Day three. And the wheels fall off.

Ok, not really. It just feels like it.

Today is the third day of my 29-day 29 Gifts campaign. Today, I should be able to say that I bought a complete stranger lunch, or I gave my time to a shelter or some such thing.

I didn't.

If I'm being charitable, I will say that today, I gave heartfelt thanks for the safe arrival of my dear friend's 10 pound, 10 ounce baby girl. I gave time to a friend. I gave a shit at work even though I really didn't want to.

And perhaps the lesson to be learned here is that I need to give myself some credit.

It's hard to be charitable, though, when you're exhausted. And when you're feeling bad about the biggest charitable opportunity you had in the last 24 hours. It was at a meeting where people with far more patience and a little less savvy than I organized a food drive, a food drive that I feel will be marginal at best. All I could think was, "Don't waste my time. Please, just let me write a check."

But really, sometimes that's plenty.

So maybe today, I should just give myself a break.