Punishment by Glue and Glitter

I thought that over the past few years I’d learned the fine art of saying ‘no.’ And while I don’t employ that word as often as I should, I was doing well with not taking on too much. The Relay for Life was about as much as I could handle and even that was overwhelming me.

However, I have now volunteered to decorate the Relay for Life luminaria that our team sells. Not only did I volunteer, I did so without consulting my team, which means I obviously can’t hold them to something they didn’t agree to. I’m having visions of being covered in glitter and hot glue in a sea of paper bags.

Luckily, one of my team members has already offered to help, so that’s a big plus. Another one hasn’t volunteered, but he gets to do it by default since he’s going to marry me. I’m trying to look on the bright side. It could definitely be fun, and I have a bunch of crafting stuff I’ve picked up recently at garage sales and freebie Craigslist offerings. It could also just be a pain in the butt, especially because we’ll be doing it the two or three days before the actual walk.

Let me tell you, though…if I’m decorating them, I’ll make sure they’re pretty snazzy to honor who they’re for. That’s a guarantee.

Speaking of Garage Sales…

We’re having one this Saturday.

I love having garage sales. Some people don’t feel the amount of work you put into it is worth what you earn, but I’ve always liked having them, even when I haven’t made an insane amount of money. In this case, the money isn’t even going to me. It’s part of our Relay for Life Team’s fundraising effort.

Already we have several boxes of things for sale. Tonight and tomorrow is pricing and planning, then we’ll be up early Saturday morning to get things rolling. I have some team members helping me out, and several people I work with have been great about donating items.

The fundraising effort has gotten off to kind of a slow start, but we’re getting there. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Saturday gives us good weather and a good turnout.

If you’re in the area, come check out our sale at the corner of 9th and Moro in Manhattan, KS.

Back in Groove

Now that the first meeting for Relay for Life is done, I’m back to feeling gung ho and motivated for this again. We have our theme picked out…”Footloose”…and it seems as if our fruit sale is going okay after only two hours. Our biggest seller is bananas. Haven’t done a money count, but it’s looking good. I’ll be extremely happy if we can get rid of all the fruit we bought today. I’ll be even happier if we run out due to high demand.

Tomorrow, Jon and I are taking a day trip to Salina to meet someone who wants to buy some Magic cards from him. I’d like to get an early start to the day and just have a serendipity adventure…no planning, just checking out what looks like fun and browsing around the city. Having never been to Salina except to drive through it, this should be an adventure. It’ll also give me a chance to take some pictures. We’re working with a tight budget, but I’m fully of the mind you can still have a nice day on just a little bit of money.

This means I might have something exciting to post on this blog in the next day or two. Here’s to hoping.

Relay for Life: Trying My Hand at Organizing (Again)!

Right before we moved, the prospect of having my own place, getting involved in more things, and doing something good with my time all seemed like a great ideas. I was highly motivated, had all these thoughts and all this energy, and was ready to just go. But between then and now, I got tired.

I decided to head up a Relay for Life Team for work. Cancer has touched a good number of people, including myself, and it’s another cause I feel strongly about. Plus, I’d always heard good things about the Relay for Life. It’s a tiring venture: an all night walk where members of your team take turns walking so that everyone has at least one team member walking for 12 hours straight. I had a good response for a first timer and we currently have a team of ten members.

But with everything else going on, I’ve been slacking, and by slacking, I’m also beating myself up a little bit. I don’t want to let the team down. I want to be a good captain and I want to raise our team goal. But in the several years since I’d last organized anything, I’d forgotten that even responsibility doesn’t overshadow my procrastinating ways.

I’m sort of back on track…kind of hanging on by one rail…but I think I’m getting there. We have our first meeting tomorrow and our first fundraiser a week from Saturday, a garage sale at my place. Luckily I had the foresight to take the Friday before off so I could gather tables, make signs, etc. We also have several other fundraisers which are pending approval.

Wish me luck in organizing this and making it successful for our team. If anyone out there would like to make a donation, the link is http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY09National?px=11338073&pg=personal&fr_id=17355

I’m also looking for fundraising and theme ideas, so don’t hesitate to give me your thoughts. Or send me some momentum in a bottle. I think I’m going to need it.