So, on Day Three, I had promised to make some soup and deliver the extras to people who could use a pre-made meal. And I went all out, Waisters! I made a giant pot of chicken tortellini soup (with a bunch of stealthy vegetables chopped up super finely so that my very picky eater of a husband won’t get scurvy) and when it was ready, I scooped it all up into disposable plastic 2 quart containers. I then packed up two shopping bags, each containing the soup, a loaf of fresh bread (with instructions written on the outside of the bag to heat for 10 minutes in a 350° oven), and another disposable plastic container with slices of an Italian crème cake that I picked up at the grocery store. Then I hopped into the car and went out into the cold night to deliver my parcels.

I should have probably planned a better night to do this, since I was working on school work and only really had half an hour, which I could just manage if I dropped off the parcels and then ran back to the car, as my recipients were on completely opposite sides of the county. First stop: my grandmother’s house. She was delighted to see me and wanted me to stay, stay, stay, but since I still had to make it to Stop Two, I had to cut out after half an hour, feeling a little guilty as I left. The second stop was my delightful in-laws, who were just as excited to see me and didn’t stop talking for a minute while I was there. Again, I felt very guilty about not being able to stay longer, but I had to get back home and finish my homework. The round trip took about 90 minutes and all of the good feelings I had while dishing up the soup and bringing warmth and nutrition to my loved ones? Gone and replaced by guilt for rushing out so quickly, plus, I was going to have to stay up late finishing my homework. Gah! This being a good person is harder than it seems!

And today is another day. Day Four: Start a cause célèbre. First of all, I don’t know what a cause célèbre even IS, but in reading the description:

Spreading the word about your fave charity is as easy as tweaking your e-mail sign-off: log on to SixDegrees.org to create a "badge" explaining why the organization is meaningful to you, then integrate a link to your badge into your signature. Hit Send and watch the donations multiply.

Right, okay! I’ve chosen the American Red Cross as my charity, because in 2006, my husband Esteban was severely anemic and came very close to death. After his transfusions, I wrote this on my blog:

If you give blood on a regular basis, I would like to thank you. If Esteban hadn’t received the transfusions when they checked him, the doctor gave him a 25 percent chance of going into cardiac failure within 72 hours. If they had had more B-positive, they would have given it to him, but they didn’t, so they couldn’t. Luckily, they had enough to get him out of danger, but I can’t imagine what might have happened if he had been in a car accident or if there were several people who had needed his blood type that day.

I have no doubt that by donating their type B-positive blood, six strangers saved Esteban’s life. It’s hard to imagine all of that when you go to the Red Cross and they stick you and then you eat cookies and drink juice. It seems so cheery and nonchalant, such a stark contrast to the family that standing on one side of a steel-mesh hospital window, trying to keep their shit together because if they don’t they’ll be throwing up with worry. Every pint that you give is one step closer to changing the worst day of someone’s life into an amusing story told at cocktail parties about the day that someone almost died but it’s all better now and really, what did you put in this dip, because it’s just fantastic?. That’s the difference, right there. That ishy bag hanging beneath the lawn chair. That’s the key. So thank you. Each and every time you give blood, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, if I have convinced one of you to donate blood or making a monetary donation, this will totally have made up for having to stay up late after playing soup delivery person last night. —Weetabix