Random Acts of Kindness -- Getting and Giving!

A few weeks ago, Tense Teacher, one of my favorite bloggers, posted "a meme of sorts, but with tangible results." In the spirit of the Pay-It-Forward movement, Tense (not her real name or, I'll bet, her disposition!) promised to bequeath upon three of her readers/commenters a random act of kindness.

I commented and I won! (Wouldn't randomness and winning be mutually exclusive things? Hmmmm... But let's move on.)

Me?! I never win anything! No really, I don't. I only won dumb consolation prizes 22 years ago when I appeared on Press Your Luck. Know who got all the good prizes? My opponent, Bill Dorfman. As in Dr. Bill Dorfman, the dentist on Extreme Makeover! Yup -- one and the same! He won a windsurfer and all kinds of other cool stuff... but me? I won a set of leftover dishes and an ice chest. And while we're at it, let me just say that I think he had a little makeover of his own, if you know what I mean, because he is still exactly as handsome as he was way back when he was an unknown struggling UCLA dental school student!

But I digress. Yet again. For the second time today.

To tell you the truth, I'd forgotten about being chosen to receive a "happy" (as Tense Teacher called it) until I got the mail today and was greeted by this absolutely stunningly beautiful handmade scarf and adorable plant pot. The scarf is scrumptiously soft, and the colors are absolutely vibrant! It will go perfectly with the maroonish-reddish suede blazer, (new) brown pants and beige blouse I'm planning to wear on my first day on the new job next week. (No, I don't normally plan what I'll wear any further in advance than when I stand in front of my closet.)

And the little plant pot is adorable too! Tom and I are going to the Northwest Flower and Garden show at the Seattle Convention Center tomorrow, so I'll surely find the perfect plant to put in it. Tom will have to water it, though, because I tend to kill every plant I attempt to nurture. He insists that I have a brown thumb. (He's absolutely correct -- so he waters all the houseplants. I mean the houseplant.)

So here are the official "rules" of this meme:

If you’d like to participate, leave me a comment. I will pick 3 commenters (I’ve already decided which numbers), and I will send them some kind of happy! I’m not sure what it will be yet, but that’s part of the fun… It’s a surprise! If I know you well enough, I’ll try to pick something based on what I know about you.

You will have to send me your “snail mail” address. Then, you must promise to make a similar post on your own blog, offering to pay it forward to 3 more bloggers who comment on your site. What happens is you will write a post, much as I am doing, but in your own words, of course (plagiarism is a crime! <-- Tense's exact words!). Within your post mention “Pay It Forward,” and specify which comments will be involved, or make it random if you prefer. Please don’t say you’ll play along and then not follow through.

On the other hand, if you decide to leave a comment, but you do not want to play, please tell me so in your comment.

Oh, and just in case you're expecting something handmade and beautiful, showing vast amounts of talent and dedication, like a gorgeous handmade scarf... I'm not that nice, nor that talented, so please don't hold your breath!