Does the thought really count?

I spent all of last night making a delectable salad. I artfully chopped some mixed vegetables (and a pear for good measure) and spent at least an hour tossing mesclun and lettuce with a delicious mix of vinaigrette, herbs and spices. All of this so I could deliver it to a couple friends who cannot come on our annual winter camping trip. It was a wonderful plan and very nice of me (if I do say so myself, which I clearly do).

Then my alarm went off and I woke up, realizing I spent all of my sleeping time dreaming about doing this one nice thing for other people instead of cool stuff, like flying or painting straw.

All that effort wasted.