A quick summary to wrap up cycle 18 and beginning cycle 19

Day 21 (x18): I cuddled with my husband for fifteen minutes. It's remarkable that this was the most concentrated time we've spent together is quite a while. We're both so busy. His voice over career is booming so he's gone all the time. And then there's my life with the 29 Gifts book. I spend about 2 hours a day (the max I can manage to work in a day) doing press or giving to the challenge in other ways and then I'm wiped out and need to lay down and rest. I'm usually asleep before Mark gets home (unless I'm having insomnia) and he's usually gone before I wake up (when I manage to fall asleep.)

Days 22-24 (x18): One of my best friends, Savrah, just moved to LA so I spent time shopping with her to help her furnish her new place. We picked out most of the major furniture together at two different stores then she went away for three days. I surprised her by recruiting a couple of my guy friends to come in and put the place all together so she came home to a totally decorated apartment. It was like an episode of one of those design shows where you go away for a while and your place gets overhauled. I actually shot video of the 'big reveal' when I showed her the new place, but then managed to lose my flip video camera with the footage on it so can't show you her reactions on film. Basically, she just kept saying, "Oh my God, is this my house. I love it. I love it. I love it. I've never lived in a house this nice." It was fun.

Days 25-29 (X18) & Days1-4 (X19): I flew back to Nebraska because I found out my grandma was ill. We spent most of our time in the living room, her sleeping in her recliner and me sleeping on the couch. Every so often we'd wake up and she'd tell me a story or two, then we'd fall back asleep. I cooked a bunch of soups for her and left her fridge and freezer stocked so she'd have easy access to good food when I left. I made her a yummy beef stew and chicken veggie soup. Wish I could have brought some home with me because it was really tasty.

Day 5 (x19) Oct 1: I gave some time to the challenge by doing my first nationally syndicated radio show, the Tavis Smiley Show. I had a blast with him talking about the 29 Gifts book. He's one witty dude. I hope he calls and asks me to be a guest on his tv talk show.

Day 6 (X19): I made a point to give a hug and a kiss to Mark.

Day 7 (X19): I spent some time with my friend stephanie at malibu beach. It was great to catch up because we haven't seen each other in a while. We got takeout from the cafe on Paradise Cove and sat in the sand to eat. The highlight of the day was when we closed up our to-go boxes with french fries still in them about 50 seagulls divebombed the boxes to eat the left overs. A waiter had to come over and intervene because steph and I were running away screaming like a couple of seven year old girls who had just seen a huge spider.

Day 8 (x19): I attending the last Meditation for Creative Spirit class that we hosted here at 29Gifts, taught by Angel Stork. I sent out positive vibes to all 29Gifters during my meditation. You really should join us for one of our upcoming telecourses. Meditation for Health and Healing starts Oct 11 and Meditation for the Entrepreneurial Spirit begins on Oct 30. We got great feedback on the Creative Spirit class. One writer who had been stalled for some time told us she's now writing again regularly and one painter said she's feeling much more centered and is seeing inspiration everywhere now.

Day 9 (X19) Oct 5: A feature in the Oct 12 issue of Woman's World magazine hit newstands and Mark surprised me by bringing home a stack of magazines he bought for me. This magazine has a circulation of 1.2 million readers so hopefully we'll see a rush of new members because of it. I also had two friends email me and tell me they bought the 29 Gifts book at major bookstores and the book had really good placement at both stores. A percentage of royalties from the book will be donated to good causes so the prime retail placement will help in our efforts to make the world a happier place.

Day 10 (X19): Since I was awake so damn early, I decided to take time to catch you all up on my giving activities. We've declared the month of October Self-Care month at 29 Gifts in lieu of featuring an outside cause. Read my list of 29 Ideas for Practicing Self Care... and feel free to add comments with some suggestions of your own.