece of cardboard?

Maybe "Clean House for Food" (meaning I'll give you food if you clean my house).

Buddy, can you spare a dime?

Geo's comment to my last post got me thinking.

I used to be very good about handing out spare change to people on the street (I was figuring that it was theft protection -- if they got enough money that way, the less chance they would mug someone or break into someone's house), but it seemed like as soon as I made eye contact and handed over a few quarters, they would somehow think this meant that I was their girlfriend. This was particularly problematic if it was someone I passed by quite often.

One especially enterprising young lady (we'll call her "Mary Meth") used to panhandle at the entrance of my bank. That way no one could say that they didn't have any money. It got to be so bad that I actually switched banks.

In my prior post I wrote about how I didn't help out with my friend's scrapbook project (just donated money for supplies instead), that I left it up to the "experts." If I can't even put stickers and photos on a piece of paper, what makes me think I can help homeless/jobless/mentally unstable people on the street? Instead, I donate money to foundations and community programs and leave it to the experts.

So sorry, buddy, I really can't spare a dime.

Charity Never Faileth

It seems like everyone these days is holding on to every penny they've got and charitable organizations are really hurting. Of course, there's more need out there for these charities, so they're being hit especially hard.

So I'm trying something new. I've added a "charity" category to my budget.

Now when I go to the store and the check-out lady asks me, "Would you like to donate $1 to help fund cancer/autism/diabetes/whatever research?" I gladly reply, "Why yes, I would!" That usually takes the woman by surprise (since I assume most people say no -- I know I always did). Come on, really, I'm buying three boxes of Twinkies as part of my groceries and I can't spare a buck to save someone's life? Just put back one of the boxes of Twinkies!

The other day I got an e-mail from a friend linking me to a Web page of another friend who is biking for cancer research and asking for donations. Oh, did I mention that this biker is fighting her SECOND bout with cancer? How awesome was it to be able to help out in such a small way.

I guess it all started with my friend who recently lost her baby. Even though this was incredibly hard for her and her family, she decided to put her energies into making scrapbooks for other families in similar circumstances; something to preserve those memories of such precious little lives, no matter how short. Of course, no one wants me to do any scrapbooking, but I could donate some money so the more talented people could buy supplies.

Now I'm not funding wings of hospitals or anything like that, but every little bit counts, right? If I keep my heart open, who knows where this can lead me.