pay it forward

My car wouldn't start when I came out of the store last night. I was buying a birthday gift.
This month I have 2 birthdays, 2 anniversary, 1 wedding, & 1 house warming gift to buy.
I was trying to be proactive & do something early. I still needed to grocery shop last night.
My car had other plans. I waited on G for almost an hour. He couldn't get it started so we
had to have it towed. We waited on the tow truck guy for almost an hour.
I was shocked that no one offered to help me while I waited on my husband. I stood outside & left the hood up. We were in G's truck, waiting on the tow truck & a woman came to the window
& asked if we were OK. I said yes we are waiting on a tow truck. She said maybe this will help
& tried to hand me money. I said oh Thank you but no thank you & handed it back. She dropped it on my lap & ran off saying just pay it forward. I'm not sure how much the car repairs
will cost but it excited me that a total stranger wanted to help. I'm want to help someone out & pay it forward. I'll be watching out for someone in need. It's funny because I rarely listen to the radio in the evening but the show was talking about paying it forward. The same show was talking about paying it forward last week on 1 of the 2 days I decided to listen. It just made me
smile & warmed my heart.
I've also had community service on my heart & mind often in the last few days. I need to find a way to serve my community. It's something I've desired for years. A few years ago I thought a scrapbook class a church for free. I'm excited to see what I come up with this time.

Birthday cake

I baked my hubby a birthday cake. It smelled so good. I had them both smell the batter. Colin said mmmmm :). I baked me a gluten free cake so I wouldn't feel left out. It was a gluten free zucchini muffin recipe that I tweaked. I rarely cook from a recipe in it's original form. I can't resist, I have to tweak it. It the creativity in my, I have to make it my own.
The gluten free cake turned out pretty good. I'm craving cookies. I'll bake me some tonight.
I'll be sure to bake enough for Colin. He likes the gluten free treats. I think it's good that he likes them & I don't mind sharing.

Gluten Free Apple spice cake recipe to follow. I'm blogging on my lunch hour & have to get back to work. Boo hoo. I spent most of my lunch hour eating outside. The weather is gorgeous!!

Yesterday I took a vacation day. I baked, cleaned.... I cleaned the bay window & surrounding area. I cleaned & rearranged the master bath. I cleaned some of the stuff off the covered patio.
Not an ideal vacation day but it's less I have to do on the weekend. My spring cleaning may last until summer. :)

Layout made from scraps

LO made from scraps

I'm trying to use up some old stash & sb stuff. Here is a LO I made from scraps.
I cropped with Marilyn last weekend. I try to scrap away from home once a month.
I committed to doing it this year to get some me time away from our home & the guys.
Scrapbooking or crafting is one of my favorite ways to spend my time. I look forward to
the day I make a living crafting. I'm a 2 page LO scrapper so this layout doesn't include
the title & etc. It's on the opposing page. This LO is from the cruise scrapbook so there are many other photos from the same place Maragritaville located Montego Bay, Jamaica.

This happened Monday night

I have 2 proud mommy moments. Colin told me yesterday that he got the highest grade in the class on the spelling test. He has also did a back flip in gymnastics last night. A little girl in his class did one & everyone gasp. So he was on a quest to do one. He didn't stop until he did it. He's still not nailing it but I'm sure he will next week.

WHERE WAS THE EASTER BUNNY

I asked Colin if he thanked the Easter Bunny this morning. He got up after noon. He said Where was the Easter Bunny when you saw him. I said I didn't see him but he left a little note. Glad he didn't ask to see the note. I told him the note said he wouldn't get a basket next time if his toys were left in the floor like they were last night. I also told him we need to talk to the Easter bunny about more healthy treats. Colin yelled No way, hmmm I interpret that to mean please don't. I said the bunny brought something other than candy in the past. When you were little, he would bring gold fish crackers & pretzels with a tiny bit of candy.
The truth is Easter bunny mom went scrapbooking yesterday. I bought some candy weeks ago & didn't buy much else. Last night EBM (Easter bunny mom) was tired. I was going to get up early but we had a horrible storm last night. I house alarm went off 4 or 5 times. Every time I had just fallen asleep. So I'm tired & dragging this morning.
Colin has seen the bag w/ the chocolate bunny & other candy. I told him I added some things to his basket. He actually had gotten into the small Hersey bars. He asked if he could have them & I sd yes. Of course I wasn't paying attention & vaguely remembered the conversation.
I made a basket for my nieces & a bag for my parents. A little something for G.

G is not feeling well today. He hasn't been well for over a week.
We are having dinner at my parents in less than 1 hour. I'm making pasta salad. My BIL loves it & I can no longer eat it. This being allergic to wheat & soy sucks. My being allergic to fish & seafood doesn't bother me because I've know all of my life. I love bread, pasta & Chinese food. I have to read every label carefully. I'm gradually getting rid of wheat products in my pantry.
I have all kinds of pasta. I guess I'll make manacotti for the co-workers on the next food day.

2 cars again

Yeah, I got my car back from the shop yesterday. They were able to fix it without replacing the motor. I'm so happy because it saved us money.
A special Thank you shout out for mom & dad. They helped pick up or take Colin to school.
I called G this afternoon. When he answered the phone I started singing on the road again.
He started laughing. He's been stuck at home the last 2 days during the day while I was at work in his truck.
The weather has been a little off here but today it's a GORGEOUS day. I spent most of my lunch hour outside.

Selling chocolate bars

Colin's school is selling chocolate bars to raise money. The first day he sold 10. That includes 3 to my dad, 1 to me, 1 to G & Colin bought 1. He sold 3 to 3 guys working on my parents home.
My mom called him selfish because my niece is selling it too. My mom wanted Colin to split the sales with Colin but he wouldn't do it. This was before I got to her home. She picked the kids up from school because my car is on the blink & in the shop. We are down to 1 car.
My mom wanted Colin to let me niece sell to papa. She said Colin ran to papa & asked him to buy candy. Of course papa & G bought from both children.
He wanted to go to home depot to sell the rest of the candy. I told him we couldn't do that without permission. It's called soliciting. He said let go to ______ & ______ he kept naming
stores. We went to whole foods & he wanted to take them in the store & try to sell them.
I don't know what kind of pep talk they gave these kids at school but he was/is fired up.
I bought them to work today. 1. I'm always buying something from my co-workers for their kids schools. 2. We were buying too many ourselves. Oh my those with the carmel in the middle are so good.

Student of the Month

Colin was chosen for student of the month in his school. I'm surprised & proud. I wonder if he would ever be chosen because he is not your typical student. He his one of a kind. I think having a male teacher has been good for him this year. He thinks he teacher knows everything. :)
We made a poster last night to hang on the bulletin board. Of course I didn't get a photo. :(