Mental Note: Find Childcare

Things have been pretty busy around here lately.

I usually work three days a week, but has anyone seen the economy lately? Pretty much anyone who's left with a job is working more and more hours. I worked six hours on my day off on Friday. And eleven hours on Monday. And so it goes.

Add the PTO president to the list. I have my usual duties -- and at a special needs preschool, we have our own challenges. Parents are usually only there for two years and in some cases less, before they move on to elementary school. Plus, they're new to the school system, dealing with special needs kids and frequently have even younger siblings at home. Our volunteer base is small, but with 300 kids, our needs are large.

I'm in the midst of planning our Cinco de Mayo event where we bring in Folkloric dancers, students perform songs and dances, we sell traditional foods, and we hold a silent auction and raffle for the parents and community. Gaining donations is the biggest piece of it, as without cool prizes, no one puts in raffle tickets! This year is a bigger challenge than ever because of the economy, but I'm really impressed with and appreciative of some people I know not connected with our school at all who are small businesspeople who have donated some items to us. I'm hoping this makes up the difference for us (and hey -- if you have an Etsy shop and have something you could donate to help our preschool, let me know!).

And then there are the other things I toss in those spare moments, the making it to the chiropractor twice a week, choir practice twice a week, trying to run three times a week, cooking dinner for the family, and so forth.

This isn't at all to say that I'm more busy than anyone else of course, but I'm trying to justify my mental lapses. So ummm make me feel better, here.

Yesterday afternoon, I had a Cinco de Mayo meeting to talk through the donations we've collected and need to collect, as well as to figure out how much food we think we'll sell on the day of the event.

My dad has been watching Little Miss while I'm at those meetings so she can nap. Because she needs to nap. When I called yesterday morning to confirm that my dad was getting her off the bus, he had no idea what I was talking about. And had other plans. As did my mom. As did the other SAHMs in my babysitting co-op. Whoops.

So I brought her with me.

And she brought Snowy. And we spent the meeting with her tossing the teddy bear up in the air and screeching with laughter. And picking up the tambourines that had somehow been left in the room and banging them on desks. And running up to me with castanets and showing me how they can be earrings. And telling me to stand up when she clicked them together. And throwing the teddy bear at me. And knocking over my water bottle.

This meeting should have lasted no more than forty-five minutes to an hour. It was an hour and a half because of the three year old who so desperately needed a nap. I did bring her blankets with her hoping that she would lay down on a couch and rest. Yeah. I know better now.

March 31 is already on my dad's calendar. And I think I need to talk to the school about making sure she's in morning preschool again next year!

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Oh. You came here to find out who won the Spring Fling contest?

Well, as I promised I put all the entries into a spreadsheet -- because I'm anal that way. I was impressed. I only had two people not follow the instructions and have their entries forfeited (yeah, I'm a stickler for the rules; what can I say?). Ninety-seven entries total, and:

True Random Number Generator

Min:
Max:
Result:
86

Ok, if someone can tell me how to make it all pretty in my post like I see elsewhere, please let me know. this was the best I could do!

#86 in my list was MEGAN from INfertile Myrtle! She's a new follower, and I hope she (and the rest of you) stick around. Thanks for playing!

And You Thought I Forgot

Ok, so maybe this week has been a bit chaotic. I have been sick since Monday, Mister Man since Tuesday at 3:30 when he puked all over the gym floor and had to be picked up -- had he waited twenty minutes, he would have been home on the bus! -- and Little Miss since 3:30am Wednesday. Plus, Tuesday was my PTO coffees (am and pm), I worked Wednesday and Thursday, and Wednesday was also our Back To School night. And you wonder why I haven't fully recovered yet (physically or mentally, of course).

Enough whining though.

On Tuesday, I closed the PIF contest. Of course I didn't pick the number until today, but I had fully intended to. Besides, it's ok if you have to wait a couple more days for the anticipation to build, isn't it?

So the winner is comment number 8. Oh wait. That was my comment. Yep, I can't win. Per my rules, I skip over that comment and the next one is the winner. Phew. The Post Office people (as lovely as they truly are at my PO) would certainly have given me an odd look if I mailed a package to myself!

So really, that makes it Irene! Yay!

Bob, tell Irene what she's won.

Well, Michelle, today Irene has just won herself a Dora cup that holds snacks and a drink! It's a Sip and Snack Canteen, the latest product from Zak Designs! (oooooo from the audience):

And that's not all. We're also throwing in two lovely books. As usual, we have found a Sandra Brown book, and we're also tossing in The Stone Diaries! (ooooo, ahhhhhh)



For the smaller members of the family, we're also including 4 Strawberry Shortcake gel pens for each girl. The dollar section at Target had some lovely items this week. (squeals of joy)

And finally, Michelle, Irene will be receiving three blank notecards. These notecards are handmade and have several special embellishments. Irene was so kind as to comment on the thank you cards that some cards simply had to be added into the prize basket. (Oooooooooo)


Michelle, back to you.

Thank you, Bob. Irene, I am sending you an email to get your contact information so I can get these out to you. If I don't hear from you by Tuesday next week, I'll select another winner. Thank you to everyone for playing, and I really appreciate those Disney tips!

And while we're on the subject of contests, this is a perfect contest for Irene except that I'm sure she already has it. The SITS girls are giving away a copy of Photoshop Elements 7 and Photoshop Elements 7: The Missing Manual here.