Dogs Saved 2-4 Lives

My dogs participate in a blood donation program. Every 8 weeks I take my pups to IndyVet to donate their blood and each donation saves 2-4 animals. I definitely think this makes people smile when their pet is saved because of blood donors like Jenson and Massa.

A nice gentleman made me smile today. When he saw that I was waiting in line with a 40 lb bag of dog food on my shoulder, he offered to let me go in front of him.

When I got my nails done today, my manicurist had new pictures up of his wedding. His wife is absolutely GORGEOUS. I tell him this every time I am there and today he said that I make his day every time I say it. He also made me smile when he gave me a little souvenir from Vietnam (he recently went there).

I have no clue what it is but it made me smile to know that he thought of bringing something back for his favorite clients.

 

 

Who did you make smile today?

Volunteering and Coworkers

I hope everyone had a great Wednesday!

My dad made me smile today. He sent me a link with information about The Yellow Dog project (www.theyellowdogproject.com) Having a "yellow dog" myself, I was excited to see this global effort to educate society on dogs that need space. It is a productive way to keep the public and fearful/anxious/painful dogs safe. I will be applying to volunteer as an area representative to help this global initiative.

I also had a chance to catch up with some old coworkers at dinner tonight. It's great to have friends that are still willing to keep in touch after your careers have taken you down different paths.

Who did you make smile today?

A Simple Thank You

Happy Tuesday!

I seriously have the greatest job. There is not a day that goes by that the little girl I care for doesn't make me smile. She made me smile big time today. As I was leaving, she thanked me for going to school with her. She is the sweetest 3 year old on the planet. Lately I have been experiencing care giver fatigue so this was something I definitely needed to boost my spirits! Again, don't forget to tell people you appreciate them. It makes a huge difference.

Who did you make smile today?

Sometimes life knocks you down...

I'm sorry for my lack of posts lately. Sometimes life knocks you down and it takes a while a to pick yourself back up. I have been experiencing some difficult situations in my life  and the wind was temporarily taken out of my sails. It was very hard to find the motivation to keep others smiling when I felt like there was not much to smile about myself. I am trying to get back on track. The world can be a tough place that hardens our hearts and I refuse to give in to it. Here are some things that made me or others smile in the couple weeks since my last post:

-My sister and I drove over an hour to support our friend as he performed in his first play

-My sister drove back from her trip early to come watch me race.  She even drove 85 mph and made it JUST in time for the green flag!
-My sister even made this and posted it on facebook with the caption "2nd in the rain today! I'm a proud sister!!"

It made me smile, it made me feel loved, and it boosted my spirits after a rough couple days

-A friend of mine was honored by a past student for being a teacher that has made an impact on her life.
-After James Hinchcliffe suffered a life threatening injury in a practice session for the Indy 500, there was an outpouring of love and support from his fans. Also, his parents called all the safety crew and first responders together and personally thanked them for saving their sons life

-My dad and I cleaned the floor and bathroom at my grandmas house because it's hard for her to get around
-When I was going through my difficult situations, I had a ton of support from friends and family
-A friend took me out to dinner

I know there are probably several more examples! Who did you makes smile today?

Blast from the Past

Life has been crazy busy so I have missed several days but I will write about them all. First, I'd like to start with today's smile because it really meant a lot to me. As a nurse, you sacrifice a lot in order to care for your patients. Many times you go without lunch, you work well past the end of your shift, you miss holidays with your family, and exhaust yourself on a daily basis to make sure your patients get the care they need. It is not often that you are thanked for the care you have provided.... even less often that you are remembered and thanked six years later. When I worked on an adult med-surge unit, I had the privilege to care for an amazing man. There are always patients that you just "click" with and he was one of them. He definitely made an impression on me and I learned today that I also made an impact on him. Here are a couple comments I received from him today:

Tracy it's been 7 years (4/1) since you took care of me! What an impact you've made on my life!!

You are awesome! You cared for me off and on for 9 days! Kept me positive, and kept me motivated, oh yea and pain free! I'm friends with one of the other nurses too but I don't see her on here much anymore! Can't think of her name! Young African American girl! you were so amazing with my family too! I will never forget you're smile!! Brightened the entire room! Love you always!

Words can't even express what this means to me. It definitely makes me feel as though I am fulfilling what God has put me on this earth to do! Any time I feel under appreciated, I will have to look at this and remember that even though it doesn't seem like my efforts are recognized, they make more of an impact than I will ever know. HUGE smile for me today... probably the whole week!!

Saturday smiles:
My grandmother invited me over to her house for the indycar race and dinner.

Sunday Funday:
I saw many people pay tribute to their mothers. I saw pictures and words of praise on facebook posts, I saw shoppers buying gifts, and families taking their mothers out for lunch. I made my mom a picture frame which she really enjoyed. My aunt and uncle brought over a mothers day lunch for the entire family.

