It’s Thursday. And I’m about to ask you to spend some money. Don’t click away just yet, please read to the end.

Our Kiwanis club has been struggling with a lack of fundraisers since the pandemic started. We haven’t had the pancake breakfast for two years now, the golf tournament was canceled last year (we’re planning on it this year, though) and these are two of the major ways we raise money for the charities we support. One of my favorite things about being in Kiwanis is giving away money and it’s hard to do that when you don’t have the resources. So, in an effort to raise some money, we are having a raffle for a Cash Calendar. Essentially, you buy a calendar for $20 and every day for the month of May someone’s name is drawn and they win the daily cash prize, .

Here are 3 reasons why you might want to purchase a Cash Calendar:

1. You can do it online from wherever you are. That’s right, you don’t have to live in or even near my town to participate, you can make your purchase with PayPal and if/when you win we will just mail you a check. Just a click of a button and you’re in! And don’t hesitate, either, since we’re only selling 250 calendars total. Yep. Your odds are good on this thing.
2. You can win money AND you can win more than once. If your name is pulled for any given day it will be re-entered to win again. While it’s probably statistically unlikely, you could potentially win 31 times! The daily cash amount fluctuates from as little as $25 all the way up to $100! I know lots of people who buy scratch tickets. What if, instead of buying scratch tickets this week, you bought a cash calendar? I also know lots of people are missing the fun of going to a casino. What if, since you can’t gamble in person, you take the money you might have spent there, and used it to buy a calendar or five?
3. You’re helping out an organization that gives away all of the money it raises. Our club supports so many things that are important to the success of our community, from our 2 food pantries to scholarships for graduating seniors to scouting organizations and more. And every dollar we raise is given away. Now, I realize if you don’t live in my town this might not matter so much to you, but I believe things that are good for one community are good for all. Maybe one of our scholarship recipients will go on to make a major medical break through that will change the world! Plus, as an added incentive, anyone who buys a cash calendar because of this blog post will be added to a drawing for a special yarn-y something from me.

Thanks for indulging me with this post as I suggest you spend money for something that is near and dear to my heart. One more time, here’s the link!

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I get asked frequently how I get as much reading done as I do. My short answer is, I’m a librarian. But the truth is that being a librarian has very little to do with how much I read. It does have to do, however, with how much I love to read! I mean, I can’t picture being a librarian and not being filled with joy at the prospect of reading a great book.

Today I’m going to share 3 suggestions for ways to fit more reading into your day.

1. Carry your book with you wherever you go. This is easy if you have a Kindle or other device because it’s lightweight and portable. The idea, though, is to keep it handy so when you’re waiting . . . wherever that might be . . . you’ve got your book there to read. It doesn’t matter if you only read a paragraph or two, you’re still making progress.
2. Schedule reading time every day. I think we all know that we make time for the things that matter to us. If reading matters to you then you will make time for it but you will have more success if you actually set aside time for just reading. Maybe it’s 10 minutes in the morning with your cup of coffee or maybe it’s 15 or 20 minutes on your lunch break. Maybe it’s after the evening news or before bed. I’m willing to bet that if you take a look at your daily schedule you can find a way to work in some dedicated reading time.
3. Read books you love. This might seem obvious but the reality is that if you aren’t enjoying a book you aren’t going to be eager to pick it up and read. Find something that holds your interest, a book that you hate to put down will be one that you can’t wait to pick up. My rule is that if I’m not loving something by the time I’ve read 50 pages I stop reading it. This doesn’t happen all that often for me because I curate my to-be-read list very careful but I do pick up the occasional dud and I make sure I put it down when I realize that’s what I’ve done.

I hope these tips are helpful. I think reading is the best past time in the world. Well, except for knitting.

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I’m feeling random again this week . . . here are 3 things on my mind.

1. Last week I encourage you to ask me anything and I said I would answer those questions in a future post. Well. I got a lot of questions and they are awesome and are going to provide some great blog fodder. I think I will try and organize them into categories and spread them out over time. I promise to get to all of them. And if you have more questions feel free to ask again this week!
2. This week on the Happier Podcast with Gretchen Rubin they talked a bit about purging and suggested that we ask three questions about all the stuff we have. They are: do I use it, do I need it, do I love it. I think that’s a great approach and I’m going to combine this with the checklist from the Spring Cleaning Challenge Download that Kym shared on Monday. Now if I could only get Dale to take the same approach . . .
3. Today is the anniversary of my brother Donald’s fatal motorcycle accident. To be specific, he didn’t die on this day, that happened a week later, but this is the day he missed a turn and flew off his bike and hit a fence post head on. The year was 1983 and I was a senior in high school, looking forward to prom and graduation and college. Everything changed in that moment when the police knocked on the door and I continue to reconcile all of it 38 years later as it shaped me in ways I’m still discovering. I’m not looking for sympathy here, but I can’t let this day pass without acknowledging my sweet, kind and lovable brother.

And that’s a wrap for this week. If you wrote a post for today please share your link below and thanks for playing along.

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This week I’ve got a random list of 3 things I’m thinking about.

1. Spring Cleaning. Have you been following Kym’s blog this week as she has talked about this? I’m not much for the whole process but I did start a list of things that have been bothering me that I need to address. A shelf in the kitchen that’s out of control. The dust at the very top of my kitchen cabinets. Some paperwork that needs to be sorted. I took the quiz at Clutterbug and I’m definitely a ladybug. I like things neat and tidy but watch out if you open a cabinet because something is likely to fall out and hit you on the head.
2. You know I have a deep and abiding love for the Oscars and for many years we’ve had a quest to see all of the Best Picture nominees. Since the pandemic, though, I have completely lost interest in this. It’s ironic, really, since the process of seeing all of the movies now couldn’t be simpler . . . they are all available online. Hannah is all in for this year and is working on me to start watching. I told her I’d make a checklist, at least, but I’m pretty ambivalent.
3. I’ve been working on a list of blog ideas, trying to have some topics ready for those days when I don’t have anything to say. One of the things I came up with was an “Ask Me Anything” post. Of course, that means I need some questions to answer. So, if you’re willing, ask me a question in the comments, something you’ve wondered about me or my life . . . anything at all. I’ll answer them all in a future post.

If you wrote a post for today please include your link below. And don’t forget to send me your questions for a future Ask Me Anything post.

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This Thursday I have 3 things of interest I have found from around the internet to share with you.

First, I may be late to the party on this one but I just found out yesterday that HBO is making Time Traveler’s Wife (one of my most favorite books ever) into a series. I was pretty disappointed in the movie version but I’m super excited to see it as a series, I think there’s a lot in the book and the potential for some really great episodes.

Second, how about this awesome Love Across the USA installation? I know it’s crochet and most of us are knitters and I’m sharing it anyway because Kamala.

Finally, this You Tube video that just cracks me up every single time I watch it. Hint: it’s not what the title might have you think. Ha!

And that’s it for this Thursday. If you wrote a post for today please include your link below and thanks, as always, for playing along.

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