Days 2 and 3 in one post

I didn't get a chance to post On Wednesday ( and last night I just plain forgot to post here, in spite of my efforts on MySpace and 29 Gifts.. keeping track of three blogs is hard work! )
We were very busy celebrating my son's sixth birthday. By the time I'd paused to reflect, the 29 gifts site was down for maintenance.

As it turns out, it turns out, yesterday was harder to assess that I thought it would be.
I went to bed last night, thinking 'what did I give today?' .

It stumped me.

I thought a lot about my day... I spent most of the day doing a neighborhood cleanup.
We filled sixteen, twenty yard dumpsters with broken things and refuse that would've otherwise continued to fill yards, alleys and garages. Very rewarding work, indeed.
But, I was on the clock. I was paid to be there, so in my eyes, it doesn't count. I would've done it with or without the paid hours, but still.. it doesn't count.
I gave out information, in the form of connecting with residents, but at the cleanup site and afterwards.. but again, on the clock.

I'd started drifting off to sleep, thinking that the day was a let down to the project. That two days in, and I'd already botched it.
My thoughts slowly turned to the rest of the day. Watching Iain tear through his presents, and just overall hanging out with him moreso than I'd had time to do for the past few weeks, due to extra responsibilities both on my part and my husband's.
We always make time for the one on one stuff but at home, we've been so distracted that there hasn't been as much interaction. Even his study time and tutoring time have dwindled compared to where they were at in June.
I've put paying the bills in front of spending time with my kids. And it has sucked.

Part of the birthday ritual for us is special dinner. The birthday boy ( or girl ) chooses - it can be dining out, or cooked at home, but the meal and its location are their choice.
Iain chose pizza.. on a day where the check book couldn't do a darn thing about it but wince and whine.
I was left with two choices; pay a bill on time and forego a late fee, or pay for pizza and make my kid happy.

We had pizza, and Iain got the 'extra' breadsticks.

So, when I got up yesterday morning, I signed on to the computer and went in to post a payment on what I thought was going to be an overdue bill, expecting to see an extra $25.00 slapped onto the charge. ( our budget runs very tightly and this is one of those weeks where that $25 would smart a bit )
Nope.

I was on the website yesterday morning, I KNEW it was due, and had deliberately waited, torn between that bill and making the kid happy.
Yet, today, it said that the bill was not, in fact, due until August 22nd.

It seems that the server had an error last week and glitched payments for several people, and in compensation, they bumped everyone's payment due date for this month to August 22nd.

Needless to say, I posted the payment first thing this morning, and said a silent prayer of thanks when I was done.

Sometimes things have a way of working out... and I am so very grateful for that.
So, my give for yesterday was a bit unconventional, but I think that those are the best kind.


Now we move on to Day Three:

Today's give has been a project, one that now requires unexpected extra expense, time, effort and skill on my part.
I undertook a project for the principal at my childrens' school. It wasn't supposed to be due until right before school started ( basically another week ), but after speaking with her today on another matter, I feel compelled to kick it into overdrive, so that she can have them by tomorrow afternoon ( which is when she really needed them but didn't want to say so since she'd only given me two and a half weeks in which to get 50 coasters completed around my other responsibilities ).
In doing so, I am essentially forfeiting anything I would've made in commission on the project, so she is now getting something that will have close to forty hours of work into it for nothing but the cost of supplies, and even that, I assumed some of the debt on, because I had some of the stuff on hand.
Usually I straight bill for all supplies and for the people I craft for often, I just set the leftovers aside in their own little bin. She had no leftovers after her last project, save a partial tube of E 6000 ( crafters' adhesive, for those who are unaware ).

The coasters I made yesterday are the best ones I've made thus far, and it seems that the streak of creativity has carried over to this morning... I have less than a dozen to go ( now if only I can find feet somewhere! )

Back to the grind... I have to have them up to C.A. Frost by 3:30 P.M.

I'll blog about today's give before bedtime... unless I forget to post it here again.