Monday:
A man at the gym liked my shirt and we shared a smile. I picked up some apples at the grocery store for my sister because she forgot them when she went shopping the previous day. When I was checking out, a woman let someone with only one item go in front of her in line because she had a lot of groceries and knew she would hold him up.

Who did you make smile today?

Happy Friday!

Thursday:
Here are a few memes people posted on my facebook yesterday that made me smile

 

 

Friday:



Today has been a good day so far. I smiled when I got my nails done because my favorite guy was back from his month long trip to Vietnam to marry his fiancé. I hope he smiled in return because he showed me pictures and they were absolutely stunning. His bride is also incredibly beautiful. So of course I told him all of these things. I also told him how happy I was he was FINALLY back! I gave him a higher tip than usual as well. He made me smile by telling me I've done a great job with Axle and that I'm "too nice" because I won't give up on him. He added that I've probably saved his life. This comment really felt good to hear because I often wonder if all the work I've put into this dog is worth it. It takes two hours of my evening to tend to my dogs. When I get home from work,  my two well-behaved dogs get a two mile walk. I feed them and administer both of their allergy medications. Then it is Axles turn. He is so wound up that I have to run him a mile on the tread mill first thing. Then we run outside for anywhere between 2 and 4 miles depending on time. I have to give him his anxiety meds and then feed him through as slow feeder to help slow his mind down.  It's usually after 8 by the time I can shower and actually feed myself. Sometimes I wish a stay-at-home dog mom was an option! lol After hearing Anthony say I've probably saved Axles life, I know he is right. It is absolutely worth the work to know that being with me is the best chance this dog has at a good quality of life. Anthony definitely made me feel like I am doing something to make a difference.

After getting my nails done, I went to Chick-Fil-A. Sitting next to me was a 5 year old boy who LOVES policemen. So of course, he was excited that two tables away were two police officers enjoying their lunch. Having noticed the boy, the two officers stopped to talk with the boy on their way out. It made me smile and it definitely made the boys day!!

Who did you make smile today?

Happy Nurse's Day!!

Happy Nurses Day to all my fellow nurses!!

First thing this morning I received a text from my father wishing me a Happy Nurses day. My sister brought me Starbucks and some candy to work today as a nurses day treat. She also surprised me with cheesecake when I came home. Thanks sis!

I met a family during my days with Riley Hospital for Children and have been able to stay in touch with them through facebook. Their facebook post today made me smile big time:

 

"Just saying thanks to all our nurses who have spent hours with (my child) at her lowest of lows, isn't enough. They have gone above and beyond for our sweet girl so many times and it takes a special person to be able to watch a child endure so much. But they do it, and they do it so well. So thanks to all of our Riley Nurses, Lutheran nurses and our awesome home health care nurses. (Especially Ellen) for all that you do time and time again. Without all of you she would not get the care she needs!! -- Happy Nurses Week!!"

I love that through facebook I can watch some  of my patients grow once they've been discharged. Nurses care for these kids for months and it was always bitter sweet when we finally see their families take them home. Being able to watch their progress and know that I was part of a team that made it possible is beyond rewarding.

 

 

Who did you make smile today?

 

Circle of smiles

I started this blog because I wanted to show how kindness can spread. If we can make ONE person smile that will make a huge difference. However, if that person then makes another person smile, and that person makes another person smile, etc. the world could be a much better place. Here are some examples of how smiles have the ability to come full circle.

After my post yesterday, here are a couple of comments I received:

"Thanks to your family for giving us lots of smiles! Your dad letting me practice with Alan gave us all a lot to smile about!!!!"

 

"Tracy your driving today made Jim and I smile. Your driving was fantastic. You made an amazing come back! Then your blog entry made me smile because I felt similar feelings today. It was nice to hear that other drivers can have similar frustrations and overcome them."

 

I love that my blog has made some people smile. Then when they post comments such as these it makes ME smile and gives me more encouragement to keep the random acts of kindness going.

Another friend who raced with us this weekend posted this to his facebook:
"I want to thank a few people for an awesome weekend! I truly enjoyed myself on and off the track!!"

We are so glad to provide so many people with the opportunity to have these great experiences. When we receive comments like this it makes me smile because I know how hard my dad works to put a great program together. I know it makes him feel good to know that his hard work is paying off!

I also received this comment for a fellow racer:
"Tracy was killing it yesterday" I know I write this all the time but I can't stress it enough. If you like something, see someone do something great, admire someone, etc. please TELL them. We don't do this often enough and it makes that person feel so great! This comment definitely brought a smile to my face.

After receiving that compliment and realizing how good it feels for someone to recognize what you have accomplished, I realized that I did not give credit where credit was due. We had a racer join us that had no experience karting on a road course and in only his second race with us, he placed in the top 10 in a very difficult, competitive class. So when his dad posted some pictures of his race-long three way battle, I made sure that he knew what a great job he did:

Me: "Alan did great!!"

Alan: "Thank you Tracy! It was a pleasure learning from all of you and I greatly appreciate the time with AFK, so thank you!"

