Wow, it's been a while...

So, I kinda got out of the habit of blogging my gives... And looking back over the last few weeks, many of the things I have been giving are the kind of routine, unconscious giving I would be doing without the prompting of trying to better myself through conscious giving. Just to remind myself, I have been doing much more conscious thanking and complimenting my co-workers for the things that they do. I have also been making an effort to notice the things that my husband does at home, since many of our arguments are about those kinds of things not getting done, and he is truly making an effort- so I should too. With the holidays, I put effort into the gifts my husband and I gave (and encouraged him to do more than grab the first thing that looked good on the shelf). For several of the grandparents, we found a special poem that described our children's relationship with that grandparent, and put it in a frame with a special photo. For my in-laws, we found an entry sign, Live*Laugh*Love. For my brother in law, we found some documentary movies on a topic of interest for him. My sister in law got a trinket box for her jewelry. My sister got a pair of necklaces, and my lil bro's girl also got a trinket box. My dad also got a box of chocolate covered cherries, a tradition of ours since they are his favorite candy. All of us kids get him at least one box each for Christmas it seems. Another Christmas give was to help organize a get together for all of my siblings and parents. It was a nice morning for us.
So, to wrap up, today my give was to pass on some baby supplies that were given to me that we don't need to a friend who is expecting her first child later this summer. Reusing things that are only gently used is a gift to the recipient and to the earth... Something that I really want to teach my children.
Tomorrow will be a new day 1 for me. During this round, one of my goals is to offer more conscious gifts, while continuing with the unconscious gifts that I now know that I give daily.