fridays with gladys and a FREE GIVEAWAY!!!!

Every Friday during my lunch break I visit Gladys. She is 93, has bright blue eyes, a mischievous smile, and is bound to her bed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Except on Tuesdays for her shower.

She lives in one of the nursing homes on the island where I live. I wanted to volunteer when we moved to this community nine months ago so I called them up, asked if they had any residents who needed a visitor, and they matched me with Gladys.

Boy did I get lucky.

This gal tells the best stories. I especially love the one about the time she met Lawrence Welk when she was a teenager at a dance hall called The Coop. He asked her to come do the polka on his show, but she was too nervous to travel all the way to Hollywood, so she declined, and has no regrets.

What I love most about Gladys, though, is her infectious optimism. Every single time we get together, she tells me that she has spent her whole life counting her blessings, even in the worst of situations. And for a woman who lost a child to leukemia at a very young age and her husband far sooner than she should have, this woman has seen her share of difficulties.

Today we were talking about the weather. I’m not going to sugar-coat it: we’ve had our share and then some of rain around here lately.

At the mention of rain, Gladys simply smiled and said, “When I was a little girl, my friends used to complain about the rain. I would get so mad and tell them that it just isn’t fair to get mad at the rain! Even the trees and flowers deserve a drink, too. Don’t you want water when you’re thirsty?”

(Just between us, I think I’m getting a lot more out of these lunchtime visits than Gladys is.)

Speaking of getting things … it’s time for a FREE GIVEAWAY!!!

Remember this crazy good snack that I talked about in this post? Well, the fine folks over at Half Pops agreed (after I kind of begged them) to let me give a case of their tasty treats away to one of my lucky readers! How fun is that?!

Since I have no idea what I’m doing and am way out of my league in this blog-o-sphere, I had to Google “how to do a giveaway on your blog”. Here’s what I found out:

Step 1: Tell your readers about the giveaway. (Check)

Step 2: Tell them how to enter: Leave a comment below telling me if you are a salty or sweet snack person, and what your favorite snack of choice is. Half Pops will not be offended if it’s not popcorn. Trust me, though. These little fellas are addictive. (Check)

Step 3: Remind them to leave their name so I know who the winner is! (Check)

Step 4: Tell them that a winner will be drawn at random* on Tuesday, June 12 at midnight. Actually, let’s call it Tuesday, June 12 at 10pm. Midnight is past my bedtime.

*Disclaimer: when I say “random” I mean that I am going to write numbers on little pieces of paper, put them in a hat, and let my 5-year-old choose the winner. Super high-tech.

Good luck!

In summary, I would like my mom to know that I scheduled a doctor’s appointment about my hip! Phew, love filling in a little box on my to-do list.

Oh, and today was a scheduled “rest day” for my marathon training. Now that’s my kind of runnin’!

What do you have planned for the weekend after entering my giveaway contest? I’d love to hear from you!