Alan's dad: "Tracy please pass along our sincere thanks to your Dad! We enjoyed our time with all of you and are looking forward to doing it again. We will see where we stand at the end of our dirt season and maybe we can get a road course kart."

So, of course their reply to my comment made me smile again. A perfect example of a smile going full circle.

Who did you make smile today? 

A great group of racers

Today at New Castle Motorsports Park I seemed to notice smiles everywhere I looked. Specifically, I saw the group of people racing in the LO206 classes having a great time doing what they love to do most.

I qualified well in both of the classes I race and several people came to congratulate me and wish me luck. I also had a couple of people tell me that they  enjoy my blog. This was great to hear because I often wonder if anyone is reading this!! It definitely made me smile.

Ever since my family started racing we say 'zoom zoom' before the race. When I looked on the gopro attached to my kart, it had 'zoom zoom' written on it. This definitely brought smile to my face as I was suiting up for my race on the grid. Thanks Dad!

We also have a good friend, Grant Pendrey, who comes out to NCMP to help us out. If a kart is available, he races but in many cases we already have all the karts occupied. Grant still comes out and lends a hand in any way he can. Thank you Grant for helping! We appreciate it very much!

My sister is out of town for work again. Even with her hectic weekend schedule, she  still always tries to find a way to watch my race on her computer. I love that she is still cheering me on from the other side of the country! Thank you sis!

I am proud to be a part of a class that can race side by side without incident. There was a great 4 way battle for 4th place for the entire race. We could race each other hard and know that no one is going to do something stupid (at least not on purpose). When the race was over there were plenty of smiles and animated talk of how fun the race had been. It really feels like 20+ friends getting together and having a blast racing rather than being just about winning and confrontation. We joke around with one another and just have a great time.  We do have our frustrating moments as well but we forgive quickly and look forward to the next race. In one of my races I qualified 6th out of 21 and was looking forward to having a good battle up front. However at the drop of the green flag, I was pushed completely off track and fell to last. Initially, I was fuming inside my helmet but I had to focus on making my way through the pack. I worked my way back up to 13th but this was definitely not the result I had hoped for. As soon as the race was over, I had barely stepped out of the kart when the guy who pushed me off track had come to apologize for ruining my race. At this point, I had cooled off enough to know that it wasn't intentional and stuff like that happens in racing. The apology was much appreciated though and he promised he wouldn't do it again! LOL Now, on to the next race with a great group to race against!

Who did you make smile today?

Friday & Saturday Kindness

Yesterday:
A friend made me smile yesterday by posting a video on my facebook that he knew I would enjoy. It's a great feeling when something makes someone think of you. It's also great when they want to show it to you because they know it will make you smile.

For those of you who don't know me, I am a race fan and have been racing karts for 15 years. I was testing at the track yesterday but the restaurant they have on site was closed. However when staff went to get lunch for themselves, they made sure to get our orders as well. It was great that we didn't lose valuable testing time to go get food. We greatly appreciated it!

Today:
In a previous blog, I posted about my sister giving me an "I kissed a pit bull and I liked it" shirt and I had a chance to wear it today. I went in Panera for lunch and as soon as the cashier saw me she had a huge smile on her face and exclaimed "I just love your shirt!" A lot of times we think these things to ourselves without complimenting the person. Take the time to let them know what you are thinking.... they will love it!

My best friends invited me over for dinner tonight. It's nice that even though their family continues to grow they still always include their forever-single friend. I am very blessed to have best friends that I consider family. Many friendships fade away when their life paths are so different but my friends and I have stayed just as close as we were before marriage and kids.

Another friend informed me of an incident last week that made her smile and gave me permission to post it.

Just a personal experience from this week to encourage you of God`s great power for each of us: Come back w/ me if you will, to Tuesday.... The wind was horrendous that afternoon w/ 50 mph gusts @ times & I needed to go into Target to pick up some medicine for a friend. When I got out of my car, the wind was blowing & gusting so much that I was literally afraid I was going to be blown completely off balance! For those of you whom I haven't had recent physical contact, I have some pretty major mobility issues that require me to use a cane & still w/ that am not exactly what you would call stable on my feet. Anyway, when I got out of the car I had to hold onto my door handle for stability from the wind. As I stood there for a minute or so I grew even more fearful of falling until I heard a soft whisper in my ear saying "This wont be the 1st time I`ve ever calmed the wind"! I stood there for a little while trying to process what I`d just heard. The wind was still gusting fiercely as I cautiously let go of the door handle. The exact minute I let go, the wind calmed to the point that I was not afraid to walk into the store! Now granted, the wind had not died down completely but was calm enough that I was no longer afraid. This experience for me was just exactly the reminder that I needed of God`s constant nearness to His kids. That He will ALWAYS give us what we need exactly when we need it! Not necessarily when THINK we need it! All we have to do is admit our dependency on Him & He will take care of the minute details....whatever that looks like. Allow Jesus to help you through the storms in your life, whether they are storm storms or difficulty-storms!

Who did you make smile today?