Who am I and what am I doing?!

Image from LA Times

My name is Miss G. and I am a teacher in rural Illinois.  I come from the suburbs of Chicago, where Christmas means decorative windows at Macy's (or, as I still call it, Marshall Fields) and lights on every home.  It means hustle and bustle and stampeding over people to get the "door buster" deals.  It means leaving Thanksgiving dinner early to get to the mall, parking a mile away and walking across a tollway (yes, where they pay to drive on roads) to get in line at Coach.

What Christmas doesn't always mean in the suburbs, at least in the earlier parts of December, is having a little Christmas spirit.

That is what I intend on doing.

For 25 days, instead of opening boxes on a calendar to eat a daily ration of German chocolate (though I won't dare turn a piece down), I will intentionally complete an act of random kindness.  

I know some people call them random acts of kindness, but I love the analogy made in Evan Almighty (ARK), so I'm keeping it that way :) I also love a little alliteration, so Advent Acts of Random Kindness makes my day!

Each morning or night before, I will draw an act from my advent jar.  I will post a photo, when possible, of each act and post them here.  

What I need from you, dear community, is ideas! Post away!  Please do remember, though, that I am a teacher for 9 hours a day and a coach 3 times a week.  I firmly believe that EVERYONE has enough time to do something nice.  I know that some of these will cost money, but I do want to do things that do not cost money.  Time is money, no?

Here are a few that have been planned so far!

• Send hand-written notes to relatives
• Donate blood (those who know me know just how big that is)
• Hot cocoa day on the quad--I live near a major university.  I will be handing out hot cocoa and lending an ear to all who need to vent during finals week.  We graduates need to help those who have yet to graduate.
• Deliver goodies to police, firemen, etc
• Leave a gift for the mail carrier
• Clean the dishes, bathroom, or laundry of someone recommended by a pastor friend
• Pay for the person behind me's drive through order
• Send holiday cards to soldiers (my class will do this one together)
• Scrape the ice or snow off of someone's car