Leave it to me to wait until the last minute to donate toys to charity. Because of my love for Care Bears and My Little Ponies, this year I found myself buying a handful of related toys-- a Care Bear, a Care Bear Cousin, a My First Care Bear, and a gift set of My Little Ponies. I had no intentions of keeping them permanently-- just for a few weeks. I put them on my dining room table and adored them, all the while intending to eventually donate them to Toys for Tots.

Well, I waited too long. Toys for Tots stopped collecting toys on Sunday, and that does no good for someone who has four beautiful toys on Monday. When I found out, I felt a twinge of guilt. Somewhere out there was a little child who would have loved a Care Bear for Christmas, and because of my procrastination that child would not be getting Share-A-Lot Bear. Well, fear not. I was not about to give up so easily. I got on the Internet (a beautiful thing) and found out that a local repertory company had held a toy drive in conjunction with their fall production. Similar to Toys for Tots, the drive had ended on Sunday, but I found a phone number contact. I called the guy and found out that if I could get my toys to the State Employees Credit Union just down the road in less than an hour, he would be there to pick them up.

So my toys got donated, and now they are on their way to make someone's Christmas. But I learned a valuable lesson: in the future, if I decide to donate toys at Christmastime, I don't need to wait until the last minute.