Thursday Thirteen #3

With a nod to Bob's letter to "Sally", here are thirteen ways to spread joy this Christmas (holiday) season.

1. Take more than one Angel from the Angel trees in the mall.

2. Place some "quiet" money in the kettle. These are the bills that don't jingle.

3. Go to Target or Walmart (ugh) and buy make-up and other personal toiletries that can be donated to women shelters. Make sure you buy an assortment of makeup shades/colours.

4. Babysit for a single parent one weekend while they go Christmas shopping etc. This is a great form of birth control for us childless folk. After spending two days telling those bad kids to "stop, get that out your mouth, put that down, stop hitting your brother, don't put that on my walls, stop, get down, get that out your mouth, put that down, stop hitting your sister..." we'll be so thankful we don't have kids we'll stop worrying God about it.

5. Create a caroller choir for retirement centers or rehab centers.

6. If you're out early Christmas morning, wave a police officer down (caution: DO NOT do this if you are a black male and you live in any part of New York state) and offer candy or just to say "Merry Christmas!".

7. Take the neighbourhood children to their local firehouse. Most children love this stuff!

8. Visit your local pet pound and help with the annual "Adopt a Pet" drive.

9. Volunteer to pack and deliver food boxes.

10. Pick up sports equipment and donate it to your local Boys & Girls clubs.

11. Leave a special treat for your mail carrier. We always do this because our postman rocks!

12. Donate books and sports equipment to schools for the homeless.

13. And the last thing is to donate money to folks who want to go to the Super Bowl. Specifically the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins, Washington Redkins and---wait for it---Arizona Cardinals!